It had been two days since his encounter with Cadet Fayth, and Rainns had decided to plan for dinner after her shift ended that day at 1900 hours. He had messaged her that morning before starting his shift, and had spent the day completing his tasks and distracting himself from thoughts about the upcoming evening. He had heavily considered simply leaving his uniform on, but decided against it. He walked into the mess hall exactly five minutes before the agreed upon time, wearing a collared shirt and khaki pants, nothing fancy, but comfortable and out of uniform. He found a table that was unoccupied and in the corner, and taking a seat there he pulled out a padd and began reading for a few minutes to await Fayth’s arrival. He was slightly anxious, but not really, ‘Its not a date’ he told himself, ‘don’t freak out’. This would be his first one on one dinner he had with a woman since his breakup a few months prior, but he refused to let that fact bother him. Pulling up the classic earth novel 1984, the cadet simply read and waited for his counterpart to arrive.

Lt. JG Joseph Rainns- COS