breakfast

NRPG: Just a little flashback to cover the "delightful" breakfast Ariana had with Weir on the morning of the wedding...
Sorry about the length too, but it's a collaboration between the three of us, Iris gets the kudos for the first section while Selena and I cooked up the rest of it! Just a little (actually not that little!) light piece of fluff this time!

<SB986 - outside Ariana's quarters - Weir (and Fung), 05:55 >

She was just approaching Ariana's quarters -- Ariana was *such* a
delightful person -- well, only if she'd lighten up just a *tad*, and
well, if she also smiled *just* a little bit more, and well, dressed in
something other than that *scintillating* black that she seemed to just
*mope* in all the time.

To cheer Ariana up, Weir was planning to get her to try her favourite breakfast of all time: Kyrnesia eggs and ham

Anyhow, the ensign was just popping along to Ariana's quarters when the
nicest-looking messenger came up to the door, bearing a cute little cage,
from which emerged the most *enchanting* little chirps and tweeps and
coos.

On the goodness of her heart, Khatrina stepped up to the messenger and
offered to take it from him. The messenger blushed and stammered, but her
charm persuaded him, and he went away with a dazzled look in his eye. Or
perhaps it was her dress -- it was just a little on the flashy side today,
with the polished mirrors and silvered sequins and glitter-bugs sewn into
each and every little surface -- one of her own creations -- as a matter
of fact, everyone seemed to like her so *much* when she wore this dress yesterday,
as everyone listened to her suggestons -Oh! Anyhow, she couldn't resist just a little
*peep* inside, and there were two snowy little turtle-doves. They were just so
*cute* and *cuddly*.

Khatrina rang Ariana, and soon enough, the other ensign appeared.

"What!" Ariana said loudly. Khatrina liked to think of it as a very fond
tone of voice, since Ariana only used it *exclusively* with her, and
everyone simply liked her, so of course it was a tone indicating great
friendship -- and anyways, when Ariana was on duty, she used this very
straight and matter-of-fact tone, which just went to clinch the case.

Anyhow, Khatrina thrust the cage at her friend, and said in a most
cheerful tone (for Ariana was wearing that *dolorous* black):

"Look what someone brought for you! Aren't they the *sweetest*, aww,"
fawned Khatrina.

Ariana did not look very happy, which wasn't very nice, but she was civil
enough to say, "Thanks."

"Oh, don't thank me, someone gave them to me to give to you," Weir said, oblivious of the fact that Ariana was quite unhappy about the situation, and turned her attention back to the birds.

"Here lovie dovie, here lovie dovie!" Weir continued, sticking one of her fingers through the cage, trying to pat one of the doves.

Ariana just stared stoicly at the two: Khatrina and the doves, not knowing which one was easier to handle.

"Hey, you should try to cuddle with them! They are the friendliest things!" Weir asked, still oblivious to the situation. " -Oh! and you shoud call one of them Lovie! Yes, that would be so perfect!" Weir continued, completely fascinated by the birds. ".. And the other one should be called... Snuffy!...no Snuggly! Yes, that's it; Snuggly and Lovie, Lovie and Snuggly. Awww...That sounds totally cute!"

Ariana slowly crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. The sight of the, well, rather flashy Weir cooing and humming at the admittedly cute doves was almost enough to crack her stony face. She emitted a slightly greivous sigh and invited Weir in. "So, did you mention breakfast?" she asked.

"....huhhhh?" Weir was lost in her world of cute, cuddly creatures and Ariana had to resort to gently guiding the dazzled ensign into her quarters.

Weir stood at the center of the room, still holding onto the cage and still completly mesmerized by the doves.

"Ten blue pigions, sitting on the fence, ten blue pigeons sitting on the fence... and one flew away...Awwwwwww...and there were nine pigeons left, sitting on the fence. Nine blue pigions, sitting on the fence, nine blue pigeons sitting on the fence...and one flew away..Aww..." sang Weir in a surprisingly pleasant voice when she was abruptly (yes almost even rudely) cut off when Ariana practically snatched the cage out of her hands.

Ariana's hands were actually shaking and her face was turning a lovely shade of tomato red (which went well with her all black outfit in Weir's opinion). Weir was amazed and flattered at the same time. She had never witnessed Ariana (and she had been watching very closely) display such emotion towards anyone else. Apparently, Ariana not only reserved a special tone *just* for her but also a special expression as well! To make Weir feel even more priviledged, Ariana used this moment to brusquely retort "BREAKFAST??!!" in that extra special tone just for her.

Weir numbly nodded, almost bowled over by Ariana's appreciation of her. "Uhh...right.." she said in a rather bedazzeled tone. Then she brightened, she had almost forgotten about the ham and eggs. By now, Ariana had taken the doves into her bedroom (and safely out of Weir's visual range) and had returned to stand in front of the replicator, ready to order breakfast. "Breakfast Supplement No. 3" she tersely ordered the replicator. There was a slight hum and the tray of unappetizing gray muck materilized in the alcove. Weir decided that some intervention was in order at this point.

"Breakfast Supplement No.3 ??" she exclaimed, snatching the tray out of Ariana's hands. "My dear, (Ariana grit her teeth, *nobody* *ever* called her dear!!) try Kyrnesia eggs and ham, they're simply scrumptious!"

Without waiting for Ariana's reply, she negligently tried to place the tray on the nearest elevated horizontal surface (in this case, Ariana's desk) and unfortunately missed, decorating Ariana's previously spotless carpet with the tastless mush. Ariana wisely did nothing, because if she did, she would probably end up in the brig with a murder charge or at least aggravated bodily assault.

"Oh dear! Oops! I'm so sorry...here, I'll help you clean it up!" she said, trying to wipe up the mess with the hem of her contrapted apparel but ended up spreading the mess over a larger surface area.

Ariana said in a calm voice, (calmer than she could ever remember) "Umm..look, never mind, I'll deal with it later. Now, how about those eggs and ham?" she said, trying to forestall any further calamities.

Weir headed for the replicator and hummed happily to herself (the birdsong once again) and fiddled with the controls, even going so far as to remove the panel. At this point, Ariana had to interrupt, after various dealings with the Doppelganger, she was wary of any attempts to "adjust" any equipment. "Khat.." she began, addressing Weir by her nickname in hopes of attracting Weir's rather spotty attention. "What do you think you are doing?" she finished.

"Oh, " Weir cheerfully chirped (just like the awfully cute doves), I'm ordering our eggs and ham."

"By taking off the control panel?"

Weir gave a dramatic sigh. "One must go through all these troubles just to concoct a decent breakfast these days, why, I remember when I was just a wee child, my mother..."

"Never mind! Just get the eggs and ham!" Ariana cut in, not wanting to hear *yet* another tale of Weir's rather mispent youth. The fact that those Kyrensia eggs and ham did not exist on the Federation Database and that Weir had specifically used the word "concoct" did not reassure Ariana on the fruit of Weir's labours. At least Ariana hoped it may turn out to be an edible fruit of some kind! However, Weir, being as she normally is, was bound to, well, disappoint (a mild word to use!) Ariana and Ariana found herself eyeing a plateful of distinctly green eggs and ham that the now "adjusted" replicator had literally coughed up in a puff of smoke. The replicator had obviously "smoked" its last as various blinking lights flickered one last time and burned out.

Ariana sighed and drew her hand over her eyes. Weir had began apologizing profusedly at the latest transgression but Ariana moved in once again to cut off the babbling ensign (or idiot as Ariana privately thought). "Look, never mind, I'll deal with it later."

Weir smiled brilliantly (temporarily out-shining her outfit, much to Ariana's dismay) and handed the tray to Ariana. "Here, you've *absolutely* got to try them! They're great!"

Ariana shuffled her feet. "Umm.. aren't you going to have any?" she asked in a hopeful tone.

"Oh, no" Weir gushed. "You haven't tried them yet, you can have it all!! I'll just replicate myself some more at my quarters later."

Ariana mentally groaned and resigned herself to her fate but she tried one more time. "Well, you said to have breakfast together so don't you want to eat anything? Maybe we can go out to the Bajora and get something there since my replicator uhh.. doesn't seem to be working right now."

"No, that's alright, I've already eaten."

"WHAT?!" Ariana tried to calm herself by counting in factorials, 0 (1!), 2 (2!), 6 (3!) 24 (4!) 120 (5!)......by the time she got to 12893! she figured that she had sufficiently reached a level of rationality to not engage in any harmful activities. Unfortunately, Weir had also taken this time to clatter around Ariana's quarters and set up the table for one, complete with candles, incense and caterwauling that Ariana assumed was music of some sort. Ariana also discovered that Weir had been carrying a conversation along and that she had just blindly agreed to whatever Weir was blabbering about.

"...really?, sure, I'll see you same time next week. Breakfast sure is fun with you!" Weir finished off.

Ariana almost turned from tomato red to sheet white. She had just agreed to meet Weir for breakfast once a week from now on. Some inane titter was on the schedule now as Ariana attempted to delay the inevitable (having to consume aforementioned green eggs and ham). "So, umm...I thought we were having breakfast together, so why'd you already eat?"

"Oh," said Weir, waving a careless hand. "I get up at 04:45, so I've already had breakfast."

"So why did you come over here?"

"For company of course, you're my dear, dear, dearest (Ariana grit her teeth three times) friend." Then she crinkled her brow, as if in thought. Ariana shuddered to think what was going around in there and resigned herself to yet another unpleasant revelation that Weir was about to reveal. Weir once again did not disappoint. "But hey, that's a great idea. Let's *really* have breakfast together next week. I'll be here at 05:00 sharp, be there or be square!"

More like flat on my back in bed than square! Ariana privately thought to herself. Out loud, she bravely accepted her fate and said "Uhh.sure, that sounds stupendious." with as little enthusiasm as possible.

"And, you, you lucky you, I'll even be your personal chef!" Weir added.

"Bring your own replicator next time." the disgruntled Ariana mumbled.

"What's wrong with yours?" Weir said innocently.

Ariana didn't bother to reply and it dawned on Weir. "Oh, right, there seems to be something defective about your replicator. Mine's never smoked or gurgled when I order breakfast. Oh, don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it fixed by next week."

~Yeah, just in time for you to "adjust" it again~ Ariana thought. ~Maybe it *is* better off being broken.~ However, Ariana was about to be proven wrong once again.

Weir tapped meaningfully on the plate. "Come on dear, (Ariana *really* ground her teeth this time) eat your food before it gets cold."

Ariana picked up the fork and stabbed the green, gelatinous mass. It wobbled.

"And don't play with your food." adomished Weir.

Ariana seriously considered the calculation of (2819384 x 2983784934) - (3546532! + 54832122) / (34.21035186322% of 6 5546548332187876) to calm her hyperactive nerves but settled for a cautious bite of the green matter as Weir studied her reaction. She chewed carefully. It didn't actually taste that bad but had a strange texture, like there were tiny little pellets or capsules imbedded in the jelly. She made to swallow the eggs and that was when it hit her, or more like exploded in her mouth.

Ariana blindly groped (blinded because her eyes were furiously watering) for a non-existant glass of water which the toasted replicated wasn't going to choke out. "...www-wwatt-err.." she managed to choke out.

Even Weir understood this universal plea for assistance. "Okay, sure I'll be right back. Oh, and don't worry, I had exactly the same reaction the first time I ate this stuff. But don't worry, you'll get used to it, by next year, you'll be eating it like a pro!" she called over her shoulder when she strode out of Ariana's quarters.

"W-wait, where a-are you g-going?" Ariana said to four blank walls. Needless to say (or type but I will anyhow) the four walls did not deign to answer a question not meant for them.

Weir rushed to her quarters and all the way back again, priding herself in the fact that she managed to only spill about four drops which landed on Ariana's ex-pristine carpeting. She thought that water was a rather bland liquid to consume and had taken the liberty of replicating one of her favourites, a late 20th century drink called Coke.

By the time Weir had returned to Ariana's quarters, Ariana had finished rolling on the floor and was now seated again, staring at the bubbly, vile-looking brown fluid with a doubtful eye (or two) that were only slightly watering now. However, Ariana had no choice and downed the glass in one swing. She closed her eyes, waiting for her esophagus and tongue to dissolve. Nothing happened. She opened one eye, than the other. Weir was still watching her expectantly, with a grin. "Uh..that wasn't bad. Actually that was pretty good. What is it?" Ariana asked.

"It's called Coke. Wait until you try Sprite!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah," Weir burst enthusiastically. "I'll just program that into your replicator next week too!"

~Oh boy..~ Ariana thought. She carefully placed her fork on the napkin and glanced at her watch. "Oh," she said, feigning surprise, "look what time it is! I've got to get ready for duty!"

"Already?"

"Uhh..yeah, you know I have to get ready, I've got to like get into that state of mind before I got to work." Ariana explained vaguely, hoping that Weir would take the hint and leave. She would have had better luck hitting Weir over the head with a brick.

"State of mind?"

"Well, you know, I have to umm..like, psyche myself up."

"Psyche?"

At this point, more "delightful" cooing emerged from the direction of Ariana's bedroom. Ariana had forgotten all about the doves through the harrowing trial of surviving breakfast (mostly intact although Ariana's mouth and tongue had their doubts) with Weir. Then she had a sudden inspiration. Ariana practically ran into her bedroom (and accidently knocked over the plate so the green gelantious mass joined the greyish mass of Breakfast Supplement No.3 on the much abused carpeting), retreiving the cage of adorable doves.

She thrust the cage into Weir's face. "Here, take them!" too tired to frame the request in more pleasant terms (but she wasn't feeling too pleasant towards Weir).

Weir for her part, was estatic, and proceeded much to Ariana's dismay to gush about it. "Ohhh.... I can't. I can't accept such a gift! It's just too much!"

"Take them!" Ariana retorted. Then, she switched tactics and softened her tone. "I know, they're so cute and everything, even I can barely part with them. It's just that..well, you're such a *wonderful* friend to me and I have so *enjoyed* our breakfast together, this is just a small token of my appreciation!" she said, lying through her teeth with a grin plastered to her face.

Weir was overwhelmed by Ariana. She *actually* smiled!! Congradulating herself on a job well done, she did not protest as Ariana steered her towards the door. She left Ariana's quarters with the adorable little fluffy white dears and headed for her quarters, singing the birdsong. Next week, she planned on not leaving until she got Ariana to laugh. As she got ready for the wedding, she privately wondered if Mallory or Dianora needed a little cheering up too. Things had been a little tense lately, but there's nothing like a little fun at the wedding reception!

(reply NONE)
posted by Iris, Selena, Carina