*** Observation Lounge * USS Chimera *** Lucy Fleming entered the observation lounge and stopped. Her eyes scanned the room and settled on the person she sought. Scott had been in the lounge for sometime and was relaxation personified. He lay back against the soft seat gazing out at the passing stars, totally oblivious to all who moved around him. In one hand he loosely held a near empty glass, though he had almost forgotten it was there. Lucy smiled to herself, satisfied to have found him, though it had taken no great effort to guess where he would be. She approached the triple seat he occupied, came to a halt a little to one side of him and asked: "Do you mind company?" Taken unawares by the sound of a voice speaking to him, Scott glanced up at her in part surprise but smiled as he recognised the slim young woman standing in front of him. "Ofcourse not...take a seat." he replied moving his position so making more room for her.Leaning forward, he reached out to set the glass on a low table, sat back in his seat and looked at the nurse. Lucy made herself comfortable. "Thought I'd find you here." she stated. Scott smiled and turned his attention back to the view. "I never get tired of it." he replied. They sat in silence for a half minute or so then Lucy said: "Well?" Scott turned his head. "Sorry?" he responded, thinking that he was expected to answer a question he hadnt heard. "Well?" Lucy repeated with an encouraging look. Scott hesitated, unsure what he was meant to say."Well?" he asked doubtfully."Well....what?" Lucys lips made a line of disapproval. She sat forward. "Fisher!...sometimes you can be really dim!" He raised his eyebrows at this opinion of his intellect. "What happened?!" Lucy asked impatiently. "To what?" Scott replied, completely mystified as to the course of the conversation. Lucy breathed an exasperated sigh. "To Mercedes." she answered in a tone that implied she had to explain everything.When Scott still didnt appear to grasp the simplest of questions she asked plainly: " Did you ask her out?" "Aaaahhh!" Scott said as realization dawned. He shook his head, smiled and said "No." Lucy blinked. "No?" He turned his attention to the window, his smile fading. When he looked back at her, he saw she waited to know more. "I can't ask her out." he said simply. Small lines of confusion appeared between Lucys brows."Why not?" she asked. "All you have to say is...'have dinner with me?' " "I know that!" Scott grinned down at the floor.He raised his eyes and met Lucys puzzled face.The grin died and he said: "I cant ask her out..it would be too awkward...it would be like...like asking Rangi out..if Commander Guzman wasnt on the scene." he added. Lucy considered this. "Well...I can see that point I suppose." she conceded. "....Rangi being a senior officer...head of department and all..but Mercedes isnt." Scott gave a slight shake of his head. "It's the same thing..sort of...we work together...we need a good background ambience...and we have that!" he said, his expression telling her she had to agree."If I asked her out...it would change that." "I dont see how..." Lucy replied. "You ask her out, she either says 'yes' or 'no' ....thats not going to spoil anything." A small smile appeared on Scotts face. He turned back to the window and didnt reply. Lucy watched his profile. He glanced at her sideways. "You're not going to matchmake are you" he said. It was a statement of fact more than a question. Lucy sat back in the seat, her hands folded on her stomach. Scott watched the stars. A minute ticked past. "She told me she likes you." Lucy said quietly, linking her fingers together and apparantly ignoring the impact her words had on the doctor. "She did?" Scott asked, surprised again as he turned his head quickly to look at her. "Mmmmmm..." Lucy studied her fingers. Scott shifted his postion, the better to see her."What did she say?" he asked. {Hooked!} Lucy thought but betrayed nothing. She met his gaze. "Weeellll..she didnt exactly 'say' she liked you...not in so many words." Lucy admitted adding quickly when Scott broke their gaze.. "But she wanted to know about you." Scott didnt look convinced. "She asked me how long I'd known you..and wanted to know if you were seeing anyone at the moment." It was plain that this fact carried some weight. Scott asked:"What did you say?" Lucy shrugged. "I told her..truthfully..that I didnt think so." Scott took a deep breath and expelled it slowly, sitting forward as he did so, resting his forearms on his legs,fingers of one hand, tapping those of the other. Lucy sat up too and shifted her positon so that she sat sideways on the edge of the seat looking at him. "She likes you...you like her...where's the problem?" she asked. Scott didnt look at her. "Ohhh...I dont know....it wouldnt feel right." Lucy played her last card of persuasion... "It's Christmas soon.." she told him.He turned his head. "Christmas?" She nodded and smiled." Yes...'Christmas'....noone should be alone then." His eyes crinkled as he gave a genuine laugh. She frowned but couldnt resist a smile when he grinned at her. "Lucy!...I dont ask a girl out because it's Christmas!" he smiled at her, though with kindness. "I know that.." she replied, feeling a little foolish."...but she likes you...why else would she question me?" Scott resumed his former position and pressed his finger tips together. "And it 'will' soon be Christmas...what better opportunity could there be?" He shook his head and once again turned to look at her. "You're being Aunt Lucy now?" he said, part joking, part not. She sat upright on the edge of her seat, hands in her lap and a smile on her lips. "You know you want to......" she told him. *** End Log *** Ensign Scott Fisher AMO USS Chimera & Lucy Fleming Nurse USS Chimera (npc)s Rangi