Judgement – New Friends
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham & Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton
Post Details
ON:
Chelsea knew that going to the Box of Delights would be a busman's holiday to Edward, so she thought maybe they could meet at the Red Lion instead; but getting a mutual time for them all to be there proved a big problem with Edward's shifts and the wedding plans. So they re-scheduled for a *break* at the Box, so he could join the three others at least for a while.
Rick had been summoned, not asked, summoned, to come to the Box of Delights for Lunch with Chelsea, a summons he was more than happy to attend. Ok summoned, was the wrong word, asked nicely to meet for Lunch, was perhaps a better way of putting it. But with the slight anxious and manic tone to Chelsea's voice that every women gets, when she is getting married the next day and the chaos it ensues, Rick had felt he could do his little bit by attending on time for Lunch. So he gave Chelsea a warm friendly wave as she approached.
"Hey Babe, thanks for coming at such short notice." Chelsea breathed into his ear as she arrived, hurried and a little flustered, delivering herself instinctively and with no small relief into his arms. She felt safe here, the chaos seemed to disappear and fade into the ether around them. Chelsea sighed, nestled for a few moments and drew in a deep breath of that soul-soothing Richard Dunham serenity and love. "Did i tell you lately that I couldn't live without you?" she muttered, looking up at him with a grin.
"I couldn't imagine any other place except at your side my love." Said Rick as he tenderly kissed her forehead and lovingly stroked her hair. He returned her embrace with a hug of his own, just happy to be with her in that moment. "You make me the happiest luckiest man alive do you know that?" Rick didn't care if anybody else on the promenade could see the romance between them, he was proud of the relationship that they had formed in their time together.
"No, i'm sorry. You're wrong. It's actually ME who is the happiest, luckiest person alive in the universe because I have you!" she grinned at him, nestling into his neck and squeezing him back. "Rick, do you remember my friend Bridget? I told you about her...." she changed the subject before they got into a *who's luckier than who* contest that neither of them could win.
Chelsea did not know at this point that Rick and Bridget had already met that morning in the gym. She and Rick hadn't had time to talk about that yet.
He scratched the stubble on his chin as he thought back to the conversation, then having a light bulb moment, linked it to the fact that it was the same women he had met this morning "Urrrmm yeah" he said with a smile "I met her this morning in gym"
Chelsea looked surprised. "Really? She didn't say anything.... nor did you, in fact."
Rick shook his head in mild disbelief and smiled softly "Sorry gorgeous, between the work, the kidnapping and the other thing, I forgot" he kissed her on the head.
"The kidnap? That was yesterday... when did you meet here then? And what *other thing*? " she frowned, looking up at him in confusion, thinking back over the incredible events of the past 48 hours.
"I met her yesterday morning at the gym......" he then got a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous smile on his lips ".....and the other thing is what happened on the Chelsea" he whispered in her ear.
"Oh.... " she caught herself softening at the warmth of the memory. "Hey, wait. No distracting me! If you and Bridget met yesterday morning how come you *both* forgot to mention it to me and I've been waffling on to both of you about each other..... " she was interrupted by the arrival of Bridget who caught them discussing something, locked in one another's arms outside the Box.
Dunham breathed an inward sigh of relief, happy to see Bridget rescuing him from trouble that he had not realized he was in, nor felt fair that he was in in the first place. He gave her a little wave of greeting.
"Hey you two, am I interrupting something?"
Bridget's words were said lightly, but with a hint of "gotcha!" in her voice - as if she were a matronly pixie of a chaperon, a twinkle in her eye as she caught two young people in an unsanctioned embrace.
Chelsea blushed. She had forgotten for a moment that they were in uniform, on lunch break but still in public, representing the Fleet.
"Hey Bridget," she hugged her friend in welcome. "I understand you two have met, so let's just go on in." she changed the subject quickly to cover her blushes as she led them into the Box.
Rick just grinned and chuckled slightly as he shook Bridget's hand in a friendly how you do manner, then followed Chlesea and Bridget into the Box of Delights, mumbling under his breath about the stand-in XO having to keep up appearances.
Being right in front of him, Bridget heard his voice but didn't catch the words. It brought a familiar smile to her face, though. She recalled reading an article that stated all married men had a tendency to mumble around their wives. It appeared Rick was getting an early start, and this entertained Bridget immensely.
As they passed through the doorway and into the main room, she automatically looked toward Ed's dabo table. He was there, looking down and doing something but she couldn't see what. He'd obviously been watching the door, because it wasn't a few seconds before he looked up from his work and saw them. Recognition dawned on his face with a broad smile, and Bridget waved in response.
"I think he'll be joining us in a few minutes," Bridget said to the others.
"Let's sit down then. Should we order for him or wait until he comes over?" Chelsea asked as the waiter showed them to a table and offered them menus.
"Let's order for him," Bridget replied. "He's nothing if not predictable, so I can be pretty safe to pick from among his favorites."
Rick sat down at the table with them, looking at the menu and going directly to the pizza section to see if they had added anything new to their collection. His stomach growled as it prepared itself for food. "So Doctor Stapleton, what's your new boss like?" He smiled with a twinkle in his eye.
"A royal pain in the ass," she quipped without missing a beat. Then after a second's pause of stunned reaction from her table mates, Bridget burst into laughter, giving Chelsea a moist-eyed wink.
"I know, but i am what i am....." she shrugged, taking it all in her stride. She loved Bridget's sense of humour, it always made her laugh and feel at ease. "What did you think of the CAG when you met him half naked in the gym?" she turned the tables back onto Rick, smirking at Bridget, including her in the plot for retaliation.
Rick thought back to their initial meeting, he hadn't really endeared himself in those very early hours of the morning, he just been clumsy in his sleepy induced state. Though as he recalled he had had clothes on.
"It was funny, actually," Bridget said, smirking at Rick who seemed a bit lost in thought. "On a starbase this big, there's a lot of irony in meeting each other at one of the gyms. And he wasn't half naked," Bridget chuckled, letting Rick off the hook.
Rick shot Chelsea and innocent smile and flicker of his long eyelashes over his blue/grey eyes, just say, see I told you so. "Especially at that time in the morning."
"How disappointing!" Chelsea smirked back, doing her best not to look directly into those eyes for fear of losing the use of her legs as they would turn to jelly.
"I think I'll have the chilli please." The return of the waiter changed the subject with perfect timing. "Would anyone like a drink? I'm having an Andorian Cherry and Terran Cranberry juice. Any advance on fruit juice?" Chelsea smiled, handing back her menu now she had ordered. The waiter took it, tucked it under his arm, noted the Doctor's choices and looked expectantly at the other two customers.
Edward approached just then, making his apologies for being a few minutes late. It was a little chaotic at the table, as Bridget was trying to place her order with the waiter while Ed introduced himself to Rick and Chelsea. But they managed to sort things out, and the waiter took note of Bridget's iced tea and turkey sandwich.
"Beer and lasagne," Edward said, when the waiter had looked at him. He apparently knew the menu well, because he hadn't even looked at it.
"Well good thing I didn't order for you," Bridget commented. "I was gonna get you sushi and spicy beef."
The waiter paused, finger poised over his order padd, looking from Edward to Bridget and back again. "No, I'm not changing," he said with a wave of his hand. Satisfied, the waiter picked up the unopened menu and turned his attention to Rick.
Rick looked up from the menu "Pizza, double mozzarella and double pepperoni please and a coke for drink thank you kindly," asked the pilot politely. "So Edward, what do you do for Yolanthe Ibalin then?"
Chelsea coughed and shot a glance at Rick, rolling her eyes at Edward. "Sorry...... I'm afraid I brought him with *me*. I take the blame." she smiled with a twinkle in her eyes.
Rick gave her a slightly hurt and reproachful look, “You love me because I’m honest,” he said with a faint smile on his lips and once again giving her what was becoming his trade mark look with those eyes of his.
Edward chuckled, taking the question in stride and enjoying the engaged couples' banter.
"I'm a croupier. I do my best to fleece the customer and make them like it, because it gives them hope for a little nookie on the side." His own eyes twinkled at his joke, and he leaned back in his chair, puffing his chest out as far as it would go.
A slap to his arm from his wife broke the self-satisfied expression he wore and made him sit up straight. "Ow. I'm wounded now. How will I be able to entice those ancient grannies into my clutches with a bruise like that?" He pushed the ruffled sleeve of his pirate shirt up to expose his hairy forearm.
Falling for his trap before she could catch herself, Bridget looked at his arm, no sign of bruising anywhere.
"Edward!" She scoffed with a grin. "See, this is what you get when you've been married as long as we have," she included Chelsea and Rick in the playfulness.
Rick smiled and held Chelsea's hand, intertwining his fingers with hers, he gave the Stapleton's a friendly grin, "I'm looking forward to it."
"So when's the big day?" Edward hadn't been paying attention when Bridget told him, and he figured it would be better to ask than make assumptions and look like a fool later.
"You know I'm not sure....." said Rick in mock thoughtfulness, he then turned to face Chelsea "when is it again dear?" asked Rick jokingly, knowing full well that the wedding was in fact tomorrow.
"I think we decided to wait another year or ten, didn't we? Oh, no, wait... i think i just made that decision by myself about 30 seconds ago!!" she shot him a dangerous glare but couldn't maintain the pretense and ended up grinning at him as soon as he retaliated with another dose of that infamous 'hurt' look again.
Chelsea rolled her eyes again and laughed. "It's tomorrow, Edward, as well my husband-to-be knows. He's dreading it but he's being very brave on the surface. He knows if he runs away, I'd hunt him down so he's coming quietly, accepting his fate." she teased.
"Husband...." said Rick thoughtfully, then his face cracked into a big smile. "I like the sound of that......wife." He gave Chelsea a hug, but was interrupted by the food arriving, and soon Rick was distracted by his favourite food. Pizza. He would eat it all the time if he could.
tbc
A JP Between:
and
Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
CMO & 2CO - DS5
and
CAG Squadron Leader
Lieutenant Commander Richard Dunham
and
Ensign Bridget Stapleton
Doctor (General Practice) - DS5
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham & Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton
Post Details
| Title | New Friends | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham & Lieutenant Bridget Stapleton | |
| Posted | Mon May 23, 2011 @ 8:52pm | |
| Location | The box of delights | |
| Timeline | SD37 - Lunch time |
Chelsea knew that going to the Box of Delights would be a busman's holiday to Edward, so she thought maybe they could meet at the Red Lion instead; but getting a mutual time for them all to be there proved a big problem with Edward's shifts and the wedding plans. So they re-scheduled for a *break* at the Box, so he could join the three others at least for a while.
Rick had been summoned, not asked, summoned, to come to the Box of Delights for Lunch with Chelsea, a summons he was more than happy to attend. Ok summoned, was the wrong word, asked nicely to meet for Lunch, was perhaps a better way of putting it. But with the slight anxious and manic tone to Chelsea's voice that every women gets, when she is getting married the next day and the chaos it ensues, Rick had felt he could do his little bit by attending on time for Lunch. So he gave Chelsea a warm friendly wave as she approached.
"Hey Babe, thanks for coming at such short notice." Chelsea breathed into his ear as she arrived, hurried and a little flustered, delivering herself instinctively and with no small relief into his arms. She felt safe here, the chaos seemed to disappear and fade into the ether around them. Chelsea sighed, nestled for a few moments and drew in a deep breath of that soul-soothing Richard Dunham serenity and love. "Did i tell you lately that I couldn't live without you?" she muttered, looking up at him with a grin.
"I couldn't imagine any other place except at your side my love." Said Rick as he tenderly kissed her forehead and lovingly stroked her hair. He returned her embrace with a hug of his own, just happy to be with her in that moment. "You make me the happiest luckiest man alive do you know that?" Rick didn't care if anybody else on the promenade could see the romance between them, he was proud of the relationship that they had formed in their time together.
"No, i'm sorry. You're wrong. It's actually ME who is the happiest, luckiest person alive in the universe because I have you!" she grinned at him, nestling into his neck and squeezing him back. "Rick, do you remember my friend Bridget? I told you about her...." she changed the subject before they got into a *who's luckier than who* contest that neither of them could win.
Chelsea did not know at this point that Rick and Bridget had already met that morning in the gym. She and Rick hadn't had time to talk about that yet.
He scratched the stubble on his chin as he thought back to the conversation, then having a light bulb moment, linked it to the fact that it was the same women he had met this morning "Urrrmm yeah" he said with a smile "I met her this morning in gym"
Chelsea looked surprised. "Really? She didn't say anything.... nor did you, in fact."
Rick shook his head in mild disbelief and smiled softly "Sorry gorgeous, between the work, the kidnapping and the other thing, I forgot" he kissed her on the head.
"The kidnap? That was yesterday... when did you meet here then? And what *other thing*? " she frowned, looking up at him in confusion, thinking back over the incredible events of the past 48 hours.
"I met her yesterday morning at the gym......" he then got a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous smile on his lips ".....and the other thing is what happened on the Chelsea" he whispered in her ear.
"Oh.... " she caught herself softening at the warmth of the memory. "Hey, wait. No distracting me! If you and Bridget met yesterday morning how come you *both* forgot to mention it to me and I've been waffling on to both of you about each other..... " she was interrupted by the arrival of Bridget who caught them discussing something, locked in one another's arms outside the Box.
Dunham breathed an inward sigh of relief, happy to see Bridget rescuing him from trouble that he had not realized he was in, nor felt fair that he was in in the first place. He gave her a little wave of greeting.
"Hey you two, am I interrupting something?"
Bridget's words were said lightly, but with a hint of "gotcha!" in her voice - as if she were a matronly pixie of a chaperon, a twinkle in her eye as she caught two young people in an unsanctioned embrace.
Chelsea blushed. She had forgotten for a moment that they were in uniform, on lunch break but still in public, representing the Fleet.
"Hey Bridget," she hugged her friend in welcome. "I understand you two have met, so let's just go on in." she changed the subject quickly to cover her blushes as she led them into the Box.
Rick just grinned and chuckled slightly as he shook Bridget's hand in a friendly how you do manner, then followed Chlesea and Bridget into the Box of Delights, mumbling under his breath about the stand-in XO having to keep up appearances.
Being right in front of him, Bridget heard his voice but didn't catch the words. It brought a familiar smile to her face, though. She recalled reading an article that stated all married men had a tendency to mumble around their wives. It appeared Rick was getting an early start, and this entertained Bridget immensely.
As they passed through the doorway and into the main room, she automatically looked toward Ed's dabo table. He was there, looking down and doing something but she couldn't see what. He'd obviously been watching the door, because it wasn't a few seconds before he looked up from his work and saw them. Recognition dawned on his face with a broad smile, and Bridget waved in response.
"I think he'll be joining us in a few minutes," Bridget said to the others.
"Let's sit down then. Should we order for him or wait until he comes over?" Chelsea asked as the waiter showed them to a table and offered them menus.
"Let's order for him," Bridget replied. "He's nothing if not predictable, so I can be pretty safe to pick from among his favorites."
Rick sat down at the table with them, looking at the menu and going directly to the pizza section to see if they had added anything new to their collection. His stomach growled as it prepared itself for food. "So Doctor Stapleton, what's your new boss like?" He smiled with a twinkle in his eye.
"A royal pain in the ass," she quipped without missing a beat. Then after a second's pause of stunned reaction from her table mates, Bridget burst into laughter, giving Chelsea a moist-eyed wink.
"I know, but i am what i am....." she shrugged, taking it all in her stride. She loved Bridget's sense of humour, it always made her laugh and feel at ease. "What did you think of the CAG when you met him half naked in the gym?" she turned the tables back onto Rick, smirking at Bridget, including her in the plot for retaliation.
Rick thought back to their initial meeting, he hadn't really endeared himself in those very early hours of the morning, he just been clumsy in his sleepy induced state. Though as he recalled he had had clothes on.
"It was funny, actually," Bridget said, smirking at Rick who seemed a bit lost in thought. "On a starbase this big, there's a lot of irony in meeting each other at one of the gyms. And he wasn't half naked," Bridget chuckled, letting Rick off the hook.
Rick shot Chelsea and innocent smile and flicker of his long eyelashes over his blue/grey eyes, just say, see I told you so. "Especially at that time in the morning."
"How disappointing!" Chelsea smirked back, doing her best not to look directly into those eyes for fear of losing the use of her legs as they would turn to jelly.
"I think I'll have the chilli please." The return of the waiter changed the subject with perfect timing. "Would anyone like a drink? I'm having an Andorian Cherry and Terran Cranberry juice. Any advance on fruit juice?" Chelsea smiled, handing back her menu now she had ordered. The waiter took it, tucked it under his arm, noted the Doctor's choices and looked expectantly at the other two customers.
Edward approached just then, making his apologies for being a few minutes late. It was a little chaotic at the table, as Bridget was trying to place her order with the waiter while Ed introduced himself to Rick and Chelsea. But they managed to sort things out, and the waiter took note of Bridget's iced tea and turkey sandwich.
"Beer and lasagne," Edward said, when the waiter had looked at him. He apparently knew the menu well, because he hadn't even looked at it.
"Well good thing I didn't order for you," Bridget commented. "I was gonna get you sushi and spicy beef."
The waiter paused, finger poised over his order padd, looking from Edward to Bridget and back again. "No, I'm not changing," he said with a wave of his hand. Satisfied, the waiter picked up the unopened menu and turned his attention to Rick.
Rick looked up from the menu "Pizza, double mozzarella and double pepperoni please and a coke for drink thank you kindly," asked the pilot politely. "So Edward, what do you do for Yolanthe Ibalin then?"
Chelsea coughed and shot a glance at Rick, rolling her eyes at Edward. "Sorry...... I'm afraid I brought him with *me*. I take the blame." she smiled with a twinkle in her eyes.
Rick gave her a slightly hurt and reproachful look, “You love me because I’m honest,” he said with a faint smile on his lips and once again giving her what was becoming his trade mark look with those eyes of his.
Edward chuckled, taking the question in stride and enjoying the engaged couples' banter.
"I'm a croupier. I do my best to fleece the customer and make them like it, because it gives them hope for a little nookie on the side." His own eyes twinkled at his joke, and he leaned back in his chair, puffing his chest out as far as it would go.
A slap to his arm from his wife broke the self-satisfied expression he wore and made him sit up straight. "Ow. I'm wounded now. How will I be able to entice those ancient grannies into my clutches with a bruise like that?" He pushed the ruffled sleeve of his pirate shirt up to expose his hairy forearm.
Falling for his trap before she could catch herself, Bridget looked at his arm, no sign of bruising anywhere.
"Edward!" She scoffed with a grin. "See, this is what you get when you've been married as long as we have," she included Chelsea and Rick in the playfulness.
Rick smiled and held Chelsea's hand, intertwining his fingers with hers, he gave the Stapleton's a friendly grin, "I'm looking forward to it."
"So when's the big day?" Edward hadn't been paying attention when Bridget told him, and he figured it would be better to ask than make assumptions and look like a fool later.
"You know I'm not sure....." said Rick in mock thoughtfulness, he then turned to face Chelsea "when is it again dear?" asked Rick jokingly, knowing full well that the wedding was in fact tomorrow.
"I think we decided to wait another year or ten, didn't we? Oh, no, wait... i think i just made that decision by myself about 30 seconds ago!!" she shot him a dangerous glare but couldn't maintain the pretense and ended up grinning at him as soon as he retaliated with another dose of that infamous 'hurt' look again.
Chelsea rolled her eyes again and laughed. "It's tomorrow, Edward, as well my husband-to-be knows. He's dreading it but he's being very brave on the surface. He knows if he runs away, I'd hunt him down so he's coming quietly, accepting his fate." she teased.
"Husband...." said Rick thoughtfully, then his face cracked into a big smile. "I like the sound of that......wife." He gave Chelsea a hug, but was interrupted by the food arriving, and soon Rick was distracted by his favourite food. Pizza. He would eat it all the time if he could.
tbc
A JP Between:
and
Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
CMO & 2CO - DS5
and
CAG Squadron Leader
Lieutenant Commander Richard Dunham
and
Ensign Bridget Stapleton
Doctor (General Practice) - DS5