Star Trek: Starbase 777 - orion’s-belt

Orion's belt had received a notice: save a seat for Corvus and Garcia, and any drinks they order are on the Operations tab. With the music turned up loud and the dance floor as full as ever, surely the two of them would have a good time.

The Romulan made her way into the club, she wore a pair of leather heeled boots that went up just above her knee, simple black tights and a short (but yet still modest) black skirt accompanied by a black shirt, which sparkled with flecks of gold throughout. A relatively simple yet elegant outfit, which she accessorised with a leather garter around her right thigh, with a small decorative golden dagger tucked underneath. Purely decorative, although she would easy have carried a real one if she were allowed. She moved across the back of the club, until she found her table, and softly sat down as she awaited her date.

A sparkly tube dress that hugged her form in all the right places and a pair of high-heeled sandals were all Garcia needed tonight. That and her golden hoop earrings, the metal harmonizing with her own warm skin tone. Ops had done one hell of a job in picking the venue. Drinks, music and a dancing floor, nothing that might go wrong couldn’t be fixed by the combination of those. Not that she thought anything would go wrong, Garcia was feeling pretty positive tonight! Moving straight in the direction of the reserved table, yet sparing a longing glance to the bar – she could drink later with her date! Focus! – she spotted her plus one already in place. “Hey! Goodnight, I’m Garcia and I think you’re my date!” She said as soon as she was into hearing range. Which, in a club, had to be pretty close. Close enough for Corvus to notice her smile and her tasteful makeup. “Haven’t meet you before yet, I’m sure!”

"Nope, you haven't. I would definitely remember bumping into you." She said with a cheeky grin, as she looked up at Garcia. "To be fair I've not really bumped into anyone too much, I'm very new to the station, only came aboard just after the 'new year' or whatever you guys call it. Name's Cordais t'Terrhael, but most people just call me Corvus. And who are you, my wonderful blind date?" She said, as she extended a hand out towards Garcia.

Oh so she had gotten a charmer! Garcia’s smile widened, this promised to make the night interesting, fun in the very least. “Oh, so I’m glad I can welcome you to 777!” She slid into one of the chairs and took Corvus hand giving it a shake. “And to be fair, I’ve only been here for twice your amount. I’m Beatriz Garcia Morais, but I’m known as Garcia.”

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Beatriz Garcia Morais, also known as Garcia." She said with a soft chuckle, as she motioned over towards the bar. "Now that we're here, suppose we should probably get a drink, can't go around empty handed now can we?" She said with a little grin, as she slid out of the booth to stand next to Garcia. "C'mon then beautiful, let's go see how big a tab we can rack up for ops to pay for. I wanna get the real fancy shit." Not that the romulan empire didn't have fancy stuff, but most of it was incredibly strong or too much for her. "I wanna sample all of the delicacies of the federation, see what wonders you guys have on this side of the galaxy."

”Oh comon…” She laughed at the old joke. “Should I call you ‘Cordais t’Terrhael but-most-people-just-call-me-Corvus’ then?” As Corvus stood up so did Garcia’s eyebrows. Wow. She had not expected someone so forward. And she meant that as positively as it was possible. Her cheeks actually felt a little bit hotter at the compliment, thankfully the dim lights of the club would conceal it well. Come on Garcia, you’re not sixteen anymore! Besides, the offer of drinks was most welcome. “Then let’s go cause a bankruptcy! I can certainly give you some pointers on those delicacies.” She linked her arm on the Romulan’s. “Guess you’re new to Federation as a whole then huh… You’ll like it, I’m sure!”

"You can call me whatever you like, darling. As long as you're happy." She said with a soft chuckle as she approached the bar, leaning up over the counter as she looked at all the stuff on offer. "First time in Federation space, yeah. I've been around some fed officers in my time, but never been this far out. I mean my second ship was stationed at a Romulan station at the edge of federation space, so we got a lot of federation ships in and out, met a lot of you folk, you seem nice. You certainly made a very good impression on young Cordais."

”Wait, what a coincidence!” She stopped at the bar next to the Romulan. “My… okay first, second and third ships used to patrol the border between Federation and Romulan space occasionally! Have we met before?” Both her eyebrows went up and she sported the sweetest smile. The chances were slim, even with the constant assignments Cpt. Neto got near the border, and Garcia didn’t actually believe they had, but it was a fun thought to entertain. “Crazy if we did… probably not. But hey, do you know… shit I forgot his last name… Vellek, he used to be a captain. One of yours I mean, to make it more specific.” (edited)

"I don't think we've met before? But I mean, depending on the timeline, it's entirely possible we've been on the same station before and just didn't know it. I didn't look as recognisable back then tho be fair, missing my little red details in my hair, I would have blended in with the crowd." She said with a smile, as she paused and though to herself for a moment. "Vellek... Uhm, maybe? I can't claim to know every Romulan in existence, but if you gave me a little more detail I might be able to narrow down who you're talking about."

”Well let’s entertain the thought then…” She smiled and slowly waved her hand in a dreaming motion before them. “Two people, from different worlds, lives so distant from each other, having crossed paths before but never quite meeting until this particular moment. An astronomical event bound to happen.” She giggled. “I think you might have remembered me if you did… people tend to remember the ‘little hyperactive engineer’. Sometimes for questionable reasons…” She started to look around for the drinks as well. Maybe a caipirinha would be a good place to start. Refreshing and alcoholic. “Right… uhm… what I can tell you about the guy… he is short. He has green eyes, a permanent grumpy expression… last time I saw him he was already greying but for someone that is supposed to be 120… I mean you Romulans just age well.” All very useful information for Corvus to identify him indeed, Garcia. No other Romulan in the history was short, green-eyed, grumpy and old. “He was a captain, now I’m pretty sure he is of higher rank in the flotilla. Last time we met he was actually rescuing refugees from the Navy. Tenu? Renu?” She made a pensive expression. “Re… Rehu! I think that was it! Captain Rehu.”

She smiled and gave a soft little nod. "It would be scary to think about, the universe is such a large place, but you always seem to end up bumping into people you know from the past. The universe has a weird way of bringing people back together." She paused thinking for another moment, before her eyes went wide with realisation. "Oh! Yes, I think I do know who you're talking about. I've definitely heard of him before, I can't recall if it was in a positive or negative light though... Wasn't very popular with the Free State Navy, was he? I remember that much."

”True enough. And no, he was not popular with the Free State. And neither was it popular with him, but enough of that…” She smiled. This was their date and she had sidetracked a bit, if she wanted to talk about Vellek she’d better give Cpt. Neto a call instead of occupying Corvus’ time. “Wanted to try stuff from Federation right…? Let me help out! Do you prefer sweet or citric?” She called the bartender over, confirmed they had those drinks and asked for two pineapple caipirinhas. If Corvus ended up answering sweet, she would ask for sugar to be added to hers. “Caipirinhas, Brazilian style! Which is where I come from by the way.”

"Definitely sweet." She said with a smile, as she leaned across the bar. "Caipirin...has, those sound, exotic? What are they? Also I'm not entirely sure what 'Brazilian' means. Presuming a place on earth somewhere?" Corvus knew a lot of planets in the federation, but she couldn't for the life of you tell you very much about the places on said planets. She spent more time studying how to efficiently dismantle a sniper rifle than she did the random countries of a planet thousands of light years away.

”Cachaça and pineapple mixed. And sugar in your case.” She smiled and pointed to the bartender that was mixing it all up. “The name is in portuguese, my birth language. And you’re right, Brazil is a place on Earth. It used to be a country, now it is an administrative area. But a lot of the culture and of the ethnic identities were preserved. Brazilians never stopped being Brazilian.” It was clear that Garcia held a lot of pride in that origin, something in her eyes simply glowed as she spoke about it. “How about you? I don’t know that much about the Empire before… well, the supernova.” Thinking now after saying it, perhaps not the best question to make. But her tongue had been faster than her brain on that one and Garcia could only hope that Corvus would not feel bad at the inquiry.

"Sounds fun, can't wait to try something of yours." She said with a little smile, as she looked over at Garcia. "Well, you guys should be proud of your culture, just cause the federation has merged into this big massive organisation, doesn't mean that you forget your history. It's important, and it defines who you are." "As for the empire? I was fourteen when the supernova happened. I can't really remember much from beforehand, I had only ever seen my own colony, all I remember is it got a lot busier after Hobus. A lot more depressing, lots of people who had lost their homes. But beforehand was good, we used to go out hunting in the forest. I'm afraid that's about as much pre-supernova information I have, you'd have to ask somebody a little older than me."

”Yeah I’ll toast to that. To keeping up with your roots.” The drinks arrived in two round glass cups. “Do give me your honest opinion… And you can choose the next one, maybe show me something of yours?” Garcia offered one of the drinks to her date and gave her a sweet smile, sipping from her own cup the refreshing mix. She was relieved that apparently she hadn’t killed Corvus mood with that one. “Fourteen… so that means we have around the same age! I did wonder… I said before you guys age well, it’s almost unfair. I mean you could be forty or ninety and I’d never guess!”

"I will certainly give you the most honest opinion I can muster, without offending you or the great culture of the Brazilian people." She said with a soft chuckle, as she picked up the glass, giving it a soft clink against her partner's one, before she had a soft sip. "Mhm, very sweet, definitely got that citrus flavour to it... Hmm. Definitely a very pleasant and vibrant drink. I approve." "And as for my ageing, I'll take that as a compliment that you can't even see guess how old I am. Must mean that I look very youthful." Corvus did take good care of herself, always focusing on skincare cause her daily routine for the most of her career involved being out in the sun, rain or snow for hours upon end, wrapped under a tarp, which played havoc on her skin.

The woman’s already bright smile seemed to widen and glow like a thousand suns at Corvus approval, if that was even possible in the ambient they found themselves in. “I knew it! Theres no going wrong with caipirinhas.” Her own was definitely not as sweet, but that was the fun part of the drink: you could add practically any fruit you wish or any amount of sugar! “Well, of course it is part a compliment, I mean…” She gestured to the Romulan. “You are beautiful and definitely fashionable. But there is also the other part of most vulcanoid species living about twice what my species live, so that means I literally cannot guess your age past adulthood without a margin of at least 30 years for error give or take.” Another sip after the babble. Garcia was definitely a yapper.

"No, you're certainly right, there is definitely no going wrong with caipirinhas. They're wonderful, Garcia." She said with a soft chuckle, as she admired the joy that her partner was experiencing at the Romulan's enjoyment of her drink choice. "I'll have to think of what to suggest to you, I don't know how much options they have here for Romulan beverages." "And yeaaaah... Being vulcanoid definitely has it's perks. You should see my mother, she still looks fourty! We age very gracefully, which is quite thankful, cause if we lived twice as long but still looked like we were 90 years old, it'd probably be less fun. I don't want to be old and wrinkled when I'm barely even middle age. But thanks for the compliment about my beauty and fashion, you clean up pretty well too if I do say so myself." The Romulan said with another swig of her drink and a large grin back at Garcia afterwards. She was really enjoying this.

”Oh you’d be surprised at what these barmen are able to make. As long as it is not illegal, they probably will have it here if you ask.” And sometimes if it was illegal they would have it too. With the right convincing… not that Garcia was one to partake in illegal items, no sir. She just knew things because people seemed very comfortable in sharing those kinds of information with her. “Beats getting all wrinkled up at fifty or sixty, I’ll tell you. And… thanks.” Corvus earned a sweet smile for that one. “I try. Just cause I’m close to 50 doesn’t mean I can’t even without this vulcanoid advantage.”

She chuckled as she took another large swig of her drink. "Mhm, this is nice... I'll have to rack my brain for something, I presume Romulan Ale is off the table and you'd prefer something a little bit less ridiculously strong. A cocktail of some description?" She leaned over the bar and glanced at all the options. "I think I have something in mind... A little something special I used to drink when I was younger. It's quite fruity, alcoholic, but not strong enough to knock your socks off immediately, I think I can get the bartender to rustle us up a couple, if not something close to it."

She immediately feigned a both shocked and offended expression. “Oh? You think I can’t hold my alcohol? I’m tougher than I look.” A painfully silly stance followed: her best “tough girl” face with a flexed arm and not a lot to show there in terms of muscle definition. And she wasn’t even drunk yet. “Alright alright, save your nuclear alcoholic challenges for the next date. I’ll take the nice fruity drink for now.” She laughed feeling quite silly, really, she could do with some more dates like this!

"I wasn't saying that you're not tough enough for our drinks, it's just... from my experience." She said with a slight chuckle, as she paused and started explaining her custom drink order to the bar staff. "So... Planning our next date already, are you? I must have made a pretty decent impression then. I'm glad you approve of me, cause I'm certainly a fan of what you're putting down." Having given her custom orders to the bartender, she turned back to Garcia with a smile as she finished her drink with a long sip and a smile. "Say, let's grab these drinks and head over to the booth again, I want somewhere more quiet where we can chat and get to know each other a bit more."

She chose not to say anything more about the Romulan Ale, chucking softly. It was quite obvious that she, and any other human, would be quick to fall under its influence. “Oh I wouldn’t mind hearing about those… I have my share of funny drunk stories.” She finished her own drink and set the cup down to be retrieved by the bartender. “Well, yeah, you’re fun and pretty and know how to appreciate good Brazilian drinks, what’s not to like girl?” And even if this turned out to be more of a friendship kind of deal, another cool fun friend was always a great addition to her life. “Alright, deal. Bar is getting a bit crowded and too noisy.”

@Ezran ⚠