Spaghetti and a Hamburger

Posted on 14 May 2012 @ 1:17pm by Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Ensign Rhett Brubwick
Edited on on 14 May 2012 @ 1:20pm

2,473 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Mess Hall
Timeline: MD07 - 1500 hrs

[ON]

Walking through the mess hall doors, Pola smiled across at Rhett. The trip here had been uneventful, not helped by a crew member who decided to get some side advise when she managed to corner the Doctor. "I hope that that didn't manage to turn your stomach....the joys of being a ship Doctor aye?"

Rhett shook his head, "I suspect it's the same with any doctor. People always want free medical advice." He took a few steps, sped up and started walking backward. "So, I've got this rash..." he said in a mocking voice. "Isn't that usually how every third conversation starts for doctors?"

Biting a lip, Pola unsuccessfully tried to control her grin, "Rash? If you've got a rash it's like a sneeze...you need a complete scan...probably isolation, we can't risk the chance it might spread. Gosh! Would you imagine the chaos that would break out if a rash got loose?!?"

The diplomat rolled his eyes at her. And turned around so that he was walking beside her toward the replicators. "Well, rashes aside, what would you like to eat?" He pulled up the most recent items replicated. The list included Rigellian borscht, hot chocolate, spaghetti with meatballs, and something called haffergenmill.

Grimacing slightly at the options on screen, Pola metaphorically scratched her head. "I hope you won't think me unadventurous if I go for a simple spaghetti carbonara and a soda. Not certain I could stomach some of those options showing at the moment. How about yourself Ensign?"

"I can't disagree on any particular point. I'll probably go with an old American standard: the cheesburger." He ordered the meals from the replicator, and picked up both plates. "Where shall we sit, my good doctor?" The mess hall wasn't full by any stretch, but there were people sitting at many of the available spaces.

Smiling her appreciation at Rhett, Pola grabbed the drinks and looked around. Spotting a seat over by the window, Pola pointed and started walking at a fast pace, trying to nab the table before someone else managed to get to it. Sweeping into the chair just moments before someone else got to it, the Doctor grinned over at Rhett. "Us Doctors aren't quick on our feet for nothing."

The man couldn't help but laugh. "I can see that." He set the plates on the table and sat across from Ni Dhuinn. He picked off a couple of fries that came with the meal and popped them into his mouth. "This heart-attack on a plate isn't going to mess with your evaluation is it?"

"It depends, have you got a rash you'll spring on me if I drag you back in?" Laughing Pola twirled some spaghetti onto her fork, wincing slight as she realised that maybe the choice hadn't been a good idea when in uniform, hopefully her medical overcoat would cover any spills. "Now...explain something to me..are you Irish?"

Rhett turned red as a beet. "No." He cleared his throat, and tried to stop speaking in an Irish accent. He failed. "It's something I've always done. I pick up accents. I hope it doesn't offend you." He smiled nervously, clearly uncomfortable. Sometimes people thought he was mocking them, but at other times, they were okay with his adoption of their accents. It was a gamble, and not something he had real control over.

Swallowing the mouthful of food in her mouth, Pola shook her head. "Absolutely not. I would ask one thing...do I really sound like that? Oh man I need to work on toning down my accent if that is the case." Grinning, Pola winked across at Rhett.

"Oh, it's very endearing" he assured her. Lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, he added, "Most men find an accent like your incredibly sexy." He guessed what thought might be going through her mind. He made his most sarcastic expression and added, "Not me, of course. I'm immune to such womanly wiles."

Blushing furiously, Pola looked down at her food, shoving a mouthful into her mouth so she'd have a reason not to respond for a moment. In all honesty she wasn't used to flirting, of course she did it herself but then she did it with people who didn't respond, like Jonathan. Finishing the mouthful she attempted a smile and a retort, "You know what makes it even sexier? When you throw in phrases like no mhuireann which manage to bypass the language translator."

Rhett had just taken a massive bite of his burger when she began speaking. He almost said something, then realized masticated beef would fall out of his mouth if he tried. Not exactly the most attractive action in the world. "Hrmmy," he hummed past the beef, as he tried to chew and swallow. It seemed to be taking forever. Finally he swallowed, took a deep breath and grimaced. "Sorry about that." He took a quick drink, and continued, "I have to say, that certainly lent an air of mystery. Was that old Irish? Or something else? I'm afraid I have absolutely no secondary language ability whatsoever."

Pola looked over at Rhett with a big grin on her face, delighted that he was showing an interest in her country's national language. "It's called Gaelige, it's the national language of Ireland. I guess we were lucky to be able to preserve it, at one point 100-200years ago it almost because extinct but thankfully a few key pockets of people were able to keep it alive. Try this..." Leaning forward onto her arms, the Doctor moved closer to Rhett so as he could clearly hear her pronunciations, "An bhfuil(will) cead(cad) agum(a-gum) dul(dull) go(guh) dti(dee) an(on) leithreas(letter-us), mas(moss) e(aaa) do(duh) thoile(hull-aaaa)?"

He repeated the phrase, and it didn't sound half-bad, until about half-way through when he forgot what she had said entirely. In fact, the accent made the first half sound practically fluent. He tried valiantly to remember the rest of the phrase, "Letter opener, us mossy shore? I'm sorry I lost it." It was accompanied by a smile. The truth was, Rhett had almost no interest in learning languages. There had been a time when he had dreamed of being multi-lingual, but that had died when his attempts at German and Russian didn't work out. Regardless, he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Laughing, Pola repeated the phrase again slowly for Rhett's benefit. "You didn't do half bad for someone who isn't fluent. It the first line of Irish every child is taught once they start school. It's an absolutely essential tool for every single Irish school child. Would you like to know what it means?" Realising her food had gone unnoticed, Pola moved her fork to take up a little more. It had been awhile since she had last enjoyed herself so thoroughly.

"Sure. Lay it on me." He took a smaller bite of his burger after he said it. Although the food was good, it wasn't nearly as good as when he hand-seasoned and grilled his own.

Waiting until Rhett had swallowed, Pola then gave him the answer. She'd been afraid he might spit out his food otherwise. "Can I go to the bathroom please." Looking down at her plate, Pola bit down on her lip to surpress a laugh.

Rhett snorted. It was terribly embarrassing, or would have been had he the tendency to be embarrassed by things like that. "Oh, my." he said and he cleared his throat. He couldn't help but laugh at himself. "Well, if I could remember all of it, I might have to use that phrase to escape the embarrassment." He took a sip of his drink and shook his head, still chuckling.

Laughing Pola shook her head. "No need to be embarrassed...I lead you down that road. I'll tell you what. Just to say sorry, I'll teach you one more. It's extremely simple and I promise, it's not embarrassing. Infact it'll probable get you any woman your after. Mo(muh) mhuirnin(wer-neen)."

Rhett looked directly into the doctor's eyes. And repeated the phrase. He smiled a wide, charming, and lopsided smile. "How'd I do?" he asked.

As Rhett's held her eyes and his deep rich voice repeated the phrase in the Irish accent he had adapted, Pola became speechless. As they maintained the eye contact, she found herself unable to speak. Noticed his eyes seemed to be a deep rich blue colour, off setting his blonde hair, the Doctor had a few more moments of complete senselessness before able to pull herself back. "Um...good?" Still stumbling over words, Pola shook her head to try clear it, dislodging a piece of her hair. "You did great, noone would ever know you weren't actually Irish."

"What did it mean?" he asked with a smile. He ate a couple of french fries and took another bite of his burger.

Watching Rhett go back to his food, Pola found herself a little off balanced, picking up her fork but doing nothing more then moving food around her plate. Digesting the man's question, Pola tried to latch on to pull herself back to some normality. "You just said My dear, or my darling."

Rhett nodded, swallowed, and smiled. "I'll try to remember that one, then." He looked at his plate. "So, you look incredibly young to be the CMO on a starship. You've got to practically be a genius to already have a medical degree and reach your current rank."

Taking her drink, Pola took another moment to compose herself before slipping back into her normal self and smiling across at Rhett. "Well funny story there..I actually only made CMO about...2-3days ago? I was actually taken onboard as ACMO but due to the CMO having to leave I was offered the chance. I'd have been mad not to accept it. I only got a ACMO position as Starfleet where anxious to put Doctor's where they could while they rebuilt the fleet. The fact I also attended Starfleet Medical school after the academy probable went in my favour also, I came out of there with the rank I currently have."

Realising she had said alot, Pola blushed slightly and laughed, "Sorry. That's the condensed version I guess. How about yourself? How did you end up in diplomacy?"

Rhett shrugged, "I don't know. I didn't want to have to shoot people, and I get queasy at the sight of blood, and I have no interest in the scientific process, and I majored in Communication. So there you have it." He smiled. "Like you said, the condensed version." He polished off his hamburger and looked at his watch. "What time does your shift start?"

"Oh you had to remind me...1600hours I'm afraid. For some incoherent reason, when I moved from ACMO to CMO I elected to stay on the Beta shift..a moment of insanity I think. When you are due to start your shifts?" Pola pushed away her now empty plate.

"Well, sometime after I finish all my examinations. I've still go to see the counselor and report to our esteemed captain." He used a napkin to wipe his mouth. "I assume I'll probably be on alpha shift, but that's just a guess."

Suddenly checking the time herself, Pola found it to only be 1545hours. "Hum...15minutes to kill before I'm due back to then be shackled to sickbay until 0000hours. Very weird question for you..do you dance?"

Rhett grimaced, "Not well, I'm sorry to say. People have said that I look like a marionette when I dance. Stiff and without any semblance of rhythm." He looked at the doctor, "I'm assuming you dance, probably extraordinarily if I guess correctly."

Blushing, Pola nodded her head slightly. "I love dancing. Sometimes it's a nice wind down after beta shift, the ship is so quiet so it's fairly easy to get a holodeck. It's a stress release I guess. If I have a partner I try ballroom dancing but if I'm on my own I'l try something like ballet or a barn dance..depends on how much stress I need to release." Pausing Pola realised she was becoming very flustered again. Looking up at Rhett, she tried to control the blush, "How about you Rhett? What's your form of stress relief."

The question made the man's mind go somewhere it had no business going. He quickly rerouted his mental process and shrugged. "I actually really enjoy cooking. Although sometimes, it creates more stress than it relieves."

Pola moved to collect up her dishes and utensils for recycling in the replicator, Pola smiled shyly across at Rhett. "Would it be a bad thing if I admitted I can't cook? I think that as well as bad handwriting, it's a requirement that Doctors are bad chefs also."

Rhett shook his head, "It's not a bad thing. When replicators came around, most people forgot how to cook. Now it's pretty much an art form practiced by only the most dedicated." He paused, "Or me, as something of a throwback to how things used to be."

The diplomat smiled, asked if Pola was done, and took the plates to the replicator to recycle. When he got back he smiled and helped to pull out the doctor's chair. "I'll tell you what. If I can get my quarters fitted with actual cooking equipment, I'll invite you over and show you just how mediocre my cooking really is."

Hesitiating for a moment before getting to her feet, Pola turned around and gently laid her hand against Rhett's arm, smiling softly. "Thank you. I guess...that'd be nice."

"Well then. I guess we'll keep in touch. Thank you for an early dinner." He smiled and walked her to the door. "Have a good shift. Try not to panic about the next sneeze you encounter."

"I'll have the isolation ward ready for any sneezing victims...watch you don't find yourself near any pepper incase." Grinning, Pola gave Rhett a little wave before heading off for the turbolift for the start of her shift. After the night she'd had last night, this encounter with Rhett really had picked her up, leaving her back to normal bubbly self. The Doctor couldn't help but find herself looking forward to any more encounters she may have with the Ensign, if anything he seemed to be able to cheer her up.

That was fun Rhett thought as he walked out of the mess hall. He pulled the PaDD out of his pocket and located the diplomatic offices. It was time to see how his department looked.

[OFF]

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Lieutenant JG Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Rhett Brubwick
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo

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