[backdated/for Tegan]

[lowtohigh.livejournal.com]

It's getting better. Every day is less of a challenge. Things are becoming safe, secure, in their new terms and circumstances. The sun keeps rising.

And rises just the same as every other day on the first day that Lancelot is officially replaced.

Really, Eileen ought to have found Tegan sooner. It's simply that the act of substitution isn't easy, even if it isn't a replacement. So it takes time before she asks the older woman to come to her office, for the first time not as Eileen asking Tegan, but as the Ace of Clubs requesting her Jack.

Comments

[graceandwit.livejournal.com]

"We all have plenty to keep us occupied, it's true --" Argine had already gone so far as to warn her that she probably wouldn't be up to par for a while and she had already made the necessary adjustments in her schedule to allow for that.

"But, I think that part of what makes us so great as a Suit is that, when times are at their most difficult, we tend to pull together. Wouldn't you agree?"

[lowtohigh.livejournal.com]

It's not the only reason Tegan's been picked, of course, but the relief of hearing that assurance--something Clubs children are taught from a young age about what made their Suit particularly strong--still brings a level of clarity to the young Ace's brow. Tegan can't replace Lancelot, but she's not going to be such a far cry as a new version of Jack of Clubs.

"Absolutely." Still, her hands shift again, elbows settling onto the desk as she rest her chin in her palms. "Which means it's not only for you to be supporting me, Tegan, but for me to do..." Her lips thin briefly. "...the best I can, at any rate, to make myself a help to you. Particularly now. Wouldn't you agree to that as well?"

[graceandwit.livejournal.com]

Lancelot had been a good Jack but more importantly he had been a good man - and that was what counted in the end. She would do her best to ensure that the Suit endured - no, not simply endured but flourished. Which they would do, in time.

Tegan smiled, bright and genuine. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

[lowtohigh.livejournal.com]

"I'm certain will strike on the right balance, then." Of Acely duties, of course--because that had become part of the Jack's role, just as it had the King's and Queen's--and of the simple realigning from Card and Face to the strange mix of coworker and caretaker that the Upper Clubs all came to find with Eileen.

"And... I do hope you'll understand if this... takes some time."

[graceandwit.livejournal.com]

"It's entirely understandable."

It goes without saying that Eileen won't be the only one having to adjust. Tegan will learn, and intends to do so as quickly as she is able, but for the moment they will both have to be patient with one another.

"It will be all right, you know. In the end."

[lowtohigh.livejournal.com]

"In the end, yes," she agrees with a slight bob of her head. "And functional far sooner than that."

Was, frankly, feeling fairly functional now, for all that her stomach felt slightly tense and her mind was working overtime to remind itself that this was the new 'way things are.'

"You'd not have been picked if you weren't suited to be precisely here, Tegan." It's a step, really, realizing she's dropped the honourific again. Comforting, really. "And we've all the wish to see you succeed."