Warrior's Mess (Part 2 of 10)

Posted on 30 Apr 2015 @ 6:38pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Andreus Kohl & Ensign K'os Beaumont & Lieutenant Benice Gyce Ph.D. & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Ensign Jaana Voutilainen

2,644 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: IKS CharghwI' - Deck 18, Dining Hall
Timeline: MD 01 - 2213 hrs

Previously, on Warrior's Mess (Part 1)...

The wiggling all the way down of her esophagus did sometimes make Gyce nauseated, but this was a diplomatic function. She willed herself to keep the no nonsense persona she was known for.

K'os made his way to the buffet table practically vibrating with anticipation. Somewhere along the way he'd grabbed the largest plate he could find and was looking over the food adding small portions of various foods. Some he knew by name only, others he was selecting based on their smell. He added pipius claws, krada legs, and other foods he didn't even know the name of. "What else should we try?" He looked at Kohl with raised eyebrows and leaned in and said quietly so as to not offend any nearby Klingons, "Except maybe whatever that is. The smell makes me think my stomach wouldn't be very happy later.." It was clearly K'os' first time having having Klingon cuisine and his curiosity was definitely peaked. Though a part of him was also probably trying to impress Kohl.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Following closely behind K'os, Andreus Kohl was scooping up handfuls of semi-living or recently-decapitated meats and dropping them onto the bed of gagh on his plate. He made a point of choosing all the same delicacies K'os had chosen before him. As far as Kohl was concerned, they would relish or regret this gastronomical adventure together. "I'm not sure either of our digestive systems were made to eat anything that sharp," Kohl remarked, waggling a finger at the offensive food-animal on the table. "I think I saw Tuula pulling something fishy out of a barrel of bloodwine. How's your tolerance to alcohol?"

K'os laughed, then frowned when he realized he'd never had any other social interaction with Kohl outside of their study dates. For a moment, he second guessed himself and thought maybe he should appear more outgoing or maybe more flirty; more like Ellsworth. Alcohol would make him chatty, but if it was sugar based he'd be dancing on the table with his pants off before this reception even ended. In the end he decided he didn't know how to act like anyone else but himself so he replaced his frown with a grin. "I have a very high tolerance to alcohol, but not to sucrose. Sugar for me is like tequila for Humans."

Kohl laughed, and the sound came out of him like a friendly challenge. "Oh, go on," Kohl said. "Just one tentacle. I'll share it with you." Cradling his plate in one arm, Kohl took hold of K'os' forearm and pulled him towards the barrel they were discussing. However, Kohl slowed down beside the seated form of a Starfleet officer eating silently. Kohl didn't know Benice Gyce, but he said to her, "Hullo! Excuse me, but have you met Ensign Beaumont here?"

K'os' eyebrows lifted at the sudden introduction. It wasn't that he was nervous about meeting new people, he just wasn't used to being the one to initiate things socially. He was far more comfortable talking to colleagues in engineering. His free hand scratched the back of his head reflexively. "Uh, hello." K'os said. His eyes brightened a bit and in attempt to show Kohl he could be somewhat outgoing at least he asked, "Is that gagh you're eating?"

"I am," Gyce answered with a toothy grin. "I don't think I've met either of you, come to think of it. But for a security officer, most believe it a good thing I don't meet many of the crew."

There was a genuine laugh there, as it often helped to poke fun at one's self, given her occupation and it's tendency to make others nervous.

Kohl shook his head at the self-depreciating humour. He said, "I consider it a shame we've never met. I don't know about K'os here --he's a rebellious youth after all-- but I always feel comforted when I'm around a security officer." Kohl popped something squishy and bite-sized from his plate into his mouth. After a couple of chews, he went on, "You'd take a phaser blast for me, wouldn't you?"

"Doubt I'd be in that position very often to do that for others, but yes," Gyce admitted. "If I'm not investigating crimes, I usually fill a sniper role. So I'd be taking out the person pointing a weapon at you, before they get a shot off."

She left out the bit about her inability to run or walk as fast as others. With the handle of her cane dangling on top of the table beside of her, she felt observant scientists could put two and two together.

K'os had visibly flinched when Kohl referred to him as a youth. That was the opposite of what he wanted Kohl and others to see him as; especially Kohl. He covered it up with a smile and moved towards the bloodwine squid as if that'd prove the statement wrong but when Gyce mentioned investigating crimes he stopped and returned to his original spot. "Really? You investigate crimes? Like on the ship? That sounds exciting." He frowned a little at his enthusiasm, realizing it was precisely how a youth would ask the questions.

"Crimes... Or rule out crimes," Gyce corrected. "I also look for weaknesses in the security system and recommend improvements. I can only guess you two are scientists?"

K'os chuckled, "We're Starfleet officers, I think that makes us all scientists." His eyebrows rose excitedly as he talked, "I started as an impulse systems specialist, then a matter energy specialist. I'd like to think I apply the scientific method everyday to the trouble shooting process of being a technician. I can't imagine a position on the ship that doesn't use science to some degree or another." K'os looked at Kohl, "I'd love to be a scientist in Operations. Or maybe employ physics in Flight Control one day." K'os looked back at Gyce, "They even have scientists in Security. Forensics is a science discipline." K'os grinned at Gyce.

"I know," Gyce smiled, humored a bit by his comment. "I have a PhD in Criminal Psychology and a Masters in Law Enforcement. Part of my job is working very closely with forensics."

As Kohl listened to them, he was swallowing another tangle of gagh. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and was careful not to use the white fabric of his sleeve. Once his mouth was free, Kohl asked Gyce, "Does that mean you're enjoying your posting to a science-specialty starship?"

"I try to," Gyce laughed. "It's sometimes a bit dull looking at a security feed most of the day."

K'os smiled at that through a mouthful of krada legs. He already finished off the samples he'd taken, and was now eyeing the ones on Kohl's plate. There was something about the texture he enjoyed. "I'm going to get some octopus and bloodwine, would you like me to get you some?" He asked Gyce. He knew Kohl would want to try some, and he looked to him with a questioning eyebrow as well.

Gyce barely fought to hide the nausea she was already feeling from her food. "Oh no... No. I'm fine, thank you."

Referring back to K'os' earlier concerns, Kohl said, "If it's too sweet for you, I'll eat it." In the meantime, he lifted a krada leg from his plate and started to gnaw the meat from the bone, while he waited for K'os to return.

K'os moved towards the barrel that Tuula had gotten the tentacle from. He opened it and took up a knife on the table. Just like he'd seen Tuula do, he reached down and grabbed a tentacle as it swirled up out of the bloodwine. He held it in his left hand but didn't do anything but hold it firmly. His knife was raised to cut it off, but K'os found himself staring into the drunken eyes of the octopus. He took a deep breath and was just about to apply the knife blade when his eyes became wet at the idea of harming the creature. Stunned or not, K'os just couldn't bring himself to do it. With a slight panic that he might be seen crying over cutting off a tentacle he let it go quickly allowing it to slip back into the red depths of the liquid. Instead he quickly poured out portions of the bloodwine into cups. He drained one cup and refilled it before bringing a couple back for him and Kohl.

Kohl made no effort to hide that he was studying K'os' face, when he accepted the cup of bloodwine from him. Although Kohl wasn't quite perceptive enough to intuit the reason for K'os' hesitation, he was observant enough to catch K'os' halting stance at the barrel. Choosing not to call him out for it, Kohl simply said, "Thank you. I think I have some spines in my throat; this will wash them down nicely."

"Cheers then," Gyce smiled. She inwardly could not stomach much of this sort of food. Never could, but she was determined not to show that.

"Qapla'!" K'os said, before grinning and draining his cup again in just two or three swallows. The stuff was sweet, and it burned his eyes much the way it did when he drained the first one at the barrel. He could feel the warm fuzziness of a really strong buzz wash over him and his features took on a more dopey boyish look. He turned his whole body around to face Kohl. He lowered his voice and spoke into the man's shoulder. "I couldn't cut the octopus. It kept looking at me with those sad eyes..." His voice trailed off and he sniffed Kohl. "And you shmell good." He said distractedly as he watched the people, and Klingons over Kohl's shoulder. His words were only slightly slurred. Absently he had taken up a bit of fabric on Kohl's dress uniform and was pinching it between his fingers as a way to fidget. At the same time, K'os had also raised himself up on his toes and then allowed himself to drop down with his heels hitting the floor. It made him look a little restless, when all he was doing was grounding himself a bit.

Given what K'os had said, Kohl tilted his head slightly and took a whiff of K'os' hair. He smiled. Kohl balanced his plate in one hand and draped his other arm across K'os' back. "Let's refill your plate," Kohl said. Nudging K'os along, Kohl started to walk slowly back towards the buffet. Rather than suggesting K'os hold off on the bloodwine, Kohl said, "Let's see if they have anything resembling a vegetable to soak up some of that sugar."

"Yes, leafy greens..." K'os trailed off as he allowed Kohl to lead him back to the food. Being naturally touchy, K'os liked the feeling of Kohl's arm on his back. "Barring that, a few good glashes of water and a toilet and I'll be fine."

Luke stood talking to some Klingon's one of whch he was delighted to have met during the war, luckily for him he remember him too and Luke found himself being able to blend in a lot better especially with a bowl of fine klingon cuisine which made his stomach churn more then federation rations.

"I can tell by the look of your face your about as thrilled about the food as I am." Grayson said, turning to Luke. "I've had to shovel this down my throat before, most unpleasant if you ask me. The Klingon's love watching us 'Federation types' try it, apparently tests us as warriors. I for one, want to keep them guessing." Grayson took a hand full of gagh and swallowed it whole, followed by bread and a long drink.

Luke smiled with a grimace before putting his own mouthful down the hatch. Swallowing hard, "It certainly tests my stomach but what can you do?" He shruggs. Klingon food always took a few mouthfuls before your taste buds seem to stop working and all that's left is the texture.

"Come on, try a piece," said Tuula to her sister, having cut the end of the tentacle into slightly more manageable chunks. "It's delicious, the flavour of the blood wine really goes well with the raw octopus. I guarantee you, it's way better than lutefisk."

Jaana sighed, trying to think of an excuse. She really didn't want to overeat at this thing, especially not a whole bunch of strange Klingon foods. "Are you sure you prepared that correctly? I don't want to be in your sickbay tomorrow for food poisoning."

"Relax, I'm a surgeon," replied Tuula, as she stabbed a chunk, sticking it onto the end of her knife. "Here, eat."

"Fine," she replied, carefully pulling the piece of raw octopus meat off the knife. She always found it hard to say no to Tuula when she got like this. It was why she ended up going to more goth clubs in San Francisco than she would care to admit. After taking one last look at the food in her hand, she tossed it into her mouth. The texture of the still-squirming piece of meat was strange, and her taste buds were overpowered by the mixture of raw fish taste, bloodwine, and some spices she couldn't quite identify. It was definitely different; perhaps Klingon cuisine was an acquired taste. One she would do her best not to.

"Delicious, isn't it!" exclaimed Tuula as she grabbed another piece to pop in her mouth. "I like how they--" She froze mid-sentence as someone not too far from the entrance caught her attention. "Oh! Olsam's here! I have to talk to him; how do I look?"

Jaana just stared at her sister. "Well, for starters, that luminescent hair dye you used makes it look like you shampoo with radioactive waste. I don't know what is going on with your eye shadow, and your breath reeks of booze and raw octopus. Though, knowing Olsam, he may find that attractive."

"Excellent." I'll meet you back here in a bit, replied Tuula, quickly turning and pushing herself towards the newly arrived Bolian, leaving the rest of the octopus tentacle in front of her decidedly unenthusiastic sister.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Atlas

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Chronos

Ensign T'Vanna Murray
Chief of Operations
USS Aventia

Lieutenant j.g. Naois Mercy
Chief Medical Officer
USS Nautilus
[PNPC T'Vanna]

CPO Tyrion Faye
Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC T'Vanna]

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Helmsman
USS Galileo
[PNPC T'Vanna]

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Assistant Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign K'os Beaumont
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Executive Officer
USS Nautilus

LCDR Allyndra Warraquin
First Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Luke Wyatt
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

CPO Keval Grayson
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Grayson Jones
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Emmarie
Asst. Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

PO2 Eva Kovalev
Propulsion Specialist
USS Galileo
[PNPC Zhao]

LCDR Norvi Stace
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Janna Voutilainen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Olsam Mott, M.D.
Acting Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Crewman Apprentice Sigrid Thelin
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo
[PNPC K'os Beaumont]

LTJG Benice Gyce
Security Investigations Officer
USS Galileo

LCDR Dea Mialin
Commanding Officer
USS Aventia

LT Jared Nicholas
Linguist
USS Galileo

LT Min Zhao
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

AMB Solene von Lanthen
Diplomat
USS Galileo
[PNPC Khnailmnae]

CDT Nesh Saalm
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo
[PNPC Khnailmnae]

Arandon Khnailmnae
Botanist
USS Galileo

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