Ch 4

While the sun was setting over Saggitaron Zak and Kara decided the list of places that they just had to take Lauren to send her off right. Lee listened in but didn't recognize any of the names of the places they were talking about. He didn't really care either as long as he got to spend more time with Lauren. His eyes wandered over to where she was standing and he decided that he would try to let her know how he felt about her without being a jerk. If she didn't want a relationship that was fine but he had to at least try.

The first place they stopped at was a nice cozy restaurant where they all filled up on a delicious pasta dish that Lee had heard of but never tasted before. Lauren had picked a tangy red wine to go with the meal and everyone agreed that it was excellent. When they'd eaten so much Kara proclaimed she was about to burst, they agreed that it was time to move on with the night's festivities. Two blocks away they came to a bar that had a sports theme to it and large monitors on the walls showing the latest Pyramid games. A few shots later, Lee was feeling the alcohol and decided that he wanted to change seats with Zak so he could sit next to Lauren. Zak smiled as his brother leaned over and whispered his plan to him and happily switched seats. He made a big show of cozying up to Kara so Lee didn't look like he was desperate. If there was one thing in life that Lee Adama was terrible at it was being suave in front of a woman he was interested in. Zak had come to his rescue several times when they were younger and he saw the need to save his brother once more.

Kara soon tired of the sports bar and decided it was time to go dancing. They arrived at a warehouse that had been converted to a dance club in a while and Kara brazenly lead Zak in the door and straight to the dance floor. Lauren looked like she had just become terribly uncomfortable and she looked to Lee for any help he could give her. He smiled at her and leaned over to be heard over the loud music, "Do you want to get a drink?"

Lauren shook her head no and she looked wistfully at the dance floor. The floor was packed with people gyrating and flailing to the heavy beat of the music. Lee noticed that some of the couples on the floor were practically frakking right there in front of everyone and he looked around for something to distract him from the heat that was steadily rising up his neck. Lauren grabbed his hand and pulled him to the dance floor, already hopping in time to the music. When they worked their way into the middle of the crowd Lauren started to dance with some grace while Lee stood there looking mystified. She realized the problem was that he couldn't dance and she moved closer to him, shoving her arms under his and grabbing his hips. She rocked him back and forth and he couldn't help but laugh. She nodded her head approvingly and he rolled his eyes at her. Soon he was back on his own and he was actually moving along with the beat pretty handily. Lauren twirled off to dance with another man nearby who'd been looking at her and Lee suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. He quickly berated himself for being silly and laughed as Lauren turned back to him and looked at him in a very sexual manner.

Once more Lee felt the heat rush to his face and he knew he was blushing like a fool. He realized how silly he was being and he pushed his way through the crowd towards the bar leaving Lauren dancing with the other man. He asked the bartender for a glass of water and he gulped it down trying to cool his embarrassment as well as his skin. He leaned back against the bar and watched the crowd as they danced and tangled their bodies together. When the music changed a slower song came on and many of the people on the dance floor moved off to the side to find seats. Lee looked to his right and found Kara and Zak slowly swaying in time to the music, staring into each other's eyes and generally being oblivious to everything around them.

"There you are! I was looking all over for you!" Lauren slid up next to him at the bar and plucked the glass of water from him. She drank most of the rest of the glass and leaned over to Lee so she could be heard without yelling. "I was kinda hoping that you'd like to dance some more."

Lee looked out at the floor where the other couple was once more and made up his mind, "sure, let's go." He took Lauren's hand and lead her to the floor, pulling her close to him and resting his hands on her hips. The lost themselves in the beat of the music and their swaying moved them closer to each other until they were holding each other closer than they had expected. When the music changed back to a heavier beat again, they took no notice and kept swaying in their own little space of the floor. Soon they were being bumped and jostled by the frenetic dancers around them and they broke apart and headed back to the bar.

Zak and Kara were leaning on the bar, both looking smug as Lee and Lauren emerged from the crowd hand in hand. Kara actually elbowed Zak in the ribs to direct his attention to his brother.

"We wondered what happened to you. Guess you took to the idea of dancing after all," Zak shouted. "how about hitting another bar now? I've danced off all the shots so I'm ready for more. Gotta get you drunk too Lieutenant Baker."

Lauren smiled and nodded enthusiastically and they headed back out. Zak suggested a bar on the other side of the base so they hailed a cab and were on their way, all of them squeezed into a seat that was built for two or three people at most. Kara and Zak didn't seem to mind as it gave them the opportunity to get that much closer to one another but Lee was uncomfortable. He pushed himself as far over to the door as he could without falling out and he was surprised when Lauren scooted over closer to him instead of taking the extra room.

When they pulled up to the block that the bar was on, Kara directed the driver to let them out at the end of the block. As she was paying the driver Zak wandered over to a crowd of people that looked to be his own age. They started talking animatedly and Lee moved off to the edge of the sidewalk so he wouldn't block traffic. Kara joined the rowdy bunch of men and they all started laughing and pointing fingers at each other. Lauren hung back a bit from the group of men but waved and said hello to several of them, then she wandered slowly over to where Lee was leaning against a building.

"Didn't want to leave you on the outs. That's a bunch of the pilots in class right now. I'm sure you know how rowdy they can get," she chuckled as Lee nodded that yes he did know. "We shouldn't be fraternizing with them since we're instructors but that'll never stop Kara. She loves to be where the fun is." Lauren looked awkwardly over at the group and decided that they wouldn't be done laughing and talking anytime soon so she tilted her head in the direction of the bar and once more Lee nodded.

They made their way past the crowd and Zak noted that they were heading to the bar. As they walked Lauren cleared her throat a few times and then blurted out, "So tell me about the mystery of Lee Adama. I want to know all the gory details."

"I don't know if the details could be termed as 'gory' but I'll try to embellish it if you want," he grinned at her evilly. Her look of horror was clearly manufactured just for him and he chuckled. "Well you know that dad is a pilot, actually now he's commanding the Galactica but in his heart he's still in a Viper. Well, dad always wanted me and Zak to follow in his footsteps and you know how that turned out."

They reached the door of the bar and Lee politely held it for her. She grinned at him and dipped herself down in a little curtsey. Their laughter carried them into the crowd of people and they made their way across the room to a dark booth in the corner. A haggard looking waitress came over and huffed at them as if she was angry at them for sitting in her section and making more work for her. Lauren politely ordered a pitcher of beer and a round of Ambrosia shots. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence between them Zak & Kara tumbled into the seat across from them and Zak began frantically looking around for the waitress.

"Relax bro, she's coming back in a minute." Lee looked over at Kara who was rolling her eyes at Zak and his impatience. He caught Lauren smiling out of the corner of his eye and he noticed that she was trying very hard not to laugh at Zak. Within a minute or two Zak was ready to bounce out of the booth and find the waitress himself. She finally returned, and Zak looked grateful and then ordered another round of shots. The waitress scowled at him and left.

"To your health and to Lauren, friends to the end" Kara toasted, raising her glass and managing to slop a little of the Ambrosia out of the glass onto her wrist. Zak leaned over and licked the green liquid off her skin making both of them smile. Lauren watched the display and began to squirm in her seat. For some reason the way Kara and Zak acted made Lauren feel uncomfortable. Lee took note of the reaction and he leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"We can go somewhere else if they're making you uncomfortable."

"No, I'm okay for now but I may just take you up on that offer in a while. It depends on how mushy they get," she smiled up at him and clinked her glass on his. They both raised their glasses and they drank together, Lee's eyes on Lauren and Lauren staring right back at him. She stifled a giggle after she drank her Ambrosia and Lee tilted his head in a question. "Well, you never finished giving me the gory details now did you?"

"I'm not sure what else you want to know about me."

"Where are you from, what did you want to be when you grew up…other than a pilot, what's your favorite color? I don't know, tell me anything."

"Well, I…uh…I'm from Caprica, lived there most of my life except the occasional reassignment. Dad and mom divorced when we were kids so we were raised mainly by mom. Oh…what did I want to be when I grew up? You're gonna laugh."

"No! I promise," she raised her hand as if she were swearing an oath.

"Well I wanted to be a chef. I love to cook and I always wanted to open a little bar that served great food and was a perfect place to just relax and hang out."

"Wow."

"Wow?"

"Lee Adama here you sit beside me now telling me that instead of blasting the evils of the universe out of the sky, you'd prefer to cook it good food and make it fat and happy?"

He lowered his eyes like he was embarrassed and the red began to creep up his neck again. She saw what her remark had done to him and she reached over and hugged him, fluffing up his short brown hair with her fingers. They both broke into peals of laughter over this and Zak and Kara began to look at them like they were insane.