eversohungry | [APPOINTMENTS POST] 13 Paternoster Road

Forget your thesaurus? [Vastra grins and glides over to the counter to order her coffee.] No, I thought things were strangely quiet because I hadn't heard one word out of you. Usually you don't let things get quite this boring. Have you been busy?

I could go on if you like. [He laughs.] I was busy for a bit, then I was enjoying the quiet with my lady for a bit more.

But now it's just gotten quite boring.

Yourself?

I won't tell Miss Rogue that you find her so boring. [Of course, Vastra's just yanking his chain, and her grin says as much. Semantics, just semantics.]

I have kept up with my writing, for the most part. Waiting for something to happen, I suppose... [Her look goes a little grim for a moment.] Valentine's Day aside, it has been far too quiet 'upstairs' for my liking.

[He rolls his eyes.] I can hardly expect her to entertain me constantly. She does sleep on occasion, I've been told.

Ah... but perhaps not quite so quiet as you might think. [Sly smile.]

Well, how inconvenient. [Vastra actually laughs out loud at that--it's been a while.]

[Though Loki's comment does give her pause as she receives her coffee.] Howso? I confess, I did not think you had invited me to coffee purely as a coincidence. What have you been up to?

Nothing I've done, funny enough.

[He produces his journal from the space between his hands, opens it to a particular page, and passes it over.]

[Well, after a long night of listening to students carrying on over the Luceti Featherbowl win (and Zevran's very excellent attempts to distract her from going onto the front lawn to screech), Vastra is tired enough for a bit of a lie-in. Plus the bed is very cozy and warm, how could she resist staying there for a few more--]

[Oh Goddess no.]

[Things click back into place in one heavy second, like an unoiled piston suddenly remembering how it was supposed to move. Zevran was not her husband-- Zevran was the husband of her adopted children. And she was far from human, and far from clothed too. The thought of her skin being seen by anyone who wasn't Jenny makes her want to tear the sheets off the bed and wrap herself from head to toe-- however she at least was fond enough of Zevran to not leave him without some means to modesty in front of his mother-in-law.]

[So Vastra lays there, staring motionless at the wall with her head on Zevran's shoulder and her arm around him. For the first time in her life, she has no idea what to do in this situation. So The Direct Approach it is.]

Zevran. Zevran wake up.

[ It had been an invigorating week. The students, their arguments, the game- his wife kept him settled and calm for most of the hours they shared together. Soft skin and warm hair and all the curves he has loved most and missed for the past few years-

Because he's been with men.

The last women he laid with is dead. Bled out in an alley like a dog.

The skin next to his is not warm, is not smooth- it's chilled and rough like a reptiles because it IS a reptiles and- Vastra.

He'd been sleeping with Vastra. Madly in love with VASTRA. ]

If I keep my eyes closed I can pretend this never happened.

[ He does just that. Keeps his eyes closed and carefully removes his arm from her shoulders, she's not his to touch. She is WED in her own world. He is wed in this one! ]

You read my mind. Please just... keep your eyes closed.

[Vastra slowly moves away, tense as she watches Zevran's face very intently for any sign of his eyes opening. Because now she has no bedclothes and is still as naked as the day she hatched.]

I am going to-- find, something, to wear, and I am going to... find you something to wear. And then we are going to strategize.

Of course.

[ As soon as that arm's free he brings his hand up to cover his face, scrubbing at his eyes and keeping them covered. Her modesty first. He tries to shake the memory of her, human and vital and vibrant and so much like Rinna from his mind. It doesn't work. But once she's dressed he'll sort out his own mind. ]

Are we in your bedroom or in mine?

[Few things had enough effect on Vastra to cause her to exile herself from social life.]

[Remembering how much she and Zevran had 'loved' one another in the week previous is enough to make her want to throw herself off the community housing building every time she remembered. Not only because Zevran was married to Jack and Eugene, creating a very Oedipal situation that had every natural instinct in Vastra's body recoiling in disgust, but also because of her own commitment. She loved Jenny, she'd never thought to love another person because their relationship was so deep and so certain and so strong. How would she face Jenny if her wife ever arrived? She couldn't accept that there was nothing she could have done to resist it, Vastra refuses to acknowledge that she has such little power over her own situation.]

[And yet... what else can be said? She had been unfaithful to the woman she cared most for, and was sick over it. Vastra had been inside and out of touch, away from her journal, ever since waking up against Zevran. Certainly they had spoken about how this could be handled, but everything was spinning around inside her head so fast she could barely get the unwanted thoughts out of her mind.]

[She had betrayed her wife, and her children. Nothing could be done to undo it, apologies could only be made. But Vastra, shockingly, was too afraid.]

It... appears to be mine. [And thank the Goddess for that-- if Jack and Eugene had come back to their home and found her and Zevran...]

[The other plus is that her room has all of her clothes. So Vastra is very fast with a nightgown and heavy dressing gown out of the closet, followed by furious digging for something that would fit Zevran. Perhaps his clothes were still in the living room...]

Not that it would matter if we were in your home. Jack and Eugene no doubt are thinking exactly what we are thinking now. And I'm not certain which is worse: the fact that we both know exactly what we did, or the fact that they have no idea and are left to the mercies of their cruel imaginations.

I do believe you bent me over and pounded me into the mattress. At least that is what I assume judging by this very familiar sore sensation.

[ He manages to crackle a soft laugh. Shifts are shifts. He can forgive himself this transgression if Vastra is able to do the same. It is not as though he and the boys have not lain with another during these shifts in the past. Loki, in particular, is a common favorite of the Malnosso to offer to his boys. ]

A shift is a shift, Vastra. So long as you forgive me my affections, I forgive you yours. They will understand.

[Vastra takes a moment to bury her face into the nearest article of clothing and finally pulls out a robe that looks less feminine. She had some longer hakama in her closet somewhere, too, but for the moment she hurries back to Zevran and drapes the robe gently over him. Then she turns and rubs her face hard.]

As far as I'm concerned, you have nothing to be forgiven for. You are right, a shift is a shift. [She folds her arms.] However, once a bell has been rung, it cannot be unrung. They may understand, however they will never forget.

However, if I am reading the situation correctly, they will be very happy to see you again at the very least.

If I may?

[ He manages to dress himself with his eyes closed, a robe is a robe after all and he has quite a bit of experience with many sorts of robes. ]

It was not the worst shift I have endured. It was...pleasant. To be so enamored with a woman once more. The last it happened for me it did not end well. At least you yet live, and will live well.

[ No longer his Madame Vastra, but one that holds affection and respect from him all the same. He should hope that he'd manage a similarly affectionate relationship with his boys in the future. ]

Oh-- yes, I'm dressed.

[She, however, keeps her back to Zevran as she listens. Zevran would obviously get the same privacy he had afforded her.]

Yes, well, part of me wishes that were not so right now. [She scoffs, rubbing her forehead again.] It wasn't the worst thing I've endured either. I have been left with worse things to ponder, it's true. But I am still afraid of how this could change my relationship to all three of you. [How it changed what she thought when she thought of Jenny.]

You are as you ever were. A woman beyond reproach. A warrior and Lady of means and respect. A dutiful and faithful wife to your Jenny. What happened here was a lie. That much I am quite familiar with, Madame Vastra. We were made to prostitute ourselves for the sake of the shift's narrative.

We have done nothing wrong.

[ That Vastra hadn't responded to Jack's post regarding the restoration of his hearing, Eugene immediately became concerned. Any number of scenarios came to mind, but the last one being that she would electively do this, abscond from any sort of contact. She had to be ill, or injured, or perhaps distracted with something of equal import...

He had managed to pry Jack away from his earbuds long enough to convince him to join him. In an effort to check on Vastra... he had contemplated going alone, since it may be she simply didn't desire company-- but Vastra had been as close to a mother as she could possibly be to the both of them, and it was something they hadn't forgotten. If Eugene went, Jack went with.

Which was what found them outside her residence, Eugene knocking on the door, calling for Vastra without an ounce of anger or resentment or negativity. It could be that he was unaware of the goings-on, or perhaps... it wouldn't be such an ordeal as one might anticipate... ]

It was pleasant. [She says that as though she's expecting someone to punish her for it.]

You were a passionate and dominant lover. The first male I've been with. The fact that I am not... thinking back on it with distaste gives me cause to wonder how faithful I am.

It does not make you unfaithful, Vastra. It means that perhaps, back home with your wife, you might request her to be a little more dominant. From what you have told me of your Jenny? It should not be beyond her.

Well we have always had a... system. [That's pretty much as far as she's going to go with the description.] It works well for both of us.

I have no doubt it would not be impossible for her, but we have been very happy with how things are. [She looks down at her rug and crosses her arms.] Perhaps because I never felt alone in our home. I did not need someone to pay attention to me because I felt as though I was the center of her life, and she was the center of mine.

[Perhaps it wasn't the lovemaking. Perhaps it was the feeling of being someone's center again.]

[ He has no intention of inquiring further. Such things are sacred, even here. ]

You miss her dearly, do you not? It must be difficult to be away from one you love for so long.

Yes-- which is why we have to get you back to your own home. [She turns around slowly to check Zevran's state of dress before coming completely around.] Jack and Eugene are no doubt concerned.

I...do not look forward to that, actually. I fear it may be terribly awkward.

[ Terribly? Ha! Understatement. ]

I would not call your fears unfounded. Usually I have advice for every situation, however what to say to one's spouse after having relations with their mother is not one I have ever come across. And I believe that is saying something.

[APPOINTMENTS POST] 13 Paternoster Road

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