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Unfortunately, the thing about having a broken arm (THANKS RENA) and a little bit of clarity damage is that... well, it's fucking hard to drive! All things considered, Sturm made it pretty far -- to a bar that's only about a fifteen minute walk from the house -- before needing to pull over and park alongside the curb.
It's eleven PM, it's a warm night, Sturm's smoking a cigarette in the bed of her pickup truck, and basking in the neon glow of a lit sign with Teagan and Glitch are on their way. Without the six lethal damage she took in that fight, it'd almost be a delightful scene to walk into.
The Jotunn is bloodied, bruised, and sporting a split lip with a blood-stained white bandana as she cradles her right forearm in wait...
The only way to bring Sturm's truck home is to bring yourself without a car you have to bring home. So Teagan takes a Lyft. That's got to be one of the weirdest rides that driver has that day: a glowering 6-foot-tall androgyne and their much smaller companion.
Teagan pushes the door open, muttering something like thanks toward the driver, and hops up into the truck bed to deliver a kiss to the corner of Sturm's mouth. "I maintain that not hunting down the fucking bloodsucker who laid hands on my woman is evidence of incredible personal growth for which I should be praised," they mutter by way of hello.
Glitch takes the ride in silent catlike fashion, stepping out of the car, shutting the door behind him, and taking a vape hit immediately. "If we're handing out praise for that I want some too. There's still time to hunt." He approaches after Teagan, staring up from ground level at the now even taller Lost occupying the truck bed.
Sturm -- or perhaps telling of her current state -- doesn't respond in her usual way. Rather than turning into the kiss like a gremlin, her focus stays on the Lyft driver's retreating car until it disappears from sight. "You're the best, actually, and I'm very proud of you for not committing a murder," Sturm grumbles, fetching another cigarette from the pack she's kept rolled up in the sleeve of her shirt. "Would prefer y'all didn't go chasing anybody down on my behalf, though. Like I said on the phone we just got into some dumb shit and it snowballed." Beat. "... and I damn near killed her for it anyway. TKO."
She lights up - which is a fun trick to do one-handed - and then sticks the lighter back into her pants pocket.
"An injury to one is an injury to all," rebuts the Mirrorskin, repeating the usual mantra of the motley. They look her over quietly, examining her injuries with a frown. "And you're pretty fucking injured." They sigh heavily, as much at Sturm's response as the wounds. "Well, you look like shit, doll, so I'm glad you gave as good as you got. Let's get you home, and then we can figure out what healing needs done. Can you get in the cab, or would you rather lay down in the back?"
"Yeah I guess," she punctuates the statement by puffing her cigarette. "I definitely threw the first punch, though, so I'd feel bad if y'all went out and 6v1'd the poor motherfucker after I already rung her bell for it." The Jotunn tries to brace herself on the edge of the truckbed, but hisses in pain as she finds herself unable to place too much weight onto her injured arm. "Fuck," she slumps back against the wheel. "I can get in the cab with a bit of help - but one of us is gonna have to ride back here anyway, so it might as well be me since I'm already here."
Glitch looks around and does some mental math. "Unless I sat in someone's lap," he offers dryly. "You want one of us in the back with you? It's not safe, but you probably shouldn't be sliding around back there. You can't brace or grab on one side."
A glance up and down the street, and Teagan scowls, hands stuffed into their pockets. "Only because you threw the first punch and it would make you feel bad." Look, no one says Teagan is totally rational about these things. Summer be like that sometimes.
They scowl again when she winces, and lean to help her get settled, before offering a hand down to Glitch. "Come help her. I'll drive."
"Thanks," Sturm grumbles under her breath. "... for picking me up, helping me do a bunch of shit that I shouldn't need help with, and for giving a shit about my feelings." The last bit seems tacked onto the end for the sake of humor.
With a bit of help, Sturm's able to get down out of the truck bed, and into the cabin of the truck with relative ease. No, Glitch doesn't have to sit on anybody's lap for everyone to fit, but it's a pretty tight squeeze.
Glitch's attention goes to Sturm as she talks, something in her words making him furrow his brows and frown a bit in worry. Once Sturm's down, he scoots his way into the cab ahead of her, taking up the middle bench seat and looking around for a seatbelt.
"You should need help with taking care of yourself when you're hurt. Most of your motley is Summer, doll. We're not gonna be like "oh no how dare you." I'm only confused about how you got in a fucking fight with a vampire in the first place," Teagan answers. They rather casually dig in Sturm's pockets for her keys so that she doesn't have to awkwardly grab for them with a broken arm, then slides in and buckles themself in, starting the truck once everyone's settled. "Make sure she's buckled in, please. That's a two-handed operation."
Baby gets carefully adjusted so she chills on their lap.
Good thing Teagan's giving orders, because Sturm is currently holding the belt in her teeth as she tries to shift position enough to transfer it over to her good hand. If Glitch helps, she'll let him (with some small grumbles.)
"Uhh, it's complicated," she says through clenched teeth. "She texted me to meet up so she could give me some news. It was bad news. We exchanged words. Then we exchanged fists."
Glitch buckles his lap belt and then reaches over without hesitation to buckle Sturm in. He has to reach a little far even while sandwiched up against her side, but he guides the belt and clicks it in place fairly easily. "You don't get extra points for doing it without help," he beeps.
"Is it a secret? Bad news sounds like shit we should know." Such is the peril of being a Winter in a motley of Summers. They see your dodges!
Glitch's comment gets a wry little look aside from the Mirrorskin, enjoying the irony of the formerly-stoic Sprite chiding someone else for trying to do it unnecessarily on their own. Teagan glances over their shoulder, puts the car in gear, and pulls out onto the quiet side street.
"I mean," Sturm glowers at Glitch's comment, and the corners of her mouth droop back into a frown. She makes a little hrrrmphf noise as she rolls down the passenger window - which, again, is another difficult task with a bad arm. "It'a not a secret," she offers after a bit of silence. "... but it's just a stupid fuckin' thing to throw hands over."
The flicks her cigarette out the newly opened window, because she's not thinking very clearly at the moment. "There's this dumb kid I used to look after when they were younger. They're mortal, but they hang around this vampire, too. The vampire got into trouble with that fuckin' weird rat nonsense that everyone's been shitting bricks over, and uhh." Beat. "They grabbed Calamity, too, apparently. So that was what she came to tell me."(edited)
Glitch is smirking when Sturm has no rebuttal for his comment. "It takes one to know one," he adds quietly, before shifting around to try and get comfortable. The cigarette out the window draws his attention, and he opens his mouth, but then just shuts it and twists somewhat awkwardly. He keeps his attention up front then, listening silently.
"... is it the vampire's fault that the kid got snatched? And like... is that... I'm guessing there's already a plan, so that's why we aren't on it." On account of the fact that Fox is currently sleeping off the rescue effort and all. Teagan is mostly focused on driving, but partially focused on why Sturm got in this fight.
"Fuck if I know -- I don't think they, like, purposefully ran the fuckin' rats towards 'em, but -- I mean, there's rules and shit right? There're fucking reasons we keep our fucking distance from mortals right? To avoid this exact shit?" Sturm's voice is slowly starting to get louder as ahe continues speaking. "It's just fucking reckless. People are just so fucking reckless and I'm-"
Her train of thought is derailed with a grunt of pain as she tries to gesture with her injured arm, and bumps it. "Fuckin' shit," she hisses.
Glitch sucks in a breath through his nose and makes a few odd facial expressions as Sturm talks. Even Teagan would have a hard time sorting out the different configurations of his facial features right now, but it's clear he's reacting to what's being said. A moment later though, Sturm bumps her arm and his head whips around to pay attention to her. "You want me to buckle you over that arm? Keep it put?"
A deep breath in and a long, slow breath out through their nose. Pulling up to a stop sign, Teagan absently scratches the tattoo on the back of their right wrist - the black 'Teagan' that used to be done in green ink. Or, as it were, Green ink. "Yep, that's exactly why we keep our distance from the normals," the Mirrorskin sighs wearily. "Our shit wrecks the lives of normal humans. Always. Without fail. We don't make people's lives shiny happy. We make them more chaotic and shitty, even without being kidnapped by fucking rats."
"I'll be fine," she grumbles - holding up her good hand in protest. Trying to tie her arm down while she's this pissed off is just gonna make things worse, probably.
Sturm exhales, letting her head slump against the door frame. If she noticed Glitch's changing expressions, it doesn't show. "Yeah. It's fucked, and it's shitty, and. I know." She sighs, voice dropping back to a grumble. "I'm just fucking mad. I have to keep my distance -- I gotta play things safe -- because I give a shit, and I don't need some... fuckin' asshole telling me I don't care just because I'm cautious."(edited)
The Sprite doesn't try to wrangle the giant into a seatbelt sling against her will. He is at least that cautious. When neither of them call attention to his reactions, Glitch settles back into his normal little mask of jaded edginess. "Yeah," he murmurs flatly, not sounding too impressed by said fuckin' asshole. "You're being careful. That means you care. Literally."(edited)
And now it all seems to click into place for the Mirrorskin. "Ahhhhh." The concept that the vampire got under Sturm's skin by implying that her caution meant that she didn't care suddenly makes the whole thing click into place. "What Glitch said. It means you DO give a shit."
They rub a hand over their face. "Once we get home, Glitch, give Petra a call? Her number is in my phone. She can patch Sturm up without me turning myself into a Playmate and eating it."
"Eating what?" blurts Glitch, before he can stop himself.
"I mean," there's a pause as Sturm's frustration builds again, and she her voice adopts that gutteral growling quality that Teagan and Glitch probably recognize from when they met. "I know that, but I'm just sick and fuckin' tired of hanging back, waiting, planning - what-the-fuck-ever - for someone to come along behind me and... just fuck it all right the fuck up anyway?" Grumble grumble. "What's the goddamned point if one hundred percent of the shit I do is... fucking meaningless and beyond my control?"(edited)
Glitch would normally be glad that his mindless quip went unnoticed, said more out of lack of attention than anything else. He doesn't look very happy though. There's a bit more squirming, the uncomfortable kind, in his seat, and rather than offering any more encouragement he just stares ahead out the window in silence for a while.
"Her damage, at least first of all. Though if I ate her damage enough to get my dessert, from the look of her, I'd be in a coma and unable to enjoy said dessert." Teagan turns down the driveway of the house, looking sidelong at Sturm. "I mean, what are you gonna do? Leave that kid to get his shit fucked up by people less careful than you? I kinda look at it like doing the laundry. You just gotta keep doing the laundry. It never ends."
"I don't fuckin' know," her expression scrunches up again into frustration, and she undoes her seatbelt once the truck is in park. "I'm obviously not in any fucking condition to help the kid out now," she gestures weakly at her fucked up arm. Which - in game terms - is totally wracked. "I just have to sit here with my thumb up my ass and hope that whoever goes after 'em is gonna do it right." Beat. "... and that - in the mean time - all the distance I've had to keep was fuckin' pointless because trouble is gonna find the kid with or without me hanging around if they're fucking around with vampires."
She bites her lower lip, brow furrowing. "Well, I'm tired of doing the fuckin' laundry," she grumbles. It sounds so sad and pathetic.(edited)
"I know, doll," offers Teagan as they park the truck, set the emergency brake, and open the door to slide out. "But you gotta. The laundry has to get done. Of course, it gets fucking exhausting, and you're good to ask for help now and again, you know?"
They trudge up to the front door, hold it open. It hadn't been locked, since the Mirrorskin depends on "house full of murderhobos" as a security system.
Glitch hops out of the truck and immediately follows along with Sturm, watching her bad side so she doesn't bump it again. "It does suck. But you don't have to do any more laundry tonight. You already put that fuckin' vamp through the wringer."(edited)
"Yeah I guess," the Jotunn grumbles, holding her arm to her chest. "Shit went down and she just threw this fuckin' haymaker straight into my guard. Didn't even try to get behind it. Who the fuck fights like that?" When she climbs down out of the truck, she grabs her leather jacket - it was hastily tossed into the back seat - and the now-bloodied white bandanna from the dashboard before coming inside. "... but I know I can ask for help, I just." There's a grumble. "Everybody has their shit right now, and I'm trying to be present."
"... you do," Teagan points out wryly, which probably isn't what the Jotunn wants to hear. "You do." They hold the door for Glitch and Sturm, swatting the Sprite's butt as he passes. "Yeah, that's true, we do have our shit right now, but... " They pause. "Doll, that's what this is about. The motley works when it's all of us, taking care of all of us. And you can't be present if you're fucked up."
"Believe me, I get it. It's real fucking hard for me to ask for help."
Glitch trundles towards the door behind Sturm, mostly quiet. At her last words, about everyone having their own shit, he blurts out "I don't..." before lapsing into silence, trailing off suddenly. And then Teagan's talking, and he just nods along. When the Mirrorskin swats the Sprite's butt, something that's happened many times before without incident, he leaps straight upwards. There's a loud THUD that registers before the sight of Glitch's head crashing into the much taller doorway, followed by the thump of his feet hitting the ground again. He lets out an awkward yelp, then winces and rubs at the top of his head, looking more shocked and embarassed than injured. "Fuck!"(edited)
Like always, the Jotunn bows her head as she crosses the threshold and into the house. "This is why I always duck when I step through the door," is all Sturm says - her grumbling much quieter now that they're inside - and the first thing she does is sink onto the couch. Doesn't hang up her jacket. Doesn't kick her boots off. Her heavy eyelids begin to droop ever so slightly, and she gingerly drapes her injured arm over the arm of the couch - which elicits another sharp little inhale from the pain.(edited)
The Mirrorskin shucks off their coat, hangs up Baby. When Glitch bounces? Teagan winces, nose wrinkling up. "Sorry, Player One," they offer ruefully, and then - as if suddenly picking up on something - looks between Sturm and Glitch. They take off their own boots, then kneel to take off Sturm's.
"Glitch, what is it?" They ask casually, looking down at Sturm's boots as if this is all very normal and it's always Teagan kneeling in front of Sturm instead of the other way around.
Glitch shakes it off. A bump on the head is startling, but small change for the combat-happy Sprite. "It's okay," he murmurs, and turns towards his room. He stops in his tracks, then looks over his shoulder with an expression like he's been caught sneaking back in from somewhere. "Uh. What?"
Teagan can probably tell (if the broken arm, split lip, and menagerie of colorful bruises weren't enough of a hint) that Sturm feels like absolute shit based solely on the fact that she's not taking this golden opprotunity to be a little fuckin' gremlin. When Teagan finishes unlacing her boots, she leans forward to give them a little kiss on the cheekbone before slumping back onto the couch to wait for Glitch's response. Y'know. When Teagan inevitably calls bullshit on that.
"I'll dial up a healer for you soon enough," Teagan assures the Jotunn, giving her a mildly concerned frown when they get a little smooch instead of gremlinosity. The kiss is returned, and then they wander off to the kitchen to get themself a beer and Sturm a soda, which they open for her. "You're acting like you're trying to kinda hide from Sturm, and I don't understand why."
Glitch blinks, dumbfounded a moment, as if he hadn't even noticed himself. "Oh," he says, rubbing at the back of his head. "I just. Didn't wanna, uh. Volunteer myself to." There's a frown. He looks between Sturm, and Teagan, and sighs. "Sturm doesn't need my help right now," he says, not sounding too sure of it himself.
Sturm takes the Coke with her good hand, taking a sip - and wincing - as the acidic, carbonated beverage hits the open wound that is her split lip. Then she takes another sip before holding the cool can to her bruised face. "As the Winter," she grumbles - her words coming out a little funny-sounding on account of the can. "I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but will you just... spit whatever it is the fuck out? All this tip-toeing is making me fuckin' crazy."
She doesn't sound angry, but... frustrated? Maybe. Exasperated? Definitely.
The look at Teagan gives Glitch is perhaps slightly disbelieving, perhaps mildly exasperated. Then Sturm speaks up, and Teagan settles in next to her silently, twisting their bottle of beer open and taking a swallow.
Glitch sighs. "I'm trying not to volunteer for shit right now because nobody needs me fucking more stuff up," he beeps. Then he looks at Sturm for a long while, like he's trying to figure out more. "...because I already fucked up too much last time. But nobody needs my pity party right now, Sturm's fuckin' arm is broken and more important shit is going on."
"This is going to come off as very condescending, I'm sure - but I honestly don't intend for it to." Sturm's brow furrows in frustration, and she lowers the coke can from her mouth for long enough that she can speak without it in the way. "Have you maybe considered just... Asking what you can do to help - and then just doing it instead of trying to get fancy?"(edited)
"Glitch, you emo little Sprite, you're being fucking absurd. If Sturm had an actual problem with something you'd done, she'd fucking say it." Teagan takes a long pull of their beer and stretches an arm out toward Glitch. "Come over here and stop being weird or I'll fucking spank you, and not in the way you like."
Glitch looks from Sturm, to Teagan, and frowns. He walks over to them sheepishly. Sturm gets most of his attention, and he doesn't look like he quite believes Teagan's claim. "...yeah. I don't go around thinking, oh this time I'm gonna do something really wild. That's why I even asked first. But..." There's no hint of his summer mantle, and the look of Winter doesn't suit Glitch, as he stops hiding it and lets his face slump into despair. "I still find a way to make shit worse. Every time. And you SHOULD have a problem with that. It's me, I'm the problem."
"That's... fuckin' bullshit, Glitch." The mildly grouchy look on Sturm's face devolves into a full-blown scowl, and she puts her drink down. "You're a player, not a character - and players make choices." There's a growing harshness in her tone that wasn't there before. "Fucking something up, and then saying 'oh, this is just who I am. I fucked up because I'm a fuck up' is," Sturm waves her uninjured hand - as if fishing for the next words. "You're just passing your fuck up on down the line so it can fuck something else up later. If you wanna change, then fuckin' change. It's hard, but you can do it. It's just never going to happen if your takeaway is "I'm a fuck up who fucks things up" rather than looking at what you can do better, and how."
Huh. Maybe Sturm did have something to say. Maybe she's tired of doing laundry. She grabs her coke can again and presses it back to her swolen lip.
The Mirrorskin is about to say something, but then Sturm speaks up, and Teagan turns to look sidelong at her, smiling lopsidedly at the Jotunn. They turn to look back at Glitch and lazily shrug, as if to say 'she's right, you know.' Their free arm snakes out, pulling Glitch into their lap, and they swat him on the butt in the process.
As threatened, perhaps.
Glitch winces at the first few words. It's not like him. He looks away, like he's expecting to be scolded or struck. When Sturm continues, his expression softens into what looks like confusion. His attention returns to her, his mouth drops open. "No, I'm not..." It's a fragmentary thought, because it's written clear on his face as he realizes that yes, he is. "Fuck. You're....you're right." He slumps into a seat nearby, still looking dejected. "I just. Nobody's ever..." He swallows. "Died because of me, before. Nobody that didn't deserve it. And that one's on me, even though everyone else wants to blame themselves for it too," he says, looking Sturm in the eyes. "I set the fire. People died because I made a bad decision. And even if I say I can change, next time I slip...it could be one of you." There's a slight tremble from him as he tries to keep it together. Nobody needs empathy to see what's under all the different seasonal layers here. He's scared.
"You played extremely recklessly with my life, and Sigrun's," Sturm takes a deep breath when she catches that gutteral frustrated growl creeping back into her words. "The lights were already out in the house. Alex took out the live stream. You knew how Cloak of Night worked - and that Sigrun and I were depending on it to ambush Robin. You had your orders to watch the window, and blowing the fuse w-" she forcibly cuts herself off before she can get legitimately pissed off, rather than just miffed. "Fuck the fire, Glitch. We are lucky that only those firefighters died. When you blew the fuse, we became fully visible. If Sigrun hadn't been faster than Robin, that bomb would've gone off and taken most of us with it - and then she'd have fuckin' escaped into twilight to fuck up someone else's city."
Okay maybe she is just a little bit angry. the Jotunn crosses her arms over her chest - holding broken one close - and trying her damnedest not to let her frustration show in the face of Glitch's fear - the goal is not to brow beat it's just... to be heard. "... but fact that it very nearly was us is why I'm so fuckin' frustrated."
There's a lot to unpack here, but Teagan doesn't appear to be touching this particular suitcase at all. They pull Glitch closer in their lap, lean over to kiss the corner of Sturm's mouth. And they stay the fuck out of it. This is something these two have to work out together.
Glitch actually stands up from the couch, rather than be tugged into comfort by Teagan. He faces Sturm and listens. He doesn't shy away. His eyes start on hers, gaze met, but they slide away as she continues, until they're glued to the floor. He slowly breathes in through his nose, and then out again. "Yeah," he says quietly, pulling his gaze back up once more. "You're right." There's no spun up anxiety here, no attack on his clarity or high dramatics. He just looks defeated. "...I'm sorry."
Sturm doesn't say anything at first. She just peers at Glitch - unblinking - with those sullen eyes of hers, and her straight-faced, stony features... but then she exhales, and all of the fight - all of the tension - bleeds out of her shoulders. "Thank you," Sturm grumbles, finally averting her gaze. "I... really needed to hear that."
Then she presses coke can back to her lip. "Now, can you please come back and sit down? As far as I'm concerned, we're good - and we can figure out how to work better together another time."(edited)
Glitch slowly swallows after that. He breathes out, and looks over to Teagan with an expression they've only seen a few times. "I...think I should just go to my room," he says, his voice very quiet.
Teagan pulls in a breath and starts to say something after Glitch pulls away, and then Glitch volunteers that he thinks he ought to go to his room. The Mirrorskin presses their lips together and doesn't say anything after all. Instead, they drink more of their beer.
"If that's what you need to do, then I understand." Sturm's voice is quiet - much quieter - and no longer distorted by her growls or grumbles. "... but you don't have to lick your wounds alone -- and nobody wants you to banish yourself to the Fortress of Solitude just because shit went sideways, and we had an argument." Beat. "Don't let your brain pull a Groundhog Day, and trap you in a loop. Or. A respawn cycle. Or, I don't know. Whatever video game shit - my knowledge is very thin here."
Sturm pats the couch. "Anyway. I get it if you need to leave, but I'd like it if you sat with us for a bit first. So we can have a conversation that isn't about this - and then you can leave on that."
Glitch's eyes flick to Sturm without the rest of him moving. He's eerily still and tense as his pixellated pupils ping and pong from her face, to her hand on the couch, to Teagan's, and back between all three in various directions a few times. His mouth wordlessly presses into a line, his chin dips, and he silently crosses back over to the couch with a contained shuffle.
It isn't until he sits back down that he starts to cry.
Leaning forward, Teagan sets their mostly empty beer down with a click of glass on wood, and then quietly reaches to wrap their arms around Glitch and sort of drag him across both laps, such that his crying can be done with maximum snuggle. They don't say anything for a bit, because words are, at first, mostly meaningless. What's necessary is proximity and comfort.
After a bit, what they do say is: "You are here. Sturm is here. Sigrun is asleep down the hall. We got through this, and we'll get through the next bit."
"I need you to help me find out what happened to my kids, after all. I can't research. I can't read, and the screen readers don't work on microfiche."
Sturm raises her fucked up arm - draping it over the back of the couch - as Glitch ends up getting dragged over her lap and Teagan's. She leans into the mirrorskin, and places a comforting hand on Glitch. There's another wince as she yawns - oh yeah, she took a punch to the ribs, too - but she eventually settles in.
"I actually started looking into a few things, but I'll need to get some information from you if I wanna turn up anything concrete," she offers quietly to Teagan before turning back to Glitch. "... but yeah. We're all still here, and we're not going anywhere."
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