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Christmas Hell is over. Shows have been struck, theaters have been restored, and the quiet winter season has begun.
Which isn't to say that Jack's hasn't had his hands full, between Stardust needing him every other night of the week, and the meetings and committees and other uniom business he's had to attend to. No, he's as busy as ever, spending more time in his dress clothes (his business dress clothes - no sheer shirts and crop tops in sight) than in his stage blacks. And tonight is no different - the home-away-from-home he and Teagan have built together smells like rain and blood, as it always does when he's there, and the jacket hanging on one of the hooks by the door is his nice wool coat, not his carhartt work jacket. He'd texted Teagan to let him know he might be late, but he's not, he's here, finally a free evenjng for them to spend together.
All the places he has built up for himself and his partners exist like little boltholes across the city. Maybe at some point he'll recognize this has shades of a maladaptive coping mechanism along with his very real desire to have places for their people. They arrive on time, shouldering the door open and bearing Chinese food, the smell of which mixes with the heated pavement, mud and blood of their Mantle and the rain and blood of his.
They can't get away from the battlefield, no matter how hard they try, so Teagan has kinda stopped trying. "Babe?"
"Oh, fuck -" it's Jack's voice from the living room, that sort of confused, excited tone he gets when he's been woken up by someone bringing home dinner. It's happened before, it will happen again, and a few moments later the man himself has poked his head into the hallway, a sleepy grin on his face. "Hey..." His hair is a little mussed, and his sharp floral button-down is, true to form, mostly unbuttoned, and a little wrinkles from whatever powernap he's just taken.
"C'mere -" And he pads forward, the twittering birdsong reaching Teagan's ears as he makes grabby hands for either him, or the Chinese food.
Probably both.
"Not yet, baby, but later, if you're good," answers the Mirrorskin, reflexively. He says that, or something similar to it, every single time that Jack wakes up and says that. They've set the bag of Chinese food aside on the table in the foyer and are in the process of removing all of their compulsory urban armor -- the boots, the heavy charcoal leather trenchcoat crafted to fit him by Sigrun -- when Jack appears in the doorway. "Hey, handsome," they reply, straightening up -- okay, standing up, anyway -- with his boots in one hand, tossing them over to their spot by the door with a muted thumpthump. His arm stretches out toward them, opening their embrace for him with reflexive ease. "You get a good nap in?"
"Would've been better if you were there." The soft smell of spring rain washes over them both as he fits himself against them. "But we probably wouldn't have slept much."
He leans in for that first, hello, kiss, lips lingering against the other Darkling's. They have all the time in the world, the kiss says, and Jack is gonna greet his partner properly. This time and every time. His calloused fingers catch slightly on Teagan's shirt as his hand drifts up their back, and his cheeks are a mess of scribbles when he finally comes up for air.
"Welcome home." He's grinning, like he's waiting for the blissful retaliation for that one kiss.
Their arm wraps around him comfortably, fitted into the small of his back and drawing him in alongside themself. "Not a bit," Teagan laughs in response, the sound soft against Jack's lips. The Mirrorskin savors the kiss, smiling lazily into it, and grabs a handful of ass on the way out of that proper greeting kiss. When Jack draws back, he leans back in for one more quick smooch and then presses a punctuation of the whole affair onto that scribbly cheek.
"Indeed," he laughs. "Don't get started, or the food will get cold, and egg rolls are shit if they aren't hot. They get all manky and the grease is all gross." A pat on the butt, and they take a step back, picking up the bag to carry it into the living room, thus to eat like properly uncultured swine. "Can you grab forks and drinks, please?"
Jack can't help but laugh back as he slips into the kitchen for silverware and soda. "I've heard that you can put 'em in an air fryer to de-mank-fy, but...I'd still rather eat 'em fresh." That grin is still affixed on his face when he gets to the living room, soft charcoal flowers blooming on the carpet behind him and quickly scattering away.
"You want..cactus rose, or...berry basil?" Fancy herbal sodas have been the name of the game this month, and he carries the bottles in between his fingers, with forks and napkins in the other hand. "I got a variety pack, I haven't tried them all yet though."
The thunder of Teagan's Mantle crackles across the room as he carries the bag into the living room, settling down on the couch and stretching out his shoulders before opening up the bag and taking out a small feast's worth of Chinese food. Riblets and crab rangoons and egg rolls and cartons of food. Teagan and Jack both do a lot of physical work (the energy they expend on each other aside), they eat a lot as a result.
"Hmmm. Cactus rose sounds good, unless you've got a strong preference," answers the Mirrorskin, giving Jack that lopsided half-smile of theirs.
"You know my preferences, baby, they don't extend to soda flavors." Jack winks at the other Darkling as he settles on the couch next to him, lightning skittering along the places their Mantle's join and mix.
"I promise I didn't forget your present this time, I triple checked, but...God, I didn't realize how hungry I was..." A crab rangoon gets shoved in his mouth and swallowed before he continues talking.
"How are you? How's Sigrun?" His tone softens fondly at the ends of both questions, his affection for him and his wife clear.
"Don't start now or we won't even finish dinner, and if I don't eat, I won't have my strength up," drolls the Mirrorskin, tipping his head to give Jack a sidelong little smile. Thunder cracks and snaps along the front where the Summer heat of their Mantle abuts the sweeter, cooler air of Jack's. He bites through an egg roll and bumps their shoulder companionably against his.
"Eat your food. The present has kept, it'll keep a little longer." Teagan reaches one hand to cradle the back of Jack's head and leans to plant a greasy kiss on the top of the Muse's head.
"I'm... pretty good? I've had a couple of interesting visits lately. Ylva came by and like... " A little shake of his head and another bite of his egg roll. "You know... I had gotten so used to being around people who know me that I forgot all of... " Here, he vaguely gestures towards his own face, the opalescent black skin like the back of an old mirror, the shattered glass that replaced his eyes.
"People put things on me. They see in me the things they need to see. I could stop them, but doing that would mean giving them things I don't want to give up easily. I'm... self-contained. I don't go around like 'hi, my name is Teagan, and I carry a weapon left to me by blah blah blah' and make all my problems the problems of everyone around me, so they just... put all their shit on me." A third bite finishes the egg roll.
"At turns, she thought that I didn't see her as a person, that I hated her, and so on. And like... I just... don't... care? About her? Like, not in a mean way, just... I don't... care? Sigrún topped her once, so what?" They reach for a crab rangoon. "I'm not used to people projecting on me that much anymore, you know?" His shoulders lift and drop.
"She's doing okay. Pulled a kid out of the Hedge the other day with Johnnie. The kid is doing that whole 'don't look after me, I don't need any of you' thing, which, okay, whatever. I find it tedious when that kind of thing means you are choosing to be homeless and cold, but you do you, kid, I guess." Crunch. "Strong smells are making her puke, and she's having strong emotions about nesting and about making it possible for you to feel comfortable enough that our relationship doesn't have to exist apart from the motley, without being part of it, really."
A beat. "That's not exactly what she said, but." A lopsided half-smile, there.
The Spring nods along as Teagan speaks, breaking into the lo mein to shovel it into his mouth. The man probably barely tastes it, honestly, the first few minutes are just to get something in him.
"Haven't met Ylva," he comments at a pause, once he's slowed down eating a little, "sounds like she's got a lot of her own shit to deal with, if she's projecting so bad onto you. But..." he trails off and takes another thoughtful bite.
"So...what? Do you care about what happened, even if you don't care about Ylva, in general? Which..." A slight grimace, "If you don't wanna talk about that shit to me I get it, I don't wanna get in the middle of shit you don't want me in the middle of, mm?" He leans over to give Teagan a quick kiss on the cheek before returning to his food.
The Mirrorskin lets out a long breath through their lips, a sort of horse snort sound that's exhausted. "I don't really ... care, you know? In general. It was just sort of a surprise to me, more than anything, that I'm not used to it anymore, you know?" Teagan scratches his cheek absently, chowing down on a couple more rangoons. "I sort of let my defenses down a little bit, emotionally, because I'm not really used to being around people who do that to me." One of his hands waves in the air as if he's conducting an invisible symphony. "That would probably be funny to the new people in my life because of my partners, who all seem to see me as this like, mysterious cypher," because you are, Teagan, you dork, "but I really have let my defenses down a little bit. And it was just -- you know."
"A surprise. More of a better reflection on the people I let be around me now than anything." They smile lopsidedly at Jack. "No, this is fine. I needed to talk to somebody about it, and everybody else I would even think about talking to about it is way more in the middle of it, you know? I appreciate it."
"Babe, you are a mysterious cipher, I can't blame them for that." He leans in to kiss them on the cheek to soften the blow. "But I get what you mean. It's...having that sort of emotional shorthand is really really nice. Only spending time with people who are emotionally mature enough not to entirely project onto you is a fucking blessing." Another kiss to his cheek. (edited)
"Okay, fair, but still." Teagan turns and presses a kiss to the corner of Jack's forehead where his hairline turns a corner. "Yeah, basically. I was kind of glad that Sturm was there, honestly, because I had someone to check in with. Not just that, but like... " He gestures in the air with the egg roll. "I was pretty sure that Johnnie stopped seeing her after the robot attack, you know? And she doesn't seem to think so." Another one of those little sighs. "Anyway. How are you? How are yours?"
"That sounds like something to clarify with the relevant parties sooner rather than later, if for nothing than your own sanity. But...you know. We're fine. Busy, Lux is sleeping a lot, doing Dream stuff. I...worry about them. But I haven't...figured out how to talk to them about it, you know?" He shrugs and offers Teagan the last of the lo mein. "And I...mm. There's talk of me being nominated for President. Of Local 8."
A little grunt from Teagan. "She's been hiding in her room, Johnnie has. I think the thing with the Thread fucked her up more than she wants to let on, so I'm hopeful that like... " Teagan sighs. "That she won't pull a me and ignore it until it's a problem." He reaches for the lo mein, adding, "Thanks, babe."
A grunt. "Maybe just like that? Tell them you're worried? Is it just that they're spending a lot of time asleep?"
A beat's pause and then Teagan grins broadly, setting down the lo mein to cradle Jack's face in their hands. His fingertips are a little greasy, but oh well. "Babe. I'm really proud of you."
"Have you checked in on her? Or is it best to...let her be?"
He grimaces slightly at the suggestion. "It...feels like they're always kinda somewhere else, but it doesn't help that I'm never home, either. We're both busy doing work shit, I just...worry about their work, you know?" A shrug. He doesn't meet Teagan's eyes, quite, and his silhouette goes all flickery at the praise.
"It...would mean a lotta changes. If I even could figure out how to run a campaign at all, much less win."
"I'm gonna check on her, but I'm gonna give her a minute, first. You gotta give Johnnie a minute, and then go look after her. You go after her too quick, and she feels crowded. The thing with Johnnie is that she's a hunter, right? So you can't make her feel hunted. She gets all weird and prickly." Teagan absently takes another forkful of lo mein and looks aside at Jack, his head tilted just so.
"So not only are you worried, you feel responsible." They grunt, as if all is now clear, and finish off the lo mein in 3 more bites. "Hmm." He grabs a napkin, wipes his mouth, and leans over to kiss the top of Jack's head. "Okay. We can talk about how to handle that, if you want to."
"What kind of changes?"
"Mmm. Sounds like a few other people I know." Teagan gets a gentle nudge from Jack's shoulder. "Lemme know if you need a Spring around, yeah? I might...nudge her too, if she's still like this in a bit. We haven't talked recently, really, but," he shrugs, like that doesn't really concern him.
Teagan's perfect encapsulation of his issue with Lux makes him full-on wince, and take a drink of his soda like he's swigging a beer. "I...sure, if you want to." Old habits die hard, including being allowed to set boundaries, or tell people how he's really feeling. His flickery Mien says a lot, though, as does the stronger scent of blood drifting around the room.
"It's...it's a desk and cameras job. Union President doesn't have time to take show calls, or mix at Stardust, or...any of that."
He nudges back, responding, "Oh, hush," but teasingly. "But talking to her will help her, and we don't currently have any Springs. I think it's literally the only Court we don't have," Teagan murmurs, scratching his cheek.
Teagan stops, then, and turns his broken-mirror eyes towards Jack. "It's not about whether I want to, it's about whether you need to," he answers, eschewing more food to put his full attention on Jack. "And that sounds like something that would be a big change."
It's not often, that Jack squirms uncomfortably under that mirrored gaze. But he does now, bits of charcoal breaking away from his silhouette to dissolve into the air, his dark eyes not quite able to look into Teagan's.
"Yeah, I know," he mutters, and takes another swig of soda. "It's...I dunno if I want that, y'know? The gig, I mean. It..." he shrugs. "The election's still a couple months off, anyway. We haven't even had nominations yet. I just...there's enough talk that it sounds like someone's gonna nominate me, so. Figure I should brace for it now. I...wanna talk to Lux about it, too. Since..." he trails off, trying to form the words. "It's...a big change. And I trust their opinion. Like I trust yours." He leans in to brush his lips against their cheek.
"You want your present?" He's not even trying to make the question not an obvious change of subject.
He wipes off his hand on his jeans, because he's a heathen, and then reaches a hand to cradle Jack's cheek when that squirming comes into play. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to do it. I'll support you if you want to do it. I just want you to think it all the way through, and make sure that you're doing the right thing for you and for the union." Teagan pauses, tips his head to one side. "I remember what happened to Cedric, you know?" Cedric's public collapse after he was confronted in public by mortals and sent into a Clarity coma was sort of a Big Deal, after all.
"If you decide you want to do it, we need to have some sort of system for making sure that you're checking in with people, so you don't, you know. Brush off the little things and have them all pile up. Pull a fucking Teagan. Whatever." His thumb pets along Jack's cheekbone.
"Yes, we can change the subject to my present." Their broken-mirror eyes sparkle.
He wipes off his hand on his jeans, because he's a heathen, and then reaches a hand to cradle Jack's cheek when that squirming comes into play. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to do it. I'll support you if you want to do it. I just want you to think it all the way through, and make sure that you're doing the right thing for you and for the union." Teagan pauses, tips his head to one side. "I remember what happened to Cedric, you know?" Cedric's public collapse after he was confronted in public by mortals and sent into a Clarity coma was sort of a Big Deal, after all. "If you decide you want to do it, we need to have some sort of system for making sure that you're checking in with people, so you don't, you know. Brush off the little things and have them all pile up. Pull a fucking Teagan. Whatever." His thumb pets along Jack's cheekbone. "Yes, we can change the subject to my present." Their broken-mirror eyes sparkle.
"Yeah." His gaze flicks to their mirrored eyes until the image of himself repeated, is expression unsure, is too much for him and he lets his eyes close. "The union...stabilizes me, just...being in the office, or working a call, or...any of that. But -" he leans away to disengage from them, that self-sure grin back on his face. "Present's in the other room. I'll be back."
He sneaks a kiss on the way out, and traipses back in with a wrapped box. There's some hand-drawn stick figures in among the wintery trees and snowflakes, kissing. And...other things, against a tree, on the side of a snowbank... (edited)
"Yeah." His gaze flicks to their mirrored eyes until the image of himself repeated, is expression unsure, is too much for him and he lets his eyes close. "The union...stabilizes me, just...being in the office, or working a call, or...any of that. But -" he leans away to disengage from them, that self-sure grin back on his face. "Present's in the other room. I'll be back." He sneaks a kiss on the way out, and traipses back in with a wrapped box. There's some hand-drawn stick figures in among the wintery trees and snowflakes, kissing. And...other things, against a tree, on the side of a snowbank... (edited)
Teagan lets the topic of the union simply drop, and waits for Jack to return. He reaches for an egg roll and pops it in his mouth in two crunchy bites. Taking the package from him, Teagan laughs, his eyes glittering amusement at the little stick figures. "Is this a wish list?" he asks, tipping his head to one side before he starts to open the package.
Teagan lets the topic of the union simply drop, and waits for Jack to return. He reaches for an egg roll and pops it in his mouth in two crunchy bites. Taking the package from him, Teagan laughs, his eyes glittering amusement at the little stick figures. "Is this a wish list?" he asks, tipping his head to one side before he starts to open the package.
"I mean I didn't mean for 'em to be, but they sure are now."
Jack's grinning at the flirting, but the shuddery edges of his Mien imply a little nervousness. When was the last time he gave Teagan a gift, at all? He sits forward, watching them unwrap it, birdsong twittering impatiently around him.
Inside the box are two wooden shelves. They're identical, if a little oddly shaped - meant to hold something specific. Clouds and jagged lines of lightning are carefully burnt into the wood in a few places, just enough to add a little visual interest.
"So I realized that there's no good spot for Baby, sometimes," Jack begins, all trace of teasing gone from his face. "Like the nightstand is fine, but I figured you deserved a better place for it when it's not on you, it - there's one for here, and one for my place, and one of my coworkers was talking about their woodburning kit and I figured...." he trails off as he realizes he's rambling, and runs a hand through his hair.
A long silence follows, with Teagan just turning the shelves over and over in his hands. He sets down one so that he can give his full attention to the other, then trades so that he can examine its match.
It's hard to tell what Teagan is thinking on the best of days, and when he's thinking his way through his reactions, he doesn't get much better. Jack knows the way that Teagan's hands move when he's reverent, however, and that, far more than their facial expression, betrays the Mirrorskin's reaction.
Finally, they set both of the shelves back on the table, next to the discarded bits and pieces of their dinner, and they turn towards Jack. Silently, he takes both of the Muse's hands in his own, holding them for a long moment, reflecting his lover's face back to him in fragments and fractions. Their long fingers squeeze Jack's, and then they turn Jack's hands over, palm up.
Into his palms they place the backs of their hands, their own palms turned towards the ceiling. "When he died," Teagan finally says, so very quietly, "I wasn't there."
A small sip of air, a little breath in. "They brought her back to me." And nothing else, Teagan leaves unspoken. "And I swore, like he swore before me, and before him, and after me." What Teagan swore, he doesn't say.
The words are so soft that they're barely more than whispers. This is his gift, what he brings to Jack: these hesitant words, these whispered phrases.
These secrets.
Jack's hands start to move as Teagan inspects his gift - fiddling with the hem of his shirt, tapping on his knees, he's unable to keep still in the face of Teagan's silence.
And then his hands are in theirs, and he stills, long lines are charcoal shuddering almost to a halt around him, the quiet birdsong frantic and in rhythm with his hammering heart. He's stopped breathing, by the time the Mirrorskin speaks, his dark eyes flicking to his own reflection Teagan's eyes and back down to both their hands.
He's never been a mirror. Instead, a witness - to those mirrored, scarred palms, to the secrets he's been entrusted with. Another moment, and he starts breathing again, in time with Teagan's breath. Inhale, exhale. His thumbs brush against silvery skin. The sides of his lover's hands, then the scars, as he finally looks back up into the mirror.
"Thank you for telling me," he murmurs, and brings Teagan's hands up, gently curling his fingers in so he can kiss his knuckles. And then his lips, a moment later, soft and sweet. (edited)
It's like watching the crescent moon appear briefly from within a field of clouds on a rainy night. There's a sliver of light for just so long, and then it disappears again. Teagan turns his face away from Jack for a moment, looking off across the room. He takes the thank you with a small smile, and turns back towards the Muse to take the kiss as it's given.
The touch to his scars sends a shudder through him, but it's so hard to tell if it's a good shudder, a bad shudder, or just a ... vulnerable shudder. "You deserve ... something."
He's earned it, says the subtext. Please take this one tiny pearl of background story. It may be a while before there's another one.
"You, here, is always enough, you know that, right?" Jack might be setting a new record for how long he's stayed serious, stayed sincere. He leans in again, to kiss the bridge of Teagan's nose.
"But I...love that you can trust me with your history. Any of it, it...it's all special."
"I do know that," Teagan answers Jack, and they raise their left hand to pet a thumb along his cheek. It's a deliberate motion, and one that, when his hand comes to rest on Jack's again, turns the back of his left arm so it's deliberately exposed.
The inside of his left arm has all of the tattoos for Direct Action, and the outside has the this machine kills rapists on the back of his wrist. But just above that, a freshly-healed tattoo -- familiar to anyone who knows anything about tarot cards -- the hand of the King of Cups, holding that iconic cup. "That doesn't mean you don't deserve more than enough."
Jack takes in a breath, like he's going to speak - and then pauses for a beat, two.
Silhouette still dancing, as a scribbly blush darkens his cheeks.
"That's...that's new." Stating the obvious, cautious hope tinging his voice. Like he's still afraid to get his hopes up about anything, even this.
Jack takes in a breath, like he's going to speak - and then pauses for a beat, two. Silhouette still dancing, as a scribbly blush darkens his cheeks. "That's...that's new." Stating the obvious, cautious hope tinging his voice. Like he's still afraid to get his hopes up about anything, even this.
"It is," Teagan answers, leading in gently. His voice is the equivalent of a hand in Jack's, leading him towards inevitable conclusions. "I got it yesterday."
And it's already healed, because Teagan knows a few simple tricks, naturally. His head tips to the side, as if in question.
"It is," Teagan answers, leading in gently. His voice is the equivalent of a hand in Jack's, leading him towards inevitable conclusions. "I got it yesterday." And it's already healed, because Teagan knows a few simple tricks, naturally. His head tips to the side, as if in question.
"It's..." and here his blush deepens, scribbles sliding down his neck, "I mean 'it's perfect' is kinda a cliche but...it really kinda is. I...love you. So much." A smile grows on his face as he speaks, and he shrugs, a little self-consciously.
"I...didn't...expect me to end up on your body, like that."
"It's..." and here his blush deepens, scribbles sliding down his neck, "I mean 'it's perfect' is kinda a cliche but...it really kinda is. I...love you. So much." A smile grows on his face as he speaks, and he shrugs, a little self-consciously. "I...didn't...expect me to end up on your body, like that."
Teagan's eyebrows climb up their forehead, and they ask, "As opposed to the way you're normally on my body?"
The Mirrorskin leans forward and lays a tiny kiss on Jack's nose, then one on his lips.
"Speaking of which."
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