Taweret

This arc continues on from the finale so you have been warned for spoilers.

Layla's life could be weird, sometimes. Admittedly she'd come to that conclusion while fighting a cult in fancy dress while a god with a bird skull fought a kaiju crocodile overhead, but it hadn't stopped being true, even if not always to the same extent.

For starters there was her husband, and then the guy her husband sometimes became, which was complicated enough as it was. There were a lot of things to talk about, and work out, boundaries to set and plans to make, but she hoped they could find some way to make it work again.

She'd only seen Khonshu briefly, but she could barely imagine living with that thing in your head.

And, in the continuing parade of weirdness that was Layla's life, there was the hippopotamus in her bathroom. She'd turned on the shower, let the water warm, and pulled off her shirt before she noticed anything amiss. It had been a long day, and a long day meant freshening up. Her shirt was on the floor, her bra had been taken off the moment she'd walked in the front door, and she dropped her pants to the floor as she turned around.

"Hiii!" Taweret said.

Layla screamed. She crossed her arms at once, stumbling back a little and bumping into the base of her shower. Face hot, she glowered at the goddess.

"Bad time, much?" Layla said.

"Is it?" Taweret said. "I just get so bored, barely anyone comes to the Duat these days. How's my bestest avatar?"

Taweret barely seemed to fit in the cramped bathroom; her head scraped against the ceiling, and her hippo-bulk stretched from wall to wall. Even hunched a little, she practically emanated exuberance.

Awkwardly, Layla shifted in front of her - she had her arms crossed, a palm covering each breast, though she quickly adjusted to have just one arm across them so that she could crouch and hastily tug up her pants. She fastened them with one hand, quickly hiding her panties and a hint of black hair, before returning to crossing her arms.

Deep breath. She managed to speak more levelly when she next addressed the goddess.

"So, other than interrupting my shower," Layla said. "How's that whole 'ending this relationship' thing going?"

Taweret managed a very convincing sad face despite being a hippo. Layla stayed firm.

"Oh," Taweret said, moping. "You meant that?"

"The deal was that this was temporary," Layla said. "I needed to help Marc, but I'm not swearing myself to some ancient goddess. You said it was temporary."

"I know," Taweret said. "If you're sure..."

"I'm sure," Layla said. She hesitated, voice softening. "Look, maybe if we need your help again, and you listen when I call on you..."

Taweret squeaked excitedly, clapping. The bathroom shook.

"Marc said it was easy to end his deal with Khonshu," Layla said. "You just say, right?"

"Oh, Khonshu, right," Taweret said. Her voice trailed off.

"Taweret?"

"Well it might be easy if he has another avatar lined up ready," Taweret said. "Or a group of other avatars to call upon to sever the connection, if the avatar's unwilling to relinquish power. Plus he's, er, more practiced with having avatars than me."

"Taweret," Layla said. "Do you actually know how to end this? I can't keep having you appear when I'm trying to take a shower."

"Oh, no, I know!" Taweret said. "It's just a little bit tricky. There are a couple of ways, without other avatars to call upon - we could wait for the other gods to find replacements, of course. It's probably just a few months."

Layla did have a () soft spot for the excitable hippo, all things considered. She also had a slowly reburgeoning relationship with her husband, and the idea of a hippo being able to appear in the room with her any time for the next few months, or constantly being afraid that said hippo would show up of her own accord, was...

"Nuh-uh, no, sooner the better," Layla said.

Taweret did the hippopotamous equivalent of a pout.

"Listen, you're nice," Layla said. "But I don't need to be worrying about all this 24/7. It's not you, it's me."

She gestured vaguely with one arm, then flushed and snapped it back across her chest. Okay, bad time to get distracted.

"If you're certain, there are a couple of options," Taweret said. "There's a banishment spell - if it's okay with you, I'd really rather you didn't do that, it's fast but sends me away from you. Last time it broke my favorite headdress - plus we'd never be able to talk again, and I'd miss that."

"Okay, yeah," Layla said. She hesitated. "It doesn't have to be forever. I can be your avatar again if it's needed, but this wasn't meant to be a lifetime thing."

"Oh, well, that's a relief," Taweret said. "There are rituals for that, if you want to come to the Chamber of the Gods. There are a few ways to suppress the connection. Ooh, this'll be so much fun!"

Taweret turned around. Something rumbled, and Layla saw a stone door in her wall that she was pretty sure hadn't been there a moment ago.

"Now?!" Layla said.

"Are you doing anything else?" Taweret said. "It shouldn't take long, pinky promise!"

She lifted her hand, then stared at it for a second.

"Huh, I forgot I had those," she said.

"Okay, okay, now," Layla said. "Just let me put on my shirt."

Taweret waited happily; Layla raised her eyebrows, cheeks darkening, pointedly waiting for Taweret to turn her back. Eventually, the goddess took her hint and Layla crouched to pick up her shirt, pulling it down over her chest and adjusting it.

"There," Layla said. "Now, lead the way."

"Woo!" Taweret said cheerfully. "Day out for me and my avatar, this'll be so much fun. Ooh! Do you want to get matching t-shirts?"