reversedpolarity | [for Chris]

Entry tags:

nurse_cchapel

[for Chris]

He was a bit nervous. Which was silly, because he really shouldn't be nervous, because for God's sake, it was just Chris, and they'd already had a couple dates, sort of, and at this rate he thought he was never going to be not nervous before a date with her. He wasn't even really sure why he was so nervous. Talking to her hadn't been this big a deal before they'd started dating, but for some reason, now that they were dating, he couldn't seem to get through a conversation with her without fidgeting and blushing and more or less feeling like he was a teenager all over again.

So this time, at least, he'd chosen a location for a date that was on his turf, so to speak. They'd already had dinner and movie in Chris's quarters, but his quarters were out of the question until he could manage to clean up a bit. That pretty much just left the engine room, and while it wasn't really the most conventional location for a date, it was somewhere he'd feel comfortable. Not that he didn't feel comfortable in Chris's quarters, but he was familiar with the engine room, and he hoped that familiarity would help him not turn into such a stammering idiot around Chris.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This was a first, actually. Christine honestly couldn't say she'd ever been on a date in an engine room before. Hell, she hardly spent any time at all in engine rooms. Just visits to check on friend or do triage on one of the string of seemingly never-ending Engineering mishaps. This was different from both of those, though. And for that, she was grateful.

She was at the designated spot just before the designated time, looking around for Montgomery. Then again, being out of the line of sight seemed entirely possible in places, like this, so she tried calling out. "Hello?"

He was running just a tiny bit late, because he'd been waylaid on his way to the designated meeting spot, and had to deal with a minor problem that really didn't require his personal attention, and then he'd been pulled aside for something else, and by the time he'd managed to explain that he wasn't here on duty, no really, go bother someone else, it was about three minutes past the time he was supposed to meet Chris - which wasn't terribly late, but still.

"Sorry," he said, popping up more or less out of nowhere. "Hi. Um. Hey." He gave Chris a little grin, and a small wave, before gesturing back over his shoulder. "Got a bit sidetracked, sorry. The crew sees me down here an' they assume it's on business."

"You've gotta admit Engineering's not the most popular of hangout spots," Christine said with a little laugh, stepping close enough to steal a quick, smiling kiss. "How was your afternoon?"

"Uneventful," he replied, leaning in to steal a kiss right back. "Better, now, o' course." And, of course, as per the usual, his ears turned a bit pink at the tips when he said that. Was he ever going to get over blushing when he was around Chris? Probably not, he thought. "Was there anything you wanted tae see first?"

The first response that popped into her head was so absurdly cheesy she couldn't resist. Certainly not with him. "You. But I see you've already got that covered."

He grinned a little self-consciously and glanced down, shuffling his feet a bit. "Yeah..." He trailed off, and looked up again, still grinning, still self-conscious. "So. Um." So much for having a home field advantage.

"Um?" she teased playfully, leaning in for another kiss before linking her arm through his. "Let's go this way and you can point out exciting things as we go."

He fell silent for a few moments as he started off in the direction she'd suggested. There wasn't a whole lot in that direction; they were headed toward the water supply vats and the piping networks that weren't really part of the engine itself, but that was alright. He didn't mind the chance to just walk with Chris for a bit. "Not much o' interest back this way, I'm afraid." He was relaxing a little, at least, as they walked along.

Christine laughed, leaning in to him a little. It wasn't about the walk, so much as getting to spend some time with him. "Okay, then you pick the next locale."

"Are you sure you want me tae do that?" he asked, laughing. "I'll take you straight tae the warp core an' spend an hour talkin' your ear off about it." Of course, if she didn't mind... While this date was about getting to spend some time with Chris, for him it was also about sharing a little piece of himself.

"Yes, I would completely love that!" she exclaimed, maybe a little too enthusiastic, but completely genuine. She was happy to be with him, damnit. "I don't know near enough about how this darling ship of ours works, though, so you might have to dumb it down for me."

Maybe it was a little too enthusiastic, but Scotty grinned like a kid opening presents on Christmas, and very nearly started bouncing a bit as he changed course and headed in the direction of the warp core. "It's simple enough tae understand, once you get the basics down," he told Chris. "An' if there's anything you're unclear about, I can see if I can't explain it."

Laughing, she followed his lead, careful to keep up with him. "Sounds good."

He wasn't going to let her get lost. In fact, he may possibly have held her arm just a little closer to him than was absolutely necessary. As he walked, he began to explain, in detail, exactly how the warp core worked, and what it did, but he had a bad habit of going off on tangents and only wandering around back to the main topic when he'd followed his tangents to their logical conclusions.

And she hung on to his every word, nodding and periodically interrupting to ask for clarification on something. Aside from actually learning a thing or two, she was enjoying, possibly far more than she should, his rambling, excited little tangents. It was nice to see him confident and so bright over something, rather than nervous and stumbly like he seemed to be so often with her.

He knew engines. He knew ships, and he knew engines, and he didn't know the first thing about relationships. For now, at least, he was in his element. He loved his job, no doubt about it, and no matter how much he might complain about paperwork. And he was thoroughly enjoying the chance to share his love of engineering with Chris.

"So when did it start?" she asked during a lull, still intently focused on him. And smiling. For an unconventional date, she sure was enjoying herself. "When did you know you had to do this with your life?"

Her question earned a soft smile out of him, and he shifted a bit, looking self-conscious again. "Well. Way back when I was a kid... I must've been about five or six... I snuck out ontae the roof at Christmas. I was, uh... Lookin' for reindeer." He shifted again, at having admitted that, before continuing, "Didn't see any, but that was the first time I saw the Northern Lights, really saw them. An' after Mum'd given me a good smack for bein' on the roof ankle-deep in snow, she explained what the Lights were, an' that sort o' got me hooked on space, an' I knew I wanted tae be on a ship someday. An'... the more I studied about it, the more I wanted tae know how things work, like."

"That is..." She shook her head, laughing. "Possibly the best story I've ever heard. For starters, you're lucky you didn't slip off your roof and die. But for another, we're all lucky you got interested in space."

He was by now almost a deep crimson, because it was a silly story, and he'd just sort of admitted that his love of engineering was sparked by the nonexistence of flying reindeer. "After that, I was always buildin' things, takin' things apart. Sometimes I don't think I could've been anything but an engineer."

Christine considered him a quick beat before she nodded. "Nothing else would've fit you quite like this does. You're too hands-on to be a scientist of any sort but you're too thinky and into problem-solving to stay away from this sort of thing. What else could you have been, with an attitude that oozes 'that blew up in our face, but let's do it better next time, or blow up the whole room trying'?"

"Can't imagine bein' cooped up in a lab all day," he agreed. "Speakin' o' blowin' things up... Built a catapult one summer. I, uh... Might've used it tae launch firecrackers. Possibly."

"You know, I'd ask if you used any sort of proper safety procautions," she teased, leaning in to him, "But I'm not sure you understand those now."

He waved a hand dismissively, leaning back against her a bit. "Safety precautions're more like guidelines than actual rules, you know."

Raising her eyebrows at that, she laughed. "Really? I did not know that. Always thought they were put there for your own good and meant to be followed."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject