by Laura Boeff
Trance smiled as she took a deep whiff of her
newest culinary creation. It was an
old earth recipe. Something called a Lemon Meringue pie. She had found
it in the files
and it struck her as perfect.
And it was.
She grinned. Baking. Like she said- it was
hard! But the results... Trance was
surprised the whole crew hadn't sniffed it's way down to the kitchen:
it smelled so good.
But, it still needed a few minutes to cool
down before it would be truly perfect. So
Trance went off to find the perfect place to let her perfect pie cool.
It was not long till
she found it, and carefully set her creation down.
Now, all she had to do was wait.
Trance sat on the floor next to the door and
smiled. She had made this pie for a
very special person and for a very special occasion. She couldn't help
but smile at the
thought of how it would be received. Her tail coiled up in excitement.
That tail caught her eye as it knotted happily.
She had a nice tail. A perfect tail, if
she might say so herself. Maybe a touch too long, but nice and slender.
Trance caught her
tail and smoothed her hand over it appreciatively. It was a very nice
tail. And very
handy-- though she had been raised to not use her tail like she liked.
It was thought kind
of rude to pick up things, or move things with your tail. Trance never
understood that.
Her tail was very good at picking things up and moving things. She
never broke anything
or dropped anything, but still... Still she had been taught it was
improper. Trance made a
face. Improper or not, she liked her tail, and she liked using her
tail!
Trance coiled her tail into a helix, then
a circle and smiled and glanced over to
the pie. Just a few minutes more. Evening meal was one of the few things
on the ship that
was somewhat regimented, everyone generally gathering at the same time
to eat. Because
of this, Trance knew she would be able to give her pie gift to her
intended recipient at
just the right moment.
Just a few minutes more.
This was so exciting! She was barley able
to hold still. So Trance went back to
playing with her tail for distraction, making it coil. Yes, a very
nice tail, and very strong.
People tended to underestimate the strength she had in her tail. They
saw it as thin and
delicate, but it could take a beating. And had! She had nearly ripped
Harper's head off
that time he'd slammed a door shut on her tail. It was an accident,
and he had felt bad,
but it still hurt! But, her tail had survived. Yes, she had a very
nice, very tough tail.
And strong. That too.
Trance jumped slightly at the sound of the
door she was sitting beside opening.
She grinned. Now was the perfect time to give her gift. Trance's very
nice, very tough
and very strong tail snaked straight out and went rigid .
Seamus Harper might have expected many things
when he walked out of the door
to his private quarters, but tripping over Trance's tail was not one
of them. Trance
savored the look of utter confusion as the young engineer's legs became
entangled in her
rigid tail and the human went swan diving forward.
Splat!
Right into the Lemon Meringue pie sitting
in it's precisely planned position on the
floor outside of Harper's door.
Trance coiled her tail back and petted it
affectionately as the human heaved a
sigh, face in the pie. She just smiled as Harper rolled over and propped
himself up on his
elbows. Pie coated every inch of his face. The slightly browned white
meringue about the
same shade of his hair- which also had gotten pie encrusted. His fingers
reached up and
wiped clear his eyes and Trance just smiled, and smiled.
"This is for the paint, right?" he asked simply.
Trance laughed and hopped to her feet. She
bent down and swiped a dollop of pie
off Harper's nose and tasted it. Perfect. She *was* getting better
at baking. Then she
looked at her human friend.
"Now.. we're even," she told him, just as
simply, before bouncing off. She would
definitely have to bake pies more often. They were fun.
And made a great gift!