Over 'Gagh and Bloodwine (2)

Posted on Thu Jun 11th, 2026 @ 7:15pm by Commander Erris Sudis & Lieutenant Jennifer Richardson M.D.

2,971 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Preamble
Location: Klingon Restaurant, Deep Space 9

The Klingon's deep baritone voice sang a song to which she didn't understand the words but it sounded similar to an old Earth serenade. In her own head it only made sense that Klingons would sing about killing and death; but she wasn't sure how it fit to the sound emitting from the waiter. His rotund fingers plunked at each string in the musical instrument as he moved through the tables; lingering at each.

Jennifer caught help but catch Sudis eye as she tried her very best to not loose her composure and burst out laughing. There was something about a Klingon serenading patrons that didn't seem quite believable. Their near empty plates where pushed forward, the remaining serpent worms continuing to try and make a run for it now that they had been left unattended.

Jennifer's cup of blood wine lay nearly empty, the potency had tried to prove too much but at the same time it had been needed to wash the food down. The flush on her cheeks showed that the alcohol hit home as her fingers played with the edge of the napkin on the table. "There was no way on this side of the Galaxy that things improved after the third one."

Sudis listened to the words sung in traditional Klingon. The universal translator was only able to translate a few words minimal which made the experience more. The server sang with guttural and determination. He heard his companion -- Doctor Richardson make a comment. He looked to her with a smile, "I disagree."

He had regaled Jennifer about his life aboard the smuggler's barge from Bajor to Earth and how the barge's captain Renn Wrex always had a bottle of bloodwine in hand.

Jennifer shook her head as a laugh escaped her lips. "You must have a stomach of iron. Although it'd explain how you managed a trip that was lubricated with blood wine. I can see the appeal...it makes me think about Paloras' version of moonshine from Earth. Only with the moonshine it could inebriate you quicker than you could say boo; the liquid burned its path down to your stomach."

Jennifer had spoken easily about Earth and her Dad. After their earlier encounter, she purposely stayed away from conversations about David and life when her and her companion had met before. It had been so long since she hadn't had to talk about the bad; she had wished to embrace a genuine opportunity to catch up with a friend.

"That's why I seldomly drink as a grown-man," Sudis offered as he had barely touched his one glass of bloodwine. He had been sipping at it and was three quarters away from being finished, "I think I drank enough bloodwine for a lifetime."

The singing Klingon server strummed at his musical instrument while passing by their table. He laughed and responded, "There's no such thing as enough blood wine!" He then turned around and started plucking at the strings as he played a faster moving drinking song, "Drink!"

Another server brought over two more bottles of blood wine to their table refilling both of their glasses. Sudis couldn't cover his glass in time before the other server had filled his glass to the brim.

Jennifer laughed again as genuine ease and happiness flashed through her eyes. Maybe it was the company or maybe it was the alcohol but she was enjoying this experience. "Come on...your telling me that the worms went down easy after the third but your hesitant to drink the wine created from crushing them in vats? Maybe the blood wine goes down just as easy after the third cup too...you just have two more glasses to go."

"I finished more of my 'serpent worms' than you give me credit for," Sudis protested. "Besides, Jenni, you know that I only consume alcohol in great moderation." He raised the chalice of bloodwine to his nose after swirling it around. The aromatics of the wine smelled of oak, white pine and of course blood of a million serpents. He took a larger sip than he normally took before setting it down. He covered his lips and belched slightly. The Klingon's tempo on the guitar picked up in challenging both Jenni and Sudis to drink more.

Jennifer reached for her own cup as her eyes locked on Sudis' pair with a challenge settled in their depths. She placed the rim against her own lips as she braced herself. The beverage was alot easier to manage when sipped with food...even questionable food but she had set the dare and couldn't back down.

She tipped the cup back before taking a gulp; somehow managed to spill a little over the side. Cumbersomely, she placed the cup back down she tried to catch the drops with her hand before they stained the collar of her dress; the wine now staining her hand, lips and neck as she laughed some more. "Um...ooops?"

Sudis placed his bloodwine chalice back down on the table's surface. He looked into his chalice he had only gotten halfway while he started to feel the indigestion unsettle in his stomach. He leaned over and look into Jenni's chalice which was practically dry with maybe a splash of wine settled in the very bottom. He offered his friend a smile and the server walking around with the bottle returned to the table to refill Jenni's glass.

"You have barely touched your bloodwine," the server commented and directed the bottle towards Jenni, "Clearly, she's the warrior at this very table."

At this point, Jennifer was using the the cuff collar of her dress to clean up her face , her napkin long gone missing earlier. The stains were long forgotten at this point as she glanced back across at Sudis with a grin. "You heard the man...are you planning on letting little ole me get one over on you?"

Sudis looked to the server, to Jennifer, back and forth several times before responding to both of their comments, "I plan on stopping after this chalice."

Without waiting a beat the server over poured his chalice of bloodwine which spilled all over the table, "I suggest you start drinking."

Jennifer waited until Sudis had lifted his cup before lifting her own. She had lost track at this point but surely one more was not going to do much more harm. Add to that; when was the last time she had had fun and just enjoyed herself?

Before she could let that thought go further, Jennifer drank the wine back before slamming her cup down on the table at the end and yelling out, "Qapla!"

A giggle left her lips alongside a hiccup, as she covered her mouth to try and hide the rest of the laughter.

Sudis had to pick up the overfilled chalice with both of his hands to his lips as the blood wine fell onto his tailored clothing and took a long sip only to reach the halfway point before putting it down. He was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol from the bloodwine, "I think I've hit my threshold. You clearly could drink two Klingon warriors under the table, Jennifer."

Jennifer tilted her head a little to the side as the room threatened to spin; studying Sudis a little closer. Laughter glittered in her eyes as she pointed to the side of her lip, "You spilled a little. I have a question for you...switch between Je..." A hiccup interrupted her again as her cheeks flushed a little more red with the heat of the room and the alcohol she had consumed.

Attempting to hold her breath for a few seconds to regulate her diaphragm before trying again. "...Jennifer and Jenni...My friends use Jenni."

"I believe I've had a little too much wine, Jennifer." Sudis corrected himself but couldn't recall if he had been interchanging 'Jennifer' and 'Jenni' since they got to the Klingon restaurant. "Which would you prefer I call you?"

Jennifer took a moment as she tried to get her thoughts to catch up with the words that she wanted to say. She wondered if shed misunderstood Sudis' intention and maybe he didn't see her as a friend. Which lead to the question of why then he was sat the otherside of the table.

A vulnerability crossed her features as she looked away from Sudis and focused on a serpent worm trying to make a run for it. "I don't know...which would you want to call me?"

Sudis Erris thought on it a moment while looking at her. She had broken off their direct eye contact. His eyes didn't follow hers to the serpent worm making its escape from the discarded plates in front of them. It wasn't his place for him to make this decision for her. It was her alone on what her preference of what she wanted him to call her. She was Doctor Richardson and Jennifer for the longest time.

He didn't catch that he had been interchanging Jennifer and Jenni throughout their evening together. He had never been drunk like he was before. "But ahead... a borrowed star wears her face, waiting for your confession." burrowed deeper into his head. This wasn't the time nor the place to have this conversation about her beloved. Not now, Prophets... soon though he said internally to keep the prophetic voice from returning.

Jennifer couldn't surpress the stab of hurt as her question was just greeted with silence; the alcohol making control of her emotions more difficult. What had been such an enjoyable evening had taken a turn she hadn't forseen as she felt maybe he'd just done this out of pity for her. When he saw her earlier, perhaps he just saw the widow of a colleague on her own and his duty to help out.

"It's ok..." Pushing her chair back from the table, Jennifer gripped the table edge as the room spun and her legs wobbled from the effects of the alcohol. "You know what..." She tried again, this time managing to stand a little more steady as he looked back across at Sudis with a strained smile on her lips. "Know anywhere around here where a girl can get some ice cream? The proper stuff...made with dairy and flavourings."

Sudis watched Jennifer push her chair away from the table and clung onto the side of the table to balance herself, "Jennifer... wait..."

He realized in that moment he hadn't answered her. That was uncharacteristically unlike him but due to effects of the bloodwine on his low alcohol tolerance he was unable to realize that was the case until it was too late.

He used the table to balance himself unsuccessfully as he pulled the small tablecloth down while he fell onto his left knee. The plates of various states of eaten food that they had consumed clattered to the ground. The surviving gagh swiggled across the restaurant's flooring.

Jennifer glanced down between the floor and Sudis as her processing momentarily glitched in the struggle to comprehend what had just happened. "Sudis...ah...." Jennifer tried a shaky step, stopping as she regathered her momentum before taking another step. This time she too lost her balance; falling straight into her own posterior and Sudis' lap.

"Ah..." She let out a laugh even as she heard the grumbling of Klingon waiters who were either getting great amusment from the couple's antics or quite possibly at this point were on the verge of throwing the two customers out. "So much for being two warriors; we can't even hold our alcohol."

As she glanced up; Jennifer suddenly had an awareness of just how close she was to Sudis in that moment. Her leg had tangled with his when she's fallen, and his face was close. "So...ice cream?"

He didn't know how Jennifer managed to fall onto his lap on the floor but he managed to wrap his arms around her waist to hold her from falling off and onto the floor. He noticed his hand had briefly touched her posterior when she landed on him. His face turned a slight pinkish, "First we're going to have to figure out how to get off of the floor before the gagh manages to run away..."

With the following comment made by Sudis, people around them could scope out how drunk the human man wearing a Bajoran religious earring was intoxicated, "maybe we should slither on the floor like they are? Do you think the others would notice?"

Sudis belched against the nape of Jennifer's neck, "Excuse me. Sorry."

Jennifer froze at the feel of Sudis arms around his waist and his breath against her neck. She felt his chest pressed against her back as her heart began to beat a little faster in reaction. Again her mind was struggling to keep up with the goings on and she struggling to juggle the sensations and the ability to be able to find words to reply to him. Her own intoxication jumbled her thoughts as her body and mind struggled to keep up.

"It's ok..." She said the words so softly she wasn't sure Sudis might have even heard, her head turning to look at him. How had she never noticed before the depth to his blue eyes; they seemed to just draw her in. Her eyes flickered from his down to his lips; noticing how they were stained with blood wine. Without any thought for what she was doing, Jennifer pressed her lips against his. It was outer worldly; in the moment she hadn't thought or even made a decision she just acted on instinct.

The touch of her lips against his, the contact as she felt his warm breath against hers; it all seemed to cause a different reaction as her mind cleared and she gained some soberity in the moment. Her mind rushed to catch up quickly releasing what it was that she was actually doing.

With a quiet skreek of surprise, she attempted to pull away as the flight instinct hit her hard; Sudis' arms still around her waist, preventing her from going too far. "I'm sorry...I...I just..."

He could taste the bloodwine and the gagh from her lips with a hint of cherry from her lip balm from her kiss against his lips. He froze momentarily while he checked into what had just transpired between them. This was the most human he had felt in a very long time and felt emotion that he couldn't place. His arms were still wrapped around her waist keeping her in his arms without realization, "No need for an apology."

The words from the Prophets spoke louder in his mind once again: A borrowed star wears her face, waiting for your confession.. This wasn't the time nor the place. They were both intoxicated. His blue eyes locked with her's. He could feel some of her lip balm against his own with their lips still apart with a small gap between them. "I think we should try to find our way off of this floor and get you some ice cream. I'll get a spicy hasperat."

The Klingon wine attendant and the server that was strumming the musical instrument had come to the floor. Their boisterous laughter filled the restaurant and boomed between both Richardson and Sudis while the Klingons helped them off the floor of their restaurant, "Too much drink. I'm cutting you off before I get a personal call from Kahless himself."

Standing on her own two feet, Jennifer wobbled a little before nodding her thanks to the staff as she surveyed the mess that had been caused, trying to look anywhere but at Sudis. Anywhere else and they'd probably be put washing dishes to make it up to the restaurant but to Klingons...it's was just natural to smash plates and to have life gagh on the floor. She half guessed that this must have felt like home to the aliens.

"Ice cream...sure..." Jennifer was still in a slight daze, even as the soberity took the edge off of the alcohol. She genuinely felt that she'd just made a fool of herself; despite Sudis' words to not apologize, she struggled hard not to.

The easier option here was to pretend like nothing had happened. There'd be time later, after her return to the ship, to be able to analyze this and beat herself up over letting herself get so drunk that she gave into complete inhibition. Right now...it was easier to let him take the lead after all; it's not like she'd see him again after this.

Plastering a smile on her face, one that came natural from being used to fool those around her into believing she's was fine, Jennifer indicated for Sudis to take the lead, being careful to keep a distance; while still measuring her steps as she tried to walk without wobbling. "Cherry ice cream I think...or bubblegum...or...I don't know. Maybe they'll have gagh flavour to continue the theme of the night."

Jennifer mentioning Cherry brought him to remember the taste of her lips against his when she kissed him. He had never allowed anyone to get that close to him in his almost forty years of existence in the universe. Time was nonlinear to the Prophets and he wondered if they had seen this in that moments their words became an ear worm of information. He looked over her and offered her a smile with a chuckle that escaped his lips, "No more gagh for the rest of the night, don't make me cut you off."

 

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