Counselor's Delight

Posted on Mon Jul 15th, 2024 @ 8:47am by Ensign Nimah Prenn & Captain María Zavala

1,223 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 1.01 - "Ad Astra"
Location: Ten Forward Lounge, USS Carina
Timeline: Day 05, 1824 hours

ON: [[Ten Forward Lounge, USS Carina, Day 05, 1824 hours]]

From the moment she’d set foot aboard the Carina, Zavala had made a point of taking time each day to walk about the ship. And yet, this was the first time that she’d ever been to Ten Forward. It wasn’t as if she’d been avoiding the place. She’d just been…busy.

The first thing she noticed, upon entering the lounge, was how quiet and empty it seemed. She knew that, ordinarily, there would’ve been dozens of people gathered here, relaxing and enjoying themselves. However, with the station’s facilities available (and the days to departure counting down), many appeared to have taken advantage of the remaining opportunities to get off-ship.

Still, Zavala was not entirely alone. As she surveyed the room, her gaze passed a couple seated near one of the windows, a group of junior officers chatting in the corner, along with a few others scattered here and there. It even seemed as if there might have been one or two tables up on the upper level that were occupied (though she couldn’t tell by whom). All in all, a modest crowd.

Zavala was just about to step over to the bar when, suddenly, she caught sight of a figure she did recognize - a Cardassian female. The woman was seated at one of the tables on the main floor, off to one side, facing away from the door. With a simple adjustment to her step, Zavala turned and made her way over.

“Good evening, counselor,” she said, greeting the woman as she approached, “May I join you?”

Nimah had not expected company for the evening - the bar wasn’t really that full after all and she didn’t mind the occasional peace and quiet - but hearing the captain’s voice behind her made her smile. She hadn’t thought to go see her just yet, for work or otherwise. The fact that she would come approach her on her own seemed promising; some of her old commanding officers had avoided her like the plague, which was always funny. “Of course, captain.” She said. “Please, do sit. I was just about to get my second drink of the night.” Nimah held up her empty glass, which, curiously, had a little paper umbrella still in it. “I can order for you if you’d like.”

Taking the offered seat, Zavala’s eyes lingered on the empty glass. It occurred to her that she had not eaten anything since breakfast. If she waited until she got back to her quarters for dinner, then she was going to be really hungry.

“What would you recommend,” she asked.

“Well, for a start, I recommend the omelette.” Nimah nodded in the direction of the bar. “They have a simply divine omelette with cheese and mushrooms that I’ve just eaten, and I really cannot recommend more.” She added. “The kitchen staff do really make it just right. That and the fries that come with… mmm, I think I’ll order another one, now that I’ve mentioned it.” The Cardassian woman’s eyes gleamed mischievously. “Pardon me. I simply can’t resist sometimes - but I’m working on being less prone to temptation. Will I be seeing you here in the lounge more often, then, captain?”

“I suppose that all depends,” Zavala replied. She raised her hand and motioned for one of the lounge waitstaff to come over. “To be honest, I’m only here this evening because I was passing through.”

“I hope you’ve gotten a sufficiently satisfactory first impression. I think this bar is homely, at least.” Nimah replied. “I think we’ll be seeing quite a bit more business once the crew is properly aboard and we’ve pushed off from spacedock. Social spaces like these are extremely important to morale, of course.”

“Well, captain. How has your day been?” Nimah wasn’t here to do an informal session, and she didn’t want to come off as such. The question itself was innocuous, she reckoned, but given her position on board… well, maybe the captain might get other ideas. She smiled sweetly at her commanding officer with her hands in her lap.

“I can honestly say, so far, this right here has been the highlight,” Zavala replied. She smiled. As much as she liked to keep things professional, it’d always been interactions with the crew that made Zavala feel engaged. Meetings, reports, and various other paperwork were all necessary parts of command, but it was the people (and what they experienced together) that made the rest of it worth anything.

“Oh, really? This has been the highlight of your day?” Nimah’s eyes, brown like warm milk chocolate, seemed to light up with joy. “I’m quite happy to hear that. The crew would really appreciate a commanding officer who delights in spending time with them, I’m sure you know. May I take this as an omen of good things to come, then?” She added, raising an eyebrow playfully.

“Certainly,” Zavala said.

At that moment, one of the waitstaff arrived with the order. Zavala leaned back a little to give them room as they set the plates down in front of each woman. “Anything else I can get you, ladies,” they asked.

“A basket of fries - the ones with cheese and all that.” Nimah told them with a bright smile. “You can share it with me if you want, captain, I’m happy to do it.” She offered.

Zavala, for her part, was already eying the omelette that had just been placed in front of her. It looked even more wonderful than Prenn had described. Then again, that might also have been due to her being hungry (a fact the rumbling in her stomach refused to let her forget). “Thank you, counselor,” she said, laying the napkin out across her lap, “That is very generous of you. First, though, I would like to try a bite of this…”

“Go on. I guarantee you’ll love it.” Nimah’s mouth was practically watering as she cut into the omelette with a knife and fork. A little impressed whistle escaped her lips as beautifully runny curds of egg came tumbling out of the soft golden package, followed by cubes of ham and mushrooms which she adored so. She dug in hungrily, savoring every bit that she managed to get onto her fork.

With the counselor having broken the ice (so to speak), Zavala decided that she’d waited long enough. She picked up two of her utensils, cut off a piece of the omelette, and lifted it steadily to her mouth. Right away, she could tell it was as good as had been advertised.

“You weren’t kidding about these eggs,” she said to Prenn.

"I'm pleased to hear that, captain. I hope I don't cause an addiction, now - I'd hate to have to counsel you for being addicted to omelettes of all things," Nimah joked. "It's so much better with mashed potatoes, the days they have it. But I suppose that's a story for another day." Then she returned to her meal in silence, almost inhaling the delicious omelette piece by piece.

OFF

 

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