Shared Spaces

Posted on Thu Aug 20th, 2026 @ 9:32am by Lieutenant JG T'Lar & Lieutenant JG Jacob Rosen

1,923 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Character Development
Location: Jacob Rosen's Quarters
Timeline: Current

Placing the picture of T'Lar and himself back on the high shelf adjacent to his large size porthole, Jacob stood back to survey everything. He had tidied in a bit of a rush, endeavoring to make space for anything T'Lar would decide to bring over for her stay. His furnishings were mostly the standard that came with the quarters as he had not yet taken much time to personalize the space. Mementos and souvenirs from previous ships and travels adorned the shelf, the group photo of Platoon 3057 from when he attended Starfleet Recruit Training. His Bachelor's Degree from his graduation from the Academy. A faded baseball cap Seattle Mariners World Series Champions 2365 in frayed stitching.

T'Lar, not wanting to overwhelm Jacob with her presence, had elected to bring only one rolling suitcase which she was able to procure at the last minute in which she secured her off duty clothes, her socks and underwear and miscellaneous toiletry supplies, a garment bag containing three clean uniforms, and her duffel bag in which she packed her surviving meditation items. Jacob had assured her that she would not need to bring her pillow as his quarters being larger included a queen sized bed with two pillows. Thusly encumbered she made her way to his quarters, dodging repair crews along the way. The battle for all intents and purposes seemed to have ended with the main participants all being knocked out of the fight. While she would not characterize their situation as "safe", they were under the watchful protection of the Bristol and the other ships of the task force as they were preparing to tow them back to DS9. What was clear was that the Mirror Universe ships were no better off than the Sunfire at this point. T'Lar took some small comfort in that as she pressed the door hail button outside Jacob's quarters.

"Come in please!" He said, answering the chime as he straightened one last thing before fixing his clothing. Jacob was dressed without his gray jacket, in his Operations gold tunic slightly unzipped so the high collar formed a more relaxed and classic collar folded down. He paused seeing T'Lar walk in. Something about her in his space, while new, felt good. More than good.

"Thank you for having me, Jacob." T'Lar said as she wrestled her items through the door.

"Thank you for coming, please make yourself comfortable." Jacob replied, sweeping his arm to welcome her. "Oh uh, these are for you, sorry it's replicated." He said, handing her a small box of chocolate covered cherries.

T'Lar set the garment bag on the bed and accepted the box of goodies.
"That is very thoughtful of you Jake. I am sure I will enjoy them, replicated or not, provided you share them with me. I must say your quarters are quite a bit more spacious than mine. These are even more accommodating than the quarters we shared in Lake Tahoe." she said.

"Technically, by being a Department Head I am a Senior Officer so I am for now at least entitled to a bit more spacious accommodations." Jacob smirked ruefully. "You won't hear any complaints from me."

"I hope you don't mind that I brought some items with me to set up a small meditation shrine. I shall try to pick a spot that is unobtrusive." T'Lar proffered.

"Wherever is most comfortable for you T'Lar. There is frankly more space than I really need." Jacob replied helping her with her things.

"Do you have space in your hanging locker for me to put my uniforms?" T'Lar inquired. "I can leave my off duty clothing in the suitcase if drawer space is unavailable."

"I haven't used any of the drawers on the right side, also the wall locker has plenty of space." Jacob looked to the ceiling slightly. "Computer. Add full access rights for all my personal spaces to T'Lar, Lieutenant, USS Sunfire."

An affirming tone played from the overhead speaker. Acknowledged. Full unaccompanied access rights for personal quarters assigned to Lieutenant Rosen added to Lieutenant T'Lar's profile.

"I do hope that I am not displacing you or disrupting your routine overly much. I am very gratified you agreed to share your quarters with me." T'Lar said as she put her clothing away in the areas Jacob designated.

"Not at all." Jacob replied, smiling and waiting for a signal that she was ok with the physical contact, pecked her on the cheek. "I think this will be a wonderful experiment."

She unpacked her toiletries and placed them in the appropriate areas of the bathroom and shower. Having done so she returned to the box of chocolate covered cherries and opened it, taking one out and taking a bite.

"Mmmm that is quite good. Please have one as well." she said offering the box to Jacob.

Jacob took a morsel, savoring in the blend of flavor between the fruit and the chocolate. "Glad you like it, thank you."

"I believe you mentioned something about a new vinyl record you wanted to share with me?" T'Lar inquired.

"Oh yes!" Jacob said, crossing the room at the sudden reminder, flipping through the stand containing a modest collection until he found the replicated album. "I had remembered that you have a preference for the Big Band music so I looked into how to get the right experience for it." He said looking back to her. "Obviously we could just ask the computer to do it, but I find it satisfying to replicate the vinyl and a player for the right RPM to play that media." Jacob took out the vinyl, and placed it on the player gently setting the needle.

"There is something about hearing the music the way it was intended to be listened to that enriches the experience." T'Lar agreed.

"I think we had talked about Glenn Miller in the past." Jacob said turning to her as the beginning notes of Moonlight Serenade played. "Care to dance?" He said, holding his hand out towards her. Jacob wasn't sure how this test of cohabitation would go, but he was determined to make her feel comfortable and not regret the choice.

T'Lar took his hand and snuggled close as the music swelled gently, laying her head on his shoulder as they swayed to beat.

Holding her close, the stress and pressure of the recent days passed away, if only for a moment. All that mattered was the sound of the music, the scent of T'Lar's hair, which he always found reminiscent of fresh stone fruit but slightly different, and the feeling of her touch as they slowly danced to the comforting notes. "Thank you for coming T'Lar. This was exactly the right call."

In response T'Lar looked deep into his eyes and softly kissed him; Once, twice and again- unhurried kisses. Their lips gently parting, T'Lar was misty eyed.

"I nearly lost you today..." She said,her voice with an uncharacteristic tremor to it.

Jacob didn't respond verbally, there was nothing to say. She knew the danger the both of them were in. All Jacob could do was rub his hand across her back in slow, deliberate circles.

Clearing her throat, T'Lar regarded him with a look he'd never seen before. "I believe I understand my mirror universe counterpart better after experiencing what I did when I saw the missing viewscreen before I spotted you alive and well at your post. For a fleeting second I felt... absence, loss, conspicuous emptiness in the depths of my soul and... pain the likes of which I've only known one other time."

She held him tightly.

Jacob supported her, allowing her to relax in his arms as much as she felt comfortable. This relationship had taught him so much about being intentional with someone. He had known Vulcans, he had friends who became involved with them in the past. Jacob had heard all the stereotypes, and like most stereotypes, the reality was quite different. Jacob had learned to truly pay attention, a feat for a brain that seemed to ping pong between tasks. Her expressions were there, you just had to look. Whether that was something mundane like her enjoyment of a sweet, or one of his mistakes like making physical contact before she was ready, she did express herself and Jacob had learned to read them.

"I know that as a Vulcan I do not experience emotions in the same way that you do. But that does not make my commitment to you any less binding or impactful. But I cannot dismiss the importance your continued presence in my life has for me. I have examined my thoughts and my affinity for you and I believe that the closest analogy I can come up with is that I am, in fact, falling 'in love' with you." T'Lar confessed.

"T'Lar, I have learned many things during my short time on this ship. About this crew, about myself, but the most important thing I have learned is that I love you T'Lar." Jacob replied, honestly and openly. His palms beaded with a nervous sweat but almost paradoxically, he felt that saying this out loud steeled his resolve. "You made me feel at home here. You encouraged me to try to live versus survive. I don't know that I deserve all that you have given me, but I do know that you are the most amazing woman I have ever met and I love you so very much."

"I find it difficult to express in words the myriad of ways in which you enrich my life Jacob. All I know is that when we are apart I feel incomplete, and when we are together I feel whole. There is a rightness to things and a lightness of being. You understand things about me that no one else does. I may not be able to 'feel' emotions the way you do, but one thing I've learned is that love is as much a commitment as it is an emotion, and I am so deeply committed to you that I can say without question that I love you too." T'Lar said quietly as she nestled her head on his shoulder.

"I'm still piecing my way through what Counselor Remal told me. One of the conclusions I've reached is that I need to stop living in fear of what might happen and start being present for what is happening. I know that right here, and right now I love you T'Lar. What happens down the road is down the road." Jacob said, staring into her deep eyes. The record had stopped playing and needed to be flipped but he hadn't noticed in the slightest. "Tell me if I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't want to overwhelm you or make you uncomfortable."

"Far from it, Jake. I was concerned that my confession might be viewed as premature, or make you uncomfortable. I am deeply gratified that you feel the way that you do about me. My affinity for you runs very deep and I cannot imagine my life without you in it now." T'Lar admitted.

The record hissed and popped as the needle reached the end of the side. Neither of them moved to turn the record over, they simply held each other, each the other's bastion of calm amidst all of the chaos and destruction surrounding them. For now, it was enough.

TBC

tag T'Lar.




OOC: Figured I'd move this interaction to our own post :-)

 

RSS Feed