Tegan rarely, if ever, woke gently. Once the sun dropped past the horizon, she scrambled awake, all long, blue-white limbs flailing to cast the thick down comforter from her body. Thick tendrils of black unfurled like fiddleheads from the corners of her 'room,' as it were, mostly oddly-placed pallets and tin roofing laced together to form a box large enough for the bed, a night stand and now-destroyed lamp, a bookshelf and a desk with a few partially completed Gundam and Outlaw Star model kits neatly arranged atop it. The Weirdling girl dropped her legs down, feeling her boots still on and the brush of red velvet maxi-skirt across her legs, the same clothes she had worn the previous night. She plucked at the ruffles at the front of her black cap-sleeved blouse before adjusting the labradorite brooch at her neck, slowwwly rising to stand with a thankful sigh that the roof extended high enough in the little 'shack-room' to let her be fully upright. Both the room and what seemed to be the very neatly-arranged junkyard outside of it were, for the most part, dark, yet Tegan's own completely jet eyes easily compensated as she crept to the doorway, lined with a dense curtain of beads which fell into the pattern of a hamsa. Long fingers curled around the edge of the door beads, pushing them out of the way as she took in her surroundings.

To Tegan's right, a series of dormant pipes, sprinklers and gutters spread to tiny landscapes, to dried-out lakes and riverbeds, not far from a large collection of bonsai and tiny fake trees arranged neatly by a window, some in shade, some left to bleach and wither, yet all with a distinct purpose. In front of her, rack upon rack of figurines rested, as if sleeping, in amongst tiny arrays of clothing meant to fit each, while some of the less-defined ones stood in rows like terracotta soldiers in Qin Shi Huang's tomb. To her left lie cross-sections of buildings, both modern and antequated, city streets on rollers, mouths of caves and jagged fortresses of black metal, left in sections or partially disassembled, built to fit the array of figurines. In amongst the spill of structures, a small light broke through the eaves and little windows, occasionally brought to flicker from movement. Pointed ears perked as she caught a soft, chirpy little whisper, hushed and punctuated with little shh-shhs and encouraging chitters. One tendril, then another slowly collected the beads, muffling their parting further as Tegan stepped forward, letting her small bevvy of Arms crawl and wind in her wake as she approached the light.

"Aaalmost done, little dude. Just one more shot, n' y'kin go back t'nappin' and roach-killin'." Zofie sat in her swivel chair in front of a small card-table, lit with an orange, broken art deco desk lamp. Her right leg remained outstretched with the ball of her foot on the floor, and her left foot tucked beneath the opposite knee. Her hair remained loose, parting around the bare line of her spine and on down to the acid green thong settled snugly around her hips. On the table, with a chip clip settled between his shoulderblades, sat Splatterson the Nebelung cat, left in his blank-staring trance as Zofie pressed the last shot into his small body. The Cavalier winced as she finished the shot, pulling the needle's tip from his body and giving him one last, slow pet down his back before removing the clip and letting the kitten glance around, blink, and begin furiously cleaning his chest as he rose from his stupor. Both she and the cat stopped, suddenly, as both felt the ripple of a footfall not far from them. Where Splatterson started a backward crawl toward the edge of the table, Zofie spun around in her chair, stretching out both legs before curling them in beneath her to greet the approaching figure with a glint in her eyes behind magenta-framed cat glasses.

"Agkurghhm..." Tegan clearing her throat sounded like a drain getting unclogged by an air pressure cannon. It made for a jarring reveal as her dreadfully tall, yet willowy form drifted into the soft glow of the desk lamp. A few of the tendrils fell away, yet at least two remained at the light's edge, responsive, yet at rest. Her face lined up with Zofie's from her height, keeping her vision trained on her face as best she could. "Miss Kaminsky... I... don't recall exactly what had led me here. Please..." Her lips drew in as her brows slightly canted upward, the tendrils behind her wavering slightly. "... might you inform me of the events?"

Zofie kept her shoulders in line with Tegan's as she reached back, brushing her hair away from her bare torso as she scritched the table to summon a nervous Splatterson to her touch for a very gentle stroke along the top of his head. Dimples set deeply in her cheeks as she smiled up to Tegan, her breaths slow and deep while watching the wraithlike girl tower over her in her steely, cagey loom covered in a soft layer of etiquette. "Ohhh yeah... we uhm... Well, we went out on th'town last night, on account the uh... new guest stayin' at Mona's. Ennyway, we were mostly jus' talkin' bugs an' stuff before we met up with a friend of mine? Flair?" She let her legs unfurl from their cross atop her seat, primly settling her toes on the top of one of the chair's base while gently tilting her head to the side, one brow creeping up higher than the other. "Blue hair, kinda got this cute panda-thing goin' on? Stoooooned out of her mind?"

Tegan folded her hands before her as she listened, creases touching her brow as her lips started to purse, though she swiftly turned her attention away as Zofie laid her breasts bare. "M-must you--Nngh." She squeezed her eyes shut as she listened, slowly letting the memories drift back into her mind. The mention of Flair caused her eight-ball eyes to pop right back open, her head teetering back as she ran long fingers through her tangle of black hair. "Ohhhh bloody--I got... intoxicated with the both of you, didn't I?" She swallowed and crossed an arm over her middle, holding its companion at the elbow as the tendrils whipped more viciously at the air, enough to bring the cat to pin back his ears and release a nervous rur.

Both of Zofie's hands went up as she snorted out a snicker, both out of mirth and out of no small amount of intimidation from her houseguest. "Nothin' bad happened! She uh... she does this thing where if she's gittin' crunk, then the people around her git what could affectionately be called a 'contact high'." With her hands still up and half her lower lip sliding between her teeth, she pressed the ball of her foot against Tegan's leg, right at the top of her boot. "You were fine, until she and I got into the tequila, and since sun-up was comin' I jus' brought you back here an' tucked you in." She spun in her chair slowly, caught between two jumpy animals, and brought the smaller, sicker one into her lap, cradling him to her middle and petting him from his crown to the base of his tail in slow, soothing pets. "This is Splatterson, by the by. He's got the kitty-AIDS, hence the needles an' such." She slowly moved to scratch under his chin, leading him to stick out his jaw and drop his eyelids while still remaining stiff as a board. "Expensive li'l dude for a free cat..."

As Zofie brought the cat in between them, Tegan's tendrils went slack in the shadows behind her before finally melting away, just as the tall Kiasyd clutched her hands to her heart and dropped to a kneel. "You poor fellow..." She ignored her proximity to the mostly-bare pink-haired girl in favor of meeting her eyes to the cat's face, giving him a slow, sleepy blink which the cat returned before bonking his head into her palm and rumbling with a joyous purr. Gently, she pursed her lips, letting her expression remain soft before lifting her face up to Zofie, almost pleading, almost pure. "Expensive, you say?"

Zofie scrunched her lips off to the side and nodded, still holding Splatterson gently by his middle. "Yeah... I'm not really gittin' enough to pay for him and for myself, really. My diet kinda runs amok, and I can't survive... not for peace of mind... off of trash all the time." Gradually, she let one hand free from the cat to rub at the back of her neck, lips puckering in. "He needs a home where someone kin take care of 'im." From under her glasses, she peeked at the bleary shape of Tegan before letting her other hand loosen, lifting off of Splatterson.

Tegan's hands swiftly filled in where Zofie's hands left off, bringing the little, furry gray cat to her chest, over her un-beating heart as she burnt off a mote of blood to warm herself for the cat's closeness. She squeezed her eyes closed, feeling twin droplets drift from her tear ducts and slowly down her cheeks. "... Thank you." As her crimson tears dripped down, she angled one in particular toward Splatterson's mouth, aided by a gentle stroke against his chin to bring his face up. A rough, pink tongue seemed all too eager to lap it up from his lips. "He will be cared for... in the best way that I can muster."

Zofie took in a deep breath through her nose as her chin dropped, all of the sudden very, very aware of the vacancy in her lap, the bottles of medicine, and the empty syringe on the table. She lifted herself gently from her chair, settling a warm hand on Tegan's shoulder as she circled around in a tender, deliberate saunter toward the comfy couch, computer towers and hefty flat-panel TV not far from them. "C'mon, sweetie. I'm a call in some Indian takeout, and then I'm gonna introduce you t' Steven Universe. I have a feelin' you'll dig it."

Tegan rose in a slow glide after the touch to her shoulder, slowly drifting in Zofie's wake while cradling her new companion in her arms. "I do believe I shall... Mayhap you'll find yourself some clothes before then? Tis a... erh... mite distracting."

"It's gonna be a maybe." Zofie chuckled as she plucked the remote from the couch, turning on the television while cuing up the show on her computer. "For one, at least half the internet's seen my titties, and for two, everything's in the wash."

If Tegan's eyes were not entirely black, their roll would have been legendary.

((Shout-out to Mona Oliveira for letting me link The Cuckoo!))