Almost Neutral Territory, Part I

Posted on Fri Jan 2nd, 2026 @ 12:21am by Crewman Emiliano Echevarria & Ensign Luciana Aguila

1,551 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Menagerie II
Location: Luci's Quarters
Timeline: After "Green Therapy"

Continued from: Green Therapy, Part II

Within five minutes, Luci, Emiliano and his dog Mateo had made it up to her quarters. She had explained that her room mate, another engineer, was on shift so wouldn't be back until late, which was a good thing.

Luci waved her access card over the chime to grant them all access, and for anyone not used to what her quarters looked like, it was definitely a surprise.

Her room mate, Lyra, an Orion woman, had a sleek, monochrome and gold style going with her side of the quarters that just radiated sophistication and simplicity, but in a good way. Everything was put away, only the essentials were on display and evenly spaced to have a more aesthetic look to it. A single low-gravity-loving plant was above her bed.

Luci's side, however, was a different story. Warm, golden ambient lights mimicked tropical sunsets, a holo-emitter above the bed had different flowering plants from Costa Rica on display, along with a small little jewellery stand that kept her rings and necklaces safe. Her bedding was soft tropical floral designs that kept a constant reminder of home within them, with a couple of small throw pillows to match, and her childhood stuffed toy. Just beyond the bed and hanging on a wall mount was an acoustic guitar she'd replicated and tuned.

The whole situation was a cacophony of colour and it had the feeling of home, of late nights and hot days back home in Costa Rica, and she was happy with how it turned out.

"So," Luci started as they stepped inside, "I share with another engineer, Lyra, so that's her side of the room, as you can probably guess. She's really nice and I'm happy I have her as a room-mate. Come in, make yourself comfy."

Walking over to her bed, she sat down and motioned to all of her side, "This is all mine, kind of a taste of home, I like to think." Luci patted the bed beside her for Emiliano to join, "What do you reckon?"

Emiliano paused just a few feet inside the doorway, Mateo's leash looped around his wrist just in case Luci also kept small monkeys.

He took a moment to look around her quarters and liked what he saw--the warmth, the colour, the lived-in feel. The holo-emitter above the bed was a nice touch, and even the light felt intentional.

He swallowed.

"It's--" He stopped and tried again. "It's nice, Luci. It feels like someone lives here." The words came out far softer than he'd meant them to be. He noticed the guitar on the wall, the stuffed toy, the jewelry arranged neatly.

Mateo, traitor that he was, took this moment to decide the quarters were acceptable. He strolled forward, sniffing the floor, circled once, then flopped down on the rug with a grunt of contentment.

Emiliano shot him a look. "Of course you're fine."

Then there was Luci, sitting on the bed, patting the space beside her as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Like she hadn't just invited every nervous thought in his head to line up and take turns.

He leaned down and unhooked the leash from Mateo's collar, carefully coiling it on his arm. His pulse ticked up--he hated that. It was entirely unhelpful. Suddenly, he was acutely aware of his hands. Of his knees. Of the fact that this was a bed--not a bench, not a chair, not a sofa, not a stool. It was not neutral territory. He reminded himself that he had to breathe. Breathing was important, after all. And then he reminded himself that she had asked.

"I just--" He smiled a thin, apologetic smile. "If I act weird, it's not you. It's... new geography."

"That's fine," Luci urged in response. She could see he was nervous about even just being there and that alone made her slightly discouraged at the whole invite back there, but she held in those thoughts with grace.

"If it makes it easier for you, we can go somewhere?" She was never going to be pushy with him, so instead of pouting about it, Luci slipped off the bed and onto the floor to sit cross legged. "Do you at least want a drink or something? Or if you want to have a shower to get the mud off, I can replicate you a shirt?"

Emiliano glanced down at his shirt, having completely forgotten it was still caked with dirt from the Arboretum. "Oh," he said softly, "I should probably change out of this before I dirty your quarters."

He looked at Luci for a second, and then turned away from her as he began sliding out of the shirt to reveal a very lean build--his back was certainly toned but far from being described as muscular.

Luci made sure to avert her gaze when his shirt came off, focusing on a particular spot on the ground and then somewhere on the far side of the quarters, before she chose to steal a glance upward.

She appreciated what she saw but kept the compliment to herself out of respect, but noticed the redness on his ribs from the fall. That was definitely going to hurt in the morning.

Her focus went to Mateo who'd gotten up to walk over and plod himself next to her, "You've caused a bit of chaos today so far, haven't you boy?" Luci patted him on the head affectionately and then looked at Emil again, this time with purpose, "That looks like it's going too bruise, probably by tomorrow I'm guessing?"

"Oh."

He turned slightly, hoping that if the bruise was obstructed from Luci's view that if might simply go away.

"It's--" He cleared his throat. "It's not bad. I mean. It will be bad. Later. Probably." He laughed once but it sounded unconvincing.

Suddenly, he became painfully aware that he was standing in a beautiful young woman's quarters without his shirt on.

This had not been in the plan.

He decided to keep his hands busy by folding the shirt a few times until it was ridiculously small. His skin felt exposed in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with the room's temperature.

"I'm sorry," he said, though he wasn't entirely sure why. Existing, perhaps. "I'm not myself right now."

"Relajarse, Emil." Luci replied in an assuring tone. She thought his awkwardness was cute and endearing as she watched him bundle up his shirt more times than was necessary.

"Tell me what would make you feel a bit more comfortable, and we can work it out." Luci's thoughts turned back to the earlier conversation and how he responded to it, and she realised that it would play in her head for a little while longer.

Outwardly, there was no change in her warm expression, it was all internal.

"Luci," he said, turning to her now, his arms at his sides. "I--I don't know what to say... what I'm supposed to say. I've never been alone in the private quarters of a... chica está bien buena." ("A very pretty girl.")

She smiled and blushed at the compliment as it wasn’t very often she got one and believed it. "We're just hanging out, aren't we? Not like hooking up or anything? And plus, we've got Mateo here who I'm sure would love all the attention he can get."

As if on command, Mateo rolled onto his back and wanted scratches, to which Luci happily applied.

Emiliano flushed so fast at the mention of hooking-up that is surprised him. Heat climbed his neck and burned at his ears. He thought about the implications of that word--that euphemism for intercourse--and considered whether it was best to ignore it and move on, or make a joke. They were definitely not hooking-up. He wasn't... prepared... for that. Mentally, of course.

He glanced at everything all at once--the guitar, the holo-flowers, the careful order on Lyra's side--anything that wasn't Luci's face. God, that face. And those caramel eyes.

He cleared his throat and took two small steps sideways until the edge of her desk bumped gently into the back of his knees. He perched there carefully, his hands braced on the cool surface. It was neutral territory.

"No," he said, earnestly. "Right. Just--hanging out." He nodded once, decisively, as if giving approval. "That sounds... good."

Mateo's tail thumped against the deck, upside down and demanding scratches from Luci like some furry metronome.

"Are you any good?" Emiliano asked, his eyes on the guitar once more. Damn, he thought. What a horrible way to word that.

Luci couldn't help but hold back the smile at his awkwardness, again, in the way he avoided the eye contact and made sure he was looking at everything else but her, and that he was also still shirtless.

She knew it was part of a combination that would make it easy for her to fall for him.


~To Be Continued in: Almost Neutral Territory, Part II~

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