A Conversational Feast

Posted on Tue Aug 20th, 2019 @ 10:32pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Kincaid & Lieutenant JG Serenity Hayes

1,438 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 0 - Pre-Sigma Iotia II
Location: Officer's Mess
Timeline: 2167/07/10 1215

The Mess Hall was packed; Nick and Ser arrived just in time for the lunch rush. Still, the way shifts worked aboard a starship, by the time someone new arrived, someone else had to return to duty. Nick led Ser to the serving stations, confident that a table would be free by the time they had plates. "After you," he said with a smile.

Serenity slipped in front and set about making choices. A fast metabolism meant that calorie counting had never been an issue for her; her choices were, to some degree, a reflection of her childhood. For her, lunch was the main meal of the day. Dinner tended to be the equivalent of an appetizer or a salad. Her lower lip caught between her teeth, she studied what was available and chose, for an appetizer, a Jumbo Vulcan Mollusk in Rhombolian butter. For an entree, she picked an old favorite, Ratamba stew over linguini with a side of whole grain bread. And finished it off with a cup of Vulcan Yellow Leaf tea.

Nick raised an eyebrow when we saw how much food she was putting on her plate, especially given how small she was. He smiled and took the same food for himself. “If you don’t mind me saying, this is the normal amount I eat for a meal, and I have probably seventy or eighty pounds on you. Where do you put it all?” He smiled as he found a table for them.

"Well," she said as she placed her tray on the table and slid into one of the seats, "its only one mollusk ... still, I don't usually eat in the evening. This is about it for me till tomorrow. Course," Serenity added, smiling as she shrugged, "I have a fast metabolism. One my mothers used to say it worked at warp speed." She took a small bite of the mollusk and sighed in appreciation. "So good."

Seeing her expression, Nick had to try that mollusk of his. He fished the meat out of the shell with his fork and ate it. He closed his eyes at the succulent flesh, enhanced by the rhombolian butter. “I’m glad I followed your lead.” He began to collect a portion of his main course on his fork. “I started out thin and wiry. When the first colonists landed on Mars, they didn’t realize that their children would tend to grow tall and thin with so much less gravity. But I ate and ate and ate and worked out for hours a day through my adolescence. It’s hard to maintain, but I only passed my Starfleet entrance exams because of it.” He smiled. “It also kept me focused at a time when young men, um, distract easily.”

She followed his lead and ate a bit of her own before taking the first risk. Or maybe it wasn't so much of a risk since as the First Officer, he probably knew everything about her anyways. "I grew up on a family ship. Never met anyone I wasn't related to until I was ... what? .... fifteen? sixteen? About there."

“Really?” Nick said, surprised. “I knew where you were raised but I didn’t realize that you would have not met anyone outside your family for so long. No wonder you’re going to miss your sisters, if they were the only friends you had growing up.” He took a bite of pasta. “Mmm! When I was born, Ares City was still pretty new. It’s bigger now, but my parents were among the first hundred who founded that community. Everyone knew everyone. The other kids were, in many ways, like cousins more than friends.”

"I like that," Serenity said as she traded the now emptied appetizer for her entree. "Being part of a community that grows ... thrives." She offered a wry grin. "When we finally sold the ship, the whole land-based, strangers around all the time thing was a really hard adjustment."

“I felt the same way when I started at the Academy,” Nick admitted. “My Freshman class was twice the size of my hometown, and San Francisco is massive! Where did you live after the ship was sold?” He hadn’t remembered that detail from her file, but he guessed it must’ve been a large community.

"The Rockies," she said and chuckled. "Small town compared to San Francisco but to me, who'd only been around family, it was .. a lot." She sighed softly, a spoonful of stew poised halfway to her mouth, as her eyes went misty. "Much as I missed space, there's something about dawn in the mountains. The sky turns these amazing colors ... blood red, deep lavender, gold ... it was beautiful in its own way."

“You don’t have to tell me,” Nick replied. “I’ve watched sunrises and sunsets on Earth, Mars, and a dozen other worlds, all beautiful in their own way. I try to draw them when I can, though I’m not very good with colour and you can’t quite capture a sunset in charcoal or pencil. I’m better at a simple day or night if I’m drawing a landscape.”

"I don't know," Serenity said. "There 's something to said for black and white art. Get the value range right and it can be equally dramatic." She took another spoonful of stew and then settled back in her seat. "I love to draw. Always have. Back on the ship, we used to spend weeks planning out and drawing murals. Mostly now, I just keep everything in a sketchbook."

Nick set down his utensils and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a very small paper notepad, approximately six centimeters wide and twelve tall. He passed it to Serenity. "For if I'm bored, or need to calm myself, or if I'm struck with inspiration. It's for drawing on a whim, really. I have bigger books for when I actually plan to draw something."

Serenity wiped her hands on her napkin and took the small pad, turning the pages over with care, as she looked at his work. "I like the quality of your line," she murmured. "And you've got a real appreciation for the female form. Very nice." She turned over the last drawing, saw that the rest were blank, and returned the notepad to him. "Thank you for sharing that. Have you ever heard of trading cards? It was started a long time ago on Earth but continues still ... miniature pieces of art that are traded with those who love art. You'd be perfect ..."

“I’ve not heard of those,” Nick said as he pocketed the notepad. “I’ll look into that.” He laughed and smiled. “Imagine! Collectors’ Edition cards depicting the first mission of the USS Horizon!”

"I like that," she said, nodding, "I do. Miniatures of the crew ... of things we've seen." She smiled and a dimple winked in and out of the side of her face. "Shame we can't pain murals ... wouldn't that be something."

Nick frowned. “Who says we can’t? Don’t forget who you’re talking to. Surely we can find a space for something mural sized. A long straight corridor. Let’s think this through and come up with a proposal I can either approve myself or bring to the Captain.” His frown turned upside down. “Or imagine leaving some massive art piece on a planet somewhere!”

Serenity grinned. "I had been thinking of small murals in out of the way places ... like a gift for an engineer crawling through yet another tube. But the whole big mural idea, I like that too. I know I want to do one in my quarters."

“Well,” Nick replied, “for your quarters, you have approval to design something spectacular. And I may ask for your help in making something for mine. As for little ones, I love the idea. With them being hidden...we can make them a special treat for those few people who go to these secret places.” He gathered a bit more food onto his fork. “Ser, with someone else aboard as into producing art as I am, I think I’m going to like this assignment.” He winked before he put his food in his mouth. He didn’t mean anything aside from happiness at having made a friend and found a kindred spirit.

"I'm glad, Sir," she said with a slight smile. "Its good to have another artist on board." She turned her attention to her food so that she wouldn't have to say anything else; after all, it was more a feeling than anything else.

 

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