Hot Dogs and Philosophy Pt.3
Posted on Tue Jun 30, 2026 @ 6:17pm by Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideaux
Edited on on Tue Jun 30, 2026 @ 6:24pm
1,133 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Jubilee
Location: Brother Boyle's Hotdog Bus. The Promenade
Timeline: First few days of Jubilee
Taking the bottle from in front of her, he slipped the bottle under the table to a cap remover and popped it off, the ice cold bottle frosting and bubbling slightly with the introduction to the air. Setting it back in front of her, he did the same for his own bottle and held it up, "To hot dogs and philosophy. Thank you for joining me, T'lul."
T'Lul nodded at Curtis, acknolwedging his thanks. She held her bottle up in imitation and considered what she should respond. The best she could come up with was, "You're welcome." She took the grape soda sipped it, and swished it lightly around her mouth thoughtfully. She then swallowed it. After a moment, she just uttered the word, "Licorice."
"Licorice?" Curtis asked back after sliding his bottle back onto the table, leaning an elbow onto the table top as he watched her face.
"Yes," T'Lul affirmed. "You have an affinity for grape pop. Many women have an affinity for chocolate. I do not," she told Curtis. "I have a preference for licorice."
Brother Boyle came bustling up and began setting cardboard trays with the loaded up dogs and a heaping family sized tray of sizzling fries freshly seasoned. "Here we go," he boomed out proudly. At T'lul's words, he wiped a towel from his apron and caught Curtis's eye.
Winked and gave a subtle nod toward the doctor.
Curtis caught on immediately and said, "Licorice you say. I was worried for a moment that your soda had went off. But, Brother B, could you help a brother out? I seem to rember you talking about a licorice flavored soda a couple of weeks ago when you were going through the menu with me."
"Good memory my boy," Brother Boyle boomed turning back to T'lul, he asked, "Black or red licorice, my good doctor? I happen to have specially crafted versions of both!"
Curtis watched for the Doctor's reaction as he took a smaller basket and added Boyle's special fry sauce to it along with some hot sauce.
"Red licorice is not truly licorice," T'Lul replied scholarly, her head rising slightly. "Black licorice is the only true licorice which comes from a root.
"I stand educated," Curtis said with a smile. "These dogs look great Brother B. Thanks!!"
Brother Boyle walked over to a smaller cooler and fished out a bottle shaped like a dragon. A black one on it's haunches it's throat forming the neck. "Bragging dragon distillery puts this brand out," Boyle boasted. "Fellow monks that I know and we're one of the few that get to carry it." Wiping off the beads of water with his apron, he held up the black dragon bottle as if presenting a fine wine. He'd picked up on Curtis's mention of the Vulcan's credentials and said, "Doctor. May I present Bragging Dragon's Black Dragon Licorice, non-alcoholic soda. With a flourish, he removed the twist cap and sat it next to T'lul's grape soda bottle. "You folks enjoy now," Brother Boyle grinned. "I have to get back to my customers."
The line had indeed grown longer as the monk bustled off, booming out the next order. Turning to T'lul, he said, "Brother Boyle is part of the experience all by himself, don't you think?"
"Brother Boyle is intriguing," T'Lul confirmed. "I cannot say that I have encountered anyone like him." The Vulcan took the dragon shaped bottle and took a small sip of it. She tilted her head slightly to the left and looked at the bottle again. "Most satisfactory," she concluded.
Focusing back on Curtis, she asked, "Why do you call me, 'doctor'? It is not incorrect. However, most call me counselor, and, as this is a date, why not call me T'Lul?"
Curtis was sizing up his hot dog as he tasted the new fries. "He brought the garlic and parmesan ones with cajun seasoning," he said approvingly. Looking up to T'lul, he said, "Well, you haven't given me permission to be familiar, despite this being a date," he grinned. "Plus while yes you are a counselor, you have degrees and I tend to use multiple honorifics interchangeably. Since you ask, now I can: What would you prefer me to call you? When we're off duty, not in professional settings, of course."
The Counselor tilted her head the other way. She picked up the vegetarian dog thoughtfully. "You may call me T'Lul. I would have expected, since you are human, to use my familiar name. I have observed that from watching others of your kind. I have many questions about nicknames, though. There seems to be no pattern on picking those." She paused for a moment, her head centering again. "Would it be appropriate to call you Curt or Curtis off duty?" She then took a bite of the dog and chewed it thoughtfully.
"Right," Curtis said after watching her pick at her dog. "First off, if you're going to enjoy it, keep in mind that you're expected to get a little dirty. And that's ok. There a ton of napkins." He gestured toward the twin dispensers on either side of the trash bin located in the middle of the table. "First we start off with arms slightly apart so you get hunched over your tray as you take a bite"
Putting instruction to practice, he hunched over his hot dog, lifting it up and taking a large bite. His hot dog left ketchup, mayo and mustard on his face with onion and pineapple chunks dropping into the tray. He set the dog back into its tray and pulled napkins from both dispensers with a flourish and made himself more or less presentable as he chewed his way through the bite.
Once he'd done for his bite, he grinned at T'lul and said, "Pretty fun. And delicious with everything all in one bite," He'd missed some mustard on one cheek.
"It's kinda sad we humans are considered predictable, but I get it. I think it's more polite to work out naming conventions in conversations like this. As to nicknames, they are a mix of art, science and magic." He picked out a few more fries, dipped them into the sauce. "A good nickname can be a descriptor of someone. Have absolutely nothing to do with anything other than an event you may have shared with others. Possibly been given to you in jest or malicious intent. Or just something they decided to give you."
He started to raise the sauce covered fries to his mouth and said, "In my squadron days back in Academy, my call-sign was Murphy."
A joint post by:
Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideax
Strategic Operations Officer
DS5
Lieutenant T'Lul
Chief Counselor
Deep Space 5
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