Something Extra

Posted on Fri Oct 18th, 2024 @ 8:31pm by Kenji Karibuchi & Lieutenant Daisheliss "Lissa" Kerr

1,778 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: I-402
Location: Harry F. Cooke Lounge

Lissa walked into the ship's lounge with a medium sized tote over one shoulder. She had stopped after shift to change out of her uniform and was dressed comfortably in a purple top and gray pants. She was glad to see that the lounge wasn't terribly busy as she was hoping for some time with the chef.

She grabbed a seat on one end of the bar, placing her bag carefully on the floor and waited patiently for him to take notice of her.

Lissa didn't have to wait long, as the manager was quick to take notice of the new patron seated at his bar.

"Welcome to the Harry F. Cooke lounge." He greeted her with a smile. "What can I get for you today?

"Mmm..." Lissa smiled broadly, her eyes lighting up as she leaned into the counter. "You don't serve anything with ice cream do you?" She asked.

Kenji had been expecting her to ask about alcohol. He'd had his fair share of crewmembers looking for an adult beverage, so ice cream was a clever subversion of the question he was preparing to say no to:

"As a matter of fact, we do serve ice cream!" Kenji winked. "It wouldn't be a gedunk bar if we didn't, would it?"

"You're the chef too though right?" Lissa "What do ya make that goes well a la mode?"

"Well, that depends on what you're looking for:" Kenji responded. "Are you looking for something cold to top with ice cream? Or something warm to melt the ice cream on top of? Both have their pluses and minuses. On the one hand, something cold complements the ice cream's cold composition nicely, but something warm, you get a clash of hot and cold that's difficult to replicate."

"Something warm always hits the spot. Peach cobbler, apple pie, bread pudding. Anything like that?" She asked.

"Well, as the Missouri name is quintessentially American, why not top an American cultural icon with ice cream?" Kenji proposed. "What flavor of ice cream would you like on it?"

"Vanilla, definitely," Lissa said without hesitation.

Nodding, Kenji turned and stepped up to the replicator:

"Apple pie, warm, topped with vanilla ice cream." He instructed.

The computer beeped in acknowledgement, and within seconds, a plate of warm apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream materialized, complete with fork. Removing the plate from the replicator, Kenji turned back towards his customer and placed it in front of her, grabbing a napkin and placing it under the fork.

"Bon Appetit." He said with a smile. "Let me know if you need anything else."

Lissa took her spoon and smiled, carefully scraping some of the ice cream onto the spoon before taking off the end corner of the pie, her eyes sparkling as she put the first bite into her mouth. "Mmmm. So good. Want some?" She asked.

"No thanks." Kenji declined as he began wiping a clean glass dry. "I've heard that Orion pheromones can be secreted through their saliva, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but Orions have never really been my type."

Lissa laughed for a solid few seconds. "Well, I'm half-Orion so I'm not really prone to having much of any of those, but I do have an implant that would suppress production just in case. I'm not interested in throwing half a ship into mayhem, or seducing some poor brut into whipped puppy status."

"Well, that's a relief." Kenji sighed. "I'm only just starting to open myself up to the possibility of loving again after the death of my wife, and a setback like that is just about the last thing I need."

Lissa's eyes widened with sympathy. "I'm sorry to hear about your wife. That would be hard. Do you have children?"

"I do." Kenji responded. "I have a six year old son. My boy's the same age as the first officer's kid."

"That's nice that he has that for support. How has he taken things?" Lissa asked.

"He asks about his mother. I think he already suspects what happened to her, though:" Kenji admitted. "One time, he brought home this children's book that was written in Kirk's time called 'When Is Mommy Coming Home?' It's really quite sad, and the author intended it to be a follow up and contrast to his earlier work - 'When Is Daddy Coming Home?' to teach kids about the realities faced by gold star families. But, at least in the story, the family had a physical body to lay to rest... Marie's body was never recovered..."

"I know I'm not a counselor, but as someone who just kind of feels things - there's gotta be a balance between books like that, sad songs, the things that make you cry and then the things that help you not think about the aching holes in your heart for a minute or two, you know," Lissa said gently. "Eventually the minute turns into an hour. Never a day - I wouldn't think anyway. But going through something like that is worse than open wound. Something like a book or a song that hits you where you live is good for a processing - but wow - it can be like picking at a sore sometimes too, you know." Lissa had a far off look as she talked before reconnected with where she was making eye contact with Kenji again.

"At least that's something from my experience anyway. My heart hurts for you both," she said sweetly.

"And you want to know the ironic part? I've heard the Bellerophon is cloaking capable, courtesy of the Klingons..." Kenji muttered. "And guess who was responsible for taking Marie's life."

"I didn't ask because I didn't want to be rude if you didn't want to talk about it, but maybe you'll have to connect these dots a little better for me," Lissa suggested. "Were you on the Bellerophon when she was killed? Was it Klingons?"

"No, Marie was on board the Okinawa." Kenji clarified. "They were en route to Starbase Frontier when they came under attack from Klingons. I'm told Marie was one of the earliest casualties when the Okinawa took a direct hit from a Klingon torpedo on the other side of the science lab bulkhead. I've been... Left to imagine how horrifying her final moments must have been..."

Lissa took a deep breath. The Klingon alliance was always unpredictable, rogue ships could be quite violent. She never felt she had room to talk, Orions were the same in many regards and Lissa had quite a bit to say about Orions.

"Well I don't know how much good it does to imagine those things. I know it's not easy to just not think about something, but I think she'd rather you remember the good times," Lissa offered.

"She also wouldn't want me moping around over her, unable to move on." Kenji said. "Unfortunately, much as I hate to say it, being a single parent means you carry a lot of baggage with you, and I've run into women who liked me, but wanted a no strings attached relationship. That's how I decided that my next Ms. Right should be someone who understands where I'm coming from, because they too are a single parent."

"You and the first officer..." Lissa prodded, a mischievous look on her face.

"Now, don't get any ideas trying to play 'matchmaker' for us..." Kenji warned. "I don't want to scare her off before I've gotten a read on her."

"Oh, I wouldn't embarrass anyone like that unless they asked me to," Lissa promised. "But sounds like you are trying to get a read on her then? That's exciting." Lissa went back to her dessert now that the topic had taken a lighter turn. She took a delicious bite of melted ice cream and apple pie. "I'd think everyone is an adult here. If and when you are sure you are ready, just bring it up. Low pressure - friendship is more important, never jeopardize that, just wondering if you'd ever thought about anything more kind of way," Lissa offered with a shrug.

"Honestly, the ship is too small for games, or risk any awkward guess work," she added matter-of-factly. "Not with kids involved anyway. I mean, as long as it's not in a science department I probably get a little leeway to create some havoc somewhere right?" She joked.

"Kidding, kidding. I promise." She held back a laugh as she made eye contact with Kenji.

"Well, I know the Captain really loves her ship." Kenji admitted with a smug grin. "And I'd hate to be the one who gets demoted for messing it up."

"I said I was joking!" Lissa said holding her palms up in a claim of innocence. "Oh! I almost forgot. How much actual cooking do you do here?" She asked picking up her bag from the floor.

"We're a snack bar, the heaviest fare we serve here are light meals." Kenji explained. "Wouldn't want to take traffic away from the mess hall by serving full meals, would we?"

"Well, right. I just meant as opposed to the replicator. I have this fudge recipe from my family - the human side. It's centuries old, and been passed down. I brought some ingredients." Lissa pulled out a container and a PADD. "Have you ever made candy?"

"Only Japanese candy, and that was in middle school to try and convince my nieces that real food was better than its replicated counterparts." Kenji explained. "Takami saw the merits in it, but I don't think I ever successfully wooed Hikari off of replicated food."

"I'm sure the process is similar. To get the texture right for fudge, you just have to have the sugar and dairy boiling at 112.5 for five minutes before you let it cool," Lissa commented with a smile. "I did bring some chocolate in, but believe it or not - I think replicated peanut butter doesn't really make a difference. But, pure sugar, butter, and vanilla extract - I brought an extra bottle of that as a gift. I read this place was a bit of a bakery so I thought you might like some. Anyway, I'd love to whip up some for the crew. And if you're interested in helping out, I can let you in on the family's recipe."

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to have a selection of baked goods on hand." Kenji conceded.

"Perfect. It'll be fun," Lissa said with a smile.

"I'm sure it will be." Kenji agreed

Posting by

Lieutenant Daisheliss "Lissa" Kerr
Chief Science Officer

Kenji Karibuchi
Harry F. Cooke Lounge Manager

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