Pinky Promises
Posted on Tue Apr 7th, 2020 @ 2:20am by
Mission:
Cruel Meridian
Location: Arboretum
Timeline: MD 04: 1900
3463 words - 6.9 OF Standard Post Measure
"Oh, hello my feathered friends, good to see you all again. No, it's not feeding time right now, I'm just here to make a little area to camp, okay?"
Having intentionally skipped dinner in anticipation, Lily found herself mingling with the chickens in the arboretum for the second time in three days. Invitations had been sent to a select few, but work needed to be done in order to prepare for the plans she had that particular evening. The last time she had visited, a promise regarding a night of camping had been made to Alecx, and one did not simply break a promise made to a two year old. She had every intention of making good on her word, evidenced by the silent determination of the work she had set herself to.
Sullivan wrestled the final stone into its resting place, creating a circle where a fire could safely burn without risking the nearby grass or trees from any errant embers. A large container of water was stashed nearby just in case, and the stream meandering its way through the grassy area was standing by as a backup to the backup. In another large insulated cooler, foodstuffs that were able to be cooked over an open flame had been gathered along with the necessary skewers and cookware needed to create a basic, but tasty meal.
"Hmm, hot dogs, burgers, buns, all the fixings, plus stuff to make s'mores," Lily muttered to herself, filling through the contents of the cooler as she ignored the rumble in her stomach. "Oh, right! I almost forgot the sheet!"
Heavily inspired by the movie night that had transpired a few nights before, she had replicated a plain white sheet that would serve as the screen for another showing. Unsure of what Alecx would want to watch, she had left a message with her invitation to Stef, requesting that he bring something age appropriate for his son. A few blankets draped over square bales of hay would serve nicely as seating for the evening's festivities.
Holding his son by the hand, Stef approached the make-shift campsite in the arboretum. he gave a nod of approval as he surveyed the place. Alecx on his part raced forward and tackled the pilot into a hug. Chuckling, Stef offered her a PADD. "This holds some cartoons he likes to occasionally watch," he said. "Something called... Disney?" He arched an eyebrow at the human woman. "I will leave you to it now, though I will not be far. Call me if you need anything, alright?"
"Understood," Lily nodded and accepted the PADD before turning her full attention to the toddler who was still squeezing her legs. "Hi Alecx!" Lily squatted down to accept the hug from her newest, smallest friend. "I told you I would come camping with you. We're gonna have so much fun together. What do you want to do first? We can start a fire and cook, maybe go splash around in the stream, or watch some of your favorite shows."
Alecx watched his father walk away before turning back to Lily. "How about we swim first and then warm up at a fire?" he asked hopefully, "it's what daddy and I did back home. We had a stream nearby and there was a huge place where we could make a fire."
"That sounds lovely, we'll leave your dad to take care of making the fire," Sullivan carefully placed the PADD down on top of a nearby hay bale before crossing her arms to pull her jacket over her head. She had come dressed for the possibility of watersport, wearing a relatively demure one piece bathing suit that suggested more than it said outright. The stream lazily bubbled along a winding path along the floor of the arboretum before emptying into a pond that was lined with stone. Various reeds and other taller grasses grew along the edge of the water. It was easy to forget that all of this was held within a starship travelling at tremendous speeds.
"C'mon Alecx, let's go!" Taking the young boy by the hand, Lily took smaller steps and let him find his own pace as they made their way down to the edge of the pond. "I hope you don't mind Alecx, but I invited my girlfriend too. She's way cooler than me, but that's a secret and you have to promise not to tell her I told you, okay?"
"Girlfriend?" Alecx arched a single eyebrow at her in a very Vulcan-like fashion. Yet he nodded. "Of course," he answered, trying to mimic his father as he spoke. "Why can't I tell her?"
"Because she'll never let me live it down, that's why. Now c'mon, let's go for a swim!" Sullivan stepped on a tall clump of grass, matting it down with her foot before sliding into the water. "Oh no," she recoiled as she resurfaced. "Computer! Raise the temperature by three degrees." She waited a moment as the tension from her body from the shock of the cold water slowly melted away.
Alecx giggled. "Daddy always tests the temperature with his foot," he offered, "never get into water straight away he always says, it might be too hot or too cold." At the computer's confirmation of the order, Alecx tiptoed forward and inched into the water. "This pond isn't really meant for swimming is it...I think I saw fish in here the other day."
"No silly, those are the best kinds of ponds to swim in. It's the ones where all the fish have left that you have to watch out for," Lily grinned, pulling her hair back into ponytail and tying it in place. Her attention was pulled elsewhere by the sound of the arboretum doors admitting another visitor.
Cassie entered the arboretum at a jog, stopping just before she could trip over a chicken that squawked at her arrival. "Désolée, poulet..." she apologized before taking a breath. She spotted movement somewhere in the distance, dusted herself off, and moved in that direction.
"Hi, so sorry I'm late. No rest for the wicked, as they say," she said as she sat on a rather large rock overlooking the stream. She took off her sneakers and socks and set her feet on the cool stone, curling her toes; she had been on her feet all day, so this was a refreshing change of pace.
Alecx scrutinized the newcomer for a moment then boldly splashed her with water. "Hi! I'm Alecx!"
Lily resurfaced nearby, side by side with him. "Hi! I'm Lily!"
Cassie shrieked in surprise as the Vulcan child splashed her, and burst out laughing when Lily surfaced out of the water. "Hi, I'm Cassie," she responded, waving. She then looked down at her now soaked t-shirt and shorts. "I'm also soaking wet. Having fun?"
"I don't know about my friend here, but I am having fun," Lily giggled before lightly splashing some water in Alecx's direction. "Stef is around somewhere here too. I'll hop out in a moment and help you start a fire so you can dry off. We've got delicious food and a projector for movies too." She swam her way over to the edge of the pond, keeping one eye on Alecx while looking up at her girlfriend. She couldn't help but smile. "Thank you for coming - I know work must be getting very busy with the mission, but it's good to take a break now and again."
"Daddy won't interfere," Alecx promised, "he's leaving us alone, he just wants to be on hand just in case." He had heard his father say such, and assumed he'd just be around somewhere. He splashed back at Lily, ten splattered more at Cassie. "Come in too?" he asked, "I don't want to be alone in the water."
Cassie pouted. "Might as well," she said in mock resignation, then grinned as tied up her hair with the hairband she was wearing on her wrist. She then removed her t-shirt and shorts, revealing a basic sky blue one piece swimsuit. She narrowed her right eye when she caught her girlfriend staring. "What? You said there would be swimming. Were you expecting the yellow polka dot bikini?" she asked just before diving in the water.
"You never wear it anymore!" Lily stuck out her lower lip in a pout, but it was so comical in its execution that it was obvious that she was far from serious. For a moment, the sky gazed lovingly at the earth - Lily made eye contact with Cassie as she resurfaced above the water.
Cassie laughed. "Of course I do. I wear it to sunbathe on the golden beaches of the quadrant!"
"Not entirely true, ma chèrie. I seem to have this memory of that particular garment and two days spent on Sapphire Island, but perhaps I'm misremembering," Lily grinned again, mischievously this time. She only ever grinned like that for one person. "But I digress," she swam towards the third member of the group, "Alecx here is Stef's son, age two going on forty-five like most Vulcan children. I made a promise that we would go camping together, and we always make good on our promises. Alecx, Cassie will swim with you for a little bit while I get the fire going for our meal, okay?"
And then, quietly so that Cassie could see but not hear.
"Remember our promise?"
The boy giggled, mischief in his eyes.
Lily pulled herself out of the pond in a graceful movement, standing still for a moment so that the intricate machinations of the arboretum's environmental system could reclaim the water that was dripping down off of her. Satisfied that enough time had passed, she nimbly returned to the fire pit and began to assemble the necessary components of a fire. At the center, a small pile of fine wood shavings was surrounded by a pyramid of small twigs and dried out leaves. Nearby, a nest of branches was organized in such a way to take advantage of the smaller flames before giving way to larger and larger pieces of wood.
A careful strike of flint against steel was all it would take.
"Ha!" Sullivan raised the primitive tools to the sky. She mustered up every ounce of panache and drama from her very core. "BEHOLD and gaze upon me with awe! I have conquered fire!"
"Where is it!" Alecx called from the pond, while doing his best to splash Cassie, "I don't see any fire!"
Cassie tried her best, and failed, to shield herself for the surprisingly big splashes that Alecx created. Quite adept for a two-year-old. "You can see it if you get closer."
"Wait for it, wait for it," Lily laid her tools carefully back on the ground before using her hands to form a makeshift tunnel to focus her breath. As she exhaled, the spark took hold and became a flame. That flame multiplied, expanding and contracting in perfect harmony to Lily's breathing. Her hard work was rewarded with the sound of crackling and the aromatic smell of the smoke. The orange-tinged light danced higher and higher, leaving a bed of embers behind as the wood continued to burn. Sullivan look unmistakably pleased with herself.
"Well, you three," she called out a few moments later, "I guess I'll start cooking. What does everybody want?"
"Fish!" Alecx yelled, while splashing around, "and those long yellow things? I saw them in the mess a while ago. Chef Paddy made them for me..."
"French fries?" Cassie asked Alecx tentatively as she lifted him child out of the pond by the waist. She then climbed out herself before retrieving her now dry clothes. She held out her hand to the Vulcan child and waited for him to grab it before approaching the dancing flames.
"Be careful. Get too close and the flames will lick you, and not in a good way," she instructed him. She then sat down at a safe distance from the fire, trying to lead by example. "What's on the menu?"
Alecx shivered as he crept close to the fire. "We can't make fries in this can we?" he asked, "but can we make fish?"
"Oh, ye of little faith. Give me just a moment and we'll find a way." Lily's back was turned to the others, her attention buried along with her arm deep into the cooler filled with foodstuffs. Extracting two separate bags, one in each hand, she performed a half-pirouette and used her free foot to close the lid of the cooler. "Cass, will you pretty please set up that thingy that's like half-grill and half-griddle? Oh, and the cast iron skillet too."
"Uh sure," Cassie answered, sitting in front of a contraption she was completely unfamiliar with, looking at it this way and that.
"Thank you, love. You remember the fishing expedition we went on, right? I bought a few fillets of that fish that reminded us of Mahi Mahi. I have spices, lemons, and a bit of olive oil for you. Can I put you in charge of that?"
Cassie took the bag of fish fillets, the spices, and condiments she was handed, and found a small bowl and other cooking supplies. She juiced the lemons in the bowl, added the spices and olive oil, and whisked everything with a fork before placing the fillets in the bowl and coating them in the mixture.
"Voilà," she whispered as she covered the bowl to let sit while she turned her attention to the the disassembled cooking contraption she had been put in charge of. "There should be an assembly manual," she muttered, examining all the parts. The griddle and grill boxes looked like they could be placed on a steel stake, and gravity would hold them in place. Hopefully these could be swiveled; fish was delicate enough to cook under normal circumstances, and she definitely didn't want to burn these fillets.
"Did you bring a hammer? Like a heavy-duty hammer?" she asked Lilith. "I think we have to bury this," she explained, holding the steel stake in one hand.
Lily rubbed her chin in thought for a moment before remembering where she had placed the tools. "Oh right, duh. I took the hammer and used it to drive the stakes I used to hang up the movie screen. Here, I'll go get it for you."
Now with a heavy hammer in hand, Cassie pounded the stake into the ground beside the firepit, careful not to disturb the flames, and slid the grill box through it. After a few attempts at trying to get the to hold in place, accompanied by more than few pointed, but whispered, curses, she finally got one to keep still by slightly tilting it forward. She did the same with the griddle box, then carefully let it go, in case it fell. Fortunately, it didn't. "There. this should be good, yeah?"
"Perfect," Sullivan called out in a sing-song voice. She walked over and hugged her girlfriend from behind, using Cassie's shoulder as a rest for her chin as she inspected her work. "I read through the manual earlier, and I think the pieces will spin around the stake. But, you can also control the distance between the cook surface and the fire which should help with the temperature control," she paused for a moment and grinned. "No pressure Cass, but it's not like our ancestors haven't been cooking over fire for a million years. It's somewhere deep down in our genetic code, you've got this."
Cassie smiled and ran a hand through Lilith's hair. "Uh huh," she responded, unconvinced. She remembered the camping trips her father would take her and her siblings to, and she always managed to burn the food she had been placed in charge of. "I'll do my best."
As Lilith moved away to help Alecx with the potatoes, she turned her attention back to the marinated fish, and placed her hand just above the grill. Not entirely satisfied with the grill's temperature, she decided to brush the grill with the last of her olive oil. She waited a minute or two before checking again. "Good enough," she said to herself as she grabbed a pair of tongs and carefully placed the fish fillets on the grill. They immediately sizzled; marinade dripped into the fire, making it crackle.
"Now, master Alecx," Lily turned her attention to the young Vulcan. "If you want fries, we're going to have to peel some potatoes. Take this and hold it," she reached into her bag and handed him a child-safe vegetable peeler. "Help me take the skins off of these potatoes. We can cut them into matchstick sized pieces and make what my family used to call 'hash browns'. If you like french fries, I bet you'll like this. Deal?"
Alecx nodded excitedly. "Can you show me? Daddy never lets me help with dinner, he says I'm too little to help." The boy pouted a little. "He says knives are dangerous."
"They can be, yes. This one is relatively safe, see?" Lily took the boy's hand in hers and slowly followed the contours of a medium-sized Russet potato. Reluctantly, the root vegetable allowed the duo to remove some of its covering though the plastic cutting edge made the job more difficult than it would have been with a sharper blade. "The edge is still dangerous Alecx, so treat it with the proper respect. By the way, it's okay if you don't get all of the skin off - it's full of nutrients and can provide texture. When you're done, put them in that bag over there, okay?"
"And frites with the peel are best, anyway," Cassie chimed in, checking on the fish. Soon enough, she'd be able to turn the browning fillets.
Nodding again, the boy set to work. By the time he was finished, a considerable amount of time had passed and his finished product looked less than presentable but it was clear effort had been delivered. "I'm done," he announced at last.
"That's pretty good for your first time, Alecx," Lilith smiled warmly, looking up from her cutting board where a pile of finely julienned potatoes was slowly growing. The amateur chef's ingredients were finally all assembled and ready to cook. It was fortunate timing. A decadent whiff of seared fish filet began to waft about campsite that cause her mouth to immediately water at the thought of the dinner they would be consuming in the near future.
Cassie smiled at the child, who was clearly proud of himself, despite the less-than-perfect job at peeling the potatoes. She glanced under the grill again, satisfied with its current colour. Armed with her tongs, and now a spatula, she delicately scooped up the fillets, one by one, and gently flipped them over, careful to have them still in one piece. "Huh. Managed not to burn them," she declared, satisfied with herself.
A sizzle of complaint erupted from the union of butter to hot cast iron. Her hands flew around the griddle, never allowing the high heat of the open flame enough time to burn either the potatoes or the fat they were cooking in. Temperature control was never easy in such a basic kitchen, but often times the extra effort and challenge made the meal that much more satisfying.
"Oops, sorry," Sullivan grinned as she accidentally bumped into her cooking partner. "I think we're ready to go to plate. Alecx, are you ready to eat?"
"Yes!" the child exclaimed, scurrying over. "Can I do anything?" he asked, eyeing the hot pan and the even hotter fire. It lit up his eyes as he looked into the flickering light, then back at the two women.
"Yes, actually," Lily found the PADD that Stef had handed to her when they had first arrived to the arboretum. She tapped a few commands to ensure that the device was successfully connected to the nearby projector before handing it to Alecx. "Your dad said some of these are your favorites. There's nothing better than dinner and a movie, so pick one of your cartoons and then we can sit on the blankets and have dinner while we watch."
The boy took the PADD and sat himself down. For the next few minutes he browsed through the cartoons, then finally settled on something called "The Lion King". "This one," he said, handing the device back to her.
"I will stay awake this time, I promise!" Lily giggled.
The fire burned down into a bed of embers.
Alecx
Son of Stef
pnpc Lhaes
Cassandra Leblanc-Reed
Chief Diplomat
Lieutenant Lilith Sullivan
Chief Flight Control Officer
(pnpc Hanover)
