Dancing the Night Away
Posted on Wed Dec 17th, 2025 @ 9:58pm by Aislinn Finnegan & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Keel
Edited on on Wed Dec 17th, 2025 @ 10:50pm
1,534 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Side Plots
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: MD7
::ON::
It had been a long couple of days since Aislinn had decided to ask if Ryan had wanted to join her and her daughter, Rose, for an evening of dancing on one of the holodecks. It was an event organized by the ships school for the children so they could get out, have some fun with their friends and be awake for way too long. There was also the added bonus of the parents being able to relax and have a night off, maybe even do some socializing of their own.
Aislinn had managed to make herself look halfway presentable with light blue jeans, a black sleeveless floral blouse tucked in at the front and a black pair of cowboy boots, with subtle blue makeup and her hair in a loose plait down her back. Rose had also dressed similarly with the jeans and boots but had a green top on instead and her hair was in two plaits with her bangs flicked over to the side. The look of a front tooth missing made Aislinn think her daughter was even more adorable than she already was.
She checked the time and saw that Ryan would be due at her quarters any minute, so she knelt down in front of Rose and fixed the stray hairs from the plaits, "Now, remember that I have a friend who's a boy coming around to go with us tonight, so I want you to be on your best behaviour when he gets here and we go to the dance. You know what'll happen if you're not, right?"
"Yes ma," Rose replied with a roll of her eyes and a giggle at the mention of the boy. "I know. Best behaviour or no entertainment time, got it." Aislinn kissed her daughter on the top of her head as she stood up, just as the chime rang out. "Ooh, he's here!"
Standing awkwardly at the door, Keel nodded self-consciously to a pair of officers who passed him in the corridor. Though the Rigellian colonies were far from a backwater, and far from the United States which had perfected this particular look, Keel felt that it would have fit right back in at home. And that made him uncomfortable, he thought, crushing his black velvet had in his hands.
He'd had a quick search of classic outfits to be replicated, avoiding anything that was bright or garish as was the fashion of his childhood home. Keel had settled on a mid-tone brown duster coat that came to just below his waist over a thick dark-blue shirt, and jeans darker still. Black boots fitted the ensemble. Still wondering about that turquoise bolo though, aren't you? he asked himself as he caught his reflection in the metal trim around the door.
Rose started to run towards the door to open it, but Aislinn managed to catch her by the arm and pull her into a hug from behind with a laugh, "Chill, kid. Chill." Moving awkwardly together, Aislinn laughed again as she let the door open and smiled when she saw Ryan. He scrubbed up good out of uniform!
"Hey, you made it. Come on in," she stepped aside so he could come inside. "Excuse the mess, it's mostly this one's fault. I'm usually the neat one." Rose started to protest but Aislinn shut her down with a look. "Are you ready for tonight? I've heard it's going to be really fun."
He held his hat in one hand and waggled it from side to side. 'As ready as I'll ever be,' Keel replied with a wide smile. His eyes slowly tracked up and down Aislinn, checking out her outfit. She's damned cute, he thought, reddenning slightly across the back of his neck. To distract himself he bent down slightly, and waved at Rose, 'hey, you must be Rose, your mom has told me a lot about you. Pleased to meet you,' he drawled.
Rose looked between her mother and Ryan, wondering what she'd told him, and waved back with her toothy smile before she moved to be near her mother. "Yeah, I'm Rose. It's nice to meet you as well. Ma's told me about you too." It wasn't really that much, just enough to keep her interested. "I've been told to be on my best behaviour tonight; I don't want to embarrass her by saying to you what she's said."
Keel glanced up at Aislinn, a twinkle in his eye, before switching back to Rose, 'I'm sure you wouldn't want to embarrass her at all.' His voice dropped, mock-conspiratorially, 'I'm sure it's her job to embarrass you really, isn't it?'
Rose nodded and then looked up at her mother who rolled her eyes. "She does it aaaall the time in front of my friends!"
A look of mock horror passed over Aislinn, "Me?! Never!" She laughed, "Why don't you go and finish getting ready so we can leave and hopefully make it on time, while I talk to Ryan?" Rose nodded and disappeared back into her room.
As soon as she'd disappeared, Aislinn laughed again, "One day she'll appreciate everything i do for her. Do you want a drink or anything before we go? I can offer anything replicated, just not the raktajino you like, I prefer to make that from scratch."
'No raktajino at this hour,' Keel laughed, 'I'll never get to sleep otherwise.' He looked about the quarters for a moment, then asked, 'if I'm having a drink, what are you having?'
"Okay, hear me out on this: fruit juice, lemonade and some red grenadine in it," she replied as she moved to near the replicator, "It's nice and refreshing and definitely not alcoholic, although there can be something like gin or rum added to it if you wanted to go down that path. It's perfect for summer and hot weather by a beach or a pool or something."
'I'll try it,' Keel replied, grin widening, imagining one of his favourite resorts on Risa ... and for a split second, Aislinn by his side. He brushed the thought away. This was no time to head down that road, no matter how cute he might find her. As he placed his hat down on a convenient countertop Keel rubbed unconsciously at his naked ring finger, the shadow of what had been there weighing on him.
"Okay," Aislinn said in an easy tone as she put the order in and watched the shimmer of the replicator working and the drinks appeared. Handing one to Ryan, she noticed the brief distant look in his eyes, "Hey, come back to me." She was looking straight at him, her green eyes sparkling in the light, merely inches away with a soft smile on her face and the drink held in her hand. "I'm not going to ask where you were, just take the drink instead."
'Somewhere warm and sunny,' Keel replied with a sheepish smile, banishing the weightier thoughts to the back of his head, and concentrating on the here and now. 'So what do you call this concoction? It looks like the colours of a Denobulan sunrise, don't you know?' He took a delicate sip through the straw. 'Damn that is good. Ever tended bar?'
Aislin laughed and shook her head, "I'm definitely not suited for tending bar, I can assure you of that. I'm glad you like it though, this is called a Warp Core Breach and I make it for Rose whenever we get a chance to have a little holiday somewhere nice and sunny." She took her own sip and found it quite nice and refreshing. "Speaking of, give me one moment to go and get her."
She disappeared to go and get the child, reappearing with her and handing her the remainder of her drink. "Whenever you're ready to go, we can leave and have an awesome night out." Aislinn chided herself for having the thoughts of it being an actual date or not but at the same time, she knew it was probably time to try and put herself out there again, even just for some company.
He swallowed the rest of his drink in one go, and took hold of his felt hat. Putting it on his head, he held out an arm for Aislinn. 'I'm going to be the luckiest guy at the dance,' he drawled with a cheeky smile. 'So, if you two lovely ladies are ready to head out, you can count me in.'
Rose giggled again at Ryan's comment as they headed out, she thought he was funny and cute her mom was blushing so hard. She hadn't seen that kind of smile since her dad was around, and that hadn't been for what felt like a long time.
::OFF::
TBC in Part II
Lieutenant Ryan Keel
Chief of Diplomatic Intelligence
USS Astrea
Aislinn Finnegan
Civillian
USS Astrea
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