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Mm, early morning oatmeal cookies. Secretly, well, not so secretly, Laura's diet tends more towards meat, but she can still enjoy other things. And almost everyone loves cookies after all. Wearing shorts and a loose t-shirt she's removing a tray from the oven, having donned an apron with the caption "Don't eat the chef."
Is it early morning, or late night? Teagan comes trudging in from outside with an expression on their face which makes it look like late night is definitely the case. It's not a bad expression, it's just a tired expression. It's the end of their day. "Hey, Laura." They pause, and wrinkle up their forehead. "You know, I don't have a nickname for you. I don't know why, but I don't." Pausing just inside the door, they shuck their trenchcoat off and bend to unlace their boots.
"What nickname would you like?" She asks curiously, distributing cookies onto a plate. "Glitch laid claim to Floofy after all." A wry look. "You have used 'Mine' a time or two with me." She pads over to set the cookies on the table and take a chair, a foot pushing one out for Teagan. Said cookies remain equal distance from both chairs. "You had a long night love?"
"I mean, I'll come up with my own," replies Teagan, "But usually people have one by now." A vague half-smile, there. "If I did, that was a mistake. 'Mine' belongs to Sam. You haven't met him yet, but... " There's a pause, there, and Teagan's lips curl up slightly. "You will. He's one of the first Direct Action members. He's been -- Sam wanders. But he always comes home. My trash panda." They dip their head forward, and come over to sit down on the chair. There's a bit of worry on their face, something that flickers, comes and goes, and they settle on the chair offered. "I was just kind of musing about it. I'm not, like, concerned. I'm -- "
And here they pause. "I think maybe it's because in my head it's important to me that you're always Laura. Even when you're Hyena, you're Laura. I don't know. Maybe a nickname will come up sometime. But you're Laura, and that's important."
A beat's pause. "Anyway. Um. Oooh, cookies." They snag one, and bite into it. "So, we had kind of an informal motley meeting. By which I mean it just so happened that five of us were in one place at one time."
"A tra.. oh, a racoon?" A rueful grimace. "That'll be interesting. Not in a bad way as such, but my instincts.." Well, Teagan knows. "But, mm. Not Mine then. I trust you'll find one." She smiles. "Thank you. I'm Laura, Hyena too, kinda.. both. But I don't need to be so tightly controlled when we're hunting, which is where the whole Hyena things comes from." She takes a cookie after Teagan's, swallowing it whole. "Mm?" There's a subtle tension forming after Teagan mentions the informal chat, Laura falling quiet.
A little nod of their head. "He's -- kinda like Glitch." Teagan has a Type when it comes to dude-shaped people, to which Vorpal is most definitely an exception. "Little, adorable as hell, a pile of trouble." Yep, they definitely have a type. They lean their chin on their hand, nodding. "I know, but when we met, you had such a hard dividing line that I think, like... " A vague shrug. "A nickname will happen when it happens."
"Don't tense up." They take another little bite of their cookie like the conversation they're having is no big deal. See? No big deal! "The long and the short of it is that no one is against you joining the motley. There are some of us you know better -- some much much better -- " Look, a sex joke! Don't be tense, Laura! "-- and some you don't. Which is normal, you didn't have much crossover with June in Miami because she never came out, she hated living there, and Johnny wasn't with us. But."
"Our family is forever. We don't do part-time, and we don't do seasonal, and we don't do 'maybe'. So forever, that takes a little time. There isn't any 'no' in this situation. There's only 'not yet.' There's 'let's run together and hunt together and Laura can stay here in the house, and spend time with us, and provided she meshes well with us as a group, then in a little while we'll teach her the secret knock to the motley hollow and oath her in.' And I think that's pretty fair. What do you think?"
"You taught me better.." Laura muses softly. "I tried to push her down so much, I was repressing myself. And, I very much want to meet him too, then." A slight smile. As Teagan keeps talking she nods, a claw restlessly nudging the plate of cookies about before she takes one, but doesn't eat it, simply holding it to hand. There's a faint splutter of laughter at the joke, but her ears lower slightly and she swallows slightly. "..Teagan? What if I don't? Mesh well?"
At that, Teagan puts their cookie down on the counter. "Well, that's always a possibility," they answer; the Mirrorskin doesn't lie until they really need to, after all. "You could. But I don't think that's going to be the case. I think what's going to happen -- what needs to happen -- is that June needs to understand why Sigrun and Glitch and I love you, and she needs to have a moment to get past what always happens with her with our new partners, which is that she goes through a little bit of jealousness when there's a New Cute Girl, and that Johnny needs time and space to understand why Sigrun and Glitch and I love you, and he needs to have time to feel like he, you know, really belongs in our family again."
"Neither of those things are like, secrets that I'm telling you, that I'm betraying their trust or anything," Teagan reassures. "I know you talked with Johnny yesterday -- I, ehm. I heard most of it. And June is pretty open about the fact that she gets jealous whenever one of us has a new partner that's a girl."
"And ... well, whenever Sam shows up, just feed him. But not too much. Like. We have to keep Sam from overindulging himself." Protect himself from himself. "And he'll love you."
"I wouldn't have -- Laura, I wouldn't have even had that conversation with them if I didn't think they'd love you as much as I do. But they need time to do that. That's all." They turn up their scarred palm toward Laura, laying their hand on the table, in offering for hers.
"Oh." She looks down at the table. "I might have been kinda harsh with him." She admits. "And, I like June, and, I don't know how she is for partners or, what she likes yet, mm, but, I mean, if that'd be something she wants to explore, and, if I can talk to Joh.. Jack more, figure things out with him, get along better. I like him, but, not see him so much, and, he's powerful and a little scary, which is good. And I'll be careful with Sam, I love food too, you know that." She ends her spiel with a deep breath, reaching out to grip Teagan's hand tightly.
They lay their hand in her hand, and then slide their other beneath her hand, so both of their hands are surrounding hers. "I think the smartest thing for you to do, Laura, is just to be who you are with them. I know that's easier said than done, especially when you've uprooted your life to chase after three of your partners, and what's going to happen if their partners say 'mmm, no thanks,' but -- "
Teagan's broken-mirror eyes reflect back bits and pieces of her face to her. "You're clever, you're sweet, you're smart. You're strong. You're hella sexy. You're Autumn, which, you know, I think is gonna take Johnny a minute, because while Sam is also Autumn, he's also not ... you're a powerful figure in a way Sam isn't. And I think it's gonna take him a minute to realize that you're not gonna take His Spot. But you're Autumn, and once Johnny sees you as a partner in crime, and not a threat, you two are gonna get on like a house on fire."
"June is sweet and thoughtful and kind and wants the best for everyone. She's also a huge dork. Just be you. A lot of the things that would upset June? You would never do anyway. Don't treat her like she's a pet, don't treat her like she's useless because she's small and cute. Ask her to spar, and ask her to show you what she's good at, and she will respect you for it. Ask her about her bees. Ask her what's important to her. Ask her to go on patrol with you. Just... treat them the same way you treated us, and I'm pretty damn they'll love you."
"Because you're ... fucking phenomenal, Laura. They just need time to see that, too."
She nods, lowering her head to rest it against Teagan's hands, stating something that's a little muffled and apologetic. She repeats it a little more clearly. "I know about how people treated June. I kinda got angry, and broke one of your mugs, sorry. But, I like them both. June's strong and spat in the eye of Them and everyone else who just wanted her to be cute and pretty. Johnny.. he's got so strong, I know he's figuring his own shit out, learning to be more human again." She nods faintly. "But I'm not gonna take anything from him. I'll try talking to him about that, hopefully with less snarling this time. And, I'll ask June to spar."
A little puff of breath, and Teagan shakes their head. "Babe, that's the appropriate response to how people treated June. The first time I was around someone who treated June badly, I didn't respond that way, so, you know. You're doing better than me." They shift their shoulders, then, adding, "But don't get me started on Amanda Green. It's a bad topic, and this conversation isn't about me, anyway."
Their hands squeeze hers. "No matter what happens, you know that I love you, right?"
"Yes." She answers, then swallows again. "But that's part of what terrifies me Teagan. I love you, and Glitch, and Sigrun." All cards on the table. "But if I'm not part of the family, if.. there's that distance. It'd hurt, to be looking in at you all, to be so deeply connected and wrapped up with you three, but to still be on the edge."
They let go of her hands for a moment, if only so they can get up and circle around to loop their arms around her shoulders, pulling her in close. Resting her head against their chest. "I know. And I can't fix that right this moment. But if I've ever had faith in anything, it's that my family will find a way to knit together. I can't promise you anything, but I can have faith." They kiss the base of one of her ears, right where it roots in her scalp. "And I do have faith. If you can't, then I'll have it for you. Okay?"
"I've faith you want me here, you and Sigrun and Glitch." She agrees after a moment, eyes closing as she rests against Teagan. "And that's enough to make me feel it'll happen, once I know Jack and June and Sam. I'm just afraid, y'know? And, I do love you. And you are family."
They slide their fingers through her hair, scritching at the base of her ears, petting her. Soothing, gentle. "You're a member of the Court of Fear, my love. If you weren't afraid of an unknown, I would be confused. Who is this person, and what has she done with my Laura? Who is this person who isn't faithful to fear?" Teagan gently tips her face up to look down at her, their mirror-dark face shimmering and subtly shifting. "I know you're afraid. And that's a legitimate feeling, and I understand."
They lean down to kiss her nose. "Could I, perhaps, offer you the distraction of the activity that June calls 'interactive snuggling'?"
"I told Zima once." She muses. "That fear is a friend, an ally. It reminds you of dangers, if you listen to that guidance and understand. This fear is reminding me of how important you are all to me. How much you matter." A slight nod, then she slowly smiles at the offer. "Yes. Please."
The Mirrorskin tips their head to the side, considering for a moment, and then nods in the affirmative. "I think that's just about perfect," Teagan agrees. "I love my Wrath, but Fear shows me where I need to be more careful." Their fingers slide soothingly through her hair, and their broken-mirror eyes glitter sharply as they step back, sliding their hands into hers. "Excellent," the Mountebank rumbles, and tugs her to her feet, all the better to lead her out of the kitchen. Who even snuggles in a kitchen, much less interactive snuggles?
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