My turn now

Posted on Tue Aug 6th, 2019 @ 11:51pm by Lieutenant Commander Angus Murphy
Edited on on Tue Aug 6th, 2019 @ 11:52pm

Mission: For Whom The Bell Tolls
Location: P&M's Quarters
Timeline: MD05, 1700
1284 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

"I cooked for you!" Murphy exclaimed, half-startled, half-genuinely enthusiastic when Patrick came home earlier than he'd expected. There were dirty pots nested inside each other, tomato sauce burned to the cook top, and bits of everything splattered onto the floor. "Surprise?"

Patrick paused as he surveyed the mess. "You cooked, for me?" he managed, "really? I thought you hated to cook..." Oh he was definitely surprised, and showed it by flying into his partner's arms. "Yes yes I'm surprised." And a little concerned at how his stove had been abused, apparently. "What did you make?" Was it edible? he recalled Murph ruining something simple like eggs.

"It's a surprise," Murph said, shooing Patrick away from the kitchen. "I heard a little rumor that you had a rough day in the galley and... uh.... I thought I'd give you the night off." He straightened his apron and went back to peek into the oven. "Shoot. I must have forgot to turn it on..."

"Yeah...Perhaps it's safer that you cook today," Patrick murmured, offering a smille. "You do look great in that apron..."

"Tell me about your day," Murph said as he set the oven to high. "It was pretty quiet in engineering, actually. Which is why I'm home at a somewhat reasonable time."

"I had a horrible day... I managed to ruin breakfast, I made a fool out of myself with the diplomatic chief, who thought I was pulling a prank on him, and just now, I ruined dinner. Chief Sullivan came to get dinner, and we talked and she sampled the stew and started suggesting improvements. It was embarrassing and on top of it all.." Utterly embarrassed, he lifted his bandaged left hand. "I cut myself. I never cut myself when cooking. Murph, am I losing my touch?"

"I'm sure it wasn't as bad as you think it was. Maybe Chief Sullivan's tastes are just wrong," Murphy tried to suggest, to make Paddy feel better about it. "And we all have off days. Maybe you need a day off."

Reluctantly, Patrick nodded. "I suppose..." He smiled a little. "Don't get me wrong...I absolutely love that you're making dinner for us. And I'm happy for you to be home early, it's a nice change. And perhaps her tastes are just wrong, and less refined but I've had complaints all day. Perhaps I should take a few days off."

Murphy walked over and carefully picked up Paddy's bandaged hand. "Why didn't you go to sickbay and get this healed up?" He raised it to his lips and kissed it, as if to make it feel better. "Though scars can be pretty sexy too." He smiled.

"Doctor Sekat came to the mess, he did heal it, for the most part anyway and then told me to not use my hand for a bit. He said to be careful with flexing and bending my fingers." Patrick shrugged, smiling at the tender move. "And kisses do make hurts better," he added, "it's a proven fact."

The oven emitted an alarm. Had that alarm come from the warp core, it would have meant the core was about to eject, but instead it was just a pre-warning that everything inside was burning.

Murphy rushed over and opened the door, allowing a billow of smoke to roll out and spread across the ceiling. "Crap. Crap. Crap." He reached for the potholders and pulled out the blackened baking dish. "I'm sure it's still edible..."

"Doesn't smell such," Patrick answered as he wrinkled his nose. "Normally I'd be taking over but I don't trust myself either right now....perhaps you should use the replicator?" He shuddered at the idea but he didn't really have much choice now, did he.

Smoke continued to roll out of the oven. Apparently some of the casserole had bubbled over the edge and was becoming molten lava on the bottom of the cooking appliance.

Warning. Fire detected. Initiating automatic fire suppression systems in five seconds. The computer announced and then put up an oxygen-suffocating forcefield across both the oven and the casserole until it determined neither was any longer a threat to the ship.

"Oh... Well... that's something...." Murphy muttered and picked at the layer of charred cheese on the top of the dish. "I think we can just peel this off and salvage the rest, no?"

"It'll probably taste burned but it's worth a try." Patrick really wanted to appreciate Murphy's attempt at cooking and make it worth the effort. "At least it applies a forcefield instead of drenching us both with some fire suppressant system," he chuckled.

"Older ships used to do that. Or venting oxygen into space," Murph said as he pulled off a thick black layer of cheese and pasta that stuck to it. "I think you might have been right. This is a lost cause. I've seen smaller disasters when warp cores overheat." He let go, letting the charred layer fall back to the dish and then he carried it over to the replicator and recycled it with a heavy sigh.

"Don't feel bad Murph," Patrick said softly, reaching out for a hug as soon as the engineer returned, it's the thought that counts, and I really do appreciate it. It was a very nice surprise."

Murphy returned the hug. "I guess I just need to leave the cooking to you."

"That might be best, but don't let that keep you from trying to surprise me." Patrick smiled genuinely now, his bad day almost forgotten. "It was very thoughtful of you. Since you're home early, what would you like to do after dinner? Want to go to the holodeck with me? Revisit those gorgeous caves?"

"Go to bed early?" Murphy gave a tired smile. "Haven't been sleeping great, anyway. I don't think I fell asleep at all last night."

Visibly disappointed, Patrick nodded. "Alright, want me to read you a bedtime story?" He smiled again. "Backgrub maybe?"

"Oh, is that code for fooling around?" Murph asked with a devilish smirk and glanced over toward the bedroom. The more he thought about the prospect of lying down for some rest, the less tired he felt. He shook his head. "No, you know I know you're disappointed. Let's go do something. It's alright. Holodeck Caves?"

"Are you sure? We can always camp on the holodeck... or sleep in the cave." He was trying to find a compromise. "Of we go to the caves and come back early." His bright smile returned, happy to compromise if needed. "What time does your shift start?"

"Twelve hours, and, yes, I'm sure," Murphy replied, lifting the corners of his lips up into a solemn smile as he took in the intricacies of Patrick's face. "Let's go. It'll be fun. We'll play it by ear."

"But we're going home when you're tired," Patrick promised, wrapping his arm around Murph's waist, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Let's go, I really loved those caves. It's the best place you ever took me to."

"Better than that nudist resort on Marga III?" Murph asked as they walked out the door together. "What was that guy's name who waited on us hand and foot?"

"Yeah let's not mention him. I loved Margra, and the resort, but I really love those caves. We can always create a new program based on the resort but well...we got our own quarters where we can be in the nude all we please. Privacy and all." He smirked at his partner. "I have my reasons for loving the caves Murph." He leaned into the man, smiling happily as they walked.

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Lieutenant Commander Angus Murphy
Chief Engineer, USS Majestic

Patrick O'Malley
Chef
pnpc Lhaes