Old Fashioned

Posted on Thu Oct 1st, 2020 @ 4:11am by Petty Officer 2nd Class Halla Dezom (*) & Major Levi Drake

Mission: Cosmos
Location: Starbase 621
Timeline: 2396
1600 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

The meal had been lovely and the show they had seen afterwards had made in perfect even as the walked through the busy promenade it did not dispel her good mood. It was just nice to be with him and not be a marine or Starfleet enlisted, it was freeing. Halla really just wanted to spend some time with him, the last six months had been up and down. “This place looks a lot fuller than the last time we were here. Could go check out our observation lounge.” She grinned up at him. The man allowed them a few moments of avoiding people.

"I could go for some privacy right about now," he nodded, letting his arm drape fairly naturally around her. "Seems like this place is getting back to what it was before." Levi was a lot more relaxed with her now. The initial uncertainty and tension that had been there before were gone. It felt natural to be together, socially. "We should make the most of it while we can; rumour is we might be called-in to follow up on that incident at the tech conference - with the Commodore."

"Well come on then Major." Halla teased him just a little as she headed to the observation lounge and out of the way of the vast amount of the crowd. She squeezed his hand that was draped over her smiling at how she had broken him down. Inside the lounge, it was a lot quieter and Halla smiled in relief as the noise level lowered. "Where did you hear that rumour from?" She wondered moving close to the huge viewing area and sat down.

"Marines hear things," he replied. "And in case you've forgotten, I'm the top Marine on the Cosmos now. I'm privy to all sorts of top-secret classified scuttlebutt." He found them a secluded corner sofa and tugged her down next to him. "I just get the sense that if they're actively hunting down terrorists, they're going to want to send in my team."

"Oh, I do not think I can forget being sneaked into Marine land." She commented on with a wink as she was tugged down next to him. It was a nice secluded corner that no one would consider coming to look at when two people were already sat in the corner of the vast compartment. "You just want to go terrorist hunting, don't you? Missing the action." She snickered.

"Missing the action," he agreed with a little shrug. "Taking out the bad guys, saving the damsel in distress, you know." He grinned. "Seriously, though. If someone offered you an important...science...thing..." he waved his hand. "You'd be raring to go too."

The woman nodded. She really would love that chance but it would not happen. “But they are not so I just get to be jealous and support you.” She murmured squeezing his hand that he tried to wave around.

"Jealous?" he echoed, an eyebrow raised slightly. "Why would you be jealous? We're here on our own, staring out at the stars."

"I do not get offered important science things. You get all the important and exciting things happen to you." She grinned back leaning into him as she turned her attention back to the stars and the small bit of the planet they could see below.

"I've got space for a Chief Petty Officer if you wanted to try a career change for something more exciting. Just think: we can have you crawling through mud and on the phaser range by the end of the week if you wanted," he remarked. "What do you think, would working under me be so bad?"

"But then we could not do this." She reminded him as she laying her head on his shoulder taking in his words. She liked being a technician but sometimes she longed to be able to do something more. They were able to have these moments due to the differences in the chain of command and being in different departments. If that changed that could potentially be taken away.

He let his arm drape over her shoulder as she leaned into him. "Right answer," he replied. "I'm sure we can make our own excitement if your career isn't giving you enough."

"Only answer." Halla just grinned and rested her head against his shoulder for a long while just enjoying the silence of the observation lounge and the way the planet moved below. It was beautiful for a desert world especially for someone who liked water and worlds that had so much of it but it had its own uniqueness.

"Shooting ranges...good food...a show...yeah, I can see the appeal. But surely there must be some other things we can do for some excitement around here?" he wondered.

"Well, we have shown up conference vendor that was pretty exciting." She pointed out with a bit of a smirk at that memory. She would not forget that anytime soon. "Arboretum? Swimming? Holodeck?" She offered suggestions as she started moving to look around for a console to find a map.

"We already did the Cetacean section, so maybe not the swimming," he replied. "What about a movie?"

Oh, her mind instantly thought how quaint but then she remembered what she had heard from a few science cadets who were excited about getting to see an old fashioned movie that just was not the same on the small screen. "I heard they have an old fashioned movie theatre about 70 decks up." She mused thinking it might be fun to go to an old-style movie complex if it was indeed true. "Can find the back row." She teased as she scooted up and moved to the console to check.

"Middle centre. Good acoustics" was his retort. "Although most of the newer movies they turned into holodeck settings, I hear."

"Nah this one looks like its old fashioned." Halla mused joining him again offering both her hands. "You can sit there if you want." She grinned hoping it was all old fashioned. It would be like stepping back in time and she needed that every now and then.

He let her help him up, taking advantage of the moment to slide his arm around her waist. "I'm fine with old fashioned."

"I gathered you might be." She grinned up at him commenting on their age gap before leading the way out to one of the turbo lifts. It was not long until they were stood outside what Halla had only ever seen in the holodeck, an old fashioned cinema.

"I had no idea they had this," Levi noted, staring at the intricate recreation. Someone had gone to a lot of effort to make it look like the real thing. He motioned to the equally old-fashioned board indicating showings. "So, what do you think? Singing in the Rain? Forbidden Planet?"

"It was not here last time. Forbidden Planet?" She looked at the film plot. "A starship crew goes to investigate the silence of a planet's colony only to find two survivors and a deadly secret that one of them has. Oh, how could I not want to go with that one." It would be a good film, slightly close to home but it would be good.

"That sounds weirdly familiar," Levi noted, thinking back to the sea base incident. "At least we can test it for authenticity now."

Halla just giggled leaning up to kiss him softly before she organised the tickets. "Come on then let's go." She was grinning from ear to ear over it all. It was just nice to be able to relax and enjoy his company without a marine interrupting.

Levi followed her lead into the dark of the cinema. A vendor in a strange striped hat was offering sales of popcorn, which he took advantage of in picking up a little box of for both of them while she grabbed the tickets.

"I can't remember the last time I went to something like this. Mostly it's been holodeck recreations," he said, taking in the large screen and the rows of seating.

"See I listened and got the middle." She grinned taking the popcorn box sitting down. It was exciting. She had not been to anything like this before. "It is all I have been too. Trill never had anything like this." She mused.

"What did you have?" he asked, dropping into a seat next to her. He wasn't so familiar with Trill or their culture, so maybe it was a good time to find out what their adolescence was actually like.

"It was all holomatrixs or studies for symbionts. There was not much time if wanted to achieve something in life or to get off Trill." She shrugged not wanting to think about it really. It was that simple that people just worked, worked, worked. "What about you?" She wondered.

He could sympathise a little with her childhood. His had been a little bit less intense, but since he'd joined the corps it had been his whole life. "I never really did the whole 'study' thing. A guy like me it was usually about hitting things really hard or running really fast. Joining the Marines was a way of channelling that into something useful."

Halla wanted to say something romantic but stopped as the room turned dark and the large screen lit up. It was rude to talk now but maybe it was time to have a better talk about them and their future. She smiled at him and snuggled back into the large velvet chair.