"Break for Breakfast"
(Previous was the our 'damn near indestructible' Lieutenant Prav's "Welcome Back?")
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Susan's Quarters
Stardate: 60325.1700
It had been a long day, and considering that Susan Mei had been awake for two of them consecutively, she thought she deserved - never mind that, *needed* - some sleep. There was only one problem... she couldn't.
Maybe it was something to do with the fact that the chronometer told her it was 5pm... but she doubted it. More likely it was the fact that her friend - her best friend - was being help captive somewhere beneath the surface of the planet that was drifting eerily below them.
Susan tossed and turned.
It was no use.
How could she expect to sleep when her subconscious mind was racing with worries and fears? Even her rational conscious mind couldn't find any concrete piece of hope to hang on. It was Gul Zulot who was holding her after all. Susan had met him and as far as Cardassians went... he was probably the worst. And that - in Susan's limited experience - was certainly saying something.
Susan jumped as the door chimed. She looked at the chronometer. She went on duty in an hour. She sighed to herself and wondered what possible situation could have come up that couldn't wait an hour? She had half a mind to ignore the chime and try to get an hour's sleep before she had to go and counsel people. The last thing she would need would be to fall asleep while someone was lying on the couch telling her something really important about their subconscious. However, when the chime interrupted her thoughts again, Susan turned over with a groan. It could be an emergency - even though it was usual for one to be summoned on their COMM badge when an emergency occurred - it could still be something desperate that Susan needed to sought out. Or - more importantly and more worryingly... it could be news about Lea... news that needed to be delivered in person.
It was that thought more than anything else that made Susan swing her feet onto the carpeted floor and grab her dressing gown from the chair next to her bed. She was still trying to figure out how to get her arm through the second sleeve when she hit the button that opened the door.
She blinked.
"Good Morning!" said a cheerful voice belonging to the person standing on the other side of the door. The person's brow furrowed then as she appeared to consider something, "'ope I didn't wake you?"
Susan rubbed the last remains of sleep from her eyes, "Of course not" she said in the most pleasant tone she could muster through her surprise, "How can I help you, Lindsey?"
The short woman shook her head, "Lin" she stated and then looked down at a parcel she was carrying in her hands. It appeared to be a container of some kind with the top covered in some sort of heat retaining metal. "You can call me Lin, love."
"Well... Lin. Why don't you come in?" Susan stood aside to let the dark haired woman enter while trying to clear her mind of its confusion. Surely this was not the same woman who she had counseled a few short days ago? That woman had been distraught - and rightly so - her husband had just died suddenly. Now she was standing and beaming in the darkness of Susan's quarters.
"A bit dark in 'ere innit love?" She asked politely with a knowing look in her eyes, "An' you still tell me I didn't wake you up?"
Susan couldn't help but smile, "lights" she declared to the room at large. They burst on to full brightness and Susan grimaced, "Lights to 70%" she muttered and Lin laughed as the lights adjusted themselves.
"You didn't wake me up." Susan stated defensively "I was awake already. I start work in an hour." She grinned slightly as she admitted, "I just wasn't out of bed yet."
Lin smiled but said nothing. Susan adjusted her dressing gown then asked, "So... how can I help you, Lin?"
The woman became at once self-conscious and stared down at her parcel as she scuffed her feet. "Well... I 'ope you won't be offended... but I checked your schedule to see when you were on duty because, well I know that you've been down to the planet and you've had a busy time of it lately so I um..." she looked up at Susan as if suddenly realizing she was acting like the ship's CSO, "I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing, it's fine." Susan assured her.
Seeming to gain confidence from this, Lin smiled and continued, "Well, you were so nice to me the other night when... you know... so I thought I'd say thank you by, um, making you breakfast."
Susan felt her jaw drop. "You made me breakfast?"
"You aren't mad are you?" the little woman asked looking up at Susan with those timid green eyes.
"No!" Susan said a little sharply, then cleared her throat and tried again, "No, no. Not at all. I'm just surprised. You didn't have to do that." Susan indicated her 'kitchen' area, "I do have a replicator."
Lin flushed, "Well yes, I know that. But this recipe has been in my family for years. It requires special programming. I doubt you'll find something like it anywhere else."
There was a hint of pride in her voice that told Susan that this was Lin's spatiality. "What is it?" she asked.
Lin beamed. "I call in Mussolini."
Susan's eyebrows shot up. "Mussolini... as in the Italian dictator?"
"One and the same." Lin said sagely, then seemed to realize what that implied, "I mean, not one and the same of course, I mean I didn't actually go back in history to obtain an Italian dictator to serve you for breakfast..."
Susan giggled despite herself, "No, I got that. So... what is this Mussolini?"
Lin eyed the dish she was holding. "Well it's pasta really - that's where the name comes from - you know, Italian. Only the sauce is red and when we was children - myself and my brother that is - we used to call it 'bloody macaroni' but my mother, she'd have none of that you see, so we decided to name it after a bloody dictator instead." she frowned abruptly, "I know, I shouldn't 'ave told you that... it's kinda off-puttin if you aren't used to it."
Susan realized that the woman was responding to the expression on her face and quickly straightened it into a smile, "No, not at all... well maybe slightly but not so much so that it would prevent me eating it." Susan saw the woman smile and decided it was safe to be honest, "I was actually wondering how pasta would go down for *breakfast*"
Lin seemed to collapse from the inside, "I didn't think of that."
Susan was beginning to wonder if she hadn't in fact fallen asleep after all and was just dreaming this strange encounter. She glanced at the chronometer before announcing, "I still have half an hour. Would you like to stay for Mussolini?"
Lin grinned. Susan wasn't sure why Lin was so happy. Either she was consciously trying to forget the way her life had change a few short days ago or she was subconsciously suppressing the fact. Whatever the case, and whatever the reason the woman had for showing up outside her quarters, Susan knew that the best place for her to be was with a counselor.
--------------- 2005 post #364
Tallulah Habib {thabib@eject.co.za}
Ensign Susan Mei
Head Counselor
USS ANUBIS
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"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own." - Adam Lindsay Gordon
