Posted by Lieutenant Ben Hudson (Chief Medical Officer) in Deck 8 - Ship’s Lounge

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Eilah Fayth (Chief of Security) in Deck 8 - Ship’s Lounge

Posted by Lieutenant Ben Hudson (Chief Medical Officer) in Deck 8 - Ship’s Lounge
Posted by… suppressed (17) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<SNIP>

Giddy, a little nervous. But not a negative reaction. Eilah had been a tiny bit worried that. He was glad he hadn’t taken things too far and made Ben uncomfortable. “Order the oysters. You’ll like ‘em.” He said and smiled confidently.

~ Fayth, COS

Ben nodded, returning the smile, as he placed the PADD down on the table and stood up. “So, one non-alcoholic sangria, one aromatic tonic water, some Padron peppers, some Betazoid oysters, and the fronds come later?” he said looking down at Eilah, giving him a slight wink.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah smiled and nodded. “Sounds like an excellent plan.” He said. “Let’s order. I really think you’ll like those oysters. The ‘seafood’ taste on Betazoid is very different from Earth seafood. I’ve tried both.”

~ Fayth, COS

Ben nodded, before heading across to one of the replicators. He used the time to take a couple of deep breaths to clear his head. He had sensed a bit of a connection with Eilah when he had come in for his physical, but at the time he just chalked it up to two new officers on a ship, with the common cause of making friends as they settled in. But his time having some friendly banter with Eilah on the lower decks and the rapport, verging on outright flirting, they had struck up in the lounge, made Ben think about the possibility of where this was going.

He chuckled to himself as the sense of giddiness washed over him again, as he tapped the commands into the replicator. However that moment was short lived, as another thought enter his mind… what if he had read this entirely wrong? What if Eilah was just being a decent person? It was times like this he wished he was telepathic; it would certainly make things easier. ‘But not as much fun!’ he thought to himself, trying to make a positive out of it.

Picking up the drinks and food, he went back across to the table where Eilah was sitting, his emotions a bit erratic but with an undertone of worry. However, seeing the short Betazoid sat there, with his slightly wavy dark hair and black eyes, and the soft freckles on his nose and cheeks, made that sense of worry give way to Ben being happy in the moment.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah honestly wasn’t trying or planning to listen too much. But there was a connection and once he’d felt Ben’s giddiness turn to uncertainty, he couldn’t help his curiosity. He was relieved as Ben approached the table, the uncertainty seemed to fade. Ben hadn’t read a thing incorrectly, but how could Eilah prove that without being too forward?

Eilah took his food and drink and grinned at Ben. Short? He picked up the thought with a bit of playful offense, though it was over washed by an excited happiness that Ben was paying that much attention to his looks. “Replicators: best things ever invented.” He said. “Everything smells amazing.”

~ Fayth, COS

Ben sat back down on his seat, admiring the snacks in front of them. He took one of the Padron peppers by its stalk, popped most of it into his mouth, and then bit it off the stalk, placing the stalk down on one of the side plates. He chewed for a few moments.

“That was a mild one!” he said with a grin, indicating to Eilah that he should try one.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah copied how Ben did it, picking it up by the stalk and biting it off the stalk and setting the stalk to the side by Ben’s. It was most definitely not as mild as Ben’s and Eilah pretended to breathe fire. “Hot, it’s hot. It’s very hot.”

~ Fayth, COS

Ben couldn’t help himself, and started to crease up in laughter at Eilah. “Trust you to pick the hot one!” he said with a grin, pouring Eilah a glass of water from the pitcher that was on the table.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah took a big drink from the glass of water. “Thanks.” He said, though he still looked like his tongue was uncomfortably spicy. “I don’t have a huge tolerance for spicy foods.”

~ Fayth, COS

Ben felt really sorry for Eilah, and a little bit bad for laughing at the situation. He stood up, and disappeared off to the replicator, before coming back with some mint yoghurt.

“Here, have some of this,” he said, as he placed the bowl of yoghurt in front of Eilah, whilst placing a hand on his shoulder.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah felt his regret. He smiled. “‘s alright. I like trying new things.” Ben’s hand on his shoulder was warm, and it was a welcome touch. He started eating the offered yoghurt. He wasn’t a huge fan of the mint flavour, but the yoghurt really helped so he ate it all. “Thank you.”

~ Fayth, COS

“I would say try another one,” he said, pausing as he took his seat. “I mean, you would have to be really unlucky to pick up another spicy one!” he said with a grin as he popped another pepper in his mouth.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah picked up another pepper and ate it. As luck would have it, it was spicier than the last! He took a big drink out of the glass of water and shook his head. “I think I’ve won the lottery of luck, then.”

~ Fayth, COS

Ben smiled sheepishly at Eilah. He rarely got one of the spicy ones, so he felt sorry that Eilah was not particularly enjoying them, but also glad that Eilah was taking it in good humour.

“Well, let’s hope your bad luck doesn’t come in threes!” he said, shaking his head softly. “I suppose I should try one of these Betazoid oysters?” he said, half rhetorically. “What should I expect?” he asked.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

“Think fishy but… not?” Eilah smiled and chuckled. “I can’t equate it well with human flavours, I’m sorry.” He said. He smiled, “I don’t mind bad luck in food if good luck comes elsewhere.”

~ Fayth, COS

Ben smiled back at Eilah, looking directly into his eyes. “Well, maybe your luck will change later this evening,” he said, subtly raising and lowering his eyebrows. He picked up one of the oyster shells that were on the plate, raised it up in a mock toast, and then slide the oyster into his mouth.

Eilah grinned, meeting and keeping his gaze. “We’ll see, but a man can hope.”

Ben once again blushed slightly as he nodded. “I know what you mean.” He said, trying to play it cool, but in the process letting out a nervous chuckle.

It was amusing to Eilah, the playing it cool. He understood it, he’d been around humans long enough to, but as a telepath it seemed absurd. He smiled at Ben.

A few moments passed as Ben chewed on the oyster. “I see what you mean… definitely fishy, but very much has an umami kick to it,” he said.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah smiled and ate one himself. “They aren’t my favourite, but I do like them when I need some variety.” He commented. “But the real question is… Do you like it?”

~ Fayth, COS

“Yes, really good!” He said, helping himself to another one. “In a way, they remind me a bit of monkfish,” he continued. “They’ve got that fish flavour, but very meaty.”

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah smiled, clearly genuinely happy about it. “I’m glad.” He drank out of his drink and then had another himself. “Perhaps you can introduce me to monkfish sometime I can see the difference for myself.”

~ Fayth, COS

“I normally cook monkfish in a curry,” he said with a wry grin, “but for you, I’ll cook some in a romesco sauce. The tomatoes go really well with the fish, and there’s no spice.” he said, chuckling a bit.

Lt. Hudson
Chief Medical Officer

Eilah chuckled sheepishly. “I hope you don’t mind my aversion to spice.” He said. He ate a few more, and soon they were almost out.

~ Fayth, COS