Rarity stood in the turbolift utterly embarrassed that she could not get it straight in her head that where she was heading now is called the mess hall, and the computer will not take her there unless she requests it by the right name.
Ever since Rarity learned how to use the computer system she had been very grateful for how easy it made everything to be. Though, she was a little off-put by the replicators, doing work that would take a seamstress like her days to complete in a manner of seconds. Lucky for her, she was also a fashion designer, so now she only had to learn how to use the software to create her designs for new dresses. That was the tricky part, not only is the program she uses new to her, but she had never even used a computer before her arrival in her life, let alone touched one. However, Rarity still had her little sister, Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle was learning quickly how to use the ship's various software along with her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. The three of them managed to teach Rarity how to use the holodeck for designing dresses, but Rarity still preferred to work things out on pen and paper before she attempted to translate the designs into a file the holodeck can understand.
The turbolift doors open and Rarity steps out and walks towards the cafeteria- I mean- mess hall.
When Rarity entered the mess hall, she saw that it was full of people, not necessarily crowded, but full, all of them enjoying their breakfast or lunch or whatever time it was. It is hard to tell what time it is without a sun orbiting around you. Nevertheless, Rarity walked up to Neelix at the counter and ordered herself some breakfast from the ship's chef.
As Neelix prepared her meal, Rarity noticed a bowl of cake batter that had a plethora of shiny stones mixed in with it.
“Uh, Neelix darling, I do hope you don't plan on feeding that to the rest of the crew,” she said as she pointed to the bowl of batter in question.
Neelix gave her a confused look as he looked back at the bowl of batter and realized what she was talking about.
“Not to worry miss Rarity,” he said, “That's only leftovers of a special Jimbalian fudge cake I whipped up for Spike. I'm trying some new recipes with precious jewels just for him. It’s just very tricky to know how to actually bake jewels. Anyway, I'll be sure to wash out the bakeware thoroughly once I am done with it.”
Rarity smiled widely as Neelix pulled out the finished Jimbalian fudge cake iced with a stylized image of a purple and green baby dragon’s head on top.
“My, how artistic.” Rarity complimented.
“Do you like it?” Neelix said, finishing Rarity’s order, “I had to distinguish it from the usual fudge cake. Wouldn’t want anyone breaking a tooth from biting down on a ruby or anything.”
“It looks lovely darling.” Rarity chimed, “Would you mind bringing my order over to where Spike is, I’ll carry the cake.”
“Not at all.”
Rarity gingerly picked up the jewel-mixed fudge cake as Neelix put the finishing touches on her order and followed shortly after her.
As Rarity approached Spike’s table, she saw his face buried deep in a datapad, much like Twilight with a good book, however, Rarity had her suspicions that Spike was reading a comic book instead. Dragon Ball Z she suspected. Oh, how she dreaded Goku’s choice of clothes, I mean there are more colors than orange.
“Spike~.” Rarity said, getting Spike’s attention as he snapped up from his reading position and looked at Rarity dead in the eyes, his purple leathery skin turning red around the cheeks and across the bridge of his nose at the sight of Rarity carrying a cake towards him.
“Mr. Neelix cooked you something special~.” Rarity said as she placed the cake on the table in front of him, the baby dragon head appearing right-side-up to him.
As Rarity set down the cake and took a seat in front of Spike, Neelix came up and set Rarity’s order in front of her as he explained what Rarity just brought to him.
“It’s a Jimbalian fudge cake with replicated precious gemstones sprinkled in as filling.” he took a cake knife and cut out a slice of the cake and placed it on a separate plate in front of Spike. The cut was a little bit rough from the knife catching a few gemstones on its journey through, making the inside of the cake look like it had been scarred just a little. Spike looked at the cake skeptically, glancing back and forth between the slice and Neelix.
“Well don't be rude, darling.” Rarity said as she dug into her meal. “Try it. Mr. Neelix worked hard to make that cake specially for you.”
Spike took a fork and tentatively scooped out a bite for him to take. Once he took a bite his eyes widened and saliva could be seen drooling from his mouth.
“This. Is. The BEST Jambalaya fudge cake I've ever had! Thank you, Mr. Neelix!” Spike said as he proceeded to stab the slice of cake for a bigger bite and began consuming the rest of the cake with vigor.
Satisfied with Spike’s reaction Neelix said that Spike was welcome and that he could request that he make it again at any time.
Spike nodded energetically and started on his third slice of cake.
A little over an hour later, Rarity was in her quarters wearing a bathrobe over her uniform. She was working on a new design she had in mind and was eager to put it down on paper before she would transfer it to the holodeck. Unfortunately, Opalescence, her cat, had other plans. Opal kept rubbing against Rarity’s legs as she tried to walk, nearly tripping her several times, she kept nudging herself between Rarity and her papers in hand while she was sitting down and deciding to take a nap in the replicator whenever Rarity wanted a swatch of fabric to examine as a possible material for a dress, or a cup of tea.
Rarity pulled Opalescence out of the replicator and set her on the floor for the fifth time, and requested some tea when a chime came from the door.
“Come in,” she said as she took a sip of her tea.
The doors hissed as they opened to reveal Harry Kim, looking rather nervous.
“Harry~.” Rarity beamed, “What a pleasant surprise. Would you like some tea?”
“N-no thanks,” Harry said as he entered the room and took a deep breath.
Rarity took another sip of her tea as she took note of Harry’s behavior. He was twiddling his thumbs and constantly shifting his weight around between his feet, sometimes it looked like he was going to head for the door but something is stopping him.
“Please, have a seat,” she said quickly, trying to ease Harry into talking about something that was obviously bothering him. Harry took a seat in the royal purple comfy chair that sat next to the couch on the other side of a small side table, as Rarity took a seat on the red velvet couch, Opal jumping up into her owner’s lap.
“Is something on your mind?” Rarity said as she petted her purring cat.
“Huh? Oh, uh...” Harry sputtered. “Would- would you like to go on a date with me?”
Rarity acted a little surprised at the question, “Oh? I would love to. What do you have in mind?”