Taking Chances

Posted on Wed Oct 28th, 2009 @ 5:14am by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine

1,568 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Devils Snare
Location: Lounge
Timeline: current

ON

At promptly 1700, Samantha walked into the lounge dressed in a pair of faded black jeans and a dark turquoise blouse. She looked around for Damon, hoping he was already here. Or, if not, a place she could wait for him.

Damon was currently sitting at the bar with his hands wrapped around a glass of bourbon patiently waiting for his guest. He had arrived about twenty minutes early hoping to secure a seat in case the lounge was swamped that night. Unfortunately, upon arrival he found that the entire room only was only occupied by two other people and his worrying had been for nothing. Feeling slightly foolish, he walked to the bar and ordered a drink to help calm his nerves.

The Marine had managed to find a pair of blue jeans for the night, though not through any small amount of effort. He had spent close to an hour tearing apart his quarters looking for a pair he used to have, to no success. In the end he had to replicate four separate pairs to find one that didn't feel awkward in and his quarters looked similar to what a crate of detonated Marine ordinance could do. A simple black long sleeved shirt finished the look, not so much as a compliment to the jeans, but more of what was clean and not under a few other layers of clothing on his floor.

At the sound of a hiss his eyes darted to the door and found Samantha standing there. With a smile he got up from his stool and waved her over.

There he was. She smiled back. He looked good in jeans. Okay, he looked good in fatigues, too, but he looked really good in those jeans. She kept that thought strictly to herself as she made her way to where he was standing. "Hi," she said.

"Good evening." A wide smile accompanied the words. "Wow, being comfortable really looks great on you."

"Thank you," Samantha said, blushing. "You, too." It had to be a crime for a man to look that good in a pair of jeans. Sam tried hard not to look too much as she walked up to him.

With an outstretched hand he motioned to a table near the window and followed Samantha to her seat. He did the proper thing and pulled her chair out for her while she sat herself before seating himself opposite her.

"Thank you for coming tonight. I know how things can quickly overrun a department heads schedule."

"Yes, but I can always find time if I need to," she said with a shrug. And she could always go back to her lab later, if she needed to. Especially if it was something she didn't want to miss. "You should know. I'm sure you've got a lot more on your plate than I do."

"Actually the pile of PaDD's is getting to an almost manageable size. Up until now it’s been requisition orders and transfer requests. I have to admit, I’m looking forwards to get back into training with the Company. I feel strangely detached with what's happening when I’m stuck in an office."

"I don't have nearly the personnel you do, but I agree, the paperwork is a pain sometimes. I do most of my work from my office, too, so I can relate to feeling detached. I try and make the rounds of the labs on a regular basis just to be sure everything is fine, even though I have all the labs hooked up to my office computer so I can check on them that way, too." Sam grinned. "It's for emergency purposes. If there's a problem, the computer in the lab notifies my computers and I can instantly check the video to see what type of help is needed."

Damon laughed lightly. "A Big Brother sort video feed, huh?"

"Not exactly," Sam chuckled. Although when he put it that way, it DID sound a little Orwellian. "On my last ship, the power went out, causing an explosion in one of the labs. A containment field failed. So did the backup filtration system. With the cameras, we have a record of what goes on, if there's a problem, and when something DOES go wrong, we can instantly see what needs to be done and who is in the lab. It makes it quicker and easier to know how best to respond to the problem. And, if any of the scientists need to video conference, they can do so quickly and easily." Sam shrugged. "It's not unlike anywhere else on the ship, mine is just run of the secondary computer system and has its own power supply." She gave him a sheepish grin. "I'm paranoid when it comes to computers and power for experiments."

"Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I'm sure a number of the things going on in your lab require a dedicated stream of power to be maintained." He paused for a moment and smiled. "Why is it the conversation between us inevitably leads to camera feeds." He joked.

Sam put her hand on his arm and leaned in close. "Because you're a bad influence on me?" she whispered. Then she looked up at him with a teasing grin.

A large grin slowly spread across his face in response. "At that," He said with an air of dignity "It's time to get a drink."

With a rise of his hand he quickly flagged over a rather bored looking server standing near the bar. A moment later the man arrived at their table awaiting their requests.

"And what will the lady be drinking this evening?" Damon asked, stealing the servers words.

Chuckling, Sam thought for a moment. "A glass of white wine, sir."

"Excellent choice m'lady." He said with raised eyebrows and a tipped head. "I think I will join you in your selection."

Damon never took his eyes off Samantha during the exchange. He did, however, hear the server chuckle to himself as he walked off to gather their drinks.

"So," He started, as the server walked off "Help me understand what it is that makes you, you. I know a little bit from our conversations, and I have to say that what I’ve learned intrigues me."

Samantha was charmed by Damon. The more she talked to him, the more time she spent with him, the more she liked him. She shook her head. "I don't know. I have five older brothers. I spent a lot of time following them around, trying to be as good as they were at everything." She gave him an impish grin. "I'm afraid I'm a bit competitive because of that. I've always loved books and history. They've always been two of my biggest passions. I combined them and voila, I became the strange creature you see before you."

The waiter brought their drinks and slipped away again.

"How about you?" Sam asked, smiling gently. "What makes Damon Raine the charming man that he is?

"You know, to be honest I’m not sure. All of my adult life has been spent in the SFMC and a great deal of the time up until enrolment was spent in its preparation. I'm not really sure where I begin and the Marine in me ends. My only real 'human' contact is my sister who I really only get to visit once or twice a year. Now SHE is a tough one, more so than I am, so I really have no idea where this so called charm comes from.†He gave a sideways smile.

"Then I'll just consider myself lucky," Sam said with a grin.

"No, lucky is being able to spend time with the most beautiful woman on the ship." He took a long sip from his glass of wine.

Sam shook her head. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me, instead." She was flattered by his statement, but it was far from the truth. She watched him over the top of her glass as she took a drink. "So, what would you like to do this evening?" She didn't really care, as long as she could spend time with Damon, but she did want to change the subject.

"Well," He said after thinking on it. "I remember you saying something about dancing when we first had a chance to chat. Personally, the only dancing I have ever done is on a battlefield in Marine maneuvers. If you're up to it, I wouldn't mind learning a few steps. At the very least it might be entertaining for you to see me to fall all over myself."

'I'd be willing to teach you a basic waltz if you want. The basic waltz is pretty simple. But if you're not comfortable with it, I'm willing to do something else," Sam said with a soft smile. She wanted him to enjoy spending time with her.

He looked down on the dwindling remains of the wine he was drinking. "Well here's the thing, a friend told me not long ago that 'life's too short not to take chances.' I'm inclined to agree." His eyes lifted from the glass and caught her gaze.

"I'm willing to take a chance if you are," she replied, not breaking eye contact.

OFF

2nd Lieutenant Damon Raine
Marine CO
USS Orion

Lieutenant Samantha York
Chief Science Officer
USS Orion

 

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