[Citadel/Nimbus] A Party On The Rocks (closed)

"Of course," Rahi smiled, as she herded her freshly-cooked wedges into a waiting bowl with the flat of her knife. She was quite pleased with the crispy, golden colour they had taken on - not quite the metallic twinkle of recipe book photos, but a good side to whatever it was Temria was cooking up.

"I haven't even begun to make a dent in the library," she said, crossing to Arina's makeshift dining/cinema space, activating a fresher field over the bowl to keep herself from being tempted to snack before the main course was ready. "All the data storage onboard uses the new stack-compressed crush drive architecture, so there's drive space to burn... I believe 'Homecoming' is in there, but I never saw the original, it wasn't quite my cup of kaffe. There's 'Make Believe', I haven't seen it but it's been doing the rounds back home. 'Pardon The Intrusion But This One Has Misplaced Its Conveyance'? I don't think anyone could get bad dreams... maybe a little weird..."

"Well there's a little bit of Sanves..." Temria began, turning the heat down to stir the pot a bit before cranking it up again to let it simmer as the broth gradually thickened. "In the way we're preparing it. The mix of spices is inspired by the Mara'Shaan style..." checking the oven's internal temperature, she looked back the commando and smiled, "...do you suppose we have any ketchup?"

When she was at last satisfied that the meat had been cooked through adequately, she would drain the remaining excess of water. "If I could get you to slice these evenly while I prepare the oven...?"

"Most certainly!" Freh'ya took the the fish filets from the cloth to a cutting surface. The meat had taken on a green-greyis color on the outside from the spice broth. When she cut it, it was still white and juicy on the inside with the herbal essences penetrating to a certain depth into the meat. It did not look bad and so she was cutting along...

"Oh, Sanves is a nice place. My mum originates from there and we visited it a couple of times. My dad loved it, all the lush greenery... you know how elcor can be." She smiled softly. He had liked it probably more than Nevos where they had settled down.
"I remember playing 'huntress' in the woulds with nieces, it was cool. I should visit it again someday." Of course this had been at a young age before she had entered the Huntress Monastery for real. No child's play anymore.

Meanwhile she had prepared a lot of neatly cut cubes of meat.
"...Uh, ketchup... dunno." she opened the fridge. There was an assortment of sauces to spice rations with. "Here's plain sweet motato sauce, will that do?" she handed Temria the umbra colored bottle.

"Oh, I can't take that actress... what about 'Namara - meeting the Council'? Something of a history trip... hm... 'Pirates of the Abyss'... Not really." They were browsing through the catalogue which was really amazingly extensive for such a vessel. She could go on a cruise with that. The endless space and all the movies.

"Do you like Citadel Fear? I just love that genre. Maybe we should be a bit more bold, what do we have... 'Keepers Creepers' maybe? Or 'Dark Wards'? That's a really cool one. Taynee T'Gayze is one of my favs."

She had to sneeze very hard! Only then she noticed how intense the smell of spices was. "Sorry!" she said, rubbing her nose. "Hey you two over there, make sure you don't set off any alarms!"

She sniffed and looked at Rahi. "What's it gonna be?"

'Dark Wards' I haven't seen," Rahi admitted. "Let's go with that then." She giggled under her breath. "I saw 'Keepers!' when I was quite small. Being mischievous - a friend snuck it out of the library, and five of us watched it late at night with the lights off. Young enough for it to be scary, you know, despite... well, how the movie is? We took turns hiding our heads under the lounge cushions whenever the Keepers were on screen."

She jumped when Arina sneezed, and let out a breath afterwards, glancing back at the kitchenette with a little trepidation.

"I'll get some drinks lined up," she offered, making a note to have plenty of water on standby.

"Oooh, that's a good idea." Temria took the bottle, giving it a quick shake. The sauce would be a bit thinner than she'd had in mind, but she could help it along... a hint of sugar to- no! She picked up another bottle of spices from the rack, she'd decided against Akin pepper previously, but this was the perfect opportunity! It was sweeter, and with only the slightest kick in the aftertaste, surely it'd mix well with the motato... "Yes... yes that works."

She arranged the cuts of meat evenly across a baking sheet, hesitating as she came to notice the precision the commando had taken to it. Fantastic, it would look as good as it tasted! With that hope in mind she poured the sauce evenly over the meat, just thick enough to cover them evenly while she evenly dashed the dried brown pepper shavings across the surface. With a deft, delicate hand, she slid the whole tray into the oven in one fluid motion... not long now, she was practically giddy with anticipation.

"Well then..." she turned to Freh'ya with a smile, "Thank you very much for your assistance."

Freh’ya notices Temria’s excitement. She herself had been feeling the hunger for some time now and she also was looking forward to the meal! It sure would be out of the ordinary.

She was standing there, all the tall huntress, big kitchen knife in her hand. “Anytime, doctor.”

Putting the knife away eventually, she was looking over to the quarters where the table had been set and the entertainment program obviously decided… For a second she regretted not having her Shi’tari with her. But who could not like a movie night? She walked over.

“Hey, so what did you chose for our entertainment?”

“Some good old Citadel Fear: ‘Dark Wards’. It’s not overly gross, more of a thriller and has been acclaimed for camera work and its score.” Arina explained, as she selected the vid on the holo screen. She did not start it yet but set it to stand by until everyone was assembled. “I hope that is something you two enjoy as well!”
Citadel Fear as a genre mostly dealt with the era of discovery of the Citadel and the horrors of the exploration of the still uninhabited station. Were the keepers really the only inhabitants and what were they up to? What leftovers from the former population may be found? Especially in the aftermath of the battle of the Citadel, the genre saw a small revival with several films dealing with either the new scenario or adaptations of well know classics, ‘Dark Wards’ being of the latter category.

“I guess food is just a matter of a couple of minutes now?” Her stomach indicated her hunger audibly. “I am already excited about the dish!” She was taking a seat for now and waited what kind of drinks Rahi would come up with.

Rahi reappered from rummaging in a supply cabinet, carrying a tray bearing four glasses and a selection of drinks in serving canisters: water, a light (and extremely low alcohol-rating) honey wine, water, tula berry juice, and water.

"I'm glad to hear that," she said, setting out the glasses and offering the various drinks to Arina, ready to pour her glass from whichever canister she indicated. "I've never had much of a stomach for the more... blatant sort of scare movies." She chuckled under her breath. "The unseen-tension sort might keep me up all night, but at least it won't be from feeling squeamish."

She looked around, noting the impromptu dinner party was getting on towards business.

"Um," she spoke up. "Does anyone mind if I speak thanks? It's a... habit, kind of." In fact the brief prayer to Athame - once almost ubiquitous, now rarely remembered as the worship of the Goddess waned - held more significance to her than she let on, but she was equally aware that others had their own ways, or might prefer at least not to have their dinner become involved in hers.

In no time at all, Temria emerged from the kitchen with serving tray in hand, their main course arranged with a balanced even precision inspired by Freh'ya's skillful work slicing it into portions. The meat had taken on a rosy hue as the mixture of spices so evenly embued during the boiling were at last able to burn out in the oven, turning the naturally sweet white flesh a slightly flakier orange. The whole thing steamed and hissed warningly, and gave off an intensely spicy scent.

"Laaaadies!" she crowed, grinning proudly at the others as she approached them, "I can already tell these have turned out so well. All thanks to you." she nodded, agreeing with herself confidently- yes, such a fantastic result could only have been born from their teamwork and good wishes, she could hardly wait. "It still needs to cool a bit. Are we all ready?"

Arina daringly pointed at the honey wine. She'd serve herself with water if needed but the atmosphere with the slightly dimmed light and the vague additional diffuse illumination by the vid screen was inviting for something hearty.

She raised and eyebrow at Rahi's request. Obviously the small pilot was someone who stuck with the traditional proceedings of the the Athmae religion. It was a bit unusual these days, maybe sadly so, Arina thought, after all the Athame cult its rituals had been defining for asari society for millennia. This time and age tended to throw a lot of traditions overboard so it was actually nice seeing some preserved.
"Sure you can, its in a way fitting for the ship's leader to do."

Then came Temria and a thick cloud of heavy scents. Steaming and Sizzling fish meat, covered in a delicious looking crust and an intensity of smell that made Arina blink twice. All the spices of asari space (and some others probably) made her mouth water though.
"Oh yes, I am ready!"

Freh'ya nodded in approval at Arina's explanation and choice. "That sounds fine to me." As long as it was no pirate vid...

When Temria carried over the casserole with the meat, her face lit up and she took a seat. She looked around the quartet gathered around the table and her eyes came to rest on Rahi. "Course not, go ahead. But first, let me point out that this is the the most enjoyable travel to an assignment I've had in a long time. You are all a great bunch that makes a boring trip a pleasure!"

She smiled and leaned back, hands in her lap, waiting for Rahi to speak. It was interesting to find out, the young huntress was into Athame practices. Freh'ya definitely wanted to find out out more about her schooling and her previous services. A more private moment on a watch up in the cockpit could be the thing, maybe at one point while Arina and Temria would take care of the Matriarch once she was on board.

"Oh," Rahi grinned shyly, at being called the ship's 'leader', "I'm just the pilot... wow. You don't see meals like that on a transport often." She paused to admire the dish Temria and Freh'ya had created, before filling their glasses as they sat as she had done for Arina.

"Thank you," she acknowledged the others' pause for her. She seated herself with her hands behind her back, and her head tilted down, and spoke quietly. "Healer and seer, stargazer, and tender of all that grows. We give thanks for the bounty of your guidance, that we too may guide in our time."

She looked up, at her dining companions, and smiled again.

"Okay then. Shall we...?"

Temria set the dish down gingerly, taking a seat and bowing her head as Rahi said her prayer. A tension showed on her face during that proceeding, but she kept it to herself.

"Yes," she said with a smile, "We shall..."

With delicate poise, she skewered one of the small cubes of meat, whisps of steam rising from point of contact, the whole thing sticking visibly as she lifted it from the tray. She held it there carefully, smiling at the others, "Who wants to try it first?"

Arina nodded in acceptance of the prayer. She noticed the strange expression in Temrias face but didn’t say anything. When the purple doctor was offering the steaming piece, she looked around the group and then offered her plate.

“I’ll gladly take it if this is not considered rude.” Of course it wasn’t, as someone had to take the first piece. She waited until everyone had their share though, before cutting the juicy piece in its bed of vegetables.

When the juice came out, a bit of steam rose… while the aroma was already intense but not exactly repelling (Arina thought of it as extremely rich at this point), the fresh steam added just a notch to make it confusingly intense. She had no exact idea what kind of style this was although she had eaten a lot of funny smelling food in her life so she didn’t think about it further and put a piece in her mouth.

The texture and consistency of the fish meat was just perfect, boiled to the. po … i….n… tttttttttttt……

If this was possible, her otherwise discreet facial markings seemed to start glowing and increase in intensity. Arina felt a rush of blood in her ears, as if someone had flushed her head of all the blood only to substitute it seconds later with something hot, something burning hot. Good Goddess. No, that’s just me, she thought. Act as if nothing happened. Don’t be an ass.

“Izz del’shizzz” She had trouble keeping the sudden excess of spit in her mouth from drooling left and right. She had the feeling her lips had fallen off. For a second she had the impression as if the gravity on board was failing. Everything seemed to wobble and move around her….

Freh’ya didn’t pay attention to arina as she received her own piece. At least it was smelling better than what this Dano guy had been grilling on several occations. Then she put a piece in her mouth … whoooooo, this was HOT. And intense. And everything else. All at once. The fish had next to no part in the aroma of the dish. But the commando chewed away, happy that she definitely would not have to worry about freezing tonight.

“Wow, that’s spicy, alright”, she said while chewing and swallowing. “I never tasted anything like that.” The Abyss, this was getting really intense. Freh’ya wondered what kind of tradition this was coming from. Nothing for minors for sure, but still better than a lot of field rations she had tasted in her life.

Looking at Arina, she noticed the eyes of the diplomat screaming for help. It seemed as if she was looking right through Freh’ya. The huntress looked at Rahilan, while putting another, slightly smaller bite in her mouth.
Tides, her lips started tingling.

Not overly fond of hot spice, Rahilan preferred to just get it over with when it would've been rude not to eat, and so it was that she had just popped her first bite into her mouth when she noticed Arina's expression, in the split-second before her diplomatic instincts kicked in and covered it, and realised she had made a grave tactical error.

Oh darn.

Actually it's not-

Yesitisyesitisyesitis

"Warm," she commented, although she suspected it came out as some sort of gasp. She gave Temria a quick grin, which she hoped conveyed 'I am enjoying this, and any minor signs of distress should be taken simply as being unaccustomed to the seasoning', and gamely ventured another morsel, in the same spirit as she imagined the old commandos had persisted through the Krogan Rebellions, following it with what she hoped was a not-too-obvious generous gulp of water.

Athame's sacred azure! She took another glance around the table. Freh'ya seemed composed enough, although there was the occasional slight twitch in her expression. Arina was... overall still the same colour as she normally was. Rahi could sympathise. The krogan showed no sign of slowing, and the discovery of the Hierarchy seemed a long, long way away.

Temria folded her hands in front of her face, watching the three of them expectantly. As each took a bite the reactions playing across their faces, despite attempts to maintain their composure said it all: Arina's flush, the way Freh'ya took a second bite so readily, did Rahi have tears in her eyes? They loved it, and realizing that, Temria felt a weight of anxiety lift away that she hadn't noticed she was carrying.

Smiling broadly, she took a bite herself- oh yes, perfect. "Mmmm yes, you can really taste the way they mingle." she looked thoughtfully at the others, "I have no idea why I don't insist on doing this more. I can never seem to find a good bold taste like this on the citadel. Oh! Rahi!"

Temria stood up sharply, looking to the pilot with an embarrassed smile, "The wedges, I'm sorry. You left them under the refresher. Please, allow me." bowing quickly she turned back to the kitchenette to collect them.

The fog lifted a bit when Arina took a drink. Decades of training in the diplomatic corps let her keep a rest of composure but she was sweating into her dress. Temria, would she notice… oh. It seemed she was happy with what she saw!? Either she was a sadist or delusional. (or maybe all of them were just too polite!!!!!!)

When the doctor got up to fetch the side dish, Arina was forming the silent words ‘this is terrible!’ with her lips, pointing at the meat on her plate. But before more could happen, the Wedges appeared. Arina nodded with a weak grin and took some. She started nibbling those, drinking water, kind of ignoring the fish for now. Ahhhh…. Much better.

This was a bad situation. She did not want to offend the Matron but she seriously could not eat that. At least not all of it. But what to do? She could maybe fake a fainting attack…..

Freh’ya noted Arina’s reaction “hm”, she made but could not reply before the doctor came back. The rather hectic way Arina literally grabbed some of the side dish, her stance towards the meal was clear.

Rahi had taken on a posture like a recruit after a scolding and she looked at the plate like she would into the muzzle of a Thanix cannon most likely. Freh’ya thought that actually she could eat that if she really wanted but her thoughts trailed off f to the possible consequences and decided to play it safe. If that was even possible without totally offending the Matron.

She had sympathy for the purple doctor, who obviously did not realize at all what was happening. She looked at Temria with a compassionate expression. And then took some more wedges.

Silence had befallen the group and everyone was fighting the Reaper attack on their throats, it was a war of attrition and it was not going well.

“Temria, that’s…” she had to clear her throat, having sounded surprisingly shrill at first. “… that’s a very rich meal. Maybe I have overestimated our appetite, I can’t eat any more.” Everyone had large pieces of meat clustered on their plate and was trying to avoid them over the side dishes it seemed.
Rahi was fighting very brave. Freh'ya had the urge to pat the poor little huntress.