<snip>

“I agree.” she replied with a smile. Then she took in a deep breath through her nose, letting the smells of the cooking meal fill her lungs. Though she had been fairly relaxed to begin with, comfortable in her own skin, she relaxed more and sat back in her chair. “My husband and I always used to enjoy our kitchen in our home on Earth when we had time off to spend there. I recreated it here on the holodeck so that I could have a little piece of my home. Food is central to everyone. Most cultures have rituals surrounding food. Most cultures make the kitchen the center piece of their home and the most social space. Do you feel more at home in a kitchen than Engineering?”

Nox, CNS

Mathyas smirked, while he eyed the food. It was almost ready to dig in.

“That’s a hard question. I think the kitchen since I grew up around food, culture, and customer service. Though inventing in my office is a close second.”

Retouching on her mention of recreating her kitchen, his eyes took stock of the surroundings in a new light.

“I should be thanking you for the foundations of this kitchen,” He stated than continued to explain.

“Before having this materialized, I went looking through the archives. I found a few different layouts before settling on this one. All of them were based on similar programs.”

-CE, Mathys Ducote

She looked around and smiled, having noticed similarities to her home re-creation holodeck program. “I spent many an hour pouring over what I wanted in my kitchen at home. My husband was quite annoyed after weeks of indecision. In the end though, I really felt vindicated. I made great choices and we really loved spending time in our kitchen together. I am glad you are enjoying the fruits of those labors too.”

NOx, CNS

Mathys paused the conversation as he checked the gumbo again, topping it off with a few additions. As the smell filtered out into the room, his stomach growled.

“Sharing is often seen as caring from where I come from. Can’t tell you how many times we helped or shared something with our neighbors and the affair turned into a party. Also, I think the gumbo is done. Can you help me by getting some bowls and spoons?” He gestured to the drawers near the counselor. Meanwhile, he shut off the heat and moved the pot off the burners.

-CE, Mathys Ducote

She stood up and moved over to the drawers, pulling them open until she could retrieve two bowls and two soup spoons. She used her hip to bump the drawer closed and came to the stove with them. Sienna held out the bowl he would be using. “Here.”

She took a moment to close her eyes and take in a deep breath of the aroma from the pot. Smiling she let out a sigh of enjoyment. “It smells divine.”

Nox, CNS