...thanks for the fish

Posted on 04 Oct 2015 @ 9:12pm by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson

1,430 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 4, Room 7, Ellsworth's quarters
Timeline: MD6 0700 hours

ON:

Having spent the night in his new room, Wintrow realized that his temporary roommate might've actually been worried about why he'd not been there, like he had been the past few nights.

The young hybrid had been sleeping on the floor, on a make-shift bed which he made every evening, and cleared away as soon as he got up. But, Wintrow felt that his friend's graciousness shouldn't go without rewards of some kind. He just had no idea what would really make his friend happy, other than chocolate. But being Betazoid, that was very much a given, though there had to be something else.

Since the room was cleared for his entry, Wintrow wasn't surprised the door opened before him as he approached the sensor. "Ells?" he called out, just in case his friend was occupied one way or another.

At 0700 hours Ellsworth was, of course, asleep. The only initial answer to the door opening and the sound of Wintrow's voice was a very undignified snort. But soon his face appeared over the edge of the top bunk. Or, rather, his face covered in gray-toned Bajoran nightmud and a mask over his eyes to block out the light. Tired as he was, he didn't bother removing it but rather lifted one flap and squinted at the other man.

"Wintrow? Oh my Goddess, shut the door. There's like a sun in the corridor."

Wintrow giggled at the sight of his temporary host. "You look horrible Ells," he smiled as he approached the bunk. "But hey at least you get to sleep again now and not trip over me in the morning. Last night I got a quarter reassignment and I've already met my new roommate and kind of, already spent the night in my new room. I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you last night."

"Of course I look horrible, it's 0700. Everyone looks horrible at 0700," he grumbled. He groaned a little as he rolled to the side of the bunk and pulled the sheets up around himself to guard against the cold. "I was wondering where you were. I thought somebody may have taken you come or something. You know, things happen." He grinned a little and shrugged. "Your new roommate is... Ensign Lenaris, right? She's cute. Does she snore?"

"Yes, ensign Lenaris. And she's very....present....one ball of energy...and cute..." Wintrow hesitated. "Yes I suppose she is, and no she doesn't snore. Not that I noticed anyway." He considered his friend's words. "Were you worried about me? Aww Ells, that's very sweet of you. But you could've just paged me. I know I should've let you know and I'm sorry if you were concerned. But...I wanted to thank you for letting me stay here."

"At 0700?" Ellsworth moaned, and then disappeared from the side of the bed. He rolled onto his back, stared at the ceiling, and almost fell back to sleep. "I'm glad you got moved into your new place! And you're welcome. I wish I had more room, like...a bed I could have offered you. You'll have a lot more room with an officer now, though, huh? I bet that's nice."

"We could've shared if push came to shove but I was happy to have a place to sleep even if it was a floor." Wintrow stood on the tips of his toes to peer over the edge of the top bunk. "Either way, I've left you something on the table," he added, then kissed his cheek. "So...thank you."

Ellsworth smiled and rolled again to peak over the edge of the bed. "Is it chocolate?"

Smiling while wiping the mud from his mouth, Wintrow nodded. "Of course it is." He grinned. "Mud cake...with extra chocolate topping."

"Ooo, the perfect breakfast," Ellsworth said, turning fully on his side. He let his arm drape off the side of the bunk. "You wanna stay for a slice?"

"Sure, but not too long, I start my shift in an hour," the younger man replied, "though it'd help if you got out of bed I think? No eating in your bunk..."

Ellsworth groaned and dramatically rolled around in the sheets for a moment before sliding out of bed, stark naked, and making for the closet to find some pajamas. "There's some plates in that cupboard, I don't think our replicator is working, yet. And I'll get some forks. Mmmm, I can't wait for cake. I should have cake for breakfast every day. There's no one to stop me."

"Not yet anyway," Wintrow replied as he got to the cupboard. He had stolen one glance at the naked Betazoid, still puzzled by the fact that most Betazoids actually preferred nudity over being clothed. He looked away, giving Ellsworth some privacy as he grabbed two plates. "Who needs forks? Just need a knife to slice it..."

"Hmm, a knife, a knife, a knife," Ellsworth muttered, digging through the closet. He found a pair of pajamas pants first, slipped into them, and then rummaged through his belongings. There was no knife, but he did find something suitable - a detachable stick off an item of clothing he'd purchased from an Andorian tailor. "Here, I've got like... I don't know what this is supposed to be. A baton or something. It's gonna be messy but beggars can't be choosers."

"Can't eat it in one piece anyway," Wintrow chuckled as he put the plates down on the table and sat down on one of the chairs. "How about you try it first and tell me what you think? If it's chocolate-y enough for you?"

Ellsworth cut an (extremely) generous slice for himself using the baton and then cut a more reasonable slice for his guest. Without much regard for the chocolate on his hands or the crumbs falling on his chest, he took up the slice and shoved a corner in his mouth. After a few moments of thoughtful chewing he nodded.

"It's very chocolate-y. Did you find the recipe in the culinary database?"

"No. I selected a basic cake and just added a lot of chocolate. But I did use a Betazoid basic recipe, and I added a little cinnamon too, but mostly chocolate because I know you love it." He bit into his own slice, smiling brightly. He did love chocolate too, any kind of chocolate really. "Do you like it?"

"I do, of course," Ellsworth grinned, smudges of chocolate at the corners of his mouth. "It's chocolate, psh. We used to get little cakes like this for our birthday at the orphanage. I mean, like, really little. Half this slice. But they were always overcooked so they were dry."

"Better dry than none," Win pointed out, "I didn't have any as a kid at all... and if ever my dad gave me something, my brother always stole it away and made it look to my stepmother as if I'd stolen it from him instead. I learned to keep it from him as I got older though." He leaned over to clean the smudges away from Ells' face with his mouth. "You're one messy eater."

"Yeah, people would try to steal your stuff in the orphanage, too," Ellsworth said, looking a bit feral for the briefest moment. "I've always been a messy eater! It's how you know I'm enjoying it - I try to be one with the food."

"And saving it for later by keeping it on your clothes and mouth?" He withdrew his hand, sensing the brief ferocity in the other Betazoid. "I'm surprised you're sharing this with me then....if you're protective of your food."

Ellsworth laughed, like there had been a misunderstanding. "That was ages ago. I share now." That was Alax. I'm Ellsworth, he reminded himself, privately. "Besides, you brought it! How rude would it be to just eat the whole thing without sharing?"

"Not rude at all," the younger man smiled happily, "because it was a gift, as a thank you for giving me a place to stay when I had none. And I'd gladly return the favour too, if ever you need a place to stay."

Ellsworth thought of Oren first, as in most things, but smiled and nodded at Wintrow; it was always good to have a backup to the backup. "Thanks!"

"Anytime," the younger man answered sincerely. "I should go, let you get back to your sleep. I'm sorry I woke you."


OFF:
Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

PO3 Ellsworth Hudson
Quartermaster
USS Galileo
[ PNPC- Mott ]

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