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Evelyn’s eyes open blearily. Through the haze of half-sleep she can tell she's at home. She's in bed. She pats her hand around until she feels Astra’s back.
Her eyes close and she exhales. Her heart is beating… not fast, but the strong way it does when she's in danger. Or feels like it.
She takes in another deep breath and opens her eyes again. The midnight ceiling stares back at her, lit by the hazy peeking of New Eridu through their window shades.
So it must have been a nightmare.
Clearly it wasn't bad enough for her to remember, nor was it the kind that makes her wake up screaming - the kind that wakes up Astra too.
It was probably one of the more tame ones, where she's running away from some indescribable horror and simply can't run, or maybe the one where she's in a maze of identical hallways and corridors and just can't find Astra.
Either way, she's awake now, and it's unlikely that she'll be able to fall back asleep, at least anytime soon.
She sits up and stretches her arms upwards, tilting her neck and cracking her joints. She lets out a deep exhale and leans over Astra, leaving a gentle kiss on her cheek. Astra stirs slightly and smiles.
Evelyn pivots and grabs her legs off of their bedside charging stand, aligning her right leg with her stump and fastening it on. She repeats the process with her left leg and stands, stretching her back and hips.
Her stomach growls. Fortunately Astra’s a deep sleeper. Perhaps a bite to eat will steal her mind away from the post-nightmare blues. Astra would probably be jealous if she had a midnight snack, but she's more than allowed to do things for herself too.
Evelyn makes her way down the stairs, holding the handrail with her right hand. Even if her legs move fine, being in the dark is just another added danger that she doesn't need to worry about.
She touches down at the bottom and makes her way to the wall, flicking the kitchen lights on. It seems that some of their dishes from the night before never made it into the dishwasher.
She sighs and places them in, as slowly as possible to avoid any noise. After she starts the dishwasher to run, she finally pops open the fridge.
“I came down to eat, not to do chores,” she mutters, looking through the assortment of foods. There's leftover dumplings from a few dinners ago. They'll do.
She sticks the container in the microwave and rifles through the utensil drawer for a pair of chopsticks. Her left hand struggles to grip the chopsticks - they simply slide off of the nubs of her thumb and index finger - but she finally manages to pick up a pair with the help of her remaining fingers.
The microwave suddenly starts beeping and Evelyn jumps for a moment before regaining her composure and opening it. The noises are usually kept muted, but it seems that the appliances have minds of their own.
She takes the container to the dining table and sits, picking up one of the dumplings and blowing on it. There was a dipping sauce that came with them, but she can't be bothered to go back to the fridge.
Her hand absently parts her nightshirt and rubs at her stomach. She feels the contrasting textures of her scars on her skin, how they're raised slightly, how they're drier and smoother than the surrounding areas. She scratches at an itch on the large scar that splits her abs diagonally. She ought to moisturise more, but that's a later problem.
She bites into the dumpling and a bit of juice squirts out. Luckily, the container catches the mess. They have the distinctive temperature mix of less-than thoroughly microwaved leftovers, but the flavour is still mostly there. And they're calories all the same.
Her phone buzzes. Who could possibly be texting her at this hour? She fishes it out of her pocket and glances at the screen for a brief moment before the brightness makes her wince. Fortunately it dims to an appropriate level quickly enough, and she reads the notification.
It's from Belle.
Belle: “Hi Evelyn! I hope I'm not waking you up, but on the off chance that you're awake I have a commission that you'd be perfect for if you were in the mood for a combat related job. If you're not feeling up for it that's totally ok, and if you're asleep I really really hope you're not being woken up by this!!”
Evelyn chuckles. How serendipitous. Well, a bit of action would certainly clear my head, she thinks. She takes another bite of dumpling and replies.
Evelyn : “Lucky you, proxy, I am awake
“I'm feeling up for it, tell me about the commission”
She waits a moment as the typing icon appears.
Belle: “I'm sorry!!! I hope I didn't wake you up…
Anyways, the client had a family heirloom stolen by a group of hollow raiders, and they want us to get it back and get revenge. There's also a lot of ethereals in the area where they're camped, so it's going to be a partner deal this time”
Partner deal? How interesting.
Evelyn: “Understood. Who's my partner? I hope you aren't sending me in with a novice. I'm not a babysitter”
She takes another bite of dumpling.
Belle: “Evelyn! Who do you think I am?
I got Mr. Lycaon to go with you. He's great! Not a novice”
Lycaon… Lycaon… isn't that…
Evelyn: “Isn't that the friend you told me about a few weeks ago? The one who uses prosthetic legs?”
Belle: “Yes! He's a great fighter and he also has a trained eye. He’ll be able to pick out the client's item among all of the other stolen stuff!”
Evelyn: “Sounds good. Where am I meeting him?”
Belle: “Near the Ballet Twins hollow, I'll send you an address”
Evelyn: “Understood. I'll see you soon”
Evelyn finishes the last of the dumplings and sets the container in the sink. She takes the stairs back up, again with the help of the railing, and slips back into the bedroom.
Astra is still sound asleep, as she'd hoped, so she tiptoes over to the dresser and pulls out one of her uniforms. She sets it on the bed and pulls off her nightclothes, folding them and placing them on top of the dresser. Her stomach itches again.
She slips into her top, zipping and buttoning it closed. Then she slides into the kevlar lined pants, fastening the three buttons closed.
Her fingers are resting on their charging bed on the nightstand, and she slips them on and clips the band around her wrist, sliding her sleeve and glove on afterwards.
She pads over to the closet and pulls out her harness, tie, and jacket, first tying the tie and affixing the moth ornament, then squirming into the harness and clasping it tightly on.
Her familiar jacket drapes comfortably over her shoulders, and the magnets in her harness softly click it into place.
Lastly, garrotte and knife. She clips the containers onto her gloves and slides her knife into its sheath on her thigh.
All set.
She kisses Astra’s cheek once more and makes her way back downstairs.
Once her heels are on, she glides out the door, making her way to the elevator.
Ah. I ought to text Astra, in case she wakes up.
She plucks her phone out of her pocket and drafts a quick message.
“Astra dear, I'm going out to do a commission with the proxies. I should be back before you wake up, but in case I'm not, I just thought you should know. I'll be safe, love you.”
Sent. She stows her phone away and steps out of the elevator, making a beeline towards their car.
The car starts with an electric hum. She'd have preferred a gas car, but Astra protested strongly against it. The arguments weren't very strong, but Evelyn loves Astra more than internal combustion engines.
She checks her phone again, and surely enough Belle sent her an address. She copies it into the car's navigation system, checks her mirrors, and takes off.
The drive is calming. There aren't many people on the road at one in the morning, and it's the people that make driving stressful for her. The street lamps flicker to life as she passes by each one, waving gently to her with their glow.
She makes it to her destination, and parking is easy to find. The car powers off with a quiet hum, and she steps out into the street.
A gentle wind passes around her, blowing her fringe into her mouth. She adjusts her hair and faces upwind. It seems Lycaon will be meeting her without her signature hairstyle, but she couldn't be bothered to go through all of that at this hour. It’d have been messier than Astra’s work anyhow.
She pops the car door open and grabs a hair tie from the door compartment, tying her hair into a neat bun. There's a chance it'll come undone, but it'll have to do.
The marked address is a block away, so she starts after it, following the little navigation icon on her phone. As she approaches, she sees a tall figure standing on the sidewalk. It must be him.
He comes into view as she approaches. He's very tall, at least 190 centimeters if she's not wrong. His outfit is well tailored and put together, with hardly a wrinkle visible, and all of the metallic ornaments shined and polished. Her gaze drifts down towards his legs. They're… not at all what she expected.
Like Belle had said, he wears them openly. But they look completely unlike hers - rather, they're huge and inorganic looking, almost like parts from a mecha-movie rather than prosthetic limbs. Soft blue lights glow from several transparent windows along his calves. And he really doesn't have any toes.
“Mister Lycaon?” she asks.
“Please, just Lycaon. I presume you are Miss Evelyn, master proxy has said many good things about you.” He puts out his hand to shake and she takes it. His grip fits his appearance - refined and gentle, yet clearly powerful.
“It's good to meet you. I didn't realize you were…”
“A thiren? Yes Miss Evelyn, I am a wolf thiren to be precise.”
“Ah no, I was going to say, I didn't realize you were so tall.” She has to look up to see his face. He's at least a head taller than her - something she certainly isn't used to.
“My apologies, I presumed too quickly. Yes, I am 198 centimeters tall.” He clears his throat and faces away.
“There's no need to apologize,” Evelyn says. “Shall we?”
He nods. “Please, follow me.”
As they start walking, she notices the sound of bangboo feet behind her. It's Eous.
“Proxy, when did you get here?” She asks.
“I came with Lycaon! I've been here the whole time,” Belle's voice answers.
“And you didn't say hi?” Evelyn raises a brow.
“Well you two were meeting! I didn't want to interrupt!”
Evelyn scoffs.
“We've arrived,” Lycaon announces. Evelyn stops by his side. She looks up, following the inky black curvature of the hollow looming above them.
Eous steps onto the hollow, sinking into its surface. Evelyn follows it through, and Lycaon follows behind her.
It's always so eerie, the feeling of walking through the barrier. It's like she's walking through a wall of oil, except it feels hot and cold at the same time - hot like a heating pad left too long, and cold like a cold shower after getting in from the snow. It always sends a chill down her spine.
But they're inside now, and there aren't any threats at the immediate moment. She follows behind Eous as it weaves around destroyed walls and debris.
Evelyn hesitates, but the question is burning at the tip of her tongue. “Ah… Lycaon, I hope you don't mind, but… how exactly do you balance on your feet?”
Lycaon chuckles. “I don't mind at all, it's a most reasonable question. I have gyro-stabilisers built in, they're connected to sensors inside of my legs, so I typically don't have to focus on it. However, I have also trained and practiced to balance with them.”
She glances down. Sure enough, his feet always manage to land flat on the ground. She hadn't been offered all of those fancy technologies, but she also hasn't seen any prosthetics like his. Perhaps they're custom made.
“I see. But you don't have any sensation or feedback in them, right?”
He shakes his head. “No, prosthetic limbs have yet to offer that technology. If I'm to be honest, it was quite disorienting at first.”
So Belle didn't tell him.
“And you have an implant chip?” she asks. She can't quite figure out why she wants him to figure it out for himself. Perhaps it's simply easier than telling him outright.
He nods. “I do.” He glances up. “Ethereals ahead. Can I ask you to cover the left?”
She focuses back on the task. “Of course.”
Eous ducks behind some rubble, and she runs towards the group of ethereals - all small ones - and affixes her knife to a length of garrotte. On her right she can hear Lycaon already engaging that group, all ethereal growls and scraping metal.
Her group notices her and the leader runs at her. She times its swing and ducks under its arm, throwing her knife backwards. It sinks into its back and she yanks the garrotte, pulling it towards her. It scrambles to free itself, but it's in vain. She's already coiled the wire around its core.
The cable ignites and incinerates the core, and the ethereal dissolves behind her.
The rest of the group dashes in and she dodges to the side, uncoiling more of her wire around them. She gives it a tug and the ethereals slam into one another, wound together in a loop.
She uncoils a length from her second gauntlet and snakes it around one of their heads, dashing around the other side and igniting both wires.
They retract back into her gauntlets and she sheaths her blade.
To her right, Lycaon kicks the last of his group in the core. His leg opens and a jet of plasma shoots out the back, accelerating it through its head.
He wipes his hands and walks towards her.
“Master proxy, it is all clear now.” Lycaon calls. Eous pads out from its hiding spot and joins them.
He turns to Evelyn. “Good work, Miss Evelyn. Master proxy, please lead the way.”
Eous salutes and starts on its way.
Evelyn starts following again. Lycaon walks side by side with her.
“My apologies, before the altercation you were asking something. I do have an implant. You're quite knowledgeable on the topic, I must say.”
Evelyn chuckles. “I suppose I am.” He's probably figured something out, but he seems too polite to say anything. She carries on. “The proxies told me that you're in charge of a housekeeping company?”
Lycaon nods. “Yes, I am the current head of the Victoria Housekeeping Company. We do work for a variety of clients, and we offer services ranging from standard tidying to hollow-related work.”
Evelyn nods. “Do your clients… do people say things about your legs? I'm sorry. I don't know why I asked that.” She pinches the bridge of her nose and looks away.
He hesitates for a moment and they walk in silence.
“Apologies. I was thinking,” he starts. “I don't suppose people have made odd comments or asked inappropriate questions very often. Although, stares are much more commonplace. However, I do believe that many people in the city have prosthetics or other limb differences, and the commonality may contribute to others’ acceptance of people like us.”
Aha. He said it. “‘Like us?’” she asks. She watches his face, and sure enough his eye widens and he inhales sharply.
“Ahem. That will need to wait. We've happened upon another group.” He lowers his stance and dashes ahead, his speed clearly assisted by his rocket-propelled calves.
Evelyn chuckles and follows, unwinding a length of wire.
Lycaon breaks up the pack with a mighty kick, sending several of the ethereals into the air. He follows up with a barrage of more kicks. So he doesn't use his hands.
His jet-powered legs carry him in a spin kick that takes one of the ethereal’s head clean off.
Evelyn throws her knife at the ethereal nearest to her, breaking through its core and pulling it towards her. As it dissolves, she leaps through the air and throws herself towards the rest, pulling her knife back to her and looping the wire around her body.
As she lands, she kicks forwards, and the loop of garrotte around her heel unwinds and shoots the blade forward, embedding itself into a larger ethereal's leg. She pulls herself towards it, unwinding enough wire to surround the other ethereals, before landing in front of the big one and pulling it taut.
Her garrotte snags all of the smaller ones and she detonates, incinerating most of them. The larger one roars and staggers back, but it's hardly dead.
She pulls her knife out of its leg and takes it in a reverse grip, leaping up to its head and dodging under a messy swing of its arms.
She leaps off of its shoulder and jabs the knife into its core, unwinding her wire and looping it around and around.
The ethereal swings at her again, so she hops off, landing behind it and detonating, at the same time yanking hard on the cable until she hears the core shatter.
Her knife careens through the air and she retracts the wire, bringing it right back to her hand.
Lycaon walks up to her side. “Nicely done,” he nods.
“Thank you… what's it like having rockets in yours?”
This time, his reaction is more contained. Eous waddles up to them and continues on.
“They're quite useful, but I have to be careful about when to use them, as they can absolutely throw me off balance if I am not careful. They also assist in making my kicks more powerful.” He rubs at his chin, clearly thinking about something.
“And they don't overheat?” she asks.
He shakes his head. “They're powered by a frost core. If anything, they can get rather cold.”
Eous comes to a halt. It fumbles around, searching for something until a fissure comes to life before their eyes.
“We're going through here!” Belle's voice announces.
“Understood, master proxy,” Lycaon nods.
“Understood,” Evelyn echoes.
The feeling of going through a fissure is different from entering the hollow. It's less oily… but it feels like she's being sloshed around inside of a water bottle. It makes her stomach feel terrible.
They land on solid ground and she takes a moment to reorient. It seems like her stomach wants to give up the dumplings she had earlier, but she manages to calm it down. Deep breaths. One… Out. Two… Out.
“Miss Evelyn, are you alright?” Lycaon’s voice pops through her meditation.
“Yes, give me a moment,” she responds. Three… Out. Four… Okay.
“I'm settled. Let's move.” Eous starts waddling again, and she and Lycaon follow close behind. They're certainly in a different part of the ruined building, but it all looks the same after a point. Hallways, corridors, rubble, ether crystals, room after room. Proxies are a lifesaver.
“Okay, their base is supposed to be close, so we need to be silent until we get there,” Belle's warbled voice comes from Eous.
Evelyn nods and Lycaon picks Eous up, holding its body in his large hands. He makes the bangboo look like a plush toy.
She walks on her toes to avoid the sound of her heels against the floor, and it seems Lycaon is doing similarly, although there’s still a small clack from when his feet touch the ground.
A doorway comes up and she stops, gesturing for Lycaon to do the same. He catches on quickly and presses himself to the wall. Evelyn peeks into the doorway and sees two guards on patrol.
Taking them out would risk them contacting the base, but leaving them would be another loose end to worry about. She watches them make their rotation once more.
She turns back to Lycaon. “We need to take them out. By their movements, they must be the only guards active in this area. They aren't expecting an attack, so they're lax on security.”
Lycaon nods and places Eous on the ground.
“After their next radio in,” Evelyn states.
Lycaon nods.
They signal in every minute and a half, it seems, so after they take them out they have as long to find the camp before they catch on.
The guards’ radios click off and Evelyn bursts through the doorway, slinging her garrotte around the left guard’s neck. He hardly has a moment to react before she pulls it and him towards her. She grapples him to the ground and puts him in a headlock, waiting until he stops struggling and then a few moments more. He's out.
She looks across the room, and Lycaon is standing with his guard slung over his shoulder. His helmet is cracked wide open - it seems it took a rocket-propelled kick dead on.
They stow the guards in a corner of the room and shift a planter in front of them, and then go back to the doorway they came from.
“Master proxy?”
Eous pops out from behind some rubble and bounds over to them.
“Have you located their camp?” Evelyn asks.
Eous nods. “Yep! Follow me,” Belle says, leading them back through the room that the guards are now unconscious in.
They travel through two more rooms until the sound of people in the adjacent room makes them stop.
They drop back to a corner of the room and crouch down.
“Proxy, can you tap into a camera? I want to know how many men are in there.”
Eous nods and waddles off to a control panel.
“Lycaon, we need to make sure none of them leave, can I have you enter through the first entrance? I'll make my way to the back and ambush them from behind.”
Lycaon nods. “A solid strategy, Miss Evelyn. We shall begin as soon as master proxy returns.”
Eous returns quickly. If she's not mistaken, they have just about thirty seconds before the guards were supposed to radio in.
“How many?” Evelyn asks.
“Eighteen regular guys, and two of the bigger ones.” She whispers.
Evelyn nods. “I'll meet you inside.”
She stands and darts out the doorway, running down the corridor and turning around the corner. There's a staircase down and then up before she can make it to the other side.
She scowls and slides down the railing, landing at the bottom solidly. Then she throws her knife to the top of the up-staircase and pulls herself up.
She exhales quickly and then runs around the corner to the other doorway, pressing herself against it. As soon as Lycaon enters, she'll strike.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” Lycaon’s voice calls through the chatter. The room quiets.
“Get him!” one of the hollow raiders yells. Perfect.
Evelyn dashes into the room and draws her wire, looping it around several of the men's feet. She tugs it and trips them, triggering a low-level detonation before retracting the garrotte and sliding underneath several crossbow bolts.
She throws her knife dead into one of the shooter’s arms, and he lets out an agonized scream as she pulls him towards herself and kicks his head into the ground.
Another raider fires at her and she cuts the bolt in half mid-air, dodging out of the way of the halves as they careen away.
She throws her knife into the wall and pulls herself towards the raider, kicking his face with her metal shin. It lets out a loud clang on impact, and one of his teeth definitely flew out.
A group of raiders approach her with bats, two of them swinging at her head. She ducks backwards underneath and kicks up, striking the bats out of their hands as she flips.
She lands and loops her wire around her back, shooting the blade out at the lead raider. She uncoils more wire and it falls around them, tightening quickly as she retracts it.
The men slam into each other and she quickly retracts the rest of the garrotte, taking her knife back in hand.
Lycaon is still in the middle of the room, fighting both of the larger raiders at once. He's handling himself well - his combat awareness is very good, and he's avoiding their strikes with ease.
He blocks one punch with his knee, and a loud metallic echo fills the room. He flicks his leg up and his foot soundly connects with the man's elbow, and his scream - along with the sickening pop of bone and tendons - replaces the echo.
One of the few remaining raiders swings at Evelyn from behind, but his unsteady footsteps had already given him away.
She takes a length of wire between her hands and catches his bat, gripping it and wrenching it out of his hands. A quick elbow to the jaw knocks him out cold and he collapses to the ground in a heap.
Lycaon took care of the first enforcer - the one with a now shattered elbow - and is now fully focused on the second. The larger man grabs Lycaon’s leg as he kicks, but he uses his jets to free himself, flipping backwards and landing in a crouch. He quickly springs up and kicks the raider squarely in the chest, sending him back into the wall with a thud.
He quickly catches his breath and lunges at Lycaon again, but Evelyn throws her garrotte out, snaking it around his legs and tripping him to the ground. Lycaon wastes no time and delivers a hammer kick to the man's helmet, shattering the back of it thoroughly.
Lycaon dusts his hands off again. It's a funny habit of his.
Evelyn walks up to him and sheaths her blade. “Nicely done, your rocket legs seem very useful.”
“Well done to you as well. All that's left is for us to find the commission item. And yes, they are quite useful.” He smiles at her and turns to the various crates and boxes of looted goods that the raiders had amassed.
“Here, this is what we're looking for,” Lycaon says. He presents her his phone, an image of a golden gryphon statuette on the screen.
Evelyn nods.
Box after box yields nothing of use. Stolen wallets and purses that they could bring to Pubsec, perhaps, and a few pieces of artwork that were most likely left in the surrounding buildings when they were abandoned.
She pulls out another purse, a tacky green-leather one, and sets it with the pile.
“Have you found anything?” She asks, groaning as she pulls out a copy of Astra’s latest album. The thugs have taste, unfortunately.
“No, not yet,” Lycaon answers. “Ah, wait, yes. Here it is.”
Evelyn turns and sees Lycaon with the statuette in hand.
“Should we bring some of these items with us? To see if we may find their owners?” He asks, gesturing at the rest of the loot strewn about.
Evelyn shakes her head. “I'll call in a Pubsec tip. They can take care of the raiders as well.”
“Good thinking,” Lycaon notes.
The pair make their way out of the room and find Eous.
“All good?” Belle's voice asks.
“All good,” Evelyn confirms.
“Hah! I knew you two would be great together! Okay, let's get out of here,” she cheers. Eous’ little ears wiggle in celebration.
Lycaon chuckles and they start walking again.
They make their way in silence until Lycaon clears his throat. “ Ahem … I hope you don't mind, Miss Evelyn. Am I correct in thinking that you use prosthetics limbs as well?”
Evelyn laughs. “I was waiting for you to ask or say something.”
Lycaon smiles politely. “I believe I did, before we were interrupted by the mission.”
“You're probably right,” Evelyn chuckles. “Yes, you're right. Both legs and three fingers.”
Lycaon nods. “I thought you knew too much to just be curious.” He pauses. “I hope you don't mind my comment, but you move very well with them. You have a great deal of precision and grace in your movements.”
“Thank you,” Evelyn manages. She turns away and smiles to herself. It is nice to be acknowledged, especially by someone who understands.
“When did you figure out?” she asks, trying to shift the subject.
“Hmm. When you first asked I looked down out of curiosity. Your pants wrinkle differently around your left and right knees, and the left side seemed to sink in as if following a joint.”
She looks up at him and gasps, observing his expression. He looks slightly coy, but his professional attitude remains intact.
“And you didn't say anything,” Evelyn muses.
“I merely wished to be polite. I didn't want to pry when we had just met.”
Evelyn chuckles. “That does seem to be your style.” She pauses. Now that the mission is completed, all of her curiosities are jumping to the forefront. She has a million questions to ask him, but she doesn't know if she can ask him.
“Ah… How comfortable are you with talking about this? I… don't talk to many people who can relate like this, and I… It feels really easy and comforting with you.” She looks away again.
“I'm quite fine with it if you are,” Lycaon answers. “Please, I would be happy to talk with you.”
She looks back to him and smiles gratefully.
“Um. Were you… born without… or did you lose them…?” She asks. There isn't exactly a clean way to ask that question. And she's fully prepared to answer for herself if he asks.
“Ah. No, I did lose them. It was during a… an event, shall we say, with an old colleague of mine. The roof of the building collapsed completely as I was assisting people in evacuation, and I was crushed beneath the debris.” He looks completely unbothered as he recounts what must have been incredibly traumatic. What a curious man.
“I'm sorry about that,” Evelyn murmurs.
Lycaon shakes his head. “Don't be, I was able to evacuate everyone inside. I believe it was a worthy sacrifice.” He looks onwards resolutely. “Ah, another fissure. I can brew you a calming tea once we've left the hollow, if that will help your nausea.”
They step through and the nausea does hit. Thankfully, it's not as bad as before.
“Thank you, but I should be alright.” She draws in her deep breaths and they resume walking.
“Would you like to know about mine?” Evelyn asks.
“Hmm. If you should like to share, I will gladly listen.” He's almost frustratingly polite.
“Well, I used to work for an organisation… I was raised by them, actually, and on an assignment…” She pauses to dispel the heavy knot in her chest. “On an assignment, I was tasked with staking out and eliminating the heads of a powerful rival organisation, and I had barely slept for the first two nights.”
She stays silent for a bit and watches Lycaon’s face. His expression remains the same.
“On the third night, I finally pinpointed the bosses, or so I thought. I made it to the warehouse that they were supposed to be in, but they weren't there. No one was.” She takes in a shuddering breath and stops walking. Lycaon and Eous both stop.
“The only thing waiting for me was a bomb. It almost killed me. I was in the hospital for months… and they still couldn't get all of the shrapnel out.” She sighs. “...Sorry. We should keep moving.”
She starts walking again and Lycaon and Eous follow. Lycaon’s expression is infuriatingly still the same.
“Miss Evelyn, it may not be my place to say, but I'm very proud of you for coming back from that. Many others might have quit or retired, but there's a very certain resilience about you that's very admirable.”
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“How do you think of them?” He asks.
Evelyn looks up. “Think of?”
“Your legs,” Lycaon clarifies. “How do you think of them?”
It's certainly a good question. The way she's seen them has changed… a lot over the years.
“I think at first, I really hated them, because it was my mistake that led to it, and therefore they just signified my failure, my weakness. But then… I grew to use them as a part of my body, and they became dependable, but at the same time shameful… because I thought if people knew they would think of me as weak, or vulnerable.”
“But now… They've become normal. They're a part of my life whether I like it or not, and the people I trust to tell about them have shown me that… that it's okay to have these legs, and that they'll still see me as me even with them.”
Lycaon nods. “My journey was slightly different from yours. I certainly struggled with feelings of weakness in the past, and I also certainly relate to the idea of dependability… I eventually came to be proud of them. They are my badge of honor for surviving, and for pushing forwards despite hardship.”
Pride. Pride in her legs? While Lycaon might have lost his saving people, she lost hers saving no one. But perhaps…
Perhaps there is truth in survival, in pushing forwards.
“May I ask what you're thinking?” Lycaon asks. She tilts her head. It certainly isn't a question she would expect from him.
She sighs. “I understand what you're saying, but I just don't know if I can think of them that way. Sure, I survived. Sure, I kept… Living, but it was my own failure that made me have to do that.”
Lycaon sighs. This time he stops. “Miss Evelyn, disasters, tragedies, circumstances, injuries, they are not the fault of an individual. If it was your fault, then it too was the fault of the organisation that sent you. Then it was therefore also the fault of the rivals that angered them. And you must realise that someone had placed that explosive to hurt or kill someone. None of those things were your fault. The circumstances, the event proper, were not your fault.”
Evelyn’s throat is tight. She avoids his gaze, hoping he won't notice the tears forming in her eyes. She tries to blink them away.
“Master proxy, would you hold this for a moment? There is something that requires my attention.”
Lycaon approaches her again. “May I?” he asks, miming a hug.
Evelyn wipes her face and nods.
He comes closer and embraces her tightly. Her face presses into his vest, somehow still spotless after all the combat. His arms rub at her back gently.
“It wasn't your fault,” he whispers. His snout is right over her head, and the low vibration of his voice is calming and comforting. But the words…
The words wrench the tears from her eyes. She tries to hold them back, but the uncomfortable feeling in her throat wins, and they keep coming, full force. She's fully crying in the arms of a man she met just earlier that night, but it doesn't feel strange or uninvited. He feels just like an old friend, and perhaps he is, bonded to her in a way that few others can fully, truly relate to.
Her tears stop and she breathes deeply to settle herself. They're still in a hollow, and they still need to get the item to the client.
“I'm sorry,” she whispers as he releases her. “We only just met, and we're still on the job and-”
“That's quite alright, Miss Evelyn. I think we are already friends. There is no harm in friends comforting one another, even if we are in a hollow.”
She smiles up at him and they make their way to the end of the hallway, pushing open a set of heavy double doors.
The trio steps out into the open air. The moon is still hanging high overhead, and the breeze from earlier is stronger than before. The edge of the hollow looms in front.
They pass through the border and Evelyn gets the chills again. At least they're finally outside.
“Miss Evelyn, would you like that tea I offered earlier? It will truly be no trouble at all,” Lycaon offers, smoothing down the fur on his head. It seems that moving through hollows messes with it somehow.
“I would like that, please,” she smiles. The tea does sound nice, but it also isn't often that she makes a new friend. She needs to get his contact info, and possibly talk for longer.
But there's also the fact that it's about two thirty in the morning, and she needs to get some sleep. She and Astra have a big day at the studio, and several board meetings after. It isn't going to be fun.
Lycaon nods. “Follow me, please,” he beckons, leading them down the sidewalk and around the corner. He stops them in front of a black luxury sedan and opens the trunk, producing a briefcase that folds out into a stand with several contraptions attached.
Evelyn takes a moment to process, and realizes that it's essentially a mobile teahouse. There's an electric kettle, cases of tea leaves, simple ceramic mugs, strainers, cream, and sugar. He certainly backs up his image.
He sets the kettle to heat and shuffles through the containers of tea leaves.
“It's a white tea, do you have any aversions?” he asks. He holds out the container for her to smell, so she leans down and inhales deeply.
The scent is comforting and warm, with very floral notes and even a bit of peach coming through. She sniffs it again and smiles.
“This is really lovely, thank you.” She turns to Eous at their feet. “I'm sorry you aren't here in person.”
“Nah don't be!” Belle responds. “Lycaon’s made me this one before, I really like it too.” Eous’ ears bounce with Belle's excitement. It's always a bit odd to hear a human voice from a bangboo, but she's mostly used to it now.
The tea brews to perfection in four minutes, and Lycaon takes the sieve out of the pot. He hands Evelyn a metal teacup and pours a generous amount. No spills.
She brings it to her lips and inhales. The same aromas come through, but now there's the gentle steam rising off and warming her face. She takes a small sip, and thankfully it's not so hot that it hurts. She holds it on her tongue for several moments and swallows.
“Thank you,” she nods to Lycaon. “It's really good.” She takes another sip.
“Of course,” Lycaon smiles. He sips from his own cup and sets it down. “I don't mean to be rude, but the item should be delivered to the client as soon as possible. I will have to take my leave soon, alongside master proxy.”
Evelyn nods. “Of course. May I…” She stops herself. Can she just ask for his number? Maybe he'll think that she's hitting on him. But she's obviously taken, she can clear it up if he asks…
“Could we exchange contacts? If you would like to talk more, or if we work together again in the future…” She trails off. Her eyes flit to his face to discern his expression.
He nods with a polite smile and pulls his phone from his pocket. “I had meant to ask you the same thing,” he inclines. He presents her his screen with his contact on it, and she takes out her phone and scans it. Done.
She smiles wordlessly and finishes the rest of her tea, handing the cup back to him. He wraps all of the equipment back into their homes in the briefcase and sets it back inside its home in the trunk.
“We should be going then, master proxy,” Lycaon says, turning down to Eous.
“Right! Goodnight Evelyn,” Belle responds, saluting to her with Eous’ little arm. Evelyn salutes back.
“Have a good night,” she nods. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Lycaon.” She offers her hand.
He takes it and shakes it firmly. “Likewise, Miss Evelyn. Please enjoy the rest of your night.”
He takes Eous in hand and steps into his car, and moments later they're both gone.
Evelyn inhales the cool night air. She lifts her arms and stretches upwards. Somehow she feels relaxed, at ease.
The drive home is much like the drive there was, easy and calm, with little if any traffic. She's tired, it's almost three, but not anymore tired than she is during a long workday. Although at this rate, she's going to get maybe three hours of sleep at most. It isn't going to be fun.
She parks the car and takes the elevator back up. Her phone shows no messages, from Lycaon, Belle, or Astra. She must still be asleep.
The door to their home clicks open and she stows her shoes away, climbing up the stairs as quietly as she can. Hopefully she'll be able to make the most of the sleep she can get.
She slips through the doorway, and there she is: Astra, still soundly asleep, sprawled out on the bed with both her and Evelyn's pillows about her. Evelyn can't help but smile.
She collapses onto the bed and lies on her side, gazing at Astra’s sleeping face. She's so beautiful, even with her lips parted and her hair a mess. I'll change soon, I'll just lie here for a moment…
And the alarm goes off, chirping in her ear incessantly. She springs up and presses the snooze button. She did not change. She in fact laid there for more than just a moment.
Astra’s eyes flutter and she stretches, yawning wide before she can open her eyes.
“Eve? Why are you dressed already?” She mutters groggily, rubbing at her cheeks.
Evelyn sighs. Sleeping in her uniform is bad enough as is with all of the straps and buckles, but sleeping with her legs on is the real problem.
The connection points are stiff and they ache. Keeping them on for that long while she's moving is already painful, but without movement to shift the pressure, or even intermittent breaks to release it, her legs feel like they're going to come off. Well.
“I did a commission last night,” she groans. “I was awake and Belle texted, and evidently I passed out.” She pulls herself back to a seated position and pulls her pants off, unlocking her legs afterwards. They slide off and thunk against the carpet.
“Mm… did you have fun?” Astra asks. She yawns again.
It's an intriguing question. Commissions aren't usually “fun”, but last night was a very different experience from the usual, a positive one at that.
“I think I did have fun. But this isn't fun,” she sighs, gesturing at her stumps. They're red, and there's clear marks from her prosthetics.
Astra blinks a few times until her eyes focus. “Oh that's not good, do you want a massage?”
Evelyn flops back to the bed. “We have a long day. Could you?”
Astra nods and stretches her arms. “Get ready, silly girl,” she grins, cracking her knuckles.
Evelyn chuckles softly and fixes her position on the bed, laying her legs flat on the covers. Astra ambles over and nestled between her legs, rubbing her thumbs into her thigh muscles.
She instantly jerks up. “Fuck,” she breathes, tensing all over. Astra releases the pressure.
“Are you okay? Should I go softer?”
Evelyn shakes her head. “I need it, keep going please.”
Astra resumes the pressure, pushing into the tight muscles in her thighs. This time she's able to manage her breathing better, and she only grunts and gasps with the pain.
Astra moves to her right leg and works her magic. Her leg twitches involuntarily and Astra looks at her. She nods and Astra continues.
“Okay, now turn around baby,” Astra coos. Evelyn obeys and flips herself over. Her legs feel a little numb.
She makes a pocket for her face and plants herself into it. Astra’s hands touch at the back of her thighs and she groans. She hears Astra giggle and move her hands away. Before she can resurface to inspect, a tingle runs through her leg as Astra ghosts her fingers over her skin.
“Astra!” she yelps. Astra only giggles more, tickling at the backs of her thighs. She twitches and thrashes, but somehow Astra stays locked onto her target. Evelyn howls with involuntary laughter.
“Please! Please I can't breathe!” She sputters. Astra finally shows mercy and she collapses back to the pillows. Catching her breath is harder with all of the covers, but she manages.
“I'm so sorry Eve, it's just so fun,” she giggles. She resumes the massage and Evelyn moans out. Hopefully the pillows muffled it enough.
Astra finishes the massage and pats Evelyn's butt, pinching her cheeks and hopping off of the bed.
Evelyn turns her head and breathes in deeply. Her legs feel much better, even if they're still sore. She'll make it through the day. But first…
“Evelyn! Don't fall asleep!” Astra calls.
She sighs. “Yes, Miss Yao,” and rises from the bed.
It's time to face the day.