My bunny slippers just ran for cover

[will_you_still]

Morgan doesn't strictly need to sleep. Even if she didn't want to put up with the annoyance of constantly having a caffeine buzz and having to ask for coffee on almost every summon, there are naps. Naps can keep a daeva going for quite a long time.

But there's something unutterably pleasant about curling up in a proper bed in pajamas and just sleeping. And then waking up and getting breakfast in those pajamas. So she does that, because immortality's a long unpleasant time if you don't enjoy the little things every now and then. Like adorable bunny slippers and soft pajamas and sleeping in.

She's midway through a fruity salad thing that counts as the standard fairy breakfast when she feels the summon. Showing up to a summon in pajamas? Eh. If they're proper summoners she bets they've seen worse, and she doesn't particularly care if they think she's unprofessional.

She puts her spoon down and accepts the summon.

Comments

[peterxy]

He blinks. "I wish I could say that surprises me but in hindsight it really does not."

[will_you_still]

"Yeah."

[peterxy]

Sigh. "And you believe if they didn't think the... incident... would cause problems, they would have joined?"

[will_you_still]

"I think what they wanted was to be a rogue of some kind, but I didn't really ask them for what-ifs, I was trying to understand things how they are now. Now they'd like to be a rogue that gets along well enough with the Protectorate and isn't going to be thrown in jail or forced to do anything that they don't want to do."

[peterxy]

"You understand that's no longer an option. They have in fact committed felonies."

[will_you_still]

"Yes, of course. But I was under the impression that probationary status on the Wards until they're eighteen, and then becoming a rogue that gets along well with the Protectorate is viable?"

[peterxy]

Reinhold spends a second thinking of a way of evading that question without outright lying, fails, and decides to be honest. "Yes, it's viable, and while it's a more desirable outcome than the present it's not altogether ideal. We're not so well-staffed that we can really afford to let people go like that."

[will_you_still]

"... I understand your interests," says Morgan, managing to be diplomatic and honest a lot faster than Reinhold managed it, "but Glam is unwilling to join the Wards at all if it means they have to join the Protectorate. Which means that they keep up being villainous. If you want to try to convince them to stay with the Protectorate after their probation's up, feel free, but misleading them about their available options is exactly the sort of thing Glam is afraid of. And I think if you attempted to, if they ever found out, you would have a much bigger problem than what you currently do now on your hands."

[peterxy]

He considers this, then nods. "Very well."

[will_you_still]

Morgan kind of sees where Glam is coming from on not wanting to join the Protectorate, if this kind of shit occurs a lot.

"So, Glam's birthday is in November, according to them. Is that when the Ward membership ends, or are you going to attempt to stretch it out to protect their secret identity...?"

[peterxy]

"We usually stretch it out for up to six months, and given that Glam's probationary that's likely what's going to happen."

[will_you_still]

"I'll see if they're okay with that," says Morgan. "But you can't stretch it out longer than six months?"

[peterxy]

"No, keeping a growing young adult for too long with their younger peers and not allowing them to move on is potentially damaging to their maturation and should be avoided," he recites from memory.

[will_you_still]

... That sounds like the Youth Guard throwing their influence around. Good for them.

"All right. Just making sure."

[peterxy]

He nods. "Was there anything else?"

[will_you_still]

"Yes, actually - what's your policy on nonbinary gender identities in the Wards? It wasn't in any of the pamphlets."

[peterxy]

"It is against our policies to take any action that suppresses or interferes with a Ward's gender identity or sexual identity. Should a Ward self-identify as one gender, the department should strive to assist in creating a costumed identity to match that gender," he once again recites from memory. That ruling is quite recent, and he doesn't mention that Glam's reactions to being misgendered were the spark that caused it to pass.

[will_you_still]

"All right," says Morgan, nodding. "I think that's everything. I'll make sure Glam's okay with the likely extra six months of probationary status, and then get back to you? But I think this'll work."

[peterxy]

He nods. "I'm glad we could reach an understanding."

[will_you_still]

"Me, too."

More pleasantries are exchanged, and then the meeting is adjourned. Morgan leaves the PHQ - she thinks she'll go pick up some coffee to keep herself from beginning to get sleepy, and then she'll give Glam a call.

(She has not slept in weeks.)

[mxglam]

Glam is faster than she is.

[will_you_still]

... That's some odd timing, there, but she answers her phone.

"Hey there," she says. "So, did you bug me with a listening device or do you have an extra power of perfect timing?"

[mxglam]

"The former!"

[will_you_still]

Snort. "Well, fair enough. Can't say I blame you. Did I look out for your interests to your satisfaction?"

[mxglam]

"Yes. And you can almost color me convinced that you're actually a good person."