Finding the pool empty hadn’t been such a surprise to Hadley as he might have initially thought, but the peaceful atmosphere was welcome. It seemed most of his ship mates preferred to be sociable during their down time. Meaning all the rec rooms were buzzing with chatter as were the bars. He’d spent time in his own quarters, reading a little and drawing. But he’d needed more physical activity to take the edge off the boredom that was starting to creep up on him of an evening.
Since the Gorn, the Med-bay, the grounding and the investigations, it felt almost surreal to be back into a regular schedule. But working his shift had been a welcome relief to the tedium that had set in while Enterprise had been stuck in Earth Orbit; and the laps he now swam were another way to keep himself occupied.
The water was refreshing and the work out much needed after his stay in medical. He always preferred to keep himself as fit as possible, some of his peers at the Academy often called him out on this. But when it meant he could run faster to escape the wrath of those Kirk had decided to prank, Daniel could live with the teasing.
A quick look at his wrist chrono told him it was getting late and he swam lazily to his belongings at the pool’s edge, pulling himself up out of the water to sit on the side. Feet still dabbling as he ran a towel over his face.
The pool was always nice. No matter how crowded it was, he could always find a spot comfortable enough to lounge about, to exercise a bit, whatever. Water helped him 'stay with his feet on the ground', as he had heard people say. It was funny to him too, only thinking about that made a smile crawl its way to his lips.
Whatever. After a long shift, he pretty much wandered to Kiara and Gretchen, or Zelda, or the pool. And even if he didn't jump in, he would be content with watching whoever was around do laps in the water, his feet splashing by a far corner. Such as he was doing at the moment.
Until he saw the figure emerge, and immediately recognized the tuft of hair. He tensed, then forced himself to relax, then fidgeted and fumbled with his towel as he looked anywhere but at Hadley. But he couldn't exactly hide, could he?
He remembered the petting. That had been nice. He could've turned into the damn puppy--
"Hey," he waved his hand lazily, moving his legs and throwing him a shy smile. If he had turned into the dog, he was sure his ears would be drooped. "Sir! I mean-- hello. Yeah, hello. Sorry to disturb," although he had done nothing to actually disturb him. Oh, crap.
