Connections, Part 2: Bubbles, Kernels, Champagne Bottles, The Question: Things that You Pop

Posted on Sun Jun 29th, 2025 @ 3:10am by Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair & Lieutenant Alisha Reno

1,857 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Next Myogi
Location: Jane and Alisha's Quarters
Timeline: A few hours after Connections, Part 1

One of the differences between her old job and her new job was that she no longer was a mushroom: Kept in the dark and fed fertilizer. Being the deputy air boss meant that she actually got out of the office, whether on the bridge or even behind the stick of a fighter. She hadn't been sent out at Braxus, but according to Mia she was becoming fair in the cockpit. Not good enough, yet, but working on it. And she apparently looked good in a flight suit.

When the door opened, Alisha was greeted with a few unexpected sights.

Two lit candles on the dining table.

A bottle of synthehol champagne in a brass ice bucket, flanked by two glasses.

Two plates, two small forks, and a flat serving implement.

And Jane Sinclair, in a red utility coverall that was streaked with red and white and sprinkled with brown crumbs of some kind, her hair contained in a hairnet, standing in front of the small fridge/freezer in their mini-kitchen.

"Welcome home, luv," Jane said with a warm, inviting smile. A timer beeped. "You're just in time!" She crouched down to look into the freezer, touching something inside gently with a fork. "Aw yeah this looks good."

Given some of Jane's previous cooking attempts, Alisha gave a very skeptical look towards the kitchen, but she had faith in her girlfriend despite that. "What's with the fancy setup, sugarcube?" She asked, reaching up with one hand to make sure her hair was dry and not horrific even after the post-flight shower, "I didn't forget out anniversary, did I?"

"Nothing like that," Jane answered, slowly coming out of the freezer with an opaque pan of some kind. "Just that after everything that's been happening, it's given me time to think. About how happy you make me. About how much I love you, and feel loved with you."

"Awww!" Alisha had dropped the PADD she carried on the side table and reminded herself to review her flight later, maybe with Jane to give her some new tips or tricks. "I love you too! And you know that you don't have to do anything like this to show you love me, you do that just by being yourself!"

Jane set the pan on the table; Alisha could finally see that it was a springform cake pan. She unclipped the latch to remove the slides, revealing the graham cracker crust and light pink filling, topped with fresh strawberries. "It's harder to ruin a dish when the recipe doesn't call for any cooking or baking," she quipped.

"And that's why there's no smoke in the kitchen?" Alisha teased the other woman gently even as she sat herself down at the table and unzipped the front of the flight suit by several inches, then her eyes opened as she saw what was no doubt her favorite dessert of all time, "A no-bake strawberry cheesecake? If I didn't love you already, I'd have to take you to bed after this!" Her smile twisted slightly, "If I didn't already have plans for that."

"Don't think I forgot the fun we had with the cheesecake that first night we spent together," Jane teased. "And as for showing you how much I love you, I do want to show you. Every day with you is special, and I want you to know that."

Then she surprised Alisha by unzipping and stepping out of the coverall to reveal that underneath she wore the purple A-line dress that she wore on their first date, the one Alisha had helped her pick when she'd been racked with indecision. The hairnet came off to reveal that she'd done her hair fancy, in an up-style not unlike the one she sported on their date at Le Club Marocain.

Alisha's eyes went as wide as saucers as she looked at Jane transforming in front of her eyes. Now that she looked closer, aside from the dress and hairdo, both of which were attractive, there was a subtle hint of eyeliner to bring out the outline and greenness of her eyes. A hint of blush, lipstick that wasn't the normal one she'd wear, but truly gave her lips a luscious look. Suddenly she felt very self-conscious and underdressed for the occasion, "Oh my god.. Ah'm missin' somethin', aren't Ah?" The surprise had even made her lose control over her voice.

“In a sense, yes, but we’ll fix that in a second,” Jane said with a wink. She took Alisha’s hands in hers. “We belong together, hand in hand, lives and fates intertwined. I can’t imagine my future without you by my side. And so…”

She let go of Alisha’s hands and sank to one knee. She drew from her pocket the small box that her mother had sent her, opening it to reveal the thin gold ring bearing one large diamond in the middle, flanked by two small jades.

“Alisha Starr Reno, will you marry me?”

Alisha's eyes had gone wide as the event began to unfold and she'd automatically reached out with her hands as Jane had released them, then as the box came out had clasped them in front of her again. Her jaw finally dropped as the question was asked and she went a light red, but it wasn't in embarrassment at all. "Ah, ah.." Her native Texan accent was present in full, a sign that she was well and truly surprised. "Ah.. Of course! Yes! Of course Ah'll marri' you!" She reached out with her left hand, trembling slightly.

Jane grinned and started giggling as she took the ring from the box and slipped it onto Alisha’s extended finger.

Alisha grasped Jane's fingers and brought them up to her lips, "Ah'm... Ah'm afraid that Ah'm way underdressed for this." She swallowed hard as she used her other hand to flutter at the flight suit, "I had no clue, no idea, no.. Inkling you'd-"

She was cut off when Jane stood and pressed their lips together in one of their most passionate kisses to date. They had begun something. A process to weave their lives together forever. Sealed with a kiss, and many more to come. “Honestly, it feels good to surprise a former spy,” Jane said with a giggle when the kiss stopped. “You’re not underdressed to enjoy the cheesecake with me. If anything, maybe you’re overdressed,” she teased, a hand having come around to toy with the latches on Alisha’s flight suit.

Alisha slumped back in her chair as the kiss ended, seemingly all the energy was leeched out of her from the passion, the wonder of the ring on her hand as she brought it up to look at it more closely, "I don't have one for you... Yet." She remarked before looking back up to where Jane was playing with her suit, "And you can bet it'll be epic."

“As long as it’s from you,” Jane replied, smiling sweetly. She held up Alisha’s left hand to show her. “This is a style traditional on Proxima. A gold ring and solitaire diamond, flanked by jades, which historically were common in Chinese engagement rings. Together they represent unity, harmony, love, prosperity, and longevity. Anyone who sees it will know you’re engaged to a Proximan.” She gently stroked the stones on the ring. “My father bought this ring from a jeweller in New Guangzhou. He gave it to my mother in 2358. And now I had the honour of giving it to you.” She kissed Alisha’s hand and squeezed her fingers gently.

"I'm going to treasure this beyond anything else." Alisha promised, "But I'm afraid that anything I give to you won't have that much of a history.. But I'm pretty sure that they'll know that a Texan gave it to you, or at least me." She gave a chuckle at that thought, "I'm going to keep this safe and close to me, always, IF I ever take it off. And that's a big if!"

“I do understand the practicalities of our work, luv,” Jane assured her. “Trust that I won’t be offended if sometimes it might need to come off. I expect Princess Allura doesn’t wear a Proximan engagement ring,” she added with a laugh. “But whatever you give me, I’ll treasure it beyond anything. Because I treasure you more than anything.” She led Alisha to the table. “Now. Why don’t you take a moment to get into something appropriate for strawberry cheesecake eating while I serve us some and pop the champagne?”

"I think I can do that." The blonde said, her voice finally under full control again, "I'll just be a minute, maybe two or three?" She reached up to her hair, "Just want to give this a quick brush." Alisha quickly made her way to the bedroom and let it close behind her before she brought the ring back up to look at it. She'd not expected THIS, not in the slightest, but it felt warm and fuzzy. She quickly stripped out of the flight suit and looked over herself in the mirror even as she grabbed a hairbrush and started rapidly brushing it out, trying to smooth it out and as silky as she could as she pondered what she should wear. Then she smiled.

It was the full three minutes later that the door slid open again, her hair still with rough edges, but much better than it had been. It flowed over the emerald negligee that was the only thing she was appearing to wear, one that she had worn for Jane previously, but still slightly covering the interesting parts, coming down to halfway down her thighs, held up by two straps over her shoulders. "I do hope that this is presentable?" She asked with a sultry voice, the ring still very clearly visible on her ring finger as she swayed forward towards Jane, leaning in to give her a heated but simple kiss.

Having just finished plating the cheesecake (and putting the rest back in the fridge) and pouring the champagne, Jane’s eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. “Well hello there!” she said with a grin after regaining her composure.

Alisha smiled very warmly at Jane's reaction to the outfit, then leaned in even further, "And you can do whatever you want to get me out of it, I'm yours, now and forever."

“That’s good,” Jane said as she sat down in her seat at the dining table. “Because I,” she paused to pull Alisha onto her lap, “expect that it might be scraps by the time I’m done.”

“So long as I fare better than it!” Alisha teased gently, wrapping arms around d Jane’s neck.

Jane had no need for a fork. Instead, she took a small handful of cheesecake between her fingers, smeared it to the inside of Alisha’s wrist, and set about enjoying her dessert.


END

Lieutenant Alisha Reno
Deputy Air Boss, USS Myogi

Lieutenant jg Jane Sinclair
Chief Flight Control Officer. USS Myogi

RSS Feed