Second Greetings

Posted on Fri Mar 10th, 2017 @ 9:20pm by Lieutenant Mimi & Lieutenant JG Robert Sorenson

1,298 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Caught in the Cracks
Location: USS Tokyo - Exercise facility
Timeline: During the refit

ON:

[USS Tokyo]
[Gym]

Like almost every other day, Robert found himself busy pounding on a canvas bag hung from the ceiling, working out the day's stress. It wasn't that Robert's job was unusually stressful or anything, he just found that pounding on the bag worked out the last of any energy or stress from the day. Exercise they say is good for one's body and mind. Focused as he was, and this being a public facility, Robert paid little attention to the door when it opened.

Mimi walked into the Tokyo's gymnasium, she was in the mood for a run so came down to use the treadmills as running through the corridors at the pace her species was capable of was potentially rather hazardous. Heading over to the treadmills she placed her water bottle in the holder and started the treadmill going at walking pace for now, as she walked she looked around the gym finally noticing the brown haired human attacking a punchbag.

After a while with the punchbag. Robert had worked out most of his energy and was sweating from the effort. Sitting down on the bench, bottle in hand, Robert looked around the room, noticing Mimi. At first he didn't recognize her, what were the chances they'd both be reassigned the same ship?

Increasing the speed to a brisk jog Mimi saw out of the corner of her eye the human looking directly at her, his eyes looking her body up and down. She'd seen similar looks before on the faces of other people, she was an unusual species and many found her appearance strange, but there was something else to his look. "Can I help you?" Mimi asked politely.

Robert blushed a little. He'd been eyeing her as she jogged, in part because he found her attractive, but also because she looked familiar somehow. "Sorry Ma'am. Didn't mean to stare. You reminded me of a former shipmate on my last posting."

"Where was your last posting?" Mimi asked, still keeping her head forward and focused on running as she increased the speed some more switching to her toes as she broke into a run.

Robert paused, watching the gracefulness with which this lady moved, running looked effortless and he suspected her walk was just as graceful. "The Carpathia, Engineering department. Lt Mimi she was called. Worked in Operations. We occasionally rubbed shoulders while the ship was in dry dock. Cat like species as well, not Caitian though."

"Sort of like a Caitian crossed with a human?" Mimi said with the slightest smirk using the phrase she commonly used when describing her species to other people who had never met her, she thought it could be interesting to hear what this human thought about her before revealing that is was her that he was talking about.

"Yeah actually. She had some funny little quirks. Her head kinda cocked to one side if you said something she didn't understand. Her tail had a life all it's own, normal I'm told for most felinoids." Robert paused. "And yeah, I had a crush on her."

Slowing the treadmill down a bit Mimi turned her head and looked properly at Robert, she slowly started to recognize him from her time on the Carpathia. A quiet and somewhat shy Ensign who was very skilled at his job and had a name she found difficult to pronounce."Ensign Sor-en-son?"

Robert's eyes went wide with surprise, he face flushing beat red as he recognized Mimi. "Lieutenant ... Mimi ... I ... Geez ... Sorry." At that moment, all Robert wanted to do was crawl into the smallest darkest hole and hide. He'd just confessed he had feelings for Mimi, thinking there was no way this could be her, and yet, here she was.

Mimi stopped the treadmill and stepped off it, she slowly walked towards Robert with her tail gently swishing behind her as she walked "No need to apologize." Mimi told him albeit a little nervously herself, Robert was the first person she'd found out was interested in her, and with her limited understanding of how humans showed affection she wasn't quite sure how to proceed.

Robert sat there, unsure what to do. Mimi's slow and graceful walk, almost sultry if she had been human, could mean several things. Most of the time, in Robert's limited experience, that meant the interest was mutual. Mimi though was an enigma as her walk naturally tended towards gracefulness and this was only mildly different. ~Don't go over thinking this Rob. Don't ruin the moment.~

"So you were attracted to me?" Mimi asked as she stopped in front of him close enough for him to get a closer look at her and her him but far enough away not to make him even more uncomfortable then he already looked.

"Are. But Yes. I am." Robert stuttered, slowly standing. He was torn between stepping closer to her and running out of the room. Edging a little closer, still blushing but a little less then before, Robert smiled uncertainly at Mimi. "Ever since we first met on the Carpathia I've felt this way. But Ensigns don't mingle with Lieutenants, Department Heads at that, and it could never be anything more then that." ~Geez that was romantic stupid.~ Robert heard in the back of his head.

"From what my foster mother told me, rank and other things like that should not be a factor in attraction between two people."

"It shouldn't Lieutenant. But attraction and position are two different things, even in our enlightened society." He paused. "Add to that differing cultures and their customs and it's confusing."

"I am not very familiar with human ways of showing affection." She said in an attempt to explain the uncertainty in her voice and actions.

"To be fair Lieutenant, I'm not all that familiar myself." He paused, still unsure what his next words should be. "I guess what happens next depends on you."

Mimi pondered her choice of words, the attraction Robert showed wasn't really mutual, but he was the first person that she knew about to show an interest in her that seemed beyond a working relationship. "I am not really sure that this attraction is....... mutual, but I would like to get to know you some more, Robert." She said finally recalling what his first name was.

Robert slowly nodded. She'd never shown any sort of interest in him so any reasonable person would have expected that. Somehow though it felt a little bit like a let down but Robert forced the disappointment aside. "Perhaps we could meet some time then for coffee? Compare Engineering and Operations notes?"

"Sure." Mimi said with a slight smile "And if you're interested I can tell you about my species as you seem to appreciate my little quirks." She flicked her tail to show what she meant.

A grin slowly passed across Robert's face, his eyes following her tail. "I think I might enjoy that."

"But that is for a later time, I have a run I would like to finish." Mimi half turned as she spoke, her tail swinging around as she did.

"I'm done so I'm going to hit the showers. Tomorrow 1600?"

"Sure." Mimi said as she turned fully and started to walk back over to the treadmill she had been using.

Robert watched Mimi turn back to her treadmill, admiring Mimi's beauty, the last glimpse of her stuck in his mind as he hit the showers. Maybe it wouldn't go anywhere, but at least now he had a chance to try. This transfer was looking better and better.

Mimi could tell Robert was watching her as she walked away before he slowly got up and left, she thought about the events of the last 10 minutes as she started to run again.

OFF:

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