7678/One Lovely Moment

One Lovely Moment
Date of Scene:	03 September 2021
Location:	Clarice Ferguson's Quarters
Synopsis:	Rahne and Clarice find joy - that somehow isn't dimmed, even when sharing pain.
Cast of Characters:	Rahne Sinclair, Clarice Ferguson

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Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Lofi playing in the background. Blanket shoved onto the floor. You missed all the fun, but Rahne certainly did not, and she's just pulling a shirt on as she sits close and cuddled. "You're evil," she tells Clarice. She leans in and kisses, right on the lips. Mmm, talented lips.

She's trying to use an american accent these days. Apparently living in a place for five years gives you that skill, if you choose to use it. It also let her be here today, and Rahne lets her fingertips trail along Clarice's ribs.

So many smiles.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I mean - people still call us 'the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants,'" Clarice murmurs, returning the kiss, and giving a little shiver, and a twitch, as Rahne's fingers trace over her exposed ribs. Apparently she really is quite ticklish. "Though that practically sets Raven into apoplectic fits," she admits with amusement. They're just 'The Brotherhood' now, short and sweet. And they //never// had 'evil' in the name at all.
    "It doesn't really sound like you without the accent," she muses quietly.
    "You know. When I was really little - I didn't even speak proper English? I went to Barbados recently - and everyone was talking- I don't even know that it's called. It's partly English, partly not, and it was just... //so// familiar."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne sticks out her tongue for a moment. Not too long, she knos that it'll get captured if she plays with it. "Ah was practicin," she says, letting her accent lapse. It is easier in Scot. "Be tha' where ye came from? Ah don't ask enou questions."

She offers Clarice her lap, given that she has one now that she's sitting up. And having a shirt on covers her slightly. Modesty is a habit she's not going to knock any time soon.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice shifts so she curled up into Rahne's lap, her head resting against the other woman's chest - though she makes no attempt to cover herself up. If anyone else were present? Sure. But this is just her, and Rahne, and that seems silly to her.
    "Originally," Clarice confirms. "But my parents moved us to Genosha when I was still little. I guess... I mean, Genosha was portraying itself as a haven for mutants, and I was..." she gestures at herself. "So I guess they thought I'd have a better life there."
    They know how that turned out, though.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne runs her fingers through Clarice's hair. Slow, and mostly to play with it rather than anything specific. She bends to put a kiss on the purple girl's lips, managing it without straining. This new flexibility has perks.

As she's proven. Dirty minded readers.

When she's quite done, and she does like to take her time with a kiss, Rahne whispers, "Ah'd have saved ye." If I'd known. If it were possible. If I weren't a child, at the time. She still means it.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "If Magneto, and Mister Creed hadn't beat you to it?" Clarice answers, one hand reaching up to toy with Rahne's hair in return. She was so comfortable, so contented - so loved - that even the sting of her past can't seem to get to her. Not in this moment. "I know you would have," she agrees.
    "I'd've saved you too, you know. If I could." Well. The person she is now would have. The person she was at the time? ...that's more complicated to sort out.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne pauses, her fingers still moving but her eyes confused. She suddenly smiles, shaking her head gently, and says, "But...ye ARE savin' me, Clary." She reaches down, touching Clarice's collarbone. Just to touch it, to be allowed to do such a thing. "Right nao," she explains.

Is -this- more complicated to sort out as well? Or is it really that simple? "Et be a lifetime, an' ye make it worth living."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Do you think you aren't doing the same?" Clarice answers quietly, her fingers tightening gently in Rahne's hair - possessively. "Having you, and Cynthia, makes things... so much better. It makes life worth living. It makes the past, and the pain, more bareable. I can have these moments... and I can be happy. It's okay to be happy."
    The more she says that - the easier it gets. The more believable it becomes.
    She //is// allowed to be happy.
    "You're saving me."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
That's when Rahne really decides to grow her hair. She was considering it, but she wasn't SURE. That moment when it becomes important, when the feeling of someone taking her hair in her fingers. It becomes...okay. And that loosens something in Rahne Sinclair that'd been holding on for twenty years.

She wraps Clarice in her arms, and begins to cry. The emotions are too big to keep in, and she cries. She's so glad she has a shirt on, because if she remembers this later, she would swear this was the moment when she felt God touch her heart.

Something she hadn't felt since her mother died.

"Ah love ye," she says, between sobs.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Hey, Rahne... hey," Clarice says gently, soothingly. She turns in Rahne's arms, so she can wrap her arms around the the other mutant, and try to pull her into her chest instead, one hand wiping gently at the tears on the scot's face as she holds her close - protectively, possessively. "I've got you. I love you too, you know. I've got you." The one hand keeps moving - wiping at Rahne's tears, running through her hair, rubbing down her back. Gentle and soothing touches as a few tears sneak down her own cheeks. "It's okay if we're happy. Yeah?"

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
"It is, it is!" Rahne says it as she cries, the tears not going away. "We be allowed joy. Both o' us are!" She doesn't fight being pulled down, but she does try to keep an arm around Clarice as she does. She reaches up, strokes Clarice's cheek. "It be so very okay."

Her eyes are green. She's not speaking as a wolf. "Kiss me, ah want tae feel joy." She didn't ask. But it's not an order either. It's just Rahne.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "All the joy I can give you," Clarice agrees, her free hand coming to rest under Rahne's jaw as she kisses the other woman deeply, fiercly, and heartfelt, making words impossible. As if she could erase the pain of Rahne's past in this one act.
    She knows it isn't possible, but hell if she isn't going to try, anyways.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
What could she even say, if she had the use of her lips? That she wants Clarice to understand this too? That joy is something they both deserve, that she's crying for them both? She wishes that Clarice could cry, for all she's had to do.

I'll cry for us both, she thinks, and does not realize that she follows in the footsteps of someone she's kept close to her heart, all her life.

If Rahne could kiss back, she'd give Clarice all the joy that her heart can muster. And the forgiveness that the woman truly deserves. Because she's been to hell, and in her heart she knows that place isn't for her. It isn't for her, and it isn't for Clarice.

Well, what do you know. She can kiss after all. Perhaps forgiveness isn't far behind.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice holds Rahne to her, tightly and supportively, and when they finally break the kiss, she rests her cheek against Rahne's, her heart thudding in her chest, and joy vibrating through her body. She would live in this moment forever, if she could. "You are mine," she murmurs quietly. "I am yours." And as long as that was true - they'd both be alright. Wouldn't they?

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
"Y'know, ah always saw m'sel wi' a boy," Rahne says kind of dreamily as she cuddles. "Y' were a surprise." She tenses, just a little, and adds, "Good surprise! Ah mean, sure, still like boys, but..." She's going all silly again.

"Clary, do ye like boys? Ah've only kissed..well, you."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice is silent for a while, sorting out her thoughts in the wake of Rahne's question. She doesn't want to ruin this moment - she doesn't want to drive Rahne away.
    She also doesn't want to respond with anything less than honesty. And hasn't Rahne shown her that she can handle the truth?
    "I do like boys," she confirms. "I mean, you know I was also 'considering' Robert for a while, yeah?" She runs her fingers through Rahne's hair as she talks, her voice soft, but her heart thudding for a new reason now. She was anxious about what she was about to say. "And I was confused. And I didn't want to lead either of you along, and I wanted to figure out what I liked - or what I didn't like - and... well... I went-" There's no real way to sugar coat this, is there? "I went to a brothel so see how things felt. And yeah, found out I- it feels good, with guys, or with girls, but I didn't want them. And I didn't want Robert. I wanted... you. I found out I wanted to do those things with you.
    "But yeah. I like boys, too."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne makes an 'oh' with her lips, looking at Clarice quietly. She doesn't pull away, having already dealt with far, far worse than that. She's a big girl, she's done things too. She closes her eyes, and leans in. Not pulling away.

Then she gets a little smile. "Well...now ah know how y' learned a couple...things." Things? Oh. Yes.

She puts a tiny kiss on the tip of Clarice's chin, then whispers, "What else did ye learn?"

Yep. Heartbroken by the news, can'tcha tell?

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice breaths a sigh of relief, and nuzzles in against Rahne's cheeks. Okay, maybe truth wasn't so terrifying after all. "Yeah, I learned a couple things," she confirms quietly. "And like I said, it was nice, but it wasn't what I //wanted//. I have what I wanted now. You make me happy - you fill me with joy. With... with contentment. I want to stay in this moment forever, with you."
    They can't. She knows that, of course. But they could spend an afternoon like this - right?

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne smiles. "That was so not wha' I was askin," she says, but she lets it go for now. She's fully aware that this is a temporary thing, and soon there'll be a mission or an emergency or a kid that needs a hug. She's just glad to have this, just once, and hope that it lasts a little bit longer.

She blinks a moment, having possibly fallen asleep, and leans up to bury her nose under Clarice's neck. "Mmm." So expressive.

"So warm."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    By the time Rahne wakes back up, Clarice has them both nestled in with pillows around them, and blankets piled over them, and her arms still firmly around the other woman. It's no wonder she feels warm.
    "It is," Clarice agrees in a sleepy, contented tone.
    "You know," she murmurs quietly. "Cynthia keeps adopting new siblings for us. She said she thinks of you like a sister, too. Lydia told her that better be sister-in-law," she remarks in an amused tone.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
There's the hint of a frown on Rahne's face, though she's still got her eyes closed. She turns just a little furry, for no reason but that she can, and it changes...nothing.

"Thought ah remembered hearin' that, somewhere," she says, then opens her eyes. Gold or not, she's still just snuggly and the soft fur over her cheeks and hands just add a little bit of ticklish to the snuggle.

"Did she want..ah mean, we nae be married?" Are we? Does God want us to be? Oh, you're overthinking it, Rahne. Kiss her.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "We nae be married," Clarice agrees, one hand stroking down the fur on Rahne's arm, and brushing against Rahne's cheek. She enjoys the feel of the fur - even if it does tickle some. "We don't have to be. Nothing has to change. Lydia only meant it would be weird if we were sisters." So weird. So wrong.
    "But I'm glad that Cynthia things about you that way. It's good, yeah?"

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne lifts her right arm, the one not entangled with Clarice's personal space, and looks at it. "Dinnae know how tae tell ye, Clary, but we kinda are weird already." She lowers the hand, letting those cute claws leave little white lines on the purple girl's skin. She might want a sister. Even if it is one that she occasionally leaves a shuddering mess of happy.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Some weird I'm fine. Some weird I'm not." There's a momentary pause before Clarice adds, "Okay, there's a //lot// of weird I'm fine with."
    And one of the things she's fine with is those claws tracing over her skin, as she gives a little shiver that has nothing to do with cold, and snuggles all the closer.
    "Should I be getting to know your mother better at some point?" she muses in a quiet, thoughtful voice.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Just hadda ask.

Rahne's fingers close, and she lifts her hand a moment. She breathes, and closes her eyes. Then she lay her hand back down, palm open. Less teasing and more needing to touch.

"No, ah dinnae think so," she says, after a long enough wait to cause shivers of its own. It had to come up eventually.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "No?" Clarice repeats. This answer seems to puzzle her - but if Rahne wanted her to know, or needed to talk about it - she'd say something. Right? She gently runs her fingers over he features of Rahne's face, letting the silence just hang there for a few moments, as she tries to puzzle it out. Was it just- Was that just implying the relationship was more serious than Rahne was prepared for? Was she unwilling to admit to her mother that she was 'following around'? Was she not ready to admit that she liked women, too?
    "Okay," she agrees. "If that's what you rather, Rahne."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
There are a lot of things that Rahne isn't ready for. Talking about her mother is one of them, and she buries her fuzzy cheek against Clarice's fingers for a moment. "She's...she be dead, Clary." She says it, and only then does she open her eyes. "Only way tae get t' know her would be t' pray. She died when ah was born."

Then she turns her face away for a moment, so she can say something that's painful but true. "M' father said she was a whore. Ah killed her."

So that's why she ran away. The chance to see her mother, that's both tempting, and an unexpected terror.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Rahne..." Clarice is at a loss for words for a moment, and relies on silent communication instead. She cups her hand against Rahne's cheek, and presses her face against Rahne's opposide cheek, so her mouth is near her ear. She can doubtlessly feel Clarice's breathing on it, and hear the quiet gust of each breath she takes.
    "Rahne, you no more killed your mother, than I killed my murr. And I'm sure she loved you, and wanted you, and was-" word choice matters, "so excited to meet you. I'm sorry something went wrong when you were born, but that weren't her fault or yours. And- well, knowing you, I bet she was kind, and warm... I wish we could meet each other's mothers. I wish you could meet my murr, my faddah..." But it was the way it was.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne softly breathes, and just as softly says, "Wish ah..c...Clary?" Her eyes open, something touching her consciousness as she lays there, in the best arms her heart could have prayed for, and a thought touches her like lightning.

"Could I?" Well, no, of course not. "Not yours, ah dinnae know, an ah would in a heartbeat, but ...Clary? Take me t' th' brothel."

She sits up a little in order to see Clarice better. She's almost, almost excited. "Clary, ah cannee meet MY mam, but she was a prostitute! Ah can...ah can a'least talk t' them?"

She's possibly extrapolating a bit, but if her mother was a prostitute, it's possible she could get some measure of peace from the idea. And Clarice might consider something similar..

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I..." Clarice hadn't expected this. She hadn't expected this at all. Rahne's mind makes the strangest jumps sometimes. "Well... I mean, yeah. Sure. I could - it's in Bushwick. In the Saint's and Sinners Club. The, umm... The Brotherhood runs it. It's called Heaven. We could go there, if you like. I don't know that their life - now - is much like what your mom would have... What she experienced, but..." If it helps, does it matter?
    "Do you really even know if she was a prostitute, though? I mean - who told you that? Your father? He wasn't the kindest man." She doesn't imagine he was the most truthful, either.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
"Et was m' father," Rahne agrees, not put off in the slightest. She nods, then she says, "Clary, he was a complete....ugh. Horrible man, but really? -Et's all I have.- Even if he was lyin, et's all I've had o' her m' whole life. Tha' one thought, that's mommy tae me."

She leans in, she puts both of her arms about Clarice, and hugs like it matters. And it does, of course it does. "Not now though. Ah found th' good spot."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "There's no one else that knew her?" Clarice asks in a dubious tone. "I mean... I know, when Lydia started the spell, you got uncomfortable. You left. If you wanted, though, she could find out for sure what her name was, what she looked like... Raven could find out more about her through computer records. Maybe we can find people who knew her? Maybe even family? Maybe you have aunts or uncles or cousins or grandparents still alive? Maybe they could tell you about your mother? Your real mother. Who she really was." Not filtered through the lens of an evil, cruel man.
    She runs her hands gently through Rahne's hair, and brushes her finger's over Rahne's cheek, as she holds the woman close to her with her other hand.
    "If you wanted to. When you're ready. I mean- She looked into my family for me - and she cound Cynthia. Who knows what you might find?"

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne looks confused. Then quiet. She lays her cheek on Clarice's shoulder, then closes her eyes and listens to the woman's heartbeat. then, after a minute, she says, "Yeah, okay." Just that. Just that and nothing more.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "It's your choice, and I'll follow your lead on this," Clarice adds gently, and soothingly. "And I'll be there for you. You know that - because I love you like crazy."
    She's silent for a moment before adding in a teasing tone, "But I was talking about getting to know Moira MacTaggert, you know." She gives Rahne a warm squeeze before adding, "Getting to know about your real mother, though... would be amazing."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
And a couple of things fall into place, making better sense than they did before. Rahne blinks, then says, "Well, ah feel lahk an idiot." She grins sheepishly, then gives Clarice a lick on the tip of her nose.

"Still..guess now y' know all the bad. Better out nor in."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice lets out a surprised squeak and a giggle at the lick - then nuzzles her face against Rahne. "Better out than in," she agrees. "And you can always tell me anything, Rahne. Just- just like I know I can tell you anything."
    After a gentle, loving kiss she murmurs quietly, "Thank you for that - by the way. Really."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne makes mumbly noises, not wanting to go away from the lips that caught her there. She's smiling, she's all cute and close and happy. How did this even happen? Then she says it out loud.

"Ah'd sell so many more issues than Missy Thompson did," as she reaches down and gives her shirt a little ...you know. Lift.

She said 'you're welcome', by the way. Just not in words.