Stalinka Wants To Know What Love Is

It is late on Castle Barin, and Konstantina Stalinka cannot sleep.

She has gotten used to the idea that Frank Bishop is not at the castle, which as far as she's concerned defeats the entire purpose of her being there. She has even gotten used to the numerous... lesser witches she frequently encounters. While her respect towards this Spellcaster squadron has grown, as they are clearly the heralds of The Pilot, she does not quite understand the rest of NATO's supposed best. But she now can tolerate them, and this personal growth is something she is very proud of.

Normally witches would have quickly stood aside as she prowled the corridors of her old barracks. Here, they are ignorant... or for some reason they are friendly. The younger ones have even approached her in awe!

She will never admit this to anyone, but she does find some enjoyment in that last bit.

But this late at night, Barin is quiet, and seemingly abandoned. Nobody walks the halls but Konstantina. In some of the rooms she walks past, she can hear excited conversation and laughter. She wonders what it is they are so enthusiastic about, but not enough to try and join in. She has already been warned enough about 'incidents' she could provoke, and does not want to be sent home.

She is hungry, and she wishes Frank Bishop walked the halls with her.

"The kitchen then!" Konstantina declares, marching swiftly and with purpose. The French woman, Mrs. Mackintosh, has cooked excellent meals this week, and there have always been leftovers.

The dining area thankfully seems just as empty as the corridors leading to it have been. Konstantina refuses to risk being discovered. She peeks carefully through the circular window, ducks out of sight, and presses her back against the door. One hand turns the handle slowly as she pushes against the door, freezing every time the hinges begin to creak.

Eventually, there is enough space for her to squeeze herself into the dining room, which she does by promptly falling over her own two feet towards the ground. She manages to stop the fall with one hand, grips tightly to the carpet, and throws herself the rest of the way into the room, rolling once and coming to her feet. She whirls around once, looking for potential witnesses to her display, and finds none.

She sighs with relief, still alone.

She has heard the Shark Sisters complain about gaining weight from all the meals here. It's a ridiculous notion for combat witches like herself... but she can't shake the thought from her mind that she should perhaps not be here, not out of fear of being caught, nobody would ever know she was here.

She just remembers hearing the Sharks complaining to Bishop's Little One, the Merlin, about cheesecake "makin' a girl fat", and she is forced to block a horrific thought from her mind even as she tiptoes her way to the refrigerator.

'I will simply work it off by teaching these NATO witches real combat tactics, as I always have!' she thinks confidently. Her mouth waters as she opens the fridge, spying her objective immediately.

"You are mine, cheesecake."

-

The door to the dining area is cracked open slightly when Katya Litvyak reaches it, a gentle light pouring from under the door.

'Some one else has the same idea.'

Katya is, quote Comrade Slider, "stressed the fuck out." All of Spellcaster is, so she does not complain to anyone often, but she is feeling the pressure. Matron and after matron approaches her on a regular basis during the day, trying to get more information out of her about a certain pilot and is frankly unbelievable combat skills. Younger witches, particularly those familiar with her lineage and unique situation among the NATO forces, also pester her... though she wouldn't tell them they were pestering her.

She is starting to hate conversations about rescue romances quite a bit now.

The source of those conversations, Frank Bishop, is not at Castle Barin, and to Katya's chagrin he is with Comrade Ice... in London. Where she wanted to be. With him.

Damn it. So it was her idea to begin with, but it was... frustrating.

Mrs. Mackintosh's meals at night have been the source of comfort to Katya. She is reminded of grandmother and mother every time she sits at the table. The food is different, but the warmth she feels among her new family is familiar, and welcome.

Katya wanders closer to the door, spinning around as she does to make sure nobody sees her. She peeks in through the windows, and notices a plate on one of the tables, a half eaten slice of cake on it. She sighs with relief. Merlin has probably decided on a late snack after dealing with Kenji's cooking.

They are an adorable couple, and Katya feels a bit guilty over the jealously she feels.

"I wonder where that girl has run off to..." she murmurs to herself, slipping into the room, unaware that she is being watched.

-

Stalinka heard the footsteps as she was half way through Mrs. Mackintosh's glorious slice of... something really good. It was too late to hide the evidence of her not-crime, and even later still to hide herself very well. And so she now hid next to the door as it swung open, waiting to see who it was that also dared to raid the dining hall at this hour.

Seeing Katya Litvyak enter the room fills Konstantina with a certain amount of envy. For one, she has had almost constant contact with the Bishop since her defection. For another, she has heard other witches describe Litvyak's appearance in very favorable terms.

And then there is this whole "rescue romance" thing, which sounds like the stupidest thing in the world to Konstantina. The idea of being rescued by the one you love just seems... wrong. It would imply that she ever needed rescuing in the first place.

She watches Katya from the shadows as the woman gracefully makes her way over to the half eaten cake, taking another look around.

"She will be back soon for this... no one would leave it unfinished."

Katya works were way over to the fridge, and Konstantina sighs with relief. Her food was not in danger.

Katya is humming to herself, a familiar tune. Many of the witches of the barracks back home sing it during their morning exercises, particularly some the tank witches.

Her jealousy intensifies; Konstantina can't sing.

Working to stay out of sight, she approaches Litvyak, ducking behind a seat as the witch spins away from the fridge, carrying two small plates, one with more cheesecake, the other with some of the Oreo cookies she has recently been introduced to. Katya sets the plates down next to Konstantina's, then sprints off to pour herself a glass of milk.

With the traitor's back turned, Konstantina crawls quickly and quietly under the table... only to realize as Katya returns that she is definitely trapped until she decides to leave.

She frowns, lamenting the unreachable cheesecake on the table above her.

Certain that Merlin would return from wherever she'd run off to, Katya settles into her seat, sighing happily as she takes the first bite out of her own slice of cheesecake. This was the best idea she'd come up with in weeks. Her feet feel warm, almost unnaturally so, the seat is soft and inviting, and now she's dipping an Oreo into milk, just like Merlin taught her.

Life is good, the day being forgotten with every bite of cake and consumed cookie.

-

Konstantina's stomach growls, loudly enough that she nearly sits up straight out of panic. She cannot be discovered here!

'B-but my cake...' she thinks sadly.

After she is certain that Katya is lost in the pleasures of food, she tries to slowly creep away from Katya, freezing when Litvyak unexpectedly kicks her legs out to reach the seats on the other side of the table. One leg is approximately an inch away from Konstantina's nose, and she feel an itch on her nose that she dares not to scratch.

And it is getting worse. She squints, and starts to pull herself back from the leg...only to freeze with horror as she realizes that Katya's other leg is right behind her head, and she now needs desperately to sneeze from all the dust kicked up under the table.

'I will not lose to this!'

Two seconds after thinking this, she loses, but manages to keep it to a small squeak. When she loses again several seconds after that, it is not so gentle or quiet.

-

One minute, Katya is reclining back, dreaming of a future filled with relaxation, peace, and more good food, preferably alongside of friends and Frank. Especially Frank.

Then she hears a squeak under the table, and part of her left calf feels much warmer than the rest of her leg.

"What on earth-"

A loud sneeze emanates from under the table, the calf feels warmer and moister. Katya screams with fright, pushing away from the table, her seat falling backwards towards the floor.

Konstantina crawls out from under the table.

"It seems I have been discovered."

They finish their snacks in awkward silence, blushing furiously for very different reasons. Konstantina refuses to accept that she failed in keeping her activities unnoticed. Katya is embarrassed that she screamed like a child, hoping that nobody else had heard her.

"So," Konstantina says after finishing her cake, gently dabbing away any remaining crumbs from her lips with a napkin.

"So..." Katya replies.

"We were never here together," Konstantina continues. "You were here, alone. I was in my quarters the entire time, studying tomorrow's lecture with Matron O'Hare, regarding the advanced aerial maneuvers of Bishop's Wyvern."

"Of course..." Katya grins slightly.

"I am serious, Litvyak!"

"I know you are."

"Then do you mock me?" Stalinka grows louder.

"Of course not, you just-" Katya pauses, making sure she thinks well about what to say next. "It is of no consequence that you were caught eating a midnight snack."

"I did not wish to be caught!" Konstantina wails. "I have been trying to be good, as I have been ordered-"

"How about I just... take your plate to the sink?" Katya offers, motioning for the other witch to lower her voice.

"That would be acceptable..."

-

Konstantina watches Katya as she takes the plates away, studying her every motion intently. Somehow, she manages to make washing dishes look graceful, and for the very first time in her life, Konstantina worries about the fact that she possibly is not as skilled as someone else at something. This must be why the Sharks described Katya as 'wife material'.

Her chest hurts the more she thinks about this, and the ache only gets worse the more she thinks about how Katya Litvyak has spent almost the entire war at the side of Frank Bishop.

"I assure you that you have behaved quite well," Katya says as she returns from the sink. She looks worried suddenly when she notices Konstantina's pained expression. "Are you well?"

"Could you... tell me what the Bishop is like?"

Katya seems to sink slightly in her chair as she considers the question.

"What do you wish to know?"

"Everything!" Konstantina exclaims. "Obviously I have fought him, and you have-" a growl enters the super-witch's voice "-flown with him more than I ever have. I am curious!"

Katya sighs, slapping her forehead as she looks to the roof of the dining room.

"He obviously does not know the effect he has on women."

"An act!" Konstantina declares, as though it were obvious. "He notices my attentions."

"You have been shooting at him."

"He has been avoiding them, as I have always known that he would." The depression that Konstantina had been experiencing seemed to be forgotten, and that relieved Katya.

"He's a good pilot... and a good man. Clueless as he might be to the affections of those around him, I feel blessed that he was the one who rescued me-"

"So you love him as well," Konstantina observed. She is about to continue speaking when she suddenly sits up straight in her chair, eyes wide.

"Konstan-"

"Someone is coming!" In a panic, Konstantina reaches over the table, grabs Katya by an arm, pulls her over the table, and dives under it with her.

"This is unnece-"

"Shhhhhhhhh!!!"

With Katya muffled by a hand placed firmly over her mouth, Konstantina watches the door, wondering who the next interloper could be. After a moment, she moved her hand, and Katya gasps for air.

"Konstantina, you are overreacting!" she whispers harshly.

"I-" realization strikes her. "I am sorry, I just- Quiet!" She places her hand back on an exasperated looking Katya's mouth, but she thankfully does not struggle.

The door opens, and in walks Georgette Mackintosh. Konstantina's hand falls away from Katya's mouth, and both witches can only stare as the elder woman almost prances over to the refrigerator to cut herself a slice of cake, and start eating it on the spot.

The 'spectacle' continues for several minutes, and both girls are so taken by the sight of the stately Georgette in her nightgown, openly snacking away, that they don't notice the next visitor enter the room.

They do realize someone else is in the room when he approaches Georgette from behind. Konstantina almost shouts an alarm, and it is Katya's turn to stuff a hand over her mouth to try and silence her.

The hand falls away when the man suddenly hugs Georgette from behind. She does not act surprised, relaxing into the hug and looking up and her husband with a smile.

"You were sleeping when I left."

"Bed got cold without you." Nicholas returns her smile, and he kisses her on the cheek. She turns around to face him, wrapping her own arms around him.

"Sorry..."

"You shouldn't be snackin' so late, young lady."

"I can't help myself, you know that." The older couple giggle to themselves, leaning against the kitchen counter.

If their hearing wasn't diminished with age, they might have heard the pop of Konstantina's familiar manifesting by itself. She blushed so hard that she would have been glowing even without the magic.

The Mackintosh's didn't seem to notice, lost in their own private moment.

"How about we scoot back to bed?" Nicholas says quietly. "You've got an early start, don't you? Cookin' meals for everyone these days, it seems..."

"Non," Georgette says, almost childishly. She pushes her husband towards the center of the dining room, closer towards the table hiding Katya and Konstantina. "We have not danced in so long, Nicholas."

"A whole week, I think."

"So very long," Georgette insists with a smile. They both laugh at this private joke.

As the couple draw closer, Katya and Konstantina pull each other further under the table, hoping they are not seen. Katya is almost on top of Konstantina, hoping to hide the glow of her magic.

Their dance is a slow, uncomplicated, yet graceful circle around the room. They hold tightly onto each other, Georgette's eyes glistening in the low light of the dining room as she looks into Nick's, and he into hers.

He hums something that Konstantina has never heard before, a hunting, progressing melody. She will learn, twelve hours later, that the song is called Unchained Melody. She will pull Katya aside and demand to know everything about this song. Who composed it, who sang it, when it was sung. She will demand to know how she can get a CD of it to listen to. She will also awkwardly ask Katya if she knows how to dance like the Mackintosh's did... for reasons.

Tears pour from her eyes as she begins to weep in silence, clenching her teeth, and hoping she is not heard, hoping to not disturb the moment she is witnessing. Angrily, she believes she is being weak, not noticing that Katya is crying as well.

She has never seen anything like this. Her whole life has been spent preparing for a war her countrymen have started to lose. Things like this have been explained to her as being unnecessary, unwanted distractions.

Konstantina manages to stay silent until Georgette and Nicholas both leave for their room.

"S-so that's wh-what it looks like," she sobs.

"That is what it looks like," Katya says quietly.