Burger and Fries

Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2018 @ 9:19pm by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit

2,222 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Plaga Navis
Location: USS Victory - Captains Quarters
Timeline: Late evening

Following the (in her personal opinion) disasterous briefing which covered the mission and at the same time generated a good headache for her personally) it was rather late before she was able to get dinner. Retreating to her quarters Rhea ordered a large quarter pound hamburger with cheese, lettuce, tomato, extra pickles, onion, mayo, mustard and ketchup for dinner. To be accompanied by as many fries as the replicator could get on the plate and 3 bottles of rigellian beer.

She drank the first bottle down in a few long deep swallows, popped the second bottle top and settled down to eat.

She was about halfway through the burger when the door opened and Alec entered. He didn’t say anything. Just walked toward her and sat down on the opposite side of the table where she was eating. She didn’t speak right away either, but as he watched over and stole a fry off her plate she swallowed the large bite of burger she’d been chewing and immediately said “Try that again and you’ll draw back a nub. If you’re hungry the replicator is over there..”. Pointing with her dinner knife to the subject device.

Alec eyed the fries again then deciding not to test the validity of Rhea's statement, he got up and walked to the replicator and ordered a quarter pounder with cheese, only mustard and fries, lots of fries and a rigellian beer of his own. Taking the plate and beer he returned to the table and sat back down, munching on his fries. He had eaten a couple before he reached back over and took another of Rhea's fries. "Yours look better." He said by way of explanation.

Scowling at him, she picked up her plate and moved to flop down in a different chair set by the viewport, where she continued eating while still glowering at him.

He watched her move and glower at him. He shrugged his shoulders and ate one of his own fries. "I won't eat anymore of your fries. I promise. You can come back over here to sit."

“Comfortable enough right here,” she retorted, “I’m in my own quarters and can’t eat without a moocher stealing my fries... was there something else you wanted besides to snitch my dinner?”

A hurt look flashed in Alec's eyes at Rhea's comment. He knew she was teasing about the fries but the last part of her statement, he expected she knew why he had come to see her. "I haven't snitched your dinner." He protested, "I snitched some fries." He corrected. "As for the other, you tell me Rhea."

Rhea picked up her beer, finished it off and then opened another one. She took a long drink from that one too before she spoke. “Not much to tell. He was part of a mission I was assigned to. It was a long term under cover operation. Something like,, almost 2 years. It was I guess. just after John was...”. She shrugged, “He got me to go along with him for what I thought was part of the operations cover. I signed a few documents I thought were shipping contracts and other forms related to our cover, They weren’t. I didn’t know we were married under the laws and customs of the Zarriah Union and there’s no dissolving it. It doesn’t hold any weight. I signed under false pretenses. It did keep him from being prosecuted or forced to return to his own universe when we discovered who he really is. He’s got Federation citizenship because he’s got a document saying we married. He left. I let him leave without killing him.”

Pretty basic summary. Quite a bit left out which she really wasn’t in the mood to rehash.

Alec listened in silence as Rhea gave him a quick explanation of her history with this Nathan fellow. He nodded as she finished. "Okay. Thank you for telling me." He answered sincerely. He didn't want to cause more stress for Rhea by asking why it couldn't be dissolved. The guy wasn't from this universe! "A question for you, what if you wanted to get married for real to a certain someone in the future? Could you do it?" He asked and then instantly wished he hadn't for now he worried about the answer.

“I have no idea.” She answered honestly.

He nodded not really surprised by the answer, not pleased just sort of empty. "Oh." He finally said, feeling like a balloon that was slowly losing air. He looked at his plate and suddenly wasn't hungry. "Oh." He repeated.

“Nothing changes. He has a document valid on a number of non-Federation worlds back in the Alpha Quadrant which doesn’t have any bearing here. Whatever it was that was between Nathan and I..” she shook her head.

“I can deal with his bullshit. I’d Lt him rot if I didn’t need to find out if he has information on those ships and their crews. You know what I am. What I do for my career. He was part of the cover she fell silent, not really sure what to say and fully aware he wasn’t happy with any of it. “I’m out here because I was sick of it. I tried to walk away..” she said quietly.

Alec listened to what Rhea said as she told him nothing changes, which he hoped was their realtionship and commitment to each other. Yet even as he did listen his mind reeled. *How could this happen? Rhea was so thorough.* He sighed it didn't matter it and it was in the past. He looked down and heard her explanation of what happened, who she was and what she wanted. He looked at her, "I know, your the woman I love. I know your past and it doesn't matter. I care about us in the here and now Rhea. Not some damn fugitive from another universe!" He exploded and fell silent as pushed his fries around.

Yep. He was angry. So was she. She was angry at the entire situation. “Yeah well..you’re going to have to deal with him being aboard and expect him to push every button you have. And mine..” she added.

"Super." He said sarcastically staring at his plate. As he silently thought of different scenarios to kill the fraud.

After a moment she said, “If I had any other course of action I’d leave him there to rot. There isn’t. The Admirals orders are clear. I just hope I don’t get anyone killed by this.. if someone has to go down I’d rather it be me.. “

Alec's head was still down, his eyes on the uneaten fries and burger, Right now he was thinking he should have listened to Cass when she told him to be careful in what he wished for. He wished he had never asked the damn question. When she spoke of someone going down and she'd rather it be her, his head raised and whipped around to look at her. "No, Don't ever say that. I mean ever. Your a starship Captain that makes your valuable, your also the woman I love and that makes you special. I'd gladly sacrifice myself to save you Rhea. That's not hero talk just a honest to goodness fact." He said passionately and then sighed and looked around, "I need a drink..... a real drink. The good stuff still in the same place?"

She nodded without speaking, plucking a fry off her plate and popping it into her mouth, pointing with her free hand toward the cabinet then picking up her beer and taking a long drink. It was delicious. Damn shame the nanites in her blood would never allow her to get drunk.. seemed somehow offensive to drink a beverage like this yet miss out on its intended effect..

He nodded,rose and walked to the cabinet. Opening it he studied the contents before pulling out a bottle and two glasses. A moment later he returned to her, holding the glasses that contained a pale blue liquid. "Andorian Ale." He explained. "Not as potent as Romulan but it's a good beginning." As he handed her a glass, his eyes going to the fries on her plate. He thought of reaching for one but decided, he liked having five working fingers ..... maybe later.

Accepting the glass, her only comment was “uh huh...”. It was her bottle of ale after all. “Go finish your plate or I’ll tell Nicole you’re not eating and the next thing you know she’ll have one or more of her weird little nanobot nightmares crawling around in your innards to find out why not...”

Now it was Alec's turn to scowl. "You wouldn't really do that would you?" He asked stopped and considered who he was talking to and plopped a fry in his mouth. "See? Eating." Next he took a long sip from the glass. "I noticed you have lots more in the cabinet. That's good cause I plan on getting smashed,"

“If you can, might as well...” was her only comment.

He took a long sip from his glass, plopped another fry into his mouth. "I can. I assure you I can." He looked over at her, "Drink. You can act like your enjoying yourself... at least for a little while."

She just looked at him for a moment, then turned back to her dinner.

Alec sighed, took another long sip from his glass, got up and walked over to where Rhea sat eating her dinner. Looking at her he grabbed a fry off her plate and popped it in his mouth. Then still looking at her he spoke, "Be nice or I'll tickle you."

She blinked. Slowly lifted her head to look at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”

He took another fry off her plate and plopped it into his mouth, his eyes twinkiling with mischief. He sat down next to her. "Wouldn't I?" He posed. "Be nice."

“Are you suggesting that I am not nice?” The Captain questioned.

He didn't answer right away, he grabbed a fry and held it. "Absolutely not. You are the salt of the earth. A nicer woman I have never known." He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. Then he placed the fry in her mouth.

Eating the fry, after swallowing she said “Uh huh. What did you do that you’re trying to distract me from.”

"Me? Distract you? The wise and all seeing Captain of the starship Victory? What could I possibly do to distract you?" He said giggling as he finished. "You wound me Rhea."

She just rolled her eyes, and went back to working on her dinner

He chuckled and shook his head, went back to get his plate, glass and the bottle and returned to her. He took some of his fries and put them on her plate. "Repaying with interest what I took." As he sat in the chair opposite her and bit his burger in between swallows from his glass.

“Trying to get me fat now?” She answered.

Alec threw up his hands in mock exasperation. "For heavens sake Rhea! I love you just the way you are." He answered as he leaned forward and refilled her glass and then his.

She didn’t react, and he went back to his seat. A few minutes passed in silence and then, something hit Alec in the back of his head. A French Fry.

Alec looked at the fry then at Rhea, "You know if you wanted to get my attention you could have just said Hey you and not waste a fry." His eyes twinkling with mischief.

In reply she flicked another fry at him, very deliberately bouncing it off the end of his nose.

Alec blinked as the fry bounced off his nose. "Oh no you didn't." He muttered. His eyes fixing on Rhea to see what she was going to do next.

Fixing him with a ‘what are you going to do about it’ return expression, she took her plate and drink and rose, walking as if to return the items to the recycle unit. On the way, she deftly plucked a pair of large ice cubes from the glass and before he could enact, as she walked past him both ice cubes vanished down the back of his shirt.

"Whaa......? Whoaaaaaaaaa!!! Rhea!!!!"Alec hollered and jumped from his seat, jumping,dancing, shaking the cubes out of his shirt and into his hand.Then dropped them in his plate. That done he turned to Rhea, "Now, you've asked for it." He said a gleam in his eyes as he moved slowly towards her. "I told you what would happen if you weren't nice."

“Being nice was a skill I was never good at..” she retorted.

"So I see. Oh well...." He naswered and shrugged his shoulders then moved quickly to her, not giving Rhea any room to move. Then his hands went to her waist and as promised, he began to tickle her.

She let out a decidedly un-Commanding officer squeal, twisting in his arms and laughing, The tickles soo turned to something else entirely....

[Fade to black]

 

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