To New Beginnings... - Part 2

Posted on Tue Dec 19th, 2017 @ 1:11am by Lieutenant Temperance Zachary
Edited on on Tue Dec 19th, 2017 @ 1:12am

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Station Promenade Restaurant/Temperance's Quarters
Timeline: Current - Immediately after To New Beginnings (Part 1)

ON:

OLD:
"Honestly, there is no real reason... it just kind of happened. My uncle was a medical officer in Star Fleet, it was because of him I decided to go to the Academy with no idea what I wanted to do, near the end of my first year I kind of fell into Strat-OPS and realised I was actually good at it... and, well, here I am! No epic tales of childhood dreams being played out or anything else." She laughed. "My life really isn't all that interesting at all."

NEW:
"You may not think that your life is that interesting, but others might," Roberto replied. "I've never really understood exactly what Strat-OPS does. I tried once to ask the Strat-OPS Officer on the Pathfinder about it but she was a real bitch and wouldn't say much about it. You know, the 'I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you' type..." he grinned. Just then he realized they had arrived at one of the ship's transporter rooms and as the door opened and he ushered her inside. He nodded to the operator as they approached the platform and called out "Station Promenade deck, please..." then stepped up onto the platform and held out his hand to her.

Taking his hand, she stepped up onto the Transporter platform and took a sharp breath. "I hate these things," she muttered quietly, gripping his hand perhaps a little tighter than she had intended to, closing her eyes as the transporter beam commenced.

Moments later, she exhaled slowly, opening her eyes looking around the promenade. She resisted the urge to pat herself down and make sure she was still in one piece, but then realised that she was still tightly gripping his hand. "Sorry," she murmured quietly. "I hope I didn't hurt you..."

"You didn't hurt me at all. It felt rather pleasant, in fact..." he said, obviously in no hurry for her to release his hand. "If I had known you didn't like transporters I would have borrowed my fighter and flown us over. It might have been a bit of a tight fit but I think we could have managed." He smiled just a bit, thinking of THAT possibility. 'Easy boy...' came the thought from the back of his mind. 'You don't want to scare her away, do you?' he asked himself.

"They are kind of a part of Star Fleet life, I ended up accepting that I just had to put my irrational issues aside and suck it up. The first time I had to go in a transporter I screamed and fought back until they ended up basically holding me in a vice grip and making me go, I was convinced my parts were going to end up scattered all through the galaxy." Colour tinted her cheeks slightly. "Thank you for not laughing at me, most people do." She relaxed her grip on his hand, but didn't let go. "There's the restaurant," she said, pointing to a small, clearly Italian frontage on the promenade across the way from them. "Shall we?"

"We shall..." he said as he led her to the restaurant. It reminded him of the trattoria he had seen during trips his family had made back to their native Italy on Earth. They made their way to a table where he pulled out her chair for her before seating himself. Almost immediately a server approached and handed them menus before saying "Benvenuto a Taste of Tuscany. Would you like to begin with a drink? Perhaps some wine?" the server asked as she looked at them expectantly.

"Would you like some wine?" Roberto asked Temperance.

Temp nodded slightly. "Lovely, thank you," she said quietly. Before opening the menu, she took a moment to look around the restaurant, the entire scene was a far cry from the lounge on the station which had been her only stop earlier, but this was beautiful. Her gaze finally settled on Roberto, seated across from her, and she smiled, resting her hand on top of his. "In case I forget to say so later, tonight has been wonderful," she said warmly.

"Una bottiglia del tuo miglior vino, per favore..."*Roberto said, slipping into his native Italian language.

"Molto bene signore. Tornerò tra un momento con il tuo vino e prendero i tuoi ordini..." **

When the server had gone, Roberto turned his attention back to Temp. "Do you see anything that looks appealing?"

She glanced at him, a hint of colour rising in her cheeks before she quickly looked back down at her menu. There certainly was something that looked appealing... she bit down on her bottom lip, silently willing herself to stop. "It all looks so good," she finally said, trying to choose her words carefully. "I wouldn't know where to start. Why don't you order for me? I trust your judgement," she finally said with a smile as she set her menu aside.

Just then the server returned with their wine which he poured into the two glasses before them. "Sei pronto per ordinare?" *** he asked.

"Sì. Entrambi inizieremo con Minestrone e per il corso principale avremo pasta primevera con pollo," **** was Roberto's reply.

The server simply nodded as he collected their menus, then turned and walked away to give their order to the chef.

Roberto then picked up his glass of wine and turned his attention back to Temp. "So, what shall we drink to?"

Temperance held up her glass, "To new beginnings," she said with a smile. "The start of new chapters, be they big or small."

"To new beginnings..." he echoed. "And to whatever they may hold."

She sipped at the wine, closing her eyes and savouring the delicious taste, it was definitely unlike any other wine she had ever tasted. Either that, or the over all evening was already colouring her taste buds. She opened her eyes again and sighed contentedly. "Have you spent much time in Italy?" she finally asked after a moment of silence. "You seem very fluent in both the language and the culture."

He took a sip from his glass, then set it back on the table as he studied her for a moment in the warm glow of the candlelight between them. "My family is from a small town in northern Italy called Noceto," he began slowly. "In fact, my grandparents - that is, my father's parents - still live there. They own a little trattoria somewhat like this, and we would go back there to visit them at every opportunity. I loved the time we spent there and I took every opportunity to explore the area and its' culture. My grandparents speak only Italian so becoming fluent in the language was a necessity for my generation," he said with a grin. "When we get back to Earth again I'd like to take you there sometime. I think you would like it."

Temp smiled, "I would love that, Italy has always seemed so exotic and enticing..."

"I've gone on about me, now it's your turn. Tell me a bit about yourself."

Temperance paused for a moment, contemplating how she could best avoid this topic, but something told her that avoidance was not going to be an option here. "There isn't really all that much to tell. I was born on Earth, I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle when I was 13 and fell in love with the stars, went to Star Fleet Academy and now here I am. It isn't really anywhere near as interesting as spending time in Italy, or growing up with what sounds like an amazing family. You said you had siblings? Brothers or sisters?"

"One of each, actually," he answered. "An older brother - Mario, who's 34 and a younger sister - Angelina who's 28. Any siblings for you?"

"No, just me... When I was really little there wasn't even a lot of children in the village I grew up in. Possibly a good thing, I'm not a good sharer," she said with a slight laugh. "Everyone tells me how lucky I was to have been an only child." Looking up, she smiled at the waiter as their starters were placed in front of them. "Oh goodness," Temp breathed, "This smells absolutely amazing!"

====== 45 minutes later ======

Their dinner finished, Roberto sat back in his chair and sighed comfortably. It had been a very enjoyable time made even more pleasant by the company. "I've really enjoyed this evening and I hope you have as well," he said as he finished the last swallow of wine in his glass. "But I suppose the Wellington does call."

Finishing the last of her wine, Temperance put her glass down on the table, turning it carefully between her fingers. "Yes, I suppose... I wouldn't want to be responsible for keeping you from your duties," she said quietly, even though she really didn't want the evening to end.

As he stood and moved to the side of her chair, offering her his hand to help her up, Temperance placed her hand lightly in his and rose to her feet, making no effort to remove her hand from his. "Thank you," she said quietly, "This has been a wonderful evening, it's a shame it has to end..."

Roberto agreed with her - he wished the night could go on as well. But he knew that it was MUCH too soon for anything else. After all, they had only met a few hours ago. So he was content to take her home and say good night.

"Are you okay with 'porting back to the ship or would you like me to requisition a shuttle?" he asked.

"I have you as my gallant protector, how could I not be okay?" she replied with a smile as they started walking.

After they had transported back aboard the Wellington it had not taken long for them to arrive back at her quarters - no matter how slowly he had walked. As they stood in front of her door, Roberto was suddenly struck by a thought. "We never did get a chance to see the view from the station's observation lounge," he said slowly. "And I guess that was my fault. I was too busy enjoying the view I had all evening..."

Temperance leaned back against the bulkhead outside her door, as she looked up at him. "Sounds like a good excuse to do this again, before the Wellington leaves," she said quietly. "Do you want to come in... you know... just for coffee?" she asked, somewhat nervously.

OFF:

Lieutenant Roberto "Stallion" del Palo
Flight Leader/Fighter Pilot
USS Wellington

Lieutenant Temperance Zachary
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
USS Wellington

======
Translation -

*A bottle of your best wine, please
** Very good sir. I will return in a moment with your wine and take your orders.
*** Are you ready to order?
**** Yes. We will both begin with Minestrone and for the main course we will have pasta primevera with chicken