Star Trek: Starbase 777

The meadow usually wasn't this well-decorated, but right now, the sun was shining on a lovely picnic blanket, laid out with a cooler of vegetarian foods in the shape of a traditional basket, little red petals strewn everywhere to really set the mood. Hopefully Aventurine and Malaika will have a lovely time here, together.

Aventurine couldn’t lie, he was kind of nervous. This was the first time he was really going on an actual date in a while- he had gone on a couple in the Academy, but they never went anywhere. And when his fiancé had died in his senior year, he had stopped going on any dates. Then he was on a smaller starship- not really the best place for dates, there was nowhere to go and if things got a bit ugly you’d still be stuck around the person because there’s really only so much room on a starship. So, he had focused mostly on work rather than anything else. But now, on a Starbase, he had the freedom to date again- and just his luck, there was a little blind dating event! So, he had signed up, and here he was, sat on a picnic blanket. He was dressed a bit more casually to fit the picnic vibes- a white t-shirt and light blue jeans, with a black belt, a silver belt chain, and a black choker as accessories. He was just wearing his normal Starfleet boots too- they looked nice, he saw no problem with them. He also didn’t have any other shoes besides flip flops and bunny slippers, and he was not about to show up in either of those.

Malaika wasn't sure how she felt. She was excited, but still nervous. Not too nervous, as she wasn't sure if she wanted anything serious from this, honestly, she signed up because she was interested in what could possibly happen. If things go well, that's nice, and she might see about taking it further. If they don't click or get along, it's no big deal. She just hoped this would be a good time. The hardest thing about this, for her, was putting together an outfit. She had about four different ideas, but none of them really fit the occasion. She eventually settled on something cute and simple. A flowy, long-sleeved shirt, yellow with white flowers on it, and a denim skirt which fell just above her knees. A brown belt around her waist, more for style than to hold her skirt in place. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure if she wanted to wear flip flops, so instead she was wearing some black boots; they weren't large and clunky, but still stood out a little against the softer outfit. And, clasped in her hair, was a hairpin with pink and purple feathers.

Aven was also interested in all the possibilities. He was fine with just dating around and meeting interesting people. If this date fizzled out, that was fine by him- not everything was meant to work out. But, on the other hand- if things did go well, he’d also love to take it further. All in all, Aven was here to see how things would go- and he just wanted to have a good time. She saw someone walk up- dressed rather beautifully- a little too nice for just someone walking through the meadow- could she be his date? Her shirt was cute- the white flowers even matching some of the daisies growing around. The denim skirt was pretty too, and the belt was a nice touch- and the boots stood out in a good way. The hairpin was lovely too, the feathers looked nice. He waved as she walked up. “Oh, hi there! Ah, did you get sent here for a blind date too?”

Malaika approached the person sitting on the picnic blanket, they liked their outfit. Simple, but very cute. She'd need to tell them. She quickly adjusted her shirt and skirt so they sat nicely before returning the wave. "Hi! I did, I'm guessing you must be my blind-date partner?" When she reached the blanket, she sat down and took in the space around them. A warm, sunny day, beautiful meadow, and a cute picnic all set up. She'd consider this her perfect date. She hopes the company is just as good, if not better, than the date location!

“You must be! Nice to meet you, then- you look great, by the way.” He said with a little smile. Sure, Aven was Vulcan and generally had pretty good control of his emotions, but he was not above smiling a little. He liked to be a little silly at times. Being silly was the best way to keep all the stress away, in his opinion. Aven coped with everything via cracking jokes or working out. “I’m Aventurine, but you can call me Aven. You?” He asked, looking out at all the flowers. He wasn’t one for eye contact- especially when there were beautiful wildflowers to look at. The day was perfect- there were even bumblebees buzzing around to pollinate all the flowers.

"Aw, thank you! This is just a little thing I put together. You look lovely, too" Malaika said, carrying a certain excitement and joy in her voice. She gave a warm smile and gently fiddled with the hairpin in her hair. "That is a lovely name, Aven! My name is Malaika, most people call me Mal." Malaika was also taking in the scenery around them, enjoying the soft green grass and beautiful flowers around the picnic blanket. It was such a lovely day. Just like how she pictured a perfect date.

“Put together.. you made it? It must be hard to make such a well-done outfit.” Bless this poor boy, Standard was certainly a language, and not a good language for someone as dense as he could be at times. Aventurine could not sew in the slightest, he would manage to prick every single one of his fingers and possibly a toe as well. “Ah.. thank you, I am named after a video game character.” He said, a little sheepish. Ever since Honkai: Star Rail had been resurrected (in part, by his own parents) it had been semi-popular, with recent updates bringing it back a bit. It wasn’t a huge thing, but if you were nerdy enough, there was a good chance you’d at least heard of it, since the same development team had brought back a couple of other once-popular 21st-century video games too. “Well, nice to meet you, Mal! Your name’s pretty, too. So, what do you do on the station?” Besides looking gorgeous, he might add.

"Oh, my, I didn't make it. Sorry if I was unclear, the only part of my outfit I really made was this feather hairpin." She gestured to the pink and purple feathers in a clasp in her hair. "A video game character. That's interesting. Do you like the game? The character?" Mal didn't think her name came from anywhere. But she didn't really remember ever asking her father. But it didn't matter to her where her name came from. She liked it. "I'm a Hairdresser! I own a shop, open to almost any and all. I've always had a passion for hairdressing. What do you do?" Mal was loving this already. She was a little nervous that such an intimate moment would be uncomfortable with someone she'd never met before, but she was actually having a nice time.

“Oh, no worries. It’s a really pretty hairpin though, how did you make it?” He asked. It was really cute, in his opinion, he loved how bright and colorful it was. He was just a bright and colorful guy, to be fair, he loved anything like that. “Uh, I actually kinda do! It’s a really old Terran game, my parents actually helped update and release it. It’s called Honkai Star Rail- the character I’m named after even kinda looks like me, honestly.” He certainly wasn’t mad about the name. It was pretty, and it was a funny story to tell. Plus, the guy he was named after was hot and interesting, so he couldn’t really complain too much. “Oh, that’s cool- reminds me, I need to trim this again, getting too long for my liking.” He said, gesturing to the mop of hair on the top of his head- the sides were still shaved quite short but the top was growing too far into mullet territory for his comfort. “Ah, I’m a mycologist- I study fungi. Mushrooms, molds, that sort of thing. Slime molds are my favorites though, they sound gross but they’re actually really interesting. They actually have intelligence without even having a brain.”

Malaika couldn't hide a grin. She was worried that the hairpin would look bad, her DIY crafty side usually went to haircuts, not making clothing accessories. "Oh! Thank you, I made it using a hairpin I had lying around, and attached some craft feathers." She wanted to match with her guy, Arty. A gorgeous, and he knew it, Risian Tropical Bird. "Oooh, I'll have to check it out then. There are quite a few old Terran games I've seen that look quite fun." That was no lie, Mal loved a lot of the terran games that had been remade and updated. She wouldn't call herself a gamer, but she enjoys a good game now and then. So adding another game to the list couldn't be too bad. Mal listened as he spoke about his hair, nodding softly. "Well, you can come by sometime, I might be able to get it done for you!" Casual advertising is sometimes needed, right? "Oh, that's certainly interesting." She had never looked into Mycology, not really her thing, but she did listen intently. The only mushrooms she knew anything about were the kinds used in cooking, and she probably didn't even know all of them. "Intelligence without a brain? That is something..."

Malaika and Aventurine had a lovely picnic together, talking about all sorts.