...I lost my faith when I was seven...

 “To be fair,” She started as she begrudgingly made her way back to the bedroom, “I don’t think your insurance company would be surprised to why the place burnt down if my name was included in the explanation.” She paused to look back at the older witch, raising a questioning brow at the sudden emphasize on guest. “It’s not the first time I’ve slept over..”  

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“Whether they’re surprised or not doesn’t keep me from having to provide your name as the reason,” Kieran countered. “And it may not be the first time you’ve slept over, but it would be the first time you set my house on fire...that I’m aware of...wait- is there something you need to tell me?”

“Then should I sleep out on the floor here instead? Because how am I taking the bed when I’m supposed to be the guest?” She frowned, clearly not liking that Kieran wasn’t going back to bed with her while understanding that she did act like a brat earlier on. 

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“That is faulty logic, Blossom. There’s more than one bed in the house, and besides, I already gave you the bed,” she pointed out. “Now, go on. We both know you need actual sleep way more than I do, and I’d really like to not have to explain to the insurance company that my house went down in flames because girrrr-” she trailed off realizing what she’d almost said, “-because my guest was cranky in the morning.”

Ren had no idea what came over Kieran when she suddenly decided not to pry after all of that. “Uh.. Okay..” Her statement sounded more like a question with how confused she was by the turnaround. “We should.. get some rest. It’s been.. a week.” She mumbled despite not actually making any attempts to get up herself.  

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Kieran had to bite back on the reflexive desire to reply back with ‘It’s been a life’. Instead she just nodded before dropping back to lay down on the couch. “I’m still not going back to the bed though. I’m glad we’ve talked things out, but you’re still grounded for having been a brat to begin with,” she said with a cheeky grin.

“You’re totally making fun of me right now.” She mumbled, childishly pouting. “Are the choices only between not finding me attractive at all, or I’m an some sort of zealous nudist?” Ren sighed, “I do not run around town in the nude, okay? Is that what the sheriff’s department thinks I’d do? Out of all the times you’ve found me?” 

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“In my defense, whenever we caught you, you were always quick to point out that there were many other times where we didn’t. Only you would know how much of that is true and whether any of those times involved being naked,” Kieran paused for a moment as the implications of her statement dawned on her. “You know? Come to think of it, I don’t really care to know if and what you were doing naked.” She had enough trauma to last her a lifetime from the one time she caught a glimpse of the ‘what’ at the hotel...

“Kieran, No.”  She nudged her friend, “I did not chase after anyone naked.” Ren rolled her eyes that her best friend would be so intrigued to know about what happened - if it really did happen. “Why are you so interested in whether or not I ran around naked?”

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Kieran allowed herself to relax enough to where Ren’s nudge actually had her move a bit, before she swayed back into place. Turning to face her friend, off-colored eyes focused in on their darker counterpart. A look of concentration was clear on her face, though most was hidden from Ren’s angle by Kieran’s own shoulder. “See, I feel like this is a trick question,” she finally spoke. “In my experience, had I expressed indifference in you being naked -for any activity- it would’ve earned me a quick ‘Oh, what? Am I not hot enough?’ and now my interest is met with ‘Oh. what? You care about me being naked now?’ and so I’m left unsure of which direction to go...”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. That never happened.” She grumbled, “There is no event nor naked areodynamics to talk about. But seriously, if they orb in while I’m changing, I will absolutely set them on fire. I don’t care.” Her tone held no real threat. 

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Kieran turned to look at her for a moment, expression unreadable, before shaking her head and saying, “Nope. I don’t buy it. You chased someone naked and I am now very much interested in finding out why you were naked, were they naked too, what did they do to engage the chase, and -perhaps most importantly- did you catch them or not?”

“I don’t know about that.” She muttered before shifting her position slightly so she could wrap her arms around Kieran’s waist. “Fuck.. We’ve been up all night?” Unlike the other, Ren didn’t have to rush back to work anytime soon but her friend didn’t have that option. “We should probably sleep now..”

_______________

“You sound so sure...makes me think that you’ve chased someone down while naked before, and suddenly I find myself wanting to know more details,” She replied with a raised eyebrow. “No, no, sleep is for suckers,” Kieran said dismissively. “Tell me more about naked aerodynamics. This is a very interesting concept...”

“You want her to see me naked?” She couldn’t help the slightest lift of her eyebrow when Kieran said that. While a large number of people had seen her in the nude - whether she remembered it or not - she did not want Jack to suddenly orb in when she’s changing, or whatever the reasons might be. Ren leaned over and rested against the older witch, feeling comfort in her warmth. 

“It would just even give her a higher rate of survival since you’ll be too busy being naked to chase her down,” Kieran stated matter-of-factly. She allowed the comfortable silence to envelop them as they sat there for a few more minutes before a thought occurred to her. “I am going to have the best morning when I have to get up for work in like three hours...”

Trust wasn’t an easy thing to come by when it came to the fire witch and there were only a handful of people she had trust in. “…I trust you.” She genuinely did and while it was still difficult for her to accept a stranger living in Kieran’s place, Ren had no choice but to trust Kieran’s decision on this. “I swear, if she orbs into my room…” She mumbled grumpily. The girl did not like surprises in any shape or form. 

Kieran reached out and wrapped an arm around the younger witch’s shoulders, pulling her in for a side-hug. She placed a gentle kiss to the top of Ren’s head as she reassured, “That’s all I’m asking for.” Kieran gave another squeeze to Ren’s shoulders but made no move to let go. At the complaint she received, Kieran only state, “I will do my absolute best to ensure she only ever orbs into your room in case of a dire emergency...or when you’re naked.” She couldn’t help the tease.

Ren needs to be better and she knew this very well. She was lucky enough that Kieran had the patience of a saint when it came to her, but eventually, even her best friend would get tired of her shit. Her short temper was another matter to deal with but at the very least, Ren shouldn’t shut Kieran out. Lashing out was another thing that has to stop. “How do you trust her so quickly?” Sure, she was their Paladin so the obvious case was that Jack was there to protect them, not harm them. 

The twin just couldn’t find it in her to be comfortable with the idea of having a random person being in their lives all of a sudden. 

The question was the least surprising thing about their conversation thus far. At the root of a lot of what Ren did was the deep-seeded trust issues that her father’s departure had left behind. Like a scar on her heart that affected how her brain approached everything. Granted, after all this time, Kieran would have hoped that she had managed to prove herself to the younger witch. “I can’t fully explain why I trust her...at least not in a way that will ever be satisfactory to you,” Kieran answered earnestly. “But right now, I’m not asking that you place your trust in her. I’m asking that you place your trust in me, and believe when I say that I wouldn’t let her harm you even if she did want to.”

It definitely surprised her when Kieran crawled over her to get off the couch. Sitting up slowly, she didn’t like how far the other was standing from her. Ren didn’t know what to think when Kieran walked away from her just to stand away and with a chair in the way as well. Still, she listened to what Kieran had to say and she honestly didn’t know what to say. 

The fire witch never really knew how to process things properly but she also knew that Kieran’s patience was wearing very thin when it came to her. “I’m sorry..” A apology was probably a good start - hopefully. “I..” She looked down into her lap as she thought of words to say, “You’re right. I.. Need to stop doing that.” She sat back against the couch and brought her knees up to her chest. 

Kieran’s brows furrowed slightly as she glanced at Ren warily. She was entirely sure what she had even expected as a response, but an apology and almost immediate acquiescing was definitely new. This was surely a good thing though, right? Taking a deep breath, she dropped her shoulders as she walked back over to take seat on now open spot on the couch.

Reaching a hand out, she gently placed it on her friend’s foot reassuringly. After all, if this had taken Kieran for a loop, she could only imagine how the reaction was playing out for Ren. “I know words be hard because think,” she said, somehow managing to keep a straight face, “But surely you have to know by now that I’m not one to place a time limit or ultimatum on how long it takes you to express something just as long as you give me something to let me know I have a reason to wait.”

She wanted to lay there and brood it out but the bed felt a lot colder once Kieran decided to leave her alone. Turning around a few times, she got up and stormed out the bedroom to find where her friend decided to stay. Although it did take a few tries, considering the number of rooms, Florencia found her friend on the couch. However, instead of dragging her ass back into bed, the fire witch flung herself onto the older witch and hugged her around the waist. Her instinct was to snuggle into the crook of Kieran’s neck. 

It really shouldn’t have been a surprise to hear the door swing open and the patter of bare feet on the den’s floor, but considering how the younger witch had made it very clear she wanted nothing to do with anything Kieran had to say, it still caught her a bit off-guard as she felt a weight fall onto her on the couch and a familiar warmth in the crook of her neck. It would be so easy to just wrap her arms around Ren and just settle into sleep....but that wouldn’t get them anywhere but back to the same place they always seemed to find themselves in.

Taking a deep breath, she eased her way out from under Ren and out of her embrace. Crawling over the fire witch, she left her behind on the couch and went to stand by the armchair instead as she said, “Nope. Not doing this again. Not tonight.” Leaning against the chair, she rubbed at her face roughly before crossing her arms and saying, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too, alright. You can’t just essentially shut me out because you don’t like what I’m saying and then come in here looking for me when it’s convenient for you. This cycle is never going to end unless we address it, and after what you told me this afternoon I thought you were ready to work towards breaking it, but I’m not so sure anymore.”

She expected Kieran to go up with her but instead, she got sent to go by herself instead. Adding on to her irritation, Florencia brooded as she made her way into the bedroom. Slipping into bed, she buried herself into the pillow as silent rants ran in her mind until the Deputy decided to show herself. 

When Kieran shifted about, Ren looked up to see what she was up to. However, when the topic was raised, the fire witch broke eye contact. It took everything to not just turn to the other side so that her back was facing Kieran instead. She knew she was acting immaturely and everything that happened today didn’t help at all but Ren stayed silent as her friend continued to scold her for her treatment of Jack. The fucking Paladin whom she didn’t ask for. Ren refused to believe that she needed Jack of all people to keep her safe. 

Burying her face into the sheets, the fire witch used it to hide from the world. If she stayed silent, she wouldn’t lash out verbally and right now, she didn’t trust that she’ll say anything right. 

It didn’t take more than a few beats for Kieran to catch on to the fact that she wasn’t going to be getting a response. “Is this really what I have to look forward to whenever we have a disagreement going forward?” Though it was voiced as a question, she wasn’t looking for an answer anymore. Instead, she swung her legs off the side of the bed and stood to head for the door.

Closing it behind her, she made her way to couch in the upstairs den. The whiplash of having made a giant leap forward with Ren only to have the younger witch whip it right back to was just...exhausting. If Ren wanted to shut the real world out, Kieran would give her that. She settled herself onto the couch and just tried to close her eyes and maybe not think for at least two minutes.

Ren had never taken it well when it came with new people in her life - as much as she also didn’t take it well when people she let in leave. Kieran and Diego were always more welcoming than she was and this was one of those instances. Her best friend was adapting to this situation far better than her and Ren could feel nothing but annoyance and rage that Jack wasn’t going to leave anytime soon. Since things were being put into motion whether she liked it or not, the fire witch decided to keep quiet for once since the Paladin had gotten here. 

The flinch almost went by unnoticed if Ren hadn’t been looking at Kieran. She felt bad for lashing out, but her stubbornness stopped her from apologizing. She didn’t want to do that in front of Jack anyways. So in the meantime, she just went ahead with Kieran’s suggestion. Getting up from the couch, she walked over to the Deputy silently and stopped before her. She was definitely going to spend the night here because the last thing she wanted right now was to be away from the other. 

Kieran took note of Ren’s rare silence, and when the other stopped in front of her she’d sent her ahead upstairs while she got Jack settled. It hadn’t exactly taken all that long, given that the Paladin was still fresh out of stasis and clearly looked like they could use some actual rest. As such, about ten minutes past and Kieran found herself trudging up the stairs and into her bedroom. Closing the door behind her and without much preamble, she just walked over to the bed and flopped on her side of it.

There was a brief moment of silence between the witches, before green eyes turned to look at umber and Kieran stated, “We need to talk about Jack.” She wriggled around until she was sitting up with her back against the head board before she continued. “I know you’re not fond of the idea, and I know that a lot of what happened today may have been overwhelming, but that doesn’t make it okay to constantly attack someone whose literally purpose right now is to do nothing but keep you safe. I know you didn’t choose to have a paladin, and that’s fair. But I’m sure Jack didn’t have a say in whose paladin she would be either. This isn’t her time, from her accent it doesn’t even sound like this is her country....but this will be her home. From now until we close the seals, and we stand a chance of getting back to at least some semblance of what our normal used to be? I need you to be okay with that.”