{Writer's Note: This chapter is going to get pretty messed up—LRLB is tagged as dark for a reason. If you don't think you can stomach this, then please skip ahead. This is just a warning; certain characters are going to get severely unhinged. That said, if you're still here, please enjoy.}
- - -
Eve had a conundrum on her hands.
How in the world did Elisa end up coming home with me?
She facepalmed as they stepped into her apartment.
At the entrance, Elisa slipped off her shoes and lined them neatly, toes facing the doorway. Eve was holding the plastic bag of takeout they'd gotten from Haneul-bap on the way and tried not to look as flustered as she felt.
"Thank you for having me," Elisa said politely.
"Not at all." Eve closed the door behind them, locking and bolting it.
It was late, and the warm lights gave the apartment a soft, cozy glow. Eve led Elisa awkwardly toward the low table in the living room. "You can set your things down here," she offered.
Elisa placed her motorcycle helmet carefully under the table, while Eve laid the takeout boxes on top.
Eve took the takeout boxes out of the plastic bag. They were warm. She hesitated before turning to Elisa. "Do you want to take a shower first? You must be tired."
"If it's not too much trouble," Elisa replied.
"No, it's fine. Bathroom's down the hall on the left. Towels are on the rail." Eve paused, then added, "You don't have a change of clothes, right? I can lend you some."
Elisa gave her a curious look.
"What?" Eve asked.
"Nothing." Elisa turned slightly away. "I appreciate it, but… will your clothes fit me?"
Eve froze. …Would they? Elisa's about a head taller than me.My oversized tees should fit, but I don't know about pants or shorts… They should be fine, though.
"I'll check," she said.
"Thank you." Elisa turned and then headed down the hall toward the bathroom.
Eve let out a breath that she'd been holding for what seemed like the entire time, deflating like a balloon. It was fine.
She knew Elisa.
She just wanted to talk to Elisa about some things.
It was just like having a friend over for the night.
She'd done that a couple times, hadn't she?
I guess I was pretty bold asking her over, but… jesus christ, what was I thinking? I'm a terrible host. What am I even going to do now? I… know what I want to feel, but is it really okay? There's so much to talk about… especially about the Bloom. Our relationship, too.
Eve dropped down on to the floor, tossing one of the cushions off of the couch to sit on. She hugged her legs and rested her head on her knees as she heard the shower tap turning on and the pitter-patter of water flowing down the drain.
As she heard the sound, Eve's thoughts wandered.
Elisa's showering in my apartment.
She banged her head on the table to clear the indecent thoughts from her head.
No. Bad Eve.
She stood back up and headed into her room to find Elisa a change of clothes.
- - -
{Elisa's POV}
"Eve? I'm done."
Silvery beads of water dripped down Elisa's long flowing obsidian hair as she turned off the showerhead and stepped out of the shower. The warm water had rejuvenated her after the long day, her porcelainlike pale skin was swathed in strokes of the soft bathroom light.
She did her best to wring out her hair by the sink before covering herself in a towel. Catching her reflection at the mirror, she stared at herself. Without her cap and mask, Elisa usually felt… vulnerable. Yet somehow in Eve's apartment she felt at ease.
Her hair was damp against her skin like gleaming ribbons and traced her features with their delicate strands. Her amethyst eyes stared back at her in the mirror.
As Elisa tied her hair back with her hair tie, she felt a slight sensation rise in her chest. What was it?
Elisa pondered for a moment before she understood.
It was excitement.
She was in her girlfriend's—was she?—apartment. Even with Elise's memories, they'd only really talked at the laboratory and hadn't really done anything else. The sensitive and important nature of their work had kept them from going anywhere else.
Now, though, things were different. A faint warmth crept into her cheeks, surprising her when she realized she'd flushed a delicate pink. She leaned forward against the counter, resting her head on her hands. The light caught across her bare shoulders and the gentle line of her collarbones.
Elisa needed to see Eve, she realized. Properly. To talk things over.
Her flush receded a bit as she sighed. Her heart dropped a little.
There were a lot of serious matters that they had to talk about—mainly about the Bloom. Even though Eve had acted the way she did during the conference, there was a lot more about the Bloom that they hadn't talked about, especially after the Cloud Shepherd operation where she'd relinquished control to the Bloom.
It was the only choice she could make at the time to protect Eve. She breathed out heavily. As much as she just wanted to relax…
There's a lot of shit that I need to clear up.
Elisa unlocked the bathroom door and was about to open it when she heard a yelp from the other side.
"W-wait! Hang on, I have your change of clothes. Give me a sec to get away, okay?"
She heard the thump of a chair being placed next to the door as well as the flap of a set of clothes being left on the chair.
Eve's footsteps receded rapidly before a small voice said, "Y-you can come out now…"
A smile crept back to Elisa's face.
Jeez, this girl…
There was banging, and clinking in the kitchen as Elisa presumed Eve was trying to fetch cutlery.
Elisa hovered in the doorway, unsure whether or not to open the door. There's no way, right? She's TRACE. How is she so clumsy now?
Her thoughts were cut off by a thump and a yelp as she presumed Eve had fallen on to the ground.
Elisa sighed. She's going to hurt herself. I'd better get changed.
- - -
Eve's clothes more or less fit Elisa. The oversized tee was only a little big for her, and the shorts were a bit tight. Elisa made her way back into the living room.
Eve had opened up their takeout with two sets of chopsticks and bowls. She looked away from Elisa, not being able to get her head straight. Elisa sat down on a cushion next to her, joining Eve at the table.
Eve took in Elisa's damp hair and face flushed red from the warm shower. The tee she'd chosen fit Elisa well, though the shorts were a bit…
Eve hugged her legs and buried her head in her knees once more.
Jesus christ… Why can't I physically function around this girl?
"Eve? Are you okay?"
Eve peeked out at Elisa.
She's so pretty that it's unfair, Eve thought, forcing herself to look at Elisa's face.
"We need to talk."
"I'm listening."
Eve unfolded her legs, sitting cross-legged, her hands twisting together in her lap. Her heart pounded as her voice faltered.
"...Actually… I don't even know where to start. Maybe with the important thing. The Bloom. Didn't you say it was dead?"
Elisa hesitated. That pause dug into Eve like a knife.
"…And here I thought we were going to talk about something else." Her eyes slid, lavender frosting over as Elise surfaced. "First of all, the Bloom isn't an it. She's a she. My hypothesis is that she carried on inside me when I moved into Isa's body. We're inseparable now, no matter what I try."
What.
The.
Fuck.
That single sentence gutted Eve. As if Elise had inadvertently flipped a switch, all of Eve's hopes of resolving their relationship after a brief serious chat was stripped away in an instant.
…So, basically, she lied to me and was harbouring the Bloom all along. Sure, it saved us, but…
Eve's heart twisted itself into a painful, gruesome knot. She felt betrayed.
How could she not?
She began to laugh—short, broken. The sound startled even her. "You're saying… the Bloom's stuck inside of you. And you can't remove it. Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice shook slightly, her thoughts slipping like water through her fingers. Eve's hands dropped into her lap and she clutched them while her body jolted like she was sobbing. Her head dropped to her chest.
It was heartbreaking. Elisa leaned over. "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but… I had my reasons for keeping it a secret," Elisa said. "I only relinquished control back then to save us. We were all going to die if the Cloud Shepherd had continued for a second longer. It was the only way to stop it. Otherwise, I would have never given up control."
Her words fell on deaf ears; it was no use.
Eve had always been in control, but this was different. All that pressure from TRACE, the missions, the stress—everything that Eve had suppressed up until this point boiled over with the sting of being lied to.
From Eve's perspective, the sting of being betrayed.
Slowly, Eve looked up. Her expression was eerily calm now—eyes glassy, a sly smile too still, like a doll's. The sudden stillness was worse than the laughter.
Eve's head tilted as she whispered tenderly, "I thought you could be mine. Mine. But if I can't control the Bloom—then I'll kill you. I promised I would, back then. Besides, as operators, that's a majority of what we do, isn't it? Secure the target… or destroy it."
Her voice caught on a hollow laugh. "Oh, Elisa… all this time you hid it—you're an anomaly in a body I can't keep. You lied to me! But that's fine~ You can be the monster if you want. Ehe." Eve choked, grinning.
"E-Eve?" Elisa's voice wavered. "No, I—"
Elisa stopped as Eve's grin widened, her eyes gleaming with something violent. Something unhinged. Something unstable. Something sick.
Elisa's instincts prickled.
She gritted her teeth.
As much as it hurt to see, she knew something was up with Eve—something dangerous. She inched slowly backwards as Eve seemed to struggle with her own thoughts.
"No, no… wait~ You're not the monster. I am. I should be. I should've seen to it before it got this far. So I'll take it on myself. I'll be the monster if I have to. Because if I love you—if I really love you—then I can't let this keep going. If I can't have all of you… then I'll just have to make sure no one does, right~?" Eve chimed.
Elisa was both shocked by what she was hearing, as well as the tear cutting down Eve's cheek as her grin only widened.
"I'm sorry about this—really, really sorry~ Sorrysorrysorry," Eve panted. "But if I don't do it, who will~?"
Slam.
It all happened in a flash.
Eve snapped forward. Her movements were fast, erratic—too desperate to be methodical, too hungry to be anything but obsession.
She whipped a chopstick down like a dagger toward Elisa's left eye. Elisa rolled just in time—the chopstick stabbed into the cushion where her head had been.
"Kh!"
Elisa tried to move, but Eve pinned her, chopstick poised again as Elisa desperately gripped Eve's arm. Her face was too calm, too still. Elisa had to use every ounce of strength to stop the weapon from plunging into her eye.
"W-Why are you doing this, Eve?" Elisa's heart hurt. Both from betrayal and resentment. She never would have thought Eve of all people would have gone this far—but then again, she should have. Eve was a TRACE operator, after all.
The Tier One special operations unit of the Halcyon Federation. They did everything for the Federation, no questions asked.
Then there was the Bloom. If it hadn't shown up, then this would've never happened. If such anomalies hadn't shown up, then nothing would have happened at all. Elisa wondered where they would be if not for them.
Flat on her back, Elisa stared up at the woman struggling to kill her. Once, this position might have been intimate—if not for the fact that Eve was hell-bent on destruction.
"It's a shame, really~" Eve grinned, chopstick trembling centimeters from Elisa's eye. She was completely irrational, her eyes dead. Elisa knew that there'd be no way to convince her to stand down. "I wanted this to work. I don't think I've ever actually fallen for someone before. I really wished it didn't have to end this way. I love you, Elisa. If only…"
Elisa panted, barely holding her off. She's really sick, she thought as the horrible realization crept in like a dreadful beast.
Eve's breath was ragged. "Elisa… oh, Elisa. I'll end you here. For humanity. For TRACE. For me. If I kill you, you'll stay mine forever, even if you're gone. It'll save everybody too~ Isn't that sweet?"