video: un; apparition (characters 18+ please for the first portion)

[unphase]

[Tinya lounges back wearing a little black dress in her sunroom with her batkitten, her kittens, and her Omen, Moonlight sitting at attention on the armrest of her chair]

So! This may seem like an unusual request, but I'm looking for friends. Friends with benefits, actually. I know that may sound strange, but I miss being close to someone. All are invited to apply, if that makes sense. I want to know whom I'm dealing with before I say yes to anything.

[and a Mona Lisa smile] And is it strange to spend more than five years bouncing between worlds? Who else has been through this? [a teasing smile] You don't necessarily have to be auditioning for the first role to answer, I promise.

Comments

[fogsong]

I have no idea how being a third would work but that sounds... messy. Especially in a place like this one.

[unphase]

Absolutely. [she makes a face] I hate messy. I had messy enough back home between my husband and a man who...sort of took me into his care while I was pregnant.

[fogsong]

Wait, what? [ That sounds like a story she wants to hear, Tinya! ]

[unphase]

[Tinya sighs and rests her head on one palm briefly] Long story short, I ran away to his and my husband's planet while I was pregnant. Obviously, my husband wasn't there, I thought he was dead, but I hoped I could connect with his family.

That was a dumb hope. I nearly got myself killed, but I saved the other guy in the process. Now he says he has a life debt to protect me.

[fogsong]

[ Wow, there's a lot there to dissect but... ] And did you fall for him? [ That wouldn't be so strange. She thought her husband was dead, was in a crazy stressful situation, and was fucking pregnant. ]

[unphase]

[it was a very unpleasant part of her life] No, I didn't. I always considered him a friend. But, he's sometimes said things...they make me wonder.

[fogsong]

Well, what'd he say? I might be able to provide some insight!

[unphase]

[Tinya groans and leans down for a moment] He calls me his 'girl.' Often. The first time, I thought it was a joke and laughed it off. Twenty plus times later...

[fogsong]

Yuck. And he knew you were pregnant and married, right? [ Not that not knowing would make it any fucking better but... it would've been marginally less dickish ] That's so creepy, Tinya, shit. I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

[unphase]

He knew. He knew I was both pregnant and married. [she says with a small, self-recriminating grin] At the time, I didn't see many options. Not on that planet.

[fogsong]

Could you not leave that planet?

(CW: pregnancy)

[unphase]

Not really? I was nine months pregnant, having Braxton-Hicks, and he was giving me free help. On Rimbor, that Voidhole. I've mentioned Rimbor before? Besides, there's an even deeper level to the bullshit, thanks to guess whom?

[fogsong]

...Your mom? [ Sharon sighs deeply. Goddamn, that woman. ]

[unphase]

Got it in one! She'd had me declared legally incompetent and sent bounty hunters after me.

[fogsong]

Fucking hell, Tinya! They were just going to kidnap you and drag you home, right? [ Sharon hears bounty hunters and thinks maybe, just maybe, her mom sent people to kill her. ]

[unphase]

I...think those were the orders they were given. In practice, it was different.

[fogsong]

What do you mean?

(CW: pregnancy, childbirth, murder)

[unphase]

[a rueful smile] They found me when I was in the middle of giving birth to my son. They told me that they were going to cut my son out of me and tell my mother I'd married the guy who was just a friend.

There was no way to cut my son out of me without killing me. But they didn't care.

[fogsong]

Oh my god. [ The words just drop out of her mouth, shocked. Horrified. ]

Did he... Your friend, did he save you? Protect you? Kill them? [ Because, dear god, Sharon wants those hunters dead. They tried to kill one of her best friends. Tried to kill her son. There's no denying the rage in her voice. ]

[unphase]

[Tinya looks down and tries to smile] Not exactly. In the end, I saved me. [she's still not sure what to do with anger on her behalf. not to say that she'd never been angry but it had the tendency to eat her alive]

[fogsong]

You were giving birth, dealing with some insane shit, and you saved yourself. [ Her voice warms. ] Have I told you you're a badass lately? Because goddamn, Tinya. You're a badass.

[unphase]

Mm-hmm. It was wild, there's no other way of putting it. [and Tinya grins, ducking her head slightly] I like to think I am. It's nice to have you confirm it.

[fogsong]

That's what I'm here for, Tinya. To remind you that you're amazing. And that you deserve good things. And that your mom needs to get punched, along with that dude.

[unphase]

[Tinya grins] I can't disagree with any of that. And Brin--that's his name--I think he thinks he means well. I'd thought my husband was dead for a year, so maybe he thought he could stand in for him. But Jo's alive and our marriage is...shaky. But we want to work it out.

[fogsong]

You still love him? [ Sharon still doesn't understand how love like that works. ]