Star Trek: Starbase 777

A small plot of fresh soil had been cleared for planting. Around it, a small team of science officers could be seen digging holes and transferring over small purple flowers in bunches of four. Among this team was a sole Gorn female, who, despite her seemingly large and powerful hands, did her job with surprising restraint and gentleness - gingerly, almost, packing soil in around the roots of each delicate purple bloom with her bare hands.

Teno, still in his science uniform from his earlier shift, and covered in dirt, trotted up to the group of scientists. “Thank the prophets, I’m not too late!” He held a hand to his chest and his other was on his hip and he heaved a few deep breaths. It was clear that he had ran here to the Apiary from somewhere else in the Environmental Ring. “Hi, I’m Lieutenant Zaru, but you can call me Teno.” He smiled between breaths. (edited)

The Gorn looked up from her work at him and smiled a toothy reptilian smile. "Not at all, sir! You're just in time... ooh, hold on." She turned away just long enough to plant a small bunch of lilies in soil. A hissing sigh escaped her lips as she crouched down to look at them - among which was a slightly more ragged specimen. Hmm.

"Oh good, I'm so glad. Can I help? Are there any more flowers to plant?" He looked around, checking to see if there was an extra set of trowels and seedlings or plants to put in the tilled dirt.

"Of course you can! Here, there are plenty-" The Gorn got to her feet and had begun to amble towards what appeared to be a gravity sled containing several other specimens... a second before tripping and faceplanting in the grass. Lovely. "S'ry. Is but a flesh wound, hur hur-" She mumbled as she dusted herself off.

Teno watched as she sauntered away, his eyes getting big as he saw her trip and - "Oh, no! Are you -" He reached forward, not able to catch her but offering a comforting hand. "Oh goodness okay, I'm glad you're alright." He chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I'll get some of these planted, do you mind if I work next to you? What's your name?"

"Ss- Ss'tiva. Heh. Nice to meet you." The Gorn replied as she pulled the grav sled just a little bit closer to the two of them (and the rest of her team, too). "Please, pick a spot. We would love more help..."

Teno smiled and nodded at the Gorn woman and offered a hand. "I don't know if you do handshakes, but it's nice to meet you Ss'tiva! I'm a Botanist too. I hope we get to work some shifts together soon!" He shook her hand, if she took his, and then got to work digging holes and planting the plants Ss'tiva had brought closer to them, humming a Bajoran hymn under his breath as he worked.

Seventeen saplings. That was the number of plants left on the grav sled floating next to her. Ss'tiva's hands were covered in soil from digging (yes, even in the 25th century the one problem modern gardening tools seem to have not solved is getting soil and dirt on yourself!), but she didn't seem to mind. Taking care of plants was therapeutic, in a sense. The Gorn rose to her feet and padded towards the grav sled to pick up a pot, brush the dirt off of it and place it in the ground with a content sigh.

Walking into the Apiary, Nairi couldn't help but pause at the door as she awed at her surroundings, letting out a soft, "Wow!!" as she scanned her eyes over the multitude of colors from the different flowers. She would watch as a bee came flying by and landing on a nearby bloom. Unable to resist, she would actually bend down to get a closer look at the small insect and say in a bit of a puppy-dog tone, “Aww, look at you. All busy pollinating these flowers…You go get ‘em, little bee!” Standing back straight up though, Nairi would turn to take another look around and notice a Gorn hard at work at planting flowers. “Hi there!” *she’ll call out before walking over enthusiastically. *“You look like you are having fun!”

Ss'tiva jumped, just a little bit. People usually didn't bother her when she worked, and that was okay by her. Being greeted with such enthusiasm was something of a welcome change, in fact. She settled back on her knees and smiled a wide, toothy reptilian grin at the Orion that'd just spoken to her. "Yes, it's very relaxing. It's part of my job, heh. You new around here? Can't say I've seen you come by, and I've seen almost all the regulars."

Nairi gave a big grin in return as she placed both her hands in front of her, one hand rubbing over the other excitedly. “Yes! I just arrived to Starbase 777 recently! I’m Ensign Nairi Dellak! What’s your name??” The Orion woman had to take a moment to dial back her enthusiasm as she soon realized that she was probably being a little over the top but she was just so excited and happy to be aboard the station that everything was so interesting to her. If she could have her way, she would want to learn as much as she could from everybody aboard the station, to probably some of the crew’s annoyance. “What are you planting?” she would add, her eyes looking down at the plants curiously.

Ss'tiva turned her attention to the grav sled in front of her. "Tajiki snow puff. The florets are incredibly delicate." She murmured, picking up one of the small, fluffy flowers by the pot and carrying it over to the empty plot she'd been digging in. She began to dig another hole, about thirty centimetres from the last. "They arrived only very recently, you see, and we're studying them to find out what applications they have in... medicine, heh." Ss'tiva mumbled, seemingly mostly to herself. Maybe she wasn't that used to having company. "Oh! Uh! The name's Ss'tiva. Sorry 'bout that-"

Nairi wouldn’t be annoyed at all that Ss’tiva was engrossed in her work. In fact, she would find it amazing that she enjoyed what she did so much. The Orion woman stepped forward a little closer as she would move to kneel down as she watched the Gorn work. “Ooooh,” Nairi awed as she eyed the plant from a slight distance but now closer than she was previously. “That sounds like so much fun! It’s too bad I’m not better at science or I would apply to do something like this!” Once Ss’tiva actually remembered to give Nairi her name, her smile stretched even further. “Ss’tiva, I like that name! It’s so nice to meet you! Do you perhaps want a little help planting the rest of those flowers? I never did much gardening back on Orion but I’ll love to learn!”

Ss'tiva's eyes instantly lit up with excitement. "You- you'd like to help! That's great! That's wonderful! I- um- okay. Here." She handed the Orion a trowel and pointed at the ground in front of them. "Go ahead and dig a hole about... urhm. Twenty centimetres in front of mine. Two inches deep. These fluffballs need a lot of soil! Did you know they're usually harvested to make bed stuffing? Not Starfleet bedding, obviously, but in general, heh. They're really very soft..." She could've gone on forever, really, but then again she suspected Nairi might not want to sit there and hear her talk all day. People usually didn't, anyway.

Nairi eagerly took the trowel and glanced towards Ss’tiva as she directed her where and how deep to dig the hole. Carefully, she would scoot forward to get into a better position before estimating the distance and immediately begin digging an approximately similar sized hole that the Gorn had dug earlier. She couldn’t help but take an even closer look at the flowers though as she dug. Nairi couldn’t help but imagine what it must have felt like to lay down on bedding made from the fluffball. “Oooo! Bedding made from this sounds like laying down on a little slice of heaven. I bet it’s like laying down on a small cloud!” She would finish digging the hole and already, the Orion woman had begun to pick up some dirt on her hands and a little on her trousers. “We should try and make ourselves a little pillowcase or something from this. I mean…as long as there’s still enough for your research. Speaking of that, what kind of medicine do you think these beautiful flowers can make?”

"Honestly? Pillows. Or mattresses. For better sleep, heh. Sleep is medicinal in some ways, right?" Ss'tiva replied with a reptilian giggle - that is, a series of short hissing, growling noises that sounded like water through a hose. "Don't think they're much good to consume for any medical value. Speaking of mattresses. I don't think I can make those with enough, I'd need hundreds of these." She glanced sideways at her new... were they friends? Acquaintances? Moreso acquaintances, she guessed. Safer that way. "Soooo, eh. Niri. What do you do on this huge station?" She asked.

Nairi grinned at the idea of making a pillow or something from the flowers. Perhaps she would have to learn to take up some kind of crafting or sewing class at some point to give it a shot. She would definitely need a good teacher to get started. It wasn’t like the Syndicate paid much mind to anything else other than piracy and crime. “Oh! Sleep is good! Sleep is great! You can never go wrong with better sleep.” She had chosen to be proactive and continue to dig more holes with the trowel. In Nairi’s mind, she was just happy to be in the moment, meeting new people. She perked up though when Ss’tiva inquired about her role aboard the station. “Oh! I’m a part of Security! Patrol Officer.” Her cheeks will turn a little red as she glanced around but unable to contain her excitement, she felt a small sting of embarrassment of how happy she was to be here. “This is actually my first posting. I graduated from the Academy this year." (edited)

"Oh, really? Me too! Oh boy, this is great-" Ss'tiva reached out as if to give the Orion a hug, but then she remembered her hands were covered in soil - best not to get her uniform dirty like that. Besides, people didn't always appreciate unsolicited hugs. "Sorry. Got a bit overeager there, hur." She sighed and dipped her head. "This is my first post too. And it's lovely. There are so many gardens. I'll take you on a tour when I'm done if you'd like."

Nairi would be mildly surprised yet excited when Ss’tiva began to reach out for a hug. She would feel almost a little disappointed though when she didn’t follow through on it through and her head tilted slightly in confusion. However, looking up and down at the Gorn’s current appearance, it slowly dawned on her why perhaps she was hesitant to actually embrace her. Instead, she decided to let a warm and genuine smile come across her face as Nairi said, “It’s okay, Ss’tiva! I’m happy to have met you too! I would LOVE a tour of the station, especially if all the other gardens are as beautiful as this one!”

"You would? Oh, boy! Uhhhh! Um. W-we can go when I'm finished here, I'll just, urm. Send the cart back to the botany lab and we can go!" Yep, clearly this Gorn didn't get very much company. She stood up and brushed her hands off before walking to retrieve another sapling. "I'll show you the best ones. You'll love them. I- I can point out the most interesting plants and-"

Nairi’s grin was as large as a literal lightyear at this point but at the same time, the Orion woman could also tell that Ss’tiva seemed a little flustered and perhaps a tad overwhelmed. She watched as the reptilian woman stood up to retrieve another sapling and quickly, Nairi stood up to follow. Closing the distance, she would reach out and lay a hand on Ss’tiva’s arm. “There’s no rush, Ss’tiva. We can take our time here to finish this if you need to.” Nairi would give an empathetic smile, partly hoping the Gorn woman wouldn’t mind the sudden physical contact.

Sstiva almost blushed. Well, she would've if she were physically capable of it. Maybe she just wasn't used to people treating her like ths. She glanced sidewys at the Orion and smiled a wry reptilian smile (which has no difference to a happy reptilian smile, really). "Okay. We can definitely do that." She replied as she began to walk back to the flowerbed. "What do you do for a hobby, Nairi?'

Nairi would pull her hand back but continue to hold her smile as she glanced at the cart to see how many flowers they had left to plant. Following Ss’tiva back to the flower bed, she would mentally measure out another hole before starting to dig at the spot. She perked up when the Gorn woman asked her a question and pausing her work for a second, she let out a small laugh. “Uhh, I’ve actually been trying to do arts and crafts. I’ve taken up drawing and painting, somewhat. But I’ve really been enjoying knitting and weaving. There’s…something really calming working with fabric and all the colors intertwining together…” She let a brief moment of silence pass before turning towards Ss'tiva, "What about you? What do you enjoy doing off duty?"

"Hur hur. Funny story. This too is my off duty." Ss'tiva gestured at the plants around them. "I like plants. They have nice colors and grow quite quickly. And it's therapeutic to take care of them. Helps me to focus sometimes." Then she added, in a somewhat softer tone of voice, "And they don't judge. They don't talk or think after all. They make for nice companions."