You Know the Truest Me

Evie grins like a shark scenting blood as a flush blooms prettily on Amalia's cheeks. Her embarrassment only fuels her, eyes bright with amusement but gentle with genuine happiness for the woman before her. The flour makes her flinch back, laughing, her nimble fingers tearing a small piece of her scone - reluctant to waste such a delicious treat - and tossing it right back at Amalia. "Never say never, darling. There's always room for promotion," she teases. It's lighthearted at best, knowing Amalia's pure heart would never fall for anyone if there was not sincerity and required emotion to be found. She was simply not the type to weasel her way up in the world, but Evie is envious of her romantic luck nonetheless. No amount of joy on her sister's behalf can drown that particularly stubborn seed of loneliness. It's easier to lean her elbows eagerly on the table, practically crawling her way across at the demure confession Amalia gives. "Oh you tease! You know I'm going to want more details than that!" Not that she'd press if the Shield found herself too flustered, but she desperately wants to know exactly what kind of beast Deimos was in bed to have Amalia saying such things. Evie retreats when the tables are turned, picking at her scone and nibbling the little morsels to distract herself. "No...nobody new. Not for a long time now." It's hard to keep the ache of solitude from her tone, but she tries her best. One failed summer romance is all she has to speak for in nearly thirty years, and it's a fact that haunts her, reminds her of her inadequacy that she tries so hard to bluster past. But Sam is a topic she can actually latch onto, even as she lays her hands flat on the table to stop their twitching. "He's good actually. We spoke in the Temple, and it was...nice, Lia. He's doing well, and I think we're finally getting somewhere. Maybe we can actually be something like siblings." Slowly she turns her hands over, stares at her palms like they hold the secrets of her cursed magic in their flesh. "I've realized I can't run from this." It's the hardest thing she's ever had to say, something only Amalia would ever hear. "I've moved into the apothecary for now, just a little cot but...I don't think I can go back home. I can't keep pretending. I've been...thinking of telling him. Sam. About me." She doesn't know if it's the right thing to do, but after their last meeting she just can't stop thinking about it. And as much as she loathes bringing down the atmosphere of the morning, she can't pretend any longer. Not to the young woman who means so much to her. Perhaps the last person Evie feels she can really trust. evie Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere