Colorful (SH fic; Drela)
Overwhelmed, Vela stood in front of Dritz's closet and stared. It was nearly bursting with clothes, some of them sticking out slightly due to the way they needed to be crammed in. It was like an explosion of color, too; blue, green, orange, red, purple, bright colors that complimented or clashed, softer colors in holographic fabric.
Where did she start? Dritz had told her once that she would look nice in one of his brightly-colored jackets. She wasn't sure if he'd been teasing or not, not totally. Sometimes he would tease her about the dark colors she preferred. It wouldn't hurt to try some on and see if what he said was true, would it?
Hesitantly she selected a sleeveless top colored with bright yellow and green slashes, the green parts having an almost metallic-looking shine to them. Then she chose a jacket in random blocks of red, orange and purple which was made of a shiny, plastic sort of material. She had to strip off her dark brown tunic to try all this on, hurrying through that part just in case anyone appeared at the door.
The top had a wide neckline, one which would have not quite extended all the way to Dritz's shoulders, though on Vela it went past her shoulders and clung to the sides of her arms. The jacket felt a little stiff and strange, yet was easy enough to put on since the Chrysalan had worn it so often. A quick look in the mirror almost made her laugh at the sight of herself.
It was all too big, of course. The jacket stuck out from her body and the top billowed out too much in front. Vela tended to wear oversized clothing as a rule, but it was different with these strange materials and construction intended for someone with a bulkier frame. Maybe it was time to take them off before Dritz found her, since he would probably laugh too.
"Vela, are you in he-" Dritz's voice made her jerk in surprise, spinning around guiltily to stare at him, as he was staring right back. "Vela... wow, look at you." It was difficult to figure out what he was thinking, as his eyes were wide and shocked, and he didn't move at all. Usually his atennae might at least give him away. She drew back defensively, waiting to hear the worst. "You don't know what you do to me, do you?" he finally asked in a soft tone.
Instantly Vela began to sign in a flurry of apology. [I'm sorry. I didn't mean to touch your personal things. It was just that you said once I would look nice in your clothes and I wanted to see if you were right. I'm sorry, but I think you were wrong.]
"No! No, no, no," Dritz repeatedly quickly, moving toward her. "I didn't mean it like that! I mean, you... well, you look great. I just was so surprised you'd actually want to try on my clothes like this. This is a fantastic surprise, honest."
It took a little time for Vela to accept he was telling the truth. But now his antennae were waving in that relaxed, happy way of his, and she relaxed as well. "Let me see the shirt better," he said quietly, helping her out of the jacket and tossing it onto his bed. He was staring again, touching her bare shoulders lightly, drinking her in with his gaze. "Sorry for saying this so much, but... wow. You look so good. Irresistible, I should say."
She felt herself warming under his praise, allowing it when he maneuvered them over to his bed to sit on the edge. He pressed his forehead to hers and sighed happily. "Is this alright?"
It was common for him to ask first. She nodded, but before he could make the first move she leaned up and kissed his lips tenderly. This surprised him, but his atennae were waving even more. "Oh... Vela." It was all he said before kissing her with more passion, still touching her shoulders. "It's... er, sorry. I guess it's a little too big for you, anyway." The top had slipped down and exposed most of her chest, and she gave him a little frown while he giggled nervously, not making much of an effort to hide his admiration of the sight.
Vela didn't cover herself either, signing instead, [I like you better in this one, anyway. I'll put mine back on.] But she moved slowly until Dritz touched her arm.
"Um, we don't have to hurry. I just watched Orion and Fera leave, we have plenty of alone time now. I mean, if you want to spend it together." [Please let me kiss more] he signed a bit clumsily, making Vela smile. She didn't mind his attention, and certainly not his affection.
They lay together for a while, kissing and gently caressing each another in whatever ways felt good, until Dritz sat up suddenly. "Wait... I wonder how you'd look in that one!" He got up and bounded over to the closet, his own clothing quite askew at the moment, and began picking out at least a dozen more jackets and tops and even some trousers.
Vela sat up on the edge of the bed again, smiling fondly to herself as she waited. It wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon, trying on Dritz's clothes. He exclaimed in delight over everything, saying she looked amazing every time, no matter how silly she was sure it was. Yet by the end, she was certain she had never felt so close to him as she did just then, surrounded by piles of colorful fabric as though within her own small universe of the one she loved.