LtCmdr Jovenan – Captain-mandated date
Jovenan
((Holodeck 1, Deck 2, USS Artemis))
Jovenan: Thank you for showing me this place. It’s amazing!
Her voice competed against the sounds from the arcade game set in front of her. The occasional robotic race status reports and the synthesised engine sounds were loud compared to the bubble game Jovenan and Vitor had just played, but she assumed it was an important part of the thrill the game provided. While Captain MacKenzie was being distracted by the virtual cars, she had turned to Vitor.
Silveira: I am glad you liked it.
She smiled, looking up to his eyes. The sounds and the blinking lights bothered her less and less every second she spent studying their blue depths. The rushing blood from her racing heart and the warmth of his hand against hers were the only other sensations she acknowledged that moment. They were in an alternate universe, only a few metres in diameter, with the rest of the arcade merely echoes at the event horizon.
MacKenzie: Does the car get damaged if you hit things?
Silveira: Yes the car does take damage, if you're lucky the hood pops up and flies…
Captain MacKenzie’s question remained unintelligible to Jovenan, whose consciousness ignored everything but the allure to inch even closer to Vitor. He hadn’t turned to respond to the Captain, yet Jovenan’s hand had reached and grasped his other hand as well, without her even thinking about it. His charming smile widened as she tried talking, slowed down by the distraction of his eyes and the diminishing space between them that would soon disappear like it had when they had played together.
Jovenan: I would… love to stay and… play another game with you… ::steps away, quicker:: But I think I should get back to work now.
She forced the spell off of her, even if she didn’t want to. Seeing the smile vanish and turn to gloom on Vitor’s face tormented her, but she didn’t step back. He reached out to take Jovenan’s hands again and squeezed them, which made her reconsider even if she knew she shouldn’t, but then they let go off each other and stood again separated. Her hands were already starting to feel cold.
Silveira: I… Don’t want you to go, but I understand…
MacKenzie: Want a try? This game is hard.
The universe had expended to include more than just the two again, and Jovenan turned to see the flaming pile that had been Captain MacKenzie’s virtual vehicle on the screen.
Jovenan: What? Oh, uh. No, I’m fine, sir, you can keep playing.
Silveira: Why don’t you try another track, Captain?
MacKenzie: Fine, fine, suit yourself, Commander. Enjoy your day!
Jovenan: You too. ::turning to Silveira:: Bye.
Forcing herself to move, she stepped away from the game set and from Vitor. She didn’t turn back, not to look at Captain MacKenzie setting up the game for a new race with Vitor standing by, not even to wave a goodbye to him. Each step was difficult to take as she struggled to identify which emotions currently fogged her mind and prevented her from speeding up further. If she could reach the door before regret would take over her, she may be able to concentrate again, so she thought. She pressed her eyes shut for a few seconds; why did she feel like crying?
Silveira: Nan, wait…
It was like a shout. Forgetting any rational thought, she turned around, seeing that Vitor was running somewhere, not towards her but another part of the arcade. Silently, she followed him with her gaze when he soon came to her carrying something. He stopped in front of her, and she looked down at the doll’s mischievous face.
Silveira: Here… I would like you to take it. That way I am always… Close…
Jovenan opened her mouth, as if to say something, but it remained awkwardly ajar without a word coming out. The doll was adorable and the thought of having a something of him to keep her company when she was alone warmed her heart, but she hesitated. She couldn’t possibly take it from him, it had been a gift – in a way – to him, and it must have more meaning to him than it did to her. He shouldn’t have felt obligated to give it to her, she should tell him that…
Before words could finally form in her throat, something touched her. Startled, she realised that Captain MacKenzie had bolted from her seat to the two officer and for whatever reason taken Jovenan’s arm and lifted it up. Before she could even attempt to pull it away, the Captain had forcibly united her arm with the doll and Vitor’s hand holding it.
MacKenzie: She accepts. ::turning to Jovenan:: Vitor would like you to come by his quarters for dinner later. He’s a fantastic cook and it will be a delicious meal. ::turning to Silveira:: Jo will be there at 1900 hours.
Jovenan’s mouth was fully open from surprise and shock, and her face had turned entirely pink. Her gaze bounced between Vitor and Captain MacKenzie as the latter patted her shoulder.
MacKenzie: No thanks required – have a good time!
The Captain walked away, but instead of stepping away from Vitor and calling back to the Commanding Officer whose order was only now sinking into her, she stayed put. After a few seconds with him, he nodded, and Jovenan closed her open mouth into an awkward smile. When the echo of the holodeck doors whooshing shut vanished, he spoke first.
Silveira: OK, this escalated rather quickly and… I don’t want to force you… But I would love to have you for dinner… Like the Captain said… But please if you don’t want to…
Jovenan: I don’t think the Captain can actually order us to have dinner together… but if you…
Vitor stepped closer to her. Her eyes widened, but she did nothing to step away. He pressed the doll.
Mini Sil: Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Silveira: Appropriate, although I say “don't look at the teeth of a gift horse.” But the meaning is there. Perhaps we could… Go with the flow?
Jovenan kept looking at the toga-clad doll for a while as the options and opinions were engaged in a veracious battle in her mind. Eventually, she took hold of the doll, stepped away from Vitor looking at it before raising her eyes to him.
Jovenan: 1900 hours?
Silveira: Response
She waved the doll in the air towards him.
Jovenan: I’ll be there.
Silveira: Response
She then turned sharply around and continued her way out of the holodeck. As soon as the artificial plastic smell and the bleeps of the simulated machines vanished, Jovenan pressed the doll against her chest to alleviate her anxiety. Oh, why had she said yes, when declining would have been so much easier? She ignored the crewmen who no doubt were curious about the apparently distraught officer almost rushing through the corridors while hugging a doll.
Then, excited, she gave the doll’s dark brown hair a kiss.
((Time index: Same day, circa 1900 hours))
((Corridor outside Silveira’s quarters, Deck 3, USS Artemis))
Back when she had been an Ensign or even a Jay-Gee, Jovenan had been nervous to ring the bell to enter a senior officer’s office, often finding herself standing in front of the door hesitating. She had slowly grown out of it until she had herself become the senior officer whose office door must have made some newcomers anxious. And now, she was standing behind the door belonging to someone with a lower rank than she had, struggling to find the courage to press the button. She didn’t know what she was afraid of – she wanted to spend the evening with Vitor, and he was genuinely a great chef. Still, she wondered if it was too late to cancel. Even her pink, sleeveless, flared-skirt dress had more confidence right now than she had.
When the seconds approached to 1900 hours exact, Jovenan couldn’t wait longer and rang the bell. For a few seconds, she wondered what she would do if Vitor didn’t come to open, but then the door whooshed open.
Jovenan: Hi. ::attempted smirk:: Reporting as ordered.
Silveira: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11