Post 428: The Lady in Red

Stardate:70902.1945
Title:The Lady in Red
Author: Lt. Lily T'Ana
Scene: Seven
Time: After "A Dressing Down"
---------------------------------------------
As she walked off the dance floor Lily was not yet aware that a freshly showered and shined up Angus MacDougal, in a gorgeous black tuxedo, had finally escaped the kitchen and joined the party.

He had observed her from across the room as she was walking away from Dabin Reece. He was concerned about the flushed color of her cheeks.

Knowing her as he did, Angus knew this was a sign of upset for the usually very emotionally contained Ms. T'Ana. Except, that was, in some rare circumstances, thinking about which made him smile.

He made his way over to her, and from behind leaned in and gently kissed her neck. Then he took her by the hand and swung her around on the dance floor to dance to a song he had personally requested of the band. He held up his hand, cuing them.

The song "Lady in Red" began to play and Lily and Angus only had eyes for each other.

"May I say you look exquisite tonight my love? And you smell even better." Angus whispered in her ear, "My lady in red."

"You may say that as often as you like, and may I say you clean up rather nicely. That cologne I mixed up for you blends perfectly with mine and might I add, with your pheromones." Lily playfully whispered back in his ear.

"Ooo. Chemistry. Spoken like a true scientist. I love it when you talk shop. If you keep this up we'll have to go lock ourselves in the kitchen." Angus whispered back. Lily laughed, and then he turned serious again. "Darling, did everything go all right with your chat with Reece?"

"Oh, fine, I was just giving him a little pep talk when it comes to February." Lily said, and her face notably changed.

"Uh, oh honey, is he still speaking like a man? Or does he now sound like a woman? Alto or Soprano? I know you love Bru and want to protect her but she is a big girl now. She has to make her own decisions when it comes to her relationships." Angus was trying to be as delicate as he could be.

Lily looked up at Angus with tears welling in her eyes. "Hey, hey none of that. She's going to be ok, sweetheart." He tried to reassure her.

"I know, I know. But it's hard, I almost lost her so many times. After all we went through on Trill, If he hurts her I swear. . ."

~Later on~

February came up to Lily and gave her a big hug. "Thank you for caring about me and loving me so much. You've stuck by me and Wen through more hard times than I can even put into words."

"I am so lucky to have a friend like you and I feel now that I am really a part of you, nothing will separate our friendship, ever. That's why I am so protective over you. I'm sorry if I was so tough on Dabin Reece, tell him for me it's just because I love you and Wen. I won't really meld him with the operations board....I don't think." Lily looked at February and they both laughed.

"Lily, I've thought about this a lot, and I want you to have this. Thank you for taking part in my zhian'tara" February gently put a beautiful ruby encrusted butterfly comb into Lily's jet black hair, which was drawn back and into a french twist. February placed it just in front of ear by her right temple.

"This belonged to Wen's Grandmother. I've treasured it and now I want you, my treasured friend and sister, to have it. It signifies the love I have for you." There were tears in the eyes of both women.

"I will always cherish this, Bru. It will be one of the closest things to my heart, besides you." With that, the two friends decided to sit down and chat for a while.

Later on Lily saw Xhian, and stopped him. She wanted to thank him for the beautiful necklace he had made her.

"Thank you so much for the gorgeous necklace Xhian, I just love it so much." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on his very cute blue cheek. In fact if she hadn't been mistaken, it turned a little red. Xhian stuttered a bit.

"Ah, ah it was my pleasure Lieutenant, I wanted to thank you for befriending me since I came on board."

When Xhian said that, Lily just about wanted to cradle him in her lap like a mother cradles her little boy.

"Xhian, you don't have to give me a gift for being a friend to you, that's something I am honored to do. You are a wonderful person to have as a friend. Don't you forget that OK?" Lily gave him a great big hug. "By the way, I heard some interesting scuttlebutt. Something about a certain redheaded Ensign who may be a little bit smitten with you. But you didn't hear that from me. . ."

That said, Lily walked away from Xhian, leaving him with an expression on his face that could have served as a neon sign flashing above, reading "HUH?"

-------------------------------
Lt. Lily T'Ana
Chief of Science
USS Independence NCC-90791