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 (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(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

Royal smiled as his eyes moved up and down her. “I see you still have your fashion sense.” he said with a soft chuckle. He stared at her a moment and then caught himself. “Oh! Uh… here.” he said and held the box out to her. “A little something for your quarters. Help make it feel a bit more like yours. And your belongings get here next week… so… yeah.” He rocked on his heels as he tried to not sound any more nervous than he already had.

Royal

Cori took the box from him and stepped to the side so he could come inside fully. “I still can’t believe you snagged my stuff for me. I feel like it’ll be weirdly like deja vu going through it all again just as we had.” She looked around at the still bare place. “As you can tell, decorating is strangely nerve wracking for me still, despite my fashion sense,” she said, breaking into a grin.

Immensely curious, Cori ran her fingers over the laquered box and then opened the lid wondering what he thought would be nice for her to have here.

~Cori

Inside was a wood and metal model of the Saracen. The wood pieces were polished and the metal shone unset the lights. “The metal is from the frame of the Saracen, and the wood is from the bar in the Lounge. I put lights in the windows and nacelles, you can turn them on by pressing the shuttle bay doors. I thought it might make for a nice momento… seeing as how it was such a large part of you for so long.”

Royal

Her mouth opened but no words came out. Her vision blurred and Cori had to catch her breath. She reached towards the ship, hesitating for a moment before she let her fingertips caressing the cold surface of the saucer. “Oh, Royal,” she whispered.

He stepped closer to her, but didn’t touch her. He just looked at her.

Cori plucked the ship carefully out of its nest and held it up. “It’s strange, but I miss it in some moments. Out of habit I mentally go to check on something and realize that connection is no longer there. It’s very strange,” she said, looking over and up at him. “However did you get metal from the ship, or hell, wood from the lounge? I looked, the ship is still active.”

~Cori

He smiled. “Standard repairs. I asked Engineering to send me some when they could. And the Lounge was redecorated. The wood bar was replaced with a synthetic stone one. It looks really good.” He reached into the box and lifted the foam that cradled the model. From underneath he took out a clear stand. It was almost totally transparent. “You can set it on this. From most angles, you won’t even see it.”

Royal

Cori stepped away and set the box down on her workstation and then returned for the stand. She placed her hand on his to take the stand, but stepped that half step closer, lifted up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. “This is one of the most beautiful gifts I’ve ever been given, so thank you.”

As her lips touched his skin, his cheek became hot as he flushed bright red and took a sharp breath in. “Y-… you’re welcome.” he said as the sound of blood rushing through his ears muted his words to himself.

She didn’t really have a place to put it right now, but she placed it on the bedside table where she could see it each morning when she woke up and each evening when she fell asleep.

The pause gave Royal a moment to collect himself, and with a soft exhale he calmed the redness and racing heartbeat.

Moving back to Royal, she gave him a tender smile. “Any other surprises or should we head to the lounge?”

~Cori

He smiled and said “No. Not yet, anyway. No pressure, remember?” and he stepped to the door so it slid open. “After you.” he said, and gestured out the door.

Royal