<USS Avalon> Flirtin' at the Mess"

"Flirtin' at the Mess"

Delaney and Cailin walked into NineForward, still giggling like young 
girls. To someone who still carried a chip on her shoulder the size of Montana, 
it felt really good to giggle like a girl.? 

They approached the bar and waited for the tender to be 
free. Laney turned to the counselor and said, "You know, the most inane fact 
has 
just occurred to me."? 

The Tuathan raised an 
eyebrow. "And what is that?" 

"As an 
engineer, my assigned quarters are on deck eleven. Now I work there---just down 
the hall!"? 


Cailin chuckled. "Actually, you have the 
privilege of moving to the chief's quarters, though they are also on deck 
eleven, as I understand it---so as to be closer to Main Engineering." 


For a moment the counselor wondered 
why that made Delaney so happy, for she was smiling wide. Then she looked over 
her shoulder in the direction she saw her gaze had wandered to and saw that 
Adrian Phillips, chief of Avalon's Marine platoon, had come in. She 
smiled and purred, saying, "I think I'll just go to the replicator," she said, 
and walked gracefully away. 

The sweat was still on his forehead from the 
training session he and his men had just gone through on the simulator. Don't 
matter how fake those things are, realistic enough for me, he thought to 
himself as he grabbed a drink from the replicator and scanned the room. 


He spotted Delaney sitting over at the bar just as that cat lady, the 
counselor Adrian thought, got up to head over to the nearest replicator. 
Well, guess that might be a cue or something, he said to himself as he 
strolled over in her direction. 

"Mind if 
I join ya, Lieutenant?" Adrian said, having already noticed the pips. 


Delaney grinned wider. "Nope, don't mind at all...Major. Ketchum sure is 
busy with the promotions this morning, isn't he?" 

The bartender came 
over at last and she ordered her sundae. Sure, she hadn't actually eaten a 
proper lunch, but this was a celebration. 

"Anything for you, Major 
Phillips?" asked the barman.

Adrian shook his head. "This should suffice 
for me," he said, holding up his glass, and the barman nodded, leaving to fill 
the new lieutenant's order, "though we just had a training session," he 
finished, speaking to Laney. "Won't surprise me if some of the company start 
filing in shortly." He grinned back at her as he sat down. 

He used the 
towel he'd carried with him to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "So tell me, 
how 
did all of this come around? Are you gonna miss spending all that time with the 
shuttles or are you looking on to bigger things?" He spoke casually, allowing 
his heart to slow down to a comfortable level. 

"Bigger and better, of 
you can believe it," she said as she accepted her sundae from the bartender. 
Cause I sure can't, she added silently.

Shaking that off, she 
smiled. "Get this---not only did he promote me when I thought I was gonna have 
to wait like, forever for one," she said, taking a spoonful into her mouth and 
savoring the taste for one blissful moment. "But we are still in need of a 
chief 
engineer, so... now that's me. Unbelievable. I am still freaking out inside." 


A chuckle errupted from Adrian. "Well, I think your 'freaking out' is 
not just inside, but with that grin you've got I imagine your quite excited, as 
you well should be." He nodded approvingly and took a long gulp of his drink, 
which almost looked like it swirled around in his cup. 

She spooned more 
sundae into her mouth and swallowed it before saying, "Well, sure promotions 
and 
new jobs and awesome sundaes are great, but sometimes it's the company you 
keep." 

Though the two of them had been flirting back and forth for a 
number of weeks now, Laney still felt slightly embarrassed by some of the 
things 
she said, and so she covered up by putting another spoonful into her mouth, and 
hoped against hope that the flush she felt creeping up her neck didn't reach 
high enough for Adrian to see it. 

"Of course there is, and there's no 
better company then the present," he flirted back as he watched her cheeks 
flush. The return of the counselor probably would be good, he figured. "You 
still owe me that date though." Adrian teased. "Hopefully that engineering bay 
won't take up all of your time." He winked. 

Delaney felt her blush 
deepen when he he mentioned she still owed him a date, but she winked back at 
him. "I do. And though I know my amount of free time just decreased by about 
fifty percent, I promise not to let it take over my life completely. So you 
name 
the time and day, and I will be there, Major."

Sliding the now-empty 
glass across the bar, she stepped off her stool. "Speaking of which, I really 
should get down to Engineering and do the whole 'I'm in charge now' thing. And 
uh...hope I don't piss anybody off in the process," she added with a laugh. 


"I'm sure you won't piss anyone off. I mean all you'll have to do is 
smile at 'em and they won't be able to be mad," Adrian laughed as he finished 
off his drink. Some of his company were now making their way into NineForward 
and he needed to meet some of the newer members. 

He stood up next to 
Delaney, probably a little closer then first expected. "But of course, if any 
of 
them give you any grief just send them down to the Marines and we'll sort them 
out," Adrian said softly, looking down at her. 

Laney felt a heat of a 
different kind flood through her veins. He was...really close. And that 
felt...really good. 

"Somehow, I uh...don't think that falls in the 
'don't piss 'em off' category, but I'll keep it in mind in case the smiling 
doesn't work. And remember, when you figure out when you want that dinner, you 
let me know." 

Winking again, Laney made a break for it before she dug 
herself in deeper...not that being in deep anything with Adrian Phillips 
would be all that bad. 

Don't worry, he thought to himself 
quietly. I'll contact you, no worries. Adrian watched her head out of 

NineForward, then turned around and headed over the nearest table of marines. 
Time will come, time will come.

_____
written by: 
Major 
Adrian Phillips
Marine Commander, USS Avalon
with
Lt. Delaney 
Scott
Chief Engineer, USS Avalon
and 
Dr. Cailin Danaan, 
Ph.D.
Ship's Counselor, USS Avalon

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