Xaviers!

The woods felt safe... or safer rather. Tereza felt like she was retreating here more and more often. She told herself it was to practice, but, when she was honest with herself which was rare, it was simply 'away' and that was good enough. She squared her stance and her forearms coated in ice in a sculpt reminiscent of fur. She began pushing herself through a routine, flicking ice off her forearm guards into daggers to thunk against the trees as she rotated herself through several dodges and counterattacks.

((Open))

Apparently Tereza wasn't the only one who felt psychological comfort out here, but the person who came upon her had not smell or sound and it wasn't until Tereza saw her with her eyes she would even know the other person was here.

Shielded in a translucent bubble, Emilie materialized out of the woods, but didnt drop her shield.

Mostly because she figured sneaking up on a werewolf, even if on accident as she had, was probably not great for her health.

Tereza turns, somewhat startled by Emilie's sudden appearance. The ice on her forearms ripples as she pulls her response back into control. "Wasn't expecting anyone to be out here. Hopefully I wasn't disturbing you."

Emilie dropped her shields quick enough to catch Rerezas comment.

"Nah. Just passin' through." She replied. "Practicing outside the eye of his graciousness Lord Ballandchain?"

"Among other things," she nods, pushing her hands together and sloughing the ice off of them onto the ground. "I don't trust anyone whose first impulse is rules."

"I don't trust anyone who uses wears that much pomade. Man's so greased he looks like a water mammal. "

"Haven't seen him yet myself. Been too busy with other shit."

"Oh? Team stuff?"

"Pack stuff," she says, "Sam's been... having some things and I've been dealing with those things."

Emilie paused, staring at her from behind heart shaped glasses.

"What kinda things?" She ask, the concern she feels not evident in her voice. By her tone, she sounded the friendly sort of concerned.

"I don't know. She's been a little... wolfie lately. You can understand my concern."

"Sure. You think she got the lycanthropy or something else?"

"She says it's nothing. I've never bitten her, so I don't think she's infected."

"When'd she start acting like this?"

"It's been kind of an off and on thing, but it definitely got worse after we went on that mission to rescue Tosh. We're... connected and I had to go pretty hard wolf to make it through that and I'm worried that some of it bled over."

Emilie wavered a bit.

"Scale of one to ten, how good're you with secrets?"

Tereza raises an eyebrow, "Depends on who I have to keep 'em from."

"The establishment and anyone who's a narc."

She snorts, "Yeah, I think I can manage that."

"Kinda got that impression, and I feel like someone beside Vic should know what's up now that my back up is scrap metal in case shit goes south around here.

I'm old kid. Like, really old. And I've known a lot of entities calling themselves Samantha McManus. Some of 'em Morrigans, some of em.... other things.

It's not unheard of for them to take on characteristics of their lovers. There was this one fuckin' weasel... Spencer something? Something Spencer?- that worked in the medical group at Stark Tower that really fuckin' stoked her ego big time. I bet some solid money that bitch was gonna be the black queen of the Hellfire Club by the end of it all, but I didn't actually get to stick around and find out.

But trust that I've never seen one that wasn't doin' exactly what she pleased. A Morrigan anyways. She's got the capacity to stop at any time."

Tereza sighs and crosses her arms, "Fair enough. I guess if she's doing what she wants to do, I can't very well stop her."

Emilie shrugged. " I mean, you know this one better than I, obviously. I tend to avoid Morrigans like the plague.

But... I thought somehow maybe it might put your mind at ease to know that."

"Well, avoiding isn't an option and acceptance is not approval, but..." She sighs, "It's something to work with. Thanks."

"Well, and I will say, if you're not feeling it, just... Make yourself known, and then maybe don't say anymore.

That's more relationship advice from me and not about the Morrigan specifically. I find putting it out the universe that I'm unhappy about the behavior in question is enough to at least get them to evaluate if they're really acting badly, so long as the partner in question is a good one.

But I mean I ain't even had a partner for more than a decade so my advice could be shit, ha."

"Yeah, kind of already did that, I thought. It... went... not sure if it was good or bad."

"Well all your inside organs appear to be inside still soooo.... wiiiinnn?" She joked. "But seriously. Did she seem to be listening?"

"Yes and no. I think she might have been trying to placate me a little." She sighs and looks at the ground, "I don't know."

"I mean... maybe?" Emilie nibbled on one of her lip piercings in thought. " Like, in a sense?

You ever been in a relationship before this one?"

"Yeah, but she... they, the plural they, were kind of a controlling bitch. Like most things in my life... it's complicated."

"I don't want to say there's not possibility of her placating you, but if she were, it's probably in the vein of 'oops I went too far' and less 'my girlfriend is a worry wart'.

If the Morrigan thought you were silly, there wouldn't be room for doubt in my experience."

"That was kind of what she said when we had a fight recently. She said she thought she went too far. I'll spare you the explanation of what constituted 'too far'."

Emilie shrugged. "Seems to track, in my experience. This is all standard 'good Morrigan' stuff.

Bad Morrigan wouldn't care if you thought she went too far."

"People keep telling me I need to pay attention to the Morrigan..." She flicks her wrist and an ice dagger thunks off a tree, "But that feels like I'm forgetting Sam."

"Nah nah nah, fuck all that shit." She replied, making a wave off motion.

"Morrigan is Sam, Sam is Morrigan. Worshipers will try to romanticize the situation, for whatever reasons they got. And yea, you should consider that the Morrigan is part of Sam, but the moment you start making distinctions is the moment Sam can get lost in there.

It's like....

You ever play that stupid game with the animals you tend into bigger things that fight other animals?"

Tereza shakes her head, looking puzzled. "No, I don't think so."

"It's like....

Imagine a kitten right? That was baby Sam. And now Sam? Now Sam is a cat.

Eventually that cat is going to turn into an even bigger cat. And whatever that is, whether it's a tiger, or a cheetah or whatever, that is the Morrigan. But it's also Sam.

Does that make sense?"

"Yes, but also no," she says, frowning, "They just seem like such different things. Like that cat is becoming a dog." She makes a sour face, "Okay, bad analogy and I'm getting berated for it by my other half, but you get the idea."

Emilie shrugged. "They are. For now.

But as Sam and the Morrigan become more comfortable with each other though, the more blurred those lines will become.

So telling you ' you should consider the Morrigan' as if somehow they aren't one in the same seems like a great way for you to grow resentment towards a part of Samantha..."

"If I'm honest, that ship's already sailed a bit and I'm trying to recover from that now."

Emilie's eyebrows bobbed up above her shades.

"Oh? How do you mean?"