First Public Date On Board

Posted on Saturday, 22 May 2021 - 6:01pm by Lieutenant Scarlet Rogers & Lieutenant Ryan Rose MD

Mission: Operation: Neu Reich

Scarlet arrived a little early, but grabbed a drink of lemonade on the way in and found them a booth near a window. She was very intrigued by the appearance of galaxies as they looked smudged because of being in warp. Her blue eyes danced about the light smears, smiling a little and allowing herself to be a little hypnotised.

Ryan actually left sickbay at the end of a normal shift. He went to his quarters for a quick shower, and changed out of his uniform and into a nice pair of slacks and a simple button up shirt. He even combed his hair and tamed it with a bit of gel. It was nice to have a ‘date night.’ He made his way to the lounge, and quickly spotted Scarlet. She appeared transfixed with her gaze focussed out the viewport. He saw that she already had a drink, so he grabbed himself a water, and made his way to the booth she’d picked out. “Hey there.”

Scarlet jumped at his voice but she looked to him and smiled. "Hi, you're actually on time. I'm impressed," she teased, "I hope this is OK, I didn't want to over dress, so yeah, just a casual dress." She looked down at her patterned skater-styled dress, then back up to him, brushing a stray lock of ginger hair behind her ear. It was nice to be in a public place with Ryan. It was their first outing since being on board and it just felt right.

He chuckled. “Yes, well it’s nice to have an excuse to leave on time. You look nice.” She always looked nice, but it was always good to see her out of uniform and looking relaxed.

"It feels strange being out in public with you," she admitted, "in a good way. We just haven’t done this since you were in San Francisco. I like it." She reached out her hand on the table, hoping he'd take the hint to hold it.

He grabbed her hand with a grin on his face. “I know. It seems like so long ago, though it really hasn’t been. It’s really nice to be with you in person.”

Scarlet smiled at the contact, "now we're together in person, aside from the movie nights and dinners, we can practically pick up from where we left. I'm really glad you suggested here." She looked back to the window, "really grateful. You really did help me be brave. It was my confidence that made me reluctant to apply for my PhD and even when I did, I got turned down because of confidence."

“Oh well, I was entirely selfish in that suggestion, but I’m glad it seems to be working out. Things have been working out, right?” Ryan asked, not letting go of her hand.

Scarlet nodded but then shrugged, "it's different. Us -- that's fine, it's the enclosed ship and all the Starfleet grey. It's a lifestyle change. I needed to experience this. I mean, who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with being out in the black. You did, right?"

Ryan shrugged as well. “I don’t know. I’ve had some hard times on this ship, but I feel needed. It seems brighter now though.” He smiled.

Scarlet blushed, "well, I let you pick the movies." She looked to his eyes, referencing their recent almost 'I love you'.

He squeezed her hand. “I let you pick the movies too.” He knew what their unspoken code meant. He smiled. “Are you hungry?”

"I am starving," she replied and dopily smiling at Ryan, "recommend anything from here? Or is everything safe. Normally I'll have a chicken burger on my mum's birthday. We always used to get them on her birthday."

“Chicken burger it is then.” Ryan got up. “Anything else?” He made a mental note to ask about her mom’s birthday when he returned.

"Just a lemonade refill please," she pushed her glass to him, gratefully.

Ryan headed to the replicated, and quickly returned with two chicken burgers, and a refill of Scarlet’s lemonade. “To your mom.” He raised his glass once he was seated again.

Scarlet smiled and toasted back, "to what would have been her fiftieth birthday." She sipped her drink and then dug into the food. It really was a good burger, nice and succulent.

“So how did chicken burgers become birthday tradition?” Ryan asked between bites.

Scarlet chuckled, "so, each birthday, we'd pick our favourite restaurant or food place and we'd go. So, mum used to pick this burger van in a park near our home. Rain or shine, we'd be there eating on a bench, or under a tree shading rain. Dad used to pick this weird pizza place that made pizzas that were table sized-- he always ordered a fajita pizza, so mexican flavours, peppers and chicken."

“That’s a great tradition, and she had good taste.” He motioned to the chicken burger he was still working on. “Tell me more about her?” He asked, though tried to keep the question casual. He was interested, but if it was too much for her to talk about, he didn’t want her to feel forced.

"So, mum, Louisa, she was a teacher of sorts. She dealt with nursery and early years," Scarlet continued between bites, "she was a free spirit. I think that's the best way of putting it. Very hippy like. All for natural methods in medicine and stuff, but dad, Daniel, he always used sneak me to a hospital or doctor if I needed it. Mum would flip, but she never stayed mad for long. She definitely wanted more of a girly girl as a daughter, she always used to get frustrated at me covered in oil and helping dad in his restoration garage."

Ryan chuckled. “Well that hasn’t changed, I’m glad to note. You tinkering and covered in spent plasma, etcetera.” He then commented, “It sounds like a great childhood.”

Scarlet chuckled at the comment about not changing then replied,"it really was great. It was nice to live with such free spirits. It's was dad that pushed me into engineering, really, but he caught me drawing schematic-like drawings from a really young age. I guess he just saw potential and wanted me to work with him so that I could draw up and build the parts that we can no longer buy. I got my ginger hair from him."

“I wish I could have met them. I bet they’d both be proud of you.”

"Dad would be," she replied and then chuckled, "mum, I think, would be proud I was dating a doctor. I think she would have been over the moon that I have been working in hospitals or alongside doctors, but attempting to set me up with literally any doctor. She'd be eye rolling at the engineering thing though, but she'd be happy I was happy."

Ryan smiled. “Oh, I see now. It was just the doctor thing all along.” He was clearly teasing though.

Scarlet chuckled, "I must have a thing for doctors. I've dated a few. I suppose the best place to meet a doctor is at a hospital. I met you there, though technically, you were a patient."

“Well I’m very glad we did meet.”

"I'm not glad of the almost concussion you caused, mind," Scarlet teased.

“Did I?” Ryan looked mildly confused. “I don’t remember. Of course I was pretty well doped up on pain killers at the time.”

Scarlet chuckled, "yes, kinda. When I came in to fix something. I mistook you for one of the doctors. I got a little distracted and misjudged a panel because of it. Then you got told off for playing doctor."

Vague, blurry memories returned to him at her recollection of events. “Oh well, it’s hardly playing when you are actually a doctor, but probably best not to try and practice while under the influence. I’m surprised you didn’t label me a cook and move on.”

Scarlet chuckled, "I'm too polite. I really am. First impressions at the end of the day, was that you went to help. That was the key bit. Then, when you hunted me down, I just wanted to make sure you got back to your room OK. I'm not a monster. It was when you tracked me down after sobering up from whatever you were on that was the only time I ever counted a first impression." Scarlet smiled, "if you don't mind me asking, what were you in for? I saw they used the OR I'd recently finished up. They rushed me to finish because they needed the new equipment."

“Oh, I had no idea you’d worked on that OR.” Ryan smiled. It was a nice thought, that she’d had a part in his operation, albeit not directly. “I had every rib on my left side replaced. If there were a price tag attached, I’d now be several times the 6 million dollar man.”

Scarlet giggled, "Don't sell yourself short." She then winced, "I guess, it's a hazard of being on a ship. An injury that requires that level of surgery."

“It wasn’t from a mission, or even Starfleet. I had a compromised rib cage on that side due to several injuries from childhood. I should have had it done long before I did, but I am glad I finally took care of it. It’s nice to take a full breath and not be in pain, and an excuse to poorly flirt while incapacitated.” He grinned.

Scarlet smiled at his last comment and blushed a little. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," she replied, "hopefully your parents, is it Jack and Beverly, helped you recover."

“It was actually the injury that brought me to them, and yes they were very supportive. They always have been.”

Scarlet filled in the blanks and nodded, "Oh, I understand. Seems like you landed on your feet with them, even if it means having a sister."

Ryan chuckled. “I would threaten to tell Amanda you said that, but I wouldn’t inflict her wrath on you.”

"What is she like?" Scarlet asked as she finished her last few fries.

“Fearless.” Was the first adjective that popped into his head, before he thought about it. “She’s overly protective, a bit impulsive, and extremely loyal. I think you’d get along.”

Scarlet chuckled, "if you say so. I'm getting there, courage wise. Last time I met someone's family, I threw up on both parents and then fled. He never called me for another date. So maybe give her a full raincoat if we ever meet."

“Duly noted.” He took a sip of his water. “I’m sure you’ll be fine by the time we ever get back to Earth to meet in person. I can tell you all the embarrassing stories about them, and then maybe you won’t be nervous.”

Scarlet chuckled trying to mask how much she was blushing, "it's nice to know that in your head we're going to get to that point."

“I certainly hope so. I have no plans of going anywhere.”

"I don't think you have much of a choice," she replied then darkly teased, "on a plus side for you, you don't have to go through the anxiety of meeting my folks. Though I do have tonnes of birthday messages and stuff that they recorded over the years, so you can at least see me with an afro and hear some embarrassing stories."

“I’d love that. We can have old family recordings and video night instead of movie night some time. I have some pretty embarrassing stuff from 13 on you can laugh at.”

"I look forward to it," she chuckled, "save it for a special occasion though. Valentines day or birthdays or something. Spare you otherwise."

“Sounds like a plan.”

Scarlet looked at her empty plate then back to Ryan, "I'm not tired yet and it's still quite early. Fancy a few more drinks?"

“Sure. We have a great view, and it’s nice to be out of sickbay. Did you want to split a dessert?”

Scarlet mulled it over. Did she have room? Hell she'd find it. "Sure, surprise me."

Ryan took that as a challenge, and headed to the replicator. He debated on birthday cake vs cheesecake vs tiramisu and finally decided on cheesecake. He returned with a large slice and 2 spoons. “I hope you like cheesecake.”

"I do," Scarlet smiled, taking one of the spoons, "though again, the debate as to whether Americans or Brits are better with it…" she smirked.

"Any cheesecake is good cheesecake." Ryan took the other spoon and a healthy bite.