Vanessa and Adrienne (Backdated)

[x-adrienne.livejournal.com]

Vanessa returns to the X-Factor offices to find Adrienne hanging out there. A conversation typical of the pair (complete with the avoidance of serious matters) ensues.

Feet up on Bishop's desk in the X-Factor Investigations offices, Adrienne threw a handful of popcorn at a television screen that was supposed to be tuned to the news but was currently tuned to the Red Sox game and screamed for the umpire to do anatomically impossible things to himself. She was alone in the office- Bishop was out of town chasing down a lead and the girls were... well, Adrienne wasn't sure where they were. She hadn't really been visiting the office very much lately, so she was unfamiliar with peoples' activity patterns.

In fact, she was only there tonight by happenstance. She'd come into the city for supper with Garrison, but he'd caught a case and had to cancel, and she hadn't had enough time to get back to the mansion before the game had started. After a brief contemplation, she'd decided to pass up going to a sports bar- hockey season had started, and with the New York football teams doing so terribly, and their baseball teams both missing the playoffs again, hockey was the only thing New Yorkers had to get excited about until the NBA began in a couple weeks. Valuing her life, she wasn't about to go into a New York bar and ask that they put the Red Sox game on for her.

Lester walked his second man of the inning and Adrienne screamed in frustration. The door to the office opened but she was so focused on throwing more popcorn at the screen she didn't pay attention to who had entered the room. "Lester!" she bellowed in exasperation, "I swear on all that is holy if you walk one more man in this game I will hire someone to break into the clubhouse, steal all your uniforms, leave you nothing but a tutu and a dominatrix outfit, and torch every single cab and subway car in Boston so you're forced to walk the streets begging for a ride home! And then when you make it home I will have glued the keyhole so your key doesn't fit and will force you to sleep outside! Would you like that to happen?! Huh?! Would you?! Walk one more guy, then!"

Vanessa stopped halfway to her desk and stared at what might pass as a hysterically crazy person in another place. Here it was only vaguely concerning. Mostly because of what the popcorn may attract indoors at this time of the year if left scattered about. It didn't look particularly professional, either.

The shifter hit the button to boot up her computer and shuffled over toward Lucas' desk. Peering over Adrienne's shoulder, Vanessa made some thoughtful noises. "Tutus don't go very well with Domme outfits," she commented mildly when Adrienne didn't seem to bother with her. "I hope you'll at least make the outfit pink to match. It may help the look a bit."

Adrienne forgot about the game completely when she heard her friend's voice, head whipping around and eyes boggling in delighted surprise. She barely managed to restrain herself from clamoring out of her seat and flinging herself at Vanessa in a hug, reminding herself only at the last moment that Vee really wasn't a hugger, and that Adrienne had a reputation for being a stone cold bitch to uphold. But she was certain that the happiness on her face ruined that attempt all the same. The exuberant grin was goofy enough that she was pretty sure even someone who wasn't a trained detective could tell how glad she was to see the other woman. "Veeeeeee," she whined, gesturing at the tv and still grinning widely, "we get all the way to the playoffs and now Lester's suckinnnnnnng. Make him stooooooop." Her eyes widened at the pink outfit suggestion and she snapped her fingers as if in sudden epiphany. "That's it! A pink domme outfit! Maybe that'll do it! You wanna tell him or should I?" she inquired, gesturing at the tv again.

"You tell him. I think he'd like it better from you. The two of you clearly have a relationship already." Vanessa hadn't moved, but she had a wide grin stretching across her face. It had been far too long since she'd seen her partner-in-crime and it was good just to see the utter elation on Adrienne's face. The relief of having impending arrest gone probably contributed a bit.

"We do," Adrienne nodded matter-of-factly. "A very deep and meaningful one. When I'm not out with Jacoby Ellsbury, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, or Will Middlebrooks, that is. Popcorn?" she asked, holding out the bowl to her friend. "And beer?" She had bought a six pack of Sam Adams and was currently on her second. "Or were you just popping in to put some new porn on Bishop's computer before taking off again to mysterious and exotic locales?" she inquired, waggling an eyebrow at her friend.

"Actually I was going to plant porn I had someone photoshop to make it look like Lucas had posed for," Vanessa returned smoothly as she snagged a beer. "But now you know my evil plan and I'm not sure you can hold it in forever so I've just foiled myself. I've always wondered what a Hollywood villain feels like when he's exposed his master plan to the hero." She paused as if to contemplate how she felt. "Actually, it's pretty anti-climactic."

Adrienne's eyes widened. "Wait... but that would make me the hero, then! And that's just... wrong," she muttered with a shake of her head. "So if you really are here for porn, where are you off to next, in terms of mysterious and exotic locales?" she inquired conversationally. "Or would you have to kill me if you told me? Cuz I am more than willing to live in the mystery if that's the case," she added, putting up her hands in mock defense, "I'm just finding it kinda interesting that you and my sister have both been on a string of mysterious trips lately, and if it comes out that the two of you have been running off together because you're an item now, I wanna say I knew about my new sister-in-law first."

A sheepish look came over Vanessa's face, like she was caught red headed stealing cookies out of the jar. "Okay, so, you have to promise me you'll be believably surprised when Em tells you. We were keeping it pretty hush-hush because we weren't sure it would go anywhere and there is that whole thing about her not wanting to let on that she may have anything other than lust and libido for anyone but..." She chewed her lip, shifting her weight from one foot to the other nervously. "Well. We're in love. It just happened, you know?"

With a delighted squeal, Adrienne jumped out of her chair and rushed over to give Vanessa a hug. Sure, it was really because she was back and Adrienne had missed her quite a lot, since she was fairly certain Vee and Em weren't actually in love (though she would be incredibly happy, if also completely terrified for the fate of the world, if it were true,) but she could pretend the hugging was because of the confession. "This makes me so happy!" she gushed, again actually responding to having her friend back, rather than the game they were playing, before carrying on with the charade. "Seriously, this is the best news ever! And I promise I'll act surprised! Ohmygawd! So what's next for you two crazy kids? You gonna get a place together? And a dog? Ohmygawd are you getting a dog?!"

"Obviously. We're lesbians, aren't we? All lesbians need a dog. It's going to be our child substitute. A beautiful, purebred doberman named Princess with a dazzling, diamond and titanium spiked collar." Vanessa spoke with the surety of someone who had clearly had this conversation with her partner at length. She gave Adrienne a small squeeze and took a step back. "I'll even let you design little collars and harnesses for her, how's that?" At that, the shifter grinned. It was good to be back in a bout of ridiculous banter with her friend. The past year had been lonely, to say the least. Solitude, it turned out, no longer suited the woman.

"Ooo, really?! That's quite the honour! I know how important dog bling is to lesbians," Adrienne joked, grinning as she sipped at her beer. "Having another dog to outfit will definitely go a long way to helping me launch my new pet fashion empire. It's been my lifelong dream!" she exclaimed melodramatically. "And between Princess and this damn cat that keeps sneaking into Garrison's suite, it'll soon be a reality!"

"Another dog? Who's the first?" Vanessa wandered off toward the fridge in hopes of finding something to drink that maybe lacked alcohol. Of course, she did this while she took a swig from her beer so perhaps it was a futile effort anyway. "You should know Garrison attracts pussy," she pointed out with her head in the refrigerator. "It's the smile or the good guy vibe...or the abs. Actually, it's probably the abs. And the biceps. And the strong hands." A hand made a dismissive wave above the open door. "Point being, he's a pussy magnet. You should get used to strange pussy turning up in his rooms at all hours. You just can't hold a tide like that back."

"Sometimes I dress up the dogs at the mansion that are wandering around unsupervised," Adrienne admitted. "I figure if their owners didn't want them to be dressed like mimes or dragons, they shouldn't let them wander around unsupervised." She beamed at Vanessa's compliments about Garrison, enjoying the fact that he was seen as desirable by other people. "Yeah, you're right, I'll have to get used to it. I'm probably just jealous that I'm not the magnet. But, really, how can I compete with a guy who has a moose head hung up on his wall?" She ate another handful of popcorn. "Speaking of which; would it be possible to bribe you to kidnap said moose head and use it for archery practice?"

"That depends...how much trouble will I be in? I sort of owe the guy and shooting up his beloved moose might make me feel guilty. But if he's not all that attached..." A devious little grin flashed on her face. "Also, mime dogs are a bit creepy. Seems like they would be anyhow."

"I'll have to make you a mime outfit for Princess, and then you can judge for yourself," Adrienne deadpanned before making a guilty face. "Not gonna lie. His sister gave it to him. I think he's pretty attached to it. But can't we play the mercenary card, so that when I tell him I bribed you to do it, I'd be the one in trouble, not you? And you could tell him you were just paid to do a job? Or I could kidnap it and leave it in front of the archery range and you could tell him you knew nothing about where it had come from?" she questioned in a hopeful tone, though she didn't expect either of these options to fly. She was really embracing the title, as Vanessa had once dubbed her, of shitty fucking mastermind.

"Just how many places would I think a moosehead came from?" She chewed on her lip while she thought about that. "I wonder how 'I thought someone beheaded that Daisy moose and didn't want her sacrifice to go to waste' would fly. Probably not well." Vanessa frowned. "Maybe we can find a giant, plush moose, use that and leave it on top of his moose's head. His mysterious cat can then have birds to watch since I'm sure some would happily nest on the impaled moose if you just left the windows open for a bit. When he realizes it's cold you can just tell him you thought it'd remind him of home to be cold." Vanessa broke out in a sudden, bright grin.

Vanessa's grin set Adrienne grinning in response. Damn, it was good to have Vanessa back. "This is the most brilliant plan I've ever heard. It can't fail!" She glanced over at the ball game, but it no longer held her interest. Not that she'd admit that, though. "How much time do we have to execute this plan before you have to get back to Emma and Princess and your nefarious plans to replace images of porn starts with colleagues? Can we finish watching the game first?"

"I'd say we have at least four to six hours." Vanessa wandered back to Adrienne with an apple in one hand and her mostly empty beer in the other. Non-alcoholic beverages be damned! Or non-existent, as the case may be. "Then I'll have to get back. Em can be, well, a bit demanding. Insatiable, even. Reminds me of another Frost I know...." Her grin turned wicked. "Can't imagine why that is." Then, just like that, her expression was casual and she was nodding toward the game. "Are we winning yet?"

"Of course we are, darling," Adrienne answered with a smirk. "The Sox aren't, but we certainly are."