Shipyard: Serenity
Dinner
Posted by Captain Michael Stout (CO) in Dinner
Posted by Civilian Elizabeth Notta (Lounge Manager and Bartender) in Dinner
Posted by Captain Michael Stout (CO) in Dinner
Posted by… suppressed (13) by the Post Ghost! 👻
This would actually be the first time since she was a junior officer working under Stout that she had gotten an invite to dinner. She knew the difference. the first time she’d gotten a dinner invite he was chief and they were having a pickle of a time working through a challenge in the engineering bay. So rather than leave it for the next day they’d had dinner while working through the problem right there in the middle of the engineering bay.Elizabeth knew this wasn’t that kind of dinner. So she’d actually dressed for the occasion. It was a simple black dress with a halter top and chiffon overlay. It was comfortable enough that she could do warp core maintenance if she needed to in it and still not get it all over the place. Though the chiffon overlay would give one pause before doing work on the core. She smirked at the thought and stopped outside of the Captain’s quarters it was a minute past 8 when her fingers touched the chime to let him know she was there.
Elizabeth Notta, Bar and Lounge Owner.
The door slid open and the room inside was lit, but there was a noticeable dim to the overall effect. The sound of music played softly, and in the middle of the room sat a table and two chairs. The table was covered with a white cloth, and a bottle of something was chilling in a silver bucket. Next to that sat a bottle of scotch and two rocks glasses. A large silver dome sat in the center, and a pleasant aroma lingered in the air… something earthy, but with a sweetness as well.
Stout’s voice came from the other room. “Have a seat anywhere if you want. Be out in a second.” His voice was the same gruff and no-nonsense that it typically was, but there was a familiarity in it that only a very few people ever heard. Elizabeth was one of them. A few moments later, Mike appeared. He was dressed in blue jeans and had a on a loose fitting long sleeved pale blue and gray shirt that had a drawstring at the collar. Peasant’s shirt was the old term for it. His thick black with gray streaks hair was combed back and parted on the side, and his goatee was trimmed. Without really looking up, he walked over to his side table and picked up an old watch and put it on his wrist. “Hey. Glad you could make it. Hope I didn’t pull you away from…” and he looked up and saw her. A slight smile crossed his face. “Wow. You look great. I hope no one saw you coming here dressed like that. They may talk.” he said, knowing full well that she knew he never cared what people thought about him or what he did. “Drink?” he asked as he walked over to the table and picked up the scotch and poured two fingers in a glass.
Stout, CO
She smirked, she had seen him in jeans and an old ‘peasant’ shirt before. Though he’s never seen her in a dress before, not really. “You know very well you didn’t pull me away from anything Chief.” She said out of habit. She was leaning against the back of one of the chairs as she looked him in the eyes. “Did you think I’d ignore one of your invites?” She asked in a softer tone knowing fully well he didn’t care what anyone thought, and neither did she, which he also knew. “I’ll take a scotch on the rocks, It smells wonderful in there.” She added.
Elizabeth Notta, B&L Owner
“Mushrooms sauteed in port. Creamed spinach. Steak. Ribeye, medium rare.” he said as he poured the scotch over some ice. “Hand cooked by yours truly.” and he handed her the glass and raised his own to her in a toast. “To ya, Elizabeth.”
Stout, CO
Elizabeth actually blushed, “To me huh?” She asked even as she took a drink from the scotch at his toast. “Mmm my mouth is watering just thinking about that Ribeye.” She smiled softly.
Elizabeth Notta, B&L Owner.
“Then let’s dig in.” he said and moved around and pulled out the chair for her. As she sat, he pushed the chair in and put his hand on her back briefly as he walked around and sat down.
Stout, CO
“Thank you,” Elizabeth said softly as he pushed her chair in for her. She smiled softly as she felt his hand on her back and waited for him to sit as well. “So how is your head?” She asked softly unsure if she should serve herself or wait for him. she bit her lower lip slightly.
Elizabeth Notta, B&L Owner
Mike lifted the cover and the two steaks sat on plates with accompanying sides. He set one in front of her and then one in front of himself. After that, he reached over and pulled the chilling bottle out of the bucket and opened it. “I was told that chilling red wine is some kind of sacrilege. But warm wine with hot steak is just obnoxious to me. Hope it doesn’t offend your professional standards.” he said with smile and offered the bottle to her as if to ask if she wanted a glass.
Stout, CO
Elizabeth actually smiled at that, “No, it does not, I prefer my wine chilled to warm.” She laughed softly holding her glass out to him for the offered wine. “Everything looks and smells delicious.” She grinned.
Elizabeth Notta, B&L Owner.
Stout smiled and poured her glass first. As he poured, he said “So you know why I asked you to dinner tonight?” and he set the bottle down and picked up his glass and took a drink.
Stout, CO
She took a sip of her wine and looked at him with innocent eyes. “Because I’m a good conversationalist?” She asked innocently after taking a sip of her wine and gave him a soft smile.
Elizabeth Notta, B&L Owner.
“I was wondering why you never came and saw me after I got back from the accident?” he asked plainly. But there was something that lay in his eyes… it was a vulnerability that was never there, like a window looking in on a small tear in the curtain behind it.
Stout, CO
Elizabeth looked at him in the eyes as she thought of how to answer this. “I was retired at this point so I was back on earth when I had learned that you were found.” She told him softly still looking into his eyes. “Everyone had just about given up on you, I knew you were still out there, actually went looking for you on my own shuttle, but I couldn’t find a trace of you.” She admitted she had quite a few resources at her disposal, unfortunately, when the powers that be give up on finding the lost it was hard to get someone out to help. “I had to pull out a few favors to keep them looking for you, by the time I learned that you had been found and came to see you, you were already moving from station to station I couldn’t get ahold of you.” She admitted to him, her eyes never leaving his.
Elizabeth Notta, B&L Owner.
Stout’s look didn’t change, and he held her gaze with his own. “You could have just called. I know you know how to work a subspace comm array. Hell.... we built one for that idiot McCann on that cruiser while were board and in dry dock…” he said, a slight chuckle at the end, but it sounded a bit forced. Mike was looking for something from her, but what wasn’t clear.
Stout, CO
Elizabeth actually frowned at this, “I did call, every time I called I was told you were busy and asked to leave a message, I did, though after the third message with no return calls I thought you were mad at me for not coming to see you sooner. I was surprised when you first called me to open a bar and lounge on your station.” Elizabeth explained to Mike.
Elizabeth Notta, B&L Owner.
Stout stared at her blankly for a few moments. “Messages? I never got any damn messages. Not one. I figured you either were too busy with someone or something, or that maybe my time on that rock made me remember things between… well, maybe the time and injuries made me remember things wrong. I dunno. I just wanted to know why my best friend never even said ‘Welcome Home’. Lot of others did, but every time… every crowd… every damn ceremony and speech… I looked out in the crowd to see if you were there.” And he shook his head and looked down at the table.
“You never were.”
Stout, CO
“Word of your return reached me, and I tried to find you, I tried to call, I had either just missed you or they told me you were busy and unable to see me or talk to me.” She told hom honestly. Elizabeth hated that she hadn’t been able to see him or talk to him. “I finally figured you were mad at me for not having gotten to you sooner.” She said sadly.
Elizabeth Notta, B&L Owner.