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

[unphase]

I suppose. It's driven a huge wedge between us, though. He doesn't want to talk about it and believe me, I've tried. I can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do, he's always been stubborn. [she grimaces] Part of being native to Rimbor. Talk big, act tough, never admit weakness. [she sighs and looks off camera for a moment] If he arrives--and that's a big if--I'll tell him. Do everything I can to coax him into letting himself be vulnerable for a little while.

And if she arrives...well. I've killed before. Granted, it won't stick, it never does, but people deserve to know what she's capable of before she recovers.

[fogsong]

Luckily, one of the... not always awful things about this city is the way it forces us to be vulnerable with people. [ Not always awful, just most of the time. ]

And if she ever arrives, you know I'll have your back dealing with her. [ She'd kill the woman herself just to keep Tinya's hands clean if she had to. ]

[unphase]

Mm-hmm. It's hard to play it cool and not care about the other person when you're in a life or death situation and your survival depends on each other. [honestly, that was how Tinya makes most of her friends since she started going to other worlds]

I know you will. And I'm so very grateful. [maybe the second time, but the first time? Imra Ardeen is hers]

[fogsong]

That and... the other ways this place likes to force contact. Like the speed dating last month. [ The life or death situations were big ones, too, of course. ]

What's her name? What's she look like? Just so I can keep an eye out. Give you a heads up if I encounter her.

[unphase]

Ugh. I managed to avoid that, myself. I realize that advertising for a friend with benefits is hardly classy, but at least this gives me the chance to really know someone first. Not just idle life or death conversation over cocktails.

[Tinya's expression hardens] Imra Ardeen. She's about an inch taller than me, she usually wears long, blonde hair in a ponytail, she has blue eyes, and a ridiculous attachment to wearing pink. Usually eye-gouging shades of it, too. [she sighs] The problem is, she's a telepath and I imagine she'd be a Paleblood to strengthen her powers even more.

[fogsong]

It wasn't that bad. I mean, well... You got shocked if you didn't answer a question truthfully but most people didn't try to take advantage of it.

Why does her being a telepath matter? [ Her experience with telepathy is limited to the kinds of telepaths that speak in one's mind and can sometimes read thoughts or feelings but most of them try not to. ]

[unphase]

Still. Not my thing. The other world was nothing but a meat market. I'd rather avoid that here.

Because she can see your moves, your tactics before you even figure out what they are. And she'll have a defense in place, even if it means invading your own mind without caring what she unearthed. She's very much a the ends justify the means sort of person. So am I, but at least I have some mercy and can't read minds.

[fogsong]

[ Sharon nods firmly in understanding. She gets it. ]

Oh, that's... fun. [ Heavy on the sarcasm. ] Is that all she's got, though? Just a stupid powerful telepath? Because I'm pretty sure my guardian is unreadable. [ No thoughts in his metal head, just drive. And unkillable. ]

[unphase]

She's entirely dependent on her telepathy. She never bothered with combat techniques because I think she assumed that whatever anyone threw at her, she'd be able to see it coming.

[fogsong]

...sounds like we'll have a way to handle her then. [ There's a distinct note of approval in Sharon's tone. She likes this version of Tinya. She hasn't gotten to see much of it. ]

[unphase]

Yes. And she'll be expecting me to not go on the offensive because I don't think she'll make the connection between me and abilities other than phasing, which is almost always defensive. Thankfully Coldblood is perfect for offensive tactics. [Tinya has learned the had way that when it's time to be vicious, it's time. she just hasn't really had to here, amazingly enough. but the other world? yeah]

[fogsong]

I think you'll give her a surprise or two, that's for sure.

[unphase]

That's the plan. And I'm glad that you'll have my back. And you know that I'll always have yours, right?

[fogsong]

I know, Tinya, and I'm forever grateful.