Desserts Abound

Posted on Sat May 16th, 2026 @ 5:37am by Lieutenant Zachary Addams & Petty Officer 1st Class Alexis Aenera

2,221 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Flight Of The Valkyries
Location: Main Engineering

Alexis arranged the three desserts onto the oversized platter delicately, the pile of lemon bars appearing to be more like a pyramid than just a couple of them, the delicate danishes looking like they wanted to flake apart just from someone looking at them, with a cherry and cream cheese center and the third part of the plate was filled with the entirety of a cheesecake that was swirled with yellow, a white chocolate and lemon swirled cheesecake, with a merengue topping that looked as fluffy as sin, even though it was delicately browned with a torch.

One of the other two women in the room reached over to where additional lemon bars were sitting that hadn't made it on the plate and picked it up before biting into it with a moan. "You don't have to take that, you know, you could leave it here and we'll take care of it."

Alexis gave her a glare before putting the dome over the plate to the dismay of her second roommate who was standing by the counter and had half a danish missing from the pastry in her hand. "I'm taking these to Engineering, to share with them and my boss." She put an emphasis on the word 'boss'. "And you've got enough here to survive for a few days, Keeta, you too Alyssa!" She rolled her eyes as she took the apron off and spun in place, “Now, if I show up empty-handed, after promising everyone that I was bringing some things, how would that look?”

“You say you’re not looking to date him?” Keeta asked as she inhaled the lemon bar, looking up and down the Roman. “You need to change clothes. The skirt is far too short, if it rides up three inches, he’ll see the top of your stockings; plus, if you really want him to notice you, tug that seal down a few inches, let him see the goods so that he's left wondering what they look like underneath the uniform.”

“Oh please,” Alyssa put her danish down and brushed her hands off before tugging the uniform skirt down a bit tighter on Alexis. “That skirt covers everything just fine, if it was any longer, it’d go right past her knees and then she’d look like an old maid! But Keeta’s got a point about that top, Lexi, if you want to get his attention, maybe even one that fits a bit tighter.”

“He's my BOSS!” Alexis glared at her friends, the two other Petty Officers from other departments that had been assigned to this en suite group. “I'm not supposed to get his attention, much less go out on a date with him. They're called regulations," she reached up and loosened the seal on the uniform jacket despite her words, the black stockings and gold trim even going well with the quarter-laurel of silver that was tucked above her right ear.

“Fine, fine.” Keeta waved Alexis off, “Just don’t go doing something I would do, you know that sort of trouble. But leave the goodies here.” She eyed the covered plate covetous, despite the small pile of lemon bars and danishes still on the counter.

Alexis rolled her eyes once more, “Gods forbid.” She said sarcastically, then picked the platter up, “I’ll be home later, but rest assured, there won’t be exciting gossip from the engineering crew, this is just another day at work.”

“Not if you go with that attitude!” Alyssa laughed, having picked up her treat again and shooing Alexis out the door, “See you when you get back!”

Alexis sighed as she maneuvered through the hallways and towards the turbolift. Her roomies had all the best at heart and she got along swimmingly with them, even after such a short time. They meant no harm, but they were certainly a bit pushy at times. It was only a couple minutes before she found herself at the main doors to Engineering, but fortunately the door slid open for her and she walked in with the platter, "All right everyone, dessert for breakfast is here!"

Zach looked up from the panel he'd just put back in place and his ears perked up at the word 'dessert.' He stood up and walked over. "Is food in main engineering a tradition on this ship?" he said.

"Old Roman tradition, sir, eat before going into combat, if you know when you're going in, eat well for a few days beforehand." Alexis pointed out, "Now, if you're against it, I could always take them to the mess hall or to the pilots?"

"Well, I suppose so long as no crumbs get into the gel packs," he said, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Then don't take the danishes with you if you're going to work with them." She smiled widely, "By the way, where is everyone? I know I'm a couple minutes late, but they should still be around."

"I sent most of them out on duty assignments," Zach said. "It's myself, Ensign B'tal and Crewman Yates right now. As you know, I still have an extensive honey-do list, and a very wise Petty Officer suggested I delegate it. So, I've delegated. And my reward is apparently a danish." He grinned and looked at the covered dish.

Alexis placed the platter on the main console, "Cherry and cream cheese." She confirmed, "Also I brought lemon bars, one of the timeless classics, as well as a white chocolate and lemon merengue cheesecake." She removed the cloture to reveal the small mountain, "Help yourself, sir."

Zach's eyes lit up. "And I would say it's officially time for a break," he said. He went to his office and retrieved a plate from the replicator and came back, helping himself to two of each. He nodded for Alexis to join him and headed back to his office, sitting down behind his desk.

"Now, I would like to make two things clear. One: I do not let gestures like this influence me when it comes to duty assignments, scheduling or promotions. I don't have 'favorite crewmen' nor do I have 'teacher's pets.'" He gave her a stern look. "Two: I am an absolute liar." He smiled and took a bite of the lemon bar, then rolled his eyes and groaned. "Damn, that is good. You made these from scratch?"

"I didn't make these because I'm trying to influence you." This time, Alexis omitted the 'sir', because it wouldn't have been appropriate, "I made them because I enjoy making stuff like this." She sat down in one of the chairs opposite his desk crossing one leg over the other, "And yes, from scratch, though I threw the lemon bars together at the last minute. I was forced to replicate most of the ingredients, but the lemons are fresh from hydroponics. Laminating the danish dough was what took the longest, had to keep it chilled for the best results."

"Well, the results speak for themselves," he said around a mouthful of cheesecake. He smiled at her and blushed as his eyes were inevitably drawn downward. "Well, whatever backup plan you have, the desserts did the heavy lifting," he said, keeping his eyes up and locked on hers.

"Backup plans?" She asked him, having missed the glance because she'd reached over for a lemon bar to nibble on. Refreshing, just as she'd remembered them to be, "Is it bad to want to improve the morale of people?"

"Raising morale is one thing, but there are probably some limits we should recognize," Zach said, his cheeks still red.

"Limits, sir?" A confused look crossed her face, "I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying?"

"Well, to be frank, Alexis," he cleared his throat self-consciously. "You're almost out of uniform."

"Almost out of..." She repeated softly, then glanced down, "Oh shit!" She Reached up and sealed the uniform top up several inches, but not fully done up, "I'm sorry about that, my roommates, you know, they were teasing me when I was getting ready and one of them must have done that and I just didn't notice."

Didn't notice the draft through the canyon. Right, Zach thought. And I'm Admiral DeSoto. He gave her a wry smile. "Well, I'm sure they'll appreciate the shuttle you just threw them under. In the meantime, we should save distractions for outside of Engineering, hm?" He did his best to maintain eye contact, but the glint in her eyes wasn't doing him any favors either. So, she knows I noticed, and I know she knows, and we're both going to pretend, he thought. "So," he said, steering the conversation away from her fashion faux pas, "a gymnast, a baker, an engineer. Is there no limit to your talents?" He grinned at her.

"I like to think that there isn't, but usually I find one here and there." She grinned at him, "But if you're trying to find more out about me, wouldn't that be a distraction? I thought flirting while on the job would be against your policy?"

Zach swallowed the mouthful of food he had with some difficulty. He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "As a matter of fact, it is. I generally try be friendly, but not overly flirtatious while on the job."

"Then perhaps we should take this sort of thing off the job, Mister Addams." Alexis smiled knowingly. "I suppose that if we talked about ourselves over dinner one of these evening, then it would be a fair bit more appropriate, wouldn't you think?" She leaned forward in her chair, "Unless you wouldn't want to be seen in an off-duty scenario with one of your enlisted people? If that's the case, I could always apply for a commission, I think the Captain would grant it if I presented my credentials to her if that's what would be stopping you."

"Having already presented them to me, I can assure you, they're sufficiently impressive," he deadpanned. "And as it so happens, I'm a fan of dinner, and I'd never ask you to debase yourself by becoming an officer, just to have dinner with me," he teased.

"Thank the Gods." Alexis mock-wiped her brow, "I've been one before, I really don't recommend it, though I'll admit I'm looking forward to the perks of being a Chief Petty Officer, it comes with a bit of an upgrade in quarters, only one roommate then. So I suppose it's just a matter of when you'd like to have dinner with me, wouldn't it? I can promise some incentives for it."

Zach opened his mouth, then closed it quickly, deciding it best not to ask what the incentives were, and just be surprised. He still had to schedule his dinner with Grace, but she'd been nowhere to be seen, no doubt getting ready for the upcoming mission.

"Well," he said, "if it's not too short notice, how about tonight, my quarters, after we get off shift? You can take some time to change out of your uniform and then come over and we'll see what food tastes we have in common."

She pursed her lips in thought, then nodded, "If you want, I could make some sort of pasta, not a lasagna though, that would be a bit too complicated for that short of notice. But if you'll let me off a little earlier than you, I can nip by hydroponics and pick some tomatoes and some fresh herbs and garlic and I promise you won't be disappointed."

"Ah, so that's your goal, getting off shift early," he said, nodding sagely. He looked at her and smirked. "Granted, but only if we can say we're prepared for next shift to take over the duty list. I want us ready tomorrow when it gets to be crunch time."

"Just send me a list of what to do and I'll make sure it gets done. That's what senior NCOs are for." Alexis stood from the seat, "And I think next shift will have some extra energy if we don't eat all that out there before they get here." She turned and started for the door, fiddling with something before she reached the door, then turned around to reveal that she'd returned her jacket to where it had been before and a little more, winking at him, "And we can boost morale that way, too."

Zach did a bit less to hide his appreciation, but he meant what he said about flirting on the job. "Just make sure morale doesn't cause a distraction-related accident," he said, gently, but gave her a smile. "I'll have your duty list out shortly. Dismissed."

"Thanks, sir." Alexis laughed as she zipped up the jacket to where it wouldn't cause any sort of distraction at all, "See you in a few."

As she left, he took a deep breath. Two dates in a week. Way to go, Zed. Now, just don't screw this up like you did on the Roanoke.. He sent her a modified duty list and then after a moment stood up and left his office to resume his work.

A non-Mission Post by

Petty Officer First Class Alexis Aenera
Engineering NCO
USS Tokyo

Lt. Zachary Addams
Chief Engineer
USS Tokyo

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