Dinner Planetside
Posted on Thu May 9th, 2024 @ 3:24pm by Captain Rylan Gray & Lieutenant Sarah Graesyn
2,188 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Opening Moves
Location: Various
Timeline: MD0013 - 1750
[Main Engineering, Deck 15]
Sarah finished up her days work and set a diagnostic to run overnight on the warp propulsion systems which would be her next couple of days, perhaps a weeks worth of work with her crew and she stepped back from the console. "Computer, what is the current time?"
"The time is 19:53."
She thought for a moment and then completed the hand-off of Engineering to the night crew, leaving them firm instructions to contact her if anything out of the norm occurred or if the diagnostic returned results earlier than her normal shift return. "Computer, locate the Captain"
"Captain Rylan is located in his Quarters on Deck 2"
Sarah gave a small grimace at the thought of the distance but she quickly left Engineering and headed for her own quarters, along the way she passed a pair of the Fleet Yard engineers and gave them a cordial nod though she was far past annoyed at their continued presence on board. I and my crew that have reported so far are more than capable of handling things shipside... cannot wait for Handoff Day.
[Captain's Quarters, Deck 2 - 1630]
Sarah had changed into a light blue dress that hugged her and did much to conceal her braces that she had fully donned after a very busy and not at all easy shift. It contrasted against her eyes which had shifted from their normal honey color to a deep evergreen throughout the day and she smoothed it out and pressed the chime of the door, stepping back slightly to wait.
[Inside the Captain's Quarters]
A chessboard, one of three with started games, was sitting on the coffee table with Rylan on one side and Captain Charles Mitz on the screen, speaking from his own quarters aboard the USS Thunderchild. While Rylan read through a report, Mitz worked on his move, a longstanding pattern that annoyed Mitz almost as much as it had once annoyed Rylan.
Rylan looked up when he heard the chime and said, "apologies, Charles. There seems to be someone at the door." He left the PADD, face down, on the coffee table and headed over to the door. The color scheme for his quarters were based on a muted medium gray with turquoise accents and subtle pops of dusty purple and white -- not that he had selected anything himself. No, it was all based on color science and the profile developed by the decorating team. He had no complaints since, after all, it suited him well enough.
Still dressed in his uniform, he pressed the button to open the door and was surprised to see his Chief Engineer, in civilian clothes, on the other side. "Good evening, Chief," he said politely. "Did you need something?"
She nodded to him. "Actually, Captain. I was just wanting to check in with you. Perhaps invite you to have dinner so that we might become a little more familiar. I try to ensure I am on a good basis with my CO's as I have found it ensures things run smoothly." She gave a small, slightly embarrassed smile; feeling just a touch overdressed.
"I see," Rylan said. "If you would give me one moment, Lieutenant." He turned back to the room and approached the view screen where Mitz was still staring at the board. "You are in luck, my friend. It seems I'm being invited to dinner," he said. "Gives you a bit more time to ponder your next move."
Mitz looked up and grinned. "One of these days, I'm going to have to get you to play pool with me. Then we'll see who schools who."
Rylan chuckled all the while, shaking his head. "I rather doubt that's going to happen. I'll be in touch tomorrow." He shut down the view screen in the midst of Mitz' waving him away and then turned back toward the Lieutenant and her … unusual … proposition. "What did you have in mind, Lieutenant?"
"Not going to lie, Captain. This was a completely spur of the moment decision, so.... I am not entirely sure what I had in mind" She admitted. "I have been familiarizing myself with ship systems and haven't done much outside of that just yet."
"I see," Rylan said. "Well, perhaps I can assist then. There's a delightful French restaurant in San Francisco. How does that sound?"
"That sounds like an excellent meal." She nodded, holding her clutch in front of her and stepping a touch back from the door. "I will let you lead the way, Captain."
[The Frog Restaurant, San Francisco, Earth]
A short while later, they were seated near the windows, overlooking a busy plaza, and their waiter, an older gentleman with a shock of silver at each temple, was handing them their menus. Bonsoir, madame et monsieur. Je suis votre serveur. Puis-je vous apporter quelque chose à boire?"
Rylan, who recognized a challenge when he saw one, summoned up his boarding school French and answered. "Merci mais je n'aurai que de l'eau." He turned his gaze to his Chief Engineer. "He wants to know what you want to drink."
She surveyed the menu for a moment and then looked first at the server and then at Rylan before smiling. "I think a touch of Cidre de Normandie will do nicely, Captain" She was enjoying listening to him speak French; it was one language that she had never studied though she did enjoy the study of language herself.
"Et Cidre de Normandie pour mademoiselle," Rylan repeated. The waiter bowed and walked away; only when he was out of earshot did Rylan smile. "You know, I suspect he's quite fluent in English but the French, well, they prefer their own or so I've been told. As long as we don't discuss anything more than food or the weather, I should be alright."
She gave a small chuckle, having had a similar suspicion herself. "That's good to know, Captain... and here I was enjoying the fact that you knew any... It's a beautiful language, French. I never studied it, as much as I enjoy languages... when I got sick I never quite seemed to have time... I was only able to maintain a few of my hobbies and even those became very difficult."
"Required at school," Rylan said. "That and Latin and Greek. Mercifully, I don't have to order in either of those." The waiter returned with his water and her cider and left them to mull over the menus. In truth, he could read and write in French and had spent some time there with mates from school. But it wasn't in his nature to brag. In support of his theory that the waiter had been having him on, the menu was entirely in English though the cuisine was decidedly French. "Interesting choices. What looks good to you?"
“I think I might do the Blanquette de Veau; they have it on special right now and I have never been able to turn down a good veal dish….” She paused for a moment and then laughed. “The irony of that… well; the French have always been known to be just a touch snobbish haven’t they, Sir?”
"That's not been my experience," Rylan said politely. "I think I'll have the Boeuf Bourguignon. It's been years since I've had it."
“Not a dish I have gotten to try. I have to admit that my world experience is rather limited thanks to my illness. But that is something that I try not to let stop me. I have places I haven’t gone yet but they are on my list. What kind of schooling did you have prior to Starfleet?”
The waiter returned and Rylan ordered for both of them, again in fluent French, and then returned to the question at hand; there was an ease about his manner as he switched back and forth that spoke of someone who was comfortable in most social situations. "Well, I was raised in London so I attended what are locally called public schools. Really, you would consider them private schools. Quite different from other places, I'm told. For example, when I was four, my favorite school meal was pepper crusted salmon with garlic chickpeas and my favorite activity was ballet which I quite enjoyed."
Sarah laughed, smiling broadly. "Would you believe it if I told you that was my favorite meal growing up, Captain? Dad made it every week and eventually taught me how to make it in honor of mom." She looked directly at him, appraising him now. She had chosen not to pull Starfleet records on Rylan or his XO; being someone that preferred to learn about a person from personal interactions.
"I would," Rylan said. He didn't smile exactly but there was a lightening of his attitude, a subtle relaxation in posture, and a decided twinkle in his eyes. "And did you never complain about having the same meal every week? I'm rather a fan of a varied menu myself."
"I admittedly did get tired of it from time to time... but it was a memory that I grew to be fond of. I will still occasionally cook it from time to time." she herself eased a little bit, letting some of the strictness that she always held herself with fall away. "I too prefer a varied diet though; it has been recommended by a few doctors."
The waiter brought their meals and refilled their glasses before leaving again. "That's the third time you've brought up your medical condition," Rylan said as he unfolded his napkin and placed in across his lap. "I know the basics, of course, but little more than that. Has it caused problems in your prior assignments?"
"That is a question that deserves a longer explanation, in short form the answer is yes and no. It is very inconvenient at times and I have the occasional day where I can't manage to get anything at all done. However as Starfleet Medical has worked to understand it and what caused it they have found more and better treatments to provide me a better and more fruitful life." She leaned her head to one side and her neck gave an audible pop before she took a bite of her food and sighed in delight. "It has been a challenge to overcome every day but I'm just as stubborn as an Arabian colt that ain't seen a lick of training."
"Interesting way of describing it," Rylan said. "Did you grow up around horses?" He took a small bite of the beef and nodded in appreciation. "Quite good."
Her eyes lit up a bit at his question. "I did, I still own my parents' Horse Ranch in Montana..." She paused in thought for a moment. "...though I suppose that since they are both dead it is my Horse Ranch now." She had a slightly sad smile on her face at that last few words.
"My sympathies," Rylan said quietly. He waited for a moment, letting the sadness of the moment pass, before continuing. "How many horses do you have?"
She thought for a moment and looked to him. "At last report, we had just under a hundred of our own and then we were stabling 13 for several clients. Plenty of room out there for more though," she gave a bright smile.
"A massive operation," Rylan said. "I rode at school, now and again, but the stable was nowhere near that large. Twelve horses. Knew all of them by name of course." As they spoke, he had continued to make headway on his meal. He forked up the last bite and placed his knife and fork on the plate,side by side in the middle with the fork prongs down and the knife to the right with the blade turned inward toward the fork. Where he grew up this was the customary signal to the end of the meal; on ships it was something of a mild curiosity among those he served with. Still the habit remained. "I try to get in a ride or two whenever I'm back on Earth."
“You should come out to the Ranch for your next ride, beautiful country” she stated with an approving smile, placing her own silverware down similarly as her meal was nearly finished, though hers she placed across her plate German style. “It’s impressive to find something in common, Captain. I am glad for it though, as well as for the meal. Thank you.”
TAG
Captain Rylan Gray
Commanding Officer
USS Thunderbird
and
Lieutenant Sarah Graesyn
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Thunderbird
Note: This is an interesting point. So, the GM interjecting here, to point out that the bio you use for the sim is actually not the same thing as an individual's Starfleet record. You wouldn't have access to medical or psychological records, for example, nor would you know anything about an individual's hobbies or personal history. Basically, what you would see is a list of training and ship assignments along with some basic information about him as an individual.
RSS Feed