Perhaps not the best first impression

Posted on Sunday, 23 May 2021 - 4:25pm by Lieutenant Ryan Rose MD & Lieutenant Scarlet Rogers
Edited on on Monday, 24 May 2021 - 9:17am

Mission: Operation: Neu Reich

Scarlet had stayed overnight after a date. The bonding they'd done had meant that the night had ended rather passionately after dinner. The woman always slept well next to Ryan. She'd not known anything like it.

She stirred a little as an external chirping sound interrupted her dream. She groaned and turned over, cuddling up to her pillow, away from her comfortable spot on Ryan's chest.

Ryan, normally up before his alarm, was fast asleep, but the chirping did its duty and he grumbled. As his head cleared he realized Scarlet was right next to him, and his chest was still quite warm. “Sorry.” He half yawned.

"Five more minutes and the dermal regenerator-ator-or will be fixed," she mumbled.

Ryan smiled in amusement, and slipped out of bed, making sure the covers were pulled up around Scarlet’s shoulders. He padded out to the kitchen, stretching and giving into a full yawn. He started the newly acquired kettle (Yes tea did taste better when you boiled the water yourself) and headed to the replicator for a cup of coffee. This morning he needed one.

Scarlet's dream seemed to politely come to an end at the sound of a kettle. It was like he had homing instincts for it. She stretched and got out of bed, grabbing Ryan's discarded shirt from the night before and putting it on. It was big enough to make her look decent, though Scarlet was all fingers and thumbs so it was buttoned up a little lopsided.

She walked out and smiled, mumbling, "if you're not careful, I'll keep you for knowing when to put the kettle on." She spotted the cup of tea, made exactly how she liked. Next to it was some toast. It really made her smile.

A voice suddenly came from the console screen at the coffee table. “ahhem rrhmm” A polite, and mildly amused throat clearly could be heard.

Scarlet looked over thinking maybe Ryan was still gaining his voice, but instead caught sight of a woman looking at her. The woman instantly blushed and dropped her mug onto the plate, making a loud crash, but thankfully no breakages, only spillage and soggy toast. "Oh gawd, oh gawd, I'm sorry, umm. Ryan!" She fumbled to try and fix breakfast and then to try and fix her appearance but with little luck.

Beverly couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s alright dear. I don’t think Ryan is home.” She offered up. “I thought I might catch him before his shift, but it seems I’m a bit late.” She was incredibly curious. Her son wasn’t known as the one night stand type, but last she had heard, Ryan was still in a long distance relationship with a woman he’d met on Earth.

Scarlet tried to pull the shirt down to cover herself a little more as she nervously replied, "I didn't hear him leave. Umm, sorry. You're umm… Beverly, right? Mrs Rose."

“Beverly yes. Mrs Hanson though. You can call me Beverly though, please do. Scarlet?” Beverly asked. It was the only thing that made sense, even if she didn’t understand.

Scarlet blushed a little more at the correction. Her mind wasn't focused, her nerves had overtaken. She waved a little and nodded, "yes, Scarlet Rogers."

“Oh. It’s so nice to meet you! I thought you were here on Earth. Ryan has said such wonderful things about you.” Beverly beamed.

Scarlet chuckled a little nervously, "really?" She then added some context, "I was on Earth. Then I got my PhD approved. My PhD study means that I have to be stationed on a ship."

“And you chose the Standing Bear. That’s wonderful.” Beverly was dying to ask more questions, but she could see the young woman was nervous, and didn’t want to make her even more so. "Well, I didn’t mean to disrupt your morning. If you could just let Ryan know I called?”

Scarlet nodded, "yes, of course. I'll let him know. Nice meeting you."

Once the call had ended, Scarlet grabbed a nearby bowl and emptied the contents of her stomach. Nerves hit her hard and she was shocked that she'd lasted so long without vomiting. "Rogers to Rose," she said with a bit of a groan, "you may want to call your mother back. She's seen a lot."

Ryan stepped away from the patient he was with, giving them a quick ‘sorry, be right back’ look. “What? Is everything ok?” He asked.

"She may be a little scarred for life in seeing her son's girlfriend with nothing but your shirt on, but yes, she looks fine," Scarlet sounded like she was talking with her face close to the counter, mortified and face-palming. Scarlet was unsure if she'd used that term before but it felt nice to say.

Ryan could picture just what Scarlet looked like right now. “Breathe sweetheart. I’m sure she wasn’t scarred and was just happy to put a face to the name. Did you have some tea yet?” He asked. Maybe tea would help calm her nerves...he hoped anyway.

Scarlet took a few breaths then looked at the mess on the counter, "uhh, no, it died... all over the toast." She sighed, "I'll tidy up, make another and then head back to my quarters. It's only a study day."

“Ok. Don’t worry about cleaning I can take care of that. I’ll meet you for lunch?” He asked.

"Sure, I'll bring something to your office," she replied, already cleaning up.

“I’ll call Beverly and make sure everything is ok. I’m sorry about that, but really I’m sure she was just happy to meet you.”

"Gaaaaaaaaawd," she groaned, "if you say so. I'll see you later."

***Lunch***

Scarlet walked into the med bay, in civilian clothes. She waved to Ryan who was with a patient and made her way to his office. She had brought some sandwiches with her. The woman put them on his desk and grabbed a drink for the pair as she waited.

Ryan was with her quickly. “Hey there.” He grabbed the sandwich as if he was starving, and took a huge bite, before seeming to realize his manners. He swallowed a bit sheepishly, then kissed her cheek. “Sorry, thank you for lunch. How has your morning been?”

"I mean, stressful," she replied, "I couldn't focus after Beverly called. I'm going to pop to the lab this afternoon though. See if I can help repair some damage."

“Is there anything I can do to help make you less nervous? Around Beverly or Jack I mean? At some point, they will want to meet you in person. I’ll hold them off as long as i can though.”

Scarlet shook her head, "with warning, I think I'd be alright. Nervous but fine. I think it was just the fact that it came out of the blue and I was only in your shirt. She probably saw my bum, I just--" she paused, "Gawd, I don't think I can look her in the face again."

“It’s a very nice bum.” Ryan couldn’t help but tease a little. “It really is fine. She has two grown kids, she does not think either of us are virgins.”

Scarlet blushed a little, "thanks. I just don't think me, in next to nothing, is a great first impression."

“Eat your lunch.” Ryan just shook his head in mild and slightly amused exasperation. “I love you.”

Scarlet paused mid bite at the phrase he'd finally used. "Hm?" she asked to clarify.

Ryan smiled. “I” He kissed her forehead. “love” he kissed her cheek. “you.” He kissed her on the lips, and just started to turn it into something more than a simple kiss, but seemed to realize where he was and pulled back. “Idiosyncrasies included.”

"I love you too," Scarlet's cheeks flushed red and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She meant what she said, whether in their code form or using the actual words.

She paused and giggled a little (which may have been nerves) though she was deadly serious, "is this a bad time to tell you that my head plays theme music throughout the day and it's only been the past few months that I've come to realise there's actually no elevator music in the turbo lift?"

Ryan just grinned. “I hope I get a cool theme.” He seemed completely unsurprised by her admission. “I already know what you hear in the kitchen, you hum while cooking.”

Scarlet chuckled, "and why shouldn't I not hum the master chef theme?" She smiled, "I can start humming all of it, but I promise you that I've been asked to do it before and it ended with a break up because we couldn't have a serious moment any more."

“Well then I definitely won’t ask.”

Scarlet sighed in comedic relief, "good because every time you get undressed, I hear stripper music."

Ryan snorted in amusement. “I am never going to be able to change with a straight face again.”

Scarlet grinned, "you're welcome."