Posted by Mar. Captain Eleanor “Iron Lady” Carnegie (Recon Squadron CO/Pilot) in [Alt-Timeline] Date Night?
It was 1800. Eleanor checked her chronometer again as she paced around her quarters. During her lunch break she had unpacked her bags, and made sure that everything was in its rightful place, in the eventuality that they would come back to her quarters. The room was not decorated yet, but they had just boarded the ship so she was sure that was to be expected.

She had left her station at 1700, taken a quick shower, and had spent the next hour anxiously pacing around. And now, it was 1800 and she hadn’t even started to get dressed yet. It had been a long time since she had last felt this nervous, and she couldn’t figure out why. It was just a date. Like others she had been on in the past. But something in her mind really didn’t want to screw this one up.

Finally, she chose a pair of blue jeans, a pair of black Converse-like shoes and a simple light shirt with a floral pattern. She pulled her hair up in a ponytail and put on the contact lenses her brother had gifted her at the start of her previous assignment. For a moment, the full color of the world overwhelmed her, and Eleanor allowed herself a minute for her mind to adjust. Taking a small brown leather bag from her closet, she placed the contact’s box inside and placed the small satchel across her torso, just in case she needed to take them off. Carnegie was sure her brother was not going to send her a third pair if she lost this one.

Eleanor checked her chronometer for the nth time. 1825. She could feel her heart thumping inside her ribcage. Sitting down on the edge of her bed, she waited for the door chime to ring.

Eleanor

The afternoon had been stressful as hell. First it was his slot two pilot complaining about Simulator access not being cleared and Astro having to remind the brand new First Lieutenant that, regardless of where they went, she should be thankful the Quartermaster had berthings waiting for her when she got here… much less having codes already in the system for Simulator time… that she didn’t need… cause they just finished a frackin’ 22 hour unit transfer mission… in actual frackin’ craft. He swore he heard her cussing him out as she walked off but Malcolm didn’t give a flyin’ flip today. Then it was trying to deal with a half dozen inquires into who the jackass was that backed into the damn bulkhead on arrival and had the XO pissed beyond measure. Astro had listened to the young O-5 chewing the head off the Recon Bird’s Crew Chief as he was going to lunch and, while cute, he sure as hell didn’t wanna cross the woman.

It was a quarter to six when Malcolm hit his door and tore out of his uniform faster than he ever had. In and out of the shower, shaved and dressed with all but shoes by the time the chrono chimed 18:00. Lacing up his favorite pair of sneakers, Malcolm stood and slipped the dark leather belt into the loops of his favorite pair of faded blue jeans then tucked in the tail of a dark red Marine Corps polo. He fixed his hair three times before he liked what he saw and after brushing his teeth, just in case, he strode out the door at 15 after the hour.

Dawkins reached Eleanor’s quarters with just over four minutes to spare, but the last thing he wanted to look like was desperate… so he waited. An agonizing two minutes later, he took a deep breath and hit the chime. 18:29hrs

Malcolm