Nightcap

Posted on Fri Aug 23rd, 2019 @ 4:20pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Kincaid & Karina Tell
Edited on on Fri Aug 23rd, 2019 @ 11:59pm

1,533 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Mission 0 - Pre-Sigma Iotia II
Location: Deck 3, Nick’s Quarters
Timeline: 2167/07/11 2125

Nick Kincaid was expecting the Yeoman to arrive at any moment. He didn’t anticipate anything from the evening aside from a conversation about art, but there were some things that were nagging him from their first conversation this morning. Factor in that he knew about the Captain’s relationship with Ciara. Was the Yeoman seeing the Captain too? It might be worth a chat with his new friend Ser later.

For now, he sat in his chair, reading a book and waiting for the door to chime.

Still at her desk, Yeoman Tell oversaw the final reports from each Day Shift as well as ensuring the logs were properly encoded and uploaded into the Computer. A brief tap against her wristbone indicated the time and she stood. Almost 2130.

It was a relatively short walk to the Commander's Quarters, so, PADD in hand, she continued to uphold her reputation of punctuality. At exactly 2130, KAT stood outside the Commander's door and she pressed the chime.

Nick was shaken from his book by the chime at the door. He checked his own clock, a mechanical one on the wall he kept up to date with an atomic clock on Earth. He was glad he repaired the subspace receiver with Ser, so he could keep getting precise time signals.

It was 2130 on the dot.

He stood from his chair and walked to the door. He was still wearing his uniform pants, but the shirt was replaced with a tight exercise shirt. He wondered for a moment if he should have changed, or put his uniform back on, but it was too late anyway. He opened the door and smiled. “I do appreciate punctuality, Yeoman. Come on in.”

Two small spots of pink appeared on each cheek and KAT looked down at her Uniform and PADD. She tried to hide it behind her, but the stylus fell and went clattering to the deck.

He turned around and walked to a table in his cabin. “Can I interest you in a nightcap? You should be off duty by now. I just received a few bottles of brandy from a distillery in my hometown. It’s similar to cognac. Share some with me?”

Clearing her throat and crouching quickly down to retrieve it, she stood and gratefully saw the back of the Commander, a brief look of self-consciousness crossing her face before he turned to ask her about a drink. A smile immediately replaced any appearance of concern and she nodded.

"I'm honored, Commander, thank you so much for the offer," KAT said and stood a polite and proper distance behind him in his quarters. She squeezed the PADD reflexively with her left hand and looked quickly around his quarters for an unobtrusive horizontal surface to put it down on. "I've just finished my shift."

“Then if you’ve finished your shift, it’s Nick,” he said, pouring a small amount of the brown liqueur into two glasses and passed one of them to KAT. “To new beginnings,” he said, holding his glass up to her.

"Nick it is," KAT said and took the glass he offered.

He sipped his brandy and savoured it. More than a smooth, mellow drink, it was a reminder of home.

Lifting it to her nose she sniffed delicately, noting the different subtleties of scents and flavors intermingling. "Home sounds like quite the interesting place." She sipped and let the mouthful sit, warming her tongue; and then the subtleties were replaced by a deeper undertone of berries perhaps...?

“Now, the main reason I asked you here,” Nick said. He put his glass down and retrieved another notebook. Similar to the one from his office, the blue cover gave it away as being a different book. “I’d love it if you could take a look and help me find one worthy of framing and display.”

Swallowing, she felt the heat traveling slowly down her throat to pool in her stomach in a most pleasing way and placed her glass beside her PADD. "Of course, Co- Nick," she said, holding out her hand. "Your private collection?"

“Something like that,” Nick answered. “Some might not be suitable for framing, but it’s not anything I’m any less proud of. I like to draw almost anywhere, so it’s good to have books everywhere.” He smiled. “You never know when inspiration will strike. So please, take a look. Honest opinions.”

Taking the book, she opened it to its natural space, where the binding had been most worn. A beautiful face looked out towards her atop a delicate and sweeping neck. She was completely nude and it looked as though Nick had spent quite a lot of time on it.

"She's lovely," KAT said as she tipped the book towards him so that he could see the picture. She didn't pry any further about who she was; certainly just by his attention to the perfection of it, perhaps it was originally meant as a gift for the subject.

"Depending on who you intend on entertaining in your quarters," KAT said as she opened the book to its first pages, beginning from the start, "that one might be a great choice." She took a look around his quarters, taking everything into account.

He took a closer look at her selection. He grinned widely. It was the face of a young woman, maybe in her mid to late teens. Pretty, with a warm smile and nice eyes, a complexion slightly darker than Nick’s own. “You have no idea how perfect your suggestion is.” He gently removed the page from his book. “My youngest sister, Hana. I drew this almost ten years ago. Midway through the war I was sent to Earth to get my M/AM certifications. Went home a few times, and learned that Hana wanted to enlist and work in the yards. I was so proud. I asked her if I could mark the occasion, and I drew her as she beamed with pride.”

"Nick," she said and paused. "I mean no offense of course, but it seems that you might have missed your calling."

“What, this?” Nick asked. “No, my calling is ships and technology and being in space. Art helps me channel my passion, which is why I love drawing things like planets from orbit and ships from the outside. I draw things that move me, and much of what moves me is my job as engineer.”

“And the people,” Nick couldn’t help but add. “People who mean a lot to me, or who otherwise inspire me with their beauty to put pencil to paper.”

“I would love it if I could draw you sometime.”

KAT blinked in surprise, green eyes widening and a blush started from beneath the collar of her uniform and slowly wound its way upward. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but she closed it again quickly.

Whatever professionalism that seemed to cling to the Yeoman like a diaphanous cloud of 'fuck you' suddenly paused in its infinite momentum. "Oh," was all she could manage and swept the glass upward, paused a moment then drained it of its contents. "Why?" she managed to whisper out since the alcohol had all but stolen her voice.

There was no ulterior motive behind the question. Green eyes wide and wondering, unsure as to why anyone would want to capture her image to ever reference. Even she had no pictures of herself anywhere.

Nick noticed her discomfort with the request right away. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you with the request. And it is just that, a request. I would take no offence if you said no.”

“But,” he continued, “you’re beautiful and in a lot of ways you make the ship function. You’re a key component of how the Horizon works, and that honestly moves me as much as your beauty does.”

KAT cleared her throat, the blush firmly set in her cheeks. "Speaking of which," she said, pushing her hair back and chewing on the inside of her cheek, she almost tossed the PADD up into the air as she grabbed it from the table. "I should..." She bit the inside of her lips as she walked briskly towards the door. "Thank you for the drink, it was lovely."

Taking a step and turning on her heel back towards Nick she said, "I... I'm flattered, and not offended, and just..." Taking a step forward, she kissed his cheek quickly. "Welcome aboard, Sir," and stopped, nodded, and then took a step backwards.

Nick smiled and blushed at her kiss. He hadn’t been expecting it, but he certainly approved. He hoped it meant she would give him the opportunity to draw her one day, or who knows? Maybe more some time. “Have a good night, KAT. Thank you for your help today.”

Nodding shyly with a bit of self-consciousness, "You too, Nick. And I like what you've done with the place." Her hand swept to indicate his quarters and before her PADD could slip out of her grasp, she nodded and left the XO's quarters, blush still sitting hotly on each cheek.

 

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