scenario in which grace and stratt get (more than a little) drunk and end up having sex, which she reacts to with 'huh this was surprisingly nice, maybe it can happen again at some point'.
grace, however, definitely DOES NOT PANIC oh no this is just regular concern and normal levels of anxiety, and oh god he slept with his BOSS who is also the most powerful person in the world. she is so going to kill him. or fire him. or both. he'd rather be killed than fired again.
it ends up affecting him so much over the next couple of days that during another teaching session with dubois and shapiro they're like "uuhhhh hey are you alright?". and grace, to his horror, blurts out "i had sex with stratt", forhead meets table, insert embarrassed/anxious groaning noises etc.
he can't see it but dubois and shapiro are exchanging a Look tm and then have an impromptu counselling session since they know a thing or two about hooking up with co-workers.
once he's sufficiently calm (aka no longer actively losing it) they very gently go "so. the thing is. uhm. everyone thinks you two have been in a relationship for months. we're not surprised that you two had sex, we're surprised it was the first time."
"what"
"yes. and—" another look exchanged, and he sees it this time.
"what??"
"she knows about the rumours and trust me, she couldn't care less."
anyway they sit there for way too long trying to explain to grace what his current social status is (stratt's first officer/second in command and also definitely her... science lapdog) which he has a new breakdown about, until he leaves the room deeply confused and slightly dazed.
which is exactly the moment he runs into stratt, who now for the first time realizes there's something up with him. she's been busy and hasn't slept in two days, can't blame her for not seeing that his usual anxiety is suddenly sex-related.
"everything alright, dr. grace?"
they're in a semi-public hallway, mind you, though it is luckily pretty empty.
"we had sex."
"yes. you were there. i was there."
she's visibly amused by the entire exchange.
"are we- do you- is that something we should, i don't know... talk about?"
"do you want to talk about it?" asked with one eyebrow raised and a pointed sip of coffee.
"hell no."
"alright then."
they stare at each other for a moment before she says, "we have a meeting in twenty minutes with the engine team. splash some water in your face and get a grip."
and then she walks away.
(she turns around when she reaches a corner, he still hasn't moved, and she calls back "oh and if you're agreeable, i wouldn't mind doing it again." grace is ten minutes late to the meeting with a starbucks tm and a hundred yard stare and eva hasn't had this much fun in a single day in ages.)
