Not quickly, not with visible anger, but with the deliberate quality of someone correcting something that should not have required correcting. She did not look away from him when she did it.
Morgan withdrew his hand from hers as he felt the tension between them grow and he could tell she was becoming uncomfortable. “One of the reasons I left San Francisco and the Academy is because I was seeking connection. The war exacerbated matters, but I couldn’t find what I needed on Earth. My classroom provided for my professional needs, but not my emotional ones. I thought we had a connection that day in sickbay. I maintain that we still do. I can be patient, T’Vara. I’ll be here. Anytime you need someone to turn to, I will be here.”
"No." She let the word sit for a moment before she continued.
"I have redirected this evening twice. I declined the suggestion of your quarters. I declined the walk. I explained my reasoning each time without ambiguity. I did not expect to also need to explain that my hand is not something you take without being offered it." She kept her voice level. There was no particular heat in it. Just the clean delivery of an accurate assessment. "That is not a cultural distinction. That is a basic one."
"You have described yourself as lonely. You have told me about connection you could not find on Earth. You have told me you will be patient and that you will be here. These are things I did not ask you to carry into this room and they are not things I am willing to be the answer to." She looked at him. "That is not a criticism of what you feel. It is an observation about what you are asking for and who you are asking."
She reached for her jacket from the back of the chair.
"I sought you out this evening because the first interaction suggested you were worth knowing. I think that assessment was not wrong but I think I would not have come if I had known where the evening was going to arrive." She said it without cruelty, just the honest delivery in the facts of the situation. "I am not opposed to working alongside you professionally. I will do that without difficulty. But I will not be sharing off duty time with you again. I would encourage before you choose to pursue a Romulan woman again, that you do some serious research into our culture and practices. These actions and the speed at which you are attempting things may work on women in the Federation or back on Earth, however it couldn't be more off base or inappropriate for a woman of my culture. Abandoned by my government or not, I am still Romulan."
"Goodnight, Chief."
“Good night, T’Vara.”
The woman swiftly made her way out, a few heads had turned taking note of the conversations end, ears perked up and others pretending like they hadn't overheard what had just happened.
‘I guess I blew that one. Way to go, Avery’, he thought to himself. Morgan watched her leave and nursed his Romulan ale. He finished off the bottle before retiring to his quarters. He was confident that he could win her over. He gravely miscalculated T’Vara’s Romulan makeup and how she would react. It made him feel miserable. Maybe a good night’s sleep and a fresh start in the morning would make him feel better.
END