An Evening Out

Posted on Mon Sep 7th, 2026 @ 6:20pm by Ensign Blaine McCray & Ensign T'Shai

4,886 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: ARYL 1X06: For Peaceful Purposes
Location: Quarters / Galley / Cargo Bay
Timeline: The Next Day

Blaine walked with T’Shai down the corridor. Around his left shoulder was the lariat that usually hung from the horn of his saddle that sat on the rack on their wall. Hanging from his left elbow was a picnic basket they had just picked up from the galley. He was wearing his usual civilian attire, a pearl snap shirt, blue jeans, and boots. He couldn’t hold the smile back as he offered T’Shai the customary two fingers of his right hand. “Are you ready?”

She accepted with her own on her left hand, suppressing the smile she ached to give to him, but kept her face in a very neutral mien as she walked next to him. Despite her eyes being straight-forward and dull, she still gave him a wink as they began their stroll, "The cargo bay is an excellent place for this... 'Picnic'." She said in a monotone voice, "Although the decor is lacking, it will still be sufficient and spacious. Perhaps next time, if there is an available observation lounge, T'hy'la? I would never object to the stars intruding." She knew the robes were possibly overboard, but she had to keep appearances up.

Blaine smiled to himself, knowing that her true self was currently covered by her training. He was still getting used to her flipping from Vulcan stoicism to emotion whenever they were in private. "I'd love to take you to one of the observation lounges an' watch the stars with you. I don't think the stars can intrude." They walked through the corridors toward the cargo bay and he took advantage of their touch telepathy. 'An' I would love to see you in starlight.'

T'Shai's eyes went to the ground as his thought invaded her mind and her face turned red, despite her best attempts to fight it. "Intrusion would be... Suboptimal." She managed to keep her voice even despite the image that his words had conjured in her head, "But for today, your choice of location is quite acceptable." Her eyes flicked to his for a moment and she sent her own message to him with them. Yes, she would definitely pose for him dressed in nothing but starlight some day, maybe even soon.

“It… has enough space for what I’d like to show you,” Blaine replied, stumbling over his words as he saw the image she sent in his mind’s eye. They stepped into the turbolift, thankfully alone, and he leaned back against the wall as he called for the cargo bay. “Note to self: be careful what I send you in public.”

"Indeed." T'Shai confirmed that they had several decks to travel and while it was unlikely that they would stop for additional passengers, she didn't want to take the chance. Still, she took her hand and rubbed his thigh briefly, lowering her voice to a whisper as she leaned in, "But it sure is fun, besides, that sounds exciting.. I'll research how to truly lock and jam the doors to one of the lounges for true privacy, then you can enjoy." She kept her face stoic and returned her fingers to his.

Blaine shivered from her touch, images flashing through his mind. The difference between his mate’s public face and true private self was night and day, and it amazed him. Nothing Solok had ever said had prepared him for this, and it was wonderful. “Just remember that we can’t get caught,” he said softly as the lift stopped and her fingers found his again. “Ready?”

"Ready." She whispered, noting that they were on Deck 18 and they swept out of the lift, glancing both ways, but there was no one in sight. There was probably no one on the deck besides them and maybe one or two lower-ranked enlisted performing standard tasks, but always better safe than sorry. The walk to the cargo bay was as uneventful as anticipated and as the doors closed behind them, T'Shai finally released Blaine and closed her eyes as she exhaled. It was her routine now, her way of releasing her self-control and a sly smile crossed her face as her eyes flicked back open, "I suppose I should get out of these robes, shouldn't I?"

Blaine watched her take what was becoming her normal decompression routine and smiled as he saw her relax. Then he saw that sly smile and her words registered in his brain. “Mm, what?…”

She reached up to her neck and undid one button before working her way down the front inside the folds, finally shrugging off the robes and collecting them on one arm as a bare leg was first visible, going up above the knee until it ended in a pleated skirt halfway up her thigh. The t-shirt she wore molded more to her form and she placed the robe on a crate as she stretched widely, "Now I feel much better!"

Blaine hadn’t known what to expect, and released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding as he watched her fold the robe and stretch. “I bet you do, Shai,” he found himself saying. “An’ you look beautiful. I love watchin’ you transform when we’re in private.”

"You make me sound like a superhero like Supergirl ducking into a room to change into her cape and skirt!" She smiled with a light giggle, "Or that one cartoon I saw when I was scrolling through influences on late twentieth-century society.." She went back through her memories, "It had something to do with sailing?"

“If you’re talkin’ about Sailor Moon, that transformation scene is epic,” Blaine said, smiling. “An’ it’s a wonderful thing bein’ able to watch you visually decompress the moment you’re home.”

She spun in place one to let the skirt unbunch a tiny little bit, then made an accidental mockery of a skip towards him that she'd only seen but never tried before, "I never had much of a chance to do that back on Vulcan, because there was always someone watching. I had a roommate, so I couldn't even do it there, it was only when I was in my study chambers where I was definitely monitored that I could. But with you?" She made it to him and planted a kiss on his lips, "I can be just me."

Blaine chuckled as she tried to skip, laughing with her, not at her. "Hey, it's okay. I'll give you every chance you want to learn how to skip. An' I enjoy watchin' you learn an' experiment," he said, as their lips met and he took her into his arms. "An' I'm eternally happy that you can be yourself with me. I love it. Of course, I'm certainly not complainin' about your experimentin' with clothes too."

“Then I will have to find a way to go shopping without you somewhere that I can get new clothes without making the shopkeepers wonder that I, a Vulcan, want some.. Odd clothes. So I can keep surprising you.” Shai already had some ideas on what she should get, but would keep those to herself, “I want to look pretty and cute for you, I’ve seen some of what human females will wear to get an emotional response from their men, and I intend to do the same.”

"Shai, you're gorgeous any way you dress, an' you have a way of surprisin' me that takes my breath away every day," Blaine said, eyes still on her as he sat the picnic basket and his rope down. Spreading the blanket out on the floor next to the last storage rack between the door and the aft wall so that they had a bit more privacy, he guided her to it. "I love that you want to look cute for me, but do you want to look cute for yourself? Because that's what's important to me. I love you no matter what you wear."

She sat down in a manner that made it look like she were still wearing her robes, but it was clear that was because she was used to wearing them. “Let me see… Do I want to wear robes that cover me from head to toe, a uniform that does essentially the same, but instead of being loose and flowing is restrictive and tight, especially since even for Vulcans, we typically wear the pants even for females, or…” She slid her hand down her skirt until she reached bare leg and kept sliding,”Something that not only looks nice, but isn’t restrictive or long. I think I’m going to have to go with the last option.”

Blaine couldn’t help but let his eyes follow her hand, before moving back to her eyes. “I just want to make sure you’re dressin’ for yourself as much as you’re dressin’ for me, because it’s my personal opinion that you look beautiful no matter what you’re wearin’.” He shook his head as he took her hand. “I want you to be comfortable in your own style, an’ I’m happy to foster experimentation, though.”

She brought his hand to her lips to kiss it briefly, “Experiments are the best way to determine what the outcome of an unknown will be.” She remarked, “So if there’s anything you’d like me to try on, I would be more than happy to. If I don’t like it, I promise that I’ll tell you.” She brought his hand to her chest to seal the pact, “I haven’t had more than a small opportunity to explore styles, as you can tell now that I’ve exhausted the different things I’ve brought with me, a whole what? Four days worth of different outfits?”

Blaine kissed her cheek as he draped an arm over her shoulders. He smiled as he thought about how to fix that problem. “We can look through the fashion sites on the net to get ideas, we can contact my human grandmother an’ see if she’ll send us some things. An’ the next time we stop at a starbase or allied planet we can go shoppin’.”

“Somewhere I can not be noticed for my ears?” Shai asked as she leaned into him, “Or maybe place orders for pickup and send you? Or if it’s in a bag, I could always go and just say it’s required wear for work or something like that… No, better yet, gifts for a friend! That would take the suspicion away.”

“All of those are great options, T’hy’la,” he said. “Though you might want to have the experience of tryin’ things on in the store, for experimentation purposes. I’ve heard women talk about that bein’ fun, especially when buyin’ somethin’ as a surprise for their husbands or boyfriends. Surely there’s planets in this sector that have never dealt with Vulcans.” He shrugged as he opened the picnic basket and began setting up their meal. “But I’ll do everythin’ I can to make it easy to build your wardrobe.”

“If I had a female friend, that could be an option.” T’Shai sighed, “But as of yet, I do not.” She glanced down at what he was putting out, “But, what did you prepare for us today?”

Blaine grinned at her question. “The pasta an’ fried onion mum was such a hit, so I figured we’d try stir fry noodles, the onion mum, an’ I got rice puddin’ ice cream in the cooler at the bottom.”

"Oo, that sounds great! The stir-fry noodles are something I haven't had before, yet, I'm really enjoying the new things. Everything on Vulcan was rather bland, or super spicy, depending on who was the one making the menu." Shai didn't like how dull it was, though she understood the reasoning and logic behind it. Keep from distractions and you could get further.

"Oh, you're gonna learn about flavor if you're gonna marry me," Blaine said, kissing her cheek before handing her a bowl of steaming stir fry noodles and cutlery. "I hope you like this. It's got some good flavor. I think they call it 'Asian Fusion Cuisine', but I'm not sure what that means, really."

The usage of chopsticks just came naturally, they were a logical instrument of an eating utensil. though she was grateful that he had thought of the force along with it, just in case. She stuffed the first pinch of the noodles into her mouth, making her cheeks puff out like a chipmunk, "MMM!" She got out as she chewed the mouthful bit by bit, "If haff a 'ang 'oo i'!" She couldn't speak with her mouth full, at least not clearly, "'Ot 's'icy!"

"It's got a bit of a bite, yeah. Is it too spicy for you?" Blaine asked, watching her carefully before he took a bite as he wanted to make sure she was alright.

T'Shai tried to both nod and shake her head at the same time, which made for a rather silly looking move of her head and she rolled her eyes before focusing on chewing and swallowing in a couple cycles, finally emptying her mouth and fanning at it, "Hot, not spicy!" She got out, grabbing for one of the drinks and downing a few gulps of it, "I was so excited about it, I didn't realize it was too hot to just... Stuff my face with it."

Blaine couldn't help but chuckle at her wording. "I'm glad you were excited about it, and I'm glad you like it too. I'm enjoyin' you throw yourself into these new experiences, it almost feels like I'm experiencin' them with you for the first time."

She took a far more reasonable mouthful this time, one she could tuck into her cheek as needed, “Every new experience is an adventure. We took a couple trips out from the VSA, but they were for known events and anomalies, so that we could test our skills on something that already had baseline data readily recorded. There wasn’t any spontaneity involved, everything was routine, even the practical testing they did was on simulations dated several decades ago.” She finished chewing the bite and swallowed as she gestured with her chopsticks, “I think they’re making drones, not scientists.”

Blaine listened to her, taking in her meaning as he thought about what she was saying. “My human grandfather had a sayin’ like that. ‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got.’ But doin’ the same thing repeatedly while expectin’ different results is insanity.” He shoot his head. “I know from watchin’ you that it’s a place that stifles individuality.”

“And that’s the thing, they had us do it because they wanted to make sure we were doing things in the right way, but after that, they should find something new.” Shai kept gesturing, “Something unpredictable, so that it’s a true practical application of skills.” She snagged most of the rest of the dish and stuffed it in her mouth, “And they didn’t like hypothetical questions. I got reprimanded for that one, so I learned that particular lesson.”

“I completely understand havin’ a standard trainin’ operation, but there’s got to be variety. The Academy training pipelines drill us on the basics, an’ then once we have the skills, they give us practicals to use those skills, but they don’t drill us over the same thing ad nauseum. I mean, it seems that way at first, but eventually we understand.” Blaine shook his head before taking a bite of his noodles. “What happened on the reprimand?” There was no judgment in his voice when he asked the last question, just curiosity.

“Nothing horrible, just told that curiosity has its place, but that we were there to learn the lesson for the day, not advance to further lessons or future experiences.” She picked up a couple of escaped noodles to foil their attempted survival, “I’m sure it was also noted in my Academy record in case I continued to ‘be too disruptive in class.’ I didn’t make the same ‘error’ again, but felt it stunted my growth as a science officer. Of course, my thesis made me into a new pariah among my fellows, which meant that I couldn’t use them as potential examples of my theorem, because none of them were willing to ‘soil themselves’ with expressing their emotions to promote innovation.”

Blaine listened as he finished eating. "That's the thing about us Vulcans, we generally have eidetic memories." He leaned over and gently kissed her cheek. "I know they aren't goin' to apologize, but I'm sorry you had to experience that alone. I promise you won't ever have to do that so long as I'm around." He smiled as he grabbed the rope. "Want to see somethin' cool?"

"I'm sorry that they are unable to adapt." Shai smiled, "But I would love to see something cool, it'll be a change of pace from the reports I had today, not that you need to hear about them. Just boring things."

"Hey, if you ever want to talk about your day, I want you to know I want to hear about it," Blaine replied, smiling back at her as he stood and began uncoiling the rope to build a loop. For a few minutes, he spun it lazily, letting the rope flex a bit. "Ever see anything' on trick roping?" he asked with a sly grin.

She sat forward in excitement as she watched the rope looping, doing the calculations of mass and velocity, with the friction coefficient and momentum with resistance from the rope leading to his hand. But that was only automatic, not what was actively on her mind as she watched him. "I can't say that I have, but I'm presuming I'm about to?"

“I’d like to think you are,” Blaine said, his eyes smiling. “My granddad taught me how to do this.” He started with a flat loop spinning on his right side six inches over the floor. Then moved it to the left side before bringing the loop vertically and flipping it left and right like butterfly wings.

T'Shai stood from where she was at and came closer with wide eyes at the gravity-defying loop of rope, but remained careful to stay well away from where it was spinning, "That's amazing!" She said, "The centripetal force must be immense!"

“Between the twist of the rope an’ the way my wrist moves, it’s almost like gears or pulleys. So the speed of the loop is much faster than my wrist, yeah,” he said as he shifted the rope back into the flat loop. Keeping it moving, he made the loop smaller and began spinning it around her wrist. “They call this the weddin’ ring.”

Very carefully keeping her hand still so that she didn’t touch the rope, Shai spun her wrist as she blushed at the mention. That was another subject she should bring up, soon, but not now. Right now she marveled at the level of control Blaine was showing with the rope.

With a flourish, Blaine built the loop and flipped the rope until it was spinning around her waist. Then he tugged and rope pulled taut and he pulled her to him and into his arms. “Enjoy it?” he asked with a mischievous smile.

She was truly caught and as he reeled her in, Shai’s melodic and full-throated laugh echoed throughout the cargo bay, wide grin on her face as she was swept into his arms, “That was amazing!” She laughed out, “But what are you going to do now that you’ve caught me? I suppose you could tie me up even more, but then you’d have to carry me.”

“I could do that,” Blaine said as he listened to her laugh resounding through the room before leaning in and kissing her. “I like the idea of loving you forever never letting you go, now that I have you.”

“But that would look funny whenever you were on the bridge, holding onto me.” Her eyes glinted with mirth, “Sorry Captain, he won’t let me go, I guess you’re stuck with both of us here at the same time, always!”

Blaine stroked his chin as he pretended to think that through. “Yes, I see what you’re sayin’. What would you suggest?”

“For one, we formalize our betrothal and actually get married sooner than later?” Shai looked into his eyes, “I believe that both of us are planning on sticking it out with the other and it would please my parents and your grandparents very much. Besides, we may qualify for larger quarters or at least a larger bed?”

Blaine raised an eyebrow, gently squeezing her as he took the rope off of her. “Very logical suggestion,” he said, smiling. “I’d love to formalize our union. Would you require Vulcan clergy? Or could we speak to the Captain? I know ship’s captains can officiate.”

“The first step will be to talk to the Captain, as she is our commanding officer, we should get her permission to even do this.” T’Shai’s voice had some concern, because it would be awkward to go to someone that high in rank, “After that, did you want the Vulcan clergy? I know it would be more formal, but I don’t know if they’d be able to make it out to where we’re going to be.”

"I just want to be married to you, Shai. In my opinion, sooner is better," Blaine said, caressing her cheek as he looked into her eyes. "But I want what makes you happy. If that's Vulcan clergy, I'm willin' to wait. I don't want you to regret the way we got married down the line."

"I won't regret it, Blaine, no matter how we do it. Is tradition important, yes, but I don't think it's as important as making this happen." She leaned forward into him to give him a kiss,, "My parents would insist on the clergy, but if none is available immediately or in the near future, then we will be disappointing them, not me."

Blaine could feel her sincerity through their bond as well as hear it in her voice. “Then we send a message to the Captain to see when she can speak with us an’ we go from there,” he said, looking into her eyes. “An’ we tell our families after the plans are made.”

“Perhaps you should talk to the Captain?” She suggested, “You are, after all, her primary pilot and see her on a regular basis? I’m just a science officer and… Still not officially one. What do you think?”

“I’ll speak to her, though I’d bet she’ll want to meet with you at some point to make sure we’re in agreement,” Blaine said as he guided her back to the blanket. “Ready for that ice cream?”

She smiled at him before sinking back down on the blanket once more, "You know what? I think I am."

Blaine settled beside her and pulled the cooling unit from the bottom of the basket, producing two sealed bowls of rice pudding ice cream. “Have you ever had ice cream before?”

"I know what it is, but it wasn't something that was encouraged at all to attempt to try." Shai pursed her lips as she contemplated how to explain it, "So no one did make it at the Academy, it all remained hypothetical."

“Well, if this helps, this is vegetarian ice cream. It’s made from rice,” he said as he opened her bowl and handed it to her with a spoon. “Though I don’t understand how it didn’t catch on on Vulcan, given the aridity.”

"Because Vulcans think that by being able to withstand the heat and the dry, they can become closer to true logical bliss." T'Shai shook her head slowly, "Why they deny the pleasures of the cool and damp, I don't know."

"Sometimes I don't think they've ever felt cool water runnin' over their feet on a hot day," Blaine said, shaking his head. "Heat regulation is only logical, but then I'd never make it past the first day of Kolinahr trainin'. They'd run me off Mount Seleya on a rail."

"It wasn't pleasant." She admitted to him, "They gave me a liter of water, informed me that it was all I would have to last a day. Clearly they intended for me to meditate my way through it, because they graded us on how much water we had remaining after being out in the sun all day."

"Sounds a lot like when I went through the Forge as a boy," Blaine said before taking a bite of his ice cream. "I'm still not sure how I got through that. My guess is Solok's trainin', or the songs V'Ral taught me."

Shai took the first few bites of the ice cream and nodded, “This would have been wonderful out there, but maybe needs some more flavor to it.” The critique didn't stop her from continuing to eat it.

"Well then, if you're willin' to try somethin' dairy, I'll introduce you to mint chocolate chip ice cream," Blaine said with a bright grin. "Rice puddin' is a little bland."

Her eyes glittered at the thought, “I do not understand why my people aren’t willing to utilize something renewable that comes from animals. Milk products, sustainably farmed, does little to harm the creatures. This will be… Controversial, but I am very willing to try new things.”

"Well, we'll figure out a way to make it not controversial, but I'm like you. I can understand someone not eatin' meat if they don't want to, but who'd turn their nose up at ice cream?" Blaine countered, grinning. "Of course, I already eat enough ice cream for two, so me gettin' two helpin's of the good stuff won't raise suspicions too much."

She laughed again, "Good! We'll have to make everyone wonder why you're not gaining weight, though... Because if you're constantly getting more and more ice cream, some people may start to wonder." She leaned forward to give him a kiss, "Of course, I won't."

Blaine kissed her back as he caressed her cheek. As the kiss broke, he grinned. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you like makin' folks wonder."

"I have nooooo idea what you're talking about." She smiled back at him, "So... If I went running, would you have to chase me and rope me again?"

"Oh of course you don't," he replied, laughing. "There's only one way to test your hypothesis... take off runnin'."

Her eyes glittered as she scrambled to her feet, giggling as she did, then picked a path to take and started off away from him.

Blaine stood as she scampered to her feet, and as she ran, he shook out a loop and twirled it three times over his head before letting it fly - zinging through the air. It sailed just over her head and dropped over her. He gave a gentle tug and it snugged around her waist, cinching her arms to her side. Once the loop was firm, he tugged the rope and pulled her back into his arms. "Havin' fun yet?"

The giggle had turned into a full on laugh, but she couldn't move her arms, "I'm having more fun than I can ever remember having!" She grinned at him, "So, what do you do after you catch your target?"

Blaine loved to hear her laugh. "I'm glad I can give you fun memories," he said as he took the loop off her and pulled her into his arms. "Now, if I were using this in a real situation an' I'd thrown this loop at a steer, I'd have tied the other end to my saddle horn an' drug it back to the herd or to the vet pens to doctor it. I'd rather rope you. It's a lot more fun."

"Then shouldn't you be dragging me back to the barn? Since I don't need to see the doctor and we don't have a herd." She grinned up to his face and wrapped her arms around him for another kiss, "Of course, what happens if the steer gets away?"

"If the steer gets away, you keep roping them and dragging them back to where you need them to be," he said before letting the kiss burn through him. "Now, when you ask me about takin' you to the barn, are you sayin' you're ready to go home?"

Shai nodded up at him, "If you don't mind? I've had a great time here, but maybe I'll need you to chase me a bit more there? At least a little ways... Like from the door to the bedroom?"

“Well now, I think everything we have here can fit back in the basket for the quick trip home,” Blaine said, a knowing grin on his face. “An’ after that, I’m happy to chase you wherever you want to go.”

 

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