Two Romulans walk into a bar.

Falten laughed, then looked down at the stars on her wrist. Her eyes were suddenly very far away, and the smile on her face was veiled with something.

"One of the stations I worked on, there was a human working at the bar as well, and she wanted nothing more than to see the green skies of Andor. I said I liked the stars better, and she asked what constellation was above where I was born. She was one of those types that told fortunes by where the sun and stars were when you were born, knew a bunch of mystic crap from a dozen different planets. Tribble-shit, if you ask me, but she really believed it. Humans." Her smile tilted in amusement. "Such odd beings."

"But this was my birth arrangement, behind the thunderheads that marked my entrance to the galaxy. It's known as the Queen, by everyone except the most traditional of Andorians. My family called it the Heretic." She sighed. "I literally don't know anything else about it, aside from it's pretty."

She gave a shrug, and the distance in her eyes and on her face vanished. "She wanted to tattoo me, and I said sure, and that's what she wanted to put on my skin. Said it was a 'fateful reminder,' and I said she was full of it." She grinned.

Tal'Ara laughed.

"Well, I hope all your tattoos have such interesting stories."

Her eyes swept all over Falten's blue skin.

She continued to brush over the tattoo with her delicate fingers and locked eyes with her. There was a deep wisdom about Falten. A life truly lived.

Tal'Ara then looked around the empty bar.

"Don't you have to open for business soon?"

Falten met Tal's eyes and held them, her antennae honing in as well. This woman... Falten was confused at her intrigue and attraction - she had spent so long avoiding opening up the old wound of rejection and exile that she had never allowed someone close. But this Romulan had begun knocking on her door and Falten was slowly, carefully, and, with no small thrill, letting her in.

She looked around the bar, snapping out of her sudden, electric connection and giving an exhausted, unhappy groan.

"You're right... Fuck, people still want to drink on this hunk of junk, don't they..." She didn't move her hand, though.

Tal'Ara frowned.

"Yeah. And I have to go spend some time with D'Imus before he leaves in the morning."

She gripped Falten's hand a little tighter.

"I had a really nice time today - just talking. It was refreshing to be honest with someone for a change."

Tal'Ara took Falten's hand and brought it to her face. She inhaled its scent deeply. Whatever she was using on her skin smelled wonderful. Tal'Ara's eyes shut as she took it in.

After she opened her eyes, she gently kissed her hand. Her lips lingered long enough to taste her flesh.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered with a smile.