Subtlety Of A Chef

Posted on Tue Dec 6th, 2022 @ 9:43am by Rianne Edei (*) & Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya

Mission: Mission 16: Hysperia
Location: Hysperia Colony
Timeline: MD03 20:00
Tags: U
1682 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Rianne was sure this was the place she had been told to meet the senior officers of the new ship she was on but as of yet 15 minutes after the meet-up time she had yet to bump into anyone remotely familiar other than a goat farmer who wanted to get familiar with her. She was sure there could not be two places known as the Filthy Sword Tavern in Hysperia's old town but there she was alone without a friend to fend off goat farmers.

"Come on love one drink with me?" He pleaded as his goblet sloshed over the table in front of her.

"...I think the lady has made her thoughts clear." Kali, for once having been good at blending in rather than her more default mode of aggressively standing out, seemed to practically come out of the woodwork in appearing near the pair, leaning in slightly in a way that made her...not quite intimidating per se, but a hint of it; a suggestion that taking issue against her might not be the wisest course of action.

Rianne was relieved to see someone familiar and slide from her chair wrapping an arm around her. “As you can see my wife is here.” She said without hesitation which made the man look between them pair.

Kali tensed by reflex at the unsolicited contact, but given the situation, held off on doing anything more than that.

“I did not realised you were married. You do not wear a ring.”

“My traditions are different.” The Betazoid answered back just staring at the woman instead of the man. She had an act to keep up to get herself out of trouble.

“I… yeah… sorry.” The man said stumbling away leaving the pair alone.

“Well your timing was perfect. It’s … you're the pilot right?” She vaguely remembered meeting her earlier when Gregnol had dragged her through the ship.

"Yeah. I'm Kali." Kali decided to play the rest of the role through a bit in case the jackass was watching them still, and slipped an arm into the other woman's and led them to a table against a wall with a decently defensible position, sliding into one of the chairs. The woman's phrasing would seem to indicate she was associated with the ship, but Kali didn't think she'd seen her before. "And you?"

“Oh I am Rianne. I’m the new cook onboard. Gregnol dragged me through the ship quickly I spotted you in the bridge earlier. I think he was on a promise or something cause he showed me the galley and then practically ran off.” She admitted with a smile having spotted a pretty brunette waiting for him waiting for him at the end of the corridor when she had been shown her quarters.

"What's your best dish?" Kali grinned; she was an awful cook herself, and neither of her parents knew how at all for the most part, so she appreciated a good cook...especially one whose food she would get to eat. Not to mention, on a purely pragmatic level that whispered with her aunt's voice in the back of her head, it was never a good idea to tick off the person making your food and drink.

“Well that all depends on the species if we are talking human and it is poutine, if we are talking Betazoid it is a divine chocolate mousse, Vulcans I make a mean Plomeek soup. My best dish is in the eyes of the beholder or person who gets to eat it.” Rianne grinned back. “So what is your favourite meal this rescuer?”

"Pepperoni pizza." If the answer was incongruous with the ear tips; it was clearly one Kali had been giving for so long there wasn't even a hint of self-consciousness in the statement.

“I will make it as thank you. Now tell me where is the rest of the crew? I was meant to meet them here but only you show up?” She demanded in a no nonsense tone that said she was not going to take anyones trouble.

"Not sure, actually. I think people are doing just like, whatever, whenever, and wherever on the planet, as long as they don't end up in jail and they make it back to the ship before it leaves." Kali shrugged her shoulders and eyebrows. "If you need a ride up though, I can probably arrange it once I verify it with the captain."

“Hmm I was specifically meant to meet senior members of the crew here.” The chef sigh and shook her head making her thick locks bounce around her. “I thought the ship was going for a refit? I would hope that once the festival is over with everyone would be getting back to work to allow us to eventually leave. I wasn’t planning to be a chef for shore side facility.” Shore side was very boring for the Betazoid.

"Oh; everyone is leaving after the refit and the festival is done, yeah. Just before that I think people are kinda doing whatever. If people said they'd meet you here though, I'm sure they'll be here soon." Kali grabbed a pair of beer mugs off a passing tray and put them on their table, one in front of each of them.

The Betazoid frowned but said nothing other than a thanks for the beer for a long time. “If you are not with the group I was meant to be meeting here. How come you are here then?” She asked taking a long sip. It was a smooth beer and hit on the right flavour notes for her which was a welcome relief as she had been expecting something more bitter.

"Heard there was good booze here, honestly." Kali grinned. "I was over at the archery range earlier and one of the locals recommended it so I figured I'd walk over here and try the beer." She took another sip and paused appreciatively. "Not bad, actually."

“It has all the right notes. Maybe something that can be recreated on the ship as I hear there is a still or the workings of one at the very least.” Rianne agreed with a nod. “So very much serendipity us meeting then.” She mused taking a deep draw form the glass.

"Always good to know a good chef." Kali nodded back, her aunt's voice in the back of her head again warning to keep one on her good side. "Though we might be better off just buying a few crates. I'm not sure most replicators ever get booze right, especially not on the ones with safety settings on them." The reasonably subtle (well, subtle in comparison to a pair of pointed ears and upswept eyebrows) tells in the other woman's appearance led to Kali's next question. "You're a Betazoid, right?" She smiled half-sheepishly. "One of my best friends back when I was in the fleet was a Betazoid; she introduced me to my uttaberry pie addiction...." Kali ever-so-slightly licked her lips; it had been years since she'd had a good piece of uttaberry pie; the last time had been at Nia's before she came out towards this part of space.

“No the still. Gregnol told me they are developing a still.” Rianne corrected. Maybe it was a new thing that was still be tested but he had told her it was going to be a thing as the chief engineer and the Captain’s wife had a project. “Yes I am.” Rianne said with a smile. It was easy to miss the eyes for most especially when she did not act like a stereotypical Betazoid. “Oh well if that is what your weakness is I am sure sure I can assist that addiction.” She chuckled softly.

"Oooh, we're getting a still?" The lip-licking was back on Kali's face for a moment, like possibilities were opening up ahead of her view in the future. "We should definitely stock up on ingredients before we leave, then. Don't think they grow uttaberries here, but I heard there's a great raspberry and blackberry farm around."

“Uttaberries really only grown on Betazed. If they are anywhere else they are spliced with other things genetically to grow off-world.” The woman said smiling. “What the Captain said. It was one of the things that made me want to come here.” There had been other reasons but that was a good one.

"Where were you before this?" Kali downed another sip of beer.

Rianne smiled a little. "If you I told you I'd have to kill you." She answered with a smirk as she just stared back at the woman.

“Many have tried; all have failed.” Kali quipped with a smirk of her own. “Though you probably can’t really count a bunch of the Ferengi; they were incredibly ham-handed in their attempts.”

"Not as subtle as a chef can be." The chef said simply as she smirked over the contents of her drink." Ferengi were the least scary species in the galaxy when she were so awkward in their attempts to do most things to the woman.

Kali laughed and raised her beer glass slightly in agreement; the words might have been spoken by a Betazoid but they were pretty much in alignment with the Romulan view of the profession: Don't tick off a chef; they have a million subtle, untraceable, in some cases unproveable even, ways to get back at you for it. Before she could say anything else though, out of the corner of one eye - long since trained first by flight school and then more recently by casino and bar brawls, to be aware of her surroundings in a way she'd found many were not - she spotted a couple of familiar faces and waved with the hand that wasn't holding the beer before turning back to Rianne. "I think your original quarry has arrived..."

“I think I found better company so please stay.” Rianne said quickly as the Captain and what she assumed was his wife and other descended on the table.