Another Date Night

Posted on Saturday, 22 May 2021 - 9:30pm by Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Neu Reich
Location: Crew Quarters |USS Standing Bear
Timeline: 2394 MD 11 Evening

ON:

Chewing happily on a bone, tail wagging, the sole occupant of the XO’s quarters looked up suddenly, one ear rising up as the puppy heard familiar voices. With an exciting bark, Bones rushed towards the door to welcome home his owners. A squeal from outside elicited another bark but the next sounds made it evident there was no danger. His owners were being playful again.

“Soral! Put me down!” Alex demanded, laughing and squirming as she found herself swept off her feet just a few steps from the door.

"No, I do not believe that I want to." He said elated to have her home. He had never known one could love someone as much as he loved her.

His playful tone was not lost on her, even if he was being ridiculous. “Doctor Rose said I’m perfectly fine,” she reminded him as they entered their quarters. Immediately Bones was barking and running around them, vying for attention. “If you spoil me too much you’ll have to carry me everywhere.”

"I do not mind." He said. He walked over to the sofa and seated her there tucking a blanket around her. He grabbed Bones and handed him to Alex, knowing that the dog always made her smile.

“Soral, honestly I feel … eww! Bones!” She made a face, holding the dog at arms length after the puppy decided to lick her face.

"I believe he has missed you," Soral said. "Stay there. I shall make dinner and we shall watch one of those illogical movies you like."

“Scooby Doo?” She teased as Bones barked and wagged his tail. “Bones wants to be a crime fighter when he grows up, seems cruel to deny him a role model.”

"Yes we shall watch your Scooby Doo." He went about preparing a tray of food and drink and then carried it over. After putting Bones on the ground where the dog settled in happy to be by them, Soral sat on the sofa. "Ready?"

“Yep, let’s unmask a monster,” Alex grinned, laughing as Bones attempted a howl in agreement. It was an admirable effort, to be fair. As Soral got comfortable she leaned in to him, “thank you for spoiling me.”

"No thanks is needed my Fire Goddess."

“I’d tell people about this crazy romantic side if you,” Alex mused as she ate a fry, “but they’d throw me in a padded cell.”

His only response was to kiss her. They started the movie and despite the sheer frustrating illogical elements he was glad that they were doing something together. Their life had not been easy since they decided to marry but it had been interesting and he would not trade it for anything. He wondered if he should tell her what the doctors had told him about what had happened to her.

Settling in, Alex laughed along and at her feet Bones yelped and barked and at times seemed to want to climb inside the screen. “We so called it,” she declared as the villain was unmasked. “You are being quiet,” she added after a moments thought. “Popcorn for your thoughts? You never let Velma finish her little speech without snorting…”

"I scramble to hold onto my logic when we watch those things, however, that is not important. It always makes you smile."

“What’s not to love, except for Scrappy Doo,” she conceded, to a growl from Bones at the name. “And they aren’t meant to be logical, just fun.”

"I am not good at fun." He said.

“That is not true,” she protested. “And stop putting yourself down. Who planned a spa weekend for me after our wedding? Or only this month outsmarted me and arranged a whole weekend just for us with dancing and dinners and just time to be us? And who went out of his way to get me a cute fluffy unicorn? Or to watch kids movies with a grown woman?”

He looked down at his hands. "I was not attempting to be fun." He said. "I was attempting to make you smile. I am fond of your smile."

She grinned as she took hold of his hand, “you, my love, are a hopeless romantic.”

He held her hand enjoying the simple pleasure of it. "I have news...from medical, about your healing."

“Oh?” She was aiming for casual interest but it came out fell short of the mark. “I just saw Doctor Rose and he didn’t say a thing. Other than the inhibitor was still working okay.”

Soral was silent for a long moment. "Doctor Rose would not discuss things apparently even with a spouse...something I will rectify with the Starfleet medical council I assure you. I contacted Hades and he provided me with a way to use a medical tricorder to get the scans he needed after which I sent them to him and he reviewed them." He cleared his throat. "You will not need the inhibitor for long. The healing...it was accelerated."

“So all I needed was T’Lanna, a monk and to be electrocuted?” she surmised.

He raised an amused eyebrow. "Yes. It seems so."

“Sounds like the start of a bad joke…” she mused. “So by accelerated…? How accelerated are we talking?”

"A week more at most, perhaps sooner and then if you still wish it we can bond again."

“A week?!” She cried in delight, throwing her arms around him. “Of course I wish it!”

He smiled then. "Good, I do as well." He held her. "Just a while longer and what was taken from us will be restored."

She clung to him like a vice, full of relief at the thought of just a few more days. Weeks and months of anxiety being squashed in just a few words. “I love you,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion as tears stung at her eyes.

"I love you as well, with my whole being." He paused. "I also have some other news."

She pulled back just enough so she could look him in the eyes. “Other news?”

He gave a nod. "The Vulcan government has contacted me. They have fast tracked N'vek's adoption and I am to be granted legal status. They only wait for your response if you wish to adopt him, Severine, and Soval."

“That was fast…” she breathed. “Guess Vulcan efficiency is as strong as ever…. You didn’t mention Seleya.”

He looked away. "That adoption cannot happen. Her father had a sister. She and her mate have no children and have yearned for a child. They wish to take Seleya and by Vulcan law she will be delivered to them."

“Oh. Well, I guess in a way it is good for her to be with her family as long as they are good parents to her,” she reasoned. “That’s what matters most. Ensuring they are loved and cared for. Have the best life possible.”

"They are a respected family."

“She will be loved,” Alex assured him as she cupped the side of his face. “You and my mother have made sure she has stayed happy and healthy. You gave her - and her father - a home.”

He gave a nod. "Yes but the children are not taking it well. Severine is still angry and sees it as yet another one of my failures and Soval is extremely sad."

“It isn’t failure, Soral. And both of them will get over it,” she told him. “Life doesn’t always work how we plan it. Part of being a parent is guiding them through the not so good times so they become good adults.”

He gave a nod and then shook his head. "Enough of this. Let us enjoy our date night. What else would you like to do?"

“I picked the movie, it’s your turn,” she smiled as she kissed him.

"I do not know...I simply enjoy being with you. Perhaps...we can bake together? I heard Haru say that it was very bonding and romantic when he baked with Mac."

“Baking it is. Just be warned, you know my cooking is bad,” she whispered as she kissed him. “But I make up for it in other ways. Okay, let’s get baking.”

"What shall we make?" He asked helping her rise.

“Something simple, that I can make lots of mess with cos you love love tidying up after me,” she teased.

"I do not mind. I love to tidy and organize. It is perhaps something I have in common with our new Yeoman... It is why I called in a few favours to bring her here...that amongst the fact that Hamura is here now."

“I don’t follow…” Alex admitted. “Why being them here?”

"After Eyelaya's death we needed an engineer, Hamura I knew and I knew that this was the engineer that the ship needed. I also knew that Hamura was lonely and felt like leaving Starfleet was the only option. I began a search of a reason that would hold Hamura here and I came across Oriana, there was just a mystery that I had to solve, hence my first interview with her. I needed to ensure she would be right for the captain and a good mate for Hamura."

“Soral!” Alex admonished him. “You have to stop this obsession with interfering and playing match maker. You can’t play with people’s hearts.”

"Alexandra I have, to date matched fifteen couples, only one did not work out. Hamura and Oriana will fall in love, I just have a little more tweaking to do."

“Soral, no,” she pleaded, “things backfire when people interfere where they shouldn’t be. I saw it happen at the academy. You need to let things happen if they were meant to happen.”

"If I did that your mother would never have been going out with the Ambassador." He said. "The Ambassador would have taken forever to make his feelings known."

“Oh no,” Alex groaned. She should have known.

“Soral my mother… she’s dated, she’s had some brief relationships- if she falls for someone she is all in. For a few weeks and then she finds ways to talk herself out of being happy. One guy, he was a doctor. And the reason she eventually decided he wasn’t for her? He chewed too loud.”

"Yes but both she and he have qualities of the one spouse they loved. This will last. I know it will."

“There is an expression about biting off more than you can chew,” Alex warned him. “Okay… baking. Let’s make a mess.”

He gave a nod. "Chocolate chip cookies?"

“I never say no to chocolate,” she pointed out with a grin.

He smiled, "Yes, that I know." He poured a cup of chocolate chips. "Here, for you to eat while we assemble cookies."

“Yay,” she grinned, clapping her hands before testing said chocolate chips. “Perfect. If they can be 90 percent chocolate chip, I think they’d be perfect.”

He smiled. "That would not fit the instructions."

“Boo,” she pouted, popping some more chocolate chips into her mouth. “Okay, so I will guard these in case a temporal anomaly makes them disappear…”

"I have a suspicion that they will disappear anyway." He said with a raised eyebrow.

“No doubt,” she laughed.

They worked in companionable silence to mix the ingredients stopping to touch and kiss, it was as if the ship disappeared and they were the only two there. With the good news of the bond they could form again coming soon it seemed as though a weight had been lifted off both of them.

“You have some flour on your nose,” Alex said as the cookies were put in to bake.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Where?"

“Right there,” she lied as she touched her flour covered finger to the tip of his nose. “Oops...” she grinned as she backed away before he could retaliate.

Soral froze. He stood there calculating. "Ohhhhh I see. You are attempting to initiate playfulness as a prelude to a more intimate activity. Right?"

In that moment he could not have seemed any more Vulcan if he tried. “That depends…” she said, still keeping a small distance.

He raised an eyebrow, "On?"

“If it’s working,” she clarified with a grin. “And also, how long those cookies need to bake.”

"I think it vital that we ensure that the cookies do not burn. We do have all night." He looked at the screen. "Perhaps another movie."

“With popcorn?” She asked hopefully. “But you get to pick. Only fair.”

"I will replicate some popcorn." He thought a moment. "Would you like any toppings on it? As for the movie I will happily watch whatever you wish to watch."

“So you can watch me watching the movie?” She surmised. “How about a superhero movie? Some Thor, Iron Man… or go a little darker and some Batman?”

He gave a nod. "Perhaps Thor." He had a weakness for the character. It was the first comic that Mac had introduced him to.

“As long as it is the Chris Hemsworth version,” she added with a grin. “He’s the best one.”

And very cute, she added inwardly.

OFF: