Six Month Anniversary

Posted on Fri Apr 3, 2020 @ 5:49pm by Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca & Lieutenant JG Erich Hartmann

2,418 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Et In Arcadia Ego
Location: Brianthe's Quarters

ON

It had been six months since Erich and Brianthe first got together. Their first encounter hadn't been a date, exactly. More a meeting up with Jason and Alanna that turned into a date. Thinking about Jason caused Brianthe to pause. It had been five months since Jason was declared dead. Alanna didn't laugh anymore. She smiled, but it was always tinged with sadness. Brianthe asked her to join them on a night out, but Alanna always refused. She spent her time working, or on Pangaea. At first, as part of a team, but more and more, she preferred to go alone, spending hours or days exploring the planet.

Brianthe invited Alanna to join them tonight for dinner, but once again, her friend begged off, saying she had work to do in the temporal science lab.

She shook her head. One day, hopefully soon, Alanna would heal, then she'd find someone else. Brianthe hoped it would be soon. She shook off the thought and turned back to the table. She wanted tonight to be special. She'd prepared Erich's favorite meal, purchased a bottle of wine from the promenade, and dressed in something she knew would please Erich. All she needed now was for him to join her.

Her door chime rang. Upon opening the door, Erich Hartmann stood there with a bouquet of flowers of many shades. He could’ve gone with roses, but Hartmann always liked to be seen as different. So the collection of flowers contained many species, although the classic rose was represented by a single red specimen within the menagerie.

The German had decided to doll his own self up as well, choosing for his attire a light grey suit without a tie.
Upon seeing Brianthe, any slick line or smooth phrase vanished, to be replaced by a simple:

“Wow.”

His response pleased her. It wasn't that she had any doubts, but she did like to please Erich. "Thank you, kind sir." She took the flowers and kissed him. "Come in."

She took the flowers and found a nice vase for it. Then she went back to him and took his hands in hers. "You look elegant."

“And you look beautiful to draw the wrath of Aphrodite herself.” Erich returned.

"Shh," she teased. "We don't want to incur her wrath. Besides, you are the only man I need. She can have the rest." She kissed him briefly. "Would you like a drink before dinner?"

“Please.” He said. He entered the quarters, pausing his eyes to briefly examine a new Knick knack or brickabrack. “What is it? Smells divine.”

"Steak." She brought out a bottle of wine and two glasses. "Would you like to pour?"

Hartmann smiled and nodded, taking the proffered bottle. He set the cork aside should Brianthe wish to smell it, and poured about a half glass for each of them. He rotated his wrist as he poured, which was a Sommelier trick that was supposed to ensure the wine didn’t “bruise”. Erich thought the idea silly, and admitted he did the affectation to seem more sophisticated.

He raised his glass. “To what I’m sure was the longest six months of your life, but was the best of mine.”

She sniffed the wine and took a sip. Then she looked at him. "I love spending time with you. You make me happier in many ways." Her expression sobered. "Have I not done enough to show you how I feel about you?"

The German turned serious. “Of course Liebchen. Forgive me; I was just trying to get you to laugh.”

She pressed her cheek against his. "No, it is I who must beg forgiveness. I prefer your company to every other man here and I don't like to hear you speak less of yourself." She stepped back and looked in his eyes. "One of the things I love about you is your sense of humor."

He smiled. “You weren’t exactly giving me mixed signals love.”

He winked at her. “There...may be a way to...make it up to me.” Erich began to kiss her neck.

She laughed softly and turned her head so he could more easily reach her neck. "And what would that be?"

“How about after dinner, we go dancing, then after that...” more kisses trailed up her neck.

"Yes?" she whispered expectantly.

“...then we can come back here, peel out of these clothes...” his teeth lightly nibbled her earlobe.

Brianthe had no desire to stop him. Rather, she was wondering if she could postpone dinner...

“...then you can do what I’ve always wanted you to do but was nervous to ask.” His mouth was now inches from her ear, the air from his breath heavy with desire.

"Ask what?"

“Which is to stop hogging the covers.” He teased, tickling her sides.

She danced away from him. "All deals are off." She grabbed a cushion from the sofa and hit him with it.

Hartmann grunted theatrically from the blow, then tackled her as they fell upon her sofa. His fingers found her waist and continued their onslaught.

“Surrender and I may show mercy!” He hissed through his teeth.

In response, she grabbed another pillow and hit his head and shoulders the best she could while avoiding being tickled. "Never give up, never surrender!"

“Very well!” He stayed with flair, “If it is no quarter you ask, thou shall receive!” He lunged at her, pinning her arms and latching his mouth onto her neck.

For a moment she relaxed into him, then she very carefully pushed him onto the couch so he wouldn't get hurt.

“I shall take that as a de facto surrender and an invitation to dinner as my prisoner.” Erich said.

She couldn't help giggling. "All right. I surrender. But only to you." She took advantage of their position and kissed him. "I suppose it's a good time to inform you that dinner is about ready."

“Oh good; I was beginning to think you only wanted me for my body.” Hartmann teased.

She broke into peals of laughter. "While I do like that, you are far more than your body." She got up and smoothed down her skirt, and went to check on the food. "It's a good thing I love you," she teased.

Erich scoffed. “It would be weird to both kiss AND make dinner for a man you didn’t Liebchen.”

He then decided to go off the topic of his obvious desire for her, lest he be accused of impropriety: “Did anything exciting happen at work?”

"Only if you count taking one of our new hybrids out of the workroom and planting it in the arboretum," she said. "We'll see how it looks when it blooms. It should produce a crimson and lemon blossom." She took the opportunity to go check on the meal.

"And you?" she asked. She put out the salad. The meat would be ready when they were finished.

“Three enlisted men in the brig, all for public intoxication, two declared medical emergencies, one bout of computer core maintenance, and a partridge in a pear tree.” He said, taking a bit of salad. He began to wolf it down, not knowing how hungry he really was.

"Now, the partridge in the pear tree intrigues me," she said impishly. "They can always go into the arboretum."

“I’d deliver it, but people complain that we always lock the door for an hour.” Erich chided.

"The partridge needs time to acclimatize," she replied impishly. "But for now, eat. No partridge on the menu."

“Oh right.” Hartmann said, as if remembering. He went to the bag he had brought with him, pulling out a bottle of red and one of white wine. He for Brianthe to pick one that appealed to her.

"Red for dinner. White for dessert," she said, taking the bottles. "Thank you, my dearest."

He kissed her, adding, “Keep up the sweet talk and dinner will get cold my love.”

"Not again," she said, stepping back. "This is one meal I'd like to eat without reheating. Do you know this is our six-month anniversary?"

He tapped his index finger against his temple in mock thought. “Was that today? Oh. Well...” he let the last word hand in the air with dramatic tension, before dipping his hand back into the box and pulling out a specimen of orchid inside a glass case. It’s petals were a pale pinkish-purple, it’s stem somewhat fuzzy and lime-green.

"Ohh..." Brianthe breathed, taking the case to have a closer look. "It's beautiful."

“That...” he pointed to the flower, “...is a new breed of flower that was grown on Mars.”

"Really? It's exquisite. I know the perfect room for it, too." She leaned up and kissed him. "Thank you. What is it called?"

“Phalaenopsis Brianthea.”

"Really? She took it gently to a side table. "I will treasure it." She went into the bedroom and came back with a carefully wrapped book and handed it to him.

He thanked her as he took the package, but hesitated before opening it. “Did you notice the second part of its binomial name? It’s named after...someone.”

"I noticed, but I didn't want to assume," she said. "So tell me, how did it get its name?"

Erich began to blush. “I was lamenting to my parents that I wanted to get you something more profound than chocolates or the like, and my mother mentioned that some of her botanist friends had created several strains of flora and were seeking help naming them. The rest, well, is in that case.”

He eyed the flower. “Too much my love?”

She kissed him. "No. Not too much. It's wonderful. I will grow a room full of them for people to enjoy and every time I see them, I will think of you."

Hartmann flushed further into crimson. Then he realized he had not opened his gift. He opened his package, finding it contained not one, but two gifts, both books. He had opened the gift backwards, and had to turn the tomes over to see the titles.

The larger of the two was bound in brown leather, stiff and new, and fragrant. Upon its front was gold leaf letters proclaiming it to be the collected works of the Brothers Grimm. Erich smiles, for he loved these stories from his nation’s past. He smiled further as he read down the list of stories, seeing classic after classic, mixed with more obscure ones. He opened a page at random, and saw the text was in english. He was slightly sad he couldn’t enjoy it in his mother tongue, but German was obscure except for parts of Luna and Old Germany on Earth.

The second book was a book of German folk tales. Erich turned to a random page and looked at a picture of a woodcut showing a man turning into a wolf. The picture caption stated it was from 1557.

Erich closed the books and set them aside.

“These are wonderful darling, thank you.”

He gave a faux-sad smile. “Does this mean I have to put out?”

She laughed. "Not before dinner. Come on, I think it's ready."

“Replicated or natural, if that’s not too insensitive?” He asked.

"Not replicated," she insisted. "I bought the ingredients on the Promenade."

Erich looked appreciatively at the food with new eyes. “You slaved away at all this just for me?”

"It's a special occasion." She said, guiding him to a seat. "Now sit, eat. Then we can celebrate."

The German took the seat, waited for Brianthe to sit as well, picked up his utensils, cut out a piece of steak, and examined it briefly. The meat was light pink in the middle, and some juice dropped off from it. It smelled like a spice he couldn’t identify, but was of pleasant aroma.

He placed the morsel in his mouth, chewed twice, then made a face.

“This is, without a doubt, a superb piece of meat you have here. It’s delicious sweetheart. It doesn’t hurt that the chef is the prettiest cook in the quadrant.”

"I am not as good a cook as my mother," Brianthe countered, "But I thank you."

“Perhaps your mother and mine would like each other then.” Erich stated.

"We'll have to arrange for them to meet," she said, turning her attention to her food. She hoped her mother would like Erich.

Hartmann chewed slower after a fashion. His mind drifted to their friends. “How’s Alanna doing?”

Brianthe sighed. "She's a lot more serious now. SHe spends a lot of time exploring Pangaea, and she's lost weight. I know she'll get over Jason eventually, but she still hopes he'll come back." She looked at Erich. "It's been five months. I want to believe, but even Starfleet says he's dead."

“I want to believe too liebchen. In fact, if he showed up and told us he had only been deep undercover, I’d be torn between punching him and embracing him.”

Erich chewed a piece of meat as he thought. “Besides, Starfleet says lots of things.”

She smiled. His response relieved some of her concerns. "Yes. Just because Starfleet says he's gone doesn't mean it is so. Thank you." She ate quietly, thinking over how much had changed in the past six months. When she finished, she set her silverware on her plate and took a drink of her wine. "I hope he returns soon--even if you do have to punch him."

Erich returned her smile as he drank some wine of his own. He noticed that they had nearly finished their meals.

“So, shall we stay in or go out?” He asked her. “I wouldn’t mind going out, because the last time we stayed in, you became like poison oak to me: one touch and I itched all over for you.” His twinkling blue eyes told the story of the kind of mischief they got into that time.

"Why don't we go out. We haven't been dancing in a while." Not since they went with Jason and Alanna. That thought made Brianthe sad. She pushed the thought away and cleaned up the remains of dinner.

"Let's see what kind of moves you have on the dance floor," she teased, taking his arm. "Then, when we get back, I'll show you what I have planned for dessert."

____
OFF

Lieutenant Erich Hartmann
Chief Operations Officer
Deep Space Five

Ensign Brianthe oaxaca
Botanist
Deep Space Five

 

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