Almost Neutral Territory, Part II
Posted on Fri Jan 2nd, 2026 @ 12:22am by Crewman Emiliano Echevarria & Ensign Luciana Aguila
1,422 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
The Menagerie II
Location: Luci's Quarters
Timeline: After Green Therapy
Continued from: Almost Neutral Territory, Part I
Getting up off the ground and much to Mateo's groan of disgust, Luci walked over to her dresser and pulled out one of the shirts she had stashed down the bottom. It was clearly too big for her by two sizes and was definitely a man's shirt, black with a wide collar and a band logo on the front.
"Catch," Careful not to make him feel more awkward, she tossed the shirt in Emil's direction. "This belongs to my brother but you can wear it if you want and just return it whenever, no big rush."
Emiliano caught the shirt against his chest on pure reflex.
Sitting back on the bed and stretching her legs out, Luci returned her look to the guitar, "But to answer your question, I do, I just haven't in a while so probably a little rusty. Do you?"
He looked down at it and blinked.
THE DISAPPOINTED YOGURTS in loud and stylized letters appeared across the chest. He tried to stifle a laugh at the band's name. At least it loosened him up a notch.
"Wow," he said, turning to read it again. "That's quite a name."
He slipped it on carefully, grateful to once again have the weight of fabric on his torso. It hung loose on him but was soft and felt worn-in.
"My abuelo played," he said, nodding toward the guitar on the wall. "Piano and violin also. He could pick up an instrument and do anything." He smiled at the memory of his grandfather and added, "That's where it ends... I think."
There was only a couple of songs she knew on guitar, including one upbeat song that paired perfectly with a trumpet, and the other by itself.
"Music is a gift that everyone can appreciate, right? Even if you can't play it yourself." Luci kept the smile as she watched Emil wear her brothers shirt, "As for The Disappointed Yogurts though, my brother has weird music taste." She missed him. It wasn’t like they were overly close given the age difference, but he was still part of her life and always would be.
"So. Tell me." Luci shifted to have one leg underneath her. "What do you want to do while we're here?"
He looked around the room again, but saw it differently this time. He wasn't cataloguing and exit or more neutral territory but just trying to see it as it was. The guitar. Mateo on his back with tongue falling out. And Luci, comfortably resting on the bed.
"I think," he said quietly, "I'd like to stay for a while--with you. In this room."
"I'd like that as well," Luci replied. "How about a movie and some snacks from home then?"
Emiliano pushed himself off the desk quickly, a smile returning to his face. "Diay, qué tuanis! Good idea!" He crossed to where Luci was seated and knelt down, giving Mateo a gentle rub over the back of the head.
"I wonder if we can program the replicator for bizcocho?"
"Surely we can, right?" Luci was a successful engineer, yes, but when it came to replicators? Definitely not her forte.
Emiliano laughed under his breath. He was calmer now that Luci had pointed him in a direction that he could focus on, and it was evident in how he decided to sit down instead of pacing.
"We're engineers, Luci," he said. "We rebuild warp cores. I'm sure we can program a replicator to make a treat."
"Not gon' lie," Luci started saying as she took her shoes off and made herself comfy on the bed, "Last time I tried to mess with a replicator, it ended up in pieces." From her taking a wrench to it because it wouldn't work. "So, if you can get it working for that, I'd be ever so grateful."
While Emil did that, Luci got the projector working and started going through a list of the movies available that didn't need to be downloaded. "Movie choices... How about The Memory Broker ? It's noir‑style thriller about illegal memory‑editing and a detective who can’t trust his own past. Sound good?" Thrillers were up there with action movies for her, but she didn't know what he liked.
Emiliano had already moved to the replicator and was trying to remember his mother's bizcocho recipe, one hand braced on the panel above it. "That sounds like a good choice. If it's anything like the thriller novels I read."
"Computer, do you have a bizcocho recipe on file?"
[Affirmative.]
"Good," he replied. "Using the recipe on file, please substitute for the following ingredients."
He began keying in measurements that included yellow corn masa, queso, Central American sour cream, butter, buttermilk and salt. Those were for the dough. For the filling, he added more queso, more sour cream, ground piloncillo and a pinch of cinnamon. Satisfied with his choices, he saved the file and cleared his throat to address the replicator once again.
"Computer, using these ingredients, please replicate a plate of hot bizcocho for two people with two hot coffees--black."
The replicator terminal chirped and a plate of six empanada-like pastries materialized along with two mugs of steaming black coffee. While the smell wasn't near to what his mother used to make, Emiliano's heart was nevertheless warmed by the taste of home.
"Snacks are ready," he announced, turning to Luci.
"Smells just like home. My madre will love you." Luci laughed, noting to herself how she said will and not would, as if she was one day going to be able to introduce him to her. If things went well with him, maybe she could.
"Movie is ready, snacks are ready," She motioned for Mateo to jump up on the bed to get comfy as well and cuddle up between them, "Mateo's ready too. Shall we start?" Her smile was wide as she took the coffee and held it, savouring the taste and the smell.
Emiliano stopped halfway between the replicator and the bed.
The tray suddenly felt a lot heavier than it should have. Coffee sloshed slightly, forcing him to look down at his hands. Luci was already settled back against the pillows, her hair loose. Mateo had claimed a central space--that would presumably be between them--with total confidence. The three of them would be arranged so easily like some family portrait.
He felt his chest tighten, or rather, something inside it. He could've chalked it up to fear but it wasn't quite that. Rather, it was more like the moment before diving into a pool from a great height, when one's body remembers the existence of gravity even if the mind insists it will be fine.
Emiliano's thoughts scattered. Where do I sit? Where do my hands go? What if I spill? What if I do the wrong thing? What if--
He stood there far too long--long enough that his breathing had gone shallow.
It's just a movie, he told himself. Just a bed because Starfleet insists on multifunctional furniture. Just coffee. Just bizcocho. Just a girl who had invited him to stay because she liked him, not because she was demanding anything of him.
Mateo thumped his tail against the bedding, impatient with Emiliano's pause.
He drew in a deep, slow breath, then another, anchoring himself to the smell of the coffee and the warm masa. He let his shoulders drop a little and decided to let the moment because what it will become.
Then he crossed the rest of the room and set the tray down carefully and smiled at Luci.
"I hope you enjoy it," he said, feeling the last of the anxiety drift away.
Luci smiled as she moved over slightly to accommodate him and his dog on the bed, and it was nice to see him finally relaxing slightly. "I'm sure I will if it smells like that. Now let's watch this movie, ¿sí?"
"Si.."
Ensign Luciana Aguila
Structural/Environmental Specialist
USS Astrea
Crewman Emiliano Echevarria
Operations Technician
USS Astrea
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