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Dinner

Posted on Fri Feb 17th, 2017 @ 12:53am by Warrant Officer Cato West & Lieutenant Commander T'Pral Jordan
Edited on on Fri Feb 17th, 2017 @ 12:59am

Mission: Refit Rondo
Location: Ten-Forward, Deck 10
Timeline: Before Launch

T'Pral entered Ten-Forward, having come from her quarters. After the training exercise, she had jumped into the sonic shower and being indecisive on what to wear, she chose a clean pair of uniform. She had never been much for wearing civilian clothes unless the situation called for it. As she looked around, she noticed a man come up on her right. She turned to see that it was West. "Greetings," she said, feeling glad to see him.

"Greetings huh?" He perked a brow and chuckled. Cato too had changed back into uniform, although he donned a vest instead of a jacket. Leading T'Pral to the table he had just been sitting at, he took a seat across from an empty one. Having beaten her there by a few minutes he had been working on his second drink. His first empty glass sat atop the table, the ice in the bottom having melted and caused a water ring underneath it. "I took the liberty of starting without you, drinking Jameson."

"Is that your favorite?" she asked as she sat down in the empty chair as a waitress came up to the table.

He cracked a smile and eye locked with her "Absolutely and unequivocally my favorite. But only your imagination is the limit in this place."

West's reply caused her to chuckle, "I have never tried it." She then looked up at the waitress. "I will have a Bajoran Ale, along with roasted chicken and mashed potatoes,"

"And I'll have two of the Pork belly skewers, white truffle fries and roasted cauliflower." Cato ordered, his right hand hauled that glass of whiskey to his lips and he took a sip before looking back to T'Pral "I suppose I should finish the story, as agreed, but I'm curious. You're at least half Vulcan." He paused "Why security and tactical?"

T'Pral shrugged. "Why not." she then continued. "Because I find that those fields actually calm me. In all honesty, I have never been good at controlling my emotions and sports and physical exercise helps me work my emotions better than Vulcan control techniques. My father wasn't happy with my choice, preferring that I choose a science career, but my mother was very supportive of my decision."

Cato nodded "I was curious what motivated you to go the direction you did. Everyone has their reasons to go down their path, some are more logical than others." He continued "I too know what it's like making choices that parents disapprove of." He took a sip of his drink "But for me, my parents are long gone. No family, no ties. Helps me make the right decision, even when making the right decision isn't making the right decision. If you know what I mean?"

T'Pral nodded. "I do, and I am sorry that you do not have any family ties." The waitress came back with their food and set it on the table. "Thank you," T'Pral said before turning her attention back to West. "Why did you choose to go in Intel?"

He smiled "We all make mistakes..." his voice trailed off as he ate a fry. "Every career changing mistake I've made in my life has stemmed from a toxic woman." he paused and took a sip of his drink and looked into her eyes "You came for a story, so it's only fair if we start from the beginning." he perked a brow. "I was seventeen, early entrance into Starfleet Academy. During my first year, my girlfriend slept with my best friend at the time; I caught them together and put him through a window. Nearly killed the bastard too." A wicked smirk crept across his lips about that last part. "After that, I dropped out from the Academy and enlisted into the MACO's."

He continued "After that, became a Ranger, then Delta, then Special Warfare Operator training. A few brushes with death. MACO's got disbanded because we weren't needed anymore, alas I went to Officer Candidate School, taught at the academy and then another bad decision. Lost my commission and was assigned to Intel." he smiled "That about sums it up, more or less." he winked a then took a bite of the sweet pork belly from one of the skewers, then a fry.

T'Pral finished chewing and swallowing a slice of her chicken as West finished. It was obvious that he was flirting with her as she regarded the wink. While he was a handsome man, she was unsure of pursuing anything past friendship with him. She grinned in return. "So your problem then, is with women. You should be more careful in the future in regards to romantic endeavours."

He smirked as he took a sip of Jameson, although what was on his mind wasn't "On the contrary." he paused "I'm very selective; I just have a habit of picking strong, independent women who like to make trouble." taking another sip and motioning for the bar tender to send another one over, silently "I don't need to be careful in regards to romantic endeavors, I just need to find the one who doesn't mind keeping up with me... Or putting me in check." he paused, polishing off his second Jameson in the last hour.

"Anyway, I got my ass dropped outside of Triton Seabase and you got a glimpse of what that was. 131 Hours of CQB, finally repelled them. I lost a good friend of mine that day, why I always use my mistakes to train..." his voice trailed "Sweat in training so you don't bleed in battle." Cato perked a brow as the waiter brought him his third drink, taking another sip. Guys like Cato, loved their whiskey and crazy hobbies; It went hand in hand with what they did.

T'Pral nodded as she gauged West, finishing another bite of her chicken. Losing a friend was never easy. "Your dedication to correcting your past mistakes is commendable...yet you should not dwell it, nor attempt to drown it in alcohol. From what I observed on the holodeck, you push yourself harder than most. If you are still searching for a woman who can keep up with you, however, I believe you have found her," she finished with a grin.

Cato smiled, overlooking the drown it in alcohol comment and focused on her big grin "Is that a fact?" he moved a bit closer towards her side of the table, but not too far; his voice got softer, lower and a more serious tone took over "I don't admit things, nor do I apologize." He paused for a second, keeping his eyes locked on hers "I'll admit that I do like you, very much. Probably more than I should, but..." His voice trailed off, suddenly the enlisted-officer fraternization regulations came busting into his head. "I don't want to fuck this up." he gestured between the two of them before taking another sip from his glass.

T'Pral then realized that her comment had been misunderstood as a flirt--she had never been good at drawing a line between serious and coming off flirty. Yet, she could not deny that she felt attracted to West. "I believe the only way that we could, 'fuck this up' as you put it, is by moving too fast, as we are not in direct chain of command of each other." She knew that IF she wanted a relationship with West, it would be borderline fraternization as West was a senior enlisted but they were in separate departments. "I too, must admit that I find you...appealing."

"Appealing huh?" He grinned "I agree. Slow is good" he smiled before turning his attention back to his food. "So tell me a story about you. I'm sure you have a few." He took a few bites of fries following with a bite of pork belly skewer.

T'Pral finished swallowing a forkful of mashed potatoes. "I had nothing compared to your experience, but my most notable combat experience was when Orion Pirates ambushed the USS Excalibur. We were responding to a distress call of a disabled freighter. Only the pirates used freighter to close with the Excalibur and explode it, damaging the ship significantly. A moment later, several cloaked vessels beamed over boarding parties. In the process, the Security Chief was killed as well as nearly half of the crew before we were able to regroup and repel them," she said, remembering all of the friends she lost that day.

"Experiences where you lose friends are the ones that make you stronger. They teach you that life, is after all, only temporary." He paused before continuing "Orions are brutal, they usually rape and torture women that are captured. I'm glad you never had to go through that." Cato was blunt, suddenly their happy conversation took a turn for a darker, more serious note.

"Thank you. As for living temporary, speak for yourself. I plan to live forever," she joked, attempting to turn the tide of the conversation.

Cato cracked a smile "Yeah?" he eye locked with her for a brief second, long enough to say "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." he perked a brow, slammed the rest of his glass. "I'm heading back to the Holodeck for a swim." he paused "Care to join?" he grinned.

T'Pral hesitated. She had things to do such as make sure her department was running efficiently by making inspections at stationed security posts, yet a part of her wanted to go for the swim. Figuring she could do the inspections after the swim, she stood. "Very well, let's go."

"Meet you there, Holodeck One" Cato said before standing and turning on a heel; Walking out of Ten-Forward rather quickly. Heading for his quarters to grab his UDT shorts and his favorite pair of sunglasses.

 

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