A Night at the Spa- 2
Posted on Tue 23rd Feb, 2021 @ 7:52am by Mary Elizabeth Gregory & Maiek s'Ethien
2,261 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Business Not At All As Usual
Location: Veruna Spa
-Continued-
Mary Elizabeth's eyes sparkled. "Would I? Mrs. Ellis doesn't bake her lemon-ginger pecan scones every day. They are utterly worth examining."
"In that case, we should enjoy the rare treat." His eyes twinkled brightly as he eyed the spread. The ladies had outdone themselves.
"We absolutely should," Mary Elizabeth agreed. "They're the yellow, triangular pastries on that glass plate--and I see little pots of orange marmalade and clotted cream to go with them!" She grinned at Maiek. "Whatever possessed you to come up with this idea?"
"It is a Romulan custom." He smiled at her gently "In order to impress the clan of your lover. There are certain courting rituals that are usually involved with this meal. I left those out and appropriated it for the evening."
"Courting rituals. Hm. Like feats of strength and manliness?" Mary Elizabeth asked with a wicked look.
"Oh yes. As well as displays of wealth, skill and the gentle arts. Romulan society is matriarchal, and clan matriarchs are notoriously difficult to please without extravagance." He chuckled again, as he surveyed the array of food that the ladies had granted him for the occasion. There were small sandwiches that looked like the blackberry and goat cheese sandwiches they had discussed while in the jewelers shop, and what looked like tiny cakes with berries atop. The tiny shortbread cookies that were faintly scented of lavender and had edible flowers pressed into the thin glaze of icing, and crystallized sugar to give it a bit of a gleam made him pause to admire their handiwork. A small hand sized platter of fruit glazed with candy, interspaced with cinnamon flames which he found had both a satisfying crunch and a brilliant flavor. "Oh, that's lovely. Now, if you were a high-ranking Romulan lady, I would design you a ridiculously gaudy festival gown. I am glad you favor the elegant, rather than the gaudy."
"A gown for what sort of festival?" Mary Elizabeth asked. "And you're absolutely right; I hate gaudy."
"A festival upon the solstice which corresponds to the elemental ceremonies like the one you saw with the water stones." He smiled wistfully and continued. "I, as an artisan would be called for for the high-ranking ladies to design both unique and gaudy, and for a court ball the gaudier the better. I got paid exorbitant sums for that act."
"Then the whole situation now must be--" Mary Elizabeth shook her head. "Your life had to change so drastically, with no warning. I'm glad you still keep a hand in. I'd hate for you to have had to entirely give up fashion design to do your diplomatic work."
"I've been thinking a lot about design recently. Someone saw my designs at your party and offered me some work." A kiss fell to her fingertips when he sank below the water and sighed deeply in pleasure at the heat. "I should show you the sketches I have for you. One day, I will dress you from the skin out, for there is not a single curve of you that doesn't have my love and devotion."
What am I supposed to SAY to that? Mary Elizabeth mentally wailed. Ditto?? Oh, I wish I knew! So strange, she thought, that part of her soul sang at the love behind his words, wanting to echo it back to him, and the other part of her didn't know how to act.
So stop worrying about how to act, and go with what you feel. Because that's what's relevant here, isn't it? she thought.
"I don't know how it is that you haven't been married for decades already," Mary Elizabeth told Maiek and trailed her lips lightly along his neck. "Any woman would be stupendously lucky to have your love and devotion and to joyfully give it back in return."
If that's right she should say yes. His tongue wet his lips as she kissed down his neck. It was easy to be distracted by passion with Mary Elizabeth. "I haven't been married for decades, because it took me decades to find a woman I would be interested in marrying." he countered softly amusement alight in his eyes at her comment.
"I am the only surviving son of my clan, and I have no matriarch with the exception of my Aunt Verelan, who as Ambassador isn't really suited to be a clan matriarch. Such decisions of matrimony are only usually done with their permission and oft a great deal of meddling." His fingers itched to take up his bracelet, but instead, he directed her attention to the beautiful box, which he'd closed the cover to just before she'd arrived. "I have a gift that I hope you'll accept, a'rhea." he whispered into her ear, using the word for beloved for the second time in their relationship.
Butterflies--or maybe hummingbirds--took up flight in Mary Elizabeth's stomach. All this extravagant preparation, and now the mention of a gift. Could he be--? Don't jinx it! Just flow with it. "What a gorgeous box!" she exclaimed, looking at the glass with its etching and the silvery spirals. "Are the markings purely decorative, or do they have a clan meaning?"
"My clan is represented by the spiral. The firstborn male of a clan has a bracelet with their sigils on it, that they hope to one day pass on to their firstborn son." he smiled gently "The spiral in our culture represents adventure and following one's internal path. Open it." he asked softly.
Mary Elizabeth glanced at him for a moment and relaxed into his gaze. She carefully lifted the clasp and then raised the lid to see what was inside.
Inside, nestled on a bed of black velvet was his clan bracelet. Its symbols tooled in gold on leather so dark brown it was almost black. It had been freshly polished and each individual Romulan word was cut from metal and rivetted to the leather glowed as if it had been made yesterday. Despite its ancient origins it was well cared for. The glittering clear spiral symbol of the first matriarch of his clan, formed the button that closed the clasp of the bracelet. His bright, fire red and orange crystal, glittered in the center of it. "This is my bracelet. Should I ever have a son, I would take the stone from this one and replace it with his birth element."
The bracelet had a feeling of great age about it somehow, Mary Elizabeth thought. Perhaps it was the leather. "This is exquisite. May I pick it up, or should it stay where it is?" She was almost afraid to touch it. This box and its contents had to be precious to him, if he had brought them with him from Romulus.
"Please pick it up. It is meant to be worn and I should very much like you to wear it." he said softly, his explanation giving him the confidence to actually speak the words. "Wearing it in public however, has the same indication in my culture as this one does in yours." He paused a moment to remove the single oval diamond ring that he'd purchased with the other two rings. He held it up so that she might clearly see what he was holding.
Mary Elizabeth's eyes widened when she saw the ring Maiek held. "Oh, my," she gasped. "Oh, my God, Maiek." Then she looked straight at him as her lips curved into a brilliant smile. "Yes. A thousand times yes!"
And then she kissed him as if she never wanted to stop--which she didn't.
His fingers tangled in her hair, kissing her soundly the ring still held in his free hand. She hadn't even needed him to ask the question, just seeing the ring was enough. The smile lit his face just as much as it had hers, when she'd accepted. "Might I put the ring where it belongs?" he whispered against her lips, when he felt the urge of his lungs to take in breath.
Mary Elizabeth burst into laughter against his chest and held up her left hand. "Please do!"
He kissed the place on her hand where the ring would go, then slid the diamond into place. He couldn't help but admire the subtle elegance of the oval solitaire, and the twist of the platinum around it. Damp fingers then took the clasp of the bracelet and unpinned it so he might adjust it to fit her wrist. It took only moments, and then he replaced the pin with a click. "I'll show you how to take it off later, since you don't need to wear it all the time unless that is your desire. I assure you that I will never tire of seeing my rrhuieh upon you."
Mary Elizabeth admired the bracelet on her wrist with its orange gem and its intricate design. "I would love to wear it all day, but I am too rough on jewelry, and this looks like an heirloom piece. So I will keep the bracelet for times when I'm with you and am not at work." She leaned against Maiek, happy to be in his arms. "You, sir, are amazing."
"We have a saying among the highly born, I am but a reflection of my lady's grace." He bowed slightly to her and smirked. Reaching over he grasped a pastry at random, and bit into it with relish. "You might enjoy some of the other Romulan traditions contained within your new jewelry box." he commented indicating that she might want to explore further. "
Mary Elizabeth blinked at Maiek in surprise. "There's more? What you've already given me seems quite enough," she protested, but she examined the jewelry box, found the small drawer, and pulled it open. Her eyes widened. "Another ring--Ohhh! And it matches the bracelet!" Carefully, she pulled the ring from its slit in the box. Mary Elizabeth held the ring out to Maiek. "Will you put this one on my finger, too, please?"
"Which finger would you like it on?" he asked quietly, his eyes bright with her visible and verbal appreciation of his gifts. He hadn't considered that she might wear more than one of them. "The remainder of the stones" he began as he turned the ring between his fingers "are intended for the bracelet, when our firstborn son comes of age. If we have one, of course."
"I wouldn't ordinarily wear both rings at the same time," Mary Elizabeth said, "that would be horribly ostentatious. You'll have to tell me when it's appropriate for me to wear the bracelet, and at those times, I'll wear the topaz ring with it. Otherwise, I'll just wear the diamond one." She gave him a sidelong smile. "Thinking of a firstborn son already, eh? What do you do with a firstborn daughter?" She held out her right hand for him to put the topaz ring on.
That thought made him smirk "A firstborn daughter would get the mantle of Matriarch. Our clan was sundered, when our world was destroyed. The matriarch of my clan was killed, and so we defaulted to a sister clan in our time of need. Our people are matriarchal remember beloved, and while the males do the majority of the murder and heavy lifting in our culture, the power is held by the females. That is part of why Aunt Verelan can command me as my mother's sister. My daughter...would be trained as the matriarch of my clan since I am the eldest surviving male scion of our clan. I am not sure I could contend with such an honor."
"Then your mother was your clan matriarch? I'm very sorry you lost her and that I won't be able to meet your parents," Mary Elizabeth said. "Are you the only surviving member of your clan left, or are there others?"
"My grandmother was, and the honor would have fallen to my mother upon her death. I am the eldest, but I do have a cousin on New Romulus and of course Aunt Verelan. She never had any children with her late husband. She has already given her blessing for my courting you."
Mary Elizabeth beamed at Maiek and kissed him. "I'm very relieved to hear that. When do I get to meet her formally?"
"Aunt Verelan? You have met her, but I will introduce you properly whenever you wish it." His eyes traced her face, and he couldn't help but smile back at her. "Should I bring her by the restaurant? Actually that's a silly question, I will bring her by the restaurant. Your food will impress her, even if she doesn't say so. She already approves of you. Not that it would have mattered, you would have captured my heart permission or no." He smirked at her faintly before he drew her body flush to his, and his lips found a spot on her neck that he was particularly fond of. He wanted to forget the talk of clans and rankings and instead lose himself in the embrace of she who would be his wife.
"The restaurant sounds fine," Mary Elizabeth replied a bit dazedly as Maiek's scent and his attentions to that particular spot on her neck caused all other thoughts to spiral away.
*Ar'hea: Beloved
*rrhuieh: Desire, want, fancy.
The three rings.
Simple: https://www.knoxjewelers.biz/products/oval-ripple
Romulan: https://www.knoxjewelers.biz/products/design-3227
Formal: https://www.lamoredesign.com/collections/one-of-a-kind-jewelry/products/large-salt-and-pepper-diamond-engagement-ring-14k-rose-gold-tiara-halo-pear-ring-size-6-25
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