by Keiran O’Sullivan*
81123.0100
A day after Standing Still
-=The O’Sullivan Residence, County Cork, Ireland; Earth=-
81123.0100
A day after Standing Still
-=The O’Sullivan Residence, County Cork, Ireland; Earth=-
Keiran O’Sullivan was quite well versed in many topics. Temporal mechanics, self defense and basic Warp theory being just a few of those things that one needed to understand to live the kind of life he had, in the career he had.
Slight of hand was not, however, one of his strong points.
That was the kind of thing a petty thief needed to be a master at, and that was exactly the kind of person a man of the law was interested in bringing down. He now, however, wished he had taken a course in magic at some point during his travels, because attempting any sort of clandestine activity in the kitchen of a home shared with Zanh Liis was nearly impossible.
It was not that she was nosey, suspicious, or curious, it was simply that the she found an excuse to be in the kitchen almost constantly. This made preparing any sort of foodstuff without her knowledge a frustrating task.
Every time he heard her footfalls approaching he would cover up what he was working on, and set about slicing an orange he had sitting on the counter. By now he had nearly shredded the poor thing.
“Here for my coffee, don’t mind me.”
“Oops, forgot the half and half! This is what happens when I’m brain-fried.”
“Refill.”
“Damn, half and half.”
“My cup got cold I need a new one.”
“What are you up to anyway?”
“Nothing, just cuttin’ up an orange for a snack.” Keiran replied during her fifth trip to the kitchen
“It looks more like you are mutilating an orange. Do we need to talk?” Liis asked, raising an eyebrow like her First Officer and pursing her lips like her Ship’s Counselor.
“I like them cut up small, is all.”
“I’ve remember on Mallos VI we went for three days without food and you managed to get your hands on a few oranges and chewed right through the rind to get to the pulp. Now you’re telling me you like them cut up small?”
“I didn’ have a knife on me,” Keiran tried to defend himself.
“You had three!” Liis pointed out. “Ok, I’m going upstairs so you can continue doing whatever it is you are doing while maintaining the illusion that I don’t realize you are up to something.”
How proud Rada would be if he could hear the circular logic she had just talked herself through, Liis thought.
Keiran waited for her to leave, content that even if she did know he was up to something, she at least did not know what.
He had already packed up several blankets in the bottom of a large wicker picnic basket, to spread out at Barleycove Beach. If positioned just right on one of the dunes at the beach, one could lay on one’s back and have a perfect view of the ocean, the white sands, the surrounding hills, the sunset, the moon, and one’s companion. Years of erosion on the dunes had left them at just the perfect angle for viewing.
Keiran had seen the ocean and moon there, many times. But not like he intended to this evening.
Along with the blankets he considered taking a music player but decided the ocean provided music enough. He did add, upon careful consideration, two bottles of imported grape soda. He could think of nothing more fitting to accompany a romantic evening in Ireland as a touch of simple Bajoran class.
He wrapped the Champagne flutes in plastic to keep them clean, and tucked them into the basket with the blankets and bottles.
The difficult part of the packing was getting the food prepared with her hovering around the kitchen. It had to be something gourmet, but easily re-warmed with the hotplate he packed.
It also had to be something readily identifiable, as Zanh Liis never ate anything that she had to guess the ingredients to. Any shellfish such as clams or oysters were out as well (too slimy), as was anything derived from any part of any animal that had ever digested, excreted, ate, tasted, pumped, thought, saw, or God forbid, played a part in procreating.
To that end, he had prepared a bed of scallops from Bantry Bay mixed in a light scampi sauce with pasta. It was not exactly the most traditional Irish meal but he knew if something from the seas around Cork would impress Zanh Liis, it was the scallops. He sautéed the meal quickly and stored it away in plastic containers for later.
On the side would add baked potatoes, knowing they were a simple food she adored.
He put the potatoes into the oven, and quickly activated the fan, lest the scent of the food begin wafting through the house. The last thing he needed was Liis wandering back own and asking what smelled so good.
They would need to bake for forty-five minutes, so he took the opportunity to step outside onto the front porch and look around. Everything was so peaceful here, so quiet. There was simply not a care in the world.
He wondered just for a moment about all his friends up on the Serendipity. What were they up to right now, and were they safe? No matter how perfect this moment was, his mind was always on his responsibilities in some way. That was something that came from living and sleeping with one eye constantly on a Temporal Compass, waiting for it to light up and tell you the end of all life itself was at hand.
Keiran did not for a minute regret that such matters were soon to be someone else’s providence.
Someone like Dane Cristiane.
Ok, maybe he did regret it a little.
If for a moment he were to entertain the idea of ever returning to the service, the one thing that would stop him was knowing how much it meant to the woman he married that she no longer had to be responsible for propping up time itself, either.
Keiran could only imagine her telling Will Lindsey that she had no idea what he saw in her, but she was only glad he saw something. That was her style. Zanh Liis would never believe that anyone saw anything special in her, but everyone did.
*Will…* Keiran thought. *When would he finally settle down with a woman? * Keiran couldn’t even entertain that thought in his mind. Maybe he should have saved the divorce attorney information from Aston Ledbetter for the sake of Will’s future wives.
He also wondered if Dane and Gira would ever become something, and how he would murder Dane when the time came if indeed they did. It was something every father figure fantasized about doing to any man that came near someone they considered a daughter.
“What is that beepin’?” Keiran wondered somewhere in his subconscious. He hadn’t even realized he’d said it, when it clicked. The food.
Had it really been forty-five minutes already he’d been standing here thinking about the special people in his life? The more the pieces of his own life fell into place, the more he realized how many more needed to be worked out for everyone else.
Keiran dashed back into the kitchen, silenced the timer, and removed the potatoes. He set them on the stovetop to cool until they were ready for storage.
Once everything was put away, he tossed a cover over the food in the cooling unit in case Liis started poking around. Keiran climbed the spiral staircase to their room, where he found Zanh Liis looking through material on a computer screen to pass the time as she waited for him to finish whatever he was doing. She began speaking as she heard him approach.
“You know, I had a sketchy memory of a conversation I thought we had once. So I looked something up.”
She pointed at the screen, which displayed a picture of two rows of men, each pulling on opposite ends of a large rope. “You call this a Tug of War, and you have a world championship? Really?”
“Aye, the object is to pull the opponent into the mud or pond or whatever is in between you.”
“But… why?”
“To win.”
“Obviously,” She said, as if it were neither obvious nor logical.
“We’ll try it someday, and then you’ll understand the appeal. Listen, I have some plans for this evening, if you don’t mind dressing for a bit of a walk.”
-=Later on=-
Keiran tucked away their meal for the evening in ice inside the basket, including two servings of Lemon Curd for dessert.
“I’m ready."
He looked up to see Liis, whose hair was tucked back behind her ear to show off her earring. She was wearing a deep blue button down sweater and black pants over her traditional black boots. The soft material she wore just begged to be held and caressed. Keiran surmised this was no accident.
“Someone is all packed for a picnic,” Liis grinned devilishly, and tried to peek inside the basket. Keiran snatched it away.
“You’ll see when the time comes.”
“You know I hate to be kept waiting.”
“You, prefer immediate results. You will wait if it is worth your while,” He knew her too well to give in.
They traveled down to the beach, where twilight was just setting in. Keiran had perfectly coordinated their departure from the house with the travel time, to arrive just as the sun was setting. He also knew as the evening wore on the temperature would drop, and Liis would come to him looking for warmth.
She would of course accuse him of setting the entire thing up that way on purpose, just to get her into his arms. Keiran would say nothing, and Liis would give him exactly what he wanted. It was a foolproof plan.
As they descended the hill down towards Barleycove Beach, Keiran could hardly contain his pleasure at the grin on her face. Liis simply spun as she walked, not knowing where to look first. The red and orange sky from the sunset? The first stars on the horizon? The impossibly white smooth sands on the beach? The rolling green hills that surround the cove? Or the mighty ocean rolling up onto the beach, and roaring in her ears?
“Is this place even real?” She asked. “Seems more like a holodeck program made by an artist with an overactive imagination.”
“Aye, its all real. Kick off yer boots and feel the sand while I set up.”
Liis just that and ran down to the beach, while Keiran spread out a blanket over one of the dunes to give them an elevated view of their surroundings. He set up the hot plate, shimming the bottom lest the plate follow the slope of the dune and allow their dinner to slide off onto the blanket. He warmed the potatoes till they steamed and scallops until they sizzled. The prevailing winds carried the scent down to the beach, where Zanh Liis was still beside herself with joy.
Keiran looked up into the twilight stars, and said a silent prayer for everyone tonight who would not be sharing the perfect meal, in the perfect place, with the perfect companion.
“I’m starving!” Liis declared, as she arrived back on the dune.
Keiran produced two plates, served her food, and added a dollop of butter to the baked potato. He then produced the Champagne flutes.
Liis took in the aroma from her plate, and moaned softly at the scent. “This is exquisite, thank you so much. I don’t know what could possibly make this better.”
Keiran handed her a flute, and produced the bottle of grape soda from the basket.
“You didn’t,” Liis shook her head and extended her glass to be filled.
“A taste of Bajor. One of my favorite things to be sure. If ever there was a woman that personifies Bajoran grape soda in a Champagne flute, it is Zanh Liis, and I wouldn’t have ya any other way.”
Keiran linked his arm with hers, and gave a simple toast.
“Daoibh.”
“To you.” Liis replied, translating the Gaelic word.
They ate their meals, and Keiran served the Lemon Curd to top off the evening. She finished all but one bite of the desert, which she wrapped in a napkin and handed to him.
“What be this for?” He asked, confused.
“You are to scan that bite and program that exact formula into the replicators on the Sera when we get back. Oh, Alchemy too. I’m not going without that dessert just because I’m on our sister ship. I can make that an order if I have to.”
Liis felt the chill in the air and rubbed her arms. Keiran lay back onto the blanket and extended his arms and another blanket to her.
“You planned all this out this way, didn’t you?” She asked, just as he had predicted. He, of course, did not answer, and Liis settled down against him and pulled the blanket around both of them. His fingers absent-mindedly played with her hair as she looked up at the stars for a moment.
“Do you think they are all right?” Liis asked.
“The crew?” Keiran replied, despite knowing exactly what she meant. “I’m sure Salvek has everything under control and is enjoyin’ every minute of Commanding a starship without havin’ to go through a loose-cannon, illogical Captain.”
“Well, I’m sure no matter how much he’s enjoying it, Salvek is not having nearly as much fun right now as I am.” The worried expression gave way to a grin on her face.
“Mizen Head light station is not far, if you feel like walking. She’s kept watch over the sea for hundreds of years. I think you’d love it.”
Liis spun herself over on top of him, and kissed him deeply. She propped herself up on her arms above him. “Tell me Keiran, is Mizen Head scheduled for demolition anytime soon?”
“No.”
“So it will be there tomorrow? Or the day after?”
“Aye.”
“Good. It can wait.”
Liis glanced around the beach and realized there was not a soul in sight, except the one she wanted.
************************
Keiran O’Sullivan*
Honeymooning
Keiran O’Sullivan*
Honeymooning
-------------------------
NRPG: Proof positive the man lives with me:
“Here for my coffee, don’t mind me.”
“Oops, forgot the half and half! This is what happens when I’m brain-fried.”
“Refill.”
“Damn, half and half.”
“My cup got cold I need a new one.”
LOL
Oh, and we’ve had a long standing inside joke for almost twelve years that Grape Soda is made on Bajor. That, and Hostess Ding Dongs, believe it or not…which we decided at the outset, grow on trees. lol ~ZL
(* = this post was written by this character's secondary author, Commander Salvek)