(ง •̀_•́)ง (ember_celica) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-05-10 02:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, evie frye, yang xiao long |
Who: Yang and Evie
What: Emotional conversations during the lighting storm
When: end of April
Where: Yang's
Status: complete
Rating: PG-13
Though Yang had pretty confidently assured Evie there was nothing to worry about and it wasn’t like she’d been in love with Blake or anything, she was a little less confident than she’d let on. Mostly, she was very confused, and just a little depressed over the situation. She wanted Blake to remember her. She wanted to regain that friendship, and be able to talk through what had happened to them.
The crush she’d nursed for a full year at Beacon was something that she’d just keep to herself for team unity and to not a) ruin her friendship with Blake and b) ruin her relationship with Evie.
WIth strange lightning storms and a sudden power outage, it have given Yang time to think, and time to think wasn’t what she’d wanted. So she texted Evie about coming over, with a joke about being scared and needing to hide in her skirts.
Evie didn’t doubt Yang at all. In fact, she was happy that one of Yang’s friends in her dreams had shown up. Sometimes being the only one to dream of a certain world made one feel lonely. Evie had been relieved that Ezio shared her dream world, but they lived centuries apart and had different experiences. At her core, Evie was still lonely on that front. She wished her brother shared the dreams so they could comment on things, and that was compounded by the fact she missed him being half way around the world from her. But she hid the loneliness well, and she was never lonely when Yang was around.
She also wasn’t that lonely when she was working, which she’d been doing quite a bit of lately. The world at large seemed poised to break into World War III at any moment, which made Evie’s day job that much tougher and more important. But she was also doing extracurricular work, setting up a mission that she and Ezio could go on to both test their Assassin skills and also take out some ISIS operatives. However, she’d been extremely careful in communicating with her contacts in Iraq. After all, if her superiors got wind of what she was planning, she could be in a lot of trouble. She was nearly ready to talk with Ezio again and finalize their plans. So of course when she got Yang’s text, she was more than happy to go spend time with her.
She came without skirts, however. She arrived at the apartment and knocked on the door. She’d actually left her Assassin gauntlet at her place, if only because she didn’t want to get struck by electricity on the way over.
There was no indication to Yang that Evie was planning such things, and she wouldn’t know how to feel about it. Dreaming about being an assassin was a lot different from carrying out those actions in real life and Yang liked to consider herself a good person, despite her anger issues.
She opened the door and grinned at her. “Hey, glad you didn’t get electrocuted.”
Assassins got their hands dirty, but everything they did was to protect humanity, to protect the innocent. And ISIS had hurt far, far too many innocents. Evie may also have a personal stake in it considering several people she served with in Iraq were still there fighting. At any rate, any business directly related to Assassins Evie kept between herself and Ezio. The Assassins were a secret brotherhood, much like the Templars, and no one outside the Order were supposed to know they even existed.
“Helped that I didn’t wear any metal,” Evie quipped with a grin.
“That would be shocking I know.” Yang stepped aside to let her in. “Li and Ahsoka were out when the storm hit. They went to a hotel room, so it’s just us.” They could make someone else’s ears ring. It might be good for both of them. Li was depressed over her dreams and Ahsoka was depressed because her best friend had moved away. They could use a day or two in some place different.
“You’re terrible,” Evie said with a laugh, stepping inside. “Just us, you say?” She responded with a smirk. “Though I’m glad they’re at least okay. Things can get really electrified out there if you’re not careful.” She was possibly picking up a bit of Yang’s humor, but Evie did always have a quick tongue.
“I’m terrific,” Yang protested. But she grinned, pleased that Evie was picking up on such things. One thing she missed about some of her Beacon friends was the jokes she could get into with them. Blake might groan, but she secretly liked it or so Yang assumed. Even Weiss got in on it. And Nora liked to compete.
“Keep telling yourself that,” she teased. A sense of humor definitely went a long way. It tended to make bleak times more bearable. So did having friends and others to care about. “So, you said something about needing to hide in my skirts? Sadly I left my skirts at home, but I can always cover you with a blanket?” Again, more teasing, a glint passing through her eyes.
“And here I thought you liked me.” Yang stuck her tongue out, then dragged her over to the couch. She hoped there’d be enough power to actually do something, but if the power went out, she had a few ideas. “Damn, and here I was hoping for a peek.”
The storm was definitely causing problems. It had been slowing Evie’s overseas communications tremendously. Hopefully it would pass soon enough, she had time sensitive intel she was waiting for. Both for her day job and for her extracurricular activities. “Sorry to disappoint. Skirts are a mortal enemy of mine, unfortunately.”
“Under any circumstance, ever?” Yang actually liked skirts and dresses. She could be girly when she wanted to be and a lot of the time it was pretty fun. The lights flickered, then went out as the crackling outside intensified.
“Not any circumstance, but most. Some situations require skirts or dresses and they aren’t negotiable.” Meaning it was rare, but a non-zero probability that Evie would wear them. She prefered pants and boots generally speaking. She found other ways to embrace a girly side, but she was definitely more tomboy than anything else. She didn’t even wear much in the way of make-up, though the military had a way of training a girl out of that at times, especially when on the front lines.
When the lights went out, Evie rose an eyebrow. “Damn, that’s quite the storm out there.”
“Something is wrong. Damn, Nora would love this.” She could almost hear Nora out there, ominously singing that she was queen of the castle. Yang leaned into Evie. She wasn’t afraid of the storm, but she could pretend to need comfort. Mostly, she really just wanted to be close. “She’s kinda like Thor. Lightning.”
Evie slid an arm around Yang’s shoulders when she leaned into her. “Seriously? That’s actually pretty cool. Does she wield lightning or does she just react to it?” That was fascinating, especially from Evie’s standpoint. People didn’t really have abilities like that in her dreams. Sure she had heightened reflexes and such, but that came from years of extensive training as opposed to a power.
“It supercharges her. During one of the tournaments she got hit by lightning and kinda obliterated the other team. It was hilarious. She uses a hammer grenade launcher.” Nora was really kind of cute and Yang got along with her like gangbusters. “She’s louder than me which is funny cuz her best friend is the strong silent calm type.”
“That’s certain an ability that would come in handy at times.” Evie said. Even though Evie was the silent, stealthy type, she knew sometimes just hammering everything in sight was the only answer. She just didn’t let her brother know that. “Louder than you? That’s definitely not something I expected to hear.”
Well, Yang did have a thing for silent, stealthy types. “Hey! Wait, does that mean I’m too loud?” Yang could admit she was loud at times. But she also liked to think she knew when to not be loud. At least, after her trauma and training from her dad (and Ahsoka helping her with meditation) she thought she’d calmed down.
“Only when you’re supposed to be,” Evie confirmed with a bit of a smirk. She didn’t mind if Yang was loud, whether that went for inside or outside of the bedroom. Yang wasn’t terribly loud on the whole in Evie’s opinion. But she was used to the energetic types like Yang. Jacob was the same sort of person, being loud.
“You’re good at making me loud,” Yang confirmed, actually blushing as she said it. For all her bluster, she was pretty damn shy when it came to herself.
“I do my best,” she replied, giving Yang’s shoulders a squeeze. “I like making you loud.” Sometimes Evie could come off almost prudish, but when she liked someone and was with them, she definitely opened up more. She also wasn’t all that shy about her desires when in private.
“It’s those hands of yours.” Yang winked, even though it was too dark to see. She stole a quick kiss, then actually sat them down on the couch. “What do you think is up with this weird weather?”
Evie returned the quick kiss, then sat down with Yang. She glanced out the window. “It’s hard to say. It’s not precisely natural, so I would almost say it had something to do with someone’s dreams here.” Evie hadn’t seen that much electricity at one time. The only thing that came close had been when the Piece of Eden had exploded and nearly killed her in the process in her dreams. Evie had nearly been electrocuted as she was escaping that lab. Dodging that and dodging pieces of the building falling on her hadn’t been all that easy to manage.
“If we start getting Grimm…” Yang looked out the window, half expecting red eyes to stare back at her. She wasn’t afraid, not really. But then, she hadn’t faced a Grimm since her injury and she wasn’t 100% there mentally. She could admit that. “That would be interesting.”
“If we do, I at least have my weapons to help me fight them.” Evie watched the storm outside for some moments. “Let us hope Templars never come here. They’re bad enough to fight in my dreams.” Though with Ezio dreaming of them as well, did that mean that they’d have a higher chance of something from their dreams bleeding over?
“Might actually enjoy that,” Yang said, rubbing her robotic palm with her other thumb. The thought of a real fight was actually kind of daunting, but she kept that to herself. “I’m sure we could kick their ass, I don’t think they’d see the freight train that’s Me coming.”
“I don’t think they would either. Actually, you’d definitely be very effective against them. Templars are used to us Assassins using cloak and dagger techniques against them, someone just punching them in the face will be unexpected.” Evie said with a chuckle. She rubbed Yang’s shoulder a bit. “Though if they have any Pieces of Eden with them, things could get...very messy.”
That made Yang laugh, and she leaned her head on Evie’s shoulder. “No one ever really just… expects to be punched in the face. They all want these fancy moves. So what’s a piece of Eden?”
“No, they really don’t.” Evie chuckled. At the question, she thought for a moment on how to explain Piece of Eden. “Pieces of Eden are objects of power, simply put. They are ancient, very ancient. The Templars want them so they can take free will away from humanity and control them, making the world in their image. Assassins want the artifacts so we can keep them from falling into Templar hands. We protect free will and humanity’s right to choose its own destiny, for better or for worse. Templars wish to use dominance to force a specific mindset upon the entire world.”
She tilted her head a bit. “While my brother plays with the gang he’s always wanted, I’m tracking down a Piece of Eden that is hidden somewhere in London. I also had found another Piece of Eden before my brother and I went to London. The Templars were experimenting on it, and my interference may have resulted in the lab exploding and nearly killing me in the process.” Evie sounded a little sheepish with that last admission.
“Are they good or evil? Or just exist?” Yang thought it was a good question. Good and bad could be subjective. It wasn’t always easy to distinguish, as she’d learned the hardway. Her hand went to her arm. “So you blew up? Sounds like my sister.”
“They just exist. It is how they are used that determines the good or bad.” Evie had no personal desire to use any of the Pieces of Eden. She was fascinated by them, and dedicated a good portion of her time to researching and tracking them down, but she only wished to keep them out of Templar hands. “Not precisely. I managed to run faster than the fire and electricity exploding outwards. Though I nearly got squashed by a section of the building as it fell, but managed to get out unscathed. Extremely out of breath, but unscathed.”
So Evie had almost blown up. Close enough. Yang wondered how much of an actual explosion that she herself could absorb. “So you’re fast and you blew up. Still like my sister.” She couldn’t help the grin on her face. “Weiss was fast too, especially with her glyphs, and Blake was… agile.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment that you’re comparing me to your sister.” Evie said with a smile. Getting blown up wasn’t exactly fun, and Evie had tried to downplay the explosion once she’d gotten to safety, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy the rush. It was part of being an Assassin, living off of adrenaline and being in situations that would kill most other people involved in them. “If you want to work on your agility more, I can certainly help with that. Also to help you be more ambidextrous.” She’d made that offer before, and Evie found that she was even using her left hand to write sometimes now. It wasn’t something she thought about, she just tended to do more things with her left hand these days.
“You’re a lot less naive,” Yang replied. But yeah, it was a compliment. There was only really one other person that meant as much to her as Ruby did. Maybe more in some ways. So to be compared to Ruby was a definite compliment. “I do have reach to counter your flexibility.”
She didn’t think Evie would get the reference.
Sometimes Evie missed the days when she could call herself naive. Being in a warzone had long since burned out any naivety that had survived up to that point. “Well yes, you are a little taller. Perhaps one of these days we should put it to a test to see which is better; reach or flexibility.” The reference definitely went over Evie’s head.
That brought a big grin to Yang’s face. They were closer enough in height she never thought much about it. Evie was close enough to kiss without bending over, and that was good enough for Yang. “It can be something we can practice lots of.”
Yang really did like that part.
“Good, I do like to stay in shape and have a good challenge.” Evie responded. They weren’t that different in body type from each other, though Yang probably had a little more muscle mass than Evie did. Evie had more lean muscle than bulky muscle.
Yang grinned to herself. Her type pretty much was lean muscle, and she turned towards Evie and ran her hand down her arm. “I’m glad you came. This woulda been really boring, being stuck here alone.”
The lights flashed outside again, green and blue as the aurora bled through the curtains. Yang got up to push them open so they could watch them. “..I hope Blake is okay out there. And that my sister isn’t freaking out.”
“It’s my pleasure,” she responded with a smile. “At least together we can keep entertained.” There were several things they could do together while the power was out. Neither of them were going anywhere any time soon. Not with the deathtrap electricity flying around outside. Evie had been very lucky she hadn’t gotten struck by lightning on her way here. She wasn’t quite wanting to risk it again if she didn’t have to.
Evie got to her feet, moving over to stand next to Yang and gazed out the window. “I think both of them will be alright.” She glanced at Yang. “Does your sister live here in Orange County?”
“Yeah, she does. She’s going to be an… she’s really good with machines.” Ruby could be a little flighty, but she also knew her way around mechanical things. Yang was intensely proud of her, and she’d always felt horrible about the lie about her arm. But since Ruby hadn’t dreamed, there was no way to tell her the truth. And Yang desperately wanted her sister to never dream. She’d miss Weiss as much as Yang had. At least Blake was around. But even setting all that aside, all the bad things that had happened? Yang wanted to protect Ruby from them. She wrapped her arms around herself.
“She’s studying to be an engineer?” It wasn’t hard to tell that Yang was proud of her sister. Evie knew what that felt like, even if she wanted to kill her brother more often than she wished to praise him, but that was just her. Jacob and Evie were opposites, and they didn’t always get along. But it seemed like Yang mostly got along with her sister. “Sounds like she’s going places in her life.”
“Yeah!” Yang nodded, her face oddly shadowed thanks to the lights outside. “I’m really proud of her, and I’m so happy for her. She’s always known what she wanted to do, what she wanted to be. Not like me. I did the things I was good at, but I never really felt a draw. Or a calling. I still don’t.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s actually pretty rare that people have their calling at a young age. But I’m sure you’ll get it one day.” Evie said. Sure, she was one of the people who knew what she wanted to do from a younger age. She’d always idolized her father and wanted to follow in his footsteps. She knew she’d join the military as soon as she was of age. The counter-terrorism specialty hadn’t come until later. Right now, that was her calling, though she was also feeling the calling that the Creed held her to in the dreams.
“What if I don’t?” Yang detached her arm and held it up. “What if my calling was fighting? I can’t fight professionally like this, not like my dad did. That was always what I thought I’d do but Adam stole that from me.”
Something about the weather was hitting Yang’s mood hard. The weather, a little jealousy over her sister, Blake showing up, a hundred other little things that had piled up over the months. A bit like a dam breaking. “The stupid thing is, I didn’t even realize it wasn’t what I wanted until I couldn’t do it. Maybe that jerk actually did me a favor.”
She turned, setting her arm on an end table. “I don’t know what I want, Evie.”
Evie just listened, letting Yang vent as she needed. It was a bit obvious now that Yang had been holding onto some things. She couldn’t understand what it was like to lose a limb, Evie still had all of hers. She couldn’t even claim to understand what it felt like to not know what she wanted to do with her life. But she did understand frustration and anxiety, even not knowing what would come next.
“I’m not going to pretend that I know what you’re going through because I don’t. But I will say that you are smart and talented and you can do anything you set your mind to, no matter what that is. You have time to figure your life out, you don’t have to do it now, or even in the next year. You aren’t alone here, and I’ll kick you in the ass any time you need me to. But I can’t tell you how to figure out what you want because I’m not you.”
She paused for a moment, looking at Yang. “What I can do is help get you thinking when you’re ready to. I’m going to be here with you every step of the way.” Evie definitely wasn’t going to abandon Yang. She cared about her too much to do that.
Frustration and anxiety that seemed to come to a head with the electrical storm outside. Yang would wring her hands if she hadn’t set one of hers aside. “Sure you shouldn’t get a job giving pep talks? I hear those people make a whole lotta money.”
She smiled back at Evie. “That means a lot to me.” Yang just hoped she was worth the effort.
“If I got a job doing that, that means you’d need to pay me for these pep talks,” Evie teased with a smile. She stepped closer to Yang, setting a hand on her shoulder and looking her in the eye. “You’re welcome. I know it’s undoubtedly hard, but know that if you need to talk about anything, I’ll listen. If you want to punch something, I’ll hold it or give you a moving target. If you want to spar, I’ll spar with you. If you want or need something, all you need to do is ask.”
“I can give you some payments.” Yang met her eyes. “It’s good to have you at my back.” She’d missed that feeling. Of counting on someone, even if she didn’t feel like people could count on her all that much anymore.
“You can count on me.” Evie didn’t go back on her promises, regardless of what happened. She had Yang’s back and wasn’t going to give it up at all. She lifted her hand from Yang’s shoulder and pressed it against her cheek, thumb gently stroking her cheekbone.
Yang closed her eyes, leaning her face against Evie’s thumb. It was a comfort she needed as she wrapped her arm around the assassin and leaned in close. “You can count on me too. No matter what!”
Evie pressed a bit closer to Yang, slipping her other arm around Yang’s back as her other hand continued to caress her cheek. “I’m glad that we’ve got each other’s backs.” It would definitely be good to know she could count on Yang when she needed her, whether it was in times like these, or in a fight.
Yang gently took Evie’s face, turning it towards her and kissing her. This was a kissing moment, if ever there was one, and Yang wanted to banish most of her thoughts. The negative ones, the scared ones, Blake. Yang wanted her heart to race, and this was one surefire way to do it.
She returned Yang’s kiss, always relishing in the taste of her lips. Evie held her closer. She enjoyed the closeness. This was also an excellent way to release tension and stress. Evie was getting stressed, mostly from her job, but she was also a little stressed over the mission she was putting into place for her and Ezio to undertake. But whenever Yang was around, she was 100% present and wanting to be there with her.
“I think,” Yang murmured, nuzzling her face into Evie’s neck and biting lightly. She’d meant to add to that, but became too distracted by the taste of Evie’s skin and an overwhelming desire.
Closing her eyes, Evie groaned as she tilted her head, exposing more of her neck to Yang. She slid a hand to the back of her head, holding it close to her. She didn’t try to ask Yang what the rest of her sentence was going to be, she simply went with it.
Yang tried to work her hand into Evie’s shirt. This would have been easier if she’d kept the other hand on, but it was a little too late for that. She grinned, flicking her tongue against Evie’s pulse point, then bit harder than she ever had before.
A shudder ran through her at the way Yang bit her, and she moaned, her body arching and pressing tighter against Yang’s. She tangled her hand into Yang’s hair and tugged her body close with her other arm.
Yang moaned, sucking and leaving marks on Evie’s throat and neck. There was an energy in the air that was not just the electrical storm that was making her hair stand on end. She moved to the other side of Evie’s throat. “God, B-Evie.”
Shit.
She moaned louder, shivers running through her as Yang left marks on her neck. Evie did so enjoy the way Yang sent electrical pulses through her body. Though she thought Yang had started to say something other than her name. “What?” She asked, mood not completely broken yet.
“Bruise,” Yang murmured. “Hit a bruise.” She lifted her head up and kissed Evie hard, hoping to bring the mood back without any awkward conversations. But boy did she feel kind of shitty. Evie didn’t deserve that.
Evie kissed Yang back, though there was a thought or two going through her mind, wondering about the bruise. But she didn’t pull away from the kiss to ask anything further, she simply kissed her, keeping Yang close against her.
This wasn’t fair. Yang broke the kiss, sitting back and running her hand through her hair. “I’m sorry, I uh…” She got to her feet. “I gotta pee.”
She left that announcement hanging in the air as she navigated through the darkness to the bathroom and closed the door. Once inside, she splashed water in her face and glared at herself in the mirror.
Yang breaking the kiss was a bit unexpected. Evie blinked a bit as Yang made that announced and navigated her way to the bathroom. She frowned a bit, thinking something was wrong. But she simply sat back down on the couch and waited. If Yang took a while, then she’d get up and head to the bathroom to ask if she was okay.
Though she was starting to get a bad feeling. She just didn’t know if it was because of Yang or because of the storm.
“Okay,” Yang said. “Okay.” She pulled her hair back just for the feel of the texture in her palm, then walked back out of the bathroom. “Uh. Sorry. That wouldn’t have been very sexy.”
She felt a little cold, though it wasn’t the air. More like she didn’t know what to do or what was going on with her feelings, and Yang was the kind of person who felt very deeply and very obviously.
“Are you okay?” Evie asked, looking over at Yang when she came back. The flashes of lightning outside gave intermittent illumination where she could better see Yang’s expression. But even then, it was still dark and she wasn’t fully able to get a good read on her girlfriend.
“I’m okay. I just feel a little… weird.” Yang stepped back into the living room, rubbing at the stump of her arm and her bicep. “I.. I really like you. You know that, right?”
That question seemed to carry more weight to it than to simply let Evie know that Yang cared. “Yes, I do. I really like you, too.” Evie wondered if there was an ‘I like you, but’ sort of conversation coming. But she was trying to not think that way.
“Things are really weird for me, and my emotions are way out of whack. Maybe it’s the storm, maybe it’s something else, I just…” She just couldn’t stop thinking about someone else, which was a problem because Yang didn’t even know if there could be anything there but she had to be honest, relationships didn’t work without honesty.
“It’s Blake. Seeing Blake again kind of…” She waved her hand. “I thought I was over her and I like you.”
Not that they’d been partner partners but that didn’t preclude feelings.
And there it was, the ‘but’ part of things. Evie couldn’t relate. While her dream self had a bit of a crush on Henry, those feelings hadn’t crossed over here. Though she didn’t know how she’d react if he ever showed up in Orange County. At any rate, Evie listened and chose to approach this rationally and not emotionally.
“Do you need some time to figure things out? Emotions are weird and messy and don’t always work the way we want them to. But I want to help you however I can.” And she meant it, even if it ultimately meant they’d break up. Evie just wanted Yang to be happy and at peace with herself regardless of what that meant.
Yang hadn’t expected that kind of answer. Really, it wasn’t the kind of answer she’d hoped for. Right now she wanted emotions. It would make things easier. Or maybe it would sweep them up again and then make things worse later. “I don’t…I’m really confused?”
Evie studied her for a moment. She wasn’t entirely certain how to really approach this, but it was clear Yang probably needed to try and sort out her feelings. Perhaps talking about it would be easier than simply pretending the emotions weren’t there. “Come here,” Evie said, holding her hand out to Yang, wanting her to come sit next to her on the couch. “Maybe if we talk, it will help you sort things out?”
She gave Evie a bit of a conflicted look, then came over and took her hand as she sat. “I don’t know where to start. I’m just… scared of hurting you.” It had just been so easy when she hadn’t thought she’d ever see Blake again.
“How about you start with how you feel about Blake being here?” This was definitely in the realm of awkward conversations for Evie, but she’d rather face the elephant in the room than simply ignore it and let it get bigger. “I know, but being open about it is better than just hiding it and letting it blow up later. I can handle honesty.” Evie didn’t always react the best to being hurt, but she always did keep her emotions close to her chest when she was hurt. Or grieving. Evie still hadn’t completely gotten over her father’s death.
Yang looked down at her knees. “It’s confusing. I want to be her friend, I want to help her through what she’s obviously going through. I want to help her through the dreams. But I also had the hugest hugest crush on her. I just always kept it to myself, you know? To not damage team cohesion. To not screw up our friendship. And I’d thought I’d gotten over that.”
“Do you think she felt the same way about you?” It seemed an important question to ask. “Keeping it to yourself must not have been easy. Did you talk to anyone other than Blake about it?” Evie hadn’t said anything in her dreams about her own crush, but Jacob knew anyways and poked fun at her any chance he got. She was actually really happy he wasn’t here currently and didn’t know that she had a girlfriend. He’d be insufferable, otherwise. And if he got wind of Yang’s complicated feelings about Blake? He’d probably go all protective little brother on Yang’s ass. Which wouldn’t help anything.
"How much is real and how much was seeing things you wanted to see?" Yang asked. Blake had always checked on her, she'd listened, she'd called her first, she'd looked to her, they'd held each other at night sometimes... and yet were there feelings there? Or just wishful thinking.
"Never talked to anyone. I mean maybe Weiss but really vaguely. Like she thought I was talking about some boy. And boys were nice but they weren't Blake."
True, sometimes one tended to see things they wanted to see, especially when emotions were involved. “What about Blake attracted you to her?” Evie was probably asking that just so she could silently compare herself to Blake and see if she even stood a chance here. It was kind of difficult to compete with the woman of someone’s dreams. Literally, in this case.
Though Evie had another angle for the question. She wanted to know how similar Blake was in this life to her dream self, wondering if the same things were pulling Yang’s attention.
Guilt made Yang’s chest tighten, and she glanced at Evie with watery eyes. But she was being truthful and she didn’t quite get where Evie was going with this. Why would she want to know?
“Quiet. Smart. Sarcastic, like that dry sarcasm. Pretends to hate my puns but indulges them. Lonely. She overworks herself and sometimes needs someone to remind her to take a break. Really toned. She’s like my opposite in a lot of ways, but we kind of counter each other. Make up for each other’s flaws.”
Gorgeous eyes too.
This wasn’t easy for Evie to hear, but she felt she needed to hear it. Though it would seem that she and Blake had some similarities. “And is she the same in this life?” Considering the parallels that tended to exist between real life and the dreams, Evie was willing to guess that Blake was pretty much the same. Which only made her understand even more just how conflicted Yang was currently. Having an interest in two people who were very similar did complicate matters. Though Evie had gotten here first in this life, Blake obviously held Yang’s affection rather solidly in the dreams.
“She’s more scared, lonelier. I think she’s where she was at before she came to Beacon. Like she only just got out of a bad situation.” And Yang could make a few guesses, but Blake had been jumpy and paranoid and scared. With or without feelings Yang had wanted nothing more than to help her make it better.
“Still a sarcastic cat.”
“So still mostly the same.” Evie had yet to hear of anyone who was completely different from their dream selves, so that wasn’t a surprise. “It sounds like she needs help, and needs friends.” Though Evie couldn’t speak for her considering she didn’t actually know Blake.
“Though I can see why you’re conflicted. Blake and I have similar traits.” Though Evie was probably a bit more of the ruthless type, at least when it came to fighting bad guys. She was an Assassin, sworn to defend humanity from the Templars. Blake also probably had no overarching Creed to adhere to above all else in life.
Yang could argue that Blake had her own Creed, at least when it came to equality and doing the right thing. It was one of the things she admired most.
“I.. I like you. So I’ll get over this.” But had she been attracted to Evie because she was too much like Blake? Yang’s stomach started twisting itself in knots.
“Don’t force it, emotions can’t be forced.” Evie said, taking a breath. “Just, promise me one thing. Don’t stay with me just because you’re afraid of hurting me. I don’t want to be a replacement, and I don’t want you to be with me out of some sense of honor or something.” It wouldn’t be okay if Yang wanted Blake, but Evie could live with that far easier than she could if she was just a Blake replacement or if Yang was only with her to not hurt her.
“Evie…” Yang didn’t have an answer for that, because she didn’t know herself. Everything was mucked, her right arm suddenly ached where it was missing and she didn’t even know if Evie would be okay with a hug right now. What Evie was saying had sunken in and taken hold and now she couldn’t tell if Evie was right or wrong. She’d been really lonely when Evie had come along, but she cared enough about her to not want to hurt her.
Even Evie didn’t know if she was right or wrong. The only person who could discern that was Yang when her emotions settled down, and she had more of a grasp on the situation. In the back of Evie’s mind, she was already relatively certain she didn’t stand a chance when compared to Blake, and her instincts told her to get out now. But she didn’t want to do that. Instead, she opted for scooting a bit closer to Yang, leaning into her and resting her head against her shoulder. She didn’t really know what else to say right then, and instead attempted this and see how Yang responded.
Evie wasn’t answering, which made Yang a little more nervous than she wanted to be. The cuddling was welcome though, and she leaned her cheek on the top of Evie’s head. “I’m sorry. This is probably not the conversation you wanted to have tonight.”
Or ever.
“No it’s not, but sometimes the conversations you need to have aren’t the ones you want to have.” Which was the truth in several cases, not just this one. But at least they’d gotten through this conversation without bursting into tears or devolving into an argument. There was something to be said about that. Though it would undoubtedly come back around again. Evie had that gnawing feeling about it.