A Tale of Two Captains Part 1

Posted on Sat Jul 9th, 2016 @ 7:59pm by Major Patrick McMichaels

890 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Episode 92 - More Questions than Answers
Location: The Lounge
Timeline: MD2: 1900 hours

Patrick strolled into the Lounge. He looked around but didn't see Captain Itris. He found a table and ordered a drink, waiting for her to show up.

"Goodnight Parker. I'll see you in the morning. Any more information you come across just forward to my console and I'll look at it later tonight."

Her XO nodded and turned back to her work.

Denara took the turbolift down to the Promenade level and made her way toward the Skyline Lounge. It surprised Denara that she was a little anxious and had some conflicts of interest playing tug of war in her mind. Part of he wanted to turn around and go back to her quarters and change into something less... uniform-y. However, she didn't want to arrive all decked out and give off the wrong signal. Plus it would make her more than a little late, which she was right now.

Hopefully, Captain McMichaels isn't dressed in a tuxedo with a gift with him, thought Denara as she reached the Lounge. That would be mortifying.

As she entered, the hostess asked if she wanted a table and how many people would be joining her. She was about to respond when she saw Captain McMichaels sitting at a table. She smiled at the hostess.

"My party is already here, thank you." She left the hostess stand and made her way to the table. Captain McMichaels, Captain McMichaels, she kept telling herself. Go get too personal too fast and for the love of all that is holy, don't invite him back to your quarters. There's a reason you wore ugly underwear, she kept telling herself.

"Evening Captain, Mind if I sit down?"

He stood and pulled out her chair. "By all means" he said. *Just stay calm and keep eye contact. DON'T stare at her chest. Eyes up* he was thinking. He waited for her to sit then he seated himself. "Thank you for inviting me" Patrick said.


*Dang it, he is going to stare at my chest again*, thought Denara. "Thank you for giving me some company. I am fairly new at the station and sitting in my quarters looking at evals and performance reports doesn't sound like a great thing to do tonight." Denara took her seat. A server walked up to get her something to drink.

"Yes, may I have a Bajoran Springwine please?", she asked the server, who nodded and walked away. Then she looked over at Patrick. "Well, let's not have awkward silence, so do we eat first and then talk about ourselves, or talk about ourselves and then eat?"

Patrick chuckled. "You're blunt and to the point. I like that. Let's eat first then see where the conversation takes us?" he nodded before glancing at her cleavage and back up to her eyes. *Shit! They're nice but .... damnit man! Focus on her EYES!* Then he smiled.

Denara must have missed the "casual glance" from Patrick as she was admiring the Lounge. Then the server came back with her wine. "Are you all ready to order, or do you need a few minutes?"

Denara picked up her menu and went right to the steaks. "I'll have the Braised Targ Steak, rare, with the pan seared garlic potatoes and a salad with your house dressing... and a glass of water."

Then she looked over at Patrick. "What are you having?"

"I'll have the outlaw ribeye; well done with baked potato and sour cream and cheese with a side salad, Thousand Island dressing and iced tea, please" he said then took a drink of his water and smiled at her. The more he tried not to stare, the more his glances went back and forth from her eyes to her cleavage. "So Captain. May I call you Denara?" he asked.

Denara waited until the server had left. Then she took a drink of her wine and put it down. "Certainly... Pat." Denara watched to see how he would take the shortened name. Denara had the unofficial record for picking the nickname that most people hated. Denara hadn't made up her mind about Captain McMichaels yet. He was definitely charming, but his "casual glances" really indicated his true intentions. She glanced around the lounge a bit. It was a very nice place and only half full at the moment. Not so crowded that they couldn't talk, but not so empty that everything they talked about would be heard. Then she turned back to Patrick.

"So, tell me about yourself, McMichaels."

He noted she called him 'Pat'. That was ok with him; for now. "What would you like to know, Denara?" he asked her, while putting a hand on her knee. He was being bold but he had to try.


Denara laughed outloud and picked up his hand and placed it back on the table. She patted it lightly. "Sorry, Ginger, but I haven't even had my steak yet... and I haven't nearly had enough of these", she said indicating her wine. "But I am impressed with the attempt. We will see where that goes. As for about you, let's start with business and then personal. What do you do here on the station?"

Patrick winked at her. "Touche my dear. I'm the 22nd Regiment Commander here on SB 400. The old Double Deuce. We just completed a Combat Rating" he said.

TBC:

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