Evie Frye is the intrepid sister (thesilentknife) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-06-28 19:18:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, evie frye, xena |
Who: Xena and Evie
What: Sharing a drink and commiserating.
When: This evening
Where: A bar
Warnings: Pretty tame
In light of recent events, Evie was in desperate need of a drink. Or possibly ten. Her day job was insane, which was the way she liked it, but sometimes it got a little overwhelming. And, to be honest, she was purposefully working too much to keep herself from dwelling on Yang too much. She still hurt, but she was being stubborn about it. She’d taken to keeping her heart safely protected from others. She wasn’t going to give it away again. At least not without one hell of a fight.
Evie walked into a bar and got herself a seat at a table off in a corner. She wasn’t feeling social, she just wanted a couple drinks before she either went home to sleep or did more work. She ordered a drink, propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand. She sighed and ignored everyone else in the place. Though she probably looked like she could use a friend.
Evie wasn’t the only one having a hard time. Xena was heading towards something she was certain would be her final death. And a part of her was accepting of that.
There was a woman who looked a little like she felt, and Xena grabbed her drink and took the chair across from her. “Either someone died or you got dumped. Let me buy you a drink, honey.”
Evie shook out of her daze and looked at the brunette who sat down across from her. She hadn't expected anyone to join her, let alone pinpoint what was wrong.
“Is it that obvious? I should work on that.” It was said in a light tone, but silently Evie made a note to try harder to keep herself together.
“Could use some work on your poker face,” Xena drawled. She lifted her drink up in a faux toast. “My next guess woulda been pining. I’ve gotten real good at hiding the pining face.”
Maybe if she died in her dreams she’d die in real life, and that would put her out of her own misery. Not that Xena was wallowing. There wasn’t even much to wallow about. Besides, someone had to keep an eye on Callisto and Shepard couldn’t do it alone.
“Way I look at it, he was probably a jerk. And even if he wasn’t, everyone has something like 3 or 4 great loves of their lives.” Of course for Xena, two were dead in both lives, and the third was Gabrielle. But who was counting? She summoned the bartender, ordering another drink for herself and also for Evie.
“I’m Xena.”
“I’m better at the poker face when I’m working.” At least then Evie had other things to think about. It was part of the reason she was throwing herself into work so much, so she wouldn’t dwell on the break up. And she was glad that her job was one that didn’t go from 9-5, it was a twenty-four one, especially when she wanted to work.
“She, not he. And she was the very opposite of a jerk. The woman of her dreams came along, and it wasn’t me.” Evie said with a slight shrug. “I want her to be happy, whatever that entails.” Yang wanted the same for her, but Evie would be happy with her work and the few friends she had. That would be enough. It would have to be.
“I’m Evie.”
“Yeah, gotta have a poker face in my line of work. Real helpful when it’s that kinda creepy smile that keeps ‘em on their toes.” Xena had a rep among the gangs, one helped by Callisto being her second. The rules were simple. Don’t cross her. Don’t traffic in or hurt women and children. Pimps watch out. Simple.
“That’s rough, buddy.” Thanks Zuko Xena shook her head. “I know that’s gotta hurt. Can’t say I blame her. Woman of my dreams could come along and that would answer my prayers.”
“I wish that sort of smile worked in my line of work.” Even face-to-face with a terrorist, that probably wouldn’t work. Which was why Evie used her hidden blade to do the talking. At least she’d returned without injury. If she’d gotten injured, that would have led to some interesting explaining to her superiors.
“I don’t blame her either. You can’t compete with someone’s dream woman.” Which was the truth. Evie was starting to believe that the relationship was doomed from the beginning. Even if Blake hadn’t shown up, would Yang have developed feelings for Evie? Or would she simply have pined over Blake? No, this was better. At least Yang could have the chance to be happy now.
“Well, a good glare or glower will make some people piss their pants. Just ask a friend of mine.” Claws probably helped too. “I got a technique though, when I really wanna get people to talk.” Xena pressed two fingers to her neck. “Pressure points. Cuts off flow of blood to the brain. When you got 30 seconds to live you really start talking.”
Evie wasn’t exactly wrong, though the pain that slipped into the woman’s voice made Xena’s heart go out to her. “Love is kinda awful like that, an’ not everyone can just love two people at once.”
“It certainly does. I usually make my brother do that. He’s better at glowering than I am.” Jacob just had that rough around the edges look to him. Evie was more prim and proper. Militaristic, if one wanted to better describe it. Though right now, she didn’t quite care what she looked like. Her hair was in a French braid, but it was obvious it had been in that hairdo for a long time as some pieces of her hair had fallen out to frame her face and the braid wasn’t as pristine-looking anymore.
“I would never expect someone to love two people at once. I certainly can’t.” She took a long drink and took a breath as she sat back in her seat. “Love is really kind of awful.” Suddenly Evie understood why her father had never remarried after her mother’s death. The loss had broken him and he had never looked at anyone in that way again.
“I know a couple people like that. Works for them. Not for me.” Xena looked down into her drink. “Kinda accepted only little flings for now. Work out frustration the fun way, if you know what I mean. But it ain’t fair to someone else to only give ‘em half my heart.”
It was about 25% of the reason she’d been so careful with Callisto. She could love her, but not enough. And Callisto needed someone who could love her 100% and in spite of the flaws.
“But a good lay without the emotions. That I’ll do.”
Evie knew it was better this way. Yang wouldn’t have to feel guilty for only being able to give Evie half of her heart, if she’d even been able to get that much. “I certainly hope you find the woman of your dreams.” That’s what she hoped for everyone, that they’d find the person they dreamt of.
“I’ll just focus on my work. Casual sex never has been my thing.” Evie couldn’t do sex without strings. It just...didn’t feel right to her.
Xena nodded. It had been a sort-of-offer, but it was what it was. “Don’t close yourself off entirely. Love ain’t everything. There are other kinds of relationships too.”
The last thing Evie wanted right now was sex. “I have friends. Not a lot, but enough.” Most of her friends where thousands of miles away. But she wouldn’t trade any of her friends for anything. Yang included, even if she needed distance from her right now to heal. She just hoped that Yang was doing okay.
Xena bought them each another drink. She figured Evie could use one. “I know it feels like your heart ain’t ever gonna be the same. But it’ll get better. There’s someone out there if you let yourself look.”
Evie definitely could use another drink. Or ten, but she wasn’t going to get blindingly drunk. She was planning to go back to work, even if she should go to sleep. “Not many can handle my job and the sacrifices I make for it. Really, it’s better this way.” That’s what she told herself, anyway. She hoped that it would ease the pain if she said it enough times.
“Mmhm.” Xena didn’t look convinced. If Gabrielle was here she’d make them go on a mad crusade trying to find Evie’s true love. And Xena would go along with it, because she was that whipped.
True love. Well, if anyone wanted to try to find Evie’s true love, good luck to them. She wasn’t going to spend her time looking, she was too busy. She downed a portion of her new drink and took a breath. “I’m usually not such terrible company, my apologies. Perhaps we should talk about something more upbeat.” She wasn’t wanting to unload anymore on someone she just met. Xena didn’t need to sit there and listen to her ramble on about her broken heart.
Something more upbeat. Xena had a hard time thinking of anything. Which would be alarming, if she really let herself think about that. “So what do you do for a living, anyway?”
“Counter-terrorism for British intelligence. Currently here on a joint task force with the CIA. I served in the British military as well, fought in Afghanistan.” Evie responded. And that made her sound more like a military woman. She was proud of her service and of her work and her service.
“So you’ve killed people.” Xena nodded, like that was somehow just a thing that wasn’t that big a deal. “Hope your work has better aim than the rest of the military.”
Collateral damage tended to get to her. There’d been a time when she’d loved it. Now though, it was one of things she’d fought against.
“I don’t hurt innocent people. It’s against my Code, and my Code is my life.” Evie responded, perhaps a little more defensive than necessary. But the Code she was referring to was the one from her dreams. The Assassin’s Code bound her in this life as well, mostly because she accepted that life with open arms.
“Tell me about this code.” Xena leaned forward, suddenly curious about this. “I’ve got my own code. Nothing formal. But still a code.”
“I can’t. I belong to a secret order. No one is supposed to know we exist. All I can say is that we seek to protect the innocent, protect free will for mankind to choose its own destiny. We oppose a force that would wish to take free will away from mankind and remake the world in their own image.” It was sort of an oversimplification of it. Being an Assassin was not a glamorous life, and it was often a thankless job. But they did not do their duty to be given honor or thanks. They did it because it was the right thing to do.
"Secret orders ain't always got the best intentions in mind." The idea made Xena wary, though Evie seemed like she was on the right side. "Even if on the face of it it looks like they do."
“And if everyone knew that we existed, there would be panic and the Templars would have an easier time of achieving their goals. We operate from the shadows because we don’t need reward or thanks for what we do. We protect mankind, often dying in the process, and we do it because it is right.” Evie knew she was on the right side. “I have seen the objects the Templars would use to control mankind and they are not to be trusted to anyone’s hands. We do our best to ensure they remain hidden and far from Templar’s hands as possible.”
“I’m familiar with that kinda artifact. Usually the best thing is to destroy it, or toss it down a volcano or chasm, where no one can find it ever again.” She had some experience with that.
“They aren’t exactly easy to destroy. And sometimes the Templars find them first.” Evie had blown one up, and it had taken out the entire underground lab with it. Possibly even the warehouse that stood above it. She didn’t quite remember, she was on an adrenaline high at that time.
"They never are. The kind I run into tend to be trinkets from the Gods. And you never want to accept a gift from the Gods. Never ends well. Trust me on that one." Xena's drink was woefully empty again, but she decided she should probably finish for the night.
“I shall take your word for it. The ones I am researching aren’t precisely from the gods, but they are powerful and should not be used carelessly. One blew up while I was attempting to capture it, and it nearly killed me.” It had been quite the experience, and Evie was not eager to duplicate the experience.
“Nearly being killed is all part of the growing experience!” Or actually dying, that was part of the experience too. In fact, Xena could think of any number of incidents. “Don’t recommend crucifixion though. Not fun.”
“I suppose it is, though I am not precisely a fan of nearly dying.” Evie was no stranger to near-death experiences. She had never actually died, but that was part of the adrenaline rush of it all, to escape death. “You experienced crucifixion?”
“Twice.” Xena held up two fingers. “Or was it thrice? First time, someone took me down, healed me up. Second time I died for awhile. Got a second chance and came back.”
“Bloody hell,” she cursed in surprise. “That must have been one hell of a recovery period the first time.” Evie suddenly felt some questions about the afterlife, but she didn’t voice them. The afterlife wasn’t something she was precisely interested in currently.
Xena nodded. “Without help, I’d have been done for. She taught me a lot. I learned a lot from other women. Usually lessons that I didn’t realize were lessons until years later. I didn’t always appreciate it at the time. Died so often it kind of was a joke, too. Saw the Greek afterlife, the Christian one, a couple others.”
“Sometimes the best lessons we learn are ones that we don’t know were lessons until much later.” Evie brushed a couple strands of hair out of her face. “You saw multiple versions of the afterlife? So that would more or less confirm that there is no one true path. All religions are true.”
"Seems like it. Odin, Zeus, chinese and Japanese deities. Where I was, the old gods were fading. Partly my fault. My kid was prophesized to kill 'em, and I had my own godkilling powers."
Xena would tear down the pantheon for her family.
“That seems almost too much to believe, but I’m willing to accept it.” It at least meant that whatever she believed was true. Evie had a place to go when she died. She just hoped the fact that the lives she’d taken were balanced by the lives she’d saved when the time came to decide where she’d end up in the afterlife.
“I’m sure I’ll find out where I’ll end up eventually,” Xena said. She unknowingly echoed Evie’s thoughts. “Maybe I’ll have done enough to make up for all the blood on my hands.”
“You and me both,” she responded. Evie liked to think she was a good person. She protected people, but sometimes to protect people, you had to do bad things. Like killing others.