STF

Captains Quarters - Dinner with Sheleah

Posted Nov. 13, 2022, 11:32 p.m. by Lieutenant Sheleah Ruby (Diplomatic Officer / CNS) (Catt Bennett)

Posted by Captain Dante Knight (Commanding Officer) in Captains Quarters - Dinner with Sheleah

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Natasha Knight (Chief Medical Officer) in Captains Quarters - Dinner with Sheleah

Posted by Lieutenant Sheleah Ruby (Diplomatic Officer / CNS) in Captains Quarters - Dinner with Sheleah
Posted by… suppressed (48) by the Post Ghost! 👻
“Tonight?” The voice Dante was using was carefully guarded, but sounded surprised. “And by Tonight, you mean, now?”

“No, I mean three weeks from now,” Natasha shot back shaking her head and leaning against the door to the bathroom. “This is why I keep saying we need an old-fashioned wall calendar where I can write things in black ink. At least then I can point to it when you say I don’t tell you something.”

“Baby I am literally just out of the shower, late back from the Bridge, and you just casually throw out a Oh, and Sheleah is coming over for dinner tonight, she’ll be here in five, as I am standing here in a towel? If you told me earlier I could have had a quicker shower and helped, do you need me to help set up?” Freshly showered, Dante stood with a towel around his waist and damp footprints following him on the carpet.

“Because today at breakfast when I said be on time because we have plans this evening wasn’t enough of a reminder? Do you ever really listen to me or do you just see the uniform and think I am one of your crew?” Pushing off the wall she began to walk away. They had been together many years, and Dante knew her mood by the way she walked away. The pace showed she was not interested in him following her.

“One of my crew huh?” Dante said and looked at her with an eyebrow raised, then he quickly half ran up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind while he tried to kiss her neck. “How many of my crew do you see me trying this with? Huh?” He did know her mood, and he also knew the best way to get her out of it was to make her crack a smile. Sometimes that was a challenge when he had done something stupid, but he cared and he knew she knew that.

Natasha tried not to smile. Moments like this melted her. Dante had a way to revert them back to the crazy, barely out of their teen-years cadets like they were when they met. While he didn’t get a chance to show this on duty like those in the crew with less rank and responsibility, he did, and often in their quarters. Letting out a laugh, she scrunched up her neck trying to block it. Dante however was too fast snaking into that small area above her collar bone. “Dante stop. Stop,” she yelled out in a giggling tone. He toyed with her setting her toes back to the ground before picking her up again. As much as she was adoring the attention, it was going to be fleeting. That was the problem recently, not enough of a normal life between the times they had to be proper. For years, Natasha had been satisfied with following him and his career. Moving from the Outpost to his ship did wonders and would have been perfect if it had not been for the birth of their son. While Oscar was a blessing, like all parents, Natasha was starting to want more for Oscar and for thier family.

“Ugh we don’t have time for this,” Natasha said feeling Dante’s hands wrap around her waist and pull her back to his chest. “We have company coming and you are dripping all over the floor.” Her hands snaked to her waist and began to push down on his wrists.

“Your friend Kalani wants to flood two decks to make an artificial reef, and you’re worried about me dripping?” Dante grinned.

“Yes it will ruin the carpet and then smell like a wet dog… or lizard,” she contemplated her response knowing the pet they owned did not reek of wet fun.

“Tell you what, I’ll get Engineering to change our floor out. I’m the Captain, I can do that you know.”

“I am serious,” she let out a small chuckle. “We don’t have time for this and I really would prefer for you to be dressed once before the company comes.” This was not the first time Dante was half-naked in their apartment as guests arrived.

“Okay, so, are we going casual or should I put on something more formal?” he asked, eyeing what Nat was wearing. She was dressed casual at this moment, but more than once she had been able to flip a switch and turn what appeared to be ‘mom clothes’ into something that made men’s heads turn faster than a dancer’s quick change movement.

Dante Knight, CO

“You should absolutely go full dress uniform. That will make Ruby feel so welcome and relaxed.” Running her fingers through her hair, Natasha moved out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen. It had been so long since she and Dante were just random shmucks inviting friends over for dinner. Natasha had been looking forward to this dinner for a while. For one night, she wanted to be Nat and Dante without rank or interruptions.

“Dress uniform!” Dante nodded and turned back to the bedroom, adjusting the towel around his waist. “Good idea!”

Natasha Knight CMO

Over the last hour Rex’s momma had changed clothes twice, bathed them both, and even managed to clip his nails, all the while talking to him in the sweet sing song voice she loved so much. They were going to dinner and he needed to be a handsome young man on his best behavior. That’s why she had brought out the good harness and leash. She adjusted it for the last time and stood. Glancing down she smiled and thought of how big Rex had gotten even though he was still a bit small for his age.

As they left Sheleah’s quarters to walk tot he Captain’s quarters, the pair were greeted by several passers by commenting on what a beautiful boy he was and oh what pretty golden eyes he has.

Soon, Sheleah stood at the door in a relaxed fit cream colored skirt and sleeveless navy blue blouse. Her sedge heels were mate gold with a bit of sparkle on the strap and quite high. The height of the heels was to add a bit to her 5‘3” stature. The sparkles were because she thought Rex liked them.

Shifting the bottle of wine in her left hand, she rang the chime and waited.

  • Sheleah

As she waited for Natasha to reply a boyishly handsome man slid up to her side and leaned against the frame. “Oh my god, you look fabulous for dinner at the Captain’s place. They never dress up like that for me. Nice kitty by the way. Don’t let Kale see that. I already have a zoo, and I am about to ban anything else coming into the house with feathers, fur, scales, or wings. Jarred,” he stuck out his hand in greeting.

Sheleah shifted again and shook Jared’s hand flashing an easy smile.

“Pleased to meet you.”

“I say we give them another ten seconds and then I will just bypass the lock. What do you say?” There was a playfulness about the man and a relaxed charm indicating he was not at all unfamiliar with this doorway.

“Yeah, another ten seconds, sure.”

“Come on. Let’s see who is at the door? Let’s hope it is for you,” Natasha said pulling her hair back into a ponytail as she scooped up Oscar and zerberted his neck. The dark-haired toddler let out a squeal and began laughing. Opening the door, Natasha did a double-take.

“Sheleah…Jarred,” she replied with a smile bouncing Oscar who instantly saw Alindor and began squirming in her arms.

“Natasha…Ivan,” Jarred said narrowing his gaze at the boy pretending to put on a stern face. “Now that we have the names straight I think you should take this,” he took the bottle of wine from Sheleah handing it to Nat. “I should take this,” he scooped up the small boy and tossed him over his shoulder, “and remind you that you are not getting him back tonight. Lizzie has already made a tent and Kal is making those amazing spam sandwiches.” Jarred gagged slightly and made a choking face.

“Thank you guys so much for taking him. He is a handful,” Natasha said patting Oscar’s butt with her hand causing the little boy to laugh.

“I know I already lost him. Oscar…Oscar…where are you. You need to give your mom a kiss,” Jarred said turning around in a circle twice before stopping so the little guy could kiss him mom goodbye.

“Be good,” Nat said planting a kiss on the pudgy cheek as Jarred turned back to face them.

“Ladies have a great night. Oscar…Oscar where are you,” Jarred playfully teased the smallest Knight as he bounced him down the hall towards his own quarters.

Natasha watched the man walk away for a half-second before turning her attention to Ruby. “Sorry. He is a force of nature but Oscar only goes with him or Rico without pitching a fit and it’s not like there are a ton of babysitters on board.” Looking at Ruby, Nat smiled. “You look fabulous. Come in..come in,” she gestured for the counselor to come into the room.

Natasha Knight.

Sheleah had watched the interaction. She was pleased to see that even the youngest among them had such a safety net and was so well loved.

Laughing and smiling at the interractions, she and Rex followed Natasha into the Captain’s quarters.

“Oh wow! He’s adorable. I don’t know if I’m much of a baby sitter but I’d be willing to try in a pinch.” she said.

  • Sheleah

“Be careful or we might take you up on that,” Natasha laughed. “What can I get you to drink? Dinner is almost ready. Dante,” Natasha called out. Ruby is here.” Moving into the kitchen area, she pulled out a beer for Dante and poured her a measure of vodka for herself. “Do I chill the wine or is it at room temperature?”

Natasha Knight CMO

Sheleah walked further into the quarters with Rex’s leash in her right hand. Since he was in a new place, he stayed close at her side for the moment, and seemed to be smelling everything.

“Chill the wine please. I think I’d like a bit of that vodka too.” she said.

  • Sheleah

“Now that sounds like a party!” The slightly Italian accented voice of Dante Knight came from the bedroom door as he stepped through, now having exchanged the towel for a pair of tan chinos, black belt and a white oxford button-down shirt with the sleeves casually rolled up to just below the elbows, tucked into the chinos. The casual dinner look was finished by a pair of reddish brown driving loafers, minus socks, and a number of leather type bands around his left wrist of varying designs. His hair was still clearly damp, but had been brushed into place with his fingers.

“It’s good to have you for dinner, Counselor,” he greeted Sheleah, moved beside Natasha, and offered to take the wine. “Let me put that in an ice bucket and you can pour another bub,” he winked at Nat and placed a hand on the center of her back, then grinned in Sheleah’s direction. “I take it that’s Rex? He’s bigger than I thought.”

Dante Knight

Sheleah smiled at the Captain then nodded looking down at Rex.

“He’s actually a bit small for his age. That and a host of other minor genetic anomalies are why he’s with me and not roaming Brazil at the moment. Please feel free to call me Sheleah if you like. Either we’re off duty or I’m always on duty, what does it matter?”

“Point taken Sheleah,” Dante smiled warmly and nodded. “Likewise, feel free to use my name. In these quarters the only one that calls me Sir is Natasha.” Smirking slightly, he turned his head to look at his wife for a long moment.

Natasha brought the drinks and handed Dante his preferred Lagavulin instead of vodka.

“Thank you gorgeous,” Dante took the drink and gave her a light, quick kiss on her cheek.

“Here you go,” she said then handing Sheleah’s drink to her. “This is premium Saracen distilled vodka. Dante got me the equipment last year for Christmas. It made it slow much easier when the inlaws now visit.” Kneeling down she scratched Rex behind his ears. “You know you can let him off the leash. Bruce can take care of himself,” she said standing back up.

Natasha Knight.

Rex nuzzled Natasha’s hand and blinked his great golden eyes at her several times. Sheleah took the Vodka in one hand, leaned down, then unclipped the leash with the other.

“The in-laws. Oh that sounds promising too. I always find family brings out such interesting facets of a personality.”

“You mean the bad side of a personality,” she laughed. “Just kidding. I love Alessandra but she and my babushka always just want either more babies or us to say we are retiring and moving back to Earth. The order of the importance of those things varies greatly with the temperature, phase of the moon, or cosmic sway of the universe. Bóo-deem zda-ró-vye,” Natasha lifted her glass in salute before throwing back the shot and pouring another one. “Russian toast that means to our health,” she said with a smile.

Sheleah raised her glass in silent Salute and tasted the Saracen vodka as it were. Smiling, she nodded appreciatively.

“Mmmmmm.”

  • Sheleah

“Personally I like Dasvidaniya better,” he raised his glass and sipped his Lagavulin, closing his eyes a moment as the smooth 16yo aged scotch whiskey ran over his tongue and down his throat, the burn only hitting when it reached his stomach. Opening his eyes, he smiled again. “Okay so it means till we meet again or goodbye, but it’s got panache as a drinking term.”

“So how are you finding the Saracen so far,” Natasha asked with a smile.

Natasha Knight

“I think the word is ‘complicated’ but, maybe, it’s just a different kind of complicated than my last posting. I’m quite certain that I’m really going to enjoy myself here. I have noticed quite a variety of animal life here. One of the new arivals I was doing intake for said we should just rename this ship ‘The Ark’. He’s not wrong but I don’t think that would go over very well.”

Looking at Nat, Dante shook his head. “Your Pal Kalani is turning my Battlecruiser into a floating wildlife reserve. At least we can hang up signs on the nacelles that say “Don’t shoot, endangered animals on board.”

“Better than Captain Fabulous and Captain Chaos insanity barge,” she let out a laugh remembering the old joke from the academy.

“The Barge was something else,” he laughed. “It was fun though, and got results, gotta admit.”

The vodka was slowly warming Sheleah and she could feel herself relaxing from the inside out.

As she and Natasha had been chatting, Rex had began padding silently about the living quarters. His whiskers and the tip of his tail were twitching as he stopped to sniff items seemingly at random.

  • Sheleah

While Bruce was affectionate to anyone human or sentient being holding a ball or any other orb-like object that could roll, he tended to be more the laid-back pre-teen with anyone without an opposable thumb. Playing ball was his life. If this new person could not roll something, the night was going to be long. “Bruce,” he said to Rex raising his head to the visitor exploring the room. “That your mom?

Natasha and Bruce Knight.

Rex hadn’t seen a scaly thing quite that big since he was much much smaller on Earth. He gave Bruce an obligatory sniff and decided that since Sheleah had brought him here, it must be safe but, that didn’t stop his tail from puffing up impressively.

“Yes, that’s my momma. Isn’t she pretty? I mean maybe, except for those things on her feet. I’ll never understand why they cover their paws. I’m Rex.” he said continuing to look around.

  • Rex

“Yeah they have a fascination with feet. My mom goes and gets her feet painted weird colors and then covers them up with shoes,” he held out a foot and splayed his claws as if judging whether or not he needed a pedicure. “I don’t know what the fuss is. I hate when they hack at my toes with those chainsaws they call clippers. Every once in a while I decided to dork with my dad. See I lay real still like this,” he flopped on his back with all four feet in the air. “I let him get a couple in and then I tug just a little when he isn’t expecting it.” Bruce let out a hissing sound that was his laugh. Bruce made a slight back and forth motion with his hand. “It makes my dad revert to Italian which makes my mom laugh and then it annoys my dad even more. Some days you just gotta not go along with the flow,” he rolled back over.

“So your mom is really pretty. Where’s your dad?”

Bruce

Rex flopped on the ground and half curled into a sitting position, the tip of his tail twitching.

“Oh I hate the chainsaws too. Momma used to always use those on me when I was asleep but I was just a kitten then. I don’t remember dad. Maybe that’s Doctor Sam. I remember him from a long time ago when momma used to help him with my sisters. They live far away back on Earth but, Momma and Dr. Sam said I’m so special I get to go into space.”

  • Rex

“Both my parents are in space. They lived together until my dad married Natasha. My first mom is Kelly. She hatched me. My Dad says he helped but according to my mom all he did was sit there when they were in their room and occasionally remember to turn on the electric blanket.” Bruce let out a hissing sound that indicated he was laughing. “My mom however apparently carried me in a backpack and told everyone she was charging her PaDD but really it was my electric blanket. She tells me the story all the time when I visit her. She is a captain now on a ship called the Atlantis. It has a huge swimming pool that is not a hologram. After dinner, we go down every night and she lets me swim. It usually was fun but the last time I was there my Uncle Nash had his daughter in the pool. Apparently, she does not know the difference between an Asian Monitor Lizard and an Alligator.” The disgust with the lack of intelligence in human children was obvious as Bruce continued his story.

“So anyway my mom goes and bellies up to the bar as she calls it and I move to the edge to jump in when out of nowhere there is this blood-curdling scream and I get whacked with a pool noodle head first into the pool. I panic and start pinwheeling my arms which hooks this kid’s suit. We both tumble into the water. As if this wasn’t bad enough I could not unhook my nail and this kid starts swimming for the shallow end at full speed dragging me with her. Now the whole place starts screaming about some alligator in the water. I,” Bruce touched his chest sounding indignant as he spoke, “did not want to be eaten so of course, I start swimming and now I am dragging this human to safety because humans are not the most aquatic of species. I reach my foot out,” he extended his claw in mime, “only to feel someone grab my tail and yank me back. I get a snoot full of water and snot starts pouring out. Some dumb blonde starts screaming that IT has rabies so I climb on the back of Uncle Nash’s neck to try and get a decent view of what is going on and to form an escape plan. Always have an escape play,” he looked at Rex with a serious expression, “as my dad says. So anyway it turns out they thought I was a rabid alligator.” Letting out a deep sigh he looked at his Dad and his Mom across the room. “You know I do love them but at times I have no idea how they were able to get into space. They are not the brightest of creatures at times.”

Bruce

Rex listened at Bruce told his story. By the end he was fully stretched out on the carpet thoroughly enjoying himself but wishing momma had brought some milk.

“Oh no no no… You are much to refined looking to be an alligator. Believe me, I know. I’ve spent some time with them on Earth but I was so small I could fit in momma’s… Uh… Shirt! Yeah, that’s it. She is very warm and soft hear her heart. I remember sleeping there quite a bit before my eyes were even open. Dr. Sam is quite a nice man but he likes to run a lot of tests. How much do I weigh? Have I grown? Stuff like that.”. Rex’s ears twitched in frustration, “Now we only see him over comms and momma does the tests for him.” he said beginning to pur.

  • Rex

“Okay, let me help with this table,” Dante turned and placed the wine into the chilled bucket filled with Ice, and then started moving covered pots and serving dishes that Natasha had prepared onto the middle of the table between the plates and cutlery that had been set out.

“Hopefully this is to your liking Sheleah,” he looked up as he peeked under the lid of one of the pots. “We tend to keep dinner simple, but full of flavour. The benefits of a mixed Russian and Italian household right love?” He grinned at Natasha as he pulled out the seats for both of the ladies.

Dante Knight

Sheleah had been watching Natasha and Dante. She decided not to comment on any private reasons why a wife might call her husband sir. They seemed like a happy healthy married couple and she certainly didn’t plan on doing marriage counseling unless it was absolutely necessary. Too many bad memories of her first posting.

Nodding, she slipped into the chair Dante had pulled out.

“My parents did so much travelling I never knew what culture’s cuisine we would be having for dinner from one night to the next. I’m certain this will be fine by me. Now about that barge…” she said looking at Dante with a raised eyebrow.

  • Sheleah

“What Barge?” Dante asked, looking up from the food for a moment and it took half a second to click. “Oh that one!” Sitting back on his own chair, he grinned for a moment as he thought and looked across at Natasha.

“So back in the Academy, Kelly Schultz and I were a pretty tight team. She’s now Captain Bordeaux of the U.S.S. Atlantis, by the way. We were one of the top performing duo’s among those of us taking the extended Command courses and had a reputation for getting things done. Sometimes, our methods weren’t exactly Academy approved, right love?” He looked across at Natasha for a moment before leaning forward and placing his forearms on the table. “Nat had to patch us up plenty of times under the table and off the record, but any time we had a field mission or had to lead a team it was dubbed unofficially as the Insanity Barge, mainly because our solutions usually got creative. But they worked!”

Reaching forward, Dante began to take lids and covers off the various pots and bowls. In some, was a rich macaroni cheese. In others an aromatic vegetable salad. Still others held a thick soup that was closer to a stew and in another, chicken nibbles. There were more, it was clear that a selection of foods had been prepared to cover almost any desire.

Dante Knight

“There seem to be cliques like that in every academy clase doesn’t there? I’ll bet your instructors had a field day with you but, I’ve often found that the best solutions are the ones no-one expects. I learned that from both of my parents, even after they separated. I think the first solution that I had to come up with was how to keep myself occupied on those long shuttle rides between visiting mom’s posting and dad’s posting.”

“Online quizzes,” Natasha shot back instantly. “It is my guilty pleasure. Some people like to read about celebrities like Aedan and Jessica Teller or the Princess of Genoviaina 3. I prefer to find out what Disney Princess I would be or if Dante’s spirit animal is a kiwi or turkey.” Neither of them was American or New Zealand but strangely enough, both seemed to pop up for them as if that was their nationality.

Sheleah paused and finished her drink.

Before Sheleah could protest, Nat filled it up again.

“People watching is such fun.”

“It is the best but when you have a partner is even better. Back when I was in the academy I used to lay on the grass and watch the shuttles take off from the San Fran Spaceport. I would make up where they were going. When Dante and I were in the courting phase,” she emphasized the term, “he would people watch with me and actively participate. Now I tend to get that marital grunt that translates to yes, no, maybe, or sure.” Patting his leg, she smiled at her husband.

Just as she was considering tucking into dinner the PaDD in her small black bag chimed.

“Oh wow, it’s time to give Rex his dinner. That won’t cause a problem will it?” she asked.

  • Sheleah

“Oh god no. What does he need? I can replicate it or feel free to do so if you want. We don’t stand on formality here. Maybe we should feed Bruce too,” she looked at Dante. “I just always assume he is fine after breakfast because Oscar gives him or drops half of what I get him. Lucky Bruce is an omnivore,” she laughed.

Natasha Knight CMO

Sheleah wondered if Natasha and Dante were the only people who had watched the shuttles take off. She seemed to remember a lot of people lying in the grass at the academy. Setting her drink down she slipped out of the chair to the replicator.

“Oh thank you. I’ve got Mr. spoiled though.”

She replicated a small platter and a small cup of milk and went over to where Rex and Bruce seemed to be getting along quite nicely.

Sitting down, she arranged everything nicely on the floor and began talking tot he two of them.

“Hello sir, it’s time for dinner. Now be a good boy and drink all of your milk. It had Dr. Sams special vitamins in it and tonight we have chicken hearts and shrimp.”

Sheleah began to scratch Rex along the shoulders as he began drinking. Looking over she picked something else up off the platter.

“Hi there big guy, I didn’t forget about you. How about a nice piece of bacon Bruce?”
she said casually tossing it in the lizard’s direction before getting up to be a human again.

  • Sheleah

Bruce snatched it up with his long tongue as he watched Rex eat. “Your mom is pretty cool,” he commented to his new friend. “Is that just milk?”

Rex always went for his milk first. It was the first thing he could remember momma giving him.

“Yes, it’s milk with vitamins from Doctor Sam. I guess they help me grow big and strong. I was much littler than my sisters and my catt mommy didn’t want the three of us so, we all went to live with Doctor Sam at his refuge and then I got to come and travel with momma.

“So what do you do for fun,” Natasha asked as Sheelah came back to the table. Picking up the bottle she poured herself another shot for herself and Dante before looking at the counselor.

Natasha Knight CMO

Sheleah sat back down and nodded for another shot.

“Well that depends on where I’m at I guess. Right now I’m still learning about this place and that’s kind of fun. I read a lot and his majesty over there keeps me on my toes. I’m up for most anything.” she said.

  • Sheleah

“I have a homemade still and make my own vodka but that is more of a side gig,” she let out a laugh. “Publically when I am not a Distiller, I tend to make a fool out of myself in kickboxing classes. I am more scrappy than talented. It’s why Dante calls me his WIldcat. That is how this one,” she reached over and patted Dante’s arm, “and I met. We were in that hand-to-hand 101 class. Dante was confused about his future. He was dating some redhead,” Natasha rolled her eyes. “Anyway Horrible Hornsby was the professor and Knight here was his TA. I sucked at the class but I got an A and my future baby daddy.”

Natasha Knight. CMO

“Oh I had no confusion about my future, Natasha just showed me a better one,” he smiled at his wife and gave her a wink, then threw back the shot she had poured for him.

“Aside from the baby daddy bit, Nat got an A in that class for pinning me while Hornsby was watching. She distracted me with her feminine wiles and while I wasn’t paying attention, tripped me and then held me in the pin long enough for Hornsby to call time. She did good, even if she weighs a buck ten and once I realized what she did I just stood up with her still sitting on my back. Do you do sports?” He asked Sheleah.

Scooping a big spoon of Mac n Cheese onto a plate and then passing that to Nat, he looked at Sheleah again. “Mac n Cheese? It’s a great old time Italian dish, don’t let anyone here claim that it’s actually a traditional American snack,” he turned his head and eyed Natasha with a smirk.

Dante Knight, CO

“Yeah just like Italian dressing is a Napoli creation. You just want to steal half of my rebellious cousins from across the ponds delicacies,” Natasha shot back. Looking at Sheleah she grinned. “My dad was British but we don’t hold that against him however since Mac N Cheese is an American dish and those wacky Yankees started as an offshoot of Britain, I think this is squarely in mine corner, not yours,” she pointed the fork at Dante.

“You can keep your cousins,” Dante raised his eyebrows. “I’ve met them, remember. You keep them away from my wine, cheese, pasta and Mama. You know they thought that just because I was Italian, I couldn’t speak English, right?”

Sheleah had found some chicken dish to tuck into and was making her way through a salad of some kind while listening to them joyfully relive their academy days.

“I never did anything really organized, you know, leagues with progressions and all of that, when I was a kid because mom and daddy moved around too much. After they divorced it was even worse so I needed something I could do by myself a lot of the time and that’s when I discovered ballet as a little girl which actually helped me and mom be close, I guess. I also really enjoy horseback riding but I don’t get to do it enough. It’s a lot more physical than people think especially if you getting into jumping horses.” she explained.

  • Sheleah

“Horses scare the crap out of me,” Natasha said. “I know I should be some wild equestrian with my Cossak lineage but oh hell no. They are huge…huge,” she emphasized the word laughing. “Cowboys and esquestrian’s make it look so easy but every time I am on a horse it decides it does not want to go that direction or stands around and pee’s for an hour and I lose the group. I am not saying I would not go with you Sheleah but I would wear my counseling hat instead of ten gallon as you talk me through it.”

Natasha Knight CMO

Sheleah smiled and laughed.

“I know just the horse for you. Sweet and kind and basically does what she’s told. I was wondering if her lineage was somehow telepathic but, I guess I’ll never know. Once I get all my programs for the holodeck set right, I would be glad to talk anybody through it.”

“I would love that. I mean while I am not crazy about horses I am willing to give it a go and anything for a good time right?”

Sheleah set her plate aside and opened the bottle of red wine she had brought.

“Now I know that daddy told me where this is from but I can’t remember. I don’t know that the vines in the vineyard lay claim to some vines on Earth for hundreds and hundreds of years and something about the soil where they’re grown now brings out a definite richness to the fruit. Beyond that, I don’t know very much about wine. I do know that there is an Italian dish called cacio e pepe that one could mistake for mac&cheese.”she said taking her place again.

  • Sheleah

“And that is Dante’s territory,” Natasha got up and got another glass. It was customary to swish wine which she never really understood the point. You were just going to drink it after the swish so why not swallow it? Dante called her an uncultured cossack but that was the nature of cultural roots. Nat’s family swilled vodka and Dante’s sipped wine. It always made the family get-togethers so much fun. Natasha actually liked it when Dante did his wine connoisseur thing. She thought it was hot so she was fine with a little swishing.

Natasha Knight. CMO

Sheleah picked up the wine and drank. She didn’t bother to swish or do anything special. It was wine, meant for drinking after all.

“Oh wow, that’s actually better than I remember. Well the only reason I know about Italian mac and cheese as it were is that we had a family friend who used to swear by it, kind of like chicken soup. Whenever they were sick, kilos would be consumed.”

  • Sheleah

“There is a reason they say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” Dante picked up his own wine glass, swisher it for a moment then raised it to his nose and smelt it.

“That reason is Italian food and Italian Mama’s.” He raised his glass in a short toast to the two women and sipped it, nodding as he put the glass down. “A good cacio e pepe is better than any Mac and cheese, I’m going to claim Mac and cheese is the uncultured version of it. Good pecorino romano cheese and black pepper, mwa.” He kissed his fingers and released it Into the air in classic Italian fashion.

Dante

Sheleah put her fork down, sat back in her chair, and simply laughed for a minute.

“Oh damn, I need some more wine because you are too much.”

  • Sheleah

“Vodka…what you need is vodka because when he becomes chef and not skipper....well you just need vodka.” Looking at her husband, no one would ever guess how much the man loved his carbs. His body was perfect, lean, and chiseled almost to the point of looking like a model. It would blow people’s minds how the man was able to keep it that way with all the pasta and such he consumed. The only thing that would stun them more would be how well he cooked. Men were supposed to be the sex whose culinary feats produced a tuna casserole however Dante could easily retire and take up a second career as a chef and excel at it.

“Oh stop, you love it when I cook. Especially when I only speak in Italian and drink wine while I do it,” Dante teased, but spent a moment looking into his wife’s eyes. “If you are going to cook, especially when we have things like replicators to cheat for us, make it worthwhile doing. Do it with passion, and nobody cooks with more passion than an Italian.” He laughed a moment as he spoke to Sheleah. “Besides, if an Italian man cannot cook, we get beaten by our grandmothers and no Italian man wants that. They are scary.”

“Do you cook,” she asked Sheleah

Natasha Knight CMO

Sheleah finished her glass of wine and set it down. Glancing over she saw Rex on the floor giving himself and after dinner preen. Casually she rifled though her bag, brought out several small balls with bells, and other jingly things inside, and tossed then in Rex’s and Bruce’s general direction.

“I would never call myself a chef but I attended a lot of events where non-replicated food was the norm and I often found myself in the kitchens so I learned a lot about different types of cuisines. I feel fairly confident that I could throw half a dozen dishes together but, nothing Klingon please.”

  • Sheleah

“If you give me a pot, some vegetables, potatoes, and a hunk of meat I can turn anything into a soup or stew,” Vanessa laughed. Russian cuisine was not bad but it was not something people crossed light-years for.

“She’s right you know. Natasha makes a mean stew. One of Kalani’s fox things went missing one day and that night we had stew. I could barely taste the vodka.” Dante bit his lip as he tried not to laugh.

“So what made you want to join Starfleet,” Natasha asked.

Nat Knight

Sheleah smiled.

“Isn’t soup and stew just witchcraft anyway? Well, as for Star Fleet, I kind of grew up in it so it seemed like some type of natural fit but I didn’t want to be like my mother. She’s a lovely woman once you get past the cool exterior and my father can tell a good story. I guess that comes with ambassadorial duties or something. I’ve always been told I’m somewhere in the middle so I decided to take my path and twist it into something different. Star Fleet? Sure. Counselling? Why not?”

  • Sheleah

“I grew up in Siberia so space is not really that much colder,” Natasha laughed. “My family comes from three of the coldest cities on Earth. Well, my extended family. We were smart and moved south to the Lake Baikal region. We went to visit them once in Oymyakon, Russia during the summer when it was a balmy 59 degrees. They train Federation cadets either there or in Antarctica for Andoria placements. Fun fact,” she took a sip of her vodka, “Antarctica only has ten degrees on us in the history books for coldest spot ever. Also, the legal drinking age for vodka is five because it warms you up and keeps you indoors but five years is pretty much the standard for anyone living in Siberia to start Russian Tea. Oscar comes from superior stock so we started him on it earlier.”

Natasha Knight CMO

“I have huge respect for both of you.” Dante paused as he spoke, refilling his glass and then topping up everyone else’s. “I may be the Captain of a Starship capable of wiping out all life on a planet, but I absolutely cannot imagine working as someone who has to listen to other peoples problems all day, either as a Doctor,” he patted Natasha’s thigh under the table, “or as a Counselor listening to people’s inner demons. That is not for me I’m afraid. Even our diplomatic missions grate on my nerves listening to people talk about how the Prolactarians gave the Mozorions a booboo 723 years ago and someone’s grandmothers second sons cousins best friends dogs previous owner still holds a grudge.”

Sheleah had heard of those places on Earth but hadn’t ben to any of them even when she had been there with Sam in Brazil but they definitley sounded like something to look forward to on her next trip there.

“Five… Well, I’ll have to remember that. Is Oscar your only child? I mean besides handsome Bruce over there?” she asked glancing at the two creatures.

  • Sheleah

“Right now yes but a couple of shots from now and after midnight who knows,” Natasha joked. Throwing back another vodka shot she reached over and patted Dante’s hand.

Natasha Knight CMO

“Baby you need to eat,” Dante laughed. “Otherwise two shots from now and after midnight, you’re going to be face down on the sofa snoring and I’m pretty sure there are still rules against making babies like that no matter how cute you snore or what Alien culture you come from.”

“Not if you are on Mintara. Clause ten paragraph five, subsection 222.946 c, sentence 6.” She got a semi blank expression on her face as if in a dream. “Why do I remember that.” Looking at Sheleah she tapped her finger on the glass. Being a diplomat, Natasha knew Sheleah had a vast knowledge of races but she wasn’t sure if the woman knew about the Mintarans. There were only three that Nat had ever met directly in the academy. “Do you know about the Mintaran’s?”

He patted her hand back, and pushed the entire bowl of mac n cheese closer to her. “Eat up, so I don’t go hungry later.”

Picking up her fork, Nat began to poke at some of the food.

Leaning over the table, Dante gave Nat a kiss on the cheek and then sat back down and looked at Sheleah. “I think I need to clarify, it was my fault that the Vodka was left on the table, and Oscar decided that it was worth trying. He appears to take after his mother in the drinking tastes, because he decided that it was yummy. He won’t even look at a good, Italian Grappa.” Dante’s face went from serious to a smirk as he said that.

“Because he is intelligent which he got from my side of the family,” Natasha winked at Sheleah.

Noticing the bottle of wine was empty and the vodka wasn’t faring much better, Dante stood and walked to what looked to be a hand made liquor cabinet. Opening it, it took a moment to peruse the bottles inside. “Anybody feel like anything other than wine or vodka? I have those, but I have, well, more.” He pulled out a bottle of cognac and looked it over, then appeared to move more bottles inside as he looked behind where the cognac had been sitting.

Dante Knight

Bruce looked at Rex and flicked out his tongue slowly. “Parents are so embarrassing. When they start drinking the happy juice they get stupid. Once I found my dad asleep with one shoe on and one shoe off and my mom asleep on the bathroom floor. My mom Kelly was asleep on the kitchen table and her husband Ian half on the couch and half in my bed.” The disgust was clear in his voice. “They had gone to some party for my mom to get a new ship. It is wayyyyyy bigger than my dad’s but I don’t tell him that.” Looking at Sheleah and his parents laughing and carrying on Bruce sighed. “Do you think your mom is going to take the couch or have a fall asleep at the table like the last time my parents had friends over,” he asked Rex.

“We should go take the bed now and claim our spots,” Bruce nodded his head towards the bedroom door. “They are probably to the point of dancing around soon and we don’t want to be under foot,” he started when suddenly two balls shot out of a small compartment in the wall. “Ball time,” Bruce screamed diving for one of the round orbs rolling around the floor.

“Dante you didn’t shut off the activity center for Bruce,” Natasha said lifting up her feet as one of the two pets dove under the table.

No sooner did he reach his did two more balls shoot out from a different corner of the room. “Rex....ooooh geh dah boo. I geh dah reh,” Bruce spoke the best he could giving Rex a color ball to chase. Diving across the kitchen area, Bruce slid with his feet and claws scrabbling on the tile. “In dah tube. In dah tube,” he motioned for a red and blue tube in the ball that was the perfect diameter to place the balls that seemed to be coming out of the walls once a minute.

Natasha Knight and Bruce Knight

Sheleah had been listening with great interest to Dante and Natasha’s near foreplay as they discussed alcohol, sex, babies, and other races.

“No. I don’t think I’ve actually ever met one but I’ve read extensively on the race and your assessment seems pretty right on.”

She paused at the commotion when the balls began shooting out. Rex absolutely loved bouncing flying things and went straight for the blue ones. He batted them around the living room and kitchen area with wild abandon.

“Oh wow! I have got to get one of these in my quarters!” Sheleah said laughing.

“Done, just put in a work order and we can have Engineering fit it. I’m sure that Kalani still has three or four units tucked away from when she ‘requisitioned’ them from the last Starbase we visited.” Looing at Nat, he narrowed his eyes. “Keep eating,” he couldn’t help but smirk. “You might be tiny but two spoonful’s won’t help against the vodka. Don’t make me make an honorary Mintaran out of you baby.”

The alcohol and good company had her feeling relaxed and warm. Seeing Dante at the liquor cabinet she stood up and made her way to stand beside him.

“What’s your poison counselor?” He asked, placing the cognac back on the shelf.

“I’m wondering if you have my secret little solution for dealing with all those diplomatic missions. I find a shot or three of tequila are an excellent reward for being a good girl.” she said eying Dante’s sizable collection.

Rex leapt to catch a ball and landed in a heap next to bruce before recovering it.

“Momma definitely needs toys like this at home and I don’t mind if she wants to silly dance. We usually dance together.” said Rex

  • Sheleah and Rex

“Computer, switch off the Pet Activity Center.” Dante said loud and direct so the computer would pick it up and seconds later, the activity center beeped into sleep mode.

“I think this will do nice enough,” Dante nodded and reached onto one of the lower shelves, picking out one of the three bottles of tequila that sat towards the right hand side and passing the bottle to Sheleah before turning to close the cabinet and picking out three sipping tumblers. On the label of the bottle, it read Tears of Llorona - Extra Añejo Tequila. The liquid had an uncharacteristically deep colour profile to it.

Turning back to the table, Dante swayed slightly thanks to the alcohol he had drunk and his foot came down on one of the balls that the two four members of the dinner had missed. That resulted in Dante losing his balance as his foot slipped out from under him but he had enough thought to roll his shoulder to land on his back as he came down onto the sofa next to him, hands raised and holding the three tumblers without more going wrong.

The ball itself shot forward, straight towards Natasha’s chair and that set in motion the resident reptile, hell bent on saving the ball from going under Natasha’s chair. Don’t worry! I got you! I got you! Bruce announced as he darted forward, head low and his body moving into full pursuit mode as it swayed side to side, his small eyes fixed on the escaping red ball.

Dante Knight

Sheleah was just aobut to ask after some Grand Marnier when everything happened in fast forward… Or was it slow motion? These things could all be a matter of perspective. She stepped forward even though there was no chance of her actually catching Dante’s fall. When the ball shot towards Natasha’s chair, Rex launched form across the room to intercept it at a different angle than Bruice would. The two pets would eventually end up in some kind of pile.

“Sorry.” Rex said. “Wow, aren’t they silly?”

Once Dante had landed on the couch Sheleah walked over and took the tumblers.

“I would ask if you’re okay but you seem to have the maneuver pretty well down.”

  • Sheleah

Dante shrugged and rolled to his feet again. “I have kids, I can land on my back with my hands safe like a cat can land on its feet.”

Due to the fact Dante was the Captain, he did tend to spend less time in go crazy hour as Natasha called it than she did. Things underfoot were a Knight household hazard. Instead of trying to avoid it like some combat situation, Natasha raised her feet up and gripped the table until the ball of fur and scales rolled under her. “Ankle check,” she asked putting her feet down and standing up slowly.

Letting out a long laugh she leaned against the table looking at Sheleah and Dante. “Our parties have really gone downhill. I remember when we called hand checks instead of ankle check. Is this a sign we are getting old?”

Natasha Knight

“Old and partying way too late,” Dante smirked, and placed the glasses on the table. “How about we have a night cap of the counselors finest before we call time, before the Captains dinner parties get a reputation for being horrific and overly silly with?” Winking at Natasha, he turned the smirk to Sheleah. “Straight or mixing?” he asked her, “And lemon or lime?”

Captain Knight, CO

Sheleah decided to change the game plan she had in her head as she listened to Dante and Natasha’s conversation.

“Well, in a week or so, come on over and I’ll show you the best blackberry margarita you’ve probably ever had but, for now, I see there’s a really good program for Vulcan soda water in the replicator. I take mine with a bit of mandarin orange because I can’t ever do things normally. I think you’ll find it delicious and I don’t think you’re getting old, just better.” she said with a smile.

  • Sheleah

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