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Dawning of a Valkyrie

Chapter 2: The Orchestra Tunes Up

Gods below, this woman can play me like a fiddle! The succubus thought as she spilled her guts, "Well, it all started when Dyson was cleaning out his apartment…"

Earlier that afternoon…

"Hey! Ladies – thanks for coming over!" Dyson greeted the sisters warmly as he opened the door to his apartment/gym and ushered them inside. They were here at his request; after years of delaying the inevitable he had decided to move into Trick's quarters at the Dal. It only made sense, since he spent most of his time at the Dal now anyways. And Mark had long ago moved out to live with Vex. Being the defacto elder statesman of the Light fae was a full-time job, and being awoken in the middle of the night by an emergency call would be easier to deal with if he lived at the way station and didn't have to make the drive there at the drop of a hat. Over the years he had slowly spent more and more of his nights at the Dal; after hours and not merely as a simple barkeep. Now moving there was merely a formality; a formality that officially closed a chapter in his life.

"Well, Wolfie, this is the last time! Can't let you keep taking advantage of the only gal you know with a truck!" Dagny smirked, physically colliding into him "accidentally on purpose" as she bumped past him into the room.

Bo followed her in and rolled her eyes in apology for her sister's rudeness, but the shifter took it all in stride and countered chuckling, "REALLY! Well, allow me to retort – now I am forced to remind you of whom it was that convinced your sister to allow you to get your license and truck to begin with! You OWE me! I'm usually too polite to remind a person, but in your case- I will make an exception!" Getting any sort of government ID for a fae meant forging a lot of documents, and Dyson was now the go-to guy to get those documents from fae government workers.

Dagny rolled her eyes at this. She hated being reminded that she relied heavily on her family and longed to be independent; and free of her domineering, secretive sister. "Whatever! Well, let's get this over with – what do you want me to do? Can't let it be said that I didn't pay what I owed!" She clapped her hands and rubbed them together, truly happy to help despite the faux petulant attitude she put forth. She enjoyed the times she spent with the wolf shifter and his son – it was her sister's company that actually irked her.

"You can help Mark pack up everything in the trophy case in the workout room. That's the only things left I want to keep. And load up boxes from the closet in the storage room. You two can take that stuff to the Salvation Army. And yes, this will be the last load." He smiled and watched the young fae as she hurried off to the other room, leaving him alone with the woman he still loved. "Make sure you label the boxes!" he shouted after her.

Once Dagny was out of earshot, Bo finally spoke. "I can't believe you are finally moving out of here and living in Trick's quarters at the Dal." Her voice was touched with a hint of nostalgia and sadness. She understood why he didn't move in sooner – the former Blood King's lose was hard on all of them and mourning him properly was delayed too long by the fight with Hades. And so the lingering sorrow for him festered making all of them overly reluctant to change the familiar places he frequented – and lived.

Dyson sighed. "Me either. But I think it's time." He smiled sanguinely, the new wrinkles around his mouth and eyes only adding an aire of wisdom to his assertion. "With the Light and Dark re-organizing and choosing new leaders, I think its important the way station has someone there to ensure all who ask for sanctuary be assured it will be granted right away – no matter the time of day or night. Especially the Unaligned, while they are trying to find their place in the colony."

She acknowledged the truth of his statement. Her own life was now occupied by investigating and preventing attacks on fae who chose not to declare for either side. The unintended consequence of the rise of the Unaligned was the other two sides were getting closer politically to unite against the new interlopers. Meetings and negations where complicated and tedious, and now the Unaligned were organizing to join the clan system and get an official seat at the table; demanding the universal rules of fae behavior rewritten. The Blood Laws.

He opened a cooler he had obviously brought with him and pulled them two bottles of Dark Belch out of the ice. Given the absence of furniture, he opted to hop up and sit on the counter without the aid of his hands. After she joined him, he handed her a beer. They sat in silence for a few minutes, both reminiscing about people and times long past. Both thinking despite the battles they fought to end the division of the fae seemed to be heading for a three-way split instead. Both avoiding the subject they really needed to discuss.

Bo played with the label of her beer bottle as she mulled over whether or not she should elicit the shifter's advice or commiseration for the ever increasing tension between her and her sister. She instead opted for a neutral subject, but one she was genuinely curious about, "So you never said, but what's going to happen to this place?"

Dyson perked up and let out a deep rumbling laugh, "Now, there's a story. Vex and Mark are going to buy the place." Shaking his head in disbelief, he drank from his beer, leaving the Succubus puzzled yet grateful he had lifted the mood.

"What's so funny about that? I think it's kind of nice." She gave him a good-natured shove with her shoulder.

"Well, I offered to give it to them, free of charge, as a wedding present. Mark objected because he said they intended to build something on their own, together, without my help. But Vex - Vex had a little fit saying this was just a business venture and insisting they had no plans as of yet to wed because he couldn't be that respectable all at once. 'I DO have a reputation to uphold!'" Dyson mocked in a feigned British accent and once again chuckled a little. He didn't say it outright, but his words and attitude spoke to the fact that he believed the Mesmer was far more smitten with his son than the other way around.

"Oh my God, Vex! He still is a little shit!" she laughed out, both at the hilariously accurate imitation of the Mesmer's speech and mannerisms whenever he felt indignant, and in unspoken acknowledgement of the tender yet proud heart of Evony's former right hand man.

"Mmmmhhh" he hummed out as he was drinking, and pulled the bottle away from his mouth, "I think they are going to turn it into some Dark fae boxing nightclub venue. 'High Class' he tells me, but won't give any other details. Gonna BLOW my mind when I see it finished, apparently. Vex sent some appraiser, er broker, …consultant guy down to check it out. Slimy little dark fae runt he called 'Ball Sack! Close talker, too.'" grinning, he took another sip of his beer.

"Ball Sack! That is an unfortunate nickname." Bo chuckled, "You guys can be really cruel!" The succubus swung her legs back and forth a bit as she took a drink of her own beer, silent as she concentrated on something nibbling at the back of her mind that was trying to gnaw its way out of her subconscious.

"Bo?" Dyson had his own nagging thought that made its way into the conversation before the succubus could identify what was bothering her.

"Hhmmm?" she answered, still slightly distracted.

"I found something I want to give Dagny. I know she's been more…difficult, lately. Thought I should ask you first."

"Thought about what you want to do for a living? Vex will be hiring people soon. I'm sure he'd give you a job." Mark asked as Dagny knelt and helped him pack the trophies from Dyson's cabinet.

She shrugged, "I thought about being a cop, like my mother. But Bo won't let me do anything until after my dawning. Kind of hard to make plans when I'm not really sure when it's going to be. Could be a hundred years from now. Could be tomorrow. Bo says it will probably be sooner rather than later, since Valkyrie grow so fast and even her Dawning came way earlier than everyone expected. But I still can't really control my powers. I'm not even really sure what all of them are."

Mark looked up from his work and grinned affectionately at the young girl. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I felt so weird before I shifted for the first time. At least Dyson was there to help me."

"Really? What could he have possibly done to help you? Hmm? Did daddy clean your litter box to get you eating out of his hand? Oh, I got it – he poured you a bowl of Meow Mix! Better!" she mocked, thinking how much easier it would be if she were a simple fae whose presumed powers were less shrouded in mystery as her own.

Laughing a bit at her joke, and understanding she didn't mean it maliciously - he answered, "Something like that." She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder when he didn't answer with an expected quip of his own. They shared a serious moment and he explained, "He was there. He talked to me. He said he loved me. It was enough." She was the one to break the mood as she turned her eyes back to the task at hand.

Handing Mark the last of the trophies from the case, she stood up and started on the framed photographs hanging on the back of the cabinet. She paused and looked at it – Dyson in the ring holding a championship belt aloft in triumph. "You're lucky to have at least one of your parents. My father is the most powerful evil entity ever to walk the earth, and I killed my mother being born. I don't even have very many pictures of her. Just a few snapshots Kenzi gave me. Bo said all the pictures she had burned in a house fire."

"Hey now…" he jumped to his feet and gathered her up in a hug from behind. "You still have your sister, and the rest of us."

She shook him off roughly, giving him an icy and indignant glare over her shoulder as she handed him the photograph. "Thanks, but I'm not some kind of emo whiny little bitch looking for sympathy!" she turned back to her chores and explained, "I'm just stating the facts. No one in our family can help me learn what all Valkyrie powers are or how to use any of them. And as for my sister - I'd rather be out on my own. We don't get along."

Mark knelt once more and packed the photo away, not sure what to make of the Valkyrie's cold attitude. Like mother, like daughter I guess. Or is that daddy's influence…"…Sorry for caring…" he muttered.

Dagny turned around slowly, handing him another photo. She smiled wryly and apologized, "No I'm sorry. None of this is your fault, and you can't help me. I shouldn't have dumped my problems on you."

The young shifter looked deeply into her green eyes, "That's what family is for." He told her with all the sincerity he could muster.

She hummed out a smirk and turned brusquely back to her task, "Oh, THAT'S what family is for." She feigned sudden realization with her back turned, kneeling and fussing with something at the back of the cabinet, adding sarcastically, "I always wondered. I thought family just held you prisoner and kept secrets from you."

"You know that's not true. We listen to each others' problems, even if we can't solve them. We're here for each other; we help each other…" the young shifter continued emphatically, understanding he was the person who had the most in common with the young Valkyrie and had the best chance of breaking through her icy façade. "Listen I get it - I know what it felt like to not know who or what you were. What it's like to have a relative who was a stranger to you for so long suddenly dictate how you live your life. How it feels to be an outsider…" he trailed off when she didn't respond, musing Bo experienced those exact struggles, too. But the Succubus now being the most powerful fae in the colony, and probably the world, made it difficult for the young blonde to connect with her. The Succubus could be a powerful shot caller, when she felt like it. Most times she just called the shot only when Dagny was concerned, or so the young Valkyrie believed.

Dagny sat back on her heels from what she was doing with a loud huff, blowing the hair out of her eyes, before turning around. "OK, then help me now – this last picture frame is screwed to the back of the cabinet, and it's facing backwards! What the hell?"

Mark dropped his attempt at a serious conversation with his friend and chortled out a short laugh. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that! That's the 'forbidden picture.' I asked about it once; Dyson said it was never to see the light of day, and if I wanted him to continue to respect my wish to have a relationship with Vex even though he is against it – I would respect his wish that I never bring it up again. The key to a happy relationship is compromise and sacrifice, he always tells me. That advice has always worked for me. So, our job is done." He stood up hefting the box they had just packed. "Vex and my family are WAY more important to me than some stupid picture."

But the Valkyrie was curious, and too clever by half for her own good. She stood to look him in the eye and reasoned, "Well, if family doesn't keep secrets…AND we help each other…I need a screwdriver. How about a little compromise? He DID tell me to pack everything in here. Aren't you going to help me, a member of your family, now?" She crossed her arms and tilted her head to one side; daring him to try and argue against his own logic, the corners of her mouth pulled into a self-satisfied smirk. Their impasse didn't last overly long, but the few seconds the oversized and old fashioned fight clock on the wall ticked off loudly in the silence made it seem more of a old west showdown; neither moving as she waited patiently for an answer.

OK, that is definitely her mother's influence. That's pretty much how I picture Tamsin in my mind. Just like the first day I met her. "Dagny, you are asking me to defy my father. He's family, too." He told her bluntly, his attempted stern look failing to impress the young Valkyrie judging by how she only raised an eyebrow in response. Great, he thought, I painted myself into a corner with her. I'm not doing this - Dyson will be pissed at me again, just when him and Vex are finally getting along really well. "No, Dagny." He said more concisely, and with finality, and turned to take the box outside.

"Hhmmm, I see. Well, since you laid so knowledge on me, allow me to return the favor." He turned around to see her expression had changed into one of contempt. Once she had his full attention, she pointing an accusing finger at him with her other hand on her hip, "I may be younger than you, but I KNOW actions speak louder than words. That means what you said to me is BULLSHIT! And the only relationship you DON'T care about is the one you have with me!" She crossed her arms again, already aware she had won. The successful manipulation brought her more joy than she had felt in a long time. Damn that felt good! Might not be the stuff I am really trying to find out about, but what the hell! Let's just see what the wolf has swept under the carpet for so long! Should be good for a laugh, and I will get some payback for all the time he narked on me to Bo. No one else needs to know…for now…

He shook his head in defeat, informing her deliberately in a low conspiratorial tone, "I'm going to take this box to your truck. There may or may not be a small tool bag containing screwdrivers in my car, which I'll probably unlock 'accidently' when I bump the remote on your tailgate. I'm denying everything, and I WILL 'try' to stop you…" with a knowing look, he turned to do just that.

She squealed quietly in delight, hopping joyfully behind him so closely she bumped into him when he stopped abruptly.

He told her over his shoulder, "Ah, ah, no! Grab a box, too. Might be suspicious if they see us and you aren't carrying one out, too!" he explained with a wink and a smile. Ha! She played me as easily as one does a pipe, as Vex says when he's quoting his English buddy Will. Well, I'm not such a bad musician myself; and I'm not carrying all this stuff by myself!

"Are you aware of what a bossy A-HOLE you've gotten since you made detective?" she asked sarcastically, but doing as he asked. Well, at least we are playing on the same sheet of music... She thought, …which is more than I can say for Bo. She really needs to get in tune.

"Are YOU aware of how much you sound like your MOTHER?!" he asked in kind, heading outside. Comparing a young woman to her mother was time-honored way of getting under most gal's skins, as well the reason many husbands, or wives, spent lonely nights on the couch after dropping that truth bomb on their lady in an argument. But its iconic pop trope significance was lost on the 10 year old who was physically and mentally much older, but lagged in intellectual, emotional and cultural awareness.

This rattled her a bit, but not for the reason he intended. She understood it was meant to be an insult, but wasn't sure if it was a generality or specific to her & her mother. Her emotions weren't betrayed by her voice when she gave the expected denial, "Ah, no I'm NOT." But she couldn't resist her curiosity, asking "In what way?"

The feline shifter was oblivious to her internal confusion, and continued their playfully insulting banter, "Like this: If anyone stood in her way, she could be one scary B-"

Right now…

"…one scary B-"

"Wait, how do you know what Mark and Dagny said or what they were thinking when you were in the other room?" Lauren asked in confusion, ceasing to bathe her wife and grabbing a bottle of shampoo while she interrupted for clarification.

Bo was frustrated again now, but for entirely different reasons than earlier. However, her attitude seemed to imply otherwise as she leaned forward and looked over her shoulder at Lauren. "I'll get to that! You asked me to let you finish. Are you gonna let me finish?" she huffed out more gruffly than she intended, oblivious in the heat of the moment to the double entendre.

But the duel meaning of her words was brought pointedly home to her when she saw the doctor's coy smile before she grabbed both sides of her head and turned it around, gently massaging the shampoo into her hair. "Of course I am, babe, of course I am." She soothed, kissing the back of her neck, "But take your time; it's early." She dropped one arm to suck on an earlobe, letting it go ever so reluctantly. To emphasis her point she whispered in her wife's ear once again, "…and we have all night."

The only response she received was a shiver that ran the length of the brunette's body. Lauren didn't need to see Bo's eyes to know they were glowing brilliant blue. Smiling, she throttled back her seduction to keep the Succubus nature of her wife from taking over before her tale was told. "So Dyson gave her something that set her off? Or did she find it in the trophy case?"

"Huh?…oh yes…I mean no…it's….you know she has been like a long simmering pot that might boil over at second…" Bo stumbled, hands gesturing to and fro as she tried to answer the question with a simple answer, finding it impossible to do so.

"Mmmm, yes, I am quite familiar with the metaphor." Lauren agreed with a bemused tone, both to herself and her lover.

Bo got it. "Not helping, Lauren." The brunette retorted flatly with the faintest of smiles, trying to both enjoy her wife's attention and keep it from distracting her from finishing her story.

"Sorry dear." was the equally neutral reply. "Tilt your head back." The brunette complied with tightly closed eyes and let Lauren pour water over her hair to rinse it. With hands gently running down Bo's long dark hair to squeeze the soap out of it, the doctor moved the story along. "She found something in the trophy case, and Dyson wanted to give her something. Not sure if they were one in the same, but go on."

"OK, let me think…Dyson had found some of Tamsin's things in a box in the closet. I didn't even know he had them. Apparently, he didn't remember either, until today. He told me about it, and asked if he could give them to Dagny, and I said-"