Logs:Fight A Different War

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Content Warning

Implied off-screen sex. Partial states of non-sexual undress.

Cast

Teagan and Johnnie

Setting

Johnnie's Room, the Direct Action House

Log

It took more than a little while for Johnnie to figure out a way to quell the relentless concern that made taking herself- her Hunted self- back to where most of the people she loved hung their hats. There was a lot of communication so nobody had to wonder if she was dead in a ditch someplace, but she was bound to return- the only place that things really settled for her was the basement of the home they shared, her own little room, and it had never before felt like such a risk to indulge in something so simple as Coming Home.

But at last, she had, which left her sitting in the dark, sneaking furtive glances off in one specific direction every so often, as if just to reassure herself that nothing yet had changed.

A soft tap-tap, gentle on the door. "Johnnie?" Teagan calls through the door, and then a moment later, that familiar voice continues:

"The first time we fucked was in the upstairs of Cat-22, after we took out a bunch of Hunters basically just the two of us."

Well, Teagan, that's one way to prove it's really you on the other side of that door.

A moment of quiet, then a soft laugh. "You can come in. And by all means, regale me with tales of our escapades, but nobody -has- to do that. I've got a bead on the Viscount and I'm not letting that go until this is finished." The door opened on its own, one of Johnnie's shadows tugging it open for Teagan and gesturing them in, for all they might as well have been invisible in the dim room with the beepy music from one of Glitch's selections playing quietly.

"Sometimes," Teagan says quietly as slip through the door with a small smile aside at that shadow, the same sort they give the original, "you forget things when you're not doing so well, my love." They obviously just came from Elsewhere -- either tromping around the city or in the Hedge -- and so when the door closes, they shuck off their coat and hang up both it and Baby before tugging off their boots, letting each one drop to the floor with a thump.

"But I do always delight in remembering that the spite of the location gave that an extra spice. I'd just dumped whatever his name was. And we were, as always, delightful all on our own. It was nice having much better sex with you right upstairs from where he was being his usual awful self."

"Oh, right. What was his name? Wasn't it just letters or something?" Johnnie drawls idly. "Not to decry anyone's name. It's not that his name was stupid because of what he picked. His name was stupid cuz it was his," she clarifies with a wave of her hand. "His name could have been Avogadro Avocado The Eighth and it'd still be dumb -just- cuz it was his."

"And- yeah. You're not wrong, just. Nn." She shoved a hand through thick, dark hair, and gestured impatiently, already tired of not having Teagan at hand within seconds of their entering her awareness. "Feels bad. I got off scott free, compared to what some other folx suffered. Which feels backwards. And to have to come back here to feel any better makes it worse. I feel like I'm endangering every one of you just by being here. I'm not- not immediately, anyway- but it feels like being here is irresponsible."

They stand there in the middle of the room for a minute, ticking their head to one side. "I'd be embarrassed," they finally admit, "that I couldn't remember the name of someone I dated during one of the most annoying Summers of my life, if it weren't for the fact that immediately after I dumped his whiny ass, I met the rest of my life in quick succession." The jeans are next, and that leaves them in a tank top and boxers, so they can close the distance between themself and the bed, insinuating themself along her. "Well, I already had met June, and Glitch, but you know what I mean. I broke up with him, and ... Direct Action."

"CJ? CT? No, that's a medical thing. Um. Oh! CB. I don't remember the rest of his name and I don't care. Right. Back to not thinking about him again for another four years." Teagan curls up to Johnnie, placing a kiss at the corner of her mouth. "I validate your feelings, Johnnie, but seriously, fuck that dude. What good is a motley if we allow you to be alone and exposed when something is fucking hunting you?"

"And lots of it," Johnnie murmurs, tucking Teagan against her side- or her against theirs, she wasn't picky. Sometimes Teagans felt like being big and strong, and sometimes it was nice to not be, and Johnnie didn't feel like dictating that for them.

The kiss was nice. She came back for seconds.

"I completely agree. Just- dealing with something I can't just stab to make it be Not A Problem. I mean, I could. I might even win. But that's never fixed a Huntsman. I need someone to go to my third least favorite place in existence, and find a needle in a haystack, and then figure out the right way to approach offering a deal to some sort of awful eldritch hunting dog that doesn't understand how to die. And none of that requires giving it any chances to find out where my family lays their heads. Does that make sense?"

Today seems to be one of those 'on the same level' sort of days for Teagan. Neither big nor small, just sort of with Johnnie right now. She's been gone, and they just want to be here, right now.

Who has seconds without thirds? That kiss lingers, though without any particular heat: just an awful lot of tenderness and longing. They drape an arm across her belly and listen.

"No, they do tend to come back quickly," Teagan agrees thoughtfully. They pause for a minute. "Wait, I know your least favorite place, but what are the second and third?" Their hand gently pets her belly, a soothing motion. "And what makes you think it can't find out where we live by just... finding out where we live? We haven't exactly created the Fortress of Solitude here. It could just follow one of us one day. I don't think it can hurt us during Spring, but that doesn't mean it couldn't like... follow June or Sigrun home from work."

"In order, There, New York, and Dreams. And you're not wrong. It's- smart. It tagged me with a high-cal round in Independence Mall a few nights ago- if I couldn't dodge bullets, that'd have been me done for, right then and there. I downgraded from a Bon Jovi song to a Foreigner song." Pause. "... shot through the heart to flesh wound. And yeah, I googled those titles so I could make that joke, so sue me," she teases. "... that's downplaying it a bit though. I say flesh wound, but I couldn't have taken a second shot. I protected myself against any further gunshots- I thought- and he started using phosphorous rounds. Fire. Immunity to bullets doesn't help against that, and you can shoot leaves with fire. It was all I could do to get out of sight and make a break for it as leaves."

For a moment, they look very confused, but then manage to circle back with "Ahha. And yeah, everyone seems to hate New York." Teagan continues petting, continues listening. This is the way that a Teagan does when a Johnnie is having a bad... Spring.

"Mmm. Fine, I'll sue the pants off you," they droll lazily, but then as the description continues, Teagan stiffens. "Why... didn't you dive?"

"Because he wants to Hunt. And he can't do that if I go places he can't. So if I Dive, he starts killing mortals. He's made that clear. And while, yes, he could simply do so anyway- he hasn't. So as unfair as it is to set my instant "nope" button aside, it's keeping mortals out of the line of fire," Johnnie mutters. "And if that wasn't enough to keep me close at hand, if I hide, and stay hidden past Spring, he comes after everyone here. So if all I have to do to keep him from gunning down innocents and my loved ones is beat him at his own game on the playing boards we share? Fine. That's a fair trade."

The face that Teagan makes is ... quite spectacular, actually, and rather a face that a person could only make if their face were as stretchy as a Mirrorskin's.

They lay still for a moment, frowning. "So I have a couple of ideas," they say after a moment. "Do you want to hear them?"

"Definitely interested. Obviously. "find its heart and make a deal" is on the table someplace, but I'm more than interested to hear your ideas," Johnnie admits.

The Mirrorskin snuggles in closer. "So, first of all, if you don't know Riddle Kith, I suggest it, highly. Think about being able to become a Dryad and hide behind any tree, even so much as a sapling, for example. But what I was thinking of is... "

"You know how some animals hide when they're threatened, and some put on the most amazing threat displays?" Teagan says thoughtfully. "Big showy colorful things. I think we could use a similar tactic here. I know it's not -- something -- that you're best at, right? But I think with the right tactics, we could make it happen. Margret Wander, the Sun's Tongue? She's like... a social media guru. So like... think about like... doing the opposite of your instincts. Fight a different war than the way he expects you to fight."

"Don't hide. Be so fucking visible that it might put him off of coming after you until we figure out a plan. We can turn your temporary identity into a social media sensation. People will want to see you. And while he may have no real, like, qualms about killing humans? I am willing to bet you that he won't want to be seen that much, let alone possibly photographed or caught on video."

"We don't have to fight the way he tells us to fight. We can fight a different war."

Johnnie listens, and thinks, and- thanks to superhuman abilities related to maintaining her composure, does not visibly blanch at the idea of being a public personality.

"Okay, so- firstly- I trust your understanding of how this sort of tactic would work better than my own because social matters are not my arena.

Second, for that same reason, turning myself into a media darling doesn't sound like something I would be capable of. I'm not good at getting people to like me. I'm good at making people terrified of me, and that, only because it's my Court. So while I'm not writing off that option, I'm very lost on how we would make it work.

Third, I would have to manage to seem something close to human despite being notably not in... at least three entirely different ways and I find it very flattering that you think I could manage that- or else I have a drastically overcomplicated idea of what I would have to do for this to work.

Fourth... I am non-ironically considering risking getting shot again over engaging in a lengthy, exposed social engagement. That's not a no. But I wanted to say that out loud." It's almost a pout, really.

Their broken-mirror eyes glitter even in the near-complete-dark of Johnnie's room, and Teagan pushes themself up on an elbow, leaning over their almost-pouting lover. A small, slow smile spreads across the Mirrorskin's face, and they lean down to kiss her intermittently through the sentence.

"Then let me do it for you."

"Whether with your face or another face we choose together. Let me handle that part of it." As if that was their plan all along, and they only had to get Johnnie to first agree that there's no possible way that this tactic would work if Johnnie herself would do it so that she can't just say 'but you can't do it, it's too dangerous'. First Johnnie had to admit it might work, and that she couldn't do it for Reasons. "It's almost like that's what I was made for."

The ambush predator smiles their slow, lazy smile, and kisses Johnnie again.

Johnnie's face goes as she realizes she's been played. Then, a goodnatured sigh of defeat, a kiss to Teagan's cheek, and a grumpy, "Tell me one more thing. How do we convince this thing that you're me? It seems likely it has something like what a lot of us have learned- the ability to pinpoint its prey. And I have to admit concern that the game will be up the moment it tries anything and realizes it can't harm you."

A little laugh curls in the back of their throat. "That part doesn't actually matter. It isn't about whether or not it can tell that it's me or that it's you -- though I wish a motherfucker would -- "

"It's about making that big, public display. If I'm wearing that face, and walking out in the world drawing attention, then people will photograph me, or I might be photographing myself, or intentionally being photographed, right?"

"So how could it possibly know for sure if someone isn't about to point a camera at me, or you with the same face?"(edited)

Johnnie tilts her head. The idea is starting to form up. "Okay. Okay, so I get that- my only wonder then is... do we -know- these things don't want attention? It did open fire on me in the middle of the city with a high caliber rifle. If they -need- to avoid notice... then this sounds promising."

"I don't know," Teagan answers, truthfully. "But whether or not they need to hide -- and I don't think they want to be seen by every damn thing -- if there's enough attention attracted, then it'll make it harder for it to hunt. If it gets caught on camera once, people will start to recognize it. If it causes too much of a fuss, the Mages and Vampires and Werewolves and all that lot will get involved. They don't like being seen."

"It doesn't want to bother anyone but you. It doesn't care really about anyone but you. So the more roadblocks we throw between you and it, the more we can slow it down. Plus maybe if we're lucky, that'll help lead us to the person whose dreams the heart is in. Someone might recognize it, or have some sort of weird pull to it. I mean I don't know anything about how their hearts work in dreams, but it's as good a guess as anything."

"For that matter, we should talk to Lux. They're like... really good at dreams. Their whole job is dreams."

"Hm. That- that's not bad. He can get around special, but he exists. He can be seen. And the more he tries this stuff, the more attention he'll get, yeah. Okay. So the big question is- does Spring's bargain work if they THINK they're going after the truly desired quarry? What happens if they're wrong?"

Johnnie nods. "And Lux. Definitely. I've been putting it off while Petra's still in need, but you're not wrong."

"Bargains are bargains, my love. Even if I wear your face, I'm still not you. He won't be able to hurt me." Teagan says that with such conviction, it might make one wonder if they've done something like this before, if they've relied on the Bargain to protect them in risky maneuvers and strange moments.

"I'm not wrong," Teagan agrees mildly. "I'm rarely wrong, especially about strategy. And right now, my strategic analysis is that you need to fucking relax and stop thinking about this for five minutes. If you stay so tight-strung, eventually you'll exhaust yourself. You won't be able to think clearly."

"So my strategical assessment is that it's time that we stop talking."

And so they do.