Winding Down
Posted on Thu Mar 6th, 2025 @ 1:11pm by Ensign Charlotte Dawes & Lieutenant JG Kasper Andersen M.D
2,783 words; about a 14 minute read
Mission:
The Menagerie II
Location: The walk home from Ten-Forward
Timeline: Christmas Night, After the Party
As the crowd started to thin, Charlotte felt her buzz from the energy of the party and the alcohol slipping away. She nudged Kasper by shifting her body weight in a way that she sort of teetered into him, their arms colliding for a brief second before she teetered back.
"I think I'm about ready to call it a night. You?" She asked.
"I think you're definitely ready to call it a night, Char," Kasper replied as he steadied her on. She'd drunk a lot more than him and it was the first night he'd had a couple of drinks since the shoreleave so the buzz was hitting him differently to her. "I'm ready to go whenever you are, did you have something in mind you wanted to do? Or straight home to bed?"
"Um, no. Nothing in mind," Charlotte replied with a noncommittal air as she shrugged and began a meandering walk toward the door. "Did you have fun?" She asked.
"I did, thank you for the invite," Kasper said with a smile and a nod, "The song choice was a bit different, I have to admit, but you make a great lion." He laughed and was content to follow her lead. "Question is, did you have fun tonight? Because as long as you did, that's all that matters to me."
Charlotte smiled, but rolled her eyes. "Mmmhmm. That's all that matters." Charlotte spun around so that she was walking backwards and facing Kasper. She shook her head at him. "You are so incorrigible."
Kasper put his hands up in defense and laughed at her comment, "Message received, loud and clear, I'll stop making sure you're okay." He gave her a salute and continued to walk along in silence. It was in his nature to care about people, hence why he became a doctor, but he was trying to change how he went about it and this was obviously one of the times he took it too far. "I'll be on my best behaviour now." He clasped his hands behind his back while he walked.
"When were you on your worst behavior?" Charlotte teased.
He cocked an eyebrow and looked at her, taking a breath in and out before he answered, "I think it was on Barisa Prime that I was on my worst behaviour." It definitely wasn't his finest time, but at least he spent the night with someone he liked.
"Oh yeah, that..." she said drawing out her words with a cheeky attitude as she spun back around so she was facing forward as they walked through the door. "What is your ex up to these days anyway?"
He shrugged in response, "No idea. We haven't spoken since then and I like to think there's nothing worth talking about because everything that needed to be said has already been said." It was the truth, and he hadn't thought about her since they broke up. "She'll bounce back and find someone else though."
"Really. No one over on her ship sends you any deets? Details, updates?" Charlotte prodded. "I thought you said she had some new guy already on the hook."
Shaking his head, "I don't want any updates or details about her, to be honest. It was her Chief of Science that she mentioned she was doing some extra work for, but I don't know or care if he's the one she's seeing." He inhaled and exhaled and rubbed his hand over his face, feeling the alcohol effects wearing off and the tiredness kicking in. "Obviously I won't forget her, but I've moved on." His tone wasn't harsh, just tired.
"Okay," Charlotte responded. She traced the lighting on the wall for a few beats before skipping back to the middle of the corridor. "Anyway then."
"So, you never told me what you wanted to do tonight now the party is over," Kasper queried with a slight grin on his face. The sight of her skipping just made him smile and shake his head at her.
"I dunno. I guess you can just walk me home unless you had something else in mind?" Charlotte answered. She grinned mischievously again, "I don't want you grumpy for your shift tomorrow," she added teasingly.
"You've already got something in mind, haven't you?'" Kasper queried as his slight grin got wider, "And now you're just wanting to know if my plans line up with yours so we'll be in agreement, right? I'll be fine for shift tomorrow too, you know, just give me caffeine and there's no issues." Surely, she was just straight up teasing him at this stage, right?
When they got to the turbolift Charlotte leaned with the back against her wall while they waited for the lift to arrive. "I don't," she said with a laugh as she shook her head.
He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "Uh huh, sure sure," before allowing her to get onto the turbolift before him once it arrived. "So it's a pizza, a shower and then bed, is it?" Kasper asked as he mirrored her move and leaned against the wall. He was trying to get some sort of idea as to what she had in mind, but she wasn't giving him anything to work with.
"I don't know what you want me to say," Charlotte said as the turbolift arrived and the doors opened. "Deck 14," she ordered as she walked in, which was where her quarters were located.
"The party was the big event for the night," Charlotte said with an easy shrug. "I think most people are probably tired from Christmas, Hannukah, Yule, Peldor Joi, it's been a few weeks of celebrations now. I'm sure a lot of us were on subspace at weird hours today with family."
"I actually remembered to call my parents at a decent hour for once just as they were about to go out meaning I'd caught them at a bad time like always, but I get what you mean, it's definitely tiring being on a different timeline to everyone." Kasper admitted.
"What if you were on an outpost somewhere with a 22- or 26-hour day? I don't know how our bodies even adjust to that. It seems crazy to me, then bouncing back to a 24-hour day on reassignment," Charlotte said just in a manner of thinking out loud. "Do you like being a doctor?"
The question threw him for a moment, so he was slow to reply and shrugged, "Yeah, I do. It's challenging at times, but it's not as if I came into this career with my eyes closed." He scratched at an itch on his wrist, "My father wanted at least one of his children to follow in his footsteps and I guess that fell to me, so he passed on everything he knows."
Shifting slightly against the wall, Kasper looked at her, "What about you? Do you like being a nurse or are you wanting to do something else?"
"Oh, I like it," Charlotte stated stepping out of the turbolift as it opened on her deck. "I'm a little bummed we lost our civil ops division. I was supposed to get a lot of away mission work with them."
"I was just asking because you seem... I don't know. A bit... chaotic for medicine? Most doctors I know are pretty regimented. Especially Starfleet doctors." Charlotte watched him out of the corner of her eyes for a reaction as they walked.
"I'm sorry you lost out on that, hopefully you'll get some other kinds of opportunities to do things like that in the future." Kasper raised a brow, not rising to her comment as they walked along, "And do you mean regimented like Malcolm? Chaotic is just what makes me, me. It doesn't affect how I perform surgeries or my job or anything."
"Not just Dr. Beckett," Charlotte replied as they slow walked the hallway. "It just seems to be a theme I've noticed. Healthy hobbies, routines. When they are running late, it's usually time with a patient, or a procedure running long, not just a way of life. I can't say I've ever met a doctor, or even a nurse who operates quite like you - no pun intended."
He gave a short laugh in return, "I'm so confused right now, Charlie. I don't know if you're saying it as a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Just an observation." A sly smile played on her lips as she continued her usual wayward of walking. "So what song would you have picked?"
"In all honesty, I have no idea," Kasper shook his head as he followed her, "If it was a duet, it probably would've been Dream A Little Dream, but if it was solo, I have no idea. Probably a power ballad of some sort."
"A power ballad really?" Charlotte repeated, impressed. "So there's a voice in there to show off then? You are holding back."
"Well I did tell you I could sing, I just needed liquid encouragement to do so," Kasper said in a matter-of-fact tone with a wink and smile added in. "I'm more than just a pretty face, you know."
"I noticed you were staying away from that," Charlotte said simply, for a moment taking a break from her teasing.
"Unlike other people, Tyler Williams from Tactical for instance, I do occasionally like to stay mostly or completely sober at functions and parties," Kasper replied as he continued to scratch his wrist as they walked. He'd seen Tyler writing himself off a few times now and was worried about him but then realised he was Eirly's problem because he was in her department. "I don't like to make an ass of myself too much in front of a lot of people, surprisingly."
"Whoa, why the hate on Tyler?" Charlotte asked surprised by the turn. "It's not like you haven't cut loose yourself. I wouldn't judge. I'm not judging."
"I promise there's no hating on Tyler, he seems like a really nice guy," Kasper held up his hands in defense, "I've just seen him in a few situations where he hasn't been in the right frame of mind and looked like he was drunk, that's all. I don't know what he's going through but if he wants someone to talk to, I'll be here to help. I just won't be handing him another bottle."
"I'm sure he's fine," Charlotte replied. "We've all been there."
Charlotte stopped as they reached her door and bit her bottom lip shyly as she turned to face Kasper. "Well, this is me."
Facing her, Kasper couldn't help but think she looked cute as hell when Charlotte bit her lip like that, "So, this is you. What happens now?"
She looked up at him with some anticipation. "What do you want to happen now?"
Kasper looked at her, into her beautiful brown eyes, and swallowed before he said, "I want to kiss you right now, but I'm going to be respectful and not." It felt like the air around them was electric with anticipation of something waiting to happen.
"Kissing me is disrespectful?" She asked with curiosity.
"I never said that" He shook his head, "I would only kiss you if you wanted me to, not the other way around." What was this, his maturity coming through?
"So, you are assuming that I don't want you to kiss me, which is why it would be disrespectful?" Charlotte prodded coyly.
"Correct... but I want you to tell me what you want me to do," He gave her a half grin, "Please?" She was starting to do his head in. Again.
"All those years of school, and a man as brilliant as you are, and you can't figure it out on your own?" She teased with a smile before taking a small step towards him.
He stayed where he was while she took the step forward and it was easy for him to look down at her. Still half smiling and scratching the back of his head, he said, "I'm a guy, so limited brain capacity for these things, remember? But I'm right to assume you... do want me to kiss you, right?"
Charlotte nodded, then added, "But if you ask me again, I'm going inside and you missed your shot."
"Okay," Kasper replied as his fingers brushed the stray strands of her hair back behind her ear before he curved them under her ear and across her jaw before they crooked under her chin to tip it up gently, so she was looking at him. "I'm going to kiss you now," he said quietly and watched her nod. He leaned in, eyes closed and kissed her softly on the lips, taking full advantage of the moment.
Charlotte's eyes closed as Kasper leaned down for the kiss, her lips parting slightly as their lips met. Here she was again, lost in a moment with him. He had a way of making her feel like the most important, most beautiful person in his world, and the feeling was a drug. The high from it a battle she had been fighting against and was losing.
Her left hand reached up and gently rested on his bicep as she pulled away from their kiss just slightly, still close enough to feel his breath hot against her face. She fought hard against the urge to invite him in. "See you again?"
He sighed and nodded, exhaling through his nose as put his hand on hers, "Of course, whenever you want." There was a hope she would ask him inside, mostly because he was in the mood to chill and relax, but he would be fine with it if she didn't.
"Plan it." Charlotte's eyes sparkled despite the drab lighting of the hallways on the residential decks. "I'll be there."
"Tomorrow night, my quarters?" Kasper asked as his grey eyes took her in and he smiled hopefully. As much as he'd want to give dating her a proper go, he'd settle for just having her around for dinner.
"I work until nineteen-hundred," she replied, giving him a curious once over as she answered.
"Don't worry about that, I eat late," Kasper shrugged in reply. "How about twenty hundred so you've got plenty of time to finish, do whatever and then come around for dinner and a movie or something chill?" If she didn't want that, that would've been fine too.
"Sure, okay," Charlotte responded a soft and sweet sounding disposition to her voice. "Am I supposed to be there at twenty-hundred, or will you be running late, so should I get there about twenty after?" she asked playfully.
"You're never going to let me live that one down, are you?" He laughed and raised an eyebrow as he thought about that one time he was late. "I promise I will not be running late, scouts honour. If anything, I'll be right on time."
"That one?" Charlotte gave him a slightly scolding look. "It was two days in a row."
"Okay, okay!" Kasper laughed again as he held his hands up in defense again. "I had legit reasons for both times!" He looked at her for a moment and then laughed at the absurdity of it, "Okay, look. Tomorrow night will be running on time one hundred percent. I promise."
"Okay. I'll see you then." Charlotte nodded her head slightly, and looked up at him. It was a goodbye of sorts, but she didn't move toward the door. She was lingering to see if he would kiss her again.
It was a lot for him to live up to with being on time for once, but Kasper wasn't going to mess it up this time. "I'll see you then, so don't be late." He leaned in and put one hand behind the back of her neck so his thumb grazed her cheek, and he kissed her softly again. "Good night, Charlotte," he said in his own language as he broke off the kiss and stepped back before aboutfacing and walking slowly away back toward his own quarters, hands in pockets and a lazy smile on his face.
Charlotte smiled into the kiss as she kissed him back. She was still smiling when she turned and opened the door and went into her quarters, mind buzzing about the kiss and the next time she'd see him again.
Lieutenant J.G. Kasper Andersen
Medical Officer
Ensign Charlotte Dawes
Nurse
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