05-23-2025, 01:08 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-23-2025, 01:13 PM by Amila Ra'an.)
== CSO's Quarters: enroute to Trill ==
As Ameen stepped through the door and into her quarters, Amila stood frozen. She was both surprised by his presence, yet not surprised at all. She regarded his every move, trying to anticipate the outcome of tonight’s call before it played out - torn somewhere between hope and self-preservation.
It started when he addressed her as Lieutenant. A title that stung here inside her quarters because of the implications that she could be meant to read into it. Keep it professional.
Then he held up the bottle of Romulan ale he had brought. Synthehol though it appeared, so legal. She watched him measuredly as he placed it on a table. She didn’t have it in her to share a casual drink. She smiled weakly at him and started to shake her head, but something in the way he looked at her made her stop to hear his next words.
"Though, to be honest, a drink wasn't the only thing I had in mind when I came by."
He met her eyes, a slight, almost nervous energy about him now. She met his too. Her eyes were equally as nervous, still anticipating, trying to predict his next steps.
"Computer," Ameen said, his voice clear but pitched for the room's systems, "Execute order Ameen sixty-six."
For a moment, nothing happened. An amused grin started to play on Amila’s lips, as she thought for a moment that possibly something didn’t go as planned. Then on the counter next to her something materialized, A single, perfectly formed Andorian blue rose, its petals tinged with a faint, silvery luminescence.
Her expression changed to one of immediate awe. Her hand reached toward the flower, stopping just short of touching it. She turned to look toward him as her hand fell back to her side. Amila just barely caught the glimpse of his smile before his expression turned more serious.
“Amila,” he began. Hearing her name spoken on his lips seemed to soften the air around her almost immediately. Still, she was cautious, listening to his words carefully, not wanting to misinterpret anything that was said.
"We need to talk. About... us. About where this is going, or if it can go anywhere, now that things have changed so dramatically."
Amila nodded to him in understanding as he explained what he had told Keir. She had expected as much. She stayed silent as he continued, listening.
"What I also told Keir, and what I needed to tell you directly, is that despite all this upheaval, my personal hope was, and still is, to see if there's a possibility for that connection we felt to... continue. To be explored further. Obviously, with the utmost discretion, respecting all professional boundaries and regulations, especially while on duty." She watched as he ran his hand through his hair, and couldn’t help but smile. Through all of this, there were so many little things that made him, him.
"It's a complicated situation, no doubt,” he continued. “Probably the worst timing imaginable. But I wanted you to know where I stood, and to see... if you felt there was any way forward for us, under these new circumstances."
“If I?” Amila’s voice sounded weak as she felt her voice crack. She cleared her throat and tried again. She took a few steps toward him as she spoke again.
“If I felt there was any way forward?” She took a deep breath. “This is your command, your future. You are on the cusp of something really great here. I can’t even imagine what must be going through your mind right now.”
Amila stepped forward even further, closing the gap between them. She stood just a few centimeters away as she looked up and into his eyes.
“You know how I feel about you, right? Do you even have to ask?” Her head shook slightly, almost imperceptibly. “Of course I want there to be a way forward. But the complications don’t affect me like they will you. Are you sure that you’ve thought this through? I don’t want to be a stumbling block for you. Keir knows. But when they gave you this command and I was on the manifest…” Who didn’t you tell…
Amila looked down as she took another breath, this one more shaky than the last. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the flower. The Andorian rose. Blue, a perfect specimen. It was beautiful on its own, but even more beautiful was the gesture behind it.
She smiled and shook her head. The situation was so impossible that she almost laughed. A few minutes ago she was looking at transferring because she thought that this command meant that their date was the beginning and the end of the two of them, a cleaner break. Now, he was here in her quarters saying that he still wanted to see her. That is what he was saying, right? An obvious complication of which could be that a fleet commander transfers her so that he’s not romantically involved with someone under his command.
A classic scenario of cursed if you do, and cursed if you don’t.
The latter wasn't an impossible situation if it happened. If it were meant to be, they could make it work. She let her smile broaden as she turned her eyes back up toward his. Her mind was made up if his was.
“I mean, getting involved with you was always going to be complicated, right? At one point or another...” Amila’s hand reached forward, her fingers just barely brushing against his. “Yet, I agreed to go out with you anyway. I must be a glutton for punishment or something.”
Her hand pressed against his a little more firmly, nudging him gently. She felt vulnerable standing in front of him. Even though he had come to her first, she preferred to keep her emotions closely guarded. Her eyes searched his, begging him to walk out now if he didn't mean everything he had shared, but hoping that he would stay.
==tag==
As Ameen stepped through the door and into her quarters, Amila stood frozen. She was both surprised by his presence, yet not surprised at all. She regarded his every move, trying to anticipate the outcome of tonight’s call before it played out - torn somewhere between hope and self-preservation.
It started when he addressed her as Lieutenant. A title that stung here inside her quarters because of the implications that she could be meant to read into it. Keep it professional.
Then he held up the bottle of Romulan ale he had brought. Synthehol though it appeared, so legal. She watched him measuredly as he placed it on a table. She didn’t have it in her to share a casual drink. She smiled weakly at him and started to shake her head, but something in the way he looked at her made her stop to hear his next words.
"Though, to be honest, a drink wasn't the only thing I had in mind when I came by."
He met her eyes, a slight, almost nervous energy about him now. She met his too. Her eyes were equally as nervous, still anticipating, trying to predict his next steps.
"Computer," Ameen said, his voice clear but pitched for the room's systems, "Execute order Ameen sixty-six."
For a moment, nothing happened. An amused grin started to play on Amila’s lips, as she thought for a moment that possibly something didn’t go as planned. Then on the counter next to her something materialized, A single, perfectly formed Andorian blue rose, its petals tinged with a faint, silvery luminescence.
Her expression changed to one of immediate awe. Her hand reached toward the flower, stopping just short of touching it. She turned to look toward him as her hand fell back to her side. Amila just barely caught the glimpse of his smile before his expression turned more serious.
“Amila,” he began. Hearing her name spoken on his lips seemed to soften the air around her almost immediately. Still, she was cautious, listening to his words carefully, not wanting to misinterpret anything that was said.
"We need to talk. About... us. About where this is going, or if it can go anywhere, now that things have changed so dramatically."
Amila nodded to him in understanding as he explained what he had told Keir. She had expected as much. She stayed silent as he continued, listening.
"What I also told Keir, and what I needed to tell you directly, is that despite all this upheaval, my personal hope was, and still is, to see if there's a possibility for that connection we felt to... continue. To be explored further. Obviously, with the utmost discretion, respecting all professional boundaries and regulations, especially while on duty." She watched as he ran his hand through his hair, and couldn’t help but smile. Through all of this, there were so many little things that made him, him.
"It's a complicated situation, no doubt,” he continued. “Probably the worst timing imaginable. But I wanted you to know where I stood, and to see... if you felt there was any way forward for us, under these new circumstances."
“If I?” Amila’s voice sounded weak as she felt her voice crack. She cleared her throat and tried again. She took a few steps toward him as she spoke again.
“If I felt there was any way forward?” She took a deep breath. “This is your command, your future. You are on the cusp of something really great here. I can’t even imagine what must be going through your mind right now.”
Amila stepped forward even further, closing the gap between them. She stood just a few centimeters away as she looked up and into his eyes.
“You know how I feel about you, right? Do you even have to ask?” Her head shook slightly, almost imperceptibly. “Of course I want there to be a way forward. But the complications don’t affect me like they will you. Are you sure that you’ve thought this through? I don’t want to be a stumbling block for you. Keir knows. But when they gave you this command and I was on the manifest…” Who didn’t you tell…
Amila looked down as she took another breath, this one more shaky than the last. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the flower. The Andorian rose. Blue, a perfect specimen. It was beautiful on its own, but even more beautiful was the gesture behind it.
She smiled and shook her head. The situation was so impossible that she almost laughed. A few minutes ago she was looking at transferring because she thought that this command meant that their date was the beginning and the end of the two of them, a cleaner break. Now, he was here in her quarters saying that he still wanted to see her. That is what he was saying, right? An obvious complication of which could be that a fleet commander transfers her so that he’s not romantically involved with someone under his command.
A classic scenario of cursed if you do, and cursed if you don’t.
The latter wasn't an impossible situation if it happened. If it were meant to be, they could make it work. She let her smile broaden as she turned her eyes back up toward his. Her mind was made up if his was.
“I mean, getting involved with you was always going to be complicated, right? At one point or another...” Amila’s hand reached forward, her fingers just barely brushing against his. “Yet, I agreed to go out with you anyway. I must be a glutton for punishment or something.”
Her hand pressed against his a little more firmly, nudging him gently. She felt vulnerable standing in front of him. Even though he had come to her first, she preferred to keep her emotions closely guarded. Her eyes searched his, begging him to walk out now if he didn't mean everything he had shared, but hoping that he would stay.
==tag==