Mr. Sandman

[outstandingbalance]

6 Feb.

It's February, still cold but Valentine's Day just around the corner and people starting to think of spring, it might not be surprising that romance seems to be in the air. Hard to pin down just what the difference is—but romance seems to be nagging at a lot of minds.

It might be because last night, you had a dream. Nothing clear, but bits and pieces stick with you. Maybe it was just stolen glances and light kisses, or maybe it was flashes and surprising jolts of something more physical, more raw. Either way, the dream doesn't quite fade away when daylight comes.

The strangest part? It's about someone you normally try not to think of that way.

Dreams are like that though, sometimes. It's probably nothing.

10 Feb.

A few days later, and the dreams keep on keeping on. For at least one person, it's every night. For others, it may be more intermittent. It may be just happening for the first time, after a visit to the Redbright Institute or passing through the surrounding neighbor, or after chatting with a particular vampire. It might happen spontaneously. Either way the dreams keep coming, and they continue to be about someone in particular, someone who you've been denying or ignoring your attraction to, but it's getting hard to pretend you don't feel a little warmer when you think about them.

It's starting to seem like there's something a little weird going on here. Even weirder? There's a chance that the person you're dreaming about is having the same dreams. Not just romantic dreams—the exact same shared dreams.

At least, they are if they're dreaming of you too.

14 Feb.

It's been a week now, and the dreams keep escalating. Not only do they become more frequent, they're more vivid. What started with disjointed images and feelings, more impressions than anything else, have evolved into full narratives—ranging from chastely romantic nonsense, imagining that the object of your desire is a knight coming to rescue you from a dragon, or arrived to offer comfort and support in a bleak moment, to intensely erotic. Some of them may be down right silly.

But the common thread is there. They are all about the same person, and they all expose the fact that you care about them in a way that's not as platonic as you've pretended.

And maybe it's about time you confronted that?

On the other hand, maybe you're just riding this out.

Either way, this is getting sorted out tonight. There's not going to be a better time for it

Comments

[freelife]

Evie laughs again, pulling back slightly. She lets go of Natasha with one hand, using it instead to rub at her temples.

"I- yes. There have been... things I noticed. But I didn't put it all together until now. Things- things on my side, as well." Now it's her turn to duck her head.

[outstandingbalance]

"On your side as well," Natasha repeats, tilting her head to keep Evie's expression in her line of sight. Her heart flutters at Evie's admission in a way that makes her feel silly. She's much too old and experienced for that kind of youthful pattering.

But considering how new it is for her to have a friendship with another woman like this, it puts things in such a new context.

"You mean you've felt the same?"

[freelife]

"I didn't really know what it was, until now," Evie admits, looking away for a moment.

"Then you said it and everything clicked. The dreams all made sense, and- this is the first time I've felt this way toward another woman."

[outstandingbalance]

"It's not exactly a first for me," Natasha admits slowly. To some degree, she'd always counted it as a vampire thing, but if she were to be honest it was probably there all along.

"But I'm still not handling it gracefully. It's less about women and more about... I haven't had a lot of friends."

[freelife]

Evie isn't surprised. She grew up in Victorian England, and they weren't exactly notorious for their liberal attitudes towards sex. She and Henry had been extremely respectful of each other throughout their entire courtship. But that's what it had been about back then. Courting.

Now, people dated. And, as being friends with people like Caroline taught her, dating seemed to on it's way out now, too.

"I've always recognized beauty in other women," Evie confesses. "Just not... This." She makes a vague gesture between the two of them.

"I hadn't, either, at one point in my life. I usually try not to make many friends." She ducks her head just a little, looking up at her with her nearly-teal eyes. "But things have changed, and I'd like to think they're changing for you, as well." Gingerly, she reaches for Natasha's hand.

[outstandingbalance]

"Seemed like a liability," Natasha agrees. Then her lips tighten and she lowers her eyes. "Like a vulnerability."

She whets her lips, then sighs, raising her chin as Evie takes her hand.

"It has been. Making friends... or more than friends?"

[freelife]

Evie understood. Lord did she understand. They were similar women, in that regard. Just on opposite sides. (She's briefly reminded of another Assassin, raised by Templars).

Almost of their own accord, Evie's fingers lace with Natasha.

"I think I can manage more than friends."

[outstandingbalance]

Finally, Natasha lets herself finally start to believe that this is possible. More than possible, it seems to be happening. "Yeah?" she says, her throat suddenly dry.

She leans closer. "You sure about that?"

[freelife]

She swallows, her eyes drawn toward Natasha's lips. She mimics her actions, leaning in.

"Yes- I do believe I am."

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha smiles at that, the expression surprisingly honest, quick but genuinely pleased and almost vulnerable.

Then she closes the distance between them for a kiss, moving quickly and catching Evie's mouth in a kiss—not as deep as she might have normally, but also... clearly happy? It might be the most purely happy kiss she's had in memory.

[freelife]

Natasha's lips are as soft as they were in the dream, she realizes as she returns the kiss. Soft, hesitant.

When she pulls away, she's still close to Natasha, their foreheads touching. "I cannot promise I will be any good at this. But you do have my word that I will try as hard as I can."

[outstandingbalance]

"You think I'm any good at this?" Natasha almost laughs again, but she holds back the sound. It's nerves. "I don't exactly have a lot of experience either. I'm not even entirely sure what we're doing..."

This is not how Natasha expected this to happen, and now that the reality hits her she realizes she hasn't had any kind of committed relationship since her sire died. And that had hardly been standard.

"What do you want this to be?"

[freelife]

What did she want it to be? Oh lord. Evie has to think for a moment, running her thumb over Natasha's knuckles. Her hands were so soft, and she loved it all the more, knowing what Natasha was capable of doing with said hands.

"I would like, if you're on the same page as I am, to... Shall we try to date? With the promise that our friendship will come first. I should hate to lose you when you find out what a terrible girlfriend I surely am."

[outstandingbalance]

"Girlfriends?" Natasha chuckles again, pulling away just enough to shift upward, lifting her face to kiss Evie's forehead. The whole thing seemed almost silly, but in a delightful way.

"All right. We'll try it."

[freelife]

She tries to ignore how much she's smiling, force the edges of her lips back down into a frown, but it's no use when Natasha's lips touch her forehead.

"But if we think it's not working, we end it. Take a step back. And re-approach as friends." She didn't want to lose the best friend she had because she'd listened to her heart once more.

[outstandingbalance]

"I can agree to that." There friendship was important to both of them; they'd proved that clearly, perhaps to the point of foolishness.

Natasha is rational enough not to stop there. It seems like, especially given their different situations, there's still room to lay out ground rules.

"What about politics? I think it's safe to say we're not going to expect each other to switch sides. We don't let it complicate things?"

[freelife]

She's brilliant- keeping her head where Evie was already forgetting it.

"We don't let it complicate things," she agrees. Natasha worked with Redbright, and that was fine with Evie. She just happened to work closely with Jean-Claude. "It hasn't complicated things yet, after all."

[outstandingbalance]

"I don't think so. I'd like to think we're on good terms, for the most part. Me and Islington, that is." She's worked with Jean-Claude before, a fact Evie knows well enough. The two of them have even worked together. "But I want to have it out there."

Natasha takes a deep breath. She doesn't want any surprises. She doesn't want to ruin this by not thinking of something. "Is this exclusive?"

[freelife]

Evie nods. "Of course. Jean-Claude likes you plenty." She didn't necessarily like Sylvia, but she respected her. The school did some wonderful things for their community. "But thank you. It's good to know where we stand." And any job that wanted her to ruin this new relationship... She'd have to take a good look at the job.

Her eyebrows raise a little, in regards to the idea of exclusivity. "I- don't know-?" She says, unsure of what else too say, exactly. "I mean, I don't exactly have anyone else." If Natasha did... Well, she'd at least like to know about it now.

[outstandingbalance]

"All right." Natasha wets her lip, bowing her head a little. She trusted they could make things work between their respective factions. That, she believed they could handle.

"Would you rather I not? I'm not dating anyone else..." Natasha doesn't date. Or she hasn't. But that doesn't mean she hasn't had liaisons.

[freelife]

"I'm... not sure." The words are foreign from Evie's lips, when strung together like that. Usually she was so sure. She always was, before she made a move. All of tonight was miserably uncalculated.

"I don't see myself looking for others. But I don't want to stop you, if that's what you want." It sounded awful.

[outstandingbalance]

Giving Evie a slight nod, Natasha processes that. She's not sure what she's doing either. She just knows she wants to do it right. "Let's say then..." she says slowly, "That we try dating a little, and come back to it. If it seems to be working out, if it bothers you, then we can talk about something more committed. Monogamous. But start with just dating."

She smiles slightly. "Baby steps?"

[freelife]

There's a moment of consideration. Here she'd immediately gone to the idea of girlfriends, but perhaps dating was a better place to start. Testing out a proper relationship, from what she could gather.

Likely, much much safer that way, for their friendship, likely.

"Baby steps. So then... Should we call tonight our first date? Or would you like me to pick you up one night in the future?" She could barely remember it was supposed to be Valentine's day- which, as it were, put a whole lot of pressure on any sort of date if tonight became just that.

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha smiles slightly again, then she straightens slightly, looking down her nose at Evie with a mock-speculative air. "This is supposed to be our first date? What kind of girl do you take me for?"

[freelife]

"WEll I don't know. Considering we are dating now. Or shoudl we start the dating.... when the dating starts and this is still just a night in as friends?" She tries not to grimace at her own inability to romance.

"Because believe me, I would love to wine and dine you." There. Better. Smooth.