Girls Night In

Posted on Tue Jul 9th, 2019 @ 6:41pm by Lieutenant Commander Carolyn Corrigan MD

3,214 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 98 - A Raid on Peace
Location: Lt. Liora's Quarters
Timeline: MD 03, 1800 hours

ON:

One day, she would be on time... Quickly changing out of uniform, barely sparing a moment to check she was at least presentable in the mirror, doctor Corrigan paused to collect the small box which was sitting on the table. Certain she was as ready as she would ever be, she headed out of her quarters and headed towards Kalani's residence.

When the science officer had mentioned making dinner plans, she did not expect it to be for tonight. But she had no other plans besides helping in Sickbay so it had seemed like a perfect break. Naturally, one thing had led to another and it left her little time to stop by the Promenade.

"I brought something to say sorry for running late," Carolyn announced as the science officer answered her door. She held up the box, very clearly Michael's handy work and full of chocolate. "There were a few more flavours you may like."

"Ohhh chocolate!" She hugged Carolyn. "Come on in. Party can't start without you. I just found something that might go well with the chocolate."

Carolyn followed the Orion into her quarters, taking in the sight. "Wow. You have been busy... "

She smiled, “Actually....I hid the mess in my room. This..." She motioned around the room, "is just some things I couldn't live without, like my miniatures." Kalani had been looking forward to this evening. She had never really had a girl’s night so this was new to her. She held up a bottle. "I got champagne. Never tired it but was told it's good!"

Carolyn grinned, it was impossible not to be caught up in her mood. "Yeah, it is," she assured the woman as she looked at the miniatures. Compared to her own quarters it was like stepping into another world. "You certainly made it your own place. I unpacked a few books and a photo... I like this better."

Kalani smiled, “Well if you need help unpacking I can help!" She popped the cork and poured two glasses of bubbling pink liquid. She handed one to Carolyn. "I wasn't sure what you liked so I made a few dishes." She saw the look Carolyn gave her... "No replicated food. I like to cook...it relaxes me."

"It all smells delicious," Carolyn assured her. "I may have skipped breakfast. And lunch....since chocolate doesn't really count."

She took one of the glasses, taking a sip of the champagne and smiling. "Nice. You made a very good choice. You should try and find yourself some strawberries. They go nice with pink champagne. Of course, chocolate is better but I suppose you should balance out the food groups."

"Now you sound like...a friend of mine." She said turning away. She'd have to be careful. She had almost let the cat out of the bag on that one. She tried to change the subject. "So how was your week?"

Carolyn frowned, worried she had said something wrong. "It's been.... insane," she admitted, realising she couldn't quite sum it all up easily. "I'm sure you know about the ERT mission … still wrapping my head around that one. How about you, how have you been doing?"

She smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her mind went to the ERT mission and the feeling when Hades was hurt. She blinked to keep the tears back, “I've been alright.” She started with that instead, “This has certainly been a year of changes but also a year where I have been blessed with so much. I'm just really glad to be here." She turned to Carolyn holding a plate of various finger foods. "You say a nurse almost killed you? That could be why.... everyone is talking about how cross Hades…I mean the CMO is."

"I didn't say that..." Carolyn said slowly, deliberating over the plate of food. She couldn't even make the simplest things and Kalani had pulled all of this together. It was crazy. "But I guess rumour travels at warp speed around here. And cross is not the word. But that feels like a lifetime ago. And he must have calmed down a little while he was recovering, if he let Lynn back in Sickbay. You never said, how do you know him?"

Kalani swallowed hard. She was no good at lies. Her green features deepened. "I've... spoken with him... I mean he is the CMO. Everyone knows him." She spoke quickly her nerves clearly showing.

"Uh huh," Carolyn said slowly as she took a bite, silent for a moment before changing the subject. She felt like she were torturing the poor woman. "So, what did you cook? The only home cooked meal I get is when I visit Kitty."

"Who's Kitty?" Kalani asked happy to be moving on to a new topic.

"Kitty O'Shea," Carolyn explained. "She runs - well, her husband runs it but she really runs it, you know? - Anyway, it is a bar. And she makes proper Irish meals. Every food group in that and that is just the pint of Guinness. I'll take you sometime."

She laughed, "You know a lot about people who make food!"

"What can I say?" Carolyn offered with a grin, "everywhere I know is because it serves food or alcohol. I probably shouldn't admit to that but it's true. Chocolate is still my favourite though."

Kalani smiled, "Well it's mine too. I made a verity." She pointed to the green and blue squares, "This is Plomeek and Asparagus rolls, it’s a Vulcan dish actually. The pink ones are Orion Velan squares. It's a meat like beef just stronger taste. I have cheese quenches and something called taquito roles that have cheese and beef." She pointed to the lavender rolls, "This is an Andorian dish and I have ...” She pulled out a dish full of potatoes that looked like they had been cut to resemble waffles. "These are Irish nachos they have sour cream, chives, and herbs. They are really good!"

Carolyn eyed them all, every one looking as amazing as the last. "You have some hidden talents, Kalani," she commented, shaking her head. "God, I think I've doubled my body weight just looking at them. Okay, I do not know where to start... start at home and go from there I guess..." she said, reaching for a nacho.

"So, where did you learn to do this?"

She smiled, "I love to cook. I learned when I was young it helped centre me."

"I am very impressed. I can just about use the replicator," Carolyn grinned, taking a bite out of a lavender roll.

"I made some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and a double chocolate fudge cake for dessert. This was my first time trying the double fudge cake. Now that I know of chocolate I intend to try to make everything chocolate." He laughed.

"So tell me more about yourself." She brought out some more munchies while they sat on the sofa. "I wish we had a fireplace. My hu.." She coughed stopping herself. "My friend said some quarters have fireplaces...holo ones."

Carolyn downed most of her champagne. It was easier than blurting out the words that she was about to say. In her head she was replying a conversation she had recently with someone about a fireplace... By the time she sat down her glass she simply said, “Some do. I see them and just see my brother standing in our grandmother’s reception room, covered in soot from head to toe and ruining the most beautiful rug... sorry, sidetracked. What was the question? Oh, yeah. Not much to tell, I don’t think.”

She smiled, "I'm sure that's not true. Tell me what makes Carolyn Carolyn. What do you do for fun? For example I play the piano. Do you play any instruments?"

“Piano, bodhran, tin whistle - never try playing the last one when you are drunk by the way. Some others but not well enough that I’d play those in front of people,” Carolyn told her. “My grandmother loved her music. Said it soothes the soul.”

She smiled, “It does. Music can lift you up and break your heart at the same time." She studied her new friend as the finger food ran out. "Ready for the main course?"

"I may not eat again for the rest of the month but yeah, let’s eat."

"Carolyn....thank you."

"Shouldn't I be thanking you for doing all of this?" Carolyn asked.

"For being so kind to me, for reaching out, for not judging me based on the fact that I'm an Orion and for...well…being my friend." She wanted to ask her so badly but the time was not right yet.

Carolyn smiled, "sweet of you to say. I'm so sorry for the way Lynn behaved today. It's so stupid. I don't think I've ever met someone who smiles as much as you and that was before you discovered chocolate!"

Kalani laughed, "I have a lot to smile about." She simply said setting the food before her friend. She served Carolyn first and then took a little for herself. "May I ask a personal question?"

"Depends on the question," Carolyn grinned as she picked up her fork. "Go for it."

"Do you have a big family?" She asked genuinely curious.

Carolyn shook her head, "depends on how you look at it, I suppose. I would say no. I'm the youngest of three. My sister is the only one of us who is married with her own family.

"My mam was an only child and there isn't many left on her side of the family. My dad, though, has seven brothers. So I have an insane amount of cousins and aunts and uncles on his side of the family. I was only close with a few of them though, even less so now. Why'd you ask?"

She smiled, "I like hearing about big families. I think I'm an only child....at least as far as I know." She looked at Carolyn. "Do you want to have a big family of your own someday?"

Carolyn didn't answer straight away. "Want... yes, if I found the right person," she said, taking a drink of the champagne. "We could adopt maybe. I honestly stopped thinking about it. Because first you need to find said person."

Kalani smiled mysteriously. "Well sometimes they can drop in on you right from above."

"Is that what happened to you?" Carolyn asked as she took a bite.

Kalani who'd been sipping her water swallowed incorrectly. She sputtered and coughed. "I....well I was speaking hyposprayingly... I mean hypothetically." She turned a darker shade of green. "I mean......"She grabbed the champagne, “Refill...." Said a bit too quickly.

"I'm so sorry," Carolyn apologised, moving to refill her water glass, "trust me, water will be better for you than champagne..."

Ordering a fresh glass of water from the replicator she turned, her gaze falling for the slightest instant on the desk but she said nothing as she crossed the room, handing the glass to Kalani. "Are you okay?"

She drank the water. "Yes sorry. I just...it's complicated."

Carolyn reached for the champagne, pouring the Orion a fresh glass. "I swear if you call me young lady I may just drink the rest of this bottle by myself," she sighed as she sank into the chair opposite.

She looked at her curiously...."Why would I call you that?" She tilted her head. "I mean logically speaking you are a young lady but I don't understand the use of the phrase."

Young lady hasn't anyone told you that eavesdropping is just wrong. It's complicated... Carolyn could hear his voice in her head as clear as day. "Never mind," she told Kalani, waving it away. "Just something someone said to me the other day."

Topping up her own glass she raised it in a toast, "to complicated."

She smiled, "Well okay!" Her enthusiasm returning. "So when did you arrive on the station?" Kalani asked.

Deciding she was most decidedly going to throw something at Hades sometime soon, Carolyn took a long drink, "not long ago. Feels like forever. Which I think is a good thing. Sometimes a fresh start is the best thing in the world."

She smiled, “I couldn't agree more. Plus sickbay is lucky to have you." She looked Carolyn. "I think we're ready for the cake....remember it's my first time trying to make it."

"You may have to take me clothes shopping tomorrow," Carolyn warned her as Kalani brought out the cake. "I haven't eaten this much in forever. But if I die from too much chocolate, it has to be a good way to go, right?"

Kalani laughed, “Well that depends on how this turns out." She needn't have worried. Kalani had a gift for cooking. She had a way of turning raw ingredients into magic. For this cake she'd used real chocolate had grated and fresh ingredients that she'd purchased on the promenade. It was a milk chocolate fudge cake that was moist and fluffy with a chocolate raspberry icing that would leave one speechless.

She cut each of them a generous slice. "Okay here we go. Let’s hope it turned out good."

"Wow," Carolyn breathed, even the smell of it was just heavenly. She broke off a piece, the cake almost melting on her tongue. "Just … amazing. You must have spent hours making all of this! You so didn't have to go to all this trouble. I'm glad you did though."

She smiled brightly, “I'm glad you like it. I love to cook. There it helps me think and organize my thoughts. I used to cook at the mines for my team and while I was at the orphanage too. I would sneak down at night and make cookies and Walpra...it's an Orion sweet. Look hideous but tastes so good."

"Sometimes things aren't as bad as they seem," Carolyn pointed out. "Except Brussel sprouts. They are just plain bad.

"All the things you've gone through, I mean it, you are one brave girl," Carolyn complimented her. "And Mr. Complicated? I'm sure he knows how lucky he is too."

She blushed again. Kalani wasn't good at lying. She could talk about him but omit his name. "I bet he didn't feel like that when he first met me. I nearly broke him to pieces." She shook her head. "We met on the holodeck when I accidently didn't check the program was in use. I entered mine and when I entered I called for the program to begin and whoosh!" She said dramatically. "He fell right in front of me. He was as mad as a hornet."

"I'd have paid good money to see that," Carolyn laughed.

"Oh it was so bad! He made an umph sound and I was.... so mortified. He stood up all blustery but.... Well when I looked into his eyes it was almost as if....I found a lost part of myself." She smiled, “He kind of just stared...He took a step and then..." She started to giggle. "His pants ripped. He ran out of there so fast!"

“Definitely one way to make a first impression,” Carolyn grinned. The science officer was so happy, she seemed to have this natural glow. “I am so happy for you. Both of you. I’m just sorry it is so complicated. But if you need anything, just say.”

She smiled, "It will get better. I have all the faith in the world." She studied Carolyn. "Now enough about me. I'm pretty boring tell me more about you."

“I seriously doubt you are boring,” Carolyn challenged. “What do you want to know?”

She smiled, "Anything you'd like to share. I'm not one for prying but tell me about your hobbies I don't even know your favourite colour!"

“I draw, I play music, I love reading but those really old proper books, you know? I do not count the gym as that’s more of a thing to be endured,” she added. “And that’s me. Oh and red.”

She smiled, "Red is a lovely colour!"

“My mam has the most gorgeous flame red hair," Carolyn explained with a sadness in her voice. Brushing it off she added, "I was always so annoyed my sister inherited that and I didn’t."

"Have you thought of colouring your hair?" She asked.

“We tried that once, my dad was so mad,” Carolyn laughed. “Probably because - rather than red - Jay turned my hair bright pink! Glow in the dark kind of pink. I loved it though. My brother thought it was hilarious."

She smiled, "Well then it's something we will have to try again." She ate a bit of her dessert and then continued. "My favourite colour is purple....I think it’s about the only colour that looks good with green." She laughed.

"No way," Carolyn laughed, shaking her head. "Pink is not really my colour. You can get away with it when you are a kid which was a long time ago!"

"Well we'll try for red." She smiled.

"I'm thinking black is more me," Carolyn mused.

"We can try that too. Did you know there was a hair place on the station?" She studied Carolyn a moment. "So tell me, why Starfleet? I know many doctors that are civilian class what was it about Starfleet that drew you?"

"I wanted to do things a little different. My parents, their parents... staying in Dublin I'd probably have worked in the same places, seeing the same people? My dad and my grandparents were happy with my choice - at least to start with. I wasn't looking to do the whole settling down thing like my sister, or spend forever rebuilding classic bikes and cars like my brother." she said with a an overdramatic eye roll. "Joining Starfleet, for better or worse, I got to be me."

She smiled, "Well I like you and I'm glad you did because if you had stayed we never would have met and I would never know chocolate!" She laughed.

"Ha! Now that would have been criminal," Carolyn agreed.

She laughed. "Carolyn..."

Eyeing the huge slice of chocolate cake and wondering if she could survive eating more - and realising she would try anyway - Carolyn looked up. "Hmm?"

She sighed, "Can I ask you a question?"

“Sure,” Carolyn nodded.

"Can I trust your confidence?"

Carolyn hesitated, “I would never betray a confidence. But only you know if you trust me enough to give it.”

She smiled, “I trust you." She sighed, "I need to tell someone. Have you ever had some amazing secret that....you just wanted to share but sharing it was complicated?"

“Maybe not amazing but yeah,” Carolyn assured her.

She smiled, “I...." Just before she could say it a familiar voice rang through the communicator.

"Doctor Mendez to Doctor Corrigan. You are needed in sickbay."

“I am so sorry,” Carolyn apologised getting to her feet. “Thank you so much for dinner.”

She smiled, “He's quite demanding isn't he?"

"No comment," Carolyn grinned. "Night Kalani."

She hugged her new friend, “Thank you for tonight. We'll talk again."

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