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 Lieutenant Corinne Dalton (Scientist) in Ships In The Night No More (Tag Dalton)
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

He smiled at her and said “Nothing too complicated. Just dinner in the Lounge, just the two of us. Maybe a walk. We could even watch a vid or something. Just… time. Together. No expectations or obligations. How does that sound?”

Royal

She grinned. “Best offer I’ve had since I got this body. Which I suppose means you have a lot to live up to Mr. Sinclair.” Ahhh, this was fun! Had she always been this flirty? Somehow amongst all the mire of her questioned status as a person and the trauma all of that had induced, Cori had forgotten how to have fun. Oh there had bene moments here and there, but she was ready for more of them. She was ready for it all.

~ Corinne Dalton

He chuckled. “I’ll do my best.” He looked around gor a moment and then said “So… let me know when you want to go. I’ll make sure I don’t have anything going on. And again… no pressure. Just some time together.”

Royal

She couldn’t remember him being so shy. It was kind of adorable. “Tomorrow.” Cori didn’t have a particular reason for that day- it was just the one that popped into her head. “Tomorrow evening.”

~Corinne Dalton

Royal thought for a moment and said “Done. Nineteen hundred. Do you want me to come to your quarters? Or meet you in the Lounge?”

Royal

Hmm, that was a good question. Either was fine, but they each set a different feel. A more casual gathering would make meeting at the lounge acceptable, but this was a date. Even if they were meaning it to be a relaxed evening with no pressure, they were heading in with some minimum expectations. “You know, I think you should come pick me up, seems appropriate.” She blinked. “I barely have a wardrobe, so I guess I should make sure I have something suitable to wear too.” Amusement glinted in her eyes. “I’ve relied on my magically appearing wardrobe for so long. I think it’s the one part of my holographic existence I’m going to miss.”

~Corinne Dalton

“Well, you have access to the replicators… go nuts.” Royal said and chuckled. “But not too crazy. I don’t want to show and immediately regret not wearing a suit.” He moved slightly closer to her and said “Okay. Tomorrow at nineteen hundred. I will be outside your door and we will… uh… yeah. We’ll go on a date.” and he grinned while simultaneously flushing slightly. “Okay…” and he stepped back and smiled. “So… I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Um… yeah. Talk to you then.” and he turned and made his way out of the lab. She couldn’t see it, but the smile on his face was so large as to be almost painful.

Royal

Blue eyes alight, Cori just grinned at his back. She went back to her musings.

---

The next day, after a day of therapy and physio and trying to figure out what to do with her new quarters (she had no idea at this point), Cori did in fact replicate a few new outfits and laid them all out on her standard issue bed. Her eyes traced the garments, trying to figure out what said ‘This is a date, but it’s relaxed and we’re just taking it slowly’.

In the end she chose a pair of slim high waisted black pants, a cropped short sleeve moss green top in a lightweight fabric that was tied in a knot at her waist. She wore a knee length sleeveless open cardigan in black and green velvet ballet flats (she wasn’t nearly ready for even a boot heel just yet). She brushed her long straight raven hair smooth and blew out a breath. No makeup, just a swipe of a vibrant pink lipstick. Was it too much? She had no idea.

Cori almost wished she had stuff she could tidy just to keep herself busy. She was nervous and excited all at the same time. She had such fondness for Royal and it hadn’t been until that day he helped her unpack her stuff in her quarters on the Saracen that she realized how much she had grown to enjoy having him in her life. He made so many things feel easier, safer. He had validated her complex feelings at every turn and it wasn’t until then that she felt like she was allowed to have feelings. So many other there had operated under some sort of assumption that she should get over it all already.

Looking herself over in the mirror, she ran her hands down her side. How strange to feel that more than just a basic sensory input.

~Corinne Dalton

In his quarters, Royal had spent the better part of two hours getting ready. He had tried on multiple outfits; tossing each one aside as either ‘trying too hard’, ‘too relaxed’, or ‘trying too hard to be relaxed’. He had finally settled on a pair of loose-fittingcharcoal- gray slacks, brown shoes, brown belt, and a cobalt blue button down shirt with a wide collar and black buttons open at the neck. His blonde hair was combed back and he polished the shoes to a high shine. He looked at himself in the mirror one last time, and the picked up a black lacquered wooden box from the bed and left his quarters and made his way to Corrine’s door. He got more than a few looks from some of the crew as he walked down the passageway. They hadn’t seen the relatively new XO out of uniform often, and never dressed like that.

He stopped at Corinne’s door and pressed the chime. His exhaled a breath and tried to not seem as nervous as he actually was.

Royal