Dancing the Night Away - Part III
Posted on Wed Dec 17th, 2025 @ 9:59pm by Aislinn Finnegan & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Keel
Edited on on Wed Dec 17th, 2025 @ 10:54pm
2,514 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Side Plots
Location: Deck 4 - Keels Quarters
Timeline: MD7
::ON::
Aislinn disappeared back into the crowd for a few moments and found Rose, watching her little face light up with delight at being able to spend the night with her friend. Dallas was more than happy to let her stay over as well, it would be good for his cousin to have some friend time.
Coming back to Ryan, Aislinn smiled wide, "All sorted, all good to go whenever you are."
'All right,' Keel replied, a butterfly flutter in his chest. 'I don't know about civilian quarters, but mine have some pretty good views of space. If you're interested ...'
"Oh, I'm getting the tour of your quarters already, am I?" Aislinn queried with a questioning look, "I don't see why I wouldn't be interested. In the views of space, of course." Her tone was cautious and playful, and she had a feeling she knew exactly where going to his quarters would lead.
'The views are good. One of the perks of being a senior officer,' Keel said innocently as he led them out of the holodeck, and out into the maze of corridors that made up a Galaxy-class starship. 'It's worth the grind,' he said, heading towards the turbolifts at an easy pace. 'So ... before Astrea, what did you do?'
"Oh. Um," Aislinn paused a moment as the question finally came up, and her arm tightened slightly around his. "My, um, partner was in Starfleet so I moved around wherever he went, just doing whatever was needed to keep the family together, really." She wanted to lie and say she did other cafe and civilian jobs, but found she couldn't, not to him.
Stopping them both, Aislinn unlinked her arm from his and turned to him, sticking out her hand. "Lieutenant Aislinn Finnegan, a science officer who's currently on leave."
'Well, well,' Keel replied, taken aback, but pleased at the same time. He took her hand once more, and shook it firmly. 'Lieutenant. A pleasure to be formally introduced,' he said lightly. Though there was no logical basis for it, the man was slightly hurt that she had kept it quiet she was a Starfleet officer, but he supposed she had her reasons. 'Any particular specialty?' he asked as he palmed the turbolift door and stepped inside. The lift whirred in the background as it shot through the ship, depositing them on his deck.
"Just a regular science officer," Aislinn admitted with a shrug, "but before I took my leave, I was hoping to become a Physicist with an interest in stellar cartography." She watched him as they stepped inside his quarters, realising that it probably would've been in both their best interests for her to have been upfront from the start about her previous life.
"I know it's a lot," she added, "but I kind of spent a lot of money on getting my master's degree in science with a major in physics, so I kind of wanted to put it to good use, you know?" It was a feat she was proud of, especially knowing that it reflected well on her family standings too.
'That's why I work in the Diplomatic detachment now,' Keel replied with a smile. 'I didn't want to stay in the Marines forever, and after the War, Starfleet offered Academy transfers for veterans, so I took that eventually. After a few adventures I'm not really supposed to talk about,' he added apologetically as he activated the lights and set them to an appropriately romantic setting. 'So ... you're not the only one with secrets,' he chuckled.
"Well," Aislinn said as she took a look around and saw a music collection of various vinyls and an instrument, a banjo it looked like, "I didn't know you were a Marine, that's a pretty attractive thought to have, not gonna lie." She turned from looking around to him, fixing him with a warm smile that held just enough mischief in it, "But I'm not going to ask about those missions, so you're safe on that one."
'Thanks,' Keel replied, noticing her looking over his collection of music and instruments. For a moment he felt awkward that the room was otherwise bare. 'I travel light,' he said gently, 'mostly just drag my books, music, and these,' he indicated the four banjos hung up on the bulkhead and the harmonicas beneath them. 'I haven't unpacked most of my stuff either ...'
"As long as you're staying on board for a long time, then there's no need to rush with unpacking, right?" Aislinn was curious about the style of music he listened to and looked at the artists and titles on the records but didn’t know a single one of fhem.
Walking back to Ryan, Aislinn smiled and came up within inches from him. "So does any of that music over there count as being slow enough to dance to, or is it all upbeat?"
'Ooh, the slow stuff ... now that's not cheerful music. A lot of people end up dead or in jail in them,' Keel replied with a small laugh. 'Country, folk, blues and bluegrass don't tend to go for cheerful, you know?' He knelt and rifled through the collection of vinyls. 'There is this though,' he pulled out a dog-eared, battered carboard case of Wilco's Mermaid Avenue. Pulling out the plastic disc, he opened his record player, and gently placed it down, and set the needle to go. The sound of the music, California Stars began to fill the room. 'How about this?' he asked quietly.
"This is..." Aislinn started nodding her head to the beat of the music, "different, but I like it. It's not quite the country music I was thinking, but it's not quite the mid 20th century music you'd have playing at high school dances back then, if that makes sense?"
She reached out her hand for him to come back to her, "Come dance with me."
Taking her hand, Keel stepped up close to her, sliding his other hand around to the small of her back. 'I'm glad you like it,' he said in a low, husky voice. 'It's one of my favourites, It's still country, but a bit different, you know? I first heard it when I was on leave from the Marines, back home. Stepped into a juke joint on a hot, sweaty day - you know, one of those where the air feels like a hot damp towel when you breath it in? It was this on the disc player, and a cold Jax beer on the table.'
Aislinn placed her other free hand on top of his shoulder and laughed a solid laugh as she shook her head, "I could not think of a worse kind of temperature and climate to be in, if I'm being honest! But," they started to move to the music, "I think you'll have to give me a holodeck tour of home one day, along with a sample whatever Jax beer is meant to be."
'It's just a shitty local beer,' Keel replied with a quiet laugh as he swayed them in a circle around the center of the living area in his quarters. 'But it tastes real good at the end of a long day in the swamps, I can tell you that.'
Aislinn held back the smile and simply nodded, "I'll have to take your word for that." Ryan spun her gently, "If you want some good alcohol, however, home for me is famous for whiskey, Guinness and cider. My brothers love their whiskey and stouts," her accent was slightly thicker as she pronounced certain words, "whereas us girls love our ciders and cocktails."
'They sound like wild women,' Keel laughed again. 'Which ones are for you? The ciders or the cocktails?' It didn't make any difference to him what she liked. He just enjoyed the sound of her voice and her enchanting accent.
"My older sister and I enjoy the ciders, the younger ones enjoy the cocktails." The youngest sister, Erin, loved the party scene and was always seen with a colourful cocktail in hand, whereas the oldest sister, Maeve, was happiest at home on the verandah with a cider. "I reckon you'd get along with Maeve and Bradley; they're good people."
'Lining me up to meet your family already?' Keel teased as they did another turn in place. The song had long since changed, alt-folk sliding gently from the vinyl and needle to fill the air in the weighted, comfortable silence that grew between their replies to one another. 'Are you close with your family? I haven't really seen mine in a while,' he admitted.
"My sister would fall in love with you as soon as she saw you," Aislinn laughed as she shook her head, "But Rose is the most important person you can meet." She wasn't guarded about them but also didn't want to give away every bit of information about herself in one night. A soft laugh came out, "I'm sure I'm going to hear from her as well how she thinks you're cute too. But yes, I am close to my family - I speak to Maeve and Aodhan on a regular basis, and watch as Rose gets to recount every single detail of her life to them as well."
"What's your family like to be around?" Aislinn questioned as she looked up at him.
Keel grimaced for a second, then forced himself to relax into a smile. 'Chaotic. Me and them ... we work better at a distance,' he shrugged. 'We have very different outlooks on life and how it should be lived. Not everyone can be as carefree and footloose as they are.'
"And that's when you make your own family from friends and trusted colleagues," Aislinn nodded at her comment. It wasn't meant to be a dig at how he explained it, more of an idea, as she believed that family was one of the most important things in the world and she was grateful for hers. "That way you're not alone, right?"
'Right,' Keel replied as his smile widened. She had put it perfectly. He was far from a loner, and had friends aplenty. 'Unfortunately, not all of them get to serve on the same ship, so sometimes they're scattered. But it means I have friends everywhere, and I have the chance to make new ones.'
"Exactly!" Aislinn smiled a wide smile and looked down after realising she still had her hand on his chest, but she didn't exactly remove it straight away, just opted for a lighter touch. In that moment, she felt the comfortable silence fall over them and realised there was no more music playing.
Looking up at him and choosing to take a step back after she took her hand away, Aislinn added with a softer smile, "I, uh, probably should get going. Thank you for taking the chance and coming out for a night of dancing, it's been amazing and I've really enjoyed it."
'So have I,' Keel replied, voice low and husky. 'You don't ... you don't have to go, you know. You could stay? Have breakfast in the morning?'
The hesitation crept in to her thoughts for a moment. The implications of spending a night. She bit her bottom lip, "I actually do enjoy a good breakfast where I don't have to make it... Is that, are you sure?"
'Of course I'm sure,' Keel replied with a smile, dipping in to kiss her forehead. He released her a moment, and went to the replicator. 'We can have a top-up, and a chat on the sofa?'
"Whatever you want," Aislinn replied, a soft smile replacing the hesitation on her face as he kissed her forehead. "I like that idea a lot though." As he walked off, she watched him go, "Surprise me with the drink. Maybe some food too?"
'Food is good,' he said as he replicated up some tortilla chips covered in salsa, cheese and guacamole. Alongside that he whizzed into existence two chili margaritas. Collecting everything on the tray provided, he piloted them over to the sofa and the standard-issue senior-officer quarter coffee table. Keel placed them down, and lounged back onto the sofa, and patted the seat next to him. 'C'mere,' he said.
Aislinn thought it looked amazing and her stomach couldn't have agreed more with her. She took up one of the margaritas and took a sip before holding it out from her and placing herself onto the sofa, right in close next to Ryan within embrace distance. "I never would've thought to put chilli with margaritas, it just adds that, um, what's the word for it?" She used her free hand to make the pinched fingers motion, hoping he would know what she meant.
'It's like ... piquant, isn't it? It's not sharp, not spicy, but a bit of both,' Keel replied with a chuckle. He picked up one glass delicately in his hand and took a sip. 'Always surprises me how well a replicator can make some foods. Just glad I'm not a Vulcan. Most of the stuff must be very bland to them when it comes out of the wall.'
"True," she admitted in reply and turned her head up toward him slightly. "Whoever thought to invent the replicator is a lifesaver, I dont know where we'd be without it." Aislinn sipped the drink and tasted the chilli, savouring the slight spiciness to it before leaning forward to get a few of the corn chips with salsa.
Keel leaned back and wrapped an arm around her, content with sharing time with Aislinn. Though he felt an underlying anxiety, like a frayed string that connected with his past, he vowed not to bring his previous issues into whatever this would develop into. He would do his damndest to do better this time.
It didnt take long before the salsa and tortilla chips and margaritas were gone, and the rest of the night had settled in. Aislinn was more than content being next to Ryan, laughing and talking about different things and getting to know each other. All without the added pressure of needing to take things further than needed for the moment.
As the night drew towards a close, Aislinn felt herself starting to get tired and the need to sleep was starting to overcome her. She was safe and comfortable enough to close her eyes and just be there with Ryan. A soft sigh escaped her for and she cuddled in slightly closer to him.
::OFF::
Lieutenant Ryan Keel
Chief of Diplomatic Intelligence
USS Astrea
Aislinn Finnegan
Civillian
USS Astrea
RSS Feed