SMV- Who You Gonna Call? Part 2

"Is your head alright?" Aine and Elation walked back toward the apartments, carrying tubs of strawberry and rocky road ice cream respectively.

“I’ve had worse.” Aine chuckled, rubbing her forehead. A large red mark spread across the skin, though it was somehow unbroken. “It’s a bloody good thing Maeve is so hard-headed, hm?” Elation laughed at that, leaning up and kissing the injury.

"Poor baby! Come on, let’s head home. " She took her hand again and entered the Housing Complex. "I'm probably going to have to readjust the spell work again." Aine kept pace with her, absently rubbing the mark again. Why did she still smell that damn stench? It felt like it was burned into her nose…

“Well, we managed to get two out of three, so that’s not too bad.” She smiled. “And considering my only injury was a conk on the head, that’s not too shabby either."

"Ah well.  True enough."  Elation looked up as they entered the Village again, "How about a bath?  That place was utterly dirty.  I feel filthy."

“That sounds lovely.” Aine sighed happily. “I think I have grit in places only you’ve explored, love.” Elation laughed.

"Oh my gods, you are so.."  She shook her head,  " I love you, you perv."

“I love you too, you nymph.” Aine grinned, nuzzling Elation. “Or perhaps I should call you a Truthsayer. After all, you seem to be getting all of my secrets from me one hint at a time!”

"It's your fault if I'm a nymph." Elation cuddled against her as they waited for the elevator. "Well, it's not really hard to get it from you. " She poked her side, "I know exactly where to touch to get it from you. "

“Oh my, is that a promise?” Aine giggled, running a finger down Elation’s spine. Shivering slightly at that, Elation kissed her lightly.

"Yes, it is. " She murmured. Aine grinned, returning the kiss.

“Then something tells me we’re not going to be taking turns in the bath tub~”

"Of course.." Elation grinned, "How else can I scrub your back properly?"  She stepped off the elevator and went to her door, opening it, "I better pour some salt around the doors, just in case.  And another purification spell. "

“That might be a good idea. I’ll go around and strengthen them after you’ve performed them as well, just in case.” Aine stepped inside, the familiar scents of Elation’s flat finally penetrating through the smell of hatred that had seemed to be following them. She breathed slightly in relief, rubbing her forehead again. Putting the ice cream in the fridge, Elation went along to pure some salt on the corners of the doors.  She then went to work to purify the entire place once more.

It took a while but she finally did it.  "And there!"  

“So far so good.” Aine murmured, closing her eyes and concentrating. Summoning a small fox made of fire, she let it loose to run around the room. Its flames sank into the salt and other purifying charms, giving them extra power and a faint shimmer, like dying embers. Finally, it went over to brush against Elation’s legs like a cat before jumping up and settling around her shoulders. Even though it was made of flame, it smelled like summer.

"Heh, that's a cute trick there, Aine." Elation gave it a small pet. Amazing how it didn't burn her.  "Now you make me want to get a pet."  

She glanced over at her, "How about I go run the bath then?" The fox nuzzled her cheek before disappearing. Aine opened her eyes, grinning as she finally let her transformation fall away.

“Thanks love, I admit it’s one of my favorites.” She laughed, stretching. “That’d be lovely. Anything I can do in the meantime?”

"I don't know, get naked?"  Elation chuckled heading to the bathroom and started to run the water.  She looked around and added some bathsalts plus bubbles. Aine waited a few minutes, then walked into the bathroom, letting her clothes slide to the ground. She wrapped her arms around Elation’s waist, kissing her neck.

“Mmmm you smell good.” She murmured, her bangs tickling Elation’s cheek.

"It's just the soap." Elation kissed her, "In the tub." She slipped out of her own clothes,  letting her hair down from the ribbon.

“Oh no, I know your scent and it is most definitely not the soap.” Aine grinned, “And it smells even more wonderful to me right now. Gee, I wonder why~?” She giggled, sitting on the edge of the tub. Elation blushed, remember the conversation before.

"What am I going to do with you?"

Then again, this was Aine. Shrugging to herself, she slipped into the tub.  Ah well, she could get used to it anyway.

"I'm just glad it's all over."

“Cherish me forever?” Aine winked, slipping into the tub as well. She sighed happily as the warm water washed over her skin. “Agreed. Ah I feel better already.”

"Well, I guess, I'll keep you."  Elation smirked. She allowed herself to just sit for a bit and soak in the water.  "Still, it was such a disappointment."

Moving, she grabbed a wash cloth and some soap before moving over to Aine. "But at least  it's sort of effective, I guess."
“How so? We need to do test runs of these spells somehow. It can’t all be miraculous victories.” Aine smirked back, shifting a little.

"True.  And thanks to that Black Moon war and humans being naturally insane at times, there's plenty of ways to test them."   Elation agreed as she lathered the washcloth up before starting to wash Aine's back first.  "  I'm going to have to visit other shrines, though.  That one I went to is starting to get suspicious."

“Of course. I can think of another place if you’d like to do another test run. That hokora where Maeve and Teruko fought mirror versions of each other should still be standing. I think it would be an excellent test subject.” Aine leaned back slightly into Elation’s hands.

"Huh, I didn't think about that." Elation paused then laughed a little, "Gods I'm  an idiot for not thinking about it first. Especially since it's the prime spot when Maeve got infected in the first place." Humming to herself, she leaned over and nipped the tip of Aine's ear.

"You're a genius."

“Glad you appreciate me.” Aine giggled, leaning more into Elation as she shivered slightly. “It’s okay love, I believe that’s called a blonde moment.” Nuzzling her, Elation smiled a little.

"Wonderful." Resting her chin on Aine's shoulder, she hugged her.  "Want to try to learn to swim tomorrow?  We can do it before we go investigate another place."

“Certainly, if you don’t mind putting up with my ungainly self.” Aine smiled, reaching a hand up out of the bath water to cup Elation’s cheek. “Thank you, Elation.”

"Ungainly? Never." Elation opened her eyes, having closed them moment before.    She really did love moments like this.  

"For what?"

“For being you, among other things.” Aine turned, kissing Elation as her long braid swirled around the two of them. Elation smiled and kissed her back before breaking it to start washing out Aine’s hair. The Fae woman practically purred contently, her eyes drifting closed.  “Mmm I could get used to this.”

"You're just lucky that I'm generous."  Elation leaned over and kissed her forehead, then went to rinsing the shampoo out.   She repeated the process with the conditioner as well.   "Now, you really smell like flowers.  "

“I truly am. Thank you, my love.” She sat up, splashing some water on her face before turning to Elation. “Okay, your turn.” She rinsed out the wash cloth and lathered it up again, working it over Elation’s back before she started massaging her back and shoulders.

Elation relaxed leaning against her a bit. "Thanks." Content now, she hummed to herself.   "Hmm.. oh, we could watch some good movies too. "

“We could.” Aine agreed, grabbing the shampoo and working it into Elation’s hair. “Do you have anything in mind?”

"I'm in the mood for something really fluffy, with no depth or critical thinking skills invovled."  Elation looked thoughtful, "Let’s watch Swan Princess. It doesn't require thinking."

“Sounds lovely.” Aine smiled, washing out the shampoo and working in the conditioner. She leaned forward, kissing the back of Elation’s neck. “After all, I get to spend time with you, so what’s not to love?”

Elation sighed happily at that, "I feel the same." Turning, she kissed her, "Let’s get out, then.  The water'll get cold soon." Aine returned the kiss, her hand resting on Elation's side. Then she pulled back, grinning.

"Not if I heat it back up again. After all, I believe there's still some bits of grit that we haven't managed to clean away on you yet, hmm?" Her hand slid down Elation's side to her hip. Chuckling, Elation kissed her again,.

"Well then, we should get every bit of it, shouldn't we?"

"We should indeed~" Aine giggled the bath water beginning to heat back up again, her hand slowly making it’s way down.

"Knew there was a reason I kept you around." Elation muttered, sliding her hand up to cup Aine's breast as she kissed her again.

**

Elation was pretty certain that if it wasn't for the Maeve factor, she'd probably keep Aine.   Seriously, the Fae woman was going to ruin her for everything if she kept that up.  

Still, getting out and drying off, her mind was completely on the wind down of just putting on some comfy sleep clothes and eating ice cream with her girlfriend.  

"Do you need the hair dryer, or are you good?" Elation asked, working on her own hair regiment.

"I'm good." Aine smiled, sweeping her hands over herself. Her body and hair steamed as the water evaporated off of her. "See? Dry already."

Elation snorted, "Show off."    

Though she was nearly done with her own hair and just tied it back in a low bun for now before heading off to her room to grab an oversized t-shirt and some underwear.

"Naturally." Aine giggled, looking around. Her clothes were all a mess... "Um, do you happen to have anything I could borrow?"

"Yeah." Elation smiled a bit looking around before handing her another long t-shirt.  " Think this'll fit."

"Thank you." Aine slipped the shirt on, laughing to herself as it only rested on her hips. "It figures my lover would be shorter than I." She playfully poked Elation's side before walking into the living room. "Shall I make us anything?"

"Just grab some spoons and the ice cream."   Elation smirked, "Besides, it's not my fault you're a giant. I have you know, I'm highly average for my height."  

She stuck her tongue out at Aine before going over to the couch and flipping through to find the movie. Aine laughed, grabbing the requested items and heading over.

"No, I am average height in this form. You're just short." She grinned and tickled Elation's ribs. Laughing a bit, the woman took the ice cream she wanted, and went to eat some as the movie started.  

"Pff.. meanie. " She settled against her.

"You wouldn't have me any other way and you know it." Aine nuzzled her, wrapping her arm around Elation's shoulders. "...This is a fairy tale, isn't it."

"Yeah, it is."  Elation smiled, "Though I think the ballet did it better."

"The ballet-- oh this is Swan Lake?" Aine looked a bit more intrigued now.

"Well it's based off of Swan Lake... Loosely based." Elation answered, "Like how Mulan is loosely based on the actual historical story of the same woman. "

"This should be interesting then." Aine giggled softly. "I've always been intrigued by that story." Elation laughed, taking another bite of her ice cream.

"I don't know. Don Bluth in the later years got a little… weird."

"At least Anastasia had good music." Aine shrugged, absently playing with Elation's ribbon. "Yes I have actually seen it. Rosemary absolutely adores that film."

"They usually do." Elation sighed a little but shoved the thoughts from her mind and happily ate her ice cream. " This has some decent songs but my gods, the prince is an idiot."

“What else is new…” Aine giggled, leaning over and finally digging into her own ice cream. Mmm strawberry… “Oh well, at least it’ll be nice and fluffy.”

Wait… what was that scent? She couldn’t quite place it...

Elation was far more absorbed into the movie than before, and didn't seem to notice it.  Though eventually she stopped eating the ice cream and held her head.  

"Gah! Brain freeze~"

“Awww poor baby, did you eat your ice cream too quickly?” Aine teased, ruffling her lover’s bangs.

Elation stuck her tongue out at her, "You don't say that when I eat you out."    

Wow, hello blush. But she turned back to her ice cream again, with the headache fading fast. Aine blushed a little as well at that.

“True but I’m also hot blooded, not cold.” She shook her head a little, going back to the movie. Although needless to say her mind was on other things now… Her blush deepened. Elation mumbled but seemed rather pleased at making Aine blush. Still, she went back to watching the movie. Even though she stole peeks at Aine now and then.  Just to see her reaction at this film.  It's one of the fun parts of having seen it already and watching someone else see it for the first time. Aine’s eyebrow steadily crept up into her hair line.

“… What the bloody hell are we watching…” She muttered eventually.

Elation nearly choked, as she laughed hard. "The.. -pf- Swan Princess!"

“Whoever thought it’d be a good idea to adapt Swan Lake into this deserves to be shot.” Aine grumbled, folding her arms and sinking further into the couch.

With an evil smirk, Elation looked over at her, "Don't worry, Aine. "   She held the remote in her hand now, "There's at least FOUR more of these!" Aine stole the remote, holding it above her head.

“Oooooooh no you don’t. If we’re going to watch something based on Swan Lake, I have a far better film.”

"Oh come on!  I was just going to show the sequel~!"  Elation reached for it over Aine, "I mean it's not that horrible...really!"

That was an utter total lie.

Aine grinned, shaking her head.

“Oh no. Are you not the one who told me that animated sequels are the scourge of the film industry?” She held the remote farther away from Elation.

"Well, not ALL of them!"  Elation pouted, "Just most of them. I mean, Cinderella lucked out and so did the Lilo and Stitch series..."

“I didn’t hear Swan Princess 2 in that liiiiiiiiist~” Aine giggled, her voice sing-song. “So either you let me choose, or you try to convince me otherwise, hm?”

Elation whined, "But I pampered you and bought you ice cream~"

“So you did, but you’ve teased me endlessly, so this is payback.” Aine giggled. Elation kissed her and grinned.

"Fine, you win. "

Aine returned the kiss, before pulling Elation into a hug. “Glad you see it my way, love.”

She flipped through the list until she found what she was looking for. With a grin, she put on ‘Black Swan’.

“I know you wanted something more light and fluffy, but this movie is a personal favorite of mine. And not just for the score and acting.”

"OH, I remember this!" Elation grinned, "I loved this movie."  Content, she snuggled against Aine.  "You win this round. But just wait... Beauty and the Beast had a Christmas special."

“Oh gods… I’m sensing a trend here.”

Aine wrapped her arm around Elation once more, humming along with the score. Hmm now this movie was starting to feel ironic, given her situation… Elation hummed along as well.   Though she still was of an opinion that the mother and the dance director who should've been run over or killed within five minutes of movie. Aine found herself pulling Elation a bit closer to her as the mirror doubles started showing up in the film. Her eyes gained more flecks of yellow. Elation only glanced up at her, but couldn't really see the flecks.  So, she turned back to the movie again.  That acting was really good.  She tried to remember, was Natalie Portman pregnant during this or...?


There was that smell again. What was it? Aine just couldn’t seem to sort out the components of it, they all blurred together into something indistinct...


Finally, the notes of the scent made themselves clear to Aine.

Hatred and despair.

But where was it coming from?! Aine glanced around a bit, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Their wards were still up and charged with power, so how?

Elation looked up again, "Aine?  Is something wrong?"

“I’m not certain.” She murmured. Then she shivered slightly, feeling a strange crawling across her skin. “The stench from the house, I can smell it here. But none of our wards or spells have been broken."

"What?"  Elation sat up more, looking around, "But how? We salted the doors and purfied everything."

“I don’t know. I truly don’t.” Aine sighed, rubbing her forehead. It was starting to hurt again. Elation looked up at her hand.

"Isn't that where you got hit?" The Fae woman nodded, hissing as it throbbed. Elation backed away, looking for another ward.  

"Ah.. That- that might be why."  

She got off the couch and looked around again. Come on, she had some left over. Somwhere.

“What do you mean?” Aine frowned. Her left eye was turning more and more yellow.

"It might've possessed you." Elation said looking around until she finally found some left over.  It wasn't much either.   Grimacing at her own stupidity at that, she looked over at Aine. Aine raised an eyebrow, giving Elation an almost sardonic smile.

“Love, how can you possess someone who’s already possessing someone else?"

"It's more possible than you think." Elation held one of the wards in her hand, "and one of your eyes is yellow, so... "

“Oh…” Aine sighed, sinking back slightly into the couch. “… This is going to hurt, isn’t it?"

"Probably."

Elation muttered the chant, before moving over and presses it against the mark of where she's been hit. It was all Aine could do not to scream. It felt like ice-cold water had been poured into her veins, threatening to freeze her very blood. Her nails dug into the couch as she bit her lip so hard it bled. Shadows danced across her skin, a pair of clawed hands forming around her throat.

"It was there.." Elation muttered and rushed to grab the salt.  "Close your eyes!" She threw the salt around Aine's neck.  She just hoped it didn't get into the other woman's eyes.  

"Begone, spirit!" Aine closed her eyes just in time. The hands seized, dropping away from her as the pain continued to grow in her head.

“Elation… My head…” She whimpered quietly.

"I know.. .it hurts."  Elation gritted her teeth trying to put more energy into the wards to force it out of Aine.  Though she had no way of knowing if it would work or not.

Or if it'd end up like the Excorist and green pea puke over everything.

Slowly, a shadowy form of the girl ghost rose from Aine’s back. It hissed and screamed at her, trying to lunge at her.

“Get OUT!!” Aine yelled. Flares of multicolored fire danced around the Fae woman, scorching the girl and fully propelling her away. The wards flashed, and the girl was gone.

Aine sank forward, breathing heavily as she held her head in her hands. She trembled slightly.

"Aine..." Elation went to her side, "Are you alright? "  She ran her hand over  Aine's hair, to look at her better. "I think that might've done it."

“Just… give me a moment…” She murmured, but her voice sounded strange. Not quite like her own. “That ward was working on me, too… Trying to push me out…”

"Sorry.." Elation sighed softly, "I haven't really fined tuned this well. I'm not actually trained in this sort of thing.."

“It’s okay…” Aine looked up. Her eyes had reversed their coloration; the left one back to green, but the right remained bright yellow. “I’m sorry, this is my fault."

"Your eyes..." Elation touched her cheek, "They're different and one is still yellow.."   Pausing for a moment, she looked around to see if anything else was amiss or if she could do something.   Not that she knew what to do.  

"We shouldn't have gone so unprepared."

“I’m not surprised.” Aine sighed, curling her legs up. “I can feel Morrigan trying to influence me again, the ward weakened me a bit. I’ll be alright, I just need to rest a bit.” She smiled at Elation.

“This is all trial and error, love. We have to learn from our mistakes.”

Elation only sat down next to her and hugged her, "I just wish those mistakes wouldn't hurt or endanger you so much." Aine laughed softly, snuggling against Elation.

“There’s no reward without some risk. I believe I can confidently say I’m more durable than you are, so I would rather I be endangered than you, Elation.”

"Still doesn't mean that I have to like it."  Elation sighed softly, cuddling her.  "So much for our carefree moment."

“Now we know to do a purifying spell on both of us for next time.” Aine murmured, her voice starting to sound like her own again. “It happens..."

Elation nodded, "Do you even want to finish the movie or..take a nap?"  She leaned back, and dusted off the remaining salt that seemed to linger a bit.

“It’s up to you, love.” Aine leaned up and gently kissed her cheek.

"I'm not the one that just got an excorism." Elation sighed softly and just cuddled her. " We can watch tv until we fall sleep?"

“Certainly.” Aine smiled and snuggled up more. “I’m just glad you didn’t boot me out, Elation. I might have had to come back and haunt you."

"You say that like I would mind you haunting me."  Elation smiled a bit before rewinding Black Swan to the part where they left off.   "But I'm glad too. At least until we're ready for it."

“You might after a while. I’d probably just bug you endlessly until you found me another body.” Aine grinned, sitting up a little and partially leaning over Elation. “Or I might just have to try and steal yours." Elation snorted.

"This ol' thing?" Smiling at Aine she poked her cheek, " Maybe, but you so wouldn't have the heart to take it over completely.  You like me too much."

“I do indeed. But it would be oh so easy, love. You already hold part of me, it wouldn’t be too hard to add the rest.” She giggled, leaning closer. “Don’t worry, I’d let you out for special occasions and the like.”

"Oh, you're so generous." Elation shook her head, "But you know, maybe that's not a bad idea."

“What, you’d want me to possess you?” Aine tipped her head slightly.

"No, I mean.. think about it. It would only be temporary and no one can bitch about you taking over another person because I'm literally fine with it."   Elation looked thougtful as she pondered the implications, "And, as you said, I do carry a bit of you already.  So why not just reside in me for a while til we can get to your Court and you can reform that way." Aine sank back, her eyes wide.

“You’re serious… Elation, I…” She gnawed on her lower lip, looking away. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you, really, but… I don’t know if I could do that to you. I’ve already changed you, what would happen to you if you held my entire soul?”

Elation shrugged, looking at her, "Who knows? Maybe nothing. But how bad would it be if I were changed?"    Breathing in, she sat up more.  "It's fine.   I'm willing to risk it."

“I don’t know… There’s no telling what would happen to you… It could be minor, or…” Aine’s eyes closed as she sank back. “Or it could wipe you out entirely… I was able to possess Maeve because she has Seelie blood, and her soul isn’t complete. You’re still human, and you’re whole. I… don’t want something to happen to you.”

"I'm also not a normal human."  Elation pointed out, " I'm also a senshi and that's nothing  to sniff at as weak.  I don't believe it'll happen.  So it should be safe.  We can even figure out some precautions for that, I think." Aine sighed, curling her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

“I suppose so…” She murmured, her eyes still closed.

Elation just  reached over, lightly brushing her hair back, "I love you. That's why I'm willing to do it.  I don't mind risking myself for that.  Especially if you get to stay near me and it wouldn't be a problem for anyone."

“Elation…” Aine looked over, her gaze still green and yellow. So close to her senshi colors… Tears formed as she shook her head and practically lunged forward, her arms wrapping tightly around Elation. “You’re an eejit, you know that?” Chuckling softly, Elation hugged her back.

"If I am one, it's because I love you and I want you safe." Kissing her cheek,  Elation cuddled her.

"You'll be safe no matter what happens. "