The Dating Game

Posted on Wed 14th Dec, 2016 @ 5:53pm by Commander Zachary Hunt & Lieutenant Coco Kiralbi

1,400 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Murder on the Silent Night Express
Location: Deck 44: Holodeck 7
Timeline: 1900 Hours

Hunt had promised Coco that next time would be dinner, and that was exactly what he planned. Since the evening they had played Poker, he hadn't actually seen her, so this was a perfect opportunity to catch up and have a date. It was different to what Hunt normally does. He preferred being a comedian or a flirt and then never taking things further, but this time it was different. Coco was beautiful, with the most gorgeous green eyes he had ever seen. She also had a similar sense of humour to Hunt, a humour some people just never understood.

He had sent a message to her to meet him at 1900 Hours at Holodeck 7. He took a glance at his watch, '18:53'. Hunt always liked to be early to everything rather than being on time or even late, meaning that he had time to prepare himself, which he preferred rather then being flustered. He had set the Holodeck ready for his dinner date, even Hunt was surprised how romantic he could be, raising a smile every time he thought that. Eventually he noticed Coco walking towards him, smiling as she got closer, the dimple on one of her sides gleaming in joy, the piercing green eyes glistening towards Hunt. She was happy to see him.

"H-Hello," She said shyly. Coco was unsure how to take Hunt, but knew she liked him. They had got on well and had the same sense of humour and had also seen how he had reacted in the crisis when Vanguard was suffering from power fluctuations, and realised that she liked him even more then. Then after the Poker game which she had invited him to, things got intense and the connection between them grew. She was over the moon when he had invited her to dinner. She hadn't seen him for a while so the message to meet him at the Holodeck came a bit out of nowhere, but it made her smile and she was delighted to comply

"Hello stranger," He beamed back. "Seems like forever since I saw you, hope you haven't missed me!"

That sentence put her at ease. His humour calmed her down seeing as she was becoming shy and maybe even panicking a little over meeting him. Coco instantly came out of her shell and settled down, "Of course not, why would I?" She chuckled.

Hunt gave a laugh back, "Well if that's what you feel then I will see you later." He gave a wave and pretended to walk off.

She rolled her eyes back in reply, "Oi! What do you have in store?"

"Ohhhh! Now you want to find out," Hunt sarcastically said.

She whacked him in the arm as he laughed. He walked towards the Holodeck doors and they opened. In front of them was one of the most gorgeous beaches she had ever seen. It was night time when they walked through the Holodeck doors, two moons were shining down from the dark sky, lighting the whole beach up. One was incredibly big, the biggest moon she had ever seen from any planet she had ever been on. There were stars all around, filling the darkness up with beautiful white twinkles. They had walked onto the finest sand Coco had ever stood on. The moonlight made the sand glisten, as if it was singing out in joy. Every step she took in the sand left the perfect footprint behind. She could hear the sound of water gushing against nearby cliffs, watching as the water rolled towards the beach. She loved the sound of it. "This is-," She stopped and thought, "Amazing."

Hunt smiled at her and turned to face her, "Well, I had to make sure it was perfect of course... for you, I thought you might complain otherwise."

She whacked him in the arm again, "Me? Complain? Never. Although, I thought I had been invited to a dinner date! This is a walk on the beach, I don't see dinner in store anywhere," She joked.

"Ahhh well Coco, that is where you are wrong. A bit of patience is required!" Hunt exclaimed.

She took him on his word, continuing the stroll across the beach. They talked for ages, about things that ranged from family to interests, becoming more intertwined with each other. Coco took a glance back. She could see every single footprint they had left in the sand, they seemed to spring out to show her where they had walked. She didn't normally like cute, but this had literally taken her breath away, the fact someone had thought about this just for her. They had walked for half an hour before Hunt eventually stopped, "We are here."

Coco looked around, eyeing up the beach and the moon, smiling. A series of blankets had been laid out on the sand, with a bigger one having a series of different kinds of foods on it, with a blanket either side, presumably for Hunt and herself. "Wow! All this effort for a beach picnic? When you said dinner, I thought a diner in the Promenade or somewhere with a little more pizazz about it!" She winked and they both let out a laugh.

"Please, take a...blanket?" Hunt said, gesturing towards the blanket, laughing more. "Not literally take the blanket, but please sit. Or lay. Either is fine."

"Okay, be quiet now, I get the point! What is on the menu? There seems to be everything!"

"Well, a bit of everything. I haven't got to know you well enough to know what you like! It's mainly all 'normal' Earth food, but if you did want something else then happy to oblige," He said, making quote marks with his fingers.

She nodded happily, "Normal Earth food is fine with me."

"So there's food ranging from salmon to lasagna, pizza to salad. And then there's a few finger bits dotted around to help yourself to. And then I have a special dessert lined up," He winked at her.

She raised an eyebrow, "That's possibly the worst chat up line I've ever heard."

Hunt pulled a hurt look, "Awww, but wait until you taste it!"

Coco whacked his arm again, "Come on then, what are we waiting for?"

They laid on their respective blankets, propping their heads up so they could still talk to each other. As they were laying, they continued to talk about life, the things they liked, getting to know intricate details about each other, whilst eating from the buffet Hunt had arranged. The time was getting on before Hunt exclaimed, "Time for dessert then!"

Coco rolled her eyes, glancing away to look at the wave rolling towards them. When she looked back at Hunt, he had two plates in his hand with cheesecake on them, chocolate. Her favourite! "Oh. So dessert actually did mean dessert!" She chuckled.

"Don't get carried away now," He joked back, handing a plate over. "Try some and let me know what you think."

She did just that, the cheesecake was beautiful. The best Coco had ever had, it was smooth and rich at the same time, the chocolate flavour oozing through into her mouth, "Wow that's amazing. I've never tasted replicated food so good."

"Ahhh, Coco. That's because that cheesecake isn't replicated."

"You made it??!" She almost choked.

"Well, not quite! But I know the right people, and one of them just happened to owe me a favour and makes the best cheesecakes ever! Besides dessert is the best part of a meal!"

She smiled at him, "Thank you."

He smiled back, pointing, "Look across the water."

She looked where he was pointing. She had been so engrossed in the conversation and all the food but she had never noticed, the moon had gone and was being replaced with a burning red sun. It was dawn and the sun was rising. It was beautiful again, it filled the sky with red light and oodles of blue coming through. There were some clouds, all white with the red shining from behind. It took her breath away again for another time. She took a moment before getting up and grabbing the blanket from the golden sand. She laid it next to Hunt's, and laid next to him. He wrapped his arm around Coco and pulled her in for a kiss. This was the best date Coco Kiralbi had ever been on.

 

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