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Heyyyyyy it's the Freehold Hollow, and the friendliest murder hobos (no wait, murder homos?) are freshly returned from patrolling the Hedge.
Having not yet decided to change into street clothes, Sturm's still wearing the entirety of her plate armor. She shifts her helmet - which has a terrible spattering of blood across it's face - under her arm, and sighs as she does so.
Oh, what's that? A little bit of that nasty hedgebeast's blood spray made it through the visor and there's a streak of monster blood running from one side of Sturm's nose to the opposite side's brow? That's probably a pretty good look on her...
"I know it gets said all the damn time, but... I fuckin' hate the Hedge."
It's certainly not a bad look on her, and Teagan sprawls on the ground lazily in the Hollow, stretching their arms up over their head. "Yeah, it's pretty terrible, as psychoactive landscapes constantly bent on trying to kill you go. Dreams are at least a little more controllable." They've got blood in their short black hair but, eh. Life goes on.
Blood? On your anatomy-defying noodle-blender of darkness? It's more way less likely than you think. That's the one downside to the whole untouchable blade dancer routine- Vorpal comes out the otherside bloodless. No cool face streaks, no "frosted" tips... just Johnnie. Oh, well. She slinks in behind the others and finally slips Sigknifr away after wiping her clean.
This would normally be the point where she'd be the insufferable smart-ass and reflect on how it's not always trying to kill you (shuffling you closer to Arcadia is good, too) but instead, she's just somber, glancing back the way they came as if to consider heading out once more.
The burly Jotunn takes a seat beside - well, not quite beside, but close enough to - Teagan with a creak. She plants the bloody helmet on the grass on her other side, propping herself up on her palms to rest for a moment or two beginning the arduous process of doffing her armor.
She leans her head back, watching the currently-upside-down, brooding shadow. "What's up with you, Jackie? You're not... being a cocky little shit, or anything." Beat. "You, uhh. Good?"
The Mirrorskin rolls onto their side, facing Johnnie, absently adjusting the machete which is fastened to their hip. They look across Sturm -- the motion brings them closer to her, natch -- toward Johnnie. "Yeah, normally right now is when you'd be gloating because we did well."
"Oh. I mean, we did do well." Johnnie admits. "Just feel like we came back too soon." It's not like they were lazy, though. And yet, there it is. She looks back at the others, shrugging quietly. "I was kind of thinking I should maybe head back out. Run a different route before I cool down for the night."
"... you sure you want to go back out alone?" The surly Snowskin quirks a brow at Johnnie - still looking upside down at her. "Like. It's gonna continue to be a psychac-uhh. Thing." Beat. "The Hedge is gonna be a fuck whether you're there or not, I guess."
She adjusts herself until she's sitting up straight once more - and then begins to undo some of the ridiculous number of straps and buckles that keep her armor assembled.
Lazily, Teagan rolls to their feet and starts addressing the straps. They've been undoing Sigrun's armor for ages and know how the Valkyrie puts her stuff together. And it's much easier when someone else helps you out of it than when you're trying to do your own. "You shouldn't go out on your own," Teagan answers mildly, "And I'm kinda tapped. So no, you should not do that." The look Teagan gives Johnnie aside is sort of 'don't start going god mode again' but with a worried undercurrent.
"I mean, it's whatever." That's in response to Sturm's question, glancing at that upside down look. "It's gonna be a fuck, yeah, but it's got a harder time being a fuck when I'm there than when I'm not."
"Yeah, well, 'don't wander the Hedge alone' is excellent advice, but not everybody gets to hear that little disclaimer before their first trip." She catches the Look, and scowls, frustrated, looking away again.
Sturm is currently trying very hard not to think about what Teagan is doing at this moment - though it's possible there might be a hint of that navy blue-ish tinge creeping in behind her ears.
... in spite of this, she's able to make the connection. She's mid-way through futzing with her leg plates when she stops to fix Johnnie with her sullen, heavy-lidded gaze. "You know that you're allowed to be upset about shit without feeling obligated to single-handedly fix it, right?" Beat. "Have you, uhh. I know this might sound like a stupid subject change, but have you ever read any Superman comics?"
"No, not everyone does." At that point, Teagan stops and just looks at Johnnie for a moment. Just full on stares at her. "Not everyone does, you're right. But that doesn't mean we need to run off all half-cocked. If you have an idea, let's make a plan. Let's put that plan into place. And let's fucking work on it."
Someone listened to Peter when he talked about what would be necessary for them to move on, and has been giving that a bit of thought, mmmhmm. "I have not read any comics," Teagan comments, turning back to the buckles and loosening the shoulders fully on Sturm's right arm. It's fine, it's only kind of undressing the Jotunn, this is fine.
Johnnie rolls her shoulders at Sturm's comment and shoves her hands into her pockets. It's as close to agreeing to not go as she's getting. "Sure. But counterpoint. If I CAN singlehandedly fix something and I sit on my ass. That's on me. If all it takes to keep- for completely unrelated instance- one girl from dying alone and desperate is "go for a walk" and instead I sit here and do nothing?"
She takes the look and just mutters, "I know. That's my point." If she coulda taken a walk and spared Teagan god knows how long in Arcadia? Wouldn't that have been better?
Long pause into rolling shrug."I dunno," she drawls. "I want to start carving trods to places we're liable to Lose people. We found one. We can find others. The carving- I mean, I can get that done. But it draws attention and it's tiring work, so the problem ends up being navigating around Hob settlements and making sure I don't just get jumped when I Spin a new section of Trod. I wasn't- gonna do that tonight. I was just gonna walk. Make sure nobody needed help."
"Of course I have, he was in the funnies every day. Colors on Sunday even told stories if you read them in order." Johnnie's tone waxes briefly incredulous, like there was even a question as to whether she'd read them.
"I figured you probably hadn't, T." Sturm shrugs free from the recently-loosened pauldron, smirking at the direction Teagan decided to take. She was there for Peter's speech, too - and it's such a conflicting tone for the conversation. To be trapped between being basically undressed by your - err - something confusing... and wanting to give earnest council about a thing that is obviously important.
"My point is that - when written properly - Superman is a story about compassion, not power. Sure, he has an infinite capacity to do good, but the thing that limits him isn't his strength or toughness or... shooting fuckin' lasers out of his eyes - it's his very human ability to expose himself to suffering day after day." Wait, hang on. Stroke Johnnie's ego. That works, right? "You're Superman in this metaphor, by the way - and, just. You can do better - and more - for the lives of others in the long-term if you take care of yourself, rather than running your body into the ground."
She finishes unbuckling the leg plate she's been working on. "... and Teagan's thing about the planning, too." Beat. "Planning isn't sitting on your ass and doing nothing."
"You shouldn't be doing it alone, is my only point." The Mirrorskin takes Sturm's hand, turning it to expose the underside of one forearm, so they can unbuckle her vambraces and remove them one at a time. They've been doing this for years, and the unbuckling is, like, rote stuff for them, which allows them to not think TOO much abotu the 'something confusing' part of taking Sturm literally out of her protective shell.
They did the figurative part already, after all. "Planning is definitely not sitting on your ass and doing nothing. When we make another trod, we have to have a plan for patrolling it, keeping it clear, maintaining it. Are we going to be sharing that with one of the other Freeholds or doing it ourselves? Like... That's all I'm saying."
"Plan for victory so you don't end up in defeat."
"Maybe they got into that after my time. The newspaper stuff was mostly just popcorn. Fun stuff to read about." Johnnie rolls her shoulders, shrugging while Teagan strips Sturm out of her armor by rote. "... it makes sense, though. I get it. It's not usually "can I" for me. It's like "will I." And I'm feeling hard that I haven't said yes to that enough. Not if something like that happens under my fucking nose." She crosses her arms, tight enough to leave her tits flattened uncomfortably. She doesn't seem to care, frowning, tone quiet. "I felt like I was doing a good job. I went out a lot. Fought plenty. But now I don't feel like I've been going to the right places, or at the right times, I was just doing it to do it, not- trying."
"Yeah. You're probably right that I shouldn't. And... I... hadn't thought that far," she admits as Teagan approaches the logistics of the idea of a new trod. "I just figured it'd make it easier to get out there and make sure anyone that needed help had it- or a way someone could have some way to find their way to us, maybe."
"Maybe. Not sure when your time was, but..." The frost giant shrugs again - shifting her position again for better access when Teagan's hands are free from their work with her vambrace. "Point stands. You're still a person who needs to do shit like eat and sleep and have a family and," well. Johnnie probably gets it without the need to list more random shit. So, she goes to work on the other leg plate, letting Teagan help Vorpal plan for the Hedgeventure.
When you're silent and focused on something else, it's way easier to focus on keeping that embarrassing navy blue flush at bay. Can you imagine the Sturm you met two months ago sitting here quietly, willingly letting a person touch her, and blushing about it?
Teagan has that effect on people sometimes, so they can imagine it. They've done it to people ... let's say a few times. "I get it," the Mirrorskin agrees. "But the flip side of that is that if you go off half-cocked and go out there without a good plan, you could actually make things worse. Especially if you, like, get killed. If you go off and get yourself hurt or killed, what then? Who's going to be doing the patrolling then? Not you, not that tough motherfucker that knows the trods as well as you do."
"So all I'm saying is, let's plan." They step around behind Sturm, crouching and reaching to her sides to unbuckle the chestplate from the back plate. It's fine, they're only just incidentally touching Sturm's sides, this is very normal and in no way distracting. "And don't run off alone. That's all. I agree with you, and it's a good idea. Let's just make sure we're doing it right."
"I mean, he wasn't in the funnies when I got back," she points out. "So that's an indicator right there."
"Yeah. I do. I know. Try to keep up with that stuff, it just. Gets to feeling trivial compared to..." To some kid dying with enough desperate hope in her heart to grow fucking goblin fruit.
"You're right, obviously," she mutters at Teagan. "It's-" It's just real now. And she's struggling with it. She might not have learned anything from Peter Stone today, but she's currently enrolled in the Peter Parker school of Hard Knocks. "-anyway. I won't go out. I'm gonna go home and start thinking all this through. Maybe sleep. I dunno." She shrugs, smiles a little at the other two. Short-lived, but she means it. "Thanks for talking. I got work to do."
She sticks around long enough for proper goodbyes- and then she's off.
"Yeah," Sturm's voice is a low grunt - and she does actually get a little bit twitchy as Teagan reaches around for her sides and the soft insides they only barely protect but manages to suppress the urge to wriggle away - or throw an elbow - enough that it's probably unnoticeable. "It's a good idea."
She returns Johnnie's smile with a little half-smirk of her own. "Y'know. If you wanna read anything, I've got the good shit. Just saying." Jesus it sounds like she's pushing drugs. "...and I'd happily help you work on whatever plan you come up with - or even just watch your back while you do." Beat. "So, g'night - and, uhh... don't let feeling like ass over it keep you from getting up tomorrow. More shit to do, right?"
They stop unbuckling Sturm long enough to go kiss Johnnie goodbye -- not a tiny kiss at the corner of her mouth, but a proper kiss goodbye. "I know, babe. I know. I just want to make sure we don't take any unnecessary risks, and only necessary ones." Another kiss chases that reassurance, and they watch Johnnie go before turning back to their task. The sides get unbuckled, and Teagan carefully lifts both chestplate and back plate up over Sturm's head, negotiating the armor over the Jotunn's horns.
"That was some good shit you said to her, just now," the Mirrorskin offers. "The Superman shit."
There's another little wave from Sturm as Johnnie heads off proper - and then she sets her jaw as Teagan returns to help her remove the rest of her armor shell. Negotiating past the horns is always the most nerve wracking part... but it goes by without incident, and she sighs with relief.
"Yeah, I mean." Her shoulders lift into a shrug, and she busies herself with the few remaining straps - trying to seem cool and aloof, and probably failing on account of that blush still hovering around and mucking things up. "Mostly just pulled it out of my ear, y'know?"
It's fiiiiine, just Teagan's hands sort of brush the sides of her horns while they're getting the armor of, nothing to see here, and of course completely accidental. They set the heaviest bits down on the grass next to Sturm and then stretch their arms up over their head, getting the crick out of their back that had formed when they were crouching to help her with her armor. And, you know, just standing here for a second while the autonomic reactions to broad shoulders with a shirt stuck to them because of the sweat from under armor... resolve themselves. It's fine. We're all fine here, how are you?
"That's all any of us do, doll," Teagan replies, circling around to flop back down on the ground next to Sturm, exactly as close as they can get away with, like a cat purposefully pushing a glass off the table. "So you did good."
Sturm takes a deep breath, seizing the opportunity to take one of those hella good stretches - the kind that only come form having your full freedom of motion restored after going a while without it. Her back looks pretty incredible like this. Not, like, flexing good - but goddamn this motherfucker is build and it shows.
"That's probably true." Beat. "... and thanks, I guess. Winter's purview is helping folx grapple with their sorrows just as much as it is keeping secrets, right?" She finishes removing the last of the plates, and stretches her long legs out in front of her - leaning back on her palms once more. This time, maybe just a hair closer to Teagan.
"She was talking to me over texts the other night about struggling with feelings, so I figured, uhh. Y'know, why not?"
They lean back on their palms, too, glancing sidelong at Sturm. Sliver slides over their cheeks briefly, and they absently cock one knee up, leaning forward instead and wrapping their arms loosely around said knee, chin resting on it. "So I've been told," Teagan answers in response to the purviews of Winter. "I'm not so good with sorrow. Much better grappling with my Wrath." A vague, brief smile.
"She was?" It's not surprise in their voice, not really. There's thoughtfulness. "Upset about the girl?"
"Wrath is another story, but I'm pretty good at dealing with feeling shitty - especially after," she trails off. Teagan's seen her dreams - she doesn't really need to elaborate further.
"It was before that, actually. We'd been chatting back and forth about - uhh. Personhood and shit. From opposite perspectives, though." She shrugs. "So it was on my mind - and I made the connection because I noticed she was quiet the other night after we went out for the Hedgefruit, too." Beat. "Sure, the mood was more somber for everyone, but it's still pretty hard to miss when Jackie isn't talking shit, right?"
When she says everyone, she turns her head ever-so-slightly and fixes the Mirrorskin with a glance.
"Yeah." She doesn't need to elaborate further, and Teagan doesn't press. Sturm hasn't seen their dreams, but boy, does Teagan get it. Too bad Sturm doesn't really know how much.
"Johnnie was talking to you about the personhood thing?" The Mirrorskin doesn't seem surprised, really, just sort of thoughtful. "Hunh." They scratch their cheek thoughtfully, jaw jutting out briefly. "Yeah, well. Talking shit after a hedge run is sort of how it usually works. But it sucks when we realize that ... "
"I mean we're pretty good at taking out Briarwolves on a trod. Super easy, barely an inconvenience." Someone's been watching a lot of YouTube lately. "But going off the trod to make a new one? Looking for the weird places where people might fall through? That shit can kill you. Easy. Even Johnnie. Especially her, because the Hedge wants to fucking devour her."
"Shitty feeling."
"Yeah, I mean. She said something about feeling too much shit - and in incorrect ways - that I didn't really get, but I've been dealing with the opposite and we're both pulling towards the happy middle."
Sturm reaches up and unties her hair, letting her snow-white waves of hair cascade around her shoulders. "My metric for what is and isn't an acceptable level of 'fucked up' is a little..." Fucked up? "Different, so." She clears her throat. "Just lookin' out."
"So. Peter's fuckin' wild, right?"
Wowee, that was a breakneck segue.
"When you're almost Fae, you stop feeling so much, or so she tells me. You -- are mostly ego, and how other people feel doesn't affect you so much." Teagan puffs out their cheeks, and rests their cheek on their knee, looking aside at her when her hair's literally let down. They were saying something, and then that happened, and they forgot. So they just stare for a moment.
"Yeah, he's all right," Teagan replies, as though that's a direct agreement with what Sturm said. They don't seem to notice the breakneck segue because they're just watching her.
If Sturm notices that Teagan's distracted, it's certainly not obvious on her features. She runs her fingers through her hair, trying to wrangle it back into some semblance of order after having it tied in a tight bun, drenched in sweat, and crammed under a helmet in battle.
"What was the thing you were talking to him about? Sun something?" She wiggles her eyebrow. "Didn't realize Summer had the patience to dedicate an entire position to being sneaky."
God. She's even got jokes, what fucking happened to her?
A snort from Teagan, then, and they sit up, stretching their arms over their head again. "Unseen Sun. Basically Summer's assassin," they answer. "It's an eclipse metaphor, I think, but like... if you take the Sun Banishers and make them more assassin and less... cleaning up the messes... yeah."
"It's not a great job to have, but... someone's got to take out the garbage, right?" The joke is a little lost on them at the moment, but give them a break -- they're thinking about taking up assassinations again.
"Makes sense," Sturm nods. She, of course, knows what the Sun Banishers do, because of reasons. She fixes Teagan with a brief stare - as if to ask how they felt about that particular aspect of the job beyond the joke - but... a mighty yawn interrupts her, and the questions disappears.
"Well. That big-ass yawn means I probably oughta get this shit bagged up, and get the fuck outta Dodge." She rolls her shoulders. "... but, if you need help preparing for your new gig, lemme know? Happy to help."
"... anyhow. Help me pack up, and I'll pay you back with a ride home?" She wiggles an eyebrow, because she knows the actual value of her bargaining chip - and how likely Teagan is to take her offer based on past experience.
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