Work Text:
Breathing, really breathing, a routine necessity, just like eating and sleeping and exercising, all those things that keep a human body running. It didn’t matter exactly what the joke was, it mattered that everyone laughed - it was supposed to be funny, and it was. Smiling, hands on shoulders or backs, a natural, friendly gesture, slipping into conversation easily, never second-guessing a turn of phrase or a facial expression. Nothing is mirrored, nothing mimicked, every motion and every word is original, flowing from within with not a microsecond of deliberate thought. Joy - joy is in everything, warmth and love and awe, a whole universe made of sunsets and spring breezes and fresh baked bread. It’s so -
Data opens his eyes. He notes a delay of a third of a second longer than usual to recall the difference between dreaming and being awake, and a sense that something is ‘missing’ despite the fact that, accounting for Spot’s usual movements during the night, everything in his quarters is exactly the same as before he activated his dream program. He may have to discuss this with Geordi.