Nightcap

Posted on Wed Apr 26th, 2023 @ 7:30pm by Lieutenant Evelyn Stewart & Lieutenant Commander Keishara Davaris
Edited on on Tue Jul 4th, 2023 @ 12:11am

2,344 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Prologue: Centre Predominate
Location: Evelyn Stewarts Quarters, USS Moore
Timeline: MD 001: 2200 hrs

Keishara had left the XO as quickly as she'd met him. The idea of a nightcap with Evelyn did sound far more appealing than listening to the new first officer. He may have came across as a nice man, he may even be one but she had heard of what he had done whilst on the USS Columbia. The giving up of his fellow officers.

She'd have to be careful as she had crossed a line many times, treaded it far more often but she wasn't sure she could trust a man, that in Starfleet's eyes, was golden.

"Hey! Wait up!" Kei shouted at the back of Evelyn. "I thought that nightcap sounded like a better idea. If the offer still stands?"

Stewart was just rounding the corner in the corridor and approached her door, tapping the lock to the door. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if she offended Kei about her relationship with the captain. But Evelyn just shrugged it off. She got the impression the other woman would have handled the matter if it was.

As the doors to her quarters opened, Evelyn heard her name being shouted and turned, seeing Keishara approach. She smirked as she looked at Kei. “Who said it was an invitation?”, she asked playfully.

"Me." Kei opened both her arms out wide as if highlighting the wholeness of her body. "I have a way of imposing myself into situations that involve alcohol and good company." she gestured beyond Evelyn. "You have good company in there?" she teased.

Evelyn laughed and didn’t catch herself stealing a glance at the other woman’s figure when she put herself on display. “Alright, come in.”

Stewart led them inside the mess that was her half unpacked quarters. Most things were still in storage containers. There was some clothes half put away, her kal-toh board, her Vulcan meditation lamp and lyre. There was a container that was simply open on the desk with a large variety of various alcoholic bottles.

She quietly took down her French braid, ran her fingers through her hair quickly before putting it up in a simple ponytail to keep it out of the way while she looked through the container. “So what will it be…bloodwine…Tennessee whiskey…Vulcan brandy…”

"Knew you'd see things my way." Kei grinned as she entered the quarters.

The space itself was rather unkept, but that was to be expected as Evelyn had just arrived on board. The array of Vulcan decor stirred something over in her brain. The mention of living amongst them being difficult, the trinkets and whatnot. Without knowing the woman it didn't take Sherlock Holmes to deduce the answer.

"Ehm you can choose. Maybe not bloodwine, I've been drinking that all night. Choose something a bit different. What do I look like I'd drink?" she posed for Evelyn.

Stewart didn’t bother to apologize for the mess and instead got a mischievous grin. “Oh Commander, I’m disappointed. I expected much better from you. Don’t ever tell someone to to pick for you.” Stewart held up a glass bottle with a blue liquid that was clearly Romulan ale. She quickly replicated two glasses.

Walking back to the desk and the bottle she began to pour each of them a healthy glass each. She noticed Kei’s glancing around the room at her things. “And let’s just address this now and get it out of the way.” She said as she poured. “Yes, I grew up on Vulcan. I was raised by them.” She explained simply.

“My mother died when I was very young and I didn’t know my father. He left me in the care of one of his crew mates from when he served during the Federation-Cardassian war. I hated it. I hate them. For such an enlightened race, they failed to understand I am human, not Vulcan.”, Stewart was drunk enough that it numbed her feelings about the whole matter enough that she was very matter of fact about the situation.

She handed Kei her glass. “There is nothing else to it, so no point in trying to read my emotions. Got it?”

"I can promise you that sometimes I don't need to read your emotions. You pretty much wear them on your sleeve about some things." Keishara accepted the glass. "And you very happily opened up with my just looking around. I'm not here to judge where you've been or how you live but I am always grateful for those choose to tell me of their life. Living a long time things can get quite samey and I like hearing about other people." Kei took a sip of her drink.

"I know it's not the same, but I lost my father at a young age. I was kidnapped by a crime syndicate and held for ransom. He tried to free me, I was filmed whilst being beaten and broken. So, he came with the money and they shot and killed him right in front of me and kept me anyway." Her hands shook with some rage as the venom in her voice of the incident was all very clear. "40 years." she took a large drink. "That's how long it took me to get free and in that time there are many nights I'd rather forget, years I refuse to remember. The things they did to me..." she shook her head. "I never found my family again, and I looked for a long time. So for 150 years I did what I had to to survive."

Stewart only opened up about her past because it only complicated things when people learned she lived on Vulcan but had her beliefs. Instead of justifying anything, or commenting about opening up to her, Stewart just took a long drink to further numb herself, like she did when she drank in her quarters.

Hearing Kei talk about her past did stir something in her thoughts. The rage and hate was more than evident and Evelyn could sense Kei was losing control by her posture alone.

Stewart put down their glasses and took the woman’s hands in hers to steady her. “Close your eyes.” She said, bringing their foreheads to touch, holding Kei’s head there to keep her focused on what Evelyn was saying as she guided the woman through one of the meditation techniques that was drilled into her. “Breathe with me. Allow your body to fall into the rhythm of our breath. One moment, one breath.”

Evelyn tried not to think of the painful memories of her own fits of rage as a small child, not understanding what was going on and where her parents were and how this particular technique was used to calm her.

"What?" Kei asked as she broke from her reminiscence as she felt Evelyn take her hands. "Its ok---" she began as their foreheads touched. The discourse and fire in Evelyn came through much stronger as skin touched skin but she did feel a wall there, a mental barrier that proved some form of protection for her.

She matched Evelyn's breath and her eyes still remained closed. It was nice, and she calmed down significantly. "I'm sorry. I know you didn't ask..." she almost whispered.

Evelyn was focused more on their shared breathing and her emotional control. She tried not to think about her complicated feelings about Vulcans, their culture, or her experiences with both. The situation triggered her own memories of being taught this technique.

She shushed Kei’s words of apology. She was only marginally aware that they were still so close. “There’s no need to apologize.” She whispered back, her attention more on keeping her intense feelings about her childhood controlled and shielded. Her control over her innate attraction to Kei as a person, as well as her sexual arousal in her inebriated state slipping. Stewart moved her fingers on the other woman’s pulse, feeling her calm down.

Kei could feel Evelyn's breath, warm and sweet from the alcohol. She closed her eyes again and focussed on the breathing as they both calmed themselves somewhat. There were stray feelings from her but Kei had realised that Evelyn was a bit of a powder keg of emotions at the best of times.

Soon their foreheads parted and they sat back in each others chairs and looked at each other.

Evelyn sighed heavily and took up her glass again, trying to move on from the situation as if it didn’t happen. “Computer…search through my private database and play some music, something modern and Latin.”

After a moment the popular Latin dancing music played and Stewart took a long drink, the music lightening the mood. She turned her attention back to Kei. “Have you spoken to a counselor about this?”, she asked genuinely concerned.

"No. Don't plan to either" Keishara said as they backed off from each other. Kei also took a long drink of her beverage and looked at Evelyn. "Lots to unpack after 200 or so years of life and I've managed to get by without talking to someone about poor little me's backstory. Have you talked to anyone about your Vulcan baggage?" she asked also genuinely.

Evelyn’s eyes snapped up to Keishara’s and she felt herself getting defensive. “Not voluntarily.” She said, a certain amount of heat in her voice. She had more than one psychological evaluation, imposed counseling session under orders, all for the purpose of attempting to get to the bottom of her issues. But Stewart was always defiant, always remaining aloof.

After a moment of a heated gaze, Stewart focused her attention on the contents of her glass as she swirled them, suddenly going cold. “I’ve been taught meditation techniques to control my emotional state. I don’t need help. You don’t have that luxury. You are an empath. You need help. It can be dangerous if you don’t.” She said, not looking at Kei, focused on taking a sip.

"I know what I am capable of and what I can handle." Kei spoke softly with no hint of anger or heated response to Evelyn's tone. "The Captain has tempered a lot in me through Vulcan meditation as well. Where as I don't see a professional to talk about my past and feelings, I do get support from other things." She took a drink. "I've been put into reviews before, to speak about actions taken during investigations that some may find excessive..." she shrugged. "But my methods always get results. "My mental state can be volatile, but it is well protected and my actions always thought out." she smiled.

Evelyn made a face of mild surprise that clearly wasn’t genuine as she sipped her Romulan ale in reaction to Kei’s statement. “Is that what you came here?” She asked her, “to get results?”, her tone wasn’t clear if it was genuine playfulness or sarcasm. The alcohol making her tongue looser, sharper. Evelyn intentionally blocked herself off mentally to make herself difficult to read as she stared the other woman down.

"I came here because I hated, and loved, the sight of you walking away." Kei replied vaguely. There was a hint of flirtatiousness to her comment that was undeniable but still not overt enough to be construed as offensive to some. "And I thought you'd be more fun than STEVE..." the word dripped from her lips like a word that left a bad taste in her mouth. "What 'results' I get from this are entirely up to you." she smirked as she fixed stray strands of hair behind her ear opening up her face a little more.

Evelyn looked at Keishara and was genuinely torn. The woman objectively beautiful by most species standards, and though Stewart preferred men, she had slept with her share of women when was drunk or partying. She also hadn’t slept with anyone in close to a year, not since her affair with one of her students was nearly discovered. He had been a lieutenant, like her, but it was still inappropriate. In her drunken state she couldn’t deny her body’s current needs.

At the same time, Keishara was proving to be someone she felt a kindred spirit in and wanted a genuine friendship with.

Evelyn looked at Kei as she made up her mind. “It means nothing, understand?” She asked coldly, her eyes on Kei’s, “I’m not looking for a relationship. Nor am I looking for a regular fling.”

There was a long pause as Kei watched Evelyn. It was almost as if she was having some inner talk with herself about how the night was going to continue. "So serious." Kei smirked and held up her hand. "No relationships, nothing serious, no attachments." She wasn't looking for a regular thing anyway. People always had a way of letting you down.

Evelyn knew it was a bad idea, despite what they both said it could get very messy. Kei was was clearly more sexually attracted to her, Evelyn was just looking for a good time. But she ignored her instincts and acted on impulse. She leaned forward and tentatively pulled Kei’s face towards hers only to hesitate about kissing her.

Pushing her nervousness aside, Evelyn paused and made a joke, looking into Kei’s eyes. “Not getting cold feet in my now are you?”, she asked softly but Kei’s seeming reluctance.

"I'm not the one stopping short and making jokes." Kei pulled her in close and embraced her as she made the move the Evelyn hesitated making. Tonight would be fun, hopefully. The last time she done something like this a couple of months ago with a Betazoid male just got mess, he was into some kinky shit... but this was harmless fun. To blow off some steam.

Any hesitation Evelyn felt evaporated when she felt Kei’s lips on her and she moved to start opening the the woman’s uniform jacket.

Fade to black...

 

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