Lets Just Talk (1/3)

Posted on 22 Mar 2016 @ 11:12am by Lieutenant Wilhelm Von Haeften & Petty Officer 1st Class Rebecca Williams

3,149 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: Jupiter Station - Q Continuum
Timeline: MD94 2035hours

[ON]

Rebecca hesitated as she moved to the entrance to the restaurant. It wasn’t because she was scared of what lay in wait behind, it was because she was scared of what it meant. The fear was irrational, they'd been a couple for a number of days now...half a month? Had it been that long….But it seemed that everything had been behind closed doors. Every encounter, every dinner (or attempt at dinner)...it had been done behind doors as if they needed to keep things a secret. This would officially be their first outing in public.

Rebecca smoothed her hands down over the silk dress that she wore, the royal purple colour seemed to bounce off of her black hair, set into curls, for what was possibly the first time ever. The curls fell in a cascade down her bared back, to where the ends of the strands met her waist at the same place the back of the material started, the sides kept out of her face by the only pieces of jewelry she used, two combs. The dress itself followed the curves of her body, strapless aside from the choker the material formed around her neck, the material flowing downwards to where it stopped mere millimeters above the floor.l

Her face was almost bare of makeup, just a pale red colour subtly enhanced her lips, her eyelashes appearing extended beneath the mascara.

Eyes of men watched her, some even dared to brush against her as she stood there looking at the door. Even when they mumbled an apology of sorts, they didn't get a response. They put it down to a woman with such looks being an ice queen, only she knew the truth which was that it was nerves...pure, raw nerves.

As she felt the brush of a hand against her bare shoulder, Rebecca finally looked up into a stranger's face, hearing his mumbled query on if she was ok. Smiling weakly as she nodded her head, the woman was aware that she couldn't put this off any longer. Steeling her shoulders she moved so as the doors slid open, taking mere seconds to find who it was she'd come to meet. The only man who could warm her body to the temperatures it reached in this moment.

Wilhelm Von Haeften was a man of planning, and though some might find that dull, sometimes it paid off. Tonight was a prime example; the restaurant they were at was known as the Q Continuum, and it was supposed to be quite swanky. When Wilhelm looked it up on the Extranet, he was embarrassed that he had to rearrange he and Rebecca’s dinner plans, since he would not be able to eat there without a reservation of at least two weeks notice. However, he had set a date for the future and that date was now.

He had fussed for over an hour on what to wear. He decided that Rebecca had once offhandedly said he looked good in blue, so Wil eventually went with that, a blue jacket and white shirt with an old-fashioned tie that probably was quite sheik about 30 years ago, and black shoes. Wilhelm had arrived early to secure their table, near a window that overlooked Jupiter, her cascading light of browns and tans and burnt oranges glowing brightly against the ebony well of the cosmos. He remembered when those same lights shone upon Rebecca’s bare skin, and he blushed slightly from the memory. He had been craning his neck towards the entrance to the establishment, looking for his love. Upon seeing her, Wil got up and made his way to her through the crowd, mumbling his apologies and carefully avoiding touching any lady he passed; he did not want to be accused of attempting funny business, and most of all did not want Rebecca thinking he had eyes for anyone except her.

He reached her and held out his arm for her to take if she wished. It was then that Wilhelm got his first look at Ms. Williams. Her hair was in curls, framing her lovely features and cascading down her back. Her dress was royal purple, a pleasant contrast against her light skin. Wil was sure that he saw the back was bare, showing off her tattoo that he had come to know quite well as it snaked its way up and down her spine. She wore little makeup, but Wil thought it made her all the more lovely; she made the makeup look beautiful, not the other way around. The dress itself hugged every bit of her, and Wil had to try quite hard not to stare like a lecher at her curves. She was more beautiful than the planet below them, indeed as far as Wilhelm was concerned, her beauty drowned out even the most luminous of the stars in that raven-colored prairie behind the windows.

A smile curved across Rebecca’s lips as the tension in her body swiftly left every muscle and joint of her body, allowing the woman to easily place her hand against his arm. When he'd told her to dress well, that he would be taking her somewhere special, the woman hadn't expected this. This was a place that demanded style and manners...the odd twinkle of laughter showed that loud noises within reason where not frowned upon but she imagined any drunken behavior would have you escorted out by your ear.

Normally she wouldn't have been intimidated, how many fancy locations and dinners and affairs where in she was expected to look good and draw looks...if only to booster the ego of the person whom she was escorting. But...this time...this time it was different. This time she needed to impress Will...to show that there was more to her than just an airhead who was good between the sheets..or on the floor...or against the bulkhead...or...anyway...she wanted to show Wil that there was more to her than what he'd seen before. “Good evening Wil.”

Wil said nothing, indeed could not say anything. Instead he leaned forward and kissed her lips lightly. He wanted to do more than that, but decorum ruled here.

“Du bist voellig schoene*.” he said with a smile like a man promoted to Fleet Admiral.

Rebecca felt a faint blush highlight across her cheeks, looking deep into Wil’s eyes as she resisting going back for more. She had always loved the German language but with him, when it flowed from her lovers mouth, it sounded even more beautiful. “Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself meine liebe**.”

“I try liebchen***.” Wil said with another smile.

Von Haeften got them to their table and released his arm from Rebecca’s in order to hold her seat for her. Once she had seated, he took his place across from her. The table was small enough to allow intimate conversation, but allowed room to place utensils, food, and assorted eatery minutiae.

A waiter quickly approached them in finery, notepad in hand.

“What can I offer you to drink?” the Andorian male said with a twitch of his antennae.

Wil put his hand palm up towards Rebecca, indicating to the waiter that she, as the lady, will go first.

Rebecca looked over to Wil for a moment as she weighed it up. She figured they'd have wine with dinner but wasn't certain if he wished to choose given the wine would probably need to fit what they ordered. Red for meat, white for fish….and she was over thinking this...way too much. “I will have a Bellini please?”

“Good choice love; I’ll have the same please.” Wil said. He honestly had no idea what the drink was, but decided that from the way Rebecca looked at him before ordering, she was trying to think what was ‘right’, and decided that he would put her at ease by showing her that it was ok to order whatever you bloody well pleased.

The waiter took their orders and beat a retreat. Once gone, Wil held out his hand to take Rebecca’s.

Smiling, he said “You could make Venus herself look like a common harlot darling.”

Rebecca felt as the flush deepened on her cheeks as she took his hand in hers, entwining their fingers as she let out a breath that she hadn't realised she was holding. Her eyes glanced the planet in question before she looked back at Wil with a smile. “I figured that I had better make the effort at least...it's nice sometimes to get out of a uniform or sweats. Sometimes you need to remind yourself that you are a person beneath that rank and position.”

“I’m glad our schedules aligned so we could go here before departing Jupiter Station; I’ve heard a lot about this place but have never gone.” Wil said, looking around the room.

The hand that held Wil’s tightened a little as she look at him...properly look now that she’d managed to rid herself of the tension. The blue surprised her...she'd seen him in teal before not never this shade of blue, beyond a handful of t-shirts. The shade of blue...ice blue she thought, contrasted with the blackness of his hair which seemed to be growing length since the first time they had met. She recalled how she'd run her fingers through the shortened strands as they just held each other close. His eyes, as they watched her, glinted with a shine that made her, impulsive smile.

“Hey hon, I noticed the other night when we uh...fought...that you had hurt your knuckles. You ok?” he said, pointing to her hand.

Rebecca felt her body tense as he asked the question, glad of the excuse not to answer as the waiter approached with their requested drinks, requiring her to pull her hand back as she hid it under the cloth of the table. “Have you actually had a Bellini before?” The woman smiled her appreciation at the waiter as he deposited a glass in front of them each.

“Of course…” Wil answered.

“...not.” the CSO added, once he was sure Rebecca could see right through him.

Laughing, Rebecca muttered a thank you to the waiter as menus were left at each of their elbows before he moved off once again. Leaning forward, she left her drink untouched for a moment as she tilted her head to one side, “Do you like peaches?”

“I like them fine.” Wil admitted.

“There’s a drink back on Earth called elderflower wine...it's a sparkling alcoholic drink created from an actual flower that grows in the old area called Europe in the northern hemisphere. It takes about eight to ten weeks to ferment into wine, using sugar, lemon zest and the elderflower sprigs. It tastes very similar to what you are going to taste now except that a Bellini has peaches instead so can be a little more light on your tastebuds.” Bringing back her hand, Rebecca indicated for Wil to take a taste.

Wilhelm took the glass and took a drag of the liquid. He made a face.

“Not my bag. You also avoided my question love.” Wil said nonchalantly.

Rebecca couldn't help but laugh as she saw the change in his face at the taste, it was at the tip of her tongue to tease him but he beat her to it instead.

Taking her hand back out from under the cloth, the woman looked at the knuckles in question, still criss crossed with the evidence of the hemes she had made of the repair, before reaching out for her own drink. She could lie...claim it to be due to a training exercise but she didn't want to lie to Wilhelm...she wanted that always they could tell each other anything. Lies hurt, they made what you had in life fake, she knew that more than anyone. She lived her life by the fact that she could forgive anything but she could never forgive a person who lied to her. “I punched a bulkhead.”

Wil laughed. “Did it insult you my lady, because if it had you could’ve simply called to fight it to the death.”

Rebecca laughed as her body relaxed, finally allowing herself a sip from her glass before she answered his question. “No not quite...it was more a case of the bulkhead being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was angry and a mix of other emotions and at the time...I guess I just lashed out.

“Does this have something to do with the almost break up we had?” Wil asked, his eyes sad.

“Almost break up...that's a good way of putting it…” Rebecca smiled but her eyes showed the hint of upset alongside what could only be fear as she looked back up at Wil. “Yes...it was before I went to see you to tell you it was over.”

“Do you wanna talk about it Hon?” Wil asked quietly.

Rebecca looked away as the studied the bubbles lining the inside of her glass, studying them as she tried to sort through her thoughts and put them into words he might understand. “Have you ever felt emotion build up inside of you to the point at which you feel you’ll explode if you don't do something?”

Rebecca would have folded her arms on the table but she didn't think that the establishment would have seen it as proper table etiquette. Instead she took her glass in one hand, delicately twisting the stem between her fingers as her other hand pushed a stray curl back behind her ear. She didn’t allow a long enough pause for Wil to answer her first question before she continued on, “You've got to remember I'm coming from a place different to yours...a life different to the foundations on which we are building…” The woman stopped for a moment as she tried to choose the right word, “...on which we are building this relationship.”

Wilhelm reached out a hand to gently touch her hand.

“I understand love. But I don’t think it matters where you came from or where I came from; all that matters, to me at least, is where we are going.”

Wilhelm licked his lip slightly as he wondered if he should go on.

“I think we are going to a...future together.” he dared not to say any more, afraid he’d said too much already as it was.

Rebecca blinked. She wasn't sure what else more to say or do than that. She felt like she was suddenly on a runaway train where she'd just gotten used to the newer speed, even getting to the point where she could speak it all aloud...then, wham it was gone again.

“I...Wil…woah…” Taking up her glass, the woman just took a sip as she forced herself to breath, around the mouthful. The one thing she realised was that despite the panic there was no instinct to flee and run...maybe she really could do this. “I hope that you mean chocolates and flowers, cuddles and hand holding...not white dresses and rings and babies and...well…don't be getting ahead of yourself meine liebe**.”

Wilhelm meant exactly that; white dresses in a church somewhere...maybe Rebecca taking his name. Perhaps children calling them momma and dadda...someday. But he knew he couldn’t very well shout that from the nearest mountain; she’d think him a fool, one who thought too far ahead.

“Well love...I honestly don’t know. I meant that I see us being happy together as a couple. Where that takes us I do not know. Maybe the end result is exactly as you said...maybe it just means we continue to spend time together until the end of time. All I know is, I love you. I love spending time with you, I love your smile, I love your laugh, and I love that no matter how sweaty you get, your hair still smells of vague cinnamon.”

Wil smiled as he said the last line for laughs. He was proud of himself, thinking he had successfully gotten out of what could have been a sticky situation.

If she'd had a bottle of alcohol in front of her, Rebecca might have downed it in one go. That earlier thought of not running...now it was tugging on the edges of her mind as she fought back against the panic. Even the humour of his last words just passed her by.

The woman moved her hand to Wil's, turning it palm side up as her fingertips softly traced the lines etched into the skin, forcing herself to find a center that would anchor her here in the moment. “Bare with me...I can't promise you anything as my future was never that. It was never to have that dream of happily ever after it was always to be somebody...to make a name for myself and perhaps someday to make it as an Admiral’s attaché. The men on the way...they were more for fun, for a mutual companionship on that road.”

“Well I can promise you that I will never intentionally stand in the way of your goals love; if you wanted to be a Fleet Admiral, I’d give you my full and unconditional support. I too have dreams involving my career, seeing these pips grow and multiple someday…”

He absent-mindedly flicked his collar where his rank pips would be if he were in uniform.

“You are and will always be somebody to me darling. I’m not saying let’s go find a justice of the peace tonight. I’m just saying that I will always be there for you, as long as you want me there. We will find a way to make it work no matter what, through careers and deployments and assignments to far flung reaches of the stars.”

Wilhelm grasped onto Rebecca’s hand, entwining their fingers.

“Egal wie weit auseinander unsere Aufgaben uns nehmen könnten, ich will immer lust für unsere Händen wie diese zu berühren meine süße.****

[TBC]

*You are absolutely beautiful.
** my love
*** sweetheart
**** No matter how far apart our assignments might take us, I will always long for our hands to touch like this my sweet.

a JP by:

Lieutenant JG Wilhelm Von Haeften
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

&

Petty Officer 2nd Class Rebecca Williams
Yeoman to Captain Jonathan Holiday
USS Galileo
[pNPC Drusilla McCarthy]

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