The Meal [Part 2]

Posted on 02 Feb 2015 @ 6:14pm by Nesh Saalm
Edited on on 02 Feb 2015 @ 9:50pm

1,390 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo: Mess Hall
Timeline: MD -14 1400 hours

ON

Nesh had decided to drag the hapless cadet with her to the Mess Hall before they ran off into the depths of Science Labs. She had remembered that sometimes it was better to 'run tests' on a full stomach... or was it an empty one?

Deciding against looking it up, she insisted they have a full meal before entering the labs, which was where they currently found themselves. Nesh had picked up a tray of whatever the chef's special was for the day, not bothering to ask what it was or what region of the universe it was from. She was much too excited to be picky!

She had ushered them to a table and sat down before her excitement got the best of her, as if an inner mad scientist sparked in her. "Make sure to eat up. I don't want you getting sick because of a pheromone inhibitor."

Never having much of a chance to respond, Wintrow had been forced to stumble after her, until he was plunked in a seat and the food thumped down before him on the table. "Aren't you going to have anything?" he asked curiously, while poking his finger at the food.

"Hm?..." Nesh frowned, staring down at her empty space. In her excitement, she had forgotten to get herself food. After another pause, she leapt up and went to obtain herself some food, sitting herself down once more. "There. I almost forgot me in all this rush!"

"That's just silly. I could've just shared mine you know, I have plenty for two anyway." He looked over to her plate. "What are you having anyway?"

Shrugging, the Orion girl gave her food a weird look. It didn't look like something the chef usually prepared, and she wasn't all that familiar with it. Poking the rectangular-shaped slab of what looked to be meat, Nesh crinkled her nose grumpily. "... I dunno what it is."

Leaning over, Wintrow sliced a small corner off of the triangle and stuffed it into his mouth. "Tastes like chicken," he said thoughtfully.

"Chicken?" Nesh stared at the brown lump, prodding it again with her fork as if it was another sample in a petri dish. Crinkling her nose, she finally stabbed her fork in one end and took a bite. ".... Well, it doesn't taste like it's gonna kill me."

"Chicken," Wintrow confirmed with a grin, "you know, Earth poultry... besides it's said to define something as tasting like chicken when you really can't classify it. And, it does take like chicken."

Her nose crinkled further as she took a small bite on her own. "... This tastes nothing like chicken that the old chef used to make. It was slathered in a wine sauce last time. This seems... dry. And full of onions."

"No chef is the same I guess," Wintrow countered cheerfully, "I mean, be glad this is edible, if I had to make this myself, trust me you wouldn't want to eat it. Besides, why aren't you just slathering it with gravy?"

Shoulders sagging, Nesh's continued her 'completely scientific' examination of the meat slab. "Gravy? I guess I could have done that, but I'm just so excited." She took another bite, this one much bigger than the last. "I guess the taste will grow on me."

"It could," Wintrow agreed, watching her with interest. "But why eat something you don't like when there's plenty to choose from that you do like?"

Wintrow was right, to a degree. Nesh would have admitted to that, and her Orion heritage would have most likely agreed with the statement. Discomfort was not something the young Orion was used to subjecting herself too. However, if she wanted to study to be more culturally diverse, as Starfleet tended to preach, it was something she would have to get used to, right? Better now than never! "Because it is practice! It'll help me become more accustomed to eating cuisine I'm not used to and may not like in the future."

"Could always just pinch your nose and close your eyes though," Wintrow suggested playfully.

Shaking her head, Nesh frowned. "That's rude in some cultures. I don't know how certain dignitaries would react to pinched noses. I could start a war that way!"

"You possibly could, but then again you also could with just refusing food or even eating the wrong thing first."

Nesh huffed. "People are just touchy. Why would you have a big ol' meeting with all this food and all these rules in the first place, if you're just going to start a war in the long-run?"

"Oh so true, but some societies are very big on food. Down to the point of dictating with which hand you're supposed to eat." He gestured with his left hand, which held his fork. "I'd have a huge problem, you see.."

She examined the placement of fork in hand, uncertain as to how that was supposed to be offending. Was there a Betazoid tradition she wasn't aware of? "... How is that offending?"

"In some cultures, eating with your left hand is considered to be unsanitary."

As if she were able to determine the answer to why that was with a visual cue, Nesh examined both hands for some form of impurity. "........ Cultures are weird."

The young man chuckled, shaking his head. "Eat with your right hand, because you wipe your ass with your left, supposedly, so your left would be unclean..." He shrugged. "I don't know, I was always taught to wash my hands frequently so I don't quite understand the point either. Except, that I would still have a huge problem, since left is my dominant hand."

Nesh wasn't sure who to criticize more; Humans or Betazoids. She was unfamiliar with both cultures, so either of them could have been picky about the choice of hands to pick up a utensil with. "... I guess it's something they didn't think about."

"Oh...but they did," Wintrow grinned, "some cultures are just plain weird, that's all."

"Indeed they are..." Nesh poked at the last bits of her food, suddenly not nearly as hungry as she thought she would be, the [i]testing[/i] having been long forgotten. "But there should also be a little leeway to learn about other cultures, regardless of how strict their rules are on forks and food."

"Very true," Wintrow answered cheerfully, "and weren't we going to test out something?"

"Were we?" The Orion girl shrugged. "... I almost forgot why we came all this way!"

"I nearly did too," Wintrow smiled ruefully. "But I think, before we do anything food is just as important." He quickly finished whatever was on his plate, then leaned forward. "So what did you have in mind?"

There was a brief expression of confusion on Nesh's features, before she grinned. "I remember now. We were going to test the pheromone-inhibitor, to see if it worked on you!... Because of your mixed heritage, and all."

The older teenager nodded. "But how do we test this? Because right now I'm not sure it's working...I'm feeling a little...distracted."

Nesh tilted her head to one side, blinking obliviously at the other cadet. ".... Distracted? Get your head out of the clouds, silly!" She tapped his forehead, frowning. "I'm not sure, though the Science Labs will have all we need-and some safety measures, just in case."

"Safety measures? Such as?" Wintrow just stared. "And what do you mean, head out of the clouds?" Her touch felt a little odd, but it made him smile all the same. "What are we waiting for?"

"You said you were distracted! It's an Earth idiom, right? 'Head out of the clouds'?" Nesh stared at him inquisitively, frowning. "I don't know what we're waiting for. Finish lunch?"

"Distracted because I have such a beautiful roommate and friend," Wintrow giggled. "I don't know about you but I'm not hungry anymore, shall we head to the lab?"

Giving Wintrow a playful swat, Nesh giggled. "Quit it, or I'll think my pheromones have gotten to you already, which would just be alarming... but then we could test how the inhibitor worked!" She leapt up, grabbing his hand. "To the labs!"

OFF:

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC T'Vanna]

Cadet FG Nesh Saalm
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo
[PNPC Kita]

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