Dani Moonstar's a survivor (ms_moonstar) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-06-25 22:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, dani moonstar (mirage), natasha romanoff (black widow), rahne sinclair (wolfsbane) |
What is it. Does she want 'wee bairns?'
Who: Natasha, Dani, Rahne
What: Going out to dinner!
When: Saturday Night
Where: A very, very swanky upscale restaurant.
Ratings/Warnings: PG-13 for Foodgasms.
Status: Complete!
Natasha had sent an actual limo to pick up the two women. It swung by, picking Dani up first, and then Rahne on the way to the restaurant. It was a posh place, the sort of eating establishment the elite of the entertainment world liked to go to. It was also well known for keeping paprazzi out, and that was the primary reason she'd picked it. Of course, she was still expecting another 'lesbian entanglement' story.
She had been kind enough to warn them via how she'd wanted them to dress.
Dressed as far to the nines as Dani could afford on her budget, she was kind of hoping for some kind of press. Otherwise, she just kind of felt like it wouldn't be as worth it. It wasn't really her scene, though she liked to make herself as real as possible no matter where she ended up.
Which is probably why she'd chosen to go with a peachy coral and turqois theme and accessorize with native jewelry. It made her feel a little less nervous.
Rahne wore a simple but elegant black dress. "Slinky" wasn't exactly her thing, but she could manage fancy. The dress code for the evening made her feel a little nervous, but at least the limo ride would be nice.
She smiled at the park ranger as she slipped into the limo. The other woman looked...different out of uniform. But also familiar. Rahne looked at her thoughtfully for a moment as things clicked into place. She'd been in some of Rahne's dreams. Younger, just as Rahne herself was in the dreams, but it was definitely the same woman.
"Dani, right?" Same name, too.
The other woman looked somewhat familiar, too, and not just because they'd met before that one time. Dani had a harder time placing her, however, and smiled at her.
"Yes, and you're... Rahne Sinclair? I think I stole the name off her chart one time when I came to visit," Dani chuckled, "I kept meaning to call you, but life happened."
Rahne looked very good in elegant black things. Dani found herself confused about what her emotions were supposed to be doing anymore. First Caroline, then Lorenzo, now she was flirting with Obi-Wan and Rahne was pushing all of her buttons already.
"You look really good."
Rahne smiled and ducked her head slightly. "Aye. It's all right. Life tends tae do that." How exactly did one bring up having someone appear in their dreams without it sounding...sort of creepy? She'd have to think about that.
"And thanks. You look...really good, too." And she did. Rahne grinned again. "Sounds like we're going some place terribly fancy."
The limo drove through the city streets. The driver was excellent, an older man with a clearly Russian air about him. He gave them some privacy as the vehicle moved through the city and towards Laguna Beach.
"That's the way it sounded to me, too." Dani nodded her head, then glanced out the window to see in what direction it was driving, like that would give her any indication where they were headed. It was a bit fancier than the place Lorenzo had taken her too, probably. And that place had felt more upscale than she needed.
Though he'd put her at casual ease pretty quickly, just by being himself, so, "Just be you. I mean, for the most part. If you don't know what wine goes well with whatever, ask the waiter for a pairing. If you don't know what fork, wait for her to pick one up, then go with it. It'll feel unnatural at first while you get your bearings, but we're supposed to be having fun. So you know. Have fun."
Dani grinned at her, "I get nervous in environments like this too, but we're all people."
Rahne grinned; it seemed Dani knew a bit more than she did about this, and that was reassuring. "I appreciate that," she said. "I...don't usually go to places with this nice a dress code."
She glanced out the window for a moment, letting the scenery help calm her. "You know those...odd dreams that everyone's always talking about on the 'net? Have you ever had any?" That seemed as good a way to broach the subject as any.
Sensing a conversation he probably shouldn't be privy too - even if his little girl his boss had been having dreams, Ivan rolled up the window separating him from the ladies after telling them it should be another five or six minutes before they'd reach Ms. Romanoff. Traffic, you know.
Dani's face instantly sunk, and she went back to glancing out the window, while tugging on the hem of her dress, "Those things. I could have lived without them. I always thought the nightmare of watching my parents die was bad enough."
The sentence blurted out of her mouth before her brain had registered that this really wasn't the conversation you have with a random hot woman you're about to go on a dinner date with. But something about Rahne made her want to open up. Rahne was easy to talk to.
And that accent, well. That accent could make law enforcement manuals sound good.
"Och, I'm so sorry ye had a dream of something like that. That's horrible." More horrible than dreaming your abusive guardian was actually your biological father, certainly.
"It does seem like a lot of the dreams aren't very pleasant, sadly." She wasn't sure what else to say. Somehow, 'I dreamed we were really good friends' seemed a bit too cheerful after that.
"A lot of mine aren't... but I don't want to sound crazy. I had a few good ones, though. In one, I was conversing with the animals in the forest around my Grandfather's cabin. That one was really peaceful. There was one recently about how I smell nice, but it was ... like a fragment, before the Demon Bear came back, so."
Demon Bear. Way to go, Dani. Let's just tell everyone that you have constant reaccuring dreams that a demonic bear kills your parents and then comes after you.
She tucked some hair behind her ear and ducked her head, "I have had serious hoof in mouth issues this month, don't mind me."
"Demon Bear? Well. That sounds very unpleasant." She paused for a moment. "I keep dreaming I can turn into a wolf. Sort of like a werewolf...but a mutant. I'm just a wee lass in them, though. No more than thirteen, but I'm part of some sort of...junior super hero team or something."
She chuckled slightly and shrugged. "My mum thinks mutant powers could actually be a thing."
Dani blinked, and looked over at her, "... You dream about that? I had a dream where I was picking a code name. It was for a school or something, I think. Psyche. I think, because I had some kind of ability to psyche people out with ... something. It's not really very clear. The Bear one seems to ... well it dominates. I get it almost every night, no matter what."
She smiled a bit at Rahne, "Turning into a wolf is pretty amazing, though. And... I'm kind of glad that I'm not the only dreaming of odd things."
"I'm sorry about the bear," she said. "I haven't had any recurring ones yet." Even if she did have some very unpleasant ones.
Rahne grinned a little shyly. "You were on the team with me. You could...make people see things--things they were afraid of or things they really wanted. I dreamed we were all in the Amazon and I was about tae be ill from the heat and ye conjured up the loveliest wee blizzard for me. It helped, somehow, even if it wasn't real."
The way she said the words 'lovliest wee blizzard' made Dani want to tug that girl onto her lap and cuddle her to death. Despite the fact that Rahne was obviously further acquainted with her, in dream land, than she was, so far.
"I made people see things..." She trailed off, after getting over her mini accent-and-cute-words-gasm, "... In the one dream, I make the Bear see something. But it's just another me. ... but enough about the Bear. I conjured you up a blizzard? Was it real?"
"Well, it was real enough for me. It wasn't actually real, but it was very nice. I rolled around in the snow as a wolf." Rahne grinned, the memory of how close she'd felt to the dream version of Dani coming back to her. She hadn't had a friend like that before in the real world.
The limo slowed, and pulled onto a residental street. Shouldn't be much longer!
"That sounds..." Dani smiled a bit more warmly than before, "Well it sounds pretty awesome. I'm trying to mentally picture it, but I just havn't had a dream like that. Maybe I will, someday."
She kind of hoped she had more dreams with Rahne in them, if only because Rahne seemed like a more pleasant thing to dream about than anything she'd dreamed of, so far. And she felt familiar. She wanted to understand why that was.
Natasha had arranged the order of pick up to give her the most time to get ready. Between her leg, and her natural inclination to take forever, she figured she'd be ready just in time for Ivan to pull up with the ladies. She wore green, a shimmering glittery fabric that brought out her eyes and contrasted with her hair.
Naturally, she wore her most deadly bra.
Still, she wasn't ready when the car pulled up. She rang Ivan's phone, "Sit tight! Just another two minutes!"
"That was a fun part, aye," Rahne said, smiling. The rest of that dream had been a bit...convoluted, but most of the parts with Dani had been nice. "I think I'd like if ye had a nice dream and I happened tae be in it."
Rahne glanced out the window again the the limo stopped. This must be Natasha's place. Wow.
Dani opened her mouth like she was about to respond to that, then shut it again. A thoughtful look spread across her face momentarily, while she evaluated if that was supposed to be a come-on or not, and she decided that in this case? It probably wasn't. After all, Rahne had up until this point been simply adorable, and that seemed like another adorable thing that might come out of her mouth.
She nodded, then, and glanced out the window to see Natasha making her way to the car. Then she gulped. The back of her throat went a little dry. Obviously, the woman was pulling out all the stops.
For all intents and purposes, Natasha lived modestly compared to a lot of starlets. But it was still a pretty posh neighborhood, as things went. Inside, she was struggling to get her purse, and get her shoes on, and get out the door.
She'd decided to not be stupid and was wearing flats. Her leg was in a cast. The media could deal with it. Her dress had a slit up the side, which she'd picked because she liked it, and it gave more room for the cast!
Hobbling up to the limo, she slid in next to Dani, to better look at Rahne. For reasons.
Rahne smiled at Natasha and glanced at her leg. "How're ye feeling? And thank ye for for taking us out for dinner." She knew being in the cast had to be a nuisance, no metter how much better Natasha might be feeling. But at least she felt like venturing out for dinner.
Dani knew all the reasons, because she was trying very hard not to think of the reasons, herself. Rahne was so adorable, it was almost like sacrilege to say she was hot, too.
"I'm glad to see you out of that hell hole and back on your feet. Did you ever get those strippers? I kept trying to tell Stark to send you some."
It was an incredible nuiscance, but Tasha was going to be a gracious host and try not to bring too much attention to it, "You're welcome."
Not that Natasha was thinking such things, about either of them. But she was. She could probably blame Sansa for that. And Clint. Somehow it was Clint's fault.
"Sadly, I never got any, though Clint did show up to give me a show." She grinned.
The limo pulled out and proceeded to the freeway.
"...ye told Stark tae send her strippers?" That idea boggled Rahne's mind a wee bit.
"Well we were sitting in there together, bored out of our minds, and there wasn't even anything good on hospital TV. So she mentioned that Stark got strippers when HE was in the hospital, and I thought... hey, man, spread the love."
Dani grinned at Rahne, "He actually said he would have considered it, but the hospital was getting all up in arms over the ruckus his stay was causing. I guess Clint giving you a show is good though, right?"
That last bit was directed at Natasha, who Dani also flashed a grin at.
Natasha grinned a bit at the memory, "Did I specify male strippers? I hope I did, or I might be having an identity crisis at this rate."
Her tone was light, and she was clearly joking, "Oh, it was nice. But he never finished, the bastard."
Rahne just shook her head. "Hospitals really aren't the place tae be...sending people strippers," she said. Not the place at all. Though she could definitely believe that Stark would consider it. He certainly seemed the type to do something like that.
"Just a bit of fun, Rahne," Dani chuckled a bit, "I didn't think he'd actually ever send any, for the record. I more wanted to know what he'd do if I hinted at it. Stark's an ... interesting guy. But Clint sounds like a jerk to leave you hanging like that."
Natasha laughed, "It was fine, da. I needed a friend, not a stripper, and he provided." She trailed off a little, looking thoughtful, and a little sad, "Well, he provided all he was able to, at any rate."
She changed the subject, "So what have the two of you been up to?"
Rahne chuckled. "Not a lot. Mainly work--nothing too drastic, thankfully." She didn't want to mention the part where she had Moira checking around to see if their might be any truth to that dream about Reverend Craig being her biological father.
"I didn't get stuck with anyone during whatever that was, at least."
"I didn't, either. I guess it was just some random wierd thing," Dani sounded puzzled, though. She wondered if there was any link at all aside from the one that stuck the people together, "There was a hole in my roof, over my porch. Termites or water damage or something. Everyone's fine, but i've got Obi-Wan fixing it up for me. And I seem to be making very good friends with a friend of Jaime Lannister. That's about it for now. Work's picked up - It's fire season - but nothing major. Thankfully."
"That's wonderful." Natasha tilted her head, "Lannister? Now why does that name sound familiar?"
Making good friends, huh? With how Dani kept staring at Rahne she was wondering. The two were obviously hitting it off. She wondered if it was like her and Clint - memories of a love affair too late into another relationship. And she was certain Eowyn was the kind of woman to come after her with a sword.
It made her feel suddenly sad, but she hid it behind a smile, "I might have auditioned a new star, but we'll see how it goes."
The limo finally reached the restaurant. The paparazzi was kept well away, but still close enough to be visible and having siezures over the stars and starlets.
Rahne was a little awestruck. Sure, she knew Natasha was a star and all, but the reality hadn't really sunk in until now. She caught the flash of a camera and blinked. "Och...you really are famous," she said softly. She was going to dinner with a star.
"And I hope things work out for whoever you auditioned," she added. "That has tae be nerver wracking."
"For the both of you. She's probably sitting on pins and needles," Dani added, with a nod. She allowed Natasha to get out of the car first, willing to offer a discrete hande if she needed one, before turning on the charm and stepping out of the limo, herself. Natasha had said she wanted to impress, and Dani had no problems with doing just that.
She'd never be fake to Natasha, but the paparazi were going to be all over it. She might as well make Natasha look good. So she smiled and tried to look composed, winked at a nearby gawker, and offered Rahne a hand out.
Natasha gave Dani a smile as she helped Rahne out of the car, though it might have been slightly puzzled. It was adorable. She gave the cameras a brilliant smile, and then hobbled on her crutch towards the entrance. She knew someone, anyone, would open the door for her, and for once she was going to let it happen without complaining.
Rahne smiled and took Dani's hand. "Thanks," she said, smiling brightly at Dani. She'd definitely try to spend some more time with her after this. Having Jubilee was nice, but having slightly more serious friends would also be nice. And Dani was nice. And helpful. Somehow, she made the whole going-to-dinner-with-a-star thing a little less scary.
"You're quite welcome, Ms. Sinclair," she said, with a bit of a cheeky wink.
She was mainly just glad to be of any help at all, and Rahne was much cuter and a bit softer when she was set at ease. No one in the limo or on that date was going to complain about that.
Dani had her suspicions, you see, about Natasha's supposed 'regrettable straightness', especially after the way she'd noticed the russian woman looking them over. There was a part of her that had a certain curiousness in her eyes, like she was rethinking a few decisions she'd made, previously.
Not that she'd force the issue or even mention it. Those decisions and conclusions were usually left for the person to make, on their own.
Rahne safely out of the car, she adjusted her purse in her hands, and waited for Natasha to lead them inside.
Their hostess certainly wouldn't complain about that. And she was straight. She thought. Maybe a bit curious. But that was neither here nor there and she was mostly content with her life as it was.
Except for dreaming about being in love with Clint. That was really starting to grate on her.
She led them inside, and they were shown to a fairly private table that still allowed Natasha to sit comfortably with her leg.
The menus had no prices, and were served in courses. One could choose an item from each course. It came in 3, 5 and 7 courses. Natasha was thinking with going for a 5-course meal. Mostly because she really wanted soup.
This was unlike any restaurant Rahne had ever been to, and it felt a little daunting to look at a menu with know prices that had so many options. She wasn't really sure how to order--or what to order. It was all...very fancy and very confusing.
It wasn't a menu layout that Dani was familiar with, either. She looked the table over - the amount of silverware and dishes was usually a good indication of how fancy this was, and decided that she was way out of her league now.
She tried not to let that get to her, though. She smoothed the napkin on her lap and looked the menu items over, while turning her head to Natasha and lowering her voice, "This is a different kind of restaurant than I'm familiar with."
"It's all right," Natasha replied, getting the hint from the question and the slightly glazed look in Rahne's eyes.
"It's a five-course meal. You pick your choice for each course, and that's what they bring you." She leaned forward, and tapped the first course. It's a miracle she didn't pop out of her dress when she did, "See here, you can pick from these three items for the first course."
"Oh! Wow" Rahne grinned. That was actually kind of cool. And probably very expensive, but she'd try not to think about that part. She wasn't picking up the tab tonight, thankfully. "This is amazing." Now she just had to make up her mind about what she wanted to try,
"I'm surprised more restaurants aren't set up that way," Dani replied, while moving her attention to the menu items for course 1 and away from Natasha's breasts.
What? They were impressive and right out there. It was a miracle they were even still in her dress.
Picking things she'd never heard of but that sounded good had worked for her so far this week, so she went ahead and decided to keep on going in that direction. It was still hard, though, because everything on the menu sounded good.
Natasha got her soup, and looked pleased with herself, "Now select the rest of your courses and then we don't have to worry about it as they bring us food."
It was very decadant. But every once in awhile, she indulged. And watching them react made the indulgence worthwhile.
She also noticed Dani's look and preened a little.
Rahne placed her order, picking a few more familiar things in addition to some she thought sounded good even though she'd never had anything like that. She smiled at Natasha and at Dani. This was the most exciting thing she'd done in a while. It was a little bit of a rush, nervousness aside.
A waiter came around with a wide selection of mini breads on a tray, and Dani selected a few. She'd never been to a restaurant with a selection of rolls and breads to try, and she tried not to look so amazed by it. It didn't really work that well.
She munched on a piece of bread swallowed it, then smiled at Natasha and Rahne, "This is nice. I wish that it was happening under better circumstances, of course, but it's still nice."
"The circumstances are fine. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't arrived when you did. My leg might not have been saved, or worse." She turned and added to Rahne, "And people like you don't often get enough credit and recognition."
"Thank you," Rahne said. "It's always nice to hear things like that." She smiled and tried some of the sample breads. Delicious!
"Mm. If the bread's this good, the rest of the food must be amazing," she said.She wanted to savour the experience and the flavors.
The best thing about a five course dinner is that they paced the courses in a way that allowed you to speak to your friends in between. Dani hated awkward dinner conversations where people had to chew and swallow before they could respond. This was much more convenient.
A man came by to collect away all the crumbs into a little metal scoop, something Dani had never seen in her life. When he left, she eyedarted at Rahne, "We have a guy who brings us bread and a guy who cleans up after the bread. I had no idea there was a guy who cleaned up your bread crumbs."
Natasha grinned, "I'll tell you a secret - I don't do this that often. Usually it's on a date and very pretentious. This is much more fun. So relax, it's not a date." She gave them a wink and then took a moment to munch on her bread. It helped settle her stomach and prepared her appetite. She couldn't wait for that soup. It was best soup.
Best soup.
Rahne chuckled softly. "I'll try to relax. It's all so very interesting and new." This was an amazing experience, and the restaurant was gorgeous. And Dani and Natasha looked very pretty, too.
Dani was beginning to think that it was a great idea to pick the soup out, too. Natasha's finger had lingered on that particular menu item, like it was her favorite one. She trusted the russian woman's taste.
"I could probably afford to come visit it again sometime, if I saved up. Make it into a birthday treat, or some kind of celebration." Was it wrong to 'celebrate' the deaths of your parents by taking them out to dinner in spirit?
"As long as no more holes appear in my roof anyway."
Not wrong at all. Natasha raised her eyebrow, "Holes in your roof? How did that happen? Overactive squirrels?"
She remembered Doom. She owed him a treat!
Clearly she'd missed that mention in the car.
She blamed the attractive companions.
"Och, holes in your roof are no good." And not cheap to fix, either. Rahne wasn't sure squirrels could make holes in roofs, but they could certainly manage to do other things.
It definitely hadn't been cheap to fix, because she believed in paying Obi-Wan competitively for his work. He deserved it for how thorough he was being.
"You won't believe this, but my roomate, Scott, was sleeping out on the patio when it happened. We're still trying to figure out if it was water damage or termites," or they hadn't figured out how to explain glowy red lights that come out of a guy's eyes after he's sleeping. You know, one of those.
"He's fine, thankfully, but yeah ... that whole section of roof needs replacing."
Also, Obi-wan shirtless. AMIRITE?
"That's horrible. Do you think your insurance would cover it?"
Just then, the soup arrived, and Natasha held up a finger while she took a taste. Her eyelids fluttered, and a low, sensual moan escaped her lips, "Oh...yes...da...." And she continued to compliment the soup in Russian.
Rahne blinked and stared at Natasha when the moan happened. That was...an interesting reaction to soup. She flushed slightly and glanced away from Natasha, as it seemed like now was not really atime to watch her.
When she looked away, her eyes caught Dani's. Which, after Natasha's reaction to the soup, somehow made her flush more.
She was about to flush further, as Dani had recieved the same soup, and was lifting a spoonful to her own mouth as Rahne glanced at her. It only took a second for her to moan and roll her eyes, herself.
This soup. This soup was best soup.
Dani took another few spoonfulls up into her mouth, and it was a few seconds before she was capable of finding the part of her brain that guided the ability to speak. When she did, all she could say was, "This soup is amazing."
"It is simply the best soup I have ever had." Natasha grinned, and took a few moments to just concentrate on the orgasmic gastronimic experience that was this soup.
Rahne quickly turned her attention to the thread count of the table cloth. It was very, very interesting, even if she knew nothing about table cloth thread counts. That was...unexpected and a little confusing. She wondered, briefly, if some ingredient in the soup happened to also be an aphrodisiac. That probably wasn't the case, but she did wonder, for a moment.
"That's good. That the soup is good."
"Do you want a taste?" Dani grinned at Rahne and looked around for a clean spoon, "I could spare one, you have to taste this. It's going to make me into a soup convert."
"That was how I started," Natasha added, patting a napkin at her mouth. She'd caught Rahne studying the table cloth and wanted to hug the woman.
"Just to warn you."
"...well...maybe just a taste..." Rahne nodded slightly. She wasn't sure what to expect when she tried to soup, but it was definitely worth a shot. It was probably the only time she'd taste it, anyway.
Tasha leaned forward just a little bit, as if to say 'feed her the soup FEED HER THE SOUP.'
Which was a very sad thought, from Dani's perspective. This soup was so amazing that if they just sold it in takeout containers she'd have it every week.
She dipped a clean spoon into her bowl and held it out to Rahne's lips, trying not to make too big a deal out of it, and definitely not thinking about the whole 'hear comes the airplane' that a mother does with a child.
"It's hot, as a warning."
"Don't forget to blow," Natasha said, picking up another piece of bread so she didn't start smirking.
Rahne cleared her throat and drank some water before their wine arrived. She'd made eye contact for just a moment before Dani turned her attention back to the soup. That was...different. Just different. A bit unexpected, but not bad.
Only she wasn't exactly sure what to say about anything now, which was mildly awkward.
It was very awkward. Dani was, at times, the greatest bearer of foot-in-mouth syndrome she'd ever met. Only this time it was more like spoon-in-mouth or something. She darted her eyes to the side and sipped at her water glass after her soup was done.
"... So..." Dani glanced at Natasha, "Are they working your injury into the show?"
"Da!" Natasha nodded her head, and as the next course arrived, she described the plot twist that would work in her injury. The new cast member would keep action going.
The new plot certainly sounded interesting. And it was nice that it gave someone new a chance to shine for a bit. That was very nice. Even if it happened because of the not-nice leg break. "I'm glad it gives someone a chance while you get some more time tae recover," Rahne said.
"Wait, is that the girl who I saw in the papers with you that one time? Sansa Stark? I know her, if it is. She was at my memorial day party."
She was pretty sure Sansa was amongst the people who'd stayed to get stoned and listen to Charlie play his guitar. Sansa was totally alright in her book.
"Sansa, yes! She read the part remarkably well, and I have pull with the producer." Natasha grinned, fondly, "If she doesn't get the part, I'll be surprised. And contrary to the article, she did not sleep with me for the privilege."
Tasha winked.
"Those rumor mags are such a nuissance," Rahne said. "They're ridiculous, and nosey, and generally full of nonsense." She hoped belatedly that that Skeeter woman wasn't hiding outside in the bushes somewhere.
The Skeeter woman probably was. Or paying someone to!
"I never thought for a minute that that's how it went, anyway. I know you better than that, and we only just met." Dani smiled reassuringly at Natasha.
"That Skeeter woman is really getting on people's nerves though, I hear. I'm ... well. Her target is a woman I don't necessarily get along with. Much at all. But I still think she needs a cease and desist."
"People don't always get along with her, if it's who I'm thinking about," Natasha assured her. "And thank you, I appreciate the thought. I'd be less annoyed if I was getting accused of things I'd actually done."
"Too bad the Skeeter woman doesn't seem tae have anything better to do with her time than make up nonsense." Rahne really did not get the appeal of false reporting, which was all such rumor rags were.
"I wonder how much they pay her to write that crap. It's sad when you can make more money being false than you can writing about things that are truly newsworthy." Dani nodded.
"More money than god, sometimes." Natasha's eyes narrowed, darkly, "They don't care who they hurt or what they ruin. I'm starting to worry what I've exposed you ladies to."
Well. That was an unpleasant thought. Rahne frowned slightly. Hopefully the Skeeter woman wasn't around tonight, at least. She couldn't be everywhere, after all. She'd just have to put the thought from her mind and enjoy her meal.
"I'm not even remotely worried," Dani said, in all sincerity.
She glanced around the table, "Not for myself, I mean. For the both of you, yes, but not for myself. I don't have a lot to hide, and I have no life in which there are people who would be surprised by knowing I enjoy the company of women."
"Oh, right." Natasha laughed, flushing a little bit. She'd forgotten about that entirely, and now it was sort of out in the open, hanging there. Huh, "I suppose that's good, though it won't help my case." She winked.
"I expect Jubilee would pester me, and Mum would have questions about 'is that why yuir not bringin' any lads around tae show me' and such," Rahne said, doing a spot on impersonation of her mother.
The impression was adorable, and Dani laughed, "Does she pester you about that? I thought that was just some old mom stereotype. You're a busy girl, saving people's lives. Who has time for relationships?"
"What is it. Does she want 'wee bairns?'" Natasha asked, thinking of multiple scotspersons she's played against on her show. She flashed Dani a dazzling smile, "I still get that from my own mother on occasion."
Rahne chuckled and smiled. "Aye, she wants grandkids. I keep telling her there's no need tae rush--I'm only twenty-three, there's plenty of time yet."
"Plenty of time," Dani agreed. Was there wine? She was going to take a long sip of that, now.
"Worse comes to worse, there's always adoption." There was a lot of wine. Natasha had ordered it! She started on her second glass as she tried to think of something to change the conversation with.
Ah! She knew just the thing, "Rahne, are you always going to work as an EMT, or is just a stepping stone to more?"
The wine was nice as well, even though Rahne didn't drink often. "Mainly I'm doing it while I figure out what I want tae do next. Probably either something to do with medicine or research, but I'm not sure exactly just yet."
"You could even do search and rescue for the parks with your EMT training. They'd have to put you through some extra classes - law enforcement stuff - but it doesn't take long. We're hiring, too. Pretty much all the time."
Because they went through people pretty quickly, especially when the summer was over. But hey, she still loved her job. The slower months gave the rangers more time to do conservation stuff and check in on how the environment was holding up.
Natasha raised an eyebrow at Dani's recruitment spiel, but said nothing about it, "That might not be a bad idea, if the pay is better. You'd still be helping people, and get to help the environment too."
"I might look into that, aye. Thanks for the suggestion!" Rahne smiled at Dani and took another sip of her wine. Search and rescue would be sort of like what happened with Natasha, probably.
It would be exactly like it, except with a trained EMT on the job there would have been more that they could have done for Natasha before the other EMT's arrived. Dani wondered if she should take some time off to get certified, herself. She'd already taken the 2 years of vet training to help with any injured animals they came across.
"It was just a suggestion. The pay is pretty good and it's rewarding, but a little less danger-prone than normal EMT work."
"You don't usually see bears with guns," Natasha joked. "Though I hear they're good at smuggling drugs."
She of course had no idea about Dani's dreams or what had happened to her parents, and was trying to keep the mood light.
Rahne glanced at Dani when Natasha mentioned bears. Natasha hadn't been in the car when the demon bear discussion happened, but Rahne wanted to make sure Dani was okay. She took another swig of wine with her eyes glued to Dani.
Dani, for her part, casually took a sip of wine like they were talking about anything but bears. She nodded her head then, though her eyes looked momentarily like they weren't even in the room but were instead miles away.
"Yeah, Bears. They're pretty tame. No worries about getting shot by drug-dealing bears. Now the squirrels, those are toughs sons of bitches."
"Doom seemed pretty well behaved. I think." Truthfully she'd been pretty out of it by that point. But she'd liked the squirrel. And the nice ladies who'd helped her out so much, "I think he could kick some serious ass if he had to." She wondered though, at the look in Dani's eyes.
"Main thing is not tae feed the animals, I reckon." Rahne had no intention of doing that, so things should be okay as far as that went. She decided she'd keep an eye on Dani anyway, just in case. She was starting to feel a bit protective of her.
"Don't feed the animals, yup. It trains them to rely on humans, and we can't always be there for them. Doom is a unique case because we rescued him. He thinks he's a cat, but he's got all the spunky feistyness of a squirrel still."
She grinned at Rahne, for whose benefit most of the recounting of his story was, and added, "He likes to chatter at me like he's threatening me within an inch of my life."
Cat-squirrels. This was something that was fundamentally terrifying, "He probably is, and secretly plots your downfall."
Rahne chuckled and grinned back at Dani. "He sounds adorable. Does he try to get into everything?"
"Oh it's great," Dani leaned over a bit conspiratorily, like she was about to tell the most fascinating tale in existence. It probably wasn't, but all pet owners got that way when discussing their favorite furry friends.
"Proudstar, my big orange tabby, and him. They work together. Doom can get into places that Proudstar can't, and Proudstar can jump higher than Doom can. They're always getting into trouble. The cat will knock something off for Doom to mess with, or Doom will climb up somewhere I've hidden the catnip and drag it down with his teeth."
"Proudstar?" That name was awesome. Natasha found herself grinning, and didn't even notice that the next course had arrived. She wanted to hear more about the adventures of Proudstar and Doom.
That sounded like a great name for a cartoon.
"Och! The sound like quite a pair of wee hooligans," Rahne said with a laugh. Rahne smiled at the waiter who delivered their food, then began eating. The food was amazing.
This scottish woman could not get any more adorable if she tried, Dani concluded. She grinned and nodded, completelyin agreement with the idea that they were, in fact, wee hooligans.
She decided the further adventures of Proudstar and Doom would have to wait, however, because course 3 was utterly divine.
Wee hooligans. Natasha silently agreed with Dani's assessment. There was no talking during this course, which was even better than the soup, if that was at all possible. She'd forgotten about the chef's reputation - which was every bit well earned. She finished first, and un lady-like let out a burp. She covered her mouth, "Excuse me."
The food was amazing, and it managed to make Rahne forget that the paparazzi were even anywhere near the restaurant for the rest of the meal. The food was that good. So good she didn't even notice Natasha's burp.
Dani was off in food orgasm land, herself, and didn't notice Natasha even say anything. The food was so good that if it went to waste angels would cry, and so would everyone else. So she ate every last bite of it.
"And there are still two more courses to go," Natasha said lightly, noticing the way they had devoured the 3rd course. The fourth course in this case would be a pallete cleanser, followed by what will be the most decadent dessert they'd ever laid eyes on. Natasha had been careful to avoid revealing it.
"Mmm. The food is amazing," Rahne said. "I really can't thank you enough for this."
"This has really been a great experience, Natasha." Dani nodded, "Thank you so much."
"I was happy to..." And then the dessert arrived. It was a cake, in fudge fountain and glistening with sugar.
Rahne stared at the dessert with openmouthed awe. "...och..." There were not words for a cake like that.
"...och,indeed," Dani mumbled. She took a dainty sip of water, then dug into that cake like woah.
Natasha took a slice. There were no words.
The cake tasted as amazing as it looked. Rahne was very happy.
Dani found herself unable to avoid picking up cake grumbs with her finger and eating them. High Class Establishment? Pfft.
High Class Establishment be damned!
That's okay, Natasha was trying to save a crumb that had gone down her cleavage, "Ladies. Would you like some of these to take home?"
"That's an option?" That would be a 'yes' from Rahne.
"I would love that," Dani was trying very hard to be on her best behaviour and stop the line of thought that Natasha was offering some of her breasts to take home. Cake was almost as good.
Well at this point, with chocolate and enough alcohold, her breasts might as well be an option. But she meant cake, "Oh, yes definitely." It would cost extra but they deserved it.
"Thank you so much!" Rahne practically beamed at Natasha.
"You're the best, Seriously." Dani grinned. Natasha was alright, and Dani hoped she stayed in touch. Not just because she knew where to get awesome soup and cake.
They were so adorable, so she announced, "I know how you can repay me!" And she held out her arms, "Group hug!"
Oh that Skeeter woman was going to be all over this.
Group hug sounded awesome to Rahne, who quickly moved to hug both Natasha and Dani.
Dani flung her arms around both women and squeezed. "Group hugs are awesome"
Fortunately for them, no cameras were allowed inside, but rumors? Would certainly be swirling now! After the hug, Tasha took care of the bill, "What say we drive around in the limo with some wine for a little while, before taking you two home?"
"I like this idea." Rahne grinned. She had the next day off anyway.
"This idea is glorious." And Dani would probably really NEED that coffee tomorrow, to deal with the hangover.
And thus, there was much carousing in a limo, such that Ivan gained quite a headache by the time he'd gotten rid of the three women.