Rai takes a spa day

As far as he was concerned, he deserved this. He laid flat on a massage table at the Two Moons waiting for the next available masseuse or masseur. He didn't particularly care whom today. Nearby, a small mound of amber incense burned to embers.

The screen door to the private room opened, admitting Lorelei. "Commander! Welcome," she said, sweeping around the room, a diaphanous robe wrapped around her body. The manager let her know who her client was and what service he'd be needing, and she dressed accordingly in something attractive but less revealing and comfortable for the task. "How are you doing today?" she asked pleasantly, lighting a new cone of incense at four strategic points of the room.

"I've been better, but I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle," he said, breathing deeply.
"How were you during the station emergency?" he asked.

Lorelei set a few jars and bottles of creams and oils beside the massage table and opened one. "Oh, a few broken vases and overturned chairs - I've had worse when entertaining a Klingon," she replied calmly, spreading a soothing herbal oil on her palms. "The back and the scalp today, isn't that right, Commander?"

"Yes, that's all," he said.
He sighed at her touch, but his mind didn't turn off the way he wished it would.
"You're one of my favorite civilian ears on the station, you know that? You see things that my uniform keeps me from seeing. How do people feel about living here, now? Do they feel safe?"

The Commander was right. Partly due to her profession, she was privy to a lot of the inner lives of civilians who visited her - an unofficial counselor of sorts for those who preferred to open up to her rather than seek the professional help of the resident Klingon. Lorelei smoothed her palms slowly over the expanse of the Commander's back feeling out the tensely knotted muscles as she warmed him up. "Some are more concerned than others. Val is under an unexpected amount of limelight due to his inadvertent participation. Are the rumors of a potential armed conflict true?" She didn't want to say war.

"Poor Val. He's been through enough," he said. He tried to relax, but tensed up at the phrase "armed conflict."
"Armed conflict is a very feasible possibility. We're preparing for it."
"I'd evacuate you, Val, all of the civilians if it were truly unsafe. But, we have a Romulan now, which I find oddly comforting. It seems more people are moving in, all the time," he added.

"I didn't know you cared," Lorelei chuckled in response to his comment about Val. Her fingers focused on Rai's neck and shoulders and the two fell silent for a while as she let the Commander enjoy the massage while his words sank in.

"What a shame it would be to evacuate now that it's finally filling out here... Even the Eel is up and running - it's beginning to feel like a nice community," she mused, working the heel of her palm into Rai's knotted shoulders. "Though some of your new recruits are skittish to say the least. All these new people and I've yet to get a new customer. Not that I'm complaining."

"Of course I care, people like you and Val are the community. As much as my officers. I'll put in a good word for you, but some of these humans still feel so much shame. Federation morals, I certainly don't agree with all of them. On Betazed, we don't have any shame about it at all. Heavens know, I believe you're a perfectly legitimate businesswoman providing important, if not crucial services."
He briefly turned his head to the side.
"Can I have hot stones?"

"Of course." Lorelei smoothed down his back and went to retrieve the stones. "There will always be a place for me back on Risa," she said encouragingly, placing the smooth stones along the Commander's back. "Still, it would be a terrible shame." She slowly worked the stones over the Betazoid's back. "I find," she continued quietly, "that it is best to deal with problems once as they arise. I know that's not a luxury someone in your position can always afford, and preventative measures in this kind of situation are of the essence..." She left the stones rest, weighing Rai down pleasantly, and wiped her hands on a towel. "It seems to me that a very competent team is shaping up around you." She poured Rai a cup of warm tea and brought it to his lips so he wouldn't have to change positions.

"Yes, I'm very fortunate," he said, taking a sip of the hot tea.
"You spoil me, you know that? I could not ask for better. I can't believe people use the holosuites when we have people like you aboard."

Lorelei beamed. Praise on her work was her favorite kind of compliment. "It's my pleasure," she replied, taking the stones away and gently encouraging him to turn over onto his back so she could massage his scalp. "The Chief Science Officer..." she began curiously, "She is half-Vulcan, no? A strange young woman. Sweet," she added quickly, "but... she seems to carry some kind of trauma. I ran into her and Val at Wheezy's today, and she practically fell apart with embarrassment at almost anything I said. Yet I understand she was instrumental in handling yesterday's red alert."

"She's a genuinely good kid, and so full of potential. Brave, but she's still a little delicate, and not entirely comfortable She's been through so very much. I believe Akhil will help her, but I don't think there's much you can do for her. Very kind of you to worry."

"I don't think I'm her flavor, regardless," Lorelei replied with amusement, gently rubbing his brow ridges from the nose bridge to the temple. "Akhil, on the other hand, is surprisingly good with children and trauma patients. He can be shockingly paternal."

"I admire that about him, so much. I'd like to find a nice man and be paternal someday. What's all this I hear about your debut as a chanteuse? Will I get to hear it too?"

"Oh yes!" Lorelei replied, "The new bartender was easier to convince than I thought - I'm having my first performance at the end of the week. You must come."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Will you be singing Risan songs only, or a variety?"

"A variety. You know, I'm rather fond of human jazz," Lorelei replied, smoothing her hands one last time over his scalp, then running them over his face with a moisturizing cream.