74 Godiva Street, Wednesday Morning

[fjordicswagger]

Okay, so Death-- sorry, Didi-- might not've been able to get thoroughly tanked, but after a full pitcher of margaritas and then drinks at her place last night, Tamsin had passed out something fierce. Now she was paying for it with a hangover. A massive hangover.

"Ugh," she muttered, after the third time she woke up.

She hit the floor with a thump as she attempted to get out of bed. "Ugh," she repeated. "...Wait, am I still wearing my clothes?"

Yep. Last night's clothes. Ooookay. She clambered up to her feet and stumbled out into the hallway. What had she been doing yesterday night, anyway? She remembered something vaguely about having someone over, but it clearly wasn't for naked reasons. Probably told them to get lost at some point last night.

Right?

[[ for the anthropomorphic representation that did not, in fact, get lost last night. ]]

Comments

[living_endless]

Said anthropomorphic representation of the inevitable was bustling back in the door just as Tamsin sat up, carrier holding fruit smoothies in one hand and bag of breakfast sandwiches in the other. Altogether, she looked much fresher than Tamsin did; even her eye of Horius was perfectly unsmudged.

There were advantages to reality shaping itself to your wishes.

"Morning," she called, holding up the bag with a flourish. "I brought breakfast. You'll feel much better after you eat something."

For a not-booty call, Didi had morning after etiquette down.

[fjordicswagger]

Tamsin gave her a solitary bleary-eyed blink in return.

Death. Death had brought her breakfast.

She didn't have enough active brain cells right now, so she opted to ignore the former part of that sentence in favor of the three words at the end. "Breakfast," she sighed, "I love you right now."

[living_endless]

"I love you too," Didi said, as if that particular form of thanks was quite familiar. "Anyhow, I owe you. This was way nicer than a hotel room."

Hotel rooms were sterile and a little sad. Tamsin didn't exactly go overboard with the decor, but at least the space was hers.

She poked into the bag. "Do you want the sandwich with ham, or the one that's just egg and cheese? The smoothies are strawberry-banana. You can't go wrong with that."

[fjordicswagger]

"Egg and cheese," Tamsin said, trudging past her in the general direction of her kitchen. "I'm going to let you have the ham because you brought the food."

Okay, she took a brief stop by the bathroom to grab a painkiller. Eeeugh, brain.

"If Bright Eyes calls, tell her I'm not coming in to work."

[living_endless]

"No problem," Didi told her, already unwrapping the sandwich with the ham. "Who's bright eyes?"

The fact she knew a valkyrie when she saw one didn't mean she knew every single thing.

[fjordicswagger]

"Assistant," Tamsin said, waving her hand around vaguely. "Really pushy."

She finally found a seat at the table and sat down in it. "...Wait, did you stay over?"

[living_endless]

"You sort of passed out," Didi told her, almost sheepish. "And ... then there was a good movie on, and then it seemed too early to start hunting for another place to stay. Or too late. Both, I guess."

She didn't, strictly speaking, need sleep any more than she needed the sandwich in her hands. But when she wasn't working and things were quiet, it was nice to let it be quiet.

"Do you mind?"

[fjordicswagger]

"Well, you brought breakfast," Tamsin said, holding an only slightly pathetic hand out for that sandwich she'd been promised. "And I'm pretty sure you don't need to steal any of my stuff, so I don't have to ask if you stole any of my stuff."

[living_endless]

A tiny smile ticked up the corner of Didi's mouth as she held out Tamsin's sandwich. "Do you have any stuff worth stealing?"

Teasing! Really!

[fjordicswagger]

Tamsin took the sandwich with a groan.

"Depends on who you ask. I have stuff," she said. "Some people don't have any stuff at all."

She'd be more articulate once that painkiller kicked in, but now she was going to bite into her sandwich.

[living_endless]

"True," Didi said, and took a long slurp on her smoothie. It wasn't that elegant, but she didn't care. "I didn't bring a lot to the island. I think there's a suitcase somewhere."

[fjordicswagger]

"Where are you staying, anyway?" Tamsin said, though not before swallowing her bite and allowing her slowly-reawakening brain cells to linger on being very, very relieved this Death was apparently not pissed at her. "The boy person's? Awkward."

[living_endless]

"Exactly," Didi said, wrinkling her nose. "Too awkward. He didn't ask, half of it smells like his new boyfriend, and he has housemates already." Allegedly. Not that Didi had met them.

"I was going to get a hotel room until something better came along," she said,and shrugged a little, because it didn't sound very awe-inspiring at all.

[fjordicswagger]

Tamsin mulled that over as she made her way through more of that sandwich.

"So is this breakfast thing a one-time deal?" she asked, snagging a smoothie.

[living_endless]

"Depends on how often you pass out with me around," Didi answered. "Why, do you plan to do it a lot?"

[fjordicswagger]

"I'm just saying I could use someone who hangs out and picks up the groceries," Tamsin said.

After a beat, she added, "I'm just going to pretend I didn't say that to you, of all people."

This aspect of Death was way too nice and it was throwing her off.

[living_endless]

"And I could use a housemate who wouldn't be weirded out to have Death's hair clogging the shower," Didi said, equally evenly. "Do you pay rent? Would you make me?"

Not that she'd mind; she was just laying out the ground rules.

[fjordicswagger]

"I'm the Mayor. Of course I don't pay rent."

Okay, that technically wasn't how it worked, but she'd technically been squatting here since she first got to the island and she was in no rush to change that. "No rent, just your fair share of the groceries and the dishwashing."

[living_endless]

Didi was pretty sure that wasn't how it worked, but if it meant she didn't have to pay rent, she was strangely okay with it.

"You're mayor?" she asked, frowning. "Wait, what happened to, um -- big guy. Robot arm. Nate something."

[fjordicswagger]

"Well before my time," Tamsin said, shrugging. "Though I'm still tripping over remnants of the guy's filing and surveillance system every other day. Not sure whether I find that creepy or impressive."

[living_endless]

"I'm pretty sure it's both," Didi decided, and took a dainty bite of sandwich. "But so how'd you end up being mayor, anyhow? It's quite the career change."

[fjordicswagger]

It was a long story that started with the unfortunate trading-in-a-soul-for-more-lives thing, passed by 'becoming a cop to keep up the pretense' and through 'I was sent here to spy on the succubus, then Bright Eyes happened'.

Tamsin shrugged. "I got tired of being a detective," she said, "Then the old mayor bolted. Swanson, something."

[living_endless]

"So you had a very small coup?" Didi asked, clearly amused by the concept. "... I shouldn't talk. I'm going to be tending bar."

She liked people. It made sense.

[fjordicswagger]

"Nah, Bright Eyes had a panic attack without a mayor around to micro-manage," Tamsin muttered, "...and a really crappy grasp of the notion of democracy."

She took a sip of the smoothie. "Caritas or the adult playpen?"

[living_endless]

"Caritas," Didi told her. "Vampires aren't really my thing. I mean, they make their deals and I respect that, but it doesn't mean I want to work for one. I like the ones who just ask for immortality better."

[fjordicswagger]

"Don't say stuff like that too loud, girl," Tamsin said, sipping thoughtfully of her smoothie. "They're going to start lining up outside the house."

[living_endless]

"Mmmm. Maybe I should be a little more discreet here," Didi said, once she'd swallowed her mouthful of breakfast sandwich. "It's never fun to tell someone you won't bring her mom back."

[fjordicswagger]

"Or no, your brilliant king who was stupid enough to get himself gored on somebody's spear does not deserve a couple more years to produce an heir," Tamsin sighed.

Ah, the old days.

[living_endless]

"Those guys always get so mean if you say no," Didi sighed. "But the ones who want somebody they loved -- that's harder. They're just sad."

And Didi was a terribly soft touch for sad people.

[fjordicswagger]

Tamsin shrugged.

"Who doesn't get a tough deal?" she said.

[living_endless]

"Nobody you meet, maybe," Didi said mildly.

[fjordicswagger]

"Sorry," Tamsin said, and somewhere, she meant that, at least a little. "There just doesn't seem to be much sense in crying about it."

But valkyries were wired a bit differently than big-D Death, all in all.

[living_endless]

"Well," Didi said, after a moment, "you aren't wrong about that. It's like crying the sun sets."

There was only one way a day -- or a life -- could end.

[fjordicswagger]

Tamsin gave a little shrug. "Exactly," she said. "Anyway, there's reasons why I keep the whole valkyrie thing quiet."

Any squirrel who even dared to come near was getting glared at.

[[ the valkyrie bits NFB, s'il vous plait. ]]

[living_endless]

"Besides not wanting to have to explain you don't get to bring people back?" Didi asked, interested. "Go on."

[fjordicswagger]

"Well, I was going to go with that part, actually," Tamsin said. She reached up and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Freyja and me are having some differences," she said vaguely, "Besides, life is generally easier when people aren't trying to figure out what your super-deal is, anyway."

[living_endless]

Didi raised an eyebrow. "'Some differences.'"

She wasn't going to accuse Tamsin of soft-peddling, but...

[fjordicswagger]

Tamsin was totally soft-peddling. That had not exactly been the best moment of her life. And it had been centuries since it came up.

"Yep," she said.

[living_endless]

Didi stared at Tamsin for another moment, waiting for her to elaborate.

She was a big sister five times over. She could do a lot with a skeptical eyebrow.

[fjordicswagger]

Tamsin groaned. "I made a deal she didn't like," she said vaguely, "Then I got kicked out of Valhalla. Happy?"

[living_endless]

"Ecstatic," Didi said dryly. "How long has it been?"

[fjordicswagger]

"Eh. Couple of centuries," Tamsin said, shrugging with one shoulder.

What was a couple of centuries, anyway?

[living_endless]

"Not that long, then," Didi said. Centuries, pfft. "Think you'll ever work it out with her?"

[fjordicswagger]

"Probably not," Tamsin said. "Her conditions are a little steep."

Like tracking down the soul the Blood King had long since whisked away to who knew where - a task that would've been difficult even before Trick had wiped her memory of which soul it was and what the Blood King looked like.

She shrugged again. "Life's not so bad here," she said, "I'll live."

[living_endless]

"There are worse realities to hang out in," Didi agreed. She was curious about the conditions, but she figured there was no rush to find those out. "Nice people. Just dangerous enough to be interesting."

[fjordicswagger]

"More boring than some of the locals seem to think it is," Tamsin said, swallowing the last of her sandwich. "I was a cop here for over a year and spent most of my time chasing lawn gnomes."