Dinner Time

Posted on Tue Mar 3rd, 2009 @ 11:45pm by

3,007 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Citadel Prime
Location: XO's Cabin
Timeline: current

[XO's Cabin]

Dhindara grinned. She'd been ready for about twenty minutes but she wanted to be right on time. She was wearing something red, for a change, but nothing too elaborate. She pressed the doorbell and waited for a response.

Arkham smirked a little, straightening the crisp black dress shirt she'd put on, and her well-ironed pleated slacks -- Rowena Arkham was well known for being ridiculously formal "even when there was nothing to be ridiculously formal about," as Megan Ellard had often said-- as she heard the doorbell rang; my, the master Chief was prompt. She frowned, thinking about the former Chief Medical Officer of the USS Sparta -- looking at the picture of the smiling young doctor with the dour looking Arkham that rested in a frame on her mantle, she was pained a little.

What would Dr. Ellard think of her now?

Catherine, emerging from the bathroom, looked over the older woman, an incredulous look crossing her features. "A little much, don't you think, Commander?"

Arkham snorted a little. "I like to look neat, Catherine--"

"All just to have dinner with a Master Chief," Catherine said, shaking her head, a look of sadness crossing her features. "You don't even get that dressed up for me anymore, Commander. She's awfully attractive, isn't she? The Master Chief?"

Arkham raised an eyebrow, looking at the doctor incredulously. "I don't know...I haven't really been paying attention."

Catherine sighed, moving toward the door. "Yes you have. Dear, just...be careful there. Please be careful there."

Arkham nodded, watching the doctor move toward the doors and letting the younger Master Chief in. Smiling a little but unable to hide the distinct sadness she felt, she said simply, "Good evening, Master Chief. I'm...just on my way out. The Commander should be with you momentarily."

Dhindara looked at Catherine, whispering. "Don't you worry. I won't try anything stupid." She could feel the sadness, and she wanted to ease her worries.

Catherine smirked a little, shaking her head, and turned away, not saying another word to the Master Chief -- like it or not, she would worry, and the young NCO knew it. Sighing a little, she turned down the corridor, heading toward the labs -- she'd at least try to get some work done, if nothing else.

At this point, Commander Arkham emerged from her bedroom where she had been preparing, saying simply, "Good evening, Master Chief."

Dhindara stepped inside and waited for the doors to close before she spoke. "While I am off duty and out of uniform, please call me Dhindara", she said, "or anything else you're comfortable with, beside an impersonal title."

Arkham smirked as much as her ruined face would allow. "Very well, Dhindara--if that's what you'd prefer, I suppose I can manage that. Likewise, I suppose you can call me Rowena, if it so suits you." Leading the Master Chief into the rather luxurious First Officer's quarters, making a single sweeping gesture and saying, "My quarters. Not bad; not what I'm used to, but not bad. Have you put any thought as to what you'd like for dinner?"

"I was going to let you surprise me", Dhindara replied. "I am open to almost any type of cuisine, but Klingon, Bolian and Tellarite are not my favourites."

Arkham smiled a little -- she had an idea, it was sudden and rather fun, and seemed like a decent idea. Heading into the next room, she took a few moments to prepare everything before returning, and then came back a moment later, her features unreadable.

"Well, Miss Vrel, I'm a Terran, as you well know. From a little town in Maine where my family owned... well, everything in the town worth owning. And if there's one thing Maine's rather famous for, it's our seafood."

Arkham smiled a little, leading her around the corner to a perfectly set table. "Tell me, Miss Vrel, have you ever had lobster?"

"No, I don't think I did", she said, "When I spent time on Earth it was inland, in a mid-sized town called Münster, Westfalen. Historical studies. They didn't have much seafood." She looked at the table and smiled, "My, you've gone through a lot of trouble."

"It's not a problem, really," Arkham said, smirking a little. "Have a seat, Miss Vrel -- enjoy."

Dhindara sat down. She blushed some as she looked at the strange creature on her plate. "Uhm, for fear of losing respect with you, but... you'll have to tell me how to eat this. Doesn't look like knife and fork will do much good on this armour."

Arkham smirked a little, slightly embarrassed that she had overlooked such a detail. Showing the Master Chief how to crack the shell using a nutcracker and remove the meat from the claws and tail, before returning to her own place setting and cracking the claws of her own lobster, dipping the meat in butter and savoring the taste. Pouring a glass of wine for her guest and then for herself, Arkham said, "Well, what do you think, Miss Vrel?"

Dhindara tasted the food, and she was delighted. "That's wonderful", she smiled, more openly emotional than the Commander, "you sure know to enjoy some things, I wouldn't have guessed", she teased.

Arkham snorted, dipping another bit of lobster in melted butter and savoring it, careful to keep the meat on the right side of her mouth and away from her so-very-tender artificial teeth and jaw. "I'm an intelligence officer, Miss Vrel. What you're thinking doesn't stay secret very long if it's written all over your face in my business. And I suppose it stuck with me."

"As a telepath that has never been a concern of mine", she said, "but I can see your point." She smiled, taking a sip of the wine. "So I'm wondering, now, if my first impression of you was incomplete, or if you're warming up to me some."

Arkham smirked. "Well then, I suppose that's for me to know and you to try to figure out, isn't it? Because you and I both know that it's not in my character to admit such a thing -- and that I would never allow myself to admit such a thing if it was. Because if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that saying what's on your mind... well, that just makes things messy, doesn't it?"

"It does", Dhindara replied, "but it also makes things more interesting, a challenge to be taken up. Unless you were to allow me to scan your mind, but I'm not even going to request that. I can understand why you would be uncomfortable, especially with all the classified information that you'd have to try and hide."

"If you want to do a scan, I'll allow it," Arkham said quietly, sipping her wine. "If you so desire to know what's going on in my brain. But please realize -- you're an attractive young woman, and you know full well where my line of thought...will eventually end, even though I know it's an impossibility--for more than one reason. But likewise, you're welcome to ask of me what you will -- I'll answer what I can, if you really want to know."

Dhindara was surprised. She opened her mouth, then closed it, silent for a spell. "I... would not have expected you allowing that. Thank you, I am honoured."

Arkham smirked a little. "What can I say? I'm full of surprises. Go ahead. Do what you will, Dhindara."

"I... do have a mental experiment that I wanted to try", she said, "I don't know it if will work, but..." she fell silent, closed her eyes and reached out telepathically. She was concentrating on the pain in Rowena's jaw. It was unpleasant, her face showed it. She was feeling it again, as if it were her own. She was trying to isolate it, relieving it temporary. If that worked, there might be a way to make it a permanent telepathic block, but she had never done this with a non-Betazoid before.

Surprise crossed Arkham's features as the pain in her jaw, a pain that she had lived with for so many years, a pain that had dominated her life and defined her experiences was momentarily alleviated -- as if she had never lost half her jaw all those years ago. It lasted but a moment and then came flooding back, but it happened. She was sure of it.

"What... how... what did you just do, Miss Vrel?" Arkham said quietly, unable to hide the surprise on her face.

"I am trying a technique that I have learned on Betazed", she said, "it is an old medical technique from before the days of anaesthesia." She was speaking slowly as she had to remain concentrated. "It is only temporary", she continued, "I didn't know it it worked on people who are not Betazoids, but if this works there's the chance to permanently block out the pain. I can't make a promise, but I wanted to try at least." She smiled. "The least I can do, at any rate, it give you temporary relief, every now and then."

Arkham smiled a little, as much as her ruined features would allow. She took a sip of her wine, and swirling the red fluid gently in her glass, she said simply, "Thank you. That was... it was nice not to hurt, for once--even if I know, after all I've done, that I don't deserve it. Surely... there's something I can do for you in return?"

Dhindara wasn't able to keep up the concentration any longer, the difference of minds between Betazoids and Terrans, coupled with the fact that Rowena's mind was rather alien to her, her concentration span was drastically reduced. She let go slowly, again feeling the jaw pain herself for the moment of transition. "No, there is no need, Rowena," she said, "take it as a gift, please. And don't hesitate to ask for it, if you're having troubles, or need to relax." The tension from Dhindara's features slowly disappeared. "My telepathy is a gift", she said, "I have used it for harm to others, out of necessity and also out of fear. If I get the opportunity to do something good, that's all I want."

Arkham smirked, "Attempting to atone for past sins, huh?"

Her features dropped slightly as she thought of Megan Ellard -- it was difficult to explain what it was that stuck in her mind anymore. Whether it was a nuance, a gesture, or the smell of a kiss, or the white-gray of a breath on a winter's evening. She'd been three quarters perfection and a quarter broken glass, and she would have walked barefoot back and forth across that glass, would have eaten it if it meant that she could have her. They'd met aboard the Sparta -- she was the CMO, and the only woman that Rowena has been sure that she could have been content with for all of her life, but clever Dr. Ellard had never let that happen. Arkham had tried for years, and sometimes she said yes, give me your life and I will give you mine. But then, something would have always scared her off -- sometimes at the first minute, sometimes at the last. And so it went for years, throughout the course of the war.

Arkham shook her head -- funny, even with an equally beautiful young Betazoid in front of her and Catherine willing to throw herself at her, she couldn't help but be drawn back to the one she'd lost. "Surely atonement can't mean that much-- I won't say if sins can ever be forgiven, because I've never tried. There has to be something I can do for you."

Dhindara shook her head. "No, it's not atonement", she said, "it's just... when I can help someone it makes me feel good as well. But if there is something you would like to do I won't stop you. But I'm not asking for anything. I only ask for something when I think it is vitally important."

Arkham shrugged. "Suit yourself, I suppose. But the offer always stands, Miss Vrel."

"If I am in need I will take you up on it, thank you", Dhindara said. She fell silent for a spell, thinking about words again. She found she was doing that a lot with Rowena. "Who was Megan Ellard?" she eventually asked, failing to arrive at a better way of putting her question.

Arkham paused for a moment, looking down into her wine. It had been a blunt question to say the least, and she should have known it was coming from the moment she let the Betazoid into her mind. She sighed a little, and said, "Megan Ellard was the Chief Medical Officer on the Sparta and she was someone I once cared about very much. And we're going to leave it at that, Miss Vrel."

"You'll have to let her go", Dhindara said.

"If you knew what I did, you'd know why I can't," Arkham said coldly, sipping her wine. The shift in tone had been very sudden, even for the moody First Officer. "And besides, there's no reason to. And I think, that if you wish to keep your job aboard this ship, Master Chief, you would be highly prudent to never mention her name again."

Dhindara looked at her sadly. "I'm only trying to help, Rowena", she said.

Rowena smirked, as she snapped, "Well, I've made it years without your help. I dare say I can make it a few more, Master Chief."

Dhindara nodded. She remained calm. She didn't feel hurt, but not intimidated either. "Of course you can", she said, "I have known many who lost it with lighter troubles than yours. You're very strong, and in fact I admire that." She ate a bit more of the lobster before she spoke again. "I don't think I could cope as well as you do, if our places were reversed. Maybe that's why I'm trying to help you. But I don't want to do anything you don't want me to do. It's your life, not mine. I'm sorry if I offended you." Dhindara was feeling bad about the way she had worded things with Rowena, but at the same point she felt that being honest was the best way, she wanted Rowena to understand her.

Arkham smirked a bit, eyeing the master Chief intently -- the dead left eye made such a stare all the more difficult to look at. "I think it would be best for everyone, Miss Vrel, if we dropped the subject of the good Dr. Ellard. I don't want to talk about it -- believe me, it won't help anyone."

Dhindara smiled at her, understanding. "Of course", she said, "I won't bring it back up again, unless you do."

Arkham nodded, savoring another bite of the lobster. "Good. Because I wouldn't want to have to get rid of you, Miss Vrel. I almost enjoy having the company."

"Almost?" Dhindara replied, "Now, if it weren't you I'd think you were trying to insult me." Then she turned serious again, "But if you don't enjoy my company and would prefer me to leave, you need only say that. I will comply with your wishes, no matter what."

Arkham chuckled a little, smirking, "Sarcasm just isn't appreciated anymore is it? I'll have to remember that. Get a sarcasm sign, possibly. Now now, let's not be hasty, Miss Vrel. We haven't even gotten to dessert yet."

"Oh, I quite understood you", Dhindara replied, "that's why I said, if it weren't coming from you." She grinned. "Now that you're mentioning dessert, you've made me curious."

Arkham smirked slyly, as much as her ruined features would allow. "Come now, Miss Vrel. You must let me keep a few surprises."

"Hmm, that's fair", Dhindara replied, "since I have a few left myself. Even if you had read my file I would."

Arkham nodded. "Oh, it's more than fair, Miss Vrel. And let me assure you, it's a surprise well worth waiting for. Are you finished with the main course, Miss Vrel?"

Dhindara smiled. "Yes, I am." She looked down on herself, pleased not to have made a mess with the exotic food. She emptied her glass of wine. She rose to clear the table. She was used to always doing that, from when she grew up right through her years in Starfleet.

Arkham smirked, returning to the room a moment later with a couple of slices of chocolate cake. "Enjoy."

"Oh, going to make me spend time in the gym, are we?" Dhindara grinned, "You're going to help me with that, one way or the other."

Arkham smirked, taking a seat at the table once more. "Well, Miss Vrel, I suppose I can take one for the team..."

Now that the table was otherwise cleared Dhindara sat down again. "You didn't have to go through all this trouble on my account, you know that, right?"

Arkham smirked, settling back into her chair. "I never do anything halfway, Miss Vrel. That's something you're just going to have to get used to. If I do something, I do it right. And, I daresay, I've done this correctly."

Dhindara smiled. "Yes, indeed you have. And I have noticed that you are somewhat of a perfectionist. It is a rare quality, these days."

Arkham nodded, the smirking expression never entirely leaving her face. She was well aware of the shortage of perfectionists in the world -- if everyone was Rowena Arkham, life would be so much easier. "Oh, you have no idea, Miss Vrel."

"Don't say that", Dhindara replied, "remember, I'm a telepath." She took the liberty of cutting the cake into slices and giving one to Rowena, then taking one for herself. "Mmhm, delicious."

Arkham smirked, taking a bite of her own slice, smirking a little -- an unexplainable, sly little smirk that was so characteristic of Rowena Arkham. "Indeed, Miss Vrel. Indeed."

 

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