Dinner

[Ron_Lunn 0]

Dinner

 

Ensign Ron Lunn and Ensign Mithraia Coeur

Joint Log 3

USS Agincourt, NCC-81762

 

Ron tugged on his shirt as he stood infront of the door and quickly ran his hand through his hair. He reached out and pushed the signal button to the room.

 

The beeping of her door startled Mia, as she stirred some of the sauce simmering in the pot. She had wanted to make everything herself, as she was a pretty good cook when she focused on it. She had replicated a small stove and other cooking tools. Gently, she brushes her vibrant hair back from her face and smoothed the white dress she was wearing. It was long and flowy, and she had her new Ensign pip adorning her collar. So far, she hadn't spilled anything on it. Moving to the door, she exhaled a long breath and tried to calm herself, ".. come in!"

 

The door slid open and Ron stepped forward, hands behind his back. "Do I get a hug?" He stretched his arms out and hugged Mia. When he back away he raised his head a bit, "Something smells good."

 

She smiled and hugged him back, her body feeling more relaxed than she normally would have. Mia nodded at him, ".. it's the sauce. It's still simmering and the chicken is still cooking.. but it shouldn't be too long." Like a polite hostess, she motioned to her 'living area', ".. go ahead and sit down if you want.. I'll get you a drink." Mia blinked when she realized her sofa was covered in stuff.

 

"Oh.. wait.. let.... let me clear that.." She quickly moved dozens of PADD's and other stuff from it and put it on the nearby chair. Her quarters was a plethora of random things. Butterflies were displayed in frames, but none hung on the wall. They were neatly stacked in the corner. Various medical journals and other reading materials adorned most the shelves in an askew manner. Clearly, she hadn't really settled down yet.

 

Ron searched for something to say as he slowly sat down in the chair, "It's um... cozy... surprise me with the drink."

 

She could feel her cheeks blush as she walked over to the kitchenette, picking up a pitcher and pouring him a punch-like concoction, ".. I haven't really .. had a chance to do much with this place yet. Work .. was really overwhelming at first. I also have too many hobbies.. " Taking two glasses over to where he was sitting, she handed him one. It was all tropical, with a small umbrella and a straw. She took a sip of her own drink as she sat next to him, leaving only half a foot of space between them. Her eyes looked at him expectantly, as if taking in all of his features and committing them to memory.

 

Ron did a good job of not looking surprised at the drink that was handed to him. It looked a little too... flashy for his tastes. He was sure it tasted fine, but this is the man who used to scoop Klingon blood wine out of a barrel with his academy friends. He raised his eyebrows and smiled at Mia and he took a sip. He liked it, but it felt somewhat out of place in his hand. "Well, I'm guessing you're doing a good job at work, judging by that shiny new pip on your collar."

 

She smiled, blushing a little, "I could say the same about you.. looks like we are both on the right track here." Mia almost reached out to touch his pip, but didn't want to be too forward. "You look tired, though.."

 

Her expression softened and she tilted her head, with a look of concern and that doctoring instinct. He had obviously tensed up at her question, "Just um... not sleeping well is all. Too many thing on my mind, always have something on the go." He was hiding the true fact as to why he couldn't sleep, hiding the dreams, and now the visions, from everyone.

 

Mia nodded slightly, ".. I am the same way.. most of the time." She had a feeling there was more to what he had said, noticing his body language. Something compelled her to press a little more .. but then again, how would she feel if he pushed her to talk about her own sleepless nights? "Just something else we have in common.. " she smiled at him and laced her fingers together and rested her hands on her lap. Deep down, she could feel this strange connection to him. It was something that intrigued her, but scared her a little at the same time.

 

He nodded his head and took another sip of the drink. "So how are the people in your department? I'm liking engineering, the Chief is a good guy, and I'm had a few opportunities to talk with Kairi, hopefully have some time to do something leisurely with her because we ah... can relate to each well, the whole alien thing."

 

Kairi. Mia's mind brought up the engineers image, and she nodded. She seemed like a nice girl. "My Chief is rather nice. She has .. kind and doesn't get very pushy.. on me. She seem to understand that I am not too open ... easily. I believe she is Betazoid. Though.. the other doctor is a bit strange. But a brilliant medical officer."

 

Her eyes watched him carefully. She had never met anyone like him. Every man she had ever ran into had either been all sorts of bad, or so sure of themselves that they were no joy to be around. Leaning back into the softness of the couch, she relaxed more. Occasionally she'd inhale the air and smell the cooking food. It DID smell delicious.

 

Ron sat back and relaxed as he listened to Mia talk. He held his drink in one hand and fingered the crucifix around his neck with the other. He wondered why Mia was so shy, he still didn't get it, she was unbelievably attractive. He knew it had something to do with those scars.

 

She leaned towards him, eyeing the crucifix that he played with, ".. that is a religious symbol, right? My mother wore one like that as well." Her hand reached out and touched it, holding it gently in her hand and looking it over.

 

Ron let his hand lower a bit, "Yeah, it's the symbol of my God," he smiled and raised an eyebrow. "His name was Jesus, and he lived on Earth over 2400 years ago. We have a holy book called the Bible that tells about his life and those who followed him. It's a long story, a little too much for one night," he laughed. It was probably an odd sight to anyone else, a Bajoran sitting and sipping a punch, wearing a crucifix around his neck. But Mia didn't seem to really notice the oddity of the situation.

 

Ron liked that, he got bad looks from other Bajorans in Star Fleet, and had a rough time at the Academy with it. But ultimately he was confident enough not to care.

 

She smiled, "My mother used to tell me those stories.. I had never heard them before until I was with her.." Mia turned to the side and picked up a picture of her family. Her father, in an engineering uniform and her mother, in medical blues. And Mia, at age 16 or so. She stood beside them with a small smile on her face. Content, but stiff and not looking overly happy.Then again, she never looked overly happy. She held it out to him. "That's my family. You .. you would like my father. He is the Chief Engineer of his ship."

 

He looked at the picture and smiled, "Well maybe I'll have to meet him someday." He squinted his eyes and wondered what to say about what he noticed, "Mia, you don't really look much like your father or mother, kind of odd. Everyone tells me I look like my mother, she was a beautiful woman, so I guess I look like a beautiful woman," he laughed as he looked back at Mia.

 

Her cheeks flushed and she glanced down slightly. Her fingers fiddled with the hemline of her dress, ".. well, they aren't my real parents." She brought her eyes back up to level with him, "They adopted me when I was 15."

 

Ron looked a bit I surprised, "I see. Must have been kind of bad to live in a foster home for most of your life."

 

Mia's eyes wandered around the room, as if she was looking for something. Anything. "I .." she paused a moment. She had never casually talked about her past much before. But .. she felt she could trust him, ".. I lived in an orphanage for a few years. And then .. I moved around a lot." Part of her wanted to tell him everything about her. Her past. The horrors she had witnessed and been a part of. But she couldn't. She closed her eyes a moment, remembering her last images of the orphanage she spent her early years in. Crumbled to the ground, burning .. the death of the other children and the soldiers carrying her away. She had only been 5.

 

"Well," Ron handed the picture back, "You must have a lot of connections all around the place then, old friends and what not. I never really knew my mother, she died when I was too young to remember her. I've seen pictures though." He laughed a bit, "I used to pray to her when I was a kid, my father always told me she was with the Prophets. I didn't really understand it back then, but I know that she's in Heaven. I'm sure your mother told you all about Heaven. It kind of upsets me that my father fed me that Prophet stuff, but that's what mom believed." He looked a bit nervous, he wasn't used to sharing such emotional details, he put a wall up about those things.

 

She took the picture back and placed it onto the small table again, and turned back to look at Ron, ".. you have no memories of her at all? I don't have any either .. of my birth mother, I mean. And yes.. my Mom.. she told me all about Heaven."

 

She smiled lightly .. noticing he seemed a bit nervous. That was unusual to see in other people for her. Mia moved closer to him and reached for his hand .. though a bit hesitantly.

 

Ron put his hand out and took hers, letting them fall gently unto his knee as he smiled at her. "It's a bit hard to stick to all the religious stuff on a starship anyways, too much stuff to be done really. You think the Bajoran in me would make me a bit more committed, but I guess the human side rubbed off the most," he smiled pleasantly.

 

"I try to be spiritual if I can be.. I sometimes feel.. cynical towards it. I respect it because of my mother's feelings about it. So many things in my life .. make me question it all." She looked at him, grateful he took her hand so confidently. The warmth of his skin against her fingers felt wonderful, ".. do you ever wonder about your Bajoran spirituality?"

 

She smiled to herself, .. she had only stuttered but a few times since he had come over. Perhaps there was progress to be made in the end. He jumped when she said that but smiled to try and cover it up. "My grandmother tried to make meditate each day when I was on Bajor, but instead I'd run out while she wasn't watching, there was too much other stuff to see on Bajor, better than keeping my eyes closed," he laughed. He looked surprised, "Do I smell burning...?"

 

Mia blinked her eyes, "... burning? OH!" She quickly pulled her hand from his and stood up, doing a small dash over to the kitchenette. She gasped as she realized the sauce was simmered down to nothing and the chicken was now ... cajun, ".. I .. I can't believe I .. I just .. got distracted..." She waved her hands to clear the small amount of smoke, "Computer... please clear .. clear the air!"

 

She could almost feel tears burning (no pun intended) behind her eyes. Her perfect dinner; ruined. Her hand came to rest on her forehead and she sighed. Ron had jumped up and rushed over behind her. His fingers gently wrapped around her wrist as he pulled it from her forehead and brought her head in against his chest. He had been looking forward to the meal, but Ron always looked on the bright side of things, "Oh, it's ok, Mia. We can just replicate something, we'll have just as much fun with the time we have together anyways. It's my fault you forgot about the food anyways," he pulled her back and looked into her eyes, "I just had to make myself too handsome," he smiled and made a funny face to show he was joking.

 

She let out a laugh, ".. that is .. exactly it. You distracted me. Perhaps we can just replicate what I was planning to make. Though I think... dessert is still good. I didn't burn that." She smiled at him, enjoying the closeness. On the counter, unburned, was some chocolate cake she had made.

 

Ron smiled, "Sounds perfect."

 

---------------------

 

Ron threw his napkin on his plate and leaned back in his chair. The meal had gone well, the conversation had flowed smoothly, mostly about ship stuff. "The meal was excellent, the chocolate cake was my favourite part," he smiled.

 

She giggled a little, more relaxed than she had ever been on the ship. She was sure Ron could tell, "Well, thank you. At least I didn't ruin the cake."

 

Ron shook his head, "It was perfect," he said tenderly. "Um, I should probably be going, its pretty late, I wish I could stay longer but I don't want to keep you up."

 

Nodding, "I do have duty fairly early tomorrow. Sleepy doctors are not an especially useful thing." She smiled at him, and stood up .. to talk him to the door.

 

He pushed his chair back and stood up, straightening his clothes. He smiled as Mia led him over to the door. He reached down and took both of her hands in his, noticing how rough and used his engineer's hands looked next to her very womanly hands. "So, I guess this is goodnight then."

 

Mia nodded, grasping his hands back with a small squeeze, ".. it is indeed. I would like to get together again.. soon. If you wouldn't mind that."

 

He sighed and smiled, "I think I'd spend any amount of time with you that you wanted to be with me without an ounce of complaint." He slowly leaned in a bit, bringing himself closer to her and waiting to see her response.

 

Feeling him move in closer to her, she could feel her heartbeat go faster. She had a feeling she knew what was coming. It made her nervous. But she anticipated it nonetheless, ".. even .. even if it was for a physical in Sickbay?" Her voice got softer, becoming engrossed in the intimate moment.

 

He laughed in his throat and it almost sounded like a hum as he continued to lean, "Especially for a physical, angel," he let his mouth stay opened on the last word and he softly brought his lips to hers and kissed her. It lasted a few seconds, not a peck but nothing too serious, very soft and tender. Her eyes closed when his lips touched hers and she kissed him back softly, her skin developing goosebumps just slightly. Mia enjoyed it, the first time she had ever enjoyed it like this before.

 

Ron slowly backed away and let go of her hands as he smiled, "Ok then, I'll see you later, we'll definitely do this again sometime." He pulled away from her and stepped out of her door.

 

She felt breathless, and she whispered, ".. okay..." It was all she could muster at the moment, as the door closed behind him.