[Nasrin Golbahar]

"So, first." Heidi started speaking a short while after Nasrin had finished. It seemed she had taken what was said into consideration and actually thought about her answers which was a good sign. The taller huntress adjusted herself to a more comfortable sitting position than her squat and went on.
"If you can't see how you're different than some random bartender," That wasn't quite the point Nasrin had been trying to make, but she didn't want to interrupt and so let Heidi continue. "I don't know what to tell you. But, since it seems like you want honesty, I'm going to be honest, and I'm going to be blunt." Perfect. That was exactly what she wanted. Nasrin didn't have the time or energy for all the double talk some people used. Saying one thing and meaning another was for the politicians and snobby types that pretended they were better than everyone else. "What you and I are, following any kissing, huhs, or whatever the fuck I want, depends more on you than me."
Nasrin squinted at that, she wasn't sure if she was convinced quite yet. Heidi seemed to notice her doubts and grinned. "What? Do you expect me to get what I want and never speak to you again?" Yes. She had. "That's really more Jackie's style, and she must have told you some awful things about me for you to believe otherwise." Nasrin was... Confused. Again. Jackie did not seem like the kind to do that. It sounded as though the only reason she would was if Heidi did something she found embarrassing. But she also hadn't known Jackie for very long. If Heidi stuck around, she would easily get to know her just as much if not more. Maybe Heidi was telling the truth, and Jackie's anxiety and embarrassment had made her exaggerate things.

Heidi shrugged and finally matched Nasrin's pose, legs crossed and watching the other person quite intently. "I mean, if that's what you wanted, we could do that, but I haven't got so many friends at Haven that I couldn't use more. You'd be surprised how hard it can be to maintain a relationship when your body's prone to being hijacked by a coward you can't even look most people in the eye." It wasn't what Nasrin wanted, and she figured that was pretty clear by her even asking all this in the first place.
Heidi grinned wider, and Nasrin couldn't help but smile as the light flickered off of the other woman's eyes. They were so bright, so full of life, and whichever way the light seemed to strike them they would sparkle like gems. "And you, a one night stand? Don't make me laugh? You're far too cute, far too interesting, to toss out like some used tissue." Heidi lowered her voice, speaking almost conspiratorially despite no one else being anywhere near. "No, if anything happens between us, I'd sooner it weren't a one time deal."

That was comforting. Nasrin hadn't been with anyone since she was a teenager, and a relationship she could rely on would be nice. Though things would be complicated with Jackie popping in every now and then but... They could just be friends. It would be great! Two friends, one of which was intimate, for the price of one. The concern now was Jackie and what she would think of all this. It was still her body, changed in quite a few ways perhaps, but it was still hers.

"As for the other thing," Heidi started, "It seems to me that it would greatly simplify your relationship with her if she knew you liked us both, wouldn't you agree? She might not be excited for us to be together, but that's only because she finds everything to do with physical affection distasteful. She'd find the thought of you with anyone, not just me, to be an unpleasant one." She went on, spreading her hands like she was appealing for Nasrin to believe her, "And so long as she's not the one required to kiss and hug and do whatever the fuck she wants to you, I don't see how she could have much cause for complaint. Continue to treat her with the tolerance and patience you've already shown for her, and I doubt she'd care much what you get up to with me." That all seemed convincing. And Heidi didn't appear to be lying to cover up what Jackie's thoughts actually were. Nasrin figured if Jackie was opposed to this, she would overpower Heidi the same way Heidi had almost overpowered her back when they nearly kissed.
"You know I'm not her, you know she's not me. That cat's out of the bag now, and so long as you never get us confused, so long as you never think she's the sort to flirt for cheap drinks , I can guarantee she'll be fine." There was another brief pause, and then Heidi added another olive branch to the already very convincing tree. "I'll even keep my feelings to myself, when you're speaking to her. I shouldn't have to, it's my body after all, but that should make your dealings with her less troublesome."


Nasrin pondered for a few minutes. There was a lot to consider, a lot that could go wrong. But really, Nasrin was not at all patient. She never had been, and this especially seemed like the only risk was small enough that it could be managed as long as Nasrin wasn't an idiot about talking to Jackie.

Eventually she sat up, eyes flickering between Heidi's lips and her eyes as she went in for a slightly longer kiss than their first one. This time she was the one to wrap her arm behind the other woman's head and hold them there for a while. She was likely not as experienced in all this as Heidi was, but she wasn't new either and the kiss had a certain level of charm to it. As she broke the kiss and pulled back, her face lit up with a wide smile accompanied by a wink. "Alright. You've convinced me. We'll give this a shot if you're up for it, yeah? I think we'll be good together. And one day I'll use you as a free tattoo ticket back in Atlas." A light chuckle, and Nasrin ducked out of the shelter. The last segment of wall was still unfinished, and she was not the type to leave things like that alone for long. Tugging the wall pieces back towards the shelter with her single arm was a slow process and had her furrowing her brow in concentration the entire time. Her leg still hurt like a bitch, which didn't help, but once all the logs were back she flopped down to sit on the wooden floor of their shelter and got to work tying the final bits of wood together.

"Another question for ya, Heidi. I'm partial to to one and one relationships, not a fan of big groups o' people all sleeping between each other. What about you? Also feel free to help me with this shit. Would go a lot faster with three hands than one and some teeth." Another light smile was given as she turned to face Heidi for a moment, then back to work.

-

1220/18970 Words

[Jackie Bariole]

Heidi could tell even before she was done talking that she had her. Nasrin had believed enough to take the rest on faith, or else had her concern for Jackie overruled by her desire for companionship. When she came closer, leaning up to reach Heidi's lips, she knew she had won. The kiss was sweet and warm. It tasted like success, like victory.
When Nasrin pulled away, she was smiling. Heidi was smiling too, her golden eyes seeming to dance in the dimness of their shelter.
"Alright. You've convinced me." Said the pink haired girl, as if there had been any doubt, "We'll give this a shot if you're up for it, yeah? I think we'll be good together. And one day I'll use you as a free tattoo ticket back in Atlas."
Heidi chuckled, hand coming up to brush fingers along the stubble on the left side of Nasrin's head.
"I can swing you a discount at the very least." She promised. She rather doubted Nasrin had the wont nor the inclination to do what was required for a freebie.

Watching Nasrin slip out of the shelter, Heidi was markedly less restrained with her patent admiration of the other woman's body. She made to leave after her, when her foot bumped something on the floor. Heidi glanced down, and saw a notebook in the dirt. Familiarity tingled at her, and she scooped it up, flipping through its pages. Her eyebrows went up at the second thing written in it, and a huge smile spread across her lips. Two days, eh? Try two hours. She chuckled, and slipped out after the pink haired girl, then watched the same limp back to the small shelter with a number of logs in tow.
"Another question for ya, Heidi." Nasrin said finally, as she flopped into the spot Heidi had so recently vacated, "I'm partial to to one and one relationships, not a fan of big groups o' people all sleeping between each other."
That was a great pity, to Heidi's mind, but she wasn't especially concerned, not when she was superior to just about every other option Nasrin could have had.
"What about you?" she began lashing more of the logs together, using strips of dark fabric which were vaguely familiar, "Also feel free to help me with this shit. Would go a lot faster with three hands than one and some teeth."
Heidi, slapping the notebook against her palm pensively, crouched down to render aid, sliding the notebook into the waist band of her mostly perfunctory skirt.
"Well, sad to say, I left most of my people in Atlas. So, for now at least, you've got me all to yourself." She tugged a log into place, and fastened it with Nasrin's help, grasping what was required quickly.
Her eyes met the smaller woman's unabashedly, "I don't do one on one relationships. If I like someone, I'm going to spend time with them, and that's no one's business but our own. Monogamy has never made much sense to me as a personal philosophy."
Heidi was not sure why she told Nasrin the truth, especially when she'd already made it quite clear what answer she'd prefer. Perhaps she hadn't been lying when she said she wanted to be with the pink haired girl in a more long-term capacity. Perhaps she simply wasn't interested in hiding that part of herself. Stranger still, she felt the need to justify her answer.
"There's enough to stop me doing what I want without some added societal pressure telling me how many lovers I'm permitted."
She tugged another log into place, fastened it down, working quickly and deftly now that she saw what was needed of her.
"I mean, whose business is it to tell me how big my love and my lust is allowed to be."
Another log, another knot; The wood groaned and the fabric tore. Heidi paused, frowning down at her hands; Her knuckles, gripping the strip, had turned white. She quickly tossed aside the scrap of cloth, then just as quickly ripped a fresh one right off the hem of her skirt. She said no more on the subject, but just kept helping to tie knots.

---

words - 702

[Nasrin Golbahar]

Heidi had thought about this before. Perhaps been asked the same thing by someone else. It was clear in how she reacted, how her response seemed familiar, and how she got very intense about the prospect of being limited. It seemed the whole idea felt like restriction to her, and she seemed to believe that a feature of society. Nasrin could understand the rebelling against what people thought was normal or what should be done. Was her preference for monogamy just another thing that society had forced upon her? She had shed the rest of it. Normal hairstyles, normal hair colors, normal clothes - all were gone now, most of it burned though some of it probably sat in a bin in the orphanage somewhere. Heidi was so passionate about it that she forgot her own strength, or so it seemed, as she ripped a piece of fabric that she had been trying to tie.

With a chuckle, Nasrin stops tying her segment and reaches over to place a guiding hand over the other trainee's, focusing quite a bit on raising the fingers up to limit the amount of force she can put into it. They didn't have a lot of fabric, wasting it wouldn't be good for either of them. "Like this, yeah? Don't pull so hard or you'll end up naked, and as much as I might enjoy that it probably gets cold at night, and other trainees would think you were nuts." She removes her hand once they complete one knot without ripping the cloth and returns to her own work. "As for the rest... I'll give it a shot! Let it never be said Nasrin Golbahar is close minded about shit like this. S'the whole point of the punk movement, getting around societal garbage." Nasrin gives a firm nod, partially to convince herself that was a good idea and partially to seem certain on the matter. "Then again, I aint society. So if ya ever change your mind and wanna try my way, I wouldn't judge you."

Eventually the two of them manage to complete the second wall, and Nasrin tugs it up to lean against the rocky overhang as well. A few more strips of fabric are tied from one wall to the other to secure them against the rock, and also to provide a curtain that may not be needed anymore, but remained for now regardless. Nasrin grabbed Rascal and shifted it into shield mode before placing it in the final of the three holes around their shelter, sealing them in rather well, and blocking much of the wind or other environmental stuff that was best kept outside. "There! All set. Good shit."

-

448/19418

[Jackie Bariole]

"Don't pull so hard or you'll end up naked," Nasrin giggled, reaching across to touch Heidi's hand, "And as much as I might enjoy that it probably gets cold at night, and other trainees would think you were nuts."
A smile ticked into place, replacing the admittedly rather intense expression that had been there a moment before. Together, they fastened the latest log in place, Heidi's hands strong and sure, Nasrin's hand slender and gentle. There was something strangely reassuring in that. This was pleasant, almost pleasant enough to make Heidi forget the anger Nasrin' had so unexpectedly tapped.
"As for the rest... I'll give it a shot! Let it never be said Nasrin Golbahar is close minded about shit like this. S'the whole point of the punk movement, getting around societal garbage."
Something in Nasrin's tone made it sound like she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was agreeing with Heidi, but that was fine. Heidi didn't require her consent, not in this. Still, it felt good to receive it.
"Then again, I aint society. So if ya ever change your mind and wanna try my way, I wouldn't judge you."
Golden eyes fastened onto the small, pink haired, woman. Interesting, Heidi had called her, and cute, a winning combination, but she wasn't going to tie herself down to one person, no matter how cute and interesting they were. That did not stop Heidi from smiling at the thought though, nor did it stop her smiling at Nasrin. She was very glad that Nasrin had consented to this arrangement; It would have been horribly disappointing, for it to all fall apart at the very end.

Together, they put up the last wall to the shelter, and, as a proof of concept, Nasrin sealed them in with her shield. It was still early enough in the day that the interior was dimly lit, but the stone overhang kept the heat off and the three makeshift walls did a fine job keeping the wind off them. It was very cramped though, with barely enough space for both sleeping bags. Fortunately, Heidi no longer thought that would be much of a problem, not that she'd ever thought it would be much of an issue to begin with.
"There!" Said Nasrin, "All set. Good shit."
Moving around carefully, so as to not accidentally knock down one of the crudely lashed walls, the tall brunette slipped an arm around Nasrin and, putting her back to the one stone wall, tugged the smaller girl into her lap. There was a large enough difference in their heights that Heidi could do this and still rest her chin on the other trainee's head. Which she did as she dug the notebook out of her waist band.
"Before we celebrate," She mused, talking to the ear on the shaven side of Nasrin's head, "You said it was five secrets we needed?"
Her grip on the smaller woman loosened as she brought the notebook around.
"It seems Jackie got only three."

Now that they had agreed to what their relationship could be, Heidi showed no reservations with her affection, but began combing her fingers back through Nasrin's hair as she opened the notebook before her. Jackie's neat, closely ordered script filled most of the page; She had taken down every detail of every secret which Nasrin had shared.
"I wonder why she stopped at three. Is that what the argument was over?" She asked, as though she didn't already know. While she didn't remember much of what had transpired between the pair, Jackie and Nasrin, she knew Jackie and had some guess as to what might have gotten her to run away.
"What did she ask you?"

---

words - 622

[Nasrin Golbahar]

Nasrin was lifted up like a doll and placed in Heidi's lap. There was no way she was going to complain about that, and as Heidi placed her chin atop Nasrin's head she decided she'd be here a while, so settled in and rested her head against the other woman's chest. The closeness was nice. "Before we celebrate," Heidi had begun to talk right by Nasrin's ear, she could feel the vibrations in her skull - it was weirdly soothing, like a massage chair but a cute lady instead of leather. "You said it was give secrets we needed? It seems Jackie only got three."
That was true. Jackie had decided to stop with the secrets at three, and Nasrin had gotten rather upset about the source of Jackie's feelings. That all seemed trivial now that she was, effectively, cuddling with that source it didn't seem so unwilling, like a forced feeling. "I wonder why she stopped at three. Is that what the argument was over? What did she ask you?"

Nasrin grumbled a bit as the grip on her loosened. She liked the pressure. But she was still quite happy in the warmth of the other woman and tilted her head to the side slightly to speak. "Not too important now, yeah? But if you've gotta know we were doing secrets and stuff. Wasn't anything she asked me, was the other way around. My fault mostly." Her hand reaches up to run through Heidi's hair, removing any remaining tangles as she goes. "I'd asked her what she felt about me, and if it was only because of her semblance. See, I'd thought we were getting on great but then she went and said her semblance was reckless and made her do things she regretted. Mind, I didn't know shit about you yet,I just thought it was a rage type thing like her bro. And that made me feel like I was just another mistake to her. Her answer to that question wasn't great, so I left the shelter to be on my own. Her apology wasn't great either, I chewed her out for it maybe more than I shoulda, and she ran off."

All that said she turns her head back inwards to give a brief, soft kiss to Heidi's sternum. She still wasn't sure if how she'd reacted with Jackie had been fair, but it felt deserved at the time. Maybe if she had been calmer, and Jackie had been better at explaining herself things would have gone better, but it was hard to say. "I owe you two more secrets then, may as well do em now, yeah?" Another kiss, higher up this time. "Lets see. Most of my stuff is floating around in rumors and shit, but I don't think anyone knows enough details to submit em. First off, I ran with gangs for a long time. Most of my teenage years till my arm got blown off, then I started doing protests and shit. Gangs I ran with did plenty of stuff that I can't really go into without makin' myself seem like an ass, but you can submit just 'she was in a gang' or something as your secret for that."

Another kiss, on the neck this time before she leans back a bit to try and make eye contact. "Second! I never knew my parents, grew up in an orphanage in Mistral city. I stayed there till I started gettin' into the gang stuff, then they kicked me out and I was solo. Probably made my reliance on the gangs worse in hindsight, but thankfully I put all that shit behind me. Last few years I spent doing protests and other civil disobedience. You know that though, should be part of one of the other secrets if I remember right, yeah?"

Then she gives a final little kiss just below Heidi's chin. "Sixth bonus secret, you're fuckin enourmous. Like, really big. Not sure if you knew that."

-

664/20082 Words

[Jackie Bariole]

Heidi listened impassively as Nasrin explained the whole cause of the argument to her. That sort of fumbling behavior had Jackie written all over it, and she didn't even try to act surprised. It was just like Jackie to actually stumble across someone willing to put up with all her neurosis, and then drive that person away, as with a ten foot pole. Having spoken with Nasrin and spent some time with her, Heidi had to imagine that Jackie was acting especially neurotic to get the easy going punkette angry.

Intermittently as Nasrin shared more about herself, she would kiss Heidi wherever she was able to reach, leaving no doubt as to where this conversation was headed. Still, Heidi didn't force the matter, but let Nasrin take things at her own pace, not the least because she was actually a bit curious herself about the pink haired girl and her life. She couldn't have possibly cared any less about the midterm exercise, beyond the simple necessity of passing it, but Nasrin's history was something Heidi found she could get invested in. It was a colorful history at that. Raised in an orphanage, before drifting into a life of criminality and gang related activities. Bounced out and abandoned but a society which didn't give a rats ass about her, until she was finally put down and maimed by someone with more power than she had. Not a unique story, by any stretch of the imagination; Heidi probably could have found a dozen kids just like Nasrin in Mantle City, and she'd not even have had to go down more than one alley.

What made it interesting was seeing where Nasrin was now, despite the sordid past. She'd lost an arm, but seemingly gained some perspective. Heidi was ambivalent on the subject of gangs, not caring much for them but able to respect the upheaval they represented. To go from running with one to organizing protests and attending a huntsman academy though.

"Sixth bonus secret, you're fuckin enourmous." Nasrin said, kissing her chin. Heidi looked down at her, eyes glittering, and showed her a smile full of bright, white teeth.
"So long as we're pointing out the obvious," She said, letting one arm drop down to Nasrin's waist, hand trailing nails all the way down, as her other hand cupped Nasrin under the jaw, thumb on her chin, "You're even more interesting than I thought."

Bowing down, Heidi locked Nasrin in a kiss, then deepened it after a few heart beats, getting a proper feel for her new lover at last. She broke the kiss only for a moment, eyes flashing. It had been a very long time, since before they had left Atlas, that she'd felt this engaged, and she meant to enjoy it, to savor every moment. That meant moving a bit more slowly than she was typically inclined to, but she had little doubt it would still feel like a whirlwind to Nasrin.

It had been a good day, all things considered. She'd already killed something, made a new friend, and was about to consummate that new friendship in the way she liked best. Best of all, Nasrin actually seemed like the sort of person she'd want to keep around, and she was a trainee no less, which meant she would be staying at the academy. Just then, the possibilities seemed glittering bright.

Heidi grinned, sliding up the front of Nasrin's shirt. A very good day, she thought again, as she stared into the smaller girl's sky blue eyes, as she dipped down to take her in another kiss, and it was only getting started...

---

words - 606

total - 24,457

[Wolfe]

XP Distribution:

Nasrin: 200 x 200% (event bonus) = 400 XP

1 + 400 = 401 XP new total

Jackie/Heidi: 244 x 200% (event bonus) = 488

1 + 488 = 489 XP new total