In the lounge, an entirely different situation was developing.
Former Commander Braxton had taken a seat before the large, multi-purpose screen that great hog of a woman had been playing video games on earlier. Using the universal remote, she scanned through the vessel's video archives, finding an old soap opera she could tolerate, barely. The disgraced officer could think of nothing better to have at her side than the cup of warm tea she'd retrieved earlier.
She'd been set to view her soap, and perhaps even enjoy it a little, when one of those detestably loud louts had come into the lounge and started ruining her experience. The Hispanic imbecile was sliding back and forth before the screen in an ugly, odd way.
"I fail to see why you have this sudden impulse to impress me with whatever it is that you're doing." Braxton hissed out imperiously. "But if you feel compelled to continue, I would be very much grateful if you were to take yourself elsewhere."
The scoundrel paused and gazed at her thoughtfully. "That move is known as the power walk. No, wait, that's wrong. The moonwalk, that's what it is. It was a very popular dance move several centuries ago. I thought you might have seen it when you were in high school."
The cretin was laughing at her, she saw. Braxton's nostrils and temper flared.
"They say that grandmothers make the best lovers." He continued to mock her. "And I find myself wondering if the same can be said for women in your age bracket; great, great, great, Neolithic Age grandmothers. You know, back in the time of the hunter-gatherers."
There was nothing she could do, Braxton knew, except glower back and take her punishment with dignity, and pray that it wouldn't last for the rest of her career. Admiral Cocksander had gotten her good this time, thanks to these incorrigible people. "I would very much like to watch this program, without your impertinence to mar it!"
As a reply, the buffoon made a short run as if he were some sort of human airplane. When he came close to where Braxton sat, he unceremoniously hopped onto her lap.
"Enough is enough!" Braxton seethed, unwilling to even bring herself to touch this vile creature that was now sitting across her thighs. "I demand that you remove yourself this instant! Haven't you humiliated me enough? You've destroyed my entire career!"
"Darling, that's not it at all." The man said, his tone all soft and gushy now. "I'm here to show you the error of your selfish ways. I'm here to help you break out of this bitter and black shell of hardened mucous you've built around yourself. I'm here to make the butterfly within you blossom and learn how to stretch out its wings."
Braxton snapped her head at him, ready to deliver another dose of venom in the man's direction, when he did an impossible thing. He darted his own head forward and pecked her on the lips.
She recoiled, leaning away from him as if she'd just realized he was a leper. "How dare you!"
"Most women I've approached this way would have said thank you, may I have another?"
Braxton's head turned, for she had a wicked reply to what most women would have said. But this man, this creature was ready for her. She'd barely opened her mouth, when he pecked her on the lips again. Braxton tried to shove him off. "Stop that!"
They wrestled over her hands for a few seconds. When she stopped trying to tear him away, he simply let her go.
"Do you even remember my name, baby?"
"I'm not your baby!"
"You're not my commander, either. Not any more. You're not some powerful deity that can rain down hate and cruelty on people that were unfortunate enough to have a lower rank than you did. You're a normal person now, just like I am. You can drop this pretense you've put up and allow yourself to remember what it was like when you had real emotions."
"Fuck you!"
"Is that a threat or a promise, granny?"
They began wrestling on the couch again. This time, her attacker ended up mounted on her lap, with his upper body pressing hard against her chest. She strained to keep her head as far away from his as possible, fearing that the man's lips would graze her flesh once more.
"You know, you could be attractive, quite possibly, if you allowed your features to soften up a bit." He said.
"I don't care if you find me attractive or not!" Braxton shot back.
"That's your biggest problem, in that you don't care enough at all." The man told her. "Nobody on this ship likes you very much. I have a very real worry that some of the crew may actually inflict some physical harm on your person. Being nice would go a long way to improving relations between you and your new crewmates."
"You people are not my crewmates!"
"I'm sorry, but until our dear admiral says otherwise, I'm afraid that you are. You haven't been with a man in some time, have you?"
"I fail to see how that's any of your business!"
The man shrugged, but he hadn't let go of her wrists this time. "It's not, really. But through your shirt, I've noticed that your breasts have perked up. Your nipples are now aroused. Your lips and cheeks are showing some reddish coloration as well."
"They are not!" Braxton denied, half expecting him to attempt to sneak another nasty kiss at her. When he didn't, she glanced down at her breasts. Through the fabric she saw that indeed, they were responding to having a man so close to her. She could only assume that her face was doing the same.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" The man asked. "Your body is reacting as any woman's body would, when it finds itself attracted to another human being. But your mind is denying it so harshly that you have failed to see it. You've become dead to your own sensuality. My name, in case you've been wondering, is Ramiro De La Cruz, but you can shorten it to plain old Cruz. I am a sex therapist, as well as a sexy therapist, if I may be so bold."
"You're an imbecile." Braxton said, although her tone wasn't as harsh as before.
"I can be." The man acknowledged with a playful chuckle. "If you'll relax your hand a bit, I'll do one last thing and then I'll leave you alone to watch your soap opera. That show was recorded years ago, so you can always rewind it and watch it from the beginning if that's what you wish."
Braxton looked into his eyes, seeking out deception or manipulation, or any of the usual negative aspects she was used to seeing in the people that worked around her. Just to see what he'd do next, she relaxed her right wrist.
"You can't lie to yourself and say that I want you for your power, because you no longer have any power." Cruz shook her left wrist, which was still apprehensive and rigid. "This one, honey. This one is the one I need."
Once the wrist was no longer defiant, Cruz stretched her left arm out. Gently, he settled her fingers down over his crotch, where she soon discovered that an erection was hiding underneath.
"You've made me hard, baby." Cruz revealed. "Not Braxton the Commander, with the glorified title and the false idea of power and authority to stand behind it, but Braxton the Woman, the real woman. Braxton, a being of flesh and blood, with real thoughts and real emotions."
"You're... You're trying to use me so you can embarrass me later."
"Am I?" Cruz tried a suave roll off her lap, only to awkwardly tumble down to the floor. He shot up to his feet. "Not quite how I wanted that to turn out, but what's done is done. Anyway, that will serve as your first lesson, free of charge. If you'd like a second consultation, please don't hesitate to pull me aside and ask. Be assured that my relationships with my clients are strictly confidential."
That done, he started away.
Braxton the Woman stood up, with all sorts of doubts and questions bombarding her mind. The former commander wasn't a much-loved woman; she was a much feared and despised one. Braxton knew it because that's how she wanted to present herself. She hadn't had a decent relationship with a man in so long that she'd given up on them. In her mind, she'd turned all men into monsters. And here was this Cruz person, who had seen right through her unfeeling façade as if he'd read her life story. She wanted to say something to him, but she didn't know how.
Cruz may have sensed this, for he turned back. They stared at one another across an expanse of about twenty feet of empty lounge. He smiled and pointed at the light dial. "You know, I can dim the lights and walk back to you, if you wish."
Braxton coldly stared back.
"Baby, that was a joke." Cruz chuckled. "But not a very effective one, I see. We may have to work on your sense of humor for our second lesson."
Still, the woman said nothing.
"Do you understand the concept of service to others, instead of service to self?" He asked. "Let's try this. If you will just walk over to me and take my hand. If you take that first step for me, what I will do for you is to take you up to my bunk and teach you the true definition of female orgasm. I am clinically licensed in this field."
Braxton turned away from him.
His mischievous side swept over him, so he started ribbing her again. "I didn't expect you would. You know what they say, about old dogs being set in their ways." He shrugged. "Perhaps you're just too old."
He was smiling as he said this, flirting with her, but her head was still turned. Finally, he frowned and gave up.
Cruz left the lounge, crossed the narrow corridor, and stepped into the dining room. The first person he saw was Thor, standing there and only wearing green and blue striped boxers. Close behind him was Mary, who was beautifully nude. Seated beside the dining table, were Cummings and Margo, both of whom were dressed in their underwear and eating toasted pumpkin seeds.
"Hi, Cruz." Mary said, buoyantly. "You're just in time. Thor here has something to say to everybody, as way of therapy. I would like Cummings to go first because he's further along in the program."
"By all means, please proceed." Cruz replied.
Behind him, Cruz heard the lounge door open. He only turned partly as Braxton crowded into the room behind him. Her eyes widened at the state of near or full nudity present in the room.
Cummings stood up and started playing with his man-boobs. "Take a look at these babies, will you? I used to weigh about one-sixty. Even when I was that skinny, these were A cups. When I gained a little weight, they got as big as they are now. I try to keep myself overweight on purpose, because my big stomach helps cover these damned things up better. I have not taken my shirt off in public ever since I was a little boy, and I have had women take a look at my man-boobs and make faces of disgust at me. If that doesn't make you feel ashamed and depressed to your core, I don't know what will.
"Cruz and Mary have taught me that it's okay to be different, and that there's nothing wrong with me if I don't want there to be. Thanks to them, I was confident enough to strip down and jump into the ring against the Worf, which pretty much saved the entire galaxy. Today, I can stand here in front of all of you without feeling embarrassed and having to wear a big, loose shirt. If my friends did that for me, Thor, I'm sure they can help you out too."
Cummings went to retake his seat, after seeing that Margo was trying to hog all the pumpkin seeds. He reached out and returned the little bowl back to the centered spot it was in before.
Thor looked nervous, despite his brawny muscles and stature. The big Viking kept casting quick glances over Cruz's shoulder at the hated Braxton.
Mary tried to console him, by caressing his bloated, muscular arm. "Ensign Braxton is part of our crew now, Thor. I'm sure she has some issues and insecurities of her own that she needs to work out. Don't see her as some kind of enemy, because she no longer is one. Look at her instead like someone who needs help, just like Cummings, and just like you, and just like Margo."
Cruz noticed the cook's reaction to the statement. The lesbian had gripped her hands into fists. The big woman soon loosened her fingers, though. If he caught that momentary flinch, he had no doubt that Mary had caught much more past that.
"Thor," Mary said. "I want you to take your time and to say what you want to when you're ready to. It doesn't have to be a long explanation either, like what Cummings said. You can just make into a short sentence, just like I coached you."
