BACKPOST: Shopping, Shopping, and oh, Shopping

Posted on Wednesday 7 November 2018 @ 16:56 by Lieutenant Colonel Kachiko Bayushi & Commander Save'ena (Sav) Tillatix

Mission: The New Collective
Location: Starbase 306 - Command Deck Shopping Ring
Timeline: During Shoreleave before New Borg Encountered
2257 words - 4.5 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Sav glanced at her reflection in her mirror of her room. She was getting ready to go out shopping with Kachiko and Reiko, and maybe Rai would join them as well. Cai was in the barracks as she was a cadet Yeoman and assigned to Apollo for the upcoming mission.

She was dressed in a summer style dress, light green in coloration, with diamond light green and yellow leggings, along with a long strap darker green purse and a darker green L'Tandrey duty sashe on running from left shoulder to right hip. Shaking herself to settle her fur, she said a final, "Lookin' good, Sav." She left her room to go to the living room to look for others.

Reiko looked up and squealed with glee as she bounded over, "Savvy Savvy Savvy! You look so cute!"

Sav churred happily at being greeted by Reiko. She said, "you too," as she quickly gave the diminutive girl a long hug, knowing how Reiko loved Sav being furry. After a minute, Sav finally asked, "Are you and Mom ready to go shopping? I hear credits begging to be spent by t'e t'ree ofa us, ayuh."

"I'm always ready!" Reiko grinned, arms wrapping around the woman's neck as she was hugged. "I think mom is finishing up some quick work thing."

Sav followed Reiko to a couch and sat down with her to wait on Mom. Sav giggled and remarked, "Yah likin' t'e digs Ah managed tah get fer us? Pretty nice, eh?" She suddenly turned to look at Reiko with a conspiratory look on her face, "Ah still say weun should of gotten t'e butler, that way she or he could fetch ourun snacks fer movie nights, ayuh?"

Reiko giggled, "I dunno! I don't like the idea of having some weird person I don't know in here."

Kachiko chuckled from the bedroom hatch, "Neither do I. Too much sensitive information and all."

Sav churred out delight as she surged up and forward to grab Kachiko in a hug. "Heya Kachiko.. ready fer some shoppin', ana this time Ah can actuahly enjoy it?"

Kachiko squeaked, not expecting the hug. It had been too long since she'd been able to spend time with Save'ena. "Sure thing, hon. Let's get going?"

Sav nodded with her head and then asked, "Have yah been tah t'e command shopping area? It's rather fun, and they have new shops put in for kitlings of various age groups, besides adults. I say we let Reiko choose the first couple of shops, then Mom can choose the next, agreed?"

Reiko looked pleased with that idea and scampered over to take one of Sav's hands. Kachiko smiled, "No. I have not been able to get away from work. The Merlin is in need of a lot of work and oversight."

Sav churred gently and said, "Then, perfect time for a break. Let's go."

The trio left their diplomatic envoy suite and went to, and into, the nearest turbolift and it rose upwards. The lift came to a halt and the door opened to a grand plaza of many shops and restaurants. Sav grinned as she looked about the hustle and bustle along with the varied shops of nice merchandise. This was the same as last time she was here with Melody, right before her extensive surgeries.

At the entrance to the plaza was a sensor doorway manned by a PO2 with two guards watched over by an Ensign. The Ensign motioned them forward, saying, "ID's please."

Sav brought out her ident card while saying, "I'm with her," and pointing to Reiko. The Ensign chuckled appreciatively even as he saw the 'Lt. Commander, CFCO' on the ident card, as well as the special diplomatic envoy mark. He smiled and said, "Welcome, Miss Tillatix." He now looked expectantly at Kachiko.

The pitch black uniformed Commander arched an eyebrow with amusement before offering her identification, which flashed on the viewer as restricted but cleared as Commander/Lieutenant Colonel Bayushi Kachiko, Executive Officer of the USS Merlin.

The Ensign dutifully checked over the idents and said, "Welcome Commander Bayushi, Miss Reiko." He motioned to the plaza, "We have some new shops since Merlin's last visit, including a couple of ladies accessory shops and new trend anime shops. The plaza is rather unique experience, to say the least. Please, pass through the scanner and then enjoy your shopping experience."

Right after they passed through the scanners, there was a motion from the scanner operator. Ensign Gaston stopped the trio at the end of the sensor ring. "Excuse me, ladies." A guard came over with a padd. The Ensign looked at it, then nodded. He picked up two red bands. "Miss Tillatix, would you please wear these bands on your wrists? They denote you have claws so that there is less inclination of brash reactions towards you and your lady friends. There are civilian captains and XO's about, besides visiting dignitaries, and we don't want anything amiss to happen, alright?"

Sav sighed out, "Yup, alright" as she dutifully took the bands an put them on her wrists. She smiled wryly to Kachiko and said, "Not to worry, Kachiko. I wore these my last time as well. Kindof goes with the territory of always being armed."

Kachiko still looked dubious, "Claws. I'm always armed, Ensign."

Ensign Gaston did a light shrug with his hands and replied, "Understood Commander, as any marine always is. Hand to hand can be expected... but, large hidden claws are an unknown, so, leeway is given. We've had some female L'Tandrey accosted in the past, and well, if it had been known about their hidden claws, the incident probably wouldn't have happened, hence this rule which has been in effect for five years now."

Still looking amused, Kachiko smirked, "Hand-to-hand? I am carrying three knives, a phaser and a .45, Ensign. Yet none of those are visible. If these civilians and dignitaries can't be trusted not to pick fights, they shouldn't be aboard the Starbase."

"But, whatever. I realize that you don't make policy. Let's go, girls," Kachiko was irritated, but knew that making a scene was counterproductive.

With the back and forth and ident checks done, Sav smiled to Reiko and said, "You're move, Kitling, lead the way for our shopping experience."

At Sav's question, Reiko bounced up and down with excitement, "We should all go get matching cute outfits!"

Sav churred as she looked over at Kachiko and said to Reiko, "Hmm, I'm not sure I want to dress in an all black Marine spec ops dress uniform, I mean, would you?" She brought a hand up to her muzzle and now quizzically asked, "Or is that a skin tight symbiote that your mom can never take off?"

"No, silly!" Reiko giggled."Matching dresses!"

Kachiko shook her head,"The black would go nicely with your white fur, Sav."

Sav stuck out her tongue slightly and answered, "O-kay.. Possibly it would, asa long as my gray front fur looked good with it asa well... but, I think Reiko wouldn't like black dresses, though. Common, Rorschark's Dress Emporium is this way. It has junior dresses beside petite with standard at a triangle. That way Mom's can shop with daughters while daughters make sure they don't match with Mom's, or in this case, we all match. Sounds good? And, on the way, there is a nice ice cream shop...."

Suddenly, Reiko was bouncing with excitement. Shopping was a rare experience for her, living most of her life aboard starships. The opportunity to even just window shop had the teenaged girl excited beyond anything that she could recall.

Kachiko smiled at spying Reiko's enthusiasm, but had to be a moderating voice, following the girl to the Dress Emporium, "We can get ice cream after a little shopping, Reiko-chan."

Sav moved over to be beside Reiko to look at Kachiko with her. She giggled and nudged Reiko with her hip before saying, "Awwwwwww, Moooom, yer such a party pooper."

Kachiko just rolled her eyes at this.

Sav turned and grabbed Reiko's right hand in her left and Kachiko's left hand in her right. She now led the two towards the shop in question. As she did, she said, "Rorschark's isn't the fanciest, but it also is not the bargain basement or cheap wares us college students are used to either. It's umm, what is it like on my world, a Macy's I think? Anyways, Mom shops there for clothes when she goes on her book tours, so it has to be realy nice, right?"

"I went to Macy's with Cai and Hiroko back on Earth!" Reiko exclaimed."It was a really big store!" Then the girl looked up at Sav, "Your mom writes books!? What kind?"

"She doesn't write that sparkling vampire drivel, Reiko-chan," Kachiko made a sound of disgust.

Sav churred out at thinking of the pleasant memories of her mom typing away while Sav cuddled in her lap dozing when she was young. "Mom writes romance novels for grownups, Reiko. They are funny, witty, ana, umm, fer adults only, not fer kitlings. She wasa plannin' ona branchen out fer young adult.. so, weun can look lateh, ayuh. We'un here."

Rorschark's was a two story affair on the main shop promenade. There was a buslte as many groups of people, from families, to groups of ladies young and old alike, and different races came in and out. Many a young teen came out in various styles of dress, from pretty princess to goth to current fashion trends. Sav looked over them, grinned and said, "Ah t'ink weun can fahnd sometin' tah appeal tah all ourun fashion senses, eh?"

Kachiko blinked, "I don't think that I have a fashion sense, to be quite honest."

They went in and up to a store guide. The store acually extended into the deck below and the deck above the promenade. Sav found a secion on their current floor marked 'junior' that also had sections nearby for Pettite and normal. Sav knew Kachiko would be petite, Reiko Junior, but herself at 5'5", but mephetian sometimes would be a Petite, or a smaller size in 'normal' terran sized clothing. The only thing, as always, was when trying things on to imagine where the tail was to go. She was glad she was wearing briefs for this trip as her tail would lift up the hem of any dress or skirt until a strategic opening was made for her tail for when she actually bought a dress, skirt, or pants.

"This way, kitlings, this way.." Sav teased as she led over to the Junior section. When they got there, Sav let out a 'Whoah'. The section was huge, with areas denoting the various styles. Same for the Petites and 'regular' sized. Sav reached up to close her dropped jaw as she said, "Ummm, larger than ah thought. Uh, Reiko, lead t'e way, ana t'en we'll see about findin matchin' outfits, mm'kay?"

"Maybe they have a guide on the Extranet?" Reiko produced her ever-present PADD, swiftly logging in. "Let's see if they have something matching in all our sizes!"

Reiko's PADD easily connected to the ever present extranet throughout the starbase. The dedicated server detected her location and brought up the Rorschark's Floorplan on one half of the screen, with a listing of fashion types on the other half.

The latest fashion styles were as follows: Trendy, Casual, Exotic, Vibrant, Sexy, Preppy, Elegant, Bohemian, Girly, Cowgirl, Girl Next Door, Punk, Artsy, Business, Tomboy, Gothic, Rocker, Vintage, Sporty.
To the side of that was a listing of types of clothing wear: Professional, Formal, Semi-formal, Casual, Travel, exercise, sports, safety.

On the map, right nearby their area the following styles with types were listed as follows:
Trendy (Semi-formal, Casual), Casual (Casual, Travel), Vibrant (Semi-Formal, Casual), Girly (Formal, Semi-Formal, Casual), and Boho (Semi-Formal, Casual)

The Areas lit up on the map beside them were Girls (8-13), Teens (12-19), Young Adult (16 - 22), Petites Women, and Regular Women.

Sav whistled at the amount of Fashion styles and types. She would have never guessed. She only knew Formal, Dating, Casual, and Uniform, and her style was probably Casual/Rocker/Tomboy mix. She smiled to Reiko as she looked over to Kachiko, "So, Reiko, what do you say? Vibrant Girly outfits for us?" She just could not picture Kachiko in a swing style casual dress of vibrant colors as all of her memories were of Kachiko in her infiltration black uniform.

With that, Kachiko laughed, "Savvy, doll. You've only seen me in my black uniform as back then, our interactions were me acting in my official capacity as your Academy Advisor."

Reiko enjoyed watching her mother's rapport with the adorable Mephetian lady. Reiko grinned up at Save'ena, "I was thinking... umm... well, I think Mom would look so cute in a gothic loli style, like they have back in Japan. I don't know if that would work for you, though."

Kachiko blinked, "I... what?"

Reiko giggled, "Sorry, mom. You have the perfect skin and hair for it."

"Well, I'm not against trying new things, sweetie. But let's save that for a later visit?" Kachiko shrugged. Reiko nodded, "Okay... I think that you'd look nice with an off-white or really light pink or blue, Mom. You too, Savvy-Savvy!"

"Lead on, darling," Kachiko motioned towards the sales floor. The tiny girl bounced up and down momentarily before darting forward.

OFF:

Commander Save'ena Tillatix
Chief of Flight Operations, USS Merlin

Commander Bayushi Kachiko
First Officer, USS Merlin

Bayushi Reiko
PNPC by Bayushi