Una Cita Inolvidable, Part I

Posted on Wed Nov 26th, 2025 @ 7:26pm by Master Chief Petty Officer Vashti Rao & Crewman Emiliano Echevarria & Ensign Luciana Aguila

1,728 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: Rhythm Kitchen, Deck 9
Timeline: MD 09, 1910 Hours

Rhythm Kitchen glowed at the end of the hall--amber sconces, a slight murmur of voices engaged in conversation, and multicoloured lighting bordering the entrance. It wasn't overly fancy, not in the way restaurants on starbases tried to be, but it had warmth and style.

Emiliano rarely passed through this section of Deck Nine and so seeing so vividly this time made his pulse trip over itself.

He slowed. Then stopped entirely.

Vashti groaned behind him. "Oh for--Echevarria, it's a restaurant, not a Borg maturation chamber."

He exhaled sharply through his nose. "I know. I know." He tugged at he collar of his off-duty shirt, a black-and-green long-sleeve folded around a half-turtleneck. "I'm fine."

"You are lying with your entire body," she said, stepping up beside him. A loose-shouldered piece of fabric in orange and cream hung from one shoulder, offering a tantalizing view of her cleavage. It was not a racy top--conservative in style but heavy on exposure. Her black pants were a relaxed-fit sort of affair, tight around her large hips but loose over the thighs and ending just below the knee, revealing slightly stumpy calves that disappeared into heel-less white deck shoes. She looked like someone who'd been dragged along for moral support and was already regretting it.

Emiliano didn't move. Beyond the doorway, he could see a few tables occupied--crew in light conversation, a hostess reprogramming a holo-display that was on the fritz. And there, by the window, Luci: shoulders drawn in a way that seemed both confident and uncertain.

His stomach lurched.

"I shouldn't have come," he whispered.

Vashti blinked at him. "You invited me to come."

"I meant me," he hissed. "What if this is a bad idea? What if I say something stupid?" What if--"

"What if," she cut in, "you go in there, sit down, have a drink, and let two human beings talk like normal people instead of collapsing into a black hole of anxiety?"

He rubbed his hands together, trying to contain the electricity that was moving its way up his spine. "Easy for you to say."

"Oh yes," she said dryly. "Because I am famously calm and socially graceful." She nudged his shoulder with hers. "Look, she invited you. She likes you. And if she doesn't, somehow you'll survive."

Luciana felt slightly uneasy as she sat at the window and looked out. The whole reason she'd asked Emiliano out for drinks and maybe some food was because of their shared connection of growing up in Costa Rica and it was a nice feeling to be able to have someone know what she was on about when she spoke of home.

And it didn't help he looked cute as well. Luci knew that if she brought him home to her parents, he'd immediately be part of the family regardless if they were just friends.

Overall, Luci wasn't a large girl. Curvy, yes, but not large and definitely not stick thin where you could see her bones. She was extremely grateful for the replicators not being judgemental on sizes and their ability to make clothes that actually fit her. Hence the outfit she'd chosen: a thin strapped light green subtle floral patterned dress that was cut straight across for modesty, and cinched in at the waist before dropping to the floor with a barely noticeable slit up one side. Her main concern was that it suited her figure and she didn't look like a balloon in it.

She twirled the glass of wine and watched the liquid inside roll around before coming to a stop and be still. Taking a sip, Luci looked down at her watch and saw that it was past the original meeting time that was organised, and she hoped he hadn't stood her up. She wouldn't be mad if he had, just more disappointed.

Emiliano swallowed, fingers fussing with his sleeve as he watched Luci from the doorway. She looked lovely--soft light on her shoulders, a green dress like a summer meadow after rain--and the sight of her only made his pulse pound harder.

"She's probably checking the time," Vashti murmured. "If you stand here any longer, she's going to assume you dissolved in a plasma conduit."

He stiffened. "I'm not--I wouldn't--"

"You would," she said, nudging him forward with two fingers between his shoulder blades. "And you will if I don't physically shove you."

His feet moved. Reluctantly. But they moved.

"Vashti--"

"Echevarria." She leaned in, her voice a soft baton at his ribcage. "If you don't sit down with her, I swear on every plasma relay on Astrea that I will walk over there myself and introduce both of us as your dates."

He stared at her, horrified. "You wouldn't."

She smiled slowly. "Try me."

He blinked, then huffed out a breath that sounded like surrender.

Luci finished twirling the wine and drunk the remainder of it. If there was any good a time for him to show up, it'd be now, please, she thought and let out a rather loud sigh.

Her stomach started to grumble, making Luci believe and remember that she hadn't eaten in maybe like seven hours ago? She stood to walk over to the bar and see what they had on one of the menus.

Looking up, she saw Emiliano looking nervous as he made his way toward her. So he hadn't stood her up after all! She started to smile wide but it faltered slightly as Luci looked past him... and straight to Vashti. Wasn't it meant to be just her and Emiliano?

"Hi," she said as the smile returned to be a bit softer, "I didn't think you were going to make it and were standing me up."

Emiliano's fear evaporated at seeing Luci's smile. "Hi, Luci." He took an awkward step forward until he was standing just next to the booth. "I'm sorry I'm late." He couldn't quite reconcile the difference between talking to her in Engineering and sharing a meal here. What was so different?

Vashti took several silent steps backwards, feeling her job might actually be complete.

It wasn't hard to put two and two together that Vashti was more of a wingman, wing woman?, than anything else in this situation, but although she was kind of miffed at her being there, Luci was grateful.

Looking past Emiliano for a moment and directing her comment to over his shoulder, Luci said, "You don't need to disappear if you don't have anything else to do, you know."

Vashti stopped mid-retreat, caught in the act like a feline scooting away with someone's turkey breast sandwich. She turned back toward Luci, one brow arched, the beginnings of a smirk pulling at the edges of her mouth.

Luci looked back to the man in front of her, "I was just about to get a menu to grab some comida if you're hungry?"

"Entirely moral support," she said, lifting a hand as if swearing any oath. "I knew if I didn't arrive with him, he'd still be in the corridor."

Emiliano shot her a dark look. "That's not--I'm entirely capable of going on a date." At the utterance of the word date, he flushed red a little.

Vashti shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Look," she told Luci, "I'm not here to hover. I'm not crashing anything. I just thought I'd sit at the bar, keep an eye out in case he faints or spontaneously combusts." She sighed. "But in all seriousness, I haven't had an evening out since Commander Winters left the ship. Engineering has kept me beyond busy."

"Up to you if you care to join us or not," Luci raised an eyebrow and shot a playful look and a wink to Emiliano, "If you don't mind? ¿Quién dijo que esto fuera una cita? (Who said anything about this being a date, hmm?)

"I--well--no one said it was a date," he managed, his cheeks and ears still vibrating like a struck tuning fork.

Vashti shrugged and smiled. "If you're offering, I'll stick around for a little."

"Can we get some food then?" Luci said as she grabbed a couple of menus and held them out for the other two. "I'm thinking something light and a jug of mojito would be a great way to start off the night!"

Once they'd taken a seat, Luci made sure to sit next to Emiliano and gave him a happy smile while making the bold move to hold his hand under the table. She more wanted to see what his reaction was going to be to it more than anything. "What are you guys thinking for tonight?"

When her fingers found his beneath the table, his whole arm went rigid. Then, as if ashamed of itself, it loosened by degrees.

His hand stayed in hers.

Emiliano wasn't sure if he was breathing anymore, but his heart was certainly overcompensating for it.

Across from them, Vashti watched the silent exchange between them for a moment before deciding it was none of her business.

"Well," she said, picking up a menu. "At least he didn't faint."

He glared at her, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the way his thumb nervously brushed the side of Luci's fingers--testing, confirming she really meant to hold his hand.

He swallowed and tried to sound normal. "Mojitos are good. Light food is good. That all sounds... great."

Vashti hummed thoughtfully, flipping through her menu as if nothing unusual was happening. "Hey, they've got gallo pinto. Haven't had that in forever."

Emiliano blinked. "You like gallo pinto?"

"I like any food that isn't ration packs," she muttered.

Luci had to suppress the giggle at how rigid he went and Vashti's comment, and thought it was cute. It would've been mean of her to let go of his hand straight away so she could fix her hair into a side plait, so she kept her hand there.

"Oh how I miss gallo pinto!" She exclaimed, suddenly wishing for her families homemade dish. "My madre makes a really good chifrijo and we have it all the time when we watch the football. We end up having so many of my cousins and other family members come around for it, and the chifrijo is usually the first to go."


~TBC~

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