Man-eating With Discerning Eyes 18+

Posted on 02 Jun 2015 @ 11:02pm by Seleya Qellar Ph.D. & Crewman Apprentice Sigrid Thelin

3,091 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 7, Callisto Bar
Timeline: MD -01: 2200hrs

[ ON ]

"Your hair is truly exceptional," Seleya said from behind in a tone that was genuine but just haughty enough to show a reluctance to fully commit to complimenting a stranger, a decidedly Romulan sort of thing to do. She took a sip of her drink - a passable excuse for a standard Vulcanoid ale - and smiled pleasantly. "You must have visited a salon on starbase that I somehow missed."

Sigrid turned towards the compliment. Never one to pass up a chance to talk about her hair and her eyes brightened at the person who'd done so. "Thank you! That's so sweet of you. No, all the salons on the starbase were awful. I do my own hair." For emphasis she played with her curly blond hair before flipping it over her shoulder.

"Really?" Seleya asked, raising an eyebrow behind the heavy curtain of her bangs. She'd already reached her limit for ale this evening, placing her somewhere along the border of being genuinely relaxed for once and still entirely too much in control of herself, so when she spoke it was with surprising interest given her ordinarily caustic personality. "You must be quite adept at the cosmetic arts, then. Do you have professional training?"

Sigrid smiled brightly. She always enjoyed bringing her Cosmetology training up. "My mother is a beautician on Vega colony. I've done some work my self. I'm also certified in three different Cosmetological techniques." Sigrid smoothed the front of her silver dress and inspected the tight, cropped, dark grey jacket she wore over top as she spoke.

For a moment, the Romulan woman looked extremely hesitant, even going so far as to glance around the lounge, looking specifically for Stace but also anyone else she'd had a rude run-in with. Seeing none of the offending crewmen present, she reached up, removed the hat pins from her hat and then lifted it off her head as if it were a crown. "I cannot for the life of me seem to condition my hair in such a manner that it remains the way it should remain after I wear a hat. Do you see? It's as if some sort of bird were nesting under there. It's a genetic defect of the first order, if you ask me."

"Not at all!" Sigrid exclaimed admiring the hair underneath. She reached up and touched the ends, while inspecting her roots. When Sigrid finished her inspection she dropped her arms and said, "You're so beautiful!" She took a big gulp of whatever alcohol had been given to her from one of the many patrons she was working in the lounge. "It's not you, that's for sure." She patted the older woman's arm before leaning in conspiratorially, "It's the sonic showers here."

"Thank you," Seleya said in reply to the compliment, keeping a cool, even tone. Coming from the Star Empire, one was always cautious about honeyed words, especially since they were used to such great effect by agents of the Imperial government itself. Nevertheless, she gave a smile and tried her best to appear grateful; the opportunity to gossip about Federation technology, at least, seemed to genuinely please her.

"I had my suspicions. For all its wondrous technology, it's hard to believe Starfleet can't find the budgetary wherewithal to incorporate a proper water shower system in its ships. Romulan vessels are vastly larger, and we seemed to manage just fine." She paused to take another sip of her ale and then hiked her hip upward to slide on to the bar stool next to Sigrid's perch. "The sonic shower always makes me feel like I'm stepping into some sort of impersonal device as opposed to actually going through the process of bathing. I don't care how 'relaxing' people claim they are; as far as I'm concerned, you can't replace the silken feeling of purified water. And apparently, it's bad for your hair, too," she said with a smirk.

"Relaxing?" Sigrid made an exaggerated eye roll as she took another sip of her drink. "Standing in front of a loud bass speaker at a concert is no worse than a sonic shower." A man walked into the lounge just then and when he noticed Sigrid he waved. She responded with a flick of her hair. "Tell me. What do you use to condition it with? The standard SF dry shampoo?" Her nose scrunched up, hoping that wasn't the case. That stuff was vile as far as Sigrid was concerned.

Seleya couldn't help but scrunch up her own nose similarly. "Absolutely not. I do not use Starfleet products. They're designed for humans," Seleya said, adding belatedly, "no offense intended. I use a dry shampoo derived from the jarandarat tree on Minos Tureth in the Empire. Or, the closest approximation that Starfleet replicators are capable of producing. Romulan hair is very thick, so it dries easily if not moisturized properly and the jarandarat extract does a passable job." She cut her eyes to the side briefly to take in the man that had waved to Sigrid then looked back at the other woman curiously. "Are you the ship's beautician?"

Sigrid snorted as she crossed her legs to allow her to reach down and take off one of her black high-heeled shoes. She began massaging her foot while she finished off her drink. "Ha! No. They wish I were though. No, I'm a science crewman. Just graduated.--" Sigrid's head whipped to the dance floor to identify who had started playing Dungdnier's "Blue Heaven". She spotted a half decent looking blonde hunk had decided to play and she smirked sliding off her bar stool. She turned to the bartender. "This beautiful woman right next to me needs another round."

"And for you?" The bartender asked.

"I'm working on it." Sigrid said as she started to hip sway to the music playing. As she danced she turned her attention back to Seleya. "I have a list of ingredients for you to put together, or I can make it for you. It's a moisturizer and hair strengthener. It will keep your hair full, and luscious all day, hat or no hat." Sigrid's body continued to move to the beat being played. It was catchy, with the right amount of bass. She clearly knew the song as she paused and rotated with the stops and starts of the beats. "Just hang on. The drop is coming..." Sigrid pointed an arm straight in the air as her head bobbed to the beat. While she could easily have ordered herself another drink, it was more of a challenge to get people to order them for her. When the drop did come, she swayed her hips and bounced around flipping her hair wildly around. Clearly having a lot of fun. She turned just as a server had approached her from behind and almost as if it were choreographed Sigrid had snatched the glass off the tray.

"That guy over there wan--"

"I know!" Sigrid crooned sweetly before she sat down with her new drink. She took a sip before looking back at Seleya.

Seleya accepted the drink from the bartender with a perfunctory smile that degenerated into a half-sneer when he turned around. She didn't like the man; he was insufferably chatty and seemed to feel like everyone had a problem they wanted to discuss. If she ever had a problem - which she did not - then the ship's lounge would be the absolute last place she'd go to discuss it. How much more unqualified could one be when one's job was essentially that of a glorified hologram?

"I appreciate your assistance," Seleya finally said, eyeing Sigrid over the rim of her glass. Realizing the comment was slightly out of place now after the dance exhibition, she added, "With my hair." She took a sip of the drink out of politeness even though she'd already decided she was well beyond her self-imposed limit. "You seem to be quite popular, crewman... It's always been intriguing to me how some can establish such a presence for themselves in such a short amount of time."

Sigrid, having almost finished half her drink while the Romulan woman spoke, put it down in front of her. "It's surprisingly easy. I usually just start with--" She stuck her hand out for a handshake, "I'm Sigrid Thelin, nice to meet you. And then it just kind of goes from there. Unless of course you're a brown curly haired, red shirted petty officer that may or may not be sitting behind you at seven o'clock that seems to only like playing eye tag. All he's interested in is the handfuls of this--" Sigrid shook her head making her curls bounce about perfectly. "With him, he just gets the smoky half closed-eyed-pucker-pout." Sigrid made her eyes look heavy lidded and mysterious while puckering her glossed lips just the right amount as a perfect demonstration. For emphasis she let her head tilt toward her shoulder slightly and placed a hand on her hip.

Seleya repositioned herself on the stool so that she could discreetly observe the crewman in question, something at which she seemed to be naturally adept. Before long, she turned her attention back to Sigrid and looked dismissive. "The crewman's anatomy has phenotypic characteristics that suggest aggression and a lack of empathy. He has likely learned to develop a shyness in his personality as a ploy to conceal these traits until they can be more safely revealed in private." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "I am familiar with his 'type,' as humans might put it."

Sigrid stared at Seleya with her mouth open in shock. "Oh my Stars! Is that a Romulan superpower?" She jumped off her stool to get closer to the woman and scooped up her hands in her own. "You have got to show me that again. She picked up Seleya's drink and put it in the woman's hand, then grabbed her own. She took Seleya's free hand and led her away from the bar towards an open booth. "It's totally a superpower isn't it?" Sigird said excitedly. "Or is it like one of those Romulan secrets that you can allude to, but can't say because then you lose your air of mystery?"

Against her better judgment, Seleya allowed herself to be led away from the bar toward the booth. Loathe as she was to admit it, Sigrid was an amusing, if unlikely, companion. At the very least the woman hadn't outright accused her of being a spy, and that spoke volumes in her favor. As she slipped into the booth and adjusted her drink on the table, her voice was low and serious:

"I could explain it to you, perhaps even show you. I don't hold allegiance to the Romulan Star Empire anymore. But you'd have to spend the rest of your life living in fear that one day the Tal Shiar might find you. They don't like for their secrets to get out, you see."

Sigrid leaned toward Seleya, and in a tone that matched the gravitas of the the Romulan's warning, said, "Oh I think your secret is safe with me." She turned and fixed her attention on the next candidate. "What about that one? Two tables over wearing the teal uniform. I had sex with him last week. Didn't see him or talk to him again after that. He makes this weird grunting sound, like 'uhg uhg uuuuugh'." Sigrid had lowered her voice to be deep and gruff which made her sound like she was imitating a gorilla.

Seleya suppressed a laugh and followed Sigrid's motion to the man in teal. She appraised him for a few minutes - his facial features, the way he sat at the table and held his drink, his laugh, the slips of personality that showed themselves when he thought no one was looking. Eventually, she slid her eyes back to Sigrid and shrugged.

"That's because he's so self-absorbed you might as well not be present. He probably makes those noises when he's alone, too, which likely happens to be a lot. Do you see how he brings the conversation back around to himself if it strays too far? Look at the lines around his eyes when someone else has the spotlight, and again when he's back to the center. A typical selfish man, only out to get what he wants," Seleya said, sneering slightly. It disappeared quickly and was replaced with a smirk. "Then again, they're generally so wrapped up in themselves they think no one could possibly outwit them, so it's quite easy to get what you want out of them without them ever realizing it. If you're good, they might even think it was their idea in the first place."

Sigrid nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, it's how I bagged him in the first place. He totally thought he'd seduced me. Like a big ol' stud." Sigrid laughed at the memory of it. "Haark spit, all of it." Sigrid looked around the room for someone she didn't know. "Hmm, let me try...okay that one--wait never mind, he likes men. Oh, m'kay that one!" She turned to Seleya with a devilish grin, but then put her finger up to tell Seleya to wait. Sigrid picked up a menu and opened it, while pretending to read it. When she spoke again it was in a low, husky voice matching almost perfectly with the slight haughty sound of a Romulan accent. Her eyes were disinterested and her face was passive. "Blond hair. Wearing a boring white t-shirt and what I can only assume is a type of faux denim trouser. He's approaching the table at four o'clock. Do you have eyes on him?"

Seleya shrugged, not even bothering to look. "Since he entered the room." She seemed to be largely unbothered by the conversation, as if they were discussing the weather. "What do you see?"

Sigrid peered over her shoulder and watched him through the curls that had cascaded down, obscuring her eyes. She watched as a server went to his table. "He has 'I'm from Sol III' written all over him." Sigrid continued with her Romulan spy persona, "Probably says, 'hey' or 'howdy' all the time. He'll order a beer, but won't have a clue what kind he wants." Sigrid watched him for a few moments longer. Watched for the people he looked at. What songs made him bob his head or tap his foot. How he looked around the room, was it casually or was he 'looking'.

Sigrid made a 'hmn' sound before saying, "I'd put my hair up. He likes ponytails it seems, and I'd probably lose the jacket. My neckline would be the hook, the pout would sink it, the hair would bag it." Sigrid dropped the accent and looked at Seleya. "Not that I'd want to. I mean, did you see the rigid hips on him when he walked. Like he was clenching a piece of latinum in his ass. That man wouldn't have a clue what to do with the thing in his jeans." Sigrid put another finger up, "Although...look at the way he licks his lips after he sips his beer -- Yes, Seleya, he's sipping his beer. Who sips beer? Anyway, that tongue!" Sigrid looked back to watch a little more, or perhaps to try and glimpse that huge tongue again. "Tell me what you see?"

Seleya couldn't help but smirk at her observations, even if they were a bit single-minded. Pretending to turn and scrutinize the written menu on the wall, she took the opportunity to observe the man as long as she needed to and then turned back to Sigrid. "It is above average. He's sipping because he wants to stay lucid, and he has no prior engagements later in the evening. I believe he's here with a purpose, despite his rigidness. Which is probably because he doesn't do this very often. You'll see he's tried his best to look very nice, but can't seem to relax. He looks well put together, but there's something artificial about it, like a man in formal wear when he ordinarily wears a workman's jumper." She paused again, seemed to reflect on something from her memory, and then smiled. "He really doesn't carry himself like an experienced man, but isn't there something invigorating about the inexperienced from time to time? They're so...eager."

"All I got out of that was, 'he's unavailable'." Sigrid huffed air before saying, "Inexperienced men, in my humble opinion, are too much work and way too messy to clean up after. I don't have the patience to teach them, so I tend to be...more choosy. You know, back home on Vega there are classes for men that teach them how to have sex with women. They even hand out certification cards and everything. It's where the Vega bar life came up with the saying, 'show me your cred's.'. A lot of women won't even consider you unless you're certified."

Seleya gave a full-throated laugh at that. "You can't be serious! Oh, you are. My goodness... Perhaps you should institute an informal system here on the Galileo. It would save everyone a great deal of trouble, I imagine."

Sigrid gave the Romulan woman a mirthful smile, before turning her head and inspecting the men she saw in the lounge. "Oh, trust me. I'm workin' on it." she looked back, gave her a wink, and then leaned in. "Now, come see me on Sunday. Holodeck one between 1600 and 1800. I'll have a batch of product made up for you by then for your hair. Thank you for showing me your Romulan secrets."

Seleya smiled, mostly to herself, and lifted her drink to Sigrid in toast before downing the rest of her drink in a very unfeminine sort of gesture. She stood up, still poised but a little less balanced than when she walked in, and nodded to her companion. "My pleasure, Miss Thelin. See you Sunday, then?"

"Sunday." Sigrid agreed, though she was already distracted with another man that had just walked in, but she gave a polite smile before the woman left.

END

Seleya Qellar, Ph.D.
Biotechnologist
USS Galileo
[ PNPC - Mott ]

Crewman Apprentice Sigrid "Siri" Thelin
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo
[ PNPC - Beaumont ]

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