Goodnight, Sweeheart, Goodnight

Posted on Mon Apr 6th, 2026 @ 1:35am by Lieutenant Commander Robert Brant & Lieutenant Darla Kennings
Edited on on Mon Apr 6th, 2026 @ 1:35am

1,503 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: Shadows of Diplomacy
Location: Brant/Kennings Quarters

Darla entered her quarters and let out a sigh, undoing her jacket flap and taking a moment to stretch. It had been an extraordinarily busy day as everyone got settled in, crewmembers raced to get their onboarding physicals done, and she got to know her staff. She’d gone in early before her shift and stayed a bit later in order to introduce herself to three of the shifts, deciding she’d change things up and meet with Delta shift the next day after some rest.

As she relaxed, a shadow suddenly appeared as a form rose in front of her. She let out a squeal as a pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her forward. She felt lips press to hers and she melted into them as arms encircled her.

“And hello to you too, Mister Brant,” she said dreamily, smiling up at him as he finally released her. She looked past his shoulder to their quarters and her eyes went wide. “You unpacked,” she said.

“I did,” Robert said, not bothering to keep the pride out of his voice. He leaned in and nuzzled her neck, dropping his voice to a seductive whisper. “And I even made the bed with hospital corners and alphabetized the books on the bookshelf.”

“Oh, you absolute dreamboat,” Darla said, giggling at his shift in tone. He always knew how to make her laugh, and he knew just the right kind of cheap lines to charm her. It had been a gift of his from the day they met, even though she didn’t appreciate it as much back then.

“So, why don’t we have dinner, then take a long, hot soak together,” Robert said, smiling at her.

“You replicated dinner?” she said, looking at the empty table, confused.

“Of course not. I was waiting for you to get home, because I knew you’d want a quick sonic shower first,” he said.

“You know me so well,” she purred, kissing him. “I’ll just be--”

“Five minutes,” Robert said in unison with her as she disappeared into the shower. He watched her disappear, then made his way over to the replicator and began setting the table.

---

Dinner had been a simple surf and turf of steak and scallops with vegetables. Even Granger had gotten seared salmon, which he begrudgingly accepted, and tried not to show how much he enjoyed Robert’s choice. Robert and Darla spent dinner discussing their first day, their plans, the mission and their families, keeping things light.

While Darla cleared the table and recycled everything, Robert drew them a bath. Their bathroom wasn’t huge, but the whirlpool tub was large enough to accommodate someone of their respective heights, and it was comfortable. As he laid back in the blissfully warm, rippling water, he let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.

A moment later, he heard the bathroom door open and felt the water shift as another body climbed in and laid on top of him, her head on his shoulder. He put his arms around her and held her tight, feeling her hand on his chest.

Darla leaned up and kissed his jaw and sighed happily as she felt the bath jets gently pulsing the warm water around them. “Hey, Robby,” she said, quietly.

“Hey, D,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

“So…tomorrow,” she said, quietly.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s going to be intense.”

“You think they’re okay? I hate to think of a little girl being hurt,” Darla said.

“We’ll get there in time,” Robert said, rubbing her back, comfortingly.

Darla nodded and sighed, letting the warm water relax her. Despite repeatedly telling people she was a simple Kansas girl, Darla appreciated the luxuries of a starship without any trouble. But even on a starship, there were luxuries, and then there were luxuries. She definitely classified the bathtub in their quarters as a supreme luxury. A quick sonic shower was nice, and she had no doubt that would be what she used most often, but the feeling of soaking in a hot bath after a long day was pure heaven to her.

“This is officially my favorite part of tonight,” she said.

“If you think this is great, just wait till we get out of the tub,” Robert teased, running his hands over her.

She purred again. “Well for now I don’t want to be anywhere else,” she said, letting his hands roam.

“And do you know the best part?” Robert said.

“Mmm what?” she said, barely listening.

“Your four-legged bundle of nosiness doesn’t want anything to do with it,” he said.

Darla sighed. “Just when I thought you two were getting along,” she said.

“It was a temporary cease-fire,” Robert said. “So expect me to retreat here with you often,” he chided, bringing his hands down, squeezing her rear and kissing her ear.

Darla purred again. “You know, when you strip away the cocky flyboy attitude and the macho exterior, do you know what you are?”

“An affectionate, passionate man?” Robert said, nuzzling her ear.

“A horny teenage boy,” Darla teased, giggling and kissing him on his jaw.

“So I’m taking advantage of being able to get intimate with the girl every guy at Starfleet Medical wanted. Sue me,” he said.

Darla blushed. “Not every guy wanted me,” she said.

“Oh really,” Robert said. “Let’s review. Kevin Johnson.”

“He was sweet; it was just a crush,” Darla said.

“Doctor Bennings,” Robert said.

“Oh come on, he was way too old for me,” Darla objected. “He just brought me flowers as a ‘welcome to the team’ gesture.”

“For three months,” Robert said. “That head male nurse?”

“I don’t think girls were his type,” Darla said.

“Well he wasn’t staring at your ass because he admired your uniform,” Robert said.

Darla looked up at him. “You’re not actually jealous of those guys are you?”

“Nah,” Robert said. “After the first few dozen came up to me and asked me ‘just how serious are you two?’ I realized I had a choice: I could accept it and live with it, or I could let it frustrate me. So, if I see a guy hitting on you, I pity him for being jealous and just trust that you’ll do the right thing.”

“Wow,” Darla said, shaking her head in wonder. “That is a complete load of bullshit.” She giggled when Robert pinched her and stroked his arm. “I saw you, you know. When you followed me that one time when I was having dinner with Ensign K’sanga.”

Robert stopped moving. “You saw that?”

“Mm hmm. I was furious. I told him what was going on and he offered to say something to you, to assure you that we were just talking business, but I told him not to. I figured the best punishment was to let you sweat it out.” She grinned. “Then I got home and you called, asking what I had been up to, pretending not to care.” She laughed, thinking back on it. “You couldn’t have gotten any cuter. By the end of the call, I was too amused to be angry. That charm is what keeps winning me over.”

“And here I thought it was my dashing good looks and my impressive physique,” Robert said, bucking his hips playfully and making her shriek slightly and giggle.

“That helped too,” she said, smiling slightly, and closing her eyes, letting her mind wander. “Someone asked me if we’d set a date.”

Robert’s eyes opened at that statement. “Do we need to already?” he said. “I’m busy tomorrow, but after that my schedule’s wide open.

Darla gave a slight giggle. “Well, we’d need to figure out how to get the Scharnhorst, the Zhukov, the Herophilos, the Quebec and the Castelnaudary all in the same place, not to mention my parents, your mother and Claire and Beth and my godfather. That’s going to take some severe schedule coordination.”

“You’re right. It’s too much trouble. Let’s elope,” Robert said.

“Oh, like hell,” Darla said, sitting up and straddling his lap, looking him in the eyes. “You and I are getting married surrounded by our loved ones and we are going to be deliriously happy, understand?”

Robert looked at the vision of feminine perfection in front of him and wanted to offer a quippy remark, but the lack of blood flow to his brain made that impossible. “Yes, Ma’am,” he said, giving her a salute.

Darla smiled and kissed him, running her hands through his hair. She adjusted her position and let out a soft moan and she slowly sank down onto him, pressing herself against him.

Robert put all thoughts of logistics, warp speed calculations and tension over tomorrow’s mission aside and wrapped his arms around his fiance, enjoying the moment.

 

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