Like a Big Pizza Pie...

Posted on Sat Jul 31st, 2021 @ 3:14am by Lieutenant Percival Bálor Ph.D & Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii

2,310 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Out of Time
Location: USS Ontario | Lieutenant Ra-Gruvloveii's quarters

As scheduled and exactly on time, Lieutenant Percival Bálor arrived outside if Yiv's quarters with a small cooling container in hand. He was dressed in a white button-up shirt, a few of the upper buttons beneath the collar left undone. Over it, he wore a midnight blue blazer with matching trousers. His formal attire was done semi-formally, a way of saying he wanted to look nice, but that this was not a business meeting. His hair had two braided strands tucked with the rest of his hair into a manageable yet loose bun.

He had the Chief Engineer to thank for his braided hair with beads ornamenting his hair. Percy pressed the door chime and checked his reflection on the dark faux glass along the corridor. He had brought beverages for the two of them to go with the pizza. He waited for Yiv and tried to settle the butterflies that had begun fluttering within.

Starting at the door chime, Yiv got to his feet. He himself had opted for casual Efrosian clothing, garishly coloured to those with a normal range of vision, but pleasingly contrasting to Efrosian eyes.

He'd had a long day, starting with an interesting and pleasant breakfast with Amanda, and a long shift. Though he knew Percy would be coming back this evening, he had no real clue how it would go, or what this was about given the mood he seemed to be in when he left.

Hopefully, it was just some of his Tellarite heritage coming through.

Palming the door control, Yiv took a sharp intake of breath as they opened, revealing Percy. 'Uh, hi,' he managed lamely, his banter deserting him for a moment.

"Hi," replied Percy. "I hope you still feel up for pizza?" inquired Percy who began to navigate his way into the man's quarters. "I brought some beer to go with the pizza. I hope you don't mind," added the half-Tellarite. He was nervous, but he tried his best not to show one iota of it in front of Yiv.

As Percy deftly moved past him, Yiv caught his scent momentarily. Still flummoxed, he spun about on his heels watching the scientist make himself at home. 'Pizza? Yes, of course, I am,' he said absently, 'beer will be fine?'

'Pizza is my favourite,' he added a few moments later. 'Why are you dressed like .. well like that?' asked Yiv as he pointed to his outfit.

Percy shrugged. "I made dinner plans with you and I wanted to show you that I don't always have to look like a sloppy disheveled sweaty hog of a bad boy?" Percy smiled at Yiv. "I heard some Efrosians like multifaceted individuals, layers, and mystery. I thought I'd let you see a bit more of me than I let others see."

'Some Efrosians,' Yiv replied, discovering some of his poise. 'If I'd know this was a dress-up dinner I'd have thrown on something a bit more flash.' He palmed the door closed, 'come on then, you'll have to do a twirl.'

"The day I twirl," quipped Percy. "For you though, I will, but only because I can say your vision is shite" added Percy who did slowly twirl around. "There, one twirled Tellarite." He was not entirely sure why Yiv asked him to twirl, but he did not mind doing it as much as he made it seem. Afterward, Percy snorted.

'Yes. Very nice,' Yiv said quietly as he watched the science officer twirl, admiring his figure. 'Nice indeed, that's quite... quite the suit for a casual meet with a friend.'

Percy smiled at Yiv. "You don't have to dress up for me. I like you just the way you are, Yiv."

'Ahah, thanks,' replied Yiv, blushing slightly. He waved his hand over his hair. 'You've got a new hairdo as well. Very fancy. Human eyes will spot it a mile off.'

He motioned over to the seating area, 'please take a seat, put the beer down. Take a load off.'

Percy headed over to the seating area after setting the beer down. "That child from Engineering did my hair," he said referring to the Chief Engineer. "I have decided that I like her, but I wouldn't want to be on an away team with her. I am very fond of living, and being around her makes me question my safety."

'Yes. She seems quite fond of ships, and quite animated when talking about them. But I haven't had much interaction with her, to be honest. Too much energy for an old guy like me.' Yiv slipped into a chair opposite Percy. 'She does have an eye-catching talent with the hair. Will you keep it for your duty hours? Maybe impress a certain lady?'

"The only lady I'm looking to impress is called Commander Vetur," replied Percy. "You aren't that old, but I do think I need to be a bit more upfront about something. Yes, I was trying to gather information about Lieutenant Amanda Rose when you caught me fidgeting around with communications. Though I was not doing it because I am interested in her. I was doing it because she's competition" stated Percy.

The half-Tellarite patted the space beside him. "You may want to come to sit for this because we need to unravel this, and then I'm going to stuff you with pizza."

As he moved to sit next to Percy, Yiv's expression twisted into one of confusion. Leaning his elbows on his lap, and hands twisting together, he faced Percy. 'You're not terribly great at giving straight answers. Sure you're not an Intel Officer?'

"Oh I am sure," Percy replied. "Intelligence is not something I would be very good at. I don't have the patience for it. Unfortunately, I am more of a go-go-go type of individual. Though you, you are perfect for intel with the exception that you've missed something right in front of you, Yiv."

Yiv snorted, frustrated at the cryptic mode of talking Percy had adopted. 'I thought Tellarites had a reputation for straight-talking? Hasn't any of that rubbed off on you, Percy?'

Percy let out an exasperated sigh and snort. He took a deep breath. The Doctor knows and this is practically a quarter impulse Percy thought to himself. The Chief Science Officer reached out and placed his hand on the back if Yiv's neck.

"Why give straight answers?" Percy replied as he inched closer toward Yiv's face. He could practically feel the Efrosian's breath on his skin. Probably a good idea I'm doing this before we eat the Tellarite thought as he took the chance and initiated contact - his lips to Yiv's, softly and cautiously. This had not gone as well back at the academy with a fellow cadet.

Yiv's eyes widened for a moment, before he leaned in and responded to the kiss, eyes closing, hands moving automatically to gather Percy up in his arms.

The weight of Percy being pulled toward Yiv, toppled them over comfortably on the sofa with Percy looking into Yiv's eyes for a moment. "I hope you have found this answer adequate?"

'The, uh, answer is ... more than satisfying,' replied Yiv throatily as he considered the depths of Percy's eyes for a few moment. Still recovering, he kissed him softly again. 'Just very unexpected.' He'd lost the cheekiness that usually accompanied his interactions with others. A haze had crept over him, and his heart beat louder in his ears.

Percy used his index digit to boop the Efrosian on the nose. "Told you that you were missing something right in front of you," the half-Tellarite teased. "I was getting information on Lieutenant Rose, but because I thought she was competition. I want the chance to make you more than just pizza, I want an opportunity to show you who I really am...and have meals together."

'Who you really are,' murmured Yiv, echoing the half-Tellarite's words. He was caught in a blissful fog that he tried to shake as he processed Percy's other words. 'You ... you spied on Rose because you were ... jealous of her?' The Efrosian looked up and appraised the science officer. 'Percy that's the stupidest reason I have ever heard for breaking into one of our systems. What if someone else had caught you?'

"I'd have to hope I could convince them not to toss me off the ship, do my brig time, and deal with the consequences," he answered honestly. "I know. I'm completely reckless and I throw myself into things I care about, and maybe a tad jealous...she's sweet. A lot of people are attracted to sweets" he explained.

The science officer sighed heavily. "I'm far from perfect and I know that I can be trouble, but give me a chance to be the me that I want to be....pizza included."

Yiv grinned, 'I don't think I ever asked for perfectPercy. I don't recall asking for anything in fact. But this has been a nice surprise, even if we haven't gotten to the pizza yet.' He propped himself up onto his arms, coming closer to Percy's face again. 'You know nothing's happened between me and Rose, right? She is sweet, and she's my type. But she looks at the Captain in a completely different way to how she looks at me.'

Percy met Yiv's gaze. "The night is young and Pizza is quick...Only a fool would pass up this," he said softer than he normally would. "I may be reckless, but momma didn't raise a fool. As you said she is your type, but am I?"

The Half-Tellarite sighed. "You don't need to answer that. I did not know that nothing had happened between the two of you, but even if something had happened...I am an impatient man who is relentless. If she wanted to pick up a Bet'leth over you, she'd either walk away defeated or be standing there in a prom dress and drenched in my blood." Percy chuckled. "I prefer not to fight violently for what I want, but I will fight passionately for what I believe strongly in."

'You're my type too,' Yiv said quietly. 'You're ... how can I say this. Sharp. I don't mean that you're clever, which you are, but you have an edge. And you're funny. A pleasure to be around.' He paused trying to find the right words, 'you're electric.' The Efrosian brushed a hand tenderly against Percy's cheek, making his decision. 'Pizza can wait ... I guess.'

"I already want a divorce," Percy replied. He placed a digit over the Efrosian's lips. "Pizza waits for nobody. Besides, I must maintain this figure through terrible dieting choices that the replicator has turned 'healthy,' and guilt myself into going to the gymnasium anyways."

'Alright, then,' replied Yiv a little huffily. 'Are you always going to be this much of a tease?'

Percy shrugged. "I don't know, but I bet you are fascinated to find out. That's half the fun in any new mystery" replied Percy as he headed over the replicator and accessed the recipe that he had programmed previously when he had been in Yiv's quarters.

Soon, the Half Tellarite was bringing forth a round pizza for the two of them. "Not exactly a brick oven, but it will be serviceable. One special goat cheese and fig pizza."

Yiv eyed Percy uncertainly. 'What's ... what's a fig?'

Percy chuckled and peeled a piece of fig off from the pizza. "It's a fruit from Earth, native to the Mediterranean region," he said as he approached Yiv.

"Open up my Efrosian prince," he said teasingly as he sought to feed Yiv the fig piece. "It's going to be soft and a little seedy, but hopefully you like them. You might find it a bit sweet and they were symbolic on Earth for truth and prosperity."

Holding Percy's wrist delicately in his own hand, Yiv sniffed at the fig, then took a tentative bite. He chewed on it for a moment, then his eyes lit up. 'Well now,' he pulled Percy's hand towards himself, 'that is a nice fruit. Can't believe I've not tried them before!' Greedily eyeing up the rest of the pizza slice he made a low growling noise in the back of his throat. 'Can I get some cheese with that?'

"You can," Percy replied with delight that Yiv seemed to like the fig. "Cheese, crust, the whole package" he added as he fetched a slice of pizza and brought it to Yiv. I could get used to this if he wanted me to thought Percy though he did not linger on the thought too long.

This was new and unexplored territory. Pizza was the first contact, and though it seemed that this first contact was a successful one, Percy knew they would have more to discuss another day, another night, but for now, he just wanted to enjoy Yiv and pizza.

Picking up the proffered slice of pizza on his plate, Yiv grinned and took a big bite. 'This has been nice, Percy. Thank you. I've not had ... company in a long while.' He coughed, 'I'm glad you forced the issue in the end.'

"Ah well that's me," he replied with a snort. "An irresistible force" added Percy. The two were in for a night of pizza and good conversation. Percy was feeling a thousand times better with everything off his chest.

________________

Lieutenant Yiv Ra-Gruvloveii
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Percival Bálor, Ph.D
Chief Science Officer
USS Ontario

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