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Sure, Laura and June can cook, but do they know the best places to order cheesesteaks? The secret ones that only the locals know about?
Well, by now they probably do, because Teagan can order a cheesesteak with the best of them. Also the worst of them. Ordering cheesesteaks isn't fucking hard, this is just a silly way to open a scene. In any case, the driver from the local pizza place which Teagan has dubbed 'the best' just showed up, and the Mirrorskin schleps a big delivery bag full of cheesesteaks, and a box with a large cheese pizza, into the living room. The scent wafts enticingly through the house, and Teag, in tank top and boxers, calls:
"EVERYONE BUT JOHNNIE IS WELCOME TO COME AND EAT THIS DELICIOUS FOOD AND JOHNNIE BETTER NOT STEAL ANY BECAUSE IT'S NOT FOR HER!"
Johnny comes flying up the stairs in all of a bathrobe, presumably from hanging out in her room and listening to some tunes or other. Did her feet even touch the stairs? That'd debatable, and in the house, she doesn't bother to keep her impossible elegance tied down, making the ascent beautifully, terribly fluid all on its own, regardless of details. "Is someone trying to deny me tasty, delicious food?!"
Sigrun steps in from the back yard, where she's been once again dealing with the shop and churning out the gear the motley requires to stay safe and functional. Given the lack of creosote and sweat, she's probably not been at the forge, though. She makes for the box with the pizza in it. Being a New York transplant, she has own priorities where junk food is concerned. Once open, she peels out a slice and turns it towards her waiting mouth, taking a monster bite. She promptly occupies a seat on the couch, pizza slice in hand. "Yes. No touchy."
Rather dramatically, in a fashion really only reserved for their motley, Teagan gasps. "Would you STEAL my FOOD, Johnnie? Food for me, and only me, and also Sigrun, to put into our faces and stay healthy and fed?" And they literally rest the back of their wrist against their forehead, as if at any moment they might swoon onto the ground, overcome by it all. Teagan chooses a cheesesteak, dropping the act with a lopsided smile, pulls two sodas out of the bag, and wanders over to plop down next to Sigrun with their cheesesteak. One of the sodas is offered to the Valkyrie, and Teagan leans over to kiss the greasy corner of her impeccably-fashioned mouth. "Hey, Significant. You don't stink like forge. What've you been up to?"
"And HERE I THOUGHT I was PART OF THE FAMBLY." Johnnie cries in the world's least convincing mock outrage and shoving her hand into the pile of cheesesteaks and coming up with one at random. She's not picky. Teagan ordered. It'll be good. She strides over to the couch and drops to sit on the floor in front of the two, wedging herself back against their legs while her shadows nudge suggestively to maximize contact while she opens her stolen food for consumption. "Yes, what were you up to? I'd ask Teagan, too, but the answer to that is engineering the deprivation of the underclass." Beat. "Cuz... my room's under everyone else's."
"Working on your coat, Vorpal. Got the pattern worked up and spent the day cutting the hides and kevlar and sectioning bone and such for the buttons. I'm having to get a bit more inventive, since you've got noodle arms. But. Shouldn't take me all that long to get it done." Sigrun takes both the kiss and the offered soda, cracking open the latter for a quick sip before going back to her pizza for another bite. She's hongry, apparently. "Trying to get it done so I can get to work on some armor for June. Once we're all kitted out for armor, I can focus on weapons. Got an idea on how to beef up my boar spear. Eager to get to that-- it'll be a challenge for me, too. Putting in the charge guard and all that."
"Wah wah wah," Teagan answers Johnnie's very unconvincing mock outrage, leaning against Sigrun comfortably and chowing down on their cheesesteak. "Your work is the best honestly, so I am sure that whatever you come up with will be as amazing as what you made for me, and that bomb-ass kit you made for Sturm." They wrinkle up their nose at the Elemental. "I don't think that's how that works, Johnnie."
"I mean of course that ain't how it works, that's why it's funny. Or supposed to be funny. Gueeeeeess it isn't?" Oh, well. There's cheesesteak. Nom. "Aw, fuck yes! Murdercoat. I'm really grateful by the by. I do have noodle arms. Whatever muscles were there for like actually doing shit just sorta melted into the shadows. How's that for a bitch and a half, huh?" Nom. "I'm not gonna lie- after seeing what you're making for all of us, I am keen to see what you make for yourself, Sigrun, love."
"I want to do a damascus pattern weld. A leaf point. And turn the crossguard into a nice sharp point, sort of like the tail on a lucerne hammer. Given I've become a lot more mobile as a combatant lately, turning the spear into a more mobile fighting weapon-- more versatile for other than just stabbing --seemed like a natural evolution. I'll have to do heavier wood for the shaft, though, given the sheer tension it's going to undergo when swung. But fortunately, I don't have noodle arms." Sigrun nudges Vorpal with a hand, teasing her good naturedly. "Eventually, I'll want to forge a whole kit for myself. New axe, new sword. New fighting knives and throwing knives. New bow. And then I'll start looking into token making. See if I can't spin weapons and armor, too."
"It's funny," the Mirrorskin reassures Johnny, a rather amused expression slipping across their face. "You do have noodle arms, but they're very fast, sexy noodle arms." This affirmation gets chased by a bite of cheesesteak, and they nudge against the verging-on-inappropriate shadow hands, and also Johnnie's butt, with a foot. Silence and eating, then, bites traded off with swallows of coke as they listen to Sigrun talk. "Mmm. That sounds fucking badass. I can't wait to see what it looks like." A pause, and they add, "Did you see the presents that we got, by the way?"
Vorpal nods along as Sigrun explains what she wants to do, following pretty closely and lifting her non-cheesesteak-wielding arm to wobble amusingly to the side. "Let me know if I can help with the tokenmaking. The primary methods don't really do hands-on creation, except for oathsworn tokens, and we'd probably all want to be in on that." Munch. She loops her free, noodly arm round Sigrun's leg, squirming her hips side to side to get the butt Teagan's nudging wiggling properly.
"Yeah! Did you? I took pictures." And a little video. Heheheh.
"I wasn't aware there were any gifts, no." Sigrun finishes off her piece of pizza and washes it down with a swig of her soft drink. She sets the crust on the coffee table and toussels Vorpal's hair to announce her brief rise from the couch to go and fetch two more slices of pizza. Apparently she was hungrier than she thought! The slices are set down on a paper plate and she reclaims her prior position on the couch. "I figure I can just take them into the hedge and spin 'em to get 'em how I'd like them to be. I've never really tried it before, but I assume it's as simple as spinning anything else. And probably just as dangerous outside of a stable trod."
Teagan leans in to press a greasy smooch to SIgrun's cheek, and then puts down their empty cheesesteak wrapper on the coffee table. "I mean other than the amazing coat you made me, which I have been wearing like all the time," the Mirrorskin clarifies, and then scampers -- scampers! -- over to the mantle to pick up two tiny figurines which had been clearly scaling the mantle as if it were Mount Doom. They were on an adventure.
Someone around here, apparently, is in to painting minis, and has painted a Teagan-Mien -- complete with tiny machete and eyes painted on with an excessively tiny brush and silver paint to approximate the broken mirrors -- and a Johnny-Mien, complete with translucent shaped shadows sprouting up around her. The Mirrorskin brings them back and holds them out to Sigrun, their eyes glittering.
Given how much Teagan avoids having pictures taken, this might be a strange reaction to having their image captured. Then again, pictures capture their Mask.
Johnnie beams like the world is all well when Sig musses her hair, shadows flicking it out of her eyes a moment later while she fishes her phone out to pull something up to show Sigrun. "Oh, if you're gonna spin'em, then you're probably about as good at this as I would be. I'd still be happy to help, though!" She gets what she wants pulled up when Teagan returns with the minis. "Check these out!"
What proceeds on Johnnie's phone is a drama of epic proportions- one Johnniefig versus a literal army of faceless green army men, a T-rex that has clearly had pterodactyl wings rather cleverly implanted with some delicate knifework and superglue, and a lot of amusing papercraft special effects. The final shot is Johnnie versus the "dragon"- she goes from one side to the other in a single shot, and then, in the only video segment, the two halves of the "dragon" fall apart while what is obviously red kool-aid explodes upwards in a hilarious shot. Some additional shots follow with some cheapo Drug Store Action Figure that seems to be utterly flummoxed in attempts to pin down Johnnie, only to interpose a brief video of a machete- not Baby, she wouldn't be utilized for something so banal- whacking straight through the figure, with the final shot being a triumphant Teaganfig between the halves of the fig in a lake of kool-aid.
Sigrun is not a minifig sort of nerd. She's definitely an SCA style recreationist nerd. Given her general aesthetic, handmade clothing and equally handmade combat equipment, in any case. So it is with a bit of bemusement that she accepts the painted minis, though she's decidedly curious about them and holds them close to her face to get a good look at the details. One can always tell the care and craftsmanship that goes into a paint job, and the dry brush technique and detail work are admired with a small grin. "These are very cute!" She hands them back to Teagan carefully, then leans forward to watch Johnnie's slideshow and video. Her eyebrow arches with amused skepticism at first, but ends with her laughing at the silliness of it all. "I think I remember that fight. Only there was less koolaid, if I recall."
Teagan carefully -- almost reverently -- sets the minifigs down on the table and snuggles up to Sigrun to watch Johnnie's little movie. They wrap their arms around her waist, smiling into her shoulder proudly at Johnnie's artistic work. "I've never had anything that looked like me," Teagan explains quietly. "I hate pictures." Pictures look like the fake-Teagan, the lie, and besides, Green was always pushing for pictures. Pictures of the lie. "But that's -- that's actually, like... me." A soft laugh. "Sturm made them. She's like, a Shadowrun dork. I guess it's a game? That you play and pretend to be people you're not? Which is usually work for me. But because of it, she made them."
"She was thinking about making one for you, too, but she said she thought it felt like too little, when you made her armor." A vague shrug. "I like my tiny Teagan. It looks like me." You said that already, Teagan.
"And more's the shame! It'd be tons more fun to drink heart's blood from the skulls of my enemies if they bled kool-aid." More noms, beaming at the general approval and Sigrun's laugh. That- that makes her day. "I like mine, too. It's really clever. Gets so much right. Plus what if we had a whole set? We could play a game as us. That'd be super awesome."
"It's a very thoughtful gift," Sigrun admits as she slides her arm around Teagan's shoulders and tucks them in closer, "they're quite clever little things. My mom used to collect those awful Precious Moments figures. From Hallmark. I like these little ones much better." Sigrun presses a kiss against Teagan's temple, gives them a little jostle, and then reclaims her arm so she can resume eating her pizza. Om nom nom. She does roll her eyes a little at the mention of gifting her a figurine and that not being sufficient compensation for the armor. "The whole purpose of a gift is the lack of need for repayment. But. That's an explanation for someone else."
"Oh, the ones with the weird sappy faces and the heads too big and the eyes like alien things like staring at you? Yeah, they're fucking awful." Teagan makes happy little sounds in the back of their throat when they're snuggled and jostled, leaning back against the couch. "I don't think she -- I mean, a gift is a gift. But when someone gave you armor and you're like 'hey here's a thing I painted'. I think it's more that she undervalues the amount of time and talent and observation and thought which goes into her art, Sig." A wave of their hand, and they reach to pick up their soda. "I like tiny Teagan."
"I like'em too," affirms Johnnie, finishing off the cheesesteak. She doesn't know as much about all that stuff as the others, so she lets them talk that bit out. "It's fine to show gratitude to someone does something awesome like make you armor, right?" Johnnie doesn't quite grok what's not lining up there.
"Sure. And a little hand painted Sigrun would be a totally worthy gesture of gratitude, is my point. The whole thing about my chosen lifestyle is that I have a lot of weird skills and knowledge that a lot of people lack. I don't expect people to hand forge me armor because it's a really obscure, expensive, hard to master skill. You need a lot of overhead to even get started, and then all you do is waste time and money learning it. It's a real chore. So. I don't expect something like that to be repaid. You know?" Sigrun lifts her second slice up for a quick bite between thoughts, then scoots back into the couch again with her slice still in her hands. "I think they're cute. They clearly take time and attention, same as any craft should. So. You're probably right, Teagan."
"And now I have shown you something that made me really happy, and shared with you my joy, and also confirmed with you that you would enjoy that as a gesture of gratitude, and I can tell Sturm 'no it's not silly, no, she won't think it's dumb.'" The Mirrorskin taps the side of their nose. Teagans are smort. "It's a question of 'repayment' versus 'a gift given in gratitude, or, also, a gift given because often gifts are exchanged, not one-sided, so people can feel strange if they are not exchanging a gift with someone,'" they explain to Johnnie. A lazy stretch of their arms up over their head. "Laura was teaching June to make pie earlier today. I overheard them a little, but they were being really cute and I didn't want to interrupt their time together. But it made me happy, and there is savory pie."
"Ohhhh! Okay, that makes sense," Johnnie responds, nodding in satisfaction. "Thank you, both of you. That helps." She grins, slowly, as Sigrun specifies that she thinks the models are cute and good presents and everything. And she tips her head to hear what's going on with Laura, and June, and lets out a quite, "Huh." She's- having a Feel of some sort about that, but she's still figuring out what Feel that one is. "... wait, do pies have to ripen or something???"
"I always prefer a mature pie to one that lacks experience," Sigrun says with a straight proverbial face and a very actually bisexual one. But it only lasts a moment or two before she is sniggering like Muttley at her own joke, ending her mirth with another bite of her pizza. "Good. I'm glad those two are getting on so well. I should probably add Laura to my ever increasing list of people I need to gird for battle. I've never fitted someone quite so anthropomorphic, though. Nevermind what she'd have to do when she changed forms. Maybe that would be the first thing we try to make as a proper token, Vorpal. Armor that can change forms as Laura does. It wouldn't be much use to her otherwise, I don't think."
Teagan reaches down to pet Johnnie's hair, and leans then to kiss the top of her head. Johnnie will have to sort through her short list of Feelings (Attemping To People, Horny, Hungry, Murderous, Showing Off) on that one, for sure, and Teagan's gesture is one of 'I see your feelings.' "Yeah, probably. Can you do that? Of course you can do that. Tokens can do just about anything."
Johnnie dissolves into "totally mature" sniggers the moment Sigrun drops that joke, devolving into "Ohohohoooooooo~" by the end of it. "Yeah! I can help with that. I can imagine how helpful that'd be, shifter's plate? So to speak?" The hand in the hair helps, and she sighs quietly, soothed. "It's a good thing they're getting closer." Right? Right.
Right?
"Feelings are funny things. Takes a lot of work to master them, I've found. But it's worth having them, too. I think things would get pretty dull without emotion to muddle things up in our lives." Sigrun takes a final bite of her second slice and tosses the crust on her plate. For she is one of those heretic non-crust eaters. Unless there's dipping sauce, in any case. She reaches for her third slice in short order. Cos she still hongry. "I can't believe you just brushed right past my mature pie joke, Teagan. You feeling okay?" It's a tease, but also an opening should one be needed.
"I mean, let the record show, I love me some mature pie, as long as by mature we're not talking, like, 'right after Lilith Faire' mature.'" Teagan leans back next to Sigrun, looping an arm around her shoulders lazily, and nudging at Johnnie again with their foot. "I -- sort of missed it, because Johnnie was having a Feeling, and I -- mirrored in on it?" The corner of their mouth twists up a little. "Is that good for real, Johnnie, or do you just think you're supposed to say it's good?"
"Master them? I'm still getting the hang of naming them again," Johnnie admits with a laugh. It's not entirely humorless. "I'm glad they're there, though. And that the relationship is something closer to a partnership than indentured slavery to them. They're- manageable, mostly, now. Didn't used to be. Didn't used to be at all." Johnny cleans up the crusts. They're the best parts, anyhow!
"Ah... more the latter, with a little of the former, but it's tangly? Like- it's definitely good in the greater sense. Definitely good for them. Not sure how I feel about how it regards me? That's the tangly bit?"
"Feelings and dreams are how we can pull off the things that we can pull off. True, they're also the tools and tender of the Gentry, but much of what I love about my life wouldn't exist if everything was just a matte gray of sensation and emotion. Aspirations are important, you know? The elation of success is nothing without the fear of failure. Everything is on a balance. Good and bad. Pleasure and pain. Joy and sadness. Love and indifference. We're all just messy sliderules." Sigrun makes this declaration before chomping into her third slice of 'za, destroying any profundity her words contained by getting sauce on her cheek.
"Does it need to regard you? Or do you feel, like... " And then Sigrun goes on her monologue (it's a very good monologue) and Teagan sort of loses their train of thought, turning their head to watch Sigrun as she talks. Then she gets sauce on her cheek, and they lean over to lick it off, schlorping their black tongue up said cheek.
"All of that is true. Also... " Teagan pauses. "Do you think that if June and Laura like... get close, it puts more pressure on you to make a decision?"
"No, you're right, of course, but I'm basically changing perspectives from- like- being a millionaire who has all the money in the world and can do whatever he feels like to being like everyone else on the planet and having to assess my feelings to understand if they're actually useful or important before deciding if they're permitted to impact my choices. From being controlled by them to trying to control them myself."
Teagan gets it in one, and she fixes them with a fingergun before pausing and wobbling her hand. "Well, I mean, it does. I become the only person left who hasn't made a decision of some sort. But I mean. I don't necessarily have to be in love with her to agree that she belongs as part of the family. I wasn't in love with Glitch when he joined and that was fine. Sigrun understandably kept a lot of distance between us on account of the maybe going Wyrdwild and possibly slaughtering everything she'd come to care for, for all she knew. And regardless of whether I decide to love her or not, I wouldn't send her out of the house or anyone else's company."
"If it's any consolation, I'm sort of... I'm a tough nut to crack. I keep myself on a pretty tight leash. I was the same way about Glitch, and about June at first. I love all of you, and you're all very important to me. But I don't necessarily express that with physical intimacy, primarily. Or even necessarily talking a lot. Probably to my discredit. I've only got twenty-four hours in a day, and I lose six of them to sleep, on average. Armor and weapons won't make themselves. Chores need doing. Clothes need mending. I keep a good hearth, make good money, and ensure everyone has a place to sleep and feel safe. I was doing that for you, even when I was keeping you at arm's length." Sigrun wipes off her face after the lick and nudges Teagan with her elbow, then takes another bite of her pizza.
They give Sigrun a beaming smile when she wipes off her cheek, and would flutter their eyelashes at her, if they had eyelashes. Instead, they smooch the spot where they just licked, and turn their attention back to Johnnie as she talks about Feelings (tm).
"Well, you know no one's pressuring you to make a decision. If you feel pressure, that's... coming from inside you. Which isn't necessarily bad, mind you. It means you're having feelings and listening to them." Teagan pulls a knee up to their chest, wraps their arms around it. "But I'm glad to talk to you about your feelings, wherever they come from."
They lay their head on Sig's shoulder. "I like napping with you, that's enough sometimes."
"I think that's why I felt so distanced," Johnnie explains. "I'm very physical. It's- I dunno. One of the things I Choose. Feeling Happen. The other stuff, I Do. It doesn't mean that what you do isn't valid," she clarifies. "I see what you mean. You devote a lot of time to our wellbeing which is a testament- no, more like a monument to how much you care." She tips her head back and looks up at her partners on the couch. "I'm gonna remember that, though."
"I know there's no active pressure, and yeah. It's from me." She's quiet a moment. "Is there room for me to feel like she belongs in the Motley without being in love with her myself?"
"Sex for me has always been sort of secondary importance to a sense of security. I ran away from home when I was a kid. To New York City. In the 1980s. It's a waaaay different place these days. I've slept on the street, I've eaten out of dumpsters, I've worn the same clothes for a week at a time. And I clawed my way out of that. And work really hard to make sure I never have to live that way again-- and that no one I care about has to, either." Sigrun reaches down a hand to scritch at the top of Vorpal's head affectionately. "And I haven't forgotten about our date, either." She polishes off her pizza and hands Vorpal the crust before adding, "Yeah. You can value her for her strength and character without being in love with her. Love is a weird, messy, complex thing."
"It's good understanding the way that the others communicate that they care, even if it isn't always exactly the way that we also communicate that we care," Teagan offers thoughtfully, their head still resting on Sigrun's shoulder. "Yeah. I appreciate that you take care of me. I'm really spoiled that way. When I wanted to die," and they just say that like they're saying 'yesterday' or 'ten years ago', just matter of fact, "I didn't really care about where I lived. Just... in my car was enough. What did it matter? Because I'd be dead soon, and who would care? But, like... now I have a house. Because I have a life, and that life is worth living."
They offer, "I mean. You said yourself you weren't in love with Glitch when we first became a motley. You can think she fits without being in love with her, yeah."
"Isn't there like a heirarchy of stuff or something? That makes perfect sense," Johnnie murmurs. "I missed the 80s. I believe you, though." She's quiet while Sig shares more about her life. "... if stuff goes sideways, no matter how sideways? I'll make sure you never end up there, too. You've earned it. We've got your back, love. Truly." She leans into the scritchy fingers and lets out a rare little sigh. "Me either. I'm really looking forward to just... fucking off for a while. And seeing you relax."
"Well, yeah, I did say, but at the same time, like- I dunno," she finishes flat. "I just meant that I want to make sure everyone else is okay with that idea. "
"Nobody is obligated to be in love with anyone else. And while it's just sort of worked out that we're one big convoluted polycule, that has never been a requirement. So, yeah. Don't sweat it. And if it happens in the future, well. So be it. And if not. Also so be it. You can't control that stuff." Sigrun turns her head to smooch at Teagan's hair, since it's nice and close. Convenient. She ends up making a quiet 'huh' sound at some thought and then just shaking her head. "It's funny, though. No matter how many people tell me they've got me on that score? I never entirely trust it. Once you've been burned on that point, you never make that mistake again. Nothing against any of you all. I'd just never actually let my guard down on that count."
"I understand being self-sufficient. It means as much to you to be self-sufficient, Significant, as it means to me to be able to let you take care of me rather than having to one hundred percent self-sufficient. I've been burned but ... it's important to me to be able to let my guard down. It's... just different ways of dealing with the same thing," Teagan offers thoughtfully, and then looks aside at Johnnie, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "Babe, I'm fine with it. Thank you for asking. I don't -- I mean, no one's going to demand that you be in love with her so that she can be in the motley, and I'd much rather have her in the motley than not. I think -- it would be easier for you to be closer to her, whether martially or maritally," And oh, the pun, "if she were. Because you'd know she'd have your back, on account of that whole oath thing."
Johnnie mutters under her breath, "I get the one burn rule. Once is enough."
"Okay. Thank you for reassuring me. I- don't know why I thought it needed to be both. I do trust her enough to swear with her. The rest- it'll happen or it won't. But I've seen what I need, I think, to trust her with you all. I don't need to love her to trust that she loves you all."
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