Posted by Cadet Noah Parata (Engineer) in Side Sim: Time for food! (All welcome)

Posted by Cadet Ven Miya (Doctor) in Side Sim: Time for food! (All welcome)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade T’Saie (Chief Medical Officer) in Side Sim: Time for food! (All welcome)
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<snip>

Cadet Conroy flashed a grin at the newcomer to the table. ” By all means, more’s the merrier, right?” He was slightly stressed from old memories brought up in his reporting for duty, so had selected a comfort dish from the replicators, old fashioned earth chili, the scent of spices wafting over the table, and of course, a side of cornbread. Well a bit of cornbread was left after Issac had torn into it. Well, He thought to himself, pleasant company is as good a distraction from my own thoughts as anything. He motioned to the seat across from him. ” I’m Medical Cadet Issac Conroy, and may I ask for your name?”

<snip>

One of the cadets presents at the table responded instead of Issac: “It’s chili! That’s a plate from the earth, with beans and spice. It’s quite an old recipe actually. I believe you Bajorans like spiced plates ?”He had sawed the cadet smile when she was searching for the plate. “Why don’t you take a chair with us ?”

For a moment, the cadet continued to eat his fried rice, until he realized he hasn’t told his name: “Oh sorry, I haven’t introduced myself properly. I’m a medical Cadet. Aaron Williams, at your service. Nice to meet you!”

T’Saie wandered into the mess, eyes fixated on the PaDD she held. She wasn’t one to usually take brakes as they’re inefficient and unproductive however every-so often she would allow a moment to tend to her dietary requirements. Her work was important to her, almost as much as her research which had carried over from her training on Vulcan.

As she approached the corner, still yet to divert her eyes, she took a sharp turn to the replicators. “Pok tar, Vulcan mocha, sweet.” she ordered, usually unappeased at the replicators attempt at Vulcan food. Finally her eyes diverted to pick up both plate and cup, she swiftly span around, skilfully not dropping or spilling any of her cuisine while her eyes scanned the mess for a table, she much preferred a quiet corner table..

● T’Saie - Lt. Jr. Grade, Chief Medical Officer, Nurse Practitioner. ●

“Chili?” Miya repeated the name. “Thank you. We do like spiced food on Bajor, you’re right - I’ll need to try chili some time, if it’s hot enough. And if it’s not, that’s why I use this sauce!” She dolloped a large spoonful on her hasperat and wrapped it up again, listening as the cadet introduced himself.

“It’s good to meet you. I’m Ven Miya, also a medical cadet, recently arrived on Challenger and just beginning to settle in.” Glancing from Aaron to Issac, she frowned slightly. “I feel like I should know you both from the Academy, but there are so many classes and so many cadets, it can be hard to keep track of everyone!”

There was one person, however, that she recognised immediately in the crowded mess hall: Lieutenant T’Saie, food and drink in hand, clearly scanning the room for a place to sit. Although Miya would have preferred to get to know her fellow cadets without their department head present, her background would not let her ignore someone in need - even if that need was as simple as finding a seat at a table. “Look - the lieutenant’s here. I think we should ask her to sit with us, if she wants.” She gave a quick wave in the direction of T’Saie, trying to catch her eye across the busy room.

[Cadet Ven Miya]

Noah entered the mess, his head dropping slightly. He was exhausted, having struggled to sleep the past couple of nights. But he knew he needed to eat and so he queued up and got to the replicator and ordered something warm and filling. Pork, sweet potatoes and dumplings; a better memory of home. He glared at the replicator in annoyance; since he’d arrived he’d fiddled with it endlessly. First he’d reduced the standard level of spice in all the food, it was put way too high in his opinion. Secondly, with far greater difficulty, he’d continued to change minor settings little by little to try and get the replicated food to taste more…well…real. He’d spent hours reading up on experimental academic thesis on extracting more flavour from replicators but nothing had worked yet.

He was convinced that the problem was solvable.

Noah walked past a few tables, absent mindedly, until he came to a stop at the table full of medical cadets. He panicked as he realised he hadn’t picked an empty table but now, realising it’d look weirder to suddenly walk away, he forced himself to sit at the table.

“Um....hi. I’m Noah. I work in engineering.” He forced a smile and looked from face to face until his eyes settled on Miya as recognition dawned. “Yo! Miya! I didn’t know you were on the Challenger !”

• Cadet Noah Parata

Miya had been looking over her opposite shoulder towards the lieutenant, so she missed the new arrival taking a seat at their table. As she turned around to pick up her hasperat again, she heard her name and glanced towards the newcomer. Immediately she grinned broadly. “Noah! It’s so good to see you!” She half-stood, aiming a gentle punch towards Noah’s upper arm. Not that he’d feel it if it connected; he was as big as a Lurian, albeit a tad more conversational. “So you’re here for your placement too? How’s life in engineering?”

Sitting back down, she indicated her fellow cadets. “This is Issac and this is Aaron, both medical cadets like me. You might not think it,” she glanced at her colleagues, then grinned as she pointed her thumb towards Noah, “but we used to play sports together!” Even sitting down, the contrast between the tall, bearded young man with the facial tattoos and the petite Bajoran was clear. Miya turned her attention back to Noah.

“So are you ready for a re-match? I have a holodeck programme for a springball court .... just be ready to lose this time!”

[Cadet Ven Miya]