Dinner

Posted on Saturday 28 December 2019 @ 13:13 by Commander Caroline Miller & Lieutenant Michael Ki MD

Mission: The New Collective
Location: Ki's quarters
Timeline: Before arrival on Risa
3115 words - 6.2 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Caroline wasn't sure when her new boss had suggested dinner what he had meant by it. She still wasn't. An invitation to ones quarters when you barely knew them felt a little serious. But she was intrigued and then again Michael Ki was not your run of the mill colleague that much was sure. She certainly wanted to get to know him better.

Dressed in her signature purple she was wearing a flattering knee length dress and had pinned her hair up for a change. The doctors quarters were not far from hers at all. She pressed the chime and juggled what she was holding.

He had been fretting for quite some time. Michael had not had a date in a dog's age and as such was worried. He was not even sure if Caroline knew that this was a date. He wore a beige linen shirt that tied closed and a pair of brown pants. His quarters were decorated in a traditional Japanese fashion, as Michael was quite proud of his heritage. He already set out a Sake set and awaited her arrival. He took one last look around his quarters to make sure everything was just right, and indeed it was. Not a moment too soon, because the door chime went off. "Hairu..." (enter) the doors opened and there she was a vision of beauty. "Come on in. Please take off your shoes." He said with a smile as he covered up the astonishment that welled within him.

"Thank you," Caroline smiled. "I brought ... well its a bottle of Draxx's home brew. He said it was similar to Sake but I'm not sure i believe him."

"Well we will have to give it a try then." Michael said as he escorted her to a seat.

"What are we having for dinner?" she asked looking around curiously at his quarters. "It smells delicious."

"We are having Nimono, a traditional dish from my family. This will be served along with some bread and some sushi that I made. It took quite some doing to get the replicator to make sushi grade fish. Yet I finally made it work." He said with a laugh. "All of that will be ready soon. I am glad that you decided to come join me and I hope that you are feeling better since last we spoke." Michael smiled and there was a genuine look of concern on his face as he asked about her well being.

"Much thank you. Sleep is a wonderful thing," Caroline grinned as the man placed a plate of colourful sushi on the table. "A sumerian sunrise, just as helpful. You made that?" she asked impressed. "It looks so delicate and beautiful."

"Yes the art of sushi rolling has been passed down through the generations in my family. However, on a starship it gets harder and harder to get fresh fish to make sushi with. Please have a seat." Michael motioned toward the table. It was on short legs and surrounded by cushions in the ancient Japanese tradition. "Sit and tell me how wonderful sleep is. I have not seen the inside of my eyelids in quite sometime." He smiled softly.

Caroline attempted to get down onto a cushion in her dress. She decided to sit with her legs curled to the side otherwise Dr Ki was going to possibly see more than necessary. "Sleep was the best medicine," she quipped. "The whole last few days have been quite stressful. Are you struggling to sleep?" she asked concerned. "I have a very old warm milk and herb recipe that can do wonders." She bite her lip for a moment. How would he take that? She was a trained doctor like him but put faith in herbs for some things.

"No thank you Caroline. My lack of sleep is due to patients and just not being near my bed. Not my ability to sleep. Although when I can't sleep I like to use lavender, that usually does the trick." He smiled as he poured the Sake. "Indeed it has been quite the eventful week or so. Makes me long for the comfort of my lab back in my Starfleet Medical days. So tell me all about Caroline." Michael was as awkward as a high schooler on a first date. He had no idea how to act or what they should be talking about. So he thought learning about her would be the best course of action.

"Oh my," the blond chuckled. "Thats a question. What do you want to know?"

He was not expecting that. He quickly jumped to a safe conversational harbor. "Why psychology? What about the mind grasps you?" He sipped the sake happy that he was in a place that he could converse, and he hoped that she did not drop any more surprises.

She smiled, "Well I'm a healer. If you go with the idea that we are mind, body and soul then to effectively keep everything healthy you would need to tend to all. I feel a fairly competent doctor. Its fascinating how people think, how they rationalize. When the opportunity came up to step sideways so to speak I took it. One day I will delve more into the spirit in the hopes that all this learning will enable me to be a very good healer."

"Spirit healing... That is an age old question that man has asked for centuries. In truth I am not sure what to believe. If there is such a thing as mind over matter. However, it is something to study. I would love to observe a patient's brain chemistry while they were being healed spiritually. One wonders if the mind has anything to do with it." Michael replied as he laid out the meal on the chabudai.

"I know a couple of people who can probably get you that data until we have someone here who might be willing to allow us to research it," Caroline said sniffing the delicious food. "I have a friend who is willing to teach me some of her cultures but its not that time yet. I thought I would start off trying some meditation though. The ability to spirit heal I am led to believe takes a long time. There is a Vulcan ensign who is willing to run some meditation classes. I was thinking about signing up. If anything it will help with relaxation. Have you ever tried it?" she asked curious.

"No I can't say that I have. The truth is it has never been something that interested me. I prefer to look at the scientific rather than the spiritual. However, to each their own. In my culture there are people who believe in an ancient religion known as Shinto. This religion focuses on ritual, and rites that bring people closer to their past. This includes spirit healing and meditation. It is funny because I live in two worlds. As a man of science I believe that spirit healing can be explained scientifically if it were to be studied enough. However, as a Japanese man I believe that our ancestors hold secrets that we will never know." Michael smiled and sat down now that the meal had been laid out. "Please eat, it is customary for the guest to eat first."

"Oh sorry," Caroline said. She was concentrating on what he was telling her and wasn't aware that was the case. She picked up the chopsticks. It had been awhile since she had eaten with them. A few clumsy attempts, she finally managed to pick up a vegetable of some sort and get it to her mouth. The spices were interesting. She chewed happily and swallowed.

"Tell me more about Japanese culture," she asked. "Were you brought up in this shinto religion?"

"Indeed I was and it was my facination with Shinto that brought me to medicine. You see since I was young I had always felt that everything could be explained. So I set out to prove or disprove Shinto. A quest that I continue to this day, by the way. As you are no doubt aware humans are creatures of habit. As such we take to ritual, and rites like a fish to water. They are safe and comfort us. That is one of the main reasons that I continue to do what I do. Do you have any beliefs?" Michael replied and he spoke softly and reverently. When he finished he took a piece of sushi and placed some wasabi on it before eating it.

"I believe in angels," Caroline said flashing him a smile. "That they drop in and help out when needed. Watch over us when required." She reached for her own piece of sushi and copied him, putting on some of the green stuff. Biting into it her eyes widened and her noise tickled.

Michael chuckled as she ate the sushi. "Please forgive me I should have warned you. That is the real wasabi, not the horseradish paste that some people claim is wasabi. It is very spicy, but makes the sushi more enjoyable in my opinion."

"I think I need a tissue," Caroline said as her eyes started watering. She believed him that it was good but wasn't to her taste. The stew however was delicious. "What is the weirdest medical situation you ever were involved in?" she found herself asking.

Michael chuckled a bit and handed a napkin over. "I would say that was when advanced medicine forgot it's past. I had a patient with influenza, as you know that was something that ravaged Earth hundreds of years ago and was eradicated. Yet here a patient was, all standard treatments were not working. For all our advanced medicine this patient was dying from a two hundred year old disease. All I could treat for was the fever and make the patient comfortable." Michael laughed as he continued his story. "Thank the gods for the galley. They made chicken soup and within days the patient was cured."

"That must have been fascinating to see. Something we only know of in records," Caroline mused. "Mines not that exciting. Its probably your run of the mill doc story. You know aided a Gorn multiple birth. More like survived it," she chuckled.

"Those Gorn can have violent labors so I would say that yours was equally as exciting. So why the fleet? Why join Starfleet instead of going into private practice?" Michael asked as he took a few more bites of his dinner.

"Complete and utter wanderlust," Caroline said her eyes sparkling. "Why be stuck in one place, in one office? Okay yes I could probably have made a mint in private practice but I would never have got to see half the amazing things out here. What about you?" She picked up a sushi roll and realized when she got it in her mouth she really ought to have bit it in half. Giggling to herself probably looking like a chubby hamster, she chewed it enthusiastically.

He watched her and smiled, as she seemed to get cuter by the second. "For me there was not much of choice. There is not much use for a diagnostician in private practice. Plus Starfleet gives me the ability to run my experiments pretty much unfettered. That is when we are not getting attacked every five minutes." He placed his chopsticks down and looked at the woman in the eyes. "You know I am fortunate that the whims of fate brought me to the Merlin."

She nodded. "It brought me here twice. What experiments have you been running?" she asked helping herself to another sushi roll. "Is it to do with your research into Bendii Syndrome?"

He was impressed she had done her research and knew about his work. "Indeed they do. I am seeking a cure for Bendii. The human Alzheimer disease is very similar, so similar in fact that it is only a few markers off. Alzheimer was cured millennia ago and yet the same treatment when used upon a Vulcan does nothing. Is it because the Vulcan brain is more complex than the human brain? Perhaps... But I believe that the cure for Alzheimer can be adapted for Bendii. What I am doing is I am treating diseased brain matter taken from deceased Vulcan's and testing the treatments. If I can cure a small piece of brain I can cure a whole one." When he spoke of his work it was as if nothing else mattered. There was an immense amount of pride there.

"Is it because the vulcan brain has evoluntionary developed to purge emotion as per their views that once this hits, they just cannot cope anymore. They no longer remember how to feel properly. Perhaps theres a link between the not processing the emotions for centuries and the reason why our treatment is no good," she mused. She didn't really know much about the syndrome and was just spitballing.

"Vulcans have not evolved passed emotions. They still have then, they just choose to ignore and suppress them. However, you are onto something with the sudden use of emotions. When Bendii comes on the patient is flooded with emotions and memory. They simply do not know how to process them. That is definitely an avenue worth exploring. Thank you!" Michael said with a smile, and a renewed vigor into his experiments.

She shifted to cross her legs under her and helped herself to one more sushi roll. She didn't know what was polite in japanese culture but he had gone to such trouble she felt she needed to eat a decent amount. "Would you be willing to teach me how to make these?" she asked holding it in front of her admiring how pretty it was.

"Absolutely!" He smiled. "Sushi making is more of an art form and less of a culinary skill. I admit it is one that Japanese men can learn easily to impress." Michael blushed slightly.

Caroline certainly got the feeling now this was more than professional. "Are you trying to impress me Doctor?" she asked with a smile.

"A man should always try to impress a lady. For it is she that can have her pick, and he needs to stand out in the crowd." Michael replied with a smile and a wink.

"Men should worry less about standing out from the crowd and just be themselves. Woman prefer that. Well I'll say the majority. You still have your ones who like making them run around and playing games. In short you don't need to impress me to have my attention Michael," Caroline said gently.

He blushed deeply and the want to kiss her had washed over him. However, ever the proper man he knew that it was not appropriate at least not yet. "Thank you...." He was quite befuddled and unsure how to proceed.

The was a change in the atmosphere and Caroline wasn't sure she was ready for that change so suddenly. The realities of things suddenly hit her. Yes this man was attractive, intriguing and brilliant but he was also her immediate CO. Was it wise? Was it a good idea so soon after cooling things with Galazez? Would that even be fair to the man in front of her to start something so suddenly? She needed time to sort her thoughts and feelings out. This had come out of the blue.

Perhaps exploring this further when they got to the Starbase and the pressure of recent events was off was the sensible thing. "I'll have to cook dinner for you next time," she said.

"I think I would rather enjoy that." Michael replied. He reached out to hold her hand. He dared the physical contact, still unsure of her feelings. He was also unsure of how to express his feelings, Michael often wished he was like those men who could simply profess their love without any thought. He had struggled so long to find someone and something that was worth his time, to bring him to life and away from his work. She was just such a person.

Caroline squeezed his hand back. She was getting that feeling in her tummy. Butterflies. "Well you haven't tasted my cooking yet," she joked.

He simply smiled in response. His thoughts turned to whether or not it was possible for him to have it all. For the first time in his life he actually thought he did. Michael tucked into his meal once more, not wanting the conversation or the night to end.

Caroline finished her sushi and smiled. "It really was delicious. Thank you for going to so much trouble. It is getting late though,"

"It was not trouble at all. Thank you for coming. I would say that the company was more enjoyable than the food." He said with a smile, he was awkward and it showed. Truth was Michael had no idea how to proceed. He had always been too involved in his research to care to find a woman, and yet here she was. And he wanted nothing more than to be with her. Yet he was not sure if she felt the same way.

The blonde stood back up carefully trying not to knock over anything. Her legs felt a little heavy. She was not used to sitting on the floor like that. " Thank you," she said at the compliment. "I better go get some rest." She reached up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek. "Good night,"

"Good night Caroline." Michael said as he stood up. He took a step toward her. "Caroline, may I hug you?" he asked in an awkward manner. Michael was taught from an early age that it was better to ask then to act on impulse.

She stopped and headed back opening her arms. He didn't seem much of a hugger so she hadn't expected it.

He embraced her and relished in her perfume it was a pleasant smell. The doctor in him knew that some of it were her pheromones. The man in him was hopelessly attracted to her. It was his respect for her that prompted him to ask for the embrace. He held the embrace and enjoyed it. When he released it he had a smile. "Thanks, I hope we can do this again."

She nodded. "I'll see you planetside on Risa won't I?"

He smiled broadly "I would not miss it for the world."

OFF:

●●● Commander Caroline Miller
Chief Counselor
USS Merlin

●● Lieutenant Michael Ki
Chief Medical Officer
USS Merlin