Let's See Where This Goes

Posted on Thu Oct 13th, 2022 @ 6:27am by Lieutenant JG Kiara Rahl (Jansen-Carey) & Commander Antonia 'Tony" Stoffels
Edited on on Thu Oct 13th, 2022 @ 7:58am

Mission: The Lost Brother
Location: the messhall

IC

Tony was deep in thought. She was still so worried about her brother and Tasin. And of course Melor, she knew he would live but that was about all she knew and the last couple of days had been extremely stressful. She just needed to blow off some steam.

Kiara was sitting at a table in the messhall ever since she’d met Soran in Sickbay she couldn’t help but feel attracted to him. She’d sent a message asking if he’d like to join her for a drink, she wasn’t sure if he’d come or not.

Soran entered the room and looked to where Kiara was seated. 'She's seen me, I can't run now' he thought. He wanted company, but wasn't sure he was ready to get on the horse so to speak.

Tony was in a corner but she saw Ren enter and was about to wave him over when she noticed that he was walking in the opposite direction as if he was meeting someone.

"Kiara," Soran smiled as he took a seat across from her. "Thank you for inviting me."

Kiara smiled warmly. “My pleasure. I’ll admit I haven’t done the whole ‘inviting a guy to join me’ thing in a while, but being with you in Sickbay the other night ... well, I thought I’d ask and see what happened from there.”

Tony watched it from a distance. She knew that look in Ren's eyes and she felt a very unfamiliar feeling in the pit of her stomach. She frowned. Ren was just a friend she had watched him with countless girlfriends and it had never bothered her. She had always been happy for him and hoped it would last. So why would she feel jealous now. Tony took another sip of her drink contemplating her own feelings.

"Sounds good," Soran smiled. "What are you drinking?"

“Ohh err... a Risan sunset, please.” Kia smiled warmly.

He nodded got and got their drinks from the replicator. He brought them to the table and slid hers to her.

“Thank you” Kia smiled. “About what happened in Sickbay ... I hope I didn’t push you out of your comfort zone, I’m not normally so fast!”

"You needed physical comfort, I didn't mind."He said simply. "Where do we go now?"

Kiara offered a shy smile. “I was hoping that perhaps you’d have dinner with me?”

"Dinner sounds good, " Soran said.

Tony found she could not watch it anymore. She was happy for Ren and for Kiara whom she did not know very well but she found that she could not sit there and watch it right now so she made her way to the exit hoping not to be spotted.

Kiara looked towards the door. “Isn’t that Commander Stoffels?”

Soran looked to see hear leaving, "yes it is."

From the way she was moving she seemed to be upset, He made a mental note to check on her later.

Kiara looked from Antonia towards Soran. “I’m not getting in the way of something between the two of you am I? It’s just what I’m sensing from the Commander...” she shrugged her shoulders.

"With Tony? No she's just a good friend and I used to be one of her patients so…" He shrugged, "what do you mean by sensing?"

Kiara offered an apologetic look. “Ohh sorry, I’m half Trill, and half Betazoid. I hope that’s not a problem? I know being an empath can make people nervous. Oh and before you say it, Counsellor Jansen has already warned me about being cautious with physical contact.”

"I see," he looked concerned. " You weren't exercising caution the other night, maybe we should take things slow. I don't know what the Lieutenant told you, but I present a potential danger to you."

He gave her an inquisitive look, "Have you been able to sense my emotions?"

Kiara shook her head. “No, I can’t sense your emotions. As for touch, I’m a touch telepath, but I’m trained in how to control it.”

Soran paused, "does it bother you that you can't sense my emotions?"

Kiara paused. “Normally it would, but I don’t feel afraid of you.” She smiled warmly as she looked into Soran’s eyes. “In Sickbay you weren’t bothered by my touch, and your touch when you caught me felt...gentle. I would like to see where this leads us.”

He looked at her for a moment. "I don't know how to say this so I'll just say it, I'm not very good at relationships. What exactly are you looking for?"

Kia shook her head. “I honestly don’t know, it’s been a very long, lonely time and I ... see something in you that mirrors what I’m feeling.” She gently reached out a hand placing it on his. “You don’t need to fear my touch, and I’d ... like to feel more of yours.”

Soran put his other hand on hers, "I've been lonely for a long time as well. Among my people I was a soldier and war is hell, I was barely a man when they sent me into the battle. When you live in hell you'll take a moment of heaven when you can get it. That was my attitude towards relationships, as I've gotten older I've tried to have long-term relationships…" he looked away. "I usually screw it up."

Soran didn't know why he was telling her this, he guessed he figured if she was going to leave he might as well scare her off now. He continued looking at the floor.

Kia didn’t move, or let go of Soran’s hand. “Perhaps you just haven’t found the right woman before. I’m not going to run away.” She paused for a moment. “Would you ... like to walk me back to my quarters?” She had more than a walk in mind, but she wanted to gauge Soran’s reaction first.

"I thought we were getting dinner." He said, as he traced fingers over the back of her hand."

“We can have dinner first if you’d like” Kia smiled. “Either that or we could postpone dinner until tomorrow night?” She gave him a look that said it all.

"Dinner," he smiled. "We should get acquainted."

Kiara nodded. “Then dinner it is.” She motioned to a member of staff who was taking orders. “What would you like?”

"Lasagna with a side of greens." Soran paused. "And a synthale."

Kiara smiled. “Lasagne sounds lovely, I’ll take that with a Risan sunset please.”

As their server headed off with their order Kiara offered Soran a curious look. “So tell me more about you.”

"I transferred here from the Lister, it's been a hell of an adjustment. The Lister is a small medical vessel and the Resolution is huge in comparison. I haven't had to deal with so many civilians in years." Soran smiled.

“I understand” Kiara smiled warmly. “I came from the USS Crazy Horse, Funnily enough another small medical ship. I spent two years there after I returned to my career, before transferring here.”

"Returned?" Soran asked. "What made you? If you don't mind me asking."

“I ...” She paused for a moment. It’s a long story for another time.” She said nothing more.

Soran's mind went to the scar he noticed on her neck, "Fair enough."

The food arrived and Soran thanked the server. "This was the first human food I ate at Starbase 235.

Kiara nodded. ‘I know that place.” She picked up her cutlery. “Comfort food is always good.” She smiled as she politely tucked into her Lasagne.

"I spent a year at that base and ended up joining Starfleet," he said before he began to eat.

“I was there both as a nurse, and a patient, but it was only for a couple of months.” Kia smiled. “We have a lot in common don’t we?”

He gave her a look if she had been a nurse at Starbase 235 there was a chance she'd been around Angosian veterans before. That would explain some of her comfort being around him, "We do this ship seems to be a better fit. I never meshed well with the crew of the Lister. The first officer seem to hold my military history against me, even when they were short on surgeons and they made me scrub up and help. He tried to bring me up on reports for three different instances that I couldn't help."

Kiara nodded. “I requested to be part of the training for nurses who dealt with the Angosian veterans. I guess you’ve probably noticed that already.” She smiled warmly before eating more of her lasagna. “My job is all I have, it’s what keeps me sane.”

"I know that feeling," Soran nodded. "After my military service I didn't know what to do with myself. I was convinced to join Starfleet, because I didn't know what else to do."

“Do you regret that choice?” Kiara looked at Soran curiously as she ate some more of her lasagna. She was almost finished eating it.

He gave her a smile, "It's been difficult. Overall I think the friends I've made in the Fleet have saved my life."

Kiara smiled warmly. “I’m glad.” She finished off her food looking to see if Soran was anywhere near finishing his. “So what would you like to do after dinner?” She was hoping he’d choose to take her up on the offer of walking her home.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" Soran asked.

Kiara nodded. “I think I’d like that. Just around the ship, or on the holodeck?”

"How about the arboretum?" he suggested.

He gave her an expression of confidence that you didn't quite feel. He'd suggested the arboretum because it was private enough for an intimate conversation, but public enough to keep things from going too fast. He hoped she wouldn't guess his motivation for the suggestion.

“The Arboretum sounds lovely.” Kiara smiled warmly. “Look...I’m sorry if I’ve been too forward. You’re the first man I’ve met that I feel comfortable with, I’ve never really bothered with male companionship up until now.”

"I see," he smiled. He stood up and offered her his arm. "I'm honored."

Standing up from her seat Kiara gently took hold of Soran’s arm. “Let’s go for that walk.”

Soran smiled gently as they moved to the door.

{OFF}