Star Trek: Starbase 777 - picnic-tables

A particularly cheesy spot was set up, complete with checkered blanket, a wicker basket filled to the brim with sandwiches, fruit, pastries, and bottles of juice and lemonade. Surely, this would be a low-energy, high-romance outing for Wesley and Tavek to get to know each other.

, Wesley arrived a little early, because he was afraid to be late to something he signed up for — despite the nervousness of what he signed up for. He wasn't sure what to wear.. so he just wore the theme. A dark pair of jeans, and a pepto-bismol-pink crewneck sweater ontop his usual compression turtleneck. It was Valentine's Day, so he might as well wear one of its colors. Wesley quietly looked at the piece of paper, before looking at the picnic table assigned to him. The ensign rubbed the back of his neck as he spotted the basket bursting with contents and the neck of a few drinks sticking out; yet without thinking, he brought drinks too. Wes looked to the two bottles of orange soda in his hand, he quickly scouted his surroundings so that he could tuck the soda bottles away; mostly because he felt embarrassed to bring drinks when drinks were already here. Only then did he calmly return to the scene as if nothing happened. Wesley took a moment to sit down, curiously examining the handiwork on the wicker basket. He assumed it was replicated by the computer, but a little part of him wanted to find an imperfection that made it handweaved. The ensign didn't dare peek under the brimming basket's cover, and he wasn't going to until the other party arrives.

Tavek.. was not quite sure how to dress. A lot of his wardrobe consisted of things for parties- chains, spikes, everything in black or holographic to catch the light. So, he’d dug around in his closet for a proper outfit. A pair of black jeans, tastefully ripped of course, paired with his usual leather combat boots he wore everywhere, that he’d had for basically all his life at this point. He wore a light pink shirt, meant to look a bit faded to match the sort of grungy vibe of the rest of the outfit, and a spiked black leather jacket on top. He had on a silver chain necklace, to match all his piercings, and he’d combed his hair so it would look at least somewhat neat. He could tell his current body was reaching its end, and this was its last hurrah- the replacement was almost complete. He’d make this final event for it a good one, he decided. He walked over, holding a bouquet of flowers- white and pink roses, as well as some white carnations and baby’s breath flowers. Valentine’s Day required flowers, he was pretty sure, and so Tavek had bought some. He loved these human traditions, following them made him feel like he fit in with everyone a little more. Spotting Wesley, he waved, stopping to stand by him so he could offer the flowers before sitting down. “Hi! You’re Wesley, right?” He asked.

, It took a double take before Wesley noticed someone waving at him. The android's name was on the tip of his tongue.. Ta— there were a handful of people he meant so far whose name started with 'Ta'. Every step closer made him think quicker on which 'Ta' this was. Tavaen, Tarsek— it wasn't until the android spoke that it clicked as Tavek. How could he forget his coworker's name after being here for nearly two months now? It was the flower's fault. "Oh hey! You must be my better half for today.." The ensign grinned wide, before nodding to the other's question. "Oh wow.. I didn't even think about flowers.. I can't recall the last time I'd seen flowers. Did these come from the environmental areas?" The ensign reached up with both of his hands to gently scoop up the bouquet that was offered to him. His lips remained tugged into the soft smile and he continued to look at them for a little longer. The ensign's arms remained gently locked around the bouquet. He was definitely going to put these suckers in a vase as soon as the blind date was over. Tavek was lucky.. If it had been anyone else, Wesley would have unleashed the deadly 'havent seen you since last year' joke. "Thank you for the flowers, really. Funnily enough, this one is actually my birth flower!" He gently gestured to the carnations, which belonged to January. (edited)

“And you must be mine.” He said with a smile before sitting down cross-legged on the blanket across from him. He spotted the orange sodas off to the side- he was quite fond of those, actually, they were one of the only things he drank that weren’t alcoholic. Tavek had no need to drink liquids at all, and so he really only did it when he wanted to be drunk. “I think they are important to this holiday? I did a lot of research on Earth things before I went to the Academy.” He shrugged. “I like those sodas, though the ones under the bush next to you? Did you bring them?” He said, having spotted the place Wesley had tucked them away. He had good eyes, as an android, he’d replaced and upgraded them many times. “Oh? A lucky pick, then. My birth flower is the daisy, I’m pretty sure. I don’t like those much, though, I like roses. Maybe I should’ve been activated in June.” He laughed.

, Wesley forgot the sodas existed for a moment, until it slapped back into his mind at full speed. He let out a bit of a sheepish chuckle. "Yeah, I brought the jarritos.. but then I saw there were already drinks, and I didn't want to feel silly. Hold on a moment." The ensign carefully scooted out of the seat, the bouquet still gently wrapped in his arms as if it was something fragile. He knelt down just enough to pick up each bottle by its neck. Once he was back to the table, Wesley set one bottle down adjacent to Tavek before he set one down near himself. "Coral-colored ones are pretty neat, so are the lavender ones.. daisies can be neat too. Symbolizes new beginnings, just like spring. Growth.. renewal.. " He began to chuckle a bit too. "Meanwhile June is symbolic for a ton of romance.. that's probably why they use roses.. what kind of rose do you like the best?" Wes gently thumbed at the base of the bouquet from under the table. Maybe Wesley was overthinking all of this earlier, all his paranoia had him preparing for the worse.

“Carnations can be any color, if you put them in dyed water. They’re very customizable. I like the symbolism of daisies, they just seem so.. innocent, maybe. I don’t think they fit very well with how I am.” He said, taking a soda bottle with a smile. He’d not brought anything alcoholic with him, wanting to stay sober for today- though going on a date dead sober wasn’t something he’d ever done before. He hoped it’d go well. Idly, he twisted the usually hard-to-open cap off with zero effort, the benefits of being robotic were many. Whether he’d rejected the concept of him being innocent because it didnt match his aesthetic, or because it didn’t match his life story, was something even he didn’t know. “I like a classic red. They’re very romantic. I can’t smell very well, but they’re strong enough that I can appreciate them that way too.” He replied, before taking a sip of soda. “I’ve seen you around Engineering- you’re new, right? Apologies, I’ve not left the repairs bay very often recently.”

, While the ensign meant lavender roses, the idea about dying carnations and daisies piqued his interest. It was a nice crafting idea. "Sometimes it's cliché to like the classics, but sometimes nothing hits better than a classic." Wesley looked at his bottle's cap, before he peeked into the basket to see if there was a bottle opener.. he carefully scooted one of the bottle of Welch's Sparkling Red Grape before coming upon the small opener. Making sure not to touch anything else, his nimble fingers pinched up the opener and plucked it from the basket so he could open the jarrito. "Yeah! I docked onto 777 about a week before the solstice ball. Bumped into the tco, had some soup in a mug.. " Allan Allen has yet to catch Wesley for a casual conversation. "I'm Ensign Rodríguez, or I suppose for today I'm just Wesley. I work the delta shift.. that might be why you don't see me as much either.. then again, I don't think I've been inside the repair bay yet. I do quite a bit of maintenance in the Jefferies." He sipped at the fizzy, orange liquid from the glass bottle as his other arm remained around the bouquet. Wes looked at them again for a breath moment before casually lifting his arms and leaning his head down to meet the flowers halfway to steal a whiff of their varying scents and sweetnesses.

“Mm, you might be right on that. A classic goes a long way. Though.. maybe I’m just bit basic in that regard. I might be a bit.. I think it’s called cheesy, in Standard.” And he kind of was- very romantic in a very stereotypical way. Though, mainly because he had studied romance rather than experiencing it for himself. He’d studied a lot of Federation and human things from afar without ever experiencing them in his own life. He’d even researched what families could be like in a few of the most common Federation cultures, just so he had somewhat of a reference- considering he didn’t really have one of his own. “Soup in a mug.. don’t those come in bowls? Like a mug with a handle? Are you sipping it like coffee?” Tavek was confused. Not once in his research of the Federation, or in his time living in it, had he encountered soup in a mug. At least, not that he remembered. “I’m Tavek, Tavek tr’Lliehn. And yeah, I don’t work the delta shift, while I pull overtime a lot I’m usually never in Engineering that late. I mean, for me it’s different since I have a project that needs to be done ASAP and I can’t spend too much time away from it. Plus, I can just.. plug myself in and keep working. Benefits of being an android.” He chuckled.

, "Sometimes the classics is what keeps us from forgetting ourselves.. it's always good to return to them every now and then. Cheesy is sometimes something we all need a little bit of. Maybe I'm cheesy or cliché for me to drink a jarrito now and then, enjoy strawberry paletas, or sometimes miss watching the most absolutely unhinged shows late at night as a kid.. but if that's me, then I guess I like being cheesy." He grinned softly, before he gently wiggled kne of the carnations from the bouquet and set it behind his ear. Maybe this was to look a bit cheesy too. It was Valentine's after all, today was a free pass to be cheesy. "Yep! They served quite a few different soups in a mug. I had the tomato, then I ripped up a hasperat and mixed it in. Pretty good. Forgot to use the spoon so it took forever to 'sip' it down.." The ensign adjusted the flower in ear. One could say he felt bonita. "Delta shift felt like a good pick. Work Delta, half of a sleep cycle during Alpha, use the Beta, and then sleep most of Gamma. That way technically there's some social time." If Wesley actually ever used the socializing time, his mother would probably die of shock. He was still too introverted to regularly socialize. Truth be told, Wes used a few of his vacation time to line up just right for today. "The more I think on it, I am quite happy to be on 777. I know it's may not be as exciting to some as a spaceship that is constantly on the move.. but to have something that's stable like a starbase makes it kind of like moving to a new home. I know home is really supposed to be the people— but.. yeah. Am I allowed to ask what the project is? If it's something above my rank then I'll forget I asked, since it sounds pretty dang important if you're constantly pulling overtime."

“Jarritos are soda… what’s a paleta?” He asked. Obviously he had not studied human cultures enough, it seemed. Oh well, he had hundreds of years for that if nothing else tried to take him off the census. “For me, it’s romance movies. I watch a lot of those. Never had a romance arc myself, but I thought it would be good to study just in case.” He admitted with a little laugh. “Oh.. it sounds convenient to carry it around, since it has a handle.” He said. Maybe he should start drinking soup in mugs.. wait, he didn’t even eat soup. He’d not had soup in.. a while, it took up so much stomach space that could be spent on things with more flavor. “It must be quiet, during Delta. I wouldn’t know, I work Alpha and sometimes roll over into part of Beta depending on what happens that day. Not like I can up and leave mid-repair on someone.” He shrugged. “777 can be.. far too eventful, at times. But it’s fun. There’s something for everyone. As for the project.. long and painful story, but I got electrocuted to the point I need a new body. So, I’ve been making said body. Turns out it’s a lot of work.” He shrugged again. “But yeah, important. I wonder if organics feel bad that they can’t replace their bodies..” He said, an odd thing to mention but it was in his brain at the moment.

, "Paletas are like.. you make a creamy mixture of fresh fruit and you shove a little popsicle stick in it and then you freeze it. It doesn't have to be just fruit, sometimes they can be spicy too." He softly nodded at the mention of romance movies — despite the fact Wes would probably never admit to if he's watched any or not. He hasn't. At the mention of a new body, the tinkering side of the ensign seemed to be piqued. Wesley was about to offer a hand if ever needed — but then he recalled the amount of times his tinkering spontaneously combusted.. and he didn't want Tavek to burst into flames for no reason. "I've met a few people who wished they could live forever like the stories. I never understood it. Every day that one gets to age is kind of like a blessing. If my life had no end, I might run out of purpose, or see it as no longer meaningful.. it's just how I was raised.. I just wouldn't know what to do with all that time." A thought popped into his head that had spawned from Tavek's odd thing. "Do you think that one day you wouldn't want to replace your body? Like.. if your body got injured, but you decided that it would be your last body." As if to ask the android if he ever thought about choosing his own mortality. Though it was probably best not to cremate the body.. given the.. synthetic flesh..

“Ooh.. they seem nice. I wonder if there are any places that sell them for real on the station, I don’t usually waste the stomach space and hassle on anything replicated.” He laughed. It was true- he didn’t eat often, and when he did it was usually something that was actually made, because the only time he ate was at restaurants. He didn’t sense sense taste well, at least in this body, and emptying out the contents later was annoying, so the only times he did consume anything was to eat a bunch of sweets, or to go drinking. “I wonder that too. I don’t plan on living forever, though I know people that do. I want a few hundred years to experience everything I can. I sometimes feel bad though, that most organics don’t get enough time. There’s so much to do, not enough time to do it.” He thought for a moment, before speaking again. “When I get to 500, that’ll be it. Seems like a good place to cut it off if there’s technically no limit to how long I could go. Damaged or not, thats where I’ll end, I think, so it’s done at a nice pretty number. Living much longer after that seems silly.. what would there even be to do after that? He shrugged.

, "500 sounds like a good placeholder. That way you can decide whether you feel if it's time before or after.. but as for what to do.. I guess you'll just have to find that out when you get there. This station might not even be here in 500 years, you'll get to witness things that most organics witness maybe only once in their lifetime. Maybe you'll see things that we never imagined.. how music and art evolved.. how the future looks back to right now — or if they overlook us altogether." "Time takes all, nature reclaims eventually reclaims what is hers. Even the writing on gravestones fade, and eventually no one remembers those who everyone thought would be remembered. One day, even someone as impactful as Spock may be lost to time." He softly propped his chin up with his hand. "And maybe that's okay.. maybe it is better to be loved by your closest few than to be remembered by many." Wesley found himself staring at Tavek's details for a few brief moments. It was.. how to say.. he wasn't really staring at Tavek. Partially, he was looking at his new friend — but mostly he was lost in thought and just happened to be staring in the android's direction for a few seconds before Wes slowly shifted his gaze back towards the intricate weaves of the basket. Wesley wouldn't mind if this is how the date went, just somewhat deep talks or reflection on deeper topics. Though the ensign partially wondered if he would get in trouble.. if he decided to swipe the basket after the date was over.

“Oh, it probably won’t. Most things don’t stick around that long. I only know a few androids who plan to live as long or longer than me. I do think it’ll be cool, seeing how things change. Mainly I want to outlive some of the evils that exist currently.” That being the Tal Shiar, mainly. Outliving that would be fun, watching it lose all its power and fade into historical obscurity would be a treat for a man who would hold a grudge until either he or the opposing party died. “Maybe that is good, to be loved that way. Being an android, my situation is weird. I won’t have any family after my creator dies, not that I consider him as such. And I’ll outlive most of my friends.” He sighed. “But anyway, that’s depressing! What’s in that picnic basket? Anything worth the stomach space?” He asked, seeing as Wesley was reaching for it. “My friend made these cookies once, they weren’t burnt per se, but they were completely flat, like a cracker- they’d not risen at all. I.. I’ve never baked or made any food, because I fear I’ll be worse than her.” He said out of the blue. Listen, the topic had turned to snacks, so he thought the random anecdote was justified.

, The ensign let out a small laugh. "It's only a bit depressing if you haven't made peace with it.. but yeah, let's see what's in the basket." He carefully pulled the covering off the top of the basket, his green eyes scanning over the sandwiches, fruits, and pastries. "That depends. If you never try again, then you'll be worse than her." Wes took a few moments to clean his hands with a bit of sanitizer, mostly because he wanted to seem polite when it came to handling food. Then he used the basket's former covering as a barrier to gently set out the offerings. When the smell of strawberries hit his nose.. the ensign knew what he was eating first. Wesley was a whore for strawberries, and he knew it too. He quietly plucked up a miniature turnover pastry, biting off the decorative slice of strawberry off the top of the flaky crust before he dared to gnaw on the pastry's corner. "You should try to cook a grilled cheese first. Those are a little hard to mess up. It took a while before I could cook. First time in the kitchen, I managed to burn a tuna sandwich — despite being nowhere near the oven. I can follow recipes now, but if I make something from scratch it always ends up looking more burnt than Pompeii." The universe has yet to explain how one could burn a cold, tuna sandwich without a source of heat.

“Ooo.. raspberry tarts, they know me so well!” He said, having spotted a few when Wesley opened the picnic basket and took out the goods. Quite delicately, he reached over to grab one, not touching anything else. The tips of his fingers were lighter than the rest of his skin, discolored from the electricity that had been forced into him months ago. Well, he wouldn’t have to worry about that soon. The new body was almost finished. “Maybe.. I never had to cook, since I don’t have to eat. There wasn’t really a reason for me to learn. A grilled cheese… do you just put a piece of cheese on a grill? But wouldn’t the cheese melt and make a mess?” He laughed at Wesley’s own cooking misfortune. If Tavek had seen a grilled cheese, he’d forgotten about it. Sometimes it was quite obvious that he wasn’t from the Federation.

, "Noo, it's a piece of cheese between two pieces of bread and then you grill it.. but yes technically you're still going to make a mess." The young man grinned softly, carefully nibbling away at the turnover. Afraid of getting crumbs everywhere, he held the pastry by his teeth as he unfolded one of the napkins. Wesley didn't have to question if Tavek was or wasn't from the federation, simply because it didn't matter at the current moment. "You could always use the holodeck to practice cooking. That way, if you burn something, you just say 'end program' and there's no longer a mess... Then when you're confident, you can do it for real." "Cooking is a good skill to have, even if you don't require food.. like if you had a friend who got sick. Sure, they could go for a hypospray, replicate some soup. It sounds silly.. but I think having someone who would take their time doing it the old way just to bring you the soup, would kind of be healing in its own way. There's something to be said about the imperfections of food made by hand, it makes each serving its own experience, its own warmth." Soon enough, Wes used the napkin to clean any of the sticky filling from his fingers. He'd been talking so much — and figured maybe he ought to stay quiet and just listen. Sure, Wesley was excited to be talking to someone, but if this was a blind date then technically he should be listening as well. The ensign brought the orange soda to his lips, and just took this moment to take everything in. Part of him worried that this blind date was going to end all too soon. All good things had to come to an end eventually, but at least he would have a good day to remember.

“Ah.. that makes more sense. The cheese would probably burn otherwise. But, how do you stop the bread from burning?” He asked. Somehow, in fifteen years, Tavek had not cooked a single thing in his life. Even Silver was better than him, and she could turn a cookie into carbon if she got distracted. “That’s a good idea.. that way there’s no mess. I’ve not really been much of a holodeck guy before. I’d never used one before I went to the Academy.. sometimes I forget they’re an option. They’re nice when you want to see snow. I miss real snow, I’ve not seen any since I went to Japan last year.” How he missed Hokkaido! He’d made this thing that humans called a snow angel, it had been amazing. He adored snow. “That sounds sweet.. it’s a nice thing to do that for someone? I’ll keep it in mind in case someone gets sick, I have friends who like making tea for people if they get ill. I’ve never been a tea guy.. it tastes too much like water to me.” Tavek was a guy who drank anything but water. It was too boring, only good if he needed to chug a lot of it to cool down. He preferred some sort of fruity cocktail, or a nice glass of lemonade. “I like this thing that’s been set up, the blind dates. Is it a common thing in the Federation? I’d not ever heard of them until I watched a reality TV show about them. They seemed very.. uh.. dramatic, but this is chill. I like it.”

, "You just cook each side until it's got a bit of crust. There's probably a few videos on it. You've been to Japan? Like actual Japan? AND you've seen actual snow?" Wesley forgot about snow, he didn't even think to let the holodeck make some. He spent so much of his life between Mexico and only a few years with Starfleet so far.. after hitting space he just forgot about places to visit. Maybe he should visit a few places, but that required finding other places to read up on. "It didn't even cross my mind to see snow in the holodeck, most of my hours in the deck is normally training.." "I haven't had tea in a while, unless you count cold sweet tea or other fresh waters.. sometimes it gets annoying having to tell the computer the default when it says 'there are many types of aguas frescas, please specify'.." He let out a soft hum as he looked over into the basket once more. Small, triangle sandwiches were also already included. Wesley picked up a small, clearwrapped triangle to look at it. It was very fluffy, its center stuffed with a yellow creamy substance littered with chunks of white something. He didn't recognize it, but he figured maybe it would taste good. "Hm? I think it's moreso a station-sponsored thing by the event committee, not so much specifically Federation. I like it too though, I guess I was worried about nothing." Wesley grinned as he quietly unwrapped the sandwich. "Yeah all those shows are dramatized on purpose to make them addictive to watch, because it's a distortion of reality rather than something cheesily narrative. The Bachelorette is kind of trashy but Corazones en la Nebulosa and Honor y Fuego is addicting." Wesley bit into the sandwich, it didn't take long for him to cover his mouth so he could quickly swallow with a wide grin. "I don't know what kind of sandwich this is but this is probably going to be the only thing I eat for the next three days." (edited)

17:02

. The freckled idiot with the widest and dumbest grin was enjoying an 'egg sando' and he didn't even know it. It would be the only thing he ordered from the replicator for the rest of the week. (edited)

Tavek nodded astutely, as if he had been given some ancient wisdom on the creation of this dish. Hopefully he’d be alright.. if Silver could make yakisoba alright, Tavek could make a grilled cheese. He hoped so, at least. “Yes!! I made a snowman, I think it’s called. And a snow angel too! I lived in space mostly before, so I’d never seen any before. Very cold, but I liked it. This time of year, some of Japan’s very snowy. Though some is warm too, I also went swimming at a beach on another island there at the same time. There’s so much climate variation on Earth, it’s such a cool planet!” Yeah… Tavek was a bit of an Earth nerd. Well.. you couldn’t blame him, it was a very cool planet indeed. “You only train in the holodeck? You don’t even go to the beach?” That was what Tavek used the holodeck for, at least. “An agua fresca? My translator has that as fresh water.. but I thought all drinkable water was fresh. Is it like, especially fresh?” Maybe super-duper fresh water would actually taste good. He’d ask Silver, but Silver hadn’t been able to drink when she’d been around ultra pure, untouched water. “I guess I was worried about nothing too. You’re a good date, I’m glad we’re in the same division so we’ll probably run into each other again.” He said very plainly.* “Oh yeah, the Bachelorette is so trash. Honor y Fuego.. I’ve heard of that one, I need to watch it.” He looked at the sandwich- having cameras for eyes meant he could zoom in on stuff. It looked very yellow.. egg, maybe? He’d had an egg sandwich like that in Japan, he wasn’t really an egg guy but it was alright. “Uhhh.. egg maybe? I remember having a sandwich like that on Earth.”

, Wesley forgot that he just casually mentioned the show that he watched at 2:47 AM when he's pretending to do Delta Shift work — in his defense he's done all his tasks before he watches. He circled back around. "Yeah, nothing much with the holodeck.. maybe next time I go, I'll skip around a few places and see where I'd like to take some vacation hours the next time I get leave." He might start with Japan, a few planets, definitely avoid Risa of course. "Oh— my bad, there's difference between just water and 'fresh waters'. Your translator says fresh waters but what it is — is a cup of water, a cup of chopped fruit, a little bit of sugar, and a little bit of lime juice. You just blend all of it together and you don't drain out any of the fruit.. because then it's healthier than just plain juice.. maybe you can make it with raspberries but I know you definitely can't use blackberries unless you like sucking up a bunch of seeds.." He looked at the yellow sandwich, before taking another small bite to confirm. "Yeah, probably is egg, but the bread is so fluffy.. I didn't know it could get this cushiony." The ensign gently squeezed his sandwich a couple times and the fluff was absolute delicate. "The bright side about being from the same department is that at least the date should end on a good note, so it won't affect either of our shifts.. but I don't worry about it. I think we're both professional enough not to let a good or bad date affect our work on-the-clock."

“Go look at Mol’Rihan too! There’s so many nice programs for there, all the natural beauty and stuff.“ He’d only been once, but he’d loved it when he was there on shore leave. He’d probably go back to the Hara compound if he was invited. If not, well, he’d just wander around the capital and find his own fun. “Ooo.. like water but better. Way better. I wanna try it now.. this station could do with a restaurant with all the food you’ve told me about.” Did Tavek know what culture this was from? Probably not. Despite being an earth nerd, stuff did blend together sometimes. “I think so. I’d have to really screw up to end this on a bad note, right? I’m professional enough- but if you’re needing my help at work.. what are you even doing at that point, to be needing robotics help?“ He joked with a small laugh.

, "There might be a restaurant like that already, I don't really go that far from engineering or my quarters.. normally I just get something from the food carts and that's it." Wesley laughed softly in return. "I dabble in whatever fits the mood.. unfortunately, most of the time it ends in a minor fire.. really unsure why. My last infraction before I left ESD involved a little robot — completely made by me except for the bolts — just to deliver items up and down the ridiculously long corridor where I lived with my colleagues. Even though I double-checked, triple-checked, quadruple-checked everything.. it burst into flames while delivering a slice of cake! There was a burn patch in the corridor floor for weeks! I still have the charred chassis.." He stopped for a moment to tilt his head back and get the last gulp of orange soda from that glass bottle. Jarrito gone. "It only happens though when I'm doing something from scratch.. if I'm following a manual or remembering how to fix something or et cetera .. works out totally fine. I am currently tinkering a little something.. and at night I put it in a vacuum box so that if it did burst into flames then there's no oxygen to feed it. I've been building it first in the holodeck, and then repeating the steps with the real one. I'm really trying to not have it burst into flames..." "But if you ever need help with anything — like pick up any assigned tasks so you don't have to step away from your project.. then I will try to help to the best of my abilities." He set the empty bottle beside him on the bench, his arms gently wrapped around the bouquet once more. It was nice to faintly feel the bush of petals against his sweater.

“Oookaaayyy… remind me not to let you near my spot in the repairs bay. You must bring bad luck.” He joked. But in all seriousness, Tavek was not about to let a guy who whatever he touched seemed to explode, into the spot where he worked. Tavek would like his new body not to explode. Or burst into flames. Tavek was melted enough as it was. “Yeah.. good idea to be careful. Maybe get an exorcist too, to purge whatever evil ghost you have that’s cursing your projects.” He laughed. “In all seriousness, tinkering from scratch is risky. You probably got something wrong with the wiring. All it takes is one spark in the wrong place, and if you’ve got anything remotely flammable in the components, it might go up.” “But I will keep this in mind, so I can send you out to do the random non-robotics repairs they sometimes assign to me so I can keep working on my stuff.”

, "Oooh trust me, I do not plan on doing anything that could mess with your project. If you're assigned any maintenance tasks, etc cetera, forward them to me. I can do it without setting anything ablaze.. I don't think I need an exorcist though, my mother has a tendency to sage everything. I turn around for one second and she's burning white sage in my quarters. Any spirits in there are probably gone or smell really nice." Wesley let out a small snort, before he nodded to be kept in mind. He could do the busywork without a problem, otherwise Wesley would have been sent back to his courses a long time ago. "I promise though, I'm getting better.. the computer thinks I'm down to 42% chance of scratch-projects setting ablaze." Previously? About 68% chance of something setting itself on fire, 35% chance of it exploding. 8% chance that it implodes. Wesley wasn't going to stop until he could at least get to 12%.. then maybe he could be safe enough. "I look forward to seeing your project when it's finished.. and if I'll maintain my distance from the repair bay." Wesley adjusted the flower that was still tucked behind his ear, before carefully taking it out and affixing it to his sweater like a little corsage thingy. "It's too bad that flowers wilt so quickly.. it would be nice if these stayed alive in the vase for more than three days."

@Nyx

“What would the sage be for? Do the spirits not like the smell?” He asked. Tavek himself did not have an incredible sense of smell- something he was remedying in the updated body that he’d never gotten around to. Updates or work involving anything in the facial area were very hard to do on yourself, and Tavek did not like others working on him, so problems or things to improve in that area often went unaddressed unless they were dire. “42% is still not good.. I don’t think anything I do catches on fire unless I want it to. Maybe I’m luckier.” He said, wondering what Wesley must have done in a past life to have that bad of luck. Though.. Tavek couldn’t talk. He knew he had no previous lives, so he didn’t even have that to blame for why his luck was abysmal. “You can have them pressed and framed. They’ll stay around for longer that way. Though.. I kind of like that they aren’t permanent. It means you have to go on more dates to get more flowers from other people. Or, you know, go to the florist.” He laughed.

, "La Limpia is an old, old practice of burning sage or copal and waving the smoke around to clean the energy of a room.. not like warp core energy.. but the ingrained spiritual and heavy emotional energies that may have been left behind by trauma or illness.. to restore a spiritual balance. It takes time, you do it slowly, with intention. My mother, I am her only son, so she is very determined that nothing in the physical world or the spiritual world harms me, I suppose. Plus, it kind of smells nice afterwards." He smiled softly, looking back down to the bouquet of flowers. "I know 42% isn't great, hence why I keep trying, keep learning, hopefully I can get down to 15%." His eyes did not leave the bouquet as he gently caressed one of the roses on the outer layer of the bouquet. "Oh yeah, I plan on pressing and framing one of each. I didn't know there was a florist on the starbase, I might swing by after this and get some marigolds.. I love the bright orange petals. Some of the quarters feel cold, even with decor. I'll wait until I rank up before asking to really make changes to the room." "But I agree, some things shouldn't be permanent — sometimes it makes you cherish them more. As for more dates? I'm not sure, I'd actually have to socialize to find out who I could go on a date with." Wesley picked up a napkin and gently picked up another small egg sandwich, nibbling on it.

@Nyx

“Ah… I think that’s good, that your mother cares for you so much. That’s something a lot of people would do anything for.” Tavek included, in that. “I believe in you, you can get down to 15%. Maybe even 0%. I have faith.” Not enough faith to let him in his corner of the repairs bay, though. Tavek wasn’t insane. He’d prefer his new body not to explode. “You can just.. do it now. I didn’t change quarters when I ranked up here. You can alter your stuff within reason as long as it’s not permanent, just put in a request. I put in a bunch of shelves for my cat to climb.” He said, reaching for another pastry. This.. this was nice. Tavek liked the feeling of being here, chatting with someone he liked. “I feel that way about everyone. Nobody’s around forever, and it’s better that way. It teaches you to love everything while you can.” The time ticked by, the two idly chatting as the drinks and snacks vanished. Even though it almost felt too soon, it was time to say goodbye.

, Wesley was about to respond to everything else Tavek had said, about faith, belief, dating.. until the android mentioned a cat. If Wesley's pupils could expand just now, they would have. "Oh my god you have a cat? That's so cool, I was adopt one in a few months.. or at least try to see if the fated feline distribution supply chain works in the middle of space—" "Like I want to adopt one but I'd rather one just adopt me so I'm thinking next time I get leave I could go back to Earth and just run around until my fated feline finds me—" Alliteration. In Wesley's defense, if a stray dog distributed itself onto him, he wouldn't turn it down.. but cats were easier to care for on a station.. and probably easier to transport. "What am I babbling about? What's the baby's name? What's she like?" All cats are precious babies, even if they may or may not be older than Tavek. Just as Wesley pursed his lips to speak again, he felt a small buzz on his wrist. The blind date was about over, which twisted Wesley's gut just a bit. He quietly snoozed the silent alarm, before giving a small smile up towards Tavek. The ensign didn't have the heart to interrupt the android just yet, so he figured that the nine minutes given by a snooze would hopefully be enough to wrap up a successful evening. So he sat there and quietly listened, as cats were always a good topic to talk about. Wesley was partly excited, as he was going to take some of the crewman's suggestions to the holodeck.. sample new places.. maybe learn something new.. socialize more. Okay, maybe not the last one. Not for now anyway.

“The cat distribution system does work! I went to Earth and in just a week one found me!” He smiled. Azuki was like Tavek- discarded before being rescued into a much better situation. “His name is Azuki! It means red bean, because he is orange and he was small like a little bean when I found him. He’s much bigger now. But I found him on Okinawa in a box of red bean mochi!!” He smiled, recounting the story. With all the snacks and drinks gone, and the time to leave encroaching, Tavek stood up- slightly mournful about it ending, but he smiled nonetheless. “Well.. this has been great! If you ever want to hang out again, just message me! Or find me in Engineering. We should go for drinks!” He waved goodbye, before they parted ways- Wesley with significantly more flowers than he had arrived with.