"Melting The Ice" M sneezing - (5 Parts)

[KawaiiKitty]

Title: "Melting The Ice"

Author: KawaiiKitty

Fandom: The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (don't worry, I'll explain it...)

Summary: A man with a cold...a woman who becomes his reluctant caretaker. Though she may not be AS reluctant as she makes out to be...

I did WHAT, now?

Okay, this is a departure for me for many reasons. The most obviously is the fandom/subject of torture. Yes, indeedy. I've given Miroku a break but he's not gone, I'm working on more crap of him to post in the near future. Anyone who knows me and my writing style well will perhaps notice that this is shockingly NOT a cold-denial story. (I know, what is the world coming to?)

Now, I realise that this fandom may perhaps be rather unfamiliar to pretty much everyone. It's sort of a sci-fi anime with strong humorous tones, but that doesn't half describe it. But don't let that put you off…as usual I have focused on the characters so the setting and the background shouldn't be too much of a deterrent. Shoot, if you really hate starships, pretend it's a regular ol' boat instead! Now, I haven't actually finished watching the series so if anyone here actually really knows it, be patient with me. I may have gotten bits wrong here or there!

I should probably introduce the characters. I made happy little screencaps of them so you can see what they look like, my choice of shots may not be a perfect shot of the characters but I chose bits that really show their personalities so the readers can better appreciate how they are going to be interacting in the story.

Yuriko Star-she comes across as a bitchy little cow in my story, although in the series she does show herself as being perfectly capable of being nice…to other people. She has a vehement dislike for Captain Tylor, but my theory is that she's covering up repressed feelings of attraction! But man, she is uptight. Therefore, I love her.

Captain Justy Ueki Tylor (say it out loud…)-he got to be the captain of a star ship through sheer dumb luck. And being able to charm pretty much everybody into anything. Except Yuriko. He's exactly the opposite to her, "laid back" would be an understatement. He's hilarious. And clearly begging me for some fetish style torture.

Both of them together This bit just amuses me. And shows the interplay between the two of them brilliantly!

Ah yes, and I'm going to be posting this in pieces to have the effect of bumping it each time I post a piece so lots of people will PRAISE ME …as and when I manage to type up each part. So as I venture into unfamiliar territory, please enjoy!

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"Melting the Ice" Part 1

On the bridge of the starship Soyokaze, Yuriko Star sat primly in her chair, irritably tapping the console in front of her with her neutral-beige painted fingernails. She couldn't even see him, her back was to him, yet she could just tell that he was sitting in a way unbefitting a captain of a warship. She could tell by the creaking of the chair and the rustling of his clothes that he was slouched lazily in his seat, with his feet pulled up underneath him. And she could probably hazard a guess that he was registering his boredom by leaning onto his arm. And of course from the sounds of lip smacking emanating from his direction, he was clearly eating. Again. Which it was so very much against protocol to do outside of the mess hall or quarters.

Yuriko gritted her teeth. On a good day, he annoyed her. Today, it was all she could do to keep from snapping his neck in two.

Of course the "he" in question was Captain Tylor, which would have been obvious to anyone who'd known her for at least five minutes-since the many possible ways she found him to be an irritant was one of her favourite topics of conversation. And he sat, in a relaxed pose not entirely dissimilar to the one Yuriko was envisioning-though she thought she should at least count herself lucky that he wasn't trying to start a conversation with her, or try his uniquely idiotic brand of chat-up lines. Which was actually quite unusual given the fact that they found themselves alone on the bridge on this particular day. Most of the crew had taken the day off to either participate in or watch a tournament of a card game of sorts-Yuriko wasn't entirely sure which one. Of course she wasn't interested in such a thing, and felt rather annoyed that gambling was allowed to take place quite so blatantly on their ship. Why Tylor hadn't gone was anyone's guess. Yuriko sure wasn't going to waste any brain power trying to figure that out.

The point was, it was quiet and she knew she should be grateful. Unfortunately, the lack of conversation simply served to amplify the annoying eating noises.

And even worse than that, even more teeth-grindingly annoying, every so often he would stop and, with a level of concentration she'd never witnessed him give to anything else, sniff quite possibly one of the loudest, longest, frighteningly wet sniffs Yuriko had ever had the misfortune to hear in her life.

For some reason known only to herself, every time that happened, she felt the need to recite under her breath a list of every unflattering adjective she could think of to describe him.

"Uncouth," she muttered. "Ill-bred. Irritating. Unpleasant."

"Huh? You say something?" drawled a voice behind her.

"Nothing!" she snapped back with a hint of alarm. Perhaps when muttering under her breath she should take greater care to ensure that it did in fact stay under her breath. Tylor sighed, seeming vaguely disappointed that she hadn't in fact said anything, and then after a brief pause sniffed again-heartfelt and deeply.

"Rude, obnoxious, bad-mannered," Yuriko recited in her head, before swivelling around in her chair to address him. She wanted to simply shriek: "Stop it, stop it, stop it!" at him. But why let an opportunity to let him know just how irritating he was go to waste?

"Honestly," she scolded. "You should be ashamed of yourself, sitting like that. A captain should be dignified, not slouching like a lazy layabout. How on earth are you supposed to inspire your crew looking like that? And how many times do I have to tell you that you shouldn't be eating on the bridge?"

"Ah, who will notice? It's just me and you here."

"It doesn't matter. Protocol is protocol and form is form."

She paused a moment to study the look on his face. It was hard to tell if he were pondering what she'd said, or simply bored. He turned his eyes to the sky, parted his lips for a moment, and then frowned a moment in consternation.

"Heh…het-TCHUU!"

He gave a satisfied smile as if congratulating himself for a job well done, but in truth was celebrating the relief of the persistently annoying little tickle that had been plaguing him for the last half an hour. It was a short lived relief as a new tickle almost immediately began to take it's fallen comrade's place.

Yuriko's eyebrow twitched. "At least have the decency to cover your mouth!"

"Why? You're all the way over there. It's not going to get on you."

She had to admit, he did have a point in theory. But she would not give up her steadfast clinging to the "proper way of doing things" so easily.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for Tylor anyhow, before she had a chance to formulate a suitable lecture, she was distracted by a truly amusing series of facial expressions flickering across Tylor's face. First, he raised his eyebrows and crossed his eyes in an absurd attempt to fix his own nose with a glare of annoyance. This made way for an expression of resolute determination, marred by twitching as the battle against his reflexes grew even more heated. Then as his reflexes began to win out in the end, he gripped both arms of his chair in preparation, tilted his head back, paused for a moment and then…

"Hehhhh…heh'TCHUU!"

He flung himself forward in dramatic fashion, nearly losing his balance from the chair, despite the fact that he seemed to know what was coming and had ample time to prepare himself. He sighed, although it was less a sigh of relief this time, and more a sigh of displeasure. This was followed by a deep sniff which apparently failed to do it's intended job as he felt the need to draw his arm under his nose with an almost theatrical flourish.

The scolding that Yuriko desperately wanted to give him after that last bit was overshadowed by having to suppress a laugh as he pulled another unusual face as he crossed his eyes again in a curious attempt to look at his own nose.

"Oh no," she said with more alarm than the situation really warranted. "Please, I beg you, cover your-"

"Hehh-CHUU!"

Tylor smiled the smile of relief and bliss that can only come at the end of a truly needed sneeze, and allowed him to melt lazily back into his chair with yet another loud sniff-was it just Yuriko's imagination or were they getting louder and more annoying as time went on?

"That's very annoying," she pointed out, unable to restrain herself any longer-not that she tried very hard to restrain herself at all.

Tylor sat back up in his chair and cocked his head to one side like an attentive puppy. "Huh? Oh that?" He shrugged. "Can't help it, I have a cold."

Yuriko didn't even try to hold back a laugh of disbelief. "Yeah, right," she snorted.

"You think I'm lying?"

"You expect me to believe that you have the perfect excuse to shirk your duties and laze about in your quarters all day; yet you suddenly grew a sense of duty and decency and decided for one day in your life you would actually do your job for a change? Sorry, but you'd have to come up something a bit more believable than that!"

She spat out the entire speech in a shrill voice, seemingly not even stopping to take a breath. Almost as soon as she finished, she felt the tiniest twinge of guilt-sometimes she wondered if she crossed the line and acted too mean. It was as if she couldn't help herself, one look at him and suddenly lectures and insults began spilling out of her mouth. He just made her so angry…she couldn't help but think that he could make so much more of himself if he actually wanted to. (Notwithstanding the fact that most men his age weren't captains of star ships but still…) He wasn't an entirely unattractive man, and he apparently had some form of natural talent for getting things done (however unconventionally)-she just found it terribly frustrating to think that he could be someone she could really respect if he managed to take anything in his life seriously for even the briefest moment. Still, was she too hard on him? She rolled her eyes inwardly at the very thought. No, it wasn't possible to be too hard on the likes of him.

"For your information," Tylor said with an embellished air of haughtiness and wounded pride. "I would have loved nothing more than to stay in my quarters and enjoy a nice long nap, but I knew you would have been left all alone up here and that wouldn't have been fair on you."

Yuriko winced. That wasn't something she'd been expecting to hear and quite frankly the very thought made her feel as if she was four inches tall. Her eyes darted from side to side as she tried to fit this new information into her mind. She couldn't manage to fit this into her narrow definition of Captain Tylor, so she did the only thing she could do-the turned her back on him with a "hmph!" and focussed far more attention on her console than was strictly necessary.

"Well," she said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "So you suddenly did grow a sense of duty and decency? I suppose stranger things have happened, although that would take nothing short of a miracle."

Tylor just laughed. "You know, you're pretty when you're trying to be all angry!"

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To be continued when I get a chance to type it. Any comments as to how I can improve are as always SO very much appreciated!

[tma]

YAY!!! You posted it!! AND you posted pics. Awwww!!! Now I Totally see why you Needed to do that. They are just TOO cute.

As I said before- I adore this it is different but very, Very good. And I love the interplay between these two and using her point of view is brilliant.

[Enkidom]

That's superb, I was hooked at this point:

Yuriko gritted her teeth. On a good day, he annoyed her. Today, it was all she could do to keep from snapping his neck in two.

From that line, and the train of thought monologue, which was very amusing, I got a perfect image of the backstory to the two's relationship, and then the hints of ambiguities towards the end are really well done. LOL...Somehow I get the impression that Yuriko has learned to say "please Mr. Ambassador, the Captain didn't mean it like that", in many different languages.

[KawaiiKitty]

Whee, I'm so glad someone enjoyed my nonsense! I was so very nervous writing new characters, especially when I haven't seen the whole series yet. So it's good to know that something of their personalities is coming through at least.

This part is going to break off rather abruptly, I decided that I'm going to stop typing after every three notebook pages no matter what unless it's in mid sentence or something. In case anyone's thinking "Well, that's just about the dumbest place for a cliffhanger..."

Whoo, I hope I can keep on editing the title for a really long time...I have the feeling this is going to go on forever. Seeing as how the title of this is "Melting the Ice" and Yuriko isn't even thawed yet!

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Part 2

Yuriko swivelled around in her chair to fix Tylor with her most piercing glare that she could muster, but instead found that she was just in time to catch him comically crossing his eyes-as if he thought that by glaring at his nose he could frighten it into behaving.

"Hehhhh…heh-HEH'TCHUU!"

Recovering himself, he sniffed and rubbed his nose vigorously with his arm.

"Oh good heavens, don't do that!" admonished Yuriko. "Use a handkerchief!"

He blinked at her as if he'd never even heard the word before.

"You…don't have one, do you?" she said slowly as the realisation dawned upon her and she found herself wondering how she'd managed to think something quite so foolish as Tylor being sensible enough to think ahead like that.

Tylor snorted somewhat derisively. "Why would I? That's not the sort of thing people just carry around!" he laughed, but was forced to add "Oh…" with slight chagrin when Yuriko stood up, produced a pink handkerchief from her back skirt pocket and handed it to him.

Pink? He found himself slightly surprised that she carried such a feminine looking thing (something, crisp, white and unadorned would be more suited to her personality somehow) and paused a moment to wonder if the odd femininity extended to her undergarments. A small smile crept over his lips as he considered the many different possibilities.

"Hey! What are you staring at? My face is up here!" Yuriko reprimanded with her hands on her hips, then relaxed her posture a bit when his expression seemed suitably contrite.

Tylor took a deep breath and then, as Yuriko watched with a mixture of amusement and horror, put her poor defenceless handkerchief to perhaps the harshest use it had ever been subjected to in it's lifetime.

"Please don't give it back to me. Please don't give it back to me," she chanted silently, then breathed a sigh of relief as he said "Mind if I keep this for a while? I think it might come in pretty handy. You know, you're…you're…you-hehhh-CHUU!"

This seemed to serve to distract him from his train of thought. Yuriko hoped he'd finish his sentence so she could find out exactly WHAT he was going to say she way, but he never did. She couldn't exactly ask either-or more accurately wouldn't-because that would give the impression that she cared what he thought of her one way or the other. And of course she didn't. Like she'd care what the likes of him thought of her!

Still, she couldn't help but wonder of the lost end of that sentence was a compliment…

Captain Tylor sighed, slumping over to one side to prop up his head on his hand. This small action seemed to vindicate Yuriko's beliefs: either he was bored or being lazy. She tried to predict what he would do next-she was certain that he would make some form of excuse to wander off and leave her on the bridge completely alone. It wasn't as if there as any sort of action happening at all but it was the principle…if he left his post, she was going to be furious.

"Well then!" Tylor announced suddenly with a strong, though heavy, voice.

Here it comes, thought Yuriko. Here come the excuses.

"Don't you want to…y'know…give me a status report or something?" he finished. Yuriko's jaw dropped ever so slightly and she stood there, dumbstruck, simply staring at him. Tylor grinned as he saw her face.

"Personally, I don't care if you do or not," he said with a dismissive shrug. "I just thought that was the sort of thing that you'd want me to say. What's that word you keep saying to me? Protocol. Ah, whatever." He waved his hand casually, seemingly bored with this train of thought. "I'm tired," he sighed. "Who designed these chairs? If these chairs reclined I'd be able to enjoy a nap right here."

"You're not meant to nap in them. You're meant to be alert and ready for anything."

"But how am I supposed to be alert if I'm sleepy? In fact if everyone had nice chairs they could sleep in, everyone would be fresh and alert," he chattered excitedly using his own…unique brand of logic. "We'd probably win the war so fast with such a well rested crew!" He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "As the captain, I should decree that we change all the chairs. Everyone will want to know the secret of our success, and I'll be a hero."

"Captains don't decree things," Yuriko sighed, reminding herself to be patient. "You can't change the chairs…"

"And, " Tylor continued with a teasing grin. "If you had a nicer chair, you'd be in a nicer mood! Don't you th-hehh…het-tchuu!"

He seemed to be becoming more weary and this time the sneeze was without the theatrics: neither preceded by amusing facial expressions nor followed by dramatic arm flourishes. He simply pulled the sides of his jacket closed and drew his limbs closer to his body. When Yuriko looked at him, she could tell he was shivering.

This surprised her. Even in her skirt, she found the atmosphere on the bridge today to be uncomfortably warm. Not that she would ever say so out loud, as Tylor would probably suggest something ridiculous like loosening her tie, or pushing up her sleeves-and she believed in wearing her uniform properly far more than she believed in comfort. But if she were warm with bare legs, how could Tylor- not only wearing his bulky uniform with that scarf up to his chin, but also of course that ridiculous tattered trenchcoat of his on top of the whole affair-possibly be shivering?

Yuriko felt a slight twinge of guilt. Perhaps he wasn't exaggerating or lying before. Perhaps he really was sick?

"Er…" she ventured. "You don't look so good."

"I told you, I have a cold."

"Would you like me to adjust the climate controls to make it a little warmer in here for you?"

Tylor shook his head. "That wouldn't be fair to you, since you're already too warm as it is."

"What? How could you possibly know that? I never said a word!"

He stared at her as if wondering how she could possibly ask such a silly question. "I can tell. The way you keep pulling at your collar. You really should loosen your tie, you know. And the way your face has gone all shiny. Perhaps you need to touch up your makeup!" he pointed out loudly and cheerfully, earning a fiery glare from Yuriko.

She'd forgotten that, despite his often dull-witted demeanour, when it came to reading and deciphering people he was unusually sharper than most. If he ever put THAT particular talent to any actual use, he could become an ambassador-and probably charm the Raalgon into not only abandoning the war, but donating all their territories to the USPF on top of it. Too bad he only ever used his talents to charm people into giving him whatever he wanted, or looking the other way as he gleefully did something stupid.

"Yes, you definitely need some powder on your face!" he continued merrily. Evidently, his thoughts were still on her makeup. Even though he got bored with topics rapidly, he had the habit of picking out the most mundane or foolish subjects and really running with them.

"Excuse me?" Yuriko demanded, crossing her arms sternly.

"No matter, no matter! I still think you're pretty even if your face is shiny! Although…have you ever thought of trying red lipstick instead of pink?"

Yuriko bristled. "Captain! That is highly inappropriate talk for-"

"Uh, oh. Wait…hehh…heh'TCHUU!"

As soon as he recovered from this momentary interruption he said with a laugh "Sorry! You can continue yelling at me now if you want. Oh. Wait, not yet…heh'TCHHH!"

Yuriko had to wonder if it was really necessary for him to fling himself so far forward that his head nearly touched his knees. He hung his head there for a moment as he sniffed loudly, perhaps trying to regain his senses. While he wasn't looking, Yuriko patted her pocket. Ah yes, her powder compact was in there. She could very easily excuse herself and just touch up her face a little…

"Humph," she said to herself, in reprimand for thinking such a foolish thing, though actually said it far more out loud than she'd intended.

"What?" said Tylor, assuming her huffy reprimand was aimed at him. "I covered my mouth this time, just like you said!"

As if to prove his point, he held his palm out towards Yuriko who failed to appreciate the gesture and hopped backwards in alarm.

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So very much to be continued. Whether anyone cares or not!

[Guest Silver Pixie Dust]

Jeezus on a bicycle, woman. @_@

Moremoremoremoremore?

[silentdreamer789]

Yay! Never seen the show, but your introduction was enough so I don't feel confsed. Really looking forward to more. Like how the captain isn't actually denying being sick, but isn't admitting to how bad he feels, either.

silentdreamer789

[Enkidom]

"You're not meant to nap in them. You're meant to be alert and ready for anything."

"But how am I supposed to be alert if I'm sleepy? In fact if everyone had nice chairs they could sleep in, everyone would be fresh and alert," he chattered excitedly using his own…unique brand of logic. "We'd probably win the war so fast with such a well rested crew!" He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "As the captain, I should decree that we change all the chairs. Everyone will want to know the secret of our success, and I'll be a hero."

"Captains don't decree things," Yuriko sighed, reminding herself to be patient. "You can't change the chairs…"

That has to be one of the funniest exchanges I've read for a while, well that and the whole bit about the make up. And I really like how you work the comic moments into the story too. Superb!

I was so very nervous writing new characters, especially when I haven't seen the whole series yet.

Ah, but if you start writing before you've seen the whole series, you get to go "oooh, that happens? I wonder how I can play with that." After you've seen the whole series it's more "what happened in the first episode again?"

[KawaiiKitty]

Jeezus on a bicycle, woman. @_@

That has got to be one of THE funniest expressions I've heard in a long time!

Heh, heh and Dom: yes, that's true but then you also run the risk of seeing something that makes you go "Ah, crap...I was WAY off!" Like this pairing, I haven't a notion if it's canon or not...I just liked the idea.

Anyway, part 3. As much as I'm trying to make this all fluffy and romantic, it keeps veering off towards humour which I suppose is in keeping with the tone of the anime! Part 4 has much more "mushy bits" in it but I suppose you'll just have to wait and make do with this little segment instead!

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Part 3-Colds Are...Fun?!?

"Now can I yell at you?" Yuriko said. She was joking, an event so rare that Tylor had never witnessed it firsthand and, failing to realise such a phenomenon even existed, missed it entirely.

"I suppose, if you really want to," he answered glumly, punctuating the sentence with a pathetic sniff. Yuriko, looking at his hang-dog expression, suddenly didn't have the heart to tell him off so badly.

Instead, she slowly raised her hand and, as his blue eyes curiously yet tentatively followed her every movement, brushed his abundant brown hair away from his face and pressed her hand to his forehead. It seemed to be a futile gesture-due to the heat in the room, she found it nearly impossible to discern whether he had a fever or not, although it did feel as if he had a bit of a temperature.

Although for the rest of her life, she would be hard pressed to explain her next action, some sort of maternal instinct perhaps took over, and she brushed his hair gently back and then, with her eyes closed, leant in towards his forehead with her lips slightly pursed.

Tylor couldn't contain his joy at this sight. Rejoicing at the prospect that Yuriko had finally realised, and succumbed to, his manly charms, he shut his eyes and tilted his chin upwards-for he could plainly see that she had terrible aim and would miss his lips by a great distance if he didn't help out a bit.

Yuriko must have had a sort of sixth sense for sensing impending Tylor-blunders after being around him for so long, for she opened her eyes in time to see him sitting, poised and puckered, awaiting the moment of contact.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"Me? You're the one who started it! Naughty girl, trying to sneak a kiss like that!"

"I wasn't…" she growled, her eye twitching. "I was trying to feel your temperature, idiot!"

"Really? I could have sworn that-"

"No."

"Perhaps you felt so sorry for me that it melted your heart and-"

"No."

"Or perhaps you were so impressed by my strength to carry on despite my dreadful illness that-"

"No!"

Tylor grinned apologetically and pulled his head back until it was burrowed as far into the back of his chair as it would go-since Yuriko was mere inches from his face and she looked…well, furious would be an understatement.

But, she was so intently focussed on channelling her rage through her eyes that she failed to spot some very important signals, such as the look of alarm that came over Tylor's face after his nose began twitching. She even missed the first couple of hitching breaths that he desperately tried to hold back. By the time it had occurred to him that it would be prudent to warn her, all he could manage was "Ah, Yuuuu-hehhhh…."

"Do it and I'll kill you," Yuriko warned.

In a flash of inspiration, Tylor grabbed the side of his jacket and pulled it up to his face, just in time to catch a muffled "hehhh-MMMPHHH!" against the inside of it. Although afterwards, with the benefits of hindsight, he probably could have chosen a better option as the jacket was very much now going to need a trip to the laundry, and there was nothing he hated quite so much as doing laundry.

He paused that way for a moment, with the jacket covering his face up to the bridge of his nose, looking rather self-conscious as his sheepish eyes peeked over the top of the beige fabric, sparkling with embarrassment.

For some reason, the sight of his mortified expression caused Yuriko's fury to melt away once again and she found it replaced by an odd emotion…something she didn't often feel in relation to Captain Tylor.

Something like…compassion? Concern? Perhaps simply the opposite of disgust, maybe? Something that made her feel like she wanted to do strange things: like ask him if he was comfortable, or offer to get things for him.

Offer to get things for him! That was such a simple idea, why didn't she think of it before? After all, she rationalised, as his subordinate it really was her duty to ensure he had everything he needed in order to carry out his job. What if they were attacked right now, and he was too groggy to think straight? (Although…did he ever think straight?)

See, she told herself. It's not as if I care about him personally one way or the other. It's really for the good of the ship when you think about it.

She looked over at Tylor, who was rubbing his eyes wearily. Actually, he'd been partially right earlier. She really was quite impressed at his level of commitment to actually getting through his shift. He sighed half-heartedly and his shoulders slumped as he seemed to be silently pleading with whatever was tormenting his nose to Please Stop.

"EhhhH'TCHH! Hnng…heh-TCHUU!"

He pulled out Yuriko's pink handkerchief that he'd stowed away earlier. Whatever that handkerchief had been in it's past life, it must have been very wicked to deserve the treatment it was getting today. If Yuriko thought what he'd done to it before was bad, the only word for what he did to it now was "punishment".

"Yes," he said heavily. "I dare say that does come in handy."

Although it had sounded like he'd just cleared his sinuses enough to last a week, at the very least, from the sound of his voice, the outcome of the battle to keep his nasal passages clear had been decided-and he was not the victor. He sniffed deeply, but it was a futile gesture-his congestion had reached that uncomfortable all consuming stage where sniffling is purely ornamental.

"Captain?" Yuriko said in a suspiciously friendly voice-a voice she only ever used to put him off his guard before she hit him. He eyed her suspiciously as she stood there, smiling pleasantly with her hands clasped in front of her.

Obviously she was up to something.

"Can I make you a nice hot cup of tea?" she said. "It might make you feel better?"

Tylor stared at her with a face that was the picture of confusion. "Huh? But…I told you to make me coffee once and you yelled at me."

"That was because you expected me to do it just because you told me to. It's different if I'm offering."

"I'm the captain, you know," he said in a pathetically congested attempt to be authoritarian. "It's my job to tell you to do things."

Yuriko was sorely tempted to launch into a tirade about how she didn't work her heart out to rise to the rank that she did only to be told to make coffee by some guy who only outranked her because he got his job by accident-an accident that had nearly gotten the both of them killed, at that!

She was tempted, but she didn't. It was awfully hard to yell at someone who looked as pathetic as he did right now; curling his index finger under his nose and squinting his eyes in an attempt to convince a persistent yet reluctant tickle that it should either finish what it started or go away.

"Hehh…hnnngh…" He broke off for a moment to sigh before continuing. "Hehh…ungh…heh-tchuu!"

He flung himself forward in his usual fashion but as he returned to an upright posture, he felt the additional weight of a hand-Yuriko's hand!-on his shoulder.

"Permission to leave the bridge, Captain?" she smiled

"Wha'? Why?"

"To make you a nice hot cup of tea, of course!" she chirped much too happily. Tylor, having far too little experience in how to deal with a happy Yuriko, simply nodded dumbly to indicate his consent.

As she took her leave and walked away, Tylor couldn't help but watch-while thinking to himself that whoever had designed the Space Force's women's uniforms must have been a genius. For, though her blouse and skirt revealed very little skin, it flattered her feminine silhouette to absolute perfection. Especially from behind.

"Oh…Captain?" Yuriko said sweetly, turning around on her heels to look directly and pointedly at him. Tylor suddenly sat bolt upright in his chair, with a guilty and startled look on his face like a dog that had been caught stealing sausages.

"Y-y-yes?" he stammered, expecting a lecture on the inappropriateness of ogling the female officers. Sometimes he wondered if that Yuriko had eyes in the back of her head!

"Do you want anything else? Something to eat perhaps? I think in the interest of keeping your health up, I'd be willing to look the other way about the 'eating on the bridge' rule just this once."

Tylor shook his head in slight disbelief. "N-no…just the tea will be fine."

"Okay then," she said before she disappeared.

What fantastic luck, Tylor thought to himself. Not only was Yuriko being nice to him, but it looked as if he wasn't going to have to lift a finger to do anything for himself for the rest of this shift!

Colds are fun! He thought with a smile. I really should get sick more often!

[Sneesee]

This is awesome! I'm SOOOOOOOO glad you decided to post it, sweetie! I absolutely LOVE it! Can't wait to read more!

[March Hare]

As soon as he recovered from this momentary interruption he said with a laugh "Sorry! You can continue yelling at me now if you want. Oh. Wait, not yet…heh'TCHHH!"

...

"Now can I yell at you?" Yuriko said.

...

What if they were attacked right now, and he was too groggy to think straight? (Although…did he ever think straight?)

Those lines and many, many more have me LOVE you for your FABULOUS writing skills, schatteke. Your subtly ironic tongue-in-cheek humour is to DIE for.

And...

his congestion had reached that uncomfortable all consuming stage where sniffling is purely ornamental.

Woman... I’ve never read a more knicker-combustingly perfect description of that particular state of being. NEVER. EVER. And I probably never will. Eat your heart out, world... this is the formulation to end all formulations. I adore! I worship! I... will stop getting carried away by my charred knickers NOW.

DELIGHTFUL story. Absolute gem. Can't wait for more!

[tma]

I have NO clue what happened to my comment re: part II- I Swear that I did.... so I'll have to figure out what it said.

Anyway.... Loving this. This is just getting TOO funny.

Although for the rest of her life, she would be hard pressed to explain her next action, some sort of maternal instinct perhaps took over, and she brushed his hair gently back and then, with her eyes closed, leant in towards his forehead with her lips slightly pursed.

Tylor couldn't contain his joy at this sight. Rejoicing at the prospect that Yuriko had finally realised, and succumbed to, his manly charms, he shut his eyes and tilted his chin upwards-for he could plainly see that she had terrible aim and would miss his lips by a great distance if he didn't help out a bit.

Yuriko must have had a sort of sixth sense for sensing impending Tylor-blunders after being around him for so long, for she opened her eyes in time to see him sitting, poised and puckered, awaiting the moment of contact.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"Me? You're the one who started it! Naughty girl, trying to sneak a kiss like that!"

"I wasn't…" she growled, her eye twitching. "I was trying to feel your temperature, idiot!"

"Really? I could have sworn that-"

"No."

"Perhaps you felt so sorry for me that it melted your heart and-"

"No."

"Or perhaps you were so impressed by my strength to carry on despite my dreadful illness that-"

"No!"

I DIED!!! I could Completely picture that and it amused me to no end.

As she took her leave and walked away, Tylor couldn't help but watch-while thinking to himself that whoever had designed the Space Force's women's uniforms must have been a genius. For, though her blouse and skirt revealed very little skin, it flattered her feminine silhouette to absolute perfection. Especially from behind.

"Oh…Captain?" Yuriko said sweetly, turning around on her heels to look directly and pointedly at him. Tylor suddenly sat bolt upright in his chair, with a guilty and startled look on his face like a dog that had been caught stealing sausages.

"Y-y-yes?" he stammered, expecting a lecture on the inappropriateness of ogling the female officers. Sometimes he wondered if that Yuriko had eyes in the back of her head!

"Do you want anything else? Something to eat perhaps? I think in the interest of keeping your health up, I'd be willing to look the other way about the 'eating on the bridge' rule just this once."

This too... And I LOVED how you turned it to where he didn't end up getting in trouble- at least not then- and it just leaves you wondering if she noticed- or not or if he's in for it later. *GRINS*

Sooooo very much fun- will re-read again now.

[KawaiiKitty]

Oh my word. What lovely things people have said. I'm a very happy KawaiiKitty.

Maru-chan: that's one of the nicest reviews I've gotten on any story EVER. It just made my day.

And plus it's really nice when people notice lines that I'm particularly proud of so...just, hooray really!

And that's all I'm going to say before part 4.

******************************************

Part 4

As Yuriko waited for the water to boil, she surreptitiously took her compact out of her pocket and peeked at her reflection. The dim artificial light in the small canteen wasn't ideal for checking one's makeup but it would have to do. She dabbed powder onto her cheeks and appraised the results in the small round mirror.

She pursed her lips and peered at them closely. What was wrong with her pale pink lipstick? Admittedly, she had worn the same colour pretty much since she joined the force-but since she spent most of her time in uniform, she never put much thought into such matters.

As she absent mindedly poured the hot water into the teapot, she made a mental note to discuss updating her look with Lt. Kim-even in the farthest reaches of space that woman managed to read all the latest fashion magazines.

She poured two cups of tea from the teapot and set them on a tray. As long as he was breaking the rules, there was no reason why she couldn't enjoy a cup too.

Now there was something she never thought she'd hear herself say.

Doing things absent-mindedly wasn't Yuriko's style and didn't suit her at all. It made her do things that she normally wouldn't. Like pulling out a tiny vial of perfume and spritzing it against her neck.

Why? Why on earth had she done that? The powder was one thing but Tylor was almost guaranteed to notice the perfume and come to the wrong conclusion. Although, Yuriko had to admit that she had NO idea what the "right" conclusion might be. She grabbed a napkin, wet it and tried her best to scrub off the fragrance that seemed to want to cling stubbornly to her skin. As luck would have it, she'd managed to direct the majority of the spray onto her blouse, and there was no getting it off from there.

She fought to keep the tray from clattering as her hands shook with the full nervousness of the realisation of her predicament. She even had to remind herself to take a deep calming breath before stepping onto the bridge.

Honestly, she muttered to herself. Getting herself all worked up and acting like a giddy schoolgirl over nothing. If he noticed the perfume and decided to assume that it was for him, she could just tell him to mind his own damn business. She knew how to shut him up when she needed to! The door slid open with a hiss just in time for her to see Tylor's Cold: The Encore Performance. A resounding "hehh-TCHUU!" echoed off the walls of the empty bridge, startling Yuriko with it's intensity, immediately followed by a smaller though no less echoing "hehh-tchh! Nnnn…Het'chhu!"

Yuriko was rather surprised to see that the dramatic doubling over at the waist wasn't as much of an attention seeking exercise as she'd previously thought-since he was doing the exact same thing even when she wasn't there. In fact, judging from this latest display, he'd even been holding himself back earlier…perhaps for her benefit?

She waited for him to sit back up before she approached him, but he just hung there pitifully, resting his forehead on his knees and let out a sorrowful noise that was something in between a groan and a whimper, muffled by the folds of his trenchcoat.

Finally, Yuriko decided she couldn't stand in the doorway forever or the tea would no longer be steaming hot. She paused a brief moment as the control panel for the heating system caught her eye. Shifting the weight of the tray to one hand, she reached out and stealthily set the temperature control a few degrees higher. She approached him slowly-partly because he still hadn't raised his head and she didn't want to startle him, and partly because she still hadn't come up with a viable excuse for the sudden appearance of perfume and fresh facial powder.

"Captain?" she ventured softly as she approached. Tylor snapped to attention as soon as he heard her voice, looking rather ashamed to have been found in such a pose. Yuriko stood as rigid as a board as he craned his neck towards her.

"Why are you blushing? Ohhh…you're not sick too?" He asked with genuine concern in his voice. Yuriko shook her head vigorously but grew ever more nervous as Tylor's inquisitive face grew ever closer.

"Ah," he sighed. "I bet that tea smells lovely. I wish I could smell it."

Yuriko almost melted with relief. How had she forgotten that little detail? Of course, he couldn't smell a thing! He'd never be able to notice the perfume. Thank goodness for little things.

"You took my advice," Tylor said with a weak smile.

"What?"

"The powder. You took my advice. Good thing, it's quite an improvement!"

Yuriko bit her tongue and shook her head. Tylor took a cup of tea and cradled it gratefully in his hands, soaking up the extra heat that it provided. Carefully sipping the steaming pale green liquid, a smile of temporary relief spread over his face as he felt the soothing heat trickle down his itchy throat, and the steam rising up into his face, loosening some of the pain in his sinuses.

He sniffed strongly. The downside to this was that he was going to need to launch another all-out attack on that handkerchief soon. He blinked and sniffed again. There was about to be another, more pressing concern. His hand hovered in front of his face as his breath began desperate, wavering hitches.

Yuriko noticed the hazard in this situation right away. Setting her own tea aside she leapt into action-lunging forward to sacrifice herself to come to the defence of her captain.

But it was too late.

"Hehhhh…het'CHUU!" he exploded, followed by a pained cry of alarm as the cup of tea he was holding divulged itself of it's contents into his lap. This was bizarrely followed by a cry of delight as the prone form of Yuriko also landed against his leg in her failed attempt to snatch the cup before such a disaster could happen. She gasped as she realised the vulnerability of her position and corrected herself before the situation had a chance to be misinterpreted.

"Oh…hothothot!" Tylor cried, jumping to his feet.

"Quick," exclaimed Yuriko. "Take off your coat before it soaks through to your uniform!"

"But I'll be cold!"

"You'll be even colder if your uniform gets wet, come on now. No arguing!" she ordered as she eased the trenchcoat off his shoulders. She grimaced as she did so. Why did he always insist on wearing that thing? There was no conceivable way he could think it actually looked good.

In fact…she thought as she appraised him standing there, in his head to toe red uniform, he certainly looked a great deal more dashing without that tattered old thing. Or…he would look dashing if he didn't have that bedraggled look on his face. It was strange…Yuriko often thought that she hated the usual look on his face-a look she would have described as "dopey optimism". She often stared at his face (when he wasn't looking of course, and she'd never admit to it) and thought that his countenance would be better served with an expression of serious dignity. But now, looking at those heavy and weary eyes that had been robbed of their usual sparkle and vitality, she couldn't help but think that she'd give anything to see the old "dopey" grin again. Tired just didn't suit Tylor at all.

Tylor folded his arms uncomfortably. "It's far too cold now," he complained.

Yuriko folded up his soiled coat and put it aside, then put her fingers on his shoulders to guide him back into his chair.

"Here," she said, handing him the second cup of tea. "You can have mine. That should warm you up a little bit, at least."

******************************

To be continued. Of course...that would be a really dumb ending otherwise!

[March Hare]

Haa, lovely lovely I love them both!

(Teeheehee, I just remembered whom those two remind me of...

Vash the Stampede and Meryl Stryfe! )

[tma]

GAAAAAH!! You are spoiling us. In a good way. :lol:

That was SO cute- with her making herself up. *evil grin*

As she absent mindedly poured the hot water into the teapot, she made a mental note to discuss updating her look with Lt. Kim-even in the farthest reaches of space that woman managed to read all the latest fashion magazines.

That was Great- he is corrupting her.... and making her think of "frivlous things". I LOVE it. *big sappy grin*

Oh... and can I just tell you how sinfully humourous and slightly erotic it was to have Taylor say "hot, hot, hot" after he sneezed???? OMG!!! I was like "No.... he didn't just say that, did he?" I swear that I had to re-read that like three times. hehehe....

*eagerly awaits more- because she is a greedy story-hound*

[Enkidom]

Doing things absent-mindedly wasn't Yuriko's style and didn't suit her at all. It made her do things that she normally wouldn't. Like pulling out a tiny vial of perfume and spritzing it against her neck.

Why? Why on earth had she done that? The powder was one thing but Tylor was almost guaranteed to notice the perfume and come to the wrong conclusion. Although, Yuriko had to admit that she had NO idea what the "right" conclusion might be. She grabbed a napkin, wet it and tried her best to scrub off the fragrance that seemed to want to cling stubbornly to her skin. As luck would have it, she'd managed to direct the majority of the spray onto her blouse, and there was no getting it off from there.

That was absolutely brilliant, especially given the way you turn it around later on in the piece. This is definitely *dreadful Carribean accent* de good stuff!

[VoOs]

Ok, this is just too cute and funny for words! Lovely, lovely, LOVELY story Kawaii-chan! Can't wait to see more!

Thank you!

[Guest iffthelurker]

I know next to nothing about this series, having seen maybe half an episode when some of the folks I used to hang out with tried to fanpush it to me, and that's not diminishing my enjoyment of this story in the least! I adore this! That he's trying to hold back some of his symptoms while not outright denying that he's ill makes me all KINDS of goo inside. I was out of town for a while and this was such a treat to come back to! Thank you!!! I can't wait to see where Tylor takes you with this.

[mystic-chibi]

I hope you keep going and going and going with this because I can just keep reading forever!!! It's so good, you're just amazing!! I've never seen the show myself but I'm not confused at all!....which is unusual for me ^^ Anyway I just wanted to tell you that I've been faithfully reading this everynight b/c it's just soooooo good!! Can't wait for the next part!!!

[KawaiiKitty]

Heh, heh...I'm actually GLAD nobody knows this fandom because I'm probably butchering it nine ways from Sunday right now! And now BEHOLD as I stretch poor Yuriko as OOC as I can possibly manage.

Oh yes...nobody knows that...I mean "No, nobody's OOC here. Move along!"

Hahaha, in case anyone's remotely curious I only started watching this bloody series because I saw an episode where Tylor DOES sneeze and I then fangirl-exploded all over it because he has the same voice as Miroku. Teeheehee. Hows that for a really good reason to get into a series?

This is the last "official" chapter. I wrote a sort of epilogue-thingy to it as well...I may start a new topic for it if: 1. It turns out 18+ which it so badly wants to do, but I suck at writing, or 2. By the time I manage to type it I can no longer edit my title. Otherwise, it will end up here. By the ending of this chapter, I'm sure you can all figure out what's going to happen there anyway! And sorry about the lack of sneezing in this bit...it kept wanting to come out all Plot!

**************************************************************

Part 5-How Many Times Can She Say "Just This Once"?

Tylor shivered in his seat as he desperately tried to wrap himself around his cup of tea to absorb every available ounce of heat that emanated from it. Yuriko could see his hands were now shaking visibly. Perhaps that old coat of his actually had served a purpose, this time.

Although she had already turned the heat up to an even more uncomfortable temperature, she figured that he could use it turned up again. However…any warmer in here and Yuriko really would be tempted to loosen her tie. Still, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him, huddled into himself as he was.

"Captain?" Yuriko ventured. "You can't carry on like this. Let me page someone to take over for you. I don't know what you were thinking anyway, letting practically everyone have the day off just to gamble on a silly card game. We'll get someone back here so you can rest."

"No."

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

He turned to her with a smile that was obviously forced. "Having an event like that makes everyone happy. Everyone is always so busy all the time, it's good for them to have something fun to lift their spirits. I don't want to ruin that."

Yuriko gaped. She had to admit, that was possibly one of the most admirable things she'd ever heard him say.

She knelt down beside his chair so that she was no longer hovering over him, but looking slightly up at him-somehow that seemed more appropriate.

"Listen up and listen close," she said. "Because I'll probably never say this again. I'm impressed. I really am. But…you sure picked a stupid time to be noble."

"You're…you're impressed?"

Yuriko rolled her eyes. "Yes, but just this once, mind you!"

Tylor flashed a grin. "You know, I don't always give you enough credit."

"That's because you don't deserve…huh?" Yuriko's brain had decided that that sentence made far more sense the other way around and had originally processed it that way. The realisation of the true meaning of what he said hit her with all it's full absurd glory. "What do you mean you don't give me enough credit?"

Unfortunately the answer to that question was never to be. Without warning, Tylor turned sharply to the side, away from Yuriko.

"Hhh…heh-SHHH!"

The force of it nearly toppled him from off his chair, particularly since he seemed to have an idea of the force of it before it arrived and put his arms up to his face as a shield. His heroic efforts to spare Yuriko from the brunt of the storm didn't seem to go unnoticed either, as she patted his arm soothingly and very softly simply said "Oh Captain…poor thing."

The sound of her voice seemed to lull Tylor into forgetting his misery for a moment and returning to his favourite sport-needling Yuriko, though his attempt at banter was soaked in an unshakable, congested and groggy voice that Yuriko found it was impossible to get angry at. No matter what he said, it just seemed to add an air of pathetic-ness to the whole thing.

"Even though it's just you and I alone here," he said with a pitiful attempt at a teasing smile. "And even though nobody will hear you, you're still so formal. Why won't you call me by my name, instead of 'Captain', just one time?"

"Why won't you ever address me correctly, using my rank, instead of using my name as if we were old friends?"

"Because Yuriko is a pretty name, and it suits you better than some stuffy old title."

"Well, the title 'Captain' doesn't suit you but I'm forced to call you that anyway," she retorted.

"That's why I like you, Yuriko. You're so funn..so f-hehh'TSSSH!" He paused to sigh, and sniff thoroughly, and then added "It's so cold in here."

Despite the fact that Yuriko had already turned up the heater again, despite the fact that she was so warm that she was actually beginning to sweat, despite all of this Tylor was still shivering. Not just any shivering but the uncontrollable kind of shivering that no matter how much one tenses their muscles, simply cannot be controlled. She knew this because he was making a truly valiant effort to NOT appear as if he were shivering and it seemed like the more he tried to stop it, the more he shook.

"Captain, this is ridiculous! Surely there can be one other person on the entire ship who can come and take an extra shift on the bridge so you can rest?" She thought for a moment until an idea hit her. "What about First Officer Yamamoto? Surely he isn't watching the card game-he wouldn't approve of such things!"

"Well, it wouldn't be very fair to disturb him just because he chooses to do something different with his free time, now is it?"

"Well, even if you can't bear to cut into your crew's precious free time, you still don't have to do this. I won't mind if you want to go rest in your quarters-there's nothing important going on here anyway. I can handle it on my own just this once."

"But that's against the rules."

"Don't you always say 'Forget about the rules'?"

"Don't you always say 'Regulations are regulations'? Anyway…hehhh…hehh-tchhu!"

Yuriko rolled her eyes. If she didn't know better, she'd swear that his little interruptions were far too perfectly timed, either saving him from having to say something or allowing him to have the last word. And, she could swear that Captain Tylor was far too unusually committed to fulfilling his duties. Despite the fact that all Yuriko ever wished for was to reform him into a more serious officer, there was just something too odd about his level of dedication today.

Wasn't this the same guy who used every excuse he could think of to goof off and abandon his post? Did he…perhaps want the two of them to be alone together? But no, Tylor wasn't clever enough to plan something like that.

Was he..?

Yuriko laughed out loud at her own silliness. Yes, she really had a tendency to overthink things. Of course that twit didn't have the cunning to orchestrate events on the entire ship in order to score some alone time with her! Tylor never had ulterior motives…he rarely even had just plain ordinary motives. Right?

"In that case…"Yuriko said out loud, earning a quizzical glance from Tylor. His curiosity turned to alarm as he watched her slowly stand up and fix him with a blank yet cool stare.

"Captain…" she began in a level voice. "This…doesn't leave this room. Never expect me to do this again. Don't say a word, don't look at me and don't you dare even think about touching me. You got that?"

"Okay…" Tylor said tentatively, not entirely sure what he was agreeing to.

Quietly and without losing any of her poise, Yuriko wedged herself into the seat tightly next to him. Tylor's astonishment and delight was evident from the look on his face and from the fact that for once in his life he was stuck for words.

"I meant what I said," Yuriko warned. "Don't get too excited. I simply want to help keep you warm and comfortable. I still don't like you…but you are my Captain and that means I have to do what's best for you."

Yuriko had to wonder if Captain Tylor had ANY idea what complete and utter crap she was talking. There was absolutely nothing in the regulations about the requirements of cuddling one's cold-ridden commanding officer.

Perhaps he had no idea. He seemed to have his own problems to worry about. He turned his weary eyes up to the ceiling and Yuriko, pressed up against his side as she was, could feel him tensing all the muscles in his body. He brought both his hands up to his face before allowing an obviously restrained "hehh-SSHH!" to escape. Afterwards, he prodded his nose and winced as if the very act of trying to forbid his sneezes the unrestrained freedom they so badly desired was causing him pain.

"Don't feel like you have to hold back on my account," Yuriko whispered. "We don't want you to end up feeling worse, do we?"

"Oh, Yuriko…" he said mournfully. "I really do wish I could lie down right now."

"Go ahead and go to sleep. If anything crucial happens, I'll wake you."

Tylor yawned and leaned his head on Yuriko's shoulder. "You know," he mumbled heavily and sleepily. "I always knew there was a nice girl hiding inside you waiting to get out."

Yuriko didn't answer, fixing her attention on the black expanse of space visible through the window, and the small points of light drifting past. She stared off into the distance until she felt Tylor's body grow ever heavier with relaxation, and heard the rhythmic though laboured breathing of sleep.

It was strange, Yuriko thought, how sleep made all men equal. When watching him sleep, she didn't see the infuriating idiot, the goof-off, or the twit with the clumsy chat-up lines. He was just Tylor…just a man.

Yuriko wondered who she became when she was asleep.

**********************************************************

She wasn't sure how much time had elapsed. Perhaps she had drifted off into thought, perhaps she had fallen asleep. The latter was far more likely…there was no way her conscious self would have allowed Captain Tylor to burrow his sleeping face into her neck, or to clutch her chest as if it were twin teddy bears.. And the conscious her certainly would have heard the footsteps approaching, or the door opening, or the excited voices chattering about the days events as the bridge began to come alive again. It was only the deep booming voice of First Officer Yamamoto that roused her-of all the rotten luck it would be him!

"My word," was all he said. "Why is it so warm in here?"

With a yelp, Yuriko leapt from the chair she shared with Tylor, nearly toppling him in her attempt to extract herself from his clutches. She snapped to a posture of attention so rigid that a tap on her shoulder would have sent her clattering to the ground like an iron rod.

"Yamamoto, sir," she addressed him in a voice that was far too shrill and clear. "The Captain is unwell and requires to return to his quarters. Request that you take over command from him."

"Er…okay…" he stammered, clearly unable to make sense of the bizarre situation.

Tylor yawned, clearly not as concerned about the situation as Yuriko. He stretched like a cat making it's point about just how unhurried cats can be.

"Ah, Yuriko…if you insist I suppose I have no choice," he tried to joke, but the fact that his voice had all but abandoned him betrayed just how true her assertion of him being "unwell" had been. Still, he forced a smile as he made his way to the door and his parting shot before he left was "Try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone, everyone! I don't want to miss anything fun."

Yamamoto peered at Yuriko. "Are you sure you don't need time off too? Your face is looking very flushed!"

"N-no!" she stammered, looking at her feet. "It's the heat!"

Averting her gaze to avoid everyone's questioning glances, she happened to catch sight of Captain Tylor's trenchcoat. He'd only gone and forgotten it, the fool. As nonchalantly as she could muster, she grabbed it and tucked it under her arm as she made her way back to her station and sat there, tapping more buttons on her console than was strictly necessary, keeping her head lowered to hide her burning cheeks.

She kicked his coat underneath her desk. Stupid Tylor forgetting his coat like that. Now she'd have to go completely out of her way to bring it to him after her shift finished.

**************************

The end...until the epilogue!

[tma]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't even remotely care if it would be OOC for her. You HAD to do that. It just HAD to be done. And she isn't totally melted- she's still her- just a little melted- and seriously- with cute, cold-ridden Taylor- who wouldn't be??

And them arguing about the rules- on opposite sides- that was Awesome! And I loved her watching him sleep- SO sweet.

Will try to wait paitential to see how wonderfully you wrap this up. And then I'll re-read, and re-read like a nut.

[silentdreamer789]

Loved it! Particularly the ending...

silentdreamer789

[Enkidom]

it was strange, Yuriko thought, how sleep made all men equal. When watching him sleep, she didn't see the infuriating idiot, the goof-off, or the twit with the clumsy chat-up lines. He was just Tylor…just a man.

Yuriko wondered who she became when she was asleep.

That was, quite simply fantastic! I love those two lines. Well I love the entire story, but that is exceptional.

[March Hare]

If that is OOC, I prefer her OOC. KAWAAAIIIIIIII!!!

(And what do you mean... you suck at writing? You're magnificent!)

[Guest iffthelurker]

Okay, now that I've seen almost all of the series (you wonderful fanpusher, you ), I HAD to reread this, and I don't find that you've butchered the characters at all. Tylor's reasoning for remaining on the bridge even while he's feeling so poorly is dead on, and while Yuriko is so incredibly focused on rules and regulations at the beginning, your characterization is equally on for how she acts towards Tylor a bit later in the series. I adored this every bit as much as I did when they were all as good as OCs to me, and perhaps even more now that I know them. Thank you again!

[KawaiiKitty]

Okay, now that I've seen almost all of the series (you wonderful fanpusher, you ), I HAD to reread this, and I don't find that you've butchered the characters at all. Tylor's reasoning for remaining on the bridge even while he's feeling so poorly is dead on, and while Yuriko is so incredibly focused on rules and regulations at the beginning, your characterization is equally on for how she acts towards Tylor a bit later in the series. I adored this every bit as much as I did when they were all as good as OCs to me, and perhaps even more now that I know them. Thank you again!

That is the best compliment EVER! Fanfiction is hard, I am always certain I'm getting something wrong. And given that I wrote this when I'd seen a handful of non-sequential episodes...I can look back and see bits that I guessed at that ended up being right and bits that I was WAY off on. But still...yay, sigh of relief!