Private Heaven for the Sinner

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

Right, Amea would be getting the drinks. They both had their established likes and capabilities, and while Amea was by no means a poor mixer, it was pretty obvious she preferred not to make anything big out of the beverages she brought out. Bottles, cans, once or twice a jug, this was something Evelyn was aware of and no doubt something she’d expect when it came to Amea’s choice of drink.

One bottle of red, a well-aged whiskey reserve, and two glasses each.

“Here we go,” Amea said with a grin as she stepped through the door. Although the grin faded into something more mellow as she saw the unlit fire. “Of course you are…”

Evelyn was the one who liked to think things over and find the things that were just right. Usually it was a trait that annoyed Amea, but with Evelyn it had become something that she appreciated the more that they spent time together. It made Evelyn the exception, of course, but then she already was the one exception to several rules that Amea had set for herself.

Most notably the one about not forming attachments. That one sure panned out.

She put the glasses and the bottles down on a table and slowly approached the firemaking materials, all laid out as if Evelyn was about to get to it before she got sidetracked.

“You know that I’ll like just about anything you put on, right?” She joked and inspected the logs in their little stone formation. “Just, please, stay away from the Jizz. As much as I can enjoy a good jizz-wailer every now and then, I don’t think tonight is the night for that.”

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

Evelyn looked over when Amea appeared, a knowing smile forming at seeing the selection of drinks she had brought. It was very Amea indeed, nothing too complicated and something for the both of them. She just about missed the more mellowed expression on her girlfriend’s face, having returned her attention to the music player.

No, no...not that one. Nope, too energetic…

Some of the Echani’s internal dialogue came out as muttering, stopping only when she heard Amea speak up.

Evelyn’s eyes snapped over to her, cheeks immediately blushing at the call out. There was no disguising the fact that the Echani wanted to make this as perfect as possible. Even though it wasn’t necessary, Evelyn felt like it was needed. The joke that followed immediately after though, got the Echani laughing.

“Definitely no Jizz, we’re not in a cantina after all.” Eventually though, Evelyn found something ideal and hit play. It was a calm song, something to match the night that had settled.

Perfect to sway together, side to side.

Evelyn smiled, stepping closer to Amea and wrapping an arm around her waist. She gave her a brief squeeze, a kiss on the cheek, before separating again.

“While I go pour our drinks, how about giving the fire a light?”

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

There was nothing quite like this. The two of them alone as the evening chill nipped at their skin, just like it had when they first got to know each other on the unnamed cliff that Evelyn had been tipped off about by her lost friend. Except this time there was no cliff, there was sand, and the picnic blanket had been changed for an unlit fireplace. As they kissed, Amea could almost feel that vague smell of the forest, the fresh air, and the sensation of having solid ground on her feet again for the first time in a long while.

The ground had gotten a lot more solid since then, both in and out of space.

“Sounds like a solid plan.” Amea whispered and gave Evelyn one more peck on the cheek before she began to kneel down by the stones and logs to arrange them in a neat pile. The slow ebb and flow of the horns in Evelyn’s song accompanied by the gentle dance of a master at a piano kept Amea company in her brief loneliness as she scraped the metal rod in her hand against the thermal igniter in her other hand to spark the flames with one thick strand of fire after the other until it eventually caught on and began to light up.

Evelyn had already returned by the time she stood back up again. Amea wrapped her fingers around her glass and brought its rim up to her lips to grant herself one small sip before she put it back down again.

The mood was slowly starting to kick in. A soft guitar entered the mix as Amea let her hand slide by Evelyn’s side. Her other hand grabbed at her glass to help put it down before she pressed herself close and began to sway as she had promised when she described what the perfect evening would have been.

For the moment she wouldn’t dare speak. Each passing heartbeat was one that she would treasure forever, each solitary breath a perfect storm. Each time that they had gotten anywhere close to such a casual moment of peace it had been taken away from them by one panic or disaster after the other. To merely exist in this and let it sweep through without being accompanied by gunfire or explosions was… Nice.

And so Amea swayed. It was all she dared to do as she put her cheek to Evelyn’s.

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

It was these kinds of moments that Evelyn cherished the most, and always would. Sure, there was no replacing the excitement of a job, the dopamine adrenaline rush. But those run the risk of burning you out, leaving you exhausted and potentially injured too. It was important to have downtime, to allow yourselves that time to recharge.

And in Evelyn’s opinion there was no better place than at the side of the woman she loved.

The tempo of the song, quiet as it was, managed to drown out the distant din of the music they had walked away from. Tonight was not the time for that kind of beat though, but Evelyn did make a mental note to find a decent nightclub to cap off their vacation.

Eventually the current song faded out, giving the Echani a moment to pause and reclaim her glass. She took a sip of it, just as the next song began to play. Her eyes lit up in recognition, and she quickly placed the glass back down. She had to refrain from grinning too much as she looked at Amea.

The Echani pulled the brunette close, left arm slipping beneath Amea’s right so she could place her hand against the woman’s back. The other hand intertwined with Amea’s left and held it out away from their bodies. Whether or not Amea had caught onto what Evelyn was about to do, the Echani had a great big smile on her face.

A second later they began to waltz, and before long Evelyn could feel Amea avoiding stepping on her toes.

“Easy there.” She teased, giving her girlfriend a knowing smirk and wink. The Echani was at an obvious advantage, given how her people trained. But Evelyn couldn’t help but be reminded by the music, of a job they had gone on not too long ago.

Infiltrating a ball to ‘acquire’ an artifact that was being stored elsewhere in the building. Evelyn had been somewhat wistful at the time, watching the crowds below as they danced. But she was professional, and pushed that aside to focus on the job at hand.

Now was just the perfect time, with the perfect music to match. No need for fancy gowns or a large crowd.

Just the two of them.

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

If slow dancing by an open fire had been a mildly awkward proposition, then how would one describe a sudden and more energetic form of movement? The music had barely started before Amea found herself relieved of her glass and one hand richer, intertwined with hers as an arm pushed and pulled against her waist with movements she had no idea how to follow. There was a clear system to them, but not by any extent that she felt experienced with before. There had been a reason why they had split off on that particular mission in the end, and it wasn't just because it made them more difficult to track down.

"I'm trying." Amea chuckled at Evelyn's remark and glanced down at her feet to try and make sense of the movements. Left— no, right. Okay, no, it was actually back. Then forward… No, back yet again. This lack of control felt unbecoming of her, and yet as defeat slowly began to kick in she felt herself sway more and more in the flow of her partner.

It made her head spin for a moment, enough to lose the rhythm as her brain kicked back into it again and tried to understand. What had become a somewhat coordinated dance slowly returned to a mess of shuffles and stepped toes until Amea gave up again and magically fell back in line once more.

No thinking and just do, huh? She could do that. Spent her time before meeting Evelyn doing it on the daily, almost. So this was what they did in those fancy halls when they wanted to swindle the poor? This was where they had the big flowy dresses, the ones that reeked of appeal and power. The kinds Amea rarely wore.

So that meant that next came the part where they tilted Amea back and then leaned her back up again. Of course, that was another dance in itself, but Amea didn't know that. Her brain slowly reconnected as her back seemingly arched in preparation for a move that never came. Her balance was shot, her heel giving way as she pulled the two of them down into the soft sand.

Surprise shot across her face for a brief moment before she glanced up into Evelyn's eyes with a happy grin. White locks brushed against the brunette's skin, her hand reaching up for the Echani woman's cheek to pull her in closer still.

It was time for another dance. One that they both knew by now.

But that was not a story to be told here. The evening faded into the night and for another brief moment in time, everything was just… Okay. With a side order of fine.