Lover's Quarrel (Part 1)

Posted on Thu Feb 10th, 2022 @ 5:30am by Captain Gary Alexander & Karina Tell

2,149 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Mission 3 - A Whole New World
Location: Gary's Quarters
Timeline: 2168/08/15 1815

Normally, KAT would arrive at Gary's quarters in the morning. Her wakeup calls were second to none. However, after promoting McNeir to acting XO, he sensed that his Yeoman was not thrilled with him. Not desiring KAT to be upset with him, he sent her a direct communique asking her to stop by his quarters for dinner. He did not have to tell KAT that he planned on having her for dessert.

There was a moment of pause between shift and sleep, one where food and other small and otherwise insignificant things could be done. KAT realized that this time, no matter how short, was going to become more precious as the time wore on. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as a notification snapped her back into being the Yeoman.

The tone was unmistakable; it was the Captain. And there would be dinner. She smiled to herself and wondered how long that anything quite so self-indulgent might last.

Smoothing her uniform, she picked up the PADD and responded in true KAT fashion: "Be right there, Sir."

"I'll be looking forward to it," came the response with a devilish grin icon.

In no time, the chef had arrived with enough dinner for two. There was a bottle of a French red wine placed in the center and two candles. The chef said nothing as he pushed the tray into Gary's quarters and left.

Hastily, Gary put on a black button down shirt, giving him more of sophisticated air, so he thought, as he waited for KAT to chime that she was here.

KAT's familiar stride could be heard down the corridor approaching the Captain's quarters. Her boots tapped neatly against the flooring and she had all but counted the steps from the turbolift to his door. As any good Yeoman might know, she reassured herself. She reached out to press the chime and waited for a response.

"Come in, KAT!" Gary cheerfully called back. He waited just inside the door, ready to pounce on his yeoman, the moment she came in the door. If he buttered her up enough, perhaps their anticipated dispute would not damper the possibilities of dessert.

Nodding to herself she walked forward, confident that the door would slide open for her. She stepped through speaking as she did, "Good evening, Captain..."

The moment that the door closed behind Kat, Gary took his yeoman into his arms and kissed her passionately. She felt so good. Everything about her seemed to fit just perfectly, he noticed as he continued kissing her.

Her PADD squeezed into her chest, she felt lips, warm and comforting pressing against hers, arms enveloping her completely. The day, strained and filled with so many tasks, so many small compartments of needs, demands, requirements... slipped slowly away. There were so many thoughts cascading within her mind, so many things to consider and her shoulders stiffened before slowly relaxing.

Gary sensed KAT relaxing and after a few moments broke the kiss. He took the PADD off of KAT's hands and tossed it over to the side. "I don't think that we will be needing that, do you?"

Her fingers felt somewhat empty after the PADD was removed, and she watched it fall. It was as though an affectation of hers was removed as well. Her security blanket, so to speak, had been removed. KAT hadn't realized how much she had been squeezing it as her fingers felt close to cramping. "I suppose not," she said, mouth opening to say 'Captain', but stopped.
Looking at his attire and looking at hers, she felt a heated point rise from beneath her uniform to crawl upwards across her neck. "I... guess I should've dressed for dinner."

"Your dress does not concern me, KAT," he told her with a sly smile. "And, you're gorgeous, as always." He put an arm around her waist and led her to the table. Once there, he pulled out a chair for her sit. "For my favorite yeoman," he told her with a smile in his voice. "And, of course, my morale officer."

KAT's lips pursed in the beginnings of a smile as she waved her hands as though they'd easily bat compliments away, but she was already moving and sat down, settling herself in the seat that the Captain had provided. "Morale officer?" she asked, a chuckle in her voice. "One more task for me to juggle..."

"I believe it was a task that you gave yourself," he told her with a small laugh. Once she seated herself, Gary pushed the chair in. He then moved to the center of the table, took the French wine and poured half a glass for KAT and then a half for himself. He gave her a flirtatious wink while pouring her glass. Once the wine was poured, he moved to the other side of the table and sat down. "Perhaps you have forgotten that? Or perhaps I have you working too hard?" He sighed and leaned in towards KAT from across the table.

"No harder than usual," KAT replied almost automatically, realizing that there was so much more to be done. But also, a great deal more to delegate, coordinate, and trust the Department Heads to maintain the Command Structure despite their lack of anything Starfleet out here.

"Just... different." She looked up at him, and took a sip, savoring the taste on her tongue.

Gary watched as KAT drank. She was so tough on the outside but delicate on the inside. He enjoyed watching her melt almost as much as he enjoyed her daily wake up calls. He could see that KAT had more on her mind and considering there was a topic that he knew she disapproved of that still lingered between them, he wanted to make sure he heard everything she said before broaching it. "Go on. Tell me about it."

Swallowing the wine slowly, KAT wanted to feel the warmth of it spark a small fire in her belly; after so much happening... "We're far from home and everything we know and understand," she began, taking another sip. Was it to satisfy a need? Or a desire? Both she thought and continued, replacing the glass on the table. "And I don't want to plan ahead for anything untoward... but really, we as a crew... as a SPECIES..." Her voice raised a little and she forced it back down to a normal tone.

"We're alone out here... and really, Starfleet is more a disciplinary structure accepted by the Crew, but when might they realize that... Starfleet is... so far away..."

Gary sighed heavily, similar thoughts already having weighed upon him. "I'm aware. Keenly so, KAT. And the problems get worse. Eventually our supplies will run out. We need a place to call home. We also, unless we want a genetic bottleneck, will need another species out here with which we're genetically compatible to give anyone here a sense of continuance, unless we miraculously find some phenomenon that can take us home as quickly as we arrived here. I don't need to calculate those odds for you, do I?"

"No, you do not." KAT took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"I've already been considering the need to... figure out rations." KAT bit her lip. "And what to do about the..." this subject didn't sit well with her at all, but it had to be discussed. "The contents of the quarters of our... dead crew." The words seemed to hit the deck with an audible ring and she swallowed.

When KAT mentioned the dead crew, he took a deep gulp of his wine, not tasting any of it as it went down. A Captain was responsible for his crew and already in this new galaxy, he let three down. "The things that we do here, KAT, they are not easy." He took another heavy gulp of the wine before taking the bottle and pouring himself back up to half-full and offering the same privilege to KAT.

KAT watched the Captain and upended her glass into her mouth, refilling her glass gratefully . "This wasn't an easy life that we chose for ourselves, Captain."

"No, but the normal struggles are nothing. Nobody prepares you for this, KAT." He smiled gratefully at her. "And you know it. We're alone and the only thing we have to fall back on is our training." He got up and opened up the platters, as he changed the subject for the moment. "Ah, looks like we have a regular four course meal. Would you like your salad now, m'dear?"

KAT nodded slightly, both acknowledging the truth of his statement and the desire for salad. Her stomach was still warm from the wine... when was the last time she had eaten? "Salad would be lovely."

Any guilt she might feel in the future for such a sumptuous meal wouldn't be for awhile. Some part of her should be able to enjoy this luxury and live in this very moment.

Gary placed a plate before her that was filled with green beans, yellow beans, tiny potatoes, yellow bell peppers, anchovies, tuna, eggs, red and yellow tomatoes, and olives. To the side was a vinaigrette dressing in a small saucier boat. "Would you like me to pour for you, or would you prefer to pour your own dressing?"

KAT looked up at him in some surprise. "Oh... you can pour..." It looked delicious and she allowed the anticipation of the first bite to whet her appetite. Her stomach gurgled softly and she used her elbow to reprimand it.

Gary laughed lightly as he heard KAT's stomach rumble. "Skipping meals, KAT? You really should not do that," he lightly scolded as he started to pour the vinaigrette in a spiraling pattern. "Tell me when."

"It wasn't on purpose..." KAT responded teasingly and put a hand up... "when!"

"You work too hard," Gary told her lovingly, as he stopped pouring for her. He gave KAT another wink before turning to his own plate and pouring for himself. "It is a good thing that you have me around to force you to relax, isn't it?" he asked as sat back down in his seat.

"I could say the same thing to you," KAT responded, and blushed a little at the wink. "And relaxing is... overrated." KAT felt that if the wall she had was the only thing keeping her going. Was it strength or abject terror? She pushed those thoughts firmly to back of her mind and took a delicate bite, placing a little bit of everything on her fork. A conglomeration of flavors exploded in her mouth and she forced herself to chew it slowly.

"Overrated?" Gary asked aghast. "My dear Katrina, how do you figure that? There is hard scientific proof that too much work and not enough play makes KAT a dull woman." He laughed overly hard at his poor joke, trying to not feel less than worthy of his Yeoman. He took a bite of his salad and chewed it purposefully, watching KAT with great curiosity. "But working hard makes playing hard all the more valuable." The Captain stole another bite, wondering what might be going through KAT's mind.

"Scientific proof?" KAT asked between bites. "How hard IS this scientific proof?" she asked without pretense.

"Very hard," Gary replied with equal innuendo. "I am told that it is nearly concrete when wine and dinner are ingested as a precursor to play."

KAT nearly spit out her mouthful. "Concrete." She batted her eyelashes as she focused on her salad. "You said four courses, didn't you?" she asked, looking back at him squarely. "It might be an idea to... perhaps keep that proof until after dinner?" Her lips upturned in a sweet smile, one rarely seen by anyone. "After all, this salad is delicious!"

"I believe we're on number two, by my count," Gary answered with a knowing grin. "And I would prefer that you savor every moment; however, I did want to discuss one work matter...." Gary's eyes focused heavily on the salad, not wanting to bring up this conversation and hoping it did not sour the rest of the evening.

"Oh?" KAT said, suddenly wondering if she had misread the whole situation and felt oddly silly. "What might that be?" The professional demeanor slammed down like a blast door and she waited, fork still held in her hand mid-bite.

The air in the room suddenly felt heavy and thick. Watching KAT's professional demeanor come back was disheartening and the weight on Gary's chest felt much heavier. "I know you did not approve of me making McNier the XO. I can read you better than anyone, KAT. And I don't often take you by surprise. I appreciate you not saying anything in front of the crew. But here, KAT, here you can tell me what you really think."

 

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