The News...

Posted on Sat Dec 5th, 2009 @ 5:08am by Lieutenant JG Drew O'Connell & Lieutenant Commander Kaylis Kirana

2,054 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Balowlli System
Location: The Golden Crown
Timeline: Current

Drew slipped into the Golden Crown for a second night in a row. He was just as daunted by his dinner date with Shalie Montgomery as he had been on the date with Yvette LaFaal. He had at least prepared better for this one, there was no misunderstanding about the tone of this meeting. As such, Drew had dressed casually as he'd informed Shalie they should. Wearing a pair of grey slacks and a dark blue shirt, Drew felt out of place as he sat alone, tapping the table with his forefinger.

Prior to receiving the news, Shalie had been looking forward to dinner. Well, looking forward in the sense that it would be nice to do something different, even if that different involved potential embarrassment in front of her crew mates. That worry didn't fit now, seeing as how as of 0900 tomorrow, she would no longer be a crew member of the Archimedes but of the Slyvinia Station.

Shalie entered the Golden Crown dressed in a pair of fitted boot cut slacks and a long sleeve black shirt. She easily spotted Drew, he could no longer blend in to his surroundings with her. He was one of the first people she noticed when they shared a space. She easily made her way over to the table. She gave a half-hearted smile and she smoothly slid into her seat. "Sorry I kept you waiting." she would tell him, but she didn't know when, or if he would even care. The part about Lange would matter, but not her leaving.

"I haven't been waiting long," Drew lied. He was trying to make the night a normal experience. He would fight his baser instincts to royally piss off every woman he met, and instead would attempt to be a 'normal' human male. "You look...stunning." It was perhaps the first and last compliment Drew would give the Orion.

Shalie laughed slightly to herself, her eyes moving down to her hands. She glanced back up at Drew before faking a smile. "Thank you.....you look pretty good yourself." she glanced around the fairly empty room. It had been that long ago she had been here with Captain Kerr and now with Drew. "So...what are we having for our last dinner together?" She was going to let fate decide how O'Connell would take that comment.

Shalie had seemed distracted, even nervous, since she arrived. Now that she had asked, Drew was faced with the source of her nervousness. He closed his eyes a moment and recalled the recent crew orders for the Archimedes, whether by unconscious choice or mere carelessness, Drew had skipped over the name of the single person he could call a friend on the ship. "Our last dinner?" he asked, the question caught in his throat and left a bad taste in his mouth.

"I thought you off all people would have read the transfer orders." Shalie said with a grin. "As of 0900 tomorrow I am being exiled to Slyvinia Station as an Operations Officer."

Drew sighed heavily. "I probably read the transfer orders, I just didn't process them." He looked at her as he shrugged, his shoulder slumping with some defeat.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Attempting to calm her nerves before she continued. "Drew...there is something I need to tell you."

"There's more?" he asked.

Shalie didn't give him any chance to speak, she merely started her statement. "On shoreleave, after I stormed out of your aunt's house and returned to San Fransisco I was visited by Captain Lange. She was there with a proposition for me. She wanted me to work for her...report back to her on what you were doing and what trouble you were causing." She cleared her throat, keeping her eyes focused on a spot behind Drew.

Shalie finally looked Drew in the eye. "Apparently telling her that I wouldn't betray you was the wrong answer...granted this would have been the same result had I agreed to help...I would only have been putting off the inevitable." She laughed slightly as she kept her eyes locked on his, awaiting his reaction.

Drew dropped his head, studying the floor before preparing his answer. "Son of a bitch," he said, his teeth grit with anger. "She's dividing us so she can pick us off one at a time. She knows that together, whatever this relationship is, was...has been, we would have pulled together. We would have made sure everyone knew she was a zealot with a vengeance. Now, we're just one person, apart. We have no support. This is going to make it easier for her to pick us off."

"Well...just don't let her get to you." Shalie said almost pleading. She extended her hand and placed it on his, not out of pity, but merely out of reassurance. "Drew...you need to worry about you...I have pissed off far more powerful people for less important things...I will be fine." She tipped her head trying to catch his eye line.

"Of that, I have no doubt." Drew decided that whatever they had, at the very least, they were now friends. He wrapped his own fingers through hers and held her hand with equal reassurance. "Just remember there's a shark out there and we're the prey. Now, what do you say we put this little inconsequential bullshit out of our minds? This is your last night on the ship, afterall."

Shalie cocked a brow at the question. "What exactly do you have in mind?" She could never read Drew well. Only when he was angry did he let his guard down long enough.

Drew shrugged. "I was already going to try and make an effort to be a human being tonight. Now, I'll just have to try even harder to make that a reality."

Shalie laughed and gave Drew a questioning look. "You mean you aren't always human?" She watched for a second before shaking her head. "Well I guess we could start with dinner...then go back to my quarters for a drink? Unless you have something else planned."

"You know what I meant...I was really going to try and not be a jerk, not pick a fight, not find every fault, every imperfection, every reminder of what'e wrong with me reflected in someone else." Drew looked down, he was so tired of being alone, and yet fate had chosen now to make him realize it. Now, when the only person he could see tolerating him was being sent away. It was far from an 'I love you', Drew couldn't even think of the day that might come, but it was enough. "I think dinner would be a good way to start...about the rest, I guess we'll see."

[Later]

Dinner had been quite laid back, nothing Shalie was used to with Drew. She had tried her best to follow Drew's example and not pick a fight, but she had to admit fighting with him was something she truly enjoyed. It was one of the things she looked forward to. She couldn't help but realize through dinner how much she was going to miss him.

As the plates were cleared, Shalie finished her wine and looked over the table at Drew. "So what are you in the mood for?...Drink...a walk...sparring?" She asked trying to come up with someway to extend what little time they had left.

Drew smiled. Their last sparring session had ended oddly and he thought that repeating the event would be bad idea. "Let's do two out of three, we'll walk back to your place and have a drink." Drew smiled.

Shalie didn't say anything she simply pushed back from the table and waited for Drew to do that same. As they exited the Golden Crown, she smiled playfully as she gently brushed her hand against his. If they were going for human, she was going to run with it.

Drew decided their last night together would see him let his guard down. Her hand brushed against his and as she did it again, he wrapped his fingers around it, catching her gently. As they continued, he interlaced his fingers with hers, looking at her with a genuine smile, he even let down the mental guards he'd kept up since he'd first learned of her empathic nature. If she really wanted to know him, his thoughts and feelings, now was her last opportunity.

Shalie gave Drew a questioning glance. She could feel him, all of him. Deciding to save her questions until they were alone she just savored his touch, which allowed her to feel more of him. The walk was slow and relatively uneventful. She moved close to him as she opened the door to her quarters. She was close enough she had tip her head all the way back too look up at him. She gave him a playful wink as she moved inside. "What'll ya have?" she asked as she moved over to the replicator.

"Scotch on the rocks," Drew responded, moving through her quarters after she pulled away. He looked at her personal effects and wondered why he'd never really noticed them before. Plopping down on the couch, Drew wondered if he really was doing the right thing, sharing this much of himself with her. He lay his head back on the rear of the couch and sighed.

Shalie ordered Drew's scotch on the rocks and her tequila neat. As the glasses finished materializing she picked them up. She moved around the couch and sat down on the cushion next to him, curling her feet up under her. She took a sip of her drink as she extended her arm to deliver his. She eyed him for a minute, feeling everything including his need for her tonight. The feeling was mutual. She leaned and placed the glass on the table. As she returned to her sitting position, she rested her head on the back of the couch. "What are you thinking? I can feel you...but I don't know what you are thinking?" She asked curiously.

Drew smiled as he raised his head to look at her. "I guess I'm thinking that things never work out the way you plan them and I'm also thinking that, as impossible as it sounds, I'm actually going to miss you. I mean, I think I may have found the only other person in this cocked up universe who understands me...annoys the piss out of me, for sure, but also gets me."

Shalie smiled. She knew exactly what he meant. "Well...I guess fate as other plans for us...well, at least me." She gave him a bit of a wink. She leaned forward and retrieved her ill placed drink, this time sinking in close to Drew. "I know I am going to miss the fighting...that is my favorite part of being around you." She playfully elbowed him making sure not to spill her drink.

"The fighting is your favorite part?" he asked, incredulous. Running his hand across her cheek and down her neck, Drew leaned in and kissed her deeply, passionately. "I must be doing something wrong then...please, school me." He pulled away slightly and gave her that smirk she hated.

Shalie breathed out slowly as she smiled at his smirk. "Ok, I lied...that might be my favorite part." Her voice was soft as she looked at him, watching that familiar smirk. She downed the remainder of her drink and gently plucked Drew's from his hand. Setting both glasses out of spilling range. She returned to look at him, almost studying him before she pressed her lips to his for another kiss. "I don't think I have enough time to teach you...much!" She smiled a devious smile as her face hovered mere millimeters from his.

"Consider me a blank slate...teach me, oh Jedi Master," Drew laughed. It was mere seconds later that she was dragging him off to her bedroom and while he'd seen it plenty of times, he was certain tonight was going to be quite different than any of those times before.

---

 

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