AN: this is slightly AU in that the ending events to S3 never happened and Fae/human, Dark Fae/Light Fae interactions aren't so tightly regulated/taboo for the sake of the story
Lauren adjusted the focus on her microscope and watched the cells in the Fae DNA sample bump against each other. Leaning back slightly, she jotted down some notes in an open notebook whose pages were already crowded with her hurried handwriting. Not able to help herself, the doctor glanced over at her computer screen to look at the time. She sighed and shifted her head so she could see the front door. Tamsin was late.
The human bit her lower lip and tried to put her mind back on the work in front of her. After several unsuccessful attempts to concentrate, she pushed herself back from her desk and smoothed down the front of her dress, taking in its peculiar dark shade of sea foam green. Lauren frowned at herself as she made her way to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. Maybe the dress had been a bad choice. She had no manner of luck with sea foam at all.
The first time she had worn it had been to go to prom. The dress had been slightly hideous, full of gratuitous ruffles and tulle but it had been in her budget and when she'd tried it on, it had actually looked good on her teenage frame. Lauren had been studious in high school, what some would even term a bookworm though she had a healthy social life and had been on the track team as well. Despite that, she was more than a little flustered when her sandy haired lab partner, Russell, asked her to the dance one day after class.
The blonde had readily agreed, partly because she had been caught off guard and partly because she had never been asked to a dance before and she genuinely wanted to like the boy. The night of the dance, she had sat on the couch in the living room nervously, fidgeting and wondering what would be expected of her. When the pick up time came and went, she had blamed it on traffic. After three hours had passed and Russell still hadn't showed up, she gave up on seeing him and trudged dolefully to her room to change. She had been surprised that the slight had bothered her so much. She wasn't romantically interested in the boy, but she had been looking forward to the event all week.
Lauren recalled having a conversation with Bo about that night, both of them giggling over the sea foam dress she had worn and the lengths she'd gone to to do her hair. The conversation and its topic cycled back into her subconscious, all but forgotten until she had been dress shopping for a ceremony she'd be attending to collect an award. When the doctor had seen the ankle length sea foam dress and thought back to that night with Bo, she'd gleefully purchased it. The human was looking forward to explaining why she had picked the dress. She had imagined the brunette's sly smile when she told her that she wanted to have a pleasant memory of the color. One she made with Bo.
She had never gotten the chance to make that memory though. The succubus, though she had later explained her reasons, had stood her up. This had stung far more than her high school incident. She had been in love with the other woman and she was excited to share something with her outside the confines of the Fae world. When Bo hadn't shown up, Lauren couldn't even bring herself to attend the ceremony; the award had been mailed to her a week later.
A week ago, she had gotten a similar letter to the last one which formerly congratulated her on her efforts in studying infectious diseases and announced that she was winning an award for one of her published papers. The brown-eyed doctor still worked on human sciences. Mostly at the behest of the Ash who knew she had to stay relevant to humans to be of any use to the Light Fae, but she genuinely enjoyed it (though it was a little dull after working on Fae for so long) and had been elated that her work had been recognized once again. Despite the things she had done not just for Light Fae, but Fae as a whole, they were not big on recognizing her efforts, let alone giving her any accolades.
The invitation included with the letter declared that she could bring a guest and she immediately thought of Tamsin. She and the Valkyrie had been an official item for months and much to her delight and surprise, the Dark Fae actually took an honest interest in Lauren's work even though she didn't always understand it. The human knew that it usually took a little prodding and bargaining on her part to get Tamsin to go anywhere that required formal dress, but she had been pleasantly surprised when the other woman had readily agreed.
When Lauren scoured her closet and decided nothing worked, she had gone on a hunt for a new outfit. Honestly, she hadn't been looking for the sea foam dress, but when she saw the scoop backed gown the idea seemed solid enough to buy it immediately. It wasn't that Tamsin would get the reference because she wouldn't, but the shorter blonde knew she would, and it seemed important somehow.
Lauren took a fortifying sip of the red wine she'd poured herself and found her gaze being pulled to the clock on the stove even though she didn't want to look. Her girlfriend was almost an hour late. They were definitely missing the dinner they had planned. An uncharacteristic scowl crossed her features and she set her glass down on the counter, making up her mind. If Tamsin couldn't be bothered to show up on time, she couldn't be bothered to wait for her. She wasn't going to let the curse of the sea foam dress get to her, though she made a mental note to never wear the color again.
Gathering her purse and keys, the blonde pulled a white stole over her shoulders and pulled open her front door only to reveal the Valkyrie with her hand raised as if she were about to knock, surprise on her face.
The Dark Fae lowered her hand and smiled apologetically. "Hey, doc. Sorry I'm…" she trailed off as if noticing her for the first time, giving the younger woman an obvious once over, causing Lauren to smile slightly and almost forget her irritation. "Wow, Lauren, you look…I mean… you clean up nice."
The doctor bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. Tamsin only really called her by her name when she was taken off guard. The Nordic woman was wearing a simple cocktail dress, but her hair was down and her makeup subtle yet elegant. The shorter blonde nodded slightly and leaned against the doorframe.
"You too." She replied. "I thought you weren't coming. I was on my way out."
The Valkyrie frowned. "I wanted to call, doc, really, but an interrogation went long and I couldn't leave. Actually, you have Dyson to thank. He's doing all the paperwork so I could be here. Poor sap."
Lauren felt her irritation dissolve and shifted away from the doorframe to cross the short distance between them, pressing their lips together briefly. "I guess you'll have to make it up to me later."
Tamsin smirked and raised a shoulder in a half shrug and craned her neck to look into her girlfriend's apartment. "We could…"
"We're going to be late as it is." The shorter blonde interrupted, smiling as she stepped out and closed the door behind her.
The Dark Fae allowed the other woman to step around her and followed her down the walkway, sighing dramatically. "Yeah, yeah, you did say later. By the way, nice dress, doc."
Lauren hummed out her thanks, thinking to herself that maybe sea foam wasn't cursed after all.