Things Past – Dinner with the Dunham's
by Lieutenant JG Malak Muz & Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Chelsea Dunham
Post Details
ON:
Mrs Dunham sat at the breakfast table sneezing. "Prophets I'm SO sick of this!" she muttered grumpily. "Apparently, I'll probably get rid of it in time to start the human Morning sickness from about 9 weeks. This baby has no idea what I've already done for it and it's not taken a breath yet!! ..... Rick? What are you thinking about? I know that look. You have something on your mind, Commander Dunham! Out with it or I'll pull rank and send you to the Cardassian Embassy to listen to the Legate's latest complaints against the Medical Department on my behalf!" she threatened with a gleam of amusement in her eyes.
"Yeaahhhhh urrrmmmm" he looked a little bashful then said "Urrrmmm bit of a confession to make I kinda might've asked my new XO to come over for dinner......."
* * * * * * *
Later that day
* * * * * * *
Dee-Doo. The federation alert was standard - even on Cardassian bases turned Federation. It was always the same and as was foretold by the Starfighter Wing CO - Malak was on the other side. He held an object in his hand as waited for someone to answer.
"Rick...." Chelsea hissed from the kitchen. "DOOR!" She put the final touches to the culinary creation and put it on the table just in time, wiping her hands on her apron as she took it off and cast it into the recylcler as she moved towards the door behind her husband, within a hair trigger of the perfect timing as she made it with her outstretched hand exactly as Rick introduced her.
"Commander Dunham" said Rick indicating to Mr Muz with a gesture of his hand "this is Lieutenant Malek Muz"
"Pleased to meet you Lieutenant. Welcome." she said politely with a warm smile as he stepped inside.
"Commander Dunham.." Malak says as he slowly walks in. He pauses and notes his CO and dips his head,"And Commander Dunham." He smirks slightly at that and reaches for the object in his arm and brings it up,"Bajoran Wine - It's customary in some cultures to bring a gift, I thought you may enjoy this. I find their wines much lighter then most and easier during light meals." He looks to Chelsea with a smile and nods his head,"The Commander and I didn't get to talk much about yourself, but you are as lovely as I imagined." He offers a polite compliment.
Rick rolled his eyes as he took the bottle off the Lieutenant. What was it about Trills that always bugged him. No that was wrong, what was it about Trills that bugged him ever since he had had that long conversation with Rex in the main fighter bay.
"How sweet! Thank you for the wine AND the kind compliment..... may I call you Malak? Please call me Chelsea." the CMO replied sweetly, blushing slightly at the suggestion that she was lovely. She too had met Saria Rex but under different circumstances obviously which meant that her impression of Trills had not been so bad affected.
"I think I'm quite glad that you and Rick didn't talk too much about me, the idea of what he might say is a bit worrying!" she joked gently, moving towards the sofa and gesturing to Malak to take a seat. "Please don't stand on ceremony, make yourself comfortable."
"What do you want to drink Malek?" asked Rick walking over to a few bottles that he had prepared on the coffee table.
Malak watched the man as he rolled his eyes after taking the bottle. His hands coming behind him, he watches him somewhat perplexed. It even delays his reaction to Chelsea as they speak and he then glances at her. His eyes finally coming back from his thoughts,"I'm sorry? Oh.. Yes.. Thank you." His words a bit more cautious as he slowly makes his way towards the couch to sit,"I appreciate it, Chelsea."
He glances to Rick, "Water.. Please." He smiles to her, "Sure. Rick is more of a gentleman than that. Though I am sure it is tough with such a lovely woman." He offers and sits back,"I want to thank both of you again for inviting me.." He offers, though he is speaking to Chelsea while she is the only one present and Richard is off getting drinks.
"It's a pleasure to have you here Malak. I was teasing Rick about what he might have said, I know he's the perfect gentleman. He's the kind who would be no matter if a woman were lovely or not. I hope he doesn't find anything 'tough' about living with me but I have to be honest, no-one's perfect and i don't flatter myself that I have any fewer faults than others." she replied softly with the smile of a woman who was more than content with her amazing husband.
"I assume you've been flying a long time?" she asked Malak as Rick returned with drinks. "Personally, I only recently learned but I'm full of the excitement of a new convert about it. In the holodeck I flew a Valkyrie.. it was one of the best experiences of my life!" she enthused but then glancing up at Rick's face she added quickly. "I did say ONE of them."
Rick chuckled a little after a slight comical groan, followed by his trade mark scratch of his chin stubble.
"He's being very tactful and gentlemanly about how well I piloted his old shuttle the other day though." she grinned, shooting Rick a sideways glance and a smirk.
"Two Lifetimes... and a very very long time with this host." Malak offers to the woman and glances up to Rick and nods his head,"I am sorry I wasn't there." He says as he looks from Rick to Chelsea,"And how long have you two been together as well? Did you meet here?"
"Yes we met here. We were introduced by a wonderful friend, a Romulan Lady of high familiy and rank. When I met her, she went by the simplest of her names, Isha t'Khellian and she was a journalist then. She was Romulan Ambassador her for about a year but she left and I miss her terribly." Chelsea replied. "Isha honoured us by being my Matron of Honour at our wedding and strange as it sounds in the telling, we also had a very powerful member of the Tal Shiar there too. I miss him as well but sadly he has since been killed, as many who lived his kind of dangerous life before him. He was a good friend to me over the time I knew him." she explained, not sure why she felt she needed to. In fact these memories were quite emotional and raw to her so she fell silent regretting that she had mentioned them.
"I'm sorry, listen to me harping on. Please forgive me. How did you come to take an assignment out here, Malak?" she changed the subject, paler than she had been a short time before but doing her best to return the atmosphere to light and conversational again.
"You're fine.." Malak says as he does watch her with interest. He slowly sits back and has a dozen questions on that, most of which are asking about the Tal Shiar. He refrains from doing such though as his eyes stay with her. He slowly nods,"I was assigned after my last post on Earth. I think they wanted to give me some more Deep Space experience. The last time I was around as this host - I was on my way to Deep Space Nine. It was known as Terak Nor at that time, though." A slight smile,"Are you sure I can't get you some water or something more? Tell me more about yourself.. Do you enjoy the work here?"
"This is what I don't get...." said Rick throwing in his five pence. "You're trill with many life experiences yet they send you here to get more flight experience? Even though you have life times of flight experience? What's the deal?"
"That would seem to be a common misconception. If you have a symbiont with many life experiences - you assume that all the life experiences have experienced all that is new." Malak says as he glances to Rick,"There's no guarantee that any of my former hosts has had deep space experience." He pauses,"Even if my hosts have.. Malak hasn't. As an example, Three of my former hosts have had male counterparts.. husbands." He smirks,"I've never experienced that - nor do I think I ever will. However, should that come up - then it would be both new and old." He leans back and glances towards the wall as if to think for a moment,"And.." He begins,"There is a .." he tries to think the best way to put it,"I wont say Bias - but I will say unwritten rule.. That the experiences of the symbiont look good on resume.." He looks back to Rick,"But starfleet looks at what the Host has done primarily. There are exceptions - but it's rare." He pauses,"I honestly think it's good that they look at the host versus the symbiont. It ensures that the symbiont doesn't get set in it's way."
"Don't you think though that only a minor percentage of your cultural society 'able to join' creates a class elitist society?" Asked Rick. He had posed the same question to Rex and he wondered if he would get the same answer.
Chelsea headed him off. "Rickkkkk!" she scolded gently. "Poor Malak hasn't even had his dinner yet and you're talking politics already!" she smiled affectionately but there was a slightly exentuated crease in her soft, semi-Bajoran nose ridges making it look as if she were forming the shadow of a frown.
Commander Dunham, the female version of that designation, was about to actually develop that threatening frown in full if her husband were to forget his duties as host and get on a soap box with the guest he had invited into their home. He reminded her of his mother at the moment and that was *not* a good association as Captain Dunham was a formidable Starship Commanding Officer who could scare the tail feathers off a Felonian peacock!
Chelsea went to the computer terminal and selected some soothing music to play in the background, all the time carefully watching the two men as Malak prepared his response. She sat down again with a calm demeanour but mentally as poised as a sole Reman amongst a group of Romulan soldiers, ready to leap up and divert them to the dinner table at any moment, if evasive diversion was to become necessary.
"Given that there would be considerable harm given to both the host and the symbiont - no. It is something is dangerous and only a low percentage are truly compatible. Also, in our culture we don't have the.." Malak pauses and watches the man, considering. He picks a word and goes with it,"biases that they apparently do. Trill are equal in our system and can still do what ever they want." He watches the man and doesn't pay any mind to Chelsea,"Do you have a problem with the way my culture has opted to conduct itself, Rick?"
"Not at all" lied Rick with a slight if somewhat mystified shake of his head. It was the pretty standard Trill answer and he wondered if what, if any of it was true, considering what Rex had told him, then again maybe Rex had lied about the 'over half of the population actually being able to take symbionts, or that she was able to get a symbiont because, her mum was on the committee. Yeah it did not add up. Especially if the Trill were lying to its population about who could and could not have a symbtiont.
"Oh Good.." Malak says as he watches the man with a frown. His eyes watching the Commander. He smirks faintly,"I often find the most judgemental species of my culture to be the ones that struggle with it themselves. I know that Humanity has had it's issues, but terrans are more evolved now. It's a shame that other species aren't as fortunate." He dips his head,"Can I get you something else to drink?"
"Fruit juice please" said Rick as he watched the trill over the rim of the glass that he was currently drinking from. He downed the last of it and handed it over. "No truer words were said" mumbled Rick to himself.
"One Fruit Juice.." Malak says with a smile and takes it and goes to get the drink. He comes back and dips his head to Chelsea,"Are you sure you didn't need anything?" He looks back to Richard,"Tell me.. Do you know a woman named Atlana? She has an Antique store.."
Rick softly shook his head "Can't say I do." It was a big station, with around 50000 civilians on it alone, so it was unlikely that he knew a store owner. Plus of late he had not had much of an opportunity to visit the station's traders lately.
"Is she Cardassian?" Chelsea asked, thinking she might know who he was talking about.
"She is.. Shop Keeper.. Very interesting woman. I find her a delight to talk to - if not a bit mysterious. I didn't know if you were aware of whom she was." Malak says with a faint chuckle,"So.." He pauses , changing topics,"When did you two know that you wanted to be together? In a romantic relationship?"
"From the first time he carried me back from the Arboretum with a sprained ankle." Chelsea answered without hesitation and with a big grin.
"Why do you ask?" queried Rick not seeing the change in topic "Do you want to be together with this Cardassian woman, is it already that serious?"
"She's already pregnant." Malak says as he sits back and watches the man. It's only a few minutes and he smirks,"I wouldn't say its 'that serious' - no. I just find her intriguing and with a colored history, I didn't know if you knew her." He dips his head,"Why do you ask? Do you think I should fancy a cardassian Lass?"
"Personally I don't see any reason why you should *not* like her.... " Chelsea replied with a gentle smile. "Would you like more Hasperat Soufle?" she asked, remembering her hostess duties. "Perhaps we should all four go out to dinner..... maybe on the promenade next time? If you like her, that might be fun and we could get to know her too. She hasn't been here long, I understand, I don't know how many friends she has made so far."
"Ok One" said Rick marking off the first item off his list by holding one finger in one hand. "Are you insinuating I have the chequered past or she does? Two..." he added a second finger "You got her pregnant already?!" asked Rick for clarification. They were his flyboys and there for his responsibility, their actions reflected on him, he was responsible for them.
Chelsea's eyes widened. She had got the impression that Malak was meaning that was why he couldn't be interested in her not that he already had.... or ..... "Um....... " was all she said, confused.
TBC:
Second Officer/Chief Medical Officer
Commander Chelsea Dunham
&
CAG Squadron Leader
Commander Richard Dunham
&
Wing Executive Officer
Lieutenant JG Malak Muz
by Lieutenant JG Malak Muz & Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Chelsea Dunham
Post Details
| Title | Dinner with the Dunham's | |
| Mission | Things Past | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant JG Malak Muz & Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Chelsea Dunham | |
| Posted | Wed Mar 27, 2013 @ 6:53am | |
| Location | Duham Quarters | |
| Timeline | SD71. 16:30 |
Mrs Dunham sat at the breakfast table sneezing. "Prophets I'm SO sick of this!" she muttered grumpily. "Apparently, I'll probably get rid of it in time to start the human Morning sickness from about 9 weeks. This baby has no idea what I've already done for it and it's not taken a breath yet!! ..... Rick? What are you thinking about? I know that look. You have something on your mind, Commander Dunham! Out with it or I'll pull rank and send you to the Cardassian Embassy to listen to the Legate's latest complaints against the Medical Department on my behalf!" she threatened with a gleam of amusement in her eyes.
"Yeaahhhhh urrrmmmm" he looked a little bashful then said "Urrrmmm bit of a confession to make I kinda might've asked my new XO to come over for dinner......."
* * * * * * *
Later that day
* * * * * * *
Dee-Doo. The federation alert was standard - even on Cardassian bases turned Federation. It was always the same and as was foretold by the Starfighter Wing CO - Malak was on the other side. He held an object in his hand as waited for someone to answer.
"Rick...." Chelsea hissed from the kitchen. "DOOR!" She put the final touches to the culinary creation and put it on the table just in time, wiping her hands on her apron as she took it off and cast it into the recylcler as she moved towards the door behind her husband, within a hair trigger of the perfect timing as she made it with her outstretched hand exactly as Rick introduced her.
"Commander Dunham" said Rick indicating to Mr Muz with a gesture of his hand "this is Lieutenant Malek Muz"
"Pleased to meet you Lieutenant. Welcome." she said politely with a warm smile as he stepped inside.
"Commander Dunham.." Malak says as he slowly walks in. He pauses and notes his CO and dips his head,"And Commander Dunham." He smirks slightly at that and reaches for the object in his arm and brings it up,"Bajoran Wine - It's customary in some cultures to bring a gift, I thought you may enjoy this. I find their wines much lighter then most and easier during light meals." He looks to Chelsea with a smile and nods his head,"The Commander and I didn't get to talk much about yourself, but you are as lovely as I imagined." He offers a polite compliment.
Rick rolled his eyes as he took the bottle off the Lieutenant. What was it about Trills that always bugged him. No that was wrong, what was it about Trills that bugged him ever since he had had that long conversation with Rex in the main fighter bay.
"How sweet! Thank you for the wine AND the kind compliment..... may I call you Malak? Please call me Chelsea." the CMO replied sweetly, blushing slightly at the suggestion that she was lovely. She too had met Saria Rex but under different circumstances obviously which meant that her impression of Trills had not been so bad affected.
"I think I'm quite glad that you and Rick didn't talk too much about me, the idea of what he might say is a bit worrying!" she joked gently, moving towards the sofa and gesturing to Malak to take a seat. "Please don't stand on ceremony, make yourself comfortable."
"What do you want to drink Malek?" asked Rick walking over to a few bottles that he had prepared on the coffee table.
Malak watched the man as he rolled his eyes after taking the bottle. His hands coming behind him, he watches him somewhat perplexed. It even delays his reaction to Chelsea as they speak and he then glances at her. His eyes finally coming back from his thoughts,"I'm sorry? Oh.. Yes.. Thank you." His words a bit more cautious as he slowly makes his way towards the couch to sit,"I appreciate it, Chelsea."
He glances to Rick, "Water.. Please." He smiles to her, "Sure. Rick is more of a gentleman than that. Though I am sure it is tough with such a lovely woman." He offers and sits back,"I want to thank both of you again for inviting me.." He offers, though he is speaking to Chelsea while she is the only one present and Richard is off getting drinks.
"It's a pleasure to have you here Malak. I was teasing Rick about what he might have said, I know he's the perfect gentleman. He's the kind who would be no matter if a woman were lovely or not. I hope he doesn't find anything 'tough' about living with me but I have to be honest, no-one's perfect and i don't flatter myself that I have any fewer faults than others." she replied softly with the smile of a woman who was more than content with her amazing husband.
"I assume you've been flying a long time?" she asked Malak as Rick returned with drinks. "Personally, I only recently learned but I'm full of the excitement of a new convert about it. In the holodeck I flew a Valkyrie.. it was one of the best experiences of my life!" she enthused but then glancing up at Rick's face she added quickly. "I did say ONE of them."
Rick chuckled a little after a slight comical groan, followed by his trade mark scratch of his chin stubble.
"He's being very tactful and gentlemanly about how well I piloted his old shuttle the other day though." she grinned, shooting Rick a sideways glance and a smirk.
"Two Lifetimes... and a very very long time with this host." Malak offers to the woman and glances up to Rick and nods his head,"I am sorry I wasn't there." He says as he looks from Rick to Chelsea,"And how long have you two been together as well? Did you meet here?"
"Yes we met here. We were introduced by a wonderful friend, a Romulan Lady of high familiy and rank. When I met her, she went by the simplest of her names, Isha t'Khellian and she was a journalist then. She was Romulan Ambassador her for about a year but she left and I miss her terribly." Chelsea replied. "Isha honoured us by being my Matron of Honour at our wedding and strange as it sounds in the telling, we also had a very powerful member of the Tal Shiar there too. I miss him as well but sadly he has since been killed, as many who lived his kind of dangerous life before him. He was a good friend to me over the time I knew him." she explained, not sure why she felt she needed to. In fact these memories were quite emotional and raw to her so she fell silent regretting that she had mentioned them.
"I'm sorry, listen to me harping on. Please forgive me. How did you come to take an assignment out here, Malak?" she changed the subject, paler than she had been a short time before but doing her best to return the atmosphere to light and conversational again.
"You're fine.." Malak says as he does watch her with interest. He slowly sits back and has a dozen questions on that, most of which are asking about the Tal Shiar. He refrains from doing such though as his eyes stay with her. He slowly nods,"I was assigned after my last post on Earth. I think they wanted to give me some more Deep Space experience. The last time I was around as this host - I was on my way to Deep Space Nine. It was known as Terak Nor at that time, though." A slight smile,"Are you sure I can't get you some water or something more? Tell me more about yourself.. Do you enjoy the work here?"
"This is what I don't get...." said Rick throwing in his five pence. "You're trill with many life experiences yet they send you here to get more flight experience? Even though you have life times of flight experience? What's the deal?"
"That would seem to be a common misconception. If you have a symbiont with many life experiences - you assume that all the life experiences have experienced all that is new." Malak says as he glances to Rick,"There's no guarantee that any of my former hosts has had deep space experience." He pauses,"Even if my hosts have.. Malak hasn't. As an example, Three of my former hosts have had male counterparts.. husbands." He smirks,"I've never experienced that - nor do I think I ever will. However, should that come up - then it would be both new and old." He leans back and glances towards the wall as if to think for a moment,"And.." He begins,"There is a .." he tries to think the best way to put it,"I wont say Bias - but I will say unwritten rule.. That the experiences of the symbiont look good on resume.." He looks back to Rick,"But starfleet looks at what the Host has done primarily. There are exceptions - but it's rare." He pauses,"I honestly think it's good that they look at the host versus the symbiont. It ensures that the symbiont doesn't get set in it's way."
"Don't you think though that only a minor percentage of your cultural society 'able to join' creates a class elitist society?" Asked Rick. He had posed the same question to Rex and he wondered if he would get the same answer.
Chelsea headed him off. "Rickkkkk!" she scolded gently. "Poor Malak hasn't even had his dinner yet and you're talking politics already!" she smiled affectionately but there was a slightly exentuated crease in her soft, semi-Bajoran nose ridges making it look as if she were forming the shadow of a frown.
Commander Dunham, the female version of that designation, was about to actually develop that threatening frown in full if her husband were to forget his duties as host and get on a soap box with the guest he had invited into their home. He reminded her of his mother at the moment and that was *not* a good association as Captain Dunham was a formidable Starship Commanding Officer who could scare the tail feathers off a Felonian peacock!
Chelsea went to the computer terminal and selected some soothing music to play in the background, all the time carefully watching the two men as Malak prepared his response. She sat down again with a calm demeanour but mentally as poised as a sole Reman amongst a group of Romulan soldiers, ready to leap up and divert them to the dinner table at any moment, if evasive diversion was to become necessary.
"Given that there would be considerable harm given to both the host and the symbiont - no. It is something is dangerous and only a low percentage are truly compatible. Also, in our culture we don't have the.." Malak pauses and watches the man, considering. He picks a word and goes with it,"biases that they apparently do. Trill are equal in our system and can still do what ever they want." He watches the man and doesn't pay any mind to Chelsea,"Do you have a problem with the way my culture has opted to conduct itself, Rick?"
"Not at all" lied Rick with a slight if somewhat mystified shake of his head. It was the pretty standard Trill answer and he wondered if what, if any of it was true, considering what Rex had told him, then again maybe Rex had lied about the 'over half of the population actually being able to take symbionts, or that she was able to get a symbiont because, her mum was on the committee. Yeah it did not add up. Especially if the Trill were lying to its population about who could and could not have a symbtiont.
"Oh Good.." Malak says as he watches the man with a frown. His eyes watching the Commander. He smirks faintly,"I often find the most judgemental species of my culture to be the ones that struggle with it themselves. I know that Humanity has had it's issues, but terrans are more evolved now. It's a shame that other species aren't as fortunate." He dips his head,"Can I get you something else to drink?"
"Fruit juice please" said Rick as he watched the trill over the rim of the glass that he was currently drinking from. He downed the last of it and handed it over. "No truer words were said" mumbled Rick to himself.
"One Fruit Juice.." Malak says with a smile and takes it and goes to get the drink. He comes back and dips his head to Chelsea,"Are you sure you didn't need anything?" He looks back to Richard,"Tell me.. Do you know a woman named Atlana? She has an Antique store.."
Rick softly shook his head "Can't say I do." It was a big station, with around 50000 civilians on it alone, so it was unlikely that he knew a store owner. Plus of late he had not had much of an opportunity to visit the station's traders lately.
"Is she Cardassian?" Chelsea asked, thinking she might know who he was talking about.
"She is.. Shop Keeper.. Very interesting woman. I find her a delight to talk to - if not a bit mysterious. I didn't know if you were aware of whom she was." Malak says with a faint chuckle,"So.." He pauses , changing topics,"When did you two know that you wanted to be together? In a romantic relationship?"
"From the first time he carried me back from the Arboretum with a sprained ankle." Chelsea answered without hesitation and with a big grin.
"Why do you ask?" queried Rick not seeing the change in topic "Do you want to be together with this Cardassian woman, is it already that serious?"
"She's already pregnant." Malak says as he sits back and watches the man. It's only a few minutes and he smirks,"I wouldn't say its 'that serious' - no. I just find her intriguing and with a colored history, I didn't know if you knew her." He dips his head,"Why do you ask? Do you think I should fancy a cardassian Lass?"
"Personally I don't see any reason why you should *not* like her.... " Chelsea replied with a gentle smile. "Would you like more Hasperat Soufle?" she asked, remembering her hostess duties. "Perhaps we should all four go out to dinner..... maybe on the promenade next time? If you like her, that might be fun and we could get to know her too. She hasn't been here long, I understand, I don't know how many friends she has made so far."
"Ok One" said Rick marking off the first item off his list by holding one finger in one hand. "Are you insinuating I have the chequered past or she does? Two..." he added a second finger "You got her pregnant already?!" asked Rick for clarification. They were his flyboys and there for his responsibility, their actions reflected on him, he was responsible for them.
Chelsea's eyes widened. She had got the impression that Malak was meaning that was why he couldn't be interested in her not that he already had.... or ..... "Um....... " was all she said, confused.
TBC:
Second Officer/Chief Medical Officer
Commander Chelsea Dunham
&
CAG Squadron Leader
Commander Richard Dunham
&
Wing Executive Officer
Lieutenant JG Malak Muz