This is a date, isn't it?

Posted on Sat Jul 24th, 2021 @ 10:26am by Senior Chief Petty Officer Mason Malone & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: Character Development
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: a few hours after "Mud Mates"
4977 words - 10 OF Standard Post Measure

As agreed to, at 20:00 hours Mason walked into the mess hall. He had opted for casual clothes as he wasn't on duty any more, and he wanted to show that he could dress smart and didn't need a uniform to do that. It was just casual, comfortable pants and a T-shirt, though he had opted to wear his combat boots, as they were comfortable footwear to him. He scanned around, looking for a table, finally selecting one near the large windows with clear view on the entire mess.

Finn left her shift in engineering late, per usual, but still had time to run back to her quarters and change. She rushed in, throwing off her uniform and replacing it with jeans and a nice shirt before looking in the mirror to inspect her appearance. She didn't overly care about her appearance usually, but this was a date. Satisfied, Finn put on her favorite pair of navy blue chucks and walked out of the door.

Arriving in the mess hall, Finn didn't immediately see Mason. She stretched her neck, looking around, and finally spotted him near the back by a large window. A smile grew on her face as she walked up, excited to spend more time with the former marine. "Hey!" Finn gave a small wave as she neared and then took a seat.

"Hi!" He greeted back, "I haven't ordered anything yet, beyond a few drinks, if you don't mind?" He gestured towards the two glasses sat on the table before him. "I do hope you like beer?"

"Sure," Finn shrugged. "My favorite is rum and coke, but I like beer too." She took a sip of the beverage. Then, setting the glass on the table, she evaluated the flavors before smiling. "Guinness?" She asked thinking the dark liquid tasted somewhat familiar.

"I wouldn't know, I just told the replicator to get me two beer," Mason chuckled, "I can't tell one brand from the other. If anything, I drink whiskey, but only the real stuff, during leisure time. Rum and coke, I'll remember that for next round. Have you thought of what to have for dinner? I'll have steak and fries."

"Oooo steak does sound good right now," Finn thought out loud. "I'm thinking the prime rib sandwich on sourdough with fries. You can't go wrong with steak and sourdough." She smiled.

The server came by just a moment later and the two put in their orders. Finn took a sip of her drink and soaked in the atmosphere for a minute before speaking up again. "So how's your shoulder doing?" She asked.

"Not too bad." He left the rest in the middle as he sipped his beer. "I'll live, don't worry," he smiled, "it's not the worst I've ever been through, and I've been dealing it for a few years now."

"I believe you said it was a baseball injury? Not that many people play baseball these days. Is it just a holodeck hobby or did you play for a team somewhere?" Finn asked, enjoying learning more about her date.

"Played it with friends when I went through training, and later we organized matches between the marines and other departments on assignment. It's fun, and I'm a good pitcher." He grinned. "Left-handed pitchers are still in high demand you see... especially when most players are right-handed. I take it you don't play?"

"I've played before. I love Earth history and it's such a historic game that I couldn't resist learning myself. I've only played on the holodeck on a rare occasion though. Never played on any teams," Finn paused to think for a second. "You know, maybe we should start something like that up here on the Athena. Like what you were describing. Matches between departments. Could be fun." She shrugged and took another sip of her drink.

"Sure." Mason smiled at her. "I'm sure we can round up enough players, or have the holodeck fill up the teams if necessary." He leaned back as their ordered food arrived, so that the waiter could place the plate in front of him. "Oooh this smells delicious," he exclaimed as he sniffed his steak and fries. "Alex would've killed for this," he grinned sheepishly, "it smells awesome. Seems the chef here makes better steak - even if it's replicated - than the one on my prior assignment. Better programming maybe?"

Finn dived right in and took a bit of the prime rib on sourdough. "Mmm, yea, it is delicious. Hit the spot for sure." She followed up with a french fry and then washed it down with a sip of her drink. "Do you mind if I ask you about Alex?" She asked, treading carefully. Not everyone liked to talk about previous relationships and Mason talked about Alex as though maybe part of him still loved her.

"No not at all. Ask away. That's as good as therapy right? Talking about exes to new friends when they ask about it?" Mason smiled, though this time the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Alex was a sore subject to him, and he still couldn't quite figure out how or even when their drift apart had started. "What would you like to know?"

"Ha, I don't know that I'd consider this therapy, but sure," Finn chuckled lightly. "So you were married, right? Can I ask how long you two were together? And how did you end up with a teenage daughter?"

"Yeah we were married for about six years, together...seven maybe?" He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Alex brought her home from a mission at some point, she was an orphan and her life had been in danger so we adopted her. It made sense anyway since we couldn't have children together." There was no sadness in his voice over that particular statement. "So it was us three and five cats. I took one of them with me after our divorce and Alex kept the others, and took Angelique with him to Mars. I know they're happy, I do still speak to Angelique on a frequent basis, or at least as frequent as subspace allows. And of course I get to see her during leave, if distance permits or she can travel."

"Well, that's great that it worked for you to adopt Angelique since you couldn't have kids," Finn noted, realizing he hadn't sounded that upset about not being able to have children. She wondered why they couldn't. Was it a medical issue? If so, was it on his end or hers? "Did you always want kids? Or just cats?" She chuckled slightly before tearing off another bite of her sandwich.

"Well at the time I wasn't really ready to consider children, I mean in Human terms I'm still considered to be young and Alex is several years older than me at that. I mean....of course I want children of my own at some point, and I'd like to think we probably would've found a way. And Alex already had a cat when we married, and the little critter got herself knocked up by another cat on the ship so we had little ones. Quite a handful too, having four of them. One was very nasty at that." He chuckled at the memory of having to try and get one of them from under the bed and getting his hand badly clawed. "I actually had three gerbils, but that and cats didn't go together so I gave them to my roommate when I moved in with Alex." He looked up at her, giving her an earnest look. "Wouldn't you want children?"

"Definitely, one day, if I find the right person to have them with," Finn not so subtly smiled at Mason. "Now that you have a teenage daughter, do you want more kids?"

"If an eventual partner is willing too, sure," Mason answered. The smile wasn't lost on mason, however it's intention was completely. Though a linguist, some things were just hard to interpret, even to him. "But we'll see what time brings. I'm happy I have Angelique even if she doesn't live with me and Alex has full custody, and I have my sister's, their partners and children. If I'm blessed with a partner who wants any, then we'll have to see about how to get them."

Finn realized he must've been the one that had an issue with physically having kids since he mentioned seeing how to get them again. It was a topic she chose to mentally catalog for later after they had gotten to know each other better. "So you have a cat then? I love cats and dogs. Gerbils are cute too. What's your cat's name? Is it friendly?"

"Merlin is friendly but a little shy," Mason answered fondly, "he tends to hide under the bed. He's fast though, and all black. Imagine him jumping on the bed in the night, or on your lap out of nowhere. He's not a kitten anymore though, he's about six years old. He was born just after Alex and I got married." He paused, stirring the remains of his beer around in his glass. "Going on seven then, I suppose... Would you like to meet him?"

"I would love that!" Finn replied as her eyes lit up with excitement. "Wait a minute, is this just your way of getting me to your quarters after our date?" She playfully smirked. "I'm just kidding. Though I must admit, I have really enjoyed getting to know you more. I feel like we make a good team."

"I'd run a course with you any time ma'am," Mason said as he stood and gathered their plates together. "As for getting you to my quarters... I'm just going to introduce you to Merlin.. who knows you may have to catsit some day?" He smirked back at her. "Let's go," he added.

Within minutes, they arrived at his quarters, which were spic and span. "Merlin!" He called out, crouching and snapping his fingers. A black blur shot forward, brushing past his leg in a jealous craving for attention. Mason scooped him up in his arms. "This beauty is Merlin."

"Oh my word, he's so cute!" Finn gently put her hand out and let the furry creature sniff before petting him. "I'd be happy to pet sit this dashing little ball of fur anytime. I had a cat growing up, I love them. Who knows I might just sneak in and steal him one of these days." She chuckled.

"I don't remember if we had any pets when I was little. Probably not, as my sister had a rough enough time raising three sisters and a baby brother. I don't think she had time for a pet as well." Mason shrugged as she put the cat into her arms. "Here, hold him for a minute while I get him some food." He headed over to the replicator, then came back with a small bowl of catfood, setting it down on the floor for Merlin to have a go at. "One of the kittens really hated me though, we called her Ubasti. She clawed me good when she was a wee kitten. Alex thought it was really amusing though."

Finn gently put Merlin down when Mason returned with food. "So are you going to give me a tour?" She inquired with a raised brow as she looked around his spotless apartment. "Is that Angelique?" Finn pointed to a picture just across the room.

"Sure, if you want a tour... not much to see here though." Mason chuckled as he pointed around. "Bedroom and bathroom, home work station, living area." He smiled as she pointed at the picture. "Yeap, that's my girl. Isn't she gorgeous?" He deliberately didn't mention the white haired male who was stood next to her in the picture, the both of them smiling. Though form a cursory glance the albino male could very well have been female given his long whit hair which fell half across his face.

"Is that Alex next to her?" Finn asked, noting that she wasn't the most attractive woman she'd ever seen. Her long white hair was beautiful, but her features were almost, masculine. He could do better, she thought.

His expression took a brief note of fondness as he nodded. "Yes that's Alex. He rescued Angelique from certain death and brought her home to us." He looked up at her, studying her for a moment. "And how she's happy with him on Mars, which honestly is a better place to be than here with me in deep space."

A total look of confusion spread across Finn's face. "Wait, did you just say he? As in, Alex is a guy?!" She squinted her eyes and looked more closely at the picture. "I thought Alex was your wife!"

Bewildered, Mason just stared for several seconds. "I never said wife," he finally managed, "Alex stands for Alexander and he was my husband. I'm pretty sure I said 'he' or 'him' several times..." He felt a little flustered, as if he'd just committed a grave error somewhere. Would she think less of him now that she knew he was into men? This wouldn't be the first time he encountered prejudice, and he doubted it'd be the last.

"I think you always just said Alex. I don't ever remember a he or him. Not that it matters, plenty of people are into men and women, and aliens and everything else," Finn shrugged. "I was just throw off guard because all this time I thought Alex was a girl." She noticed that Mason suddenly seemed a little apprehensive. "I really don't care. My best friend dates anyone he can get his hands on. I've even more recently considered whether or not I was interested in a romantic relationship with another woman." Though that had been pushed to the back of her mind as she had gotten to know Mason more.

Finn sighed and sank into his couch, hoping he didn't mind. Looking up, she smiled at Mason. "Look, I think we make a great team. I really enjoyed my time with you this morning and tonight. I'm hoping for a second date. I don't care who you were in a past relationship with." Finn finally let it all out, not seeing a point in beating around the bush with her feelings.

Finally, it dawned on the poor man and he blushed a deep scarlet in embarrassment. "Oh! that kind of team," he finally managed to stammer out. "Oh no, I'm so sorry Finn... but no I'm afraid that won't be possible." He bit his lower lip as he finally looked up to meet her eyes. "I'm already in love with someone else... a male co-worker. I'm sorry Finn, I'm not into women. Friends yes, lovers no."

"Wait, what? So this wasn't a date?" Finn finally understood why he didn't seem to catch on to any of her flirtatious behavior. "Oh my God, of course your not." She threw her hands up slightly exasperated. I finally find an attractive guy that I have a lot in common with, instantly felt a connection and of course, he's not into me, she thought with a sense of defeat.

After wallowing in self-pity for a moment, Finn tilted her head in curiosity and looked back at Mason. "Wait, you're in love with someone else? Who? I'd ask if it was Alex but you said co-worker? I thought earlier you said you were single?"

"I am. I mean I have feelings for this guy, but I don't know where I stand with him. He keeps saying he likes girls and yet he kissed me?" He gave a frustrated sigh. "It's Kevan. Absolutely gorgeous Trill guy in security, and super funny."

"Well, now you know how I feel, except I didn't even get a kiss and I guess I know where I stand now," Finn smirked and then let out a sigh. "I think we need drinks. Do you mind if I replicate us some?" She motioned to his replicator.

"I've never kissed a girl before," Mason confessed, offering a rueful smile. "Yeah we need a drink for sure, go ahead." His smile brightened a little. "I suppose every girl has a gay best friend, right? We can be just friends?"

"Maybe you should try kissing one, might change your mind," Finn smirked as she walked to the replicator. "As for friends, I think the 'every girl has a gay best friend' is more of an old stereotype, but sure, we can be friends. At least until I convince you to fall in love with me and forget about Kevan." She chuckled and ordered a rum and coke for herself and a whiskey for Mason. As they appeared, she grabbed the cool glasses and handed Mason his on her way back to the couch.

Mason sat down across from her and Merlin hopped up into his lap, pawing around a few times as he walked in circles, before settling down. "Hmm, I don't want to hurt your feelings but I don't really feel any desire to kiss a girl. Never had.. I've wrestled with my sexuality since I was an early teenager. Knew I was different when I was even younger. It just took time for me to acknowledge what I felt to myself and my first love was a disaster altogether. I nearly died." He twirled his drink around in his glass, idly stroking the cat's fur with his other hand. "Perhaps you'll see what I mean, when you meet Kevan."

"No feelings hurt here. I try not to have any," she chuckled. "I've met Kevan. He saved mine & Reed's asses once when we had those Bolian clones running around the ship. He's a good guy. I suppose I can see why you like him," Finn smiled and took a large sip from her rum and coke. "Though I can't see why he wouldn't want to pursue a relationship with you in return. You're a catch!"

Mason blushed, not sure how to respond to that. "He confuses me," he finally said, "and I honestly don't know where I stand. Part of me feels he does have feelings for me, and I do feel he's lying to himself about it too. I suppose when this is all over I should talk to him huh... but how? I can hardly kiss him just like that again now can I? But I don't really want to wait for him to take the initiative either, so what should I do? What would you do?"

"Oh man, I don't know. I've only been in one serious relationship and to be honest, I've only more recently been open to even dating again. I haven't dated anyone for the past three years." Finn's eyes glazed over as she thought about it, but only for a moment. She snapped back to the present and took another sip of her drink, washing away old memories. "Anyway, I guess the only thing to do would be to talk to him about it. If he refuses to acknowledge his feelings then what else can you do other than to move on? It's not fair for you to have to wait around while he figures out what he's missing."

"Except I'm not exactly waiting around am I? I'm the one who's expressed feelings for him. I kissed him first, and he got really mad at me for it too." He looked down at his drink, sighing softly. "My first love interest got mad too, and even Alex took some convincing as he couldn't stand being touched... by anyone. The slightest touch from anyone had him go into a faint. After a while I was the only one who could, especially after he got a bad sunburn while we were on leave." He shook his head. "Tough luck huh?"

"But you are waiting around, aren't you? You haven't dated anyone else, and you don't seem interested in anyone else other than Kevan. If you've expressed feelings for Kevan and he won't return them then what else can you do other than to try to get over him?" The concept seemed easy enough to Finn. She hadn't let herself get attached to anyone since Mitchell. "How many times have you talked to him and tried to get him to recognize his own feelings?" She asked, wondering if this had been a one or multiple times thing.

"I've talked to him plenty of times," Mason countered, "but I don't want to push him too much you know. I'd rather have a friend and face unanswered feelings than alienate him and lose a friend. We do have a good working relationship, I don't want to risk destroying that by being too pushy. He knows how I feel about him, and I do think he's got feelings for me too, he just needs to accept it. And I think, in his case that'll just take time. I understand how he might feel, having to admit to yourself that you do like guys. I've been there, and while I've accepted it, it's still not something I openly discuss with just anyone. I mean, I don't hide it but I don't have to flaunt it now do I?"

"You know what you should do? Invite him to join us for dinner or a round of cards and drinks or something. Maybe he'll get a little jealous if he seems someone else giving you some attention," Finn smirked.

"Hah... you think? I consider it more likely that I'd be the jealous one because he might just be flirting with you instead." He wagged his finger at her, causing the cat to glare up at him for the pause in attention. "But you might just have a thought there though." He drained his drink in one go, then gestured at her. "Want another one?" he asked. Since this was synthehol, there was at least no risk at getting drunk over a drink or two.

"Sure," she handed him her glass. "As for flirting with me, he hasn't yet. Even if he does, you don't have to worry about anything. For one thing, I consider you a friend and I'd never take a friend's love interest. Beyond that, I'm not actively looking to be in a relationship. If one comes along and it clicks then great.
Otherwise, whatever," Finn shrugged. "It helps that I'm mostly attracted to engineers and Marines, but I refuse to date anyone in my own department and we don't have any Marines onboard. With the exception of former Marines like you."

"Why do Marines appeal to you?" He gave her an earnest look as he went to get another drink. "And why not someone in your own department? What if someone strikes your fancy?"

Finn chuckled as he spit-fired questions, he reminded her of herself. Though normally she'd have been put off by the personal inquiries, somehow she felt she could trust Mason. Maybe it was the spark that had started on the obstacle course, bonding over a shared hobby. Either way, Finn felt as though she could open up to him, at least some.

"Marines are familiar I think and we tend to share a lot of the same values. Don't get me wrong, everyone has their own personality, but Marines tend to be very committed to what they do and in general, I've found they're very honorable people. Traits I was raised with and admire in others." Finn shrugged. "My dad always warned me against dating someone within my own department. Said it could make things messy. Still, I dated an engineer on the same ship once. He was perhaps the love of my life, but it didn't end well. So now I follow my dad's advice." She half smiled as Mason handed her the refill and immediately downed half the glass. Unfortunately, synthehol didn't drown out old memories as well as the real stuff.

"I was raised with the idea of treating people right. Of course my sister instilled values in us, ones dad probably taught her... Treat women right and all that. Dad died when I was about five... I don't really remember him and or my mom. I'm the baby of the family." He shrugged as he took a big sip, a little too big a sip as he burst out in coughs. Merlin screeched as he moved suddenly, and shot away to hide under the table.

"Aww, poor Merlin," Finn chuckled as Mason coughed and the cat ran off. Taking another sip of her drink, her expression changed into one of empathy. "Sorry to hear about your parents. That must've been rough. Sounds like you had some good sisters taking care of you though." She gave him a soft and understanding smile.

He continued to cough, then cleared his throat. "Miranda's the best, I'm very proud of her and I'm happy she's supported me all my life. She's the oldest of the four sisters I have. I'm the youngest of five. I'm not sure it's rough, I can't really miss what I never really had, can I? It was tougher on my sisters. Do you have any siblings?"

"Nope, I don't think my parents thought they couldn't handle another after me," Finn laughed. "I have a friend that I consider a brother though. Tavin. His father served with mine so we basically grew up together. Most of our parent's assignments were on the same ship and on occasion we lived together if my parents or his took short term assignments that didn't allow families. Where are your sisters at these days?"

"Miranda's back home in Ireland and I think Anita is too. Danielle probably lives on Mars with her husband. Though he's Starfleet he's stationed on Mars. Léoni, I'm not sure where she is at the moment. Her husband is a Starfleet too, but he's assigned to a ship last I knew. And well, I'm traveling the stars too, but we do meet up once in a while. I did take Alex home to meet my sisters, before we were married. We have a huge family home and Miranda lives in it with her family. But we can always claim one of the rooms if we need to."

Finn nodded and raised her glass in a cheer. "Heres to our families, where ever they may be." After another sip, finishing off the somewhat newly refilled drink, she set it on the table in front of her with a sigh of satisfaction. "Now, when are we setting up this meeting with Kevan? Tomorrow?" She smirked.

"Uhm...." Mason hesitated, not sure if this was the way to go. He didn't want to force things with Kevan and risk losing one of the few friends on the ship that he had. "How about I check with Kevan to see if he's up for a game night, and we'll go from there?"

"Fair enough, but you have to promise me that you'll ask him or message him about a game night. This week. Deal?" She asked.

"This week," Mason promised, "barring unforseen circumstances of course. So... what do we do now?" He twirled the remainder of his drink around, watching the amber liquid slosh around. "I mean... it's not all that late on the evening... I have an old fashioned movie player. Do you want to watch something? It's rigged for modern times of course."

"I would love that actually," Finn replied with a wide grin. "I used to do movie nights with my family growing up. What are we watching?"

Mason smirked at her. "Fright night," he said as he went to get some snacks and the beamer. "That okay?"

"I can't say I've heard of it," she shrugged. "I'm guessing by the title, it's a horror movie?"

"Yeap." He bared his teeth at her in a downright evil grin. "Vampires," he added. "Just sit back, and enjoy the movie," he suggested as he let himself drop back on his couch after installing the old fashioned device. "Now this thing is modified, but it should give an old theater effect," he said as he started the movie.

"Sounds interesting," she said, kicking her shoes off and curling up on his couch. Finn continued to sip on her rum and coke as the movie flickered to life. It didn't waste much time getting to the action with the opening scene showing a woman murdered. Her eyes widened, soaking in every detail of the already exciting old fashioned movie.

As the movie continued, and having seen it several times before now, Mason found himself yawning and before he realized it, he had actually started to nod off. He was sound asleep even before the movie had gone halfway through.

Finn remained glued to the screen, not noticing that Mason was no longer watching. As the movie came to the end and the credits rolled, she sat back with a sigh. "Wow, that was actually really good. Thanks for sharing it with..." As her head turned, she realized that he wasn't going to respond to her statement. Finn smiled at him, thinking he looked cute even when he was sleeping, and then hopped off the couch.

She found a blanket in his bedroom, brought it out to the couch, and laid it over him before picking up their now empty glasses and replacing them on the replicator padd. Satisfied that his quarters looked as tidy as they had when she had arrived, Finn picked up a padd from the table and left a message for Mason. 'Thanks for the fun night! I really enjoyed the movie. Don't forget to ask Kevan about game night!' She signed it 'from your friend, Finn' and then left for her own quarters.