SaDiablo Hall, Dhemlan, Kaeleer, Early Thursday Morning (Fandom Time)
A lot of things had happened in Faerie since the weekend, when Leda, Karla, Blossom, and James had taken down the tyrant. A surrender had been negotiated. An ally had been buried. The rebuilding had begun.
Karla hadn't seen any of it. Immediately after her plea for clemency had been delivered, Blossom had taken her aside and proceeded to bully and browbeat her within an inch of her life. She'd been terrible.
Karla
...Karla stubbornly stayed on her feet, ignoring the fact that she was swaying a little in place. "No," she said crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm fine. I'll crash just as soon as Leda's done here, but on the off-chance someone tries something funny, I'm going to be here to help stop them."
Blossom
"You couldn't stop a yawn, Karla," Blossom's hands were on her hips as she stared back at her friend. "You're wiped and totally a liability!"
Karla
"I am not a liability!" Karla snapped, glaring at her friend. "I can do more exhausted than you can at your best!"
...That was so not true. For any number of reasons. It was, however, ample proof of just how tired and cranky she was.
Blossom
"Oh?" Blossom's face was totally not her believing face and she reached out to gently push at Karla, in time with the swaying the girl had just been doing. The touch was just enough to knock her further into that movement if she was as exhausted as Blossom thought she was.
Karla
Karla stumbled for a moment, keeping her feet by sheer strength of will and bad temper. "Hey! No fair pushing!"
That had been barely a tap, Karla.
"Just leave me alone, okay? I'll rest once this is all over!"
Blossom
"It was barely a tap, Karla. You know that." Now Blossom had her hands rummaging in her pockets. "If just one of Corwyn's people saw you right now, you'd totally be the perfect target. And protecting you means Leda's in danger, which totally ruins everything you just did that made you so tired."
Karla
"I don't need your protection, Momoko!"
Way to be on the ball with secret identities there, Karla.
"I don't need anyone's protection! I'm perfectly fine! If anything, your constant nagging is distracting me from keeping an eye out for danger!"
Blossom
Yeah, bigger things to worry about. Like, you know, her friend dying.
Ah! Blossom's hand felt the small odd shaped object she was searching for, nestled deep in her pocket. She relaxed slightly, her hand now slowly wrapping around it. "You mean like that mercenary aiming his crossbow at us from that stand of trees over there?"
There was no mercenary, but maybe Karla would look in the direction Blossom was nodding?
Karla
And indeed Karla did, whipping around to prevent catching a quarrel in the back. Her hands flew up, streaming blue flames to try and incinerate a projectile...that...wasn't coming.
That little display did earn her some nasty looks from a few of the nearby soldiers.
"What the Hell, Momo--"
Blossom
And that was when Blossom reached out and used one of her remaining 'shrivels' on Karla. Once it hit her, Karla disappeared!
Okay, she didn't actually disappear, but it was close!
Karla? Was now three inches tall and while she had all of her magic, it was totally and ridiculously reduced in power.
Blossom tried really hard not to giggle as she squatted down to tap a finger on Karla's head. "Reno was right; 'shrivel' is awesome."
Karla
"MOMOKO! MOMOKO, YOU CHANGE ME BACK TO MY NORMAL SIZE THIS INSTANT" Karla shrieked, battering at Blossom's foot with very tiny little hands. Blue sparks were flying--it looked like someone was shooting colorful caps off on the ground. "THIS IS POSITIVELY INSUPPORTABLE, MOMOKO AKATSUTSUMI!
Blossom
Okay, there was totally giggling; tiny-Karla was sooooo cute!!
"No. You're exhausted and injured and you're going to rest whether you like it or not."Blossom tried to lift her. "And by the way? Whatever magic you're using is totally cute and only does 1 damage doesn't hurt a bit, so save your energy."
...
"What little you have." Moar giggles!
Karla
"ARGHHHHH!"
Karla was not appreciative of your puns, Momo. Not at all. She was going to show you how unamused she was by trying to beat up your thumb. Yeah, so...take that.
"YOU FIX ME!" she demanded. "RIGHT NOW! MOMOKO, THIS IS NOT A LAUGHING MATTER! I'M GONNA--GONNA--"
She couldn't think of a threat worthy of this treatment.
Blossom
"You're gonna rest. And if you don't calm down and.. OW! YOU'RE BITING MY THUMB?! Biting is totally not allo...! Ow! OR KICKING!" She reached with her free hand to try to lift Karla by the back of her shirt, AWAY from her thumb.
Karla
Karla swung wildly in the air for a few seconds, trying to reach Momoko's hand with a punch or a kick. Fortunately for her dignity and Momoko's skin, she was too tired to keep it up for very long.
"I'mma--" too tired now for yelling, "--'mma get you! Jes' you wait!" Pantpantpant. "Gettin' you back."
Being tiny was haaaaaard.
Blossom
"I am totally terrified and will await your punishment, Karla," Blossom nodded, trying to keep a straight face at the utter cuteness.
A shout from the back of the crowd had Blossom standing back up and looking around. "Okay, to keep you safe, you can rest in here." And with that, she carefully placed her tiny friend in her pocket. "Don't get lost, okay?" she joked as she made sure Karla was secured and took an extra step back from the crowd.
Karla
"YOU CAN'T PUT ME IN HERE!" Karla wailed, flailing about again. The flailing made no difference, and Karla was dropped into Momoko's pocket. It was dark and full of-- "When I get big again I am going to...Ooooh! This gumdrop is HUGE! Mine!!!!"
And full of candy.
Blossom
"There's a juice box in there too, if you promise not to spill it." Blossom giggled and made sure they were in a safer spot before looking in to check on tiny!Karla...
"Awwww!" Karla was sound asleep, hugging and nuzzling at a half-eaten gumdrop.
Now would be a really bad time to ask to borrow Leda's scrying mirror, to take a picture, right?
Yeah. So, that had happened. Even now that she was back to her normal size, Karla was not best pleased with Momoko for shriveling her. It was so...so...so stupid! She would have been even more upset if she didn't agree that her own behaviour had been equally stupid. Not then, she hadn't, of course. But time and distance (and food and rest and reflection) had done an excellent job of reminding her that she was a compulsive (and impulsive!) idiot.
Oh, and Warren had helped. Oh yes, he had made his feelings on the matter VERY CLEAR, pretty much from the moment that Blossom had shown up in Sunnydale.
Blossom
The portal shimmered and Blossom was ever so excited to see that she was actually in front of a Welcome to Sunnydale sign. It looked like it had been run over a time or two, but at least it was the place! Now... was Warren here yet? She'd told Leda she'd be right back to help finish things up.
She checked in her pocket... Yep, still there!
Warren
Warren was arriving on foot to that sign. On foot, looking like he hadn't slept in quite some time, because once again, someone had run off into danger with only a phone message to let him know that she was going to do something stupid and try to get herself killed.
The look on Warren's face, then, was somewhere bordering on 'worried sick,' and he had his arms wrapped over his chest, awkwardly rubbing at his elbows while he approached Momoko.
"Hey," he said, giving her a little nod and an attempt at a smile that fell a little short. "It's been a while."
Karla hadn't mentioned that Momoko was going to be with her, so Warren was mostly just bordering on 'trying to be polite' at the moment.
Blossom
She gave him a friendly wave and cheery smile, for all that she was a bit nervous about this. "You look totally different without..." oops. Don't mention the wings. "Well. You look different here. Sorry to come without notice, but phones don't work well in Faerie."
It should help a bit that she wasn't very bruised and only had a few bandages on.
Warren
"You're too cheerful looking to be bringing me bad news," Warren noted, giving Momoko a once-over, and a wry smile that he didn't quite feel. "So... I'll take no notice. What's up?"
How much yelling was he going to be doing at his girlfriend?
Blossom
Ooooh, lots of yelling!
"No bad news! Not really." Blossom gave him a thumbs up. "We did good!"
"Actually, I've come to ask if you'd keep Karla here for a while? She kind of exhausted herself and totally needs to rest, but if she stays with us in Faerie she'll never do it and I totally don't trust her to stay anywhere on her own." Cause she's met her, you see.
Warren
"Yeah, that trust thing..."
Warren had met her, too. And he had a look on his face that spoke volumes to that effect.
"How badly hurt did she get?"
He was kind of cutting right to the chase. It wasn't like this was the first time they'd danced this dance, after all. And somehow, the fact that Karla had promised that she wouldn't do this to him any more wasn't helping him feel anything but tired and emptied out, even if she was safe now.
Blossom
"We had potions and ethers and just plain old magic and food, so she isn't physically injured too badly?" What? She'd promised not to tell about the burns part! "I don't know if she's emotionally hurt, though. We were fighting to help a Queen save her kingdom..."
Hi trial run for Glacia!
"Also, she's probably gonna be a bit mad for a while." Blossom rummaged in her pocket. "And you'll have to hide her for a day, maybe two. Ah! Here!" She gently pulled a small figurine from her pocket. It looked surprisingly like a small doll of Karla clutching and licking at a gumdrop.
Warren
Warren raised an eyebrow as he looked at Momoko. And then looked at the... doll? No. No, at the real thing.
"You're kidding me."
Karla
Karla sat up on Momoko's palm and yawned, stretching her tiny arms as high as they would go. Her face and front were covered in purple and one hand still clung to a gumdrop. "Hi, Momoko," she said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "You gonna change me back--eeek!"
Okay, tiny squeaking Karla was pretty adorable. Admit it.
"Warren! ...I'm so in trouble."
Warren
Really, really adorable. And really, really in trouble.
"I need someone to give me a really good reason to not stick you in a shoebox and mail you to Saetan right now with a strongly worded letter attached."
Warren had feels. Angry feels.
Blossom
Momoko's face melted AGAIN at how cute Karla was!
"Not gonna change you back yet, no." She looked back up at Warren, trying to mend fences.
"I did it, not her! She was being stubborn and refusing to rest, so I used a magic item that my friend Reno gave me? It's supposed to wear off after some time passes, but I also have something you can use to change her back if there's a problem. I just needed her to rest."
Warren
The fences were pretty damaged, Momoko. Warren gave his head a shake, attempting to give her a smile that once again fell short.
"She's not in trouble for being small. This is going to make it really easy for me to yell at her, though, for going and scaring the crap out of me again. So... thanks for that."
Karla
Karla was wondering if she could sneak back into Momoko's pocket. Warren was hardly ever angry, which meant that when he got angry, it was a sight to see.
A scary one.
"You're not gonna make me big again, either?" she asked, giving him sad eyes.
...Sad eyes were totally not about to work, no.
Warren
Warren was so far beyond being prone to falling for the charms of the sad eyes, at this point, that he just frowned down at her and narrowed his eyes.
"We need to talk."
Or else he needed to snarl. One of those.
Blossom
"Scaring you? Didn't she tell you what was happening?!"
Blossom frowned at Karla sternly, despite the d'aww eyes. "You're in a relationship, Karla. You have to tell him everything and trust him to believe you're capable and to let you go. And listen if he has things to say about it. He knows your limits better than anyone, even you."
She sighed and held out her hand to let Warren take her. "I'm sorry, Warren. I didn't know. I totally suggest keeping her small as long as possible so she learns something." Also, it's cheaper to feed her.
...
"Ah, she still has her magic but it's weak, so she bites instead."
Karla
"I called!" Karla protested. "I did! And I had to leave a message because he didn't answer! What was I supposed to do? Delay leaving until he could take a study break and call me back?"
She wasn't even going to touch the bit about him letting her go and trusting her to be capable.
Warren
"She made me a promise," Warren said, softly, taking Karla in hand. Gently. In spite of how much he wanted to shake her just then. "Maybe she forgot it. I didn't."
He frowned down at Karla, and then shook his head.
"Trust is funny like that."
Karla
"..."
And now Karla was feeling about as tall as Momoko's spell had made her.
"I--I--"
He was right. Leda had called for help and everything else had kind of flown out the window.
Blossom
"A promise..." Blossom sighed and kissed a finger before tapping Karla's head with it. "I have to get back, but we're totally going to have a talk about this later, young lady."
A portal shimmered behind her and she leaned in to give Warren a goodbye hug, slipping the extra shrivel into his pocket. "Tap her with that if she doesn't grow back. Remember she's probably a bit emotionally hurt, too, okay?"
Warren
"Yeah," Warren said, his voice quiet as he returned the hug with one invisible wing. "I'll keep that in mind."
It wasn't going to keep him from being angry. It was a long, long way away from keeping him from being angry.
"Take care of yourself out there, okay?"
Odds were high that he'd probably tap Karla with that little item if she did grow back, at this point.
Karla
Karla waited for the portal to shut behind Momoko before turning to Warren.
"Yell," she said quietly, sitting in his palm. "I know I deserve it."
And she'd even try to bite back the comments that he was being unfair.
Warren
Warren wasn't yelling yet. Warren hadn't quite hit that point yet.
"You know you deserve it," he said, simply. "So, maybe you can tell me why I'm angry."
Or why he was so damn tired, or why he was wondering why he'd decided to stray so far from Fandom when his girlfriend was clearly bent on getting herself killed the moment he looked away.
Karla
Hey! It hadn't been the moment. It had been at least four months since he'd left! That was like a record!
"Because I ran off into potential danger with no backup," Karla said quietly. "And broke my promise."
Warren
"I really want you to be able to look me in the eye and tell me that I'm overreacting and you were never in danger," Warren said, in that too-soft tone that he hit when he was trying very hard to keep from getting angry. "Can you do that?"
Was it just 'potential' danger? He knew her far too well to believe that she was being completely straight with him, and that just made his heart ache more.
Karla
"I wasn't trying to say that," Karla said, her eyes locked on her tiny hands. "But you'd still be upset at me even if it were true. Because I couldn't have foreseen that lack of danger when I rabbited off."
Warren
"Because you ran off to war, Karla," Warren growled, and at that point he was well beyond caring who thought he'd lost his mind as he prowled back and forth on the side of the road. "And then to have Momoko have to drag you back here before you could do the same thing that had you sent out of Haven in the first place, on top of that? When are you going to learn?"
As Karla had started to stutter out another excuse, Warren had come to a decision of his own. He had calmly dropped her in his candyless shirt pocket, calmly proceeded to book a portal to Kaeleer, and calmly called the Hall to let Lucivar know that they would be arriving shortly--he'd needed to be somewhere he could hit things and not have to worry about pretending to be normal. Karla was pretty sure he'd also needed to be somewhere he could throttle her and not get arrested for it. They'd both known that when he finally dropped this illusion of calm, things were going to get violent.
And now, almost a full Kaeleeran week later, Karla still hadn't seen Warren since he'd handed a tiny her to Saetan. He'd been sleeping in the Consort suite with the door firmly locked between then and had risen each morning with the sun to go out to the grounds to work through his temper. For a week. Now Karla had a portal booked back to Fandom and she wasn't entirely sure she'd be seeing him before she left.
[Preplayed & co-written with heromaniac and not_a_parakeet who are rock stars, yo, and continued in comments with mega SP. Another post will go up (tomorrow?) for other folks who wish to yell.]
Karla hadn't seen any of it. Immediately after her plea for clemency had been delivered, Blossom had taken her aside and proceeded to bully and browbeat her within an inch of her life. She'd been terrible.
Karla
...Karla stubbornly stayed on her feet, ignoring the fact that she was swaying a little in place. "No," she said crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm fine. I'll crash just as soon as Leda's done here, but on the off-chance someone tries something funny, I'm going to be here to help stop them."
Blossom
"You couldn't stop a yawn, Karla," Blossom's hands were on her hips as she stared back at her friend. "You're wiped and totally a liability!"
Karla
"I am not a liability!" Karla snapped, glaring at her friend. "I can do more exhausted than you can at your best!"
...That was so not true. For any number of reasons. It was, however, ample proof of just how tired and cranky she was.
Blossom
"Oh?" Blossom's face was totally not her believing face and she reached out to gently push at Karla, in time with the swaying the girl had just been doing. The touch was just enough to knock her further into that movement if she was as exhausted as Blossom thought she was.
Karla
Karla stumbled for a moment, keeping her feet by sheer strength of will and bad temper. "Hey! No fair pushing!"
That had been barely a tap, Karla.
"Just leave me alone, okay? I'll rest once this is all over!"
Blossom
"It was barely a tap, Karla. You know that." Now Blossom had her hands rummaging in her pockets. "If just one of Corwyn's people saw you right now, you'd totally be the perfect target. And protecting you means Leda's in danger, which totally ruins everything you just did that made you so tired."
Karla
"I don't need your protection, Momoko!"
Way to be on the ball with secret identities there, Karla.
"I don't need anyone's protection! I'm perfectly fine! If anything, your constant nagging is distracting me from keeping an eye out for danger!"
Blossom
Yeah, bigger things to worry about. Like, you know, her friend dying.
Ah! Blossom's hand felt the small odd shaped object she was searching for, nestled deep in her pocket. She relaxed slightly, her hand now slowly wrapping around it. "You mean like that mercenary aiming his crossbow at us from that stand of trees over there?"
There was no mercenary, but maybe Karla would look in the direction Blossom was nodding?
Karla
And indeed Karla did, whipping around to prevent catching a quarrel in the back. Her hands flew up, streaming blue flames to try and incinerate a projectile...that...wasn't coming.
That little display did earn her some nasty looks from a few of the nearby soldiers.
"What the Hell, Momo--"
Blossom
And that was when Blossom reached out and used one of her remaining 'shrivels' on Karla. Once it hit her, Karla disappeared!
Okay, she didn't actually disappear, but it was close!
Karla? Was now three inches tall and while she had all of her magic, it was totally and ridiculously reduced in power.
Blossom tried really hard not to giggle as she squatted down to tap a finger on Karla's head. "Reno was right; 'shrivel' is awesome."
Karla
"MOMOKO! MOMOKO, YOU CHANGE ME BACK TO MY NORMAL SIZE THIS INSTANT" Karla shrieked, battering at Blossom's foot with very tiny little hands. Blue sparks were flying--it looked like someone was shooting colorful caps off on the ground. "THIS IS POSITIVELY INSUPPORTABLE, MOMOKO AKATSUTSUMI!
Blossom
Okay, there was totally giggling; tiny-Karla was sooooo cute!!
"No. You're exhausted and injured and you're going to rest whether you like it or not."Blossom tried to lift her. "And by the way? Whatever magic you're using is totally cute and only does 1 damage doesn't hurt a bit, so save your energy."
...
"What little you have." Moar giggles!
Karla
"ARGHHHHH!"
Karla was not appreciative of your puns, Momo. Not at all. She was going to show you how unamused she was by trying to beat up your thumb. Yeah, so...take that.
"YOU FIX ME!" she demanded. "RIGHT NOW! MOMOKO, THIS IS NOT A LAUGHING MATTER! I'M GONNA--GONNA--"
She couldn't think of a threat worthy of this treatment.
Blossom
"You're gonna rest. And if you don't calm down and.. OW! YOU'RE BITING MY THUMB?! Biting is totally not allo...! Ow! OR KICKING!" She reached with her free hand to try to lift Karla by the back of her shirt, AWAY from her thumb.
Karla
Karla swung wildly in the air for a few seconds, trying to reach Momoko's hand with a punch or a kick. Fortunately for her dignity and Momoko's skin, she was too tired to keep it up for very long.
"I'mma--" too tired now for yelling, "--'mma get you! Jes' you wait!" Pantpantpant. "Gettin' you back."
Being tiny was haaaaaard.
Blossom
"I am totally terrified and will await your punishment, Karla," Blossom nodded, trying to keep a straight face at the utter cuteness.
A shout from the back of the crowd had Blossom standing back up and looking around. "Okay, to keep you safe, you can rest in here." And with that, she carefully placed her tiny friend in her pocket. "Don't get lost, okay?" she joked as she made sure Karla was secured and took an extra step back from the crowd.
Karla
"YOU CAN'T PUT ME IN HERE!" Karla wailed, flailing about again. The flailing made no difference, and Karla was dropped into Momoko's pocket. It was dark and full of-- "When I get big again I am going to...Ooooh! This gumdrop is HUGE! Mine!!!!"
And full of candy.
Blossom
"There's a juice box in there too, if you promise not to spill it." Blossom giggled and made sure they were in a safer spot before looking in to check on tiny!Karla...
"Awwww!" Karla was sound asleep, hugging and nuzzling at a half-eaten gumdrop.
Now would be a really bad time to ask to borrow Leda's scrying mirror, to take a picture, right?
Yeah. So, that had happened. Even now that she was back to her normal size, Karla was not best pleased with Momoko for shriveling her. It was so...so...so stupid! She would have been even more upset if she didn't agree that her own behaviour had been equally stupid. Not then, she hadn't, of course. But time and distance (and food and rest and reflection) had done an excellent job of reminding her that she was a compulsive (and impulsive!) idiot.
Oh, and Warren had helped. Oh yes, he had made his feelings on the matter VERY CLEAR, pretty much from the moment that Blossom had shown up in Sunnydale.
Blossom
The portal shimmered and Blossom was ever so excited to see that she was actually in front of a Welcome to Sunnydale sign. It looked like it had been run over a time or two, but at least it was the place! Now... was Warren here yet? She'd told Leda she'd be right back to help finish things up.
She checked in her pocket... Yep, still there!
Warren
Warren was arriving on foot to that sign. On foot, looking like he hadn't slept in quite some time, because once again, someone had run off into danger with only a phone message to let him know that she was going to do something stupid and try to get herself killed.
The look on Warren's face, then, was somewhere bordering on 'worried sick,' and he had his arms wrapped over his chest, awkwardly rubbing at his elbows while he approached Momoko.
"Hey," he said, giving her a little nod and an attempt at a smile that fell a little short. "It's been a while."
Karla hadn't mentioned that Momoko was going to be with her, so Warren was mostly just bordering on 'trying to be polite' at the moment.
Blossom
She gave him a friendly wave and cheery smile, for all that she was a bit nervous about this. "You look totally different without..." oops. Don't mention the wings. "Well. You look different here. Sorry to come without notice, but phones don't work well in Faerie."
It should help a bit that she wasn't very bruised and only had a few bandages on.
Warren
"You're too cheerful looking to be bringing me bad news," Warren noted, giving Momoko a once-over, and a wry smile that he didn't quite feel. "So... I'll take no notice. What's up?"
How much yelling was he going to be doing at his girlfriend?
Blossom
Ooooh, lots of yelling!
"No bad news! Not really." Blossom gave him a thumbs up. "We did good!"
"Actually, I've come to ask if you'd keep Karla here for a while? She kind of exhausted herself and totally needs to rest, but if she stays with us in Faerie she'll never do it and I totally don't trust her to stay anywhere on her own." Cause she's met her, you see.
Warren
"Yeah, that trust thing..."
Warren had met her, too. And he had a look on his face that spoke volumes to that effect.
"How badly hurt did she get?"
He was kind of cutting right to the chase. It wasn't like this was the first time they'd danced this dance, after all. And somehow, the fact that Karla had promised that she wouldn't do this to him any more wasn't helping him feel anything but tired and emptied out, even if she was safe now.
Blossom
"We had potions and ethers and just plain old magic and food, so she isn't physically injured too badly?" What? She'd promised not to tell about the burns part! "I don't know if she's emotionally hurt, though. We were fighting to help a Queen save her kingdom..."
Hi trial run for Glacia!
"Also, she's probably gonna be a bit mad for a while." Blossom rummaged in her pocket. "And you'll have to hide her for a day, maybe two. Ah! Here!" She gently pulled a small figurine from her pocket. It looked surprisingly like a small doll of Karla clutching and licking at a gumdrop.
Warren
Warren raised an eyebrow as he looked at Momoko. And then looked at the... doll? No. No, at the real thing.
"You're kidding me."
Karla
Karla sat up on Momoko's palm and yawned, stretching her tiny arms as high as they would go. Her face and front were covered in purple and one hand still clung to a gumdrop. "Hi, Momoko," she said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "You gonna change me back--eeek!"
Okay, tiny squeaking Karla was pretty adorable. Admit it.
"Warren! ...I'm so in trouble."
Warren
Really, really adorable. And really, really in trouble.
"I need someone to give me a really good reason to not stick you in a shoebox and mail you to Saetan right now with a strongly worded letter attached."
Warren had feels. Angry feels.
Blossom
Momoko's face melted AGAIN at how cute Karla was!
"Not gonna change you back yet, no." She looked back up at Warren, trying to mend fences.
"I did it, not her! She was being stubborn and refusing to rest, so I used a magic item that my friend Reno gave me? It's supposed to wear off after some time passes, but I also have something you can use to change her back if there's a problem. I just needed her to rest."
Warren
The fences were pretty damaged, Momoko. Warren gave his head a shake, attempting to give her a smile that once again fell short.
"She's not in trouble for being small. This is going to make it really easy for me to yell at her, though, for going and scaring the crap out of me again. So... thanks for that."
Karla
Karla was wondering if she could sneak back into Momoko's pocket. Warren was hardly ever angry, which meant that when he got angry, it was a sight to see.
A scary one.
"You're not gonna make me big again, either?" she asked, giving him sad eyes.
...Sad eyes were totally not about to work, no.
Warren
Warren was so far beyond being prone to falling for the charms of the sad eyes, at this point, that he just frowned down at her and narrowed his eyes.
"We need to talk."
Or else he needed to snarl. One of those.
Blossom
"Scaring you? Didn't she tell you what was happening?!"
Blossom frowned at Karla sternly, despite the d'aww eyes. "You're in a relationship, Karla. You have to tell him everything and trust him to believe you're capable and to let you go. And listen if he has things to say about it. He knows your limits better than anyone, even you."
She sighed and held out her hand to let Warren take her. "I'm sorry, Warren. I didn't know. I totally suggest keeping her small as long as possible so she learns something." Also, it's cheaper to feed her.
...
"Ah, she still has her magic but it's weak, so she bites instead."
Karla
"I called!" Karla protested. "I did! And I had to leave a message because he didn't answer! What was I supposed to do? Delay leaving until he could take a study break and call me back?"
She wasn't even going to touch the bit about him letting her go and trusting her to be capable.
Warren
"She made me a promise," Warren said, softly, taking Karla in hand. Gently. In spite of how much he wanted to shake her just then. "Maybe she forgot it. I didn't."
He frowned down at Karla, and then shook his head.
"Trust is funny like that."
Karla
"..."
And now Karla was feeling about as tall as Momoko's spell had made her.
"I--I--"
He was right. Leda had called for help and everything else had kind of flown out the window.
Blossom
"A promise..." Blossom sighed and kissed a finger before tapping Karla's head with it. "I have to get back, but we're totally going to have a talk about this later, young lady."
A portal shimmered behind her and she leaned in to give Warren a goodbye hug, slipping the extra shrivel into his pocket. "Tap her with that if she doesn't grow back. Remember she's probably a bit emotionally hurt, too, okay?"
Warren
"Yeah," Warren said, his voice quiet as he returned the hug with one invisible wing. "I'll keep that in mind."
It wasn't going to keep him from being angry. It was a long, long way away from keeping him from being angry.
"Take care of yourself out there, okay?"
Odds were high that he'd probably tap Karla with that little item if she did grow back, at this point.
Karla
Karla waited for the portal to shut behind Momoko before turning to Warren.
"Yell," she said quietly, sitting in his palm. "I know I deserve it."
And she'd even try to bite back the comments that he was being unfair.
Warren
Warren wasn't yelling yet. Warren hadn't quite hit that point yet.
"You know you deserve it," he said, simply. "So, maybe you can tell me why I'm angry."
Or why he was so damn tired, or why he was wondering why he'd decided to stray so far from Fandom when his girlfriend was clearly bent on getting herself killed the moment he looked away.
Karla
Hey! It hadn't been the moment. It had been at least four months since he'd left! That was like a record!
"Because I ran off into potential danger with no backup," Karla said quietly. "And broke my promise."
Warren
"I really want you to be able to look me in the eye and tell me that I'm overreacting and you were never in danger," Warren said, in that too-soft tone that he hit when he was trying very hard to keep from getting angry. "Can you do that?"
Was it just 'potential' danger? He knew her far too well to believe that she was being completely straight with him, and that just made his heart ache more.
Karla
"I wasn't trying to say that," Karla said, her eyes locked on her tiny hands. "But you'd still be upset at me even if it were true. Because I couldn't have foreseen that lack of danger when I rabbited off."
Warren
"Because you ran off to war, Karla," Warren growled, and at that point he was well beyond caring who thought he'd lost his mind as he prowled back and forth on the side of the road. "And then to have Momoko have to drag you back here before you could do the same thing that had you sent out of Haven in the first place, on top of that? When are you going to learn?"
As Karla had started to stutter out another excuse, Warren had come to a decision of his own. He had calmly dropped her in his candyless shirt pocket, calmly proceeded to book a portal to Kaeleer, and calmly called the Hall to let Lucivar know that they would be arriving shortly--he'd needed to be somewhere he could hit things and not have to worry about pretending to be normal. Karla was pretty sure he'd also needed to be somewhere he could throttle her and not get arrested for it. They'd both known that when he finally dropped this illusion of calm, things were going to get violent.
And now, almost a full Kaeleeran week later, Karla still hadn't seen Warren since he'd handed a tiny her to Saetan. He'd been sleeping in the Consort suite with the door firmly locked between then and had risen each morning with the sun to go out to the grounds to work through his temper. For a week. Now Karla had a portal booked back to Fandom and she wasn't entirely sure she'd be seeing him before she left.
[Preplayed & co-written with heromaniac and not_a_parakeet who are rock stars, yo, and continued in comments with mega SP. Another post will go up (tomorrow?) for other folks who wish to yell.]