Wren looks up at the apartment window. Should be asleep. She starts the climb, and soon enough gets up to Pal’s room. She can see he has a small nightlight in his room in the shape of a crescent moon, illuminating the part of the room he is currently turned away from while sleeping.

He doesn’t lock his windows, because why would he.

Wren opens it, trying to be quiet, and slips in. It's embarrassing, but she's grateful for the night light.

Pal tosses a bit in his sleep. By the soft light, she can see he sleeps without a shirt on. He has more scars covering his body than last time she saw him... But they take the form of little bits of him that have Moonstone’s skin tone and texture, and lines tracing the separation. 

She reaches out and feels one of the scars. The difference in the two skin types.

Pal’s skin feels soft. Squishy and warm. Moonstone feels smooth. Almost too smooth. None of the soft micro hairs that all mammals have. A little cooler, but still alive. Like touching living marble, still pliable.
Pal’s eyes flicker.
In a burst of light, his form shifts. Twisting, equipping, and putting her gauntlets on as they form out of light.

Then Moonstone is on her feet on the bed, still blinking sleep from her eyes.
“Wren?”

Wren tries to keep a hand on him as she transforms, to feel what it's like.

The transformation is warm. And bright. You feel the texture of skin replaced as layer by layer Moonstone’s equipment is brought into existence.
“Wren you’re alive!” 

Moonstone shakes the sleep from her eyes.

“Am I dreaming?”

She takes her hand and places it over Wrens, holding it to her chest. 

Wren shakes her head no.
"I'm sorry."

Moonstone frowns.

“Wren, what’s wrong?”

She reaches out her other hand. Pauses, then looks for permission before she touches wren’s face. Then she looks over her with concern, a little confused.

“Do… Do you need blood? You don’t need to apologize, I can heal fast now. You can take whatever you need.”

She tilts her head a little. Baring her neck just a bit.

She does a slight nod to give permission, and her eyes linger on the exposed neck.
"It's not that. I was gone."

Moonstone places her hand on Wren’s cheek. A delicate hand, but much stronger than it should be. Moonstone looks Wren in her eyes. Then down over her, looking for any obvious wounds.

“And now you’re back. You’re safe. It’s okay.”

She rubs a thumb over Wren’s cheek. Her other hand keeps holding her hand to her chest.

“Did someone hurt you?” 

Wren laughs a little, but it sounds almost more like a sob.
"Yeah, god. Someone shot out my tongue and trapped me in another dimension. So I was, uh. I was out of the scene for a little bit."

Moonstone furrows her brow. 

She clearly wants to do something, but has the hesitation that comes from knowing Wren is a particular kind of sensitive.

“I… I want to hug you. Is that okay?”
 
Wren takes a step towards Moonstone, and slowly buries her face in her neck. She's not biting, and she's freezing.

Moonstone wraps her arms around Wren’s and holds her close with one arm. With the other she strips off her helmet, and tosses it to the ground, letting her blue white hair fall down her back.

Then she reaches her other hand around to hold Wren.

“Hey. Hey. You’re okay. You are safe.”

Moonstone runs a hand over Wren’s back. A steady pressure, part pet, part trying to massage out tension in Wren’s back.

The response is a muffled: "You're so warm."

A little chuckle from Moonstone.

“I can turn the heat up if you want. Maybe run a warm bath? Whatever you need, okay?”

Still a bit muffled, Wren replies:
"I think I did something you won't like."

Moonstone pauses.

“And you feel bad about it? That’s why you’re here?”
Moonstone runs a hand over the back of Wren’s hair, continuing her soothing motions.

"I kept thinking about you. While it was happening."

Moonstone holds her tight. 

“You’re okay. You’re safe. You can tell me about it if you want.”

Moonstone lifts Wren momentarily, and she feels a sense of weightlessness. 

In a flash, she moves to the thermostats, and turns it up with one hand to make the apartment warm up.

Then moves to the window to shut it.

She keeps holding Wren as she does this. Seemingly unaffected by her weight

Wren buries herself deeper at the movement. Moonstone can probably feel a flash of fear as she starts moving before Wren relaxes again.
"I got back last month. From the, uh, other place. That I was. And I didn't reach out because I was scared that it had been too long that I was out there and maybe it would be better if I'd just died out there. But. I got back. Went on a contract. The job was, uh. I had to eat [spoilers for contract]."

Moonstone stiffens. Then she keeps rubbing her back.

“You are safe. 
What a fucked up contract… what happened?”

"Um. I won. The other contractors on it blew each other up."

Moonstone lets out a breath. She is still for a bit.

"Yeah, that sounds like what would happen. Contractors..."

Moonstone keeps holding Wren as she trails off.

"That's fucked. I'm so sorry..."

Another pause.

"Do you regret it?"

"She wanted me to do it. To eat [spoilers]."
 
"Oh fuck."

Moonstone keeps rubbing Wrens back.

"Well... That's a fucked up situation."

Moonstone gives Wren a little squeeze.

"I don't hate you or anything. For being in that situation. I'm still safe for you. If you want to talk about how you felt, the decisions you made, what else you could do, or anything I'm happy to talk, and be a support system for you about this.

You are safe with me Wren. It's okay. But we don't need to talk about that now."

"It's just. That's kind of like you, right? I broke into your apartment and you immediately offered me your blood. That can't be right."

Moonstone starts to shrug, but stops because Wren is on her shoulder.

"I thought you would need it. It seems pretty straightforward to me. It's not like... I'm not sure what motivated that girl."

Moonstone runs her hands down the back of Wrens neck, combing her hair some with her fingers, and pressing her into her neck.

"Sometimes people need the help of others.  I've needed it before. 

I feel protective of you. So... If you need help, I want to be one of the people you can ask for it from." 

"So it's okay to hurt you because you think I need to?"
Wren finally actually hugs back instead of just pressing into Moonstone, tight.

"I don't actually mind pain when I'm like this. And I'm giving you consent. That's what makes it okay. If you want to."

Moonstone turns her face towards the side of Wrens face, her cheek touching her cheek.

"I'm tough. Pain didn't bother me much before, and it barely bothers me now. I like being able to help you."

"But she consented. And now she's dead. I killed her."

Moonstone frowns. 

“You wouldn’t kill me. I’m very hard to kill…  I wouldn’t let you kill me… This girl probably needed psychological help…
Do you regret that you killed her?”

"I think so. I've killed people before, but... I don't know, I always felt like I needed to, you know? This wasn't like that. This was me killing a stranger for a little boost."

Moonstone lets out a sigh. Relief.

“Okay. Then you did something you regret. In a stressful situation, where people were dying and exploding, and when someone very powerful offered you something for it.

That you regret it shows that you still care. Whatever else is changing in you, you still don’t want to kill innocent people.

You made a mistake. A mistake in a tense fucked up situation. It’s clearly hurting you. 

For now, you are safe. I got you. You can take all the time you need to process it. Think about how you can make it better next time. Not have to make that same choice.”

"I still want to kill people, though. The uh. The guy that trapped me. I have a plan to hunt him down and torture him. I didn't want to see you until after, because."

A deep breath into Moonstone's neck.

"And then after him, I was gonna go after that guy I told you about before. My ex."

Her hands on Moonstone's back clench and dig into it a bit. Probably not painful for the likes of Moonstone, but a normal person's skin might have broken from the nails.

"But they are just living their lives. That guy that trapped me, it was him or me, you know? He had a family here to get back to. I don't know. How can I be upset that someone killed me if I'm just going around killing other people, right? How do I justify that to myself? How do I do that knowing that you're a goddamn hero and you think I'm worth it?"

Moonstone draws her face back a bit slowly, but stays close, her nose centimeters from Wren’s skin. If she turned she would bump their noses together.

“Some people are dangerous. And those people need to be fought sometimes. And sometimes killed. I had to make someone die on my last contract. I needed to in order to save a little girl.  Some people are too far gone.

But most people are worth it.”

Moonstone swallows.

“Wren I know you are worth it. You have had to deal with more than most, and that is hard. Wanting to hurt people that hurt you is normal. But don’t tell yourself that you are a killer. You aren’t. You are hurt, and violence is an appealing tool. Sometimes it’s the best one. It is one is use a lot. But it’s a tool. Not who you are.”

Wren has her eyes closed.
"If I'm not a killer, what's left?"

Moonstone leans forward, touching her forehead to Wren’s.

“You are. You don’t need to know who that is right now.”
Moonstone’s breath smells minty. Like someone used too much toothpaste since they don’t have a sense of smell or taste.

Still keeping her eyes closed, Wren smiles a little, and sniffles.
"Do you brush your teeth as Moonstone? Or does it transfer over?"

“Pretty sure it transfers. Why?”

"It's nice. Minty fresh."
She looks like she's trying not to laugh, now, instead of trying to not cry.

“Oh? Oh!” 

Moonstone blushes a little, heat and blood rushing to her skin.

“Yeah, I uh. Stopped being able to smell or taste a while back. So. I don’t get any warning with oral hygiene. Uhhh. So maybe I overdo it.”
Moonstone chuckles through her embarrassment.

Wren nods in response, a dangerous movement with their foreheads pressed together like that.
"I can't taste anything but blood these days, but. Still got smells. I, uh. I like yours. Safe."

Moonstone grins. 

“What a deal we’ve made with the world.”

A softer voice. A little vulnerable.

“I. I’m glad you like mine. I want you to feel safe with me…”

Moonstone swallows. 

“I … I missed you. I was really worried.”

"I do. And, I missed you too. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I didn't know what I wanted."

Moonstone blushes more. She focuses 

“What do you want?”

"I want to keep feeling things. The sun... I don't remember if I talked to you about it, but the sun is one of the only times I really feel things anymore. Not great things from the sun, mind you. But the sun, blood... and you."

Moonstone swallows.

“I uh. You were gone for a while. I … I want to kiss you.”

Moonstone starts talking a little quickly and rambling.

“But I also went on a date a few days ago, and we aren’t exclusive, but she said to tell her if I have anyone else, and I like that principle, so I didn’t want to try and kiss you without telling you first. And I also didn’t want you to think I would stop letting you drink my blood, or helping you or believing in you to anything if you say no to letting me kiss you now and …”

Wren's eyes finally open again.
"What?"
She takes a half step back, which might be impossible if Moonstone doesn't pick up on it and lets her go enough to allow that.

Moonstone’s arms are like rock for a fraction of a second, then lets Wren go. Her arms drift in the air at the height to hold Wren again.

“I. I just. I wanted to kiss you. But I didn’t want you to feel like I lied to you. Or…”

Moonstone blushes.
“I thought about you a lot. I told her about you. But I thought you were dead. And I didn’t know if…”

Moonstone takes a breath.

“I’m sorry. I’m making this about me and what I want. I shouldn’t have.”

Wren licks her lips, looking at Moonstone's.
"That's okay. I... You can want things. You're allowed to have wants and. And needs. That's not bad."
She shakes her head a little as she says that last part.

“But it’s… you’ve just been through something awful. I want to be safe for you. This isn’t something that I need to talk about now.”

Moonstone takes a slow step forward. Looking at Wren to see if that is okay.

Wren doesn't take a step back again. She trembles a little and makes a whining sound in the back of her throat.
"But there's someone else now. That's okay. I get that. It happens. I was gone. You thought I was dead. We didn't—I wasn't—."

“I… we went on one date a few days ago. I… Wren …”

Little tears form at the edge of Moonstone's eyes.

“Please, can I hold you again Wren?”

Her lips are pressed closed, but she gives a short nod.
 
Moonstone moves forward, and wraps her arms around Wren, holding her close with strong arms.

“You are safe. It’s okay. I’m sorry. I got you.”

Quietly, Wren asks:
"Is she pretty? And nice? She probably doesn't even kill people does she?"
She makes a sort of sob-laugh noise again, like she's asking that last part as a joke but is still afraid of the answer.

“She… she’s nice. She doesn’t like… this me. Moonstone. Or. It’s too much like a child… I. I’m not sure how I feel about that. She likes Pal though. 

She was a solider. Killed a lot of people, but is trying to change. Like you … I guess I sort of have a type.”

Moonstone burrows her face into Wrens shoulder.

“I just. She liked me, and wanted me and she asked, and if I had known you were alive I wouldn’t have… Or I would have talked to you, I guess, since we had… something. There is an intimacy between us from what we shared. And neither of us got to asking the other. But…”

Moonstone turns to hiss under her breath at the empty room 

“Not now Pascal!”

“It. It’s not… if you wanted me. If you wanted to be… something like… if I could be your boy… girl… something friend. I would tell her, and we would be just friends.

Because I like you Wren. Have for a while.” 

"You're as goddamned crazy as I am. You might also just be the best thing that's ever happened to me."
She starts to nod and hold Moonstone tighter again.
"You want me? I'm yours."

Moonstone cups Wren’s face in a hand, and kisses her.