[JP] Lieutenants Amelia Semara & Ras El’Heem - The Biggest and Most Perfect Apology Dinner, Part 2

[basedg...@gmail.com]

(( Amelia’s Quarters, Room 145, Deck 14, USS Khitomer ))

Amelia was at the door, smoothing her dress once again.  Always greet a guest at the door.  When it opened, she could swear she meant to say something.

His eyes landed on her and stayed there a second too long. The black, the gold in her hair, the way it came together. It hit him all at once and he didn’t quite recover fast enough. She looked really pretty and he mentally kicked himself for having fumbled in the sauna.

El’Heem: I’m ::beat:: underdressed…

Semara: :: A slow-growing, slightly stunned smile. :: You look nice.

At least it was better than the intrusive joke: oO You’d look even better *un*-dressed. Oo  What was wrong with her?

Semara: :: Flustered :: Where are my manners!  Come in!

She waved him in.  Terribly rude of her to leave him standing there.

It took him a moment to pick his jaw up off the floor. His mouth had gone dry the moment the door opened and he awkwardly cleared his throat.

El’Heem: I- ::stepping into her room:: you look really nice too.

Now inside, the scale of it became clear. Ras turned slowly, taking in the room piece by piece. The table alone was more formal than anything the quarters really called for. A proper table cloth, real plates, and napkins folded meticulously. It felt intentional.

His attention drifted to the kitchen and that was where it really settled in. These weren’t replicated ingredients. He could see it immediately. The subtle bruising on the vegetables and the small imperfections that meant something had actually been grown, handled, and chosen. And there was fish. He stepped over to the counter and rested his hands against the cool surface before he looked at Amelia with gold in his eyes.

El’Heem: Is this…where did you…

Sheepishness was not something Amelia was used to feeling, but having Ras finally see the intensity of her mania washing over him…  She could understand if he was wondering if she needed immediate attention in sickbay.

Semara: :: A little flush. :: I’ve had a while to find all this.  :: Beat :: Did you know there’s a Kressari grocer openin’ up on DS33?

Ras shook his head in wonder. 

El’Heem: I didn’t. ::long pause:: Amelia…you went through a lot of trouble for this…

He wasn’t sure how much of this was guilt for rejecting him, and how much of it was something else. She usually settled on baked goods, for both bribes and apologies, but this was more than that.

Semara: I don’t usually let anyone in the kitchen, but… I was thinkin’ I wanted to make somethin’ for you.  Only I ain’t sure where to find a Kressari cookbook, so I ended up findin’ this Antedean gourmet chef on the cruise ship, and then I had to… :: Looking over. :: Nevermind.  I guess I was hopin’ you might help me with the finer details?

It was the best she was going to get out for the moment.  It felt safe.  Instructional.  Default mode Amelia: help me understand you so I can spoil you.  That was the only way she could right herself with Talia’s advice.

Ras stepped past Amelia and removed his coat, draping it over one of the chairs at the table before beginning to roll up his sleeves and standing in front of her.

El’Heem: I can teach you a thing or two about Kressari cooking…but you’ve already made such an effort, I’ll be your sous. ::looking at the cutting boards on the countertop:: Need me to chop something? What are we making?

Despite everything Amelia had done to make the night feel easy, there was still that knot in his throat. In his chest too. In his hands. In fact, the tension of what remained unsaid left him second guessing every word and action. He was dreading the moment they’d address it. For now, he was content with following her lead.

Semara: :: A long sigh. :: I got white fish marinadin’ in what I understand to be some sorta miso from Sylvana.  We’ll take that out and sear it last.  :: Beat :: Then I got a risotto that just needs everything combined.  Could use your advice on that one, actually - I usually use a touch a’ cheese to add a bit a’ creaminess, but the best I got is Espra.  Usually works, but definitely not Kressari.

Amelia just looked at Ras like it was the most embarrassing thing in the universe that she didn’t have the right ingredients.

He finished rolling up his sleeves and that look on her face almost made him chuckle.

El’Heem: You had me at fish. ::beat:: Espra tends to be a bit tangy. We could add a touch of sweetness to level it out. Should be easy to bring together. I can handle that, if you want?

Part of him felt like holding back rather than being completely earnest. He felt like being subservient, truth be told. To make up for things.

Semara: :: A little nod. :: Okay. :: Beat :: Well, that’s mostly just measurin’ and mixin’.  Shouldn’t be too hard.  So whaddya say we start with this?

She waved her hands over a pink, tuna-like fish steak already cut into bite-size pieces on a deep blue plate.  Arranged around it were the other ingredients: seeds, lemon, salt, garlic, ginger, green onions, petite mushroom blossoms smelling vaguely of peanut, and a bright yellow chili paste pureed.  To the side, a different bright-blue fungus flower that tasted like corn.

He resisted squinting his eyes. Risotto was anything but easy. She seemed distracted. Ras let it go and looked over the spread she was gesturing to.

Semara: :: Motioning :: The idea’s to blend all the spices together, just barely grill the fish, and assemble spicy bites with the dried mushrooms as chips to hold it.

Her eyes went to Ras expectantly, fingers gripping at each other as if waiting for a master chef’s verdict.  The Antedean chef told her it was a “sophisticated twist” on a Kressari classic.  Hopefully not too much of a twist.  Hopefully appropriately sophisticated.  And classic.  When she tasted the test batch, it was marvellously spicy and sweet and tender and umami with the right amount of crispy all at once, but she hadn’t the slightest idea how that translated to Ras’ palette.

Ras picked up one of the blue truffles and held it to his nose as his lids fluttered shut, flashes of Sylvana in the summer floated through his mind.

El’Heem: Xal’uit. My friends and I used to pick these off the already harvested crops in the fields when we would walk to town. Eat them raw just like that. Sweet and earthy, almost custard like in texture. I can’t believe you found these.

He tore the mushroom apart into two roughly even pieces, the soft, cream colored insides mushing out slightly and popped one into his mouth. His eyes turned a soft lavender as he chewed.

El’Heem: You know… ::beat as he looked at Amelia:: this could be what evens out that Betazoid cheese in the risotto, too.

Without considering the implication of it, he held the other piece a few inches from her mouth.

Amelia leaned in, gave it a professional little sniff, then plucked it to nibble on it daintily.  Her nose waggled rabbit-like as she chewed thoughtfully.

Semara: :: A big smile. :: Definitely!  Let’s give it a try.

He was the expert, after all.  She was just relieved that some portion of the night met with his approval.  It might soften her inability to say what she needed to.

It was strange, seeing so much of home laid out in Amelia’s kitchen. The familiarity tugged at something in his chest. Like nostalgia for something that hadn’t quite happened yet. Like he wanted Kressari ingredients in Amelia’s quarters more often. It made the clarity he was striving for a little harder to achieve. His eyes drifted without permission, from the counter to her lips as she spoke, and then to her eyes. It should have been innocent but given the context, he caught himself a second too late and pulled his focus back to the small pieces of fish on the plate, as if that had been where his attention belonged all along. Ras swallowed dryly.

El’Heem: Mhmm. ::long beat:: So. Do you want to grill the fish, or shall I?

Semara: Sure!  Be my guest.

It was a revolutionary amount of culinary control to cede to anyone, but Amelia was too busy trying to figure out if the whole setup was good overwhelming or bad overwhelming for Ras, and now she was all twisted in knots without the slightest idea what would make him most comfortable.  It was less an inability to follow the tangle thread of his feelings, and more that she wasn’t sure she wanted to.  It felt like a lot had changed since their rendezvous in the sauna.  For both of them.  Was she too late?

There was a moment of dish clattering as he moved the plate of fish near the range, turned on the burner under the grill pan already in position, and clacked the tongs together that sat next to it. Then silence as he waited for it to heat up. He just stared at the pan, trying to think of something to say to fill the gap.

TBC

---------- ●● ----------

Lieutenant Amelia Magnolia Semara

Intelligence Officer

USS Khitomer - NCC-62400

A239710MA0

&

---------- ●● ----------

Lieutenant Ras El’Heem

Chief Science Officer

USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)

K240106RE3