Dinner Guest

Posted on Thu Dec 8th, 2016 @ 4:20pm by Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Stiles & Ensign Theodore Vega

Episode: Out of Sequence
Location: Avery's Quarters
Timeline: 1900

The smell of a home cooked meal wafted through the air of Avery's quarters, making his mouth water. He knew it was going to smell good but he never envisioned it smelling that good. He sprinkled some more salt on the mashed potatoes and went back to stirring them in the large glass bowl before glancing over at the steaks that were sizzling on the stove. Getting real steaks all the way out on the ship wasn't possible but that didn't mean that Avery couldn't program a passable likeness. It had taken him several times but he finally managed it. He hoped.

Theo walked in, glad he'd made it on time. He'd been worried there at the end of his shift. Some things in the biology labs didn't keep the same schedule as the ship's duty roster, and others could be a bit... cranky about it, as a few tears in his uniform could attest.

"Hey Theo," Avery smiled, looking up from the potatoes as his friend entered. "Go ahead and have a seat, everything just about done."

"I could get used to this kind of service," Theo said.

"I have to perfect my craft someone how," Avery replied. He finished up with the potatoes and then set the bowl down on the table before going back for the steaks and salad.

"I hope that doesn't mean you've scared off all your coworkers," Theo said.

"How was your day?" Avery inquired, setting a juicey piece of stake in front of Theo. He followed that up with a small side salad and then home brewed beer. "What? You're looking at me all funny again."

"I'm not even going to ask if this is real or where you got it," Theo replied, "because that could only end in a tragedy straight out of an ethics textbook."

"Maybe you should just shut up and enjoy the lovely food," Avery smirked, taking a seat. "And stop worrying about stuff like that."

"I see we're going full American today," Theo said, looking over the spread. "Is there an apple pie hidden away?"

"No," Avery said, taking a swig of his beer. "Apple Cobbler, I tried a new recipe with some cinnamon in it. I got it off one of the girls that works down in engineering. She swears by it."

"Sounds good." Even if the region around Lake Armstrong was fairly cosmopolitan these days, there were still traditional cultural ties dating back to the early 21st-century domes. Exaggerated and stereotypical ones, admittedly, but in this case delicious.

"So, sounds like you and Vex are hanging out. How's that going?"

"What 'that' do you mean?" Theo said. "He's a good guy. Fun to be around."

Avery's eyebrows rose. "Um, I didn't mean anything by 'that', I was just asking. And I know he's a fun go to be around, he actually gets up and goes running with me unlike some guys I know. I know you never asked me and I'll only say this once but I think that he has a thing for you."

Theo wasn't quite as dense about personal interactions as some people thought, but he had a reputation to uphold. "Like a relationship thing? Are you sure? This isn't like that time freshman year where you were sure the new student from Moscow had a thing?"

"Admittedly, I have been wrong on occasion but yes I think like a relationship thing," Avery replied. "He just smiles a lot when he talks about you that's all."

"We may be doing date-like things," Theo admitted. "Or at least we're doing human date-like things, I'm still trying to research his own people's customs."

Avery's brows furrowed together. "Wait, so are you actually dating or just doing date like things?"

"Okay, fine, technically dating now," Theo said. "But we weren't before."

"And you're okay with his... you know... " Avery started to say.

"Stunning good looks?" Theo sigh mournfully. "Well, I suppose I had to meet someone more handsome than me some day."

"That's not what I meant!" Avery missed. "I mean you know... his... parts."

"What, does he have some kind of cool cyborg arm? Laser eyes?"

"You're doing this just to point out how stupid me pointing that out is, aren't you?" Avery said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm saying that for someone who "accidentally""," Theo made air quotes, "set me up with a cat girl, you have suddenly become squeamish."

"I'm an idiot," Avery sighed. "Thank you for pointing that out. Alright, well then how are things going with him?"

"We're bonding over soccer, mostly."

Avery frowned. "You haven't invited me over to watch any soccer."

"Strictly speaking, he invited me... well, no, he invited himself to my quarters." Theo waved the confusion away. "The point is it was his idea. Don't get all jealous on me."

"The old me would, you know," Avery admitted. "And I am tempted to point out that I was around way before he was but I guess I'll let it go. So, when's your next date?"

"I don't think we've planned that far ahead," Theo said. "I'm up to my ears with biological test samples killed by radiation, chemical poisoning, and being ripped apart by dimensional flux, so it's a bit busy right now."

"That does not sound like fun," Avery replied, taking a swig of his beer. "Find out anything interesting about him? Oh wait, this means that I can finally tell someone that embarrassing story about you and Davie Valentine from senior year!"

"Sworn to secrecy means sworn to secrecy for life."

"You mean I can never, never tell that story?" Avery balked. "What about your future husband or wife? You told Theresa Thomas about walking in on me that one time!"

"Well, you never swore me to secrecy," Theo said. "See, this kind of planning ability is why I'm an officer."

"I didn't think I had to!" Avery protested. "Fine, then that story about me and you and that spin to bottle game is totally up for grabs. How would you like it if I told your new guy the first guy you kissed was me."

Theo shrugged. "Go ahead. It'd probably be funny to watch."

"What?!? It would not be funny!" Avery said. "Wait, why would it be funny? Is my kissing funny?"

"It's funny when you get really worked up over inconsequential things."

"My kissing is not inconsequential!" Avery insisted.

"Man, pretty everything at that age is inconsequential, at least in retrospect."

"You seemed to enjoy it then," Avery mumbled, after taking another drink of his beer. "Maybe the three of us can hangout sometime."

"You can come the next time we play soccer, assuming you think you can keep up with us. We can set it to easy mode if you want."

Avery frowned at his friend. "I am not that out of shape Theo, I run three miles every morning. I so don't need easy mode."

"I'm not saying you're out of shape, just... never mind. Send me your work schedule and I'll reserve us some time."

"If you want it to be like your and Vex's thing that's okay," Avery said. "I mean I would understand it."

"I'm sure we can find "a thing" to do of our own," Theo said dryly.

"There's a mental picture that I don't need in my head," Avery shuddered. "Anyways, are you about ready for dessert?"

"Sure," Theo said, "what's another fifteen minutes in the gym at this point?"

"That's the ticket," Avery smiled. He pushed back from the table and went to the kitchen, returning a few moments later with two slices of apple pie with a side of vanilla ice-cream. "Enjoy."

"So are you bribing someone down in the arboretum for all this?" Theo asked.

"Possibly, a cute young blonde ensign that misses his home dearly," Avery shrugged. "The only way that I could get the apples was if I agreed to have a drink with him, it should prove for an interesting night."

Theo shook his head. "Leading someone on just to make dessert is a bit of a dick move."

"For the love Theo, I'm not leading him on! He knows that I haven't dated guys and he knows that, although I think he is a good looking dude, nothing may come of this. He was warned and he was fine with it. Honestly, I told we could just call the whole thing off and at the very least he has someone to hang out with for awhile. You know me better than that, I wouldn't do that to someone."

"Okay, okay," Theo said, holding up his hands in surrender. "I take it back and apologize."

"Good," Avery nodded. "Besides, what are you worried about? A little competition?"

"There's a hundred and fifty people on this ship," Theo pointed out. "Statistically, that's not a great target pool to start with."

"True... um any advice? I've never gone out with a guy before."

"How am I supposed to answer that? There's, like, four dozen answers based on where he's from on Earth alone, never mind if he's from a colony," Theo said. "Treat it like you would dating an alien - look up some background and advice or something."

"Sound advice," Avery nodded. "I'll let know how it goes."

OFF:

A JP By

Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Stiles
Engineering Officer
(Played By: Ryan North)

Ensign Theodore Vega
Science Officier
(Played By: Jean Reynard)