Username: 
Password:    
Remember Me

Search by :  Username E-mail Region Interest AOL IM ICQ Number Yahoo! ID MSN Username Jabber

Stahma Tarr is no one's fool (noonesfool) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-12-31 02:03:00

Who: Natasha and Stahma
What: A romantic dinner
When: Recently
Where: Their home
Warnings: Pretty tame



The snow and other various things that were happening in Orange County this season didn’t bother Stahma, she’d long since grown accustomed to it all and she rolled with it. Given her nature and how long she’d been in Orange County, it tended to take a lot to unnerve her. In fact, she was instead putting her focus on what really mattered to her, which was Natasha and the girls. Though at the current moment, she was going to focus on Natasha.

Stahma had sent the girls off to enjoy themselves for the evening. She’d gotten herself a new dress in white, of course, and after getting dressed, doing her make-up and hair, she lit a couple scented candles. The candles were jasmine scented, natural aphrodisiacs. Though really, Stahma was just trying to set the stage for a nice night in.

And she’d cooked dinner for her lover as well. Meat-heavy, of course, and she was just checking on the food in the kitchen. It was simmering to keep it warm until Natasha came home.

All Nat really knew was that Stahma had told her to dress nicely. So she had, wearing a red dress with a long silver necklace around her throat. She’d enjoyed the drive home, the snow reminding her a bit of home, and Stahma’s house looked kind of fancy covered in it as she drove up the long driveway and parked her spyder in the garage.

The smell of dinner greeted her and she groaned as she closed the door. “How are you not losing your mind smelling that all day?”

Stahma chuckled at Natasha’s question. “I snack along the way. Besides, I have to make sure the food tastes the way it should. Have a seat, the food is ready.” The table was set and had the lit candles on it. Stahma wouldn’t really ever describe herself as being romantic, but Natasha brought it out in her.

Turning, she saw the dress Natasha was wearing and looked her over. “You are very beautiful,” she commented.

“So you cheat.” Nat stepped into the dining room, eyes roaming across Stahma. Part of her, a large part, still didn’t trust it. Not Stahma,she trusted Stahma (as far as she trusted anyone anyway), but she didn’t trust the idea of being happy. Of having someone, a life outside of spywork and superheroes.

But she was still here. Nat supposed that said a lot about Stahma that Nat hadn’t bolted. “Good looks and cooking skills.”

“Only a little. I don’t spoil my appetite,” she responded. Stahma bowed her head in respect to Natasha’s statement. “Thank you,” she said as she started to serve dinner. While Stahma wasn’t exactly afraid of being happy, she hadn’t exactly had much experience with the feeling. There had been love between her and her ex-husband at one point, but he’d had violent tendencies, much like Datak in her dreams. She was used to violence, as terrible as it sounded. Both here and in her dreams, she’d been hit on more than one occasion by her husband, and both had tried to kill her.

But with Natasha, things were different. They were more equals than Stahma had ever had in her marriages in either life. They understood each other without their egos getting in the way. And Stahma liked that. All she wanted was to be treated as an equal to her partner, not being less than them simply because she was a woman.

“I love you.” Natasha took a seat, sitting down and leaning back in the chair as she watched Stahma move. They’d been together for awhile and yet those alien movements were still fascinating to her. Beautiful and exotic.

And when she said that she sounded a little awed.

“I love you, too,” she responded, pausing to give Natasha a smile. The changes in how she moved since she’d turned into a Castithan hadn’t really been noticed by Stahma. After all, it was how she moved in the dreams, and it just seemed natural to her. Her posture was always perfect, her movement always too smooth and somewhat animalistic for a human.

And she’d left her hair loose, knowing how Natasha always liked to run her fingers through it. Stahma’s hair was impossibly straight, and she didn’t really need to use a straightener either. She served the food, then poured each of them a glass of wine. “I do hope you enjoy it,” she commented.

For one who observed everything, who made a point of seeing movement and tics and how to use those against people, Natasha had noticed Stahma. And she’d always be able to tell when it was her.

Though it was unfair she knew Nat so well.

“You could serve me a half-cooked burger and I’d like it.”

Given the nature of Orange County, that was undoubtedly a good thing. If Stahma was ever possessed or replaced by a body snatcher, Natasha would instantly know. Only another Castithan, or someone who was from her dream world, would know how she moved, aside from Natasha.

“Something tells me you wouldn’t even complain if I served you raw meat,” she smirked as she finally took her seat across from Natasha.

And the cooking would probably be a giveaway too. The day Stahma cooked badly would be the day Nat tested for a Skrull.

“Certain delicacies are raw meat,” Nat pointed out. “Sushi, tartare? I’ll bet you could make an amazing tartare.”

“That is true,” she responded as she sipped her wine. “Perhaps one of these days I will make tartare. Part of me wishes I was able to share some of the Castithan recipes I know. However, those animals do not exist here. Neither do the spices.” Stahma’s dreams hadn’t crossed over into Orange County crazy. Part of her was relieved about that. She didn’t want to deal with the Volge or Rahm Tak assaulting Orange County. But most of all, she really didn’t want to deal with the Omec. She might actually have an anxiety attack if Omec started showing up.

Of course, having Kindzi constantly tell her she wanted to eat her paired with Kindzi actually trying to kill her, her son and her grandson would do that to a person.

“Anything analogous? Or would it lose that certain something without the real thing?”

Nat was prepared for it. Everything Stahma had told her she’d prepared for in one way or another. And Natasha wasn’t above outright murder or treason if it meant protecting the planet.

“It might lose that certain something without it being the real thing. Though I could try making an otter for dinner sometime. There is a recipe in my dreams for river otter that is extremely hard to make correctly. I, of course, managed to make it right with some changes for the differences on a terraformed Earth from what the recipe was on Casti.” She wondered if Natasha would like to try otter. Not that Stahma knew if otter meat was any good in this life, but she could always try.

“Otter. Can’t say I’ve had that, but it wouldn’t be the strangest thing I’ve ever eaten.” And she thought that Stahma could make anything palatable, or even delicious.

“I will see what I can do, then.” Stahma said with a smile. It could be a little tricky considering she had to find an otter and make sure she wasn’t seen actually hunting it. Not that Stahma had much in the way of hunting skills, but she could shoot a gun, among other things.

“Just nothing endangered,” Nat said, raising her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure if the river otter was or not, but she did draw the line at that.

“I would not dream of killing and cooking anything that was endangered,” she responded. Which she wouldn’t. Stahma may have questionable morals, but she respected endangered species and wouldn’t add to their dwindling numbers. Unless a member of an endangered species decided to try and eat her, then she’d kill it.

“Knew there was a reason I was dating you.” Murdering murderers and protecting the environment, what more could she ask for?

Nat finished her meal. As good as it was, she was more interested in the company.

“I’m glad to remind you of that reason,” Stahma responded with a coy smile. She finished her own meal. “Now, I’ll clear the dishes and then it’ll be just you and me.” Had she told Nat that the girls were out? She didn’t remember. She’d been more focused on cooking earlier.

“Good.” While Natasha had every intention of exhausting Stahma on every surface, she was really looking forward to after, curled up in front of the fireplace.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that.

Smiling, Stahma cleared the dishes, putting them in the dishwasher. There weren’t any leftovers to put away, so once the dishwasher was running, she returned to her lover. “Now, how shall we pass the time, love?” She asked as though she didn’t know the answer to that question. But the look in her lilac eyes said that she did know the answer to that as she gazed at Natasha.