Chewing the Fat

Posted on Wed May 11, 2016 @ 12:10am by Commander Caden Aldrex & Lieutenant Liam Reynolds

2,787 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Pangaea (Wrap up)
Location: The Promenade
Timeline: MD16 / 1200

ON:

"Look at that," Liam said happily, placing a plate with the biggest burger Cade had ever seen and a side order of sweet potato fries down on the table in front of them. "Did I not promise you the best burger on the station for lunch?" he asked the Trill sitting down and gazing at it with a very happy look.

"Looks...interesting," Cade replied in a good-natured tone. He examined his own burger, which was identical to Liam's. Amia had turned him on to quite a few things but he couldn't say he had ever tried a burger. "So this is the one they used to make out of ground-up animal flesh, huh?" The ones on their plates were made of a re-sequenced protein that looked and tasted identical to the traditional dish.

"Looks delicious and yup ground up cow, my friend," Liam grinned pulling the top off and yanking out the tomato. He never cared for it. "Beef," he clarified. Slapping the bun back on top he raised it to his lips and took a huge bite. Then sat back chewing thoughtfully. Swallowing he pulled the brown coloured drink to his lips and gulped. He bet ten to one Cade had never had a milkshake either.

"What do you think?" he asked after a minute.

"Not bad at all," Cade said as he chewed his own bite. Sure it was a weird idea for food but compared to the average Klingon dish, it wasn't nearly as barbaric. Observing how Liam had extracted his tomato Cade did the same, thinking that it must be customary to not eat that part. The tomato slice hit the plate with a silent splat. Next he tried the milkshake. It was spectacular! "Not a bad little restaurant here. I ought to bring Amia."

"Definitely," Liam agreed grabbing a couple of the fries and chomping them down. "So what's ne ....." he was about to say new but then spotted something. "Oh no," he muttered spotting a familiar looking young redhead.

Cade had been stirring his shake with his straw, trying to determine the ingredients when Liam's sour comment made him raise his head. "What? What is it?"

Ensign Rahia Aler marched up with a tray in her hands and a grin on her face. "Hey, Commander Aldrex! Surprised to see you here. I didn't think this was your kind of food."

Cade grinned sheepishly. "Hey, Rahia. First time I've been in here. Er, Mister Reynolds talked me into it." He nodded to Liam.

Rahia turned her gaze to the CDO. "Right, Mister Reynolds! I've seen you around. I don't think we've properly met."

Taking that as his cue, Cade introduced them. "Right. Liam, this is Rahia Aler, Communications Specialist. And Rahia, this is Liam our Chief Diplomatic Officer."

Liam plastered a polite smile on his face while his thoughts were laughing at her "seen him around" comment. She was popping up everywhere he went and she was crazy attracted to him. This women was starting to freak him out.

"Communications Specialist," he acknowledged her trying to keep it as professional as possible.

Rahia beamed. She was delighted to be getting some acknowledgement from Liam, even if it was only professional. "Mister Reynolds, let me just say that I think you're doing extraordinary work with the visiting diplomats. I saw how you handled the Romulan Ambassador in the corridor the other day. You showed such resolve...such decisiveness!"

Meanwhile Cade turned his attention back to his burger and took an enormous bite. He chewed it vigorously. Anything to stifle the laugh he felt coming on.

Liam cleared his throat somewhat uncomfortably. He wasn't even sure what she was referring too if he was honest. The conversation he had had with the Romulan Ambassador had been a typical sparing match. Cade, under the guise of continuing on eating his dinner, was enjoying this far too much and the young lady in front of him was undressing him by her eyes going by the emotions she was projecting out.

"Thank you," he settled on thinking it the only safe response.

Rahia Aler shrugged. "Anyway..." She was trying to think of something more to say but nothing came to mind. Liam gave no indication that he was going to continue the conversation from his end. Commander Aldrex was apparently very hungry. Ugh! I thought you were empathic. Can't you see I like you? Then it occurred to her that maybe there was someone else. Like that harlot Erin Alessandro. Always flaunting her big boobs. Or maybe someone else altogether. She suddenly felt embarrassed and stupid.

Now she was feeling a barricade of other emotions. Annoyed, confused, embarrassed and silly. Liam felt bad. But if he encouraged this or said the wrong thing she was likely to keep working on this ..... was it a "crush". It felt like she had sidestepped crush and was heading to crazy town the amount of places she was turning up in his life on the station. Bar the initial attempt to ask him for a drink the night he had gone to Cade to ask if the summit could go planetside, this was the first time she had attempted to speak to him.

"Er .... enjoy your food," he had to say something. This was far to awkward. And he couldn't exactly ignore her in Ops. "Its a good restaurant."

"Sure, you too," Rahia said. Her warm smile remained fixed in place but inwardly she was angry. At herself, at her competitors, and at Liam for not being able to see how wonderful she was. This had been a disaster but she was determined to recover somehow. In the meantime she wisely decided to leave.

"See ya, Rahia," Cade called out to the retreating woman's form. He didn't get a reply.

She left them much to Liam's relief. He was worried she might try and sit down and have lunch with them next. Cade was halfway through his burger and as soon as she was gone was chuckling. Liam moved his head slightly to see whether she had gone or was intent on watching him again. Unfortunately that move, she had looked back and caught the stare and was no doubt thinking he was checking her out of something. Suddenly she was happy again. He had inadvertently given her false hope. He groaned inwardly as she took a seat so she could look directly in Liam's direction.

"Cade, your ops girls ........ " he started not sure how to say it ...... "Well this fan club thing .......... I thought it was fun at first but ..... That one scares me," he finally stated it. "She's EVERYWHERE I go ...... and what was that ????? I handled the Romulan Ambassador with resolve and decisiveness!" he stated incredulously.

"I'm sure it was very sexy," Cade deadpanned. "You know you do get this certain look in your eye when you're dealing with the more unruly diplomats. It's sort of like a squint." He did his best approximation of it. "And then your lip curls in one corner. Like you're about to hurt someone with your negotiating skills."

"What's my lip doing now?" Liam said darkly to his friends teasing. He grabbed his hamburger and took another bite.

Cade threw his head back and laughed.

"What did you want to talk to me about anyway?" Liam asked changing the subject when it was apparent no advice or sympathy was forthcoming. He made his mind up to consult another source. He decided this needed a female opinion.

"I spoke to Sigrun before she left," Cade said, hoping Liam still remembered who that was. "I persuaded her to look you up after she gets back from her cargo run. That is, if you think you have room for another woman in your harem."

"You're enjoying this far too much, Cade," Liam stated. She was still watching him. Liam shuddered turning back to his friend.

"Hang on," he thought about it for a second. "You had to persuade her to look me up. That doesn't bode well."

"Well, she's widowed," Cade explained. "Not too recently, mind you, but she's apprehensive about getting back into the dating scene. I think it would be good for her to dip her toe in the water. Know what I mean?"

Liam nodded. "Ex-counselor remember."

He snagged some more fries feeling apprehensive about this. He was still sorting himself out from all that had happened. He wasn't sure having a date with an ex-widow was the right call. But it was Cade. Cade's friend and he had already committed. So this was happening.

Cade took one of his own fries and dipped it in the red substance that was in a cup next to his plate. "I'm not asking you to counsel her. I just think it would be good for her to get back out there. Socialize a bit. I know she'll have fun with you."

"What else do you know?" he asked him getting back to before they were interrupted by stalker girl early.

"She's the only one, I swear," Cade said, showing his empty hands. Well, except for the lone fry. "If Rahia or the other girls in Ops want to ask you out, then they can do it themselves." He was about to put the fry in his mouth, then stopped short and said, "Has anyone else asked you out?"

Liam looked at Cade confused. "I meant what's new with you when I said, "What else do you know?" But Erm as you ask no, well maybe. That girl Tera. Might be seeing her again. Kind of ended up staying over at hers after dinner. So NOT like me." Liam grinned.

Cade was surprised. "Oh, I see! And you're just now bringing it up? Here I thought I knew you pretty well and it turns out you're part bunny rabbit. You've come a long way from feeling down-and-out over Haku. I'll hand it to you."

"I'm still feeling down and out but I thought we agreed I was going to go meet some ladies and have some fun. Get over Haku? Part bunny rabbit," Liam chuckled. "You can talk. Well before you got married mister."

"I was a different man back then. Anyway, you know I get a kick out of teasing you. I'm glad you're getting back out there, too." Cade finally put the now-cold fry in his mouth and chewed. Then followed it with another sip from his milkshake. He glanced over at Rahia, who was pretending to be engrossed in a conversation with some guy he'd never seen before. "Just don't catch the space clap," he said absent-mindedly.

"Nah. I wouldn't want to have to explain that to your good wife!" Liam replied. He took another large bite from his burger.

"So whats going on with you? I keep expecting to get told I'm going to be an uncle," he grinned.

That provoked a nervous laugh. "Last time I was a parent it didn't turn out so well. But hey, there are always possibilities. Amia and I have talked about it."

"Like you said," Liam grinned, "You were a different man back then. All those memories and well of experience with Aldrex, who's to say you wouldn't be an amazing father this time round." He stuffed the last of his burger and chewed.

"Actually I was a mother last time around. Jori had a daughter named Jezren. They never did have a good relationship."

"Were you pretty?" Liam teased his friend for a change. The asked genuinely, "Come on tell me more. You NEVER talk about your hosts."

That earned a raised eyebrow from the Trill. "And what is it I'm doing now?" He took another sip from his milkshake and shrugged. "So what do you want to know?"

"Okay," Liam said. "Which one gave you the most trouble and why?" he asked.

"Dasaav," Cade said immediately. That was an easy question. "Promising young playwright. Became addicted to illegal narcotics. His body was found, barely clothed, in the middle of a farmer's field in freezing weather. He was dead and the Aldrex symbiont was near death. Had to spend a year recovering in the caves of Mak'ala before I took on another host."

"And whats it like? Being joined?" He asked wondering. "Is it just memories or is it like they talk to you in your head?"

Cade thought about that one for a second. "Both, I suppose. Have you ever had a conversation with yourself? It's like that, except you're really having a conversation with yourself. At first you're very aware of two distinct voices in your head, two trains of thought. It's annoying when one argues with the other. Sometimes it can be disorienting; you forget who is who. But eventually it all blends into one voice and one train of thought. It's like being a singer and learning to harmonize with someone else. The more you practice the easier it gets.

"As for memories, yeah, that can be confusing too. Remembering things that happened before you were born. But it gets easier too. The trick is learning not to fight it."

"I'll bet," Liam said finishing up his fries. "Sounds similar to Betazoid gifts. That gets easier the more you try not to fight it. Which one was your first host?" he asked seen as though Cade was sharing for once. "What were they like?"

"Elrun. He was an astronomer. He worked at an observation array on a lonely, frozen island. That place is still standing, believe it or not. He went into astronomy because he thought it would impress a girl he knew." He grinned and added, "it didn't."

"Ahh the things we do to impress women," Liam said with a wistful look on his face. "Please tell me he didn't live a lonely hermit on a frozen island?"

"He moved on to a better job eventually," Cade assured him. "After him came Tadja, who was a long-distance runner. Then Dasaav, the playwright. Then Hylias, who was a soldier." He paused and said, "Do you really want to hear about all of them?"

Liam slurped loudly on his milkshake, drawing an irritating for him but adoring look from his stalker ensign. He leaned forward. Marriage must agree with Cade as this was the most talkative about his prior lives Liam had ever got him. "Of course I do. So do you just have the memories of all these skills or do they kind of transfer?" he asked. "Can you long distance run and write plays?"

Cade was about to sip his own milkshake but stopped short at Liam's question. "It's useful knowledge that I have stored in the 'memory banks,' but they're not things that I feel compelled to do anymore." He frowned and crossed his arms. "That's the paradox of it all. Those people were me, yet they were also their own distinct individuals. I have their memories, and their personalities have amalgamated with mine, but I still have my own passions and interests. I know none of them would have been interested in being space explorers. Except maybe Elrun. Hylias hated going into space." The lure of the milkshake was too much at that point, and he grabbed and put the straw to his lips.

"Do you think I would have been friends with any of your other hosts?" Liam asked digesting all that information. He grabbed his milkshake again, pulled off the lid and used his straw to swirl it round a bit. The ice cream in it was starting to melt making it less thick and easier to drink.

Cade stopped mid-sip and nodded. "Sure, I don't see why not. Toril was an outgoing person, he liked making friends. Jori was also the type who liked connecting with people. And Serane was a sucker for men in uniform. She probably would have asked you out." He grinned.

Liam laughed, "You know I have never dated a Trill."

"Well, you know what they say. Once you've had a Trill you've had your fill!" He finished the last of the milkshake, then crumpled his napkin and threw it on his plate. "I just made that up," he admitted.

"Well this was good," Liam said finishing his burger. "We should do lunch here again sometime. I guess I better go back and handle some more ambassadors with "resolve and decisiveness". I promise to make it very very sexy," he added with a laugh.

"Yeah. While you're doing that I'm going to take a long walk along the outer docking ring. I just consumed a scary number of calories."

[OFF]

Lieutenant Liam Reynolds
CDO, DS5

Lt. Cmdr. Caden Aldrex
XO

 

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