7785/Confused Clarice

Confused Clarice
Date of Scene:	11 September 2021
Location:	Clarice Ferguson's Quarters
Synopsis:	Clarice tries to figure out what to do about Thia/Theo's revelations. Rahne points out that Clarice is being silly.
Cast of Characters:	Clarice Ferguson, Rahne Sinclair

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Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    After a few more hugs, Clarice finally retreats into her bedroom, where Rahne is curled up onto the bed. Silently, she crawls in with the other woman - tucking herself in against her with wordless need, one arm wrapping around her as she tucks her head in under Rahne's chin. She's not //trying// to wake the other woman. She just doesn't seem to mind very much if she does.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
There's something to be said for sleep. It heals the body and the mind, and people who are sleeping are at least fifteen percent cuter than they are when awake most times. And, when the person who's doing the sleeping was cute to start with, well, there's a lot of good there.

Watching someone sleep who you love, that's even better. However.

There's a few little things that have changed, of late. Rahne's ears being sharper, for one. She sleeps on the drop of a hat, so she's never TOO tired. However, as Clarice comes in, Rahne starts to stretch. She moves a little under Clarice's touch, then smiles.

The yawn she gives is almost enough to snap her jaw out of joint, though, and she stretches really really big. "Mmmmf," she says clearly. Then she cuddles around Clarice a little more.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    A few tears streak down Clarice's cheeks as she hides herself under Rahne's chin, her mind still whirling and confused. //Nothing// Cynthia - Theodore? - had said to her had made any sense. And as much as she'd tried to take it all in stride, it confused her, and it was clear how important it had been to Thia. Theo. Whatever. But what did it all mean? Wasn't it //crazy// to think you were a guy - if you were a girl? Was there something //wrong// with her sister?
    "Rahne?" she asks quietly. "You ever heard of someone who was a girl - but said they were a boy inside?"

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne opens one eye, peeling it back with an effort, when Clarice speaks. It appears that there is never too much nap in her life, but she'll give it up for love. "Mm," she murmurs, then lifts her head to prop it on her elbow. Still close, just not in a position that'll have her conk out right away.

"Know a few folks who could shift sex, does thet count?" she asks, trying to find a way to make this fit into her experience.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I don't know," Clarice admits. "...I don't think so." She keeps her face hidden, one arm around Rahne as she talks.
    "Cynthia - she says she's always- he's always? Felt like a boy inside, and that his name's really Theodore, but that- how does that make any sense? How can you be born a girl, but be a boy inside? What if there's something wrong with her? What if she's... sick or something?" she asks uncertainly. "It was so important to... him, and I don't want to- nothing's more important to me than Cynthia, you know? I just- I don't understand this. I don't get it, and I don't know what to do."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne frowns, then says, "Oh is that all," as she snuggles back down. "'seasy," she says, as she cuddles in. Then appears to be halfway to falling asleep again, as her breathing starts to slow a bit, and she slips her fingers into Clarie's shirt.

Not helpful at all, we are tonight.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "What's easy?" Clarice asks. "Rahne? What do I do? Do I just... I mean. I just listen to her? Him? Or... does Thia need help?"
    She clings to wolfgirl as she adds, "Maybe everything that happened - having to hide all her life, and then the Sentinels, and mom and dad... Maybe it was too much for her?" But why would that cause something like //this//?

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
The scent of panic in the air rouses her, and Rahne makes a little noise. Something indignant. But she rolls over and puts her right arm across Clarice's tummy, and gets comfy. "You already ken what tae do, Clary," she says. "Y' been dealin wi' this kind'o thing yer whole life."

When she gets no sign of comprehension from Clarice, Rahne smiles with warmth. "Es jus' like a mutation, hon. Someone ye love has changed. Help them. Es tha' simple, an' ye accept the new them th' same as ye'd accept if ah suddenly became a wolf."

A pause, and she leans in to lick Clarice's nosetip. "Right? She's still her, or him, es still them inside."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I guess," Clarice agrees uncerttainly. "Maybe. It's just- I don't know." She pulls Rahne in a little tighter. "She wants to try to find a way to change her- his body? To a boy's body. And is that even something that we can do? And- and should we? There's no one more important to me. No one. I just don't want to screw this up. I don't want to do something that- that makes whatever this is even worse." Tears continue streaking slowly down her cheeks.
    "I'm scared," she admits quietly.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
"Mmm," the wolf girl says, putting a little kiss onto Clarice's lips. "Well, kinda th' same either way, but ah'd be askin somethin. Like, was it pushed on her? Or, a decision they made? Or, like, be et somethin' they couldnae control? Because ah hae a bit o' experience wi thet."

She would, yes. "Honestly though, th' best thing ye could do would be tae try an' make sure tha any change bein' made was as safe as possible, an' hopefully one tha' could be changed back iffen she...he? If Cynthia realized after et was a bad call."

She hrfs, thinking deeply. "Might be someone Lydia could talk to about thet. But really, most o' us didnae get tha' much option. We had et forced on us, an honestly took me six years tae find any peace at all. Might be tha' Cynthia's as confused as you are."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I mean... it sounds like something she decided on her own," Clarice admits. "Pete knew - knows. He was telling her to talk to me about it for a while now, I guess." She wipes at her eyes as she adds, "I just really don't want to screw this up. It feels... important. Thia was so scared to tell me. Like- like I was about... About the fact I kill people, only it's not even like Thia's done anything //wrong//. She just- he just? was afraid of what I'd say, I guess."
    She lets out a heavy sigh adding, "If Lydia was here..." then she'd be happy to talk to her about it. "I should talk to Pete."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
This is likely to make Clarice's jaw drop coming from Rahne, who has worried herself into exhaustion on many occasions and has had crying fits over spilled coffee, but Rahne opens her mouth and says, "Ye really do worry too much sometimes." She isn't smiling so much, but she is looking intently at Clarice's face.

"Wot did Cynthia ask ye tae do? Jus, accept her an' be happy?" Him. Rahne hasn't reached that level of awake yet, so can be given a bit of leeway perhaps.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "To accept... him, yeah," Clarice confirms. "Just that - he's a boy, and his name's Theo, and he wants a boy's body." Basically. She wipes at her eyes again, frustrated at her own tears. "So you just- you think that's that? You don't think there's something wrong with her mind? This isn't the same as //powers,// Rahne. Those are physical. //Real.//" What if this is all in her head?

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne taps her own head. "So be mine," she insists. "M' mental image o' myself determines wot ah look like. 'swhy m' hair wouldnae grow."

She sighs, then rests the right side of her face on Clarice. "Aaah, an dinnae know anythin' really, Clary. Ah jus' know tha' we got tae ha' each other's backs, an' be th' best people we can be. Or why else be we on th' earth?"

She lifts one hand, then looks at it. "Clary, ah was so worried ye'd nae love me because ah was different inside when ah changed. Ah had a real difference, an' ye accepted it because et was nor somethin' ah could control. Ah be only a wolf girl." I'm not smart enough to solve all the things.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "You're always you," Clarice answers. "And I always love you. And no matter what - I love Cynthia. Nothing will change that. Nothing //can// change that. I just- I need to figure out the best way to help her. Or him. I don't know, maybe the best thing is just to take him at his word? That he knows himself? But then - if she really isn't well, and something's wrong with her mind, do I make it worse if I play along? That's what I don't get."
    She takes a deep breath in, letting it out shakily before she adds, "I just... I just want to do what's right to make Thia happy." As soon as she can figure out what that is. "And I think if I get this wrong - I hurt her." Him. She's really starting to hate pronouns...

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne isn't certain what to suggest. Or if she should suggest anything at all. She mumbles a little, her eyes drooping, and finds that the heartbeat she can hear in Clarice's veins is soothing, and a wonderful backdrop to the nap that she was enjoying moments before.

"Ye'll make mistakes," she says, her breathing slowing, her eyes closed. "Th' trick is...forgivin y'sel..." then she stops saying things, and there's a definite suggestion of having fallen asleep. It seems that Rahne was in need of the second half of that nap after all.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Yeah," Clarice agrees quietly. As long as she can forgive herself - and as long as Cynthia can do the same - they'll always end up okay in the end. Won't they? She continues to hold Rahne close, her mind still whirling as she tries to sort out her contradictory thoughts and worries.
    Eventually - she'll go talk to Pete. But for now, it's too soothing the remain close to the little wolfgirl.