Pizza and a shoulder (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 16 Dec 2013 @ 2:09am by Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius

2,123 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 2 - Allyndra's quarters
Timeline: MD06 - 2000

ON:

Allyndra took a sniff at the thing called 'pizza'. She had to look it up and then she was not sure what Lamar would like. She had never been confronted with something that had so many variations and choices. A little more research and she had decided that it seemed many human males tended to prefer meat 'toppings' and thus she had selected peperoni and sausage, with onions and olives on one half and then bacon and with peppers on the other half.

It all looked like a mish mash but once it was finished it had filled her quarters with what she had to admit was a delicious smell. About an hour and a half earlier she had given him a call to see if he could come by and also she had said that she would be skipping her normal shift duty.

The day had been a full one already between the meeting, catching up with her staff and then a nap in which her wings had come back in. She looked into the mirror one last time at the now just dried wings and caught that her head was lacking its lush locks and just covered with fuzz.

"You are ugly, Allyndra," she told her reflection. The episode with the wings coming in had caused unpleasant feelings but seeing her reflection she felt more reassured that no one would find her the least interesting. Still, she admitted herself, she felt the need for company, at least to talk. She had also noted that Lamar's girlfriend had gotten back as well and wondered if he needed to talk as well.

Dressed in a loose pair of jeans with a simply gray T-shirt on, Lamar made his way through the decks and found Allyndra's quarters with relative ease. He remembered them well from his original trip there which had sparked their first encounter, and it had been a pleasant surprise earlier in the day when he had received a message on his PADD from her requesting a visit accompanied by an offer of pizza. She sure knew how to lure him away from his duties, that much was certain.

Pressing out the creases on the front of his shirt, he tapped the door chime but not before he caught a whiff of something delicious seeping out of her living room and into the corridor. Fresh pizza... he could smell it already, and he smiled to himself.

Allyndra heard the chime and checked herself out in the mirror one last time. She had decided on a simple dress, basically it was a flight dress, just to the things, light cloth, and cut far down the back. For her fuzzy head she had put on something called a turban and it looked odd but there was nothing for it.

She hurried to the door and then opened it smiling, "Lamar welcome! Please come in." Allyndra stepped away and waved a hand to him.

He smiled at her when the door finally swished open, then curiously looked at her wrapped head. The smell of pizza once again pleasantly assaulted his nostrils, and he glanced over her shoulder before looking back to her, taking note of her nice dress and curvy frame. Unfortunately, he couldn't resist commenting on her turban. "Nice look. Did you cut your hair, or just going for something different?"

She patted her head and said, "Our hosts have a phobia about germs so we all got 'cleansed' as it were. Lost my hair but..." She made a sort of odd shrug and let the newly dried wings show a little. "Got these back. Anyway, come on we can talk more over pizza. I hope I got it right."

Lost her hair? he repeated to himself in his head. He didn't want to ask about the details right now, but agreed with her to talk about it more a bit later. He was also intrigued to see her wings when she stretched them out slightly for him to see. They were...well, wings. Large ones sort of like a dragonfly's as she had explained to him.

He wasn't sure why, but he stepped close to her and leaned down to give her a kiss on her cheek before accepting her invitation and moving inside her quarters. His eyes quickly found the source of the pizza smell and he couldn't resist a grin when he saw the pie. "Wow...I think you outdid yourself. Looks great. Smells great."

Allyndra tilted her head to receive the kiss. It was pleasant and reminded her of pleasant days gone by. "The sauce was interesting, tangy but I am afraid the only thing I can really try. However, yes the combination of smells is something that I can love. I envy you did you know? All the things that I cannot eat but you can. Well enjoy." Allyndra waved a hand at the pizza and then went to get a drink.

She took a seat though at the small table, swiveling her wings slightly. She itched to try them again. Where to start she wondered and then figured she would go ahead and plunge into the subject. "So we got your girlfriend back. I am glad about that." Allyndra wondered if that came out too flat and impersonal. She liked Lamar but he had someone, but in other circumstances....... Allyndra had to cut that thought off.

Lamar happily sat down at the table and looked over the food in front of him, noticing the variety in toppings which was always a delicious sight. "Yeah, I heard she's been rescued from the cube...I'm really grateful to have her back," he replied in agreement. "I came by sickbay to try and see her, but the EMH said she wasn't in shape to have any visitors at the moment. Something about recovering from assimilation and a symbiont?"

"Hmm.....I have not felt up to doing anything more than a cursory check up. The meeting on the planet and being subjected to...." Allyndra pulled the turban off, "my own indignities have left me feeling very tired." She did not add, that and feeling half starved. "So......?" She made the question, and then rubbed her head, "makes me look ugly doesn't it?"

He looked at her baldish head and the tufts of dark hair fuzz which were beginning to grow back in. He couldn't resist grinning and tried his best not to laugh at her strange look. "No, not ugly...it actually doesn't look that bad on you, to be frank."

Allyndra laughed lightly but tossed the cloth away anyway, "You are sweet, I could just eat you all up." She bared her teeth just for a moment and then laughed harder. "Sorry, it just struck me as funny, I did not mean to be nasty." Though she did wonder what that pizza would taste like in her terms.

A chuckle escaped his lips and he shook his head to dismiss the inappropriateness of the joke. "Yeah, I bet you could," he replied in jest accompanied by a wink, then grabbed a couple slices from the pie and put them on his plate. He took a piece overloaded with a bunch of bacon and peppers and began to much away, savoring the texture of the crust, cheese, and various meats and vegetables. "Wow," he mumbled in between bites, "this is pretty good. First time making a pie?"

Allyndra nodded feeling sheepish, "Yes, I just went by smell and just a tiny bit of taste. I am glad you like it." Allyndra sat and took a sip and watched Lamar for a little bit. Finally she got up some courage and asked, "May I aks you something?"

"Yeah, sure," he nodded in while eating, then paused to look up at her while wondering what was on her mind.

"I know I do not look my best, but do you think that someone would like me?"

He tightened his eyes, not sure exactly what she meant by the question. He thought she was a rather interesting person to be around, and she was one of the more open and intriguing alien species he had ever met. "You mean...as a friend?"

"No, I mean well as a lover? It has been such a long time since my husband died and it gets lonely at times. At home there was the Irsemia House......." Allyndra realized Lamar would have no clue what she was talking about.

"An Irsemia House, it means Maiden House. A place where maidens with their first wings, and widows go to have.......companionship."

"Oh..." he mumbled, then finished one of his slices and began to munch on the other while he pondered her question. A Maiden's House? he wondered to himself. Interesting. "Well," he began with a light shrug, trying his best to be as honest as possible, "I think they would like you. You're pretty, have a great body, you've got strange wings to look at," he grinned. "I don't see why not. I'd be interested in you if I didn't have Lilou already," he confessed, then took a long sip of his drink before continuing to ear for a few more seconds.

"On Earth we have similar houses only they're mostly for guys. We call them Madame's houses. Same principal...it's a place where single guys go for companionship. Well, mostly sex, but also companionship," he added.

Allyndra blushed slightly at telling him such things and her question. "I am sorry, I mean I guess I just wonder to what to me are alien eyes if interesting, I did not mean to imply.....well I hope you understand."

"I suppose Irsemia Houses serve something of the same. The male population out numbers the female but not all males are fertile. Interesting, I never really thought how it would all work before. Anyway," Allyndra reached over and took a little bit of melted cheese.

"I will probably rue this but it smells good. So have you plans when we get to Earth?"

"You mean if we get to Earth," he answered with a shake of his head. ""It's not looking too good right now so I haven't thought about it much." He would have liked to be able to indulge himself with thoughts of shore leave on his homeworld, but the simple fact remained: Galileo was effectively stranded in orbit of this strange alien world far away from home, and under guard from the Borg. Any thoughts he might have had for leisure and family had been thrown out of the window during the past week.

"But..." he continued as he ate, giving her the benefit of the doubt, "I guess if we did make it back to Earth, I would probably go back to Philly and see some of my family. I think it's getting close to holiday time for them and we have a tradition where we all get together and celebrate a religious holiday called Christmas. Then there's also some fun parties for another holiday called New Years, which marks the start of the new calendar year. What about yourself?"

Allyndra noted the if, and it was exactly that. She did not trust these aliens but then again, they could take Galileo apart at any time if they wished. She sighed, as she thought. More than likely she would not make it home to Akkadia. "While I would like to go home, the chances are small and there is little reason either. I have no family." Allyndra had a few friends but everything seemed distant for a very long time. She mused, "Perhaps I might go to your south seas and try a little water dancing. Try to catch up on new advances in my field, not much I guess."

"We've got some good beaches on Earth, that's for sure. I like the ones in Florida and on a small island called Puerto Rico," he replied. Lamar finished off the second slice of pizza including the crust, then promptly procured two more from the large dish and set them on his small plate. "You're always welcome to come to Philly with me if you want. It's a big city and there's not much ocean around, but it's a pretty cool place. Real diverse, lots of different kinds of people," he offered.

Allyndra was a bit surprised at that. "It sounds lovely but I would not want to interfere with your holidays with your family."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

WO Lamar Darius
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Saalm]

Lt Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed