Posted by Commander Dr. Royal Sinclair (Executive Officer) in Ships In The Night No More (Tag Dalton)

Posted by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton (Scientist) in Ships In The Night No More (Tag Dalton)

Posted by Commander Dr. Royal Sinclair (Executive Officer) in Ships In The Night No More (Tag Dalton)
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
=/\= Computer. Location of Lieutenant Dalton. =/\= the XO said while seated at his desk. =/\= Lieutenant Dalton is currently in the Main Science Lab. =/\= came the response. Sinclair took a deep breath. “Okay. Ok ok ok… I can do this.” he said to himself. His palms were sweaty and he was nervous. He stood up and straightened hi suniform and then walked briskly out of his office and to the lifts. A few moments later, he walked into the main lab and looked around for Cori.

Sinclair, XO

She wasn’t on duty (and dressed in black leggings and a simple tunic length violet sweater), but there was something about sitting in a lab and just taking in the focused energy excited epiphanies, and frustrated roadblocks that accompanied the scientific method. The main difference between now and the last thirteen years was that Cori could feel all that from ther others around her. Not in an empathic way, but that sense of being a person in biological relation to others. She wasn’t quite ready to venture into other areas of the ship alone, but science spaces were capturing something in her that she needed to ignite and remember, something she needed in order to move forward as an officer on this new ship.

Cori was sitting on a stool at a worktable in the corner, away from the others. They seemed to be paying her no mind, maybe because they were used to visiting scientists, or they were intensely involved in their work, or because Cori wasn’t inviting interaction right now. Hell, it could be all of the above. In any case, Dalton was oblivious to everything around her.

~Corinne Dalton

Royal walked in and moved around the worktables until he was standing next to her. “So…” he began and then promptly forgot what he was going to say. “Um… how are you doing? Settling in to… well… everything?”

Sinclair

His voice prompted her to open her eyes, rather than being able to identify his biosigns. Weird differences but ones that were important right now. Her smile was small but lit up her eyes. “Well, I’m still remembering how to take care of a physical body but it’s strangely an easier thing to slip into than I thought it would be.”

She looked around the lab and then back at Royal. “You know what I used to take for granted before my first transformation? Putting on a uniform. I worked hard to get into Starfleet, and I knew if I could I would find a place where I belonged. I think… somewhere along the way I forgot that bit amongst all the drama and I’m excited to be cleared for duty in some capacity and intentionally put on that uniform again. It feels… important to make that commitment, not just to Starfleet, but to myself as well.”

~Corinne Dalton

Sinclair smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. It sounds like you really getting ready for the next phase of what is in store for you. I’m really happy for you.” he said sincerely. He took a deep breath and rhen said “I, um, I also had a question for you. It’s one I was planning on asking on the Saracen before… well… before.” He exhaled a little and then said “I know tou have a lot on yiur plate and I don’t want to add any stress or anxiety… but I was wondering… hoping, really… that, um, maybe you and I could have dinner sometime. A date. When you are ready for that, of course. If you want. No pressure.” and his cheeks visibly flushed.

Sinclair, XO

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened into a small O. Well that hadn’t been something she expected him to say. Even when Kane had been badgering her about her possible feelings in his lab, Cori had struggled to fully wrap her mind around it all. After all, Royal himself had kiboshed any sort of romantic entanglements for her back then. But everything was different now, wasn’t it? She was different now.

Cori’s heart thudded in her chest and she finally broke into a little grin, her eyes lighting up. “I think I’d really like that.” Still sitting on her stool, she leaned in towards him slightly. “But out of curiosity, what changed back on the Saracen? As I recall, you did say I should avoid relationships given my unhealthy expectations in them.” Her eyes were glittering. Was she teasing him?

~Corinne Dalton

Royal chuckled. “I did say that, didn’t I?” and he shook his head. “Well… let’s just say that things change. And a pretty insightful person I know told me that sometimes, when a person is processing great changes, sometimes it’s good to have something to look forward to.” and he shrugged. “We are both doing that… do maybe we could look forward to one another? See where that takes us?”

Royal

Something to look forward to… yes, she could use some of that, even if work was a part of the many things she was looking forward to. But all that came with complications related to her status as a living person on duty again. Royal himself and whatever could be between them had nothing to do with the circumstances of her resurrection, nor whether she’d be allowed to move forward in her life without someone breathing down her neck at every turn.

Finally, Cori nodded. “Yeah, I like the sound of that. No pressure, just… exploring our options.” She slipped off the stool and gazed up at him, still ignoring anyone else in the lab. “So, this date you’re proposing, this dinner… what did you have in mind?”

~Corinne Dalton