Lacy Embelishments

Posted on Mon 12th Dec, 2016 @ 5:42pm by

1,288 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Murder on the Silent Night Express
Location: Victoria's Secret
Timeline: MD 1, 1100

"Wait," Corporal Beauregarde said, balking at the sight of the storefront "what is Victoria's Secret?"

"The Victorian Period," Simoné answered, smiling, as she breezed through the front door. She noticed another Marine standing awkwardly near a display of peignoirs, and waved vaguely in his direction. "Oh, look, your little friend is here. Go and play!" A moment later, she noticed who the other Marine was shadowing. "Oh, Sara," she said, "I see you had the same idea!"

Sara looked up from fingering a soft silk under garment. "Simoné!" she exclaimed, remembering to pronounce it in the preferred manner. "How lovely to run into you here." She waved her hand at all the beautiful garments around them. "Isn't this lovely? Such a wealth of choice! After this shopping trip, I shall have enough for ... well, for years!"

Simoné laughed. "It's one thing to look through images of models, quite another to come and try things on in person, isn't it?" She picked up a very skimpy brief, and held it in front of her hips. She turned to face the pair of Marines. "What do you think, boys?"

O'Reilly turned an astonishing shade of red. It was the second time Sara had seen that rush of color in less than an hour. "Simoné, you're embarrassing the poor man, you shameless dabo girl," she laughed.

"Look at this matched set," she said, trying to distract her crewmate. "Have you ever seen such a lovely combination of black with white lace. And just feel it. I can only imagine it would feel as if one were wearing nothing at all." Having seen this teasing side of Claus before, which it was funny to her, she knew it wasn't always so those she was teasing.

O'Reilly turned to the Marine, Beauregarde, standing next to him. "Has it been like this all morning? What is wrong with these Dopterian women?" He kept an eye on his charge by watching her reflection in the store's display window. Looking directly at them was too much.

Beauregarde sighed and shook his head. "Pretty much, yeah," he said. He shrugged. "I'm not clear on what a dabo girl is, but this one does seem shameless."

Simoné, having achieved her first objective, put the skimpy briefs back on the pile and looked at Sara. "They have fitting rooms, you know," she said. "You should absolutely try that on!"

"You think so?" Sara asked, turning the pieces in her hand, wistfully. "I probably can't afford it, but ... why not? At least I can find out for myself if it's as wonderful as I imagine." She turned to look behind her for the fitting rooms. "Ah, yes, I see." Facing Simoné again, she asked, "Why don't you grab something that appeals to you, too?"

"What a wonderful idea," Simoné said, picking up a merrywidow and matching briefs. She looked around and spotted the sales clerk, a woman almost two meters tall, with bioluminescence rolling across her skin in slow waves. Simoné wondered if she could get that from a biosculptor, and set the idea aside for later consideration. "Miss?"

The woman came over, her gait seeming to require at least one extra joint in her long legs. "Welcome, ladies. Have you found things you'd like to try on?"

"Yes," said, using the hand holding the merrywidow to indicate the set Sara held. "You do have a joint fitting room, don't you? I'm afraid I'll need some advice on how it looks!"

"Of course," the saleswoman said, her colors going pale pink for a moment. "Will your gentleman friends be joining you?"

"Now what? I'm not going back there with them, I don't care who orders me to." O'Reilly whispered glumly to his companion. "The brig is starting to look good."

Beauregarde cleared his throat. "Is there a second exit from the joint fitting room?"

"Just the one," the saleswoman answered with a slow blink.

"Then we'll wait in the hall."

"Oh, poo!" Simoné said, affecting a pout. "I had so hoped to show off for you."

"Have a heart, lady," Sara laughed, noticing the red faces all around. "Come on, now, pretty things to try on." She waved the lingerie in her hands. "Credits to spend!"

O'Reilly followed Beauregarde to the short hall which led to the dressing rooms, loosening his collar with the hand that wasn't occupied with holding his rifle. "Man, who'da thought guard duty could be so tough. And don't you dare laugh at me. I saw your face ... though maybe that was regret, not fright." He smiled cheerily at the thought that he wasn't the only one who wasn't enjoying this duty, even if their reasons were different. I'll take the Sara I have over that tease he has, any day! O'Reilly thought, taking up a stance on one side of the door.

Beauregarde leaned against a wall where he could see the door to the dressing room. As it closed, he sighed at O'Reilly. "I prefer my girls a little less... reptilian," he said.

Inside the dressing room, Simoné smiled in victory. Her second objective was achieved, and it should be smooth skating from here. Her eyes fell on the ensuite replicator. "Oh, look, a replicator!" she said, letting herself sound as delighted as she was. "You know, these older Starbase replicators are fascinating!" She moved to the replicator, her fingers operating the manual menu as she spoke, "people leave all sorts of strange recipes in them! Shall we have some tea? Here's something called 'Suzuki Blend #19,' that sounds intriguing!"

Without waiting for Sara's response, Simoné hit the commit control -- not for the tea, but for a pitcher of boiling water. As it materialized, she stood in front of the replicator so Sara wouldn't see what was appearing. She reached up under her tunic, tore off the gaffer's tape which held a small flask in the hollow beneath her breasts. It was the work of less than a second to open the flask, upend it over the pitcher, watch the water -- and water fleas -- within merge with the boiling water. She set the flask next to the pitcher.

"Or, wait!" Simoné exclaimed, waiting to be sure the boiling water had killed all the fleas. "Here's something called 'dark hot chocolate with mini marshmallows!' I do adore Human chocolate, don't you?" She hit the 'recycle' key and watched the pitcher, flask, and evidence disappear.

"Hot chocolate sounds great," Sara's muffled voice said from a dressing room enclosure. The diaphanous fabric almost floated past her head and down over her body. She frowned slightly at the image which looked back at her from the mirror. Most of the time, she felt comfortable in her body, with her body type, but ... there were times when she wished her species were a little more ... human. Now was one of those times. Clothes like this weren't really made for her version of humanoid. What would Jake have thought. That brought a smile to her face. Jake had always thought she was perfect, no matter what she wore ... or didn't.

No need to spend the money on this bit of nothing, she thought. No one around to appreciate it any more. The thought brought tears to her eyes, for she truly missed her husband. It is what it is, she told herself, for the ten thousandth time. She pulled off the negligee and carefully rehung it, then picked up the underwear. Or this, either. Spend the money on something to send the nestlings. Picking up each item carefully, she opened the door and stepped out.

"Is that hot chocolate ready?" she asked.

 

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