Ezra, T’Luni, and Olaf were strolling along the boardwalk in the late afternoon sun, laughing and chatting merrily as they passed vendor kiosks selling all kinds of different products. The air was filled with the smells of flowery perfumes, charred meat, and salty sea air. One particular fruit stand they passed was a riot of colour, covered in long dangling vines which ended in fruits in impossible shades of blue and gold. 

The stall keeper was an older Andorian gentleman wearing a wide-brimmed sunhat, and he was waving at the trio enthusiastically. “Come on over, travellers! I have a Cebalaran delicacy, guaranteed to cool you down! The first taste is free!” he added cheerfully. 

Ezra attempted to steer the group away from the stall, citing “…probably just a mango this guy painted to separate fools and their credits…”, but Olaf hadn’t heard him, as he was already making a beeline for the man and his fruits. Rolling his eyes, Ezra beckoned T’Luni to follow him and went to talk some sense into his friend.

When they got to the stall, Olaf was looking at Ezra with a mildly pathetic expression. “It’s fruit,” he said pleadingly, “Fruit is good, right? Fruit is safe?”

The vendor plucked three gleaming golden orbs from a pile and handed one to each of them. “Tarlaki Firefruit. Perfect for the senses. Enjoy!”

Ezra narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Firefruit? Why does that not sound at all refreshing?”

T’Luni, who apparently had had a tricorder somewhere on her person this whole time, was holding the fruit in one hand and scanning it with the other. “It appears to contain a mild neuroactive chemical. They are not harmful, but they are… mood-altering.”

“That,” Olaf said with a smile, “Sounds like fun.” He then took a huge bite out of the golden fruit, letting the juices flow down onto his hands. “It’s really sweet!” he said, his voice muffled through the mouthful. “And also tart. And like, I don’t know – sparkly?”

He finished his mouthful, wiping his chin on his arm. “Whoa… I feel weird,” he said.

Ezra looked doubtfully at the fruit, then shrugged his shoulders. It is shore leave after all, and his attempts to ditch Olaf had failed, so he decided to lean into it. T’Luni must have sensed his decision, because when their eyes met, she gave him a small nod and raised the fruit to her lips. Together, they bit down into the fragrant golden spheres, Ezra taking a reasonably large bite, while T’Luni, ever composed, opted to take a small, precise nibble instead. 

“Okay,” Ezra said once he swallowed, “That was… actually really good.”

T’Luni nodded her agreement. “Acceptable.”

Within minutes of leaving the stall, the effects of the Firefruit hit them all, including T’Luni. The first thing they noticed was that the colours of the boardwalk seemed sharper, brighter. The breeze from the ocean felt oddly musical. Somewhere in the distance, a person was playing drums, but Ezra felt like the drumbeats were taking place in his head. 

Olaf blinked. “Oh wow,” he said. “Am I… am I glowing? Are you glowing? No, wait, everything is glowing.”

Ezra laughed, maybe a little too loudly. “Okay, maybe we should sit down for a minute – or ten.”

And then came the music. In a small pavilion just off the boardwalk, a heavy, infectious beat was pounding out of a set of portable speakers. A crowd was gathering around a trio of street performers, who were break-dancing on a hover mat, spinning, flipping, and defying gravity as the music pumped through the plaza. The audience began clapping in time. An energetic Tellerite, who was obviously controlling the music, pointed to the three officers as they approached the crowd. 

“You three look like fresh faces! You’re in next!” He said loudly. 

Ezra blinked in disbelief. “Wait – what?” 

The crowd around them clapped and cheered. Before he could protest, Ezra was gently shoved into the open circle, followed by a stumbling Olaf, who was looking as shocked as Ezra felt. 

The two looked at each other, and Ezra shrugged. Olaf composed himself, winked at him, then suddenly burst into a spin. Not a good spin, really, more of a flailing, firefruit-fueled tumble, but the crowd went wild all the same. 

Olaf stood back up and caught Ezra by the shoulders. “It’s a dance battle, man! Move your body!” Then he fell into another awkward half-tumble that looked almost intentional.

The Tellarite DJ pointed next to T’Luni. “Okay, Vulcan, let’s see what you’ve got!” 

The eyes of the crowd turned to her as she stepped forward calmly to join her friends. “Vulcans do not engage in competitive physical displays for entertainment,” she said, to a chorus of mild boos. 

Ezra looked relieved for just a moment before T’Luni raised an eyebrow, removed her sandals, then – without a word – slid gracefully into a perfectly controlled windmill, ending in a brief handstand, before she returned to a dignified upright standing position, arms clasped neatly behind her as always. 

The crowd exploded with cheers and applause. Ezra stared at her with his jaw on the floor, stunned. “T’Luni. What the – where did that come from?”

She looked at him, and he could have sworn he saw a glint of joyful mischief in her eyes. “Vulcans do not compete,” she said, “We merely demonstrate proficiency.”

Ezra smiled at her. “Well then, I guess I’m in it too, hey?” He attempted something that was a cross between a moonwalk and a spin. It worked, mostly, considering he didn’t trip over his own feet and largely stayed in time with the music. The crowd seemed to approve. 

“Yeah-haah Bennett!” Olaf shouted over the music, “Now you’ve got it!”, and joined in behind Ezra with a move that could only be described as ‘panicked space jellyfish’. It was very weird, but at least it fit the beat. 

By the time the final music cue hit, the three of them were weirdly in sync. Ezra and Olaf finished in a weird wobbly spin, and T’Luni ended with a perfectly crisp Vulcan salute that somehow looked very cool. The crowd roared in approval.

“WINNERS!” shouted the Tellarite DJ, as the two teams laughed and shook hands. He came and handed Ezra passes for free smoothies. “These guys have STYLE!”

Ezra took the vouchers, then led T’Luni and Olaf out of the still cheering crowd, receiving claps on the shoulder and high fives as he went. When they were safely on the other side of the throng, Ezra collapsed onto a bench, followed by Olaf. 

“That… was fun,” he started, trying to catch his breath, “but I… am never… break-dancing again.”

“You… say that now…” Olaf replied, taking a drink of water. 

T’Luni stood in front of them, serenely adjusting her dress. “That was… unexpectedly stimulating,” she said, “I may consider future exhibitions.”

“Yeah…” puffed Olaf, “About that. Why do you know how to break-dance?”

She raised an eyebrow. “I learned for… cultural context.”

The sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon now, casting shades of gold and purple across the sky. “Okay,” Olaf said, clapping his knees with his hands, “How about we end this day with something normal? Like sitting on the beach, and enjoying the sunset?”

Ezra nodded in agreement. “Yes, sunset. No more… anything.” 

The boardwalk gave way to a stretch of soft white sand, cool on their feet, as the day’s heat finally began to fade. The sun hovered low on the water, casting the gentle waves in shades of amber light. 

Ezra kicked his shoes off and sighed in relief. “Finally, somewhere quiet.”

Olaf stumbled a few steps behind, sipping his smoothie and muttering something about “never eating carnival food again.” The moment his feet touched the sand, he collapsed onto the ground like a man defeated. 

“I’m staying here,” he said, raising a hand weakly before dropping it back to the ground, “This is my life now. The beach is my home.”

Ezra walked a little further down the beach until he found a nice, quiet spot and then sat down, splaying his legs in front of himself and leaning back onto his hands. T’Luni followed him, taking a seat in the sand beside him. She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them with her arms. For a moment, neither of them spoke, and they were engulfed in the low rush of waves lapping the shore, and Olaf’s pitiful, exhausted groans wafting from behind them. 

Finally, Ezra spoke. “Not a bad way to end the day, hey?”

T’Luni glanced at him, her features softened by the amber light of the sun. “It is… peaceful. A necessary counterbalance to the events of today.”

Ezra chuckled. “Yeah, ‘events’ is one way to put it.”

From somewhere vaguely behind them, Olaf weakly raised his smoothie. “Don’t thank me all at once, you two. I basically just made the date epic!”

Ezra shot him an incredulous look over his shoulder. “You mean by almost poisoning yourself with carnival food or almost getting kidnapped by a Klingon lady?”

Olaf waved his hand. “Semantics,” he said. 

Ezra turned back to T’Luni. “Would you consider it a successful date?”

“It was… memorable,” she said with a nod. “And memories we choose to create with others have value. By that metric, yes, I would say it was successful.” She then leaned gently against him and rested her head on his shoulder. Ezra blicked with surprise for a moment, then relaxed into the moment, leaning his head onto hers. 

“It is logical for those engaged in a romantic bond to demonstrate appropriate physical closeness,” she said, as if she were explaining a theorem, “It reinforces connection.”

Ezra smiled wider, feeling a warmth spread in his chest. “Yeah,” he said softly, “It really does.” He wrapped an arm around her, not tightly, just enough to hold her there. She didn’t move away. The pair watched the sun turn the sky orange, then pink, then deep purple as it sank below the waves, listening to Olaf snoring loudly in the background. 

It wasn’t the date Ezra had planned, but somehow, it was just right.