It always fascinated him; the interactions of certain crew members with each other. Lately, (the last 48 hours 27 minutes and 38...39...40 seconds to be precise) he had been particularly intrigued with the interactions of his Commanding Officer, Will Riker and the ship's Counselor, Deanna Troi.
His observations (or at least his most in depth and recent ones) had begun two nights ago in Ten-Forward. He had commented to Geordi that Commander Riker and Counselor Troi were seated at a nearby table and that perhaps they should join them. He had noted Geordi's amused expression.
"No, Data, I think they'd rather be alone, " he had said, smiling and turning back to the bar where they both stood.
He then more closely analyzed the table at which the couple sat; in the far corner of Ten-Forward, the subdued lighting in that particular corner, the lowered voices of both the Commander and the Counselor (although he was able to discern with his superior hearing what exactly they were saying, he chose not to), the way they leaned in to hear what the other was saying, the smiles on their faces and the placement of the Commander's hand over the Counselor's, made him quickly compute that Geordi had made the correct assessment of the given situation.
"Perhaps you are correct," he said 2.8230 seconds after Geordi had spoken. He turned back to the bar as well, filing the observation away for further study at a later time.
Later that evening, he made a second, closer, observation of them in the arboretum. He had received a message from Keiko O'Brien asking him to "check up" on her plants and while doing so he had heard the Commander and Counselor laughing quietly as they strolled through the greenery and flowers. Not wishing to disturb them, he had moved to an area in which he felt he would not be noticed, while still affording him the opportunity to catalogue the events for future reference. He had watched as Commander Riker had stopped along the path the two were both following and picked a white bloom from a particular bush and offered it to the Counselor. She had accepted it and then gently brushed back a few stray locks of hair from the Commander's forehead, a gesture he had observed before. As her hand had lowered, the Commander had taken it and kissed the underside of her wrist. More soft words were spoken and then they left; holding each other's hand.
Data compiled his recent observations, added them to his previous knowledge of their "relationship" and concluded that the two were again in love. He would test his conclusion tomorrow night at the poker game.
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As he approached the Commander's quarters for the weekly poker game, he theorized on what effect, if any, a renewed relationship would have on the Commander and Counselor.
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"Commander, I realize I am early, but there is a matter that I would like to discuss with you, if I may," he had stated when the Commander had finally answered the door. He noted the disheveled appearance, the increased heart rate, and the emergence of Counselor Troi from the Commander's bedroom, as he spoke.
Taking a deep breath, the Commander had told him, "Sure, come on in."
Moving into the room he observed the Counselor preparing for the game by setting up the table with chips and retrieving the cards. He noted that she needed no information as to where to find the said items.
"Yes, Data?" he was brought back from his newest findings.
"Commander, I have made several observations in the last 48 hours and have postulated a theory that I was wondering if you could confirm."
"I have noticed that yourself and the Counselor seemed to have renewed your previous relationship. Am I correct?"
He noticed the slight blush of the Counselor and the way she faltered slightly in stacking the poker chips, as well as the grin that appeared on the Commander's face.
"You are correct, Data," he said, the smile now shared by the Counselor as the Commander ushered him towards the door.
"Ah, yes, understood, sir," he responded and then added, "Then I will let you...'carry on' until the poker game," he said as he left, the burst of laughter as the Commander's door closed being added to his list of things to analyze at a later time.

END