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"Didn't eat while in town, Beringia?" Stern asked with amusement, watching the woman eat more of her dinner. "Ah." She wouldn't ask, or pity the woman who had no family there. She could relate. Her parents had passed away when she was young, and when you were Sedna---you were honestly too busy to miss many for long. A pale brow rose, immensely curious at this bit of news.

"Arranged...? Or initially of your own choosing?" Stern had, of course, heard of this non-marriageable reputation now, which made this even more interesting. The captain was amused. "...Truthfully, I'd see you devouring any potential suitor."

"Is that the only part of you that's soft?" The retort left her lips faster than her mind could process the implications, and she knew she shouldn't have said it. It...implied things.

She knew what else was probably soft on the woman.

Stern made a pointed effort to not glance at that window on the other woman's uniform. Instead, she glanced away, out of one of the cabin windows, and quickly latched onto the next bit of conversation. "It is." The same. She made a soft amused sound, and also couldn't help but agree with that sentiment. They did seem to have a lot in common. Stern kept her gaze on the window, and a brow quirked.

"...Admittedly, I'm surprised you'd let yourself be roped into an arranged marriage to begin with." She was silent for a moment, pondering, before she finally looked back at Shiva. "Is that something you want, eventually?" She couldn't help but ask earnestly and curiously. "To be married---" A pause. "To someone who you find suitable and worthy?"

Stern nodded her head in understanding, well, to an extent. She understood that that was the way for many. She gave the woman half a shrug at the statement. "Maybe it's nice to be Sedna, specifically. There are many senshi I've met in my travels who are, or were, in similar situations like you. Senshi who are revered, some who are hated, locked away, allowed to be free...some who can love whoever they wish, some who are settled into arranged marriages...some who are utterly alone." Stern trailed off for a moment, thinking of poor Doe on Lunaria.

"Sedna has always traveled freely, as such is the nature of my planet, and since the senshi can be born to anyone once the current one passes...there's no pressure to be wed and produce an heir." She smiled a bit. "You're not a typical knight though, hm? You're rather well traveled for a knight. That must be a nice luxury."

Lana. Stern's lips quirked up in amusement. She had the distinct feeling the knight didn't like her...except when she was able to ferry the knight on to another planet, like Nereid, for example.

Since Shiva wanted a bit of an explanation, Stern made herself comfortable. She poured herself some wine, and brought the goblet to her lips to drink before she began. Stern knew dozens upon dozens of senshi, whether through actually meeting them, or through the various trade agreements she looked over when she was on Sedna. Some she knew better than others, simply because she got along rather well with them. She told Shiva about Altais, who left his planet to be with another to raise their child. More in depth about Doe, the lone soul on Lunaria, and the decline of people living on the planet Lunaria, and some others as well.

She ended there, pouring herself some more wine to quench her thirst after speaking. "So you can fathom...there are many different kinds."

Stern's hand was now empty, as Shiva took the glass away from her. She stared up at the knight with a brow quirked. She took the goblet when it was handed back, and hummed thoughtfully. "You help yourself to my dinner, to my drink...should I just extend the invitation for you to take my bed next in preparation?" She mused, and then took a drink herself.

"It's a debate the council of Sedna and I have often." Any trained captain of Sedna could lead this expedition, or any other one she went on. She probably, honestly, would be better back on Sedna, overseeing the daily tasks and recording keeping there but..."But it's the same reason you're here, isn't it?" She asked. "Because some jobs are done better when you're the one in charge." Plus the traveling. Stern loved that part. Plus...well. If she stayed on Sedna, she more than likely wouldn't have met Shiva.

Stern actually started, her eyes going a bit wide briefly. That was so...blunt and direct and yes, she did. Though she had never been with a woman before, she couldn't deny that after all this time they've spent together that she was attracted to the knight.

She set the goblet of wine down, and stared at Shiva. "I'm surprised you're asking instead of taking. Has it occurred to you that this might be a bad idea?
Considering we'll still be seeing each other tomorrow and into the future?"

Stern's lips pressed into a firm line as she was pretty much calling her out on everything. She hated that she was right. Her lips somehow pressed into even more of a line when the other woman parked herself right on her lap and she hated but also loved the excitement that came with it.

After a moment she reached to take Shiva's chin between her thumb and forefinger. "It's not the captains you need to chide---it's the knights who can't stomach the rocking." She kissed her then, if only to stop a rebuttal, among other things.