Ice Cream, Ice Cream, we all Scream for Ice Cream...

Posted on Mon Feb 6th, 2017 @ 9:44pm by Commander Mal Xustos & Staff Warrant Officer Nexi & Aewia Larani

Mission: Refit Rondo
Location: Starbase, Various
Timeline: Current

Mal walked through the corridors headed towards the temporary quarters shared by Aewia and her sister Nexi. He'd promised Aewia ice cream and he intended to deliver. He'd found the perfect place, one that mixed almost whatever you wanted in almost any combination into a wide variety of ice cream flavors. It was a favorite of crews passing through Utopia Planetia because it could accommodate a wide variety of tastes and preferences.

Mal was dressed in a simple Greco-Roman style tunic, the hem of which stopped a few inches above his knees. He wore a leather belt around his waste, from which hung a pouch that held whatever belongings he needed. He'd pinned his commbadge to his tunic over his left chest. The tunic was short-sleeved. It was a darker shade of burnt orange in color and trimmed in gold thread. From his neck hung one of his smaller flutes.

Arriving at Nexi and Aewia's door, he hit the chime.

Technically, Nexi wasn't bunking here. She was registered as bunking with Aewia, but instead she chose to retreat back to her personal runabout which was docked nearby. Although, as luck would have it, she did happen to be spending time with her sister, so when he rang the chime, both sisters were within.

"Please don't answer it, I don't wanna talk to goatyman!" Nexi groaned to her sister, flopping back onto the couch and shoving a couch cushion over her face to emphasize just how much she would rather die than to interact with the weirdo she sensed on the other side of the door.

"Goatyman! Goatyman! Goatyman!" Aewia sang giddily as she skipped to the door and pressed the door controls. "Goatyman! Yay!"

Mal heard Aewia singing and dancing her name for him through the door. When it opened he grinned broadly.

"Hello, young lady!" he said. "As promised, I am here to take you and your sister out for ice cream! I have found the perfect place, where someone with a creative mind like yours can get just about any flavor of ice cream you can think of!"

Aewia literally jumped for joy. "Yay! Ice cream!" She then headed into the bedroom to get Nexi's old jacket she gave her and slipped it on. "Sis, let's go get ice cream!"

"In good time, Aewia," Mal said. "First though, should we take your sister with us? It seems only fair. You did promise her she could come. What do you think?"

"I absolve both of you from any promises made to me regarding ice cream," came Nexi's muffled reply. But then the thought of Aewia alone on the station with some stranger and all the trouble they could into, she suddenly sat up and tossed the couch cushion aside. "Never mind, I'll go get my jacket," she said, then strode to the bedroom to get said coat.

"Take your time!" Mal called to her. He put his flute to his lips and began to play a tune for Aewia.

Aewia smiled goofily and happily wiggled to the tune.

As Nexi came back out with her jacket, she saw the two being goofy together and rolled her eyes, but then just the tiniest hint of a smile attempted to form at the corner of her mouth; at least Aewia was having fun, that's what was most important to Nexi. "Alright you two, let's go," she grumbled as she shrugged into her jacket.

Mal lowered his flute and stopped dancing.

"Certainly! We're ready when you are," Mal said. He offered his arm to Aewia. "Shall we?"

"Yes please!" Aewia replied, taking Mal's arm.

"Off we go!" Mal said as he escorted Aewia out the door and down the corridor. "So, what's the most bizarre flavor of ice cream you can think of?"

"Anything other than vanilla," Nexi somewhat grumbled as she followed along with the pair.

"Anchovy, peppermint, and hasperat with jalapenos on top!" Aewia called out proudly.

"Hmmm..." Mal replied. "I don't know about the anchovies. A friend of mine's wife went to eat anchovies one night and called a comm frequency she saw printed on the can. Men showed up and rolled her up in sheets of cellophane, flew her halfway around the quadrant and turned her into a bowling ball and the next time he saw her was on a holovid show about bowling. Ever since then I've learned to say 'No anchovies please' when ordering my food."

Aewia paused and looked at Mal in horror and shock, her eyes wide. "That's... Not even the Romulans would do something like that!"

"I know, I know," Mal said. "It's deplorable, but there it is. As I said, I've steered clear of anchovies ever since!"

After a walk, a chat, a turbolift ride, and some more walking, they arrived Raveri's Exotic Ice Cream Parlor. Inside were humans, vulcans, bajorans, tellarites, andorians...nearly every species in the Federation was represented. He led Aewia into the parlor, and walked her over to where the flavors and the toppings were.

"Here you are, my dear!" he said. "Have anything you'd like, as long as your sister is okay with it. My treat."

Aewia's attention was pulled to something familiar. A look of consternation crossed her face as part of a memory started to resurface. "That one," she said coherently as she pointed to a flavor called Toffee Crunch. "I remember that one. I want that.... in a caramel sundae... with extra nuts."

"Absolutely," said Mal. He gave the clerk her order. "And for me, dark chocolate fudge with chili peppers. Nexi, what can I get you?"

"Just vanilla," Nexi said, looking over all the different flavors and toppings with a hint of dislike. "You know what, let's go crazy, I'll try the vanilla bean in a waffle cone bowl," she amended a moment later.

"Your wish, my command," Mal said. He put in Nexi's order and paid for all three. He lead the two ladies to a table and a moment after they sat down, a waitress came over with their order. She gave the three of them their ice cream, setting Aewia's sundae in front of her.

"So," Mal said to Aewia. "What do you think?"

"I think I remember eating this with someone I cared about," Aewia mumbled before taking a bite. The taste hit her and a flood of emotions hit her, a few hot tears rolling down her cheeks as she took another bite. She then did her best to recompose herself and succeeded fairly well, one of her moments of clarity settling in and her old 'intel eys' coming back for a moment. "I had a fiance and we shared one of these before he went on a mission he never came back from. There was something else special about it too... but I remember that that was classified. I think the Captain should probably be told about it though." Looking up at Mal and Nexi with concern, she continued. "Does that make sense?"

"It's alright, kiddo," Nexi said, scooting her chair closer to her sister to put an arm around her shoulders. "And we can go tell Enalia what you remember; you wanna leave now or finish your ice cream first?" she ask, and her tone could almost be considered gentle.

"I'd like to finish and see if I remember anything else about Grenbol Two, actually." Aewia replied as she leaned into her sister and took another bite.

Mal said nothing specific about the information shared by Aewia. He'd ask Enalia to fill in the blanks for him later. Having Nexi try to chew him a new exit hole for 'sticking his nose in where it didn't belong', which was probably what she'd assume he was doing, would upset Aewia. If Nexi really lost control and pulled a weapon on him again...well...that could get messy and would upset Aewia even more.

"That's very brave of you, Aewia," he said, reaching out to give one of her hands a gentle squeeze before letting go to allow her to continue to eat her ice cream sundae unimpaired.

"And you know there's no pressure to remember," Nexi reminded Aewia. "Enalia appreciates anything you can recall, but you don't have to push yourself if the memories just won't come."

Aewia nodded as she continued eating. "Thank you. I also remember that he used to eat them all the time."

Nexi's expression softened as Aewia reminisced about her fiance. The memories and the emotions they evoked had Nexi looking sad, like she was suddenly realizing how much she had missed out on with her hard lifestyle. She had started to understand that feeling with Daln, but ultimately the two of them had decided to part way, but Aewia and her fiance, well they had chosen to commit their lives to one another, and suddenly Nexi wondered what it was like to have someone like that in her life.

"Do you remember his name?" Nexi asked.

Aewia shook her head. "Not yet. I remember that he was Trill and that he had these big strong hands..."

"That's good, Aewia," Mal said gently. "You're doing great."

Aewia nodded appreciatively. "Thank you. It's hard sometimes. Then it's hard other times in different ways." She then resumed eating on her sundae.

"It's alright, kiddo, it will come to you when it comes to you," Nexi replied. But Mal was right, she was doing good; it wasn't unusual for Aewia to have wild mood swings, either from the memories or the frustration or sometimes from a momentary relapse in her condition, but she was remaining calm and focused now and Nexi was so proud of her progress.