The Commander tossed aside her beret and pulled an apron out of the nearby wall closet so she wouldn’t get her uniform dirty. She then turned on the stove and started cooking. Cutting the veggies and buttering the pan.

“So…” The Commander started to talk to me when she flushed the butter around in the pan. “What do you think about our findings?” She didn’t look back to talk to me.

“Which findings?”

“You know, just the discovery of the decade, century, millennium… The discovery of alien life.” For that last part she turned around and smiled at me.

“Ah…” I blushed. “It was… a surprise…” I lied.

“That’s a bit of an understatement, isn’t it?” She laughed, turning back to the stove.

“I-I’m not that terribly good with words…”

“It’s fine.” She waved my apology away.

“What… what do you think about it?” keeping the actual goal of my own mission in mind, this conversation might actually be quite useful.

“Hmmm… what do I think, indeed.” She rested both of her hands on the edge of the stove and looked up for a second, as if she was deeply in thought. She then continued as if nothing happened. “I guess ‘surprised’ does fit the bill as well.”

“...”

She laughed at my lack of comment. “If you want more than that. I’m not surprised there is alien life, I just was surprised that we would find it so close to Earth.”

-That makes two of us…-

“As for my feelings on what we found…” She added the meat to the pan before she continued. “Those bugs do look scary as fuck. Not going to lie. And it looks like they are hostile, which is no bueno as well… Honestly I would probably shoot first and ask questions later if we were to encounter a live specimen.”

“I see…” While I understood the sentiment, it did not bode well for my report.

“Those other alien people we found however, it would’ve been very very enlightening to talk to them… And to see them alive too, of course.”

I coughed. “But what makes you think the bugs wouldn’t be open to a conversation?”

“Well, I would talk to them if they were able to converse, definitely. Can’t kill the diplomatic approach immediately. Those teeth though… One of the scientists already tested it on the surface, and apparently those things can cut through sheet metal like it were butter.” To demonstrate, she put her own knife in the bar of butter that was still on the counter. “Those don’t seem well-suited for diplomacy, more for combat and killing, if you ask me.

I decided to continue playing the devil’s advocate for a bit longer. “Isn’t this ship armed to the teeth with weaponry too?”

“Haha.” The Commander laughed. “I guess that’s true. That probably also doesn’t really send the right message, does it?” She took the pan off the fire and shook it for a bit.

“I’m sorry for pushing you like this…”

“It’s okay, I like having these conversations. It’s incredibly valuable to see things from other perspectives, don’t you think?” She brings the plate to the table and puts it on a rubber trivet. Then she walked back to get the veggies and sauces on the table as well. “Dinner is served.”

I had never eaten a taco before but I got to say that the experience was definitely very pleasing. The way the Commander had seasoned the meat was also beyond anything I’d tasted from the food bots in any of the cafeteria’s.

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“Do you like it?” She asked.

“Yes, it’s very tasty.” I nodded after having another bite.

“Want to hear a funny foodbot story from back during the war?”

“Uh… sure?”

The Commander started to tell her tale and after a while she finally got to the crux of her story. “... and that’s when the private was like ‘It’d taste fine if it were actually chicken, but it’s mac and cheese!” She started laughing and slapped her thigh a couple of times. It was quite endearing to see her laugh this genuinely. Before she grimaced and brought her right hand to her shoulder.

“Is everything alright?” I got up from my seat almost immediately.

“It just stung a bit… I’m fine…” She breathed in heavily and breathed back out. Trying to calm herself. She was clearly underselling the pain. “Everything is so tied up back there. Every time I move, it’s like I’m scraping bricks against one another… I would give everything for a massage parlour on this ship…”

“I studied human physiology… maybe I can help?” I couldn’t believe what I was saying right now. Did I just indirectly offer her a massage?

“Really? But then I’d have to promise you another dinner.” She looked at me with wonder in her eyes, as if I were some kind of messiah that appeared out of the heavens above.

“It… it’s fine…” -WHY AM I DOING THIS!?- “D-do you have any massage oils nearby?”

“I have some in my bathroom for when I have run a lot. Need to keep those thighs healthy!” She jogged towards her bathroom with her hand still on her shoulder. She quickly came back with a bottle in her hand. “Will this work?”

I read the label. “It should work…b-but first let’s finish our food.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Her white teeth shone brightly when she smiled like that…

“Just take off y-your clothes and lay down on your bed, C-Commander…”

“Aye aye, but please call me Lauren.” She got on her bed and threw her jacket on the night table. She turned around, away from me, to take off her tank top too. She then laid down on her belly. Her back showed a lot of scars. What I’d seen in the infirmary was just the tip of the iceberg compared to what I was seeing now. But apart from that… her back was incredibly muscular too and her right arm… Now that I was close, I definitely got new appreciation for it as well.

I took the bottle of oil and rubbed my hands with them. “Are you… are you ready?” I actually hadn’t really practised massaging before, but from what I’d read the core principles were pretty easy to understand. Luckily, I had a good memory as well.

“Mhmm.” She hummed.

I started by massaging her back in a figure-8, so the massage oil was spread evenly over her body. I immediately noticed how tense her muscles were. She must have been under a lot of stress, even if she doesn’t really show it. Understandable if you look at the nature of this mission.

Then I continued doing the routine I’d seen performed a couple of times in physiological care class, with some minor adaptations because of her synthetic limb.

The Commander… or Lauren as I should say, groaned a couple of times when I traced the prosthetic’s edge. That area was the tensest of all.

“A-are you okay, C-... Lauren?”

“Mhmm.” She hummed again. “It’s fine. You are doing a good job… a very good job…”

With her assurance, I continued for at least ten more minutes. “I think I’m done…” I got off her bed and stood up next to it, getting ready to wash my hands to get rid of the massage oil.

“Luna…” Lauren lifted herself up with her arms. So she could stare at the wall in front of her.

“Y-yes?”

“That was great…” She rolled her head around. “Holy shit, it feels like I’ve been reborn.” Without looking back, she put her tank top back on.

“I’m happy you enjoyed it…”

“That’d be an understatement.” Once she had her tank top on, she turned around and smiled brightly at me. “Would you be interested in doing that again some day? I’d really appreciate it, I would even pay you for it if you want.”

“A-a payment won’t be necessary…”

“So, that’s a yes?” She tilted her head.

“Mhmm.” I nodded.

“Then I’ll make you food every time you come over.” She smiled. “And maybe one day I can return the favour.”

That sentence flustered me harder than it should’ve. I had to turn around to hide my blush. But luckily I still had the excuse of washing my hands, so I didn’t need to explain myself.

The cold water from the faucet helped to recollect my thoughts. Why did I always get so wound up around the Commander? It couldn’t be that I was having feelings from someone of an alien race, right? Right? I shook my head, splashed some water in my face, and then left the bathroom. When I walked back into the cabin proper, Lauren was already back at the table, her jacket unbuttoned but dressed over her shoulders. Two cupcakes were sat in front of her.

“I smuggled these with me so we could have a little dessert as well.”

I was a bit surprised but managed to keep a hold of myself. “What flavour are they?”

“That is a good question.” Lauren laughed and took one of them. “I pressed the cupcake icon when you weren’t looking and didn’t really look at the screen when I pushed through the flavours.” She then took one of them and gave it a nibble. “I’m pretty sure this is vanilla…”

“Doesn’t taste like chicken?” I joked.

“Luckily it doesn’t.” Lauren laughed. “Wait… now that you mention it…”