New Paris at Night, part 2

Posted on Mon Sep 6th, 2010 @ 12:15pm by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine

784 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Peace, or Something Like It
Location: New Paris, Turkana IV
Timeline: Current

ON

[OLD]

"Want to give it a try?" Damon asked. Damon had a feeling that this would likely be the best they were going to find.

[NEW]

Sam scanned the room, pleasantly surprised by what she saw. "Yes, I do."

She followed Damon inside where they were quickly met by a gentleman who led them to a tiny table against a wall.

Damon sat himself on the somewhat uncomfortable chair and took up the small menu sitting in front of him. There wasn't much in the way of choice, not that he could understand the writing anyways.

"I don't know Sam." He said as he stared at the strange squiggles and lines on the menu. "The house favourite sounds good." A sideways grin spread across his face.

"Works for me," she said, grinning back. When the waiter came, they placed their order.

The waiter came back a few moments later with a basket of bread and two bottles of a dark beverage.

"What's that?" she asked the waiter, indicated the bottle.

"House ale," he replied as he turned and walked back to the kitchen.

Damon picked up the bottle and examined it in the light. The dark colour of the ale prevented much of the light from penetrating through the liquid. What he did see was lots of dark specks floating through the beverage.

"Lot's of sediment," He said as if he was reporting his findings. "They probably don't have much in the way of distilleries down here."

He shrugged after a moment, satisfied with the visual inspection and lifted the bottle in the air. "Cheers."

A large portion of the dark liquid poured into his mouth and he held it there for a tentative moment before swallowing. His eyes widened a bit as the full impact of the taste hit him. He looked back at the bottle with something akin to appreciation.

"Wow, that's actually pretty good." he said, nodding.

Sam watched him carefully. When he gave his approval she took a swallow. It was nothing like she'd expected, but it was pretty good. "You're right," she said, pleasantly surprised. She took another swallow before setting the bottle down.

The waiter brought them each a bowl of thick vegetable soup. It was Sam's turn to try it first. She took a tentative bite, letting the flavors sit on her tongue for a moment before swallowing. "Oh, that's good," she said, taking another bite.

Damon followed suit and took up a spoon full of the soup. As he consumed it he tried to equate the flavor to other foods, the unique taste, however, was in a bracket all to itself.

"I'm impressed." He said between mouthfuls. "I might have been wrong in assuming we wouldn't find any fine dining."

"I agreed with you," she reminded him. "This is really a nice place. Small, but nice." She tried a piece of bread next. It was soft and flavorful. "This is good, too."

Damon chuckled at the quality of the food. He suddenly had a feeling like everything in this restaurant would be good; it was just that sort of place.

He dipped his bread in the soup and took a bite, enjoying the combination of flavors.

"Yes, by the way." He seemed to comment out of nowhere

"Yes?" she asked, looking up. "Yes to what?" She reviewed some of their recent discussions, wondering to which he was commenting.

She finished her bread and soup and sat back, watching him.

He was struck by the unconscious nature of his comment. It was the first thought off the top of his head and he, for some reason, decided to vocalise it.

He looked at Samantha who was waiting for an answer. He was hooked for it now. "Yes, I've been thinking about kids lately." He took a small sip out of his beer and hoped she wouldn't be scared off the topic.

"Pleasant thoughts, I hope?" Sam took a sip of her drink and continued watching him. She let herself feel his emotions, not wanting to get this wrong. Taking a chance she added. "Because I've always wanted to get married and have a family." Now she'd done it. She watched to see him get uncomfortable and pull away.

Wow...With me? Damon had thought a lot on the topic recently, wondering if he was ready for a step like that. What he hadn't considered was that she might have been feeling the same way.

He sat across the table from her absorbing what she just told him and trying to make sense of how he should proceed.

(To be continued...)

Commander Samantha York
Commanding Officer
USS Calypso

Major Damon Raine
Marine CO
USS Calypso

 

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