Logs:C l i m m b f i r e s k a p

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Content Warning

Discussion of captivity, Clarity issues.

Cast

Jack Martingale, Lux and Teagan

Setting

Teagan's Hideout, across the street from Club Vertigo

Log

Night has set, and the roof across the street from Vertigo? Teagan's there. They've sent Jack a map pin with a text:

c l i m m b f i r e s k a p

And they're sitting up on said roof, leaned back on one hand; the other hand holds half a cheesesteak, and they're taking slow bites, occasionally setting said sandwich down on its wrapper and reaching for their soda to take a sip. There are other drinks waiting, and a bag with other goodies in it.

It's too hot to be wearing their coat while they eat, so they sat down, wriggles out of their shoulders, and let it fall back behind them. Teagan's wearing their usual skinny jeans, combat boots, and a shirt that says 'I AM NOT INTERESTED IN BEING POLITE OR CISGENDER' across the front of it.

bringing a certain neon partner with me, hope thats okay is Jack's reply.
y e s

Sure, Jack and Lux could climmb the fir eskap. Or they could throw on Light Shy and Boon of the Skuttling Spider his way up the side of the building. Which Jack does, at least, and he shimmers back into view a good few feet away from the Mirrorskin, the scent of an oncoming spring rainstorm washing over Teagan almost immediately. Announcing his presence, as it were. He's in tight black jeans and a floral t shirt, his doc martins loosely laced and his slightly iridescent motorcycle jacket thrown over his shoulder.

Lux could Skuttle up, but sometimes they just enjoy a good climb. They are Light Shyed, at least, appearing from thin air on the corner of the roof a few seconds after Jack, puffing out a victorious breath. They're in a neon tye dye crop top that practically glows florescent yellow, pink, blue, and orange against their lights, with cut off shorts and yellow neon sneakers.

"There's cheesesteaks in the bag, and sodas. I didn't know what y'all like, but I figured Mountain Dew for Lux, on account of it being neon and full of fucking sugar and caffeine. There's Coke and shit, too." Teagan turns to look over their shoulder at the incoming pair. A little muted, a little -- distracted, maybe. The distant city lights catch on their profile, casting silver shimmers along it.

Jack slides an arm around Lux as soon as they appear, giving them a squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.

"Aw thanks - coke's good with me. Love the shirt." He smirks at Teagan, and tugs Lux over to flop down next to them. "This from that bodega you like?" He gestures to the cheesesteaks.

"Oooh, I love Mountain Dew. Good choice." Lux follows beside Jack, plopping down close to Teagan. They poke open the bag to pull out one of the sandwiches and grab a soda, but their glowing eyes flit over to Teagan here and there, sweeping over them thoughtfully. Noting the.... off, but not commenting on it.

"Yeah, man! We talked about it in texts, so, I figured, you know." A vague shrug. "It was the thing to do, a thanks for coming up to talk to me and shit." Teagan's machete is hooked to their hip as usual, and they reach to absently adjust Baby, then decide to unhook her, lay her on the jacket next to their butt, and then fold the front of their jacket over her, almost like putting her to bed. Or just covering her up so no one who isn't Teagan accidentally touches her.

"'Course. Sounds like there's a lotta shit up. Yeah?" Jack doesn't look at Teagan, instead pulling out a sandwich and a can of coke. Keeping things casual, and clearly trying not to get all Official Spring Joyeux-y right away.

Lux chomps into the sandwich, chewing and looking between them. They don't push the vibe away from casual, mostly letting Jack do his thing, though theres a little twitch of concern in their brows.

The laughter from Teagan is something soft and distant, not their usual -- when it's genuine -- light-on-broken-glass bright-and-sharp laughter. "That's one way to put it. Shit's been -- I dunno. I don't know what I thought I was getting into with that fucking tree, man, but... " They scratch their cheek with one hand, reach for the remainder of their sandwich, take a bite of it. "You lot holding up okay?"

"Surprisingly...yeah." Jack huffs in amusement. "Given everything. Tree didn't fuck with me nearly as much as I thought it was gonna. And uh..." A scribbly blush blooms on his cheeks. "Someone decided that the other night was the right time to propose." His grin is wide, and the look he gives Lux is all kinds of adoring. "They were right, for the record. Perfect timing."

"Yeah, we're doing pretty good." Lux grimaces. "Heard that the Tree stuff was pretty hardcore. Kinda glad I stayed away from that shit." They chew another bite, glancing towards Jack--then grins widely. "Ah, yeah. That's a thing." They lift a hand to wiggle their fingers, showing off the glowing rainbow hedgepun ring on their finger.

"No shit?" Other topics sort of fade away, at least for now, and Teagan leans to one side, ticking their head and turning their face toward Lux; their broken-mirror eyepits reflect back fractions and fragments of their neon, and then his scribbles. "The three of you, then?" Because there wasn't a specification made, they clarify, leaning forward to peer at the rainbow hedgespun. "No more sneaking around for you," they droll, the verbal equivalent of the wink that Teagan literally can't do. "Light Shy forever."

"Yeah. Lux fuckin'...made these rings, they're gorgeous...." Jack offers his hand out, where a slightly less bright, but still clearly rainbow ring sits. The band is darker than the opal in the center, which catches even the little light there is up on this roof. "'S nothing wrong with Light Shy, anyway." Jack leans over to brush his hand against Lux's arm, the rainstorm smell swirling around him as he does and nearly overwhelming the coppery metallic scent that's always kinda present underneath it.

"You...wanna talk about what happened on your end, Teagan? With the tree?"

Lux laughs. "I'm already shit at sneaking--I literally glow. I usually rely on Light Shy anyway, when I really don't want to be seen." They smile brightly, giving Jack an adoring look, before nodding. "Yeah, proposed to Jack and Mearcstapa at the same time."

When Jack turns the conversation around back on Teagan, they fall quiet again, save for the sound of the soda can popping open. They sip, looking over at Teagan.

They lean over Jack's. "I love opals," they offer, peering at it but not leaning to touch. "Probably my favorite stone. They look like they're hiding something." Their shoulders rise a little and then drop inside their t-shirt. "Nope, not a thing. I love Light Shy." Obviously. The corners of their mouth curl up a little more at the fact that it was a dual proposal. "Badass."

"No," comes the first answer, not exactly reflexive, but truthful. "I don't want to." Teagan stuffs the butt end of their cheesesteak into their mouth and chews on it morosely, turning to look out over the city. "And the tree itself was -- weird and -- kind of awful -- but."

"Fair enough. Kinda the wrong question. But...what?" Jack gently prods, waiting until he's spoken to continue to eat his cheesesteak. His free hand stays on Lux's arm, just a casual sort of touch. The scribbles on his cheeks have faced, and he watches Teagan's reaction to his question. Maybe seeing just how much he's going to have to tease out of them, and how much they'll offer all on their own.

Lux smiles. "Opals are my favorite too," they reply, before things start really taking a more serious turn in the discussion. They lean into Jack's touch a bit, their legs crossing as they lean forward a little, eyes on Teagan.

A flutter of a smile at Lux, then, before their attention shifts to Jack. "I mean, the tree was -- holding them. Had absorbed them. And, like, first of all, that was horrifying, because ... " and then they trail off, making sort of a fluttering gesture with one hand. The ability of Changelings to get out of just about anything is sort of a universal thing, and the way they shudder makes it really clear how horrifying that was. "We actually talked our way out of it, though." A beat, and they add, "I know," as if anticipating the 'wait, a group mostly made up of Direct Action talked their way out of a problem.' "It was my idea."

Teagan's shoulders shift uncomfortably, and they look at their wrist, twisting the ever-present bracelet they wear around their wrist a little, pushing it against the bones in said wrist. Their mirror-black skin goes all distorted and liquid as the chunk of marble wrapped in wire is pressed against their skin. "This came from the house I used to live in," they offer, kind of non-sequitur. "We burned it down, two and a half years ago. Me and Johnnie and JuneyJune and Adora and Player One."

"That's...horrifying." Jack's silhouette flickers, and he sets his half finished sandwich down entirely. "The um. Cypress sent two of us the fuck to sleep, when we went to try to heal her. She and the tree..." Jack shudders. "Fuck me, I'm glad it all worked out in the end. I kinda thought you'd all have to fight your way out."

He focuses on Teagan's bracelet when they start to fiddle with it, and blinks in surprise at what he clearly perceives as a change in subject. "...Oh? Because you had to, or...?"

Lux looks a little nauseous at the thought as well, and ends up setting aside the rest of the cheesesteak. "That sounds... fucking awful. Holy shit." They shudder, then look towards the bracelet, nodding a bit as they listen.

"She thought she was doing the right thing," sighs Teagan, shaking their head a little bit. "She had forgotten who she was, and thought that what she was doing was the right thing. It's like -- Clarity, writ large, on this whole... almost-Fae-level sort of ... " And then the Mirrorskin makes sort of a raspberry sound, which is probably kind of an amusing thing to see, someone whose face is nearly liquid going 'pfft.'

"I had to." That's what they say about the bracelet, fiddling with it with their opposite hand. "It was abandoned, then. And Johnnie was -- she was almost -- people were really afraid of her back then. She thought she was literally a God."

"...You're connecting the two experiences because of the similarities in someone who grew powerfully Wyrd. Yeah?" Jack takes a swig of soda and cocks his head.

"... No, I'm just... " Teagan pauses, rolls their shoulders. "Maybe? But uhh ... when we got back, Johnnie was sort of -- bad."

"Like, really, I hadn't seen her like this, ever."

Lux frowns at the thought of people being afraid of Johnnie, not so much surprised--cause she is pretty intimidating. But still, troubling. They tuck their legs up against their chest, head tilted as they watch Teagan.

"Oh." Jack nods, and sits back a little, going quiet for a bit as he thinks. "Bet that...kinda fucked you up, too, didn't it?"

They tick their tongue against the roof of their mouth. "Kinda." Teagan goes quiet for a bit, absently pulling their lower lip in so they can chew on it a little. "I had not -- actually -- ever been afraid of Johnnie before. Not -- when she thought she was a God, not when ... her shadows were tearing the house apart, not... "

"I just never thought I would."

"Shit. Yeah." Jack sounds intensely sympathetic, and he opens an arm, offering a one sided hug if Teagan is the hugging type. "That's...I mean it's scary as fuck, to be afraid of someone like that. Does she know? Like...have you talked to her about it at all, or are you still processing shit yourself?"

"No, I just, uh... " It takes a moment for Teagan to even notice the hug is being offered, because -- out of it. "She didn't know us?" And they pull themself up sitting straighter, then, almost pulling into themself. "I knew that -- she'd never hurt us, there was never any universe in which Johnnie would ever -- but -- " They break off from trying to explain, and lean in to accept the offered hug.

Jack wraps his arm around the Mirrorskin, tight but not so tight they can't get away if they need. "But if she didn't know it's you, how would she know not to hurt you?" He offers the end of Teagan's sentence as a question. "You've got every right to be afraid of that. Even if it's not her fault." Jack glances at Teagan's bracelet again. "And like...it makes a lotta sense, how much that's gonna fuck with you."

The bracelet is a chunk of marble, as would be broken off from marble stairs, wrapped in silver wire and made into a bracelet. There's no opening at the back of it -- it's literally wired to the Mirrorskin. They lean in against him, letting out a tiny sigh. "There are some solid places to stand in the world," Teagan finally manages, trying to put words to it. "Ironically, the shadows were one of them."

"I suspect...that you'll find solid ground there again. Johnnie's gotta work on her shit, and at some point you two've gotta have a conversation about it, but...you'll get there. Doesn't change how shitty it is for that to fall out from under you, though." He squeezes their shoulder.

"Tell me about the house," he says after a moment of silence, and gestures to their bracelet.

"Mmm," agrees Teagan, still fiddling with the bracelet, and leaning in against Jack. Not a usual thing for our Mirrorskin, but, here we are. By the moment, they're calmer and clearer, which is difficult to see unless it's, you know, something that's your job. It's not like their eyes are easy to read, because they have no eyes!

"I imagine I will. I just have to -- talk to her, really." A puffed-out breath. "And the others. It wouldn't hurt us to work on shoring up our brains the way we work on the rest of us." They stretch out their arm absently, flexing the muscles in their forearm, which, considering those are muscles for swinging Baby, are not inconsiderable. The side show to the gun show.

"Oh. I used to live there. A very long time ago. It wasn't a good place." The sentences are like a gentle closing of doors. That's enough Teagan Secrets ™️ for one day.

"Looking after yourselves, and your brains, 's probably the best way to go about shit. Hard to help everyone else 'f you're a hot mess yourself. Usually." Jack's grin is a little self-deprecating, like it's not only Teagan and Direct Action that he's talking about.

"Lemme know if you need someone else, when you talk to her. Sometimes a third party's helpful, but sometimes it's definitely not. Either way - lemme know when it happens, yeah?" Another squeeze around the shoulder, and he leans over to take another drink.

They let out another one of those sighs that they do, and reach for their own soda. "Yeah, well. Usually. Not always, but usually." Teagan is not unaware of the self-deprecation there, nor do they lack awareness that they have their own hot mess going on.

"I think probably it's gonna have to be just the two of us. It's -- you know. I don't wanna make her defensive. But if it doesn't work out the first time, then... yeah."

"Yeah. Makes sense. Is she...doing any better, since you all got back? Got some of the help she needs?" Jack stretches with a groan after he asks, and settles in to finish his sandwich.

"Oh, yeah, pretty much immediately. Like, as soon as I knew what was going on, I had to sort of... gently shepherd her toward June. It ... very much sucks, watching June get a fucking broken arm, but -- " But that's what June does, and Teagan can no more say 'no, June, don't do that' than that they'd accept someone telling them not to go Light Shy and ahead of the group in the Hedge.

"Anyway, yeah. Johnnie's okay. And we all will be, sooner or later. For now, I should -- probably head home, though. Thank you."