It was almost instinctual. He tapped several keys on his console and brought up the transfer history of the various bridge terminals. It took mere seconds after that to determine exactly what Elaine had sent to Steve. It looked like a list of romulan ship names. That made him even more curious. What were those two planning? What were they looking at? As Elaine turned back around, he quickly blanked the screen. She shot him a prideful grin, then turned back to her console.
Something was going on between those two. What could Steve trust HER with, but not him? He tried to be nonchalant as he turned towards her. "So," he began playfully, "how's the commander?"
Without turning her head, she replied, "He's YOUR friend. Don't you know?"
"I was just asking a question." He snipped, turning back to his console. Was something going on between them? Steve KNEW that he was interested in her. Or... was he? They had only talked as friends before. That's all he had ever said to her. They hadn't talked since that big blow up on the bridge awhile back. Maybe Steve saw the opportunity to move in and took it. It would be his own fault if Steve made a play for her.
"Wait..." he thought. "This is Steve we're talking about." He shook his head. "First of all, he's just not that smooth around women. Second... he's just not like that." What was he thinking? He shook his head again. Why was he so jealous? That was it! He was jealous. Apparently, there was more to his feelings for her than just friendship. He was going to have to do something about it. His pride and ego would have to take a back seat, and he'd have to take Steve's advice... he'd have to actually sit down and talk to her. He spent several seconds going over what to say, how to say it, and how stupid he would sound in his head. Tony was about to give up when he heard Steve's voice tell him to 'grow up.' He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had been rejected by girls before, but they weren't co-workers. Rejection could make things even more awkward than they already were.
He gently slapped his hands on the console and turned back around to Elaine, who, surprised by the noise, turned to face him. "Elaine... look. I don't want to pick fights with you and I don't want to go on feeling weird about having to talk to you."
Elaine resisted the urge to say something snide in return, though several statements came to mind. She had been wrestling with the concept of Tony as a crewmate ever since their fallout just over a week ago. The truth was... she wanted to talk to him, too. The insults were, however, a warm reminder of her younger days though, when life was just fun and games. She was going to have to take Commander Kirk's advice eventually, however. Having temporarily conquered her juevenile tendencies, she nodded her head. "I guess it doesn't make for a good working environment, does it?"
She could have responded several different ways. He half-expected her to smart off. Her response actually made him smile. "I don't suppose there's any way you and I could talk tonight... after we're off shift? We could just meet in the officers' mess." He shrugged. "Whaddaya say?"
Mentally, she had been willing to admit to some of the over-reacting that caused their split for some time. There was a difference, however, between admitting it to one's self, and admitting it to someone ELSE. If they were going to come clean about bad behavior, she certainly didn't want to do it in public. "I have a better idea. Why don't you come by my quarters tonight, say eightteen hundred. My mom taught me this great coq au vin recipe years ago. I put it into the replicator after our last visit to Earth." She waved her finger. "No funny business, though. We're just going to talk."
What the heck was she expecting? He was about to take her head off for suggesting he wanted to do anything but talk, but as the words were about to leave his mouth, he choked on his tongue. That hurt. Instead, he decided to just nod. "Okay... we only talk." He couldn't help but add, "For the record, that's all I wanted to do."
Sure it was, she thought. Well... maybe it was. It was his idea to meet in a public place, after all. As her mind scanned her memories of their talks, he never made any questionable advances towards her. Elaine had come to the initial conclusion that perhaps she had overreacted about that, too. "Okay," she relented with a smile, "I shouldn't have made that assumption." Her voice became more businesslike. "My place, eightteen hundred hours."
Tony smiled. She apologied... that was a start. Now, hopefully tonight, he could put his pride aside and apologize, too. "Gotcha. I'll be there." He said with a smile. A nagging thought occured to him. "What IS coke a been?"
She chuckled. "Coq au vin. It's chicken."
"Ah," he replied, relaxing. He liked chicken.