Arin was more than happy to show Tamsin around the place like a giddy school kid. Also she made sure to fill Tamsin in on her last 6 life times.
Tamsin was impressed that Arin was able to hold into her lives and not get killed on missions. She essentially lengthened her existing lives and Tamsin was flattered that she did it all for her. Arin never lost hope that one day, the only twin sisters in Valhalla would be united once more. Tamsin wished she didn't squander her lives but what's done was done.
Tamsin was finally able to laugh again at Arin's often hilarious stories across her 6 other life times. It sure beat mulling over Bo.
It was good to be home.
Arin tried her best to cheer Tamsin up but for some odd reason, Tamsin wasn't all there. It was as if something kept preoccupying her mind during the periods of silence. She zone out several times like she was in shock. She needed to know more.
They were eating outside overlooking a lush green field even in the dark.
"Mmmmm," Tamsin pointed to her plate swallowing a bite. "Traditional Norse cooking, I haven't had this since I last saw you. Did it get better?"
Arin huffed out a laugh and rolled her eyes, "No. As a matter of fact, they just changed chef duty to Rota so it got a little worse. Now Sigun, SHE makes the good stuff."
"I've been eating so much human crap that I forgot about how much I missed this," Tamsin smirked.
She wanted to share this moment with Bo. What was the point of enjoying something if the person you loved wasn't there?
'She dumped me,' was Tamsin's next thought as all warmth left her face.
Arin thought out quickly to Freya using the link, 'Freya, Tamsin isn't her bitchy, opinionated, stubborn, sure footed self like I remember. She looks like she is in shock and sad. I … I have never seen this before. Normally we snap out of it quickly.'
Freya's voice popped into her head, 'I believe that Tamsin gave her heart to the Queen, Daughter of Hades and Unaligned Succubus. She is otherwise known as Bo Dennis. Somehow Tamsin chose to love her.'
'But we can't love. We are Valkyrie warriors,' Arin rebutted.
'Valkyries, when they spend too much time earth side with no guidance from me or the sisterhood, pick up human habits and emotions,' Freya factually stated.
'I thought we just don't have that ability to feel complex emotions?' Arin thought back curiously as Tamsin zoned out just eating with her head down somewhat despondent.
'You do. But as a species, it is in our DNA to suppress and ignore it. A Valkyrie has to consciously CHOOSE to willingly override this with much effort on their part, but once it is done, there is no turning back. Once a Valkyrie feels love, they can't turn it off, or any other complex emotion off ever again,' Freya replied.
'So she was with a succubus, and was tricked into love,' Arin replied unsure.
'Arin,' Freya warned, 'Tamsin is now essentially a HUMAN who happens to have Valkyrie attributes, and NOT the other way around. You will be tested Arin and for once it isn't on a battle field. You need to give Tamsin something she no longer has, a family. Gods knows she will need it and more to recover and become a functioning member of our sisterhood again. If we are lucky, she may become at least half of the Valkyrie she once was.'
Tamsin and Arin sat there no longer eating but mulling over 2 very different but important things.
For Tamsin, she was still trying to deal with the fact that she ran away in full retreat from Bo. She had to face the fact that she was a coward. It was something that she never did. She just waved the white flag and Lauren just had Bo's heart the whole time. At the same time her heart still yearned for Bo to be next to her. She was played by both Bo and Lauren. How'd she get here to this point?
SHAME.
CONFUSION.
NUMBNESS.
As for Arin, she couldn't believe that one person could ruin her sister like that and it wasn't in a physical fight. Bo had Tamsin's heart and soul and the Valkyrie in front of her was now just a lifeless shell. How DARE anyone torture and essentially KILL her sister like that. That enraged her and her fists balled up reflexively.
ANGER.
RESENTMENT.
Arin slammed her fists on the table then threw the table aside in a fit of rage.
Tamsin was pulled out of her deep thoughts at Arin's outburst but was even more surprised at Arin grabbing her by her shirt and pulling her to her feet.
Arin barked within an inch of Tamsin and demanded, "WHAT were Frey's orders to you to deal with that freaking back stabbing slut of a succubus!"
Tamsin locked her hands on top of Arin's grip to stop her from executing further take down moves and yelled, "DO NOT EFFING hurt Bo! Don't you dare even touch her! I love her!"
"Listen you yourself sister!" Arin shook her as best she could to get her to snap out of it.
Tamsin swept her and pinned her to the ground and growled. She took demands from no one but Arin's words began to sink in.
"You are defending that whore who cast you out like a dollar store item in the TRASH," Arin yelled back even in a submission hold. "I bet she has a whole harem on speed dial and you're NOT one of them! Face it, she doesn't give a frack about you!"
Tamsin's expressions of fury melted away to one of defeat as she looked away and finally let Arin go. "Arin," Tamsin said as calmly as she could getting up but kept her back to her. "Freya told me that in order to stop hurting, I need to hurt Bo back emotionally by poisoning all her relationships. Even going as far as to kill the people I once considered family. They are good people."
Arin dusted herself off and put her hand on Tamsin's shoulder to comfort her from behind. She thought about it and scrunched her face, "Tamsin, you are my sister by blood. I am you and you are me and I will follow you to whatever end. Hey, you are dark. Since when did you give a crap about good people? That's my job."
Tamsin turned around and scrunched her face too and murmured, "You got strong drinks and time? I can tell you allllll about it then."
"Sure thing sis," Arin clicked with a smirk.
Tamsin and Arin fixed the table and chairs and spent hours on end talking about her lifetimes starting with Bo who suddenly barged into her life.
For Tamsin, Arin deduced, out of all her lifetimes, she only truly lived when she was with Bo.
Arin saw the bright, beautiful and powerful sister she once knew and for the first time since she was here, Tamsin laughed and smiled genuinely.
Although Tamsin did most of the talking, Arin could see just by the way Tamsin expressed herself about her time with Bo from the most simple and funny to the most pivotal and stressful moments, her sister was indeed at one point head over heels for Bo.
Could it be love?
Odd part about all of this was that Tamsin was stubborn enough to never get attached or submit to anyone, but for this succubus, she would willingly.
As the night went on, both were really sloshed due to the alcohol they consumed but still had a great time over all.
"…. Annnnnd IN the spirit of sharing with Bo, this time I invited a Hydra over and lured him into Bo's room feigning totally ignorance that Bo had just gotten home and was in the shower. Well….." Tamsin glowed and smirked manically.
"Oh gods! Hydras have 7 heads down in the southern plains. Did she take the bait?!" Arin chuckled almost spitting out her drink.
Tamsin reminisced and looked up to the sky and continued, "Ohhh yea. I timed it so that Ted or whoever his name was didn't have an opportunity to reveal his true 7 headed nature. With our spiking auras, Bo didn't even bother to towel off before she just grabbed him like a praying mantis and devoured him."
"Oh MY GODS! Was she able to handle him or did the predator become the prey," Arin leaned forward putting a hand on her mouth in shock but anxious to hear the rest of it.
"Well I left but kept tabs on them from down stairs and Bo was almost screwed literally and figuratively but barely made it. She was able to get the upper hand since strength wasn't his strong suit and he also had lower chi capacity,"
Arin's mouth dropped open in realization at what her evil sister was getting at, "You set her up so that she'd rolling in the sheets with the Hydra and not be fully topped off! Wow, that is evil. OK sis, I know there's MORE to this story, so …"
Tamsin huffed out a laugh and continued pretending to be totally innocent, "I accidentally then had my built like a brick house Ogre friend come over for drinks and an upper body massage. Bo came down to get a drink on only her kimono when she spotted Tommy shirtless and ripped with extremely high chi capacity and THIS time Bo knew that she couldn't take him down but she surprised me. She acted like the prey and Tommy was all hers. She allowed him to take the more dominant position but wow… she was flexible, and in the end got her fill BUT she had to earn it. At first it was Bo the prey, but at the end she turned into a menacing predator from the way Tommy later described to me."
Tamsin paused and glowed at her triumph while Arin just burst out with a hearty laugh. "Well I am not one to watch so I went to my room but, Bo came up and slept with me in my tiny bed since Tommy was totally spent on the couch and there was a passed out Hydra in her bed. I got what I wanted in the end, a satisfied fully fed naked succubus that held me through the night who told me how evil I was to set her up like that. Wow. That was a little slice of heaven," Tamsin clicked.
Arin observed that Tamsin frowned and knew the other shoe was going to drop, "From those days forward, I relished waking up with Bo and it wasn't about rolling in the hay either. The group Cause and Effect said it best, since it was more about,
The things she said,
The books she read,
The way she looked,
When the morning came,
The time of night,
That I held her tight,
But I'll never forget,
The day she went away."
Tamsin stopped short of her confession to Bo about how she truly felt, but was thankful that Arin didn't push her. She was still processing what just happened.
It was already late into the night and both decided to retire to Arin's room. Arin insisted they sleep with one another even though Tamsin was ok with a cot or going to her room.
It was a long day for both and they quickly fell asleep.
Bo paced about the living room on her phone and urgently communicated, "Trick, have you seen Tamsin?... Yea, I know it's 4AM but she bolted out of here upset and I am worried….. All right…..fine… Call me if you see her ok ….. Thanks."
'What have a done,' Bo thought to herself collapsing on the couch as the consequences of her actions concerning Tamsin sunk in.
Since the oracles visited her, it not only told her who her heart desired most, but also gave the truth for a truth. She desired to be with both Dyson and Lauren. Dyson professed his love for her in deed through all his sacrifices. Lauren declared that she would always to true to her.
Bo hunched forward holding her head downtrodden, 'How the fuck did I miss all of Tamsin's queues?' she scolded herself but she already knew the answer. She was so wrapped up with having a complex open relationship with Dyson and Lauren that she totally missed Tamsin.
How she wished Kenzi was still around. She was her sounding board and also kept Bo in check as a sister.
She had already called Dyson and he put an APB out on her and on luck thus far.
The bigger question was, if she found Tamsin, what would she say to her?
That thought was dismissed when Lauren slid up behind her and hugged her.
"Bo, let's go back to bed," she reassured, "Dyson is working on finding her and will call as soon as he finds something. OK?"
Bo rested her hands on Lauren's and just mumbled and stammered out staring at the ground, "I know. I… I …. I'm really worried. The ancients, losing Kenzi, now Tamsin too? I feel like nothing is going right."
Lauren pecked Bo on the cheek from behind and just factually mentioned in a soothing whisper, "Bo, you need at least 6 hours of sleep to perform at your best. We all do. Please come to bed and we can address all those in a couple of hours. OK Babe?"
Bo just hesitantly nodded and turned around to peck Lauren on the lips, "OK."
'Babe,' Bo brooded. It brought up the same feelings that she had when Tamsin first called her 'girlfriend'. It felt forced and uneasy but Bo was so overwhelmed, that she didn't over think it.
Lauren was fine with Tamsin being gone out of their relationship, but the cost of Bo being sad didn't make it worth it she mused. She really did want Bo to be happy even though Tamsin and her made digs on one another all the time. She wanted Tamsin's memory to fade.
Lauren guided Bo upstairs and right before they climbed into bed, Lauren peeled off her silk pajamas which piled on the floor, "Bo, come on, you'll sleep better this way."
30 seconds later, Bo's pajamas also joined the messy pile.
Lauren was quick to find sleep but Bo couldn't stop thinking about Tamsin. How could she not? She was sleeping with another woman and by the nature that she was sleeping on Tamsin side, Bo could smell Tamsin's scent.
Even in Lauren's embrace facing away, Bo who was still wide awake whispered and hissed out to herself barely audible, "Tammmmmssssssiiiinnn"
Tears welled up in her eyes, shaking her head ever so slowly as the gravity hit her, "What have I done?"
Bo wept quietly and only just repeated 1 word through her muffle wails.
Tamsin.
Tamsin clenched her heart and screamed, "AHHHHHH! Make it stop!"
Arin was sleeping next to her and jolted up, "Tamsin! What's wrong!"
"I… I AHHHH! Don't know… My heart! It freaking HURTS!" Tamsin convulsed. "Like Uggg someone squeezing it!"
Arin had never seen this before and assumed it was a magical spell of some sort.
'FREYA! Tamsin is convulsing in agony all of a sudden. She isn't physically hurt.' Arin relayed as fast as she could.
"Hold on Tamsin! Freya is on her way." Arin hugged her to see if some of her pain would go away that way.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tamsin shriek at the top of her lungs enough to wake everyone on the floor up.
'Hold her down and DON'T let her grab anything she can hurt herself with. On my way,' Freya though back grabbing her robe and jumping out of bed. 2 guards waited outside and flanked her as she ran to Arin's room.
Minutes seemed like hours as Tamsin was yelling bloody murder as if being stabbed constantly by an unseen enemy.
Arin restrained her as best she could but Tamsin was really strong, even stronger than her but she made due.
Freya burst and her guards flanked the door outside. She ran over to Tamsin and gave her a goblet to drink. "Tamsin, DRINK, this should numb the pain."
"Ahhhh!" Tamsin yelled but through her screams she gulped the caustic bitter concoction down.
It took a couple more minutes but at least Tamsin could now take the pain but still held her heart.
Arin was still by her side on the bed and Tamsin sat up and rested against her looking off distantly.
Freya finally asked, "Tamsin, this is important so I need an honest answer so I know how to treat you further. I know you don't want to talk about it but…" Freya looked over to Arin tell her to leave when Tamsin held onto Arin's arm firmly.
"Arin stays. You kept me separated from all the sisterhood because of the deal I made with the Blood King Trick. I have nothing to hide from her," Tamsin adamantly stated but realized that she just gave Freya, her goddess, and order so she added meekly, "Please?"
Freya just nodded and continued but formally stated, "Did you fall in…. LOVE … with Bo?"
Tamsin still felt a dull pain but just nodded. She was too embarrassed to admit it since Valkyries are forbidden to do just that.
Freya then followed up, "Did you make your feelings for her known in no uncertain terms?"
Tamsin hesitated but nodded once more looking away. She hated to admit she actually groveled for Bo love and affection. She felt weak.
"Did she return her feelings in kind?" Freya asked more sternly.
Tamsin found her voice and just weakly mumbled looking at her sheets, "I told her that I was in love with her but she told me that she love me, but not that way."
Arin was taken back. Tamsin had the guts to tell someone else that she love them. That was immensely brave of her but unfortunately; Succubi and Incubi in general have knee problems or more precisely commitment issues.
Freya looked confused, "Are you sure she didn't return her love in kind?"
Tamsin heart constricted and she winced in pain but finally blurted out, "I fracking begged for her love all right! No she just wants me for a convenient lay!"
Freya just smiled in understanding and put her hand on her shoulder and asked nicely, "Do you still love her?"
Tamsin was so messed up emotionally and at first her anger surfaced at how she was dumped in explicit terms and shook her head. However, tears came into her eyes and began to fall once more as she transitioned to a single nod before burying her face into her sister.
Arin never saw love before, and it looked like Tamsin did really love Bo. She held her broken sister and stroked her back as Freya sat on the bed as well and put her arm around Tamsin.
"Tamsin, you are partially bonded to Bo. If you were fully bonded, my elixir would not be nearly as effective. What you are feeling now is her yearning and searching for you. She wants you be her side." Freya clarified.
Even crying quietly, Tamsin just spat back, "No she doesn't. She's probably sleeping with that fucking terrorist, low life, back stabbing, human doctor! She just wants me in her … her freaking harem."
Freya looked up to see how best to phase this, "Our scared texts say that the only way you can feel pain from being apart in a bond of any type is if they do….. CARE DEEPLY … about you."
Tamsin jerked her head around and gave Freya a dead serious stare and wiped her tears away, "HOW do I stop this and don't give me any crap or fluff got it?!"
Freya was not use to Tamsin's direct nature but because of her being in pain, she just put up with it and relayed, "Kill the succubus, or make it so she no longer thinks about you in an affectionate manner. In other words, you need her to hate you. If you go this route the bond will reverse itself and the pain will go away."
Tamsin felt the pain return and winced once more, "A heart for a heart." Tamsin grunted out and turned to Arin spitting out in distain, "Time to torture and kill Kenzi, Bo's heart, and you're coming with me."
Arin just nodded eagerly. Finally, the strong sister she knew.
Freya got up and nodded, but set a pill down on the side table, "Arin, this will help Tamsin sleep tonight while Bo is still calling out for her."
Arin just nodded and Freya took her leave.
A/N: Comment, fav and follow please.