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 (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“Nothing wrong with a one-night stand as long as everyone is aware that’s what it is.” Royal said in a somewhat thoughtful fashion. “There was a time in my life when I was a fan of them.” and he grinned slightly. “But I think I may have diverged slightly from the familial proclivity to promiscuity. My granddad never married. My Da was the result of a week long fling. She dropped him off on Sinear’s doorstep nine months later and no one ever saw her again. I think my Da wanted to be the nuclear-family type, but it just made him resentful when that’s what he got. I’m glad my Ma didn’t have to deal with him too long. It probably would have turned ugly.” He used his unoccupied hand to take a drink. “After she was killed, Da tried to start up his carousing again…” and he shook his head dismissively, “… but his ‘glory days’ were behind him.” He took another drink. “When he’d get particularly drunk, he’d yell about how Ma stole his youth from him.” and he laughed. “And everytime the words left his mouth, Sinear would lay him flat before they were even done reverberating in the air.” and he chuckled.

Royal

Cori grinned. “People are definitely complicated. I was fortunate to have Kip and Janey’s kind and calm love as an example. Theirs was not made of passion but of companionship and deep care. They loved each other in such beautifully small ways, but I think after I left for the Academy I was afraid of anything like that so went the opposite. And as you well know, my relationships have run the gamut. At least I know what I don’t want, so that’s progress.”

~Cori

Royal looked at her for a moment and then asked “Why were you afraid of that kind of connection? And that was the Academy… how do yiu feel about it now?”

Royal

Cori was thoughtful and plucked a spring roll off the plate (that one she remembered) and took a bite. The crisp layers of the wrapper shattered in her mouth and gave her a moment to work through how to explain it all. “Because I kept losing people,” she said at length. “The Klingon war with the Federation was hard on Ajilon. Not only did I lose my adoptive parents but we lost a lot of other people I knew and cared about. Then I was a few year later on my own. Everything was different at the Academy. I needed time to heal those loses before I could let anyone in so close. And then I did when I met Levi and that whirlwind romance not just destroyed my body, Royal, but my trust. Even when I could trust someone enough to let them in, I held back. I did it with Alexander, and I know I did it with Jarred. Maybe that’s why we couldn’t pick back up after I returned. Or maybe we had just changed and been through too much.” Corin shrugged and popped the rest of the roll in her mouth.

“Now? I’m still scared. But it feels like what I have to lose is less… overwhelming. I guess I feel like I have agency in my own life again. I don’t expect it all to go perfectly, or even well at times, but I’m not okay going my whole life alone. I just need to make sure I keep a balance. Autonomy and connection.” She grinned at him and waggled her brows. “Look at me and all my personal growth.”

~Corinne Dalton

Royal smiled and said “Nothing I didn’t expect from the strongest woman I have ever known.” He lifted a slider and popped it in his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully for a while, took a drink, and then said “Well… I really hope that I can help you with that. I don’t want you to be alone, either. And I certainly don’t want you losing yourself into someone. Not even me.” and he grinned slightly. “And I’ll be totally honest… a good portion of that wanting to help you is totally selfish on my part. I want this-” and he gestured back and forth between them, “- to be a thing. A real thing.” He took anbreath even as he turned slightly red. “And there it is. My ulterior motive.”

Royal

Cori folded her arms on the edge of the table and studied Royal. “Well that’s good, because I think we’re on the same page, even though it’s scary. BUt I am curious about something…”

“If I hadn’t disappeared from the Saracen, would you have asked me out?”

~Corinne Dalton

Royal looked at her and a kind of shadow passed briefly over his face. “I was on my way to do just that when you disappeared. I called you, but there was no answer. I entered a request for you to talk to me directly into the computer knowing you vouldn’t miss it, but the regular computer response came back. I went to your quarters, and when you didn’t answer I overrode the door.” He sighed heavily. “That led to a hectic month-and-a-half, let me tell you. Engineering worked around the clock trying to find you in the system. Security, too. Knight barely slept. I don’t think I did at all. It wasn’t until Command ordered us to resume normal operations that the entire crew wasn’t working on tracking you. And then a lot did on their spare time. You weren’t forgotten. And your absence was felt everywhere.”

Royal

Cori dropped her gaze, picking up her gin fizz in a bid to give herself time to process the little bomb he had just dropped. She had spent so long feeling outside of everything. Yes, there was usually one or two people at any given time whom she could say she felt connected to, but on the whole? At most she had been tolerated as an oddity, a convenience when they needed help with internal repairs. In some instances she had been outright feared.

She could vividly imagine Royal loving about with determination, trying to figure out what had happened to her. People snapping to his orders with a second thought. But to know they had cared? It hit her harder than she had expected and she fought back tears. “ I don’t know what to say,” she said, unable to lift her gaze.

~Corinne Dalton