@Nephila - lol YAY! A reader! I know what you're talking about though - there's hardly any fics about our lovely space station. :P

A/N - The biggest thing here is that I literally haven't come back to this story for almost a whole year now, in fact I think it's birthday is Friday. BUT I did come back to it eventually, and I hope to revive some of my lustings for our nefarious little ferengi. ;) I did, however, appeared to have lied in my previous Author's Note. This chapter has no Quark in it. But I sincerely think that the next will, of course, have plenty of awkward bar talks. lol

Chapter Three

The next day came in a flurry of different events.

Lara was first awakened by the beeping of her quarters' computer. She didn't know how exactly to respond. She fumbled around hurriedly, running from one end of the room to the other, looking for a button or a screen or something. Finally, the door opened on its own and her new friend Julian walked in, looking slightly worried. "Why didn't you answer the door?" he asked, stepping in cautiously.

She huffed under her breath before meeting his eyes. "I don't know how. I didn't even know it was the stupid door," she mumbled, plopping down on the couch and massaging her now strained ankle. It was healing extraordinarily fast, but it still hurt at times. Especially given that she had just run back and forth through her quarters and tripped at least twice.

The doctor sat down beside Lara on the couch, bringing up a device from his pack. She hadn't even noticed he was carrying anything when he first came in. She eyed his curiously as he gestured for her to bring her ankle closer, and pressed the device to the injured area. Whatever pain had started was immediately washed away, and she sighed in relief. He smiled up at her before standing back up again and grabbing the pair of supports that she had been using since the got on the station. "That last hypo should get rid of almost any damage left. It shouldn't hurt much more, and you probably won't be needing these," he said as he gestured to the supports.

They held a brief conversation after that, and Julian left quickly, explaining that he was on duty. As Lara got back up to get ready for a new day of exploring, she realized that she had no belongings. No decorations or any of her favorite books, and more importantly - no clothes. She thought for a minute on whether or not to try and shower anyway and put on her old clothes, but she decided against it. She had the first pair of spares the commander had given her, and she was fairly clean for the moment. She did as best she could combing her hair with her fingers and making sure her teeth weren't to appalling, and headed out onto the promenade in hopes for a store of some kind.

After a long while of searching, she ended up finding a place where she could buy a lot of small hygienic things that she would need for her daily morning routine. Almost none of it was familiar to her, so it took quite a while to figure out a lot of what it was, but in the end she figured out the more important things. Like... a tooth thingy. It was a sort of laser that zapped away all the plaque. And something similar for her face, as she had a tendency to get pimples if she didn't wash it every night. Also something that greatly resembled a comb, and Lara just had to hope it was for the same purpose as she thought it was.

After buying the supplies with some borrowed money from the commander, Lara allowed herself to poke around the area some more. The place she was in seemed like a genuine shopping place, rather than just some booths along the hallway. It was almost a sort of mall, if she allowed herself to think it over. She wandered down the line, finding a store that looked to have games of all different types; board games, video games, virtual-reality type games... It looked pretty impressive. And expensive.

Lara then came to a place that seemed fairly empty compared to all the other store she had seen. She walked in slowly, her curiosity getting the better of her. As she got farther in, she noticed some chairs and mirrors along the walls. It was almost a kind of salon, really. Lara got excited at the prospect. They still had salons this far into the future? She knew she needed a cut - her blond hair flowed all the way down to her lower back, and she had to keep it up in a bun just to make sure it didn't get in the way. It was becoming long enough that even a tight bun wouldn't keep it in its place.

She walked in further, now having her mind set on getting a cut. Then a thought occurred to her: Who would cut her hair? Would they be a human, or something else entirely. A new sensation of nerves wiggled into her head and she thought twice about heading farther in. But it was too late. An alien woman came out from behind a curtained doorway and, upon noticing Lara, smiled brightly. She looked almost bajoran, with pronounced ridges on her nose, but she lacked the typical right earring that Lara had come to expect on the species, and she had a line that travelled from her nose all the way up through her hairline, which seemed to part a little to make way for the intrusion. As the woman grew closer, Lara immediately noticed her eyes. They were bright golden and had pupils like a cats, but instead of them being vertical, they were horizontal. It was very distracting.

"Why, hello dear! Are you just visiting, or you yearning for something new?" Those golden orbs were wide and alert, seemingly very excited to have a potential customer. The business didn't look like it was busy very often.

Snapping out of her curious daze, Lara smiled in return and tried to push down her nerves. "Well, I was hoping for a cut, but I don't really know what kind, to be honest..." she trailed off, realizing that she hadn't thought about it much more than 'shorter'.

The woman's eyes grew even more excited, if it was even possible. "Oh really? Might I suggest a complete surprise? I promise to make it look absolutely stunning!" she was grinning more than Lara thought possible now.

It seemed a shame to let her hopes down by declining. She didn't really have much else in mind anyway, and she never was one to go into great detail with her hair. "Sure, why not?" she said, instantly warming up to the idea as soon as she said it out loud. "Sounds like fun."

The woman jumped excitedly and ushered Lara to sit in one of the chairs along the wall. "Good! Good, here. Sit over here, and I'll just spin you so..." she turned Lara around so she was facing away from the mirror. An uneasiness settled again. This woman was obviously not human. What if her definition of 'stunning' wasn't the same as Lara's? Well, too late now, she thought as she heard the buzzing of a strange device. Lara mentally chided herself for getting scared at the noise. She had to clean her teeth with a laser, of course this woman wasn't going to use a pair of scissors.

About fifteen minutes of small talk and buzzing noises, the woman was done. She sighed, as if too happy to say so, and slowly spun Lara around in the chair to face the mirror. What she saw was absolutely startling. All of her long, overgrown blond hair was gone. It now consisted of inch-or-so long wisps of orange and gold, some bits lighter and more of a platinum, and others darker like a patch of golden-brown wheat. The colors intertwined beautifully in the small amount of room they had, and it looked almost natural. And as if the colors weren't staggering enough, the amount of weight off her head was absolutely delicious. She ran her fingers along her scalp, barely having enough to get her fingers in anyways. As she went farther back with her hand, the hair got shorter until it was just a buzz-like shortness, and the softness was almost too good to be true.

Lara turned to her stylist and thanked her profusely, inquiring how much such a lovely cut would cost. The woman smiled brightly and said it was simply on the house. Lara jumped up excitedly, feeling the air against the back of her neck and shivered slightly, not used to the coolness. She couldn't seem to stop grinning, but found her head after a few moments. The woman was still there, apparently waiting for Lara to get her footing back in reality. "So where's your next stop?" she asked kindly, stepping back a pace to give Lara some room.

"I don't know, really. I'm new to the station and was just wandering around when I came in here, to be honest. I'm not sure what else is out there."

The woman's eyes widened as if shocked, but then calmed quickly. "My dear, you simply must go to Garak!" she exclaimed, grabbing ahold of Lara's arm gently and guiding her out of the door and into the hall once again.

Lara was momentarily shocked by being escorted out, and her mind reeled for something intelligent to say. "W-who's Garak?" she asked weakly.

"Oh, just a simply lovely man! He's truly a sweetheart," she smiled again, looking down the hall.

A sinking sensation drifted into Lara's stomach. A man? Was she being set up by this woman? "Oh, ma'am, I'm flattered, really, but I'm not really in the right mind to get into a relationship right now. See, I've just got here and I'm - "

The woman's laugh cut off Lara's sentence. "Honey! No, no, no, he's much too old for such a young thing. No, he's the finest tailor on the station! He'll set you right up with just the most scrumptious outfit you could dream of! And quite a few more too, if need be!"

Lara's cheeks burned at her mistake, but she allowed the woman to escort her further down the hall. They passed quite a few interesting shops, but the woman didn't seem to pay any attention to them. They had to slow down once in a while when Lara's curiosity got the better of her and she forgot to keep her legs moving as she looked at the displays in a store's window. A small tug on her arm kept her going, however, and they ended up going quite a bit aways from the salon. They soon entered a large room with orange and red walls, and strangely styled clothing hung from many racks along the walls and scattered about the room.

Lara was pulled down the steps from the front door down to a round desk. The woman finally released Lara's arm, and she looked down to see small red marks where the woman's fingers had been. She didn't think they would bruise, but they were a bit tender.

"Elim my boy!" shouted the woman, as if calling her son for dinner. Maybe he was her son, Lara thought for a moment before seeing the man appear. He was definitely not her son, and looked to be a completely different species. He had grey-white skin with ridges all down his face and neck, and a oddly spoon-shaped indent on his forehead. He looked tall, even slightly taller than Dr. Waters. Lara gulped, feeling slightly intimidated by the size and his sly-looking features. He looked as if he knew many different ways to get anything he wanted, and that put Lara slightly on edge.

"Ah, Ms. De'tol, how lovely to see you," he said as he smiled, his voice trailing almost seductively. It chilled Lara, and not necessarily in a good way. His eyes turned to Lara's, and she froze. "And who is your friend here?"

The woman nudged Lara, and she suddenly realized that she didn't know the woman's name, and neither did the woman know hers. "Um... I'm Lara. Pleased to meet you," she said quietly, trying with all her might not to shrink back in fear.

The woman decided to speak up for her. "This young lady needs some new clothes to fit the cut I just gave her. And by the looks of it, she needs quite a few new outfits," she said, motioning to Lara's borrowed bajoran uniform. It didn't quite fit right, and the color made her look a bit like a rotting carrot.

"I see," Garak said darkly, as if the situation turned from friendly into a life-or-death situation. "I'm going to need some time on this one."

The woman nodded and stepped back, as if to leave. "I've got to get back to the salon, Elim, but just know that however many outfits you pick for her, I'll pay for at least two!" she hollered as she stepped out of the doorway, leaving the new strange alien alone with Lara.

"She's so nice," Lara mentioned, not believing that the woman would cut her hair for free then pay for two whole custom outfits.

Garak nodded. "Exceedingly so. She brings quite a few of her new customers to me," he said, gently pushing her back with the palm of his hand, towards the dressing rooms.

After a while of measuring and trying, color palleting and mixing, Garak was able to pick quite a few different outfits for Lara. There were seven in total; one for every day of the week, she supposed. The one she wore now was a small dress. It was a spaghetti strap with a white top half and a light, almost peach-ish, pink bottom. The very bottom of the dress went a bit above Lara's knees, and the sides seemed to droop down more than the middle, coming down about midway into her kneecaps. She had some white slipper-like boots to go with it. "Thank you so much," Lara said, twirling around in her new dress.

Garak bowed gracefully. "It was my pleasure," he said, then started walking over to the counter with her back of clothes. Lara paid up for the rest of the outfits and headed on out, counting in her head how much money she had left. She came to the conclusion that she had just enough for a meal at one of the restaurants down the hall a bit more, then a drink at Quarks.

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