Posted by Commander Dr. Royal Sinclair (Executive Officer) in Resort- Finding Our Own Paradise

Posted by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton (Scientist) in Resort- Finding Our Own Paradise

Posted by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton (Scientist) in Resort- Finding Our Own Paradise
Posted by… suppressed (21) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

She pressed her body against his, but more for the contact. There was nothing flirty intended… just now. Cori tipped her head up and smiled. “Well, right now I’m enjoying the process, especially since I have a wonderful guide. Any suggestions for other ways to sync my body and mind?” Okay, maybe thatwas more flirty than she initially intended and she smirked. They were going to make it to dinner, right?

~Corinne Dalton

Royal laughed and gave her a not-so-quivk kiss and then said “Oh, I can think of’a few ways…” and grinned and winked at her. “But we have dinner reservations in five hours, and I don’t want ta miss that.” His eyes sparkled with a promise of utter mischief, however, and his hands slipped onto places that were mischievous indeed.

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

She smirked, lacing her fingers behind his neck. “That’s a lot of time to kill. So what are your suggestions for this mind-body connection syncing that still involves us making it to dinner?”

~Corinne Dalton

Royal looked at her with a mock shocked expression on his face. “Why dear Ms. Dalton, are you propositioning me? Because if you are, I am completely ok with it.” and he laughed.

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

Her smirk deepened into a grin. “Hey, you were the one who suggested it first, I wasn’t upping the ante. I was just trying to deduce in what form exactly this syncing could take place. Now, as for a proposition, I just might be, but in such a case we’re going to have to set aside a good chunk of time and I think that would preclude dinner.”

She chuckled. “I guess that leaves us with still the question of how do we pass the time until we get ready for dinner?”

~Corinne Dalton

Royal looked at her for a long time, his eyes locked in hers. He had a look she hadn’t seen before… and it was serious. He took a breath and then asked “Cori… How long have we known each other? Counting the time apart… How long?”

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

“Is this a trick question? Because the answer is 834 days, or two years, three months and two weeks,” she said nonchalantly, even as she gazed at him intently with her vibrant eyes. She was all too aware that they had been apart pretty much as long as they had known each other. Strange thought, that.

~Corinne Dalton

His eyes stayed fixed on hers. “Right. Now…” and he took a deep breath. “I know that time passed for you much differently than it did for me. And I know that since those experiences weren’t even remotely similar, some things could be… ‘different’… for you than they are for me. But… I’ve thought long and hard about this… and…” He paused and looked at her for a long moment in silence, and then he leaned in and kissed her. They had kissed before, but there was something else to it this time. This time was… powerful. As he drew back after several moments, his eyes found hers…

The kiss was different and she couldn’t place exactly how but Cori could feel it. It reverberated through her very cells.

And he said “I love you, Cori. I have for a long time.”

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

Air in. And out. In and out. It made perfect sense. His actions all spoke to that specific feeling and yet it was still a surprise to hear them aloud.

Corinne Dalton had heard those words spoken to her before. They had always led to heartbreak. So yeah, it scared her, not to mention she was still understand how she felt about just about anything. But as she gazed at Royal with her intense blue eyes, his gaze settled something in her. She nodded a little. “Okay,” Cori whispered. “And I hope it’s okay if I’m not ready to say them back just yet. Like you said, you’ve had longer, and it’s been different.” She didn’t want to hurt him and she braced herself for what would have the inevitable backlash in the past. Intrinsically though, she knew differently, that he was different. That didn’t stop her from being worried, afraid.

~Corinne Dalton

Royal stared… and then grinned. “Oh, I didn’t expect that back.” and he chuckled. He shook his head slowly and then smiled and said “I just wanted you to know. I told ya… I’ll never be anything but honest with you. Not ever. But me being honest doesn’t obligate you to do anything. And it doesn’t change anything between us, ya know… I loved you yesterday and the day before that and before you were on the Ogawa. The only thing that is different now is you know it.” He leaned and kissed her, and then smiled against her lips before pulling back. “And I’m still all about you propositioning me.” He pushed back and floated away from her before splashing water at her and laughing.

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

As the water hit her body, Cori laughed and it released that tension in her chest. She grinned at him. “So, it’s up to me. I’m okay with that,” she said, her eyes glittering.

Standing in the shallow end, Cori moved back a bit till the water was lower, landing hip level. She was working out lots and had been doing barre work, slowly working towards some of the skills that used to be second-nature to her. She stretched out her right arm, holding it above the water and tightened her core before lifting her left leg behind her, balancing on her right foot. It was easier in the water, of course, but that was the point. It gave her support as she found her balance, though the water was moving about just enough to make it more complicated. It was a good challenge in her mind.

Arm outstretched, she was balanced perfectly and was using Royal as her focus point. It was a simple gesture, but for her it had many deeper layers of meaning. “Soon, when I’m ready, I want to dance for you,” she said softly. It had not only bene a long time since she had properly danced, but that last person she had danced with had been Jarred, and that had been just before they broke up. Now, in her new body, on a new ship, everything else was new- including the memories she could make and remake.

~Corinne Dalton

Royal stared hard at her before smiling slightly and saying “Just make sure it’s in private. You do moves like much more in public and I’m not going to be able to get out of the water for… um… a while.” and he chuckled.

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

Shifting her position so she was standing in the water again, Cori smirked. “How easy you are to tease, Commander. Why, I would have thought you’d have more self-control than that.” She sank lower into the water. “But I suppose I can play nice,” she said, starting to swim towards him.

~Corinne Dalton

Royal laughed. “No no… no Commander. No ranks. This is a trip about us, not work.” He moved slowly towards her and closed the gap. Wrapping his arms around her, he smiled and said “And as to my susceptibility to teasing? Well, it all depends on who is doing said teasing.”

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

Her eyes glittered. “Well, I guess I rate high on the offender’s list, now don’t I?” There was an ease to their banter and to simple being in his arms that Cori found intoxicating. Ease was not something she was accustomed to and just a taste of it with him and she knew she wanted more.

“So, dancing is out, and we’re being good since we have dinner in awhile, so what do you want to do, Royal. We’ve got time to kill, and pools and beaches.”

~Corinne Dalton

He looked at her for a long few moments before he said “I think I want to take you sailing…” and he smiled. “Yes. Definitely. Come on.” He kissed her quickly and then moved them both to the stairs out of the pool. “We can rent a boat and go out the water. I’ll teach you some things, if you like.”

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

Cori grinned and climbed out of the pool, squeezing the water out of her head. She flashed him a grin, her blue eyes sparkling. “You’re on, sounds great! Sailing is definitely not something I know how to do. I’ve been on a sail boat once, but there was no manning anything involved.” She chuckled at the very old memory that was surprisingly one of those few from the past that were pleasant. Funny the memories a conversation could trigger.

~Corinne Dalton

Bump

Royal chuckled as he moved himself out of the water. “Well, you are welcome to man anything you want as far as I’m concerned.” He gestured towards the hotel and said “C’mon, lass. Let’s get changed and then go ”

It was about an hour later that the two of them were walking down the dock at the resort’s marina. Royal had secured them a single masted catamaran for a few hours. He had a duffle bag alung over his shoulder and he looked at Corinane said “Ok. So when we get on, I’ll show ya everything. Then a few quick lessons and we’re off. Sound good?”

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

Dressed in navy blue shorts and a pink striped white halter top, Cori tipped her sunglasses down her face and smirked. “Fortunately for both us, this physical brain of mine maintained some of the heightened processing speed. I’m a very fast learner and I don’t forget easily.”

Shifting a small backpack on her right shoulder, Dalton. “Okay, Teach, what do I need to know?” she asked, taking in the catamaran.

~Corinne Dalton

Royal smiled and said “Terminology and what is what. Okay, eyes open and pay attention, Lieutenant.” and he chuckled as he turned to the boat and began pointing out various things. “Mast. Everything eventually comes to the mast. Boom. Turns the Main Sail so you keep the wind. Tiller, attached to the rudder. Main Halyard. Raises and lowers the Main Sail. Jib Halyard. Raises and lowers the Jib. Headstay. Anchors the Mast, keeps it from going forward and back. Shroud. Keeps the mast from going left and right. Jib Brace. …” and he spent a half hour going over the parts and what each did. It would have been a bit surreal for an outside observer. Here he was, the #xecutive Officer of one of the most technologically advanced starships to ever be built, and yet he seemed as if he could step back seven hundred years and be just as at home sailing a schooner around the Caribbean.

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

Cori was an attentive student and only once or twice asked clarifying questions. She had to admit she loved seeing him like this and it was even better than when he was making his model ships. As he finished up and beamed at him. “You’re a great teacher, you know that?” Even if he did, she wanted him to know she had noticed.

Royal tilted his head and gave her a hal-smile. “Really? Huh. No ones ever said that before… Thanks.”

“So, where are we headed?”

~Corinne Dalton

“Just put a ways and then down tha shore.” Royal said. “I’ll start us out, annae you’ll take the helm when we reach open water.” He looked at her and smiled and then said “Well? Whaddya watin’ on, lass?! Cast off and get that sail up!” and he laughed and went and took the tiller in his hand.

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

Cori moved to deal with the sail and shook her head. “You’re making me steer on my first time out? Bold choice there, Sinclair. I mean, I can pilot a shuttle but I haven’t in a long time. I hope you’re okay swimming in deep water,” Cori said matter-of-factly. Whether she was kidding or not was hard to tell.

~Corinne Dalton

“You have my utmost confidence in your abilities to sail the briny blue.” he said with a smile. “And trust me, once we are out on the open water… you’ll never want to go back.” and he laughed loudly.

Between the two of them they am ulcered the slip out of the harbor, through the channel; and in half an hour they were leaving the relative calm of the harbor. The waves weren’t large, but they made the small boat rise and fall enough that balance was a conscious thing. Royal tookna deep breath and closed his eyes. “By all the gods… there is no better smell or feeling than this right here.”

Cmdr. Royal Sinclair, XO

Cori was focused on all the small details had had relayed and thanks to her new body and souped up brain, she actually could recall it all quite easily. It meant that she could steal a moment to focus on him and watch as he simply enjoyed existing out here. She had never seen him like that. He was a big man who could be as intimidating as he could gentle and soothing. But she couldn’t ever recall seeing him so at peace before. There was a deep flutter in her stomach that was more than any pervious moment of attraction. She had felt strongly about people before but this felt different.

“I love you,” she said before she had fully registered that she was even saying them. Cori flushed slightly, but kept her gaze on him, in slight awe.

~Corinne Dalton