Kenzi and Tamsin had arrived at the mall and quickly got into the swing of things. Tamsin was freshly reborn, but Kenzi had to admit, the girl has style.
A loud thump resounded from the fitting room.
"OW!" Tamsin groaned. "Kenzi!"
Kenzi stood up from her comfy seat outside the door and lightly rapped against the wooden door. "You good, T?"
The door swung open and Kenzi had to hold in her laughter. Tamsin stood clad in her bra, showing off her toned stomach, a pair of too tight jeans suffocating her legs. The woman never said the Valkyrie had her sizing down.
"Pfft!" Kenzi laughed, going silent when she received a glare from the girl. "Ahem, turn around."
Tamsin did as told. "They're stuck." She said, with a voice of defeat.
Kenzi fell silent, looking down at where her pants had stopped. Right under muscle clad buns of steel.
'Hey, snap out of it. She's still a baby. Bad Kenz.' Kenzi thought.
Reaching out, she grabbed at the jeans, pulling them down to her ankles. The woman was unusually quiet, Tamsin realized.
"You okay, Kenzi?" Tamsin asked, standing in her underwear.
"Yeah," she gulped. "I- you need a bigger size for sure. You're packin' some serious heat back there."
"What can I say? I work out." The girl boasted, flexing her muscles.
"Yeah, I have eyes. Very... pleased eyes." Kenzi said slowly, clasping her mouth as soon as her words came out. "I'll be right back!" She said, running out of the fitting room with the jeans in hand, leaving Tamsin confused.
Kenzi let out the breath she was holding. The store was practically empty and she shoved her face into the pants out of frustration. She'd just made a complete fool of herself. Tamsin was an ass half the time. Before anyway. But now? She just seemed different. Softer. But she'd never say that in front of the Valkyrie. She had no idea where this sudden attraction was coming from. And she knew this wasn't in her best interest, especially with the talk they'd have tonight. One she'd been dreading since she knew the Valkyrie's memories were gone.
"Ugh!" Kenzi groaned, picking up a bigger size of jeans. She moped back to the fitting rooms and hung the pair over the door.
"Thanks." Tamsin said. "These should fit."
A couple minutes later the Valkyrie came out. She could feel that Kenzi wasn't in the greatest of moods. There was doubt and confusion just radiating off the woman. But Tamsin would ask her about that later, she was all shopped out.
"C'mon, K." Tamsin smiled, getting some kind of smile out of the woman.
Tamsin held their bags after they left the register. But the awkward silence on the way back to the car really showed that something was definitely wrong. Tamsin jumped into the passenger seat as Kenzi started the car. Grabbing her hand on the gear shift, Tamsin stopped the woman from pulling out of the space.
"Alright, tell me what's going on, short stop. You're moping. Not the Kenzi I've seen at all." Tamsin said.
"It's nothing." Kenzi said, glancing down at their hands. "Nothing we can't talk about later."
Tamsin narrowed her eyes at the woman, smiling after a few seconds. "Later." She released her hand.
Kenzi smiled, looking into sea green eyes. She wasn't sure there'd be a later.
The pair entered the crack shack, Kenzi falling onto the couch in a pile of bags. She had to admit, shopping took a lot out of her. She heard Tamsin chuckle from the kitchen.
"Well, I guess it'll be just us tonight." Tamsin said.
"Yep," Kenzi said awkwardly. "Just us. In this rickety old house."
Tamsin leant over the back of the couch, eyeing the woman again. "I'll take those." She said, grabbing the bags. "I'm going to shower. Then, we can talk?"
"Um, yeah." Kenzi said sitting up. "Maybe it'll jog your memories.
Tamsin nodded, running up the stairs two at a time.
Meanwhile, Kenzi was panicking internally. She didn't really know why. This is Tamsin. They'd just gotten close before she up and died.
"Whew, you can do this. You're K-Star!" She told herself, hearing the shower running already.
She had about 6 minutes to collect herself before the Valkyrie came back for questioning. She didn't know how to skimp around the whole Bo lovey dove thing and how the Valkyrie had died. They weren't easy subjects. But Tamsin had never been easy. She kinda liked that about her.
Kenzi stood up, grabbing two beers from the fridge. Cracking open the first, she chugged half of it. If they were to talk about touchy things, she at least didn't have to be completely sober. The shower shut off upstairs, pulling her out of thoughts. Making her way to the couch, Kenzi laid across it, awaiting the Valkyrie.
Kenzi nursed her beer bottle in her hands as the stairs croaked. Taking another swig, she turned to look at Tamsin. The woman wore a white t-shirt and pajama pants, hair wet and coming down in ringlets. Tamsin let out a smile and Kenzi swooned internally.
"You look... clean." Kenzi said, immediately regretting it. 'Duh, of course she's clean, you idiot.'
"Well, I'd hope so. Otherwise, that's about ten minutes of my life I wasted in that shower." Tamsin chuckled, lifting Kenzi's feet and taking a seat on the couch.
"Still a smartass, I see." Kenzi smiled.
"That'll never change." Tamsin smirked. "Get used to it, kid."
"Oh, I am. I've seen you in action." Kenzi stuck her tongue at the Valkyrie, who in turn, mocked her.
"So, what was I like? Y'know, before I kicked it?" Tamsin asked.
"You were the biggest ass I'd ever met!" Kenzi said. She fell silent a moment, thinking. "But you were also brave and smart. Self sacrificing, even if it was for your own gain, which mostly, it was. I don't know how it's possible to be both selfish and selfless, but you sure nailed that one on the head, Tam-Tam. And like I said, a smartass." She smiled.
"Well, not everyone can be me, I guess." Tamsin joked, inspecting her nails. Kenzi nudged her with her feet playfully.
"We got close before you bit it, surprisingly." Kenzi said.
"What could've possibly brought that on?" Tamsin replied.
"Well, look at me, Hun." Kenzi joked. "No, but on the reals, Bo kind of played a part. A big one."
Tamsin waited for the woman to continue, staring into icy blue eyes.
"Well, I'm sure you remember that Bo is in fact a Succubus, hence Wondersnatch." Kenzi started. "When you came along, it was kind of inevitable for her to take some kind of liking to you... And you to her."
"Oh, no, I know where this is going." Tamsin let her head fall against the couch.
"Listen." Kenzi said. "You fell in love with her, but she didn't return those feelings. Mostly, because you tried to get her thrown in prison and killed, which are valid reasons to hate someone, no offense."
"Hm." Tamsin grunted.
"One night, we were at the Dal, our local watering hole, and Bo came in with Lauren, who you'll meet. You just lost it." Kenzi continued. "You were pretty angry, so you left and I followed. You lashed at me pretty bad, at first, but I could see the pain in your eyes, in your voice and you just let me in. After that, we were pretty tight."
"Wow, sounds like you were in love with me." Tamsin joked, unknowingly sending the woman into a small panic.
"Haha, very funny, T." Kenzi played along. "Yeah, I was pretty torn up when you died... Bo can get caught up in her "lovers", if you haven't noticed. A girl gets pretty lonely. And besides, I felt safe with you."
Tamsin got a devious look in her eyes. "What can I say? It's a Valkyrie thing." She joked.
"You're sounding more and more like your old self by the second, young lady." Kenzi said, pinching Tamsin's arms. "I'm glad."
"Me too." Tamsin said. "Me too."
Kenzi faked a yawn. It was late, but not that late. She just hoped the blonde would forget about what happened earlier.
"Well, I'm gonna crash. There's another bed up in my room, whenever you're ready." Kenzi said, heading towards the staircase. "Goodnight, Tamsin."
"Goodnight, Kenz." Tamsin said, as Kenzi went upstairs. She wouldn't badger her for more tonight. "It's good to be back."
A/N: I'm writing this at 3 AM. It's great.
More Kenzi confusion will come later on. And Tamsin will see Bo again, in a different light. I hope you guys enjoyed and drop a review for me, it really helps a lot. :)