Teagan

“I was working late. Skipped supper.” It was a curt explanation; Rainer refused to let his sister derail the conversation and turn it back around on him. Not when he could see the drunk haze slowly shifting into a hangover right in front of him under the harsh kitchen lights. He’d heard from their mother over the years the problems they had been having with the youngest Mortensen, from the beginnings right up to the threat of rehab. She’d even asked for his advice once, not that he had known what to say. Addiction had never been a factor for him, just the thrill of breaking the rules. Despite being back a year, it still felt strange being around Teagan at times— she had been a child when he’d left, a woman when he’d returned, and all that time in between had been missed. The cop joke had his eyes narrowing. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to smell the booze, even from across the room. “Knock it off, Tee. This one’s free, no detective skills needed. I might as well still be on the clock if this is the kind of shit I’m going to have to spend my time off on.”

The fact that she had walked home was a small mercy; he’d seen first hand the damage that could be done getting behind the wheel in the kind of shape that his sister was in now. Still, in times like these, walking home alone wasn’t much better. “What made you think walking home was a good idea, with everything that’s been going on here lately? First Christine, now the Fall Festival. I don’t think Mom and Dad are going to want to wake up one morning to see your face splashed all over the newspaper as Aurora’s latest murder victim, but if you’re walking around at 3am drunk out of your mind, you’re going to get yourself into trouble and I’m not going to be able to bail you out.

“Just don’t replace that supper with donuts. Wouldn’t want those good looks to slip away and ooze out into you know.. Frank Mercer for example.” She noted, mentioning one of his deputies that seriously looked like he had been eating nothing but sweets from the day he was born, and had a beer belly and overall obesity to match a small baby whale. The thought and mental comparison of a person to a baby whale was incredibly funny to her though, making it very hard to sit there with a straight face and making her hum softly to herself for a few minutes. Even as she neared that fall between drunk and about to get seriously hung over, Teagan could still gauge the disappointment and well, while she hadn’t asked much, she suspected Rainer had the balls to judge her. If he was smart though, he wouldn’t do so to her face. It was still a bit weird to have face to face conversations with him like this. Hell, it was even odd to consider the fact that they had now spent more than a full year being actively apart of each others lives. And while Teagan did treasure the change, being able to see him whenever she wanted, knowing that if she needed him he’d be right there, not to mention being able to watch him figure his life out, she knew it was all a process. They had always been close, but unlike her parents, he hadn’t been around to watch her or truly know her as she was growing up. And while leaving hadn’t really been a choice for him, she’d be lying if she didn’t say that it hadn’t hurt. Or that she didn’t sometimes feel like they didn’t really know each other as well as siblings should. “No one asked you to come over here and play cop. And if you can’t handle ‘this shit’ which by the way is both pretty normal in this house and what you might have experienced if you’d stuck around to be a big brother, there is the door.” She nodded towards the hallway, that flare of anger completely burning away any lingering sensations of drunkenness. “No one is forcing you to be here and ‘handle’ the shit that is me facing up to being a damn killer. Or spouting canines and fur in about two weeks.. If this is all too much for you then just stay away and I’ll handle it like I usually handle everything else in my life. Flying fucking solo.” 

Stubborn as she was though, Teagan was not going to walk out of the room or back out the door. No fucking way. This was her damned house and her fucking life and if being apart of it was too much for him then he could walk away. Part of her half expected him too. It was what the people she loved did, wasn’t it? They all found reasons to leave this town while she was left behind, alone and left to her own devices. In her darkest moments, she wondered if their parents hadn’t up and left because she was such a disappointment to them. All her fuck ups and unpredictable behavior probably drove them to feeling like they should get out now. At least they weren’t here to watch her fall apart at the seams or feel the weight of their daughter having taken a life. While the police report might depict it differently, she was a killer. And while turning into a wolf every other month might be penance, it wasn’t enough to make up for what she had done. 

Rolling her eyes, Teagan hopped off the counter and went to the fridge, speaking as she moved. “Were you always such a drama queen? I know the back roads, the woods, heck this entire town better than my own back pocket. The likeliness of someone getting a jump on me isn’t even remotely high.” Pulling open the fridge door, she retrieved the dip she had made a couple of nights ago, then took down a bag of chips from atop the fridge before she began dipping chips and popping them into her mouth one by one. “Look, I know you took a risk bailing me out and its not like I’m not grateful that you protected my ass from landing in jail, but you telling me to stay out of trouble is like calling the kettle black.” She tilted her head, meeting his gaze head on, perfectly calm despite her earlier outburst. “I spent most of my school days being teasingly compared to, and reminded of the great legacy of Badass Rainer Mortensen, you know. And while the whole ‘I didn’t want to lead by example’ speech is totally yours to give, its a little too late for it.” With that she lifted her shoulders into a shrug. She loved him, but she was who she was. Perhaps especially now with everything she had going on. Spiraling simply seemed like the logical thing to do.. like the only thing she really could do. If he didn’t like who she was, like she’d then tell most people, he could take a hike.. or in family land, at least leave her be to drown in her own disaster. All that guilt shaming about their parents she’d decided to not even comment on. Hopefully he wouldn’t go there twice so she could just ignore it entirely. 

 The wolf rose slowly, the moon still taking energy from his body even without being in the sky, and gave him a refill before he could grumble and complain like he normally could. Regretting ever showing up to work and just letting Emma work for probably the thirtieth day in a row, he took a seat at one of the tables and pondered day drinking. Thankfully the door opens right then and he looks up to the person with a hopeless, puppy dog expression on his face. 

“Tell me you got a good story. Or you want to buy all the booze in the place so I can close down. I’ll accept either.” 

Stepping trough the door, her eyebrows rises at the sight, or rather the first face she is met with. As far as pups go, he’s a ruggish but rather cute one. “How about I give you a good story for a strong drink? I’d offer you to join me but I’m thinking the bartender shouldn’t aim to get drunk this early in a shift. Am I right?”