How 'Bout a Date?

Posted on Fri Jun 20th, 2025 @ 1:30am by Lieutenant Drake Yarrow & Lieutenant Kailani Young

1,243 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 8 - A Blast from the Past
Location: Bar
Timeline: 2296/03/13 1700 hours

The moment that Drake got off the bridge he made certain to take the turbolift with Kailani. He smirked at her and asked, "Going my way?"

"I suppose so," Kailani answered him coyly as she turned to briefly regard him.

"Just suppose?" Drake asked. "I certainly would not want to put you out. I'm far too much of a gentleman for that." He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Though, if you wanted to get a drink with me, I certainly would not be opposed."

Kailani laughed. "Oh, let a girl play it a bit coy!" she protested, laughing despite herself. "I suppose I wouldn't mind a drink," she added.

Drake replied, "Good, 'cause at least on our Constitution class starships we do not have to deal with the sad future of synthohol. We get the real stuff here and I would not want to give you anything but the best." He started to sound a bit more giddy than he originally was on the bridge. "And what was going on with the Captain when she got back? Have you ever seen her like that?"

"Not really, but I'm fairly new. I thought she was just talking to officers she was more comfortable with." Kailani turned to face him, arching her back just so, and didn't really seem to even know she was doing it. "So, what are we drinking?"

The turbolift opened and Drake started heading to the bar. "We're drinking whatever you're drinking at first. But as to the Captain, I've never seen her like that. I'd swear that she didn't even smile for the first four months I was here. And she's an Irishhwoman through and through. Don't want to experience being on her bad side. Trust me!" He wiped his brow.

"You're from California, right?" she asked as she followed him to the bar. He seemed to move with a bit of an abrupt step somehow. But she took her seat next to him. "Coconut margarita," she ordered.

He told the bartender, "Another for me. Put it on my tab."

Turning back to Kallani, he said, "I am from California. How did you know? Am I just that easy going?"

"I think I heard someone mention it," she said, taking a sip of her drink. "But you are pretty easy going."

"I suppose that it helps when you could be facing some unknown death out in the black of space at any moment in time, right? But, that could just be a justification. Why don't you tell me a bit more about yourself. After all, helm and nav should be like bread and butter, right?"

"Am I the bread or the butter?" Kailani asked. It sounded somehow naughty, though she wasn't sure how. It wasn't the sort of thing she would have normally felt on a first date. She was strangely disinhibited, but, of course, not really aware of this.

"Well, about me," she continued. "I'm Hawaiian. A lot of starship pilots starting with aerial vehicles or even went straight to space, but I was always fascinated by the sea as a kid. I would think about what it was like for the earliest explorers in the Pacific, in a multi-hulled canoe, following the birds and the waves to find land. Humans have been explorers for a very long time, I always thought. But ultimately I wanted to go where no one had gone before."

"Which would you prefer? Being bread or butter?" Drake asked with a mischievous grin. "So did you sew all your sea oats while on earth? I don't think I could ever tire of the sea. I was a surfer dude from California." He paused for a moment and said, "I already told you where I'm from, didn't I? Just reinforcing stereotypes, aren't I?"

"I think the bread," Kailani said and she seemed to slightly shift how she sat as she took another drink. "Then you can, well..." She did have enough self-control left to cut herself off, but she winked back.

"And I haven't lost my love of the sea," Kailani continued. "I still swim and canoe whenever I'm on leave and Earth is far from the only planet with oceans. Some worlds have intelligent life in their seas and even if they don't there are geological and biological discoveries to be made. If the captain ever wants to send an Away Team below the waves, I'd be first to volunteer."

"This ship is not really meant to go beneath sea level, though I bet the engineers might have something to say about that," he said leaning in closer to Kailani. There was something just so familiar and comfortable about Kailani. She also said she's prefer to be the bread. That meant that he should be buttering her. He sighed pleasantly at the thought. This night sounded like it had promise. Perhaps, though, to make certain, they should have at least another drink. "Do you have a favorite place to swim or canoe?'

"You think I don't know that? I said Away Team," she pointed out. "Even helmsmen occasionally get to go below." Even that sounded strangely dirty. But she answered his question directly. "Po'ipu Beach."

Drake's head must have been fuzzy because he had missed the reference to the away team. He shook his head as if to shake out the cobwebs. "Why Po'ipu Beach?"

"Because it's a tourist beach," she admitted, "which might be terrible to say as a local. But I didn't want to hang out with my neighbors. I wanted to gawk at people from all over the world and the Federation."

"I see," Drake answered, as he put his hand on Kallani's. "I'm definitely not a local."

She grinned and squeezed his hand. She shifted it, perhaps unconsciously, so the back of it rested against her thigh through her uniform. "No, you're definitely not."

Drake grinned at Kallani pleasantly. This was going well. "So, how long do you want to gawk at me?" he asked with a short giggle.

"You could gawk back, you know?" she teased. "Make a girl feel special."

"I thought that I was doing just that," Drake quipped. "Perhaps I need to make it more obvious?" He stared intently with a silly grin over at Kailani. "Is this better?" he asked after several moments had passed.

She laughed. "You're cute," she said, pressing his hand against her. This was too fast. It didn't seem like her. That's what a distant little voice said. But, somehow, she could barely hear it. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Yeah, I do," Drake answered eagerly. He was not sure how things went from zero to warp, but who was he to argue? A good navigator only laid out the map and direction. It was for the helm to take charge and Kailani certainly seemed to be doing that. He dared to give her a kiss on the lips. Who care who saw, at this point? When he broke the kiss, he said, "Let's fly."

She kissed him back. Rather fiercely. Her lips parted and pressed to his and she wrapped her arms tightly around him. Then she pulled back only to head for the exit. Her hips swayed invitingly as she walked.

Drake followed Kailani like a puppy looking forward to a yummy treat. He knew at this point that there was nothing he would not do for her. His near future was with her.

 

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