Zeral - Meeting Mr. Layton

[Zeral]

ON:
<<USS Benevolent, Corridor, February 23, 2383, 1135>>

In the two years that Nora had been a counselor in an official capacity, she had swiftly learned the cold hard fact that some crewmembers simply did not enjoy meeting with therapists. It was all part of the job, and although Nora didn’t really take it personally when a crewmember shied away from her—or avoided her altogether—she couldn’t help but feel annoyed on some occasions.

This was one of those occasions. Chief Counselor Rydahl (NPC) had been following Nora’s progress closely, and while he was on the whole very supportive of all his counselors, he had begun to gently question Nora about her difficulty in meeting with Lieutenant Lewis Drake (NPC), a security officer who seemed to have made it his one ambition in life to avoid psych evals like the proverbial plague.

Drake’s reputation for being a difficult patient had been established long before Nora had joined the ship’s roster. But she still couldn’t help but feel that she was at fault now, having been unable thus far to convince him to come in for a quick and painless psych eval. She had yet to even meet him face to face, and that, she decided, was something she’d simply have to remedy by taking matters into her own hands.

Since polite semi-social calls at his quarters after hours failed to do the trick, and since all she wanted to do at this point was to actually introduce herself, Nora decided that she would have to use a more straightforward method. Midmorning, after finishing a delightfully straightforward and unremarkable psych eval, she asked the computer to locate the Lieutenant. “Lieutenant Drake is in the phaser range,” the neutral voice told her. Her mind made up, Nora made her way to the turbolift.

The phaser range was not an area of the ship that she frequented herself, but she did know her way there. Despite the fact that she didn’t have a clear plan, her stride was confident as she walked down the corridor toward the range. If she were especially lucky, she’d run into Lieutenant Drake somewhere in the corridor rather than having to wait for him outside the phaser range. Nora didn’t particularly like that she was all but ambushing him, but she had frankly had enough of running in circles trying to hunt him down.

Nearing the doors to the range, she was pleased to see two security officers speaking in the corridor. Nora summoned her courage, swallowed down any misgivings, and approached the two men. “Excuse me,” she said politely, “Could either of you tell me where Lieutenant Drake is?”

“You just missed him,” one of the officers informed her apologetically. “I’ll catch you later, Steve,” he said to his friend before walking off in the other direction, leaving the pair alone in the corridor.

The remaining security officer was at least a head taller than Nora, with light brown hair and hazel eyes. He was rather attractive, Nora thought absently, and his smile was charming. “Looking for Lewis, huh?” he asked her casually.

“For quite some time now, actually,” Nora confessed, folding her arms and sighing. “He’s not an easy man to track down.”

“Let me guess… You’re wearing blue, so you’re either a science officer or a medical officer. Are you a…nurse?”

“Counselor,” Nora corrected with a smile.

“Wait,” he said slowly, “Wait just one minute. You’re not the pushy counselor he’s been trying to outrun, are you? Oh, the guys are just going to love this,” he laughed out loud.

“I am not pushy,” Nora argued half-heartedly, but she soon found herself laughing along with him. “I’m Nora Zeral,” she said by way of an introduction, offering her hand to him.

“Lieutenant JG Steve Layton (NPC),” he returned, taking her hand and shaking it firmly. “I have to say, I’m not so sure what Lewis is so afraid of. You look pretty harmless to me.”

Nora raised her eyebrow. She had caught the way he had sized her up in a glance. “You only say that because I’m short,” she smirked.

“Well, and because you have a nice smile.” He was flirting with her, Nora realized with some amazement. She had sensed that he thought she was attractive, but that hadn’t been wholly unremarkable to her, considering that she found him attractive as well.

She was suddenly feeling unaccountably timid. Betazoids were not known for their timidity, but for some reason, a part of her wanted to shy away. “Well,” she said a little too brightly, “If you see Lieutenant Drake, will you tell him that Ensign Zeral is looking for him?” Nora turned on her heel, ready to walk away.

“Wait,” Steve said, taking a quick step to once more stand beside her. “I can do better than that.”

Her heart gave a strange jump. Had it really been that long since anyone had flirted with her? “I’m listening,” she said, her lips twisting into a reluctant half smile.

He folded his arms across his chest, looking down at her with that charming smile of his. “What if I told you that I could get him to come to you?”

“I shudder to think what that might entail,” Nora replied. “You are a security officer, after all.”

“Nothing funny,” he laughed. “But he might owe me a favor or two…”

Nora folded her arms to match his stance. “And what, exactly, are you expecting in return for this favor?” she asked with mock seriousness, as if they were entering into a very serious negotiation indeed.

Steve’s smile transformed into a somewhat boyish grin. “Nothing outlandish, I promise. But we’ll definitely have to discuss this further. What do you say to meeting over drinks in the lounge later? You know, hammer out the details, plot and scheme, all that fun stuff.”

“A planning meeting over drinks? Very clever,” Nora replied, surprising even herself with her sly tone. “But you could just come right out and ask me on a date. That is what you’re really after, after all.”

He laughed, his smile amused and, oddly, appreciative. “Am I that obvious?”

“Yes,” Nora succinctly replied, her confidence continuing to return in spades by now. “That, and I’m a Betazoid. I can read you like a book.”

That drew him up short. “You’re…reading my thoughts?”

She shook her head, smiling. “No, and I don’t have to. You’re practically radiating your interest and attraction. It’s in your body language.” It was fortunate for her that he wasn’t a Betazoid himself, she mused to herself. If he were, then he’d be able to see that at this moment, she was just as attracted to him as he was to her

It didn’t make any sense to her. They’d just met, and she knew almost nothing about him except that he was overly playful and charming, making a pass at a woman he didn’t even know. At any other time, that combination would signify that he wasn’t actually worth her time. But here, and with him, it was surprisingly very appealing. Honestly, the whole situation made her feel like she was back at the Academy. Open flirtation had been all the rage then.

“All right, all right, you win!” Steve threw his hands up in surrender. “Since you can’t be fooled, apparently, I’ll just have to man up and ask you—would you like to have drinks with me tonight?”

Nora was quiet for a moment, her lips pursed as she appeared to carefully consider his proposal. “All right, Lieutenant Layton. You have a deal,” she finally agreed, extending her hand.

Steve took it eagerly, and together they shook on their agreement. “Steve,” he said, his hand holding onto hers just a little longer than strictly necessary. “You can call me Steve.”

“Right. Steve,” Nora said with a small smile. “And you can call me Nora, of course. If we’re going to be plotting over drinks together, it really is only fitting that we should be on a first name basis.”

“Agreed,” Steve laughed. “So, seven o’clock at the lounge, then?”

“I’ll be there,” Nora promised, starting to edge away. She still had work to do, after all, and this little run-in with a cute stranger had been so unexpectedly delightful, she didn’t want to ruin it now with any lingering awkwardness. “I’ll see you tonight, Steve.”

Standing alone in the turbolift a few minutes later, Nora tried and failed to wipe the starry-eyed look off of her face. Tonight she was going on her first date in over a year, and even if it turned out to be nothing special, at least she could say that she was dating again. In a way, it felt like life was finally happening, and she couldn’t be more excited if she tried.

OFF:

To be continued