Dinner Date?

Posted on Wed Feb 20th, 2019 @ 9:04pm by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa

Mission: S01E04 The Outpost Has Eyes
Location: Deck 2 - Mess Hall
Timeline: Following: "We Need to Work Together"

It's not a date. Just because he asked me to join him for dinner...

That thought had played over and over in Arturo Marquez's head as he moved down the corridor of deck two toward the mess hall. He was still dressed in his uniform, but he briefly wondered if he should have changed into something more casual. But it wasn't a date, right? "Why am I even worried about this?" he mumbled to himself as he passed two women, who were walking close and giggling. Sure he liked Lieutenant Garcia, the very tall engineer was easy to talk to, in fact, Arturo felt like he could be himself around the other man. There was understanding there. "God, I wonder if I gave off some sort of signal? I don't even know how to give off a signal! I don't even know how to flirt, or even talk to someone I may like. Then again, I've never really liked anyone." As a few more people passed him by, he promptly closed his mouth. The stares he received were just too much at this point. Besides, if I were to choose a male, it would be someone like Cornet Jakku.

The realization came to him a couple of weeks ago, he had a bit of a sensual dream about the young alien. It surprised him and caught him off-guard, but it was something he couldn't really deny either -- even though he tried to come up with every reason possible of why he had such a dream. Not wanting to think about that now, he pushed the thought aside and entered the mess hall. He saw the chief engineer -- he was hard to miss after all -- and approached. "Hello, Lieutenant," he said, in his usual soft, accented voice.

"Please, call me Caleb, we are off-duty," Caleb Garcia said, he indicated the chair that was across from him. He had purposely chosen this small table that sat against a bulkhead. It was one of the more private tables the mess hall had to offer. He was also glad that the mess hall had very few individuals populating it, nor had there been a lot of foot traffic. He assumed it was because they were past the shift change, but either way, he had been glad they would have a bit more privacy. He watched as the Ensign sat, and then spoke, "Thank you for accepting my invitation to a meal, I've only gotten the pleasure of talking to you while on duty. I felt it was time to change that."

Arturo had slid into the chair uneasily, and once seated he had relaxed a bit. It helped to see that Lieutenant Garcia was still in his uniform as well, that was a good sign that it was just two officers having dinner together. Yet, the invite almost seemed like it was a date. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, he thought, leaning forward now and folding his hands in front of him. "I'll call you Caleb only if you call me Arturo," he said. He liked that the lieutenant... Caleb wanted to be on equal footing with him. "Also thank you for inviting me to dinner, typically I eat alone so this is a nice change."

A smile crossed Caleb's lips at that, and he tipped his head in acknowledgment. "You're welcome, Arturo," Caleb responded. At hearing that the navigator ate alone most times really bothered him, but he didn't show it. It was disappointing to know that no one had really reached out in friendship to the young man.

"Is this a date?" Arturo blurted out. He had wanted to ask, but he figured it would just come up, instead he just blurted it out. "I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blurt it out like that." His cheeks colored, and he felt flushed with embarrassment. "I uh... I..."


2-20-19 Editor Note

This post was developed by:

Commander Christopher Samuels (Primary Character)
Chief Science Officer | First Officer

&
Ensign Arturo Marquez (NPC of Samuels)
Cheif Navigator