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)

(snip)

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

The chime made her heart race faster and she had to force herself to breath. Wow, that heart rate thing was more dramatic than she remembered!

Crossing her quarters to her door, she hit the open button, the door sliding almost wistfully. She took him in, from the shiny toes to his lovely eyes and combed back hair and she broke into a wide smile. “Hey, good looking,” she said, echoing her greeting from his office.

~Corinne Dalton