Strength is also Beauty

EVANGELINE SIGHED.Yesterday was a disaster that Eva could only desperately hope to have never happened. She had felt so out of control, which hasn’t happened in a very long time, too, that it had caused herself to go into a mild, silent panic attack. It washed over her with just enough vigor to have Eva completely shut down and not function for a while thereafter. Now looking at the ribbon tailed bird of paradise sitting smug on her table, Eva wanted nothing more than to travel back in time and slap herself left and right. Since she had the chance to reroll the memory in her head again and again, she could come up with so many other scenarios that could have gone hundred times better than yesterday.

Needless to say, she went into her thinking mode as soon as she was back behind the comfort of her closed hotel room. Her first quest was to find out why she almost broke down in front of Alisa yesterday. But, the answer spun over to something she didn’t want it to, and Eva simply kept probing and poking at the thought in her head. She wanted to consider Alisa as a friend, and for all she knew, she already did consider her as one! Only, she didn’t know why. Eva had met so many people, both good and bad, in her life and as much as some of them tried to get close to her, she could never accept them as friends. They were meticulously categorized into acquaintances, familiar faces, people she could tolerate, and etc.

In the end when she couldn’t take it any longer, Eva had willed herself to throw the entire memory out of her head. She reinforced her mind, the taking two steps back effect, and her mask resurfaced, as impregnable and unbreakable as ever. In effect, she became even more perfect. Eva smiled glamorously, behaved gracefully, and was mindful of even a simple twitch of her fingers.

The next day, she was as good as new when she stepped out of her hotel. The sky was getting a little dark with indication of rain soon to follow. Eva hurried down the path she took yesterday, turned at the same corners and in a few minutes, was right in front of the lab that hung a huge dolphin shaped sign board. She arrived just in time to catch Raina leaving, too.

“Raina-san!” she had called out with a positively beaming smile. The young aquarist seemed genuinely taken back for a moment before she felt her lips tug up into a smile as well. “Oh, Eva-san. I thought you wouldn’t make it today. I already told Alisa san what you’re supposed to do today. I’m about to head out,” she managed in a put together but failing authoritative voice as she tried to recompose herself. But Eva was already on the attack before she could and had her warm hands wrapped around Raina’s slightly cold ones. “You don’t have to worry at all, Raina-san! We’ll take care of the lab and those adorable fishes for you! Please have a great day ahead,” Eva wished joyfully. The aquarist resembled a real fish for a few moments with her mouth opening and closing but as it failed to voice anything, she simply smiled and went away.

Eva had a rather evil glint on her eyes as she watched the blue haired woman disappear down the street. “Then, what do we do today, Alisa-san?”

Strength is also Beauty

Eva gave Alisa the same smile she gave Raina. But, this one was more genuine. During her dramatic monologue last night, Eva had accepted that while she didn’t consider Alisa as a friend yet, she definitely didn’t fit within any of the other categories she normally considered. In the end, she just decided that Alisa was slightly higher in place than the category of people she could tolerate and left it at that without much more thought on the subject. She had been right in doing so, too, because Eva was once again able to face the red eyed mage without wanting to hide herself every second their eyes met.

“This lab sure seems huge when it’s not occupied,” Eva mused out loud and followed Alisa as they fed the fishes and took note of their wellbeing. They were starting to make her a bit sick now. She had been in Hargeon for a week and almost all of the quests she took had her going after some fish or another. The worst one by far was definitely the magical bait incident where she swore she would never be able to look at another fish again. But here she was taking care of them again. Obviously, it was starting to get incredibly boring.

Then Alisa just had the queerest but interesting idea that Eva had heard all morning. She had found a tropical water tank big enough to fit more than two people inside and was already in it before Eva could stop her. She swam around much like a mermaid, pressed her face into the glass –which made Eva giggle, and swam up to ask her to get in as well.

Eva wanted to join Alisa, too. In fact, she was sure that she could use something and exciting and fun at the moment. But, Eva wasn’t as prepared as Alisa was. She had worn a simple grey T shirt with a pair of short shorts. It was hardly something she could take a swim in. Instead, Eva climbed the tank walls and sat on one side after taking her white shoes off. She let her long legs sink into the slightly cold water and felt a pleasant shiver run up her spine. It urged her to just jump in and take a dip along with Alisa but she really didn’t want to get her clothes wet, especially if Raina might come back and find it unusually so.

“I’ll just sit here, Alisa!” she called out to the young woman who was having fun under the water now. For the next hour and a half, Eva just sat there with her legs swinging back and forth inside the water while Alisa swam inside the large tank. Afterwards, she helped Alisa out and checked on the ‘other’ fishes once more before piling a brief report on them for Raina to look over once she got back. Exactly half an hour after, Raina walked in with a tired scowl. “Did everything go well?” She asked as Eva handed over the report. Her eyes moved to the slightly drenched hair Alisa had but shrugged at Raina with a radiant smile. “Everything was just fine”.