Hesitant conversation

Posted on Tue May 26, 2026 @ 12:25pm by Commander Cara Letsul & Civilian David Scarlet

1,441 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Jubilee
Location: Cara's Quarters
Timeline: MD 01 Evening

She was alone in her quarters, seated in the second bedroom of which she had made her personal office. Upon the cherry wooden desk, was a view screen. The viewscreen had long gone dark, Cara seeing her own reflection in the screen. She had gotten a message from her friend, Hotaru. Hotaru was not only her friend but also her intelligence contact. For sometime Hotaru had been keeping tabs on Cara's old team leader. Captain Hayden Vasal, from her sources he had been under other names.

Then he staged his death,she didn't know what he looked like right now.

Cara's thoughts went to David,she had been rather reluctant in getting involved with anyone. David has made her want to try again. She needed to talk to him. She was worried as to how he would react. She knew more about him, than what he knows about her.

She sent a message to David not knowing where he was at. Cara didn't want to request the computer to find him, she was messaging him directly via her computer.

==David, are you busy? Want dinner and conversation? Cara==

Scarlet had loaded this OWL specs into a holosuite and had been running piloting and maintenance simulations. If he was going to captain the vessel he wanted to know what it could and could not do. He had just finished doing a virtual loop around the station when he heard Cara's message.

He tapped the comm badge he'd been given as a station resident. "Not too busy for you. Be right there."

A short while and change of clothing later, David Scarlet stood at the door of Cara's quarters. He wasn't dressed formal by any stretch of the imagination, but a simple pair of navy blue slacks and grey short sleeved shirt was about as fancy as he'd dress on most days. He reached for the chime and then waited for the door to open.

The door opened, Cara stood on the other side, having a warm smile of greeting, her eyes lighting up when she saw him there.

"Come on in." stepping back to let him inside.

Her outfit was simple, a vee neck short sleeved light blue dress. Her feet were bare, having prefered to walk around in her quarters with no shoes.

The fragrance of freshly baked bread, drifted in the air, along with the scent of a savory beef stew.

"Hello David." Cara spoke tenderly, moving towards him, to give David a heartfelt kiss.

He put his hands on her bare arms and kissed her tenderly in return. "Cara, you look lovely."

Scarlet looked around a bit as he stepped inside. "I half feel like I've forgotten something important."

"The food smells amazing though, so I'll apologize for whatever I've forgotten." He said as deadpan as he could before allowing a grin to crease his features.

Cara smiled, a warm quiet laugh in answer.

"I don't quite know what you would have forgotten" Looking into his eyes, "The important thing you brought, was-you." putting her arms around David giving him a hug.

She stood there for a moment, listening to his heartbeating. His solid chest his nearness; once again gave her the sense of home.

She murmured teasingly "we could just stand here while I keep you hostage in my arms or, we could start eating dinner." looking upwards into his beloved face, giving a broad grin.

Her hair loosely cascaded down her back as she met his eyes. Her own eyes dancing with laughter.

Scarlet feigned deep thought and brought his hands down to rest on her waist. "If we don't eat dinner now, I'm afraid it will be cold by the time we get around to it." He smiled, which instantly hit him as strange about how easily it had come. Then again, being around Cara had always made him feel strange.

He held onto her for as long as he could, and even then a moment longer before he moved to hold her hand as he followed her to the dinning area.

She didn't mind that he kept hold of her, Cara enjoyed it for as long as it was possible. She worrked slightly that once she let David know more about herself, would he run away, would she run away?

Cara blinked, it was unfair for her to even jump to conclusions and to worry. She has to lay her cards out on the table, roll the dice as it were to see what will happen.

She reluctantly let go of David's hand to take a seat at the table.

"I wasn't certain what you liked to eat." Cara began. "Or do you care as long as it tastes good?"

"I've never really been a picky eater." Scarlet said with a shrug. "I've eaten too many MREs and survived off paste too often to complain about any meal that won't poison me. So a home cooked meal? I'm game."

"Besides," He said as he leaned in. "It's the company that matters isn't it?"

Scarlet stayed leaned in for a moment longer, his eyes gauging her facial expression and body language. She wasn't at ease. Like she was sitting on broken glass. "Or is it?"

Her cheeks going red, Cara drew in a breath. "The company does count, a lot." she quietly answered, having a faint smile. "I just, have some things on my mind and also came to the terms that, you don't know much about me at all. I've been a closed book."

"I don't pry." Scarlet replied as a matter of fact. "Open books, closed books, I know enough that people share what they want, when they want. Forcing things out in the open or forcing them away usually doesn't end well." He took a spoonful of soup and then put his spoon down in the bowl.

He reached across the table and put his hand over hers. "If you want to get something off your chest, I'll listen."

A gaze of wonder appeared, it being echoed in her face. Cara placed her other hand over David's, a gentle squeeze freom her strong yet gentle hand.

"You amaze me, David." her voice warm, and filled with awe. "There is something about you that makes me want to be in a relationship. To damn the torpedos, to-see where things can go with you." a hesitation, then she said softly. "You make me feel brave, brave enough to allow myself to become close to someone."

She swallowed hard, looking deep within his eyes.

"In my past, when I felt like I wanted to get close to someone, I tended to mention to said person that they might want to runaway, not even get close to me, as I could bring trouble upon them. A whole pack of trouble."

A rueful slightly bitter laugh from Cara. "The funny thing, is that they didn't believe me, then something happened." she lowered her eyes, looking down at their hands. "They disappeared without warning. No trace of them at all. At least not where I could find them, and there was a message left for me as to not go looking for them.

She drew in a shaky breath after relaying this to David.

Scarlet looked at the table and then back at Cara. "I'm not an easy person to make disappear. The last ones who tried that lost half their numbers before I stole their ship and left them stranded on a remote asteroid."

"I won't say things will be easy or that we should ignore warnings. But I don't plan on living my life in fear of maybe or letting fear dictate my decisions." Scarlet gripped her hand tightly. "Cara, I'm here to stay as long as I draw breath. If you'll have me."

A return squeeze to his hand, Cara just beamed, with a shimmering of tears in her dark eyes. The tears were not of sorrow but of heartfelt joy. "David, you inspired me early on to become close to someone, and I hoped that person would be you. " she leaned forward, to give him a kiss, whispering, " Come what may, together we'll face what comes at us." Looking deeply in David's beautiful, blue eyes. " No more fear, no more being ruled by what happened in the past"

Scarlet grinned a little before reaching for his glass to offer a toast. "To the future unknown, and the buried past."

“To all we were, all we may become, and this moment together between them.” Cara giving an answering smile.


END

Commander Cara Letsul
XO
Deep Space Five

Civilian David Scarlet
Captain of OWL
Deep Space Five

 

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