The house had been empty when Audra dropped by. She only needed to loiter for a few hours, but decided to make good use of her time. Clothing was left folded neatly and left to hang from the towel rack, and the changeling had finished her bath recently. For now, she was occupying herself with a brush and comb, teasing out her wet hair as she stood naked in front of the mirror. She was somewhat preoccupied, though her keen ears did pick up the footsteps coming from the hall. They were distinctive, at least. She didn't have to worry overmuch about being caught unawares in the creaky house.
Since coming home yesterday to find Amity distraught and in tears in the kitchen, Mavis had been loathe to leave her side, but she needed to grab some things for the house. And she supposed that Amity could use some time to decompress without her, Mavis made the excuse of going to the store to pick up a few things for the house. They were out of laundry detergent and almond milk.
Mavis returns home, sheds off her coat, hoodie, and kicks off her boots in the mudroom. A fire still crackles, the flames low, in the fireplace in the living room. She'd picked up some more logs for that, too, since it had snowed earlier today. The mortal drops off the quick-start logs in the living room then makes her way to the kitchen, storing her cold purchases. She'd bought two pints of Ben & Jerries ice cream, one for herself and the other for Amity.
Then she's making her way down the hall. Those are Mavis' footsteps, soft though they be in her fuzzy, sky-blue socks. The bathroom door opens and Mavis is already talking at who she assumes to be Amity on the other side as she opens it. "Hey, sunbeam, I brought ho-" That's there she stops, however, and stares at Audra with wide, startled eyes. She looks down and up quickly, a flush leaping to her cheeks. "Uhh," goes the flustered mortal. "Hi, Audra. Erm..." Assuming, half-joking and half-serious, that the lawyer is here to scrub herself of all DNA evidence of a murder, Mavis asks with a laugh, "So.. Where's the body?"
In truth, 'twas not blood that Audra had to wipe away, though still she felt a need to scrub deep and all but peel off her skin to remove the tainted muck nonetheless. She was done with the ritual cleansing, but there was still work yet to be done. As Mavis approaches the door, Audra pauses briefly to consider the situation. She turns and rests a hip against the sink as the mortal opens the door, giving the woman - either poor or lucky - a rather blunt full-frontal. Freshly-cleaned, freshly-shaved. Comb in her hair, Audra gently untangled a knot as she watched.
"No body, today. Just borrowing your bath after a particularly... Interesting day." She hesitated only briefly. "I toured a junkyard. Widget had mentioned meeting you at some point. You know, she's very talktative." The sentence hung there, though Audra's lips twitched into that familiar, wolfish grin. Her head bobs as her eyes flicker down to Mavis' haul. "Did you need to use the bathtub? Don't let me stop you." The lost seemed utterly unconcerned about her state of dress as she lounged in the steamy room.
Mavis stares, blinks, stares some more at the nude woman in front of her. She opens her mouth to speak, no sounds come out, and the mortal's throat clears. Her gaze slowly lifts back to Audra's eyes, blinking again. "Oh.. I must've forgot you were coming over today," she remarks, shrugging a shoulder and crossing one arm over her front to grip the opposite elbow. Had they made plans? Did she care if they hadn't? It was just a surprise, that's all.
"That's right, that's your story and we're sticking to it," Mavis encourages with a conspiring smile that was just a wee bit too wide to not be strained. She looks small and uncomfortable when Audra asks if she needed the tub. "Ah, no. I thought you were Amity," she admits to Audra, shrugging with her one arm still crossed and fingered curled around the other elbow. She delivers the message anyway, "Brought home ice cream, logs for the fire, laundry detergent, and some almond milk."
Curiously, there was a closed cigar box left on the little square of a table by the edge of the tub. Inside was a pot-stash: leafy-bud, glass pipe, and a couple of lighters. Mavis glances at the table. "You didn't happen to, uhhhmm..."
With the door open, the steam was leaking out. Audra was only mildly inconvenienced, but it was best to act natural with mortals. "Well, you're welcome to hang out in here if you'd like, but would you mind closing the door? The draft's a bit much." She pauses, biting her lip. "Although... Is the fire going?" The lost steps forward as if she intends to simply saunter about the house in her birthday suit, bare flesh on display. It seemed to do a good job of short-circuiting Mavis, which amused the changeling.
"I heard her, but I think she slipped upstairs before I could say anything." There's a shrug offered. "And I didn't have plans to come over, but I was closer to your house than my place and thought I'd just swing over. Say hello. Lounge in a nice old bathtub for a bit. It's quite comfortable, really."
She waffles internally when the door is brought to attention, all of the hot air fleeing from the small, steamy bathroom. Closing the door is no problem, Mavis is just trying to decide which side of it to be on. She bites down on a bold grin and pulls the door to close, stepping around it, then shuts it behind herself. Mavis leans back against it and tilts her head, a little more grounded now that she had made a clear stake in this. She wanted to be there, the subtext was that Audra was welcome to commandeer her bathroom and naked-bomb her. The mortal folds her arms, still grinning, albeit smugly now.
"Yeah, fire's going. Low, but I was going to stack it up." She _was_ going to do that, but now it doesn't sound like rebuilding the fire in the fireplace is on Mavis' immediate to-do list. Mavis peers up at the mention of Amity, as if she were peering through the the attic floor another level above them. There's a hint of worry on her features, but Mavis wipes that from her face as she looks back down. "Hm, yeah," is all she says about that then the mortal laughs, shifting her shoulders against the closed door at her back like she were sentinel to it. "Well, I'm glad I'm not going crazy. Thought I made plans while stoned and forgot about 'em," she murmurs, clearing her throat and trying to assume a look of innocence. That had maybe only happened a few times. "I'm glad to see you, though.." Oogle. "So you met Widget?"
Audra had taken a few steps towards the door, so when Mavis closes it behind her, the two are rather close together. "I was rather looking forward to the fireplace, you know. Teasing me like that." Audra actually 'tsks' aloud, standing there with one hand on her hip. She makes quite the sight, bare breasts capped with now-perky nipples, the drafty air having aroused her body on a surface level. "Did you make plans..?" Mavis had sounded uncertain, so Audra echoes it as she also glances upwards, then back to Mavis meaningfully.
"Yeah. Interesting little... Thing. She's odd, but sweet enough. Lots of dogs, though." That gets a shudder from the changeling. "Beasties like that don't care for me much, so a junkyard full of them.. The shop was nice, at least." Another lazy shrug, and Audra was all but pressing her naked, still-damp body against Mavis. She seemed to be pushing the woman towards the door with her. With it closed, that means she's liable to pin Mavis against it.
Mavis quietly shakes her head in answer to the question, turning it over the door. Nope, she hadn't made plans. A moment later, she says, "Have the whole weekend off, Monday too." She squirms back against the door, pressing herself flatter to it with Audra so near to her. Her hands had the impulse of their own to reach out and touch the woman in front of her, drag her tight against her body. Mavis does no such thing, it was more enjoyable to dangle on the hook and lure the domineering woman to her. She bites down on her bottom lip and her nostrils give a small flare. Her lip rakes past her teeth for her to say in a thick voice, "Been meaning to get up to the junkyard, though. I need to clean out the shed in the back, convert the space into a workshop. A haul would just be something in the way." And, it would begin her isolated spiral into a creative fugue that she was terrified to expose Amity to after their blissful golden period.
"Ooh.. A nice, long weekend. That sounds lovely. I've got plenty of work I can take home, but it's a bit trickier when it comes to getting full days off." Audra's grin grows all the wider as Mavis refuses to give in and instead presses herself against the door. "Fine, fine. I'll wait for you to put those logs on, then." Slowly, the changeling peels herself back, turning her back on the mortal and sauntering over to the mirror once more, fetching the comb and resuming her untangling. "Want to get things straightened up before you tempt yourself with... Strange, rusty tetanus-traps? The junkyard was downright dangerous, I'll let you know. I saw something spontaneously combust while she was giving me the tour, so... Maybe wear something a little low-key." The nude woman leans against the sink once more, eyes closed as she tries to work on her sopping mane.
"Yep, that sounds like Widget," she confirms, snickering with some fondness for the imp. "I'll step lightly, try not to get crushed by a falling anvil or something."
Mavis makes a moody huff when Audra pulls away and she stares after her, not hiding the playful bitterness. "Hey, so. Speaking of," she injects, relaxing against the door now that Audra has returned to the sink to pick up a comb. "I floated the whole you moving in thing past Amity. Only seemed fair, we talked about you renting a room before.." She pauses and flicks a glance upstairs where her bedroom was located. ".. Y'know. We messed around. Amity's not /against/ it, but she wants to get to know you better before we all start shacking up together." Mavis glances down at her feet. Geez. It sounds bad when she puts it like that.
"That's fine. I just need to pin her down at some point and actually have a chat with her." Audra sounds rather nonchalant about her intentions with Amity, as wicked as they sound. "Like I said - I won't be staying here often. Maybe once a week, every other week? I'll pay the full rent, I mostly just want a place where I can drop by, relax, enjoy a cup of coffee... And take the occasional bath. The location's rather nice, after all." Audra leans over the sink, peering deep into the mirror as she combs her hair slowly, methodically. Her locks, seemingly straight and wet, resist her utterly. "Did you need to go check on her..?" Audra's gaze turns towards the door, and she blinks a few times as she studies Mavis closely.
Speak of the devil, the saying goes. There comes a gentle rap on the door, then Amity pokes her head in. She's still in her pajamas, though she's changed out of the flannel pants from earlier into leggings. Her hair is disheveled and she looks a little sleepy eyed. She's been trying to keep herself busy, working through most of a scarf she'd been planning upstairs. Buuuut eventually she'd come down to try and figure out something to eat. She hadn't... done that today. She blinks owlishly as her glasses fog from the heat and steam in the bathroom.
"Mavis?" A moment as she realizes that Mavis is not the only occupant. "...Oh! Sorry to intrude, Audra--"
Didn't sound wicked to Mavis. After all, why would Amity _not_ want to get to know Audra and vice versa? They had said as much in the kitchen during their heart-to-hearts. Later reflection even left Mavis wondering if they'd been flirting, but she would have to gauge that with Amity later. She reliably blushed.
"No, don't be absurd," goes Mavis, rolling her eyes. "Full rent is just plain greedy, I wouldn't feel right and I don't care how much money you make. We can work something out." She'd been lounging on the couch earlier in the day with Amity, watching restoration videos. Perhaps that was an agreeable avenue to negotiate on, but it'd have to wait until Amity and Audra sorted out there differences. Or likenesses. Whatever.
When the lawyer asks her that about checking on Amity, Mavis sounds a bit vexed on account of the recent talk about finances. "No. I mean, yeah, bu-" Rap-raP-at-the-door. The mortal starts and leaps from the door she'd been leaning against just as the doorknob twists and it opens. Amity's head peeks into the room, making the same mistake Mavis had made by assuming it was just the only other housemate in the bathroom.
"Hi!" Jesus Christ. "Hey, Amity. I got ice cream and detergent.. and.." Almond milk and logs for the fire. Mavis hadn't been gone that long, straight to the store and back. "Yeah, Audra's here." She turns her head to G-L-A-R-E at the lawyer, but she wasn't going to out her for turning up unexpected. She wasn't going to lie for her either. "She just got back from the Wij's place, the junkyard."
"Come in if you'd like, just shut the door to keep the steam in. Otherwise I'm going to have to draw another bath." It was tongue-in-cheek, but Audra's tone was very serious. She turned once again, leaning sideways against the counter and giving Amity a rather telling full-frontal. Without the mien that Mavis was drinking, the sight was quite different - pallid, pale skin. Nearly transparent in some places, allowing the blue veins to peer through. Hints of webbed feet, nails grown into vicious points. Indentations on the neck that hint at the growth of eventual gills. Hair - always faintly damp, down a downright tangle of midnight-black seaweed that clings to the changeling's body. That smile resurfaces, beaming wide at the newcomer.
Also of note would be the fact that Audra is quite diligent with her grooming. Stark naked, Amity would learn that the woman shaves herself cleanly from the neck downwards. She's also decently gifted - there are hints of muscle, but what no doubt draws the eye are the perky, bare breasts capped with currently-stiff nipples. The constant intrusion of a cold draft in the bathroom have seen that they stay that way.
"I don't see why you won't let me pay for a room. I want to pay you for it so that I can use it whenever I want. It's the access, not necessarily to actually live in it." Audra waves a hand dismissively. "You could use the money to.. Hire a groundskeeper or something, I don't know. You don't have to pocket it if you don't want to."
Amity scoots into the small bathroom at Audra's urging and shuts the door tight behind her to preserve the lovely warm atmosphere. Taking up Mavis's previous position she leans back against the door, her eyes drifting to the naked Lost standing in front of the mirror. Audra may note some small differences from the last time they met, as well. Instead of mere bright periwinkle blue, her irises have become akin to sparkling sapphires, deep and bright as the sea. Her ears are sharper pointed, too, and her skin paler--someone has been spending too much time playing about with Wyrd, apparently. That Audra has appeared without warning does not surprise Amity much--Darklings sometimes have a funny sense of humor.
"Ah yes, she knows Widget too, then?" Of course she does. Amity only feigns surprise. It would be odd for the local Lost /not/ to be at least marginally aware of each other. Her eyes keep returning to Audra and the strange, repulsive attraction of that dark hair and strange pale skin. She smiles, at least a little. Nudity at least is not a concern that effects her outwardly.
"Thanks for picking up the groceries, lovely. And Mavis, if she wants to pay you for the room, just take it. You could use the extra money, especially if you--er, we?--want to do some fixer-upper sort of things with the house. I'm sure Audra can afford it, in any case."
"Full rent is outrageous if you're only planning on staying once in awhile," snaps Mavis, aggravated that she has to tell Audra this twice in the span of two minutes. It bothers her more to have this conversation about money with Amity around and the mortal shoots her girlfriend an exasperated look. It sure seemed like Audra was doing this on purpose. She shoots daggers back at the preening woman, utterly oblivious to anything off-putting about this situation other than Audra being stark-assed naked. "A month's rent is a third of the bills, since there'd be three of us," she deduces in terse tones that Amity hasn't really heard before. Audra really got under her skin when she wanted to push the mortal's buttons. "But you're only here a third of the time and that's only IF you move in." Outside of this disagreement, Mavis wouldn't have reminded Audra that she wasn't a resident of the Baines Manse _yet_. "Besides," she adds, about to further a point when Amity aligns with Audra. Mavis' head snaps back toward Amity. She blinks then reaches around Amity to catch the edge of the open door, pull it water, and squeeze out of the bathroom with a grumbled, "Fine. Geez."
Her footsteps creak down the hallway. A few moments later, there's the sound of Mavis adding some logs to the fire.
"That's what I've been saying - thank you. Let me pay rent. It's only fair. I don't like the idea of discount couch surfing, and if I rent out a room to use as an office, you couldn't easily rent it out to anyone else when I'm not using it so I should be paying for it." Audra bobs her head as she revisits her points. Audra lets her sunken, dark eyes drink in Amity's new features with a curious raptness. Certainly, Darklings had some odd habits. Her attention is snapped back as Mavis rants against the financial injustice of things. This earns a groan from the still-damp Darkling, who huffs a bit in irritation. "Mavis. It's not. An. Issue. I'm not going to be around enough to do things like housework or shopping unlike a proper roommate." She watches the mortal storm out to light the fire, and immediately the lost turns her attention to Amity.
Stepping forward, comb at her side, the nude creature's grin widens. Her voice drops low, and she all but presses up against the other woman. "We need to talk at length, sometime here soon. I've questions for you - and at least one concern. That said..." Her voice is a low murmur, and there's a faint in her voice that she's choking on water, as if drowning while she whispers. "I'm not here to make waves. Just to have some fun." Audra keeps walking, out the door and towards the fireplace, stretching her limbs and giving Amity a view of her backside as she saunters off.
"Hey, wait, Mavis--" Buuuut the mortal is gone. Amity groans and sinks back against the doorframe, letting it close behind her as Mavis exits. She reaches up to rub the bridge of her nose. She hadn't meant to elicit that reaction Mavis and it might brook some sort of conversation later. She'd just... wanted to help. ANd it wasn't like Audra was moving in right now. Even if the other Lost was here grooming herself in their bathroom. Wait. Right. Her expression hardens a little and she straightens, projecting cool professionalism once again.
"...What brings you by, Audra?" She rests her hands on her hips, staring at the other Lost. Before she can react she finds herself pressed up against the doorway by the other's slender form. Something sparks inside her mind and she lets out half a shriek before she clamps her hands over her mouth in attempt to stifle inadvertent reaction to the sudden closeness of the other woman. "Questions?" But then Audra is gone and all Amity can do is flick off the light and follow the others into the living room.
Mavis can still be heard in the living room. It sounds like she's cleaning up judging by the tinks of glass and clink of silverware. She and Amity had spent a lazy day in the house, mostly centric to the living room, and the coffee table is littered. The mortal also pulls a shirt she'd been looking for out of the couch cushions, glimpsing it in the corner, and walks into the kitchen to throw it into the laundry room. While she's in there, she starts a load, seeing as she'd gone out primarily to GET laundry detergent for the house. Audra and Amity would be able to hear the chimes of the washer as she starts a cycle. They were alone, for now.
"Shhh." The Darkling sneers at Amity when she cuts off the shriek, and Audra delivers a playful swat to the Wizened's rear as she passes her by. The black-haired woman was content to lounge in front of the fire, still working the knots from her kelpy hair. She sat with her back to the flames, knowing the heat would never truly dry out her perpetually-wet locks. It felt good against her naked flesh, however. "I came by to wash up after.. Investigating a few places. Ended up getting a bit more than I bargained for. And that was after visiting Widget's junkyard. Unsanitary, you know. The whole place. Dogs." The Darkling shudders, though she's still grinning with those shark-teeth on display. "There's a few people I evidently need to speak with, still. I haven't really gotten in touch with folks since I moved in, but now that Widget knows I'm here.." She trails off. "I get the feeling word might spread. She's a bit.. Lax." Audra speaks, rolling her eyes.
The smell of popcorn gets a hungry lick of the lips from Audra. "I'll address my questions to you later. For now.. We can be a bit more casual, right?" It's easy to say that as she stretches out, nude, sprawled on the carpet in front of the fire as she soaks up a fair amount of the warmth.
Amity reaches back to swat at the offending hand, her expression growing darker as she moves to sit near the fire herself. "Don't touch me without asking, Audra. That's your warning." Her voice is quiet, but firm and chill as ice. She leans forward, warming her hands for a moment, half-listening to the others tale. "I haven't visited the place, so I wouldn't know. I take it the dogs aren't friendly. Or perhaps too friendly." She tilts her head, peering at the nude Audra with a curiosity that seems a touch detached. "Widget is not terribly discreet, no. And very well. I'll be here when you want to ask." She goes quiet for a moment.
"Did you want a blanket or something?"
There's the sound of the microwave door opening from the kitchen. It's slammed closed. Buttons are mashed, resulting in a series of quick beeps. Then there's the steady, low whir of the microwave and later the noise of popcorn popping, slow at first and getting faster. Mavis does some more stuff in the kitchen, occasionally a glimpse of her can be spotted from the living room. She's still mad and won't look in their direction. Dishes she'd picked up in the living room are dumped into the sink. Mavis snatches up the coffee pot and rinses it out to put on fresh coffee for Audra. She might be irked with them, but she'd be hospitable. Mavis could balance fondness on her left shoulder and annoyance on her right. The kettle starts up next, boiling water for tea.
Mavis voice calls from the kitchen, ringing with forced cheer, "Putting on coffee. Got tea for you, Amity." Meanwhile, the popcorn in the microwave is in a frenzy, kernels leaping inside of the bag. ^T
The lecture on personal space gets nothing more than a brief nod of acknowledgement from the Darkling. When Amity settles in, she's quick to pounce on the idea. "Well then, I would like permission to touch you." It was a cheeky way to comply, but Audra seemed to be in high spirits, which translated into playful banter and a total lack of serious behavior. Or, at least, all seriousness veiled behind the juvenile behavior. "No blanket required. All I would want it for is modesty and, at this point, you've both seen me naked so.. I don't really mind."
Audra pauses and slowly bites her lip. "Yes. Dogs. They didn't seem too friendly, but I'm also not much of an.. Animal person. I'm not quite sure what it is. As for people... Widget talked a bit about Damion. Said he owned a few properties. Anyone else I should get in touch with?" The call for drinks nabs her attention. "Ooh, thank you, Mavis. Coffee sounds lovely."
Amity, to her credit, doe snot roll her eyes. She just lets out an exasperated sigh. "Not at the moment." A pause. "...Memories," she clarifies after a moment. Hopefully the way she says that word will resonate enough with Audra that the insinuation will be clear. Memories. She leans back into her seat when the offer of a blanket is rejected and shakes her head a little.
"November. She is the ah..." Her voice lowers a little. Partially because she is /not/ fond of November at the moment, partially because she doesn't want to let too much slip in earshot of Mavis. "The Waylady of the local Freehold, if you haven't met her already." She speaks up a little louder. "Tea? You are just the sweetest. Thank you so much."
Yep, that's what she was. Lovely. The sweetest. That's Mavis.
Cabinet doors are opened, cups brought down to the counter then there's the sound of wood against wood as the cabinet doors thud shut. The microwave dings, popcorn still popping as it cools inside. It's highly unlikely that Mavis is eavesdropping or that she could if she wanted to. After her outburst a moment ago, it's safe to assume that the human is recollecting herself in the kitchen and trying to piece back together her usual cool-as-a-cucumber attitude.
A minute or so later, Mavis pads into the living room with a punchy smile on her face. A trio of cups is clutched in one hand by the handles, a bowl of popcorn balanced in the other. "Shezus Christ," she hisses, spotting Audra sprawled out and basking in front of the fireplace and Mavis half raises her arm as if to shield her eyes but balancing the bowl of popcorn made it awkward. Shaking her head, she navigates to the coffee table where she drops off the bowl of popcorn, puts Amity's cup of tea in front of her, then walks over to stoop down and offer Audra her coffee. "Here, you pushy asshole." Then she asks, following the same vein Amity had traced before, "Want me to get you a house robe or something?"
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