Damn Engineers

Posted on Tue Oct 8th, 2024 @ 7:53pm by Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami & Lieutenant Commander Jason Frankley

1,291 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Stars Around the Well

Jason Frankley had tried not to overthink it as he made his way to the crew lounge, but the memory of their last date—awkwardly stuck in a turbo lift and interrupted right before they kissed—was still fresh in his mind. After all, Adrianna Baciami hadn’t exactly chosen him. It had been her mamma, with her meddling ways, who had set them up. And yet… it was going better than either of them had expected or wanted to admit. They'd messaged a lot and in passing had exchanged knowing looks and smiles, which often resulted in Jason getting ribbed by work colleagues.

When Jason walked in, he spotted Adrianna immediately. She was standing near one of the large windows, the stars casting a soft glow against her face, her arms crossed as she gazed out into the black. She was out of uniform tonight, in a pretty, crimson dress, looking more relaxed than he’d ever seen her. Her hair was down, falling in soft waves around her shoulders.

He walked over, his heart pounding a little more than usual. "Hey," he said, trying to sound casual but failing to hide the smile that crept onto his face. "Nice view, huh?"

She turned and smiled, her lips curving in that teasing way she had. "Better than the turbo lift, don’t you think?"

Jason chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I’m hoping for fewer mechanical failures tonight."

They found a booth off to the side of the lounge, somewhere quieter but still with a view of the stars. As they settled in, Jason felt the tension from their last encounter melt away. There was something about Adrianna that made him feel at ease, despite the fact that she was Head of Intel, sharp and serious when she needed to be. But tonight, her guard seemed down, and it was just the two of them.

"I have to admit," Adrianna began, picking up her drink and swirling it slowly, "when my mamma first mentioned you, I thought she was out of her mind. But…" she gave him a soft smile, "you’re not so bad, marinaio."

Jason leaned back in his seat, grinning. "Not so bad, huh? I’ll take it. I thought you might’ve been ready to report back to her that I was hopeless after our agreement to say one and done."

"Hopeless?" Adrianna raised an eyebrow. "Not quite. I’ll admit, I was surprised. You’ve got more depth than I expected. The small talk in the turbo lift… it was nice."

Jason nodded, his expression softening. "Same. I didn’t expect we’d end up talking about things like that. Your mamma sounds like quite the force. She's a lot like mine."

Adrianna sighed, shaking her head. "She is. Always scheming. I’m sure she’s already planning the wedding." Her tone was light, but there was a flash of something serious behind her eyes.

Jason laughed, but he could tell there was more behind her words. "You don’t seem too thrilled about her matchmaking skills."

Adrianna’s expression softened as she leaned forward. "She means well. She just… worries. About me being alone, always working." She sighed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I guess she thinks a tactical officer would be the right kind of person to balance me out."

Jason smiled gently. "Well, tactical officers are known for their charm."

"That’s debatable," Adrianna teased, but her eyes were warm as they met his.

They fell into an easy conversation again, talking about their lives outside of Starfleet, family stories, and the challenges of their jobs. Jason was surprised at how easy it was to talk to her about personal things. She opened up more than he’d expected, telling him stories about growing up in Italy, her love for cooking when she had the rare free time, and the constant phone calls from her mamma, checking in on her love life, not to mention some of the adventures she has whilst undercover.

"She asked me yesterday if I was going to marry you," Adrianna said, rolling her eyes. "I told her we were on our second date."

Jason nearly choked on his drink. "Marry? Already? To be fair, my mother is probably helping her."

"They're very… efficient," Adrianna said with a wry smile. "They clearly don’t like wasting time."

"Neither do I," Jason said, his voice dropping just slightly, enough that it changed the tone between them. Adrianna’s gaze flicked to his, and the playful smile on her lips shifted into something more intense.

"Is that so?" she asked, her voice low, teasing but with a new edge.

Jason leaned in a little, his hand resting casually on the table. "Yeah. I figure we’ve already had our fair share of interruptions. Maybe it’s time we get to finish what we started."

Adrianna’s lips parted slightly, her breath hitching just enough for him to notice. "And what exactly did we start, marinaio?"

He moved closer, his hand sliding over hers on the table. "Something worth finishing," he said, his voice almost a whisper now.

The air between them thickened with the tension that had been simmering since their last date. Adrianna didn’t pull away. In fact, she leaned in too, her eyes locked on his, her lips so close he could almost feel them.

Just as Jason was about to close the distance, the lounge doors swished open with a loud hiss. They both froze, turning their heads slightly to see who had come in.

"Oi, Frankley!"

Jason’s heart sank as Tucker, the same engineer from before, came bounding toward them, completely oblivious to the moment he was interrupting—again.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," Jason muttered under his breath.

Adrianna stifled a laugh, biting her lip as Tucker approached.

"Didn’t mean to interrupt," Tucker said, grinning like a fool. "But Frankley, I’ve got that diagnostics report you were asking for—figured you’d want to see it before the shift starts tomorrow. Seems that it was just a regular failure– no-one sabotaged your date."

Adrianna raised a brow at the paranoid act. Though she found it somewhat amusing. She wouldn't have put it past meddling mothers to lock them in a room together, let alone a turbo lift.

Jason clenched his jaw, his hand still hovering near Adrianna’s, though now the moment was completely shattered. "You couldn’t have sent it to my terminal?"

Tucker blinked, then seemed to realise what he’d walked into. "Oh. Ohhh… uh, right. Yeah. I’ll just… I’ll send it then. Sorry, mate." He shot a sheepish smile at Adrianna before backing away awkwardly and nearly tripping over a chair as he retreated.

Jason turned back to Adrianna, who was shaking her head, smiling despite the frustration. "You really are cursed, Frankley."

"I’m starting to believe it," Jason said with a sigh. "Third time’s the charm, maybe?"

"Depends if you're going to investigate this date's hic-hicop--higgup---hiccups too," Adrianna smiled, her fingers brushing his again in an idly manner. "But you’re not getting off that easy. I’m holding you to a real date, marinaio. No interruptions."

Jason grinned. "Deal."

As Adrianna stood to leave, she leaned down, her voice dropping to a soft murmur. "Buona fortuna, Frankley. Next time, we’ll get it right." She ran her thumb over his lips, softly, teasing him. He groaned in response, angry at himself for not just taking his shot.

And with that, she walked out, leaving Jason with the promise of another shot, and the hope that next time, they'd finally finish what they started.

 

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