"You wanna sleep now?" Lucas asked softly. My head had been cradled against his chest for what felt like hours. I nodded sleepily and Lucas let go of me. I laid down on my bed and yawned, my eyes closing before someone could say the phrase I love you.
Lucas covered me with a blanket and gently squeezed my shoulder before turning off my light and leaving the room. I fell asleep easier than I had expected, and I owed that all to Lucas. I would have to thank him in the morning.
•••
"Who is it?" Captain Hudson called after Lucas knocked on the door of his quarters.
"It's Lucas Wolenczak, sir," Lucas replied, entering the room with a salute.
"At ease, Ensign." Hudson turned from his novel to face Lucas. "What do you need, Ensign?"
"I'd like to ask permission for Ms. McIntyre to stay aboard Seaquest, sir."
"Lucas, you know I can't have any civilians aboard my boat and-"
"I didn't mean as a civilian, Captain." Lucas stared intently at Captain Hudson.
"No, no, Lucas, I couldn't possibly-"
"But sir, she's already qualified and UEO trained. All we would need to do is sign a few documents and-"
"Ensign. No means no." Captain Hudson looked at Lucas sternly.
"Captain, I'm all that she has left," Lucas squeaked out. He seemed genuinely hurt by the fact, and Captain Hudson paused.
"Alright, Ensign, if you want her, you can have her. I'll invite her to join our crew. But if she messes up at all, both her and you will be kicked off my boat. Understood?"
"Yessir," Lucas saluted before turning and leaving the room. Another victory for Lucas Wolenczak.
•••
"Lucas?" I croaked, opening my eyes slowly. He wasn't in my room with me anymore, but of course he wasn't. He hadn't stayed while I was asleep and I admired him for that. I straightened myself up a bit before finding my way to the cafeteria for some breakfast.
"Shelby!!" Lucas exclaimed when he saw me enter the cafeteria. I smiled.
"Hey Lucas," I said when he came over to me.
"You must be starving," he said. I had to admit that the food smelled delicious, and I was pretty hungry.
"Believe it or not, I am," I laughed, grabbing a plate of cinnamon buns and a bowl of cereal. Lucas offered to carry some of my meal, so I handed him the bowl Frosted Flakes I had chosen and he led me over to an empty table.
"So, I talked to Captain Hudson last night," Lucas said while I ate.
"What about?"
"Well, I asked him if you'd be able to stay aboard the Seaquest, like as a Lieutenant, you know?"
"What did he say?" My words were muffled by the bite of cinnamon bun I had just started chewing.
"He said that he'd be willing to let you join the crew as long as it's what you want," Lucas said. I swallowed my cinnamon bun and smiled at him.
"Of course I'll stay. It's how I'll keep close to you." I reached my hand across the table so I could hold his. We smiled at each other for a while before someone came up to us and whistled.
"Wowie, Lucas. Who's this?" The guy asked, poking at Lucas jokingly. Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Piccolo, this is Shelby. Shelby, this is Tony Piccolo. He's my roommate."
"Nice to meet you, Tony," I said, letting go of Lucas' hand in order to shake Tony's.
"Pleasure," he responded. He looked back and forth between Lucas and I for a few seconds. "Well, I guess I'll leave you two lovebirds to your food. Remember, Lucas, there's no dessert after breakfast." Tony winked at Lucas before walking away. Lucas was staring daggers at Tony while I looked down at my plate of food and blushed. I didn't look up until I felt a hand against my face.
"I'm sorry about that," Lucas apologized, holding his hand against my face.
"No worries at all. I like Tony," I laughed.
"You won't after a while," Lucas chuckled. I smiled before going back to eating, and Lucas removed his hand and instead placed it on the table, drumming his fingers lightly.
"So what are we gonna do today?" I asked him when I was finished eating.
"I could give you a tour," Lucas offered. I nodded and cleaned up my dishes before heading off with Lucas through the submarine.
We wandered through every level of Seaquest, and Lucas would point out little things as we walked along. There's the supply room, there's medbay, there's the bridge. We were in another hallway when I finally noticed a tunnel of water that had been a constant in the submarine's hallways the whole time.
"What's that waterway for?" I asked, reaching out to touch it. As if on cue, a dolphin swam up to the glass where my hand was. I smiled widely.
"You never told me you had a dolphin!!" I exclaimed, admiring him through the glass.
"That's Darwin. Do you want to talk to him?" I turned towards Lucas slowly.
"Talk to him?" I asked.
"Come on," Lucas said, smiling and grabbing my hand. We ran through the submarine until he led me into the sea deck. He led me over to the pool in the center of the room and grabbed a yellow device, a sort of walkie talkie.
"Hey, Darwin!" Lucas smiled as Darwin swam over.
"Lucas happy," Darwin replied. I jumped, not knowing that Darwin could talk. Lucas laughed and pulled me closer to the edge.
"It's a vocorder," he pointed to the yellow walkie talkie as I gaped at Darwin in awe. "I invented it as a means of communication with dolphins. It translates the clicks and squeals of a dolphin into English, and vice versa. It's nothing really," Lucas blushed, looking away.
"Lucas, that's incredible," I told him, pulling his head back towards me instead of away.
"Do you want a turn?" He asked.
"Sure!" I responded. Lucas grabbed the vocorder.
"Darwin, this is Shelby. She wants to talk to you," Lucas told Darwin.
"Shelby pretty," Darwin replied. I giggled.
"Yes, Shelby is pretty. Do you mind if she talks to you?" Lucas said.
"Darwin talk to pretty Shelby," he said. I smiled as Lucas handed me the vocorder.
"Hi, Darwin!" I couldn't stop smiling at the adorable dolphin. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Lucas smiling as well, only he was looking at me rather than Darwin.
"Hello Shelby," Darwin said to me. I reached my hand into the water and pet the top of Darwin's head.
"Shelby and Lucas come play with Darwin," he said. I looked at Lucas inquisitively and he laughed.
"Darwin wants us to swim with him. If you want to, I can grab us some wet suits and we can get in with Darwin." Lucas offered.
"That would be fun," I agreed. Lucas set off to find the wet suits as I stayed behind, petting the adorable Darwin.
"Lucas like Shelby, and Shelby like Lucas?" Darwin asked while Lucas was away.
"Yes, Darwin. Shelby and Lucas are friends." I smiled. The word friends was getting easier to say.
"Okay, I'm back," Lucas said, tossing me a wetsuit. We put them on over our clothes and hopped into the water with Darwin. Lucas handed me a pair of goggles and we dove under the water.
We played with Darwin for nearly an hour. Lucas taught me how to swim with Darwin by holding onto his dorsal fin, and the three of us played sponge football together. We splashed around and got soaked. I even dunked Lucas, but he pulled me under with him and we laughed under the water, nearly choking because humans can't breathe in water. Eventually, it was time to continue the tour of the Seaquest, and we had to meet with Captain Hudson soon anyways.
"Thank you, Darwin!" I said as I dried my wet hair with a towel.
"Darwin like pretty Shelby just like Lucas like pretty Shelby," he responded. I laughed and planted a kiss on Darwin's smooth, wet head.
"If dolphins could blush, I'm sure Darwin would be bright red right now," Lucas laughed.
"I'm sure he would be," I smiled at the dolphin once more before I followed Lucas away from the pool and sea deck.