Posted by Lieutenant Ben Hudson (Chief Medical Officer) in Deck 8 - Ship’s Lounge

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Eilah Fayth (Chief of Security) in Deck 8 - Ship’s Lounge

Posted by Lieutenant Ben Hudson (Chief Medical Officer) in Deck 8 - Ship’s Lounge
Posted by… suppressed (21) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<SNIP>

Eilah smiled, clearly genuinely happy about it. “I’m glad.” He drank out of his drink and then had another himself. “Perhaps you can introduce me to monkfish sometime I can see the difference for myself.”

~ Fayth, COS

“I normally cook monkfish in a curry,” he said with a wry grin, “but for you, I’ll cook some in a romesco sauce. The tomatoes go really well with the fish, and there’s no spice.” he said, chuckling a bit.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah chuckled sheepishly. “I hope you don’t mind my aversion to spice.” He said. He ate a few more, and soon they were almost out.

~ Fayth, COS

“Not at all,” Ben said, with a smile, not wanting to put Eilah through the discomfort he had endured twice this evening. He still felt a little bit sorry about Eilah’s bad luck, and felt like he needed to make it up to him. “Besides, everyone has their preferences…” he continued, “that’s what makes sharing new experiences with someone so enjoyable.”

He took a final oyster, leaving one last one for Eilah, before checking the time. Whilst hadn’t felt that they had been in the lounge that long, it had been a good couple of hours since they had first entered.

Eilah ate the last one and finished his drink. He grinned, “That’s true, things would be boring if everyone was the same.”

“Wow, I didn’t realise how long we had been here,” Ben remarked, feeling a mix of contentment from the food and Eilah’s company, along with a bit of disappointment that the evening was running away.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

“Me neither.” Eilah didn’t want their time together to end. Was there something else they could do? Or was it better to let the night end and offer another meet up? Because Eilah definitely wanted there to be another meet up. “I’ve enjoyed the time though.”

~ Fayth, COS

Ben smiled again. “Me too…” he started, making direct eye contact with Eilah. It took him a very moments to realise he’d been gazing at Eilah without saying anything.

Eilah didn’t mind at all. It was nice, sitting there in silence for a moment.

He blinked a couple of times whilst looking away, as if to refocus his mind, before looking back at Eilah. ‘He must realise that I’m into him by now’, Ben thought to himself, given Eilah’s species. But still, there was that gnawing fear of being rejected, or worse being told that he had read everything wrong and that they were just friends.

He bit his lip gently, as he plucked up the courage. He sat forward, gently grasping on of Eilah’s hands.

“Come with me,” he said with a grin, “I’ve got something you may enjoy.”

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Ben’s touch was warm and gentle. Pleasant tingles ran though Eilah’s skin under his hand. Telepathy wasn’t necessary to tell Eilah liked that idea. “What is it?” He asked, trying hard not to telepathically pry and ruin the surprise.

~ Fayth, COS

“Follow me,” he said, letting go of Eilah’s hand as he stood up from his chair. In truth, Ben hadn’t firmly fixed on an idea, but he had an idea that he thought Eilah would enjoy. He momentarily thought about the holodeck, but then quickly discounted it as they headed toward a turbolift.

As the doors to the turbolift opened, he flashed Eilah a quick smile. “Deck Seven!” he said, as he walked inside.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah, at this point, was basically mentally going la, la, la, LAAAAA to avoid hearing Ben’s thoughts while his curiosity raged. There was nothing on Deck seven but science labs, the secondary bridge, some ship phasers, and… Crew quarters. Was Ben taking him to his quarters? The thought made Eilah blush a little and then grin.

~ Fayth, COS

Alas, Ben’s quarters were on Deck 4 along with the other department heads, however it was now obvious to Eilah that Ben knew where he was going. Moments later they came across a door; before Eilah had chance to read the small font on the door’s sign, it had parted leaving open the entrance to a dark room.

Ben stepped inside, and two rows of lights lit up a pathway on the deck, leading up a slope to a set of waist high consoles. As the doors closed, the room darkened aside from the pathway and consoles. Ben turned to Eilah. “Come on then!” he said, grabbing his hand and leading up to the consoles a little bit too energetically.

Eilah was pulled in with him with a grin and a chuckle. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Tapping some commands on one of the consoles, Ben looked up as photons began emerging from the holographic emitters across the room. Within seconds a dazzling display of light and colour had replaced the darkness of the room, as a holographic simulation of the Orion Nebula came to life around both of them. The room was filled with the three-dimensional recreation, with swirling clouds of gas and dust that glowed in vivid shades of pink, purple and blue.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

From the projectors appeared a beautiful spacial background. The Orion Nebula. “It’s beautiful,” he said to Ben. “What made you think of this?” He asked, looking at Ben with a smile.

~ Fayth, COS

Ben looked around the visage that was gently moving around them within stellar cartography. “I’ve always loved the stars,” he said with a smile. “That, and I thought it would make a change to the usual stereotypical date on a holodeck.” he continued, before realising what he had inadvertently called the evening.

He turned to Eilah slightly embarrassed, before stammer slightly on his next words. “That is… if you… uh… we… ahh… are considering this as…”. Ben’s face had now taken on the colour of one of the more scarlet parts of the dust clouds that loitered nearby. “A date?” he asked, very tentatively.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

The feelings of apprehension and embarrassment made it all the more amusing. They’d both been thinking of it as a date for a while now, Eilah already knew. But hearing it come from Ben’s mouth made it better. More real.

Eilah took Ben’s hands and smiled. “It’s a date. And I like it. A holodeck is so basic as far as dates go.”

~ Fayth, COS

Ben broke out into a wide grin, enjoying the warmth of Eilah’s hands on his, the colours of the simulated nebula flickering across his face. Suddenly Ben’s expression changed and he cocked his head to one said.

“Wait a moment…” he said. “You’ve known I’ve been thinking about this as a date, haven’t you?” he said, in mock irritation, before a smile cracked across his face again.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

“Of course I have,” Eilah said with a cocky grin and a shrug. “I’d know what you were thinking if you were on a planet and I was stuck up here.” He smiled and took a long breath. “If any, this is beautiful scenery for this conversation.”

~ Fayth, COS

A small flash of concern flickered across Ben’s face. For some reason why felt that this conversation wasn’t an easy one for Eilah, so he nodded sympathetically to indicate that he was listening.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah smiled. “‘S alright, Ben. It’s not a big deal. Honestly.” He looked at Ben, “My telepathy can tell me what you’re thinking and my empathy can tell me what you’re feeling but they can’t tell me what you want.”

~ Fayth, COS

Ben smiled coyly at Eilah. “Well, unless I happen to be thinking about what I want?” He asked, somewhat rhetorically as he started to think about the times that evening where the two of them had shared a touch. He continued the train of through beyond what had happened, and into some of the desires he had for Eilah.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

The thoughts reached Eilah alright. He’d been to Sharah’s training with her, been taught how to take in visual imagery telepathically. One didn’t need much of an imagination between Ben’s forwardness and that particular skill. Eilah blushed softly and smiled. Coy wasn’t typical for him, but that certainly was what he looked like now. He pulled Ben a little closer, his confidence returning. “Exactly like that.” He said, voice soft.

~ Fayth, COS

Ben smiled as Eilah pulled him closer, and sighed contently. He slide his left arm across the small of Eilah’s back, and pulled the both of them closer still. He looked into Eilah’s eyes, the holoprojection reflecting in them, before gently kissing him.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah wished he’d been surprised, but he’d sensed it coming when his gaze locked with Ben’s. There was a pleasant thrill that came along with it. Eilah let his own arm slide around Ben, the kiss most definitely welcome.

~ Fayth, COS

As they broke off the kiss, Ben giggled slightly, giving Eilah a slight grin. “Well, I wasn’t expecting my hunt for medical facilities on the stardrive section to end like this,” he said with a chuckle, his arms slight around Eilah.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah smiled and leaned into Ben, just a little bit. “And I didn’t expect my shift to end this way, but I am more than happy that it did.” He let his hand fall down Ben’s arm and reach his hand. “I’d like to meet up this way again, Ben.” The background of stars and space created by the projection left a beautiful purplish blue glow on both of them. Reflected in Eilah’s black eyes were the tiny white glowing specs of the stars.

~ Fayth, COS