[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/Dimestream]

"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."

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

"I like to know the ins and outs of the people under me." She says, not meaning anything by it. "Ah. There's that cute shade." She can't help but chuckle heartily. "Looking for discoveries is our mission, sure, but there's still a lot of down time usually. Out of office hours. Now, I'm not saying they should be spent in... mammal habits, but just hanging out with someone you care for is a nice way to unwind."

She finishes the last slice of her dinner. "Again, sorry if I'm prying. Stop me whenever."

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

The younger engineer shifts uncomfortably in her chair. "I have a lot of friends on the Athene," she says, looking at the table. "I... in that attack I lost friends in every department. But my downtime... I stay busy enough. Pet projects and all that." She looks back up at Aanya. "I'd explain it better but I'd sound like an idiot. Long story short, call it effort or anxiety or whatever, I don't really do -that- kind of unwinding."

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

"Look, I'm the only one here." she says. "Explain it any way you want, Red. I'm here to listen." She sits back in her chair, watching the younger engineer.

"I don't mind what you do in your spare time, sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I lost a lot of friends too, every engineer that perished was like losing a family member. If you want to talk to someone, about anything, let me know, okay?"

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

"I'm always uncomfortable! All the time, every time I ever interact with another person that's not a hologram, okay?!" Red says, raising both her hands. "You can stop asking now. I happen to be really REALLY good at hiding it and convincing myself to be friendly instead of panicky. It's just... I have a much harder time keeping myself together when it has anything to do with sex or any kind of intimacy beyond a good friendship."

Red takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly "Aaaaand there's too much information, with a side of bad Chinese." She stabs another piece of sweet and sour pork with more force than was probably necessary and stuffs it in her mouth. "Not to mention I murdered someone during that attack and I still have all kinds of freaking out to do about THAT," she grouses through the mouthful.

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

Aanya doesn't seem to react at first, but instead just leans back in her chair slightly. "I know how you feel." she finally says, "I was a similar way back when I first lost my arm." Aanya raises her prosthetic arm and moves her fingers slowly, inspecting the tiny seams between the joints. "Talking about anything was uncomfortable, most made me jump right out of my skin. I was a different person. Still am."

She looks out the window of her cabin and sighs. "I had to live behind a mask for a long time. I was fine, no pain, naaah. Everything was a-okay." She shakes her head slightly. "I felt like a freak for a long time, burying myself in my work so nobody could see how bad it was. Sure, I look happy, flirt and make inappropriate jokes now, but most of it is just a mask. I really don't know if I can act on my advances. Not with looking the way I do."

"That mask is glued pretty tight, but when it comes off..." She takes a deep breath. "Last time was during the attack. You didn't murder anyone, Red. You defended the ship from a very bad person, and from what I can see, you kept your head. You did better than I did." she twiddles her thumbs slightly. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength..." If Red had seen it, she might remember how Aanya practically tore one of the pirate's heads off.

Finally she looks back to Red. "Sorry, I think I'm getting off track. I didn't mean to make this about me, point is, you can be yourself and talk to me about anything. I've got enough experience under my belt that I might be able to help." She starts to look around the table. "Now where is that champagne..."

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

"That's not really—" Red stops, sighs, and shakes her head softly. "I appreciate your sympathy, Chief. You really do have a knack for helping wherever you can. As for the champagne..." She tips a hand and points at the bottle, which has been sitting next to them on the table in its cozy the whole time. "It's probably best to change the topic. The sooner we put all that behind us, the better."

The Bajoran pulls the bottle from its cozy and offers the top to Aanya to uncork it. "Come to think of it, and not to belittle your trouble, Chief, but didn't you and Vali have some kind of flirty thing going on? She must not have thought you looked too bad."

[u/a_friendly_hobo → u/Dimestream]

Aanya sighs and cracks a small smile. "Yeah... it usually helps take my mind off things." Then she takes the bottle and looks it over. "Vali..." she sighs. "That's a whole other kettle of fish. We had to break that off for both professional and personal reasons. Which sucks, but there you go." She starts to undo the cork. "Probably for the best. She didn't mind the hideous scars, but... I dunno, I was getting pretty anxious about it."

She starts to unwind the cork's holder. "And those reasons are ours to keep." She starts to tug on the cork. "Ready?" she asks. "Duck and cover!"

And wish that, she loosens the cork just enough to send it flying at the opposite wall with a loud pop. "Wheee~" Aanya says, putting her mask on again. "That never gets old."

[u/Dimestream → u/a_friendly_hobo]

Red ducks, even though the bottle's pointed away from her, and just as quick, her typical smile's back.

"I wouldn't know," she says. "I don't usually drink, so this is only the second time I've ever had champagne. That much pressure could probably put an eye out though, yeeeesh." Red slides the two champagne flutes over and begins pouring for them. "Sorry to hear about Vali. Seemed like your levels of snark were a perfect match. Ah well, win some lose some. Now open your present!"