Lauren took a pull from the bottle of beer Trick insisted on setting in front of her and glanced over the notes she had brought to the Dal with her. She was so absorbed in going over her research, that she didn't notice Tamsin had come up next to her until Trick set a tumbler full of amber liquid on the countertop in front of the valkyrie.

"I thought I told you no drinking until the stitches came out?" Lauren scolded gently, looking over at the other woman.

"I thought you were kidding." The Dark Fae replied, shrugging her shoulders and downing half the glass. "Anyways, I pulled those out a couple days ago."

"Tamsin; I told you those had to stay in for at least two weeks."

"They were itchy."

"They were healing." Lauren corrected with a frown. "You should have come to me. I know you heal fast, but if the stitches come out too early, you'll just reopen the wounds."

"Come on, I'm fine. Stop worrying."

Lauren sighed and shook her head. "You should at least let me take a look and make sure you're healing properly then."

Tamsin raised an eyebrow. "Can't wait to get my shirt off again, huh, doc?"

Lauren rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. "I'm serious."

The valkyrie drank the rest of her glass and set it down hard on the counter, leaning down slightly so she could lower her voice. "Me too." She purred, straightening up and holding up her hand to alert Trick of her need for another drink. "Whatcha workin on?" she asked before the doctor could react to her flirtation.

"Um," Lauren started, clearing her throat. "Just some research for Bo. Know anything about poltergeists?"

Tamsin wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Yeah, they're annoying and a pain in the ass to get rid of. I hope she's charging extra for extraction…" she trailed off before snorting. "Who am I kidding? We both know she's not"

"Actually, I don't think she's charging for this one at all."

The valkyrie shook her head and took a restrained sip of her refreshed drink. "Figures." She turned towards the pool tables when she heard her name being called. Dyson was standing in front of a racked and ready table, holding a pair of cue sticks. "Well doc, as much as I'd love to stand around talking to you about Bo, I'm gonna go take the wolf's money." She gulped down the rest of her drink and put the empty glass on the counter.

"Come to the lab tomorrow morning; I want to take a look at your wounds and make sure they're healing properly."

"Sure thing." Tamsin pushed herself away from the bar and left the human to her notes, making her way across the Dal and to the pool tables where she took a stick from Dyson and nodded for him to begin the game.

"So, what did you two have to talk about?" the shifter asked, expertly breaking the cluster of billiard balls.

Tamsin sighed. Her partner asked that same asinine question every time she slipped off to talk to the other blonde and her answer was always the same. "Stuff." She replied flatly, leaning over the table to make a shot for the number two blue ball.

"You and Lauren seem to have an awful lot of…stuff to talk about lately. Especially after that manticore attack last week." He commented, watching her sink her shot and line up another.

The valkyrie shrugged slightly and narrowed her eyes in concentration. "What can I say? I'm a thrilling conversationalist."

"Tamsin," Dyson started, his tone apprehensive. "I don't think it's a good idea for you two to be,"

"Don't finish that sentence." She warned. "First of all, it's none of your business. Secondly, there's nothing going on." Tamsin scowled as she missed her next shot, her concentration broken. "Now take your turn."

Dyson clenched his jaw for a moment before lining up his next try. "If it concerns the Light Fae, it is my business. You know that."

"Oh don't act like you always have the Light's best interests at heart, you little hypocrite." Tamsin shot back, her tone annoyed.

He looked up from the table and regarded her with concern. "Just be careful, is all I'm saying."

"Thanks. You're always full of advice I didn't ask for." She smirked slightly to cushion her irritation. "Just take your shot."

ooo

Tamsin strolled into the Light Fae lab the next morning, hoping to catch Lauren before she became too engrossed in her work for the day. She stopped a few feet short of the doctor, noticing that she was having an animated conversation with Bo. Lauren shifted her weight slightly so she could see past the succubus and offered the valkyrie a small smile, indicating that she'd seen her come in. Bo turned around suddenly and eyed Tamsin for a moment, a strange look of shock crossing her features before turning her attention back to the human.

The valkyrie perched herself on top of a paper covered examination table and watched the lab techs go about their work for a while until she saw Bo leave the lab. The succubus mumbled a greeting to her as she walked by, a disgruntled look still on her face. Tamsin shrugged to herself, used to a bit of weirdness from Bo and chalked it up to Lauren having given her some bad news before putting it out of her thoughts as the doctor approached the table, pulling on a pair of gloves.

"You're here early." Lauren commented, pressing a hand to the other woman's shoulder so she would lay back on the table.

"Yeah, well, I got stuff to do today too, doc. I do have a job, yanno."

Lauren hummed her agreement, but she was already only half paying attention, having lifted the side of the Valkyrie's shirt to look at the wounds, which were scabby, but beginning to scar over. "Well it looks a lot better than I thought it would, but you still should have kept the stitches in. I've got some antiseptic I want you to put on it every night for at least the next three or four days to keep infection away… and I feel like this is pointless telling you, but if you stop drinking for a while, the scars will disappear faster too."

"You're right, it is pointless." Tamsin agreed. "Besides," she continued, pulling down her shirt as Lauren removed her gloves. "Chicks dig scars, right?"

The shorter blonde smiled but didn't answer the question. "Do you have any pain or discomfort?"

"Nah. A little sore still, but that's it." She stretched and hopped off the exam table to follow the doctor. "What was up with you and the succubus?" she asked nonchalantly, hoping the other woman didn't sense any ulterior motives in her question.

"Oh, Bo was just here to get a chemical spray to make the poltergeist corporeal. I thought that would help, so I made it last night."

"Geeze, doc, do you ever sleep?"

Lauren laughed and shook her head. "I'm not even sure I know the real meaning of that word anymore." She pulled a small tube of unguent from one of the numerous drawers in a nearby desk and handed it over. "Every night for the next three or four days." She reminded.

"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. You making an appearance at the Dal tonight? I hear Trick's trying to get rid of a surplus of cluricaun wine that just came in."

"I don't know if I want to be around a bar full of Fae drunk on anything cluricaun make."

"C'mon, live a little! Besides, it'll be great to have a doctor there for when the fights start to break out." She ignored the other woman's eye roll and continued. "How bout this, you show up, and your first two glasses are on me."

Lauren laughed incredulously. "First two? I don't think I could handle more than one, Tamsin. I don't have your constitution."

"We can't all be winners but I got faith in ya, doc. I'll see you later, then."

"I'll think about it." She corrected.

"I'll see you later." Tamsin reiterated confidently before striding out of the lab.