Owner	Pose
Tabitha Smith	Sunday afternoon, most of the kids at the school are working on papers or catching up on the reading they put off until the last minute. Not Tabby Smith, though. She's out at the pool.     She's not dressed for swimming, though. She's in pink short-shorts, black fishnets, a pink t-shirt stating 'NOONE PUTS BABY IN A CORNER' with a graphic of Jennifer Grey's 'Dirty Dancing' character below. Her big purple sunglasses are on her face and she looks out over the pool.     Tabby kicks her feet slowly, they ripple the water where her toes touch the liquid now and then. She sighs heavily. reaching up to scratch a itch o n her cheek. "Why am I even here?" she asks herself. "I'm sorry, Foxy."
Lexi Nemo	Meanwhile, behind her, as she's been sitting...someone has been tracking her. She's getting better at this, Lexi finds. Maybe she needs a bit more training in it, sure, but if it's a recent scent...she's finding she can usually track to nearby where someone is. And the moment she saw the pool, she realized where her 'prey' probably was.     So, she slinks up slowly behind the lone girl sitting at the edge of the pool, moving with a prowling animal grace, as quietly as she can, as she creeps up on her. Arriving about when Tabby asks the question.     Then slides her arms around Tabby, 'capturing' her. Also, because she's afraid she might jump into the pool otherwise out of suprise. "Sorry about what?" she asks. A mischievious edge to her tone.
Tabitha Smith	Tabby does jump, but she feels the extra warmth and sees the flash of purple-pink around her and she settles. "Lexi!" she says, her voice somewhere between a sob and a giggle. "I found you!" Well, it was the other way around, but still.     "Where've you been, honey? I..." and she hugs Lexi's arms. "You caught me." she says weakly.
Lexi Nemo	The mauve girl sits, then slides Tabby up into her lap as she scoots forward, little tendrils extending from her hips to wiggle her along since her arms are occupied. She nuzzles the other girl, kissing her cheek. "...sorry. It wasn't yer fault, or anythin' ya did." she assures her immediately "I'm sorry I wasn't home when ya got back. It was selfish..." She sighs quietly, squeezing Tabby gently. "An' that I made ya worry..."
Tabitha Smith	Tabby smiles a bit at that, more so when her cheek is pecked. "It's alright." She presses herself against the other girl, still hugging the arms around her tightly. "I'm sorry I've been such a butt, though."     "glad I'm back, though. You have to give me back my rings..." that was part of the deal - Lexi would keep her jewelry so Tab would have another reason to fight to get back from Mojoworld if something bad happened on the mission. "Unless... unless you want to wear them." she says, a touch of shyness there. She looks away as she says it.     "I missed you bad, and I wasn't even gone long."
Lexi Nemo	"I'm sorry I wasn't here for ya when you got back. I mean, I was watchin'. When ya portaled back, an' came out. An' then ya looked fine, an'...and I just...needed ta be away from stuff for a little bit. It wasn't you." she repeats. She smiles a bit, then reaches down the front of her shirt, pulling out the leather cord from which the rings in question are jingling. But hesistates when you make that offer. "...but...but they're yours..." she says softly. "I mean..." She flushes a bit, looking down at them. "...I'd...like wearing them. Maybe...maybe I could keep one of them? So ya still got 'em too."     She leans up to nuzzles Tabby's soft blonde hair. "I missed ya too. I just...I kinda freaked out a bit when ya were gone."
Tabitha Smith	Tabitha grins, finally letting Lexi loose. "WHat was it, then?" she wonders, but it's not accusatory. "I fed your tigger." she says, non sequitury and stuff. "Beets are gross when you grate 'em into soup."     She turns a bit in Lex's lap, to more face her. "I'd... I'd like that. One'd look good on your hand, you know."
Lexi Nemo	Lexi blinks a bit. "..you made beet soup?" she says uncertainly, then smiles and offers the cord. "Well...whichever ya wanna give me then?" she says simply. "They're all pretty." She pauses. "Well maybe not th' big one, cuz I don't think it fits well.." she admits, shifting forward a bit until her bare feet dangle in place of Tabby's, letting the other girl turn around to straddle her lap more.     "And, um..." She looks a bit embarrassed. "I...decided I was a coward, an', that I wasn't any good, an' that I was gonna let everyone down, cuz fights seem a lot more common, an' when I get in a fight I just wanna run...an' I'm scared to be like Diya an' really learn to fight as good as she can...an' I asked her an' when she said that it would make me hard an' violent I kinda freaked out an' I ran away an' I waited until ya got back then I went up to the roof tower an' stayed all night and missed meals, and was gettin' all dumb..." She got that out in one breath!
Tabitha Smith	Tabby leans to try and press her nose to Lexi's for a moment. "I don't think you're a coward, honey. Everybody's afraid in a fight." and she snorts. "I was afraid I was gonna pee my pants when all those guys were chasin' me 'round and 'round Pete and Roguey." a quick laugh at herself. "Bein' brave jus' means that you do what you gotta do even though you're scared. You didn't run, though. You stayed and saved me, remember?"     She tries to wrap her arms around the other girl's neck. "Trainin' doesn't make you hard and violent. We jus' do drills and stuff so we don't have to think about what we're doin' when we're battlin' somethin'. So, like Colossus knows that I'm standin' behind him throwing bombs at things and not at the back of his head. We train together so we know we can trust each other."     She holds Lexi tight again. "I trust you. I know the others will too. You just gotta trust yourself."
Lexi Nemo	the other girl nuzzles back against Tabby quietly. "...I know. Just...I got stuck in my head. Where I kept wantin' ta...ta be like Diya, or Yana...cuz they're so strong, an' they can fight, an'...I thought they wanted me ta be just like them...so I'd be useful ta them. Or ta you, or Dani..." She reaches up to gently brush her fingers through Tabby's hair. "...I was bein' dumb. Then I didn't eat anythin' and started gettin' real dumb." She mmms, then then playfully tugs at Tabby's earlobe lightly. "...so, Yana an' Diya hunted me down, an' threw a box of oreos at me, an' then Yana threatened ta help make Diya turn into a cat an' scruff me if I didn't listen to her..." She sighs, then frowns. "...an' then Diya reminded me that I wasn't a coward in Mojoworld. Cuz if I was really a coward, I woulda just ran. I wouldnt' have stopped for ya, I wouldn't have picked ya up and tried ta carry ya to the others." She smiles gently. "Yana says I think too much most times, but when somethin' actually happens, I'm better, cuz I don't have time ta think about what I'm doin'...."
Tabitha Smith	"Can't think too much when you fight, yeah." she agrees. "Noone 'cept Badger wants to be in a fight. We get in, get stuff done, then we get out. Always that way. Dumb to do otherwise."     "Look at Dani - she's a Valkryie and stuff, but is she a hard-assed soldier and stuff? No. She's still our Dani, nice as the day is long... but nobody messes with the warchief when it comes to a fight. She's cool as a cucumber, but she's scared inside too. Only people who aren't scared half the time they're awake are crazy."     She laughs, though. "I guess we're kinda crazy for putting on yellow and black Spandex and jumpin' in the fire, but...     She leans back a minute, thinking. "I'm sorry if this makes you feel uncomfortable or somethin'... but I gotta admit that part of me likes the wild you. Maybe it's the danger? I don't know. Sorry." she apologizes, looking down, a touch of a blush. "I'm weird."
Lexi Nemo	The other girl raises a silver brow. "Um...yellow an' black spandex? Wait, you got a spandex outfit like that?" she says, sudden interest in her eyes, before she gets a flush of her own at the reference to her animal side.     "W-well...it's...it's kinda easier. I don't have to think like that. I just feel. I just do, when I'm...lost in that." she admits. "It's just I don't remember any of it that scares me...I don't have any control. I don't know what I might do like that..." She sighs, then mmms. "I guess I'm kinda like Diya in that...she doesn't remember bein' th' tigger either. Though in her case...she keeps thinkin' that she must be a monster, instead of nice."
Tabitha Smith	"Yeah, it's my team costume. Maybe I'll show you sometime." Tabby says with a smile. "I'll keep you fed, honey. I like takin' care of little things like that... at least for you."     "I don't wanna be sad anymore, Lexi. When I'm with you, I'm happy. Let's be happy? We got our whole lives to be miserable if we want. Let's be happy right now?" she asks.     "Gonna wear my ring, huh?" she wonders. "What finger were you plannin' on wearin' it on?" she asks, which probably seems like a strange question.
Lexi Nemo	Lexi smiles, then looks unsure. "....is there a specific finger I'm supposed ta wear it on?" she asks. She knows Tabby wears a LOT of rings...maybe each one is supposed to go on a specific finger? "Um, the one it fits on? which one is best?" She looks at Tabby expectantly.
Tabitha Smith	"No, no." she says, but there's a little disappointment in her voice. She's trying to be sutble but it's working too well. She can't just come out and _say_ it. "Whatever works best."     She changes tack, then. "I've been readin' cookbooks and websites and stuff, tryin' to find good things you might like. I... I've been testin' 'em out on your tigger first, in case they're poison-bad they'll kill her 'stead of you." She grins a touch. "I'm not really tryin' to kill her!" Tab adds quickly. "But if she doesn't like the stuff, then you prob'ly won't either."
Lexi Nemo	Lexi looks a bit unsure, sensing she's missing something, especially when Tabby quickly changes the subject. "Um...sure? I mean...I don't mind tryin' it too...I mean, at worst we hit the cafeteria instead, right?" she says, smiling faintly as she peers at you. "An' I'm sure she own't mind ya feedin' her too, though I'm pretty sure she's gonna like just plain raw meat most times. Warm an' bloody." She pauses. "Um, I usually don't, too. Like bloody. Or raw. Except sushi."
Tabitha Smith	Tabitha leans her head onto Lex's dhoulfer. "It's kinda fun. I usta always thnk it was dumb to stand over a hot stove when there's a pefectly good microwave nearby, but cookin' stuff better than a Hot Pocket turns out to be less lame than I was afraid it'd be."     "Did I ever tell you that you have pretty eyes?"
Lexi Nemo	Lexi giggles. "You might have said something about golden moons an' stuff..." she teases gently, tilting her head, then leans in to nuzzle noses with the other girl. "I think yers are really pretty too. Ya kinda got it all goin' on...blonde, blue eyes, so very, very cute, an' sexy, all in one package..."
Tabitha Smith	"Maybe. Maybe you're right." Tabitha says. "Outside don't hide what's inside very well, even if people think it does." and she shrugs. "Please tell me if I do somethin' to hurt you, so I don't do it ever again. Okay? Don't keep it inside and let it fester. If we have to fight, let's get it all out of our systems and make up instead of resentin' each other and that gnawing at us untul we pop."
Lexi Nemo	Lexi mmms, then nods. "Okay. If somethin' you do bugs me, then I'll tell ya." she promises. "I don't wanna hold things in an' get angrier than I should." She reaches up to tap Tabitha's nose gently, on the tip. "An' I already have told ya, ya ditzy blonde, that I don't like ya runnin' yerself down, so that's one there, hmm?" She tilts her head. "An' if I vanish off by myself a bit, don't think it's cuz of -you-. Sometimes I just need a little a space. An' I don't mind if ya do too. We each got our own things we like that th' other might not like, right?"
Tabitha Smith	"Deal." Tabby says, nodding. "I'll try. I'll try not to say stuff like that 'bout myself."     "I'm not tryin' to hancuff you to me all the time, I jus' like spendin' time with you. So, even if there's somethin' I don't like, I'll go with you or do it with you. But of course, if you want to do stuff by yourself or with your other friends, I'm not gonna be jealous."     "Much."
Lexi Nemo	Lexi narrows her eyes, then gently reaches up and delivers a light flick to the other girl's forehead. "No." she corrects. "If ya don't like it, ya don't have to do it. Ya wave to me as I go off ta do it, then go do somethin' ya like, then we meet up and gush about how fun both things were for us individually. Cuz yer NOT handcuffed to me, remember?" Her tone is affectionate, but a little exasperated. "I'm not gonna get mad if ya wanna do something ya love ta do that I'm not inta either."
Tabitha Smith	"But I'm offerin' to go to history lectures with you!" Tabitha complains. "I... before I left I asked your tigger to make sure you got to be a history nerd professor nerd geek nerd if I didn't make it back." she says, teasing some there towards the end.     "Promise me that nothin' I do or try to do or don't do will keep you from doin' that, okay?"
Lexi Nemo	Lexi pouts a bit at the 'nerd' bit, then frowns thoughfully at the other girl. "...I...can't promise that." she says after a moment. "I'm not gonna make it a choice between you an' being an archeologist, baby." She smiles at Boomer quietly. "I mean, we'll figure it out, right? That's whatcha gotta do."
Tabitha Smith	"We'll figure it out." Tabitha agrees. "We'll always figure out it, together."