Page 18 of Dreaming of an Earth Christmas

Alice and Danielwere asleep when T’kalinth carefully slunk out of his bed. He’d promised Alice he would take care of the food she wished to bring to the human Christmas celebration, but Sseith of Ka’alaniss had kept them all so busy that he hadn’t even looked at the recipes Alice had identified on their home viewscreen yet.

Luckily both his mate and his son were tired out from the first day of festivities, and he was now free to head to the bottom of their building and into the much larger kitchen at their restaurant. Alice’s new assistant K’zesh was supposed to be waiting for him below. Together, they would cook the items Alice wanted—the ones she’d said were necessary for a human Christmas gathering.

He left on his lounging pants, but added a shirt similar to those he’d worn while part of the Fleet and a pair of sandals. T’kalinth grabbed the viewscreen off of the high table near their kitchen and slid it beneath his arm before he slipped out of the apartment and headed down the hall. The lift felt slow that night, but he knew he was just anxious to get started. If any ingredients were missing, there would be no time to find them, and Alice was already disappointed that it looked as if her sister wouldn’t return before the holiday was over.

Bethenny and her mate, J’cinth, were supposed to have already returned to Verkissat, but they’d run into some unexpected difficulties with their ship that’d kept them in the Lysithian star system longer than anticipated. They couldn’t head back to Xithilene until they completed their repairs, and they didn’t know when they’d make it back to Verkissat. It’d been almost two moon cycles since Bethenny had visited last, right after Daniel was born. Alice had been counting on seeing her sister, and if it weren’t for the human celebration at the palace, he feared that it would’ve been a very sad Christmas in their dwelling, indeed.

T’kalinth stepped out of the lift and headed towards the restaurant. The open times had been reduced while Alice was taking care of Daniel, and T’kalinth found that he enjoyed having his family to himself more often. That was one of the reasons that her manager, Meesi, had found more help for the establishment. K’zesh had only been working there the past moon cycle, but he was eager for more experience.

The public facing portion of the restaurant was only dimly lit. T’kalinth placed his hand on the authorization panel and was immediately granted entry. “K’zesh!” he called as he worked his way towards the kitchen.

“Back here!” the young v’ith shouted back.

He found K’zesh placing an apron over his bare chest. T’kalinth frowned slightly. This was the man who would be working side by side with his mate when she returned to work at the restaurant? He eyed the younger man’s firm, muscled body, and repressed his rattle. He’d talk to Meesi about altering the uniform requirements for employees. K’zesh had no need to be displaying himself to his Alice.

“Captain, I was excited to come in when Meesi contacted me with your request. She said Lady Alice required my special assistance for her human holiday. I purchased one of her strange edible houses last year when they were available. Strange, yet very delicious,” the man added, his river-blue tipped crown feathers flaring dangerously brightly around his pale scaled face.

T’kalinth scowled at the man. He could imagine him displaying those feathers just so in front of his mate’s admiring gaze. “We have little time to complete our work,” T’kalinth said gruffly as he placed the viewscreen on a counter in the workspace and activated it.

“I don’t mind staying late. Anything for Lady Alice,” K’zesh quickly replied, already reaching for the viewscreen.

T’kalinth tapped one nail down on top of the screen. “Wait,” he said icily. “I haven’t even displayed her instructions yet.”

This male was entirely too eager.Anything for Lady Alice.He’d bet his left fang the v’ith meant it, too. What had Meesi been thinking? No, he didn’t at all like the idea of this handsome, ingratiating young man spending day after day with his lovely Alice. Had T’kalinth ever eaten a strange, edible house that she’d made? He tried to recall what the man was talking about, but his mind came up blank.

“Here, this is the first of the items she’d planned to make for the gathering,” T’kalinth said as he pointed to a recipe with the ominous name of “eggnog.”

For the first time since he’d seen the v’ith, K’zesh frowned. “6 eggs, milk, cream, sugar, bourbon, dark rum, brandy—” The man looked up, meeting T’kalinth’s horrified gaze. “This is a beverage?”

“Not one that we’re going to make,” T’kalinth snapped back. He knew Alice used such ingredients in moderate quantities, but a drink composed almost entirely of unfertilized animal embryos and milk products? He felt queasy just imagining the concoction sliding down his throat. “Let’s look at the next recipe.”

“Gingerbread,” read K’zesh. “Much better. This is what they call a cookie, one of their sweet portable foods. We’ll assemble the ingredients first and then make the dough. The machine is over there,” K’zesh added with an offhand gesture towards the large mixer.

T’kalinth partially raised his feathers and let them drop. Did the v’ith think him entirely unfamiliar with his own establishment? He’d spent many nights here assisting Alice, and he himself had set that very mixer in its place.

“Is something wrong, captain? Your rattle…” The other man’s voice trailed off as he watched T’kalinth warily.

“It’s nothing, K’vesh, but stop calling me captain. T’kalinth is sufficient. Perhaps Alice’s mate if you wish to be more specific. I’m retired,” he added.

The other man’s feathers flattened against his scalp. “K’zesh, cap—I mean, T’kalinth. My name is K’zesh.”

K’vesh, K’zesh, did it really matter, he thought with irritation. “Apologies. Shall we continue?” He leaned over the viewscreen, crowding the assistant out of the way. Flour, sugar, spices—he knew where all of those were. T’kalinth walked over to the pantry to fetch them. “Get the ingredients from the stasis unit. I’m getting the dry items.”

They followed the instructions, adding everything Alice had indicated. T’kalinth watched as a dirt brown dough began to take shape in the bowl. It looked rather like a lump of clay when they were done, but it smelled…somewhat pleasant, if a little spicy. T’kalinth used a spoon to scoop out a small portion and raised it towards his mouth. He let his tongue extend and tasted it briefly. He wrinkled his nose. It was rather bland. Maybe more of the spices would make it better.

“Add more spice. It doesn’t taste good yet,” he told K’zesh.

The other man held up a jar labeled cinnamon. He was measuring out a small quantity of the reddish brown powder with one of the small spoons Alice used for that purpose. T’kalinth grabbed the bottle and gave it a generous shake, dusting the bowl with the pungent powder.

K’zesh coughed and then sneezed before he stepped back. “You’re ruining it. That will be too much!”

T’kalinth added some more of the other spices for good measure, and then he started the machine. A cloud of dark spices hit his face as soon as the mixing implement began to move. Lady’s teeth, but that burned! He was spluttering and coughing, the same as K’zesh, reaching blindly for anything he could use to wipe his face.

“I told you not to do it like that,” K’zesh complained.

T’kalinth’s nostrils were on fire with the vile human spices. “Just stop the mixer. What does it say to do next?” he asked. He finally found a wiping cloth and brushed the burning powders from his scales, although his throat still ached from inhaling them.

“Roll out dough and cut into shapes,” K’zesh read with a frown. “Have you done this part before? I must admit, I’m unfamiliar with that technique. We press the dough for tortillas.”

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