Waffle House (A Star Trek: Picard fic)
Title: Waffle House
Summary: The crew of the U.S.S. Titan favour the moody atmosphere of Ten-Foward, meanwhile, their Captain prefers somewhere else.
Rating: G
Paring: Seven/Shaw
Author’s Note: I posted this to AO3 last night, and I forgot to post it here, meep. Welcome to me being unhinged and needing to write something while I research another fic
While the young crew of the U.S.S. Titan favoured the moody atmosphere of Ten-Foward, a bar on Earth located near the Starfleet Academy, Captain Shaw's go-to was somewhere Seven hadn't been expecting, a diner of some description. She made her way inside to see her Captain reading reports while a fresh cup of coffee sat next to him on the table. Seven watched him for a moment, this place seemed to be his natural environment and she was immediately curious as to its origins.
"Commander, I can feel your eyes boring into me. Take a seat."
Seven shrugged and sat down across from him, taking in their surroundings. The place was full of random holograms who looked like they had stopped in on their way to work; they were talking, eating breakfast, and some even doing crosswords.
"Well, aren't you gorgeous?" A perky waitress in her 40s with long dark hair approached the table. "Liam, who's your friend?"
Shaw regarded the woman fondly. "Sadie, Commander Hansen."
"Seven, please." She didn't seem like a normal holographic representation, Seven figured she must have been based on a real-life person, an old flame perhaps? The idea made her shift uncomfortably.
"Seven, that's cute. Are you hungry? I could cook you up something."
Captain Shaw smirked. "What's your poison, Hansen? You strike me as a fruit and porridge woman." Just something about her general demeanour made him think that she liked the blandest food possible but if that was what she was looking for, she had come to the wrong place.
Seven glared at the captain, how dare he be able to get such an accurate read on her? She liked healthy food, that was all. She cleared her throat. "I'll have what he's having." Whatever it was, it was probably some earth delicacy, not space worms or something equally as horrible.
Sadie nodded. "Coffee and waffles got it." and went back to the kitchen to prepare it.
Seven looked to Shaw for an explanation, he took a sip of his coffee and lowered his voice. "Sadie, the real Sadie was a friend of my mother's. She used to own this all-night waffle house in Chicago, where I grew up. I've spent a lot of time here."
Seven noticed how Shaw’s face softened as he spoke of the place, it was one of the rare times he had seemed at peace. In the warmly lit room, he looked handsome, not that she would ever say that out loud; falling for one's C.O. was dangerous and half the time, she wasn't even sure the captain liked her.
"So did you have a reason for interrupting my breakfast or do you just enjoy my company?" Probably not the latter, Shaw thought he hadn't been as kind as he should have been to her; her connection to the Borg while minute still left him feeling uneasy around her, but Admiral Janeway insisted that they would be a good match and she wasn't a woman to be trifled with.
"We got a message from Starfleet; we're supposed to rendezvous with Admiral Baines at 1300." A diplomatic mission, hardly dangerous but important nonetheless, the way Shaw rolled his eyes told Seven that he would rather be doing absolutely anything else. She wondered why he accepted the rank of the captain if he seemed to deplore such things.
Sadie returned with a large stack of waffles and coffee, putting it down in front of her. "Here we go hon, waffles with syrup and coffee. Enjoy."
Seven stared at her plate of food, while it did look appetising, she could tell it was mostly made of sugar, how very unhealthy. She looked up to see Shaw watching her.
"It's not going to kill you, Hansen." He had been eating something similar every day of his childhood and he had turned out just fine, maybe overly sweet food messed with her internal systems? Surely not. Her unconvinced look made him take a different tactic. "Seven, please."
The use of her name was unexpected, she had been trying to get him to use it ever since she had come on board but to no avail and yet here he was pleading with her to eat with him. She smiled and shrugged, cutting into the waffle stack, and taking a bite. "Oh god." She moaned, the sweetness of the pastry combined with the syrup was overwhelming, she had never tasted anything like it.
At the moan, Shaw subconsciously sucked on his lips, that sound was entirely too enjoyable to hear just once, and over waffles no less. He wondered if he could get her to moan like that in other situations.
Seven saw some of the patrons staring and swallowed her mouthful of food. "Sorry, first time." It was true, while she had seen waffles before, she never had any desire to taste them but now? She felt like she could live off them.
Shaw laughed. "Well hell, if that's your reaction then we should make this a permanent breakfast date."
Seven blinked. "Date, sir?"
He silently cursed himself. "You know what I mean."
Seven nodded a hint of a smile on her face. "Yes sir."
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