[Social] Hanging Together

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina paced about her room, back and forth.

She had had more than her fair share of nervous energy since waking up from being remolded, but she was nearly vibrating at the moment.

((For Jez))

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez wasn't very long in arriving. Well, A Jez anyway. Nowadays she didn't make it totally obvious if she was herself or a copy - at least not to most people other than Katarina. She'd gained access to the main dorm room with a keycard - because her duties required her to have one. And when Katarina might answer the knock to her personal door she'd find Jez standing in one of her less formal handmaiden uniforms - because her duties required her to wear one. Things... had changed.

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina smiled a thin-lipped smile, as she often did when she saw Jez in uniform.

"It does look good on you," she admitted, for likely the fifteenth time.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez rolled her eyes a little bit, even if her cheeks had a subtle flush to them. "Yes, yes, and it looks even better on your floor." She quipped, before her face took on a more serious expression.

"... did you get any sleep last night? You look..."

[Katarina Karkov]

"Yes," Katarina obviously lied. "The tea you found helped tremendously, and I thank you for it. Out like a light and pop up the next morning," she added, laying it on too thick.

"Though if they would stop scheduling classes so early in the morning, I would be ever so grateful. Ah well, heavy is the head that wears the mortarboard, yes?"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez gave Katarina a disapproving look.

"That may work on the girls back home, your Excellency, but we American girls don't like being lied to." She made sure that the door was locked before she sat on Katarina's bed and patted the mattress beside her.

"Come on, spill it."

[Katarina Karkov]

"If the princess says it, it is the truth. My word is law?" she tried, before Jez's disapproving face shot her down. Divine right does not a girlfriend's eyes defeat.

"Just the usual bad dreams," Katarina said, trying a new tactic with a disarming smile. "I suppose I can be afforded a few of those considering the situation..."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez offered her girlfriend a sympathetic smile. "On occasion, yes." She admitted. "Every night for an entire lifetime, no."

[Katarina Karkov]

"Not every night. Sometimes a handmaiden gives me a thing or two to think about at night," Katarina said, trying to awkwardly flirt her away out of concern.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"As flattering as that is, do you think that's a real solution?" Jez asked of her princess. "As happy as I am to be there for you, and to listen... I'm a bandaid on a bigger problem."

[Katarina Karkov]

"Everyone has nightmares, do they not? From time to time, at least.

...Please tell me people in the West have nightmares, or I am not going to live it down."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Well, yes. Trust me, even we decadent Westerners have our nightmares. But it's the 'from time to time' part that's the issue. When you have a nightmare because you ate too much, or you had a stressful day, that's one thing. When you're having nightmares almost every night, that's something else entirely. Something that needs to be rectified."

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina made a face. "More pills and medication? I don't think I can agree to that; the last attempt had me drifting off in the middle of council meetings. The narcoleptic princess is not one of Symkaria's more popular fables."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez shook her head. "No, no drugs. I was more thinking of... other means."

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina huffed. "I have seen a psychiatrist," she said, misunderstanding. "They have told me it is all in my head, which is of course, obvious as where else do they expect dreams to go."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Also not what I meant. But if it's all in your head, then... that's where we should go."

[Katarina Karkov]

"...You want to sneak into my mind? Is one of you a telepath, and you have been holding out on me?" Katarina said, raising an eyebrow.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"It's not sneaking if you welcome them in." Jez interjected, but shook her head. "I am a telepath, but only technically - I'm only able to connect with my own puppets. But that's on my own. With the help of another telepath, or maybe cerebra, I should be able to take a look around and see if I can find the source of those nightmares. If we're lucky, maybe even stop them entirely. But that's kind of a long shot."

She fidgeted a bit at her suggestion. "I'm sure you're not very comfortable with that idea, I know I'd be a little nervous letting anyone into my head... even you."

[Katarina Karkov]

"You think you could...connect to Cerebra, and sort of...access me, like you do your other selves," Katarina said, blinking. "I never would have thought about that...

It is...a frightening idea, having someone in my head. Samantha didn't seem to much enjoy her visit. But if it's you..." she said, trailing off and nodding.

"I trust you, Jezabelle Sherlock."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"It's... a theory." Jez said with a hint of hesitation. "Cerebra helps to amplify a person's mutant abilities, it might be enough to allow my telepathy to reach someone other than myself. Or it might not work at all....

"Yeah, that's one of the few reasons I would even consider trying it that way. I don't want to put Sam in a difficult situation again, though when it comes to telepaths I think she may be one of the best that we have. But that puts a lot of work on her plate, for certain."

Jez smiled softly and reached out to touch Katarina's hand. "I will do everything I can to deserve that trust."

[Katarina Karkov]

"She also kept me locked in a repeating nightmare when I asked her for the void, so yes, Samantha would have to have a chaperone if she were to return," Katarina frowned.

"...You might not like everything in my head."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"I'm certain that Sam had no idea that that was going on. If she did, she would have stepped in and fixed it, I'm sure of it. She's not the kind of person who would just let someone suffer when she could help."

Jez gave Katarina's hand a squeeze. "Everyone's heads has things we don't like. Especially about ourselves. Things that we don't want the world to see. They don't make you a bad person."

[Katarina Karkov]

"Samantha fancies herself a queen because a bird once spoke to her in the woods, or something. She means well, I am sure, but she believes she understands the pressures I am under. You are more open-minded.

I just..do not want you to be hurt by anything you might see in me. Physically, or emotionally."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"I... think it's a little deeper than that, Kitty." Jez said in defense of their psychic friend. "And to be fair, I'm open-minded, but that doesn't mean I understand any better the kind of stress you're under."

She sidled herself closer to Katarina and made motion to try and hug her. "Of course you don't. And while I can't promise I won't take a few knocks... I know you won't mean it. Our minds are complex things, and they're home to joyful memories and dark thoughts alike. But I'm tougher than I look, I can handle it."

[Katarina Karkov]

Katarina pursed her lips, but nodded. "Alright. Just...be careful in there. For my sake."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Of course for your sake! You think I'm gonna go in there and start hulk-smashin'?" Jez asked, feigning insult before she grinned. "It might not seem like it at times, but I am capable of just smiling and nodding, and not throwing hands."

[Katarina Karkov]

"I will be sure to led Prince Alex know that, if only to reassure him that video will not go viral," Katarina said, mock-haughtily.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez fidgeted a little bit. "... to be fair, he deserved far worse than that."

[Katarina Karkov]

"In olden times, he would have been strapped to a horse and sent out of town with naught but a canteen, while the children threw various pieces of fruit at him.

Or he would have just been hung. I suppose it depended on which particular breed of insanity sat on the throne at that point."

Katarina was trying to keep it jovial, but, y'know, kidnapping.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Well now I don't feel so bad." Still, there was information she was keeping from Katarina. That the prince knew of their relationship prior to Nika's admissions. But... what good would it be to tell her this now? Maybe it was better to wait until after this mental vacation. She had, unintentionally, zoned out.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Jez? Everything alright?" Katarina asked, noticing her distraction.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

The girl snapped out of it. "It's fine. I'm just multi-tasking." It wasn't a complete lie, she did sometimes zone out when she concentrated on a puppet. "I'm sorry, my focus should be on you."

[Katarina Karkov]

"Jez..." Katarina said.

"It is OK. You do not need to be focusing on me literally all the time. I have been through...I have been through a lot. But I will not vanish if you look elsewhere. I shall endeavor not to choke to death on toothpaste when you're not looking."

"I do not want you to feel...obligated. To watch out for me."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez chuckled softly. "Now what kind of knight in shining armour would I be if I wasn't looking out for you?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"One who goes to classes, and has friends and a normal social life. One who hasn't been raised to be in the palace, and has been trained to treat me as...

Well. One who remembers I am Katarina first, and Your Highness second,"

Katarina slipped her hand into Jez's. "Though if my Knight requires a certain level of pomp and ceremony, I am sure I can provide."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez gently squeezed Katarina's hand, her cheeks a little rosy. "You're right, of course. I have to lean into my strengths, and one of those is letting you live your life and experience what things are like outside of the palace. You don't need someone hovering over your shoulder all the time. So... girlfriend first, knight second. I think I can do that.

"... but I think a four poster bed, with the gauze and stuff on it... that's some pomp I can deal with."

[Katarina Karkov]

"A trifle for a loyal knight. It shall be done. And you may even find a royal bedwarmer inside, as a reward for your...diligence," Katarina said, trying (and kind of failing) to do a husky voice as she leaned up against Jez.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez did a good job of hiding her laughter. Katarina was trying her hardest, and it was adorable, and the girl's tittering might hurt her feelings. "I think I'd take the bedwarmer over the bed any day" she said as she leaned into her as well, speaking more softly even though they were alone already.

"We have things to do today, though. the schedule..." It had to be the weakest protest she'd ever heard, a token resistance. Baby, it's cold outside.

[Katarina Karkov]

"Oh, the schedule," Katarina huffed. "Sometimes I wish I could be in two places at once, as well."

"Well, if you're really certain we can't push the schedule back..." she added, teasingly.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Well, I could try for a speedrun...." Jez muttered softly before pushing Katarina onto her back with a giggle.