Tea and Cookies

[January 13th, 2387]
[Engineering Corridor]

Eiri heard Ayan coming down the corridor long before the tall Bajoran turned the corner nearest to his office. His husband’s thoughts were always easy for Eiri to find, and it gave him a few moments warning that the Lieutenant would be passing by. He hoped to have lunch with Ayan, so he left his office and nearly tripped on a small package right outside of his door. Righting himself just in time to not fall over, he scooped it up curiously and carried it inside.

He shook his head and set the package on his desk. First lunch, then the mystery box, he thought, and returned to the corridor.

=/\=

Ayan slid up beside Eiri as he exited his office and slung an arm around his shoulder. "Hello there, Counsellor..." he said, grinning. Since no one else was in the corridor at the moment he stole a quick kiss on the cheek.

Eiri smiled at his husband. "Lieutenant."

"How are you, love?" the Bajoran asked. "Would you care for some company during lunch?"

"I was going to take lunch in my office, if you would like to join me there?" the smaller man asked.

Ayan continued to grin. "That'd work. I also have a 30 minute reservation on the holodeck if you would like to join me there instead. We could go somewhere nice." He wiggled his eyebrows at the Vulcan half-breed.

Eiri nodded in agreement and stifled a little laugh, brushing a lock of silver hair out of his face. "That would be lovely. Lead the way?" He offered his hand, something he did not do often. Eiri was against public displays of affection on the ship, which was sometimes difficult with the rather handsy and outgoing Bajoran.

Ayan took the offered hand gladly and pulled Eiri along gently, leading them towards the holodecks. "Where would you like to go? Betazed? Vulcan? Bajor? Earth? Pacifica?" he asked with enthusiasm, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Where were you going to go?" Eiri asked, unable to help his smile at Ayan’s behavior..

"I was thinking of maybe a picnic by a stream in the provinces on Bajor," Ayan replied, still grinning.

“That sounds wonderful."

When they arrived at the holodecks Ayan punched in the program and the doors opened onto a little green, grassy meadow right by a stream. There was a nice breeze and the day was sunny but not too warm. Ayan led Eiri in. "Sandwiches okay?" he asked, as he headed towards a blanket and a basket.

"Seems like you had this all planned out. Sandwiches are perfect,” Eiri said, looking around. “This is beautiful."

Ayan blushed a little and ignored the comment. "This is a river off of Musilla Province in Bajor," the Bajoran said, waving his hand towards the river that babbled over a series of rocks. He sat down on the blanket just at the edge of the river and opened the basket. He pulled out sandwiches, cookies, and drinks, and leaned over and kissed Eiri's cheek, when the counsellor sat next to him. "My mother took me here once. I remember chasing my brothers around, and dangling our feet in the water all day."

"It is wonderful. Can I help or do you have it handled?" Eiri eyed the items that Ayan pulled from the basket, curious.

"Mmm... you can help by eating," Ayan said with his customary grin. “There's not much to pull out." He snitched a sandwich. "How's your day?"

"All right, finishing up reports from the last few days. Thankful this is a small ship." Eiri took a sandwich and started to eat, taking tiny bites and covering his mouth as he chewed, looking out across the river at the meadow beyond.

Ayan scooted close to Eiri, eating as well. "How is everyone doing?" he asked. "Generally speaking, of course."

"Good. I mean I cannot tell you much. My assistant has arrived, so you get to do an evaluation. I insist." The small counsellor laughed softly, his hair falling in his face..

"Your assistant?" Ayan asked curiously. "Uh oh," he chuckled. "So now I get to go on and on and on about you to someone else?" The Bajoran bumped into Eiri playfully.

The half-vulcan blushed and brushed silvery strands back into place. "If that's what you want to do."

Ayan smiled at him and picked up a cookie, offering it to Eiri. Eiri took a dainty bite and blushed. The Lieutenant laughed. "Very dignified," he said. "Mother loved your table manners. She made sure to comment about how she wished I had learned from whoever had taught you, because Prophets knows she tried, but her blabbering son didn't know the difference between forks."

The counsellor laughed. "Always start from the outside and work your way in."

Ayan chuckled and then let out a long breath as he finished his sandwich. A small bird swept down in front of them and landed on the edge of the river. He paused, and ran his hands through his hair. "So, we're changing assignments again, huh?" he said.

"Yes. I am sort of looking forward to it. I do not know why. I was dreading this assignment and it turned out alright."

The Bajoran nodded. "You're all right with going back to a station? Not being on a ship anymore?"

"It will be a space station. That will be a nice change and I will have my own office.and we can have larger quarters."

Ayan chuckled. "It's probably in pretty bad shape. It might be awhile before you get that office. But yes, you're right," he said, smiling. "I'm just hoping it's the last change for a while.":

Eiri nodded. "I hope it is not too old. You can guide ships into the base." he chuckled.

Ayan nodded. "And manage the docks, or what's left of them, anyway." He smiled. "It will be an interesting challenge."

"As long as I am with you... I do not care where we are." Eiri stole a quick kiss.

Ayan returned the kiss with a smile and a nod. "Agreed. I'm glad we were transferred together." He put his arm around Eiri. "I'm looking forward to it. I just have a feeling the first few weeks will be rough." He smiled a little wanly. "I will miss flying these ships though."

"I know, but maybe there will be shuttles for you to fly? That would be fun, right?"

He shrugged. "I'll find fun. What's more important is making sure we stay together."

"Definitely. As long as we are together everything will be all right." Eiri echoed.

Ayan grinned and nodded. "That's the hope. And like I said, I get to run a dock of what will probably become a major spaceport once this area warms up. Not bad for a Lieutenant."

"Not at all bad," Eiri echoed again, and took a cookie from the plate and ate it thoughtfully, taking care to catch any crumbs he might drop by accident.

Ayan laughed. "You're so silly."

"Silly?" Eiri looked at him with one lifted eyebrow, a little smile on his face.

He nodded, smiling back at the counsellor. "Sometimes, yes," he said. "You're very dainty when you eat. It's cute."

"I am just trying not to be rude. It is so easy to be rude when you eat."

Ayan chuckled. "You're never rude."

Eiri giggled softly. "I try not to be."

Ayan smirked at him. "I don't think it's possible for you to be rude."

Eiri snorted. "It is too possible for me to be rude."

"Uh huh," Ayan said, teasing. "I doubt you ever would be." He smiled, falling quiet. He looked out over the meadow, his arm around his husband’s shoulder. The light breeze blew Eiri’s hair around as the river flowed across the rocks and inevitably down to feed the ocean that Ayan had still never visited. Eiri’s light perfume wafted over to Ayan, combining with the smell of fresh pine, grass, and open meadow air. Ayan reached up and gently squeezed the earring that hung from his ear.

This had to be what the Prophets intended for him. He had no other explanation for moments where he felt such peace. He had long asked for them to guide him to peace and understanding, and set that understanding as his goal. He strove to learn from them, and to remain humble, charitable, and serve his people. He never expected to reach that goal, and especially not through a relationship.

Ayan turned to look at his husband. "Do you really listen in to my thoughts as often as you say you do? I’m just curious. I can’t say I’m all that interesting, really.”

"Yes. Almost constantly."

The tall Bajoran blushed a little. "Why?"

"Because I love you."

Prophets.

=/\=

Eiri remembered the package once he was back in his office. He sat down behind his desk and carefully removed the outer wrapping. Inside were two, small, around hand-size, black boxes with various alien designs in silver-looking paint. One for Eiri and one for Ayan. Both boxes were filled with ten different tea blends each. The first tea blend in Eiri's was from Vulcan and Betazed and the first blend in Ayan’s was from Bajor.

Only Galan would send handmade teas. The Romulan might be a bit unstable, but Eiri knew that he meant well. Each blend had a tag on it, listing what herbs and spices were used to make them, what planets they were from, and descriptions of their taste when brewed. In Eiri's box, Galan added extra tags that showed him which tea blends were the most relaxing, which were good for morning, and which the Romulan thought were best for casual drinking. Ayan’s box indicated teas that were good prior to meditation.

Eiri chuckled and looked at the chronometer on his desk. There were ten minutes before his next appointment. Time enough for a cup of tea.

[[JP brought to you by Ayan "he's tall" Retol and Eiri "I like tea" Ashshy]]