A double dinner date

Posted on Friday 26 March 2021 @ 16:34 by Commander Caroline Miller & Lieutenant Ricardo Draxx & Captain Melody Jones

Mission: A Cry from the Darkness
Location: Jones's quarters
Timeline: MD1 2000
2558 words - 5.1 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

It was Melody's turn to cook that evening and she had invited Caroline as well. To her surprise, Caroline had asked if she could bring someone. Melody was overjoyed. Caroline had not had the best luck recently with men and she deserved some happiness. 4 places were now set at the table and she had made sure this time that Nibbles was secured in her habitat.

Caroline pressed the chime on Mathias quarters. "Hey. Have you any dinner plans?"

Mathias opened the door, his tunic and undershirt were off as well as his boots, clad in nothing but his pants. He was prepping to get into the shower when the chime sounded. His eyes lit up seeing Caroline at his door, and a warm welcoming smile.

"Dinner plans? No, I've not made any plans for dinner yet. Would you like to come in? I was just getting ready to get in the shower, so I will be just a few minutes. Make yourself comfortable." He smiled and disappeared into the bedroom, then into the bathroom.

His quarters had several plants in containers, two were miniature roses, one a dark red and the other a sunset orange. The other was a lavender plant that was in bloom. Upon a table was a table that he'd set aside for his artwork. Several sketches were there, and there was his sketchbook with another piece of art sort of sticking out from it. Also up on the wall on a couple of shelves were things that have been carved by hand, a figurine one which was a fairy with wings outstretched as if ready to take flight. There was another figurine it was that of a rose its petal looking rather delicate.

Caroline smiled enjoying what had greeted her at the door and took a seat looking around curiously as he went for his shower. The fairy figurine was definitely beautiful. She wondered how he had the time to be so creative. She decided she better give him a heads up as she heard him walk back out of his bathroom. "We are having dinner with the Captain. I hope that's okay?"

Having had gotten dressed in black slacks except for a shirt, Mathias stepped out, "Dinner with the Captain, sounds lovely, now just to have to pick out a shirt fitting for the occasion. Semi formal or casual dressy?" Mathias taking a good look at what Caroline was wearing, to make a judgment call on the sort of shirt to wear. He decided to wear his long sleeve dark purple button up, no tie. After tucking it in, he slid on his shoes and walked out, combing back his hair. "Okay, hopefully I look presentable." giving a lopsided smile.

"You look very nice," Caroline smiled.

Back in their quarters, Melody was just putting the finishing touches to a very nice leg of lamb before she was quickly going to get changed before their guests arrived. She called out to Draxx "Sweetie, would you be so kind as to open the wine to let it breathe, I'm just going to get quickly changed."

"Yes no problem," he replied locating the bottle.

From the bedroom, there was suddenly a loud ripping sound followed by a scream of "Nooooooo..." From Melody.

Draxx was round the corner quickly. "What's wrong? Is it the babies?"

Melody came back in just her underwear showing her tummy which was already looking rounder. This was confirmed as she was holding her trusty black dress which now had a large rip down the seam near the stomach region. "It ripped when I tried to zip it up!" She exclaimed. "This is all your fault mister!"

Draxx relaxed a little and folded his arms playfully, "It takes two to get you in that situation you know. And we will get you a new dress. That was one of my favourites too you know."

"Well....." She looked at him and sighed. "It makes me feel better to blame you, ok?" she said as she came up to him and gave him a peck on the cheek, before returning to the bedroom. She could be heard muttering "Now what am I going to wear?"

Her train of thought was interrupted by the door chime. She exclaimed "Oh..... Cock Wombles! Can you get that Sweetie? Tell them I'll be out soon."

"Sure thing love," Draxx said smiling. He went to the door. "Caroline, Mathias welcome."

The blond pecked him on the cheek and handed him a bottle of wine. The Bajoran held his hand out to the other man. He didn't know him well. In fact, all he really knew was he was a department chief and had got Faye all hot and bothered when she was in his daughter.

"Melody is just going to be a moment. Can I get you a drink?"

"Certainly a drink would be lovely." giving a friendly but slightly nervous smile, towards Draxx, he'd not actually had an official meeting with the man, and Mathias still had the mental ripples from when Fay was in Sansa's body. He felt like he wasn't quite on solid ground yet." He took Draxx's hand and shook it. Did the man know about the kiss from Fay while in Sansa's body?

From the bedroom came another ripping sound, followed by an exasperated scream of "Cock Wombles!" from Melody.

Mathias looked in that direction from Melody's bedroom, wondering if she were alright.

Draxx tried not to smile at his wife's profanities. "Excuse me. I'll just go see if everything's alright."

Caroline tried not to laugh at the words issued.

A few minutes later, dressed in a flowing summery dress that was tied around her midsection with a bow, Melody came back into the room. Her cheeks flushed when she saw the look on Mathias's and Caroline's faces. "Sorry about that, That's two dresses I've ruined this evening. She came over to Caroline and embraced her in a hug. "I'm glad you could come." She then turned to Mathias and hugged him too.

Mathias returned the embrace, with a smile. "You are looking well." he stated to Melody.

"Somewhat swollen in places" Melody replied as she patted her belly. Dinner will be ready shortly, please take a seat and..." Something moved on the floor out of the corner of her eye that made her stop. "How did you get out?" She asked as she spotted a very guilty look hedgehog happily chewing on one of Draxx's boots. She bent down slowly and picked her up. "Caroline, you remember Nibbles. She's now become an escape artist." Melody said as she held her out for Mathias to see and touch before putting her back in her habitat. "Don't worry, she doesn't bite fingers." she reassured them. Look's like you're going to need some new boots sweetie." Melody called out to Draxx. Melody picked up a glass of carrot juice and looked at Caroline and Mathias "So what's new with you two?"

Mathias looked at Nibbles and reached out to touch the hedgehog. "Greetings Nibbles, nice to meet you." then he looked at Melody as she asked her question. He smiled and could feel his cheeks go a bit warm. For some reason, the man who could seem so polished and debonair was feeling like he was an awkward shy boy.

"Come on you, let's get you back where you belong," Melody said as she had put Nibbles back.

Melody suddenly remembered something a looked to Mathias. "Sansa mentioned that you two had some interesting whale watching experiences while we were on Earth."

"Yes, we had met by accident on a trip I had booked earlier. I wanted to go see the whales in my neck of the woods so to speak. It had been a while." Mathias said feeling his awkwardness disappearing." It was a lovely trip."

Melody was placing the lamb and the vegetables on the table. "And did she really jump over the back of the ship to save some young man's life?" Off his look, she added, "The Captain of the ship contacted me after the incident, don't worry, I know she swore you to secrecy."

Mathias pulled out the chair for Caroline, for her to be seated, then took his place next to her. Mathias froze momentarily his eyes darting towards Draxx then to Caroline then Melody. "Yes, she did dive overboard, to help that young man. it was a frightening situation. I couldn't find where they were at first, but, one of the whales, a mother, brought her and the boy up safely. It was amazing. " Mathias made himself relax after his statement.

Melody smiled as she served. "That sounds just like Sansa, jumping in and thinking of others before herself. Right, dig in, and please speak up if you want more." She sighed as he looked at the other's wine glasses and then back to her carrot juice. "I miss red wine."

"Well only what 7 more months to go sweetheart. I will make sure we have plenty in ready," Draxx said. "So what else did you get up to over shore leave then? I heard from my boss that there was a band?"

Melody let out a sigh. "Only seven months..." She echoed as she tucked into her lamb. "Well, at least I get to eat well and just say I'm eating for 3. And I suppose you'll be happier I've decided I'm not going on this away mission." She added to Draxx.

"It was sort of a planned event as in, I had talked with Sav as well as Miles, during the trip to Earth, and it resulted in us playing together, singing some songs, and having a good time. And the Faerie Tree Inn was willing to have the event take place there. Loved the event. And it was sort of a dress up as Faeries sort of thing a bit of a tradition." Mathias replied. "Though I didn't dress up as a faerie I was dressed up as a Bard. Caroline and those who had come did get into the festivities." he looked at Caroline with a smile.

"Oh yes. We cracked out our fairy wings. It was good fun. Bree met someone and the CMO went dancing," she told them.

Draxx put his arm around Melody. "It will fly by and very pleased to hear that. I don't need to ask Caroline to try talk some sense into you now. Fairy wings ehh. Bajorans don't have fairies but I know of them. I lived on Earth a few years before I went for the academy. What do you think? Are they real?"

"I believe they are real and do exist. I've had encounters that have added to my own beliefs." Mathias stated. "Not everyone believes but that is okay, it is the same as Angels appearing to people to help in their time of need. Not everyone believes in angels either."

The lamb, as usual, was cooked to perfection and soon everyone's plate was empty. Melody had suspiciously put extra meet on hers, but that too had gone. "There's pudding available but no coffee I'm afraid as the smell still makes me feel queasy," Melody said as she cleared the plates from the table.

"That was delicious." Mathias said helping to clear off the plates from the table. "And tea will do fine." he added. "If you'd like, I can get the tea, if you wish to sit down." knowing that he might be treading on dangerous ground but, he was the sort that has a habit of helping even he was a guest. Something that his mother and grandmother instilled in him.

Draxx shook his head. "She's pregnant. I'm not and you're a guest. It's very kind of you to offer but I can sort the tea."

Mathias gave a nod and retreated from the area, back to sitting next to Caroline, he looked over at her then towards Melody. Then at Draxx. "How was your Shoreleave. Hopefully, you had a relaxing time. Where did you go to get some relaxation time?"

Melody was grateful for Draxx's assistance. She sat down on the sofa nearby while Draxx sorted the tea. "We had a very nice shore leave, thank you. I must admit I was sad to see Fay leave but happy to get Sansa back." Melody said as she accepted a cup of tea from Draxx. "We went to Italy and stayed with Draxx's relatives for a while and Breana invited us to a BBQ and poker game one night which turned out to be entertaining and profitable..." She added with a wry smile "Not that we're concerned with profit in this day and age. What else did you get up to?" She asked Mathias as she took a sip of her tea.

"Well, I began working on something..." Mathias paused for a moment then he smiled at Melody with a twinkle in his eyes. "It's a surprise and I am not going to tell you yet, until I have it finished. You will have to wait and see, and I do hope you both will like it."

Melody raised an eyebrow. "Sounds interesting. So what happened with you and Fay's new host?" Melody asked, not realising it was a sensitive subject.

Caroline sat back and sipped her drink. She had already heard this story and Mathias knew everything was fine.

“Tea, ” Draxx said heading back from the replicator. “Also amaretto biscuits. So what did I miss.” he asked innocently.

Mathias gave a smile towards Caroline, then turned his attention to answering Melody's question. "Well, to put things in a nutshell, Fay's new host was an old friend and a girl, whom I really liked when I was a lad. I had strong feelings for her at that time. Those feelings though aren't strong in that respect. She and I will be friends, but that is all it will be." he smiled at Draxx and added, "That's about all that you've missed." he really didn't want to go into the whole details.

Melody observed the bop growing dynamic between Mathias and Caroline and smiled to herself. Caroline had been going through a rough patch with relationships and she hoped this one with Mathias would turn out better for her. She didn’t want to say anything just then but she knew Mathias had a reputation as a gentleman which is what Caroline needed.

“Well I’m really happy the two of you could come to dinner this evening, we really must do it again. Hopefully, before I pop.” She smiled wryly and patted her stomach.

"It was lovely, thank you for the invite." Mathias replied. "And, in a couple of days, I'll be bringing the surprise to you. If that is okay with the both of you."

Melody smiled. "I'm looking forward to it..... I think."

Caroline chuckled. "I'm sure its nothing to worry about."

OFF


●●●● Captain Melody Jones
Commanding Officer
USS Merlin


●● Lieutenant Mathias McPhee
Chief Operations Officer
USS Merlin


●●● Commander Caroline Miller
Chief Counselor
USS Merlin


●● Lieutenant Ricardo Draxx
Assistant Operations Officer
USS Merlin