Second Date - Part 2

Posted on Fri Jun 9, 2017 @ 5:55pm by Lieutenant Benj Amoran

3,869 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Rumours
Timeline: 11:45

The next day Amoran, Benj, was up before he had actually managed to sleep much and preparing the most delicious picnic feast he could put together. He replicated and cooked up some delights that were to his mind, totally irresistible. He made chocolate covered strawberries and left the melted chocolate poured over them, cooled in the fridge and packed in a themo-sealed box. He made little bite-sized cup cakes with Halean raspberries in the frosted topping and mouth watering petit fours and tapas in every recipe he could find. He tasted each type and rejected anything that wasn't up to the gold standard.

He filled two flasks, one with iced coffee and the other with a light, sweet flavoured, liquid fruit smoothie of Randberries, Morg-fruit and Terran Elderberry. The aromatic, refreshing, inviting flavour was even better than he had hoped and he was delighted with it. He made some tiny, palm sized sandwiches with all kinds of inventive, tasty fillings, some spicy and some with gentler flavour mixes. He put some Terran Sweetpotato and Beetroot slithers in the over to cook into crisps, selected some of his favourite nuts from around the universe and added some fruit. He chose red apples from Delmore IV, some juicy Motargan mangos, some Terran pears and an enormous pineapple from the desert islands of Baros Prime which he cored and sliced and then put the prepared fruit flesh back inside the hollowed outside and added some Martian cherries and a tiny sip of Alderan brandy into the 'pot' as it were.

Satisfied with the fare, he loaded in a large thick tablecloth which would be comfortable to sit on and two of every accoutrement, including linen napkins with rings around them, two mock-china plates, cutlery and two cushions. He added a folding parasol for effect (and some form of privacy he hoped just in case he might get a chance to steal a quick kiss? A man had to have hope!) He made sure there was even a small silver candle holder and a short white candle. His last touch was a bunch of red roses and he wrapped these in paper and hid them deep within the basket, covering them carefully with the tablecloth and then the cushions so they wouldn't get crushed. He wrapped their cut stems in wet cotton wool and clingfilm, just as he'd been shown and placed them gently inside. He then packed all the rest in on top, layer by layer to protect it all and closed the lid.

He was so paranoid that the contents would move around and spoil that he carried the basket out in front of him horizontally and couldn't imagine what gait and outline that gave him as he arrived and pushed politely through the gathering crowds in the Bajoran Gardens. The band were setting up in a makeshift, imitation band stand and he looked around for either Peridot (although he was early so perhaps she wasn't here yet?) or a spot to set up to wait for her.

With a basket hooked on her arm Peridot made her way to the Bajoran gardens. In truth she was a little embarrassed that she didn't know the details of the reason for the festival - she'd planned to ask her uncle, but Sir Mortimer hadn't been available, so she was on her own.

Still, she'd taken the opportunity of his absence to raid his wine rack and in a chilled compartment at the base of the basket there were two ice cold bottles of spring wine, nicely insulated from her other surprise guest who wriggled uneasliy in the basket.

Benj spotted Peridot arriving and stood up to wave and try to catch her attention. Fortunately she looked his way before he'd been sent over a medic for displaying apparent signs of medical distress. He beamed at her. "I'm SO made up that you came!" he bubbled as she got over to him through the thickening crowd. If she'd been any later it might not have been possible to have spotted her so far across the throng. "Perfect timing." he added happily. Behind him the tablecloth, cushions and open basket were spread out, taking up an area that had already attracted some passing feet and showed the prints around it's fringe.

"I hope, once we sit down, people will walk a little wider around it." he commented, hoping she wasn't too put off.

Peridot looked over the scene - Benj had thought of everything and clearly made an enormous effort. She placed her own basket on the edge of the tablecloth and eased herself down next to it.

"You must have spent hours on this," she said taking a cushion and positioning it under her elbow. She spread out a little reasoning that people were less likely to tread on her than the edge of the blanket.

"I wanted it to be right. I'd hate to disappoint you after you were nice enough to give me a second chance. If it had been half-hearted, you'd have sent that other woman next time." He grinned lopsidedly, his cheeks pinkening with pleasure that she seemed impressed with the effort.

She shook her head causing a cascade of loose curls to tumble about her shoulders, "I don't think that would be fair on Perdita," she said reaching into her basket, "I pinched this from my uncle, its probably a very good vintage," she said pulling out the two bottles of spring wine. "I know you said I didn't need to bring anything but I never turn up without a gift."

With the lid open Admiral Purrcey took the opportunity to peek out of the basket, "I hope you don't mind me bringing the Admiral along. Apparently he's been shedding fluff all over Ops and has developed an unfortunate tendency to climb up Commander Tahhk's legs and perch on his shoulder. I don't think he's a cat person."

Benj couldn't help but laugh out loud at the mental image. "Or... if he had been once, a couple of times on the receiving end of claws that sharp would have disuaded him from renewing his membership to the Feline fanclub." he chuckled.

"Good morning Admiral, Sir!" he addressed the curious little face peering out in the hopes of some of that fish he could smell around here somewhere. "I hope you haven't been sampling the Spring Wine.... I'm looking forward to that myself!" he added, appreciative of the gesture and generosity of the contribution Peridot had brought.

Peridot lifted the kitten out of the basket and showed Benj the pips on his red velvet collar, "Is that too cute?" she said. "I don't think he's used to this many people at the same time."

"I hope he's not overwhelmed. Let's let him stay in the basket if he wants to. He'll pop out when he's ready if we leave the lid open." He suggested.

She nodded, "Its s good idea. I bet he'll be out of there in a few minutes," she smiled as she placed the Admiral back in the basket. "I'm amazed this many people came. What's the celebration about?"

"It's an old Bajoran Tradition called the Friendship Festival" he replied. "It's fun. There are always games, LOADS of food, and it's supposed to be good luck for any friendship that starts up on this day."

"It sounds like my sort of party," Peridot said.

"Really?" Benj sounded surprised but in a way, he hadn't meant to. He'd just been so happy to think she wasn't going to be bored or disappointed. "I.. I don't mean..... I just didn't want you to hate it......" Everytime he opened his mouth he managed to say something the wrong way. ~I'm such a clutz~ he thought. ~I hope she doesn't think I'm really hopeless~ It meant such a great deal to him that she should like being with him as much as he liked being with her that he just seemed to try too hard and self-perpetuate the very disasters he dreaded most. ~I HAVE to try to relax~ he tried to advise himself belatedly.

"Shall I open the wine?" Peridot asked wondering if a glass or two would help him relax a little - she wasn't used to having this effect on people.

"Yes please" he accepted gratefully. "Can you manag..... " he drew in a sharp breath. "Sorry.. I didn't mean that to sound patronising, I just wanted to offer to help.... and not just sit by and let you struggl... if in fact you might have done for any reason...... in case the cork was stuck... "

"Just be ready with the glasses," Peridot said. She sat cross legged on the blanket with the bottle secured where her ankles crossed. The stopper came away with a pop and a gentle mist of spray with the scent of blossom filled the air, "Here we go," she said.

"Beautiful!" he sighed having completely forgotten to hold out the glasses.

Peridot grinned, "Shall I just use a straw?" she asked.

"A st...." he looked perplexed. "OH!!!" suddenly realising he stuck out the glasses hurriedly and they chinked against the bottle neck with a threatening sound of glass under impact. Fortunately, they didn't break this time and he got away with it. The glasses were finally in place to accept pouring of the fragrant liquid and its volcanic bubbling as it swirled enticingly around the glasses, as they were filled one by one.

"Phew." he said, relieved that hadn't gone quite as badly as it might have. Perhaps his luck was improving? He really had to breathe.

She took a sip from her glass. As Peridot had expected it was a fragrant and lively vintage. She raised her glass to his, "Cheers," she said, "to friendship."

"Friendship!" He agreed readily. ~and more?~ he silently and fervently hoped.

Peridot's gaze fell to the array of fruit Benj had provided, then picked out a couple of plump berries and dropped one in each glass, "the wine will infuse with the fruit and we eat it once we've finished the bottle," she explained with a grin, "We call them Drunkleberries."

"They're a great idea." Benj agreed and took a second sip of the wine, rolling it around inside his mouth and nodding to agree that the flavour had altered slightly. "And delicious!"

He reached for the sandwich plate, pulled away the wrapping and offered her some. Suddenly remembering that he hadn't given her a plate first and having to put down his wine to free off a hand to reach one over. He watched the wine out of the corner of his eye, willing it not to tip over with all the reaching and fidgeting going on.

Gently, Peridot leaned in and placed the fingers of her free hand on the stem of his - how was she ever going to get him to stop fretting and relax.

The touch of her fingers did the opposite of calming him. He trembled, just a little, but the wine surface puckered slightly in betrayal.

"H... how was your week?" he began again, awkwardly forgetting the conversation trail before remembering it was her uncle's wine and the Admiral they had been talking about. "Was your uncle okay with this? Will you get into trouble.... I could go and speak to him and confess it was all my fault?" he offered, wondering how scary her uncle actually was in real life and if he was 12 foot tall and looked like a "Gruffalo" from the childrens' book his young nephew kept getting him to read at bedtime.

Peridot shook her head, "He'll never notice its gone. He's one of those people who collects wine but doesn't drink all that much of it. There was a full case of this so it won't be a problem. If I'd taken the Talaxian '58 there'd be a storm though," she grinned.

"Won't there be a glaring space in what was otherwise a full case?" Benj worried but didn't wait for an answer. It was a rhetorical question.

"Talaxian? Is that a very special Reserve?" he asked, not knowing anything about wine or what planets produced what type of product.

Peridot laid her hand on top of his, "He'll not miss the Spring Wine," she reassured him, "I think he only buys it in because I like it. The Talaxian is a prime vintage, its waaay too heavy for my taste though - the sort of thing you drink with barely seared meat."

She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"You're not a meat eater?" he asked, guessing from her expression at the mention of meat cooked raremeat.

"As long as its stopped bleeding," Peridot said, "I think its one of the reasons I can't get my head around Klingon food. Properly cooked for me!"

"I do understand your feelings on that. As a doctor, I get altogether too much sight of flesh that isn't covered in nice skin and it's not a great way to feel about your food when it turns up looking too much like your work!" he rolled his eyes. "I'm not vegetarian but I don't enjoy eating red meat, raw or cooked. I prefer fish and vegetables most of the time." he confessed.

"There's nothing wrong with that. Honestly if I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life it would be seafood," Peridot said, "If you don't mind me asking, what made you choose to be a doctor? I just can't imagine being able to do any of that."

"I don't mind you asking at all, just as long as you don't mind me boring you to sleep with all the reasons and what I'm passionate about with regards to Medicine. It's the one thing I know how to talk about and once I get going, I don't seem to be able to stop." he responded at a much faster, more confident rate than he'd spoken before. Here was a different person. This was the professional medic and he was something completely different from the clutz that Amoran dissolved into when he was desperately trying not to put off a beautiful woman. Sadly the latter was something he was nearly as good at as the former.

"I was a very happy child, I had pets that I would adopt.... creatures that needed to be healed or cared for....... and I learned about what remedies my Grandmother would use and would tell me about. Many of them were just old wives' tales but some really worked! I had a wonderful childhood and I wanted to share it all with everyone. There was a little boy at my school who had a bad problem with his bones and he had a hover-chair. I always helped him and protected him. He was such a nice person but people didn't often look past the chair. They looked down at him and down ON him too. I hated that. I wanted to help him to stand tall and walk again. We used to talk about how I was going to study hard and become a brilliant surgeon and fix him.... we were going to college together and we.... " He faded a little. "He didn't make it. He had something apparently incurable.... and the doctors who looked after him failed to save him. I was always sure that if I could have made it to qualifying in time, I could have done... so I worked harder and it was too late for him but I do all of what I do now in memory of my friend Al. There are so many children who need care. I decided to specialise in Children's medicine but when it came to it, I couldn't turn my back on older people and then I met some in the middle and I wanted to help them all. I just had to do Research in Kids diseases and then when my Fellowship was over, I moved out into the Universe and just helped everyone I could find who needed it. I just love the feeling of achievement when you get a diagnosis right and you can help someone who is suffering to get well again. It's the BEST feeling in the whole........" he blushed, took a deep breath and dissolved again when he realised who he was sitting next to.

"Are you terribly bored now? I'm so sorry. I get carried away...." he put out a finger to tickle Admiral Purcey's ear and gazed fixedly at the cat, avoiding Peridot's eyes for fear of what might be in them. "We could go and join in with some of the activities.... there are stalls... and jugglers and magicians and some ..... over there..... " he pointed almost desperately to the outside of the picnic area where there were indeed lots of very colourful stalls, tents, gazebos and at the back, an events ring. He was hoping to make amends for going on and on, by suggesting a promenade around a bit.

Then he was struck by the thought that it might be that she hadn't finished eating and it was a bit abrupt to just up and wander. They still had fruit and wine left. "Or in a minute?" he offered weakly, finally looking at her directly.

"We can have a look round," she replied, "I think the Admiral can take care of guarding our spot."

"Is it okay to leave him?" Benj looked at the little cat with concern, assessing whether or not the little basket he was inside was sturdy enough in case of careless passing feet or if perhaps he decided to do a spot of exploring as soon as he saw them leave.

Peridot reached out to tickle the kitten under the chin, "He'll be no trouble unless Commander Tahhk comes by. We could take him with us, I suppose," she suggested.

"That would be funny" Benj said with a laugh. It wasn't clear if he meant the image of Tahhk coming past and getting used as a climbing post or the idea of taking "the Admiral" for a tour on Peridot's shoulder. He chuckled away to himself as he went though both of those scenarios and liked what he was imagining, especially the pretty picture in his mind of Peridot walking around, no matter what she had on her shoulder. He sighed happily and started packing the most perishable items back into the picnic basket. "If we leave the blanket out, I expect it will get trodden on." he added ruefully.

Peridot nudged him gently in the ribs. "You worry too much," she said as she scooped up the admiral and placed him on her left shoulder. "No claws," she told him.

"I bet Commander Tahhk wishes he could have that same effect just by saying no" Benj chuckled. He was beginning to finally relax which usually meant he was about to put his foot in his mouth but for a moment of amusement, he forgot that. He led the way over the gardens and wound in and out of the gathering crowd, gently making sure that he cleared or found gaps for Peridot and casting over his shoulder frequently to make sure she was still following.

"You okay?" he checked again.

"All present and correct," she replied pausing to look at some carvings on a stall, "What do you think of this?" she asked.

Benj looked at the exquisite little necklace Peridot had picked out. "I think it's beautiful but it pales next to you!" he said, looking away and fiddling with a leather crafted belt with a bejewelled buckle. He didn't like the belt but was embarrassed and couldn't bear to see her reaction imagining she'd think he was just quoting a cliche. He supposed he probably was, but it had come from his heart and that was what had embarrassed him.

"Why don't I get them both?" Peridot asked, "The necklace is lovely," she let it hang whether or not she liked the buckled belt.

"Let me get them for you." he jumped at the chance and had put his thumb print onto the vendor's payment PaDD quickly. The craftswoman put both items into small, soft, envelope shaped material bags to wrap them and tied both with a different coloured bow. She offered them to Benj who indicated she should give them directly to Peridot.

"To say thank you for coming here with me today." he said. "I hope the Admiral won't be offended that I haven't bought him anything to remember this lovely day by." The woman behind the stall looked instinctively around for an Admiral and seemed confused not to see anyone in uniform but she shrugged and Benj beamed at Peridot as they walked away.

"I thinks she was looking for a chaperone of some sort." he whispered as they got further out of earshot.

"She didn't look close enough," Peridot said, "The pips are on the collar! Benj, you've brought the picnic and the necklace, and ... I don't feel I've done anything. Should I get some more spring wine from that stall and we reclaim our blanket?"

"No, you have brought all the Spring Wine so far and you brought the Admiral and most of all you brought you and for all of that I am truly grateful. Especially the latter. Thank you Peridot, I've had such a lovely afternoon! Truly." he replied, anxious that she shouldn't feel awkward about the gift.

"Maybe we should try dinner again," Peridot suggested, "Do you cook?"

"Yes, I do! I'm rather good!" he enthused. It wasn't true at all but he was prepared to go the whole nine yards and learn if he had to. "What's you favourite?" he asked with a beaming smile. "I'm especially good at desserts!" he added, thinking death by chocolate theme.

"That sounds great," she said, "Lovely seafood then chocolate heaven and I'm you're girl," she grinned.

~Oh I *WISH* you were my girl!~ he thought longingly.

He smiled broadly. "Deal?" he laughed and held out his hand to shake on it. Admiral Purcey seemed to start a little as he thrust his hand towards Peridot and hissed to declare his disapproval.

Benj looked a little crestfallen at the reprimand and brought his hand back to salute the angry kitten, missing the meeting of his handshake with Peridot's response and then becoming confused and apologising for withdrawing his hand just at the prime moment and then offering it again after she'd withdrawn hers in confusion too.

He rolled his eyes at his own self-sabotage. It was nothing new but he hated making an even bigger clutz of himself in front of someone so lovely and whom he so desperately wanted to impress. Too desperately, it was obvious but he couldn't help himself trying hard. It would be unthinkable not to do his utmost. If only he could get it right for once!

"Sorry" he muttered in a defeated tone and just walked along beside her again, this time giving the kitten on her shoulder a wider berth and walking on the opposite side so there couldn't be any more incidents.

TBC ...

 

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