Surprise, Part 2
Posted on Sat 29th Apr, 2023 @ 6:47am by Mary Elizabeth Gregory
986 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Neither Yours Nor Mine
Location: The (Original) Hangman's Noose, Earth
Timeline: MD-4, 1400 hours
Previously, in a quaint little English pub in Kent, on Earth...
"Excellent," Lucas Gregory said. "I'll let Cook know." He pressed his wrist comlink. "Mrs. Kendrick? Could you bring the tea to the back room? We'll want two large pots, English Breakfast and Earl Grey, along with the third, and--" He glanced at Maiek. "Are there any Earth foods you can't eat?"
"Cannot eat? No, not that I am aware of. One has to be careful with chocolate, as it has the same effect that a week alcohol has on a human."
Lucas gave Maiek a mischievous look and grinned. "More for us, then." He tapped his comlink again. "Mrs. Kendrick, you can serve the proper afternoon tea with all the sweets and savories. No substitutions needed."
"Excellent!" a woman's voice said through the comlink. "We'll bring it all right out. Tell the lads they're not to fight over the scones."
"No promises!" Jeremiah called back to her.
"Why don't we all sit down?" Mildred suggested and led them to a table that had been set for seven guests. "Maiek, I don't know how much Mary Elizabeth has told you about our people, but afternoon tea in England is actually a meal, not just the beverage. It's something to tide you over until supper."
"I have oft been puzzled by human terminology on the subject. The difference between tea and lunch or supper and dinner, there is no such distinction in the Romulan language. I am however, not adverse to a meal. I did not break my fast appropriately this morning."
Mary Elizabeth's mother grinned at him. "Well, we will make very sure that you break it appropriately now. Never let it be said that I let someone leave the Noose hungry!"
At this point, kitchen staff began bringing in three-tiered sandwich trays, filled with a plethora of crustless sandwiches on the lowest plate, scones on the middle plate, and delicate cakes, slices of fruitcake, and 'pizza slices' of shortbread on the topmost plate.
A pale-haired woman looking to be in late middle age brought in a teapot, which she set down close to Maiek and Mary Elizabeth, while two other helpers placed additional teapots farther down the table. Sugar cubes, butter, clotted cream, and various small dishes of jam were scattered about the table.
Despite the earlier conversation, which had promised utter chaos would descend the moment the food arrived, no one made a move for the food or the tea until Mildred had selected a sandwich and had taken the first bite. Then it turned into gleeful cries of, "I want the blueberry scones!" among other things.
"Care for some tea, dear?" Mary Elizabeth asked Maiek.
"I would." he answered admiring the trays of foods that seemed more as objects of beauty than foods. These people, would have made fine Romulan's at the peak of their society he thought to himself a tiny smirk on his lips. "Your mother, reminds me of my matriarch as a child" he murmured into her ear.
"You'll have to tell me more about her," Mary Elizabeth said, smiling, as she poured the tea into their cups. At the scent of it she blinked. "Is that aesolh tea?"
"Is that how you pronounce it?" Lucas asked. "I looked up Romulan teas, and that one seemed pretty popular. I hope it goes down well."
"It is quite popular indeed. It's one of those things that you can serve to give multiple messages based on what you serve with it" he spoke this as an aside to Mary Elizabeth. "If your single girls at the Noose serve it to a Romulan in the evening with anything that has chocolate in it, prepare for them to be utterly exhausted when they come in in the morning."
Mary Elizabeth looked at Maiek, wide-eyed. "Good to know. I'll alert Mrs. Ellis. Have you any other tidbits of information about what my staff should not serve with aesolh tea?"
Mrs Ellis seemed like just the type to serve it and see what happened, if he had read the woman right. She had a fondness for the spontaneous; he could just tell. The only problem therein would be if there was a Mr. Ellis. Human males tended to be possessive of their mates, not that he blamed them in the slightest. He made an idle buzzing noise between his tongue and his teeth, a Romulan equivalent of an 'uhhhm' as he considered that very question for a few minutes.
"No?"
She had to giggle at the look on Maiek's face; it was all contemplative mischief. "Should I serve you aesolh tea with chocolate, sometime?"
Maiek did something he rarely did, he blushed. He was not however to be outdone by her delightful mischief. "Please do, my dearest heart. I should be delighted to showcase my stamina and permanently mark you as mine...". That last was voiced in Rihannsu, as the connotation he added to the words was both deeply suggestive and inviting. Not appropriate for her parents to hear, but his aunt would be delighted if they conceived their first child on this outing.
Mary Elizabeth's eyes widened, and her skin turned pink. She marshaled an innocent look onto her face. "What, these weren't enough?" she asked, also in Rihannsu, indicating the jewelry he'd giver her the night he proposed. Then she grinned. "I cannot wait to serve you tea and chocolate now."
"Hey, get a room!" Jeremiah called to them from where he sat and waved a blueberry scone slathered in clotted cream at them. Mary Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at him. Some things never changed.
"Ah, such a place will our house be in the years to come" he observed, laughing at the banter between brother and sister.
"I certainly intend for it to," Mary Elizabeth replied to him, beaming.
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