Sorry for long wait, due to finals and recent developments I may not be online for a while. The date will take place next chapter so please be patient, I know the anticipation is getting to me as well.

Arrangements

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"…please?"

"I said no!" Derek ducks as a boot sails over him, barely missing his head, "end of discussion Private so don't even try it."

"Come on," Derek looks back up at the man he is speaking to, "I need your help."

In response, Corporal Donovan de Cruz hops onto his cot, takes out his data pad and started flipping through it in an attempt to ignore Derek. For the past five minutes Derek has been in Donovan's designated barracks, pleading with him to help Derek on his…date. The word still causes the young Private to shiver a little.

"I seriously need your help," Derek continues, "you used to be the chef at Le…le…le loo?"

"Loo?" de Cruz looks at him with obvious offense, "its Le Lieu boy! That was probably the best place to eat on Jericho VII!"

"Exactly," Derek rushes on, hoping to move the conversation past his bad translation, "that was like a five star restaurant right? And you were one of the cooks-"

"The cook," De Cruz interrupts with passion in his eye, "it was a dream, a hard worked one mind you." He sighs as he looks past Derek, slipping into memory, "I had it great. Money, fame, my name in every cook magazine across the galaxy, I was a celebrity."

His eyes suddenly hardens as he looks back at Derek, "and thanks to the Split-Lips I lost it in less than an hour. Years of work gone! Now here I am," he gestures at himself, "a grunt in the dirt, nobody knows who I am, barely making a living and being forced to help the very monsters who destroyed my life!"

He folds his arms, "so give me a good reason why I should make your 'friend,' one of my best home cooked meals?"

Derek is quiet before saying, "because you're a good person at heart and you want to make people happy?"

Donovan stares at Derek before saying, "No." With that he returns to lying on his cot and looking through his data pad.

Derek bites down on his tongue to keep himself from speaking foully against the man. He needs his cooperation if he wanted to give Alasha a better than average meal, the only question now though is how?

There is one last playing card to use he supposes, his ace in the hole. Or in this case Knott.

"When was the last time you had a drink?" Derek asks, "A nice proper drink?"

De Cruz stops in his reading and ever so cautiously glances in Derek's direction. It has been months since his unit's last shore leave, his last time in having anything stronger then beer. Doing constant maneuvers in this relentless heat and being forced to work with the beasts that had a hand in ruining his life is enough to make him want to drown his sorrows. This could be his chance.

"What kind?" he asks, taking the bait.

"Homemade," Derek answers, "I can guarantee you a bottle."

De Cruz falls silent as he ponders this. One bottle isn't much for his troubles, but it'll still be better than nothing.

Seeing his thoughtful expression, Derek tries one last time with persuasion. He drops to his knees and says one last time, "please. I swear I'll never ask anything again and…I'll give you another bottle every time a new batch is made."

De Cruz stares at him to see if he is lying.

"Until my time here is up?" he asks carefully.

"Of course," Derek answers.

Another tense minute passes before De Cruz mutters something under his breath before saying, "all right I'll do it."

"Really?" asks a disbelieving Derek, "You will?"

"Yeah, I can't stand to see a dumb animal suffer."

"Hey!" shouts the Marine, but he is generally relieved as he starts to stand up, "I'll be sure to get you your drink as soon as possible."

"One more thing," De Cruz says as he holds up a finger.

"Uh…what?" Derek asks, slightly afraid of what will be asked.

"How am I supposed to cook?"

Derek blinks, "What?"

De Cruz rolls his eyes, "How am I supposed to cook?" he gestures around his barracks, "I've got no kitchen if you haven't notice."

Derek suddenly felt incredibly stupid at that moment. All of this time was spent trying to get a chef to help him and he doesn't even have a kitchen. A grunt isn't allowed to cook in the Mess tent or Galley as it is mostly called. Right when he thought he has one problem solved he is forced to face another.

"I'll figure it out later," he promises De Cruz, "but you're still do it right?"

"Just as long as you remember to pay me," De Cruz says with a threatening note in his voice.

"With booze," Derek says.

"With booze," De Cruz nods in confirmation.

"Got it," Derek says as he turns around and exits the barracks. The suns are starting to go down but the heat hasn't change that much. Despite this though, Jade is sitting on the ground, absent mindedly drawing cartoon images in the dirt. However once she heard his footsteps she instantly jumps up and turns to face him.

"So how did it go?" Jade asks, bouncing on the balls of her heels.

Derek regards her with unease before answering, "Well…it took some doing but I convinced him."

"Really?" she asks with great fascination, "wow, and here I thought he had a bigger grudge than Mi."

"Oh he does," Derek shrugs as he walks pass Jade, prompting her to follow after him, "all it took was the promise of Knott's liquor."

"Why is it that I'm suddenly the most popular guy around here?" the two Marines turn around to see Knott walking up to them, "that is beside lover boy," he jerks his head in Derek's direction.

Derek tries to keep himself from blushing as he looks away as he stutters, "U-Uh, so Knott," he finally looks the man in the eyes, "I need one bottle and a way to get a grunt into the mess test."

"Jeez are you kidding me?" Knott demands as he runs a hand over his face, "if I knew my product would be in such a high demand I would have made more."

"You're not out already are you?" Jade asks with a disappointed look in her eyes.

"Just about," Knott answers with a shrug, "by the way," he points a finger at Derek, "You've got your unlimited shower time tomorrow."

Derek feels his eyes bulging at this, "What? How? Who?"

"The ambassador," Knott chuckles to himself, "said she missed the taste of white wine so I offered her some of my stuff."

Jade raises her hand, "Uh, I thought your moonshine is stronger than wine."

"Well let's wait and see what she thinks," Knott answers with raised eyebrows.

Derek allows himself to laugh a little at that. The ambassador has been a stuck-up lady ever since she came onto base, he secretly wonders if the alcohol will get her to loosen up. Or at the very least keep her quiet from her usual haughty bouts.

"So…De Cruz," Knott says slowly to himself as he thought about it, "may need the Sergeant's help in getting him into the mess, most likely have to sneak him in."

Derek only sighs in exasperation before saying, "I don't want to get any more people into trouble because of me, are you really sure this is all necessary?"

"You want to wait until later to ask your girlfriend about it?" Knott asks in turn, which only silences the younger Marine, "didn't think so."

"Ok does that mean we're set?" Jade asks in a sudden breathless tone, earning a strange look from Derek.

"What are you excited about?" he demands, "If this doesn't go well for me I'll probably be killed by midnight tomorrow."

"Exactly," she answer enthusiastically, "I want to see how this will turn out, haven't seen such pain staking drama since…I don't know when," she finishes with giggles.

Derek is quiet before looking at Knott, "just how much alcohol did you give her last night?"

Knott only smiles and shrugs, "probably more than an elephant could handle, why do you ask?"

Derek could only shake his head, "sometimes I wonder if you guys just enjoy to see me suffer."

Knott laughs before slapping Derek's back, "If this doesn't go bad Heath, this may very well be the most fun any of us has ever had."

Derek frowns at them and is about to make a comeback when two fully armored Marines steps in their way. The group comes to a halt and freezes with looks of shock on their faces when they see the large letters MP strapped around the pair's arms. Unless one has broken the law then there is no reason to feel fear around the guards, to say that the three Marines were caught off guard would be an understatement.

"Derek Heath?" one of the guards asks.

"Yes?" came Derek's squeaky voice.

"The Major would want a word with you," the man states, "now."

Derek thought he was fearful when Alasha approached him and said she accepted his "invitation of courtship." Now however he is wondering if his current situation can compete with that past terror.

"Private First Class Derek P. Heath, is it?" the man sitting in front of the young Marine asks.

The small group in front of him were dressed like regular soldiers in their camouflaged combat uniforms, but unlike most people on the base, the ones in front of him had insignias of bars and emblems stich to their collars. Tell-tale signs that they were officers.

They are inside the base's HQ which is nothing more than an open sun house where maps, terminals, and weapons were scattered out on a multitude of tables. Derek knew there was trouble when he was brought in and the place was empty save for the three officers. Everyone has clearly been told to vacate the room and he is pretty sure he knows why that is.

The one speaking is Major Henry Thatch, current commanding officer of the base. Seated next to him are his fellow officers, Captain Mary Kidd and First Lieutenant Buford Zyrah.

Mary Kidd is actually with the Navy, but due with the confusion falling the end of the war her Frigate along with her crew were ordered to Sanghelios to help support the peace between the two people. She looks quite young to be a Captain by some standards, maybe in her twenties, but no one has dared to ask. The fixed scowl on her face is seen as a permanent feature though her short hair and pretty face made it impossible for the Marines on base to despise her. She is seen as ok just as long as nobody messes with her, should an issue ever arise between the Marines and the Sailors she is usually making amends either through words or discipline.

Braford Zyrah is an unknown figure. Most says he is an office worker and isn't usually seen walking around. He can be described to be just about average, average height, average build and average face. Little is known about the man, the only reason he is here if any is because somebody has to do the paper-pushing and he obviously fit the job description.

Henry Thatch is also Navy who was transferred into the Marines simply because the two fractions interacted a lot and he was also the only one available. He named Camp Rojas after a woman who died during the war and whose actions gained the Major's ultimate respect. Thatch was a good man, often spotted at the Galley, talking with the soldiers around the camp, knowing almost all officers by name and periodically inspecting the base's defenses. Derek has never seen the man in action, but he suspects he must be seen as a considerable opponent.

Being in the presence of Kidd and Thatch is more than enough to get Heath nervous.

"Private," The Major repeats, "answer the question."

Shocked out of his momentary lapse of thinking, Derek started to nod his head rapidly.

"Yes sir," he confirms, "that is correct sir."

The three officers look at each other as if asking another a private question before they looked back at Derek.

"Approximately eighteen hours ago," The Major begins, "you and an undisclosed number of fellow Marines engaged in prohibited actives that resulted with a certain…incident."

Derek feels his heart sinking while his blood pressure spiked considerably. He gulps his nervousness, he should have seen this coming after all, and nothing is a secret when it was posted on the military network.

"Though…humorous," Thatch states in a dry tone, causing Lieutenant Zyrah to smirk, "we can't help but find this concerning, especially since it is the individual soldiers that represents the military."

Derek remains silent, not daring to speak, not that he had anything to say at the moment.

"We were assured that the incident wouldn't happen again, that you're Platoon First Sergeant had taken care of the matter."

All that Derek remembers from that "talk" was Corelli asking if he has learned his lesson before walking off.

"However, surveillances reveals the Keep Lord's daughter, Alasha Quas I believe, was on base," he pauses and looks directly at Derek, "speaking with you."

Derek is silent, quietly wondering when it will all be over as he feels himself growing faint again. Being caught in an embarrassing situation was one thing, having to explain it is another.

"You know what we are going to ask," Kidd suddenly says as she leans forward in her seat and stares hard at him as if trying to peer into his very soul, "a high ranking woman like her wouldn't associate with a lowly grunt like you, so tell us…what did the two of you talk about?"

Here it is, the moment of truth, and nowhere to run from the looks of it. Derek knew he had to do this at some point but he didn't think it would be so soon and so unsuspecting. He only hopes that no one else will hear about this.

"Sir," he says slowly as he attempts to look the three officers in the face without openly shivering, "what happened the night before I…things just…got out of hand."

"So we understand and will address later," interrupts Thatch, "but tell us what it is that happened between you and Miss Quas, when she was here."

Derek gulps nervous anticipation as he tries to collect his thoughts before proceeding.

"Sir, uh…apparently she…err…well…" he started to scratch the back of his neck and looks away from the assembled group in front of him.

"She what?" the Lieutenant demands, "spit it out man."

Derek steels himself the best he could before looking up and saying, "according to her cultural traditions, my um…courtship proposal is seen as…valid."

After choking out the last word he looks away in sudden fear of what will happen next. Silence is all that is heard, no doubt the head brass here are stunned by what he said.

A minute passes by before another till one of them, Lieutenant Zyrah, clears his throat before saying, "She…accepted then."

It was more of a statement if nothing else, but Derek feels the need to explain so he forces himself to look up. Kidd's eyebrows are raised, Thatch's mouth is close to hanging open as he regards the Marine in front of him while Zyrah stares on in evident confusion.

"Sir," Derek says, "believe me, she doesn't want to go on a date with me, but since I asked and the fact being that I'm both a warrior and a male then, by Sanghelio's law, she can't refuse, not without losing respect for her keep."

Slowly the officers regain their composures, but unlike his squad mates who found the news immensely amusing, they look on in shock, horror, and a bit of anger.

"So," Kidd finally breathes out, "what exactly are you two planning?"

Derek is silent before saying, "Well, since I, uh, asked her out to the dance, then that's what we're going to be doing."

"A dance?" Zyrah asks, "Filled to the brim with Marines, people with weapons training and with more than a few people who have a rather large grudge against the Sangheilis."

Derek is looks anywhere but at the man as he answers, "Yes sir, that's…that's the plan."

Thatch rubs his temples, "explain again why you can't refuse?"

"Sir," Derek replies, "we just can't, since a warrior's words is taken into deep account then if I rebuke my…proposal, then I'll be saying there is something wrong with the Keep's women selection and this could cripple the Keep Lord's power, influence and respect."

"And a split-lip is nothing without his honor," Zyrah sighs as he leans against the chair, "But is this date really that much of a deal that it will come up in political affairs?"

"Alasha believes it does sir," Derek answers, "so I just figure we do it and…well just get it over with then we can go our separate ways."

"And you didn't tell us all of this before because?" Kidd asks as one of her fingers starts to tap on the table.

Derek wets his lips a bit before saying, "Ma'am, we-I," he catches his slip and hope they wouldn't notice, he's already asking a lot for his squad mates to help him with this mess (even though it was unintentional help at first) he didn't want to get them thrown into more trouble then how much they're already in.

"I didn't really think ma'am," he continues, "I just thought we could eat together, maybe talk, and then I'd take her home before the night is out."

"If only it was that simple," she says with a shake of her head.

"Well why don't we just cancel?" Zyrah says as he looks at his fellow officers, "Not only is this embarrassing and could probably be classified as cruel and unusual punishment, it's also disturbing and downright disgusting just to think about it."

Derek believes he has an idea about what Zyrah is talking about but really wishes he could make such thoughts go away. But still, aside from any…close interactions with Alasha, she seems like an alright person. True she looked ready to tear his head off earlier, but when they spoke of their families and she seemed to become a bit more comfortable, she didn't seem like an all bad person.

"I suppose that is a valid point," Thatch says as he strokes his chin, considering the statement.

From out of nowhere though, Derek feels an urge to speak which he does without much knowledge.

"Sir, please," he says, "with all due respect, it just doesn't feel right if I just…stood her up like that."

Thatch squints at Derek for a moment as if he is having trouble seeing him.

"Are you blind boy?" Kidd asks as she gestures at him with a hand, "you are aware that this girl is an alien right?"

"Yes ma'am I do," he says, "but still I don't want to be jerk and just leave her hanging-"

"Private," Zyrah interrupts, "you're missing the point, this isn't your prom date, this is a mistake that we are going to fix because we do not want you," he points a finger directly at Derek, "To screw up our relationship with the Sangheilis, do you have any idea what we are facing here?"

"Uh," is all that comes out of Derek's mouth before the Lieutenant continues.

"We have threats everywhere on this planet, it took nearly a year to negotiate with the Keep just for us to be here, and I can promise you this, we won't let all of that fall apart because you want some action with a dino."

Derek's mouth drops open as he stares aghast at his CO. That's not what he wants at all! He just doesn't want to stand a woman up for no good reason, especially when said woman will have no trouble with snapping his spine like a toothpick.

"Sir," he says a bit flustered, "that-that's not what I'm concern about," he states with a heavy blush, "I'm just afraid she'll murder me since she isn't too please about this situation either."

"Can't really blame her," Kidd says, "this isn't exactly a great start for the perfect date"

Derek is unsure if she meant with how he asked Alasha out or how his physical appearance greatly contrasts against his Sangheili counterpart, but he delves past that as he looks at the Major.

"Sir," he pleads, "believe me, we thought of everything, but we can't see a way out of this, her father isn't here to stop it and without his word to halt the proceedings than there is still the risk I could ruin the Keep's reputation."

"Well we can stop it," Zyrah says with conviction, "you just won't go, what's so hard about that?"

"She'll still demand it sir," he says, "She won't risk the chance of the Keep being dishonored so she will insist on going through with it."

"Son," Zyrah continues, "when we say no we mean no."

"True," Thatch says slowly, gaining everyone's attention, "but we can't forget where we are, here on Sanghelios we don't really have much jurisdiction. We're here because the Keep Lord allowed it, so if his daughter says yes to this then…"

"Sir?" Zyrah asks, "You can't be serious, this is just…just…disturbing."

"And we can't do anything about it," the Major says, "to speak against the daughter is to speak against her father, we don't have the authority in this matter."

"So we're going to just let this happen?" ask an equally baffled Kidd, "Sir what if…this cannot end well for the girl or the Private," she gestures at Derek.

"True," Thatch says before he looks up at Derek, "which means Private Heath that whatever happens next will be up to you. Make a mistake and you ruin any future interactions with the Keep, such delays in the negotiations could spark hostilities, enough to warrant us with placing you under custody, is that clear."

Just when he had to worry about starting a war he now have to worry about being burned by his own people. His overthinking brain is already overloading with the different possibilities and outcomes, so in response he just nods his head to the Major.

"Good," the Major says, "I can tell by that sad look on your face that this won't be a problem again, correct?"

Again Derek nods.

Thatch then sighs, "right," he says as he looks at the other two officers, "Well we better work out a security detail."

"During the ball?" Kidd asks, "If we pull Marines back onto duty to watch a Sangheili have the fun that was intended for them it might not end well."

Derek clears his throat before saying, "excuse me sir?"

Thatch looks back at him so he continues.

"My friends already agreed to help," he says, "they'll be enjoying the dance as well, but they will remain next to us and make sure nothing bad happens."

Thatch regards Derek carefully, "are they reliable? This is the Keep Lord's daughter, anything happens to her then we're all in trouble."

Derek bobs his head, "Yes sir, they have my back, they uh…" he looks away briefly, "well sir they just find this whole situation amusing."

Thatch smirks as he shakes his head, "of course they do."

"Sir?" Zyrah asks in a slightly angered tone, "are we really going to allow this to happen?"

The Major shoots the Lieutenant a sharp look, "unless you have a better idea which will ensure that we won't go to war, then please Zyrah, share."

Zyrah opens his mouth, pauses for a moment before closing it again and looking away.

"I thought so," Thatch says before turning back to Derek, "Just this once Marine, I am giving you an order to make sure you have fun on this date and to ensure she in turn has fun," he suddenly brings a finger up and points it right at him, "but not too much fun mind you."

Derek flushes at what the Major is implying before he bobs his head, "Yes sir, and believe me sir this won't happen again."

The Major grunts before making a shooing motion, "get some sleep Private, looks like you need it."

Derek nods and he is about to leave when a thought occurs to him and he looks at the Major.

"Permission to speak sir?" he asks.

The Major quirks an eyebrow, "yes?"

"It's a favor sir," Derek says as he stands up straight while trying to maintain eye contact, "but if it is possible, I would like to have Corporal De Cruz to be allowed into the mess tent."

Thatch wasn't expecting this and was momentarily thrown off guard, Kidd however recovered first.

"And why should we allow that Private?" she asks, "Marines aren't allowed in the Galley."

"I am well aware of that ma'am" Derek says, "But I wanted to make Alasha a special meal, and De Cruz was once a professional chef, he agreed to help me but only if I can get him access to a kitchen."

The three officers are once again surprised as they look among themselves. It is an odd suggestion, but at the moment it actually sounds like a good plan.

Thatch finally allows a chuckle to escape as he looks at Derek, "Fine, it'll be done."

Derek nods before he turns on his heel and is walking out when Thatch calls out, "and Private?"

"Yes sir?" Derek asks, wondering what will be said.

"You look like a good man, continue to be that way while on your date," he finishes with a smirk.

Derek feels the heat returning to his face as he confirms with a, "yes sir."

"And whatever happens don't drink anything," Kidd rubs in, "no telling what you will do under the influence while you're dating a Sangheili."

Derek actually shudders as he turns shades of red and white. He is so dumbfounded he just manages a nod before walking out of the building before anything more could be said.

Being teased by his teammates was one thing, being teased by his superior officers was another.

Lastly, please check out author "Dante Frost" who wrote one of my newly favorite stories "The Hybrid of the Opera," it's a fantastic story of romance, mystery, crime, humor and terror with little to no mistake in its 15 chapters. A fabulous mix of dogs taking place as humans and a rather eerie version of a ghost story. If you're a fan of classic novels then this story won't disappoint, written extremely well and no confusion at all, this story left me in awe and I hope it will have the same on you. Story is located in my favorite stories listings on my profile.

Also if it isn't too much trouble, look up "Toa of War," a beginning Halo writer who has potial as well as for the story arch for RWBY as I understand it.