After her (likely last) interaction with Agnes, Rebecca was still processing everything. She knew Agnes had become different, but the new Agnes was truly nothing like the woman Rebecca used to love. Relationships and dynamics could change, but the Agnes she knew could not be that cruel. Maybe she was an imposter or maybe something just snapped, but she would have to see Agnes as someone new now. Someone who was not safe to keep around.

Of course, Agnes was not the only thing in her mind. The dark-haired seductress's words were still playing in her head, making her bring things into question. What had really happened with Maya and Agnes? Clearly, it felt like a made-up jab to toy with the redhead's emotions, but why? Agnes would know Rebecca could ask Maya about it. Maybe she was just looking to start a fight by sowing doubt. It was better Rebecca push the concerns from her mind and moved forward.

Except she kept looking at her phone. And every time she saw the message window marked "Maya/Gawain <3" she felt a pit in her stomach. It was stupid. Maya did not sleep with Agnes. Even if she did, it was not Rebecca's place to judge. It was not worth thinking about, and yet all she could do was think and overthink.

Eventually, she picked her phone back up and sent a message.

Hey... can we talk? Can you make it over here?

This was a terrible idea and she couldn't stop herself.

Becca had been... a little off, lately. Mirror make sure to give her some space, but maybe space wasn't the problem. Becca knew that they were friends first; if she wanted to talk about something, anything really, she could always talk to Mirror.
But recently... she didn't.

Which meant that the cause of the strange mood was either Mirror him/herself... or something Becca could not talk about. The mood came and went, and the mirrorwalker could not figure it out.

Hey... can we talk? Can you make it over here?

So, when she got the text about Becca wanting to talk... Maya hope that this time, they were actually going to do some talking.

"Be right there." she texted back, before she hopped into the nearest mirror, and made her way to Becca's apartment. It was not a terribly long trip, and barring some shifting surfaces, she knew the way pretty well. She knocked on the hallway mirror when she arrived. Even with Becca, she did not like barging in on people.

"Did someone here order a mirrorwalker?"

It felt bad keeping things from Mirror, but Becca had been doing just that. She had been off ever since Agnes started giving her the cold shoulder, and while they were the person who played a big role in breaking Becca out of her funk, she did not talk to them about what had been happening with Agnes. She didn't tell anyone; maybe she did not want to deal with other people pointing out the obvious: that her relationship with Agnes had turned unhealthy and controlling, far beyond the respectable rules of even a BDSM-founded relationship. There was kink and there was abuse, and they had veered hard into abuse.

A knock came at Becca's door and she shook her head, smiling weakly. She understood not popping into the living room; Raine could be home and Maya would scare the everloving heck out of the young blonde. Becca had told Maya she was welcome to pop into her bedroom mirror, but the gendershifter was too much of a gentle(wo)man.

Becca opened the door and looked Maya in the eyes. There was a little flutter in her chest; that was becoming a regular occurrence when she saw Mirror lately. Of course, the sinking feeling that came along with it was new. "Nice tae see ye, Maya." She moved in and gave Maya a hesitant kiss, her nerves betraying her. She took the other woman's hand. "Come in," she added, leading Maya inside and closing the door.

"Hey"

Maya smiled a little as Becca kissed her. Even when she was in a weird mood like this, it was nice to see her. She allowed the redhead to lead her into the living room, wondering what this was going to be about. She had some worries, and some fears, and also some suspicions, but she was not going to jump into any conclusions. It was easier to hear Becca out.
She kept hold of her hand, though.

"So... you said you wanted to talk? Did you mean... talk..." it would not have been the first time their talk did not involve actual talking... "... or actual talk?"

The idea of just pushing aside her concerns and just losing herself in Maya was incredibly tempting, but she knew they actually needed to talk, rather than just "talk." She clearly invited Maya over because something was on her mind, and ignoring the issue until it went away was impractical and rude. No one received a "can we talk" text without making some assumptions about what the conversation would be about.

Becca led them into the living room and took a seat on the couch. She still had Maya's hand, and for the time being, she wanted to keep it, her thumb gently brushing the back of Maya's hand. "Sae... um... Ah didnae really think abit hoo tae ask ye abit this," she admitted. It was just like when she broke up with Nessa; Becca had a bad habit of doing no mental preparation for potentially difficult conversations.

Unexpectedly, she found herself chuckling a little. "It's probably stupid, honestly. Ah cannae believe Ah'm asking at aw, bit ye ne'er slept wi' Agnes, richt?" Even saying it out loud, Becca was realizing it was dumb to ask; Agnes was screwing with her to get in her head. She would apologize to Becca for getting crazy and worked up over nothing once they cleared this all up.

Becca still herd her hand, running her thumb over her skin. Yes, they were going to talk, and judging from the nervous look in Becca's eyes, it had to be something serious. This was the point when someone in an actual relationship would start worrying about breaking up. Or pregnancy.
Maya took a deep breath, refusing her thoughts to run away with her. It was definitely not a breakup. Maybe. She arched an eyebrow as Becca noted she did not know how to... talk about it. There were a million possibilities, and without any pointers, Maya could not help either.
And when she asked the actual question... Maya's eyebrows ran up.

"I... what?" she blinked in shock "Agnes? Like, Agnes Agnes?... Becca..." sleep with Agnes?... Her?... Wait, Agnes was still in town? Maya felt deeply confused by the question. "I did not... no. Definitely not. What makes you even ask that?" she chuckled, shaking her head.

It felt like such a crazy topic to broach, because the idea that Agnes and Maya would sleep together felt absurd. Even before her personality change, Agnes never saw eye to eye with Gawain. It was always a point of contention they collectively pushed past because Rebecca loved Agnes and Gawain was an important part of Rebecca's life. Why would she sleep with Maya of all people?

Well, because she was some kind of manipulative, scheming succubus who used sex as a weapon now. On second thought, Rebecca had valid reasons to worry that Agnes might be telling the truth about what happened. It was hard to predict her now, and for all Rebecca knew, anything she said or done could have been a lie or a trick or a calculated move.

At least now Rebecca could rest her mind, and took that opportunity to rest her head on Maya's shoulder as they sat on the couch. She heaved a sigh of relief. "Okay, fantastic. Ah'm sae sorry, loch Ah said, it was stupid. She's jist been sae different since she's been back. Sneaky, manipulative, cruel." Controlling, sexually domineering. "When she said saimthing abit yer trip tae one ay th' Safe Hooses, Ah guess Ah started tae think she micht be tellin' th' truth." She chuckled, shrugging her shoulders. "In 'at new body ay hers, it woods've been hard tae blame ye. Bit as lang as ye've nae slept wi' any black-haired bombshells lately, Ah think Ah was woond up fer naithing." She needed to stop letting Agnes get in her head.

Problem solved.

Maya smiled as Becca rested her head on her shoulder. She wished all problems could be solved so easily: Instead of worrying and sulking, just ask the question, and receive an honest answer. Did she sleep with Becca's ex? No, she did not. From the sound of it, Agnes had changed a lot lately, for the worse, which was reason enough for worry in itself.
So, Maya was happy to reassure Becca that she had not, in fact, banged the bug queen in a... safe house?... In a new... body...

Maya's own body tensed up for a long moment as ice-cold, sinking realization washed over her.

".... F**K!"

In retrospect, the wings should have been a giveaway.

After months of letting Agnes toy with her and manipulate her, it was refreshing to realize she had made it out from under the seductress's thumb. It was clearly just a desparate attempt to instill one last bout of insecurity between Rebecca and the healthy relationship in her life. Becca relaxed, feeling that concern slipping away.

And then, suddenly, her body tightened up again her expression froze. The warmth of the room felt like it died away, leaving an uncomfortable chill in its place. It took several seconds before she slowly pulled away from Maya's shoulder. She was unsure of what she was even feeling in that moment when she met Maya's eyes. Her voice was even when she asked the question again.

"Maya... did ye really sleep wi' my evil, manipulative ex-girlfriend?"

Maya could feel Becca's body tense up as well. She did not need to elaborate all that much; her own reaction was probably indication enough that the false sense of security they had both lulled themselves into was done and gone.
But really... Agnes? How could she not notice? Maya rewound the events of that day, from rescue to... well, bed, and tried to look for clues that would have given the whole thing away. Why would Agnes do something like that? They never really liked each other. Why would she...

>>"Maya... did ye really sleep wi' my evil, manipulative ex-girlfriend?"

.... as Becca sat up, Maya leaned forward, rubbing her face with both hands in frustration. "She said her name was Abigail..." she muttered. Wings. Hot body. Totally different look. "What the hell, Becca? Why does she even have a new body?! And why on earth would she hit on me at all?!"

Becca felt like she could hear Agnes’s sultry voice laughing at her in the distance, taunting her. She had been willing to give up so much for the raven-haired succubus, but she had drawn her line in the sand when Agnes asked her to give up Mirror. Becca could not bring herself to drop the person who had brought her back out of her recent depression, and it stopped Becca from putting herself entirely under Agnes’s sway.

It only made sense that, if there was one good, healthy thing in Rebecca’s life, Agnes had already found a way to leave her wicked imprint on it.

Apparently Agnes gave her a fake name, which made the whole thing feel even dirtier. Becca’s head felt foggy as Maya asked several valid questions. ”Ah dinnae, she said it was saimthing ‘at happened wi’ her mutation. She ended up in a cocoon. Ah guess Ah shoods hae questioned ‘at mair, since she’s a damn evil butterfly,” she grumbled. ”An’ who knows why she’d dae it. Tae fuck wi’ ye? Tae fuck wi’ me. Ah thocht she was jist wrappin’ me aroond her finger, bit apparently she’s jist usin’ her wiles oan whoe’er micht fancy a go wi’ a busty brunette they dornt e’en know.” Okay, maybe that sounded bitchier than Maya deserved. Rebecca had no claim on Maya and she had no clue what she was doing when she slept with Agnes. They were both just pawns in an insect queen’s sex games.

Agnes had cocooned herself, and emerged as a hot brunette evil butterfly.

That was news to Maya, but it did not sound like it was news to Becca. At all. The mirrorwalker looked up, eyebrows raised, and Becca explained the situation the best she could. Which was not all that good at all. Agnes was messing with people, using her (definitely increased) wiles to wrap them around her finger. Including Becca.
Mostly Becca.

Maya sensed some bitterness in the last comment, and she sighed heavily, sitting back on the couch. "Becca, why didn't I even know about any of this? How long have you been seeing Evil Agnes?..."

Rebecca was annoyed with Maya; perhaps even upset, which was ridiculous. She could not expect the gendershifter to have some kind of inherent sense of Agnes’s true identity. How could Maya detect her trickery when Rebecca was so blind to what was really happening. Maybe she justified it because she was always going to have a weakness for Agnes, while Maya evidently just got charmed by a dark-haired stranger.

Of course, Maya was not deaf or dumb and she picked up on obvious implications left behind by Becca’s comments. Suddenly, it was hard to be angry when she now had to defend herself and was coming up empty. She pulled up her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. ”It’d been since late Autumn. Ah didnae tell ye coz it was… well, nae exactly th’ type ay thing ye tell someain abit. She jist wore me doon til Ah couldnae resist.” Now Mirror’s one night stand didn’t sound so bad.

Rebecca was basically talking into her lap with her forehead pressed against her knees, but she did keep on talking. ”Ah didnae realize she was evil. Jist… different. Bit Ah jist accepted it. Ye know Ah can hae a blind spot wi’ Agnes,” she admitted shamefully, annoyed that her old feelings got in the way of her common sense. ”She had me til last nicht. She kept changin' th’ rules and force me to give mair and mair up, an’ she went tae far. Tha’s when she turned oan me an’ showed me who she really became.” It was still hard to accept that the sweet, timid young violinist she fell in love with had become some kind of conniving, remorseless bitch, but the evidence was now plainly in front of her.

Late autumn.

That meant... even with a quick count, Becca had been back with her evil ex for months, and Maya did know anything about it. It was... hard to swallow. Not like they were actually a couple, or that they owed each other any information about other flings or relationships. Not like Maya told Becca about the brunette. It wasn't that kinda thing.

And yet... and yet, Becca was in some kind of a messed-up third reboot of her relationship with Agnes. Except, Agnes was now objectively an evil, manipulative insect queen, who also seduced Maya for fun.
Or for something even more sinister.

Maya sighed, reaching out to put a hand on Becca's shoulder. "Did she hurt you?"

In the heat of the moment, Rebecca was frustrated with Maya, but with the tables turned, she was quickly reminded that she was being quite the hypocrite.She was dragging her baggage with Agnes along for months in secret, living some kind of double life. They were explicit with the terms of their relationship: they were not exclusive and did not owe each other explanations. Maybe after the club, it was just setting in that their arrangement was no longer Becca’s ideal.

And right away, Maya seemed to be the better person, because her first reaction was to place a reassuring hand on Becca’s shoulder and care for her well-being. Guilt hit her, because she had no right to act bitter toward the one woman who actually cared and had done nothing to intentionally hurt her.

Unlike Agnes. ”She… it was nae loch she was strikin’ me, an’ we had a… different dynamic. Ah thocht we were jist saimthing new. Ah didnae loove her, bit… she made me feel loch Ah needed her.” She could not claim she knew how to distinguish healthy and unhealthy behaviors when she and Agnes started their new arrangement, but the distinction was becoming clearer the more distance she had. ”She was conditionin’ me tae need her approval, an’ made me feel worthless withit it. She put me in positions waur Ah had tae neglect mah responsibilities, an’ if Ah didnae, she’d punish me by shunnin’ me.

“What we had… Ah willnae pretend Ah wasnae conceding saim control tae her.” Maybe it was embarrassment or maybe Rebecca could just not handle Maya’s judgment in that moment, but she did not want to spell out the nature of her relationship with Agnes. ”Bit she misused an’ abused it. Ah was being manipulated an’ gaslit, an’ Ah was sae blind tae it coz she made me think Ah was th’ ain in th’ wrang.”