Both Lauren and Tamsin are quiet on the drive to Bo's clubhouse; the radio is droning on, but both women are filled with far too much nervous energy to listen to any of the songs or adverts that are playing, let alone fill the car with anything but tense silence. Tamsin falls into her usual routine of playing with the doctor's hand over the center counsel of the Jeep, and is so preoccupied with the feeling of her rough calluses against the palm of Lauren's soft hand and the thoughts racing through her mind about the upcoming day that she doesn't hear Lauren saying her name the first few times.

"Hmm?", she says when she finally catches it who knows how many times later, and glances over to the passenger side, where Lauren is sitting in what has to be a uncomfortably rigid position and looking out the windshield at the oncoming traffic. There is a surprising amount of cars on the road for how early in the afternoon it is, on a weekday, and Tamsin hopes they'll be able to get across town to the crack shack to meet with Bo sooner rather than later.

"I was just asking what it was like for you. The Gathering, that is", Lauren says quietly, still looking ahead. "Is it anything like what I went through in Valhalla? Because I... I don't know if I could do something like that again."

Tamsin puts her foot on the brake, suddenly enough that Lauren has to put her hand on the dashboard in front of her to keep her head from connecting with it and the car that was behind them whips around while honking their horn. The valkyrie simply mutters profanities under her breath as she pulls her Jeep over to the shoulder of the busy road, paying little to no attention to the cars around them. When they come to a stop, Lauren has finally pulled her eyes from the front of the car to gape at Tamsin silently.

"Listen", the blonde says insistently as she twists her body in the front seat to look at her girlfriend properly, "it is nothing like Valhalla. You need to know that. We are going to go to The Glass Factory, they're going to try to break you, they're going to fail, and then we are going to go back to our apartment and I am going to fuck you all night. Okay?"

When Lauren doesn't say anything, Tamsin brings up both of her hands to gently cradle either side of her face. Catching worried brown eyes with her own, the valkyrie is sure to hold her gaze.

"You can do this, Lewis. It'll be a cake walk. And I will be right there. I won't let anything happen to you."

Bo is outside when the two of them finally pull up to the worn-down house, wearing nothing but her kimono despite the near freezing weather, and shooing away an equally as scantily-clad woman who appears to be reluctantly unlocking her car in preparation to leave. Tamsin laughs loudly at the blush that creeps over the succubus' cheeks when she notices the Jeep coming to a stop just feet away from her, and Lauren raises an eyebrow in question – to which Bo just shrugs, her blush deepening as she quickly spins on her heel and walks back into the clubhouse.

"Must be snack time for the succuslut", Tamsin quips as the pair exit the Jeep and make a bee-line for the house, not wanting to dwaddle in the early autumn chill.

Much to Tamsin's dismay, Bo is almost dressed by the time they greet Kenzi (who did little more than grunt at them from her spot on the couch, where she was playing video games) and make their way upstairs. Zipping up a pair of knee-high boots over her (in Tamsin's opinion, at least) ridiculous leather pants, Bo motions for them to take a seat across from her.

"So", Lauren says slowly as she lowers herself onto the small loveseat adjacent to the bed, looking awkwardly around the bedroom as if she'd never seen the inside of it before (Tamsin knows that is hardly the truth, and a small rock settles in the pit of her stomach – she pushes the thought away, however, knowing better than to think too long on the subject of Bo and Lauren, and their relationship before she sauntered into the picture), "how are you, Bo?"

"How am I?", the succubus asks with a dazzling smile, and Tamsin begins to feel sick to her stomach with it's largeness and honesty. "How are you? How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, actually. I am a bit nauseous, I think, but I'm sure it is mostly nerves. I'm not really sure what I should expect tomorrow – which is ridiculous, I suppose, considering how many Gatherings I've attended in one capacity of another. Mostly as a doctor, obviously. Humans aren't allowed within the actually ceremony room, but I'm sure you knew that. I mean, I was even at yours, Bo. I rem-"

Tamsin cuts off Lauren's nervous rambling with a chaste kiss, which causes Bo to shift uncomfortably from her place on the bed, but not to drop her sickeningly large smile. Tamsin mentally marks it as a win anyways.

"Right", Lauren says, shaking her head as if it will cause some of her nerves to dissipate, "I'm rambling."

"Only a little bit." Bo smiles at her, this time more with concern than with... whatever that was earlier. "It'll be okay, though. You don't need to be nervous. It's strenuous, yeah. But mostly because The Morrigan and Hale will be trying to win your vote the entire time – the actual fighting won't be a problem for you."

"She's right, you know!", Kenzi says excitedly as she literally bounces into the bedroom and takes a seat next to Bo – how she manages to walk in the shoes that she chooses to wear, Tamsin will never know. "BoBo did it, and she didn't know anything about the fae then. Doc, you practically know everything about everything."

"Exactly", Bo agrees. "You're going to be fine. The hardest part will be deciding what to do when the fighting is over and hundreds of very interested eyes are on you."

Lauren smiles nervously and sends a sideways glance at Tamsin, who smiles back as reassuringly as she can – she knows that the doctor is terrified, which is more than understandable considering what had ended up happening the last time the woman was put on trail, but she also knows that she doesn't need to be. Without even truly being aware of how to be fae, Tamsin knows that Lauren will defeat whoever or whatever they throw at her in an attempt to prove her mettle.

The valkyrie only strains to hold the smile when she thinks of that terrible moment at the end of the battle, when Lauren will be asked to choose a side – of course, most will assume that the doctor will align herself with the Light, as she had been so intertwined in their day to day workings for the better part of a decade now. The Morrigan will surely take advantage of this, however, and attempt to convince Lauren to side with the Dark by bringing up every little thing that the previous Ash and Lachlan had done to the poor woman when she was still human. Will Hale retaliate if Lauren chooses the Dark fae? Will their relationship suffer should she choose the Light? And will Evony try to use Lauren's relationship with Tamsin to sway her decision?

The most terrifying thought of all, the valkyrie thinks solemnly as Lauren and Bo chat about the upcoming events, is what could possibly happen is Lauren does decide to follow in Bo's footsteps and remain unaligned; of course Tamsin would understand, as both woman spent far more time in the world of humans than they ever did in the world of the fae. But it's dangerous to be unaligned, and Lauren has had enough trouble for one lifetime. For two, even.

"I'm going to go make a phone call", Tamsin says suddenly, interrupting Kenzi's opinion of tomorrow's footwear mid-sentence. All three women eye her curiously as she stands, but she sheepishly excuses herself with a kiss to Lauren's cheek and makes her way downstairs. The valkyrie takes a deep breath as she selects the previously undialed number in her contacts and presses the phone to her ear – despite her nerves, about both this phone call and tomorrow in general, she can't help but smirk when the tell-tale sounds of a bar are heard upon the receiving party's answer.

"Well well", the booming voice comes through the phone, as large and deep as she remembers, heard clearly even over the loud music and general chaos occurring in the background, "hello, little sister."