Who: Karl and Eve What: Eve needs to confide in someone Where: Off-Broadway Tap Room When: truth plot Warnings: should be low, but definitely emotional Status: g-doc
After ensuring Hope would be okay with Nita for a few hours, Karl texted Eve. He wanted to check in on his friend, as they hadn’t talked much lately. Okay, it felt weird to use the term friend, but Karl honestly enjoyed time with Eve. Tonight, he suggested Off-Broadway. They could get some drinks and Karl could order some burgers.
After arriving, he picked a booth that lent itself to a quick exit if needed. Look, he’d lived as a mutt werewolf most of his life, so sometimes Karl still wanted to have the chance at a quick exit. He didn’t want to order until Eve arrived.
Eve hated the fact that it was getting cold, but at least she didn’t have to make an effort to be seen by people. She supposed it was an okay tradeoff.
As she walked into the bar, some people stared at her as she walked with a big sword attached as if by magic to her back. Eve was used to it by now, but she did give a few nods - she wondered if that made things worse?
When she got to the table, she took her sword and placed it beside her in the booth. “At least you don’t look entirely out of place here, Karl.” Eve paused - that hadn’t been what she meant to say, but out it came. Well… it was true, anyway.
Karl watched as Eve approached, blade on her back. He’d gotten used to the accessory by now and nodded his head as his friend approached.
At her comment, Karl paused, unsure how to answer. “It’s good to see you too, Eve. I don’t know how to take the comment.” He really didn’t know what to say. “Does the blade ever get heavy?”
“It’s technically a compliment, though admittedly veiled in a criticism.” Well Eve didn’t normally explain herself like that, even if it was true. “It means you dress well all the time and sometimes you don’t blend in.” Really, why the hell was she over-sharing?
She blinked, but focused on Karl’s question. “Not physically heavy, but carrying it around can get pretty tiring with the way the natives here look at me.” The refugees seemed to care less, no shocker there.
Karl sighed at her explanation. “Coming from you, I’ll take it. You’re not exactly known for the compliments.” Wait. Why did he just say that to Eve?
“I dress how I like to dress. Are you okay, Eve?” When she explained the blade the werewolf nodded. “That’s not really surprising.” The natives could bite him.
It was true. She had a hard time giving those out. Eve tried to work on it from time to time, but she was definitely a product of her upbringing and her mother rarely gave compliments out. When she did, they were for her magic and nothing more. Really, it was a wonder how she had managed to raise Savannah as well as she had before she died.
“Depends on how you define okay. I mean I’m still hot. I’m working on my relationship with Savannah and I haven’t messed up yet. But then there’s Kris who married another woman, had a child with her, and is still alive here which means he doesn’t have all the memories I do of him being with me in the afterlife.”
That was a lot for ‘I’m fine’ which is what she thought she had been about to say.
“What the hell.” She muttered it out this time, confused.
Karl heard stories about Eve’s mom and thought, altogether, Eve managed to raise a fairly well-adjusted child. Savannah might not be his favourite, but he still thought she’d turned out alright.
“It takes time, for you and Savannah.” Hell, it took years for Karl to feel comfortable joining the Pack after the mutt uprising. Almost a decade. “I’m sorry. About Kris. I don’t know how I’d feel if a similar thing happened with Hope.” He watched his friend for a moment. “I have no idea what’s happening.”
“I swear, if Leah somehow put a curse on me before she left…” She would find a way to find Leah again and torture her for days. Probably that was a dark thought, but it was the truth. “What I want to say is I’m fine -” She tried to clamp her mouth shut and was clearly having a bad time of it. It was like something was trying to jump out of her mouth. Suddenly she gasped for breath and out came the rest - “but that’s a lie since all I want is to be with Kris again.”
Fuck.
Her hands went to her mouth and she looked like she wished the ground would swallow her up.
Karl blinked twice and felt a lot of sympathy for Eve. A lot a lot. “I don’t think it’s Leah.” Maybe the werewolf hadn’t been here very long, but he felt pretty confident this was more Dome bullshit.
“I’m sorry Eve. I don’t know what to say, but it must be fucking difficult to be in this situation.” Made worse by the fact they came from two extremely different points in the timeline. What would have happened if he showed up to find Hope lived here for years and had a different family?
“It sucks, that’s for sure.” At least that was easy to admit even if she hadn’t wanted to talk about the rest. “And this Dome can bite me. If it can force me to say this stuff, there’s no reason why I can’t just be corporeal twenty-four-seven.” This she had thought several times as well.
She looked at Karl. “Please don’t tell Kris. Or Savannah.” She wanted to leave it at that, but she heard her voice continue, “They know I still love him, but I’ve been pretending to be okay with this whole ‘moving on’ thing and I’d like them to keep thinking that.”
“I won’t. I promise you, Eve, as your friend I won’t tell them.” Unless the Dome fucked with them, then all bets were off. “The Dome can bite both of us.”
“Have you thought about talking to someone, Eve? Because gotta be honest pretending to be okay sounds fucking exhausting.” Karl wouldn’t generally say these things, but he meant them. Really meant them.
“You mean like a therapist?” Eve balked at him. It wasn’t that Eve didn’t believe in therapy, but Eve was one of those people who hated talking about herself most of the time… especially when it was introspective. When she was younger she’d brag about her skills all the time, but therapy was, well, scary.
She sighed and rubbed her face. “Am I really that far gone to need one?” Another sigh. “You’re right… it is fucking exhausting.”
“No, I don’t think you’re fargone. But, I do think it might help you navigate these feelings.” Karl raked fingers through his hair. “Because it sounds like hoping it goes away isn’t working.”
He considered his next words carefully. “I think…I wish I’d had someone I could talk to after Malcolm killed my dad.” The days and months after had been brutal for the fifteen year old Karl.
Eve didn’t know Malcolm personally, but she knew him from stories and that was enough to know she’d hate the man if she met him. He sounded like a lot of other idiot men who thought themselves powerful and enjoyed how that could control people.
She frowned. “I’m sorry you didn’t.” It made her think of Savannah, but she knew she had had people to talk to. “Being a werewolf is hard enough. Not being in a pack is harder.”
“I wanted to be part of the Pack when my dad got killed.” Karl definitely didn’t plan on admitting such a thing to anyone. “It’s much easier in the Pack.” And Karl did not plan on leaving the Pack now.
“Your secret is safe with me. I promise.” Karl could smell his burger. “Want to eat some food and try not to talk about feelings for a bit, Eve?”
“Stuffing my mouth with food to avoid talking about feelings sounds like the best plan in the world right now.” Eve definitely needed a break and she was thankful that Karl offered the reprieve.