Fashion--Romulan Style

Posted on Thu 4th May, 2023 @ 8:08am by Mary Elizabeth Gregory & Maiek s'Ethien

888 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Neither Yours Nor Mine
Location: Borrowed Romulan Starship
Timeline: MD-6, 1400 hours

Mary Elizabeth stepped out of the Romulan ship's holodeck feeling mentally drained. She spent several hours every day in Romulan-language immersion instruction. She had a horror of showing up at New Romulus, in front of the ambassador there, sounding like an uneducated schoolgirl. To her, the language sounded like a cross between Welsh and a cat purring--and she was neither Welsh nor a cat. She had taken to speaking to Maiek only in Rihannsu aboard the ship, except when they were with her family. Sometimes, that was slow going, as she worked to increase her vocabulary.

As far as Mary Elizabeth was concerned, the threat of her causing an interstellar incident if she had to use the subjunctive case was still very real, even if Maiek told her she was more likely to screw up the indicative, since that was used more often. Romulans didn't often wish for things out loud.

She entered their stateroom and looked to see if Maiek was there.

He was not there, but there was an open door to his workroom where music was drifting. Maiek's soft baritone drifted out along with the rustle of fabric and the metallic snick of scissors. The occasional curse interrupted the music as Maiek was clearly hard at work on something related to their wedding.

Mary Elizabeth went to the doorway and closed her eyes. "E'lev, is it safe for me to look?"

"You are ever welcome in my space ar'rhea." He laid the shears down on a pile of white fabric embroidered with gold in patterns that brought to mind water, and the sunlight glinting off it.

He hadn't said she couldn't peek, so Mary Elizabeth did. What she saw took her breath away. "Ohh!" Somehow, the embroidered design on the white fabric reminded her of a sunlit ocean or lake. "That is gorgeous!"

"You are a water sign, my heart." he said, touching the fabric with a reverence he reserved for the trappings of his craft and his lady. "I could not fail to acknowledge it in your dress. " He'd been pinning the bodice of her dress on her mannikin and drew her onto his knee so she could look upon it.

Mary Elizabeth lowered herself into her fiancé's lap, wrapped an arm around him, and brushed her lips against his neck. "So tell me about this lovely garment I'm to wear."

"White to honor human traditions. Gold and red, to offer homage to the sign of the husband, not to mention they're good luck. And, in your culture stand for passion, and abiding love." He could no more argue with that bit, than he could fail to make use of the serendipitous color choice.

"And House Gryffindor," Mary Elizabeth said with a silly grin on her face. "Er, never mind. Go on."

"The outermost layer with visible water patterns to honor the element of the wife." He settled her differently in his lap so that she couldn't reach his neck quite so easily. She made him burn, and his studio was not the place for such carnal behavior. "I have so enjoyed the study of your people's wedding garb that I altered my design just slightly, making this section removable."

"I cannot wait to try it on," Mary Elizabeth told him. "Everything you design, I learn something more about it, every time I look at it closely or wear it. I love that about your work." She felt rather proud of herself for that observation, because being in his arms made it difficult to think.

"I've been meaning to ask you to try it on but I need to get it a little more finished before I do so. I also need to be in the proper state of mind to undress you and not take immediate advantage of that perfection. " His smile was positively devious and his eyes gleamed at her. "Do you want a veil?"

"Yes; it'll be expected," Mary Elizabeth replied. "A short one will be fine, though. Besides, I look forward to the moment when you lift it and kiss me." She glanced at the dress and then grinned at him. "So, undressing me ... Maybe you need an impartial assistant to help with the fitting?"

"We have such a person on the ship?" his voice was puzzled and then he chuckled softly as it dawned on him precisely what his mate was implying. "Okhala scorch it...you mean your mother, don't you?"

Mary Elizabeth burst out laughing. "The look on your face--is priceless!" She stifled her merriment, just barely. "Mum doesn't bite, I promise, and she does have a keen eye for what looks good on a person and what doesn't. She programmed the replicator's clothing patterns for most of my and Eleanor's clothes when we were children."

"Of that I have no doubt. She instilled a fine fashion sense in her daughter." a tender smile touched his lips as he tipped her chin up to capture his mate's lips with his own. The kiss was long and lingering, and when he pulled away he murmured " We'd best get your mother to chaperone this particular activity. I am perhaps a little to eager to be yours."

"That's quite all right. I'm rather eager to be yours, too!" Mary Elizabeth said, once she could come up for air.

 

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