Interlude – Shopping
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Chelsea Dunham & (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin
Post Details
ON
Isha had made the appointment for noon. As ever Madame Azuma had been willing to close the shop down for an hour or so and it was something that Isha usually made worth her while. They had agreed to meet Chelsea on the promenade nearby before arriving together.
Saren looked towards Thei as they took their positions at the Ambassador's side. The Promenade, as usual, was bursting with activity and the two kept a sharp eye out. Another pair of officers were on the upper level, covering the area from above.
Chelsea couldn't understand why she was so nervous but she had woken really early and been fussing around with trivia ever since, a clear sign of distraction that her subconscious was throwing into her path to avoid an oncoming difficulty or anxiety.
Rick had been amused and had teased her. She'd been able to laugh at herself when she was with him but once she left their quarters the nervousness returned.
~It'll be exciting and fun and ...... God, what is WRONG with you?~ she argued with herself internally as the butterflies increased the closer she got to the promenade.
Spotting Isha helped. The lovely Romulan's serene face always calmed Chelsea and today was no exception. "Hello" Chelsea greeted her dear friend and approached to greet her with a hug only to be headed off by the Security eagle, hovering close by. Chelsea stopped short and held up both hands in a surrender gesture.
Seeing the overeager Bajoran coming closer to the Ambassador, Saren instinctively took a step forward. As the woman stopped, Saren glanced silently at Thei, who was running a thorough scan. Finally, he looked up and gave his superior a slight nod. Nodding back, Saren took a step back into position.
Isha sighed. They were only doing their job but it did not make their presence any less stifling. The friends went in.
Madam Azuma bore down on the women as they entered with a stately grace, like a buxom galleon under full sail. "Ambassador t'Khellian," She boomed in greeting. "And this must be our blushing bride. Tipple?" Azuma's assistants, two young women of interdeterminate human or humanish species, swarmed around them, one bringing chairs, the other offering drinks.
"You spoil me absolutely rotten," Isha said in Federation Standard. "I tell you Chelsea, Madame Azuma's needlework is a miracle, she's actually better than my girl on ch'Rihan though Eviess would kill me for saying so. If I ever have to leave DS5 for good I wonder how I am going to persuade her to come with me."
"Just one more reason not to leave DS5?" Chelsea offered with a wink. "You have to stay long enough to become Godmother to my children yet. I'm afraid you can't leave!" she teased.
If I leave first it will be in a box, Isha thought, but she did not say that. "I have far too many reasons to stay," she smiled.
Isha thought there was a reason Azuma's work was so good was because she did not have to rely wholy on verbal instructions and descriptions. She suspected that she gleaned a visual impression of what the customer expected and created the garment according to that. Certainly, no-one else had ever met Isha's requirements quite so exactly. "I'll be having a few things sent over later today," a handful of the more fitted items in her wardrobe, "I seem to be putting on a little weight," she sighed and took a cup of tea offered to her by one of the girls.
"Thank you," she said before turning to Chelsea, "So, tell us what you are thinking of," she suggested.
"My thoughts are at one moment a blank canvas and at another the complete fog of too much choice..... " Chelsea admitted. "If I may, I could start with what I wouldn't feel right with and work back towards the rest?" she asked rhetorically. "I wouldn't feel right in one of those dreary traditional Terran Ivory or White shrouds.... I'd like a coloured dress to celebrate."
Azuma appraised Chelsea the way a horse trader might size up a prize stallion, or dog breeder examine a pedigree. "Hmm. Plenty to work with. Nothing seriously wrong to camouflage. I've dealt with worse. Sarine," she addressed the assistant, "fetch the silks and satins. And just to be different lets have the muslins too. A garden wedding lets us be a bit more creative. What colours do we want?"
My favourite colour is green but I'm not set on that as the only option.... perhaps another colour would suit either me or the dress-style? I have an open mind."
"Excellent! And any ideas as to style?"
"No, whatever makes him want to say *i do* no matter what second thoughts he might have been having that morning!" Chelsea shrugged, blushing a little.
"Now, now," Madam said, "Don't be shy. If I make you a dress, there's going to be no room for coyness." She clapped a hand and the other assistant dimmed the lights, and handed the Betazoid matron a padd. "Lets make a start then." She tapped the pad, and suddenly the room was illuminated by a holographic projection of a model that was of a size and height with Chelsea. "Lets start with silhouette. " A dark shadow covered the model, "we can add details later. "You don't want a terran meringue, so lets go with slinky, show off those lovely curves of yours...a décolletage with just a hint of naughtily low, and for the skirt? Lets start with something mid-length tailored. We can always raise or lower it later. "
Azuma finished tapping, and the shadow on the model shifted, until it showed the outline of something very much like an off-the-shoulder cocktail dress, crisply tailored. She added a hint of colour, turning it a gentle mint colour. "What do you think dear?" And she opened her mind, ready to pick up what Chelsea and Isha did say, as much as what they didn't.
"It's gorgeous" Chelsea looked, tilting her head in that mannerism she'd caught from Rick recently. ~He's going to be knocked out! I wonder what it would look like a little longer? Do I want it full length or is that too much?~ her mind raced.
"Perhaps taper it so that it is full length at the back but mid-length at the front ... a tapering split starting around one knee." Isha was merely floating ideas, her own dress was remarkably conservative and rarely involved anything shorter than her ankles.
"Oooh, could we see that please?" Chelsea enthused.
Azuma was making the adjustments almost before Isha spoke, "Full length is never too much. Trains, maybe, petticoats maybe, but if we keep the cut close to the fetlock as it were, it should give you a most flattering outline." She finished her work, and the plain green dress was now seductively spit over one knee, the edge curving down and out, until it fanned out behind the model into a modest sized flair.
Chelsea caught her breath. "Ohhhhhhhh" she breathed out in awe.
"it is rather effective," Isha said, "I wonder if a contrasting lining in the skirt would add anything to it."
Azuma added a gentle rose pink lining to the skirt. "Maybe something more complimentary?" She changed the pink to a darker green, and then a pale turquoise. "Any preferences?"
"I like the turquoise but I'm trying to avoid 'medical teal' I wonder if we changed the dress to a darker colour and then went pale with the lining please?" Chelsea offered.
In her head she visualised an emerald green dress with the mint as the lining and then changed it to a Burgundy dress with an ivory lining. She began to suggest these combinations but the dressmaker was one step ahead.
"Could we see..... " she began just as they appeared. ~woh!~
The resulting pair of magnificent creations in either colour were breathtaking.
"Um... I think I should go for the burgundy, just because it's a colour i never wear and perhaps I should go for something completely different and remarkable for the occasion." Chelsea said, struggling to decide in the face of so many stunning alternatives.
"Yes" She forced herself to make up her mind. She had to keep ticking off decisions or she'd never get through them all. Burgundy it was going to be and just to make it firm she decided on that as the main colour scheme too.
"Should I come back for fittings?" she asked Azuma. "Perhaps you'd be kind enough to contact me when you're ready for me to make an appointment? Or should we set a date and time now?"
Madam Azuma's assistant returned with an armful of folders, and passed them to Chelsea. "I'll leave you these with you," Azuma said. "Call me when you have chosen some fabrics, and we'll arrange fittings then, Just remember," she wagged a finger at Chelsea, "There's always less time than you think. And we haven't even talked jewellery and shoes yet."
"Oh, I haven't told her yet, but I will loan her the jewels, though it is true we may need to have them reset for the occasion," Isha said, "but we'll not really know that until the colours and fabrics are finalised. Thank you, Azuma for your continued assisstance," she added.
It felt good to have more of a hold on an internal image of the event unfolding in her head and Chelsea was relieved and delighted with the results of this trip. She hugged Isha and repeated her thanks for all her help. Then she hugged Madame Azuma and thanked her too.
On leaving the little dressmaker's shop the Romulan security contingent efficiently re-established their protective cordon around their Ambassador, so Chelsea settled for a grateful but less tactile goodbye this time.
"I'm very grateful Isha, I can't tell you how much this has helped me get a hold on the whole thing. Thank you again, my dear friend. Keep well. I hope to be in touch again soon, but if you don't hear from me, please get in touch as soon as is convenient to you?" It was a seemingly polite comment but Chelsea was actually saying that if Isha didn't hear from her she should assume the channels were still closed and to please circumvent them herself.
A JP between:
Ambassador Isha t'Khellian
and
Lt Cmdr Chelsea Adams
CMO
and
Madam Azuma
(NPC by Notty)
and
Romulan Security
NPC by Maja
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Chelsea Dunham & (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin
Post Details
| Title | Shopping | |
| Mission | Interlude | |
| Author(s) | Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Chelsea Dunham & (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin | |
| Posted | Wed Sep 08, 2010 @ 6:36pm | |
| Location | The Promenade | |
| Timeline | SD34 |
Isha had made the appointment for noon. As ever Madame Azuma had been willing to close the shop down for an hour or so and it was something that Isha usually made worth her while. They had agreed to meet Chelsea on the promenade nearby before arriving together.
Saren looked towards Thei as they took their positions at the Ambassador's side. The Promenade, as usual, was bursting with activity and the two kept a sharp eye out. Another pair of officers were on the upper level, covering the area from above.
Chelsea couldn't understand why she was so nervous but she had woken really early and been fussing around with trivia ever since, a clear sign of distraction that her subconscious was throwing into her path to avoid an oncoming difficulty or anxiety.
Rick had been amused and had teased her. She'd been able to laugh at herself when she was with him but once she left their quarters the nervousness returned.
~It'll be exciting and fun and ...... God, what is WRONG with you?~ she argued with herself internally as the butterflies increased the closer she got to the promenade.
Spotting Isha helped. The lovely Romulan's serene face always calmed Chelsea and today was no exception. "Hello" Chelsea greeted her dear friend and approached to greet her with a hug only to be headed off by the Security eagle, hovering close by. Chelsea stopped short and held up both hands in a surrender gesture.
Seeing the overeager Bajoran coming closer to the Ambassador, Saren instinctively took a step forward. As the woman stopped, Saren glanced silently at Thei, who was running a thorough scan. Finally, he looked up and gave his superior a slight nod. Nodding back, Saren took a step back into position.
Isha sighed. They were only doing their job but it did not make their presence any less stifling. The friends went in.
Madam Azuma bore down on the women as they entered with a stately grace, like a buxom galleon under full sail. "Ambassador t'Khellian," She boomed in greeting. "And this must be our blushing bride. Tipple?" Azuma's assistants, two young women of interdeterminate human or humanish species, swarmed around them, one bringing chairs, the other offering drinks.
"You spoil me absolutely rotten," Isha said in Federation Standard. "I tell you Chelsea, Madame Azuma's needlework is a miracle, she's actually better than my girl on ch'Rihan though Eviess would kill me for saying so. If I ever have to leave DS5 for good I wonder how I am going to persuade her to come with me."
"Just one more reason not to leave DS5?" Chelsea offered with a wink. "You have to stay long enough to become Godmother to my children yet. I'm afraid you can't leave!" she teased.
If I leave first it will be in a box, Isha thought, but she did not say that. "I have far too many reasons to stay," she smiled.
Isha thought there was a reason Azuma's work was so good was because she did not have to rely wholy on verbal instructions and descriptions. She suspected that she gleaned a visual impression of what the customer expected and created the garment according to that. Certainly, no-one else had ever met Isha's requirements quite so exactly. "I'll be having a few things sent over later today," a handful of the more fitted items in her wardrobe, "I seem to be putting on a little weight," she sighed and took a cup of tea offered to her by one of the girls.
"Thank you," she said before turning to Chelsea, "So, tell us what you are thinking of," she suggested.
"My thoughts are at one moment a blank canvas and at another the complete fog of too much choice..... " Chelsea admitted. "If I may, I could start with what I wouldn't feel right with and work back towards the rest?" she asked rhetorically. "I wouldn't feel right in one of those dreary traditional Terran Ivory or White shrouds.... I'd like a coloured dress to celebrate."
Azuma appraised Chelsea the way a horse trader might size up a prize stallion, or dog breeder examine a pedigree. "Hmm. Plenty to work with. Nothing seriously wrong to camouflage. I've dealt with worse. Sarine," she addressed the assistant, "fetch the silks and satins. And just to be different lets have the muslins too. A garden wedding lets us be a bit more creative. What colours do we want?"
My favourite colour is green but I'm not set on that as the only option.... perhaps another colour would suit either me or the dress-style? I have an open mind."
"Excellent! And any ideas as to style?"
"No, whatever makes him want to say *i do* no matter what second thoughts he might have been having that morning!" Chelsea shrugged, blushing a little.
"Now, now," Madam said, "Don't be shy. If I make you a dress, there's going to be no room for coyness." She clapped a hand and the other assistant dimmed the lights, and handed the Betazoid matron a padd. "Lets make a start then." She tapped the pad, and suddenly the room was illuminated by a holographic projection of a model that was of a size and height with Chelsea. "Lets start with silhouette. " A dark shadow covered the model, "we can add details later. "You don't want a terran meringue, so lets go with slinky, show off those lovely curves of yours...a décolletage with just a hint of naughtily low, and for the skirt? Lets start with something mid-length tailored. We can always raise or lower it later. "
Azuma finished tapping, and the shadow on the model shifted, until it showed the outline of something very much like an off-the-shoulder cocktail dress, crisply tailored. She added a hint of colour, turning it a gentle mint colour. "What do you think dear?" And she opened her mind, ready to pick up what Chelsea and Isha did say, as much as what they didn't.
"It's gorgeous" Chelsea looked, tilting her head in that mannerism she'd caught from Rick recently. ~He's going to be knocked out! I wonder what it would look like a little longer? Do I want it full length or is that too much?~ her mind raced.
"Perhaps taper it so that it is full length at the back but mid-length at the front ... a tapering split starting around one knee." Isha was merely floating ideas, her own dress was remarkably conservative and rarely involved anything shorter than her ankles.
"Oooh, could we see that please?" Chelsea enthused.
Azuma was making the adjustments almost before Isha spoke, "Full length is never too much. Trains, maybe, petticoats maybe, but if we keep the cut close to the fetlock as it were, it should give you a most flattering outline." She finished her work, and the plain green dress was now seductively spit over one knee, the edge curving down and out, until it fanned out behind the model into a modest sized flair.
Chelsea caught her breath. "Ohhhhhhhh" she breathed out in awe.
"it is rather effective," Isha said, "I wonder if a contrasting lining in the skirt would add anything to it."
Azuma added a gentle rose pink lining to the skirt. "Maybe something more complimentary?" She changed the pink to a darker green, and then a pale turquoise. "Any preferences?"
"I like the turquoise but I'm trying to avoid 'medical teal' I wonder if we changed the dress to a darker colour and then went pale with the lining please?" Chelsea offered.
In her head she visualised an emerald green dress with the mint as the lining and then changed it to a Burgundy dress with an ivory lining. She began to suggest these combinations but the dressmaker was one step ahead.
"Could we see..... " she began just as they appeared. ~woh!~
The resulting pair of magnificent creations in either colour were breathtaking.
"Um... I think I should go for the burgundy, just because it's a colour i never wear and perhaps I should go for something completely different and remarkable for the occasion." Chelsea said, struggling to decide in the face of so many stunning alternatives.
"Yes" She forced herself to make up her mind. She had to keep ticking off decisions or she'd never get through them all. Burgundy it was going to be and just to make it firm she decided on that as the main colour scheme too.
"Should I come back for fittings?" she asked Azuma. "Perhaps you'd be kind enough to contact me when you're ready for me to make an appointment? Or should we set a date and time now?"
Madam Azuma's assistant returned with an armful of folders, and passed them to Chelsea. "I'll leave you these with you," Azuma said. "Call me when you have chosen some fabrics, and we'll arrange fittings then, Just remember," she wagged a finger at Chelsea, "There's always less time than you think. And we haven't even talked jewellery and shoes yet."
"Oh, I haven't told her yet, but I will loan her the jewels, though it is true we may need to have them reset for the occasion," Isha said, "but we'll not really know that until the colours and fabrics are finalised. Thank you, Azuma for your continued assisstance," she added.
It felt good to have more of a hold on an internal image of the event unfolding in her head and Chelsea was relieved and delighted with the results of this trip. She hugged Isha and repeated her thanks for all her help. Then she hugged Madame Azuma and thanked her too.
On leaving the little dressmaker's shop the Romulan security contingent efficiently re-established their protective cordon around their Ambassador, so Chelsea settled for a grateful but less tactile goodbye this time.
"I'm very grateful Isha, I can't tell you how much this has helped me get a hold on the whole thing. Thank you again, my dear friend. Keep well. I hope to be in touch again soon, but if you don't hear from me, please get in touch as soon as is convenient to you?" It was a seemingly polite comment but Chelsea was actually saying that if Isha didn't hear from her she should assume the channels were still closed and to please circumvent them herself.
A JP between:
Ambassador Isha t'Khellian
and
Lt Cmdr Chelsea Adams
CMO
and
Madam Azuma
(NPC by Notty)
and
Romulan Security
NPC by Maja