Authors note:
Thanks so much for all of your reviews, follows, favourites, kudos and all - you've motivated me to keep this story going.
I should quickly mention that I am Australia so I follow mostly British spelling and grammar, hope that's ok!
Please keep reviewing, it really helps to hear your ideas on how the story is going and your tips about the characters.
So, without further ado, onwards we go!
CHAPTER 2: MOVING DAY
Tamsin remained seated while she processed all that had just occurred. While she had definitely tried to plan for things to go better, she was satisfied that at least she had accomplished what she had come to do. The doctor now knew of her assignment and more importantly she had gotten what had been weighing her down off her chest.
It had been almost a year since her and the doctor had even spoken, on the night that she turned up unannounced at Lauren's apartment at the Light compound to collect a hair and, for a reason she still doesn't fully understand, cause trouble between the doc and the succubus. She could still feel the sting from Lauren's slap - despite being in a completely new body. Once the valkyrie was reborn and had completed her maturation, she received her full memories back and knew she had a lot to atone for from her last cycle. Lauren was the last stop on the huge 'apology tour' Tamsin was the sole act longer she left it, the more worried and nervous she had become about how Lauren would take it. Her apprehension had only grown as she continued to hear stories of the scientists bravery, brilliance and even heroism. If it hadn't been for the Morrigan assigning her as Lauren's protection, she may have just been content to allow Lauren to hate her for eternity so she could avoid the awkward reunion.
While her theory of humans not holding grudges hadn't panned out, Tamsin was pleased to be able to move forward now. She had said what she had to say, taken responsibility and done the right thing. Mama-Kenzi would be proud. With all of that out of the way, Tamsin was ready to move on. Being a centuries old fae gave her a sometimes noble outlook on life, although she would never let that show if she could help it. She'd much prefer being on speed dial for a night of drunken debauchery as opposed to any type of trusted counsel. Nonetheless, in this situation, the valkyrie had resolved that her part was done. Whether Lauren was willing to accept or not was of little consequence to the proud warrior. She would do her job and protect Lauren and was not going to be held back by guilt any longer.
Tamsin made her way out to the lab to find Lauren furiously marching back and forth with armfuls of fae knows what. Test tubes with all sorts of strange substances were being shoved into fridges, books being slammed into piles on tables, slides being jammed into holders and covers thrown over microscopes. If you were listening from the outside, you might think that there was an entire group of scientists busily working in the lab, but one look on the inside and you would see the one woman storm that had taken over the space.
Tamsin was hesitant to interrupt lest one of the test tubes contained a fae STD for Lauren to throw at her. It seemed like the kind of revenge the brilliant scientist would think up. Inhaling deeply, Tamsin spoke up "Hey doc! Anything I can help you with? I'm pretty good at tearing things apart, so I think I'd fit right in." Her sarcasm laced voice made her mockery clear.
Lauren stopped what she was doing instantly and turned to glare at Tamsin with full beakers in each hand and a book wedged between her left elbow and her side. "Actually, no. I am perfectly capable of doing my job alone." Lauren drew out the word 'alone' so that Tamsin knew she was still fuming. "I figured I might as well get everything packed up so we can move you into my apartment" emphasis on the 'my' was clear as well "I figured there's not much else I can get done today, especially not with you as my shadow!"
"You know what?! This isn't exactly my dream assignment either, there are a lot of other things I'd rather be doing with my time than play babysitter to the queen of the nerds." Tamsin was done being on the back foot with this woman "I have a job to do and I'm going to do it. So you can either put your big girl pants on or keep tantruming, frankly, I don't give a fuck. Either way, it changes nothing. I'll be waiting outside for you when your highness is ready." With that, Tamsin stormed right past the stunned doctor and towards the door that led to the outside hallway.
Before she got all the way there, Lauren called out "Tamsin, wait." Tamsin halted just by the door but didn't turn to face the doctor. "You're right, this obviously isn't ideal for either of us. I'm sorry, it's just a lot to take in." Tamsin turned to face Lauren waiting to see if she had anything else to say. When she didn't continue right away, Tamsin simply nodded her head in acknowledgement of the woman's words.
"I'll be out in the hall when you're ready" this time it was said with a gentler tone.
"Oh and Tamsin?"
"Yes doc?"
"I'm not queen of the nerds, I prefer to call myself a geek, and if you see me as royalty, so be it." Lauren shrugged her shoulders dramatically before returning to her packing up, albeit with a little less fervour than before. Tamsin could even detect a slight smirk on the darker blonde's lips.
"I'll keep that in mind" was Tamsin's reply before she exited the lab.
...
It had taken Lauren another 15 minutes before she joined Tamsin in the hallway. Her lab coat had been replaced with her signature brown leather jacket making her look a lot more casual than minutes earlier. With Tamsin wearing her blue leather jacket, the two looked like they might be members of the blonde bandidas biker gang as opposed to an old fae and a human scientist.
"Alright. Let's go" Lauren sighed as she straightened her jacket on her shoulders. She started walking towards two large doors at the end of the hallway before Tamsin stopped her by grabbing her elbow.
"Whoa, hold up doc - we can't go down that hallway, it goes past the ancient archives and is totally restricted unless you have access, we'll have to go around to get to the car-park." Tamsin went to lead the two of them in the other direction before Lauren held up a black keycard.
"Would this count as access?" Came Lauren's reply to a now wide-eyed Tamsin.
"Shit doc! Where'd you get that?!" Tamsin loudly whispered as though she was in on a secret "That's a master key for every door in this place! Only the Morrigan and the head of security have those! I wouldn't be flashing that around if I were you" Tamsin tried to motion for Lauren to hide the key but she just pulled her hand away.
"Evony, the head of security... And me, thank you very much" Lauren smirked as Tamsin's face contorted to one of confusion at her words "with the work I do, I need complete access. Evony gave this to me when I started here. C'mon - it's much quicker this way."
Tamsin only shook her head in surprise at the information. No one had access like that, let alone a human. She was both curious and impressed at the same time.
With that the two women were walking down the hallway that was a much more direct route to the compounds car-park, not to mention deserted. Exiting via a door that came out beside the gravel parking area, Tamsin pointed out her truck.
"Alright - here we are. You'll have to direct me to your place, hold on a sec, I need to unlock it from the inside" Tamsin moved to unlock the drivers door before she was stopped by Lauren.
"There is NO WAY I am getting into that death trap! Is that a dent on the ROOF?!" Lauren was examining the car before her, although she was unsure whether 'car' might be too generous a term for what she was looking at.
"Oh yeah, that. Had a little crash a while ago, it's all fixed up now though!" Tamsin enthusiastically replied while she ran her hand along the roof of the black pick up. Well, it would be black if not for the dirt and scratches covering almost every visible surface.
"Hold up, that's not the crash where you rolled it off a mountain with Dyson in it, is it?" Lauren narrowed her eyes and tilted her head at Tamsin who was who was now focussed on rubbing a spot on her side mirror with her sleeve.
"Sounds worse than it is. I have a guy who sorted it right out, I call him Magneto 'cause he's shit hot at bending metal. Made this baby look almost brand new! Nice huh?"
Lauren stood with her mouth set in a thin line cursing herself for having taken public transport to work this morning. She was now very much wishing she had just driven herself, environment be damned. She even considered calling a taxi for a moment before surrendering and making her way towards the passenger seat as Tamsin unlocked the drivers side door, hoisted herself in and leaned over to unlock Lauren's door. "If you could get us there alive, that would be fantastic" Lauren ordered as she lifted herself into the seat.
Tamsin was gathering papers and rubbish from at Lauren's feet and throwing it behind their seats while she replied "Oh don't be such a sissy. You'll be fine."
Tamsin straightened up and started the truck before slamming it in reverse and speeding out of the parking space and then roughly changing the gears back and accelerating out of the compound allowing the tires to squeal as she turned the corner. Lauren thanked the gods that at least the seatbelt worked, she also mentally reminded herself of the best emergency brace positions should they be required, and while she watched Tamsin fidget with the radio whilst not at all watching the road, she had a feeling they might be.
...
The two women pulled into the basement garage 20 minutes later after the drive from the compound into the city to Lauren's loft. Lauren resisted mentioning that the drive should have taken at least 30 minutes and instead just imagined herself kissing the ground as she exited the death trap of a truck.
Tamsin grabbed two large duffle bags from the tray of the truck, Lauren went to help her with her other bags but couldn't find any. "Is that all you have?" She asked of her new housemate.
"Yep. I've actually lived in my truck for a fair while, so a real bed might be more luxury than I can handle. Besides, when you are reborn every so often, you learn not to be too attached to earthly possessions" was Tamsin's reply as she waited for the darker blonde to walk in front of her to lead the way.
They stepped into the elevator and to Tamsin's surprise Lauren pressed the button marked '30' at the top of the keypad before swiping another card in front of the sensor. She raised one eyebrow and the doctor knowingly replied with "I should have known a top floor loft to myself with the contract was too good to be true."
Tamsin smirked but remained silent as the lift moved up past the lower floors and dinged open at the highest level. The doors opened to reveal a long hallway with 2 doors on each side. Tamsin was impressed, already there was good security with the elevator needing a key card followed by a key that let them into the second apartment on the right marked '304'. This job was going to be a breeze.
"I'll have to introduce you to the doorman - if we come in from the garage, we skip him, but if you come in off the street you'll have to stop and chat, there's no avoiding it." Lauren informed Tamsin before turning the key in the door and pushing it open.
Lauren walked in ahead of Tamsin and placed her keys in a flat wooden bowl and her small purse next to it on the table by the doorway. Not 1 foot into the apartment and the doctor's manic tidiness was already evident. Tamsin knew it would take getting used to, but she wasn't going to complain. While she might have to live with a frustrating flatmate/ security detail, she was genuinely pleased to have a physical home again.
Tamsin followed Lauren into the open plan first floor which housed an expansive kitchen with white finishings and what looked like clean cut wooden countertops. By the looks, it was fitted with the most modern of appliances, none of which Tamsin would be able to make use of, but knowing it was there was pleasing enough. Across from the kitchen was a large lounge area with a big comfortable leather couch, similar to the one in Lauren's office, a modern leather eames chair with a matching footrest which Tamsin could already see herself curling up on and a large black coffee table all facing a massive entertainment unit and a huge flat screen television. There was a built in surround sound system and every other dock and appliance to be expected in a modern home.
As expected, there were big bookshelves dotted on every free wall of the space all fitted with texts and artifacts. To the side of the kitchen was a modern dining setting in a matching wood finish to the kitchen counters. Another space the valkyrie doubted she would use, especially as she eyed to tall stools on the outer side of the kitchen island. The few empty walls were filled with artwork that Tamsin remembered from Lauren's old apartment as well as the green wall that had obviously made the trip. Tamsin decided she wouldn't mention the time she squatted at Lauren's old apartment while she was missing, let bygones be bygones and all.
Tamsin dropped her bags to start looking around when a shelf by the entertainment unit caught her attention. She couldn't help but let out a chuckle when she stood in front of it for a closer inspection.
"What?" was Lauren's reply as she bit her bottom lip waiting to be mocked.
"I apologise for earlier. You were absolutely right. You're not a nerd. You're a Trekkie!" Tamsin exclaimed as she inspected the seasons upon season of Star Trek DVD's, special editions and figurines. She reached for one of the boxes that housed what looked to Tamsin like a brown haired ken doll in a red space uniform before her hand was slapped away by the doctor.
"DO NOT TOUCH THOSE!" Lauren scolded as though Tamsin was a small child in an antiques store. "That is a limited edition Wrath of Khan Admiral Kirk figurine in it's original packaging signed by William Shatner himself!" Lauren was inspecting the box to make sure no damage was done from it almost being touched. "You have no idea how long I waited in line at comic-con to get this, not to mention how valuable it is! Stay. Away. From the figurines." Lauren was staring directly into Tamsin's eyes who was trying to take the situation seriously before bursting out laughing.
While Tamsin wiped tears from her eyes Lauren just stood with her arms crossed glaring at the other woman. FInally the doctor spoke "are you finished? Humans have hobbies."
"Horse riding or tennis is a hobby. What you have... wow, that's something else." Tamsin was still fighting to keep her laughter at bay "Whelp, whatever keeps wind in your sails... Or should I say gas in your warp drive."
"The Starship Enterprise warp drive does not use 'gas'. It is fuelled by a Gravimetric Field Displacement Manifold which uses a matter/anti-matter reaction to power two separate nacelles on each side of the ship to creat a displacement field or warp bubble to move the ship into subspace thus allowing it to exceed the speed of light." Lauren explained matter of factly, to which Tamsin simply stared at her with her mouth agape.
"Sorry, I like science, and science fiction. Just stop me if I geek out like that..." Lauren replied when the realisation of what she had just said dawned on her.
Tamsin moved and placed both of her hands on Lauren's shoulders causing the shorter blonde to stiffen at the contact. She look directly into the doctor's eyes "Don't apologise, that was impressive... I didn't understand most of the words, but it was kind of... hot." With that, Tamsin left a stunned Lauren where she stood and went to retrieve her bags. "Hey, Admiral Kirk! You gonna show me which one is my room or should I just guess and risk opening your panty drawer?"
...
Lauren had taken a moment to shake off the stunned feeling Tamsin had left her with and had shown her to the end room on the second floor of the apartment.
"My room is the first door we passed, I have a home lab and study in the next room which is between ours and this is your room" she said opening the third door revealing another large room. "it's set up as another bedroom, so you should have everything you need. If not... Go get it yourself."
Tamsin chuckled at the doctor's behaviour before making her way into the room and issuing a quick thanks to Lauren.
"I'm going to make dinner, we'll have to work out how we're going to manage this living situation, but for tonight you can just get settled in. If you want to have a shower after you unpack, there should be a few towels in the bathroom cupboard. I'll see you downstairs if you want to eat with me." With that, Lauren left the room closing the door behind her.
Tamsin was impressed with the space she would now call hers. There was a large queen bed with a cushioned grey fabric headboard, two dark side tables each with a drawer and reading lamps on top of them. On the opposite wall to the door was a large window with the blinds drawn over them. When Tamsin lifted the blinds, she was treated to an expansive view of the city before her. It was rather beautiful as she could see the skyline of lit up buildings against the night sky backdrop. Under the window was a large desk and workspace which Tamsin wasted no time in unpacking her few electronics and books onto.
There was a large built in wardrobe between the wall and the second door in the room. Upon opening the door, Tamsin discovered a white tiled bathroom with all of the mod-cons, including an over-the-bath shower. She was more than pleased that not only would she not have to share amenities with the doctor, she would also have access to the comfortable looking claw foot bath tub.
Having explored her new living space, Tamsin made quick work of unpacking the rest of her belongings. Her clothing fit very easily into the large built-in, leaving plenty more space should she need a few more leather jackets or high heeled boots, a modern fae's essential wardrobe. She made use of an extra shelf in the wardrobe, a drawer in the desk and both of the bedside drawers to unload her expansive collection of weapons and holsters. She may not be a cop or a soldier anymore, but this assignment still might make use of them, and she wanted to make sure they were always within reach.
Having unpacked almost everything, Tamsin treated herself to a hot shower before throwing on some dark jeans and a cream coloured loose fitting knit jumper that hung off one shoulder. She considered dressing up a little more for dinner but figured she'd keep the doctor's expectations low from the outset. If this was going to be her home, she was going to be comfortable in it. She grabbed the two bottles of scotch she had in her bag and made her way down the stairs to the kitchen where she could hear Lauren cooking and singing along to the pop radio station. This woman continued to surprise her. She was even more surprised when she rounded the corner to see Lauren dancing and jiving along to the music. She allowed herself a few moments of amusement while watching the doctor before trying to make her presence known.
"Smells great, what are you making?" Tamsin said as she approached the counter placing the two bottles on the bench and sitting on one of the bar stools curling one leg up underneath her.
"Nothing fancy, just pasta. After a day like today, carbs are good." Lauren replied while hiding the slight blush now appearing on her cheeks at having been caught dancing. She also made an effort to avert her eyes from the smooth bare shoulder peeking out of the valkyrie's jumper "it's almost ready. I see you already have a drink" Lauren said motioning to the bottles on the counter.
"Yeah, gotta always have a stash somewhere. Is there a place I can put them?" Tamsin asked picking them up again and vacating her seat.
"My liquor cabinet is just there at the end of the counter" Lauren pointed to the cupboard beside Tamsin.
Tamsin opened the door and exclaimed "whoa! Looks like I didn't need to worry about not having any around! This is quite the collection, especially for a doctor!" The shelves were full with every kind of liquor known to man, as well as some only known to fae. Tamsin wondered how the doctor had even gotten her hands on Buckthorne, let alone how she could stomach the stuff.
"That was a housewarming present from Kenzi. The girl has good taste." Lauren answered as she started to dish out the pasta onto two plates and retrieve cutlery from the drawer.
"That she does. That would explain the Buckthorne, Trick is still griping about how he's missing a three hundred year old bottle disappeared the night he left the bar with Kenzi. Guess we know where that ended up!" Tamsin inspected the bottle before replacing it and placing one of her bottles in the cabinet before unscrewing the top to the other.
"I'll let you have some if you never tell him that I have it" Lauren sheepishly offered.
"Deal. Now, would you like to toast to our new living arrangement? Where are the glasses?" Lauren nodded and pointed to the cabinet. Tamsin removed two tumblers and poured them both a healthy fill before putting the bottle away.
Lauren placed the plates down on the counter with the cutlery and took the offered glass from Tamsin and they both sat down in front of their meals.
"To... Whatever the fuck this is, may it not be shit" Tamsin eloquently toasted.
"Yes, and may we both make it out alive" Lauren added before clinking their glasses together.
Tamsin took her first bite and moaned in pleasure "shit, this is awesome. Way better than the take out I've been living off. Who knew you could cook?"
"It's just science, once you understand how things react, it's easy. But I'm glad you like it. Do you cook?" Lauren brushed aside the compliment and waited for Tamsin to reply.
"Fuck no. Sorry doc. But, I order a mean pizza and I'm on a first name basis with the guy that owns that chinese place a few blocks away, so I've got us covered" Tamsin beamed proudly.
"Great. Well, we may have to do something about that..." Lauren replied before there was a loud knock on the door.
Lauren jumped at the sound but made her way to the door and opened it slightly. Shit. It was Bo. She was not ready to see her right now.
...
So there we have it! Thoughts? How am I doing so far?
We'll see more of the gang in the coming chapters, I have the next 4 or so story boarded, just need to write them, so if you have any ideas or things you would like to see, please leave a comment or inbox me.
You can also join me on Tumblr, my URL is under-these-stars. I'm relatively new to it, but would love for you to say hi :-)
See you next time!
