Logs:Gentryfication: Wren's Plans

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Cast

Sturm, Teagan, Wren

Setting

Winter Hollow: Part of Plot: Gentryfication

Log

Sturm knows that disentangling from your partner in the middle of the night is a herculean task. Which is why she gives Wren plenty of time to get to the Hollow... by taking her own time with Teagan before the pair get up and make their way.

Sturm's grabbed one of the cottages towards the edge Winter's space, and - after casing the place - has adopted a seat at a table with her back to the corner. She's got red eyes tonight - with dark circles underneath them - a sign that she's probably been burning the candle at both ends for... too long.

"Honestly, even if she wasn't a murderous traitor hellbent on destroying our home, I'd probably just have to kill her for all the fucking sleep I've missed these past months," Sturm yawns, rubbing her eyes. "... and if you hadn't come with me, it'd have taken much longer to get me out of bed."(edited)

Wren actually arrives before too terribly long. She has a few secrets under her belt, and some of them involve little scraps of fur from domestic kitties she keeps on hand so she can be Very Quick and Very Small at a Very Short Notice. Tonight is one of those times, as she refuses to be the reason Robin finds out where Charlie is, and so when she arrives, she does it invisible and as a cat and waiting in the Winter Hollow until Sturm opens a cottage door so she can slip in and wait for an appropriate time to show up. In fact, since Sturm is casing the joint, she just slips into one of the adjoining rooms, returns to visibility and humanity, and knocks on the door to be let in. From the inside of the cottage. Like a gremlin.

"It's me, Wren."

Well, the voice is at least coming from the appropriate height. That's a good start.

"Well, I do know how to make coffee," Teagan points out, slowly wandering around the cabin, jaw set. "But once the Hue and Cry is stood down, we're taking a couple of days off. No matter what. You've been tied up so much with this that you haven't been tied up properly for ages." Or at least a week or two. They wander over to where Sturm sits, and settle themself across her lap, straddling. A kiss at the base of her left horn. "I made a huge thermos of it. Don't pass out and I promise to at least put you to sleep tonight." Their broken-mirror eyes glitter sharply, and then their head snaps around toward the sound of knocking from inside the cabin.

Well, what's good for the goose, Teagan. And now Wren has gremlin'd her way into seeing a smoochy moment. They unstraddle from Sturm's lap, flaring their charcoal-grey duster in around themself. "Hi."

"I'll hold you to that," there's a snarky grin - which quickly gives way to shock - and then to a frown. Sturm clears her throat as Teagan slides off her lap. It's a very obtrusive sound, and she looks thoroughly embarrassed to have not noticed that the cat Wren was already inside when she cased the place. Y'know, or embarrassed at the situation she's been caught in. It's not very clear, to be honest. "Wren. Good to see you." Sturm reaches for the thermos of coffee, using it to hide her expression while maintaining the guise of simply consuming caffeine. "... when'd you come in?"(edited)

"When you did."

Wren explains simply. Goodness, but she's terribly composed for someone who just overheard a couple of very powerful people discussing how one was going to tie the other up before- contextually presuming- fucking them into unconsciousness. At least that's how it sounded, and it's only by the grace of having spent most of her life pretending to be feeling things she wasn't, and vice versa, that this isn't VISIBLY awkward.

Just presumably.

"I got here faster and slipped in when you did your security check." She comes out of the side room and moves to take a seat at the table, clambering up into it with as much dignity as she can muster. "What's the deal? Charlie said "heck" when I left so this had better be important."

Really, she just wanted to mention how cute her girlfriend's aversion to bad words is. She doesn't seem put out in the slightest.

Though- hm- the lack of direct eye contact with the Darkling might be telling to the other Rigid Mask have-r of just how much Wren heard, for all she's playing at being composed...

The Mirrorskin pulls their charcoal duster around themself a little more firmly, and their face briefly silvers as they step aside and settle in a chair next to Sturm. "Well, that's very reassuring," Teagan mumbles, scratching the back of their head. YOU DESERVE THIS, TEAGAN MIDDLENAME LASTNAME. FOR ALL YOUR SHENANIGANS, YOU DESERVE THIS. And yet, the benevolent stalker doesn't seem to think they do deserve this. "Yeah, so, I dunno what the deal is, I just had to make sure she got up and got caffeinated." A vague gesture to Sturm, and they turn sideways in their chair like the queer they are, slinging their legs up into her lap.

Sturm, meanwhile, feels significantly better to see that Teagan's also embarrassed about being caught with their metaphorical pants around their... also metaphorical ankles. She places her free hand on their now-in-her-lap legs, and gives one a gentle - but reassuring - pat. "So Alex and - I dunno if you know him, but - our Motley-mate, Glitch did some digging into that video Robin uploaded to youtube. Now, she's apparently a hella chill decker who can turn straight drek into a big pile of creds," she says with a completely straight face - accidentally revealing her nerd card (and the many hours she's invested in Shadowrun) to the world. "Which is to say she did a number on our fugitive - and we may... know where her fucking safehouse is."

She pauses for a moment - perhaps hoping that the shock of this reveal will make Wren forget whatever she might've heard about her sex life.(edited)

"Well, it should be. What sort of Winter would I be if I couldn't be where I'm not expected?" Any number of kinds of Winters, truth told, but it suits her to play that card, so she does. She nods- they're on the same page re: the deal- and looks to Sturm.

Wren shakes her head. Glitch isn't really someone she's met. Alex, though. That makes her grin. "Yeah, she is, and all of that's null perspiration, chu-" It's the last line that throws her for a loop. She actually stops talking for a moment, the only solid clue she's off balance.

"Oh." A moment of consideration. "So it's almost go time, then."

"Never met Alex," Teagan offers, giving Sturm a little glance aside, adding, "And I'm Teagan, by the way." In case Wren hasn't figured out by context clues who this tall back-of-the-mirror-faced butch with their legs in Sturm's lap is. "They/them only ever." And then they lapse into silence, listening to the explanation, and giving Sturm sort of a blank look. They never did get around to playing Shadowrun, after all. "Yup," agrees the Mirrorskin, who inexplicably is not on the sneaky murder team because of, um... Reasons. "It's almost go time."

There's visible delight on Sturm's face when Wren replies in-character, and there is literally no way she's going to let this chain of Shadowrun slang die out here. "Yes, but not quite, chummer. I want to make sure there's null fraggin' way that Robin escapes - which means I have one last to-do list to check before we head out to do the wetwork." Her expression sobers, and she adopts a much more serious tone - dropping the silly vernacular. "... and I know it's asking a tremendous amount of you, but you're probably the closest Winter has to a straight-up spy, and I need someone to case the place so we can come up with a proper plan of attack."(edited)

"I mean, of course you're Teagan," Wren states simply. "I'm friends with Annie and Sturm, I know who you are." She smiles- no, grins, a little. "It's good to meet you, though. I was starting to wonder if I ever would." From the tone, she's pleasantly surprised that she was wrong!

Wren also seems quite pleased at Sturm's response, though it fades quietly as business is approached. It's a little easier to see, now- Wren isn't exactly excited about this job. It's got her somewhere between nervous and scared. Wren is many things, but a daredevil, she is not, and she clearly shares the same opinion that this is asking a lot from her. It takes a moment before she can respond. "... no, that's fair. I'm probably the best equipped to take a look, and one of the only ones that can do it here and in Twilight, and stand a good chance of being unseen on both sides." She twists her face a little, suppressing a grimace, and then sighs a tiny bit. "Yeah. I can do it. Do we have anything besides an address?"

"You realize I have no fucking idea what you're saying except via context guesses?" Teagan nudges at Sturm's washboard abs with their knee. (I heard Kylo Sturm is so shredded that she has an eight-pack.) And then their attention turns back to Wren, and the corner of their mouth curls up a little bit. "Well, there you go. Now you've met me, and I've met you. Your girlfriend opened up her shop at like, eleven o'clock at night one night so that I could take flowers to Sturm. She's a peach."

"We've only got the address at the moment - in addition to a tap on her phone, and the phones of several unknown associates." Beat. "But hey," Sturm leans forward - looking Wren in the eyes. It's probably not a very reassuring gesture, because Sturm is far from being a people person, but she's hoping that giving the nervous chimera a familiar face to focus on will help. "You got this," she nods. "You're arguably the best in the Freehold when it comes to this shit - and we've got this bitch in a corner."

She leans back again, turning to stick out her tongue at the Mirrorskin. "Sorry, Teagan. It's Shadowrun slang, and we're mostly just dicking off. Chummer means friend. Null means no. Frag means Fuck. Drek means shit. Y'know, because censorship." Beat. "Our first kiss was over those flowers, so. Maybe I'm biased, but... yeah. Charlie is a peach."

"Sorry, Teagan," murmurs Wren, ducking her head a touch. "And you can use whatever pronouns fit how I look. It'll usually be she/her, but that's not a hard rule." The warm reception helps, knowing that All Is Not Lost, and she nods, immediately believing the tale of the late night flowers. "Was it? The first one? That's awesome. Does she know? I could tell her, let you know how adorably she replies?" She looks to Sturm as she's addressed, nodding faintly, glancing away as Sturm reassures her. "Yeah, it's- not... a matter of a lack of confidence, it's just- I try real hard not to be on the front lines. I went out into the Hedge once lately and was immediately almost eaten by carnivorous centipedes from hell. I'm not really the "go walk into the den of the devil and come back with a full book report on her fung shui kinda gal. But-" And here she looks back, and there's a glimpse of the steel behind the softness. "-I can't not go. I can't just look at a job I could do with likely near total safety and tell the people lining up to take her out and save our city that I'd rather they go in blind. That's- not... something I can do. But this is. So I will."

"Let me have the address."

"Yeah, I get that - and the fact that you're willing to be our eyes on this anyway is not lost on me." Sturm reaches for the coffee again, pausing to sip at it, and petting Teagan's legs like she might a cat that had settled on her lap. 'Cause basically that's what happened. "I know you don't need me to remind you how good you are at this shit - I wasn't bringing it up as a confidence booster. I brought it up because I wanted you to be aware that I'm handing this gig to you, specifically, because I know you're good enough to get in, get what we need, and then come home safely." She enunciates those last three words - almost pointedly. "You know?"

Wren just- nods, slightly, looking everywhere but at People just now. But nod she does. "That makes sense." She laughs, just once, not particularly humorous, finally looking back at the others. "Funny. I developed all these skills to stay out of trouble. I didn't really ever consider that getting good enough at them would put me right back into trouble. Weird how that works, huh?" Her ears quiver on top of her head, then settle. "You're right, though. I can do this. I just need to keep my head on my shoulders."

"You can definitely tell her, if you'd like to. If you think it would make her happy," Teagan chimes in, rather belatedly, about the flowers. "And yes -- Charlie made up a bouquet of blue and white flowers for me at like eleven o'clock at night and I took them over to Sturm's old house." They raise an eyebrow, slightly. "Ironically, I developed very similar skills to get myself in to trouble, and now and again they get me out. But -- you can do this."

"Do you need anything? Supplies, information, people to work with? You name it, and I will do my absolute best to make sure it is in your hands before you go." Sturm lists this off as if she's said it a hundred times over the past two months (hint: she has) but there's a kernel of legitimate care underneath the exhaustion. "... and yeah. Tell me how Charlie reacts to hearing that story. I bet it'll be cute as fuck."

"I do think. She's- anxious, about being useful and helpful and wanted. Knowing she did something super great for you guys, she'd adore." Wren murmurs the words gently. It's not hard to see how much the redheaded stress-pot means to Wren. "So I'll make sure you two find out how she reacts."

"No. I don't need any of that. I'll want to go in as light as possible, you've given me what information we have, and more people means more people to extract if things go south. I can probably outrun her on both sides of Twilight. But I can't get anyone else out with me. So it's best I go in alone. Thank you, though. The support means a lot." She takes a deep breath, as if steeling herself. "I suppose we'll be wanting this info ASAP, yes?"

"Yeah, I'm totally down to hear that reaction. I sort of rushed out when I was getting the flowers, honestly, and have never said thank you as she deserves. I was being -- a total fucking sap, honestly." Teagan's being petted and people are talking about surveillance prior to stabbing a bitch in the face, and that is where a Teagan is most content. "How will you stay in touch and let us know if shit goes really wrong?"

Sturm nods along with Wren quietly, smiling when Charlie is mentioned - and again at the memory of Teagan bringing her the flowers. "Sap is about right," she fixes the Mirrorskin with a fond look. "Y'know. 'Cause you were so damn sweet." There's a moment of embarrassment as she remembers the actual focus of the discussion, and turns back to Wren. "The way I handled it with Lux when they were interrogating Robin was, basically, that I waited close by and I was on-call to ride in to the rescue if shit went south. If I got an emergency text? I went in. If an hour passed without a check in? I went in." Beat. "I could do the same for you. You know I'm happy to stand in-between you and the bugs. I've done it before."

Wren ponders another moment then holds up a finger. "Actually, you know what you guys could do? Have a healer on hand with Charlie. We have an Oath that lets us trade injuries when they happen. If we had someone around to make sure she doesn't kill herself doing so, it'd go a long way towards keeping me on my feet, and short of killing me, I don't think Robin has much she can do to stop me from leaving and getting back with the information."

She shakes her head at the offer of backup. "If we're gonna have anybody nearby, we should have the whole strike team ready in case I get caught. Not to get my ass out of the fire, but to stop her doing so. If Charlie's got people keeping her from playing full-blown martyr, then the only option Robin's gonna have is to bolt if she catches me. Other than that, it'd be better to make sure nobody's nearby just to make sure we don't accidentally tip her off. For all we know, she's packing a Goblin Eye too and will be able to Ken out any of us lurking nearby."