Dining Out

Posted on Sun 2nd Sep, 2012 @ 5:01am by Commander Brian Windsong & Commander Paul Graves PsyD & Senior Chief Petty Officer Fihnrilk'Hob"ledn-ardol (Fin)

1,827 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/2
Location: Orchids & Jazz, Deck 400
Timeline: Evening hours, during the first week

Fin had been looking forward to her dinner date with Paul all day. It would be the first time she'd been 'out' in several weeks. She'd taken special care with her preparations and appearance. After a shower, she'd anointed a few pulse points with a soft, alluring fragrance and brushed her pinkish golden hair until it shone.

Because it was a special occasion and she wanted to look good for Paul, Fin had chosen a favorite dress made of white silk with metallic blue threads shot through it. It was actually a modest cut, but the material hugged a curve here and there when she moved and promised delights hidden beneath it.

Adding a small dab of gloss to her lips, Fin waited for Paul to arrive.

Paul peered at his image in the mirror of his bathroom before leaving for Fin's quarters to take her out to dinner. He'd dressed for the evening in a deep blue dress shirt and beige slacks. A smile flitted across his face at the realization that he was just as nervous now as he'd been while preparing for dinner with Brian the previous night. He supposed it was always the same, the first time he went out with a new person he didn't know well.

Despite the nervousness, he looked forward to seeing Fin again. She had a pragmatic yet humorous air about her, a lilt to her manner, that he liked. She gave the impression that she could make him laugh out loud one minute and draw him into serious conversation the next.

Paul straightened his collar, ran a damp comb through his black hair, and decided he was ready. He glanced at the wall clock and decided he'd better get over to Fin's quarters before he was late.. He stepped out of his quarters and headed for the turbolift.

A few minutes later, he was walking down another corridor. He counted the door numbers and stopped at Fin's. Paul pressed the door chime and waited.

Fin was pleased at the little electrical thrill she felt when the door announced her date. Stepping to it, she grinned at Paul as it opened. He looked so different out of uniform, but didn't everyone?

"You look very nice." She said as her cognac eyes traveled over him. Subtlety wasn't one of Fin's strong points when she was off duty. She believed that speaking plainly left little room for misinterpretation.

"So do you," Paul said with an admiring look at Fin and the beautiful dress she wore. He was glad he had not taken 'casual' to mean 'a beach tunic and flip-flops.' "You should wear civvies more often."

It had been a long time between blushes, but Fin felt her cheeks warm up with pleasure.

Stepping into the corridor, the door closed behind her. "I'm a little embarrassed to admit how much I've been looking forward to tonight. I don't get out much when I'm not working." She left out the part that it was because most were put off by her abilities and branch of service.

"We shall have to remedy that," Paul said. "You are much too vibrant a person to shut yourself away." In fact, he couldn't imagine it of her. He offered Fin his arm and suddenly wondered whether she would know how to interpret the gesture or not. "May I take your arm? I promise not to run off with it," he said.

"Yes, I'd like that." So saying, she hooked her hand through the crook of his arm and just let the feelings of being with someone who found pleasure in her company wash over her.

"So, how was your day?"

"It's gotten busier, now that people know I'm here," Paul said. "Half the station wants to get their psych evals out of the way--so I'm taking note of the ones who avoid me. But I see no need to tell them that."

"That's sneaky of you, but I like it." They made small talk during the walk to Orchids and Jazz. when they arrived, Fin had had a totally different expectation than the last time she'd been there. She noticed that a piano was being played and looked to see who it was. Windsong. Not her favorite person---Fin gave herself a mental shake to get rid of the negative direction her thoughts were tempted to go. Tonight was all about getting to know Paul.

Serena was acting as hostess while Jade visited the dining guests, checking on their satisfaction levels. She had just returned from seating a family of six when a couple entered the club. The woman looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember having seen the man before.

"Good evening. Welcome to Orchids & Jazz," Serena said with a smile. "Two for dinner?"

Paul smiled back. "Yes, please," he said and glanced at Fin. "Do you prefer a table with a view or one by the piano?" He looked about to see if the place had a dance floor and realized that the pianist was Brian. "I see Brian Windsong is moonlighting," he said to the club's hostess. "I didn't know he could play like that."

Had he met the hostess before, he wondered? "Were you at the senior staff meeting?" he asked the hostess. "There was such a mob of people at that table, I can't be sure if I saw you there or not."

"You're thinking of the owner of the club, Jade Lantz," Serena answered his last question first. "She's been involved with all the diplomatic plans for our visitors. And, yes," she glanced over to the pianist, with another smile, "the Commander plays quite well. You should hear it late at night when he and Ms Lantz do an impromptu jam session. We have lovely tables by the dance floor around the piano, or if you'd care for a little more privacy, the tables against the far bulkhead allow you to hear the music, and be more ... secluded from view yourself."

Paul glanced at Fin. "We can hear the music throughout the restaurant, so I'm happy wherever we sit, as long as we can hear ourselves talk."

"Why don't we get a table near the dance floor? I've always enjoyed watching people dance." She would just have to ignore the fact that Windsong was playing. Besides, maybe Paul was a good dancer, and they'd give it a try themselves.

Serena led them to a table at the edge of the dance floor, one that faced the pianist and the part of the stage where Dora Deshan would be singing, backed up by the Dendrobians, in about an hour. She handed the menus to the two officers and said, "Enjoy your meal. Your server is Jenna, and she'll be along shortly to take your orders."

Paul walked with Serena and Fin to a table and shot a brief glance of enjoyment toward Brian as he passed. Brian wouldn't be able to see it, but maybe he could speak to him later in the evening and tell him how much he'd liked his playing.

"Thank you," Paul said as Serena handed him a menu. He glanced at Fin as he opened it and looked over the selections. "Do you only like to watch people dance, or do you like to dance any, yourself?"

There was an immediate twinkle in her eyes. "I actually love to dance. I just don't usually have a partner." She opened her menu. "I run routines on the holodeck and workout with a non existent dance company." She looked up from her perusal of the dinner items. "You're welcome to stop by anytime for a first hand look." Just throw it out there, Fin told herself. She enjoyed Paul's company so why not set something out there for the future?

Not knowing how the evening was going to go, she decided to keep it light. "I think I'll have the fish and a glass of white wine." She set the menu out of the way so she could look at Paul. "You know you look much more relaxed outside your office."

Paul ordered sate' chicken and a salad, also with white wine. He chuckled at Fin's comment. "The office is work, and I usually have to be careful to keep my mental shields up when meeting people in there--though I sometimes don't succeed. It's a complicated balance of not psionically invading anyone's privacy, yet reading at least enough to know if people are being honest with me and to try to establish what their core emotional situation is. The best mindhealers on Betazed make it look easy, but I don't always find it so."

"Well, you won't have to work so hard around me. I understand that my people are very difficult to read." And in her line of work, that was an added boon.

Paul took a sip of water from the glass Serena left with him. "Do you ever choreograph your own dance routines for your hologram?"

Fin studied him across the table. "Yes. Sometimes I dance alone, especially when I'm trying to work something out in my head. But a lot of the time the troop and I put a routine together. You'd probably be surprised at how hard a work out it actually is. Of course, it depends on what kind of dancing is being done." An idea popped into Fin's mind then, and she considered it for a brief moment. It was distracting, so she tucked it away to examine later.

Paul was very easy to talk to, and she found herself wanting to relax her barriers. It had been a long time since she'd let anyone really get to know her, but the man sitting across from her was a good bet at the moment.

Brian sat at the piano playing a soft jazz piece. It was somewhat complicated, but he liked that. He loved being challenged. He smiled to himself when he sensed a familiar presence walk into the room. He had been thinking a lot about Paul since their date. Things were going well, he thought. Slowly but well. Then he sensed another presence close to Paul. Maybe too close, and it was all he could do not to mess up the piece he was playing.

~Don't be jealous dumb-ass. You know he's bi, and it's too early to even think that you're in a relationship. Besides, you don't even know if this is a date, or not.~

He recovered quickly and began another, more complicated piece.

He could tell the other person was Fin, but he couldn't read her thoughts. He knew from his previous discussion with her that he wasn't her favorite person and he doubted if she would ever be dating him and that was okay with him.

OFF
Lt. Commander Brian Windsong
Chief Diplomatic Officer

Serena, played by
Jade Lantz, Orchids & Jazz owner

LTJG Paul Graves
Chief Counselor

Senior CPO Fihnrilk'Hob"ledn-ardol (Fin)
Infiltration Specialist

 

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