A Truce over Tea

[Lynn Mills]

Lynn made her way into the Rose Garden, already feeling a bit of a headache brewing at the thought of dealing with Coco Tasconi for any length of time, let alone one on one. Still, she'd due her duty to the Freehold and see what the woman wanted. And possibly go out and get drunk afterwards. Or finish up that tune she'd been working on titled "The Waspish Wasp" . . . it was catchy and would probably sell very well.

As per her reservations, Lynn was lead to one of the quiet back rooms that was most commonly used for meetings amount the Court. Setting her fiddle case down by the side of her chair, Lynn picked up a menu and started searching through it.

[Coco]

Footsteps accompanied by the tap of a cane announced the Wasp's arrival, though Coco, herself, did not. Instead she simply took the seat opposite Lynn and reclined back, legs cross primly, and waited to be addressed. All with a bright smile, of course, though the violinist no doubt knew that such a smile was as trustworthy as the advice from a psychic hotline.

[Lynn Mills]

Lynn glanced up as Coco sat down, folding her menu and crossing her arms over it.

"So? What is it you wanted to discuss?"

[Coco]

"Oh, come now, Lynn, the song hasn't changed key," Coco quipped, brushing the question away with a languid flick of her hand. "It's as I said over the phone. I wish to talk so that we could put our issues to rest. And don't pretend as though our professionalism has buried it all. The corpses are still quite scattered and unheeded upon the ground. Why, when Morgan and I were putting our issues to rest, Milo said a very interesting thing. He said that you had told him that I acted the way I did because I never got to fuck you. Something, which, frankly, hurt me very much to hear," she confessed, voice still as mild as though she'd never sworn at all.

"It's far from the truth, at any rate."

[Lynn Mills]

Lynn raised an eyebrow at the Claviger and smiled thinly. "And of course, your own actions have been the epitome of refinement and gentle bearing. You say that your issue with me has nothing to do with the fact that I failed to act on your advances, despite my own nature. Very well. What are your issues with me?"

[Coco]

"Gentry's bowels, Lynn," Coco exclaimed, "my issue with you is that, clearly, you think my issue has anything to do with sexual advances! Do I really appear so heinous to you?"

The look in the Wasp's eyes clearly desired an honest answer rather than demanded the leeway of silence before a rhetorical question. Nevertheless, the Wasp continued on, perhaps out of fear of the violinist's answer.

"I was upset, Lynn, because I wanted someone to be close to. A friend, if nothing else, but no matter what I did you didn't seem to care. And then, when I learned that you'd so dearly befriended the first person to reject me, reject my friendship, that is, I did feel betrayed. I felt as though I was nothing, not just to you, but to everyone in the freehold, and so I lashed out. Clearly in foolishness, but after much reflection in my...ensuing solitude, I've realized that it was so."

[Lynn Mills]

"Firstly," Lynn held up one finger. "My failure to follow up on your 'other offers' was one of the things you were screaming about, and it's taken something like eight months to even have this conversation, so you'll have to forgive me if I've had some trouble figuring out just what it was that happened."

"Secondly, I did consider you my friend at that time. You were someone I could turn to for help and someone I trusted with one of my darkest secrets. If you hadn't started screaming and forcing the issue, I would have happily gone on being friends with both of you. I didn't ask you to form a Motley with me because even as friends, you were not always a comfortable person to be around. I was fresh out of the Hedge and wanted . . . I'm not even sure what it was exactly I wanted."

"Thirdly," Lynn crossed her arms over her chest and stared evenly at Coco. "Ever since then, you've trash talked Morgan, my Motley, at every turn. Do you really think that little of me that I could just ignore something like that and act like nothing was happening?"

[Coco]

"For fuck's sake, I do not scream," Coco snapped with an irritable scowl. "I don't know if time has diluted your memory of the event, but clinging to falsehoods clearly hasn't helped us resolve this, now, has it?"

OOC

If you'll notice, only 1 word was every used in bold, and unless I missed something, the words like "yell", "scream", "bellowed" etc. do not appear in my narration of Coco's speech.

The Wasp gave a huff and slumped in her chair, all pretense of smiles having faded, leaving something ugly in its place.

"And to answer your question, yes, I do think little of you, but it's because you didn't ignore it. I don't see how my being shitty to your Motley mate justifies you for being shitty to me. I mean, it's not like you even had the decency to vaguely justify yourself, like that..." the Wasp's face contorted briefly, clearly struggling not to let something unwanted slip, "not like Milo did, anyways. At least he made it clear that he was doing it on Morgan's behalf. At least he said he was standing up for her. You, though, you just spat on me as you pranced about with your ill fucking deserved title."

Another ugly noise issued from the Wasp's throat.

"I just don't get it. I've shed blood for this damn Freehold, I've buried our enemies in the Hedge, and what have you done? Played a stupid little piece of wood and string? Is that why Rosemary gave you her ladle to give to the Queen? Even though I'm the one that's charged with her safety? Charged by that very same Queen? But no, Rosemary gave you the ladle! As though my position, my oath, my place in our entire Court doesn't mean anything. But your Title, given by the damn rabble," Coco continued, voice dropping low, "well, we've already seen that it does very much matter."

[Lynn Mills]

OOC

That's just how Lynn remembers it; seeing as it was a highly emotional event that attracted a lot of attention. Not saying that's an accurate recall of what happened, but how many people have perfect recall of something that happened months ago? Her memory of it is shaded based on her emotions at the time.

Lynn arched an incredulous eyebrow at the other woman. "Seriously? Mrs. Rosemary gave me the ladle because I was the one who asked for a token to bring back to Ms. LeBlanc. If you had been the one to ask, she'd have handed it to you." She had to admit that she wasn't really surprised at the rest of Coco's diatribe. How dare someone else active a higher position that her? Her stomach was starting to churn and she felt a band of pain starting to press against her temples.

"Being Steward isn't the same sort of thing as being a protector of the Freehold. It's about being diplomatic and balancing personalities against one another so that we all stay safe and hopefully prosper. It's about being the one who can solve problems without using a sword and it's about doing your damnedest to make sure that there's never a reason to have to use a sword in the first place. When it comes to blood? That's when I've failed."

She didn't know if Coco would even be listening to her at this point, but she had to try.

[Coco]

[spoiler] Sounds good! Just making sure we're on the same page, sorry if that was phrased jerkily.[/spoiler]

"Yes, yes, and the magistrate is there, in that case, and then the constable is there afterwards...Or before. It doesn't matter," Coco continued, a hand flashing up to brush those ideas away. She inhaled then, as though preparing to launch into another flurry of angst and emotion, yet all that came out was a sigh and the Wasp seemed to deflate, a similar exhaustion appearing mirrored on Coco's face as well.

"It doesn't matter. Not what I have to say. There you were going about your days, doing the things that you do, and there was Morgan, going about her days, doing the things that she does. And then there I come, with my issues and my anger, flailing about like someone that should be committed. And it has to stop. That's really why I wanted to speak with you today. To tell you that I promise to stop. I don't even ask that you show me anything in return. I know you won't, at any rate."