Date night, girls (for Evie)

[outstandingbalance]

Things were going good since Valentine's day. Relatively speaking at least. There were ups and downs, but there always were, right? The important detail was that things were going well between Natasha and Evie.

Surprisingly well.

Better than Natasha had hoped.

They'd been dating for a while now. A few trips out. They'd been to the ballet, and to the theater. More often, they'd stayed in, watched movies, cuddled on the couch. Stole more kisses. It wasn't what Natasha normally did, but she found herself enjoying it.

Tonight was another night out, this time to the opera, and Natasha was decked out. Fancy dress. Even the satin gloves. There may have been a little bit of humor in her choice, but it was in good fun. If Natasha laughed at the idea of getting dressed up to go out with Evie, it was mostly because she was genuinely happy to be doing it. She knocks on Evie's door just on time, flashing a red-lipped smile as the door opens. "Ready for me?"

Comments

[outstandingbalance]

"I guess I figured the way things were going, we were moving that direction. If we weren't there yet." She hasn't really stopped to interrogate where they were or where she thought they should be, where she wanted to be. She's been taking the relationship as it came.

But they have been growing closer.

"I guess I've been getting more invested. Committed?" Exclusive remains unsaid, though Natasha figures that's the direction this is going. She's not actually sure how she feels about that. One of those things she hasn't been thinking about too closely.

[freelife]

Committed. That was a good word. Evie nods and takes another drink.

"Good, so we were on the same page, then. I was worried about that." She rolls her shoulders a little.

More invested was a surprisingly odd way to put it, but she's got to agree. Maybe not the words she would have gone with. "Yes. I was hoping so. Unless... that's not a problem for you, is it?"

[outstandingbalance]

"I'm not sure," Natasha confesses with real uncertainty. It shouldn't be a problem, should it? She hesitates though, because the idea seems so... normal. Like something from a life she's never had and maybe isn't made for anymore. "I don't think I've ever really had one."

[freelife]

This is. Brand new information for Evie. She raises her eyebrows at that, takes another drink.

"Oh. That's... Good to know." She wasn't judging, she wasn't mad. Just surprised. "Not what I was expecting to hear, but I understand. should we... give it more time, then? Before you'd like to become exclusive?" She wouldn't rush Natasha. Goodness knew they had all the time in the world.

[outstandingbalance]

"I'm not saying that." She shouldn't be, should she? Things had been going well so far, and she hadn't been seeing anyone else. She was satisfied, wasn't she?

Natasha shakes her head. "We have a little time. We can talk about it. I just... I suppose I haven't been thinking about that detail too closely."

Pressing her lips together in distaste for her own answer, Natasha huffs, then explains more: "I never dated. Not normally. I was groomed to join the nest from the time I was a teenager, and when I was being trained as a spy fraternizing was discouraged. Turns out I'm not very good at relationships. But that doesn't mean I don't want to be."

[freelife]

Evie's already willing to wave the discussion away. Finish her glass, go to the theater. But they can talk about it.

As she speaks, Evie sets her glass down on the coffee table, and extends her own hand to rest on Natasha's knee. It's the first time she's heard this, and though it's remarkably similar to her own story, she'd still had others. She'd had Henry.

"I understand," she says after a moment, letting her thumb trace small circles on Nat's knee. "I've been surprisingly single, as well. Dating was complicated- mind you, thousands of Assassin's have gotten married, had children, but when I was turned, I was a bit of a special case. Even so, I'm a bloody Victorian." She's become increasingly cavalier in her attitude toward sex, however.

"I think we're learning together, to be in a relationship. And I want to share that with you, trials and tribulations all. We're a unique pair, and I think that's why we work so well."

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha hums a wordless agreement, smiling very slightly. "We agree on that," she says with a slight, sad smile. They work well together. And they are working through this together. "Let's say that's the next step, commitment, exclusivity... I think I can take that step."

She nods a little, as much to herself as Evie. "If it doesn't seem to work, then... we can talk about it then? Figure out the next step when we get there."

[freelife]

Evie nods, her thumb still moving in an aimless circle.

"I think I can accept that," she said. "I'd just prefer it if... If the urge strikes you, let me know before you act on it." The urge to be with someone else. It would save them hurt, in the long-run.

[outstandingbalance]

The contact is welcome, comforting even. Especially at a time when Natasha feels rather unaccustomedly out of her depth. Her gaze drops. "It wouldn't be like that. You have my word. More like... if it seems to be a bad fit, we talk about it again rather than just throwing the whole thing out."

[freelife]

"That sounds like a plan, then. We'll try being exclusive, and if it doesn't appear to be working, we'll talk again." She could only hope they never had to have that conversation.

"To a new phase in our relationship?" She holds up the glass of wine to Natasha. "And the opera tonight."

[outstandingbalance]

With a slight, honest smile, Natasha lifts her glass as well. "To the future. Short and long term."

[freelife]

"Short and long-term." She clinks glasses, keeping her eyes locked with, and she could really say this now, her girlfriend.