[FELID_FACTOR]

[skinstealer]

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Tansy- 4/13/416

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????: Good news, Tansy. Your vitals all seem normal for what you’ve just been through.
 

Tansy lets her legs dangle off of the examination table, the omen type’s hair falling into her face as she tilts her head. 

TANSY: No weird blips on the machines?
????: Not a one. You’re the perfect image of health, all things considered.
TANSY: Like, not even anything minor?
????: Not anything that picks up on our scans. 
????: Why, have you been experiencing anything out of the ordinary for the nullification process?
 

She runs through the checklist in her head. It’d been a few weeks since the process had begun, and her decision to take the slow and steady route had cost her pretty much her entire life savings and then some- and the whole time, they drilled every step into her at every appointment. She’d be weaker for sure at first, but the vitamin supplements and body modifications they’d give her would help balance that out. She had already gone through the weight loss and looked even scarier than usual, but now she was back to normal, if not looking better than ever. Chronic pain and depression were highly likely and those going away weren’t nearly as feasible, but there was still a chance they could be treated. 

There were the nightmares, but that couldn’t be relevant. This is a positive change, and those were of something long past- something related to how horrible her ability was, and now she’s free of it.  

TANSY: Nope, not really!
TANSY: I’ve been a liiiittle paranoid here and there, but hearing about the scans cleared my head right up.
TANSY: Just needed that last bit of reassurance.
 

The doctor nods, looking over their paperwork. 

????: You’ll just need one last appointment after this to make sure everything’s in tip top shape, and then you’re done.
????: How does it feel?
 

If she could have smiled, she would have given him a wide grin.

TANSY:  Never better!

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Click.

GLYCON: I love it. Give me some over the shoulder next.
 

Click.

GLYCON: Ladder pose.
 

Click. 

GLYCON: Perfect. Beautiful. Radiant. You want eyes in this next shot, yeah?
TANSY: You know it.
 

Click.

Tansy collapses onto the couch, fumbling for the conveniently placed bottle of water Glycon left her as she waves her trusty photographer goodbye. They’d have to catch up later, but the gorgon type has a bus to catch...family troubles and all. Her phone starts buzzing in her purse, getting a groan out of her as she has to reach all the way across the cushions. 

[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS] is online.
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: ohhhh my god.
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: you. will not believe this.
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: tansy. pick up your phone whenever you’re done with your shoot. you will flip.
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: just got off work...what’s up?
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: wait, don’t you usually hang out with the snakes?
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: glyc’s got family shit tonight, something about one of the younger ones not doing great in school. 
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: school? they believe in that?
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: yeah...trying one of those old corvice things, i guess? it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me either
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: weird. hope that goes okay for them.
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: same! i think it’ll be ok tho
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: soooooooooo
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: spill
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: ok ok ok. so, guess who decided to show up in my DMs?
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: oh, god. who now?
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: you have to guess!
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: please do not make me guess
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: guess!
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: no offense lily but there are too many candidates for creepy people who could be DMing you
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: ugh, you’re no fun.
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: anyway, it’s kristoff again, under a new handle.
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: get a load of this: [DIAMOND_BLADE].
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: ew
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: his sword collection is iron at best!
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: didn’t he like, spend your entire spawnday talking about them after you made all these plans and everything?
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: yes.
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: wow
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: anyway, he wants free pictures- but wait, there’s more.
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: oh no
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: he wants free pictures of me…
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: POSING WITH HIS SWORDS!
 

Tansy stops drinking, somehow doing the closest thing a TCP can get to choking. 

[BEWITCHING_EYES]: no!
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: yes!
[BEWITCHING_EYES]: what did you say?!
[DELIGHTFUL_THINGS]: oh, considering he stalked me for weeks after i broke up with him? fuck off and die. the usual.
 

Tansy makes a noise akin to a sigh of relief, glad to see that Lily has a handle on things...she always knows just what to do with internet hecklers. God knows she got enough of them, what with all the creepy stalker exe’s. 

That resilience was something she envied, a little bit.

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The vacuum always grated on her senses, but it’s the fastest way to clean the house, and definitely the most thorough- it was a gift from Glycon, new tech made specially for TCPs, complete with adjustable size settings. Cleaning the house was a chore no matter what, but it was something to do that wasn’t endlessly scrolling the forums, and that...was definitely more unpleasant than the loud noise coming from the appliance.  

Modeling was something she enjoyed more than any other work for sure, and magazines were taking her professional pictures, but the spares she posted online to Felid Factor...those got negative press. She got the feeling that some of the newer users with no other comments aside from the ones on her profile may have tracked her down from her work with the more well known mags, and while she wanted to believe that her infamy was only in this small, online space...it was entirely possible that the magazines were only getting her pictures for the controversy’s sake.

All attention is good attention in the model business, isn’t that right?

A sharp pain shoots through her side and she nearly drops the vacuum hose, struggling to keep an upright stance. It’s not the first time it’s happened since the nullification process, but it’s fine, it’s just...the chronic pain. There’s nothing they can do about that, so there’s no point in bringing it up, and even if she did, they’d just extend the appointments...draining her money and cutting into her work time.

She takes a moment to get her bearings, the vacuum droning on as she lets the world come back into focus. It all shifts back into place and she’s back where she’s supposed to be, and everything is fine.

It’s all good. 

Never stop hustling.

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