38 and feral/wolfqueen verse taivan? Honestly its probably my favourite of your stories, ive reread it quite a few times
38 - Reunion
a scene from this 'verse
Well: it doesn't get more awkward than this.
Shauna stands back, watching what will surely be a riot in the making, wondering if she ought to step in. It hadn't seemed possible, when Tai said Van's name that way, that she could be correct. Van's being held hostage by whatever insanity Lottie's cooked up. Van isn't guard material, and she definitely isn't out here telling stories.
This, though: this is Van. Has to be. It's not the red hair, the scars, the dead eye giving things away. It's the core of her, the heart of her, the twisted amusement in her smile. That is, undeniably, a Van smile--albeit not one she's seen in over twenty years.
A Van smile, pressed right up against Taissa in the driving rain. Shauna shivers. There's something not quite right about the look on her old friend's face. Something not quite sane.
And, yet, she looks so at ease. So calm. Her fists are still around Tai's jacket collar, her body lean and lithe. She is the wolf queen still, after all these years, but she isn't wearing the title like an anchor dragging her into the earth. She's wearing it with pride.
What the hell has Lottie done to her?
"Van," croaks Taissa again. They're so close, they could kiss without working for it, and for half a second, Shauna thinks they'll just fall into each other. Just pick up right where they left off all those years ago. Van's fingers are coiled, and Taissa's are drifting up, a dreamer not quite ready to wake. She touches the plane of Van's left cheek, her index finger brushing an old, old scar. Van's lips part in a sigh.
Then she says, "Surprise," and shoves backward, like Tai's ablaze and she can't get away fast enough. Her voice is rough, as though her throat, tongue, teeth are still acclimating to revisiting speech after so many years without so much as a passing glance. Her hands push deep into the pockets of a denim jacket dyed a deep plum. She cocks her head.
"Shauna," she says, nodding. Shauna raises one hand in a weak wave, feeling terribly out of place.
"Van. Hi. You look...well."
She doesn't, is the thing. She looks hale and strong, unbothered by the rain soaking her to the skin, but she doesn't look well. There's an unfamiliar glint in her good eye, and a terrible tension behind that smile. A Van smile, but it's rapidly cooling, rapidly turning to steel before their very eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Taissa demands. "How long have you been here? How did--what did they do to you?"
"Do?" Van laughs. It grates unnaturally, a husky rockslide of a sound at odds with the boisterous melody Shauna remembers. "They didn't do anything."
"You said--the Wilderness--"
"Story," Van says lightly. "Just a story."
It's a lie, as bald as any Shauna's ever told. She recognizes the pull of Van's shoulders under her sodden jacket, the arch of her back. A lie, delivered with that steely grin. A lie, just for Taissa.
Everything Van's ever done has been just for Taissa. Even now. Even all these years later, after Tai walked away.
"Lottie's here," Taissa presses. Van makes a careless gesture with one hand, shooing them both away from the gate so she can hoist it shut once more.
"'Course. It's her place."
That, too, reads like a lie. Not Lottie's place, not by herself. It's Van's place, too. Van, who notches the latch back into place and spins on her heel so she can walk backwards and talk at the same time.
"You really should have called ahead. Could have had warm towels brought up. A nice meal. Still a vegetarian, Tai?"
Taissa grits her teeth. "We came to rescue you. You, and Nat--"
"Rescue?" Van repeats. She backpedals slowly, caring not at all for the sluice of rain down her face, the mud under her boots. She seems, instead, to be welcoming the downpour. "That's a fun word. Rescue. Whole lotta implications."
She doesn't take her eyes off Taissa once. Her lip curls, and for an instant, Shauna's positive she'll slough off this devil-may-care coat to reveal the wolf pelt beneath. For an instant, Shauna is sure she'll spring again, and this time, she'll be all tooth and claw.
Then her forehead smooths, her good eye crinkling. "Nah, don't need rescue. You can ask Nat, if you want, but she seems to be enjoying doing her thing. Misty, too. Hey, isn't this fun? Whole gang's back together. We should grab a ball, get a round of pick-up going."
"This isn't funny," Taissa says, her voice throttled with emotion. "Van, we were worried--"
"Worried?" Van stops dead. Taissa almost crashes into her. They are, once again, within kissing distance, though they do not touch. Van peers up at her, that smile so close to a snarl. "Oh, Tai. You're a little late on that front."
Taissa gazes back. Her face is a mask even Shauna can't read. "Van. I'm--can we talk about--"
"It's raining," Van says abruptly, pushing herself backward once more. "And there are friends inside. I'm told it's rude, to keep people waiting for long."
Taissa flinches as if punched. Even from here, even through the rain, Shauna can see tears in her eyes. Can see her forcibly bottle them up, using all her energy to pretend Van hasn't just cut her to the bone with a single sentence.
"C'mon," Van adds, turning and loping deeper into the shadows. "Pick it up. This reunion's been a long time coming, and I cannot wait to see how it shakes out."
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hi! i saw you callout post about @/faithcheljessope and went to search for her blog to block but it's deactivated? i instead went to the tag then and found user @/wolffqueennn - talking about how sisters blog got "removed". idk it might be of interest to you.
My experience with deactivated blogs are far and few, so I wouldn't know if it is normal on Tumblr to find either "absolutely nothing" or "stuff is there person just doesn't use it" so I'm not really the well-versed person to give a straightforward response.
...Is it helpful information that even if you block someone you can still see everything they're doing if you access the account from your blocklist? It blocks them to the point they can't see what you do but you can most definitely see what they do.
I don't usually do it (I don't really like to... kind of creepy in my opinion), but for this circumstance I've checked.
I haven't gotten any indication the account has been deactivated. And I can't seem to find a post her sister has made regarding it.
Honestly wouldn't be surprised if wolfqueen made one but posted it too early then deleted it. Or something like that. Who knows with these two...
So to summarise: My experience with deactivated blogs are severely low to the point I can't really express any helpful tips in response to it so you'll likely need to ask someone else. I only know that these two delete their accounts because it disappears from my blocklist.
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