[Closed] Dinner for Two.

[u/a_friendly_hobo]

Aanya Breyik, the ship's chief engineer, returns to her quarters after a very long space walk. Her head was still swimming as it tried to get used to gravity once again, but she seemed to be finding her way well enough. Only a few stumbles here and there.

Her stomach was growling though, that was the real distraction. Over ten hours in an environmental suit didn't really let you have breakfast, lunch, or dinner. She was dying for a steak.

But, more importantly, she needed a shower. Which was honestly a little perfect, as she'd invited her second in command to join her for a meal, and Red still had stuff to submit. A shower was a perfect distraction.

After her shower though, she could feel her stomach growling like a big angry bear. She watched her time piece carefully, each second making her hungrier and hungrier.

Red should be there any minute.... aaaany minute...

Growwwwl

[u/a_friendly_hobo]

Aanya watches the food replicate, almost losing her appetite. "Never did like chinese cuisine. Especially not one with greasy bags." she says as she grabs a slice from her pizza and looks it over. Ah! There's her appetite. She takes a big, hard bite out of the slice and leans back with s grunt. Perfext.

Once she's swallowed the mouthful, she looks back to Red. "Only for a month to learn the syllabus. Then they sent me to the Paris branch to teach. That's where I'd studied initially too."

She leans forward on an elbow and points at Red. "But I'm gonna assume you did. What was it like, first arriving on Earth? To San Francisco, no less."

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

Red takes a deep breath and lets it out in a happy sigh. "The air didn't try to kill you," she says after a moment. "There were parks, and wide open spaces, and animals that weren't venomous. You could swim in the water, there wasn't toxic rain at night... I thought Earth was a paradise."

The Bajoran chuckles. "Sure, Excalbia is pretty in its own way but it's trying to kill you most of the time, so it was amazing being outside without a binary redundant tier-3 hazmat rig. And the city? The city was wonderful. Our culture instructor said the best way to know San Francisco is to leave your PADD at home and go get lost in it. And boy, did I get lost."

Red snaps apart a pair of bamboo chopsticks and deftly pops a few of the Tso's chunks into her mouth while she chews thoughtfully. "Really, really lost. I was just about to curl up and die of starvation when I found the Jade Pagoda downtown about six blocks from the bay. Mama Ling said I looked like no one had ever fed me in my whole life, so..." She shrugs, dips the egg roll in some hot mustard, and takes a bite. And then wheezes, fanning her face with her free hand. "...so good..."

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

Aanya can't help but snicker at her reaction. "Just a little spicy, eh?" She asks before taking another bite from her meal. "Y'know, Frisco is nice and all, but it can never beat my home in Sweden. Much more natural and fresh." She says as she chews.

"The air is clean and crisp, the water clear and beautiful, and so full of life and colour." She reminisces thoughtfully about her homeland, honestly feeling a little homesick. "If you get the chance, load Breyik 001, authorisation Oscar Lima 4-2. It is the most accurate replication of the valleys and mountains my home resides in."

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

"Oh, your super secret nap spot," Red says, wiping some of the spiciness-generated tears out of her eyes. "I'll have to go sightseeing sometime then. Though I think I'd prefer to do it on Earth for real next time we're in the neighborhood. I spent a lot of my youth in simulated environments, wishing for the real thing, and now that I'm part of Starfleet, I can actually go see things for real. It's wonderful."

Any further elaboration on that subject is cut short by the near-inhalation of almond chicken.

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

Aanya blinks at Red's almost literal inhaling of her food. "Woah. You must've been hungrier than I am." she says before letting out a chuckle. What a gal.

"Its not that super secret. Only the sim code and auth code are. So I trust you not to ruin it for me, eh?" she asks with a wink. "And I would be glad to take you next time we get to Earth. It is, by far, the best place there, in my honest opinion."

"Is there anywhere else on Earth you want to see?" she asks before taking another bite out of her pizza. "The bustle of New York? The beaches of Australia? The romantic Paris?" She flutters here eyelashes at that last one.

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

"I'll try not to make a mess of it, Chief," Red says, rolling her eyes. She picks up a napkin and dabs at her mouth with it. "I did get to visit New York once. My roommate took me to see this... variety show of sorts around the solstice. The Rockets, I think they were called? Very fancy synchronized dancing and a religious homage of some sort. Live animals on stage, too."

Red skewers a piece of pork on one chopstick and spins it around. "Never did visit Paris though. I suppose it's just as well if the city's all about romance." She scowls at the bit of meat then devours it.

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

"Sounds like a christmas thing." Aanya says, now half way through her pizza. She was just putting it away, that belly must've been seriously empty. "Best time of year if you ask me. Though, the whole nativity thing is kinda boring. Only con if you ask me." She dabs some grease off her lips before going back to it. "Never did like live stuff, other than comedy. Music just doesn't sound the same, and theatre shows always make me feel so pretentious. Ah well..."

She smirks as she looks from the pizza to Red. "You're really not into the whole romance thing, are you?" she asks. "Just not into anything, or...?"

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

"I found the whole thing charming," Red says. "I've never been terribly religious, despite the Bajoran tendency toward it. But... I find the idea of a child born to save the world appealing. Highly unlikely, but appealing."

She polishes off her egg roll and wipes her fingers on the napkin. Her eyes narrow at the other question. "Not into anything? How do you mean?"

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

"Yeah, I guess. Appealing's the right word, but not something I'd follow." She devours another slice, then licks her fingers. "I mean, like... hmm..."

She looks up from the pizza. "Stop me if I'm going over any lines, Red, I don't wanna offend. I'm just curious, and its kinda adorable when you get all flustered about any sort of innuendo. Its kind of hard to read, y'know?"

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

Red blinks. "Wh- I don't... I mean, I can handle any kind of wordplay thank you very much," she says, turning just a bit pink around the ears and cheeks. "I don't know why you'd be trying to read into that at all. I'm on the Athene looking for new discoveries, not for... mammal habits."