RP:In Which Hudson Hangs Out At A Nail Salon With Witches

Part of the The Dust Up In Cenril Arc

Part of the Larketian Fault Lines Arc

Summary: After the quake, Hudson is repairing damage and working on laboratory renovations to the Larket witch-run nail salon that serves a money laundering front for his group's Firefly Steve business. Valrae "Becky with the good hair" Baines drops by and meets his children, who are being babysat by his employees. The two agree that Valrae will work there, helping out with the non-front side of the business. Valrae reveals that Irenic has disappeared.

The Witch-Run Nail Salon in Larket

Hudson is in Larket and helping rebuild and clean up the mess left by the earthquake. The witch-run nail salon, of which he and his associate Eleanor are the proud new owners, is a low building, with a residence or office area above the ground level where the witches work. The damage isn't extensive, but there's cracks in the walls, the roof had to be patched, dusty furniture had to be carried out for reupholstering, rugs beaten, floors swept and swept again. His nanny, the infamous Marge, had called in sick, and he'd drawn the short straw on watching the girls. Mostly because, as boss man with an army of female employees, he can do that thing where you bring your kids to work and make your female employees babysit them for free. They seem to like it, anyway. That's what's happening now. He's in shirtsleeves trying to cool off outside, having a smoke on one of his special cigarettes.

Valrae had like wise been helping with the Larket effort.Her hair was pulled back in a fishtail braid, the intricate twists of it having worked themselves loose from the day's work, it hung in a messy golden line down her back. The kohl that lined her eyes had run and left obvious tear streaks on her cheeks. There was dust over the blonde arch of her brow. The cerulean dress she wore was streaked with dust and dirt. The witch had just gotten back from burying a child, one who had been very special to Irenic and herself, and had been meandering down the streets with little purpose. Of course, there was Hudson. She crossed the street headed toward him while brushing off her skirts consciously. It was good to see him after everything that happened at the wedding and the earthquake. Valrae had been snatched away too quickly to be sure he was safe.

Expecting to see more faceless relief workers, Hudson turns at the sound of someone shuffling down the street and sees... well, Valrae. Recognition floods into his expression, and he straightens his posture against the building. He feels warm. It's good to see her too. In Larket, though... the questions are piling up, like people pushing against a locked gate. "Hey," he calls out to her, dropping his medicinal cigarette and grinding it out with his foot. He steps toward her, hoping that she's not got other places to be. "I'm glad you made it out, I didn't see you and it was crazy in there," he says, taking stock of her expression. There's a shadow over it but it's hard to say whether it's simple exhaustion, that's more than rampant these days. "I worried about you." A beat. "Hey, you OK? You look exhausted. Can I get a hug, maybe? I got water inside if you want it."

Valrae felt a smile pulling at the corners of her tips but it didn't quite show through. Her heart was till heavy and her eyes were aching from the tears. She gave him a small wave, pushed at the few strands of honey hued hair that fell into her dark eyes. "Hey, yeah." She watched him snuff out his cigarette. "It was, I'm glad you made it out too," Even through her sadness some awkward was seeping in. What was she supposed to say? The ache in her chest was different now, filled with a kind of regret and wistfulness that always rose when he said things like he was now. "I was worried about you too," She admitted. Frowning, she shook her head. "It's just been a long day," Valrae looked up from their feet. "I'd like that," Suddenly, it occurred to her to wonder what he was doing here, so she asked, "Uh, what... What are you doing here anyway?"

Why does it seem like this basic reciprocity in politeness is communicating more than it really is? He gives her the most stripped down of hugs, the kind of hug you give a woman you're afraid to hold on to for too long. He runs a hand down her back then lets her go. It's just good to see her, though. "Here?" he asks, slanting his gaze back at the nail salon. "I own this place, it's an investment." A silence swells between them, and he jerks his gaze inside. "Come on, I'll get you that water," he says, getting the door and waving her inside. Inside, a couple of witches are fixing the plaster. They wear pentagram-themed jewelry and bohemian-style clothing. Their eyes follow Hudson and Valrae as he leads her into the back part of the salon. There's an office area and bathroom, of course, but also a sink and small kitchen. There's a set of stairs leading upstairs too, and the muffled sound of women talking in dulcet tones. They're alone now, and it's strange, because it's not in her apartment. They won't ever be there again. Hudson pours that glass of water, slides it to her across the counter. "I don't know what your boyfriend's like, but I hope you didn't get in trouble talking to me at the wedding," he comments.

Valrae appreciates the hug, even if it's only the bones of one. She did smile now, the idea of Hudson owning a nail salon was a funny one, and gave him a tilting glance. "An investment." She repeated with a little laugh. It was quiet now and the space between them felt like miles. It had been easy enough to accept his offer for water, she was thirsty and wanted an excuse to be around him, but following him in had those familiar claws of guilt ripping her heart to ribbons. Her inner turmoil was paused for her to stare in amazement at what she saw. Those were witches! Was he running a nail salon full of witches? She felt their eyes following them and waited until they were alone to laugh. "Hudson! Tell me you didn't open an entire nail salon of witches? Those were definitely witches." He was getting her the water, so she was laughing and talking to his back. It hadn't occurred to her that they were alone and it might be strange, she was too busy being amazed. She took her water, took a long drink to hide her returned frown. Irenic's name reminded her of her guilt, her sorrow for the boy they'd buried. She sat the glass back down. "No, he's not exactly like that," She informed him, giving him a dry smile, "And I don't get in trouble." Valrae waved her hand dismissively. Her next question was going to be awkward not matter how she phrased it so she pushed at her hair nervously, let another quite moment open up between them before finally blurting, "Are you a dad yet..?"

"Oh yeah. It was already like this when I bought it," says Hudson, looking at the closed door between them and the main room. "They do little temporary magic spells at the same time, it's a pretty good business because the fancy ladies of Larket love it. Good cash business," he explains, going into the refrigerator and fetching the lone beer that's left in the six pack left there. Evidently not many beer drinkers in the place, rather likely the origin of the beers had a bit to do with him. He pries off the cap as Valrae explains about her man, he's trying not to look at her and reveal the old fires of jealousy this line of inquiry is stoking. He'd asked, it's his fault. Turns out Irenic's better than him, not LIKE that, whatever that means, of course he is. Hudson grunts to learn it. Where does this part of him, this Valrae sleeper cell, go during the day, when he's with Alvina, he wants to know. It's like termites, you think you've got a sound structure, and then... he nearly chokes on his beer at her question. "Yeah," he reddens as if she'd flushed a secret out of him. It's no secret at all, Alvina hadn't looked pregnant at the wedding. He's managed not to have spilled, small mercy. "Yeah," he repeats, his gaze lingers on the stairs, guiltily, before whipping back to Valrae. Like a butterfly in her beauty and fragility and free spiritedness and sometimes boldness, his Valrae. Correction: NOT his Valrae. But still: doesn't this pain her to talk about, considering? It pains him on her behalf, like a shadow wound. "Twin girls, um, Luna and Harper," he tells her, searching her expression for any signs that her heart has abruptly cracked like an egg. "Do you... want to meet them? You don't have to, if it's weird? We can just hang out down here."

Valrae tried to read the look that crossed Hudson's face as he opened his beer. Was decidedly unsuccessful, so she let it go. It was tangled between them enough for several lifetimes. The witch found herself wondering if it would always be this way between them... Would they always bump into each other and find reasons to talk like this? Would they always stubbornly ask questions they didn't really want answers to? Her question seemed to take him by surprise and that only added to her embarrassment. Her cheeks bloomed pink under his careful gaze. It didn't hurt yet, to ask about them. It couldn't hurt her if she refused to acknowledge it, right? "Harper and Luna." She repeated, looking away from him and the concern in his eyes. "I would love to meet them! They're a part of you..." It was weird thing to say, she knew. But.. She said it.

Hudson feels second-hand embarrassed watching Valrae blush and avert her gaze because she knows that he knows she could be hurt by this. It's all very... sure, tangled. He drinks from his beer and reminds himself to act normal, push past the sad, strange knowledge they both share. "Yeah," he agrees with this thing she's said, which seems especially tender. Push past it. "Come on," he tells her, and he touches her on the elbow, bidding her to follow as he heads for the stairs. The sound of children babbling, responding to each other or the more adult female voices, becomes defined as they reach the second level. The second story's main room is large and entirely gutted, evidently mid-renovation. There are a handful of chairs, some towels on the ground, a duffel filled with baby things, and a pair of older witches, seated and holding the twins, one to each woman. They recognize Hudson, and begin to squirm and exclaim a variety of sounds, none of which are words. "Daddy's here," says one of the witches, who rises and brings one of the girls, Harper, to Hudson. She wet sneezes directly in his face. "Ugh, Sven. I love you too," he winces, turning with the child -- who is now peering suspiciously at Valrae -- and addressing his employees. "Friend of the family," he introduces Valrae. He's waiting for his temporary babysitters to leave before he looks at Valrae's expression again. In the meantime, he bends down to collect a drool-covered giraffe for his daughter. "Can you give us like five, ten? She can hold Luna, if she wants, otherwise let her crawl around. Thanks."

Valrae followed him up the stairs quietly, silently observing her surroundings as she went. It was a cute place he'd found here, even for stuffy Larket. When they were closer to the twins she slowed and stopped a few short steps away. They were making noises, cute little ones that she'd never actually heard before and somehow they shifted something in her. A pain opened in a secret part of her heart, a place she hadn't known was still bleeding. Harper sneezed in Hudson's face and she couldn't help smiling, despite her own grief. Would he have held her child that way? They were beautiful, of course. New and delicate and as precious as babies could be, drool and all. Would their son favor him more or her? Luna was handed off to her without any actual question, despite her obvious hesitation, so when they were left alone Valrae's arms were full of baby. She couldn't take her eyes off of her. She was just standing there, staring at this baby as if she were holding a star or maybe a bomb. Was this what her child might have been like? Happy and smiling and perfect? In another life could she have been holding a child that was hers? All of these feelings she didn't understand were swirling around her, threatening to drown her as she looked down into what was pretty much a perfect little face when suddenly Luna smiled. Valrae was looking up to Hudson, pure excitement tilting her own lips into a smile, because who knew babies could smile!? I mean, obviously babies could smile but this one was smiling at her! But before she could tell him, before any sound came out of her mouth, the little wiggling girl in her arms erupted with a sound the witch had previously assumed could only come out of someone far older than the child in her arms. The stench that followed had her eyes watering.

Harper doesn't trust Valrae, keeps squirming in her post to look at her, evidently of the belief she is the Hollow equivalent a Russian spy/possibly a homewrecker. (Hmmm.) "Chillax, weasel," says her father, giving her the giraffe, which has the amazing effect of calming her disquiet immediately. She commences chewing on its face, as one does, albeit still staring at Valrae with unblinking intensity. Babies, man. Hudson should probably have asked Valrae if she wanted to hold one, but now he's finally looking at them and it's a lot. It's so much. Valrae has this scuppered happiness that he's never seen before. Oh gods they're both thinking about it. All platitudes evaporate as meaningless, he's left with the desert of their shared truth. Thank the gods Luna cuts one because what the hell else is there to say, and also he had started to tilt there, insofar as good judgment is concerned, he'd started to think about consoling Valrae, it had Gone Places. (...get a grip, man.) He frees up a hand, fans the air. "She does that sometimes. I hope it wasn't a wet one, guess we'll find out shortly," he comments, waving Valrae over to another part of the room because the smell is slow to dissipate. He kisses Harper on the top of her head because she's started to release a sort of thoughtful stream of babbling noises while she chews on the giraffe and seriously he doesn't understand how she's so cute, if it were Alvina with him and not Valrae he'd exclaim something ridiculous in jest like, 'I have to eat her, she's too cute, I understand now why animals eat their young.' That joke would fall pretty flat to Valrae, probably, and then he remembers that fragility he'd seen a moment ago. There's a silence brewing. They look out the window into the street. "Is this OK?" he asks, sparing a glance her way. Luna seems content, ignorant that she's being held by a woman whose existence drove a wedge between her parents. "We can go downstairs in a second if you want. I don't want you to feel sad, but I am really happy that you're getting to meet them. Selfishly, I know."

Valrae moved to the other side of the room, gassy Luna cradled carefully in her arms, with Hudson while laughing. The moment had gone and she'd survived it. She carried the shadow of grief with her, stopping the smile that tilted her lips from fully reaching the dark green of her eyes, but she would survive that too. Her attention was pulled away from Luna and her grinning, which Valrae now thought of as more mischievous than pure and innocent, to look at Harper as Hudson kissed her. Her heart swelled again, oblivious to his hilarious inner monologue. "I've no idea what any of that means but I do know she's very serious about it." She said smiling at her and nodding seriously. "How can they be so cute? I've never actually held a baby, you know." Val admitted, a little color creeping to her cheeks. She turned her attention back to Luna and tried to pick out features that might be Hudson's. "They're remarkable." She shook her head at him then. "I'm happy I'm meeting them, just as selfishly as you I suppose." Valrae looked at him then, her smile was sad. "It's a little hard, sure, but it's worth it. Fatherhood looks good on you."

Hudson colors a little himself at the compliment Valrae's paid him. "Yeah, thanks," he exhales, feeling the sober coldness of the words. He moves his head away from Harper, who is trying to stick her giraffe toy directly in his ear. "You're a really evolved person," he tells Valrae, not really knowing what else to say. "Maybe the most evolved person I know," he adds, the words chafing him because there's a lot more he'd like to say to her, it just seems really wrong to say it in front of his children. He frowns at her, frustrated. Maybe it's obvious he's struggling. He needs to change the subject, he thinks. "Do you... need work?" he finds himself asking her. "You could work here. Not doing nails. There's other work, um, book keeping and packaging and prep work stuff that relates to what I do. This is just a front." Harper is struggling, wants to crawl around and bang her giraffe on a nearby wall if prior experience is any indication, and he bends to let her out of his arms, watching her wriggle away with purpose.

A bubbling laugh escaped Valrae as she watched Harper try to fit her drooly giraffe in Hudson's ear. It was cute enough to bring her out of the heaviness of the conversation. It was dangerous with the undercurrents of things they both felt they couldn't say. She smiled sadly at his complement, touched. "I'm not as evolved as you might think," She admitted. He'd released Harper to the floor and with a small amount of reluctance she passed Luna off to him. His offer surprised her. The witch winged her golden brows at him and tucked a curled strand of honey hued hair behind her ear. "Are you sure...?" She asked. Translation: "Is that crossing a line?". "I mean..." What did she mean? "Yeah, I could do that." She said suddenly, surprising herself. Her own mouth was a traitor. This had bad idea written all over it, why had she just said yes? "Irenic is missing," What? Why was she telling him this now? "We uh, we buried a kid he was taking care of... And after we were kindaish together.. Ah, for the first time and after that I woke up alone and I haven't heard from him." WHY was she telling him this? The words just fell out of her mouth and left her standing there looking uncomfortable and sad and confused. "I don't know why I told you that. I do want the job though, if you're still offering."

Hudson smooches Luna because he hasn't in awhile. She laughs and is otherwise less unruly in his arms than her sister had been. Valrae's maybe pointing out that it's a poor idea for them to work together, but in his head it results in them crossing paths less than she probably thinks. Still a little, which he likes, selfishly, but he'd like to stay on the right side of the line too. "It's going to be fine, I'm not here everyday, just a lot lately due to the renovations." He hopes that's true. He has a feeling he might be lying to himself a bit, with the expanded territory is going to come expanded demand, which means he'll have to be in the lab more often. The lab meaning the new lab he's building here. He still thinks it'll be fine, Valrae has that boyfriend, after all, and he's a dad now. He wants to explain how it'll be fine, without saying those words, but Valrae has made a startling announcement. Irenic - that must be Valrae's man - is missing. Oh gods why with the details about their sex life! Hudson barely manages to keep an obvious grimace from taking over his expression, which has turned to stone. "Uh, that's really messed up," he is quick to say. Is he supposed to have a conversation about this? "I'm really sorry about the kid, that's horrible, ... Uh, sometimes guys flake after," he struggles as he tries to offer advice in this awkward situation. Surely Valrae knows that sometimes men bail when the sun comes up. It's just, you know, her boyfriend probably not supposed to be among that population. "I'm sure, since you guys have been together for a little bit, uh, he'll turn up," that's better, "Maybe he's struggling with the kid, I know I would. Maybe just go home and wait there." Hudson exhales, slowly. "I'm sure he likes you, because he waited that long..." He feels warm all of a sudden. "Not that... you know what I mean." Oh for Sven's sake. He readjusts Luna in his arms, riding the awkwardness out. "Yeah, when you're ready, this stuff with Irenic has blown over, I guess, talk to uh, Joanie. She's the older lady." Who incidentally reappears this moment, to relieve Hudson of watching his own children. "Joanie," says Hudson, for Valrae's benefit. "I can come back in a bit if you want," she says. "No, no, now is good, we're done here. Val here's got to do a thing." Joanie is relieving him of Luna, but before she does, Hudson makes the introductions. "Joanie, this is Valrae, she's going to be helping us out here, with my end of things." "Great," says Joanie, who sizes Valrae up in a motherly way. "Nice to meet you, Valrae. You're one of us."

Valrae was aware of her tendency to overshare, especially with Hudson, but she couldn't seem to turn it off. The conversation has taken a brutally painful turn. He had obviously come to the same pitiful conclusion she had. The look of sad confusion on her face would make it pretty obvious that no, she did not realize these things happened. Valrae wasn't exactly the casual sexstpert Hudson imagined her to be. She'd never been ghosted before, never been the one to do the ghosting either. This was an all new experience in humiliation for her. But humiliation was something she was an old hand in, so she might live through it. Jury was still out. "Thanks, right, yeah. Probably one of those things." It was really to late for her to pretend she didn't care or was prepared for this situation but her pride demanded it. Hudson took the cue and moved the conversation right along. "Actually, I'm ready now. I need a distraction." She answered quickly. Joanie made a well timed entrance, confused Val for a moment by claiming she was 'one of them'. "Wow, how did you know that?" She exclaimed, amazed by what she thought was Joanie's instantaneous knowledge of her newfound employment. It didn't take long for her to realize what she was actually saying. "Oh, oh! Yes!" She fumbled for a moment, made a traditionally witchy 'merry meet' greeting and explained her confusion. After a polite laugh they managed to settle a few technical details and Val started to make an exit. She said good bye to Luna and Harper before giving Hudson a quick, 'family friend' appropriate hug. "Later, thanks for the talk and job. Your kids are the cutest."