Breakfast Date

Posted on Wed Oct 20th, 2021 @ 7:29am by Ensign Lynette Bishop 'Highlander' & Petty Officer 1st Class Yoshika Miyafuji

1,818 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Operation Romulus Return
Location: USS Tokyo (NCC-91101), Mess Hall, Deck 5
Timeline: Concurrent with "The Morning After"

Previously on Star Trek Tokyo:

"Y-you sure?" she responded meekly. "I mean... I don't want to interrupt you if you're busy or anything-!"

"Yeah, it's fine" Yoshika replied a little red coming her cheeks. "I don't often get invited out, so it's... Nice... you know"

A warm, tingling sensation began to swell in Lynette's chest. It was a new feeling for her, so unlike those earlier feelings of self-doubt that had left her a blathering mess; this sensation was... comforting, in a way, like she could take on anything that she put her mind to.

Whatever the case, she was going to owe Nozomi big time if this all panned out... and for the first time she could recall, she was really hoping it would.

And now, the Continuation:

The breakfast rush was already in full swing by the time the two officers arrived at the mess hall; it appeared as though most of the crew on board had resigned themselves to the fact that they were going to be losing sleep, and had set in motion their morning routine a full hour before they were usually scheduled to.

"Oh," Lynette paused, evidently disappointed in the fact that she wasn't the only one who'd had this idea.

"I, uh... I apologize for this," She mumbled somewhat dejectedly as she turned her attention to Petty Officer Miyafuji. "I wasn't expecting the mess hall to be this crowded..."

Yoshika smiled. "It's not a problem, it would be quiet without others" she said with a smile. "Where shall we sit?"

Out of the corner of Lynette's eye, she spotted a corner booth that appeared to be unoccupied.

"How about over there?" she gesticulated.

Yoshika simply smiled. "Looks good" she took in a sniff of the air. "Seems the galley has opened, shall we see what they have before we dig in?" She asked just as her belly rumbled. She clasped her hands over it. "Sorry..." she said nervously.

While Lynette was somewhat concerned about leaving the booth unattended, she had to admit that aroma wafting from the galley was rather appealing...

"I, uh... I suppose it couldn't hurt to have a look," she admitted as the two of them queued up in line for the galley.

A minute or so passed with the two of them standing in awkward silence before Lynette eventually worked up the courage to speak.

"So..." she began. "Outside of medical work, do you have any... hobbies, so to speak?"

Yoshika picked up a bowl of cereal. Not quite Japanese, but it did the job. "Well, I like cooking. But there isn't a stove in my quarters, so I mainly experiment with thevreplicator" she admitted. "I do like to go for a run or a jog on the holodeck, oh and playing on the beach is fun too" she smiled.

"What do pilots do in their downtime?" She asked referring to Bishop.

Lynette placed a finger to her lips and pondered the question.

"Well... I do like to cook," she began. "My older siblings and I had to look after our younger siblings whenever Mum was away, so we taught ourselves the basic home economics such as cooking to get by in her absence."

Yoshika smiled. At least they had something in common, that was nice. "We should cook together some time. Its always more fun when you do it with someone else" she suggested.

Lynette blushed. "I... I think I would like that," she replied, scratching her cheek nervously.

"Sounds like fun. I can teach you some of my Japanese recipes.. you're English right? I don't know much about English cuisine..." she admitted blushing slightly in embarrassment.

"My younger siblings always did enjoy my homemade meat pies," Lynette remarked with a sheepish grin. "It tended to be their go-to whenever I was on cooking duty."

"I want to try that!" Yoshika said with a hint of excitement, "It sounds really yummy"

Lynette felt her heart stop for a few beats as she basked in the glow of the older girl's smile.

God as my witness, it should be illegal for someone to be this cute...

"Well, um... perhaps after we're done with this assignment, we can get together someday and make one?" she asked as she picked up an omelette and began making her way back to the table. "I mean... I'm a lowly Ensign, so I don't have a full kitchenette, but perhaps we could try making something on the Holodeck?"

"Same" Yoshika smiled. "But I think it would be nice to do that" she replied as she took another spoonful of her cereal. "I don't get chance to talk to many people here. I'm just a petty officer, so many of the officers don't really hang out with us enlisted. This is nice" she smiled.

Amen, Lynette thought to herself.

"Do you, um... do you have any family members you keep in touch with?" she asked as the two of them sat down at the table.

"Kinda" Yoshika said with a slightly nervous smile. "I lost my dad back in the Dominion War. He was an engineer in Starfleet. I miss him a lot, but I think he'll be proud of me" she explained averting her gaze slightly. "My mum and grandma are back in Japan, they run a local medical clinic. They were shocked that I joined Starfleet, but they are very traditional"

"So was your father the reason you joined?" Lynette asked out of curiosity.

"I think so" Yoshika pondered. "But I came from a small traditional town. So I wanted to see more too" she smiled.

"I see," Lynette replied as she took a bite out of her omelette.

"What about you? What made you join to be a fighter pilot? Its a very dangerous position. I couldn't do anything like that" Yoshika asked curiously.

"Well... there were a handful of factors that contributed to that," Lynette attempted to explain. "My family has a long history with Starfleet; my Grandmother was a Commodore, my Mum's the Commanding Officer of the Avenger, my uncle... well, I think? I haven't spoken to him a couple of months, but last I heard, he'd been offered a position as Second Officer aboard the Oceania."

"Isn't that the ship over there?" Yoshika asked referring to the Oceania which was just in view of the lounge windows.

"I think so," Lynette remarked. "Anyways, I probably have my Uncle to thank for my piloting knowledge; he used to fly Peregrines back during the Dominion War, and he'd always make time out of his busy schedule to visit us over the holidays and share some of his war stories. I must've drawn inspiration from his accounts when I was taking the initial placement tests, because next thing I know, they're suggesting I try out for piloting, and... well, I just decided to go for it."

Yoshika sat there for a few seconds as she munched on her cereal. "I see" she said after swallowing. "Well, be careful when you're out there. I don't want to hear you didn't come back" she said.

Lynette sat, frowning at the thought that she might have made a mistake in choosing piloting as her field of choice.

"It's... hard to say what I want out of life," she admitted somewhat solemnly. "To be honest, I can't say I'm all that sure that this is what I want; my eldest sister had always encouraged me to aspire for the simpler pursuits in life, but after we grew older and she left for Starfleet, a part of me realized that I..."

She sighed. "...Well, I guess there's no nice way to put it; I just wasn't prepared to let her go; I relied on her for everything, and a part of me just couldn't accept a reality where she wouldn't be there in some significant way."

Yoshika smiled. "So you want to be more like your sister right?" she asked as she pointed her spoon at her. "Thats nothing to be ashamed about, sounds like she's kind of like your role model"

Lynette smiled, albeit somewhat sadly. "I suppose she is," she agreed. "Though I hardly ever held a candle to her; she was always so bright and outgoing... and here I am, a chubby introvert with hardly any aspirations of her own..."

One of Yoshika's eyebrows rose. "You're not chubby" she said with a smile. "Remember that you were in the sickbay with me earlier, you're weight is fine. There's no need to be insecure about how you look because..." she paused "You know... you're actually quite cute... unlike me"

Lynette's face turned as red as one of the emergency Klaxons.

She thinks I'm cute she thinks I'm cute she thinks I'm cute-!

She shook her head. Damnit, Bishop! keep it together!

"W-well," she began awkwardly. "M-maybe there some people out there who... well, like that sort of plainness in their partner?"

Wait; that sounded like an insult.

"I-I-I, um, I mean-!" she quickly corrected herself. "It... it helps to... well, it emphasizes some of their stronger features, l-like-!"

Yoshika tilted her head to the side slighty in confusion. The fighter pilot seemed to be rather nervous for some reason.

Lynette gulped. "L-l-like their eyes?" she managed to squeak out.

Nice one, Bishop; now she's going to think you're weird...

"Eyes?" Yoshika asked slightly confused. "Would you say that I'm plain? I've never really asked anyone out before..." she began to shuffle nervously. "Not many people know, but... I don't really like boys..." she admitted quietly. "They don't do much for me... if you know what I mean"

"That's not... I mean, it's not like being plain is a bad thing!" Lynette attempted to offer encouragingly. "I, um, I'm sure there's someone out there who could look past how you look for who you are underneath..."

Like yourself? Wait to go, Bishop; you should've just told her you were gay...

"Underneath... oh, you mean like whats in their heart and their personality" Yoshika smiled. "I wonder if there is someone out there, but I don't know..." she pondered. She finished her cereal. "But anyways..." she held out a hand. "Shall we be friends?"

"I think... I think I'd appreciate the company," Lynette smiled as she took Yoshika's hand and shook it gently.

Perhaps it would be a while before the two of them could come around to their feelings, but for the time being, it was better they start somewhere than nowhere at all.
____________________________________________________________

Posting by (in order of appearance):

Ensign Lynette Bishop
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)

Petty Officer, 2nd Class Yoshika Miyafuji
Flight Deck Medic, (NCC-91101)

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