Bouquets, Basslines, and the Moment She Knew

Posted on Thu Oct 23rd, 2025 @ 8:39am by Commander Cressida Vale MD & Petty Officer 1st Class Alina Tevaris

1,894 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Prologue
Location: Various
Timeline: Early 2387

Early 2387

Everything was coming together. Everything was going great.

The outfit? Check. White top, snug and emphasizing her figure without showing much skin. Black skirt, short but not scandalous. Tall black boots, adding style and grace.

The look? Check. Long hair clean, straight, and tied behind her back, completely free of her face. Make-up on point, subtle but bringing out her cheeks and eyes. Just a little bit of lipstick for that red pop.

The flowers? Double-check. Collected from the Bak'u planet. Arranged into a bouquet with care and dedication. Maybe a bit amateur-ish, especially to the ship's botanist, but sincere and real.

The venue? Check. There was a table with their name on it at The Green Kiss, in the sound-dampened part where you could hold a conversation.

So if everything was going so well, why were there so many butterflies trying so hard to escape Cressida's stomach?

Because you want this to go perfectly.

Welp. Nothing else to do now except go meet her.

**

Alina’s quarters were four decks down; a fast if nervous journey down four flights of stairs brought Cressida to her door.

She took a few heartbeats to steel herself and then chimed the door.

It opened, and the smiling figure on the other side, with a bow in her hair and a cute light pink dress and red jacket on her shoulders, caused Cressida’s nervousness to melt away. “Hi.”

“Hello!” Alina said cheerily, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, causing her light brown tresses to follow her movement up and down. “Come on in! Oh are those for me?”

“They are!” Cressida answered, handing the bouquet over as she stepped inside. “From the Ba’ku world.”

Alina took them and breathed them in deeply. She exhaled with a sigh and a smile. “They’re perfect. Pink roses, purple larkspur, yellow chrysanthemums. Beautiful choices. Thank you! Give me a minute please while I put these in water. Make yourself comfortable!”

Alina’s quarters were a lot smaller than Cressida’s, her rank affording her fewer luxuries. The common area was still spacious enough though, accommodating a table and chairs and some storage. Three potted plants were on a shelf along one of the walls, adding a splash of green to an otherwise colourless room. Two closed doors concealed a bedroom for each of the occupants, while a third hid the washroom. Cressida pulled out a chair and took a seat while Alina disappeared into one of the bedrooms.

She came out a few seconds later with a glass vase, which she set down on the table, as well as a packet and a pair of small pruning clippers. She filled the vase from a watering can that had been hidden on the floor near the potted plants and stirred in the contents of the packet – plant food, Cressida assumed. The botanist quickly trimmed the ends of the flowers and in the vase they went.

“Beautiful,” they both said in unison. Each of them blushed.

“So, what are we doing tonight?” Alina asked.

**

Though two cocktail glasses that once shined with glowing green liqueur were empty, the space around Cressida and Alina was full of laughter and mirth as they shared stories from their youth, from Alina’s antics in the forests around her home on Alpha Centauri VII to Cressida’s adventures in urban exploration on Titan.

“You did not!” Cressida said in response to Alina’s last story, her ribs sore and her throat dry from how much she was laughing.

“It’s true!” Alina replied, grinning and giggling. “All of it!”

“So you dived into the river to save a puppy?”

“Well, dived miiiight be a strong word,” Alina conceded, her eyes alight with mischief. “Fell in might be more accurate. And the distressed puppy miiiiight have been a coincidence. But the important thing is I came out of the water having saved the day!”

“And I’m sure the cute girl whose dog was rescued only saw the brave wildlife explorer rescue her precious puppo?” Cressida asked with an arched eyebrow.

Alina blushed. “Well, it seemed not to be the best time to argue semantics.” She gestured to their empty glasses. “Want a refill?”

“Actually,” Cressida started, a hint of nervousness climbing back into her voice, “I was going to ask if you wanted to dance.”

“I’d love to!” Alina answered, hopping to her feet. Cressida was up a second later and found herself taken by the hand and pulled out of the quiet zone.

Crossing the sound-dampening wall, the sudden increase in volume and vibrations from the bass felt like a hit to the chest as the holographic DJ ran through a mix of House music from the 20th to 22nd centuries. Cressida could feel the beat deep in her chest, matching almost perfectly her already racing heartbeat.

Alina bounced excitedly as she pulled Cressida into an open space on the dance floor. Her hips and shoulders moved in sync with the rhythm, the wordless music moving her of its own accord.

Cressida started moving too, a bit more reticently than her dance partner, bashful in this crowd.

But then Alina smiled. Not that she hadn’t been smiling all night, but this one…this was a special smile meant just for her. As if Alina were silently saying Dance with me. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about here. There’s no wrong move. I’ve got you.

The doctor almost immediately felt herself loosen up, rigid dance moves softening until her body flowed more like Alina’s. She didn’t have the botanist’s grace on the dance floor but she was moving with the beat, which sped up as the DJ mixed in the next song.

Cressida grinned, giggling; she hadn’t had this much fun in years.

Around her the world was being drowned out. She wasn’t feeling the heat from the other bodies on the dance floor. She wasn’t smelling their perfume or sweat. She wasn’t noticing the flashing green and pink lights. She was barely hearing the lyrics (something about whiskey neat?) There was only the beat, and Alina Tevaris.

A flash of excitement crossed Alina’s eyes as the song started to change. “Oh my goodness I love this song!” she yelled to Cressida. “I’ve not heard it in forever!”

The bass felt heavier, the beat faster. Cressida and Alina found themselves drawn closer together, not by the press of the crowd, but by a gravity between them. Their movements were almost in sync.

Lady, Hear me tonight
'Cause my feeling, Is just so right
As we dance, By the moonlight
Can't you see, You're my delight

Cressida felt Alina’s breath, hot against her cheek. Her breath caught in her throat. She froze for just a few beats before taking initiative and placing her lips on Alina’s. Gently. Softly. A feather touch.

Lady, I just feel like
I won't get you, Out of my mind
I feel love, For the first time
And I know that it's true I can tell by the look in your eyes

Alina leaned in, pressing into the kiss. It wasn’t just a gentle brush. There was feeling behind it.

It was real.

And as Cressida danced, taking Alina’s hand, melting into her dance partner, she realized that she was falling truly, madly, deeply in love.


7 November 2388, 0230 hours

Cressida’s eyes opened slowly as consciousness came back to her. The bridal suite was lit a soft blue by the planet’s glowing rings coming in through the window.

She sat up slowly, careful not to wake the bed’s other occupant. She smiled seeing Alina’s hair splayed across the pillow, sleeping soundly after a busy day filled with love and joy. Alina was holding the edge of the white Ba’ku cotton sheets; her wedding band caught the light from the window, shining on the yellow-gold in a vine motif, flecks of green enamel on leaves carved into the design giving it character.

Cressida looked at her own left hand, smiling as she examined her own band. The Palladium gave it a little bit of heft, enough that she’ll never forget she’s wearing it, while the matte smooth surface reflected the light from outside. She took it off to read the inscription on the interior surface. She knew it matched the one in Alina’s. Just six digits. 65848.3. Yesterday. Their wedding day.

She moved quietly to the refresher to get a glass of water and carefully examined the room. The ambient light and fresh air came in from the balcony door, outside of which was the woods where they would spend half their honeymoon starting in the morning. Across the back of the chair were their two dresses, both white but cut and accentuated to reflect their own personalities. On the desk were a stack of cards, as well as the framed picture which had been signed by their guests.

That had been a nice touch. One of Alina’s cousins had one at his wedding, the first wedding they’d attended together. A photograph of the couple, happy and in love, with an oversized frame and a large mat holding it together. The frame was laid flat on a table near a selection of ink pens, for guests to write little messages for them. Alina had decided to decorate it further by adding flower pressings to the mat. A very Alina thing to do.



Cressida tried to read some of the sweet messages as she sipped her water. She had trouble in the faint light, but that didn’t stop her from trying. Jace’s in particular made her smile; she was so glad he was able to co—

She squinted at the mat, noticing something about those pressed petals for the first time.

The flowers. Pink roses. Purple larkspur. Yellow chrysanthemums.

She kept them.

Cressida smiled and wiped a tear from her eye, turning to again watch Alina, the bedsheet gently rising and falling with Alina’s breathing as Cressida found herself loving her even more.

She kept them after all these years.

Finishing her water, she climbed back into bed. The sheets lifted, Alina’s hand absentmindedly started reaching out for her. She slid close and took Alina’s hand, kissed it, and wrapped it around her as she slipped back into sleep, never having felt more loved than she did in that exact moment.


END


Lieutenant Commander (later Commander) Cressida Vale, MD
Chief Medical Officer, USS Guinevere

Petty Officer 2nd Class (later Petty Officer 1st Class) Alina Tevaris
Botanist, USS Guinevere


OOC: Nightclub mix:

“Love Game” by Chillout Music Ensemble

“It Ain’t Me” by Kygo and Selena Gomez

“Lady (Hear Me Tonight)” by Modjo

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