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.

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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."

He laughed quietly with her, before shaking his head and correcting her, "No, you see, they're for the crew's good, an' meant tae be followed by the crew. I'm allowed tae break 'em on account o' it's me that's doin' it."

"Oh, of course. I forgot that, being our Engineering God and completely one with the ship, rules don't apply to you."

His expression turned a little serious then, and he looked back out over the engine room, his laughter fading. "They don't apply because I know when tae break 'em," he said. "They don't. Not yet."

She leaned in, then, to kiss his cheek, smile less amused and all sincere now. "Rule bending or not, you're fantastic at what you do. We wouldn't trust you with our lives if you weren't."

He smiled again, leaning over a bit so she could reach his cheek. "I do my best," he replied. "Better, if I can manage it."

"And I know you always will. Above and beyond," she said softly, not pulling too far away. "Textbook Enterprise material."

He just smiled to himself, and started walking again, although it was less a 'let's hurry up and go see something' sort of walk, and more just a stroll. "I don't know about textbook, now," he teased. "I'd like tae think I'm a bit more original than that."

"Alright..." She kept her arm linked snuggly with his as they walked. "Maybe an alternative sort of non-fiction genre manual."

That earned an appreciative laugh out of him. "Right. We'll go with that." He was wandering a bit aimlessly now, holding Chris's arm close. Every now and then he'd point out something of interest, but mostly, he was just walking, just as an excuse to spend some more time with her.

That was perfectly fine by her. She enjoyed his company and his enthusiasm, enjoyed getting to lean in close to him as they walked. "I like you, you know," she said cheerfully and quite suddenly, after a pleasant little silence between them. It seemed like a good moment to state the obvious.

"I never would've guessed," he teased. "Here I was, convinced you couldn't stand the sight o' me." He gave her arm a bit of a squeeze, before getting a little bold and moving to slip his arm around her waist. "I suppose I should point out that I like you."

His arm around her waist only served to suggest she lean closer, a standing equivalent to snuggling up to him. "Well, that's a surprised that just made my whole week, I think."

"S'a good thing we like each other. Be a bit weird, otherwise, don't you think?" Now that she'd got him started teasing, it was likely to be a few minutes before he stopped.

"Not just weird," she countered, "but tedious and perhaps even a bit resent-inducing, depending on how we actually felt for each other."

"Definitely good we like each other, then," he answered, tightening his arm around her just a bit. "An' I can assure you that this is anythin' but tedious."

Smiling, she leaned in to sort of nuzzle against his neck. "I'm glad I'm not boring you to tears. You certainly aren't."

He caught the eye of a passing engineer as Chris nuzzled against his neck, and he was fairly certain he turned about fifteen different shades of red at the man's knowing grin. With all of his attention on Chris, he'd sort of forgotten that they weren't exactly completely alone down here. Time to mosey on to a slightly more out-of-the-way part of the engine room. "I don't think you could bore me if you tried," he managed to reply, but only after a moment of trying to discreetly and silently tell the young man that had crossed their path to stop grinning at them and get back to work.

"Careful, I might actually have to..." She trailed off, catching sight of the engineer as he moved away. And then was immediately blushing herself. "Sorry."

"Ah. No need tae, ah, apologize. Um. Shall we... Er. Y'know. Find somewhere not quite so out in the open?" He'd been doing so well, up until this point. There had been very little fidgeting. That was no longer the case.

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