A/N: So I wasn't going to do this, but after a gentle nudge from a couple of people I decided just to post. I wrote this very short multi-chapt sequel to All that Happens Here ages ago. It was written in an attempt to practice writing fluff. If you haven't read the original (thanks to those that have) don't worry - basic premise is: girl meets girl (in a dungeon), girls falls in love, girl's ex-girl gets bitten by something, girl's new girl saves the day but has to go through a new life-cycle, girls girl comes back to town a few years later and the story ends with them shagging. All caught up? Great, you'll get the gist, don't worry about it. Also, the original was written pre-season 4 and so was prior to our understanding of Valkyrie life-cycles. So i'm sticking with the version I wrote where the premises is it takes years for Valkyrie's to be reborn.
This fic is going to be NOTHING like ATHH in terms of H/C and angst. Actually I'm calling it an angst free zone.
This is unashamedly copdoc all the way folks so if it's not your thing...well you quite frankly don't know what you're missing. Go ahead and give it a try, there's some great fics about.
Tamsin woke up, her mouth dry and her lips swollen. Her nose was buried deep in dark blonde tufts of hair and her arm draped over Lauren's waist. She didn't mean to but she let out a raw moan as she opened her eyes. She was most definitely nursing a hangover but none of it mattered. The night before was a wonderful blur, the doctor having finally let the Valkyrie back into her bed after eight years of being missing in action.
Tamsin was only sorry she'd spent so much of the evening drinking with Kenzi attempting to work up the Dutch, or perhaps Scandinavian courage as it turns out, required to make her way to Lauren's front door. Of course the doctor was not impressed on seeing her. Tamsin had prepared herself for that.
Lauren was still nursing the wounds of how the Valkyrie had left her all those years ago. Tamsin sacrificed her life to save Bo's without trusting the doctor to find an antivenin that would have saved the day instead. Lauren had only the day before told Tamsin that she was in love with her and had only just heard the taller blonde give her those words back and then she was gone. The human didn't need to find reasons to be angry, the Valkyrie had given her a smorgasbord to choose from.
Despite that Tamsin knew that Lauren had missed her, the rebirth process had allowed her a glimpse enough to know how the human had hurt through the loss. All the Valkyrie needed was the courage to make a move and when she did she felt confident that despite the anger and despite hurt the doctor would give in to the love.
Leaning into the woman's neck Tamsin enjoyed the warm vanilla smells that engulfed her as she pressed her lips into skin. While the doctor may have smelt mouth-watering, Tamsin caught a whiff of the alcohol permeating from her own pores and her face cringed. Immediately she made a decision that she and Lauren should most definitively continue to reacquaint themselves with each other outside of the bed and on the inside of a shower instead.
The Valkyrie bit down gently on Lauren's shoulder in an increasingly non-subtle attempt to wake her sleeping companion. As much as she knew that she had enjoyed the frivolity of the evening before she was ready for take two, the sober edition, to take place.
Lauren turned over her eyes flickering awake as Tamsin adjusted to wrap herself around the repositioned body. Leaning in the Valkyrie began placing soft kisses on her sleeping companion's neck, slowly making her way upwards towards the chin with the irresistible soft pink lips of the human the ultimate goal. The Valkyrie smirked, catching Lauren's eyes seductively as she made her final approach, leaning in for the kiss that was to set the scene for what was to come. Eyes closing Tamsin was on autopilot as she honed in on Lauren's mouth but rather than finding the doctor's wonton lips she instead was met abruptly with a solid hand acting as a barrier between their two faces. The Valkyrie pulled her head back, her eyes staring widely, her brow lifted in concern when she saw Lauren's agitated face staring back.
"Do we have a problem?" She asked, wanting more than anything for this to be the beginning of some kind of stern role playing game.
Lauren removed her hand satisfied that the Valkyrie was not going to make another move for the short term at least.
"Ah, yes, we have a problem. You need to leave"
Tamsin pulled herself back in the bed to take a good look at the face staring back at her, trying to make sense of what was being said. "But Doc.."
Lauren pushed the taller blonde onto her back. "Don't but Doc me Tamsin. Last night was a lapse in concentration on my part." The human rolled over and stood up from the bed. "Now I'm not saying that it wasn't enjoyable but you don't get to just waltz back into my life like nothing happened. You left me without saying anything."
Tamsin was at a loss, finding the unfolding scenario impossible to comprehend. "But ..."
"No! Out." Lauren pulled the covers back off Tasmin leaving the cool morning air to tickle her skin. The Valkyrie noticed Lauren faltering briefly as she gazed over her naked form. If she had thought in that moment that the human was about to change her mind she was quickly set straight as the doctor began to pick up and throw the Valkyrie's discarded clothing at her in the bed.
"Doc, are you seriously going to send me out on the streets? I have no place to go." Tamsin implored as she pulled herself to the edge of the bed with her clothing sat in a crumpled pile on her lap.
"Oh, is that why you came over here last night? You needed a bed to sleep in? Is that what you've done since you've been back in town, finding a nightly conquest to keep you warm?" The smaller blonde glared at her from the other side of the room as she herself pulled on a tank top and a pair of underwear.
"W-what? No! I've been back sleeping in my truck. Come on Doc, I only want you, you know that"
Lauren huffed as she pulled a sweater over her head. "Then you better get to wooing me"
"Wooing?" The disgruntled Valkyrie snorted back.
"Yes, wooing. Your wooing eight years ago amounted to getting me drunk in nightclub and now this time around you show up drunk at my front door. You're not getting me into bed again Tamsin until I feel sufficiently wooed"
Tamsin stood, head tilted looking at the beautiful blonde in front of her. "Well, how about I take you out for breakfast? My shout, anything you want, just name it."
"Breakfast Tamsin? Breakfast! That's the best you can do? Do you even know what wooing is?"
"I think I might know how to spell it." Tamsin smirked.
"That's it, out! Now."
oOo
Tamsin made her way to Bo's house, the old boarded up clubhouse was more boarded up than usual. Bo had been in the north fighting in the Great Fae Wars and Kenzi had since married Hale. The Valkyrie parked her truck, pulling her weary bones out and making her way to the house. The last time she was at this house Bo had her tied to a chair and not in the deliciously good way.
Tamsin reached the front door only to be met by Bo before her fingers even touched wood.
"Tam Tam! Have you forgiven me? And more importantly, has Lauren forgiven you?" Bo was stood smiling in her kimono.
Bo's recent attempts to bring Tamsin and Lauren back together after the Valkyrie's return had resulted in the blonde getting a solid fist to face from her former lover. It had been the first time Tamsin had listened to and accepted advice from the Succubus and as a trickle of blood ran from her nose she let Bo know in no uncertain terms that she would not be be seeking counsel from her again.
"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were still up north?" The blonde grunted feeling completely put out by now having to deal with company.
"There's a truce, I've given myself a leave pass for a week. What's going on? Still no luck with Lauren?"
Tamsin growled a little thinking over the morning's confrontation. "I need a bed, the Doc needs a little more warming up before I get a sleep in. Apparently she wants me to woo her,"
"Woo her?" Bo chuckled.
"Yeah. Woo her." The Valkyrie moaned as she pushed past the Succubus in the doorway.
"Oh man you're screwed." Bo laughed.
"Leave it succubitch, just because you having wooing genetics on your side doesn't mean you get to judge the rest of us."
The Valkyrie made her way to the kitchen, looking through cupboards until she found the stash of whiskey she knew Kenzi kept hidden for emergencies.
"Jesus Tamsin it's 10am. Whiskey already?" Bo said taking a seat at the island bench-top.
"I do my best thinking when I'm drunk. Come to think of it, I do my best drinking then too." The blonde took a swig of the whiskey bottle as she continued to pace.
"So, what wooing did you have in mind?" Bo asked trying to keep an encouraging tone.
"I don't know" Tamsin looked up with a shrug, "maybe dinner and a movie?"
"Dinner and a movie?" The Succubus mused rolling her eyes. "Wow, well you get points for originality."
"Oh, ok, well I don't see you helping much! What would you do if Lauren asked you to woo her?" Tamsin asked and saw Bo's eyebrow lift.
"I thought you were never accepting my advice on anything again?"
"Yeah well, as much as I'd hate to admit it, this is kind of your specialty area"
The Succubus grinned smugly, "I am a very accomplished wooer."
"Hold your succubritches a minute, did you try to woo Lauren while I was gone?" The Valkyrie snapped.
"What? No! Of course not, she was far to hung up on you. And then there was that Fae surgeon she worked with, then that police officer Dyson was partnered with, then that.."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the fuck up! Lauren dated other people?" Tamsin scoffed.
"Women like Lauren attract a lot of attention, you didn't think she'd wait around for you for the better part of a decade did you? Gram Sword or not, you and I both know that girl's got some needs that require attention." Bo smirked, looking at the red glowing face of the jealous Valkyrie.
"The fuck?!" The boiling Valkyrie was feeling nauseous and she wasn't even a third of the way through her bottle of whiskey. "Bo if I don't get this wooing shit right she might never come back to me. You have to help me."
Bo smiled and threw an arm around the blonde who shrugged it off immediately. "Alright Tam Tam, let's come up with something that screams Valkyrie to remind Lauren of how...ummm...awesome you are."
oOo
Tamsin sat outside the Light Fae compound, her nerves sitting in her stomach as she waited for Lauren to leave work for the evening. The doctor was a workaholic; there was no nine to five for the woman. The Valkyrie was waiting nearly two hours when she finally saw her walk out of the compound. She quickly jumped out of her truck and Lauren saw her immediately.
"I hope you're not here looking for a bed for the night again?" The doctor asked half smiling, trying to hide the fact that she had been thinking about Tamsin all day.
"Nuh uh Doc, I'm here for the strict purposes of wooing" Tamsin grinned.
"Wooing hey?" Lauren snorted.
The tall blonde nodded. "Your words Doc, wooing."
"Ok, so woo me Tamsin, let's see what you've got."
"Alright, hop in." The Valkyrie rushed to the passenger side of the truck to the open the door for her date.
Lauren took Tamsin's hand as she stepped up and into the cab of the vehicle noting the woman's attempt at magnanimity with a smile. "Nice start" she muttered.
"You ain't seen nothin' Doc."
oOo
The two drove in relative silence for most of trip. Tamsin was concentrating her effort on two things. Firstly and at the behest of the Succubus she was simply trying not to say something stupid. Secondly, with Lauren in such close proximity she was only just resisting the urge to pull over the truck and ravage the woman by the roadside.
"So, are you going to let me in on where we are going?" Lauren asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Tamsin kept her eyes on the road. "You know Doc part of the wooing experience is just sitting back and taking it all in."
Lauren sat arms folded across her chest still unconvinced by the Valkyrie's knowledge on the subject. "Really? Who told you that?"
Tamsin turned her head to the doctor. "You think you're the first person I've wooed in my many lifetimes?"
"Quite frankly, yes." Lauren stated emphatically.
"Well you'd be right." Tamsin admitted. "Most people find my personality and good looks sufficient. Maybe some people are just a little too picky."
"Drifting quickly out of the wooing zone here Valkyrie." Lauren shot back.
Tamsin reverted to the Succubus suggested approach of keeping her mouth shut.
It was only a total of fifteen minutes drive until they reached their destination and Tamsin pulled the truck up outside a dimly lit abandoned warehouse building.
"Is this…is this the nightclub you took me to where we first kissed?" Lauren asked narrowing her eyes as she assessed the building.
"It can't just be the kiss you remember from that night." Tamsin grinned arrogantly.
"No you're right there were your ordinary 'dance moves' too." Lauren gave the other woman the bunny ears.
"You're breakin' my heart here." Tamsin moaned as she hoped out of the truck cab and walked around to the side where she opened Lauren's door.
"Looks like you're out of luck, this place appears to have been shut down a long time ago" Lauren said as she took Tamsin's hand and hopped out onto the street.
"Come on." Tamsin said leading the doctor by the hand. "Let's go take a closer look." The tall blonde forced open the door of the formerly pumping club with her shoulder. She took out a small torch and led Lauren up the stairs of the building.
"If you're trying to terrify me back into bed with you it won't work, like I said I've already seen you dance once." Lauren removed her hand from Tamsin's and instead wrapped her arm around the Valkyrie's waist as they moved forward through the dark building. The taller blonde delighted in having the doctor's body pulled in next her own.
As they reached the landing of the staircase Lauren squinted her eyes beyond the light of the torch to the cleared space that was once the dance floor of the abandoned club.
"Tamsin…" the doctor's breath caught in her own throat. There spread out in front of her, in the middle of the old dance floor, where Lauren estimated was probably the exact spot the two had shared their first kiss more than eight years earlier was a table surrounded by candles with a bottle of wine chilling at its center.
Turning to the Valkyrie before they walked any further, Lauren grabbed her by jacket shaking her head in disbelief. "How did you do this?"
"I can't give up the secrets of the wooer Doc." The Valkyrie was feeling pretty satisfied with the woman's reaction.
Tamsin walked them over to the table and pulled out Lauren's chair before pouring the doctor a glass of wine. She then went to her own chair and leant down to a cool box positioned next to her and reached in pulling out a small tray of oysters placing them on the table.
"Oysters?" Lauren's eyes lit up.
"Apparently they make you horny." The Valkyrie mused as she quickly brought a shucked shell to her lips.
Lauren laughed. "Actually there is little evidence to suggest the aphrodisiac qualities of oysters. It was in fact Casanova who espoused the supposed stimulatory benefits. It's simply folklore, there's no science in it at all"
"Casanova hey? Met him once. Weird hair, bad breath, I don't know what the ladies saw in him."
"You met the Giacomo Casanova? Did you, you know?" Lauren's eyes were wide in anticipation.
"God no." Tamsin hesitated as she ploughed through her memories that were still coming back to her. "Well, actually there might have been one time. We were both in the same room, it was kind of an orgy thing, but there were a lot of people, body bits everywhere, hands, feet, other things. It was dark and a long time ago so it's hard to say for sure but I'm going to go with no."
Lauren rolled her eyes, "I might need you to disinfect as well as woo before you get back into my bed."
Tamsin smirked. "Different life Doc, I come this time round with a clean bill of health. I can give you my papers if you like, I've had all my shots."
Lauren laughed as she brought an oyster to her mouth. "So Casanova, was he, you know, Fae?"
"Incubus" Tasmin said matter-of-factly.
"Of course he was!" Lauren gushed. "That makes such sense."
Tamsin stared at Lauren and smiled. She loved watching the pure unadulterated joy on the doctor's face when she learned something new which in the normal course of her day for a genius was rare. The Valkyrie however had so many lifetimes of history to draw on that she had often been able to elicit this kind of response from her.
"You're staring." Lauren caught the held gaze burning into her own.
Tamsin shrugged. "Whadda ya expect? You're pretty hot, it's hard not to."
Lauren smiled and looked around the room trying to hide her embarrassed red cheeks. "You done good tonight Valkyrie."
Tamsin stood up and walked around to the other side of the table. "Still one more thing Doc."
Lauren looked up at the hand held out in front of her. "What's that for?" she asked suspiciously.
"Well I know you said I can't dance, but there's no way we can come back here and not at least have one dance together right? For old times sake."
Lauren stood up, taking Tamsin's hand as she pulled her in flush against her body, wrapping her arms above her shoulders as they swayed face to face.
"So I don't hear any music." The doctor whispered.
Tamsin leaned her cheek to the side of the doctor face, closing her eyes as she took in the woman's scent. "Possibly for the best given you think I've got no rhythm anyway." She muttered with a wry grin.
Lauren gripped at the back of Tamsin shirt lightly. "Well, you certainly reminded me last night that you've got rhythm in lots of other places outside of the dance floor." The smaller woman smiled seductively.
"Is that right?" the Valkyrie chuckled.
Lauren moved her face away slightly to look Tamsin dead in the eye. "You don't remember much about last night do you? You were too drunk right?"
Tamsin huffed. "All I remember is being really awesome in bed."
The doctor couldn't help but laugh. "Lucky guess."
Lauren lay her head on the Valkyrie's collarbone and just held tight, enjoying what felt like the most perfect moment she had experienced since Tamsin left her bed eight years earlier.
oOo
Tamsin drove Lauren home with the doctor's fingers caught in her own, their hands sitting together on her knee. When they arrived at the doctor's apartment Tamsin walked her to her front door. Lauren put the key in her apartment door and turned around to face the Valkyrie who was lingering behind her.
The human smiled at the Tamsin's hopeful eyes. This powerful Valkyrie, the harbinger of death, far too fretful to ask for what it was she wanted most. Everything about the moment felt to both women like a first date. The awkward tension that was building and the butterflies that sat keenly in the pit of both their stomachs.
Lauren leant against the door, attempting to act relaxed and in control but the woman was not sure what she really wanted to happen. She had been the one who had demanded more from the Valkyrie and it was fair to say the she had delivered. She fiddled with the corners of her leather jacket almost nervously. "I had a really lovely night."
The tall blonde smiled self-consciously, looking down at her feet to avert her eyes from the earnest hazel bulbs staring back at her. "Yeah, well, you were right Doc."
"Come again?" Lauren said with a raised eyebrow.
Tamsin shrugged her shoulders. "You do deserve more than a drunken booty call is all I'm saying." The tall blonde took a tentative step forward. "That was never what you were and that'll never be what you are."
The two faces were so very close now that all either one of the women could see and concentrate on were the lips of the other. Lauren placed her hands on the Valkyrie's waist and guided Tamsin the rest of the way bringing their bodies together as their mouths hovered a little longer in anticipation of what was to come.
Tamsin leaned down slightly, tilting her head as she slid past the doctor's nose and gently brought her lips down upon Lauren's. It was the softest of kisses awash with a tenderness that the two had only glimpsed at together previously. Lauren moaned into the suppleness of it, allowing Tamsin to respond with a still gentle prodding tongue that sought but never forced. The doctor was all too willing to concede, parting her lips just enough so as to allow the tip of her own tongue to trace the tip of the Valkyrie's as they drank of each other's wine tinged breath.
When Tamsin pulled her face away slowly she held to Lauren closely, her hands reached around to the small of the woman's back, her hips pushed into the corresponding ones in front of her. Lauren heard a deep inhale of breath as the Valkyrie leaned her forehead on the door behind Lauren.
The taller blonde felt like she might burn through that door as she was coaching herself in an internal dialogue that was aimed at resisting the most animalistic of urges that were rushing through her body. She was still a baby in Valkyrie terms and still mastering the control of her powers, her wants and desires. When she felt ready she brought her face back to face Lauren's who's concerned eyes were waiting for her.
"Tamsin?" The doctor whispered not sure what had just happened.
The Valkyrie looked at her with an intense stare and then shook her head. "You do things to me." She confessed.
Lauren's head cocked slightly and she smiled as Tamsin stepped back from her.
"Goodnight Doc, I'll see you for some more wooing soon." With that the Valkyrie found the will to walk away leaving a gob smacked doctor still pinned to her door.