T'Vara had gone looking for him in engineering at 1800, which was approximately dinner time, which was not a coincidence.

She had been thinking about it since sickbay. Not the conversation itself specifically, which had been brief and conducted while she was doing his evaluation simultaneously, but the fact that he had said it at all. Most people required considerably more time to arrive at casual social invitations and some never arrived there at all. Avery Morgan had required approximately ten minutes and had delivered it with the ease of someone who genuinely meant it rather than someone filling conversational space.

She had spent days observing him since then. He was competent in the way that people were competent when it came from genuine engagement rather than credentials, and what she had observed was consistent with what she had initially assessed. He was genuine. Not performing warmth in the way people sometimes did when they were new somewhere. Actually warm, in the unselfconscious way of someone who did not consider whether it was appropriate before expressing it. She had also observed that he had not followed up on the drink and had decided the most efficient resolution was to address it directly rather than wait to see if he would come to her.

She came through the engineering bay door and saw the man at a workbench and she looked back at him. "You mentioned a drink" she said. "You have not followed up on it. It is also dinner time." A brief pause. "I am here if you are finished."

Avery when he saw her. “T’Vara….I will be done in a few minutes. I’m….sorry about not getting back to you. As you can probably surmise, I’ve been bogged down with repairs and such. Mei-Lin is very talented and it’s been more efficient with two of us working down here.”

Morgan stowed his equipment and walked toward the Romulan medic. “It’s good to see you. I did mention a drink. I was able to acquire a couple bottles of Romulan ale from Sykes. As far as food is concerned, I’d be happy to whip up something in my quarters. Let me lock down the warp core and we can go.”

She paused for a moment as he spoke "I think we should each take a few minutes to be allowed time to cleanup and change into more comfortable clothing. I was thinking the officers mess on Deck two for dinner, it is more semi private as well. What do you say we mee there in thirty minutes? I am looking forward to the ale." T'Vara didn't feel they were already at the point to be spending time in one another's quarters after only 1 conversation prior.

“You’re probably right. I could use a shower. Officer’s mess sounds perfect,” Avery said as he looked himself over. He was pleased that T’Vara came down to see him in person, rather than making arrangements over comms or the computer. Avery had planned to come up to sickbay to see her, never got around to it. Sharing a meal and a drink in a public place would present an opportunity to get to know T’Vara on a more intimate level. He was looking forward to seeing where this goes.

“I’ll be more than happy to get out of these clothes. I’ll see you in thirty minutes then.”

She returned a nod "See you in thirty.."

----

T'vara hadn't needed much time for a quick sonic shower and cleanup, her day in Sick Bay was pretty uneventful. She decided to wear a black shirt and pants, with highlights of dark green material and allowing part her upper chest to be modestly viewed. IT appeared she had beaten Avery to the mess hall which was fine. She understood the work he did probably took a moment to properly clean one's self after. She found a table near the window and made her way to sit down.

Morgan much preferred steaming hot water showers than sonic. The sonic version would certainly do in a pinch, but his quarters aboard Dutchman afforded him the luxury of both.

In the meantime, Avery had replicated some casual clothes well before an evening with T’Vara was on his mind. He had a thing for vests and therefore had several colors from which to choose.

Morgan picked a black button-down shirt, a two-tone tan and navy vest, and dark slacks.

He arrived to the officers mess with Romulan ale in hand and spotted T’Vara from a distance. Even from twenty meters distance, she looked stunning.

“Sorry I’m a little late, getting out of my office took longer than expected,” Avery said as he approached the table. “Here’s the Romulan ale I promised. Zedd assured me it was a good vintage, but my ability to read Romulan is non existent. Maybe you can tell me what year? You look lovely, by the way. Your blouse accentuates your eyes.”

T'Vara looked up when he arrived and took in his look along with the Romulan ale in his hand. She made the assessment quickly. He had made an effort. That was worth noting. Most people in her experience either overdressed to signal something or underdressed to signal something else. Avery Morgan had simply put on clothes that suggested he had thought about the evening without making it into a performance.

She looked at the bottle he set on the table and read the label with the particular focus of someone whose Romulan was considerably better than she had been asked to demonstrate until now. "2369" she said. "Romulan Star Empire northern province, Vethari region. It is considered a moderate vintage. Not exceptional but well regarded." She looked up at him. "Zedd made a reasonable choice."

She did not immediately address the compliment because she had found over the years that acknowledging compliments directly produced a conversational dynamic she did not particularly enjoy, the back and forth of reassurance and deflection that most people seemed to find necessary and that she did not. She filed it as genuine, which it appeared to be, and let it sit without requiring a response.