Uncharted Territory Part II

Posted on Mon Apr 27th, 2015 @ 10:37am by Commander Worth Maxwell VIII & Ensign Aria Natinde
Edited on on Tue May 19th, 2015 @ 1:44pm

Mission: Beyond The Wormhole
Location: Holodeck 1
Timeline: After Post Briefing Brief

Later…

As dinner progressed, the light had gradually dimmed to a soft glow, mimicking sundown. Scattered candles were lit and then, as Worth had said, the wait staff vanished. He refilled the wine glasses, then raised his.

“To a perfect evening,” he said. His black eyes held hers as their glasses touched.

“To a perfect evening,” she repeated, holding his gaze as she sipped. “Y’know Worth, you know all about me, but I know very little about you. There’s only a couple of years service record on file, but I’m not interested in any of that. Well I am, but not now. Now I want to get to know the real you. The off-duty Worth Maxwell.”

“That will take some time Aria,” he answered. “There’s a lot to tell. And understand there are years’ worth I can’t discuss, as far as duty goes. As for me, I am number eight in a long line of navy men on my father’s side, from Earth. My mother is from Betazed, which makes me the first of the line to be telepathic.” He smiled. “It made for some interesting times growing up.”

“Worth, I know how working for the Fleet is. I understand there are parts you will never be able to discuss as there’s years of my childhood where my father was away as medical officer and still to this day can never discuss where he was or why.” Her smile dipped slightly at the memory of the missed birthdays and milestones, but this was not the time to reminisce over such times.

“Anyway, telepathic child growing up. Didn’t your father worry about having a telepathic child?”

“It took some getting used to, that’s for sure. But in time he adjusted, especially when my sister came along and added to the mix. At that point, the three of us, with my mum, outnumbered him.” Worth smiled. “What else would you like to know?”

“How did you come to be in the fleet if you’re from a long line of navy men?” she asked curiously. “Wouldn’t your father have wanted you to follow in his footsteps?”

“I did, somewhat. The Naval Academy came first, then Starfleet. I suppose I was more interested in the stars than the waves. In the end, I chose Intel and never looked back. What about you?”

“How did I come to be in the fleet? Well surely you’ve read my file and know my parents background,” she joked with him. “But dad was Chief Medical Officer on ‘Base 52, and had always wanted one of us 5 kids to follow in his footsteps. My sisters had no interest in anything to do with the fleet and settled down with normal jobs and a family, whilst my brother went towards engineering. As a late arrival dad set his hopes on me and pushed every medical book he could find towards me, but I was more interested in my mother’s office and the going on’s of ships that Admiral Anderson talked about. He was still quite bitter back then at being appointed to the ‘base instead of a ship. But he was so passionate about his flying days that it inspired to from no age to want to be like him one day. So as soon as I was old enough, I applied to the Academy, to dad’s dismay, but to mum’s chorus of joy for being able to do something she could never do. Dad got over it eventually and is somewhat proud that one of his children managed to get off Starbase 52,” she finished with a chuckle to herself at her father’s comment to her the day she got accepted to the Ptolemy. “That enough info as to why I joined the ‘Fleet?” she said sticking her tongue out at him, knowing full well it was probably more information than what he was asking for.

“It is, but it’s the rest I care about.” Worth took her hand and raised her to her feet. “One more look at the falls before we have to go?” Despite his words, he pulled her close against him, looking down into her eyes.

Not wanting to leave the serenity of the falls, Aria sighed. “I suppose duty will call eventually,” she responded reluctantly as she held his gaze, trying to anticipate his next move.

“That is a certainty, Aria.” His voice softened. “But it hasn’t yet.” It might be a risk but given the emotions radiating from her, and the flower’s reflections of her, he decided to take a chance. Leaning in, his lips had barely brushed hers when his comm badge chirped.

=^= Warrington to Commander Maxwell and Ensign Natinde. Time for departure, please report to the bridge. =^=

Silently cursing Warrington, Aria broke the silence between them. “Captain certainly has good time keeping skills,” she joked, trying to make light of the situation.

“Or he is more telepathic than he lets on.” Worth had to smile, however. “We need to get changed and to the bridge.” He hesitated, however.

Seeing his hesitation, Aria presumed he wanted to finish where they had left off before the message came through. So, taking a deep breath for courage and to calm her nerves, she stretched up on to her toes to reach up towards his mouth, and pressed a kiss softly on his lips.

His arms tightened around her and he let the kiss linger only another moment. “As you say, duty calls.” His voice was husky as he spoke. His head was all but spinning - the whole evening had been so much more than he expected. He had to get back to the duty frame of mind but he knew she would be there dancing through his thoughts even so. “Don’t forget your flower.”

Not wanting the moment to end, and also dizzy from the whirl of emotions running through her, Aria held on to Worth for a moment before picking up her flower which turned blue to her touch. She started the evening thinking that it would be a one hit wonder before reality hit Worth and he went back to being her mentor as such. But now, she knew that this wasn’t just dinner.

Trying to get herself back into her professional frame of mind, she stepped back slightly and looked at Worth. “I’ve enjoyed tonight Worth,” she said with a radiant smile. “I hope once we’re underway we can pick up where we left off. But for now, I have an appointment with the Captain and Commander Maxwell, I don’t wish to keep either of them waiting,” she teased.

“Good idea, I hear Maxwell is a real stickler for promptness.” He smiled and took the flower from her. Its deep blue hue remained as he sniffed it and returned it to her.

“Let’s go.”

*********************
Commander Worth X. Maxwell VIII
Out Of His Depth

Ensign Aria Natinde
Uncharted Waters