Private dinner

Posted on Thu Feb 13th, 2025 @ 1:58am by Captain Tyler Driskill & Lieutenant Commander Joseph Sledge & Lieutenant Nixie Wilde & Lieutenant Makai ("Kai") Nokamura & Lieutenant Tyler Rehman & Lieutenant JG T'Lar & Lieutenant JG Freya Walker

2,983 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Mission 3 - Discord of the Mind
Location: Sledge's Quarters

It had been a couple of days since the explosion of the Kobali ship and his subsequent self demotion from Executive Officer. Joseph was in his quarters going over a few things. He had set up a small kitchen in his quarters before they had left spacedock. It was one of the few things that helped calm him. Along with the kitchen, came a refrigeration unit that kept the live produce and other commodities that he had gotten before they left, fresh.

He decided that he wanted to have another small get together with the other crew, perhaps to explain himself as to why he was no longer XO, but also to help foster a sense of family among the crew, especially in such trying times.

As he went about cooking, he tapped his comm badge and spoke =^="Sledge to senior staff. Meet in my quarters at your own pace, but no longer than one half hour from now."=^=

He smiled to himself as he sent out that message before turning back to mixing a few things and listening to some classic rock, a band from the early 21st century he had discovered in the Smithsonian museum of music, Linkin Park.

[Kai's Quarters]

Kai listened to the summons and sighed quietly, muttering to himself, while the Klingon twins, dressed in flip flops and board shorts looked on impassively. Their duties did not include commiseration, only security for his workroom as well as food and drink. One of the twins, who had been setting up a table for dinner looked up. "Delay, boss?"

"Yes," Kai answered. A summons was a summons after all; the downside to being the Chief meant a serious inroad into the time he had to work on his most recent holomystery, Risian Wolves. "I'll be back later. Mahalo though."

"Rule 48. Amended after the fainting incident of 268 days ago," one of the twins intoned. "You're not allowed to work through dinner."

"Right, right," Kai muttered as he walked across the holodeck that served as his workroom, and opened a closet. "Could we remove that rule?" He dressed in a fresh uniform and checked himself in the mirror.

"Not without agreement from your physician on record," the second twin answered immediately. "Rule 48, subclause 2b. Added by Lieutenant O'Reilly when he discovered you frequently skipped meals."

"Lieutenant O'Reilly is no longer my physician, brah," Kai answered as he ran his hands through his hair and made a mental note to add a brush or comb or something.

"Rule 48, subclause C," the first twin retorted. "Brought up after Lieutenant O'Reilly shipped out and Lieutenant Moorehouse took over. Changed to physician of record and while you're on a ship, you have one."

"Alright," Kai said. "Shut this place down. I'll be back as soon as find out what the commander wants."

Tyler Driskill was enjoying a book in his quarters, one of the few moments of quite time he had taken for himself since boarding the Concord. He wasn't sure what the request to join Joseph in his quarters was all about but he left his own and made the journey a few feet and pressed the chime, requesting permission to enter.

"Well it can't be a dressing down then," Nixie Wylde said lightly as she took a place at the Captain's side, waiting for the call to enter. She looked him up and down with an arched eyebrow for a long moment. "Unless you're in trouble with him too," she added with a straight face.

"Who knows" Driskill shrugged with a smile.

Lieutenant Tyler Rehman had just gotten off duty when the summons had come through his combadge, a combadge that he just removed from his uniform jacket and placed on his nightstand. He was still recovering from his incident with being punched full force in the chest by the changeling disguised as Kor. He had been cleared for duty after a brief stay in sickbay and was glad to be away from that place. Standing in just uniform pants, he went to his dresser and opened the drawers that contained his off-duty shirts. He pulled on an eggplant-colored sweater, stepped out of his uniform trousers and rummaged around another drawer for a pair of khaki pants. After he tied his vintage converses, he headed out the door and within in a couple of minutes he was at Commander Sledge's quarters. At the door stood the Captain and Lieutenant Wilde.

"Good evening," Tyler said to the other two officers as he stepped to the other side of the captain.

Hearing the chime a couple of times, Joseph smiled. He called out "Come in! Please come in!" as he moved from behind the counter and stove. He spoke as they entered "Welcome my friends!" He smiled and nodded his head to the small group as he waved them in.

Captain Driskill was the first to step through the door and as he started to ask Joseph "what the hell was going on" the smell of a home cooked meal hit his nose. "You summoned the senior staff" he asked as they filed in behind him.

After consulting with the computer, Kai found his way to the commander's quarters, surprised to see others queueing up to enter and the unmistakable aroma of food wafting out into the corridor. He joined the group entering, standing at the back, and waited for the answer to the captain's question.

T'lar arrived next. She paused by the door for several moments, preparing herself. Social gatherings were never a strong point for her. She was too Human for Vulcan social interactions; and too Vulcan for everything else. She made her way to the replicator and ordered some Green tea

Looking to the Captain, Joseph nodded gently and spoke to the Captain "I thought it would be a good idea to have the senior staff get together and have a decent, home cooked meal. If you wondered about the extra storage I ordered for my quarters, it is because it is a hobby of mine to cook.. And it helps me unwind. A little habit I picked up from reading about Fleet Captain Pike.." He looked to the Captain, a bit sheepishly, wondering if he had made a mistake.

Nixie chuckled gently as she moved to look at the food on the counter top, picking up a vegetable to inspect as she wondered if it was also real food. Grown and harvested from the soil. She missed that. Having been born and raised on a ranch, she missed the real home comforts from time to time. And no one had managed to convince her that replicated food and drink tasted the same. It didn't. And she'd die on that hill.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a fresh cooked meal” Captain Driskill smiled.

Kai relaxed as he edged through the queue into the commander's quarters, taking in the smells. Growing up in Haleiwa, he had lived his life within a community that cared and shared as the saying went. Aunties and Uncles who always wanted to know in detail what was going on in his life, helping his friends whenever the need arose, and food. Always big meals and lots of laughter. The work could wait a night, he decided. A home-cooked meal was something to be savored even if the invitation sounded more like a command. "Anything I can do to help, Commander," Kai asked. "I have a large family which means extensive, wooden spoon to the butt, training in menial chores that free up the chef's time for the more important parts of the process."

Joseph grinned and nodded his head to Kai as he spoke "Replicate yourself an apron. You can help me cut the Denobulan onions. They add one hell of a kick to the food." He looked to the others and spoke "Please. Make yourselves comfortable. I have some wine set out if you drink, otherwise I have a variety of drinks. The wine is Chateau Picard, vintage 2236."

Kai replicated an apron that had "ono grinds' emblazoned across the front, found a knife and started chopping. He'd learned knife technique from an auntie who owned a restaurant and while he wasn't particularly fast, he was accurate and more than willing to help. Although his experience was limited to family get togethers, his extended family was large) and there weren't many menial tasks in a kitchen that he hadn't done including a bit of serving tables.

Walker was in the holodeck when she got the call. She came shuffling down the hall wearing her keikogi, jika ani, and men-yoroi. The Walker Family practiced a Martial Arts roughly Translated as Ten Soft Touches, despite being very proud of their Heathen Faith and Ancestry. As she entered, carrying her Bokken, she pulled her hood down,"Everything okay?"

Looking up from the meat he was braising, Joseph perked his brow and watched Walker with a grin. "We are being attacked by the hungries. Care to help out or are you being attacked as well?"

Walker looked at them, "I assume hungries is a reference to the bio physio status and not some species that I missed reading up on." She cracked a grin at her mild self deprecating humor. Physically, she was one of the youngest members of the crew, by birth year, one of the oldest. She was a Klingon War Vet that was kidnapped by A for his Cat and Mouse games with the USS Broken Arrow. Temporal Prime Directive, she knew too much to go back, even if there was a way. "What do you need help with?"

Shaking his head as he started to get other parts of the dishes prepped with Kai helping, Joseph spoke "Nothing that needs help at the moment. Please, rest, get a drink! Mingle! And most of all, bloody relax! All of you! Don't make me make it an order." He waved a spatula at everyone in the room.

Captain Driskill sipped on a glass of wine “it smells great, Joseph.”

"I appreciate that sir!" Joseph spoke with a smile. He grabbed a plastic container, opened it and dumped a bit of seasoning over the meat while adding some stock. He then spoke "I picked this up from Sisko's in New Orleans."

Nixie let out a long, heavy breath as she helped herself to a drink. Considering everything that had happened so far, relaxing was far easier said than done. She sipped her wine, her other arm crossed over her middle as she strolled casually around the room to look at what keepsakes he had on his shelves.

His shelves were somewhat sparse compared to others. There were some plastic models of bipedal robots, a model of the last ship he had been on, and a couple of tattered books, one whose cover was stained a now dark brown. There was also a couple of knives on the shelf, one of which was a D'k tahg.

“If dinner taste as good as it smells… I can’t wait to eat” the Captain through in before taking a sip of his drink.

In between bouts of chopping, Kai took over dish duty which took him right back to the family kitchen where his Makuahine (mother) and Kukuwahine (grandmother) argued over the right way to prepare the food when they weren't ordering him to do something. Washing, drying and putting away dishes came as naturally to him as maintenance routines.

Having three skillets going to cook enough meat for everyone, keeping some vegetarian dishes to the side for those of the crew that did not eat meat. He looked to everyone and spoke "I am extremely happy that you all came. I am sorry to make it sound all official... But if I am being honest, I feel like some of you would have denied the invitation had I not done it this way..."

The Captain didn’t reply because he knew that Joseph was correct. Instead he changed the subject by grabbing a glass and pouring a glass of wine. “A glass of wine for our wonderful host” he offered his second officer the glass.

"Where did you learn to cook?" Nixie asked lightly, studying one of the knives on his shelf, but refrained from actually touching it. "It's pretty unusual amongst humans."

Looking to the Captain, he held up his own cup full of juice. Gently he spoke "I can't have alcohol sir. Genetic abnormality that makes it so I can't break alcohol down." He smiled before looking to Nixie. Gently he spoke "I learned as a kid with my family. But cultivated it more while in the Academy. While I will eat it, Replicated food doesn't have the right taste to me."

"One of the aunties always says that cooking is an art form," Kai interjected. "Replicated food is ... soulless ..." He shrugged as he continued drying. "But still a whole lot better than I could ever do on my own. So thank you, Commander, for the invitation. However it was worded."

Driskill shrugged and combined the two glasses.

Looking to Kai, Joseph smiled and shook his head gently "No need to thank. I want to share my skills with my new friends. My new family. We are going to be stuck together for quite a while." He winked to the group.

"Hopefully not too long, no offence," Nixie gave a soft chuckle, glancing around as she strolled to the other side of the quarters, sipping her wine. "Replicated food is a modern day miracle. It's saved millions of lives, but...there's something about food that has grown. Lived. It's different."

"I agree" Captain Driskill said with a smile, taking a sip from his wine. "You just don't get that personal chefs touch when it comes from the replicator" he finished off his wine and smiled at their chef of the evening.

The other Tyler made his way around the space of Commander Sledge's quarters. He took in the room, the sights, sounds, the conversations. A drink had been thrust into his hand by... someone, but he didn't drink, not just yet. The food smelled delicious, and he was eager to eat, but wasn't. It was a weird sensation to declare hunger and yet not really feeling like filling that need. He covered his mouth to stifle a yawn that was coming. He remembered he had a drink in his hand and looked at it. It was a dark red in color, but he took a sip none the less. He made a face as the bitter flavor washed over his tongue. It was wine, something of a taste he had never aquired. He set the glass down and then moved about once again.

As he neared finishing his work at cooking the food, Joseph spoke "Could someone do me a favor and set the table with those dishes and silverware there?" He tilted his head towards a stack of dishes. He smiled as he switched to another set of meat, making sure that it didn't burn or overcook.

Tyler Driskill took the task of placing the plates and silverware like Joseph asked. When he placed the last setting he smiled at Joseph "I'm starving" he was exaggerating of course.

Joseph gave a grin as he looked to the Captain and spoke "I'm workin on it. Hold your horses Cap." With a wider grin. He added some more seasoning and sauces to each of the meats before finally getting them out of the pans and setting them to rest. "I hope y'all are hungry. By the way. For my fellow crewmembers that are of Vulcan, I have prepared some vegetarian dishes for you. I tried my hand at some Plomeek soup, but it did not end well I am afraid.. You have my apologies."

Nixie tsked and chuckled as she moved to sit at the table, breathing in the tempting scents from the dishes. "I was told very firmly by a Vulcan mate that humans aren't capable of making traditional Plomeek soup because we just can't help ourselves in trying to 'improve' it with salt or spice."

Joseph grinned a bit and nodded "I suppose that is true, however the replicators can never properly replicate the root itself, and cultivating it in a hydroponics bay is not really conducive, can't seem to get the UV lighting proper for it."

Nixie waved a dismissive hand, chuckling softly at the idea of it. "No, you're right, that makes no sense. Wasting energy on trying to force the wrong thing to grow in the wrong place at the wrong time is just asking for trouble. Nature knows what it's doing."

T'Lar slowly made her way toward the Captain. She gingerly took a sip of a Vulcan drink, somewhat reminiscent of Iced tea. "Good evening Captain. It is agreeable to have an opportunity to converse with you again in an off duty format."

“I agree” Tyler sipped from his beverage. “How are you this evening” the Captain asked focusing his attention on T’Lar.

"The Half Vulcan was dressed in her uniform, her hair and features still meticulously maintained and pristine. While most several of the other crew were in civilian attire. " I am quite well Captain thank you." she awkwardly took a sip of her beverage. "Am I correct in assuming you enjoy such gatherings as a way to illicit stronger bonds with the crew? Do you find it increases efficiency over a more Distanced style of command?" She asked. It was clear the young officer wasn't completely at home in social gatherings.

“This was Mister Sledges idea” Captain Driskill replied with a polite smile. “I have enjoyed myself” Tyler added with a smile and a sip of his drink. The crew members that were present enjoyed a lovely dinner and desert, paired with drinks and conversation.

 

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