The Silk Shop

Val earned a smile from T'Pren and it almost helped to dispel her embarrassment. Almost.

"You both seem particularly skilled at..." She frowned and gestured at the shop around them, the clothing and the fabrics, "...this. I'm having an issue with the way my quarters look and as I can't renovate the station..." She shifted helplessly and nodded at Val, "I saw your space. I need to find a way to decorate mine so that it's not so..." Cardassian. "And I've never really had the things or the need to do that kind of decoration."

Lorelei's expression shifted, amused, "Oh is that all!" Compared to fulfilling a certain changeling's kink by pouring him out of his bucket and into a pool that Lorelei then had to wade around in in the nude, decorating someone's room was far from ridiculous. "We'd love to. Trust me, I know just what you mean," she added, "It took a lot of work to make the Two Moons presentable in these surroundings. My own quarters are a constant work in progress. Maybe you can come see them," she smiled, "And see if you like my taste in decor before you let me loose on your rooms."

Val nodded, in complete agreement with Lorelei.
"Contemporary Cardassian architecture... it's not very exciting, regardless. We should get some climbing vines! You know, the curly ones that grow on the South side of Bajor. Those could never survive Cardassian climates and they'd look so nice."

"Honestly," T'Pren told Lorelei with her brows high and her expression sincere, "anything is better than the way it looks now. I'd rather change it completely as soon as possible and then worry about what I like later on." Her gaze dropped and she shook her head slightly, lowering her voice, "I can't even sleep in there right now." The green ran fresh in her cheeks.

Val's suggestion gets a small smile. "My father used to keep plants in his studio. I think that would help immensely."

Lorelei's face lit up, "Oh, I love flowers. I always keep fresh ones in my room. Unfortunately, my favorites grow only on Risa for one week of the entire year, and you never see them out on the space station... here, smell!" She extended her wrist to T'Pren enthusiastically. "Risan orange blossom!"

"My father's were from Vulcan and Earth mostly and then others he acquired on our travels," T'Pren expounded, unable to stop herself from smiling a little at Lorelei's enthusiasm. "He only kept plants and flowers that were useful as well as beautiful or fragrant."

For a moment when Lorelei shared her wrist, T'Pren hesitated...but if these people did in fact like her, she'd better start really trying...and if they didn't like her, she'd better keep playing nice and figure out what they wanted from her.

Her brows shifted upward slightly and with a soft, steadying breath, she reached out to very, very delicately touch the back of Lorelei's hand so that she could get a little closer and take in the scent. When she had a good idea of it, she ended the contact almost ceremonially. Her approval came in the form of a smile as light as her touch. "That's lovely. It suits you."

"Thank you," Lorelei took her hand away with a small pleased shoulder twist. "I think it's important to find your own scent. People often wear smells they like, but it's hard to find a smell you can own, that makes others remember you and think only of you even when they smell it elsewhere." Her green eyes traveled over T'Pren once again comfortably, then she looked at Val, who had been engrossed in his scarves. "Well, I had better stop monopolizing Wheezy and let him take care of you," she said, "Stop by my quarters, Lieutenant Inabnet. And do come in to the Two Moons sometime and let me rub some of that work stress from your body. Unless of course," she added with a smile, "You've already made arrangements with val - in which case, I can't recommend his services enough."

"It's entirely up to the Lieutenant," Val said. "What do you think of this one?" He asked the women, holding up a dark blood wine colored scarf.

"I don't think I've ever worn a scent in my life," T'Pren mused out loud, although she didn't seem particularly bothered by the idea. But then, she wasn't ever trying to impress anyone with her smell, so what was the point?

When the conversation turned back to touching, the half-Vulcan lieutenant's face hinted at green again. She looked between the two more boisterous beings with slightly sheepish uncertainty. "I haven't made any...arrangements, I--" The green in her cheeks flares. "I apologize, I...I'm sure you're both very good, but I'm afraid I'm not..."

Was it warm in here? T'Pren twisted her hair nervously off her neck to allow her skin some air, letting one pointed ear poke through.

"I'm excellent at science," she blurted suddenly. "I'm passable at singing and guitar and sculpting and I'm very good at being an officer, but this...all this..." T'Pren gestured to the silks and her two companions. "I wish I were better at it, but I'm not. At all. I can't tell really what you want from me or why you want it or whether you actually like me, but I can't imagine that's true because I've been a wreck since coming here. What I meant to say is I'm not experienced with pleasant physical contact anymore and categorically abysmal at non-platonic social interactions and if I had any less sensuality, I'd be a Horta!"

She remembered to breathe, blushed fiercely, and mumbled pitifully to Val, "I like that one."

Lorelei blinked once, then quickly wiped the surprised expression off her face. Twice in her life she had been with people who were virgins, and this tightly wound. Lorelei's face settled back into its demure, friendly expression. The best thing in such a situation was simply to be polite and act like nothing of what T'Pren said was out of the ordinary - for truly, it wasn't, and the lieutenant could have been a lot ruder rather than simply awkward and honest. "Lieutenant, I'm afraid I've made you uncomfortable, forgive me," Lorelei couldn't resist touching T'Pren in a show of friendly sincerity, but her fingertips barely brushed the Vulcan's shoulder. "I am not seeking your patronage unless you wish to give it to me, and I'm sure I may speak for both Val and myself when I say that we only want to be welcoming and friendly. And I agree with you," she moved on smoothly, not wishing for T'Pren to wind herself up in any more apologies or confessions, "that's a beautiful scarf. Dark reds suit you, Val."

Val modeled it happily. It was always gratifying to be paid a compliment by Lorelai, considering her taste was so good.
"No one is trying to proposition you, Lieutenant. May I remind you that you were the one who bought me a drink so I'd come sit next to you. And why wouldn't I be friendly? You're buying me something pretty."

"I needed information and I didn't want to give up my seat," T'Pren explained lamely, making a face that was simultaneously miserable, apologetic, and self-amused.

Lorelei's touch is accepted easily because the lieutenant's uniform was between their skin, and apparently that made all the difference. After looking between Lorelei and Val again, trying to gauge just how much of a mess she'd made of things, T'Pren finally pushed her hands over her face and let out a sigh.

"On my honor, I don't mean to be rude, although I feel I'm offending both of you terribly. You're both just...extremely nice to someone you've just met and I know how I am, so I..."

So much for sparing the half-Vulcan more awkward apologies. Finally, she just let out a breathy, self-deprecating laugh. "I feel like there's a subspace frequency you're both communicating on that I can't quite tune into. I feel very clumsy."

"A subspace frequency! Wouldn't that be something to add to my resume," Lorelei laughed. Just then, an odd gurgling noise came from behind the curtain at the back of the shop. "Oh! That would be me, excuse me!" Lorelei said, and swanned off for one last word with the tailor.

It wasn't long before she re-emerged, no longer holding the fabric samples. "He's all yours now! And I must be off or I'll be late for an appointment," Lorelei said. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant," she said completely honestly to T'Pren, "And I'll see you later, darling." With a kiss in Val's cheek and a parting wink to T'Pren, she swept out of the shop, the faint scent of orange blossom still lingering in the air.

Val nodded toward the back room, leading Pren through another curtain of fabric.
"This may come as a surprise to you, Lieutenant, but I have no aversions to treating people I've just met with friendliness and kindness."
The tailor awaited them - a long plump worm who stood about 5 feet talk on his pincers, the rest of his bulbous body trailing behind him. He laid in front of a cutting table and had a few tape measures wrapped around where his shoulders would have been. He made a gurgling honk at Val, who covered his mouth and laughed, as though he were a schoolboy who'd just been told a dirty joke.

Ugh. Nothing was going the way T'Pren had hoped on this station.

She was still too miserable about the confusing and embarrassing nature of the situation to do much more than watch Lorelei leave, but she at least collected herself enough when she was following Val to the back room to finally say something coherent.

"Of course you don't," she sighed. "Do you think we could start again? Social grace is not my forte but I would like to be friendly and kind in return."

Lorelei and Val flustered her, but the worm tailor didn't so much as merit a sideways glance. That's science, after all, and T'Pren was no xenophobe. She gave a polite, shy smile to Wheezy and then turned her attention to Val, awaiting her fate.

"Would you relax, sweetheart? You've done nothing to upset me."

Val gave a businesslike smile to the tailor. "My friend the Lieutenant is going to buy this for me. Doesn't it do superb things to my skin? How much for it? and keep in mind, the Federation doesn't use proper currency."

"...Oh." T'Pren probably looked more than a little comical as she wrapped her head around the idea that this was entirely a situation she made up in the first place. Which was, of course, followed by even more green blushing at the thought of just how mortifying the whole thing had been.

So rather than making things worse, the lieutenant closed her mouth and stood awkwardly by while Val haggled with the silk worm, who made a disgustingly juicy sound in reply.

The silence didn't last long, though, because T'Pren suddenly realized, "If I go to the Eel to hear Lorelei sing, am I supposed to wear anything in particular? Because I don't have much."

Val crossed his arms and smirked.
"Is that a request for help picking out a dress? What about that blue number you were looking at out front?"
The tailor gurgled out an explanation of the cost if the scarf and dress were purchased together.

"Is it the sort of occasion for a dress?" T'Pren returned, making no attempt to hide just how lost she felt when it came to fashion. "Was that an acceptable dress? I don't know anything about these things. But if you ever need me to map the Bajoran genome..."

The price quoted meant equally as little to the lieutenant, who glanced at Val to see if it was a good one.

Val took her shoulder amiably.
"Lieutenant. Leisure time isn't like bein on duty. There aren't rules, and conventions are flexible. It's most important to wear what makes you feel good. If to want t wear your uniform, you can. If you want to wear that blue dress, you can. If you want to attent stark nude, the Commanter might wish you a happy tidings on your marriage, but you can do it anyway."

(Woah it's way too late for me to be typing on my phone, judging by those typos - sorry!)

At first contact of Val's arm on T'Pren's shoulder, she went slightly rigid, as she was wont to do, but he wasn't touching skin and she was trying awfully hard to not be a complete nutcase, so she took in a very deep breath and let it out slowly, forcing herself to relax at least a little, even if she was nowhere near completely comfortable.

But she was accepting enough of it to let it stay where it was and even to grin at Val's joke. Betazoids and nudity. Always funny.

"Well," she began hesitantly, "I guess I'll never know if I don't try the dress on, right?" Her brows climb her forehead along with the question because she maybe didn't actually know for sure if that was, in fact, right.

Val tossed the end of what he considered to be his new scarf over his shoulder.
"Go on and try it on for us."

Feeling more than a little ridiculous, T'Pren wove through the store to find the dress she had touched earlier. There it was near the front, a wildflower blue that she particularly liked (anything was better than the dull earth tones the Cardassians made her wear), and she carefully pulled it from display and took it back with her to Val and Wheezy. When she looked uncertain as to where she should change, the worm let out a hiss like the air escaping form a balloon.

"Oh," said the half-Vulcan. "Thank you."

She disappeared behind a curtain the tailor had indicated, and after a few moments' shuffling and adjusting, pulled the drape aside and stepped out.

She was barefoot now and bare-legged, her slight, willowy build appropriately toned for a Starfleet officer. The skin that was normally beneath her uniform was even paler than her face, impossible though it may have seemed. The dress itself was a silk so light and smooth that it had wonderful movement and flow to the petal-like pieces that made up the skirt and the miniature copies that fell just off her shoulders. Said shoulders, like her face, were lightly freckled but otherwise practically untouched by sun.

The body of the dress was fitted to show off her delicate form but not so tight that it wasn't comfortable, and though her auburn waves covered up parts of it, her collarbone, now visible, was almost avian in its definition.

But the girl inside the dress and body? Feeling so, so awkward as she awaited judgment.

Val cocked his head.
"That looks lovely, Lieutenant. The dress is wearing you at the moment, but that's nothing a change of attitude can't fix." He stepped out of her way so she could see herself in a mirror. "How do you feel in it?"