Observation Area, Very Late at Night

He was teasing her, but she decided to play along.

"The Cardassian place sounds... tolerable. I shall have to check it out."

Should she tell him it is Falten? What was the point of hiding it on at station this small. Everyone would know about it anyway.

"I'm getting dinner with... Falten," she said, somewhat vulnerable.

Tal'Ara looked back and forth at the two of them, awaiting a reaction. Her eyes lingered on T'Pren's ears.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, I had not considered that idea. I dont usually get out much," confessed Tal'Ara. "Perhaps another time though. We made dinner plans for this occasion."

"Falten from the Eel! She's charming. You found someone so hospitable so fast, clearly Falten knows something I don't," he said, teasingly. "The Pleasure Gardens will be reopened soon, you should take her there."

T'Pren worked hard to turn what would have been a smirk into an approving smile, even if it ended up still a little more on the side of knowingly amused. She may be clueless when it came to her own courtships, but she and Akhil had both noticed the flirtations between Tal'Ara and Falten.

"I haven't seen her anywhere but the bar yet," she mused, still plucking at her strings, "it's a small station, but even just walking around the Promenade and sitting at an actual restaurant goes a long way toward making it home."

Rai felt suddenly possessed with a desire to play matchmaker. "I've got a few programs left in my holosuites, if you want them. You're welcome to use them. We've got the beaches of Betazed, Risan Paradise, the Rainforests of earth. I don't know, it might seem soppy to you."

Tal'Ara laughed at the Pleasure Gardens remark.

"I think that may be a bit premature."

She then hardend her eyes at T'Pren, who was clearly eating this up.

"Well, it will take an awful lot more than a holodeck or some Cardassian restaurant to make this feel more like my home," she said, coldly. "What about you and the good Doctor? I hear the two of you are quite close?"

The rumors about the two of them sharing quarters were rampant throughout the station.

The half-Vulcan looked entirely baffled by the change in demeanor and glanced at the Betazoid for help. This was the second time the Romulan had made such a quick shift with her, although last time it had been in the opposite direction.

"She's my best friend," T'Pren agreed, her confusion obvious in her voice. "We went through the Academy together."

"Now now, Tal'Ara. Within the military we have a long history of finding comfort within the arms of one another. Whether Inabnet finds it with an old Starfleet friend, or you find it with a bartender, what's the difference, really? We're all finding a spot of serenity. Who knows what comes with tomorrow." He locked eyes with Tal, staring her down from her cornering of Inabnet.

"As long as play doesn't interfere with work," she chuckled.

She shifted focus to Rai.

"An what about you, Commander? Anyone special on the station?"

She winked.

Something switched on in T'Pren's Vulcan emotional vault and she shifted uncomfortably on the bench. Rai said something about finding comfort in each other's arms and now the Chief Science Officer was blushing down at her guitar. But it timed perfectly with his discussing how she might find it in her old friend, so it probably didn't look more suspicious than a reaction to her relationship with Regan.

She stayed that way as Tal'Ara asked after Rai's love life, but she listened intently. Oh, so intently.

"Not yet, but I'm open to the possibility. This station doesn't leave me with much recreational time. I'm about to have even less, it seems."
Leaning forward, he rubbed his eyes. He figured them to be terribly bloodshot by now. Exhaustion was creeping in through the weight of his limbs and the dull throb in his temples.
"I ought to turn in, and so should the two of you."

Tal'Ara nodded in agreement. The bags under her eyes wer getting heavy.

"Indeed, Commander," she said. "It was a pleasure running in to the two of you. I will see both in the morning at 0600."

She nodded at the two of them, politely, and walked away at a casual pace.