Madame Zeyva Thoné - Served on Another Ship
Alyndra Syrex
((Zeyva’s Kitchen, Clean Hall Lounge, Deck 6, USS Ronin))
Evinrude: ::Firm, yet pleasant.:: I don't want this place to fail. I want my crewmates to feel comfortable here. With...everything going on, the ship needs more warm places. To gather.
Robin: Well, I know that mother is happy with you. So you’ve done something right.
Evinrude: I appreciate that, thank you. ::Softer.:: Maybe next time she strongarms our staff into working for her, she'll workshop that idea through the proper channels first?
Om-Zora: If you think she will go through the proper channels all the time, I fear you haven’t really met Zeyva.
Just as the conversation seemed to simmer, Zeyva arrived with a large plate of smaller plates.
Thoné: I hope you’re hungry!
Beck: Famished.
One by one, Madame Thoné placed a plate of eloquently seasoned and precisely cooked Cardassian Quale eggs, with the Bajoran moba fruit sauce artfully laid onto each plate.
Robin: Thank you, Mother. It looks delicious.
Thoné: Of course it does. I made it dear.
Robin prepared herself to eat, unwrapping her eating tools, selecting the appropriate Klowahkan tasing fork to pick a piece of the food from her plate, before using the metallic beak to mush it into a small paste that she dropped onto her tongue.
She squirmed in delight. She may have been a federation scientist, but according to her DNA, she was a Klowahkan first.
Evinrude: Bajoran moba fruit's on these Cardassian eggs, right? Have you invented this, or was it a common occupation-era combination?
Beck: Hachi machi, this is art. I almost hate to eat it.
Zeyva looked at him firmly. Was he almost refusing to eat his dish? A grave insult not just to her, but to every chef she’d learned from.
Eventually Beck took a bite. Not in the usual manner, but that was to be expected for a human.
Om-Zora: ::with just the slightest bit of positive inflection:: I assure you the art is in the flavor.
Thoné: Precisely! Now please, eat up!
Just as Zeyva started to head back to the kitchen area, Everrude started to speak.
Evinrude: ::Genuinely.:: No no, it's not like that...I understand that, when two cultures meet - no matter the circumstances - there are unique culinary outcomes.
Thoné: As much is the obvious sting of an Onion. Now please, enjoy your food.
Beck: I shouldn't say this so quickly, but… you've got me wrangled, Chef. This alone has convinced me I'll be stopping by here a lot more often.
Zeyva’s beak chirped with joy.
Evinrude: ::Grinning:: That's high praise! He's not an easy man to wrangle.
Robin could feel Om-Zora looking at Evinrude, who wasn’t helping dispel the rumours that he and Beck were more than just friends.
Evinrude: Metaphorically, of course.
Om-Zora: Of course. ::air quotes:: Metaphorically.
Beck laughed.
Beck: I think the last time I had a freshly cooked meal like this was… actually back on Bajor, come to think of it. I tried my hand at making hasparat for… someone special.
Robin: Evinrude?
Evinrude: ::To Beck:: How do you find time to date in Starfleet? :: He turned to Robin and Om-Zora with a nod.:: And same question to you two!
Before Robin was able to answer, Om-Zora chimed in.
Om-Zora: ::very seriously:: You do not find time. You make time. Expecting to simply find time in Starfleet is often a fool’s errand. I choose what parts of my free time I am willing to give up once in a while, and as a balance, they sometimes have to do the same. It is a sacrifice you make if you want to be with people. Otherwise, you may as well not be with them.
Robin gave his wing a small squeeze. That was the right answer.
Beck: Response
Evinrude: Hm, I've been there. Distance is...hard. Differences in paths...
Just as Evinrude started to talk, the unmistakable smell of hogfish attacked Robin’s senses.
A large, yet attractive slab of meat was driven in on a small serving trolley. If the meat were an island, the surrounding vegetables and potato platter would be the ocean, along with all the fish contained.
Even if the dish was not served with fish.
Evinrude: ::To Zeyva, upon seeing the next dish.:: Oh! You have outdone yourself!
The cart stalled to next to the table. After a suitable amount of time, allowing the aroma to properly simmer in her guests, Zeyva started to carve the hogfish. Dishing up each plate with veggies, potato and a generous portion of hogfish (and sauce, obviously).
Om-Zora: Thank you, Zeyva.
Robin was slightly surprised, yet grateful to Om-Zora, as she felt his hand sneak over to hers. She returned the affection. She leaned to accept her plate as Zeyva placed it in front of her. A rouse of course, so that she could turn her beak to Om-Zora’s ear hole and whisper.
Robin: ::Whispering:: I knew you cared. Let your guard down more often
Zeyva had finished serving the hogfish, and a plate of wonders laid in front of every patron. Grasping the cart, she pushed it back into the kitchen area.
Beck/Evinrude: Response
Om-Zora: We met in the science labs. I was attempting to sort out how to “carbon date” a fossil that isn’t carbon-based. Something of a souvenir from the time in my career that I spent on a Vulcan science ship.
Robin: Ironic, as in the past few weeks he’s become my rock.
Robin chuckled to herself.
Beck/Evinrude: Response
Om-Zora: We didn’t really figure out how to do that. But she was… helpful.
Robin: Thank you, you were helpful too.
Robin squeezed Om-Zora’s hand. Knowing full well
what he meant by “helpful”.
Om-Zora/Beck/Evinrude: Response
Robin: So tell me, Commander Beck, Mister Evinrude. Why is it that my mother is insistent you’re a couple?
Om-Zora/Beck/Evinrude: Response
Robin laughed slightly.
Robin: You don’t see that huh? Or at least enough to dispel the rumours. It honestly sounds like an academy mantra, “Oh my partner serves on another ship”.
Om-Zora/Beck/Evinrude: Response
Tags / TBC
Zeyva Thoné
Federation Representative for Culinary Affairs
Proprietor of the “Clean Hall” (USS Ronin (NCC-34523))
R240107AS3