#commander tysess x commander ophelia zubira

[unknownfacelessfanfictions]

Part 8: Taking the next step

Commander Tysess x Ophelia Zubira (OFC) Words: 3.3K Summary: Ophelia and Tysess did agree on moving in together. However none of them guessed that the Admiral would agree that fastly. As if she had waited for the opportunity... A/N: WARNING!! I've not seen season 2 of Star Trek Prodigy yet and this story will probably not be canon-compliant. I'm sorry. BUt we're already about 1 1/2 years after the end of season 1 and if I understood correctly season 2 takes place in the same year as season 1. Maybe I#ll find a way, but not at the moment

Ophelia could hear Tysess huffing behind her, but was unable to turn to face him due to the boxes in her arms.

"I can't believe the Admiral agreed so quickly," he grumbled and she heard a muffled sound. Apparently he had found space to put his boxes down. "It's like she's been waiting for this." Ophelia grinned slightly and in turn found a place for the boxes, right in the middle of the kitchen counter.

"And I can't believe it's just when we're moving that the transporters break down and we have to carry everything the old-fashioned way." She wiped the sweat from her brow and, as she looked up, could see the mischievous twinkle in Tysess's eyes. Along with the rippling antennae, it was clear that it amused him a lot more than it amused her. "Would you come to training with me..."

"No way," she interrupted him with a laugh and put her arms around his neck. "I love you like crazy, Tysess, but after the last time, I'll never train with you again."

Tysess pressed his forehead against hers and she felt his antennae running through her hair. "It wasn't that bad." She broke away from him enough to look at him and he saw her look of disbelief, which elicited a small chuckle from him.

"I was through, done with everything. The fact that you didn't have to administer first aid was a real miracle."

Shaking his head in amusement, Tysess broke away from her with a quick kiss against her forehead and turned his attention back to his boxes. "That's what you get for being out of shape." Ophelia rolled her eyes and turned to her boxes as well. "Haha, very funny."

Silently, however, she had to agree with Tysess, it had been surprisingly quick, quicker than either of them had expected. They had applied to the Admiral and within two days she had called them both into her office. After she had made it clear to both of them once again that they should both make sure that duty came before their relationship and both had promised to stick to it, she had looked at them with a smile and signed the transfer of quarters.

Which had arrived the very next day and had asked both Ophelia and Tysess to vacate their quarters within the next thirty-six hours. After all, Janeway had given them time off to do the whole thing without further distractions.

A crash sounded, bringing Ophelia out of her thoughts and as she wheeled round she saw Tysess just manage to stop a box from falling and was now looking at her with an apologetic smile. She smirked. "If you want to drop anything today, use those boxes over there." She pointed to the right corner.

"My aunt gave me those, but I can't like them for the life of me." Curious, Tysess fought his way through the chaos to the boxes and opened them, only to look up with a mixture of horror and confusion.

"Are those-?" "Plates with the faces of British monarchs? Yep." Ophelia laughed softly as she watched Tysess put the plates back in the box with a certain disgust. "You know, my love, I seem to remember that Commander Kiah still needs projectiles for her officers' target practice." Ophelia laughed again and if she could get to him without tripping over boxes, she would definitely have kissed him.

For the next three hours, the unpacking went surprisingly smoothly. They had the occasional debate about where to put things ("Tysess, you're a head taller than me. There's no way I can reach the plates if you put them so high up." "But I like it when you need my help.") and Ophelia amused herself by confusing Tysess with strong irony ("Promise me never to leave the toothpaste open. I've heard that even the strongest relationships have failed." " Understood, I'll refrain." "Tysess, I'm kidding, I'm not breaking up with you over toothpaste"), but it went reasonably quietly as they had similar tastes anyway.

However, when it came to the finishing touches, Tysess brought her out of her bubble. "Is this your family?"

Ophelia looked up, her focus off the task of stuffing the bed linen into the too-small wardrobe, and saw the picture frame in Tysess's hands. She stepped closer and took it from him, a soft expression on her face. "Yes."

The small picture frame in her hand held the hologram depicting herself with her family. Tysess, beside her, placed a hand on her shoulder, which she squeezed affectionately. "We took it just before I left Barranquilla." Her finger hovered over the faces of her familiars and lovers. "These are my parents, as you might guess, Joseph and Shyla Zubira. My father grew up in Colombia and is half Congolese. My mother is half British, half Indian, even though she grew up in England."

Ophelia smiled and settled down on the sofa, Tysess right behind her. Her father, a slightly shorter man with a half bald head, glasses and a gold earring on his left side, had an arm around her mother. She had the same round face as Ophelia and her grey afro was held back by a hair band. Her parents looked at each other with such love that Ophelia felt warm all over.

"They met when my father was on holiday in England. Mum always tells the story of how he wasn't paying attention, ran into her and nearly knocked her into the Thames. As an apology, he bought her a meal and well... apparently that's all my mum needed." One of her older sisters stood next to each of her parents.

"That's Alexandria and Vanessa." She pointed at each of them, holding the frame so that Tysess could get a good look at the two sisters who couldn't have been more different.

Vanessa had her hair, which wasn't nearly as curly as Ophelia's, neatly tied back in a ponytail and smiled a little shyly at the camera. Her appearance was as neat as ever, even if the red lipstick she usually wore was missing. The only thing that detracted from her "perfect" appearance was the eyebrow piercing on her left side.

Alexandria, on the other hand, looked more like her father. Slender face, hair not nearly as curly as everyone else's and the only one whose skin colour was a lighter brown. Her hair was just shoulder-length and dyed purple, which complemented her black-coloured lips surprisingly well. Several earrings dangled from her ears, which sparkled in the sun.

"Which one of them is engaged to the Romulan," Tysess enquired and Ophelia pointed to Vanessa. "Which is quite surprising, I was pretty sure Alexandria would be the one to turn my parents' last hair grey." He chuckled softly, which also elicited a grin from her, before she moved on to the last person squatting on the floor with her in front of the others.

"This is my brother Julio. He's two years older than me and a primary school teacher." Julio was the perfect example of a naturally attractive man. He had high cheekbones and a prominent chin, which was covered by a slight shadow of a beard. His dark eyes sparkled cheekily and his curls were tied up in a bun, revealing his earrings, which resembled her father's rings. If she remembered correctly, they had got them together.

"So you're the youngest?" It wasn't really a question from Tysess, more a statement, but Ophelia nodded anyway and ran her hand over the picture one last time before switching off the projection and placing the frame on the table. "Believe it or not, I am. Vanessa is six years older than me and Alexandria is five." He nodded slightly and looked at the empty picture frame, lost in thought, before standing up and walking over to one of the cupboards to open a drawer. "My brother is three years younger than me, my sister seven."

She looked up in surprise. She and Tysess had been together for almost two years, but he still often found it difficult to open up and talk about his family or his past. When he returned, he held a small cube in his hand and sat down next to her. Tysess smiled tentatively at her before gently pressing a hidden button and a holo image above the cube came to life. A total of seven people could be seen in the picture.

Tysess stood on the far left, his head raised and a barely recognisable smile on his lips, but his antennae clearly showed that he was fine. Next to him stood a man who could only be his biological father. He had the same pointed face, the same crooked nose, but more wrinkles on his face and his lips didn't even show the hint of a smile. "My father, Kylas. He is now 'retired' as you humans say, but he served our planet as an outstanding general. The woman next to him is my birth mother, Tavas, she also served." The woman looked almost as stern as Kylas‘. Her face was softer, but not round, and her hair was tied back in a short ponytail from practice. If she squinted, she thought she could tell she had grey eyes, whereas Kylas' were violet. Tysess' were the perfect mix.

Ophelia grimaced slightly. Once again, it was her luck that the two people who looked the sternest were her boyfriend's biological parents.

"The other two older people are Thoss and Shyral, my 'additional' father and mother." While they didn't really look friendly, they looked friendlier than Tysess's other two parents. Shyral had her hair cut short and it seemed to be a little curly, which Ophelia had never seen on an Andorian before. She had a thin smile on her lips and her head was tilted slightly towards the man next to her. Thoss was slightly shorter than Kylas and the first Andorian with a half bald head Ophelia had ever seen. Also the first with a beard, even if it only went around his mouth.

Like all the others, he wore three rings around his antennae, which Ophelia only now realised. The most striking thing, however, was the large burn scar that covered the right half of his face.

"War wound?" she surmised, but Tysess shook his head, his body a little tense. "No. He's actually the only one of my parents who didn't work in the forces. He and my brother Thiros were injured in an ambush." He pointed to a younger man who had his arm around Thoss and was smiling surprisingly wide for an Andorian. He looked younger than Tysess, though she didn't know if it was just because she knew he was younger, but he had the same high cheekbones as Tysess. Otherwise, the brothers didn't look much alike. Thiros had a smaller nose than Tysess and his eyes appeared to be grey. His hair was combed to the right side of his head, revealing his undercut. Like Thoss, he also had burn scars on the right side of his face.

"They were out and about in the city. Some extremists had unfortunately chosen that moment to set off a bomb." Tysess's face was grim. "My mother, Shyral, was allowed to carry out the bombers' sentence."

Ophelia felt a shiver run down her spine, but she refused to show it on the outside. Andoria might be part of the Federation, but she had to remember that the customs of their cultures were very different.

"Your brother is at the Andorian Academy of Arts and Crafts, isn't he?" Her attempt at distraction was obvious, but Tysess's face softened considerably and his posture became more relaxed. His antennae flexed slightly and wiggled gently, which she took as a good sign. "He teaches there now, yes. My sister Jeveth is meanwhile a highly praised scientist in the field of xenobiology in our commune." Jeveth was a pretty young woman with softer features than her brothers, marred only by a slight scar through her eyebrow. Ophelia suspected an old battle wound. The white hair was thick and long and tied back in a braid, and though she had one arm around Thiros, Ophelia had to admit to herself that she didn't look much like him or Tysess. Tysess seemed to notice her realisation as he chuckled softly and nudged her affectionately.

"Jeveth is the only biological child of Thoss and Shyral. Thiros is also the son of my biological parents, my 'blood brother' so to speak. That's why she doesn't look much like us." She nodded, a little embarrassed. It made sense, she could have guessed.

" They look nice," Ophelia said half-heartedly, which elicited a laugh from Tysess and he nudged her affectionately again. "I know my parents all look a bit serious, you don't have to pretend otherwise."

"Still," she gave off stubbornly. "It's your family. They're important to you, so I'll take it seriously too." Tysess smiled down at her and gently pressed his forehead against hers. "Thank you, my love." They sat like that for a few moments, forehead pressed against forehead, before they broke away and Ophelia looked down at his family again.

"But none of you are in the Imperial Guard, are you? You'd think there'd be at least one in a family like this." She laughed, however Tysess didn't join in, just glanced to the side. "I was." Surprised, she looked up, her focus away from the picture. "Really? You never told me that." It wasn't an accusation, just astonishment, but the furrows on Tysess's face deepened. "Our parents wanted us to join the Imperial Guard, but I realised from the start that neither Jeveth nor Thiros were cut out for it. So to make sure our parents were happy and my siblings could pursue their desired professions, I joined the Guard." Ophelia shook her head slowly and put a hand to his cheek. "Oh, Tysess."

That was all she said, yet that was all that was possible. Suddenly a lot of things made sense. The almost military demeanour he sometimes displayed during work, why he never liked to talk about it, where he had learned his fighting skills and only brushed them off with an 'it's not important' and why sometimes, when they had fallen asleep together, she woke up at night to find his side of the bed empty, plagued by nightmares.

"I...you...." He had trouble finding the words, so she just put a hand on his leg and ran soothing circles with her finger. "It's okay," she whispered, smiling gently at him. "I know what you want to tell me. Talk when you're ready."

He looked at her for a moment before nodding gratefully and briefly stroking her cheek gently. "I was in the service for five years before I couldn't take it anymore and joined Starfleet. My parents were a little disappointed that none of their children followed their path, but they accepted it. After all, Starfleet was still good enough. And I managed to fight my way up the ranks in a short time, which of course satisfied them again." Ophelia smiled slightly mischievously. "And then you dared to fall in love with a human." Tysess paused before a somewhat apologetic smile crept onto his lips as his antennae twitched slightly. "My parents... don't really know about our relationship." Ophelia paused, puzzled. "What?" "They know about you, of course, after all, we were friends for years before we were even transferred here together, but not that we're in a relationship."

That was a revelation she hadn't really expected. "You kept me... a secret? Because I'm human?" Tysess winced and wheeled round to face her. "No! Never! And I'm not ashamed of it, if that's what you think." He took her face in his hands so that his gaze pierced her. "My parents are quite relaxed about that sort of thing. And my siblings know about us. You can't imagine how many times Thiros and Jeveth have begged me to introduce you to them."

He sighed and pressed his forehead against hers again. "I haven't told my parents about us because I don't want to put you through all the hardships. When Andorians introduce their mates to their parents, it's like a marriage proposal. And my parents have been waiting so long for me to bring someone home that they probably wouldn't even be able to hold back if I just told them."

He laughed softly. "I wouldn't be surprised if my father got on a ship and flew over to us without further ado.“

Now Ophelia had to laugh a little too. "So you're not worried that they don't like me?" "No." He shook his head and she felt his antennae feel over her scalp. "They'll love you, I know they will. And even if they don't, I wouldn't care. I love you. I don't need their approval for that."

Ophelia blinked in surprise at the forceful announcement. Andorians were known for their strong family ties and his declaration wasn't exactly small. A smile spread across her face, so wide it made her cheeks hurt. "God I love you, mi amor." She leaned in and pressed a kiss against his mouth, which he tried to return as best he could.

They sat together on the sofa for a few moments, their arms wrapped around each other, when Ophelia had an idea and stood up. She felt Tysess's eyes on her as she picked up both the cube and the picture frame and walked over to one of the chests of drawers. He followed her hesitantly.

In this chest of drawers were some books, a vase of flowers and other decorations. Hanging on the wall were some of Tysess's blades, which were the only neutral or military items he had brought with him. Ophelia had realised that Andorian decoration was very colourful and wild. ("Then why is your flat in San Francesco so ... colourless?" she had asked, and Tysess had wrapped his arms around her from behind. "San Francesco is not my home. This is.")

She carefully placed the two objects on top and activated them so that both their families were floating next to each other. "It looks good," murmured Tysess, who had wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his head on hers. "It looks right," Ophelia improved, leaning against him. "It's strange, don't you think? We come from two planets that are billions of kilometres apart and yet we manage to connect them. Just like that." He pressed his face into her neck. "I like it." There was silence for a few seconds before she turned round in his arms and he looked down at her expectantly. She smiled. "We're almost done, there's just one thing missing." Ophelia rummaged around in her trouser pocket and pulled out a small, inconspicuous key and handed it to Tysess, who accepted it sceptically.

"This isn't some human sentimentality about a 'key to my heart', is it?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No, no. Even though you have it, of course." She winked at him and although he rolled his eyes, she saw his cheeks darken. "No. It's the key to my flat in Vancouver. I know, I know, you have my pin, and maybe it really is a bit of human sentimentality, but I think it's only right that you have it."

Tysess's amusement had disappeared and been replaced by awe, with which he lifted the key as if it could disappear before his eyes. "You're giving me access to your flat? Your privacy?" She smiled and placed her hand over his so that it closed around the key. "Tysess, we live together from now on. What's mine is yours too. You are a part of my privacy from now on. If that's what you want?"

Had he been able to, his eyes would have been replaced by hearts as he pressed the hand with the key against his chest, right over his beating heart.

"I would be honoured."

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I know it's been a while, but hopefully you still like to read it :)

@indignantlemur

@akamitrani

[unknownfacelessfanfictions]

Part 7: Ace of hearts

Commander Tysess x Ophelia Zubira (OFC) Words: 2K Summary: Tysess has been fighting with something over the last weeks and can't hold it in anymore Warnings: Talk about sexual activities (nothing graphic or so, just talk), coming to terms with identity A/N: This was kind of inspired by this post from @zierzim. I have wanted to write something along those lines for quite some time and finally got the needed inspiration, so thanks for that

Body Language Masterlist

Lost in thought, Ophelia sat on the small armchair she had pulled in front of the ship's porthole to watch the stars go by. Two weeks. For two weeks she had been trying to convince Tysess to ask the Admiral for a transfer of quarters so that they could move in together.

They had both talked about it before and her partner had seemed willing to take the next step, but something seemed to have happened. She didn't know if Tysess had changed his mind or not, but for the past fortnight he had been avoiding the subject whenever she dared mention it.

In general, Tysess seemed to be withdrawing lately and Ophelia didn't know how to react. On the one hand, she was convinced that it would be best to give him his freedom and the peace and quiet he seemed to need. On the other hand, she feared that he might fall back into old patterns, something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Sighing, she rose and wandered to her little kitchenette, hoping a cup of coffee would help her, when all at once her doors slid aside to reveal a rather stiff-looking Andorian. "Tysess!"

A warm smile graced her lips as he entered her quarters, his hands clasped behind his back, standing tall with a nod of acknowledgment. "Ophelia," he greeted softly.

Stepping forward, she enveloped him in a tight embrace, though she sensed him tense at her touch. After a moment, she released him, concern furrowing her brow. "Are you alright?" she inquired gently. Tysess avoided meeting her gaze, sidestepping her to approach the porthole she had occupied just moments before.

 "Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?" His voice sounded pressed, and his antennae seemed a little too much to the rear for her taste.

Noticing his unease, she cautiously reached out to touch his shoulder, causing him to flinch reflexively. Pulling back, she regarded him with growing worry, stepping around to meet his eyes. Tysess averted his gaze, his expression tinged with something akin to shame.

"I don't want to be a pain," she murmured in a calm voice, hoping to put him at ease as well. "And if you just need some you-time, that's totally fine. But I'm beginning to worry about you, Tysess. I'm truly concerned."

Tysess remained silent, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on the scene outside. After a few moments of heavy silence, Ophelia turned away with a resigned sigh. "We can just keep quiet, if you prefer, mi amor. Just let me get my tea quickly, then-"

"Are you expecting us to have sex?" The question sliced through the air, causing Ophelia to spin around to face him, her expression a mixture of confusion and surprise. "I beg your pardon?" Taking a deep breath, Tysess turned to squarely meet her gaze, his eyes piercing. In that moment, Ophelia felt as if she were staring not at her boyfriend, but at her stern commanding officer. "Do you expect us to participate in sexual activities?"

His tone was matter-of-fact, professional, reminiscent of a Vulcan's demeanor, leaving Ophelia unsure how to react. "What ... what makes you think that?"

"It’s irrelevant." Ophelia, caught off guard by the abrupt question and the sudden shift in his demeanor, found herself fumbling with her words and her arms. "I... no idea. Maybe I do? I don't know how-"

"Do you think our relationship will fail should we not be able to be sexually intimate with each other?" The question hung heavy in the air, leaving Ophelia speechless as she gaped at him, her silence seemingly confirming something to Tysess. With a palpable sense of disappointment, he turned away, his expression etched with resignation."I knew it."

"Woah, give me a break," Ophelia interjected, running her hands over her face in bewilderment. "No one's breaking up with anyone here, alright? Just take a breath, Tysess. I'm struggling to keep up here."

"It was a simple question,“ Tysess countered.

" That came out of nowhere," she argued, reaching for his arm. "Please, Tysess, where the hell do you come up with this now? And why does it seem so important? We are not even at that step yet."

"And perhaps we never will be," Tysess wheeled around and stared down at her. With any other person, she would have flinched, maybe even taken a few steps back, but not with him. Not with her Tysess. All she saw in his eyes was fear, exhaustion and frustration.

"Mi amor," she murmured and tentatively tugging on his hand to pull him onto the sofa next to her. "Breathe in and out and start again. Please, I can't follow you."

Tysess sat down on the sofa and ran her fingers wildly through her hair so that the white strands were sticking out in all directions. Under other circumstances, it would have looked pretty cute.

"I... I'm not able to feel these things, to give you these things. These... sexual urges," he spat out the words in disgust, "are beyond my understanding. I... I don't know what exactly is broken with me, but I... I just can't. I'm... I'm sorry, my love, please forgive me." Ashamed, he buried his face in his hands, and to her shock, she realized his shoulders were shaking with sobs after a few moments.

"Hey, hey, Tysess, mi amor," she said softly, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and drawing closer to him. "That's no reason to cry. And certainly no reason to leave you. What makes you think that?" He mumbled something she didn't understand and when she asked him to repeat himself, he just spat out a "Nada". Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and an uneasy, foreboding feeling spread through her stomach. "Lieutenant Nada? What's he got to do with it?"

 "We were talking, please don't ask me how it came about, I don't know myself, and he asked me if we were both ... one step closer. He was drunk, which is probably why he dared to do it in the first place. When I said no, he said..." Tysess's voice broke off, but Ophelia didn't let up and urged her to keep talking in a stern voice. "He said that if I wasn't able to satisfy your ... needs, you'd find me inadequate and seek someone else."

"Oh that motherfucker!" Ophelia shot up from her seat, her anger boiling within her like a cauldron. "I'm going to kill him!" The mere thought of the Cardassian planting such poisonous ideas in Tysess's mind made her blood boil. How dare he meddle in their relationship? How dare he speak about it in such a disrespectful manner? He had absolutely no right to interfere.

As she made her determined stride toward the door, a firm grip seized her wrist, halting her in her tracks. Still seething with fury, she spun around to find Tysess, still seated, his expression a mix of confusion and exhaustion.

"Let go of me! That bastard has no right to talk to you like that! Who does he think I am anyway? A fucking broodmare?!“

 "Ophelia..." Tysess attempted to interject, but she cut him off.

"No!" Kneeling down next to him on the sofa, ensuring they were at eye level, she gently took his face in her hands, forcing him to meet er gaze.

"He has no right to talk like that! Absolutely no right! Especially because he couldn't be more wrong, mi amor." She gently ran her thumb over his prominent cheekbones, watching as a glimmer of reassurance returned to Tysess's eyes.

"You don't think I..."

 "Tysess," she murmured, feeling like her heart was breaking into a thousand tiny splinters. He didn't deserve to be put to the test over and over again, to doubt himself until it drove him to ruin. He might be grumpy and his aura was usually not really inviting, but she knew the man beneath that layer.

A man who was kind and loving and possessed a heart of gold that had been broken and betrayed far too often.

She gently stroked a few white strands from his face, her fingers brushing against his courtship ring.

"I'm not interested in such things." Her fingers lovingly caressed his cheek until he closed his eyes and surrendered to the feeling. Ophelia felt him slowly relax beneath her.

"I don't need anything like that. Then we won't have sex, who cares? If you can't feel sexual feelings, mi amor, I'm hardly going to force you to. Do I really seem like someone who judges you for the way you are?" Tysess opened his eyes slowly, ashamed, and shook his head

"Ah, ah, ah!" She tapped him lightly on the chin. "Let's not even start with that. Blaming ourselves accomplishes nothing. It's not your fault. It's no one's fault for anything here because it's a normal thing. There are a lot of people who don't feel sexual feelings. My best friend at school wasn't just asexual, she was also aromantic and it never posed any issue. The only person to blame for anything is Lieutenant Nada."

Tysess frowned and his eyes darted back and forth, as if he was looking for an answer to a question he didn't yet know himself.

"But..." he hesitated and his gaze dropped. Ophelia placed her fingers under his chin and lifted his head, an encouraging smile on her lips. "Yes?"

 "What if you want to have children later?" This question surprised her almost more than his question about sex, and somewhat taken aback, she dropped onto her bum. Meanwhile, Tysess's cheeks turned a delightful shade of lilac. "I know, I know, it's way too soon, but... it's still something to consider." His tone seemed firm and now it was he who looked her firmly in the eye.

"Ophelia, correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding of the situation is that we're both ready to take this relationship a step further." She nodded tentatively, indicating for him to continue talking. "

We've been together for over a year and a half, been through quite a bit and made it through and both decided that living together permanently is something desirable."

He took her hand and squeezed it gently before beginning to draw patterns on the back of her hand with his finger.

"I don't want to put pressure on you, nothing is further from my mind than that. However, it is something to keep in mind. Especially now that we're both ready to enter into a more committed, serious relationship."

Ophelia mulled over his words for a moment before offering a nod of agreement. As always, he wasn't wrong. "I understand you, Tysess. Your concern is valid, though it's unnecessary. Even if you were able to feel sexual feelings, that wouldn't guarantee children. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be against children, but we have to keep in mind, mi amor: We are not the same species. Andorian and human physiology differ significantly, if memory serves from my Academy biology classes. The chances of our species producing offspring... well, they're virtually non-existent."

She pressed her forehead against his. "I love you, Tysess. That's something that can't be changed. Whether you're asexual or not, whether children are possible or not —it doesn't matter to me. All I want is to be with you, right here, right now. It's okay to think about the future, it's even necessary. But please don't let it spoil the present, mi amor." A tranquil silence settled between them, not uncomfortable, but rather a moment in which everyone could sort out their thoughts.

"All right." Ophelia smiled and leaned in to give him a brief, tender kiss. Tysess smiled narrowly and, in an unguarded moment on her part, he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

"By the way," he murmured, "didn't you mention speaking to the Admiral about our quarters arrangements?"

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@akamitrani

@bigblissandlove1

@indignantlemur

[unknownfacelessfanfictions]

Part 4: A Symbol of Love

Pairing: Tysess x Ophelia (OFC) Fandom: Star Trek Prodigy Words: 5.3K Summary: Ophelia has to learn something more about the culture of her significant other as well... A/N: Huge credit for this Part goes to @indignantlemur who is the creator of the "ruuphviik neek" ( andorian courtship rings) that are featured in their magnificant fanfiction "Emigre" ( which you all should totally read, because they put a lot of work into creating not only the story and the characters but also a whole culture with traditions for Andorians). Thank you again for allowing me to use this, I really hope that this part does not dissapoint your expectations.

Body Language Masterlist

Hectically, Ophelia threw on her beige coat, tucked the phone under her ear, and glancing at the clock, uttered a Klingon curse taught to her by a Klingon on a space station, which instantly earned her a scolding from her mother, who was on the other end of the line. "Ophelia Celeste Zubira. Don't put words like that in your mouth. Your father and I raised you better than that." Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Mum, you don't even know what I said. You speak English and Spanish. Not Klingon." All at once she noticed that the bags, which she wanted to take with her, were no longer beside the door. Panicked, she snapped her eyes open.

"I speak Bengalis too." Sheyla Zuberi sounded offended, however Ophelia didn't have time to worry about that right now as her evening, if she didn't find the bags, would be ruined. "Don't take offence, Mum, but your Bengalis isn't what it used to be either." Ophelia was too busy searching behind the giant potted plant Noum had once given her as a joke and loved to pay much attention to her mother's snapping. "Listen, Mum, I love you, but my boyfriend and I were going to cook together today and I think I've lost the ingredients and I have to be there in fifteen minutes.

Silence reigned for a moment and Ophelia paused in her search. Her mother was never quiet. Never. "Mum? Are you still there?" "You have a boyfriend? Un novio?" Rolling her eyes she continued her search. Of course that was the only part that mattered. "Yes, Mum, as unbelievable as it is I have a boyfriend."

This statement was enough to bombard her with questions, however Ophelia stopped her half way, inwardly wincing at the disrespect shown to her mother. " His name is Tysess, he is the first officer of the ship I serve on, he is sweet, lovable, confident and yes he loves me, I know that. We have been together for almost five months and I am really late. I'll call you when I arrive in Barranquilla, love you." Without letting her get a word in edgewise, knowing full well that she would regret it when she returned home, she hung up and threw the phone on the sofa before hurrying to the kitchen.

A load fell from her mind and she breathed a sigh of relief when she found the two bags on the small kitchen counter of her borrowed quarters. Hastily, she hurried over and took one last look inside to make sure everything was there before dashing for the door and making her way away from the Starfleet compound, making it to the Andorian neighbourhood.

Over the years, many large cities had formed small neighbourhoods that were home to more non-humans than humans, and San Francisco, with Starfleet's headquarters at its heart, had the most neighbourhoods in all of America, especially in terms of Founder species.

Which did not mean that members of that species lived there exclusively, no. It was merely the case that mostly the inhabitants of other worlds, especially at the beginning, had come in batches and in groups and had accordingly settled together in one neighbourhood. Thus, over the centuries, several generations of non-humans had been born on Earth, who had rarely if ever seen their "home planet". In fact, Ophelia was good friends with a Denobulan family who had been living on Earth for almost two hundred years and that consisted of six generations now.

Tysess had settled in the Andorian district. He had explained to her that it was not because he wanted to live only among his own, but simply because there were shops and places there that had typical Andorian things like food that were otherwise hard to get and he just liked having everything close by. Moreover, the Andorian district was the closest to Starfleet headquarters, which allowed him to be there quickly in case of an emergency.

Ophelia personally did not live in San Francisco. She herself associated this city too much with work and study to live here in peace. Instead, she had bought a small flat in Seattle, which was her pride and joy.

However, since she had been newly promoted and was now partly responsible for the repairs of the USS Dauntless, she had expected so much work that it would have been too much trouble to always drive from Seattle to San Francisco, so she accepted Starfleet's offer of small quarters where she only ate and slept.

Tysess had offered her to stay with him, but he had seemed hesitant, which she could understand. They had only been together for five months and moving in together and living together was a step they had agreed on that was still too big. But that wouldn't stop them from having a date night.

When they had decided to give this relationship a try, they had promised each other that they would do their best to understand each other's culture and Tysess had done this, like everything else in his career and life, with excellence. While they had not had much time together due to the Protostar and its chaos, they had done their best.

Then, a few days ago, Tysess had gently taken her aside and asked her to spend an evening together. Ophelia would leave tomorrow and return to Colombia to visit her family. She had filled out the necessary forms regarding the Dauntless and now the repairs were in the hands of Starfleet engineers, so she wanted to give herself a few weeks rest. Tysess had to stay longer to work, otherwise she would have asked him to come along to introduce him to her family, so they had agreed to devote tonight to just each other.

In addition, Tysess had asked her to teach her something about her culture. Ophelia had been sceptical at first. Her parents were each from two different cultures, making her and her siblings children of four cultures, but in the end she had agreed to teach him about the culture that had been most prominent in her life: Colombia. Ophelia had sat down to pick out simple, yet typically Colombian, dishes from her childhood, which she now wanted to make and share with Tysess.

But as she flipped through her abuela's cookbooks, she had suddenly realised how little she actually knew about Andorian culture. However, she had to admit immediately afterwards that she had never really asked.

Many species felt that sharing their cultures was something very private. Tysess himself could be quite withdrawn and introverted from time to time. Which was not to say that he didn't trust her, no. In fact, Tysess had already confided so many private things to Ophelia that she probably knew more about him than anyone else.

And as much as she wanted to know more about Andorian culture, she would not press Tysess. She would be patient and wait until he was ready to talk to her about it. And until then, the only thing she could do was to introduce him to her cultures and customs and make him feel trusted and loved.

Five minutes later than agreed, she rang the doorbell, a little out of breath. The downstairs front door had already been open and Ophelia, already late, had seized the opportunity and slipped into the building, where she now stood in front of his flat door. Her gaze slid to her reflection, which was reflected in the window.

The black and loose blouse fit reasonably acceptably and the light-coloured trousers didn't look particularly dirty either. Ophelia had tied her loose hair back with a blue scarf. Tomorrow morning, before returning back home, she had an appointment with her hairdresser, who would braid her hair. Today she still had to cope with open hair, even though it didn't really bother her. Braids were just usually the easiest to work with.

The door opened and Ophelia's gaze was instantly focused on Tysess. He was wearing a grey jumper with wide puff sleeves and collar and some kind of black yoga pants, which he had explained to her were a typical piece of clothing on Andoria. He smiled slightly and stepped aside to let her in. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

Ophelia shook her head in amusement and pressed a kiss to his cheek as she passed before setting the bags down on the floor. "Forgive me, mi amor. My mother had called and I didn't want to cut her off right away. But come on, it was only five minutes. I've been much later before." Tysess stepped behind her and took her coat from her, hanging it on the coat rack. "Besides, I might have misplaced the bags of ingredients for today for a moment and panicked."

Tysess chuckled softly and lifted the bags easily, handing her a pair of slipper-like shoes. "Here, so you don't get cold feet." Ophelia had to smile in the face of his thoughtfulness and hurriedly exchanged the boots for the slippers before following him into the kitchen. His flat was pretty. It was kept simple and mostly painted in neutral tones, yet he had somehow managed to demand a touch of personality to it with little. However, Ophelia would not judge his style of decorating. She already considered it an honour that Tysess felt so comfortable around her that he let her invade her privacy so far. Admittedly, she had already been in his quarters on the Dauntless, but it had not felt so intimate.

In the kitchen, Tysess was already unpacking the bags and accordingly stood with his back to her and for a moment she simply allowed herself to look at him from behind. After all, she was his girlfriend, so she was allowed to do that. Besides, it was absolutely not her fault if Tysess' jumper had to stretch so impossibly over his shoulders, was it?

"I assume your family is fine," Tysess asked over his shoulder, and Ophelia reluctantly disengaged her gaze from his shoulder blades. "Everything's fine at home. My siblings are there too, though Julio had to leave his boyfriend, I still don't know his name, at home. Apparently he caught the Klingon flu. Don't ask me how though, I have no idea."

She heard Tysess laugh softly and a warm feeling spread through her. Of course, Ophelia didn't mind that Tysess was a little more controlled in things like showing emotion, and heavens she would never complain about him being in "first officer mode" (her term for when Tysess was in command and giving orders, looking very handsome), but those moments when he allowed himself to really laugh and relax made her heart swell. Metaphorically speaking.

"Don't laugh at me," she protested, playfully offended, crossing her arms in front of her chest. He turned, shook his head in amusement and stepped towards her to place his fingers under her chin and lift it slightly. "Would never do that, beloved."

Ophelia's knees went weak at the use of the nickname and then when he pressed his forehead against hers, it was over and she felt the blood rush to her face. "Stop being so damn charming," she grumbled, but wrapped her arms around him. "Stupid Andorian." " Adorable human." With that, Tysess let go of her and went back to the bags, where he immediately brought an opaque cake bell to light and turned to her with a questioning look on his face. "That's our dessert." Ophelia stepped towards him, took the cake bell from him and, at an approving nod from Tysess, placed it in the latter's fridge.

Said Andorian leaned back against the kitchen counter. "I thought we were going to cook together today." His expression looked serious, but she could hear the teasing in his voice, so she grinned cheekily at him. " That's quite all right, though the starter and main course will take up enough time as it is. Besides, I didn't want to bring several glasses of fruit soaked in rum and wine for the Torta Negra Colombiana as well." She patted his arm. "Don't worry, Tysess. You'll get to cooking." A smile spread across her face and she reached into the bag and pulled out two aprons. One yellow for herself and one purple for Tysess, who raised an eyebrow at the sight of it.

"Don't look like that," Ophelia scolded gently and put the apron on him, careful not to touch his antennae. " That's what it's for, to make sure you don't get dirty. Besides, purple suits you." With that, she grabbed the, now empty, bags and, promising to put them away later, hauled them to the floor before putting her hands on her hips and smiling happily at him. "So, are you ready to learn some of the Colombian cuisine?" He saluted in jest. "Yes, ma'am."

Tysess stood next to her and looked at the ingredients as if trying to figure out what they would make. "So," Ophelia brushed a strand of hair behind her ears. "I thought it would be good if we started with relatively simple things for now. I don't know how good a cook you are, or how often you've made human food, so I wanted to start with the most classic dishes of my childhood."

She looked up at him. Tysess didn't seem offended that she was suggesting he might not be able to cook, but actually looked curious. His antennae were pointing forward and swaying back and forth a little, which Ophelia believed was a good sign.

"For starters we have pandebonos. These are sort of little Colombian cheese buns. We're going to mix this cheese," she pointed to the mozzarella and feta cheese," into the dough so that the dough becomes very fluffy and you can pull it apart like cheese strings. We do the classic version. Sometimes people fill it up with other things, but that's how I've always eaten it at home. We'll make a simple salad to go with it. It might not be typically Colombian, but it tastes really good." When no questions came from Tysess, she continued.

"For the main course, I chose my favourite childhood dish, which I had every year for my birthday and which my mother always made when I was unwell. Arroz con Pollo." Tysess tilted his head and Ophelia knew his translator was working. "Rice with chicken?" She nodded with a smile. "Exactly. It's actually pretty simple too. You cook chicken with vegetables and lots of spices and serve it together with rice. Quite basic actually, and maybe not completely typical Colombian, but incredibly tasty."

A little unsure if he agreed, she looked over at him, but he just smiled gently down at her and she smiled back in relief. "That does sound like a plan." Tysess rolled up his sleeves and looked at her expectantly. "What do we start with?"

~**~

Over the next two hours, the two of them worked around in Tysess' kitchen. Ophelia didn't even want to think about the quantities of vegetables and meat they had cut. Well, much more Tysess. After she had shown him how to properly cut each vegetable, Tysess had taken it upon himself to process the mountain of vegetables and meat. Ophelia suspected he didn't want her near knives for fear she might hurt herself. Under other circumstances, this would have hurt Ophelia. After all, she was an adult and skilled enough to cut simple food, otherwise she would never have made it this far in engineering, however, she cut him some slack.

The events concerning the living construct and, yes you could call it that, Starfleet's massacre, all weighed heavily on them. Ophelia had woken up screaming and crying several times in the past weeks as well, Maira's corpse more than visible in her mind's eye.

However, next to the Admiral, it seemed to weigh most heavily on Tysess. He had thrown himself into his work over the last few weeks, as if it would give it some value of unnecessary redemption, which he didn't have to do. Because she knew, even though she had told him it wasn't his fault, that he still blamed himself and would probably continue to do just that for a long time to come.

Most of all, she knew, he was afraid of losing her and even the smallest possibility of hurting herself, for example with a kitchen knife, made him feel uneasy. Ophelia knew it couldn't go on forever, but she wanted to indulge him once more tonight. Besides, she really wasn't complaining, as she had made sure that everything was well seasoned, perfectly put together and it had been her job to taste it all.

Now they were sitting together at Tysess' dining table, which he had set with devotion. He had fetched a bouquet of flowers for her, which was in a beautiful vase of Andorian craftsmanship, as he had told her. Since it was dark, he had lit candles which gave it a slightly romantic ambience and he had actually taken the trouble to fold the napkins.

When Ophelia had first seen the table, she had fallen around his neck and covered his face with dozens of kisses, thanking him and telling him that he was just sweet. Tysess had acknowledged this with a roll of the eyes, but his antennae had betrayed him, swaying gently back and forth in love.

Ophelia watched Tysess gulp down his last pandebono. "And?" He nodded in agreement and smiled gently. "They were excellent, Ophelia. Thank you." He looked thoughtfully at his plate. "They probably would have even pleased my sister, who is usually quite a fussy eater." Ophelia almost dropped her glass of wine at the casual mention.

(Tysess had provided it, as it was the best alcoholic drink, next to the classic Andorian ale, on Andoria, according to him. The wine was made from the tuber of a plant whose name Ophelia couldn't remember, but which meant something along the lines of "frost poison". At first the name had put her off a bit, but she had dared to try a sip after Tysess had explained that the poison part only referred to the rest of the plant and only if it was raw and unprocessed. And indeed, this wine was one of the best she had ever drunk).

Tysess had never spoken of his family before and that comment had, admittedly, thrown her off. "You have a sister?" Tysess looked up in confusion before his expression turned a little sheepish. "I guess I didn't talk much about my family, did I?" And before Ophelia could answer him, he launched into a narrative about his family, interrupted only when they dished up the main course.

He told about his parents, both his "birth parents" and his "additional parents", Ophelia had almost forgotten that Andorians usually married in fours, which he hadn't seen in a long time. He told about his younger sister, who was a biologist, and his younger brother, who had graduated top of his grade at the Andorian Academy of Arts and Crafts. In fact, the vase on the table in front of them was his.

Ophelia listened to him spellbound, rarely interrupting him for questions and otherwise simply enjoying the sound of his calm, deep voice, which wrapped her up like a blanket but did not make her sleepy. She was learning more about Tysess than she had hoped to for the evening, so how could she think of sleeping.

Ophelia, however, did not realise he had finished until he stared silently at his, now empty, plate. "Forgive me, I've talked a lot. I didn't mean to bore you." Ophelia's chest tightened at the sight of him, antennae drooping, gaze down and avoiding her, and gently, yet lovingly at the same time, she placed her hand on his.

"Tysess. Don't apologise for talking to me. I love listening to you, especially when it comes to such things as family." She smiled gently. "I know Andorians don't like to open up to people they're not close with, which is why it's nothing but an honour for me when you confide in me about such topics. Please don't apologise for such a thing."

Tysess looked up a little embarrassed, but turned his hand so that her palm was in his and squeezed it gently. "I really haven't told you much about myself, let alone my culture, have I?" Her mind raced, searching for an answer that would make him not feel bad, before she paused. She had learnt early on that Andorians valued truth above all else and couldn't stand hypocritical posturing.

Ophelia sighed resignedly. "No, you haven't. And I confess that it has made some situations a little more complicated to understand, but I respect your boundaries and I'm not complaining. I know you'll tell me more as time goes on, once you feel comfortable enough, and I'm more than fine with that. And no-" she interrupted him as he started to speak, "-I will not accept criticism. You respect my boundaries, you always have, which is why I will respect and accept yours. Because that is the only way a relationship works, with respect and acceptance.

She stood up and picked up her plate and his. "I'll get the dessert and please, mi armor, don't worry too much about it." Lightly she leaned down and pressed her forehead against his. "I love you."

Ophelia initially feared that the mood would now be heavy on them and Tysess would retreat back into himself, but it seemed as if he was as confident as she knew him to be and they made light conversation over the course of the meal, in which Tysess praised the cake more than once, causing a swell of pride in her. After the meal they cleared up together and since Tysess, for whatever reason, didn't seem to own a dishwasher, they decided to wash it by hand. However, he turned out to be something of a child, as he more than enjoyed occasionally splashing Ophelia with drops of water or depositing little clouds of foam on the tip of her nose, until she finally threw him out of the kitchen and told him to go ahead and wipe the table.

As it was still quite early in the evening, they decided to end the evening with a glass of Frost Poison wine in his living room ( she didn't know if she would ever get used to that name). Ophelia had put her legs up and pressed her back against his front, telling him about the events of the last few days. Tysess was silent, occasionally humming his agreement, only to lapse back into silence. Ophelia let him remain silent, after all he had been talking a lot too, and only stopped when he quietly interrupted her with the whisper of her name. She turned her head slightly to look at him over her shoulder. "Yes?" She heard him swallow and felt him slowly sit up, which also caused her to sit up and put her feet on the floor.

"There is something I would like to talk to you about." He looked nervous to her, kneading his hands in his lap while his antennae twitched in different directions. "I ... have been thinking about mentioning the subject to you for some time now, however, the appropriate situation has never presented itself. After our conversation today regarding borders and Andorian culture, however, it seems fitting."

Ophelia put her hand on his and she looked at him seriously but lovingly at the same time. "It would be my pleasure. But only if you are comfortable with it, Tysess. I just don't want to force or pressure you into anything." Tysess shook her head and looked at her. "You don't, beloved. You don't."

He took another breath, Ophelia slowly beginning to worry, before he sat up straight and turned to her, looking deep into her eyes, brown meeting purple-grey. "There is a tradition on Andoria when courting. It's called the ruuphviik neek." Ophelia frowned. "I think the UT has a bit of trouble with the term, unless it's called... dating circles?" Despite his visible nervousness, Tysess chuckled softly. "Not quite. A suitable translation would be..." he hesitated briefly. " -Courting rings."

He gave Ophelia a brief moment to get the meaning of it. Even if it wasn't necessarily what she had expected, it did make sense. She had heard of many cultures wearing a sign of a relationship. Even on Earth, similar symbols were used in many cultures, though if more for engagements and marriages. Ophelia nodded slightly, inviting him to continue. Tysess exhaled audibly. "I don't know about your culture, but on Andoria, Andorians wear a ring at the base of their antennae to show they are in a relationship. Usually one ring is worn for each partner."

Ophelia hummed softly and nodded. "There are similar traditions in my culture, however these are engagement and wedding rings and meant for much later in the relationship." Tysess frowned. "Engagement?" "Oh." Ophelia had assumed he was already familiar with the term. "When a human couple decides to get married, one proposes to the other with an engagement ring. If the latter accepts, the two are engaged, wear the engagement rings and are in a state of engagement until the wedding, when they exchange wedding rings." She considered for a moment. "Otherwise, I don't really know of any such symbols to show that one is in a relationship."

Her eyes fell on Tysess, who looked a little embarrassed, at least judging from his dark cheeks. "These courting rings are not so ... binding. They merely signal that one is currently in a relationship. Neither marriage nor ... engagement, are part of it." His antennae swung back and forth a little. "Of course, these rings, are replaced upon marriage, however, the ruuphvik neek are not nearly as binding." Ophelia gave him an encouraging nod as his gaze fluttered briefly to his lap.

"They are a sign that a couple is ready to take a step from the still fresh, sometimes uncertain, stage of the relationship, the beginning stage you could well say, into a more solid relationship." Ophelia's heart pounded in her ears and all of a sudden the flat, which was otherwise very cool, seemed surprisingly warm. Tysess gently brushed a strand behind her ear and smiled that calf-eyed smile that melted her heart. "I don't know about you, Ophelia, but I'd be willing to take that step." Ophelia didn't know exactly what to say, which is why she let her impulsive thoughts control her, fell around his neck and kissed him.

It wasn't the response Tysess had probably imagined, however Ophelia was pretty sure it got her answer across sufficiently. For a moment he seemed surprised, but she could feel the tension fall from him as she felt his shoulder relax under her hands. Gently he placed his hands, on her hips and when they separated, he rested his forehead against hers. "I guess that was a yes." Ophelia laughed softly. "Otherwise it would have been a very strange 'no', don't you think?" Tysess pulled back looking amused and regarded her. "Thank you." "Not for that. I'm afraid I can't wear it around my antennae, though."

Tysess just smiled. "I think we could find another solution for you." Ophelia nodded and leaned forward to kiss him again as her hair fell forward. An idea occurred to her. "How about my hair?" His antennae curled in confusion and she hurried to explain. "I was going to the hairdresser tomorrow anyway to have new braids braided. I could have the ring braided into my braid then, couldn't I? It's not unheard of to have such things braided into your braids and would be a lot more practical than a ring or bracelet that would interfere with work. If that could be done?"

Tysess considered for a moment and gently ran his hand over a strand of her hair before smiling. "As long as it doesn't bother you?" She shook her head. "Of course not, I'd probably barely notice it is there. I've always wanted to do something like this and now it even has a wonderful meaning." Ophelia leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his again. "Now explain to me where we're going to get these rings."

In the end it was a lot easier than she had thought, Ophelia had expected that they would have to get the jewellery in some special Andorian shops, but she had forgotten that there were such things as replicators in their time. About half an hour later, which they had spent flicking through or scrolling through magazines, there were two rings in the palm of her hand, one larger than the other. They were made of an Andorian metal that appeared greyish-silver but gave off a slight blue-violet glow when held up to the light.

Gingerly she took the larger of the two rings, Tysess's ring, and held it up. "May I?" Tysess hesitated for a moment, understandable since the antennae was one of the most sensitive parts of the Andorians, but then nodded in agreement and sat down so Ophelia could even reach his head. "Which side?"

"Doesn't matter." Ophelia nodded and decided on the right. Very carefully, one hand as steady as if she had to disarm a torpedo, she pulled the ring over the tip of the antennae, along the shaft until she reached the base. Slowly she pulled her hand away and looked at her handiwork with illogical pride. "You look wonderful." She pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Tysess rose slowly, wiggling his antennae to get used to the feeling, then went into the hall to look at himself in the mirror. Ophelia followed him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "The colour compliments your eyes." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "You were actually right about the colour choice." As he turned, she pressed her ring into his hand. "Keep it for me, will you? Though I'm afraid you won't be able to braid it yourself, you can come if you like. But be warned, it may take a very long time."

~**~

Ophelia was right. The whole process took a little over seven hours, but Tysess had not left her side for a moment, which had even impressed her hairdresser, a Klingon, a little, even if she did not want to admit it. The end product, however, was something to behold. Ophelia had had the ring on the right side woven into the braid that framed her face, about ten centimetres from the parting. In addition, she had chosen fifteen small cylindrical golden metal beads, which were woven into her hair at irregular intervals. Thus, the ring did not look lonely, but it stood out as special.

Tysess and Ophelia stood at the shuttle landing site and said goodbye. He carefully stroked the ring in her braid before pushing it behind her ear. “You look beautiful. ” Ophelia blushed a little, but grinned broadly and quite in love. “You don’t look bad either. ” A sound made them look up and realize that the shuttle was landing. Hurriedly she pressed one last kiss on his lips.

“Don’t overwork yourself. And wish me luck, mi amor. I slipped out on the phone that I have a boyfriend and my mother probably won’t leave me alone. ” “I hope you’re not going to say anything bad. ” Ophelia grinned and released her hand from his. “Only the truth. ”

The boarding didn't take long, she had secured a window seat, and before she knew it, they were in the air, flying towards Colombia. Ophelia glanced back at Tysess, but the only thing she could see from him was a blue patch of color in the distance and a bright sparkle in the sunlight above it.

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@bigblissandlove1 @akamitrani @indignantlemur

[unknownfacelessfanfictions]

Part 3: To be near you

Pairing: Commander Tysess x Ophelia (OFC) Fandom: Star Trek Prodigy Words: 3.9K Warnings: SPOILERS for season 1 finale; discussion of death; blood and injuries Summary: A reminder that time is precious A/N: @bigblissandlove1 @akamitrani I believe I've read somewhere that you have not seen Prodigy, but I tagged you anyway, just to be sure. I also know that many people find it uncomfortable to read about animated characters, especially if children watch the show too. If you don't want to betagged in Prodigy stuff, just tell me.

Body Language Masterlist

Red alert.

The constant flashing of the red light hurt his eyes and the shrill wailing of the sirens made his ears ring.

It was over. They had survived it.

For a moment, Tysess allowed himself to close his eyes to take a breath and let the irony of it all sink in. The entirety of Starfleet had been saved, by a bunch of kids who weren't even Federation citizens.

At least, pretty much all of them.

And it was almost destroyed by you, whispered a voice in the back of his head, but he pushed it aside when Janeway addressed him.

"Any sign of the USS Protostar?" Tysess felt his antennae lower and turned to his console. "No, Admiral." Regretfully, he shook his head. "I've tracked their warp signature, but read," he hesitated slightly, the cruelty and harshness of the words not wanting to cross his lips "-no signs of life." Without hesitation, Janeway replied. "Send a search party."

Tysess felt as if he could not agree more. This crew had saved them. Granted, they had brought the ship here, but the massacre had hardly been their fault. But as first officer, he felt obliged to present her with the facts. "But, Admiral, the distance they crossed," he folded his arms behind his back and looked at the screen. "It would take months to scan that many star systems."

Janeway, however, was not swayed and straightened up, her eyes now on him. "That crew just saved Starfleet. If they're out there, I want to know." Tysess nodded and stepped behind her to order the lieutenant to send a message to Starfleet requesting permission for a search party.

All at once, one of the ensigns at the ops console spoke up. "Admiral, damage reports coming in." Janeway turned and settled into her seat. "Report." "Direct hits on decks five, seven and nine, the starboard nacelle is damaged and we have hull breaches on decks ten, thirteen and fourteen, as well as cargo bay three and the engine room, with four dead there, eight injured, five of them seriously."

She continued to enumerate the number of injured and dead, but Tysess heard little more, except the pulse in his ears, which accelerated many times over, within a few moments.

At the same time, however, he felt as if time had stopped. Hull breach in engineering. Four dead. Hull breach in engineering. Four dead. Hull breach in engineering. Four dead. Over and over again these words echoed through his head, followed by another thought. Ophelia was on duty. She could be among them. Ophelia was on duty. She could be among them. His head was too full to think and at the same time empty without any thought.

"Commander? Commander? Tysess!" He snapped out of his trance and stared at Janeway out of wide eyes, who looked at him anxiously. "I'm sorry Admiral, you were saying?" It took vast amounts of strength to force those words out and Janeway seemed to notice as she gestured for him to follow.

In the privacy of her office, she turned instantly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right, Tysess?" He straightened and jutted his chin. "Everything's fine. I apologise, for my lack of presence of mind."

Anyone else would have bought it. Janeway, however, knew him too well. "Nothing is fine. Something is bothering you. Talk to me, please!" Tysess expelled a shaky breath and looked to the floor before answering. " Engineering was hit and had a hull breach." "Yeah, I heard." He took a deep breath. "Ophelia was on shift." Silence. Then-

"You are relieved of duty, Commander." Tysess's head and eyes shot up and he could feel his antennae snap to attention. "Admiral, Starfleet regulations require that-" "I know what regulations require," Janeway interrupted him, crossing her arms behind her back. "However, I also know what it is like to fear for the life of the person you love."

"Admiral, it would be wrong-" "- if you had to continue working even though you are subject to such emotional anguish." Her gaze softened for a split second. "Tysess, you have been awake and on duty for the last twenty-two hours. And even though Andorians are physically superior to humans, even they must realise that at some point enough is enough. Go. That is an order."

He was silent for a few moments, words missing, before he bowed his head slightly. "Very well Admiral." He turned, but paused outside the door to glance behind. "Thank you, Admiral." A thin smile danced on her lips. "I wouldn't know what for. Now go!" This time Tysess didn't hesitate as he walked through the doors, across the bridge to the turbolift and stepped inside. "Deck fifteen."

While Tysess had never had reason to complain about the speed, the turbolift seemed agonisingly slow today. Each deck seemed to take longer to reach and every second he continued to spend in uncertainty about Ophelia's condition drove him mad.

Under other circumstances, he would have found this revelation most intriguing. Although he and Ophelia had known each other for some time, they had been in a romantic relationship together for barely two months.

He wouldn't claim to have much experience with romantic relationships, in fact he had only had two before, but the feelings had never been as strong before, not even after years of being together, as they were now for Ophelia after less than two months. All at once it hit him like a blow. He loved her.

He, Tysess, loved Ophelia Zubira, with all his being, as he had never loved anyone before.

For a few seconds he felt a warmth swell inside him as he realised this. Although they had both made it clear that they were romantically interested in each other and had done things that were common for couples, neither had so far uttered the word 'love'.

Abruptly, his joy fizzled out and horror, disbelief and dread began to grow within him. He loved Ophelia. Ophelia might have been dead.

He would have never been able to tell her how he felt. The fear, which he had been able to suppress for a few moments, returned stronger than ever and Tysess knew that any Andorian would have fled at the sight of his retracted antennae. They knew that every Andorian would not let the death of his mate stand.

The turbolift stopped and as soon as the gap was wide enough to let him through, Tysess slipped out into the corridor and walked with brisk steps towards engineering, which accelerated each time until he was running. He did not care that he was jogging, even sprinting. He didn't care about the astonished looks of the other crew members who had probably never seen him so out of control, however, Ophelia was the only thing that mattered at that moment, the only thing that lived in his head right now.

Only in passing did he notice the damage, which didn't even need a closer inspection to be seen. By now, as he rounded the last corner, his heart was pounding in his chest and the sight before him brought it to an instant halt. The security doors were closed. Engineering had been evacuated. Tysess slowly raised his hand as his nightmare scenario played out before his eyes. Ophelia, locked in the engineering, dying in agony.

He closed his eyes to put the images out of his mind when he heard his name and shot around. For a split second he had hoped, however the voice turned out to be that of an ensign who looked at him. "It's about Lieutenant Commander Zubira."

~**~

She's dead.

Ophelia pulled her legs closer to her body and buried her face in her arms folded over her knees to stifle her sobs as the same scene played over and over before her eyes. When the ships had started firing at each other, she had been in sickbay to repair one of the replicators.

The first hits had shaken the ship and Ophelia had been about to go to engineering to avoid the nurses and doctors, Noum was God knows where, when the next hit had hit the power supply for half the bio-beds. But as these had been needed and Ophelia didn't know what to do anyway, she had set to work and for the next twenty minutes had bitterly fought a battle against the power sources that kept failing before finally winning.

However, all the shaking and spraying of sparks had left her with some scrapes and minor burns, though nothing serious or life-threatening.

However, when Ophelia finally managed to get up to attend to her duties in other areas, the doors had slid aside and three lieutenants, led by Noum, who had apparently finally come down from the bridge, rushed frantically into the room shouting, carrying a person between them.

A person Ophelia knew very well and with whom she got on very well.

Commander Maira Baqri. Chief Engineer of the USS Dauntless, Ophelia's fire chief superior officer and a very good friend. She had been full of joy for life and every time that mischievous smile had appeared behind the yellow hijab, Ophelia knew that what was to come would either be the best experience of her life or a memory she would forever regret.

However, the strong woman, otherwise so full of life and bursting with energy, now lay on the biobed with severe burns and bleeding flesh wounds, while nurses and Noum, scurried around her as the Tellarite barked orders. "Maira." Her voice was only a soft whisper, however she could not bring herself to raise her voice as the lump in her throat knew to prevent it.

The next few minutes were nothing but a blur of movements, colours and shouts and the only thing burned into her memory forever was the long drawn out beeping and the soft cursing of Noum, which he only uttered when his medical skills were once unable to save his patients.

The memories brought tears to her eyes and for a moment she was tempted to wipe her face with her arm, but left it at that. Her arms, more than the rest of her body, were covered with small wounds and hurt a little, but she had refused to have them examined and treated. Noum had protested strongly, but he too had realised that it made more sense to look after more seriously wounded members.

Ophelia sniffled softly and wiped her eyes with her hands, which were also a little scuffed up, making it a little more painful, to wipe away the tears as her eyes fell on the PADD lying next to her on the sofa.

It was still open from this morning and the program to select holoprograms was still open. Ophelia had decided to introduce Tysess to her home in Colombia and had spent the morning searching for suitable and realistic programmes, only to find that none came close to the real thing.

Tysess.

Her sadness changed abruptly to pure fear and horror and a sob escaped her. Tysess had also been on duty, on the bridge, and so far Ophelia had heard nothing from there. That very morning, since Admiral Janeway had been declared unfit for duty, he had said goodbye to her as the highest ranking officer and promised her that they would be back on Earth soon. Now she wasn't even sure if he was still alive.

Ophelia tried to reassure herself by telling herself that she hadn't seen him in sickbay, but it didn't really help. After all, patients could still have been brought in, or his body could be lying cold and lifeless on the floor in a corridor.

Cold sweat of fear spread over her body and she jumped up. She didn't care if she had to tear the whole ship apart, but she would find Tysess.

Alive.

Ophelia didn't even bother to put on her shoes and ran over to the door on her socks, opened it by pressing a button on the panel next to it, and cried out softly.

Standing in front of her, breathless and filthy, sweaty with a small scrape on his cheekbone but otherwise unharmed, was Tysess, who had raised his arm to open her door with the code she had given him. For a split second they stared at each other in shock before realisation set in.

"Oh God!" Ophelia sobbed out, wrapping her arms around Tysess, who had rushed over to her in an instant and was holding her tightly against him, his arms wrapped around her waist, body pressed tightly against body, nose buried in her hair. "You're alive, oh God you're alive," Ophelia sobbed softly and felt them stagger into their quarters, the doors closing behind them.

She sobbed into his shoulder, which didn't seem to bother the Andorian as he continued to run his hands up and down her back and through her hair.

"I thought you were dead," he murmured and she could hear his voice almost breaking with tears. "When they said that engineering had been hit, I thought-" His voice broke off and Ophelia sobbed out again, pressing herself tighter against him. "I was so scared. The possibility of losing you too, after-"

Her voice broke off and her crying intensified before Tysess led her to the sofa so they could drop down, still pressed close together. Tears of sadness, anger, fear and relief streamed down her face onto his uniform top, yet he didn't care and just pulled her closer, pressing kisses to her forehead and just being there while Ophelia cried the sorrow of the last few hours from her soul.

"Maira is dead," she choked out after a while. "They brought her in and...and...there was blood everywhere and I...I couldn't do anything...I...I just stood there and wa...watched her die..." Another volley of sobs shook through her and Tysess pressed his forehead against hers. "It's not your fault." His voice was strained and Ophelia felt more than saw his antennae, which had dug into her hair earlier, twitch. "If anyone is to blame, it is me."

Through tears, she looked up at him in confusion. "Tysess, of what..." "It was I who gave the order to take the call. The call that ultimately subdued the entire ship and nearly sent it to its doom. I am the one to blame for the death, of every single crew member. I-"

His voice trailed off and with shock Ophelia watched as silent tears rolled down the usually composed Commander's cheeks. "It's my fault...mine alone...Please...forgive me... I'm sorry..." He broke off and sobbed quietly, making it Ophelia's job now to pull him close and, even with a tear-stained face, gently run her hands through his hair, careful not to touch his antennae.

"It's not your fault, Motema nangai. Anyone would have done the same in your place. You are not to blame."

Tysess shook his head silently before looking up. "I would never have forgiven myself if anything had happened to you. If you had died, I would have..." He did not finish his sentence, yet he did not have to. Ophelia knew what he meant and pulled him close again. "It's okay.... It'll be alright, Tysess."

"No," he pulled her to him so that she was almost sitting on his lap. "I would never have forgiven myself if you had died without me being able to tell you how much you mean to me, how much I cherish you and praise your presence."

Still with tears in her eyes, she looked up at him and smiled slightly. "You don't have to." For the first time in fifteen minutes, he broke away from her, only to frame her face with his hands. "Yes, I do have to. Because just the thought that one of us could die without you knowing how much I love you... It breaks my heart."

Ophelia's breath caught and for a moment all sadness and fear were forgotten. "You mean it? That you love me?" With a calf-eyed smile he looked down at her and rested his forehead against hers. "How could I not? You are wonderful, kind, beautiful, intelligent, funny, and so much more than I ever hoped or dared to dream. In all my life I have never loved a person so much and it scares me."

Ophelia laughed a tearful laugh and put her hands to his cheeks. "Then let us be afraid together, mi amor. Let us fear this love together."

His eyes widened. "You too?" She smiled and felt tears well up in her eyes again. "Like crazy." For the first time he smiled a wide, if too equally gentle, smile and leaned down slightly to kiss her. It was a long, intimate kiss, which told of the pain, fear and sorrow of the past hours, however, it was what they needed.

When they broke away, admittedly a little out of breath, they leaned their foreheads against each other for a few moments and could each feel the other's breath on their face.

"Will it always be like this now?" Ophelia's voice was low and barely audible, though she knew Tysess had heard her. He always heard her. "Will we only spend our time in service worrying about each other? Having to worry about the other getting hurt? Or even worse?"

He sighed slowly and moved away from her face just enough so they could look into each other's eyes. "Yes. But at the same time it means that in any situation we know that there is at least one person on this ship worth fighting on for. When we come back, wounded and injured there will be someone to tend to our little aches and pains. And even if one day, though I hope not, we have to hand over the other's coffin to the family, we can live with the certainty of savouring every moment. Because that's what I intend to do. To savour every moment with you" He looked up. "Are you in?"

For a few seconds she just looked at him, contemplating his face. Elongated shape with a pointed chin, sky-blue skin, eyelids dabbed with purple paint and pale lilac-grey eyes that looked at her with such love as she was not used to from people outside her family. Ophelia smiled softly. "Yes."

~**~

The next day, Ophelia and Tysess stood side by side in the shuttle hangar and looked at the coffins lined up in front of them. The previous evening, after some time, Tysess had broken away from her to fetch the first aid kit from her bathroom and, as promised, had dressed her wounds.

The rest of the evening consisted of lying in each other's arms and letting out the grief and fear in the form of tears, so that now there were no tears left to shed.

During the memorial service, Tysess held Ophelia's hand tightly in his and only let it go once during the whole two hours of listening to speeches, when Ophelia gave her speech for Maira.

She was nervous and grieving, however, she brought out the words she wanted to get rid of in a way that was worthy of Maira. In the end, she turned to Maira's coffin, only temporarily, as her faith demanded to be buried without a coffin, and gently placed a sunflower wreath on it, which she had woven herself that morning.

They were Maira's favourite flowers and she had loved it when Ophelia had made her a wreath out of them.

Like a queen's crown.

"May you find your peace, dear friend," was all she could whisper before she fled back to Tysess, who held her in his arms. Discretion no longer interested him, nor did some of the astonished looks they received.

At the end, Janeway stepped forward and gave her farewell speech, which brought tears to Ophelia's eyes again and Tysess pulled her closer. Together, after Janeway stepped aside, they watched as the coffins were carefully placed in transporters and then flown out into space to be delivered to the families of the deceased.

Gradually the gathering dispersed until only a few were left. Noum stepped briefly towards Ophelia, who was still standing there nestled against Tysess, and spoke briefly to her before he too took his leave.

"Do you want to go?" Tysess's voice was calm and composed, grounding Ophelia somewhat, at least enough for her to nod. Before they finally left, however, Ophelia was held back by the call of her name. She turned and saw Admiral Janeway coming towards her. Ophelia gave Tysess an assuring look, whereupon he let go of her and stepped back a little, but remained just within earshot.

"Admiral." "Lieutenant Commander Zubira. I wanted to offer my condolences once again. I understand you and Commander Baqri were close." Ophelia felt another lump forming in her throat. "Very close, ma'am." Janeway sighed slightly. "If it were up to me, I would like to postpone the whole thing and give you time to grieve, however, regulations require that I do so as soon as possible." "Admiral?"

Janeway raised her hand, silencing Ophelia before standing up at attention, prompting Ophelia to do the same.

"Lieutenant Commander Ophelia Celeste Zubira. You have served Starfleet for several years now and have proven yourself to be a trustworthy, responsible and talented officer. We have suffered many losses, including our Chief Engineer, who will be sorely missed by us all. Nevertheless, I cannot leave this post vacant." Janeway reached into the pocket of her uniform and pulled out a gold pin, causing Ophelia's eyes to widen.

"I am aware that the circumstances are not ideal and under others this would have been done in the presence of the other bridge officers, however that is almost impossible at the moment. Yet, I have a feeling that the most important ones are here."

Janeway's gaze flew to Tysess who was looking at Ophelia proudly and full of love at the same time. "Lieutenant Commander Zubira. It is my honour and my greatest pleasure to hereby promote you to the rank of Commander and Chief Engineer of the USS Dauntless. Do you accept the promotion?"

Ophelia's breath stopped as she looked wide-eyed at the gold pin in the Admiral's palm. She was torn. For one thing, this had always been her biggest tram. Being Chief Engineer had been the reason for her to join Starfleet and if that meant getting promoted, she wouldn't fight it.

On the other hand, it felt wrong somehow, like she was trying to replace Maira.

Her gaze flew to Tysess, who looked at her encouragingly, as if to say 'Whatever you want, I've got your back' and had to smile. No, she would never be able to replace Maira. Nor did she want to. However, she could uphold the reputation of her best friend and ensure that the ship she had loved so much could be in the best condition possible.

"I would be honoured, Admiral." Janeway smiled at her and took the blank Lieutenant Commander pin from Ophelia's collar, but paused and held the new, gold one out to Tysess then.

"Commander, would you care to do the honours?" For a moment Tysess looked surprised, but quickly stepped towards her and took the pin in his hand. His eyes fell on Ophelia and that one look said more about his feelings than words ever could.

"It is my privilege to promote you to Commander." Gently, he pinned the pin to her collar, smoothed out her uniform and took a step back, pride flashing in his eyes. "You deserve it."

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@indignantlemur

[unknownfacelessfanfictions]

Body Language ~ Masterlist

This is a collection of works and short stories about Commander Tysess and my OC Ophelia.

It is not and probably won't be canon compliant with season 2 since this all was written before it came out and I will likely not have the opportunity to watch it.

Body Language Tysess has been acting weird lately around Ophelia. Well, at least his antennae have. Courtship à la Humans Tysess realises that by human courtships traditions he is requiered to do one more thing to make this relationship "authentic". To be near you A reminder that time is precious A Symbol of Love Ophelia has to learn something more about the culture of her significant other as well… A Year in the Blink of an Eye Time rushes when you're with the people you love Late Mornings Sometimes all you need, is a little bit of "us-time" Ace of Hearts Tysess has been fighting with something over the last weeks and can't hold it in anymore Part 8: Taking the next step Moving in together was surprisingly more easy than either of them thought.

-> in work

Part 9: History Ophelia is ready to answer the question Tysess posed years ago. "Why don't you live in San Francisco anymore?" (....)

Artwork:

Ophelia Zubira ( by @indignantlemur )