(Untitled)

[lisburn_lion]

Who: Fran + YOU
Where: The Officers' Mess
What: Lunch

A few shifts into her new posting, Fran felt she was getting the hang of life aboard the Enterprise and starting to make herself at home. She hadn't blown anything up, caused a crisis of any sort, or gotten herself lost. She counted that as a win

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[helmsman_hikaru]

Hikaru hovered over his long-awaited lunch-fried chicken, or some crude approximation of it-thinking about his most recent adventure on the Enterprise, which had given him a few painful bruises to replace the ones from shore leave that had recently healed. How do I keep getting into fights? Hikaru asked himself ruefully. He'd always considered himself a peaceful person. At least the last fight had been in service of the ship. That terrorist Boyle had it coming.

Hikaru looked up from his chicken and noticed a smiling lieutenant with bright red hair-the reddest hair he'd ever seen-approaching his table. He returned her friendly smile in his customary fashion. However, when she spoke, her distinct Irish accent made Hikaru flinch inside.

"Yeah, um, sure," he said falteringly, hoping she didn't notice his change in demeanor. He knew logically that there were plenty of trustworthy Irish Starfleet officers (they couldn't all be terrorists), but for an irrational, fearful moment, he was back on Deck 18, facing off with Boyle.

[lisburn_lion]

She blinked, a little taken aback at the way he seemed to shut off when she spoke. For a moment she considered moving on and finding another seat, but she quickly dismissed the notion and sat down. "Thanks."

[helmsman_hikaru]

There was an awkward pause after she sat down, and Hikaru felt terrible for obviously making her feel uncomfortable.

"I'm so sorry-I'm being rude. It's been a weird couple of weeks, and you just...caught me off guard," he apologized, adding with a smile, "I'm Hikaru Sulu."

[lisburn_lion]

She gave a smile tinged with relief. "No problem, man. I'm Fran. Fran Lynch."

[helmsman_hikaru]

"Nice to meet you, Fran!" he replied warmly. "Ah, I would offer to shake hands, but I've got bits of chicken all over my hands..." he added with a sheepish grin.

Turning back to his meal, he continued, "So you work in engineering, right?" he asked, guessing from her red uniform and the fact that security crew always sat together in the mess.

[lisburn_lion]

"Yep. Grease monkey crew, that's me." Fran grinned brightly at him. She still had no idea what the problem had been, but she was pleased that he seemed to be warming up to her. "How about you?"

[helmsman_hikaru]

Hikaru chuckled through a mouthful of chicken. He decided she was far too friendly to be a security officer or a terrorist.
"Helmsman," he replied, wiping his mouth. There was no graceful way to eat fried chicken. "And I also run the botany lab. So if you ever need flowers for some reason, you know where to go!"

[lisburn_lion]

"Ooo, a pilot?" Fran looked interested. "Very nice. Hope you're treating her right." She took a large bite of her sandwich, trying valiantly not to get bacon-grease everywhere. "Flowers, eh? Good to know."

[helmsman_hikaru]

"Haha! Well, I certainly try to treat her right! Mr. Scott's always reminding me to, after all."

Hikaru warily watched her as she apparently unhinged her jaw to attack the huge sandwich. He was expecting its contents to fall apart in her hands or come flying out across the table at him, but she wrangled the stack of food very impressively. She's like a female Chekov...

"Oh yes, flowers and fresh fruit and vegetables..." He trailed off as she began sopping up some of the drippings from the Tower of Breakfast she was eating. He was amused; somehow mentions of fruit and vegetables just seemed out of place.

"Did...did you invent that sandwich yourself? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before."

[lisburn_lion]

"Yep. Bacon, egg, tomato, and two kinds of sausage." Fran looked from him to her sandwich and back again. "I missed breakfast," she added defensively. She was aware she looked like something of a pig right now.

[helmsman_hikaru]

Hikaru laughed again, teasing, "Missed breakfast? It looks like it never had a chance of getting away!"

"But in all seriousness," he continued, "that's an impressive sandwich. I would swear on that sandwich. It seems like a fine way to eat breakfast...you know, in a tower. A Tower of Breakfast."

[lisburn_lion]

"I slept in, had to go straight down to engineering," Fran explained with a sheepish little shrug. She nodded. "It is a magnificent sandwich," she agreed solemnly. "A feat of modern culinary science."

[helmsman_hikaru]

"Ah, of culinary science and food engineering, too, I would say. I'm not surprised at all that you're an engineer; most sandwiches of that size would have fallen apart by now. My friend Chekov can barely eat an average-sized sandwich without it leaking stuff all over the helm console!"

[lisburn_lion]

"Why thankyou," Fran said, grinning widely. "I am rather proud of it."

[helmsman_hikaru]

"As you should be!" Hikaru replied. "Oh!" he said, noticing the clock on the back wall, "My shift is about to start!" Brushing the bits of fried breading off his hands, he apologized for leaving in such a rush.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Fran. I look forward to seeing what other sandwich creations you'll come up with!"

[lisburn_lion]

"Nice meeting you too," Fran replied. "See you around." She gave a little wave as he left.