Plus One
Posted on Sun Nov 15th, 2020 @ 6:59am by Lieutenant Theodore Winslow & Lieutenant Commander Jott Brott & Lieutenant Gunnar Arnason
1,296 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Equivalent Exchange
Location: Arnason's Quarters
Timeline: Thursday after Science Exam
Gunnar came through the door, stripped off his scrub top, threw it in the 'fresher and paused debating whether to change to go out or just replicate something for a quiet night in when his PaDD chirped.
+ Reminder: LCDR Brott for dinner. +
Helvitis. He'd completely forgotten. At glance at the time told him that making shepherd's pie in the kitchenette was out at this stage, but he did the recipe programmed into the replicator, really, Jott had invited himself so he couldn't feel too badly about not making it from scratch. (Besides, 'from scratch' would've meant from mostly replicated ingredients anyway). He should have just enough time to change, set the table and maybe throw together a salad in case Jott didn't like the meat pie.
Jott showed up fifteen minutes after the appointed time and with an unexpected guest, who he'd harrangued into joining him at the dinner a mere two hours earlier. Much like Gunnar, he hadn't given Theo much choice.
"Have you ever eaten a shepherd's pie, Theodore?" Jott asked while waiting for Gunnar to answer the door. He carefully balanced a tray with one hand - it contained a radioactive green cube presumptively meant for consumption - and pressed the chime twice, despite the fact he'd only pressed it the first time less than a minute ago. "I'm very much looking forward to it myself. I hear tell that Lieutenant Arnason makes the best shepherd's pie in this sector."
Theodore really was not sure how he had ended up in this situation where he was being dragged to someones home for a meal. It was almost sociable of him. "I have," Theodore assured with a small smile. He was human after all and it was a stable of his colony.
At the second chime, Gunnar decided hurrying to the door was futile and called "Come," so the door opened automatically. "I have the pies warming and..." he paused, noting Theo beside Jott in the doorway. Recovering, he smiled past the surprise - Jott had invited himself, why wouldn't he invited someone else too? "...I'll replicate another. Please, come in."
"Why, thank you," Jott said graciously. "This is my acquaintance, Theodore Winslow. Do you know one another?"
"Yes, we've met. Please, come sit down, both of you," Gunnar said with a welcoming smile. "Can I get you anything to drink? I have some 11th Hour Alibi from the Silver Tongue - it's a farmhouse ale, so it goes with shepherd's pie."
Theodore pale as he realised that Jott had basically dragged him to someones home invited. The Security chief made an apologetic face at the man he had shared a few drinks with. "I apologise that my companion here sprung me on you. I did bring a bottle of wine." He held out the bottle to the man hoping it was a enough for gate crashing.
Well, he sprung himself on me too... Gunnar thought, but he'd been raised better than to ever say that. He could see how uncomfortable Theo was though and sympathized - he'd feel the same in that position. "It's fine," he said, accepting the wine. "And thank you. A red will go well with the meal too."
With that he headed into the kitchenette to get glasses before this got anymore awkward.
Without invitation (for what was that?), Jott followed him into the kitchenette.
"I brought something for the meal, too. It's a Bolian goocrux cube. I think you can digest that, though you might want to check the database. It's customary to bring something, isn't it?" the Bolian asked, looking at Gunnar then over his shoulder for Theo. He was nowhere to be seen, so Jott leaned in and lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. "I don't think Theodore gets out much. He's got that haunted, baggy eyed, spends-too-much-time-in-a-dark-empty-room look about him. I thought it might be nice for him to socialize."
Gunnar had to admit, given everything Theo had been through recently, it wasn't a bad idea. But then he doubted that Jott knew about any of that, and either way he certainly wasn't going to mention it. "That was kind of you," he said, taking the goocrux cube, which he was relatively certain wasn't edible for humans.
"I have my moments," Jott agreed without a shred of humility. While his host retrieved glasses, he located a bottle opener and went about freeing the wine with brute force. Turning his large head, he shouted into the interior of the home. "Theodore! Theodore! Where did you get this wine? Are you a connoisseur?"
Theodore had been glancing around the quarters wondering if he could get some interior designing tips when the shouting came through the kitchen. He wandered over to avoid the need to shout. "Afraid not. I just liked it at the Academy."
Gunnar would have been surprised at anyone looking to his quarters for interior design. Since he had originally arrived expecting to stay perhaps a month or two he hadn't brought much with him to decorate - a few pictures and a couple tokens from T'Ango. However, he had picked up a few nice wood carvings from a local artist that he thought she'd like. Those were set out in places he could see them and think of seeing her again, but they also kept the place from looking too bare.
"California wines do have a good reputation," Gunnar remarked, setting the glasses down so Jott could pour while he replicated a third shepherds pie and retrieved the first two from the warmer.
True to form, Jott didn't bother with wine etiquette and filled the glasses very nearly to the brim. Some sloshed out on the way to the dining table - probably because he insisted on carrying all three glasses plus the bottle - but he either didn't notice or didn't care (maybe a combination of the two).
"I'm looking forward to this pie," he said, leaning against a dining chair with wine glass in hand like some tenured professor at a faculty party. "I've been thinking about it for hours."
"I hope it meets those expectations. I'm afraid I got busy today so this is just replicated, but it is based on an old family recipe," Gunnar said, placing shepherds pies with on the table. "It's not gourmet, just good hearty fare and there are a lot of variations."
"It looks fantastic," Theo said actually breaking into a smile. It smelt so much better than his usual salad or protein shake that he replicated. "Smells like home." he mused taking a sip from the wine.
"Thank you. You come from a farming colony, if I recall," Gunnar said. "Was this a normal dish there?"
Jott stared expectantly at Theo, fork half-raised to his mouth. The man looked like he was in a trance or something. The sound of Jott dropping the fork on his plate might have broken him out of it. "I say, are you all right? Reminiscing about the ol' colony?"
"I am fine. Thank you. And yes it is a normal dish. My mum used to make it often." Theo said turning a red shade as he had been caught daydreaming. It was becoming more and more often. He needed to find something to occupy himself again.
Gunnar noted the distraction, and recalling some of a previous conversation, decided it might best to redirect the conversation. "What do you think, Dr. Brott? I'm not terribly familiar with Bolian cuisine. Is there anything similar where you're from?"
The conversation soon turned to the colony and the ongoing works. "What do you both think the biggest challenge is going to be?" Theodore wondered trying to make conversation. He was the worst guest at the moment.
TRUNCATE
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