Lullaby Love

Posted on Fri 25th May, 2018 @ 12:58am by Lieutenant Commander Alora Baro & Makila i'Hartelhai

1,133 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Brushfires
Location: Promenade, Deck 603
Timeline: MD 15, 0945

As she stood outside Lullabye Love, Quinn wished she had someone to go shopping with her. She knew a lot about babies, since they were common on Kilkenny, her home planet. She even knew most of the things babies needed. It would still be nice to have a friend shopping with her.

She pulled out the invitation and read it again. They already had a crib, but it sounded like nothing else. Well, they had to have a few clothes, but you could replicate those easily. Tapping the invitation against her hand she thought about her options. Maybe something that would keep an eye on the baby?

Jun-Kyung pushed open the door to the shop. One of the funny things about living on a starbase, or at least this one, was that some shops opted to have doors that pushed to open, some had rolling doors, and some had doors which opened automatically like any other door in Starfleet. This one happened to push. As she stepped into the shop, baby chimes tinkled in the background, playing a familiar tune, but Quinn couldn't place it. With a shrug, she began to look for a baby coms system.

Alora came jogging up in civilian wear, hair still damp from a shower, "Sorry I'm late, something black and sticky exploded on me. All fixed now but I was not presentable for company. What are we up to?" She asked Jun-Kyung as Alora glanced down at the invite she too held.

"There is such an immature answer I could give to that question," Jin-Kyung answered. "Thank you for getting rid of the black, sticky gunk. I imagine you look much better without it," she teased.

Alora smiled and rolled her eyes. "Ha Ha," she joked.

Makila crept into the store after Alora, dressed in a belted tunic in various shades of green and black. "Um...hello" she said softly, her fingers tightening on the invitation. She'd been shocked to get it, honestly, after only being here so short a time, but apparently it was the custom of human females to welcome babies in such a fashion. She thought it might be similar to a Romulan naming day ceremony but, honestly, she was just intrigued and glad that her father had encouraged her to attend.

"Welcome to SB 109, Makila. I got your name right, didn't I?" Quinn asked.

"I just walked into the store myself, but I do know something about babies, as they are common on colony worlds. This is a great shop. They have a little bit of everything, and don't expect us to leave a body part behind to pay for it. I thought I'd look for a baby com - one of those things that parents put near the baby's bed so they can hear it wherever they are in their quarters. Do either of you have any ideas about what you want to find?"

"Well, Romulans don't usually do baby showers in the sense of a party to welcome a child, but a traditional gift for a new baby in Hartelhai, is a chime pendant with the elemental affiliation of the newly born. " She removed a pendant from inside her tunic, and it made a soft musical chiming noise as she rolled it in her hand.

Alora looked over at it and smiled, "That's beautiful. How do you figure out the elemental affiliation? Is it based on birth timing?" she asked curiously, "Oh, sorry, Baro Alora, I've seen you around, but I don't think we've officially met."

"It is, it's similar to the human zodiac. Instead of being based on the month of the year, it changes with the seasons passing on Romulus. There are sub-groupings so that differences can be made if necessary. My father is a Fire sign, I am an Earth, and there is also Air and Water, each tempered by the other elements, depending on which part of the turning of the year it is precisely. It's the end of winter in my province right now, so I believe this baby would be in the Water Element. I'd have to look up the rest." Makila explained quickly, her fingers touching her chiming ball. "And it's lovely to meet you both."

"That is fascinating." Alora said meaning it. She was nodding her agreement about being nice to meet everyone. Bajorans had a different system, but it didn't involve elemental assignment. She was curious if those so assigned had related traits to their elements or if it was more random but now was not the time. "Later we can discuss related birth rituals, but for now we must gift. From my experience, learning toys or items one can chew on are always a plus as well." She smiled, "I wonder if they have a wrench teething thing..." She glanced around briefly.

"It sounds as if we all have an idea what we want. By the way, in my family," Jin-Kyung said, "it's birthstones, a gem that represents the month of birth." Looking around, she added, "I don't see anything resembling either of those, however. Maybe a jewelry store would have something? Or ... wait. Didn't I see something with a ... " she scrolled through her PADD to Promenade shops, and flipped to Romulan, which was a very small list. "Yes! Here we go, Keirianh Mnaeha. The description says, 'Anything a Romulan heart desires.' It's on Deck 638. Does that sound like a place that would have these chime pendants?"

"I bet it would, and I would love to see it and just see what they have. It's uncommon to find places that cater to Romulans in this area. Or anywhere..." Makila muttered, her voice turning a bit dark "A lot of people still see us as the enemy. "

"No one here," Quinn said cheerfully. "Why don't you look around here, with us, and then we'll go to this Keirianh Mnaeha with you, even if I have completely mispronounced it! Underneath here," she glanced at the PADD again, "it says that means ... well, actually, I can't read it. But it means something, I'm sure. I think the second word is a place on the planet?"

"Your pronunciation is okay, but I'm not a good one to correct you. I only speak Rihannsu with my father. If you want a lesson on that sort of thing, he's your man." Makila answered with a smile at the other woman's suggestion.

"Whatever it is, sounds lovely. Me? I'm better with Romulan tech when it comes to understanding than language," she admitted with a shrug, then moved toward rest of conversation. "The Romulans helped us in the war. I've got no issue." Besides, Makila seemed nice enough. "Quinn is right, let's see what we can find and then maybe hit Orchids. Is plan?"

 

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