Getting to Know You
Posted on Fri Oct 30th, 2009 @ 3:32am by Lieutenant Commander Kaylis Kirana & Lieutenant JG Drew O'Connell
1,894 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Shoreleave - Welcoming Old Friends and New
Location: Quarters of Shalie Montgomery
Timeline: Current
Shalie set the last of the dishes into the replicator bin as she downed the remainder of her iced tea. She was growing used to sharing meals with Drew and tonight was no different. It wasn't anything special, but dinner had tasted good and so far they were getting along.
Shalie signed as she walked into the living room. She slumped down onto the couch next to where Drew was sitting. She closed her eyes a moment before turning her head towards him. "I need to get back to work....I am getting lazy." She said with a smile.
With a devilish smile, he responded, "And fat." It was far from the truth and both of them knew it, but it was a joke begging to be said and Drew was not one to refuse. Turning to her, he said, "Haven't you already put in a full day's work? It is nineteen hundred hours and I know you were on duty earlier."
She scoffed playfully and elbowed him slightly which caused her to lean against him slightly. She was tired and wasn't used to being back on shift. "Yeah...but one day just isn't enough to transition from shore leave to normality." She pulled herself back up and turned to place her back against the arm rest. She curled her legs under her.
Drew shrugged. "Whatever passes for normal around here." He leaned forward and retrieved his own glass of iced tea, taking a sip before continuing. "You're going to need another vacation if you don't slow it down. You have subordinates for a reason, after all. Devan is finishing up half of my duties as we speak. The benefit of being a department head, you can delegate."
Shalie sighed, "My assistant has a bit of an attitude problem." She was serious, but smiled at the look she received from Drew. "I know I have an attitude....but I am in charge," she said playfully. "So how is Devan doing? I haven't really talked to her since....since Targus Major...well, a little on the trip here."
"Caught up in the plans for getting married. Apparently the fiance is not of much use, but what can you expect from a man? What the hell do we know about weddings?" Drew asked. "What the hell do we know about women for that matter?"
"Isn't that the truth...granted I don't know what the big deal is about weddings..." Shalie said with a smile. She was glad Devan was happy. "We had a few on the Utopia...and the girls would just obsess about them....granted I never got to go...so I don't know if it was worth it."
Drew swirled the last of his iced tea around in the bottom of his glass before swallowing it. "I'm sure it was." Changing the subject to one he wanted answers for, Drew asked, "What do you know of Yvette LaFaal?"
"Well, I don't know much that you wouldn't...she is French...but I wouldn't hold that against her." Shalie said with a smile. She hadn't had enough time to meet the new diplomat, but in her experience they were good to have on board.
"I met her this morning. She seemed," Drew paused as he attempted to find the right word. "Distracted. I don't know," he said, standing and crossing to her window. Staring out he continued, "I think she may have been attracted to me." He wanted to ask her how that made her feel, but with an impending dinner date that was meant for business only, Drew didn't want to have a scene in the ship's lounge.
Shalie laughed, it wasn't the idea of someone finding him attractive as much as it was his cluelessness about it. "Yeah, you could say that." She watched him at he stood at the window. Something was bothering him. "Do you not want her to be attracted to you?" she asked, hoping he would open up to her a little.
"It's not that I'm bothered, in fact, I think even the new engineer might have been attracted to me. It's just I don't have a good track record with this sort of thing. Back in the Academy, they used to call it 'the O'Connell Challenge'. Any woman making it longer than forty-eight consecutive hours in a relationship with me was officially sainted by the Catholic Church. Between you and I, not a single soul was ever sainted." He laughed.
"At least there, they could get away from me and I could stay far far away from them. Here," he paused and shrugged his shoulders again. "There's nowhere to go and that uncomfortable feeling can't go away."
"Well..." Shalie started keeping her eyes on him. "...you are an ass...what did you expect?" She moved so that she could easily look at him and stretched out across the couch. "I still haven't figured out why I put up with you...other then the sad fact that you are the closest thing to a friend I have." She had a smile on her face. She wasn't trying to pick a fight, merely pointing out a fact.
"That's a sad statement in and of itself," Drew admitted. He stopped the moping about and moved to the chair across from where she lay on the couch. "You need to get out more and work less."
"That is easy for you...everyone wants to get to know you." Shalie said in jest. "I have a past that holds me back...and I know that...so I work." She thought for a second. "Why do we do this?"
"Do what?" Drew asked, honestly not understanding her meaning.
"This...the dinners, the talking, the not talking...I don't know anything about you past, your service record and your brief tendency for introspection." Shalie looked at him. Some part of her wanted to get to know him. She couldn't explain it. "And I would imagine you know less about me."
Drew smiled. One didn't need to be a ship's counselor to know why they did this. "The reason we do this," Drew said, moving forward to perch on the edge of his seat. "Is because we have trouble forming relationships. The less we know about each other, the better, for both of us because we don't really want more than what we have right now." Sitting back into the chair, he rubbed his forehead with his right hand. "You want to know about me? I was raised in Ireland, you know that. My grandfather was my guardian because my parents were off on a long-term, deep space assignment which they still haven't returned from. They've missed out on my life and, worse, they've missed out on Ian's. Parentage in absentia, how convenient..."
Standing and moving back toward the black windows, Drew thought about what came next. "Starfleet found me after I broke into a restricted comm node in Dublin. Nearly got my head blown off for that little gag. A couple weeks later, the Commander who ran the operation came to the farm. Gave my grandfather an ultimatum, I could join the fleet or...the or was never elaborated upon. So I did that.
Four years at the Academy and I played the same games there. I'm better alone. Especially in this field."
Shalie moved into a sitting position. He was getting agitated with her and the only reason should could figure was because she made a reference to knowing each other. He was right. This situation worked because they just got what they needed from each other. Some companionship and some physical comfort. She didn't interrupt him.
"After graduation, I was assigned to Command. A seemingly nameless face in a mass of nameless faces. Except that I'm better than the faceless crowd. I identified the Narcissus Conspiracy, the Romulan ploy to move into the Typhon Sector. Pieced together, random seemingly useless information spelled out the conspiracy.
After that revelation, I was assigned to field work. That particular part of my career is classified. That assignment led to the Rook which led here. Know enough now?" It came out more angry than he intended, but what the hell did she want? She was changing the rules.
Shalie stood up and moved near him. She could feel the anger from him and she heard it in his voice. "I didn't mean I needed your life story...nor was I fishing for information on your past or on Kate." She risked saying the name to prove a point. "I was merely curious." She leaned against the wall just in his peripheral. "I know everything about Ben...and nothing about you....so i figure that means I know 50% of the people I have slept with." The last bit made her laugh at the situation. She turned her eyes to the blackness that seemed to hold Drew's attention.
Turning toward her, he relaxed a bit. He pressed his back against the wall and slouched down to the floor. Gently, he said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blow up on you. I just don't do this well. This friendship thing, this relationship type thing. It never works out for me. I have a feeling you know what I mean."
"Yeah...friendships require trust." Shalie started as she moved to sit on the floor with Drew. "...I don't trust easily....especially not humans." She reached out and tapped Drew's leg. "You don't have to apologize....you suck at hiding when you are angry with me....the joy of being an empath....you yell either way."
Drew had nearly forgotten that Shalie was an empath. He'd grown used to being around her and around her verbal sparring sessions. As further apology, he told her, "All humans aren't as bad at this friendship thing as I am. You should give more of them a chance."
Shalie looked down at her hands before speaking. "I know it doesn't mean anything to you....but you are the first human I have even remotely trusted since I was a kid." Shalie looked down at her hands before continuing. "You are at least honest about the fact that you don't like me and why." She smiled at she looked back up at him.
Of all the things she could have said, this was the least expected. He faltered for a moment before placing his hand on her cheek. "why would you think I don't like you? I might not like the things you do, but that doesn't mean I don't like you." He caught her gaze and held it, unwavering. " I said it before. I just don't understand women."
"I am not women...I am just me...and I don't make sense," Shalie responded with an easy smile. "And you don't give yourself enough credit." She easily moved into a standing position she leaned down a pulled him up with her. "All you need to understand about women is ice cream and chocolate" She smiled as she continued. "So unless you want me to explain my story....we are getting ice cream."
"Well then," Drew replied with a laugh. "For the love of God, let's go get some ice cream."
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