Dinner Conversations

Posted on Fri Jun 21st, 2019 @ 3:58am by Ensign Kara Hoffman & Captain Garrett Lovejoy [ Taylor]

Mission: Episode 1: Hell is a four letter word
Location: Deck 2-Galaxy Room
Timeline: Current
1788 words - 3.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Garrett stood outside the Galaxy Room restaurant waiting for Kara to arrive. He was dressed in black slacks, shoes, along with a red polo shirt. He
tried to act calm but inwardly he was nervous. It was all he could to stand still and not pace. He hoped Kara wasn't going to stand him up. He looked
up at the wall chrono and noted it was time for Kara to be here. *She's doing this on purpose!* He thought, *Making me wait. Teaching me a lesson.*
He silently fumed as he looked at the chrono again and waited.

Kara smiled. She'd been making Garrett wait. She was currently hidden in a storage area, across from the the Galaxy Room restaurant. She giggled to herself. Her beautiful gold and white dress, pristine. She eventually emerged five minutes after she had planned to, to see Garrett standing there, facing away from her. Tapping his foot. "Hahaha!" She laughed outloud. "Why if it isn't Mr Lovejoy? Fancy meeting you here!" She crumpled over in laughter.

He spun at the sound of her voice, a smile washing over his face as turned to see her. "Kara!" He said happily, nodding his head at her. "You got me Kara. You had me sweating. Yes, fancy meeting you here." He chuckled. "You do look lovely." He extended his arm for her to take. "Our table is waiting. Shall we get to it?"

Kara gave a smug smile of success. "Wonderful, let's go. I'm famished." She moved beside him, taking his arm. "You good to go in, or we gonna wait out here all night?" She giggled.

"We are going in Kara. I prefer we eat our meal on a table and not out in the corridor." Lovejoy replied but before they entered the restaurant he stopped and looked around. "Just checking to see if your girlfriend was hiding behind one of the columns." He said half seriously.


"Relax. She's my fiance by the way, we're getting married soon, so...Just remember this ain't a date or anything. However it doesn't need to be. Now enough chit-chatting, I'm hungry!" Kara lowered her head, smiling wide, as she began to pull on Garrett's arm. "Let's go in, let's go in, let's go in." She repeated excitedly.

"Relax you say. Easier said then done. I expect her to come after me with a wrench." Garrett quipped. "I know it isn't a date and you know it isn't. I just hope your fiancé knows that." Even as they entered the restaurant. One inside they were quickly seated at a table with a window so they could view the passing stars if they so desired. "Would you like a glass of wine Kara?" He asked.


Kara thought about it for a moment. she shook her head, and raised both hands. "Nah, I think a glass of water will do nicely." She paused waiting for a moment. "You're kidding right?! Hell yeah I would love a glass a wine, in-fact let's have a bottle, right?" She put one hand behind her head, as she laughed, watching Garrett's confused expression.

Garrett shook his head and smiled. He motioned the waiter over "A bottle of red Zinfandel if you please." As the waiter nodded and hurried off to fetch the wine, Garrett turned his attention to Kara. "Am I forgiven concerning your friend Chief Liorga?" He asked softly.

Kara calmed herself quickly. She looked into his eyes, gauging his honest intent. "Yes. Yes you are." She replied after a few moments. "Water all under the proverbial bridge, I suppose."

He nodded, "Thank you Kara. I know the crew thinks of me, Percy and the Commodore as cold and unfeeling. That isn't so. We just have a job to do and sometimes that job means asking unpleasant questions. We've learned not to be affected by personalities. We stick to the facts."

Kara laughed loudly. So loudly, the waiter bringing the bottle and glasses, was a little spooked, as he poured their glasses. "Well, your not a borg drone. Garrett, when you first arrived, i HATED you. Fuck knows why, I didn't even know you. Then I saw the real you. This you. YOU. You're not a robot, you CAN question if what your doing, or asking is morally right or wrong. Every human knows that. What Pissed me off the most was, you'd ask questions that surpassed the normal boundaries, that struck real personal issues. Not to mention I did some looking into the commodore. She really has a vendetta against Phoeni- I mean Our Captain. You might not think it, But she does." Kara stated finally.

"Indeed I am not a borg drone. "I'm sorry you feel I crossed the line with some of my questions. They were in the line of crew as well as ship performance. I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree." He shook his head, "Kara, I know the Commodore. Whatever her personal feelings are in regards to Captain Lalor, I can assure you she will do everything possible to get Captain Lalor and the others back as quickly as possible as well as unharmed."

"Can't disagree with you on that." Kara said, waiving down the waiter, to order their meals. "So long as that continues, then the commodore will have me as an ally. That I guarantee."

Garrett was pleased with Kara's wiliness to accept what he said at face value. "Good Kara. It's nice to know we can agree on some things. Now, what about dinner? Have you decided on what you want?"

"Yes, I have. Have you? I'll be trying something i found in the replicator library just a few days ago that just sounds marvellous. Kare Raisu. It's an ancient Japanese dish which uses onions, carrots and potatoes, along with beef, pork and chicken and some sort of spicy sauce to make it into a curry. Apparantly, according to the history I could find. This was a very traditional and very popular 21st century meal."

Garrett shook his head, "Yes. Not that." He said with a laugh. "I think I am going with the seafood combination. Flounder, shrimp and scallops along with clam strips and a baked potato and carrots."

"Grand choice." Kara smiled, but it was only a half-smile. "Y'know Garrett I needed to chat with you. I think something is going on with Gallia. I'm not sure but i get the distinct impression she's suffering from...extreme jealousy." Kara sighed. "Sorry, to bring this up, but I thought perhaps you'd have some advice. I've never...been in a situation like this before so it's all new."

"Jealousy?" He replied confused then it dawned on him. "Is it me, she's jealous of?" He shook his head, "Never mind it doesn't matter. Your the one catching the fallout. As for some advice, yes I do. Make plans for some alone time. A nice dinner, Maybe a holodeck adventure. The big thing is make sure it's just the two of you. Then tell Gallia how much you love her. She knows you do but still tell her. Loved ones like knowing how they make their significant others life special. Dote on her. Apologize if you feel it's needed about not spending more time with her but stress she is the most important person in your life."

"Good advice.." Kara nodded slowly. "I'm not sure if she's jealous of you. I doubt it. She knows I'm not going anywhere, at least i hope so. I think she's just annoyed that we haven't been able to spend as much time together recently. Things haven't exactly been quiet since the command team went missing, it's added alot of stress." Kara admitted.

Garrett nodded, "No, she probably isn't jealous of me. She hates me and my questions. Throw in your entire command team missing, and you're quite correct there's a lot of stress as well as tension among the crew. Most if not all which is directed at the Commodore, Percy and myself."

"I once blamed you three for it all too. Until I saw the light. I feel bad for the commodore, she has to deal with all of this un-necessary hate directed towards her. It's not really fair. She's done nothing wrong." Kara said, taking a sip of her drink, as the waiter brought over their plates of food.

"I'm glad you see it that way Kara, I wish others were as open minded as you are." Garrett replied as the waiter set their plates in front of them. "Looks good, smells great. "Should we dig in?" He asked with a grin.

Kara giggled. "You even have to ask?!" She picked up her fork and began spooning the delicious curry drenched rice and potatoes into her mouth. Her face instantly began to turn red from the spice, as sweat beads began to form on her forehead and cheeks. "Mmm, hot but oh so goood" She squealed.

He shook his head at her facial expressions. "You can have it. I don't want to eat anything you need to call the fire department for." He quipped as he took a bite of his fish. "Now this is good." He told her.

"That's fair." She replied, scooping more rice and sauce onto her fork. "So, can I ask what you'll do when it's time for you t leave the Elysium? Do you know where your next assigned?" Kara asked. She had hoped her new-found friend, wouldn't stray too far away, but she also knew the job he had to do took him all over the federation.

Garrett smiled across the table at her as he took a sip of his wine. "Don't know Kara. I'll go wherever the Commodore goes as will Percy. We're a team. We work well together. Though I think its safe to say, we won't be missed by the vast majority of the Elysium's crew. However that is okay, we have a job to do and we do it."

Kara nodded. "A damn fine job, although perhaps you've all learned something from this experience I hope. I know you have. It's strange, but when you first arrived, I never thought we'd ever have been on talking terms like this, let alone friends."

"You are being excessively kind Kara. I can assure I have learned from this experience." Garrett raised his glass in a toast. "To new adventures and new friends may I continue to learn from them both."

"Here here!" Kara exclaimed, raising her own glass to meet his, with a clink.

Smiling at his new friend, Garrett took another sip of his wine, enjoying the meal and the company.

Commander Garrett Lovejoy
Acting XO, USS Elysium

Lieutenant Kara Hoffman
Chief Engineer, USS Elysium