Dinner for Three

Posted on 26 Jan 2013 @ 1:21am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Nesh Saalm
Edited on on 27 Jan 2013 @ 11:24am

4,386 words; about a 22 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD -01: 2010 hrs

[ON]

Running around in her kitchen like a mad woman, Lirha was taking the idea of multitasking to the extreme. Trying to prepare eight different dishes for three separate courses at once was a daunting task, but one which the captain had looked forward to ever since her younger sister had come aboard. It wasn't often that Lirha and Nesh got the opportunity to spend time together, and the older Orion wanted to make the most out of a new and promising situation.

With her apron covering her from neck to waist, she continued to tend to the various dishes which were simmering on the stove, as well as the meat in the oven which was nearing completion. She had taken the opportunity to fully-decorate her quarters, including setting out her finest collection of Orion cutlery and plates, as well as a series of exotic candles which added ambiance to the room. She knew Nesh was bound to arrive any moment, and had also decided to invite Maenad as well. Lirha was curious to know how their first day of working together had gone, and the upcoming meal presented a perfect opportunity to inquire and let them get familiar with each other.

Nesh hopped through the doors, wearing a simple T-shirt and a long, flowery skirt with ruffles of a golden color. "Ree-Hee!" she called happily, sniffing pointedly at the collection of aromas that permeated the atmosphere. She'd forgotten how good of a cook Lirha was, since she was never home, but a rumble from her stomach was quickly reminding her. Something, though, smelled... off. "Lirha," she said in a warning tone, "Lirha! It's... flamey!" she pointed at a pot that was starting to smoke and bounced over, pulling off the top to wave at it frownily. "Is it supposed to do that?" she asked down at the Thing, tugging her hair back away from her shoulders and wrapping it in an elastic resting on her wrist.

Lirha heard Nesh enter and briefly looked up to wave at her, but quickly returned to her cooking duties which preoccupied her attention. When her sister started yelling about a pot that was on fire, the captain cursed under her breath and moved over to it, then nudged Nesh out of the way to take over. "No," she replied in her native tongue, "Not for another ten minutes." she added as she grumbled to herself, then took the pot off of the stove and placed it on a hot plate. The assorted vegetables contained within were almost a perfect golden-brown color, but having been sauteed to long meant that they would be rather crispy. Oh well... Lirha thought to herself. They would still taste good.

Turning back to her sister, she motioned with her chin towards the dining room table. "I'll take care of the cooking for now, in the meantime can you set the table for me?" she requested.

"On it," Nesh replied back in colloquial Yverish. She lifted up a stack of plates, balancing them in her arms and wobbling over to the table. "When's your -" she started and then promptly corrected herself, "Er - when's Maenad coming?" she called out in Standard, doling out the plates and forks and cups in no particular order.

Lirha thought about the question for a brief moment, then finally shrugged before leaning down and pulling a large pot roast out of the oven. Maenad was usually a punctual woman, and hopefully she wouldn't be late for such an extravagant home-cooked dinner. "She should be here anytime now." she replied, then began to baste the meat with a special sauce. "How was your first day of work with her?" she asked curiously, glancing up at Nesh.

Nesh flopped her handful of forks onto the table with a clatter and stood up, straightening her skirt. "Good, good. I collated," she grinned, making a funny face. "I worked with Lieutenant Cho, the Trill lady. Kinda weird, but nice," Nesh granted with a sage nod. She looked toward the door as the chime rang. "Is that her?" she asked, the excitement of a nice meal and actually flying in space putting a reverent quality in her voice.

"I'm not sure...why don't you go and find out?" Lirha replied with a sideways grin. Nesh certainly was ambitious, like all the women in their family, but sometimes she simply need a bit of direction and a gentle push.

Looking bland as ever, Maenad stood outside Lirha's door with her hands on her lap. She had made herself look nice, wearing enough makeup to compliment her eyes, pale lips, and cheeks. She whitened her face to contrast with her black hair and clothes, which were also entirely black. Almost entirely that its; her blouse was black, but her knee-length skirt was white with black polka dots. But she wore black tights and flats on her feet, so she was pretty much all in black. She scratched behind her ear with one finger as she waited, not sure what the purpose of the dinner was supposed to be. And, admittedly, she was feeling nervous. Nesh was in there, and she already felt more like a guest at another family's dinner than... well, whatever she was to them.

Nesh pressed her hand against the pad near the side and the door slid open, revealing the verytall stature of the woman who was her boss now. She tried to put on her Most Professional Face but it came out as an awkward smile. "Hello! Um, ignore the... er... flames." Try as hard as she might, she never really could hit the mark on the professional thing. "Come on in!" she announced chipperly, gesturing inside.

"Hello, Nesh," she said quietly, stepping through the doors. "Thank you," she had an awkward smile, and returned her hands back to her lap. Remaining by the entry even after the doors had closed, she looked around the quarters. "It smells nice in here," she said in reference to the food.

Still immersed in her cooking affairs, Lirha took the time to look up at the door and to her newest guest. It was, in fact, Maenad, and she looked beautiful as ever. Well...conservatively beautiful with her black blouse and skirt, yet beautiful nonetheless. With a smile on her gold lips, Lirha waved her green hand. "Don't mind the smoke, I'm almost finished." she called out, then spoke to Nesh in Yverish. "She likes red wine, can you pour her a glass? There's a bottle of Cabernet-Sauvignon in the cupboard next me..."

With almost expert ease, which didn't suit Nesh's usually haphazard character, she sauntered over to the cupboard and yanked it open, reaching up to pull out the bottle. She read the label. A bunch of words she had no comprehension of, but which apparently meant something fancy. She pulled open the drawers and rooted around for one of those corky-screw things. "Cork... thing!" she muttered, clanging and banging her way through the drawer until she pulled out what she was looking for. A ha. Next came the glass, and somehow she managed to get all of this done without breaking anything, which she thought was a job well done, thankyouverymuch. She set the wine glass down on the table. While she saw her sister excited and happy for once, she had a funny feeling in her gut about Maenad, who wasn't wearing a matching expression, or at least a comfortable one. "So, um, hi," she smoothed over unhelpfully. "Wine? Hey, can I have some of this?" she grinned and held up the bottle hopefully.

Maenad smiled to Nesh, following her into the kitchen. "Yes, please," she said in response; it was never a bad time for a drink. The aromas of all of Lirha's cooking flooded her nostrils. She wasn't particularly hungry, but the sight of all this delicious-looking food made her suddenly starving.

If they had been living back on Rigel VII along with the rest of their Orion family, Lirha would have had no problem with Nesh having a drink. Or two. Or three. Their family culture and society was very liberal which meant that children began drinking at a young age, albeit under adult supervision. But as it was, Nesh was currently aboard a Starfleet vessel, one which strictly regulated the use and consumption of all alcoholic beverages. "No, Nesh!" Lirha began to scold, then suddenly took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she relaxed herself. She was stressed out enough as it was, with both her ship's functionality as well as her immediate cooking duties, and realized that she had just snapped at her younger sister. "I'm sorry..." she corrected herself, then gave the younger Orion a nod. "One glass. And that's it for the night."

The younger Orion's smirk grew wide. "Excellent," she said to herself in Standard, and another wine glass was retrieved and filled. After this, Nesh moved to sit down next to Maenad.

Maenad watched, obviously disconcerted, as Lirha apparently scolded Nesh. She didn't know what was said because she didn't speak Orion, but Lirha's tone, expression, and body language left all doubt that what she had said wasn't nice. Maenad always spoke English, too, because she thought that it was impolite to speak French around those who couldn't. She didn't like not knowing what was being said right in front of her.

After a moment of looking at the floor and twisting her heel, not knowing what she should do, Maenad tried to be pleasant. "I had no idea you were such a chef," she said to Lirha. The sight of her in an apron made her laugh quietly to herself, enjoying it nonetheless. "What is the occasion?"

"Well, it is Nesh's first day aboard a starship, and her first official day at her new assignment." Lirha replied from the kitchen as she began to ferry several appetizer courses into the dining room. "I wanted to do something special for her...a home-cooked meal, of sorts." she added with a wink towards the French woman.

As she set the appetizers on the table, she motioned for Maenad and Nesh to begin eating, and briefly explained each of the three dishes. "Feel free to begin eating. The wraps over there are called charbadi, similar in taste to Earth-duck meat mixed with light vegetable strands and wrapped in a starch tortilla." she said, then motioned towards the next dish. "The soft breaded balls in the middle are Nesh's favorite, they are called jhal and are filled with a special type of aged Orion cheese. And the final plate is a salad dish that has been in our family for many generations, called ullaklar, my personal favorite." she explained.

Nesh grabbed several of the jhal with a large spoon and put them on her plate, eating two in a row without reservation. She swallowed (hey, she has some manners!) and gestured to the bowl. "You should definitely try the jhal first. Lir...Captain..." she blinked. "You," she settled on with a mild cringe, "Makes the best! Oh, the charbadi is good, too but that is gross, Ree-Hee," she said lightly, making a face at the salad. Although, Maenad looked like a salad kind of girl.

Lirha let out a light laugh, happy to see Nesh enjoying herself and once again devouring one of her favorite snacks. She wondered how Maenad would like the food as well, but didn't have time to wait and see. There was still a final bit of work to do to prepare the entrees, and the captain moseyed back into the kitchen to continue her cooking.

Maenad listened very carefully to Lirha's explanations of each dish. When she heard that these were only the appetisers she felt her eyes widen. The appetisers, then, constituted the equivalent of Maenad's three daily meals. Oh well, she was hungry. And, she didn't want to be rude. Lirha had obviously put a lot of care into this. She took some of the ullaklar first, then a couple of jhal balls, and finally a charbadi wrap. It all looked and smelled absolutely delicious.

With a content smile, Maenad watched as Nesh picked from the basket of cheese balls, which in weird way reminded her of her mother's kneydls. She had always wanted a little sister of her own; Lirha was very lucky. Maenad had no siblings at all. If she died, her parents would be alone, and the family line would be extinct. "This is wonderful," she said after taking a bite of her charbadi. "I've never tasted anything like this in my life."

"Oh really? There's like totally an Orion restaurant in San Fran, but it's kind of horrible," Nesh spoke over a mouthful of food. She paused to swallow and continued, "You know, one of those wonders of the galaxy, try all the alien cuisine ever! I mean it's cool, I guess... Where did you grow up? You sound kind of like, European. Orions aren't ... popular on Earth, probably," she said with a shrug.

Maenad held her hand over her lips for a second, not realising that her accent was apparent. Had she slipped up? She had always thought that she spoke impeccable English; yes, sometimes she forgot or got a little sloppy. She reddened a bit. "Yes, you must have a very fine ear, Nesh," she said, taking a sip of wine. "I grew up in France and Quebec. I didn't speak English until I was about your age, fourteen or fifteen."

"Awesome," Nesh said enthusiastically. To her, Maenad sounded European. In fact, her accent sounded rather strong, at least to Nesh. Compared to the drawling way the people at her school spoke, anyway. "I grew up learning Standard and like, Yverish, our Standard basically."

"Ah," Maenad inclined her head, then ate some more of the wrap. It was really quite good, but so was everything else on her plate. "It's always good to speak multiple languages," she thought. "Did you grow up on Earth?

"Oh, yeah," Nesh confirmed with a nod. "I was born in Las Angeles, raised in San Francisco. Most of my family are pretty culturally Orion, so it's interesting, I guess," she said while popping another bread ball into her mouth.

Several minutes later, once the captain had finally finished preparing the main course, she returned from the kitchen with a large crock pot in her hands which contained a rather extravagant pot roast. Standing over the table, she carefully set it down in the middle and caught a whiff of the delicious-smelling meat. Nodding to herself in approval of her cooking job, she quickly returned to the kitchen and then reappeared back in the dining room, this time with two large bowl; One filled with a vegetable medley, and the other with mashed potatoes, one of her favorite Earth foods.

"Voila!" Lirha said with a soft grin, reciting one of the only few French words she was familiar with. Once again, she began to explain the courses for her non-Orion guest. "This," she pointed at the roast with a large cooking fork, "is a dish similar to an Earth-beef pot roast. The meat is called kisjajhel, a type of domesticated boar found on Rigel VII. It has been slow-cooked for several hours and the meat is very tender and flavorful. I added a baste made of garlic, sugar, pepper, and red wine, and added some onions and carrots." she explained, then motioned towards the other two dishes. "I also made a vegetable medley consisting of maaza stalks, mushrooms, tartoc, tomatoes and asparagus; and the bowl of mashed potatoes over there is, well...mashed potatoes." she finished.

Maenad watched as Lirha explained the two new dishes being added to the table, obviously impressed. She had always thought herself to be an awful chef, blaming it on her countless hours in school. Always buried in libraries and archives for most her young-adult life, she had become a victim of the replicator. "It looks great," she said, wiping her hands on the napkin in her lap.

Lirha smiled warmly, happy that Maenad approved of the meal. She hoped she would enjoy the flavors and textures as well, as those were often the most important aspects of food, in her experience. "Feel free to begin eating," she replied, "I will be right back with some more wine and join you in a minute." she added, then headed off back to the kitchen to remove her apron and clean herself up.

Cutting off some meat and spooning some potatoes on the plate that she'd already emptied, Maenad forked a piece into her mouth. The kisjajhel, the boar thing, was phenomenal; she washed it down with the rest of the wine in her glass. "You're very lucky to have a sister who cooks so well," she said to Nesh.

"And a sister who cooks mashed potatoes," Nesh was clearly pleased with this and dumped a large portion of it onto her plate, watching the play between her sister and Maenad with interest. It was odd, a little awkward, more like humans tended to be than Orions did. She wondered if Maenad would be visiting them more often. She liked Maenad, even though she suspected that was probably a little weird. They were both drastically different people, but Nesh was oblivious to this as she chattered away.

Lirha returned several moments later with her apron removed and her hands and arms freshly washed. She approached the table with a new bottle of red wine, a Merlot blend, then opened it and poured Maenad and Nesh each a fresh glass. Happy to see both of them beginning to eat, she sat down at the table and delicately unfolded her napkin wrap and placed it in her lap, then proceeded to help herself to some of the numerous dishes present on the table. A long moment of silence developed as all three of them began to eat and indulged themselves in the food, rather than conversation. Finally, after eating a large cut of kisjajhel, she broke the silence. "I am grateful you could join us tonight, Maenad." she began, giving her bedmate a warm smile. "Is this your first Orion cuisine?" she wondered out loud.

Maenad finished the last of the kisjajhel on her plate, and began forking the remaining mashed potatoes. "It is," she admitted after swallowing some more wine. "And I have to say that I wish I'd tried it sooner," she smiled. "I don't want to overdo it, but you're an excellent cook."

Nesh happily grabbed her wine. She'd scored two glasses out of Lirha! Excellente, in her opinion. She didn't gloat over it, but sipped it in a Highly Refined kind of way, because she was Highly Refined. She thought on that a while and ate some of the kisjajhel with the voracious appetite of any regular teenager. "Maenad, how come you're so tall? You're like, the tallest girl I've ever seen. You're taller than me!"

Nesh was always catching her by surprise, for better or worse. Genetics dictated her height; Maenad had no control over how tall she was, didn't she know that? Noticeably flushing, Maenad had always been self-conscious of her height. It wasn't very lady-like in many circles, of she'd been made well aware. With a nervous laugh, Maenad twirled her wineglass a little, watching the merlot make a little whirlpool. "I just am," she said. "You're pretty tall as well," she pointed out before taking a sip of the wine.

"Yeah, but man," Nesh replied as though that perfectly explained her point. "Oh, I didn't mean to make you all red," the Orion sighed, staring at her wrist ruefully. "People do that a lot around me. They say I embarrass them." She, obviously, did not agree with that assessment. "So, you guys are like, friends," she opened up with innocently, staring between the two of them.

"Yes, we are." Lirha answered with a nod, not bothering to look up from her plate as she piled her fork high with food then stuffed it into her mouth. After chewing for a short moment, she finally glanced up at Maenad with a subtle twinkle in her green eyes. Lirha wasn't sure exactly how much Nesh knew about her and Maenad, if anything at all, yet knew her sister well enough to know that she was very observant. Maenad seemed like a private enough person, and the captain didn't especially want to divulge the details of her romantic relationship...at least, not at the table during dinner.

Maenad awkwardly fidgeted with her fork in the potatoes, grateful that Lirha had answered the question first. Yes, they were friends. The end. She took a long sip of wine without having finally eaten the wad of mash she'd forked, then padded her lips on the napkin from her lap. "Have yet you made any new friends, Nesh?" she asked with a funny smile, then took a bite to hide it.

At that, Nesh frowned and shrugged. "Well, not really," she said quietly, before bouncing in her seat and suddenly switching the topic to something completely unrelated. "So are you guys like, friends, or you know, like... friends?" she asked. At least if she focused on them, she wouldn't have to focus on the fact that she was a little homesick, even though she wouldn't trade her time here to go back ever, she did miss her friends.

Lirha rolled her eyes at Nesh's question as the younger Orion quickly returned to the subject which Maenad had delicately attempted to avoid. Apparently Lirha wasn't going to get off that easily with her simple answer. "We...enjoy each other's company." she finally elaborated, still skirting around the question. "Maenad is quite an accomplished professor and has taught subjects such as xenobiology and archaeology, both areas in which I am interested. Naturally, we enjoy our conversations together."

"Oh really!" Nesh said, arching both of her eyebrows with a grin. Enjoyed eachother's company and Maenad is brilliantly accomplished, she repeated to herself, the grin not quite disappearing. Lirha certainly sounded happy about her choice of friend. "So, you guys just like, talk about archaeology and stuff all the time then?" That was a definite smirk.

Maenad hadn't looked up from her plate. The meat had all been eaten, but now she was prodding the remaining potatoes with the prongs of her fork. She didn't like the way the conversation had been going; she hated being the topic of discussion, and she especially felt out of place. It was like she were prize won by Lirha, like she were being shown off to her family. That might not have been Lirha's intention, but it was certainly how Maenad felt.

"Your sister is exaggerating," Maenad said quietly to her food, her cheeks a pale shade of pink. Don't sound sharp. She set her fork down and placed her hands in her lap, looking at Nesh. "I am not a very good conversationalist," she nervously laughed. "Despite talking about what I have done in my research, I fail to make it interesting. But Lirha listens to me anyway. I do not always talk to her about science, Nesh. No, I sometimes play her my piano. We just talk, you know. It is a funny question; what do you with your friends?"

"Crash aircar shuttles," Nesh supplied into her wine with a bit of a blush. "All my friends are gone now. So, I hope I'll make brand new ones here." She perked up and offered a bland smile before grabbing some of that charbadi wrap.

"I am sure you will meet some soon." Lirha said with a nonchalant wave of her hand, then paused from eating to take a long sip from her own glass of wine. "There aren't many people on board quite as young as you, however some of the junior crew are in their late teens... eighteen, nineteen, twenty years old. I think they would be happy to get to know you."

While the two Orions were talking to each other, Maenad finished her potatoes and wine. She wondered how Nesh had gotten along with Kiri that morning. "When you didn't come back after I sent you off to deliver the report to Kiri, what were you two doing? What about her?"

"Who's Kiri?" Nesh asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, wait. Yeah, the Lieutenant Cho. I think she doesn't like me much. Anyway, we went to do things on the computer, and there was much collating and... collaborating and... other big words that begin with C," Nesh smiled hopefully.

Maenad smiled. She didn't think that Kiri was capable of disliking anyone; Kiri needed all the friends she could get, and she wasn't exactly subtle about it, either. "I am sure that Kiri likes you, Nesh," she grinned. "That was delicious," her attention turned to Lirha. "I don't know if I can eat another bite."

Lirha looked at Maenad and grinned. She knew that her friend didn't often have the biggest appetite due to her thin frame, but the captain sincerely hoped she hadn't completely filled herself up yet. "And what about dessert?" she asked with a wink.

"There is always room for dessert," Maenad agreed, returning Lirha's smile.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Nesh Saalm
Scientist's Mate, CIV
USS Galileo

RSS Feed