Posted by Lieutenant Drake Marshall (Surgery and Emergency Medicine) in Holodeck 1 - Marshall/Sutalo Dinner

Posted by Lieutenant Kusinut “Ember” Sutalo (Diplomatic Relations Officer) in Holodeck 1 - Marshall/Sutalo Dinner

Posted by Lieutenant Drake Marshall (Surgery and Emergency Medicine) in Holodeck 1 - Marshall/Sutalo Dinner
Posted by… suppressed (9) by the Post Ghost! 👻

[SNIP]

“They say there’s millions of alternate realities existing at the same point as ours, if you could find a way of breaching the barriers between them, your desire might just become your success.” She mused, taking a sip from her glass. “Just to be a tad ornery, lunatics make the best doctors.”

“That we do. To a point. If you ever encounter Dr Jarvis, pretend you don’t see him and keep walking. Trust me, you don’t want to know. Suffice it to say, he was confined to enlisted rank upon entering Starfleet.”

“Remind me never to trust him with my care,” Ember quipped.

“Likely the first of many radical changes,” Ember admitted, rolling the liquid about the glass’ bulbous shape. “I like to think there will never be a destination. Life was never meant to end with a purpose; we don’t die for any reason beyond our bodies giving out on us–which could happen at any moment. So, why should we focus so much on a destination we might never reach? Why not enjoy life as it hurdles itself at you? Roll with the punches, maybe make something good out of it.” She shrugged, “That’s my philosophy, at least.”

Ember Sutalo

“Hm. That’s a tricky line of thought, I suppose, for the person assigned to keep you from dying. You know, life throws a lot at you” The smile faded from his face. “that you can never be prepared for. So maybe you’re right. Make something good out of whatever you have. I’m coming up on my seventh anniversary as a surgeon. The cases that I saved… they’re starting to blur together. But every case I lost, everyone who died on my table, I can tell you every last detail of what happened. Maybe I need more good.” A slight coy smile returned as he looked up to meet her eye. “More of this.”

-Drake Marshall

Ooc: Guys Thank you for this I’m loving the character interaction. On a side note please trim your posts :p - Cale

OOC: Sorry about that! Thanks for the reminder. :D - Trin

IC: “Humans are notorious for harboring negative memories; our ability to dismiss the good in our lives for all we have done wrong is unlike other forms of sentience.” Ember watched as the smile faded from his face, only to be replaced by an almost bashful grin. “With how it sounds, I think you could use as much ‘good’ in your routine as possible.” She smirked, taking a sip from her glass. “But maybe that’s just me being selfish in hoping we could have more evenings like tonight.”

Ember Sutalo

“Being on call 24/7, 365… makes the time for good I do have a little tenuous.” He sat back. “But maybe I should make it work. I’m feeling a little selfish myself.” He took his combadge out of his pocket. “And I’ll leave this at home next time. I’m so used to working emergencies. Never leave home without this and my glasses. Just in case.” He stowed the combadge. “But right now, there’s only one thing, or one person I suppose, I’m concerned with. My gut told me when you came into sickbay; I need to get to know you. And save you from having Jarvis do your physical.”

-Drake Marshall

“I should hope your gut is as trustworthy as your hands, Drake.” Ember rested her wrists against the table, intertwining her fingers. “Life certainly doesn’t make it easy,” She nodded to his commbadge, “but when working doesn’t do the trick, you just have to take what you want.” It was a philosophy Ember once despised, but the older she got, the more sense it made. “I know ‘selfish’ isn’t exactly in the nature of a doctor, but maybe this same exception could be made a little more often?” She paused, hardly desiring to talk about the future. She spent too much time dwelling on times coming and past, too little on what really mattered: the present.

“I’m not sure about your thoughts, but this pub has terrible service..” She playfully huffed, indicating their lack of entrees. “Or maybe I’m just impatient.”

Ember Sutalo

“Where has my mind been?” Drake asked with a coy smile. He recited their orders and snapped his fingers, just for show, and they appeared. “I did remember right, medium rare?”

-Drake Marshall

“Aye! Anyone who consumes steak well-done is a monster,” Ember declared, “and should be incarcerated for their crimes.”

“Indeed they should. Though that would put some of my relatives in jail. My aunt and uncle once went to a fancy steakhouse in San Francisco. They both ordered a filet mignon, well done. The waiter repeated their order ‘Two filet mignon, wreck ‘em.’” (OOC: That’s actually a true story about my family.)

(OOC: Gotta love waiters from San Francisco! Lol.)
“At that point, you might as well throw the steak in the fire and let it sit there for a few minutes.” She retorted, adjusting a stance to feign formality. “On all counts of improper consumption of steak,” Ember deepened her voice, “guilty as charged.“

“Cheers,” She simpered, raising her glass to Drake. She had no idea what for, but it seemed appropriate considering their scenery.

Ember Sutalo

Drake lifted his glass with an idea in mind. “To this moment, one of the few pleasant ones life provides. Cheers.”

-Drake Marshall

“I can drink to that,” Ember hummed, taking a sip from the glass. It had been awhile since she’d enjoyed a dinner in the company of another. Most nights she found herself sitting at her desk, reading over reports and articles, a bowl of replicated salmon salad. It was a mundane life, the more she thought about it. Get up at 0500, get ready for shift, go to shift, get off shift, head to the gym, work some more, go to bed. When you didn’t have anyone to spend the extra time with, it wasn’t difficult to get stuck in routine.

Ember Sutalo

As if reading Ember’s mind Drake said “You know, most days I get up, go to work, go back to my quarters, where I read and maybe write about work. If I’m lucky, an old colleague calls for a consult. I love my job. I would never consider doing anything else. But something is missing sometimes. When a PaDD knows you best… maybe it’s time to get out more.” He didn’t really look as he cut his steak, perhaps because cutting away a small piece of meat was mundane compared to his everyday life. He maintained his conversational gaze.

-Drake Marshall

“When the most excitement you get out of your evening is an emergency call, or a consult for your old friend; you definitely need to make a change.” She bit a piece out of a potato wedge, gently shaking her head. Even their joy was synthetic; carved by hundreds of holo-emitters spewing out different wave-lengths of light to create the illusion of France. “I’m not much better, honestly. Most of my evening is spent sending communiques to clients about the next step in their trial, or conversing with new members of the Federation. That’s always interesting–but still, the conversation is split by billions of miles of space’s dark abyss.”

“Having someone to enjoy time with makes it easier. It’s difficult to remember to find joy in life, when you’re living in solitude.” It seemed ironic that one could be lonely on a starship, where hundreds of people lived in close quarters with one another. No, it wasn’t loneliness. She had people she spoke with; aquaintances, coleagues. It wasn’t as if she spent her days wallowing in the desire to find more for herself..she simply didn’t have the time. It was a common theme for most, especially those in the medical field, whose time is split between patients and paperwork.

“How do you feel about hiking?” Ember asked, out of the blue. “Or anything outdoors, really.”

Ember Sutalo

I grew up in Manhattan, there wasn’t a lot of hiking around. When I was 15, my class went on a trip to the Grand Canyon. One of the boys wanted to repel into the canyon. People who find me arrogant now should go back and visit grade school me. Naturally, I took it upon myself to repel down faster. So, I’m not exactly outdoorsy, but sufficiently motivated I’ll make do. At my heart though - I’m what you might call one’a them city slickers.” He smiled. “Let me guess, Oregon hiking trail aficionado?”

-Drake Marshall

“At least you would have beat him to it.” Ember’s expression flickered with brief amusement as she pondered what Drake would have been like at 15. “Cities can be nice.. if you know where to go. Sadly, I lack that intuition.” She laughed, “I wish! Sure, I spent most of my summers exploring Oregonian terrain, but my scars and history of bug bites and stings would beg to differ on the ‘aficionado’ status.” She turned over her hands, displaying a triad of scars dressing the palm of her left hand. “Rocks and I don’t tend to get along well.”

Ember Sutalo