Enticement

Posted on Sun Aug 24th, 2025 @ 3:22pm by Lieutenant Commander David Erickson & Lieutenant Karane Inda & Chief Petty Officer Chloe Delacroix
Edited on on Thu Oct 9th, 2025 @ 7:54pm

914 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: ARYL 1X02: Simulated Pressure
Location: Karane's Office

David stepped into Engineering and weaved his way through the bustling engineers going about their business. He nodded to the ones he'd met and gotten to know, and as he passed the pocket-sized repair technician, he gave her a wink. "Is it ready?"

"Aye, Sir," Cid said, grinning.

"I'll pick it up tomorrow," he said. He gave her a high-five (or from his perspective, a five) and continued on. He was there to seek a different diminutive blonde.

He knocked on the doorway to Karane's office and leaned on the door frame, smiling at her serene expression. "Good afternoon," he said, a bit louder than normal, smiling.

Karana literally jumped up in her chair, her eyes were a little red and she had her arms crossed across her chest. "Huh... I'm totally not sleeping..." she very obviously lied. "What are you... Wait you didn't draw on my face or anything did you?!"

David's eyebrows went up a bit in surprise. "No," he said, slowly. "But I'm now regretting a missed opportunity." He stepped into the room and lowered his voice. "You okay?"

"Yeah. It's just been... busy." Karane said. "After that disaster of a 'Combat Drill', every department have been demanding that Engineering fix this, patch that, help us defend against this..." Karane grumbled. "There's this Ensign who actually called us to get rid of a spider in a shuttle the other day..."

"Seems more of a security issue," David quipped. "Hopefully you didn't make them cry too badly," he said, grinning. "Well, if you're up to it," he said, "I'd like to invite you to something that I promise will be spider free and much more enjoyable."

"What needs fixing?" Karane sighed. "Or is this another date?"

"Another date," David said. "Since we're all a bit overworked and on edge from the combat drills and other goings on, I thought a little recreation was in order. Food, drink, a chance for everyone to let their hair down, shake hands and enjoy each other's company. I thought you could...maybe...join me. We can continue our discussions from our dinner together, but in a more informal setting."

"Informal setting huh?" Karane said. "You'll have to elaborate."

"Just a get together in the main rec lounge," he said. "A game of pool, some light conversation. Something to let everyone breathe and shake off the recent stresses. I've been spreading the word, but I wanted to invite you personally..." he took a breath, "because I'd like to see you there."

"I'll see if I get a chance to stop by." Karane said in response. "Who else have you invited huh?"

"Oh various people I've been running in to," he said. "Commander Novis, of course. Ensign F'arn from Security, sent a message to the doc and the counselor to join us. Mentioned it to Cid, and to C'Hira, and a couple others, I believe. And told them to spread the word."

"Are you the party officer now or something?" Karane asked with a smirk.

"I absolutely am," he said, grinning, leaning onto her desk. "Not to step on Doctor Johnson's toes when it comes to crew morale, but who doesn't love a good get-together? Some good food, something to drink." He fixed his green eyes on her hazel ones and smiled. "And some charming company."

"Charming company huh... Are you referring to yourself there?" Karane smirked.

"Flattered you'd think so," he said, "but don't sell yourself short." He grinned at her. "So, see you tonight?"

"Yeah I guess..." She replied. "If I can get everything down here done." She held out a clipboard. "Unless you feel up to purging the port nacelle plasma injectors and saving me a job?"

David wasn't sure if he was being baited, but he decided to take the chance. He took the clipboard and shrugged. "I can't think of a better way to spend my lunch break," he lied. "But, if it gets you free tonight, it's worth it." He stood up and grinned. "A second date and it didn't require me breaking anything. I'll take that as a good sign," he teased.

"Wait... What...?" Karane stuttered suddenly taken by surprise.

He gave a small salute with the clipboard and headed out of her office. "I'll let you know once the purge is done," he said over his shoulder.

"What the hell just happened? Did I just agree to a second date due to plasma injectors?!" She said to herself her mouth open in pure astonishment. She huffed to herself crossing her arms. "Damn it, why do I have to be so cheap! You could have at least got him to do more! Damn it Karane!" She scolded herself.

David left her office at a brisk clip so she wouldn't see the smile fade from his face as he walked back into Engineering. He didn't know what possessed him to do something as stupid as agreeing to an Engineering assignment--no, that wasn't true, he knew exactly what possessed him--but now he had to figure out a way to get it done. He looked around and saw his previous partner in crime and walked over to her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her along with him.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's going on?" Cid said, almost lifted off the deck, holding onto her tool kid for dear life.

"Today's your day to be a hero," David said. "You're going to save my life. I'll explain on the way."

 

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