May Open Post

[outstandingbalance]

Date Night - Close to Evie

Tonight, it's dinner. Natasha's choice. She might not be able to appreciate the flavor of the food itself the way she used to, but she still enjoys the experience. The candlelight. The waiters. The wine.

She enjoys spending time with her girlfriend, the feeling of privacy that comes from being in a secluded table in a nice restaurant, while still existing in public. Most of all, she enjoys the company, the chance to make Evie smile.

It's strange to her, very very strange, like being in a new country and only barely speaking the language, but it's also good.

On Patrol

With so much going on, there's a lot of reason for Natasha to be out on the street. She needs to know what's going on, but that's only part of it. She also needs to be there if something goes wrong. This whole month seems to be one bomb dropped after another, and it makes her twitchy.

So she walks the area around Redbright looking for trouble. Maybe she finds it. Maybe she finds a friend instead?

And the Bar

Or maybe she'll run into a friend at the bar. She can hope. It'd be a pity to drink alone.

Natasha doesn't like the position she's in. Since she arrived in London, she's wanted nothing more than stability and a place where the supernatural communities observed at least the appearance of peaceful co-existence, and since she's arrived it seems like there's been nothing but threats to that in one form or another.

Not that she was optimistic about the situation. She's used to not getting what she wants.

But at this point, the situation is discouraging, and she'd like someone to have a drink with while she gets the disappointment out of her system.

Wildcard

Comments

[freelife]

"Of course I do." Why wouldn't she?

"I can always use it with you- that's how I practiced Hindi before I ever set foot in India." Henry had been patient and taught her, with occasional help from the Maharajah himself. Few people could claim they'd been taught Hindi by the last Maharajah.

"II'd like to learn. I see no reason to ever stop learning, and we only have time before us. Who knows when it will come in handy."

[outstandingbalance]

"Who knows," Natasha echoes, lowering her eyes. The expression is almost bashful. As close as a vampire assassin can come to that description. "You know I speak eight languages. If we needed to speak privately. But I'd be happy to help you learn Russian."

[freelife]

Evie gives her a look. Of course she speaks eight languages. And goodness, she loves that about Natasha. She's so incredibly capable, even with her refusal to drink human blood. Capable, beautiful, strong. Don't forget how smart she was, too. Really, she had the perfect thing going on.

"I would love that," she confirms. "Thank you for humoring me."

[outstandingbalance]

"I didn't mean that to say I'm humoring you." Natasha assures her slowly. Why not learn new languages. They have more than enough time for it, and what languages are relevant to know always evolve with the political climate. Natasha, for example, never had a reason to learn Hindi. But English, German, Italian, Mandarin—that had been what her teachers thought she would benefit from. "But until your Russian is up to snuff, there are other options."

She sips her wine, buying a little time to recover from her surprise. "It's just not every day someone asks me to teach them Russian. And I haven't had the chance to speak it much since moving here."

[freelife]

"I'm glad to hear it, and should we ever have to team up again, I'm sure we can find something others don't speak." You never knew if you were going to be up against who and what. You could never be too prepared, she firmly believed in that.

"Well, then we can change that. And if there's anything you'd like me to teach you, ever, please ask." She did give her those chakrams, after all. "Though I confess I have been doing some teaching on the side." Caroline was learning to fight and Dodger was learning to climb.

[outstandingbalance]

"I'll keep that in mind. I'm sure there's something you can teach me." Natasha says it easier than before, more lightly, and under the table, she nudges Evie's ankle playfully with her toe.

"Just who is it your teaching? Should I be jealous?"

[freelife]

Evie glances up at Natasha as she feels her toe against her foot. She returns the gesture, tapping her foot with the toe of her heel.

"Caroline Forbes, if you've met her. She's American, from Virginia. Young vampire, but very capable. She wants to learn to fight. The other is this young boy, goes by Dodger. Apparently he saw some of my free running and wanted to learn himself." In return, he feeds her information, but she doesn't need to mention that out-loud.

[outstandingbalance]

"I've met her," Natasha says, recognizing the name and the description. "She was the one behind the Christmas party. She's lucky to have you helping her out."

Dodger, Natasha doesn't know. She files the name away for future investigation, but finding out more about him isn't the priority right now.

"Is she catching on? She didn't strike me as a fighter."

[freelife]

"She was. She's got a talent for parties, I can tell you that." She'd been to some fancy-ass parties in her time, okay?

"She is, actually. She was a cheerleader in high school, it turned out. So she has a solid base to begin with."

[outstandingbalance]

"A cheerleader? That is almost painfully American." Natasha smiles as she says it, as much making fun of herself as Caroline. "But I can see where it'd be an advantage. There's a fair amount of gymnastics involved."

[freelife]

She chuckles into her drink. "It really is. But you'll see it, once you meet her. Bright, blonde, bubbly and absolutely beautiful." Natasha had nothing to fear from her, truth be told.

"Exactly. Hand-eye coordination, all that." She almost wants to ask if that's why Natasha was a trained ballerina, but knows it could potentially be a difficult subject. so she avoids it entirely.

[outstandingbalance]

"I look forward to seeing what you've taught her. She has a good teacher." Natasha isn't exactly the jealous type, and her eyes smile at the thought. Call it pride in her girlfriend

That is why Natasha studied ballet. And gymnastics too, though she prefers not to bring it up.

"Can I ask what inspired her to start learning?"

[freelife]

"Thank you. That means a lot to me." Natasha has never even seen her teach. But it's nice to know there's a confidence there.

"She witnessed me at the Halloween party," she says by way of explanation. "And wanted to learn how to fight, so the next time she'll have an advantage."

[outstandingbalance]

"The way things go around here, can't blame her for that." Natasha glances away, her expression falling somewhat as he thoughts go to the current political situation. "Hopefully it won't come to too much open fighting, but... who knows."

[freelife]

Evie heaves a heavy sigh. "I'm afraid it's already too late for that. I saw the cages the Daybreak witches plan to put their captives in." She shakes her head. "A call for slavery is a call for open fighting."

#TeamFae.

[outstandingbalance]

"And that just might be the point." Natasha has put a lot of thought into this. At this point, she can only conclude that either Daybreak was exceptionally sloppy, or else they never really worried that they might fail because the plan never really hinged on success.

[freelife]

Now that's a worrying point. She sighs.

"Okeke is a problem, regardless." Is her summation. "How is the Institute handling all of this?"

[outstandingbalance]

"It's a big change," Natasha says, weighing how much to share. Not because she doesn't trust Evie or her view, but because of the politics of it all. And because old habits are hard to escape.

And of course, the fact she still doesn't entirely know herself.

"We can't condone what Daybreak is doing, obviously, but we have been natural allies until so recently... I think most of the staff is still adjusting. And the students don't really know."

[freelife]

Evie extends her hand across the table to gently cover Natasha's. It seems like she'll need some sort of physical contact, or maybe that's just Evie.

We're going to pretend it's Natasha, though.

"Of course. I how hard that can be." It had been hard for the Assassin's to accept her turn, though there had been a few that had turned before her- her own twin besides. "Sylvia Redbright herself can't be too terribly happy." She isn't fishing for information, she's stating an opinion.

[outstandingbalance]

"I wouldn't be either, but she's not really sharing information with me." Natasha shrugs, though she turns her hand to thread her fingers through Evie's, accepting the contact without acknowledging it otherwise.

It is a comfort, in its way. Not something Natasha is always good at taking.

"We're all waiting to see what happens next."

[freelife]

The touch is so natural that Evie almost forgets what it was like not to have her there.

"Of course, and even if she were, I wouldn't expect you to be able to share it with me." Confidentiality was something she took very seriously. To a point.

[outstandingbalance]

"Well. Hopefully it won't come to that."

It will, but that doesn't mean Natasha doesn't hope. She does, deeply. There's a difference between being hopeful and believing it will happen.

"But I appreciate that. More than you know."

[freelife]

She nods. "Of course." She'd like to believe that if she and Natasha ever had to fully disagree on something, they'd be able to handle it separate from their relationship. To avoid keeping it personal and turn off all politics when they came home.

"But thank you." She bows her head, leaning toward Natasha a little. "It's nice to hear it."