Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in The Art of a Great Date

(snip)

“Well?” Jones asked as they sat.
She sighed with a wide smile. “That was great. I know I have limitations that dictate the kind of dancing I can do, but honestly I haven’t had the opportunity to be on a dance floor like that in a very long time.”
“Well, I’m glad I could do something to fix that,” he said as they both delved back into their shared meal.

Eela gazed at him for a moment, that little flip flop in her stomach returning as she realized she didn’t want this night to end. She wanted to hold onto that feeling as the precious thing it was.

OOC: The Songs they danced to. A little meta there with Spiner, but I couldn’t resist! lol
In a Sentimental Mood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqLn8APW4Ts
Zing! Went the String of My Heart- Brent Spiner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zek40L5I8ew

[To be Continued…]

~Eela & Dash

After finishing dinner (Eela sampled happily from the different dishes and it worked as well as they both had hoped), they got up to dance again. This time Eela let him draw her in closer as they danced slowly, their bodies pressed against one another and the side of her head resting against his jaw. “Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Of course,” Dash replied, moving them in a slow swaying circle, noting that she smelled intoxicatingly of flowers. Was it a perfume? Her shampoo?

“If there hadn’t been an auction, would you have asked me out?”

Dash pulled back just enough so that he could gaze into her lovely eyes. “Absolutely,” he said. “Just might have taken me a little longer. Maybe.” He broke into his trademark grin.

She chuckled. “Good.”

They danced a few more dances and decided it was time to leave. Eela made certain to have a quick work with the manager on duty to let them know what a lovely time they had had, and then they slipped out into the cool night air.

Eela was glad she had brought a warm shawl with her as she draped it over her shoulders. She gazed at Dash and smiled. “How about a walk? My place isn’t that far, so I can manage.”

His smile widened. “That sounds great.”

After letting her security know and waiting for them to do their thing, the pair wandered in the direction of her apartment building, continuing one of the many threads of their conversation over the evening. “How long has it been since you’ve been on a proper date?”

Eela drew in a long breath, steadying herself as she let her brain do the calculations. Before her accident but also the last couple years on the Steadfast had been awkward relationally and she had avoided actually dating after Cory left for Earth again. “I don’t know, maybe nine or ten years?”

Dash gazed at her with an open mouth. “Really? That surprises me given what you’ve told me.”
“It’s complicated.”
He chuckled. “Phrase of the week, I think,” he said warmly.
Eela snorted. “Truer words, Dash, truer words.”
“Well, I’m not going to lie and say it doesn’t thrill me to have this very special privilege though.”

She beamed at him and slipped her hand into his as they walked. Yes, they were in public, and yes there were people around since even though it was night time it wasn’t terribly late. But Eela wasn’t concerned with them, or who saw them together. At this point, she had resigned herself to the likelihood that her personal life would garner gossip and the only way to avoid it was to not engage in that personal life in public. Well, that wasn’t going to work for her and so she would just deal with the consequences. That was for Future Eela to deal with. Right now, she was just enjoying the companionship of a genuinely lovely man that had snuck through her defences in the most wonderful way: being charming, yes, but also gently so. It was a different sort of charm than some notable others, and that was actually a huge relief.

“Hey, where’d you go just now?” Dash asked.
“Hmm?” she said, brought back to the moment. “Oh! Sorry, just… musing about the fact that I am walking hand in hand with someone in public and how I don’t care what people say or think.”
He studied her for a moment. “You’re really okay with it, aren’t you?”

Eela nodded. “Actually, I am. I didn’t expect to be, since I’ve always been such a private person off duty, but I guess this week has forced and compelled a lot of changes, and maybe I just don’t have the energy to care about this one thing when I could be putting my energy elsewhere.”

He smiled at her and gave her hand a squeeze. “Sounds very reasonable. Practical, even.” His grin deepened as his gaze intensified.

She met his gaze and she didn’t even need to read his thoughts to know where they had shifted. Eela gave him a sly smile as a beautiful shiver swept down her spine.

A short while later they approached her building and she squeezed his hand. While there was anticipation, there was no nervousness, not like there would have been had they not already had some very in depth discussions. “So, the question is, are you staying or leaving?” A simple question, perhaps even a bold one given it was heavy with implications. And yet it felt like all of this had been inevitable, the chemistry and spark between them undeniable.

“Only if you want me to,” he said with a smirk, invoking that flirty conversation in her office.
She chuckled. “Staying it is then.”

He said nothing further as they approached the building. Given that Dash had been to her place more than once, and she was escorting him up herself, she said nothing to security except to give them a nod of acknowledgement.

That ride up the lift was painfully long and yet they managed to stand in place and not say anything. Talking felt like a dangerous prospect just now. When finally they exited into the entrance hall, Eela nodded to her guards as she unlocked her door.

Stepping in, Eela slipped the shawl off her shoulders and draped it over one of the armchairs and turned to face him. Dash shut the door behind him and for a moment just drank in the sight of her before he crossed the space between them. He studied her face, those beautiful eyes and reached up to cup her face. “Finally,” he whispered before pulling her into a deep kiss. She wrapped her arms around him and surrendered very happily to the inevitable.

~Eela & Dash