Posted by Lieutenant Dagen Thor (CE) in Reia’s Quarters

Posted by Ensign Reia Shandy (CIO) in Reia’s Quarters

Posted by Lieutenant Dagen Thor (CE) in Reia’s Quarters
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Dagen let Reia precede him and he moved to the back and turned about, bracing his forearms on the railing behind him. He wondered what she meant by that statement and gave her a slightly puzzled look. “Does that mean you’ll be up late plotting out how to get that latinum bounty?” he joked. Realizing he didn’t know where her cabin was he waited for her to tell the lift where to go. This had finished differently from when he had came tonight, imagining himself beforehand of being a general social butterfly but not landing on any particular flower. He glanced at her again and blushed. So to speak, that is, he thought.
- Dagen

Reia smiled and blushed slightly as well. She wasn’t certain if it was because of his remark or because of the thoughts swirling around in her mind at the moment. There she was, in an enclosed space, with a very nice man she’d been speaking with the whole evening and was just hoping the pheromones didn’t ruin it all.

“Oh yes. All that latinum. You know I need it. Who knows, maybe I’ll buy a small moon.” she said laughing.

Pausing, she stopped and told the lift where to go.

• Reia

In a ship their size it wouldn’t take long for a lift to take them to the destination. Even in that short time he felt a headiness. Was what he drank catching up with him? Unconsciously he edged a little closer to Reia. She blushed nicely and he found himself laughing with her. “Maybe a little tropical island somewhere and build one of those homes that have everything in it for tech and comfort. That little home away from home where one would not be in much but live more on the beach.” Idly he thought of her on a beach rather than bundled up in a ski suit. That seemed more appealing right now. He took a deep breath as the lift came to a halt but that didn’t make much difference for the better to clear his head.

The lift doors opened and he gestured for Reia to lead, his hand light at her back as though to guide her out; the contact all too brief as he joined her at her side. “With all that latinum …” Why couldn’t they just run away? “… really I think I’d buy the mountain area that I used to walk on when I was younger with my father and grandfather and make it into a park but have a house there to live on. A cabin.” He grinned. “Well, doesn’t have to be a small cabin.”
- Dagen, CE

Surprisingly Reia hadn’t flinched or glared at Dagen when he touched her. That was usually her first response in similar situations but she was trying very hard to be different. Still, she gave him a quizzical look as they walked towards her quarters.

“That sounds like a lovely idea. All of it. I would have plans for that much latinum myself but I’m not certain if it would actually make me happy.” she said stopping at her door, “You’re welcome to come in but I’m very boring. No alcohol.” she smiled.

• Reia

“That may be a discussion for another time,” Dagen replied with a smile. “Happiness.” There was a hint of sadness in the tone. Indeed Dagen had found that he had chased many things that seemed to him to be what would cause or bring happiness. They were either not realized or, in a certain fit of angst, found that that was not attained. Always there was another ‘level’ to attain. He felt that in himself, and he felt the twinges of regret in the memories of those past hosts that he had access to and, often, felt that he had truly lived himself.

Her invitation beckoned as an open door to the unknown but with the hint of goodness beyond, like the sweet smell of baking past the door to the kitchen back home. He had the urge to reach out and run a finger along her jaw but stopped that thought as soon as it started. “That is two separate statements, Reia,” he said letting a smile spread across his face. “The alcohol is unnecessary. And the other is wrong. You’re far from boring. I’ve enjoyed your company in the XO’s quarters.” He paused as that didn’t sound quite right on another level. Shaking it off as perhaps what he had been drinking he continued. “And on the way here. You would continue to be interesting in there.” He nodded toward the door. The corridor felt cooler and less close and his thinking was clearer - something he wasn’t sure he liked or not. There was something about being on the edge that appealed to him. “I’d like to join you. Really, but we both have early mornings just ahead.” He grinned. “And I’m so not a morning person to begin with.” Inside he did feel a strong tug to just turn that around and go in. Those cookies still beckoned. If she persisted he knew he would concede.
- Dagen

Reia had been watching him since they entered the turbolift and as they had walked down the corridor. She knew the signs to look for but Dagen was a bit enigmatic. She presumed she might be being affected by her Orion pheromones, a lot of people were, however Dagen was a joined Trill and, maybe, that would alter things. She also knew that she liked him and that was leaving her feeling vulnerable, the one thing she didn’t like about herself. So why was she chasing it this time?

“Well it is true we both have early mornings and we both don’t like them. I suppose we’re night owls so, alright, if you must go, my door is always open.” she said smiling up at him.

• Reia

Dagen had a lot running through his mind. Past relationships that had failed for one, for they all had essentially failed. His mind trailed through those of his past hosts, peaks certainly of the rogue in the bunch, Thrace. Why was he even looking at that? His sister. His brother floated there before him, other examples of his failure. Further back his rejection by the Trill commission regarding joining that he had come so close to and then to his missing the Olympic team. So many failures suddenly rushed through him. And here he was. His head was swimming with all of this and threatened to overwhelm him as a great wave. Reia was so much an enigma. From the away team to the party here she had seemed aloof but then, not. He admired her professionalism. He admired the way she carried herself, so thoughtful and careful. How she looked, yes, he was seeing her through the drinks he had, he was sure of it. Not that it made her more lovely, but it awakened in him senses that he had tried to tamp down. A fools errand, he thought now.

She was cheerful, but her invitation was beckoning. Night owls. That he was. Mornings did not do him that well but that was him and he was fine it it. He wasn’t in the academy anymore with inspections. His quarters and his shuttle were .. well, challenged for needing a clean up. “I’d like to see your place,” he said, then immediately wondered who had said it. Had he? Really? After all his fails .. had he really said that? Yes, he wanted to move on. This was moving on. Building a life.
- Dagen

Reia had a feeling that there was a lot behind that acceptance just as there had been behind the invitation. She liked Dagen and, even though she had the strong suspicion he was being affected by her Orion side, he had remained respectful. Perhaps there was more to it.

“Well come on in.” she said ushering them through the door.

He followed her in. While they did not touch in the threshold he could feel the heat emanating from her in that moment of proximity. His mind flashed back to a similar moment in Thrace’s life. He had been drinking, though rather more than Dagen had, and had come back to his apartment. It was loft style and furnished in a way that would make a hippie proud, though, admittedly in his expensive tastes that a hippie could not possibly afford. It was styled in shades of purple and black and crimson. He had come from a reading where a group of peers shared their poetry or stories. After that, which had been an enjoyable time, Thrace had retired to the bar and drank and had met a woman there, who in this moment was with him. They were both intoxicated to some level and in the taxi had become cozy to the point of embarrassment of the driver.
“Get a room,” the driver had muttered.
“We’re going to one,” snapped Thrace. His dark hair and goatee made his face sharper in look than it was. “Be quick about it then.” Thrace had not much patience when he had drank to some excess.
Soon, however, in the room, almost immediately he had pulled the woman into an embrace, her lips .. Dagen shook out the thought, the image paralleling this moment so closely. Forcing himself to look around the room he took it in.

Her quarters were small. Even though she was the CIO, she was still an ensign. On the one hand though, that meant less baggage. She had decorated in desert colors. Tan’s, ivories, and other earth tones. On a glass table a large vanilla candle burned. All Reia knew was that she enjoyed it. Unfamiliar with her own chemistry, as she was, she was unaware that it enhanced her own pheromones. She directed Dagen to a comfortable couch and went to the replicator.

“Coffee perhaps?”

• Reia

The quarters were standard size. He knew what it was going to look like before he stepped inside; Dagen had help build it and had been in every room in the ship at one point or another in the construction. But it was what people did with it that was so much more interesting. The tones were soft, earthy. He wondered if she tended to dress in the same way when off duty. It was homey. And in a better state than his quarters were in. A flash of guilt passed through him; he needed to do some housekeeping. The candle afforded a soft light and he could smell the vanilla from it. He liked that flavor and he leaned in to inhale it. The flame danced and he could for a moment before rising feel the flame. Sinking back into the couch he let out a breath. Normally very relaxed and should be so from the evening he was more tense.

At her question, which he almost missed, as the image of that scene with Thrace swam past his thoughts again he turned. “Chai tea please,” he said. He had found that he had developed a taste for tea in the times on OP42 when he was stressed. Instead of coffee which didn’t help that, he took to a tea ritual of sorts to slow down. Turning in the seat he saw her with her back to him. Unconsciously he licked his lips and in the moments following he felt his body responding even if his thoughts were a dim buzz with little in them. Realizing this he twisted back in the couch but the sensations only notched down a little. “I like what you’ve done here,” he said, pressing his mind into a different route. “You’ve really made it a home away from home. You know, I could put a window in there that would look on a scene from home, a kind of holo.” He put his arm up on the couchback as he pointed to a wall that was free. When he bent it back his fingers touched his forehead and felt a faint sheen of sweat. Wow, must have had a touch more to drink than he had thought, he mused, his arm plopping back to the couchback.
- Dagen

Reia took her time at making the chai tea and decided to make one for herself. At this point in the evening she was usually deciding whether to dump the hot beverage into her male companion’s lap or find some way to distract him that didn’t have to do with her. Usually he would get bored or she would feign sleepiness and that would be the end of a quiet evening. If people got aggressive with her, she had ways of making them leave that didn’t leave bruises or require a call to security. But she wasn’t thinking along either of those lines at the moment. As she picked up the tray and turned around, she was thinking that Dagen’s spots made him look distinguished and, quite frankly, adorable. Unconsciously she began to smile.

She turned and .. smiled. That seemed to alter so much of her expression and demeanor. He noticed it at once. Before she had been hesitant and no small way distant. Accommodating in conversation but something was lacking. Of course, later, perhaps much later, when he realized that he was being affected by the pheromones he would have recognized in hindsight her reticence and his raging hormones making the gap to be obvious to anyone. Well, anyone but him. Her smile was, at that moment, like an open door, and in his state appeared so wide that he could fly a shuttle through it. He smiled back, reaching for the tea.

Walking over to him in the couch, she sat down and leaned back against his arm having not noticed it there.

Her hair connected with his arm a moment before the touch of her shoulder. His senses tingled and he breathed deeply, his other hand holding the warm mug. She was close and everything in him felt that was good. He took a slow sip of the tea as she talked. The scent of the tea competed with his other senses. It both cleared his mind, if only a little, and divided his focus even with his body screaming. Apart from his home decor and general ‘messy’ sense Dagen was a disciplined person borne out of the needs of his youth. He strove to bring that to bear and focus, though what resolve he had was crumbling with her proximity.

“You know, a window might be an interesting idea. I have a lot of nature images from the area I grew up in. It sounds like a fun project if you have the time.”

“I’ll make the time,” he blurted out quickly. After a long drink he looked at the wall. Setting the cup down he pointed to the area. “You know, there are seasonal feeds that are logged - cameras that take in areas. They can be applied to that so you can have real feeds, if dated to a past year. Heck, you could commission a camera where you want it placed back home and it could relay feeds as a mail file each week so you’ve almost got real time weather there.”

Reia turned slightly to look at him, her diamond eyes watching closely. She would have to talk about herself sooner or later and, for once, was leaning towards later.

• Reia

His breath caught as their eyes met. A dozen warning bells were going off in the back of his head, but each one was dampened quickly and effectively by his very senses. Without conscious thought his fingers slid up and cupped her jaw with but a moment’s thought as to how joined Trill’s hands tend to feel cool to the touch. He had not, beyond a short and quickly aborted relationship aboard, had any relationship for three years now. Though, as his head tipped to kiss her, the last thing he was really thinking about was that
-Dagen

It was true. Dagen felt cool against Reia’s warm skin but she was half Orion and her body temperature ran a bit warmer than a full Human. His fingers felt nice on her skin as she moved closer to him deciding to enjoy this kiss for as long as she reasonably could.

If reia were careful, she could probably enjoy herself.

After a few long seconds, she moved away slightly. She was peaceful but confused.

“Have you ever wanted to share something with someone because you know it’s the right thing to do, but maybe it’s not?”

Reia was fairly certain she still had his full attention and damn she wanted to kiss him again.

• Reia