Rand was sneaky when she needed to be, and right now she needed to be sneaky. It was Roman’s birthday, and they had almost missed it. The crew all tended to gather in the galley or rec hall when one of the crew had a birthday or other important day. Roman however was not the kind to do such things. Chef always made a cake and it was Rand’s job to tell him when someone was having a birthday.

So how to get chef to not announce it? Simple, don’t tell him. Instead Rand asked if she could make something. Normally Chef would never let anyone else in the kitchen, but Rand was sweet and did so much for everyone, if she wanted to make her grandma’s special secret meringue recipie, Chef was going to let her. She was only making a small one, just enough for one or two people, so he had enough to give her.

And it was just enough for two. Small enough to fit under a dish dome. It was done baking just in time for her to meet Roman for his PT appointment and then go back to do the layers of a Knickerbocker Glory. Having a covered plate on a tray wasn’t all that strange, it kept the food warm or cold and helped prevent people from bumping into it.

She had thought about going back to the observation deck, but she wasn’t sure he would want to celebrate with other people around. They could always go to the observation deck later. Apparently they were passing some kind of nebula that was supposed to be really amazing. The stellar cartographers were all excited about it in the mess hall earlier and hoping they slowed down enough to take pictures with the sensors and telescope.

She took the tray to her quarters, so she could change. Pipkin was supposed to be his birthday present, but she had arrived early. So it was just the desert and the two of them. Well three if you counted Pipkin. She was wearing a pale green, a-line dress, a sweetheart neckline, and cap sleeves. She liked the way the skirt moved when she walked in it. Then, making sure no one was in the corridor she carried the tray down to Roman’s quarters. She knocked but there was no answer, so she let herself in. She thought Roman would be back by now. His PT was after his shift and had ended an hour before. She set the tray down and went to let Pipkin out of her cage.

Rand