A Night On The Town

Posted on Thu Mar 28th, 2013 @ 9:52pm by Admiral Ricky Wegener & El'Shar Blackhorse

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: SB900 - Various
Timeline: Current

The next morning after the dinner with Rick, El’Shar awoke excited and refreshed after having vivid dreams. They were mostly abstract, the kind with the floating doughnuts, talking automobiles or seeing yourself in the mirror only to realize that you no longer look like yourself. But interspersed were memories of what she saw in her quarters several nights prior. That night she had found it strange and off putting, but now that she had actually met the man, it didn’t seem so odd. It was almost as if it felt...right.

But she quickly showered and got dressed in her uniform for the last time meeting Marie at the offices they’d been afforded. First order of business was to see when Marie would be sent back to Earth, but the highest priority message on El’s desk was that 900 would have its own TA offices for anything occurring in the Delta Quadrant. For now, Marie would be the acting department head until El’s replacement arrived. Admiral Wegener would find permanent offices for them, so on and so forth. While Marie wasn’t excited about being the acting department head, since she still didn’t feel ready to be on her own, she took solace in the fact that El would still be around and the new Chief would be arriving soon. But Marie would be the assistant chief and would help oversee a handful of other, younger, TA personnel.

After that was over, the last bit of official business that she’d had to attend to, El’Shar spent the rest of the morning telling Marie of the last night’s activities with the dinner, Li’s promotion and how she’d spent so long in Rick’s quarters after everyone had gone. She repeatedly had to tell Marie that they hadn’t had sex, although Marie could tell that El’Shar would have definitely considered it.

As it got closer to noon, El went ahead and advised the computer to transfer her codes over to Marie and that she would be officially ‘standing down’ and to be removed from the list of active Starfleet officers. “Finally!” she said, once the computer announced it had complied with her directive. “Now I can go get ready for my date.”


* * One Hour Later * *

She’d sent a message to Rick letting him know that she was about ready she put the finishing touches on her attire. She was wearing a fitted royal blue dress that hugged her body tightly, stopped just above her knees and showed off her natural curves. Her jet black hair was pulled back on the sides of her head but hung down to her lower back. She wore a silver necklace with round pendants half an inch apart, all of the way around it, and each pendant had a sapphire that matched the color of her dress. She also wore silver earrings with one of the pendants and a smaller sapphire each.

After a small application of a fruity body spray, she was ready to do and had timed it just right. Her door chime rang and she went to answer it.

As the door opened, Rick stood there with his mouth agape. “Oh...wow,” he said. “You look absolutely breathtaking!” With a quick glance down at his own attire, he suddenly felt underdressed. He wore black slacks and a black jacket with a white collared shirt. “I think I need to go change to something a bit more suited to the occasion.”

“No, Rick, you shouldn’t,” she replied and stepped out, locking the door behind her. “I think you look great.” Without waiting for him to offer it, she took his arm and they began walking. “So, where to, Mr. Tour Guide?”

They first spent some time in the arboretum enjoying the sights and smells of the trees, flowers and herbs. He took note of the particular flowers that she seemed to enjoy the most and stored it away for a later time. He then took her to deck 221 for a walk through the Galileo Center’s Gallery of scientific achievements throughout the years. Knowing she had started her career in Starfleet as a scientist he thought she might enjoy it, which she did. They spent much longer there than they did in the arboretum and she couldn’t help but want to talk and explain many of the exhibits’ finds. He was never much on the science side of things but he found it just as fascinating listening to her go on and on, especially at how animated and excited she became, as she had with his retelling of his life’s history. He wondered if she would have retired from Starfleet if she had remained in the Science Corps since she seemed to get simply ecstatic talking about it.

Finally, they made their way to the Promenade decks. “There’s a place up here I’ve been wanting to try, but it’s kinda’ fancy. I’ve been waiting for a special occasion, and this seems like that occasion.” He noticed that she’d smiled when he said that. “It’s called Portín, a French restaurant. Fine wines, fine food and a great atmosphere.”

“I love French food!” she replied, her head on a swivel taking in all of the various shops that they passed. “You could likely spend a week down here and not really get to every one of these places.”

“We do have quite a few places on the Promenade, and even more down in the Pit, but it’s a much rougher neighborhood.”

“The Pit? What kind of name is that?”

He chuckled. “It’s actually the CEQ, Civilian Entertainment and Quarters, but most everyone calls those decks the Cherry Pit. It was named, I believe, after a biker bar back on Earth. It always seemed to draw the rougher crowd and, sometimes, some unwanted guests.”

She nodded knowingly. “Makes perfect sense, then.”

Rick had made reservations for Portín just after El’Shar had left his quarters, and subsequently caught him checking out her beautifully shaped backside. What he didn’t know was that Portín kept their best table reserved at all times for the base commander.

“I’m flattered,” Rick said to the maitre d’. “I was not expecting that at all!”

“It is nothing,” the man replied with a heavy French accent. “We always take care of those who take care of us.”

Once seated, Rick directly across from El’Shar, he couldn’t help but notice how the candles around them made her eyes sparkle, along with her jewelry. He embarrassed himself at one point as he followed the necklace down from her neck and found himself staring at her cleavage. With a quick jerk upward of his head, he tried to act like that hadn’t just happened, but felt the urge to cringe under the table when he saw that she was looking at him and smiling.

“See something you liked?” she whispered as she leaned forward, one eyebrow arched.

“Uh...” he stammered, “yes. That is a very beautiful necklace.” It wasn’t too much of a lie--he had been checking out the necklace first.

“Mm-hmm,” she said, sitting back up in her chair. “I made the necklace and the earrings about four years ago. They’re probably my fifth attempt at making something that looks even acceptable, but I think they’re my favorite pieces.”

“They look wonderful,” he said, his eyes wandering back down to the necklace, then her breasts, then snapping back up high on the necklace. He really needed to say something. “Are the earrings not painful with stones that big?”

She grinned, almost impishly, at him and didn’t bother to answer as the waiter arrived to take their order. They started with Assiette de Fruits et Fondue de Brie, which was Brie with ripe melons and berries along with a white wine. Rick's main course was bay scallops, prawns, snow peas and wild mushrooms over egg linguini with a garlic vermouth sauce. El'Shar ordered sauteed boneless trout with raspberry vinegar butter sauce, tarragon, parsley and shallots. Over the course of the meal he shared more of his life history and finally began to hear about hers, which he found immensely interesting.

He liked hearing of her Native American heritage and how close she was with not only her family but the community and tribe. He was intrigued at how she insisted upon making many things by hand and not simply ordering them up from a replicator. She told him that it seemed to lose its value in being simply mass produced instead of being a one-of-a-kind piece. And it gave her a way to free her mind from what all she had to think on throughout the day. She could find peace in the sometimes intense labor that a particular piece required.

As their desserts arrived, Rick realized he hadn’t spoken a word in almost an hour. Something about listening to her made her happy and even soothed him a bit. Some people had a voice that could really grate on your nerves, like nails on a chalkboard, but she was nothing of the sort.

They both finished up their Crêpe Suzette and Rick noted the time. “That was just wonderful,” he said.

“It was a very good meal,” she said.

“I was referring to your story,” he replied, “but, yes, the food was excellent.”

She blushed, turning her face a light shade of green as the blood vessels in her cheeks dilated, allowing more blood closer to the surface of the skin. “Thank you,” she said softly.

He stood and pulled her chair out. “One last place to visit,” he said as he took her arm again. She took it but slid her hand down and laced her fingers with his. He got goose bumps but didn’t say anything, not wanting to jinx it. “I hope you like Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“Oh, I had forgotten that you’d mentioned a theatre!” she said excitedly. “I’ve read the story several times, but I’ve never seen it performed. This will be nice.”

And it was nice. More than ‘nice’, really, as the performers had practiced long and hard which definitely showed. They received a long standing ovation and many of the attendees tossed flowers on the stage. But what Rick had liked best about the entire thing was when El had grabbed his right arm, pulling him to her and resting her head on his shoulder.

They walked out of the theatre satisfied with their evening together, holding hands all the way back to her quarters. She opened the door and was about to turn back to Rick but noticed several large vases of flowers. “What--?”

Entering the living room she looked at both of the large bouquets then, noticing the types of flowers, turned back to Rick. “You did this,” she said, not asking.

Letting himself in, he nodded. “I noticed how much you liked those flowers in the arboretum. Before the play, when you were in the lavatory, I ordered these and had them beamed directly to your quarters.” He shrugged. “You just seemed to love them, so I wanted you to have some.”

She looked back at the flowers, then turned to Rick and flung her arms around him, kissing him. It was a long kiss, a simple one, but it felt like heaven to him. He put his arms around her as well, feeling her for the first time. After several moments, he pulled back. “I take it you like them?”

She nodded. “I do, I love them! Thank you!” She stepped back, now holding his hands. “You sure do know how to show a lady a good time. Tonight was amazing, Rick.”

“You deserve it,” he replied. “And I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

The thought of spending the night with him flew through her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. This was only the first time they’d really spent time together and she didn’t want to come off as one of those women he’d told her about in the Cherry Pit.

“I, uh,” she started. “It’s been a while since I’ve done anything like this, so I have no problems telling you that this has been a doozy of a day for me, but I’m just going to say what I feel.” She paused a moment. “I had a very good time and I...like you. A lot. I hope that my kissing you wasn’t crossing a line, but it felt right to me. And I hope you feel the same. But, if not, you can tell me.”

Rick saw the look on her face, one of deep feelings but also a flicker of fear that he may not return her feelings. “El’Shar,” he said as he pulled her closer to him, “I can honestly say that I feel the same for you. It’s strange how at ease I felt with you all night, almost like we’d known each other for ages. And as for that amazing kiss,” he pulled her face to his and kissed her lightly, “I could definitely stand to have a few more.”

With a smile that showed relief as well she kissed him once again. “Thank you for a wonderful first date, Rick, and the flowers.”

His hand cupped her face. “You are welcome, El’Shar. I hope to have many more dates like this one.” Another small kiss and he turned to go. “Good night.”

She nodded once as he left her quarters. Now alone, she began laughing and fell to the couch wiggling her entire body in excitement, hugging a pillow.

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El’Shar Blackhorse
Feeling Like Cinderella

Admiral Rick Wegener
Prince Charming