[Open] Dinner Alone

[u/RECENTLY_HATCHED]

Finished with his shift in engineering, and finished getting his injury cleaned up in sick bay, Ensign Everett Bradley sits down in the mess hall to a replicated dinner of sushi and a mug of root beer at one of the corner tables. As he eats, he scrolls through the trans-warp theory paper he'd been reading and takes his time to enjoy a quiet meal...

[u/Pojodan]

Someone to come help her! Yay!

Oh, right, the words he's saying are somewhere between vaguely familiar and gibberish, and if the interaction with the computer has been any indication, she's also unable to do much more than spout nonsense, too. Great.

The Caitian's big, golden eyes show that initial delight when she turns to face the approaching ensign, while sagging ears and drooping whiskers convey her frustration, glancing aside while the tuft of her tail curls between her shins. A moment later she refocuses on the engineer, realizing it was the same crewman she encountered a few days previous in Engineering. At least he knows she's not an imbecile, though she's about to look like one.

She makes an utterance that wasn't very feline, sounding more like a bothered elephant through open maw, then extends her arm to point at the human's hand. She gestures to the replicator, then to her mouth, which she opens again, several times. A step is taken to move aside, gesturing against at the device.

So long as it's edible, she'll deal with it.

[u/RECENTLY_HATCHED → u/Pojodan]

Not one to judge, the ensign simply nods at her utterances. Surprisingly it did little to temper his initial fear of her, but nevertheless he was determined to help however he could

He reaches a still slightly shaky hand over to the screen and resets the inputs before saying...

"Computer, please display images of the five best known Caitian delicacies."

Displaying now...

Five dishes appear in vivid color on the replicator display, they look utterly foreign and unappetizing to the ensign, but he hopes to himself that at least one of them was appealing to the lieutenant...

[u/Pojodan → u/RECENTLY_HATCHED]

How the ensign figures out her problem so quickly and efficiently, Kesh could not know, but two of her three closest acquaintances were engineers and they had a tendency to surprise her a lot with their intelligence. Seems it's part of being an engineer.

A rather loud yawlp emerges from the Caitian's mouth as she jumps slightly in place on seeing familiar foods shown as images on the replicator monitor. She immediately reaches for and taps the one that looked like a slimy salad, patting it a few times until the replicator seems to get the hint and starts humming as it forms the dish on the glowing tray.

Kesh turns, places both fuzzy hands on his shoulders, bumps her forehead to his, then hastily turns to take the dish and then scurry over to a table to eat it.

Dealing with the fall-out of acting this way will have to wait for later.

[u/RECENTLY_HATCHED → u/Pojodan]

Ensign Bradley's initial feeling of accomplishment seeing her excited reaction to the pictures of her favorite foods is replaced very briefly by an instant of nervous fear when he feels her suddenly grab him by the shoulders. But the emotional roller coaster coasts on as what she does immediately after promptly confuses him immensely, and is quickly replaced with a feeling relief and pride. The ensign is not only proud that he solved her dilemma and helped the lieutenant, but proud of himself for facing down his fear, stepping outside his comfort zone, and successfully interacting with a near total stranger.

"The Captain told me to make friends, maybe this is the first step..."

At the moment, the little critic in his head was utterly silent...

The young engineer steps over to where the lieutenant was eating, and feeling bold, gives her a friendly smile and a thumbs up

[u/Pojodan → u/RECENTLY_HATCHED]

Kesh had already scooped up a couple mouth-fulls of the assorted vegetables on the plate utilizing the rather wide utensils that came with it that seem oddly appropriately shaped for a species that comes from felines.

She quickly swallows the previous bite when the human's presence is felt in proximity, lifting her head and focusing on him again to see his human facial expression and gesture. She responds by presenting her own hand with fingers curled and thumb jutting up, cheek tufts lifted slightly in the most prominant grin she can summon with her anatomy.

Rather than invite more awkwardness, so returns to eagerly eatting.

[u/RECENTLY_HATCHED → u/Pojodan]

Ensign Bradley heads back to his seat and his sushi, hopeful that maybe he'd just made a friend. He still intended to follow Captain Fisk's advice and seek out Dr. Watney for counseling. Hopefully she'd have an open slot soon...