Nightcap? - Part 1

Posted on 02 May 2017 @ 9:19pm by Lieutenant Commander Alexei Joran & Chief Petty Officer Bianca Donati
Edited on on 02 May 2017 @ 9:23pm

1,401 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: Bianca's Quarters
Timeline: Current - ED 7 - Evening

ON:

Bianca was bored. Sitting in her quarters with nothing to do but think, and that was not entirely satisfying. Fingers drifting idly down her body she pondered her actions with the engineer. A moment later her lips gently curved upwards as her body responded to the idea of him. Drawing a PADD her stylus slid across the message frame and wrote in betazoid script 'Nightcap?'

Alexei had just finished making some last-mimite checks of some things going on in Engineering. They had been running diagnostics most of the day and, now under the watchful eye of his assistant Lieutenant Daxit, they would continue. He had no doubt that Kerre would be thorough but it had become his habit to take a last-minute turn through engineering every night before retiring and tonight had been no exception. Arriving back in his quarters, he was a bit surprised to find that there was a message waiting for him. 'Who could be messaging me this late at night...?' he thought as he accessed his computer terminal. Immediately he saw, written in beautiful Betazoid script, a single word: 'Nightcap?' Written in Betazoid, he knew it could only be from one person--Bianca. Quickly answering, he wrote only four words-- 'Your place or mine...?'

The answer came swiftly, 'Mine.' as she poured from a bottle.

Receiving her one-word answer, he immediately headed out in the direction of her quarters and because of the size of the Redemption it took him a few minutes to reach his destination. Once he did, he immediately rang the chime and waited.

"Enter." Bianca called, a smile on her lips as she rested on her couch, ankles crossed neatly.

Alexei walked in and immediately his attention was drawn to her. If it were possible, it seemed to him that she grew more beautiful each time he saw her. "Good evening," he said as he walked toward her. "And thank you for inviting me here. A nightcap is just what I need after the long day I've had."

"Good evening.". She pointed at the glass on the table with hers. "I poured you a drink, if it is appropriate to tell me about it."

"It's no great secret," he said with a grin. "We've been running level 5 diagnostics on the warp drive all day," he said as he picked up the drink before settling himself on the couch beside her. "There's nothing really wrong--I just want to make sure that everything is in good working order. If it should turn out that there ARE any problems, I'd rather find them now than possibly in a battle situation later." He took a sip from his glass, then asked "So how was your day?"

"My days are ever much the same." she answered, gritting her teeth a little at the necessity of small talk. She'd never seen or appreciated the need for it, but it did seem to smooth things out with those of normal cognitive functioning.

"If there's no challenge in your daily shift routine, why not consider a transfer to a different department?" he asked. "I for one would welcome you in engineering." Although he waw uncertain as to how much work would actually get done if she were in his department, one thing would be for certain--the shifts would never be boring.

"I am not an engineer. Why would I do that?"

"I don't know..." he said after a moment. "It would be a change of scenery at least."

"But neither effective nor a good fit for me. I would hate it."

Alexei took a sip of his drink, then turned his attention back to her. "I suppose you would hate it at that..." he agreed. "Being an engineer isn't for everyone after all. If you COULD do any other job, what would you like to do?"

"I never considered that question before. I do not have an answer."

"Well let me ask you - when you were a little girl, what did you dream of being when you grew up? Did you always want to be a Marine?"

"I didn't think of much of anything. I assumed I would be a scholar, that it was all I was was fit for.

"I'm glad that turned out to not be the case," Alexei said. "Otherwise you wouldn't have joined the Marines, then got assigned to the Redemption and then I would not have met you. And that would have been most unfortunate."

"I am not displeased to be here." Her smile was soft as she sipped her drink. The ice clinked softly in the glass providing a pleasant sound.

"I always wanted to be a starship captain like Picard, or Kirk...or even Archer. Out saving the galaxy or exploring on the front lines. Unfortunately my talents did not follow my daydreams. I tried though. I took the Kobayashi Maru test and I have to admit I failed it miserably. So I decided to become an engineer. Figured if I couldn't command a starship I could at least learn how to make one go." He looked at her and grinned.

"I've heard of the Kobiyashi maru, but I never discovered what was so special about a test designed to fail. Don't they know they can teach people that command is not all guts and glory without humiliating them?"

"I can't say I really understand it either," Alexei said after a moment. "I asked one of my instructors about it and what she said was that it was a test in part to see how a cadet handled losing. Her answer was "How you handle losing is equally as important as how you handle winning. I can't say that I totally agree with that, but..." He shrugged his shoulders slightly. "What can you do?"

"Nothing I guess is the most unacceptable answer to that" she shrugged "I suppose they have their reasons for wanting to think out the command track, but it's not as if you are not a skilled engineer.

"I suppose I am, but I sometimes wonder how things would have turned out if I had been able to stick it out and go into command training," he said, a slight wistful tone in his voice. "I suppose that's something I'll never know. But I'm happy here now so that's what matters."

"That is a positive assessment of things." was the only comment from the dark haired woman who sipped at the glass in her hand.

"I try to be as positive as I can," Alexei said before taking another swallow of his drink. "There's a saying that I heard a long time ago that says 'No matter whether you think you can do something or whether you think you cannot -- either way, you're right.' So I try to approach everything I do with that in mind and usually I find that I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to."

"That explains a lot" she muttered under her breath with a qwirk of a smile at her lips.

"So what do you like to do for fun or relaxation when you're not working?" he asked

"I enjoy reading."

"I do as well," Alexei said. "Things like engineering journals an technical things. But I also like some sports like Parrises Squares, mountain climbing, and sailing." He had "aught her little remark of 'That explains a lot' and decided to respond with just a little tweak of his own. Do you like physical activity?" he asked, a ghost of a smile crossing his face.

"Of course. Some activities more than others..." a matching smile touched her lips as she quietly turned her eyes to him.

As he caught her gaze, he looked directly into her eyes. "You have the most beautiful brown eyes, Bianca..." he said slowly. "And I love how they seem to sparkle."

She smiled at the compliment, filing it away for she'd never before been told her eyes sparkled. Amusement warred with desire as she wondered if she should do what she was thinking. Shaking her head wryly to clear it of thoughts before acting on impulse. The same impulse that had her accept his dinner invitation had her setting her drink down, sliding over on the couch and kissing him.

To be continued...

OFF:

Lieutenant Commander Alexei Joran
Chief Engineer
USS Redemption

Petty Officer Bianca Donati
Marine/Intelligence Officer
USS Redemption

 

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