SHE owes the woman this much, & she knows it, but her throat constricts at the thought of recollection, a story so tightly wound around her fingers. she kept her history locked away from everyone, even emma. what could she ever say? of her vast vocabulary there were no words to explain where she had come from, where she had been.
ANapologetic look paints her face, but she feels the guilt in her chest at not giving out what she has been given. emma had laid everything out, & what had she gotten in return? nothing. because life was not fair, because the witch in her had never known FAIR.
HER hands fold in her lap, eyes distant with memories. she does not make eye contact with the blonde, as if it is an IMPOSSIBILITY, as if it would shatter her very speech. she takes on singular breath through her nostrils and out the heat of her lips —————- ‘ IT was a long time ago. I was young & naive. and, I wasn’t. ‘
nerves wrack through her entire body. each one hits her like waves crashing into the shoreline. before pulling away, leaving her feeling cold and alone. a sensation she’s not quite familiar with. she’s not used to feeling so much or so afraid. the curse had left her fearful, sure. but over other things. not being a monster. not hurting her loved ones. ❛ elana? can we… talk? ❜
She freezes at the sound of the voice. fists ball as her face turns from the sidewalk to see her ( weeks, it seemed, she’d simply been GONE ). and, as she always seemed to, evelyn had moved on. survival. it was only about survival.
Her chest tugs at the thought of LEAVING, though, the piece of her mind screaming to keep walking forward, to not look back. but she does, and her eyes digest what her mind will not. hands find the comfort of her jacket pockets, breath fogging in the winter air as if it’s some REPLACEMENT for the speech she lacks.
‘ YEAH,I ————– just not here. ‘ she pauses, ‘ ( um ), walk with me. ‘
HER FACE turned serious, no hint of aggravation or a teasing look on her face. that was long gone, & replaced with seriousness. the topic they were about to discuss was serious, & usually, the blonde would not tell anyone this but something deep inside her told her that she could tell this woman, even if they hated each other; she could trust her.
EYELIDS CLOSE, calming herself down before she starts to freak herself out. this was a hard topic just to think about whenever she was alone, but to actually tell someone? it was like she was having an anxiety attack, which she hasn’t had one since she was a little girl orphan. the nightmares, which occurred almost every night, haunted her more than real life did; which was saying something. mostly, the nightmares were events that did happen in her life, but more terrifying.
❝ LONG STORY SHORT, i’ve been having nightmares every night & they won’t go away. nowadays.. i don’t even sleep anymore. ❞
Along breath is taken, the silence lingering in her ears peacefully & yet so tellingly ————– ‘ now we’re getting somewhere. ‘
She nudges the mug towards emma & sits back into her own seat, giving the woman plenty of SPACE. though this even was of odd nicety for evelyn, but her relationship as it grown with the town’s SAVIOR was certainly not one of normalcy among the town’s residents. still, though her mockery was partially genuine, so was her empathy. but personal narrative was not of her strong suits. her uneven nails scratch quietly at the sides of her cup, nostrils blowing the steam around the skin of her face.
‘ HOW LONGsince you last slept? ‘
It’s an earnest question, but deep down she KNOWS it’s an avoidance of discussing her own demons ————– terrors which had woken her in cold sweat for months on end, a sleeplessness that led to the rumor’s of her insanity, of her RETURN to the darker corners of her story. ( insomnia creates MONSTERS ) to her, she had never LEFT. even within the confines of the curse she knew the depths, the swallowing capacity of waves, burning, burning. cold as ICE beneath the surface, yet swallowing her like hellfire. she knew it well, but her skin shivered at the thought of admitting it aloud, of somehow making it real.
HER eyes roll, this woman still able to piss her, especially when she wasn’t in the mood. the fear of the nightmares was slowly turning into anger towards the other woman. the savior wasn’t exactly in the mood to deal with her shit, with them arguing every second. she was sure if she said one more word that’d make her pissed off, the blonde would explode & punch her in the face.
❝ i don’t have time to deal with your shit today. & WHY THE HELL do you suddenly care about my problems? you never seemed like the type of person to care about me anyway. ❞
NO ONE has been asking about her well-being lately. she was sure that they knew what was going, but didn’t ask because it was a touchy subject. truly, she was thankful that no one ever asked anything because she didn’t know if she’d be able to take it if they did. her sleeping schedule has been out of whack.
‘ WELL,you clearly ARE light on sleep, as I just stated my reasoning & I certainly won’t do so again. ‘
SHE did care — at least a bit, but she couldn’t help the piece of her that FORCED her to poke at the blonde, if even just a smidge. her sardonicism hardly knew ends at most points. still, she motioned emma to the deep green sofa, turning her back to allow the woman some form of decency as she sat, pouring two mugs of scalding water and carrying over a basket of tea bags.
HER eyes lifted to the darkened bags under emma’s eyes, there was concern, but not the absurd amount there perhaps should have been. her own eyes were painted very much the same, but she wore it wonderfully well & the savior ————– well, she wore it like hell.
‘ & I,conversely, do not have time for YOUR shit. now, if you would, emma, I haven’t all day. ‘ —————- it’s said with a hint more obvious grin, fingers stirring a teaspoon of honey into her mug, watching the steam rise from the mug the blonde has not yet touched.
there was bags under her eyes, puffy red eyes; clear signs of what THE SAVIOR dealt with once the sun goes down. the nightmares didn’t stop, only came more & more nightmares as time went on. the weight of the world was on her shoulders, no one else had to carry this burden, the burden of watching the people she loves die. it’s been several days, & she has not had one peaceful night of sleep. no matter how much she tried, she could never sleep more than thirty minutes. all she could ever do was relive the moment where she watched the people she once thought she’d spend a lifetime with die in front of her.
❝ …it’s not exactly a topic i want to talk about. DROP IT.
❞
there was so much anger in her voice, annoyed by the lack of sleep & maybe all the fights she got into with the other woman. today wasn’t the day where she wanted to deal with anyone’s bullshit, she would snap at whoever pissed her off first.
‘ PLEASE, come inside, won’t you? ‘ she says, the tone of it bitterly sarcastic, seeing as the blonde’s feet were already half-over the threshold of her apartment. besides, evelyn did not particularly like to be seen outside unless it was necessary. not with the storm that was brewing what seemed ALWAYS in the little town. even with the sardonicism, she beckons the woman inside, removing the tea kettle from the stove to pour.
SHE’Snear certain she knows what plagues emma, but she wishes not to admit that she, too, has seen the waves that swallow her in sleep, that the bags beneath her eyes are not without attention, that her odd ticks and hallucinations were not from any addiction. still, her fingers remain steady as she hands the mug over, sitting stiffly on the small love-seat.
‘ NORMALLY,I’d say I hardly give a shit about your problems, but you look as though you may faint and frankly, if you do so in my apartment, I’ll have even MORE hell to pay than usual so ——– at least give it a go & tell me, hm? as if I’m one to spread gossip on the savior. ‘
‘ SURE YOU do ————- ‘ her breath fogged in the chill of the maine air, body radiating heat as she stepped closer to the woman whose stature,though shorter than her own, still TOWERED. ‘ MADAME mayor. ‘
her lengthened fingernails ghost over the expensive fabric of the mayor’s coat-sleeve, lips ( t w i s t e d ) into a WICKED grin. she was certain she was the only one in town with the nerve enough to question regina, but she was also the only one who had figured out the town’s GRITTIEST secret. ‘ BUT YOU are the one who makes those rules. ‘ the pads of her fingers rest gently on the mayor’s arm, a mixture of sensuality and DISGUST. it’s a mix one might find impossible, but it existed between them nonetheless. ‘BUT ARE you not the one who makes those rules? ‘ a warm whisper, ‘ I’d assume you’d have the POWER to break them. ‘
tinkerbell couldn’t help the slight gasp that e s c a p e d her lips the moment her back landed on the mattress. she was confused at first but everything finally clicked the moment she saw elana crawl on top of her and their lips met. the green fairy’s lips moved S K I L L F U L L Y against the brunette’s as she lifted an arm to wrap around her waist and pull their bodies CLOSER. then tink felt elana shift her further up the bed and she momentarily R I P P E D her mouth from the other woman’s, eyes d a r k e n i n g as a hand went to rest on tink’s bare leg and pull it up closer to elana’s body. the feeling of tink’s skin against the brunette’s never got old. in fact, she C H E R I S H E D it. elana may not want to admit it, but tink knew that the two had a connection – whenever they came in contact it was just p u r e e l e c t r i c i t y .
it was such an EASY way to take her anger out, because the fairy was so EAGER to let her be as rough as she needed. RED seemed to run through her veins, the heat of anger translating into the heat of mouths and flesh and sweat mixing. she tore her lips and teeth from the blonde’s mouth to her now exposed collar bone, skin showing everywhere besides her plain white tee shirt bra. her nails SCRAPE down the tiny woman’s back, knees straddling her. she was so SMALL, so easy to feel powerful over, and so receptive to every touch.
her own skin SHIVERS under her clothes as her hands roam, fingers moving from the tangles of blonde hair to the crowns of small breasts, knee pressing SLOWLY under the fabric of tink’s wrinkling skirt, almost laughing at the high-pitched squeals and moans she made. her own LONG hair was becoming riled in her anger and her LUST as they moved, breaths ragged and raspy, and she was only just beginning.
‘ for someone so TINY—— you make such good noise. ‘
It’s really quite astonishing, she can’t help but ponder —— how many different E M O T I O N S have been flitting about in her head && heart ever since she told Rumpelstiltskin and her father both that she didn’t wish to speak to them E V E R again.
Fear, inevitable S A D N E S S …
————— And yet also the thrall of A D V E N T U R E tugging at her very core at her newfound independence. She’s doing this, braving entirely new terrain … on her own.
So why does it feel so D A U N T I N G ?
Wandering around the streets of the town she’s still getting acquainted with, it’s not long before she spots a familiar face, swiftly bounding over to the other brunette.
❛❛ It’s … Elana, right? From the P E T shelter? ❜❜
❛❛ I don’t know if you, uhm —— remember me, but I was H O P I N G we could go, uh … maybe go get a cup of tea? ❜❜
her nose had been pointed DOWN, arms wrapped around a stack of books, attempting to avoid anyone who passed by. her head lifts and she’s a b o u t to make some IRRITATED REMARK when she meets FAMILIAR eyes. her face softens, scuffing her feet on the ground as she registers the awkwardness, and the hesitation between both of them. still, she REMEMBERED.
‘ ah, YES, that’s me. ‘
she remembers her CLEARLY, they’d met just after the curse had broken, back when NEITHER honestly knew who they were. it was ODD to recall, one of the first people to walk through her door that hadn’t simply irritated her. she felt somewhat CONNECTED to the woman, even upon first encounter. still, neither had said too much.
‘ BELLE, isnt’t it? ‘
a genuine smile creeps onto her face, and she almost LAUGHS at herself for doing so. her gaze falls to the ground and back to Belle again.
