Alternate Conclusions
By H.W.
Chapter 17
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"So why didn't we transport directly into the house?" Donatra asked as she and Kastra slowly walked up the long path that led to the main entrance of the Troi mansion.
"It's very uncommon to beam directly into someone's house here on Betazed," Kastra explained. "It has to do with our telepathic abilities. As I told you before, our telepathic abilities aren't stopped by objects like walls, but are limited by range. This means that in cities you can pick up the thoughts from your neighbors. So over time, as our society evolved, entering a house became of more importance. You never enter a private house unannounced. Even for me it would now be considered bad behavior to enter my family home unannounced because I'm not living there at the moment. You could say that the door has become a social border. By welcoming you into the house at the door that person or that family is basically welcoming you into their 'territory' where their thoughts won't be as guarded as they would be if they were outside the house."
"Right now I'm wishing I could guard my thoughts a little more," Donatra admitted softly.
"It's really not that bad," Kastra said, trying to put the clearly nervous Romulan at ease. "It's not like every single and smallest thought you have will be picked up by everyone in the house. So that we don't go insane it's normal for us that 'noise,' also known as mindless thoughts, are pretty much immediately filtered out by our subconscious and we have to focus on those if we want to read those thoughts as well."
"So how come you always know what I'm thinking then?" Donatra asked.
"Not all the time," Kastra corrected. "Think back to when you showed me the women that went before me to show you that you strictly believe in one at a time... If I would know your every last thought then you would not have had to show me that; I would have already known. It is simply that when we two are talking I know what you are thinking because at those times I'm focusing on you. This is why when I'm in your presence it may feel to you like I can read your every last thought."
Kastra hesitated for a moment before admitting, "But that's not the whole answer. The simple and whole answer is that I can read so many of your thoughts because I'm focusing on you so much; I really like focusing on you Donatra. It's really the fact that you gave me permission to read your mind whenever I wanted. But if I did that as much to a person here on Betazed I would be considered extremely rude. A Betazoid that would walk past us at that moment would not pick up all the thoughts of you that I pick up at that moment. That Betazoid would only pick up your primary thoughts."
"I don't understand the difference," Donatra admitted.
"It's, well," Kastra pulled on Donatra's hand to stop her so that they could finish their talk before reaching the door. She pointed to a bench along the patch before suggesting, "Sit down for a moment. I like this spot and the view of the flowerbeds we have from here. This bench was put here for me for that reason years ago."
Once they both were sitting, Kastra explained, "Since you are not used to classify thoughts let me put it like this. Images are secondary thoughts while lines are primary thoughts."
Kastra lifted her hand to stop Donatra from speaking up. "I'm not finished. You should not take that literally. What I mean with images are the things that sometimes pop into your mind... like a moment ago when you looked at the flowers and remembered yourself as a child in a flower bed."
"I was picking flowers for my first girlfriend," Donatra admitted.
"You really did start young, didn't you?" Kastra asked with a smile.
"Not that kind of girlfriend," Donatra said. "She was the kind of girlfriend that makes your realize that there is a difference between the word 'friend' and the word 'girlfriend,' but that's it."
"I know," Kastra assured. "I was just teasing. Remember, you opened your mind and showed me the ones that were before me, I know you were older when you were with the first in that line. But that's what I meant with images; scenes like that thought. Those are normally not picked up by just any Betazoid standing beside you; that Betazoid has to focus on you like I am now to be able to receive those thought as well. You have to remember that reading someone's mind is 'real time' We pick up what you are thinking 'now'. That is why I can't tell Seven if she will be able to trust someone tomorrow. We cannot read a thought you had yesterday, unless you are thinking 'now' about what you thought yesterday. With me so far?"
Donatra merely nodded. So Kastra continued. "Well, because images are flashes, the event is normally already over before the Betazoid can even register that there was a thought. So it doesn't really register because we heard a 'hum' instead of someone talking, you might say. Before we can focus to hear what that person is thinking the thought is no longer there and we here nothing. So we learned to ignore those kind of flashes."
"So, if I understand this right," Donatra said thoughtfully," While staying in this house, if at night I happen to see you in those sexy nightclothes of yours, you would pick up the images of what I would like to do to you, but your mother sitting a room away would not pick op those thoughts?"
"Right," Kastra agreed. "Unless she was trying to 'listen in' and was focusing on you as well. But that's considered extremely rude. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, after all temptation is very high. You would never know if someone else was 'listening in' but that person sure won't comment on it because that would give away that the person has been 'listening in'."
"So have you ever 'listened in'?" Donatra asked with a smile.
"We Betazoid aren't perfect. As I said, the temptation is high and sometimes a person might give in to that temptation if that person feels some very interesting thoughts prickling her mind," Kastra said, admitting that she had indeed 'listened in' without admitting it with a direct 'yes'.
"Remember, I can't read minds, but you are avoiding my eyes. So why don't you tell me what I would read right now if I could read your mind?"
"It's you," Kastra admitted. "I sometimes focus on you."
"That's not news to me," Donatra said confused. "You just said it yourself that you focus a lot on me; that you like doing that. But even besides that, as much as we are together, as much as you have reacted to things I thought, somehow the fact that you read my mind even if we aren't talking at the moment is not a surprise to me."
"No, what I mean is, at night, when you come to visit and then go back to your own quarters. I stay with you, follow you. My telepathic abilities may be limited by distance, but there isn't a place on Torres' ship that is far enough away from me that I can't see someone's thoughts if I focus on them."
Now Donatra finally understood what the Betazoid meant. "That? You are such a naughty girl!" Then she grinned. "You should have told me, I think I would really have liked to know that I wasn't the only one that was enjoying my fantasies. It would have been nice to know that I wasn't the only one enjoying them."
"Well, now you know," Kastra said, being at that moment very glad that Donatra couldn't read minds as well and therefore didn't know what thoughts were in Kastra's mind. She really liked the fact that she had a partner that she could actually surprise.
"But as I said," She continued, "random thoughts like that small flash of you with those flowers are things that aren't picked up by us Betazoids unless we are focusing on you. The thoughts that are picked up and not considered 'noise' are what I call linear thoughts. Those are the conscious thoughts, where you are forming thoughts in your head like lines in a text you speak; hence me calling it linear."
"Like in those little fantasies I have of you, when I so clearly go through my little play of imagining that I'm with you and do this, and then that, and so on?"
Kastra only nodded with the cutest blush since some of those images were seeping back into the Romulan's thoughts.
Donatra decided to show a little mercy and changed what she was thinking about and asked, "Or like what I'm thinking now?"
"Yes, and to answer your question, yes, there are lairs to that. If you are talking one line, and thinking another, then we Betazoids pick up both lines. To use the example you yourself used once before, if you were to tell me, and any other Betazoid, that you really hate your job, then we would also pick up your thought about how this is an exaggeration and that you really love the job Seven gave you. Just that it's not perfect and has its frustrations."
She hesitated for a moment while thinking of a different example. "Or in business deals, if someone tells me that one hundred credits is a low as he will go, then I will immediately know that in fact he will sell it for fifty credits."
"Convenient," Donatra said, trying to imagine a business deal like that.
"It sounds that way," Kastra disagreed. "But, one thing to keep in mind here is that thoughts are not actions. For instance, if I were to tell this person bluntly that I know that he will also sell it for fifty... then I would piss him off and he would not sell it to me at all. I would still have to haggle with him to get his price down."
"Just that you know that you will have to stop when you reach the fifty line," Donatra said in understanding.
"Or a little bit before that," Kastra corrected. "After all, if I were to drive that person to his lowest price all the time he would not like to do business with me and I could lose a good place to get good deals. So even though I know he might sell it for fifty, I would maybe stop haggling at sixty or even seventy. You know, find a price I don't mind paying so that I'm happy because I got what I wanted at a relatively cheap price, and at the same time have that be a price where he is happy because it still was a nice deal for him. It's a fine line between paying less, and yet keeping the seller happy so that he will sell more things to you."
Kastra gave a small, sad, smile before adding, "Of course, that's with dealing with people that aren't Betazoids. A Betazoid sales person would also read my mind and see what I would be willing to pay; which is why you also won't see any price signs on goods on the whole of Betazed. The only exception to that are things that are sold where there is no person standing right beside it, like a house for instance. There a sign is needed so that people know what the asking price is even though the seller is not home."
"But how do you know the general prices on those other things?" Donatra asked confused. "I mean, alright, both sides can 'read' what one person wants and the other is willing to pay, but there have to be average prices. What if you don't know what the general price of an apple is, just to name something? Maybe the seller is greedy and wants fifty credits for it. You would of course never pay that, but might be willing to pay five credits. But that would still mean that you are paying way too much because an average price of an apple is only one credit."
Kastra shrugged. "It's what you are used to. Sure, there are greedy people that want more, but you have to remember that we grow up here. We first go to the market as a child with our parents. There we 'hear' what the prices are that people want. We go a next time, and a next time. And by the time we have or get credits to buy something with we already know what general prices are for something. We already know what the worth of an apple is. We might differ over small changes, like someone asking two credits and me being willing to pay him one and a half even though I know the apple is only worth one credits, simply because I'm really in the mood for an apple. But if someone suddenly asks ten credits, I would walk right past him."
"Let me guess, you always paid more than common though," Donatra said in understanding. As good and giving a heart as the Betazoid had, every single sales person would know that Kastra would pay more than the average person.
"Oh yeah," Kastra sadly agreed. "I hardly ever bought things myself, and if I did I made sure to use the worldwide information network and order from there and have it beamed to my house. After all, those prices are fixed since those deals aren't made face to face."
"Well, we just have to find some time to hit the markets while we are here," Donatra said firmly.
Kastra gave a sweet smile at Donatra's thoughts. "That's really sweet of you, and you are probably right. Yes, they will be able to read your mind, and yes, they would then also read that you are willing to walk away from what seems like a deal and therefore sell cheaper at you. But, problem is that on Family weekend all stores are closed on Betazed."
"And your mother won't allow us to stay an extra day?"
"By Imza, I love you," Kastra exclaimed before treating the Romulan to a passionate kiss that was more than willingly returned. Kastra knew how much Donatra was looking up against having to spent time with a whole family of people that could read her every thought if they wanted to. Therefore she also knew how much of a sacrifice the Romulan was bringing by offering to spent another day with that family.
"That feeling is mutual," Donatra assured with a smile. "So, wanna hit the markets the day after tomorrow?"
"I would love to," Kastra assured. "There are some things I never looked for when I was with family members, I would love to go look for them now... not things like that. Get your mind out of the gutter."
Donatra smiled a little sheepishly at the thought that had entered her mind. "Sorry, but what was I supposed to think when you talk about wanting to buy stuff that you don't want your family to see?"
"True," Kastra had to agree. "But..."
"But what?" Donatra asked when the Betazoid didn't continue.
"But, right now we better should get going," Kastra said casual enough for Donatra not to notice the fact that it was not what the Betazoid had started to say. Yes, Kastra really liked surprising Donatra, but if she had told her this then she would have ruined the surprise for herself as well; ruined the wonderful feeling of being able to give the surprise at just the right time.
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
Kastra was a little surprised to be greeted by her brother instead of her mother.
"She is running around preparing things," Her brother explained after having greeted his sister and her guest properly, speaking out loud for the benefit of their guest instead of answering mentally. Both of the Trois knew of course that 'running around' was a gross exaggeration. You could say many things of Lwaxana Troi, but not that she ever gave a hurried expression. Even if she was in a hurry she somehow managed to look calm.
It was from her that Deanna had inherited her calm nature and even Kastra had to thank her mother for the genes that made Kastra an overall calm person, just that certain things on her mind, like a certain Romulan, could make her forget about being calm and collected.
"Why?" Kastra wondered. "She knew that this day was coming, and she also knew for some time now that I was bringing a guest."
"Yes, but she didn't know that Deanna is bringing a guest too. Deanna contacted mother about two hours ago to let her know that she will arrive in half an hour and that she is bringing Intendant Dax along."
"For Family weekend, to stay here in the house?" Kastra asked to clarify. After a conformation from her brother that this was indeed the fact, Kastra could only smile. "I almost feel sorry for mother. Deanna is visiting as her daughter, not as Intendant, but now mother has to prepare for the visit of an Intendant that isn't her daughter. I really almost feel sorry for her... almost."
"And just what makes you smile like that for meeting another Intendant?" Donatra asked, while her stomach was doing flip-flops from knowing that she would be meeting not one, but two Intendants. One of which was very protective of her sister, and one of which would more than likely be very protective of the younger sister of her, judging from the fact that she was visiting on Family weekend, partner.
"What makes me smile like this? Well, until one minute ago I knew for a fact that I, we, would be the focus of this weekend and we would have to suffer through my mother seeing if you are good enough for me. But now, now you and I are just a side event. All of mother's focus will be on Deanna and Intendant Dax."
"I'm sure that mother will find a minute or two to shower you with her parental love," Kastra's brother said amused. Then, seeing movement through the door's window he added, "And it seems that mother has run out of time; Deanna and Intendant Dax are early."
It had been exactly a year now since Kastra had seen her sister face to face at the last Family Weekend, and as soon as Deanna had entered the house, Kastra's first words were; "I love you, I love you, I love you."
"You love me as your sister, or you love me as focus catcher?" Deanna asked amused.
"I love you as a focus catcher of course; as my sister I only like you."
Deanna smiled and hugged her sister. "Well, seeing how well the Coalition is taking the news that Torres and Seven are engaged to be married, Jadzia and I decided that we could let it be known a little bit more publicly that we share more than just business interests, and we figured that it would only be proper to let the family know first just how things are between us. And on that note, let me introduce my lover and best friend to you, Jadzia Dax."
Once more introductions were made before Kastra's brother suggested, "Why don't we go find mother; I saw her in the solarium last."
"Are you alright?" Jadzia asked Donatra when she saw the worried look on the Romulan's face, and the fact that she was sweating while it certainly wasn't anywhere near hot enough in the house to make a Romulan sweat without the Romulan doing strenuous activities.
At the same time Deanna asked her sister mentally, 'Why is she chanting 'Kastra will protect me' all the time in her mind?'
To which the young Betazoid's only reaction was to start laughing out loud.
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
As soon as Seven and Torres had to go to yet another meeting, Toby turned his head and looked at Mara; now he was alone with the younger of the tall animals at last. He knew that his nest mates would not like it if he killed the young animal, but he was pretty sure that he could get away with nibbling on it a little bit if need be; just enough to show it who the third in line was in this nest.
As soon as the door had closed, Mara realized that she was not alone; Toby had decided to stay as well. From the corner of her eyes she could see him looking at her, which she ignored as best she could. She felt fear start to form and immediately squished that with an annoyed growl. She was Mara; she didn't fear a stupid animal!
The young animal growled, the audacity! Toby growled as well before making himself even bigger by putting the hair of his neck and back on end. Then he slowly walked closer to the young animal as menacing as he could. Now all that practicing with his momma and his brothers and sisters came to good use. He had petrified many an animal before, and he knew that this young animal wouldn't be any different.
Mara swallowed when she saw how Toby was portraying himself as big as he could, and then started to show of his teeth. She was close to addressing the computer to initiate a beam-out, but then decided not to with a stubborn frown. She was not a scared kid; this animal couldn't scare her. She looked Toby in the eyes for a moment, letting him know that she had seen him trying to intimidate her and then she looked back to the PADD she had been reading. She pretended to read once more, though in reality all her attention was still firmly on Toby and she was still looking at him from her peripheral vision.
The young animal was the first to look away and Toby sniffed in satisfaction. No, this animal was no threat to him. Still a pity though that he wasn't allowed to kill it. With a last dismissive sniff, Toby turned around and jumped onto the couch. He stretched for a moment before lying down on Torres' favorite spot.
Mara frowned when she saw Toby take Torres favorite sitting place. Mara had a feeling that this wasn't just a convenient spot to lay down for the animal; there was more to it. From what she was told, Mara knew that Seven and Torres thought that Toby had first bonded with Seven, which was why he was normally always at her side and did follow her every command.
Since Seven on her turn treated Torres as her leader, most of the time, Toby had understood that Torres was the leader of the nest and therefore was also higher up than Toby; which was why he also followed a few basic commands from her.
Mara also knew that she on her turn had neither of those two advantages. She wasn't anywhere near being the leader of the 'nest,' nor had Toby bonded with her. This clearly meant that the Targ saw her as competition at best, food at worst.
Mara knew that there were very few options. She could go to her bedroom and close the door; basically hiding like a baby. Not an option. She could get a disrupter and kill Toby, which would result in her getting kicked out of the family, at least, or killed at worst. Not an option either. She could continue to live with Toby on an ongoing footing of rivalry; which would result in her having to wonder every time she happened to be alone with the animal if this would be the time that he would take a bite out of her. Again, not an option. Which left the last option; somehow finding a way to get the animal to accept her. What had Torres said? It was a matter of intelligence? Toby would not understand why they would suddenly treat him differently. Hmm.
The most important thing for Toby seemed to be Seven. Until now Mara had no problems with the animal... with the exception of wondering if he would bite her in the legs if he happened to be walking behind her. So, getting along with him would basically mean showing him that she had no intention of replacing him at Seven's side. Hell, even if for some reason Mara would be at Seven's side all the time, as long as Toby was allowed to be there as well he would think that he would be more important than her.
And with that, the solution came to Mara. Or at least she hoped that it was the solution. She took a deep breath, picked up the PADD and then stood up. She slowly walked over to the couch, all the time seeing brown eyes watching every move she made. She knelt in front of the couch and put the PADD to the side before sitting back on her own legs. She looked at Toby for a moment. He only looked back; clearly wondering what she was up to. Slowly she brought one of her hands to one of his front paws. She waited for a moment to make sure that he had seen the hand and knew that a touch was coming. She touched him, and he started to growl.
Toby watched the young animal get closer. He had known that it would understand why he had lain down on the spot where the leader of the nest preferred to be. Toby knew for sure that the young animal would challenge his claim. Good, let it do that; a good excuse to get a little nibble in. Maybe one of its paws, or perhaps nipping off its funny little snout; that would be fun too. The young animal was silly anyway. It was so clear that the young animal feared him; Toby could so easily smell it.
Then the young animal sat down in front of the soft block Toby was lying on. Now what kind of a challenge was that? Then it slowly touched his left front paw. Hey now! There was no touching in a challenge... unless you were fighting of course. Toby growled and the touching stopped. Good. But then the touching started again. Silly young animal. But Toby kinda liked the touches. It felt a little like the petting his nest mates did, just not as secure. Eh, it was alright, so he stopped the growling, but his eyes never left the young animal.
Mara felt like she was making headway when Toby stopped growling and she slowly extended her movement until she was petting Toby all the way from his neck down to his claws. He always followed her hand with his eyes when she brought it back up to touch his neck again, but until now Toby seemed to allow it. Mara decided that it was time to take the last step. She just so hoped that she was reading the animal right. She stopped petting him and turned around. She sat back down, but this time with her back against the couch and her head mere centimeters from Toby's snout. She picked up the PADD again and once more pretended that she was reading, but in reality the blood was racing so hard through her veins that her hand was shaking way too much to be actually able to read the words written on the PADD.
The petting stopped and Toby kinda missed that. Even though the young animal was competition, the petting had felt nice. What was the silly young animal doing now? Didn't it know that in the position it had put itself in now he could bite directly in its neck; killing it in seconds? Hmm. The smell of fear had gotten a little more yet, and the vain in the young animal's neck was pumping so hard that it stood out clearly against the skin. Toby knew that with just a little puncture of his sharp teeth he could taste the young animal's blood.
Silly animal; it was presenting no challenge like this. But, maybe that was the whole point? Maybe the young animal was trying to show him that he didn't have to see it as a challenge? It had clearly placed itself at a lower position as him, and on top of that it had clearly put itself at his mercy.
Maybe it was not challenging him at all? Instead it was showing him that it accepted him as its dominant? Toby pushed his wet snout into the young animal's neck to see what kind of reaction he would get. Hmm. Now the young animal started to shake all over; it clearly knew what a vulnerable position it was in. Yet it still didn't move away. Interesting.
Well alright, as long as the young animal knew its place and didn't try to challenge him for his position, he didn't mind having her as a nest mate as well. Besides, his other nest mates seemed to like the young animal's presence. Fine; decision made. As long as the young animal knew that it was below him in importance in this nest, the young animal was part of the nest.
Toby changed position slightly and put his head beside that of the young animal. He heard the young nest mate take in a shaky breath and then noticed how it slowly start to relax. One thing was for sure though, the young nest mate really needed to learn how to hide its fear better. Maybe he could teach the young nest mate a trick or two. After all; that's what leading nest mates did.
There was only one reason why Mara was still sitting where she had set down; pure stubbornness. Sometimes she was too damn stubborn for her own good. She felt Toby's wet snout in her neck and her hearts started beating in over time. She was going to die, she just knew it. She felt herself start to shake all over and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Suddenly she heard Toby move and she knew for sure that the last second of her life had started. And then... she felt how Toby put his head on her shoulder. Mara took a shaky breath when she realized that her offer had been accepted; apparently she wasn't going to die that day after all. Mara started to relax and slowly her fear started to change into ecstasy.
She had just faced the most dangerous situation of her life. She had stared death in the eyes, and reached a deal with it. She lifted her hand and scratched Toby behind his ear. This time there was nothing slow or careful about the movement. Just reaching up and touching the wild animal, and all that happened was that she heard him give a soft grumble of content. Mara couldn't believe it. She was actually touching one of the deadliest predators on Qo'noS; the only known animal on Qo'noS that could take on a Sabre-bear one on one and come out winning. And she was touching it. Not only that, it was enjoying her touch. Mara felt extremely proud of herself. She was dying to tell someone. And then, tiers started to roll down her face when she realized that, for the first time in her life... she could do just that.
"I have a home Toby. I have a home and a family. How cool is that?"
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
'She is rude, oversexed, way too temperamental, and also has totally no mental discipline.'
'Mom!' Kastra exclaimed mentally as a reaction to the thought that has just entered her mind.
'I'm not done. She is mentally totally untrained, her thoughts are almost just as loud as the words she speaks.'
"And I like it that way," Kastra said out loud as her mother came closer. "I know that if I suggested it she would do some mental training, just to please me. But I won't do it. I like how she always answers me twice. I like to 'hear' her when she sees me and just the fact of seeing me is enough to make her lust. Mother, I know that you would not like this if you were me, but I really like how open she is; that I feel her thoughts as strong as my own."
"What I would like or not doesn't stand to discussion here," Lwaxana said out loud as well. "She is a lustful animal. Just during dinner alone she thought about sex five times."
"You were probing her mind," Kastra accused.
"Of course I was," Lwaxana said dismissively. "She is a suitor to one of my daughters, I have every right to probe her mind, all the way up until you two go and retire for the evening. Kastra, I cannot agree to this relation; you have to stop it."
Kastra gave a sad smile before asking, "Am I allowed to pack some personal things before leaving the house for good?"
"What are you talking about?"
Kastra turned around and looked out the window to see Donatra outside spending time with her Kastra's oldest brother's three children. She was apparently having a lot more fun now than when she had been sitting at the table and suffering through a sometimes strenuous conversation. Donatra had understood only too well that she was being judged during dinner, and hadn't liked it for one minute.
"I'm talking about taking some memorabilia of my youth out of my old room before I'm no longer allowed here. Since apparently you are going to make me choose. Believe me; it's no choice at all."
Lwaxana came closer and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders from behind; looking out of the window as well. "Nobody is making you choose honey, and that room will be yours for the rest of your life. You always will have a home here, no matter where in the universe you decide to make your second home. But you have to keep in mind that I'm the Matriarch of this family and as such I have duties. This includes voicing my concerns about partners of my daughters."
"I'm sorry that you cannot accept her mother, but,"
"As the Matriarch of this family I cannot accept her," Lwaxana interrupted. "As such I will only condone her because my foolish daughter won't do the right thing and get rid of her. But as your mother, I can accept her. As your mother, my personal opinion is that you have a keeper there."
She padded the shoulders under her hands in a motherly gesture. "And don't underestimate what I personally can appreciate. Personally I can see only too well what you see in her. Why do you think that I never did get rid of my Body Servant? I really didn't pick him just so that he could father Deanna; I decided to have Deanna from him because I decided that he had the right traits to make a very interesting mix with my genes; as the result, known as your sister Deanna, proves was a good guess. I can appreciate an untrained mind only too well, and truthfully I'm a little jealous of you for finding a person like that, that has absolutely no problem being so mentally open for you."
"She is still getting used to it. In the beginning she merely didn't mind it, but now she is actually starting to like it more and more the more our relationship deepens," Kastra explained. "She has never said it, or even very consciously thought it, but I know that she gets a kick out of me knowing her at times rather colorful thoughts. But also at other times. She also likes it that she doesn't need to explain to me why hearing something gets her down, and that I will immediately know that she is down."
"Hmm, that may be," Lwaxana said as she looked at the Romulan very skillfully divide her attention over two of the children that were demanding it at the same time. "She is oversexed though. It's only now that she is with the children and there are no... distractions... that she isn't thinking about it from time to time."
Kastra looked over her shoulder and smiled. "I know. And she knows. She... mom, she knows for a long time already that she has a problem. She even sought help for it once. But she didn't like the advice she was given and instead focused on how to live a productive life and not let her problem be more than a distraction. I on the other hand don't see it as a problem. I'm young and I'm looking forward to a life with someone that doesn't just love me, but that also wants me. Wants me so bad that sometimes she literally has to fight the urge to jump me. But, as she has proved in her career as a Romulan commander and now in Seven's government, she likes the thoughts but isn't guided by them. She knows what's really important, just that in her free time,"
"You will be a very busy person," Lwaxana interrupted with a smile.
Kastra smiled. "Look at it this way; when I become middle aged and hit 'the Phase' and my sex drive quadruples... I'll have a partner that can keep up with me."
"Uh," Lwaxana groaned. "Don't remind me. At least you have about thirty years yet. For me it's coming any day now. But, that does bring up the point of age. Romulans have an average lifespan of two hundred standard years while we have an average lifespan of one hundred-and-twenty years."
"Which means that we can grow old together," Kastra said with a smile before moving away and leaning against the edge of the dinner table. "You have to keep in mind that Donatra is thirty years older than me. This means that if we both exactly reached the average lifespan for our species, that I would live for another hundred years, and she for another hundred-and-fifty. But that's just the average lifespan, and those fifty years can easily be bridged by fate if she were to live a little less than the average lifespan, and I a little more. It's called average for a reason. There are a few Betazoids that are a hundred-and- fifty and still alive. And there are Romulans that die of old age at the age of hundred."
Then she reminded, "But that's really all just 'what if.' Who knows how things will go? Maybe we decide in some years that it's time to call it quits... or better said, more likely, that I decide to call it quits since Romulans only rarely split up again once they are in a serious relationship, while we Betazoids are pretty used to it. I mean, you and father married and divorced three times; each time resulting in one child."
"And me having Deanna in between being married to your father," Lwaxana agreed. "You are right, despite the difference in lifespan, you do have the potential to spend a hundred years together. There are not many Betazoids that can say that they are with their partner that long. Are you sure that she is someone for a long relationship though? There are exceptions in every species, and the way how... colorful thoughts... entered her mind about Jadzia and Deanna as well, she might be one of those exceptions; liking to conquer and move on."
"Mother, even you must have felt how much she loves me; I'm not a thing to conquer, she truly does care for me."
"And thinks about former girlfriends from time to time," Lwaxana added.
"We talked about that," Kastra assured. "In the beginning she was trying to push back those thoughts but I told her that she didn't have to do that. Her previous relationships formed her, and they explain so much. I like knowing the fact that she doesn't like to do 'this' because once 'that' happened, and I like to know that she loves 'that' because 'this' once happened."
Then she warned, "Also, don't misjudge things here. The reason why there were quite some people before me is because Donatra doesn't like to be alone and therefore went from relationship to relationship, but she explained the difference to me."
"Oh, and why don't you explained the difference to me then," Lwaxana suggested.
"It's exactly because Romulans are normally in it for the long haul in real relationships they like to 'play around' before that time," Kastra said. "They often enter relationships where both of them know up front that it's just a little fun for a couple of months and that they would never last a longer time because they are incompatible. It's nothing more than two people having fun together until one of them finds something else that interests them and then the both of them move on to other things."
Kastra smiled before adding, "Of course, Donatra being Donatra, always tried to get a nice 'goodbye night' out of it, as she called it. One last time of making love and making it last because they knew up front that was going to be the last time."
"Hmm," Lwaxana said slowly. "As much as those colorful thoughts enter her mind, there is one thought noticeably missing; she has no idea of the fact that there is another tradition on Family Weekend beside the family getting together, does she? She has no idea why it's normal for young Betazoids to bring their first partner home on those days."
"No," Kastra agreed. "And I also won't tell her. She is scared shitless as it is from being around people that can read her mind if they want to, I don't want to add that pressure to it."
"I think that we are in for a rather interesting breakfast conversation tomorrow," Lwaxana said with a laugh.
"Oh yeah, most probably," Kastra agreed with a smile.
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
The door opened and Toby noticed that the young animal didn't move; he liked that. Clearly it wanted to show their nest mates that it and he had settled the dominance question, and who had won. Toby was glad that the young animal took this step, this way his nest mates would know and he wouldn't have to hurt his young nest mate to show his dominance over it to the others. He lifted his head and licked Mara's neck, showing her his approval of the move, and then put his head back down on the shoulder and looked at his other nest mates without moving either.
"Hi," Mara said as she looked up. For a moment she wondered if she should get up, but decided not to. She liked feeling Toby's head on her shoulder and it would also prove more than she could ever say with words.
"I see that you two are getting along quite nicely," Seven noted with clear approval.
Mara lifted her hand and scratched Toby behind his ear again. "Yep. We reached a deal and we are the best of friends now, aren't we Toby?"
Toby's only reaction was a content sigh.
"A deal that results in you sitting lower than him," Torres pointed out.
"For now, yes," Mara agreed. "I won't go around sitting on the floor all the time, but in this situation it was very effective in getting across what I wanted to get across. Besides, it's actually a quite comfortable position to read. The thing is, I thought about what you had said; that it was a question of intelligence. Toby would not understand why his nest mates would suddenly treat him differently, so I set out to try and proof to him that I was no competition. I have no desire to take his place and he can keep seeing himself as third in line in this nest. I mean, what would there be to compete for? At the very most I can see him wanting a spot where I'm sitting because it happens to be closer to Seven. No problem; I'll move."
"Only the truly smart know which battle to fight and which battle to pass up," Torres said approvingly.
"This was not a battle to fight," Mara shrugged. "Besides, Seven told me that she sees Toby as her child as well."
"I do," Seven affirmed.
"Well, then. If he was a Klingon, and you would see him as a child, then this would mean that by Klingon law he would be above me in the family hierarchy anyway since I'm the latest addition to the family. So... why would that change just because he isn't a Klingon?"
Torres kneeled on one knee in front of Mara and put a hand on the shoulder that wasn't occupied by a targ head. Looking Mara deep in the eyes, Torres stated firmly, "You acted with honor today. Also, don't think I don't know what you must have gone true to reach this deal. Approaching a wild mountain targ and putting you at his mercy? I don't think you will find many people on Qo'noS that would do that. I'm very proud of you, my daughter."
Mara beamed at the recognition, and her hearts almost burst from the feeling that hearing those words caused. So this is what she had been missing her entire life. Never in her wildest dreams would Mara have suspected that hearing the words 'I'm very proud of you, my daughter' could feel better than any recognition of her actions on a PADD, or any winning of a fight ever had.
"Thank you," Mara could only whisper.
When Torres moved away, Seven also kneeled in front of Mara. She didn't waste time with words though. Instead she took Mara in a tight embrace. When they finally broke apart, Seven said softly, "I am very proud of you as well. Welcome to the family, my daughter."
Mara felt tiers running down her face, but she didn't care. She knew that her mothers would know why they were forming and would ignore them.
In the mean time, Torres had sat down besides Toby and pulled his head towards her. She looked him in the eyes for a moment before placing a kiss on his snout and scratching his head, hoping that it would convey her approval of the agreement he and Mara had reached.
It did. Toby was wondering a little about the strange behavior of his nest mates, but not enough to actually care much about it. The dark one, the leader of the nest was clearly showing her approval of the nest hierarchy. So, with that being covered, Toby went over to the matters of the day and leaned his head into de greeting he was now receiving of now both of the tall nest mates.
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
"Should we tell Mara about the security measure that is active here in the quarters?" Seven asked later that night as she was lying in Torres' arms and they were enjoying the wonderful 'after lovemaking' feeling.
"Why? We didn't install that security measure for her," Torres reasoned. "In fact, that security measure was already firmly in place even before we two met. Mara was extremely proud of herself today; rightfully so I might add. Why should we spoil that by telling her that she never truly faced death?"
"You have a point," Seven agreed. "This reminds me though, you never told me why you have the security measure at all. Somehow it simply does not sound like you to have a security measure in place that automatically beams a bleeding person to Sickbay if the sensors measure more blood loss than one would lose from a heavy bloody nose, as you call it."
"You never asked me," Torres teased with a grin.
"I am asking now, bitch," Seven said with a playful growl that was a good imitation of Torres' growl.
"Oh you dare to call me a bitch? I would kill you right now if it wasn't for the fact that I love you."
"That, and I am very good in bed," Seven corrected. "You would miss your daily lovemaking too much."
Torres laughed at Seven's comment. "You are so damn right; on both accounts. I love you, Seven. You are the best thing that ever happened to me."
"And I love you, my wonderful fiancée. Please answer my question though. I truly am curious."
"Alright," Torres relented. "It's not much of a secret or anything. Shortly after Worf handed me this ship and I had these quarters created in the layout they had until Mara joined us, Martok came to me and asked if the security measure could be implemented. His reasoning was that no matter how good a fighter I was, there was always the chance that a slave that I had taken to bed would try to kill me if I happen to fall asleep."
"It is hard to have a slave try to kill you when you do not take a slave to bed," Seven pointed out.
"Yeah," Torres agreed. "But back then he, nor I for that matter, didn't know yet that I would not take a slave to bed; ever... until I met you of course. Plus, I was smart enough to realize that not only slaves can kill, and I did take free people to bed. But the thing is, I could see his point, and since I didn't see any harm in having such a security measure I let him do it."
"You do realize that there is a big flaw in that theory, so you not?" Seven asked.
Torres frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I think it is because Klingons focus so much on honorable fights and fights with blades," Seven explained. "This security measure focuses on blood, and there are a lot of ways of getting killed without there being any blood. Remember how we met, my wonderful Mistress?"
Torres grinned. "Well, you got a point there, my Pet. But not every slave has the power, or knowledge to break a Klingon's neck with bare hands. Most would resort to a knife. In any case, once it was installed, exactly because the security measure was never needed and never activated, I totally forgot about it until the accident. And as that little accident with Toby proved; it works. We both know that Toby would have done a lot more than just ripping off that slave's arm if he hadn't been automatically beamed to Sickbay."
"A lot more, as in probably kill him with his next bite," Seven could only agree. "Unless he would have felt like playing of course."
"Right," Torres agreed. "The point is, since it's a security measure that was in place already long before Mara joined us, I don't see a point in telling her about it now. There will come a time that some conversation or something will make it clear to Mara that there is some security program running in here and she will ask about it. We will explain it to her then. Because some time will have passed by then she will not connect that security measure and us leaving her alone with Toby, and she will forever carry the pride of being one of a very few people that dared to face a mountain targ unarmed. And she should carry that pride. I don't know if I would have done it."
"Very well," Seven agreed before asking hesitantly, "B'Elanna. We are engaged to be married, yet we never actually talk about getting married..." She let her question trail off, hoping that Torres would hook in and give Seven an idea of how she thought about the matter.
"You looking for me to make you an honest woman?" Torres asked with a grin.
"I already am a, relatively, honest woman. I am looking for you to make me a married woman."
"I see. Well, you know, Worf just dropped that 'being engaged' on us just to make things easy for himself. I never actually asked you if you wanted to marry me, or the other way around. So we could continue the being engaged thing for years yet."
"We could," Seven agreed.
Torres looked at Seven for a moment before finally sharing a long kiss with her. "Seven, will you marry me?"
"Yes," Seven said right away, only to then ask, "B'Elanna, will you marry me?"
"Yes," Torres also said right away, only to then ask," But didn't we already cover that by me asking you?"
"Did we?" Seven asked on her turn. "I do not think so. Because we are both Intendants our marriage has to be a grand affair; something broadcasted all over the Coalition. Yet I also would like something more private. Something where only our friends are invited."
Seven deliberately left away 'and family' since Seven herself didn't have any family members and Torres wasn't close to any of her family, not counting Worf to who Torres was related around ten corners, as she liked to call it. Then she corrected herself. "And Mara and Toby of course."
"Of course," Torres agreed. "How about this; I take charge of directing the official marriage ceremony, and you take charge of directing the personal marriage ceremony?"
"Directing?" Seven repeated.
"Sure," Torres affirmed. "Neither of us has the time to spare to take care of everything into the details. So we let the actual planning to someone else, and we then tell that person what we want and answer any questions they may have."
"Do you have any plans already?" Seven asked, clearly seeing how Torres was thinking about her own suggestion.
"Don't you want to be surprised?" Torres asked with a grin.
"I would much rather have both the marriages be such that we both like them and not having to worry about any 'surprises'," Seven admitted.
"I guess you have a point," Torres agreed. "Well, I was really just covering the basis. I figure that if Intendants get married, it should be the Chancellor that does the marrying, so I wanted to ask Worf if he would agree to that. Despite the fact that it will be a precedent which pretty much means that from then on the Chancellor will have to marry any Intendant that marries another Intendant, I still think that he will like the job. After all, it's not going to happen that often; most Chancellors will never see it in their time as Chancellor. Even Worf will see it twice at most, if Deanna and Jadzia ever want to make public just what their relationship truly is."
"But it also means that it will firmly establish the fact that the Chancellor has the final say on whether Intendants can marry," Seven said in understanding. "Because from then on the Coalition will not recognize a marriage between Intendants as a real one unless it has been performed by the Chancellor. Not counting Ro and Jetur at the moment of course since they did not get married as such but more became one person to Bajoran law. Plus they were not yet Intendants at the point of marriage."
"Right," Torres agreed. "And with Worf doing the actual wedding, we would bring in the other Intendants as well. We could have Dukat and Shinze stand up for me,"
"It would probably be better if Shinze stand up for me," Seven interrupted before explaining, "By having the Romulan Intendant stand up for me we will make it clear that there are no hard feelings between him and the Phoenix Alliance Intendant over Shinze's supposed insistence that there will always be at least one Vulcan Sub-Intendant."
"Right," Torres agreed. "Dukat for me, Shinze for you. How about Jadzia for you as well, and Deanna for me?"
"I would not mind, but you are skipping the Bajorans," Seven pointed out.
"No I'm not," Torres disagreed. "I just want to bring them in in a different way. I really liked our visit to Bajor, besides the fact that I got killed there of course. So, we have the wedding on Bajor and our honeymoon as well, with Ro and Jetur being our official hosts. And before you point it out, we will have Toby checked to make sure that he isn't carrying the parasite like the one that caused the devastation in their wildlife the last time, and then Ro's and Jetur's wedding gift to us will be that from then on Toby will be the one exception to the rule, and that we will be allowed to take Toby with us onto Bajor. Of course, having him also checked thoroughly before any next visit. And last, depending on just how much Mara wants it to be official that she is our daughter now, if she wants to go all the way, we can have her be the one that gives both of us away, as our daughter."
"And what about the ceremony itself?"
"I have no idea," Torres admitted. "As I said, I was just covering the basis. We have to contact those people to see if they want to be part of the ceremony, and then make sure that the ceremony is at such a date that they can actually get there. Once we have that info, we can build the rest of the ceremony around it. How about you, any ideas?"
"Not yet," Seven said thoughtfully. "The only thing I know is that simply for logistics, so that guests do not have to travel long distances twice, our two weddings should be held close to each other, preferably only one of two days apart..."
She let her words trail off while thinking and then corrected herself. "Definitely two days apart. That way people can party all night after our first wedding and not feel like dying while we have our second wedding. I will think about it further and suggest some basic ideas by tomorrow night."
"Alright," Torres agreed. Then, feeling that this subject was over for now, she said, "You know, I'm actually surprised how well things are working out with Mara. I had not expected that we would get along so well, but I tell you..."
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
"So what do you think?" Kastra asked. They had just said goodbye for the evening and were now walking slowly to where Donatra would stay for the night. "You did relax quite some in the evening."
"They are alright," Donatra said slowly. "As for the relaxing, it's, well... I have to admit that during the evening I could 'forget' a little bit of the fact that there were two Intendants present. Mostly because I saw the interaction between them and it reminded me a lot about Torres and Seven. It reminded me that they are people just like me, just that they have a very powerful job. I figured that since your sister didn't have me thrown into jail right away for being in a relationship with you, she also wasn't going to do it the rest of the day unless I did something that was inexcusable."
"Yeah, but I did feel that worry subside already before dinner though," Kastra said. "But you also relaxed more with the rest of the family, and that's mainly what I was asking about. Here, this is my bedroom; you are staying here tonight."
Donatra entered the room after Kastra and looked around for a moment before answering. "Yeah, as I said, they are alright. I think that I started to relax some because by the evening the difference was clear. You react to a lot of my thoughts because we are in a relationship, while they don't react even though I'm sure that they must have caught quite some of the things I was thinking. This looks... different than your quarters on the ship."
"This looks like a girl is living here," Kastra said a lot more bluntly, but fully agreeing with Donatra's thoughts. "This has been my room ever since I was born. Of course over time it got changed; new furniture, new wall coverings, new bed. As I got bigger my tastes changed and so did the room. But then I reached that age where it's just the room and a bed is a bed and a desk is a desk. So it was no longer changed even though it didn't really fit my last tastes."
"And it's hard to get rid of things then too," Donatra said in understanding. "As a kid you couldn't care less about your desk and just want a new one that doesn't look so 'dorky', but now it would be hard to get rid of it because it has those memories. You remember how you sat at that desk studying for whatever, or reading your first whatever."
"Right," Kastra could only agree. "And yes, I did have some... interesting... furniture in here over time, and some of it really was... well, let's just say that dorky is the perfect way to describe it."
Kastra sat down on the bed while Donatra pulled out the chair at the desk and sat down on that.
"The bed is at least an adult size," Donatra noted. She reached over to poke the queen-size bed with a finger to judge its firmness.
"Yeah," Kastra agreed, bouncing up and down a bit to show off the fact that they bed had a very nice mix of softness with enough spring to support in all the right places while sleeping. "It was placed here when I was sixteen. By then I had my growing spurts behind me, but they knew I wasn't fully grown yet. But since I was close to that age they decided to not bother with teenage beds anymore."
Then she decided to come back to what they had been discussing before. "And about your thoughts, mother describes them as colorful. But since my family isn't in a relationship with you they don't comment on things like them 'hearing' you think that Jadzia has a really cute butt."
Donatra groaned at that.
"Deanna agrees by the way," Kastra added with a smile.
Another groan.
"But I'm really flattered that you think that my butt looks a lot better."
A third groan. "Just shoot me now, please."
"That moment where Deanna suddenly smiled for apparently no reason?" Kastra continued relentlessly, "That was when she agreed with you even though you couldn't hear her. She agreed; yes Jadzia has a great body and yeah, Deanna feels lucky to get to see that naked body on a regular basis."
Placing that reaction from Deanna suddenly made other moments click into place as well for Donatra. "Thank you very much for helping me out of my illusion about your family not reacting to my thoughts."
"But they didn't," Kastra disagreed, before adding, "Out loud, that much. Don't worry about it. We did the very same thing with the thoughts of Jadzia. Do you want to know what she thinks about you?"
"No! Um, well... no, just no."
"Well, in that case, let me just say neutrally that she likes you and she thinks I'm lucky."
Another scene snapped into place for Donatra; this time Deanna slapping Jadzia for no apparent reason and Jadzia merely giving a sheepish smile in return.
"Really, it's alright," Kastra assured. "We Trois have always liked the company of non-Betazoids and we long ago realized that if you like the company of non-Betazoids you have to give leniency for their thoughts not being held in check."
"If this is so, then why did it take me so long to get the 'lips not mind' thing across?" Donatra asked. "In fact, I have to remind you even now from time to time."
"Well, Donatra, my love, you have to keep in mind that I'm only twenty-one. That really doesn't fit with the 'we learned long ago'. It's more that the family learned long ago. But I only started to truly interact with non-Betazoids from the moment I left this planet; only days before I met you for the firs time, and you were the very first person that I felt interested in. Before that time, sure I saw some people that visited, but I really didn't spend any length of time with them. So while my family might have learned long ago how to interact with non-telepathic people, I really learned along with you how we two should interact."
Kastra cringed slightly before admitting, "I think that even for a Betazoid, or maybe especially for a Betazoid, I'm taking a lot more liberties than I should. I don't see Deanna reacting as often to things Jadzia must surely be thinking."
"Well, I don't think you should spend too much time on worrying about that. I like the interaction we have, and I don't want it to change," Donatra assured. "Being around your family might freak me out because they can read my thoughts, but you reading my thoughts, I, I thinks it's really, well..."
"You think it's sexy?"
"Now that I'm used to it; yeah. I know, weird."
"It may be, or it may not be," Kastra agreed. "I don't know. But I do know that it's very convenient because I really like to read your thoughts, so I'm all for you finding that sexy."
"Good thing then," Donatra agreed. "Well, and talking about finding, what did your family think of me?"
"They really like you as well. Mother thinks you are oversexed though."
Donatra laughed. "Did you tell her that I'm probably the first person to agree with that? As you know from my thoughts, when I first got sexually active I even went to see a doctor to see if wanting sex that often was normal."
Kastra gave her a shy smile. "Yeah, I didn't go into details because it's none of her business, but yeah, I did tell her that you do know that ... shall we say, that you think about sex a bit more than the average Romulan. It made a lot of difference for her. She knows that how you deal with a problem is only secondary to first of all knowing that you do have a problem. But let me tell you, I for one really like the fact that you managed to find a way to live with it instead of taking those suppressant drugs that doctor suggested. I really like your thoughts. But talking about my mother... I think I should let you know that she told me that as Matriarch of this family she could not agree to you and told me to break up our relationship."
"I see," Donatra said quietly.
"I would never even think about it," Kastra assured, answering the question in her partner's mind. "I told her as much. Don't worry about it. It is her job as the Matriarch to not agree. She also told Deanna that she thought that Jadzia was not good enough for her. See a line here? An Intendant nevertheless not being good enough according to my mother? But the most important part is that mother told me that as my mother, not as the Matriarch, but as my mother, she thought I had a keeper in you."
"Ah, so tomorrow morning I don't have to worry about your mother suddenly throwing me out of the house?"
"I can assure you; being thrown out of the house is the last thing you will have to worry about tomorrow," Kastra said confidently.
"That sounds as if there is something else I have to worry about," Donatra pointed out.
"Sure," The young Betazoid happily agreed. "About spending another day with a family of Betazoids. Though you won't be seeing my two brothers tomorrow. They will leave tonight so that they can visit the family of their wives tomorrow."
Hearing 'tonight' made Donatra look around the room once more. "So, not that I mind, but why put me in your room and you somewhere else? Wouldn't it have made more sense if I had been put somewhere else so that you could sleep in your old room? Where are you staying anyway?"
"It all makes perfect sense," Kastra disagreed, "Considering that I'm going to be sleeping here as well."
"What?!" Donatra's eyes drifted to the king size bed that certainly was big enough to hold them both, but nevertheless was the only bed in the room, and then back up to the Betazoid sitting on that bed. "You mean that we are going to both sleep here? As in sharing the bed?"
"Yes," Kastra affirmed. "It's only logical if you think about it. On Family Weekend you bring the person home with who you are in a serious relationship. Normally people that hit that stage are already sleeping together, so it's normally assumed that the two people will be sleeping in the same bed here as well."
"And what are you going to wear to bed?" Donatra said a little worried. She had the feeling that, if her partner was going to tease her again with sexy night clothes and then sleep in the same bed, Donatra could not keep her hands to herself.
"Come here and give me a kiss and I'll tell you," Kastra said with a sweet smile.
Despite her worries, Donatra was more than happy to oblige. She moved over to sit beside the Betazoid on the bed before leaning in and sharing a long and sensual kiss.
"I'm going to wear that same nighty that I prefer to wear every night of course."
Donatra groaned again as an image of Kastra in said nighty came to mind. The black fabric left most of the Betazoid's arms, legs and midriff bare, and because it was semi-transparent it still gave a good hint of the rest that it did cover. The only places where the fabric was not transparent was in the three strategically places that hid de Betazoid's center and nipples. From behind you could even see that very shapely behind through the fabric. But to Donatra the worst were the three places where the fabric was thick enough to hide. In her mind this was even worse though because this strategically hiding only made the garment all the more sexy than a blunt revealing accentuation of those places ever could.
"There is only one difference though," Kastra said as she leaned in for another kiss.
"And that is?" Donatra asked as Kastra slowly moved from kissing her lips to placing kisses in the Romulan's neck.
"Tonight," Kastra said after another kiss on the sensitive neck. "Tonight you are first going to help me take off my clothes before I put that nighty on and we go to sleep."
"Ka... Kastra, are you saying what I think you are saying?" Donatra asked with difficulty as the Betazoid moved and placed kisses on the Romulan's throat, causing Donatra to involuntarily move her head back to give her partner more room.
"Yes, I'm saying what you are hoping I'm saying," Kastra assured, saying 'hoping' because she was once again firmly listening to Donatra's thoughts as well. She brought her hands into play and opened the Romulan's clothes a little before placing a kiss on the newly revealed flesh.
In nothing but a soft whisper she explained, "I didn't tell you this because I didn't want you to have more on your mind than that you needed today, but it's something of a tradition for young Betazoids to be at home when they make love for the first time."
Her hands moved some more and now the valley between Donatra's breasts was revealed. She placed a kiss there as well before adding, "I have to admit that this is one of the reasons I had you wait until now. I wanted to be home, here in this room, when we made love for the first time."
Kastra placed a kiss on the soft swell of a very sensitive breast before asking, "Do you want to make love to me, imzadi?"
Though Kastra didn't know many words of the Betazoid language, she did know the meaning of this most treasured Betazoid word. Most non-Betazoid thought that it was merely the Betazoid version of the word 'beloved,' but Donatra knew better. She knew that it truly meant 'the first' and was an indicator to 'the first to touch one's soul'.
"Yes, I most definitely want to make love to you, imzadi," Donatra said, saying with words what her mind had long since told Kastra; that Donatra had touched the Romulan's soul like none before ever had.
"Then love me," Kastra said as she pulled away a little and looking Donatra in the eyes, clearly for now giving the control to the more experienced Romulan.
"I do," Donatra assured. "And now I'm going to make love 'to' you as well."
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~