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 (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Cori fell in step as they moved out of the lounge. “Well, you definitely have me intrigued. And thanks for dinner. That was nice. No pressure,” she said with a grin.

~Corinne Dalton

“None at all.”he said with a smile and another slight flush of his cheeks. “I’m saving all the pressure for our third date. Rhat’s when things get serious.” and he chuckled. They stepped into the turbolift and Royal said “Deck two.” The lift began to move. Depending on how familiar with the deck layouts of the Ogawa Corinne was, she may or may not have remembered that there were very few things on Deck Two… VIP quarters, the CO’s Quarters, an observation lounge…

And the XO’s quarters.

His comment about the third date combined with their location made her spine tingle and she forced herself to breathe easily. All their flirting certainly made it seem like some things were inevitable while also allowing them to take their time. She liked this feeling of anticipation woven through safety.

As the doors opened on to the empty corridor, Royal reached over and took Cori’s hand in his. He led her down the passageway, past the CO’s door… past the guest quarters.... and then past his door and to the observation lounge.

Cori smiled as his hand warmed hers and she gave Royal a quick glance.

The lounge was smaller than the crew lounge by a lot. The doors slid open to reveal a room set at the fore of the ship; with the far wall made entirely of transparent aluminum. The wall curved gently following the arc of the primary hull and rose up so that anyone standing or sitting and looking out had an uninterrupted view of where the ship was heading. Right now they were at warp, so everything was streaks of light in an unlimited amount of color.

Dalton took in the room and could imagine the gatherings this space might have had in the past. It was quite a spectacular view, maybe even more so than the from the bridge.

“You said earlier that you feel very tiny now.” He led her right up against the window and looked out as the colors washed over his face. “But that is how most of us out here feel all the time. Look at theses streaks of light. Stars… stars with systems of planets around them and on those planets are countless civilizations and individuals who we may or may not ever meet. An almost infinite number of beings… and you and I are just two of them.” He turned and faced her fully and set his hands lightly on her waist. “Physically, you are small. You don’t have the mass of a starship, or the ability to instantly summon up any fact or figure like you used to. And I’m sure that is a hard change, especially with as sudden as it was. But Corinne… you are not insignificant. I told you that you matter, and you do. You may not be the Saracen anymore… but you are Corinne Dalton. And I, for one, would trade all the Saracens in the galaxy for just one Corinne Dalton.”

Royal Sinclair

Cori gazed deeply into his eyes, hers misting over even as she smiled at him. She stayed like this for a moment before she reached up and laid her left hand across his cheek. There was a tiny moment of uncertainty before she rose up a tiny bit on her toes and brushed her lips against his. It wasn’t planned, certainly, and she hadn’t considered whether this would count as ‘pressure’, but it felt right in this moment and she knew she needed to trust her intuition when it came to Royal. “You make me feel special,” she whispered, smiling.

~Corinne Dalton

He smiled back and said softly “Only because you are. And not for who and what you were… but because of who you are right now.” and he leaned in and kissed her fully. It wasn’t timid or hesitant, but a kiss of tempered passion that seemed so new and still so familiar. He held the kiss for a long time before he pulled back and opened his eyes and smiled at her. “Welcome back, Cori. I missed you.” he whispered as his eyes glistened with barely controlled tears of happiness.

Royal Sinclair

Her lips were still warm from his and theirs arms still holding each other. In this moment she didn’t want to let go. Could she even explain what she was feeling? If anything, it might be the feeling of being seen. Royal saw her. He had back on the Saracen, and he did now. “I’ve missed you too, even if for me the time apart wasn’t all that long. But all that waiting in the lab, hidden from everyone and not knowing what was going to happen or even where I was, all I could do was think of you nad wonder what you were up to. And here you were, just decks away, maybe less so on some days.” She wiped at tears and shook her head at what a mess she was, even though she was entirely happy in this moment.

~Corinne Dalton

“Had I known, not even Solomon Kane could have kept me from you.” he said with a grin as tears of his own slid down. He didn’t care, though. She was there, in his arms, and everything was okay. “You have no idea how many times I have dreamt of you… holding you. It feels… surreal, if I’m being honest. Like any second I’m gonna wake up and be a right bastard all day because it was a dream.” and he chuckled and held her closer.

Royal Sinclair