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Tonight finds Tanya back at the lavish living quarters that she technically calls home, though neither her or the Firebirds proper have spent much time at it lately. Thus it's not that odd for her to act like she's the only one home. The shower is running, the faint scent of bleach hangs in the air, and Tanya is fussing with her locks over the bathroom sink, wrapped in a white towel from armpits to knees.
Her bathroom is inside her bedroom, and it would be simple to enter, do her thing, and leave without even opening a door, much less making her way through the house. But she's done some traipsing around and even ran some of her laundry, so the door to her bedroom is open with the light on, as is the door to the bathroom.
When Fox finishes putting away Vasya's laundry, because Hearthmaster means talking people through stuff but sometimes it means washing their socks, she comes pap pap pap back into the main hallway. She absently scratches her stomach through her t-shirt and calls, "Who's home?"
"Do you want my real name or my shadow name?" Tanya calls back playfully over the din of bathroom fan and quiet music. "It's just me, come on in," she calls out...absently hoping that will be enough, but mentally preparing herself to have to give some proper identification. A frown crosses her face as she thinks about just how many different ways her voice could be imitated with various arcana...and she quickly blurts out to add, "It's Tanya, I'm... bleaching my hair."
"You came up with one?" Fox queries, padding in to Tanya's room and trailing toward the bathroom. Pheme's wards and the general badassery of the cadre means that Fox at least doesn't seem too concerned that it could be a duplicate. "Why are you bleaching your hair?"
Tanya faces her, smiling, most of her hair bleached already and the scent fading from the bathroom as it disappears into the fan. "I did. It took forever to find one that resonated. I found a bunch that 'fit', but were just...boring. Not right." Her grin says it all, quite proud. "And I'm bleaching my hair because I've never done it before, ever, and I wanted to know what it was like. I think I like it."
She leans against the frame of the bathroom door, arms wrapped loosely across their stomach, and thunks her head gently against the wood. "Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?" Fox absently shifts her weight on her bare feet even while leaning, scratching her shoulder against the frame like a fox rubbing against a tree. "It's cute!"
Tanya's eyes roam him playfully, from eye to shirt to thigh, before pausing to pose and beam proudly. "I thought, oh, I should reveal it dramatically at a key moment, with thunder and awe in front of everyone. But that sounds like a good way to never get around to it." Her eyebrows wiggle in silly fashion. "Do you like guessing?" (edited)
There's a sly sort of amusement which slips over her face as she watches Tanya watch her. "Well, look who's grown," she drolls wryly. Fox's golden eyes glitter sharply, watching her as she poses and wiggles her eyebrows. "I do, but there are a lot of choices. You should just tell me."
She's quiet a moment, just staring into Fox's eyes, as if anticipating how they might react. "Hekate," she intones proudly.
The Orphan squints her eyes in the moment after revelation, and looks off into the near distance; it's possible to kind of see her weigh the name, considering it. Before rendering judgment, she asked, "Why is that the one?"
"The Triune...both sides individually, and in union, supporting each other. Keeper of not sins or transgressions, but society and civilization, the knowledge and bonds that tie us together and keep us safe from the world outside our walls." Tanya's eyes widen along with her smile, clearly excited. "The unconfined divider. The dweller at the threshold, Goddess of Boundaries. She has power in the between places. Crossroads. Gates." She breaks her gaze away from lovely Fox long enough to trail it along the doorframe that brackets them. "Doorways."
She wrinkles up her forehead, listening and watching as Tanya gets so lit up and energized, talking about the name. Fox's smile is slower than most of her smiles, the sort of thing that takes a minute to warm up, sneaking across her face like the first hints of dawn seeking across the sky. "It seems like you've found the right one for who you are now," she responds. "I'm proud of you."
"Thank you," Tanya says, staring at Fox. Eye to eye, basking in the warmth of that precious and genuine smile. "And thank you for...everything you've taught and given me, Little Fox. I hope I can...not repay, but return the favor in kind someday."
She leans forward, forehead bumping with Fox's, before she turns her face to the side and down. Arms coming up in a simple and modest hug. (edited)
Her arms wrap gently around Tanya, and she bonks her forehead against Tanya's, just so. "It's part of the job," she answers, not 'you're welcome' but a sort of 'there's nothing to say thank you for.' "Someday you'll have apprentices, and the world will continue on past me, and that's all I can ever hope for."
She squeezes Tanya, and then takes a step back, resting her hands on the other femme's elbows. "You're grown now. I'm still twice your age and then some. There's no need to rush off anywhere."
The last comment gets a playful giggle from Tanya, as she looks down and sways cutely. Her elbows and arms are silky-smooth, freshly depilated and showered. She's bothering to make these changes by hand, without magic. After that though, she raises her brows, one of her hands clasping onto Fox's elbow in return. "You were under no obligation. You decided to give to me according to your ability and my need, because you are a good person." She purses her lips. "It's part of the job. People shirk all the time. They abandon those in need for convenience, or personal gain, or simply out of fear. Those who chose not to do that deserve, at the very least, a nice compliment and recognition. In my oh so humble opinion," she purrs, squeezing Fox's elbow. (edited)
A puzzled little expression slides across her face, and Fox shrugs her shoulders. "I'm a person, most of the time," Fox answers. "Calling myself a good person feels like a final destination, one that absolves me of continuing to fight and push and work." She pauses, adding, "But thank you."
Tanya tsks and shakes her head, letting her grip go gently. "It's the act of a good person. But look at it this way instead, perhaps... I made the decision to accept your charity, and swallowed my hubris to allow help. It was a good decision, but it wasn't without effort. Denying your own role and agency in it denies mine as well, no?" Her voice trills upwards at the last bit, and she winks a smudgy-mascara'd eyelash lest it sound like she's too serious about it all. "But getting so specific about it is also stodgy and arrogant, so I'll stop...."
Fox squeezes Tanya's arms and smiles, taking a half-step back so that her spine lays against the doorframe. "A lot of things people do are the acts of a good person, including... " He trails off there for a minute. "You're flirting with me." It's not a question. "You're an adult." That's also not a question. "You can make your own decisions." Still not a question. "You also just told me what your Shadow Name is. You're still asserting who you want to be in this world. You're ... a little less than half my age."
"And what I don't want is for you to tumble directly from apprenticeship into defining yourself in whole or in part by a romantic or sexual relationship with me. That would be unkind to both of us, especially with all the other moving parts right now." A gentle hand reaches to pet down her arm. "You're adorable. You're sweet. I love you to pieces. This isn't 'no,' this is 'not now.'" Beat. "Have you given much thought to what Order you'll join?"
Tanya listens to all that without a single hint of upset. If anything, her proud smile just grows. "You're such a parent, you know that?" she quips with adoration. "But...everything you said is absolutely True. I am still asserting who I want to be in this world."
She leans in, forehead to forehead once again, and lays a gentle kiss on Fox's cheek. "One of the things I want to be is a tease. Of that, I'm certain." She turns away after that, slowly and gently, keeping a modest grip on her towel. "More certain than what order I want to join. I don't trust the Diamond. I know little about the Free Council beyond their own propaganda, and less about the Children beyond a bit of their history."
"I do. You are my... " Fox pauses, squinting her eyes. "Twelfth? Eleventh? Twelfth? Apprentice. Either in terms of people who I have inducted into the Orphans of Proteus or who I have seen from Awakening to adulthood." She laughs softly. "I've been through this a few times. The whole thing. End to end." She takes the kiss on the cheek and laughs softly. "Fair enough. That can be fun."
"Mmm. Not trusting the Diamond is generally a good idea, and I say that as a former Mystagogue." She wanders back out into the bedroom itself, circling slowly. "The Free Council isn't the worst there is. And I can tell you whatever you want to know -- I think -- about the Children."
Tanya doffs her towel as Fox exits the bathroom, and steps back out wrapped modestly in a big fluffy white terrycloth robe. It wasn't visible anywhere inside the bedroom or bathroom before, and HILTON is monogrammed across the breast. She rubs at her bleached hair with a brand new fluffy white towel and sits on the edge of her bed. "I wasn't paying attention to the specifics, but I saw what happened to Vasha. What they did to him. Seemed to confirm everything the Free Council says, and now he's gone there. But I know you're in the Children of the Tree, and I respect and value your opinion, mmm...at least as much as my own birth parents, at this point, if not more. So..." Tanya lifts a hand. "Do you think I should join the Children of the Tree, and why?"
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