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All these strangers (okay, one) came stomping through Downtime the other day, and so Teagan is in the process of quietly cleaning up the Hollow, fixing the door and changing the key. Just in case people get any ideas about trying to break back in. The Mirrorskin stretches their long-fingered hands toward the doorway, Baby in their other hand, and carefully swings the machete in a long-practiced kata. One, two, three, four.
The new key, the new pattern of knocks, has already been communicated to the motley before the work's done, so of course it's not that hard for anyone to get in here. Or maybe they're already here, taking naps.
Sturm hasn't been seen since they finished the operation. She came in, left without a word carrying an armful of tech shit (which she shoved into a duffle) along with the severed head of an Oathbreaker and stalked off to turn in her quest lead the team to safety, complete the mission, and debrief with Lumi. When she returned later that night? Just fell straight into bed face first. No shower. No change of clothes. Didn't even wash the blood off her hands, or take off her kevlar vest.
12+ hours later, Sturm tries out the new knock - which she listened to a recording of on her phone (or something) - and stumbles into Downtime, visible for the first time since crashing through it the previous night. She's frowning and looking distant, holding her coffee with both hands. Thankfully they're clean now - even if you can still the bareat hint if a stain on her icy skin.(edited)
The floor is scrubbed clean, no dribbles of blood. The Mirrorskin themself is scrubbed, too, after doing that work. And then they hang up Baby and sit down on the pillows, pulling a blanket around themself. Teagan tips their chin up at Sturm, and squints. "Doll?" They approach to kiss her, and then stop. "... have you showered yet?"
Sturm yawns, opening her mouth wide and -- boy howdy look at all those teeth in there. She looks down at Teagan - to let them kiss the corner of her mouth, but not quite having the energy to do much more than that. It's a bit like she's at maybe 80% of the way through her Wake Up download. "Mm mmm," there's a sip of coffee, and she looks a little bit embarrassed - not that most people would know, but Teagan knows what signs to look for. "Not yet, sorry. Been so busy since last night that I didn't think to."(edited)
"Okay. So we're going to start there." Teagan says gently. "Take another swallow of your coffee, and then it's shower time. We can talk about whatever happened afterwards, but you stink, and wallowing in the stench of the house fire is not going to solve whatever is going on in your head." The tone of their voice brooks no argument, and puts the subtle order in the statements. Not 'do you want to do this' but 'we are going to do this.'
Sturm frowns at the statement, and she pauses for a moment - like maybe she might argue, but ultimately her better judgement wins out in the end. "Okay," her voice is gruff - still laden with sleep. She gulps another mouthful if coffee, and sets the mug aside. "Sig get back okay, too?" There's a hint of worry in her grumbling. "I was down for the count. Didn't see a text when I woke up." She follows Teagan - either to the bath in Downtime, or back ironside.(edited)
"She posted up in the Freehold Hollow about building a pyre, so I'm assuming so. But I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet." Teagan takes hold of Sturm's hand and gently but insistently leads her toward the bath/shower area. "Talk to me, doll." Their fingers work on Sturm's clothes -- much less sexily than usual, this is a very practical sort of thing -- and they look up at her, lips pursing slightly.
"Oh, it went well enough - almost perfectly until the fire broke out." Sturm doesn't mind being helped out of her clothes, but she's sore - and sluggish - so any attempts to work with Teagan in that just end up getting in the way. "They -- Err. Marjorie and Lumi -- made me Sun Banisher later that night. So. Obviously everything went right." There's a deep sigh as she shuffles her discarded clothes off to the side, and reaches up to release her hair from the tight bun. It's all messy and tangled at the moment - from having kept it up for so long through sleeping.(edited)
This isn't the Mirrorskin's first rodeo, or second, or third, with helping someone who is worn out from a fight get out of their clothes and wash off. "Everything went right?" Teagan asks, frowning a little bit and squinting up at Sturm. "... everything?" This is Teagan's gentle prodding at Sturm's statements, as if testing to see how close to reality she seems to be at the moment. They don't have a contract to sniff that out, but they know Sturm.
"I- huh?" Sturm's brow furrows a bit, and she looks down at Tegan in confusion. "Yeah, everything. We rolled up in the truck with Wren at the wheel, Scourge and Glitch covered the exits, and then Sigrun and I went in the front. Totally silent for the whole run until we, uhh." She pauses. "I guess the fuse blew, somehow, and then the shit hit the fucking fan while everyone scrambled. She had a camera - and a bomb." Beat. "But we -- Err. I -- took her fucking head off and..." She trails off. "Made the call to come through Downtime with the others."
... actually, Teagan has seen Sturm like this before. After she first met Sigrun - when they talked about the Holmgang. Something is definitely off about her.(edited)
"Okay," Teagan replies quietly. They continue undressing Sturm, and then themself, for the purposes of washing a Sturm. Very practical, this. There are means of gauging how worried Teagan is, and one of them is, not to put too fine a point on it, how not turned on they are at the moment. Girlfriend being like this = not sexy AT ALL.
"What about the firefighters who died, doll?" They take her hands and start to pull her into the big shower.
"Oh," Sturm grumbles. "Yeah." She follows Teagan into the shower slowly, scratching at the back of her head with worry, and deep scowl etched into her features. "It had a dead man's switch -- and we didn't have the time to think with the fire. Sigrun was holding Robin's thumb on the trigger when I took her out - and she wanted us to leave her behind but I couldn't-" she clears her throat, correcting herself. "It wasn't an option." Sturm pinches the bridge of her nose. "Then Glitch froze it, and we were trying to give her time to get free but. Time is weird in the Hedge." Beat. "So."(edited)
A deep breath in, a slow breath out, and Teagan sighs wearily as Sturm talks. "Kneel, so I can wash your hair," the Mirrorskin directs with that same gentle-but-firm way about them. "Of course it wasn't an option. I'm sure Sigrun tried to insist that she had to stay behind and it would have been okay if she died, because she'd go to Folkvangr or at worst Valhalla, and the rest of you can't let her do that, because if you actively allowed her to do that without seeking another option, who knows if the Wyrd would rule you or Glitch to be Oathbroken? If she can't understand anything else, perhaps she can understand that." A deep breath in, slow breath out, and they let the hot water run over them, misting up in their strong Summer Mantle. "Anyway. So everything didn't go totally to plan." A beat. "Have you talked to June yet?"
She does kneel as bidden. Sturm's long past the point of having the energy to argue - not that she's have argued anyway. Not to be crass, but this is hardly the first time she's heard the words. "I thought she was going to try and Helldive with it at first, but -- I don't know." Beat. "I'm- I don't know about that. I wasn't thinking about the oath, to be honest." Sturm leans back into Teagan as their fingers knead and scritch her scalp with the shampoo, and she closes her eyes - trying to find some way to relax. "I was thinking about how I'd have to leave her behind again -- about whether or not there'd be anything left for a pyre -- about how the fuck I'm supposed to tell that story? About who the fuck wants to hear the story of how an Oathbreaker strapped herself to a bomb and forced Sigrun to jump on to keep her family from going down with the traitor?"
Sturm's face scrunches up in frustration - but it's muted from the usual level of anger that Teagan might expect. She diverts her eyes, clearing her throat again. "... you're the first person I've talked to since talking to Lumi."(edited)
"I didn't think that you were thinking about the Oath." Teagan reaches for Sturm's shampoo: fortunately, they know the difference between Sturm's and Sigrun's by the bottle color and shape. "I know that you love Sigrun, as we all do, and... " They pause. Listening. "I know. You just got her back. How could you lose her again?" Their long, adept fingers rub her scalp, scrubbing the scent of house fire out of her hair. "You'd find a way to tell that story, if you had to. But you didn't want to. No one wants to tell a story like that." No, it's not the first time that Sturm has heard those words, but this time, who's taking care of whom is reversed, though the dynamic continues to exist.
"Tip your face back so I can rinse your hair," Teagan instructs, and then makes a soft sound. "Mm. So you haven't dealt with this at all, have you?"
Sturm follows instructions again, tipping her head back - and keeping her eyes closed - to keep the suds from making their way into her already-irritated eyes when Teagan rinses her hair. "It's just a shitty fucking story, is all." Beat. "I don't want to tell the story of a pyrrhic victory. She deserves a better end than dying in trap that was laid by a coward." Oh yeah, sometimes Sturm sounds all viking-y, too. Which is probably a little odd.
There's another soft grunt. Mmm mmm. She doesn't say much else, just enjoys the feeling of warm water and helpful hands with her arms crossed over her chest. "I just woke up, pretty much. Made coffee. Came to check on everyone."(edited)
It's really not that odd to Teagan. Maybe because they've lived with Sigrun so long that hearing someone talk like a Viking is just like 'yep okay that's fine'. Their dark fingers slide through her white hair, a striking contrast that distracts them briefly. They run their hands down the length of her hair, sluicing the shampoo out of it, carefully rinsing until the water runs clear. "You're right. She does deserve a better story." A pause.
They reach for the conditioner next, squeezing excess water out of the Jotunn's hair and then putting the conditioner on in a thick layer. "Okay. So after our shower, we're going to go snuggle, and talk a little more. You need more sleep, too, because you've been running yourself ragged for literally months over this shit. And then when you wake up, you're going to go find June, and we'll get dressed properly, and go to the pyre." They pause, holding up a hand. "Whether or not you want to go, and I don't really want to go myself, this is important to Sigrun, and her faith holds her brain together, so we're going to go support her."
"There is... almost nothing I want less in the entire world than to have to pretend to be cool with a piece of shit like Robin at funeral she doesn't deserve." There's something else there that Sturm doesn't say, but her protest is mostly perfunctory, anyway. Teagan makes a good point. This isn't really Robin's - it's Sigrun's funeral, she just put the oathbreaker's name on it. "Okay," she grumbles. "Guess I can probably for that. Don't know how much longer I can sleep past twelve hours, but." Beat. "This isn't quite the celebration I was picturing at the end of this fucking marathon, but snuggling sounds nice. I'd really like to snuggle."(edited)
"I know. But it isn't about Robin. It's about Sigrun needing to do right by her beliefs, and people needing to put this all to bed. I saw Lux's tag on Robin's head, and everything. That's ... not healthy. I like Lux, but that's not healthy." A pause, and they shrug, water cascading down over their shoulders as they start to rinse the conditioner from Sturm's hair.
They tip her chin up with the gentlest touch at her jawline, and look down at her, their broken-mirror eyes glittering. "After we go and support Sigrun, and you help me make certain that no one makes an unseemly display that ruins Sigrun getting her brain centered about this, I will reward you, doll." Their other hand gently touches the blue sapphire heart on her necklace with its little silver gremlindevil's tail, and Teagan leans to kiss the base of one of her horns. "But for now, let's get dried off, and snuggle. You did good work, and I'm so proud of you. There's nothing else to do right now but be with me, in our home."(edited)
"I know, it's -- I don't get it, but it's her thing -- and that's fine. It's for Sigrun," Sturm grumbles quietly. She doesn't sound entirely convinced, but she's willing to trust Teagan with taking point on this decision. She's done being in charge for a little while.
There's a sign of incredible relief from Sturm as Teagan kisses the base of her horns - like she hits a second wind of sorts - and she pulls herself up to her full height, giving Teagan a little peck on their right cheekbone. Just a little thank you for taking such good care of her.
"Yeah, uhh. Sorry about the pike. I was-" Sturm clears her throat - and her hand falls down to the pendant, stroking the gem's face with the pad of her thumb. Oh, hello worry stone. Come here often? "I was so angry I couldn't think straight."(edited)
A soft laugh, rather gentle, and Teagan nods once. "I understand it. Robin paid her price. She died with a weapon in her hand, whether that was a bomb or a sword. To treat her as anything other than a fellow warrior would mean Sigrun was bringing dishonor on herself by her behavior. If she treats Robin as one of the ... beloved dead... or whatever, Laura read me the notice, then ... Robin's gone. Robin can't have any more feelings about anything, ever. So this is about Sigrun and how she behaves." Teagan smooths their hands over Sturm's shoulders gently as she rises, tipping their face up toward her.
The kiss on their cheekbone brings out a subtle smile from the Mirrorskin, and they reach to turn off the water. "I know," Teagan answers. "She hurt a lot of people. She tried to kill you, and Sigrun, and Wren, and Glitch, and Scourge. If that bomb had gone off while you were all there? It might have killed all of you. I can't imagine how fucking furious I would be." A gentle pat to her arm, and then they start gently guiding her out of the shower, picking up towels on the way.
"I don't see strapping yourself to a bomb so people have to go down with you as honorable, but... whatever. Not like I give a shit about honor anyway - and I don't need to see it that way in order to respect that it's important to Sigrun." So maybe Sturm's still a little salty. Just a teensy bit. Even as she takes the towel from Teagan and begins to pat her hair gently with it, she doesn't sound fully on board with the idea, but she'll get there. She said she would, and she will. Sturm wraps the towel around her mid-section, stopping to give Teagan another kiss. The kissing helps the salt. The towel does a pretty poor job of covering everything, but it'll make for a passable thing to hide behind until the pair can get back to Sturm's room to pick up pajamas.
Fortunately nobody's in the living room tonight, so it doesn't matter anyway - though if they were, I imagine there wouldn't be too much uproar about it.
What could be better than comfy pajamas, your favorite record, and drifting off to leep in your partner's arms? For Sturm, probably nothing.
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