"Dude."
For not at all the first time since her and Lauren have started doing… whatever it is they're doing since that night at The Dal 2 weeks ago… Tamsin walked straight into the doctor's home without knocking, hoping to blow some steam after a particularly frustrating day at work (working with Dyson was really starting to wear on her nerves… she's really going to have to stop throwing her phones out the window in an effort to avoid the brooding wolf man's calls), only to find her crying. This time, she was boxing up pictures from around the house – looks like she got about half way done before she broke down leaning against the kitchen counter. Even Tamsin had to admit, that was progress. She walked over to the other woman and gently put her hands on either side of her face. Lauren looked up at her but only for a second, averting her gaze as quickly as she could. Knowing that this was going to turn into it's usual Bo-centric lecture, Tamsin let out a huff in frustration.
"Dude."
More aggressively than she probably intended, the doctor shakes the valkyrie off of her. Without hesitation Tamsin returns her hands to Lauren's shoulders. She is not ready to do this again.
"Lauren", Tamsin began quietly, as gently as she could, "You have to cut this shit out. The succubus left you. Regardless of how noble you think her intentions are, they're not, she left you. Get over it."
For a long minute, the longest minute of Tamsin's life she thinks, Lauren is quiet. Her gaze is cast low, shoulders slumped in defeat. The valkyrie holds her stance, but removes her arms and crosses them, an eyebrow raised.
"She did it because she loves me", the doctor says quietly, still avoiding Tamsin's eyes.
The valkyrie, her rage getting the better of her, immediately raises her deceivingly strong arms to slam Lauren against the wall, not able to hold back her disgust at the doctor's blatant denial. How much longer was this going to go on?
"Loves you?", she spat.
Lauren actually looked scared for a second, and the grip Tamsin had on her shoulders loosened slightly, but she did not falter completely. She was going to make the other woman see just how foolish she was being if it was the last thing she did. But not for Lauren, no of course not, Tamsin was doing this for herself. She just couldn't stand to see the doctor so bummed anymore. It was cramping her style. (That's what she was telling herself, at least.)
"You don't understand. She couldn't control it, she is a succubus Tamsin. She has a hunger that I-"
"Hunger? You're blaming the fact that Bo broke up with you so she could act like this town was her own personal all you can eat buffet entirely on her hunger?"
Lauren just looks at her, tears threatening to spill but would never dare, not here, not in front of the valkyrie.
"How about that she just didn't love you the way you love her? How about you tried to tie down a fucking succubus and – surprise! - it didn't work out?"
"You wouldn't understand Tamsin", the doctor says, her voice dripping with blatant anger, "You can't."
"You don't think I understand hunger, Lauren? Really? You don't know anything about me!"
"And you don't know anything about me!", Lauren yelled back, choking on a sob that wracked her whole body before she finally gave in. The tears fell freely and Tamsin, ever unable to handle such emotional displays, let her grip loosen enough that she accidentally let Lauren go completely. She slid down the wall and into a puddle of herself on the floor, her head in hands. Slowly, Tamsin lowered herself to a knee. She looked at Lauren until the doctor raised her eyes to meet her gaze. When she spoke, she was quiet. Measured. Lauren can almost taste the uncertainty on the words, the confusion. The nerves.
"I know that every Thursday you eat the same thing for dinner. Because it reminds you of your parents."
Lauren sniffles, and Tamsin knows she should stop now before she gets out of hand but for fuck's sake, the poor hopeless lovestruck doctor is starting to stop crying and she just needs it to end before she loses it completely and storms out, all hopes of the night going where she wanted it to out of the question.
"Your favorite color is blue. And for some god awful reason roses are actually your favorite flower. I know that you're a walking cliche sometimes, seriously, and that you secretly ate up that damsel in distress bullship - it's almost entertaining."
The detective senses Lauren shift, and decides maybe now isn't the time to be quipy. (Tamsin almost can't believe it - usually she relies on her snarky attitude in these situations. Her smirk falls and she sobers her expression a bit.)
"You have seen war. And I really really understand that."
Taking a steadying breath, Tamsin decided to take a seat on the floor in front of Lauren.
"Your middle name is Michelle, after your grandmother. You hate cats. And the smell of limes."
The doctor's lips are pulled up into an almost smile, and the tears have stopped. Her soft brown eyes look interested, and inherently less sad.
"I know your favorite restaurant in town, and what you order when you go there, where you hide those trashy romance novels you think no one knows about - you're a terrible liar, by the way - and that you are a cheater at pool."
She is still smiling now, and Tamsin can't help but feel a rush of relief. (Maybe a little quip was okay.) She isn't one for emotional displays, she never has been. Out of all the lifetimes the valkyrie has lived, she has loved and lost - sure - but she has never attached. She has never absorbed. This thought both terrifies and disgusts her (though she will only ever admit to the latter). Although she is convincing herself she will hate it, and that she will regret it in the morning, Tamsin helps Lauren stand and leads her to the bedroom. Lauren asks her if she wants to stay, but the valkyrie refuses and practically runs out of the house.
She needs to go to the gym. And beat the shit out of something. Out of anything, really. She's probably just feeling so emotional because she had a long day, she reasons. Yeah. She only went over to see the doc because she wanted to fuck, not because she actually wanted to see her. Yeah, yeah that's it. She just said all that stuff because she can't handle people crying, she physically can not handle any emotions, like with Dyson on the roof last year or when Kenzi was kidnapped by the kitsune. She just said all the stuff because she wanted to get the doc to stop crying, she wanted to try to salvage the night and get the doctor to bed so it wasn't a completely wasted trip over. The valkyrie slams her foot down on the pedal of her car as she speeds towards the gym.
Yeah, that's all right. That's why she's so frustrated now. Nothing to do with the actually doctor herself, that would be foolish.
Right?