Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Captain’s Quarters- If You Can’t Stand the Heat

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Captain’s Quarters- If You Can’t Stand the Heat

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Captain’s Quarters- If You Can’t Stand the Heat

(snip)

Alex smiled slightly. “No… not damned. Just learning. As all of us are, Faye. Unfortunately, some lessons are just hell to learn.” He pointed to bottle and then to the table.

Uncrossing her arms, she reached across the table, grabbed his glass and tipped the stone into his glass. Then, bringing the bottle back up, she poured a couple measures in his glass and silently slid it back to him.

“You aren’t wrong for wanting or needing… ‘quality time’… with someone, Faye. We all do from time to time, I think.”

Cochrane

An audible inhale and exhale passed through her nose and she rolled her shoulders a little, trying to release some of the tension that had settled there. “That’s all I wanted.” Finally she lifted her gaze to properly gaze at him. “Alex, there hasn’t been anyone since Nevol. And in case your memory isn’t as good as mine, he’s the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan I was involved with during my time with the Reunification Movement. The same person who the Tal Shiar coerced into targeting me and set me up to be captured and then after I escaped tried to drag me back to them despite my being half-dead. So… yeah, you do the math. There’s been no one and I have moved exceedingly slow with my feelings for exactly the reasons we’ve been talking about. Because I haven’t trusted them, or myself, and there have been far too many Nevol’s in my life.”

“So don’t let your desire for… companionship… let you do to others what has been done to you. People are worth more…” and he chuckled at her and smiled, “… even Wyatt.”

That was why I did it this way, she grumbled internally. But there wasn’t much she could do about what had already happened and right now she needed more time to process what he had just dropped on her.

Another loud exhale. “So consider your warning well and truly heard. I don’t know what I will do or if it will change how I proceed, but that’s for me to ponder over and decide. In the meantime, Captain Twinkle Toes, it’s your turn, because don’t think I didn’t catch that past tense you used which suggests that you have a present relationship. I’ll try not to feel like an idiot for not have figured that out sooner when I asked you out,” she said with a relaxed wink, as if their previous conversation was long gone.

~Faye Calloway

Alex cocked his head to the side in confusion and then let out a soft “Well, s%$t.” and then he laughed. “Fair enough. Yes, I am… spending time with someone. And you actually do know them, so again your discretion is appreciated. We aren’t hiding it, but its not like I’m making a shipwide announcement about it, either.” He took a drink and shot her a glance. “And damn that little rock.”

Faye gave him a knowing grin. Yes, the rock was nifty but it did stop you from drinking as a means of hiding. Which was sort of the point tonight. “Uh huh, keep going.”

Another drink and he said “The Counselor and I have been spending time together. The time we share has been most pleasant, and I look forward to enjoying her company for the foreseeable future. That satisfy your curiosity?”

Cochrane

She sat up a little straighter and peered at him, her face shifting as she was clearly working through the permutations of his revelation. “Huh. I… should be more surprised at that, but I’m not.” Faye shook her head and chuckled. “Oh, but timing is everything. I’m glad we worked out things between us otherwise that news could have been rather awkward given everything.”

She reached for the bottle and poured the tiniest little bit, no more than a couple mouthfuls, of the scotch and knocked it back. Setting her glass back down, she couldn’t help but laugh more as she thought about how ridiculous it all was but also how it wasn’t that big of a deal. “‘Cause, while we’re all going to have to be careful to keep our confidences confidential, I don’t mind sharing that she was the one who prompted me to stop letting other people in my past determine how I act and ask the person I had a crush on out,” she said, peering directly at Alex with a giant smirk. Surely he could see how funny this was… now. If she still harboured romantic feelings for him it might have been too much. “So we may want to let her know that we’re both good and that we intend to also spend time together, but that’s very different than the time you’re spending with her,” she added with a wink. Ahhhh, it was so nice to tease him this way!

~Faye Calloway