x-men AU.

[justashotaway]

Since Warren disappeared back into a past she'll never know, Laura's felt more numb than anything. Something else should be there, some sensation besides he was here and now he's gone, but life doesn't seem to change much. She fights bad guys. She eats Chinese food. She falls asleep during a Golden Girls marathon with Gabby and wakes up at three AM with Jonathan sitting on her chest, staring unblinking into her eyes.

And if she misses Warren--or Scott, or Bobby, any of them--the feeling lives someplace inside her without drawing attention to itself. She does miss them, she knows that much intellectually, but she does not want to dredge up the sensation if it's willing to lay dormant someplace inside her.

More than anything, she's restless. And one night, when Gabby and Jonathan have both been invited to the school for some kind of party ("It's a lock-in," Gabby'd explained, "and I'm only going because there's going to be nachos"--which is true, if only because Gabby's never actually been a student there), Laura goes out, too. Not as X-23, but as Laura Kinney, in a leather jacket and black jeans, sitting down at a cheap bar beside a curly-haired girl and ordering a beer.

This, she knows, is how Logan would deal with heartache. She's not sure that's what she's feeling, and she knows better than to take Logan's habits as suggestions in general, but she's willing to give it a try.

Comments

[sulahnan]

In defense of The Repair Shop, they fix different things every episode and so the concentration of happy little trees stays at a minimum. But also, the only reason Tessa puts it on is to have some low-investment noise in the background while they eat and cuddle, and probably talk but Tessa would be fine to sit in relative silence as long as she can have at least a limb in constant contact with her girlfriend.

Which isn't a title she consciously ascribes to Laura, thanks to her knee-jerk self-preservation instinct to bottle that shit right up, but now isn't the time for that crisis.

"Now, if you've left room for dessert, it's halva time," She's eaten about half of her tikka and danced it into the kitchen to keep for tomorrow's breakfast or whenever-she-wakes-up's snack. The halva is in a sizeable takeout tupperware of its own, and clearly more than would be reasonable for one normal human, but perfectly acceptable for one human and a mutant who've just eaten a lot of spicy food. "This place makes their halva with pumpkin, and it's the best."

[justashotaway]

Laura's not truly hungry until that first bite of curry. After that, she eats steadily, leaning in against Tessa and watching people fix different objects. Her commentary's minimal, but she listens when Tessa talks and occasionally responds. The real joy of it is just to be there with her.

Once they've cleaned up and Tessa's held up the halva, Laura groans--but she's smiling. She wolfed down most of her food, leaving just enough that they can brunch together tomorrow without Tessa giving up any of hers. "I don't know if I've got room left for halva."

[sulahnan]

"What? Not even a teeny tiny spoonful? Oh well, more for me," Also smiling, though she then takes a spoonful of halva and--even though she's barely left enough room herself--takes a bite and exaggerates how good it is with excessive yummy sounds.

[justashotaway]

Laura laughs, sliding an arm around Tessa once she sits back down. "Fine. One tiny spoonful."

[sulahnan]

"Good, because that one spoonful I just had has to be my last or else I'll explode," Tessa leans into Laura and gets a tiny spoonful and holds it out for Laura to take, by hand or mouth, whichever. Here comes the airplane, but you know, in a sexy way.

"It'll taste better once it's chilled overnight anyway."

[justashotaway]

Mouth--it's definitely mouth. Just a little sexy, Laura keeping her gaze on Tessa as she tries it.

"Breakfast tomorrow," she says, decisive, once she's swallowed. Because it really is good, and she has every intention of waking up here (and possibly ordering new furniture and a cleaning crew before she leaves). "I'm getting tired of explosions, but that's delicious."

[sulahnan]

Tessa grins and gives Laura a quick smooch before she trots the tupperware back to store in the fridge. Upon her return, she curls up against Laura's side, laying back against the pillows, and sighs contentedly.

"I hate to take away any credit from what you had planned, but this is pretty much the perfect way to make anything up to me."

[justashotaway]

"You're giving me credit," she admits, pressing her face into the top of Tessa's head, "if you think I had anything planned."

Showing up was as far as she'd gotten when she'd dragged herself onto the fire escape--though from here, there are plans. Vague ones, but in the morning, they'll take shape. Everything she can do for Tessa, she will. For now, she kisses her: the crown of her head, her temple, her cheek, her mouth. It's the affection she's missed in all this time, irresistible no matter how tired she might be.

[sulahnan]

Anything that needs doing, whether it's cleaning up the living room, replacing the couch, or just scooping the litter box and taking out the trash can wait until tomorrow. Right now all Tessa needs is this. Limbs draped over Laura and slowly drifting closer to sleep with each passing second. It's comfy, it's easy, it's not a demand on either of them, it's just good.

"My mee-maw always said: if someone wants to give you credit for nothing, you should take it and run." Old mee-maw said a lot of shit, she's not a great role model, but who else is Tessa going to sleepily quote?

[justashotaway]

"Mee-maw?" Laura asks, because that's the thing she doesn't recognize. Grandparents are in short supply among her peers. She's stroking Tessa's hair idly as she asks, swallowing a yawn around the word.

[sulahnan]

"Grandma," she supplies, not managing to suppress her own yawn that garbles whatever additional explanation she was about to give.

[justashotaway]

"Mm." That's about all Laura has left in her at this point. She falls asleep with her hand caught up in Tessa's hair, and she doesn't wake again until noon the next day.

Tessa knows well enough not to shake her awake--and even if waking her wasn't a problem, Laura suspects she'd have been left to sleep as long as necessary anyway. She rubs at her eyes groggily and drags herself out of bed. Her phone's probably still in the living room, and she has some calls to make.

[sulahnan]

Tessa is in the kitchen, sitting on the counter with a cup of coffee in hand, looking through the interior window to the living room. Laura's phone might be in there, in the pile of blood crusted clothes on the blood stained rug in front of the blood stained sofa, but no reasonable adult should go digging through that mess without coffee in them, first.

So she's nursing her own cuppa and has a clean mug set out beside the coffee maker so Laura can pour her own.

[justashotaway]

And while Laura would like to start digging through there immediately, if only so she can find the number of some discreet cleaners, seeing Tessa is an immediate distraction. She's as beautiful as ever, especially in the moment between Laura catching sight of her and coming into view herself: for a second, she has a window into what Tessa's like when she's on her own. And then they're both there in the same room, and it ends.

She comes over, settling her hands on Tessa's thighs rather than the coffee mug, and stretches up to kiss her. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

[sulahnan]

As soon as she sees Laura, she smiles, and smiles into the kiss before answering with a shake of her head.

"Nah," She's barely bene out here long enough for her coffee to cool off, the steam still rising steadily. But she sets it aside and drapes her arms over Laura's shoulders. "How'd you sleep?"

[justashotaway]

"Better than I have in weeks." It's been longer than she'd like to think back on, but all those ugly days seem to melt into nothing when she's standing there between Tessa's knees, leaning in toward the edge of the counter top. Her hands settle at the small of Tessa's back. "What about you?"

[sulahnan]

She also slept better than she has since Laura went scarce. Funny, in a way, that this not-relationship with Laura is what gets Tessa used to sleeping next to someone after years of relationships that never involved that.

Probably says a lot about those past relationships.

"Slept like one of those cats who are so fuckin' unconscious that they stick their tongues out."

[justashotaway]

Laura breathes out, almost a laugh, and reaches up to touch Tessa's cheek. "I wish I'd seen it."

[sulahnan]

"It was probably like this--" She feigns sleep, with her tongue sticking out just a little ans making soft snoring sounds.

[justashotaway]

Laura pecks the tip of her tongue, feeling hideously indulgent. Tessa tastes of the coffee she's been sipping, and she's so easily in reach right now; it's hard not to want to indulge. "My point stands."

[sulahnan]

And Tessa blows a raspberry against the kiss, puffing out her cheeks.

"Well, you can stay over any time," she says, and smooches her again, and again, and three more times. "You won't need dramatic entrances every time, of course. Maybe only like... every third time."

[justashotaway]

"Just enough to keep you on your toes," Laura agrees, her eyes soft as she looks up at Tessa. This time, she kisses Tessa's chin, and then her collarbone, where it peeks out from the neckline of her shirt. "I'm not planning on any more flayings this week, at least."

[sulahnan]

"Good. Flaying is kind of a lot," her fingers trail over Laura's back as she says it, feeling no trace of the injury but remembering the sight of it very clearly. With the combined effort of her arms and legs she pulls Laura closer and rests her chin on the top of her head.

"Not too much but ya know. A lot." She shouldn't be this okay about it, should she? It's weird that she's less okay with the fact that she's okay with it.

[justashotaway]

Laura nods against Tessa's chest, content to let herself be cocooned by Tessa's limbs. Coffee can wait, cleaners can wait. "Not as painful as being on fire. But a lot."

Talking about this is uncharted territory for her--everyone else has always known just how bad things can get. Too much detail might spook Tessa off. But too little might do the same. So she leaves the door ajar, a conversation that can happen or can be skipped, and lets Tessa decide what to do with it.

[sulahnan]

"Maybe you should make a reference chart," she says, slow and low at first, then brightening as she realizes that hey now, that might actually be handy. Without letting go of Laura, Tessa sits back and nods. "Yeah, like those pain charts at the doctor's office, ya know? How bad is it? Well, it's below flaying and being on fire, so it's... middling. Definitely above a stubbed toe, or a broken leg. Or two broken legs."

But of course as much as humor is her coping mechanism, she demeures slightly and brushes some of Laura's hair away from her face. "Is it... I don't know if it's better to treat it lightly now and seriously later or... you--are the jokes too gauche?"