:ON:
Gwen walked into the Eagle's Nest and looked around. Not noticing
anyone she walked over to the replicator and ordered some food. Taking
her meal she moved over to an empty table.
Lt. Haas wasn't certain why he felt the
urge to go to the Eagle's Nest. There was more work he had wanted to
get done. He wanted to see if he could find any references to the
"light" people that the Eagle crew had rescued from the energy anomaly.
But, for some reason he had decided to go to the ship's lounge.
When he walked through the doors, he saw why. With a wide smile on his
face he walked over to the table where Gwen was sitting.
"Is this seat taken, Commander?" He asked. He knew his
friendship with Gwen went beyond using rank titles, but Rommie still
liked to kid with her a bit.
Gwen looked up at Rommie and smiled, "Commander, eh? As
for the seat, no, it's not taken . . . yet."
"It is now," Haas said as he sat down
opposite her. "What you having for lunch?"
"Vegetable beef stew and strawberry banana orange juice."
Noticing that he didn't have any food. "Not eating?"
"I wasn't really hungry," he said eyeing her
juice. "But, now... I'll be right back."
Rommie quickly got up and crossed the room. He ordered a BLT on
white toast and a strawberry-banana-orange juice. He looked over his
shoulder at Gwen as he was waiting for his order to be processed.
Gwen chuckled as Rommie went to get food. She took another
bite of her stew and watched him while he waited. She wondered why he
had come to the Nest if he wasn't hungry. Gwen was glad he did, but
still curious.
Rommie grabbed his order from the
replicator and went back to the table. He again sat down across from
Gwen.
"I am not sure why I even came down here," He said in all honesty,
"But, hey, any chance to share a lunch with you is a chance not to
miss."
"Well, if you wouldn't work like 18 hours a day, we could
probably do this more often." She said teasingly. His strong sense of
duty and workaholic nature were two things she really admired about him.
"I'm just trying to earn that extra pip,"
Rommie said between bites of his sandwich. "Put us on an even keel
again, so I can ask you out."
Gwen tried not to blush at that comment. She finished off her
stew before commenting, "You don't need that extra pip to do that ya
know."
"That's not what I hear," Rommie said,
trying to keep the humor out of his voice. "Word through out the ship
is you won't date beneath you."
Trying not to laugh, "I know, I started that rumor. I didn't want
just anyone asking me out ya know. Just think of all the people who
would try to do that? I would really hate to break a lot of people's
hearts."
"Yeah," Rommie agreed. His tone indicated
she wasn't totally off the track with her statement. "I'd have to
start throwing my weight around as Second officer to scare them away."
"You think you'd have that much luck? Some of the crew are very
determined ya know."
"Oh, I know that would do it," Rommie said
sarcastically. "You know how scared they all are of the stuttering
lieutenant."
Gwen laughed at that, "Yeah, you're more scary then Commander Bass
himself."
Rommie laughed good-naturedly at that. He
took a sip from his juice and looked across the table at Gwen. It
hadn't even occurred to him that not once during the conversation with
Gwen had he stammered a word.
Gwen sat back in her chair and relaxed. She always enjoyed a good
laugh. "So, what work are you ignoring to spend the lunch hour in here?"
"Just some research on those beings we
rescued," Rommie told her. "For some reason, they seem familiar, but I
am not sure why."
"They definitely were interesting creatures. I wasn't overly keen
on their method of communication though."
"Dr. Melody seemed even more displeased than
you," Haas said. "It's one of those times makes me happy Rigellians
aren't psi-sensative."
"Yeah, sometimes I wish I wasn't either."
Gwen finished her juice and set the glass inside the empty bowl.
"So, listen," Rommie said suddenly. "What
do you have planned for off shift tonight?"
"Only catching up on my reading. But I'd be up for something
else."
"Well, I hear Lt. Horini is running a Treng
Dorsie film marathon, tonight." Treng Dorsie was a late twenty-first
century actor who had starred in a full string of action vids. "I was
wondering if you'd like to go with me to watch?"
"Sure. I can always read another night. Though, this is going to
ruin my rumor." Gwen said with a grin.
"We'll come up with a good excuse," Haas
joked. "You can always say it's a pity date cause you got picked to be
AXO over me."
Gwen laughed. "There ya go. Gotta keep my rumor in place. So,
what time is this marathon?"
"It starts at 18:00 hours," Rommie said.
"But, I know the second vid is one of the best, so how about if I pick
you up around 19:30?.... or you can pick me up. Beings you're on the
pity date."
"Okay, 1930 it is. I'll pick you up, you can use the extra time
to work on more work."
"Sounds like a date to me, XO." Rommie
finished off his lunch. "I really look forward to it."
"It should be fun. I've never seen any of them." Gwen stood up
and grabbed her dishes. "I guess it's time to get back to work."
:OFF:
Lt. Commander Gwenivere Marqusa
AXO/CSec/Tac
USS Eagle
Lt. Roman Haas
Ops
USS Eagle
