Dinner (2/3)

Jonah felt like he was being watched. He often felt this way. In a city of millions of windows, each one felt like a portal to discerning eyes. Jonah harbored many things in the dark crevasses of his soul. These secrets and sins were easily hidden from him. Pushed deep down, every action he made was made for the good of his survival. But when the light of others shone on him, he felt the hidden things slip from his control. Jonah’s apartment was much the same.

The apartment of Jonah Richardson was dark, cold, and sparsely furnished. When its owner wasn’t home, it sat empty. Jonah hadn’t had the time or privilege to accumulate the trappings of a home. No memories and certainly no memorabilia. The closest thing was a magnet on his fridge featuring the streets of New Orleans—a memento of a short trip. Jonah hoped to further fill his home with such memories, but he had a hard time splitting his life into parts. No hero stuff allowed if he wanted to maintain his secret identity.

A home is a sanctum. A home is a manifestation of the mind. Jonah often had visitors from his harem, but that was strictly regimented. Each of them had elaborate social ties which, when tugged on the wrong way, could cause his whole world to unravel. He had to be careful. He only called upon his women when he needed release or companionship and sent them away again.

Jonah gripped the handle to his apartment and sighed. The metal was cold from the unheated hallway of his apartment building. Even a friendly conversation with Wally West couldn’t remove the tension from his shoulders. Another long day of work, another simple meal from the freezer.

The lights were the first thing Jonah noticed when he entered his apartment. A bright glow engulfed the space in a warm glow. Almost every light he had was turned on, and some lamps he didn’t own were placed in previously dark corners and illuminated.

The next thing he noticed was the smell. A thick, meaty smell emanated from the kitchen and filled his nostrils. His mouth watered at the taste in the air and the subconscious anticipation of good food.

Jonah turned to his door to make sure that he was in the right apartment. The number checked out.

“Hello?”

“Oh!” A voice called from the small alcove where his kitchen was located.

Jonah closed the door behind him and prepared to face the intruder. But that wouldn’t be necessary.

“Welcome home!” A small Caucasian woman with short red hair and a bright smile appeared in the entryway. She wore a flowing 1950s-style dress with a flowery apron overtop. “Now, what would you like first? Dinner? A bath? Or perhaps... me?”

Jonah studied the woman’s face briefly before deciphering the situation.

“M’gann? What’s all this?” Jonah asked the blushing Miss Martian.

“Sorry. I heard that line on a TV show, but it sounds weird coming out of my mouth.” M’gann said, ignoring Jonah’s question.

“M’gann, please. Can you tell me what you are doing here?”

“No, I’m Megan Morse when I’m in this form. It’s my human name.” Miss Martian spoke to Jonah with her mind. As if speaking the words out loud would be her breaking character.

“Ok, Megan.” Jonah started, slowly taking off his coat. “What are you doing in my home uninvited?”

“Let me take that for you, dear.” Megan reached out to take Jonah’s coat from him. She sounded out ‘dear’ awkwardly, testing the waters of what she could get away with. “Well, I was in the Cave with the Team and thought about how lonely it would be to live alone like you did. So, I came here to brighten up the place!”

Jonah couldn’t help but acquiesce to Miss Martian. Her bright smile eased any concerns he might have had about her presence. Maybe she was right.

“Alright then.” Jonah said with a smile. “Let’s start with dinner then. What have you been cooking?”

“Yay.” Megan quickly used her telekinesis to float Jonah’s coat into a nearby closet and sauntered around the corner to the kitchen. “I made your favorite. Beef stew, puff pastry, and mashed potatoes.”

“How did you know that was my favorite?” Jonah said, looking at the slow cooker and large pot in his small kitchen.

“I know you better than anybody, silly.” Miss Martian tapped his forehead.

“Right.” Jonah wasn’t sure he was comfortable with another person being in his mind so freely, but that was the cost he had to pay to have Miss Martian and her powers.

“Jonah” Megan whispered, tracing a finger down Jonah’s chest. “Does this form please you?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well…” Miss Martian stepped back from him. She nervously rubbed her hands together. “We’ve connected mentally but still haven’t connected… physically. Am I not attractive enough?”

“M’gann, it's not that.” Jonah stammered at the directness of the question. He studied her form. Her bright face and freckles. The way the dress fell on her figure and hugged her tight waist. “You are a very attractive woman. Very cute.”

“I can be more attractive if you like!” Megan started excitedly. “I can be sexier!”

Miss Martian twirled, and as she did, her clothes began to retract into her like they were made of smiles. When she stopped moving, her dress was gone, and all that was left to block her nude form was her apron.

“Look!” She turned around to show Jonah her pert, pale ass. “If you want, I can fill it out more.”

As she said, the words Jonah saw her breasts grow from her usual B cup to a larger size. Her new heavy breasts pushed against the seems of the apron, and Jonah caught a sizable about of side boobs threatening to spill out.

“That’s very impressive shape-shifting, Megan, but you don’t ne-”

“I know you bed the others more; I can replace them when they are too busy.” Megan continued desperately.”

Miss Martian slowly grew in size as she passed Jonah in height. Her pale skin grew orange, and her hair quickly sprouted long curls as she transformed into Starfire. Miss Martian grabbed Jonah’s arm and placed it onto Starfire’s sizable chest.

“Meg-” Jonah started before being cut off again.

“Now, about somebody you haven’t had sex with? I know you think about her a lot.”

Jonah watched in horror as Megan’s skin tanned before his eyes. Her hair grew short and dark. Her muscles grew and became more defined. She was slowly turning into Kendra Saunders.

“NO!” Jonah ripped his hand away and averted his gaze. “Stop it, Megan!” He yelled with an anger that was surprising even to him. Why was this the line he couldn’t cross?

Miss Martian slinked away from Jonah. She shrunk to her average height, put her clothes back on, and turned an embarrassed shade of green.

“I’m so-sorry Jonah. I just wanted t-”

“It’s ok, Megan.” Jonah replied, calming down from his outburst. “I’m sorry for yelling at you; you didn’t deserve it.”

“O-ok.”

“Come here.” Jonah opened his arms with a slight smile.

Miss Martain walked tentatively to Jonah’s open arms. Once close enough, he wrapped his arms around her. She fell into his embrace and was comforted by it.

“You don’t have to be anybody else for me. Remember, I know you.”

Jonah tapped her forehead, and Miss Martian giggled. She may be an all-powerful alien, but she was still just a scared girl.

“How about some dinner, ok?” Jonah broke the silence after a while. “Don’t want your cooking to go to waste.”

Megan smiled up at Jonah, the previous rejection gone from her mind. She quickly ushered him to his small dining table, which had been dressed in a white tablecloth. Jonah took off his stiff office shoes as he waited for Megan’s tinkering to be finished. He leaned back in the equally stiff wooden chair and let out a labored breath that he didn’t know he was holding in. He closed his eyes and just waited.

“Ok.” Jonah heard Megan say, following the distinct sound of a heavy plate being placed on a table.

Jonah opened his eyes. Before him was a plate loaded with food. A layer of mashed potatoes covered in a dark beef stew and a piece of square puff pastry sticking out of the side. Megan sat on the other side of him with a noticeably smaller portion of food and a look of pride emanating from her face. She was now fully back in her Caucasian housewife persona.

“It looks delicious. I can’t believe you managed to find this. It’s been since-”

“Since your mother died.” Megan reminded him.

“Yes.” Jonah stuck a tentative fork into the beef. It split and pulled with the tenderness of the mashed potatoes it lay on. “She wasn’t around much, but she loved the holidays. When she could scrounge together the proper ingredients, she was an enviable cook. As long as I stayed out of the kitchen of course.”

Megan didn’t respond. Instead, she waited for Jonah to try the food.

Wasting no more time on preamble, Jonah dove into the meal. Simply put, it was exquisite. The beef was perfectly cooked, soft but meaty. The mashed potatoes were heavy but fluffy with just the slightest touch of butter and garlic. The carrots were cooked to equal the steak but still noticeable in the blend. The puffy pastry crumbled and flaked as he bit into it. It didn’t take long for Jonah to forget his troubles in the dish.

A smile snuck its way onto Jonah’s lips. The hot meal filled his stomach and warmed his cold bones.

“Where’d you learn to cook like this?” Jonah asked once his eating slowed down.

“Well.” Megan began after swallowing a dainty bite. “On Mars, we don’t ‘eat’ in the same way that you do on Earth, so it was a difficult adjustment. However, I figured that it was an important human skill, so I dedicated myself to learning the basics.”

“I wouldn’t call this basic.”

“Trust me. I was a disaster at first. But I have a lot of free time in the Cave, and many of the boys on the team have heavy appetites, so I got a lot of practice. Besides, your Earth TV has many instructional shows on the art of cooking.”

“That we do.” Jonah responded with amusement, remembering the many daytime cooking shows he had to sit through as a lonely child.

“I tested this particular recipe many times while the others were away. It’s a mix of modern French recipes and your personal recollection.”

“And when did you have the time to mine said recollections?” Jonah asked.

“Oh, that’s not important.”

“You sure like your television, huh Megan.”

“Oh, it’s the best!” Megan replied excitedly, “Back on Mars, we were able to get some of your older broadcasts, and I just loved them. They were an escape from a difficult childhood.”

“I can understand that feeling.” Jonah added.

“Little did I know that when I finally got to earth, there was so much I was missing! There’s not enough time in the day to watch it all. I’m going to be honest.” Megan began to twist in her chair in embarrassment. “I know it's wrong, but sometimes I go into people's minds so that I can view their memories of old shows. Big moments like a watch party or a series finale.”

Jonah laughed.

“What’s so funny about that.” Megan’s pale face grew red in the cheeks.

“I don’t know.” Replied with a chuckle still in his throat. “I was just imagining it is all. I never really considered watching TV with others such a desirable experience.”

“I find it to be very enviable,” Megan said quietly. You don’t know what it's like not to be able to connect with others on a pop cultural level. It's alienating.”

“I’m perfectly aware of how that feels.”

“I’m sorry Jonah! I forgot about-”

“It’s ok, Megan. I forget sometimes, too. This earth looks so much like my old home.”

“If I can do it, then you can too!” Megan comforted with reverence.

“Thanks, M’gann. For all of this.” Jonah got up and grabbed his thoroughly cleaned plate.

“No, I’ll get all that. You’ve had a long day.” Megan started to get up and grab her plate.

“I’ve got it.” Jonah placed a strong hand on her shoulder and pushed her back to her chair. He leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. “Why don’t you get the TV ready. I have something new we can watch together…Darling.”

Jonah felt strange saying that last word. He had done it to please M’gann, and it worked. She got up from her chair and moved to the couch with a skip in her step. He casually washed his and her dishes while Megan flicked on Lexflix.

Megan poked her head from above the couch and shouted towards the kitchen, “What did you say the show was called?”

Jonah approached the couch and placed a gentle hand on Megan’s short red hair. “It’s called The New Order. It's about Nazis or something. Some guys at work are fans, so I thought I’d check it out.”

“Oh, here it is!” Megan pointed to the screen with the remote. “Episode One: Hearts of Iron.”

“That’s it.”

Megan pulled up the blanket that was covering her legs and patted the spot next to her. Jonah sat next to her and started the episode.

As the show progressed, Megan cuddled closer to Jonah. He wrapped his arm around her and took her warmth into his own. It was nice. However, a part of it didn’t feel real. Jonah felt like he was in a pantomime. Sure, he liked M’gann; she was beautiful, but something was missing. She had the potential to be a great friend. Somebody who he could trust implicitly and who could understand him.

Jonah stroked M’gann’s hair as she laid her head on his head. She would understand how he felt. He was just afraid to disappoint her. When had that feeling crept up on him?