[Mess Hall]
She cupped her hands around the drink Dylan had brought her and breathed in the rising steam with closed eyes. "Did you... bring me Earl Grey?" She brought the cup to her mouth and blew on it for a second, then carefully took a sip. "You did! This will be fine. Technically, almost anything would have been fine, but especially tea. Always." She took another sip, savoring its flavor. "Mmmm, good choice."
Once their laughter subsided and they caught their breaths (which took a while), they fell into the meal. Ash couldn't have been happier. She settled into the easy cadence of conversation and laughter and quickly lost track of the time, forgetting about the mountain of jobs waiting for her and simply enjoying Dylan's company.
[Some Time Later]
When the pizza was long gone and their drinks were dry, she caught a glimpse of the time and covered her mouth as her eyes widened. "Ohmygoodness, has it really been two hours??
It couldn't have been that long, could it?... Apparently it could. She let out a small breath of laughter as she shook her head. "So much for using the industrial replicators in 15 minutes... Would you still be up for a trip over there today?. I don't want to steal all of your free time if you don't want to. You don't seem to get breaks that often..." She trailed off, keenly hoping that this wouldn't be where the evening ended.