[PRP] Storytime (Evan/Stormy)

[Inle-roo]

It took Evan 18 minutes to make a pair of sandwiches stacked high with bacon, lettuce, tomato slices, ranch dressing, and pre-made grilled chicken strips that some unlucky Hunter was going to find significantly fewer of the next time they checked the fridge. Whatever, Evan's need was greater--if Stormy was going to agree to eat real, actual food, he was sure as hell going to take the opportunity to make sure she ate a lot of it. There was still room left on the plates afterwards, so Evan added a couple of those bags of generic potato chips that were 90% air, 9% crumbs, and 1% actual food.

The covetous eyes of the few Hunters eating in the cafeteria followed him as he walked through it. It took him exactly two minutes to get back to Stormy's room, and he knocked on the door with the toe of one boot as his hands were otherwise occupied with the plates. He waited for Stormy to answer, frowning when she didn't. She knew he was coming; had she run off at the prospect of having to eat? He hoped she wasn't that far gone, only partly because he wasn't about to eat all of that food by himself. Tucking one of the plates into the crook of his arm, he sent off a clumsy, one-handed text.

Ol-j-man

Text to: Stormy

where ru 1

 

[medigel]

A split second after the text was sent, he could hear the sound of several locks being disengaged along with the chime of her ringtone. "Evannnnnnnnn~" she sang through the door, knowing it was him without having to check her phone or the glass eye; the food smelled delicious. "Evannnnnnn, hiiiiiiiii~"

The reason for Stormy's delay became more apparent once her door was opened: where the couch was supposed to be was now a blanket and pillow palace. Cinnamon candles had been lit (literally seconds ago since she was still holding the fire starter), and a tray had been set on her little book stand with two cups of still steeping tea.

She would have immediately thrown Evan into a hug had his arms not looked so full. "Ohgoditlookssodelicious," she said, licking her lips and beckoning him in. "Ohmygosh ahhhhh there's a lot holy cow ahhhhhh oh hello chips ahhhhhh did I mention I love you ahhhhh--" Beaming, Stormy darted away to give him room, pulling out her keyboard piano stool to set next to the couch so he could put the plates down.

Once he did, then Evan got a tackle-hug.

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

Evan grinned at the muffled trill of Stormy's voice. She certainly sounded like her old self, not at all like the grim and surly girl who had yelled and thrown things and purged her misery--and the contents of her stomach--all over his bedroom floor. His trepidation eased further as she opened the door and he noticed how much better she looked than the last time he had seen her.

That wasn't entirely true. The last time he had seen her had been during their own private battle in the midst of a much larger one, and she had been fierce and determined to kill him for something he still didn't understand, and he would have let her if it meant saving the trainees from her inexplicable wrath. Stormy had looked a different kind of better then; now, she looked healthy and sane. "Stormybear," he replied, smiling brightly down at her.

It was an outright relief to see her so enthusiastic about something as boring and common as lunch, of all things. She was still far too thin in his opinion--she always had been, even before she had been determined to waste away into nothingness. She definitely seemed to have more substance, though at least part of that could be attributed to her exuberance.

He walked in at her encouragement, chuckling as she cooed over the food, and looked around. It was cozy, definitely, and inviting; the room couldn't have screamed Stormy more without pink sparkly paint spelling her name out in foot-high letters on the wall. He placed the plates carefully on the offered stool and turned just in time to get an armful of Stormy. He oofed quietly as he caught her, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tight as he lifted her off the floor. It felt like all of the awkwardness between them had dissipated, like maybe finally they could stop tiptoeing around each other and walk side by side again. "I'm glad you're feeling better," he murmured, reluctantly setting her back on her feet.

Ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

At the sound of what was quickly becoming a contender for favorite nickname, Evan was rewarded with even more cooes and hums, and that was the extent of conversation Stormy would have for the next few minutes. God, but it felt good to hug him again. In spite of her thinness, there was an iron grip of love around the Sun's torso as she buried her face into his clothes, thankful that in spite of her stupidity he hadn't shunned her. Then several squeals left her as Evan lifted her up, and Stormy clung to him with a beaming smile. Maybe it was better that she couldn't remember words for a moment, as otherwise something utterly cheesy and sentimental would have come out.

"Muchly," she agreed as her feet touched back down, "now that I've gotten a hug from you~" As her arms slid away, she took Evan's hand and directed him to the mass of pillows and blankets, gesturing for him to sit down she slipped off to grab them some napkins.

The second Stormy did returned, she dropped off the roll of paper towels, plucked a sandwich up, and began to devour it. Her less than healthy eating habits were still a problem, but no way was she going to deny herself free food from her big brother. That, and bacon. God, she was salivating and made no shortage of contented noises as she ate.

"Did I mention I love you yet? 'Cause I dooooooo," she said with a grin later. "These are amaziiiiiing, thank you! I will reward you with all sorts of post-food cuddles. Or a haircut if you want it! I seem to be getting better at those." There was no rush towards the real reason for his visit: if he let her, she would gush on and on about him for the rest of the hour.

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

Stormy was downright sunny, her happiness infectious and apparently transmitted through hugs because Evan found himself warmed by her affection even as he sank into the nest of bedding she had made. His worries didn't vanish--and they never would, not really, not when it came to the people that he cared about--but they were diminished by her palpably happy glow. This was the girl who had adopted him, staking her claim without so much as a question mark.

Evan watched, amused and pleased in equal parts, as Stormy tore through her sandwich. He took half of his from his own plate before pushing it, chips and all, towards her, suppressing laughter over her happy noises. Maybe he was pressing his luck, but he would take what he could get. It made him glad to see the sandwich disappear, even beyond the satisfaction he got out of cooking for other people. Already he was thinking about what else he could make for her, something high in carbs to help her gain the weight back, training regiments to get her fighting fit again--but that could wait, at least for now. Baby steps, he tried to tell himself.

"Hmm, I don't think you have today," Evan replied, light and teasing. "I love you too, sweetheart, and you know it's not ever a problem. I'm just glad--" that you're eating was what he barely stopped himself from saying. "That you like it," he said instead. He ran a hand through his hair at Stormy's offer. It was longer than he had had it in years, though it was barely long enough to grab. "I might take you up on that," he said. "It should be shorter, like yours. Regulation length. I definitely approve," he nodded. "Why'd you cut it, anyway?"

Ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

"Of course I like it! It's got bacon!" she said as a matter of factly, licking ranch off a corner of her lips to accent the point. "You can't go wrong with bacon. Or ranch. Or veggies. Or chicken. Or having a really awesome big brother." It was being laid on thick, but Stormy wasn't good with moderation when it came to emotion: it was always either too much or too little, and that was before she felt she needed to compensate for all the time she had spent isolated.

Evan's question wasn't answered at first. The aura she radiated was still quite content, but the longer she spent on fussing over wiping her hands and mouth on napkins, the less excitable her mood became, like a gradual setting of the sun. She still appeared alright, but he had been around her long enough to take note of the change--certainly enough to notice how sensitive some topics still were to her.

Stormy considered the sandwich plate for a moment more before looking up at him. "There were bugs," she answered simply, before pushing herself to her feet. How rude, she had forgotten the tea cups! She meandered her way to the book case and then just as casually, slowly, made her way back and set the tray down by the stool. "D'you mind chamomile? I ran out of earl gray . . ." Oh, look, she had forgotten the sugar and creamer, how clumsy! Up again Stormy went to fetch what she had pilfered from the cafeteria, carefully setting each item on the tray like little soldiers.

"Gale loves it," she added by way of explanation as she tore a few packets of sugar open and stirred it in. "He's got me getting more into tea, hah. It's really relaxing in the afternoon, you know? You're welcome to as much as you like. Or, uh, I think I have some iced tea in the mini fridge still if you like that, or water. Water's really important in the summer."

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

Evan huffed a chuckle, making a mental note of the things she liked to add to future menus. He foresaw a lot of carbonara-based dishes in their future. He spun out the possibilities in the back of his mind, leaving them for consideration at a later time when he didn't have more important things to give his attention to--specifically, Stormy. He noticed as she started fidgeting, but didn't think much of it at first, attributing it to the excess of energy she seemed to have. Eventually it became apparent that she wasn't just that interested in the napkins, and his smile dimmed to a frown of confused concern.

Stormy's answer did little to reassure him. He wasn't sure, at first, what her sudden change in hairstyle had to do with bugs. Was there an infestation somewhere? Had she found one in her hair? Cutting it off seemed a little extreme for that--until he remembered a conversation he had had with Nora while they were recovering from getting eaten and then burned alive in the Sahara about some nutter screaming about bugs.

Evan had known she was talking about Stormy, but a lot of people had reacted poorly to getting swallowed by a giant bug monster and he hadn't thought much of it then. Now, all of a sudden, it clicked; this was about more than a mission gone horribly, predictably wrong. Something had happened to her somewhere, something he had missed, maybe even before the Sahara, before he had come back to find her a totally different person than the girl he had left behind. His fingers tightened on the blankets as he tried to rein in the sudden anger he felt towards Deus for putting Stormy in the line of fire.

He focused on keeping his temper in check as she fussed with the cups. He could see the chatter for what it was, and he hated that they couldn't so much as have lunch together without incident. What kind of lives were they living that he couldn't ask a simple question without it triggering some kind of past trauma for her? Why couldn't they just let her be happy?

Evan leaned towards Stormy, carefully taking the spoon from her hands. Wordlessly, he tugged her down beside him in the nest she had made--a soft place, a safe place--and wrapped his arms around her. He held her tightly, resting his chin on top of her fuzzy head. He couldn't keep her safe, he realized. He wasn't always there when she needed him, and he didn't have the authority to order her to stay behind on dangerous missions, and she would probably get hurt again despite his best efforts to stand between her and the horrors they faced on a regular basis.

He could give her comfort when she needed it, though. He could give her a shoulder to cry on, and a distraction from the real world, and all the hugs in the ******** world if it would make her happy. "I don't get tea," he admitted after a long, quiet moment, clumsily trying to move past the bugs and pointedly not asking about them. "It's just like...hot, smelly water. Must be some British thing. Nora--your little friend's cousin--is all about it, too. Maybe they just don't have coffee there."

Ol-j-man

ahhhhhhh hope ur enjoying ur trip miss u bb

 

[medigel]

There was, naturally, no resistance as she was tugged down—in fact, Stormy almost seemed to collapse once she realized where she was headed, eager to fill the empty space (always eager). In spite of their time of separation, she buried herself against Evan with the instinct of actual close siblings, quietly cursing herself as she secured her arms around him. Maybe two and a half months was too short a time to get over both missions, but it was ridiculous to still be that sensitive from just one question. She was a hunter now, wasn't she supposed to be able to take things in stride? Not feel like the wrong words could trigger her again like some basic trainee?

She almost decided to let herself cry but resisted the impulse; instead, she breathed Evan in and out slowly and hoped that whatever stern stuff he was made of rubbed off on her.

Grateful that he didn't pursue the topic for now, Stormy relaxed in his arms and nuzzled beneath his chin. Some days she hid her scalp, but moments like this were part of the things she liked about it: namely that it felt really nice. "Coffee's just hot, smelly water made with beans, Herc" she pointed out mildly. "So's hot chocolate, but with milk. Hot chocolate is totally the best of the three, of course."

It took her a moment to realize what Evan was getting at, though, and when she did, she dragged her head back and fixed the Sun with a curious and confused look. "Wait...Gale's cousin is here?" She was three seconds away from launching into a stream of questions.

Inle-roo

the sound of you missing me has brought this tag from overseas! <333

 

[Inle-roo]

Evan made a noise that conveyed surprise, disbelief, and protest all at once as Stormy so easily dismissed coffee as just another hot water-based drink. "That's blasphemy," he huffed half-teasingly. "Coffee makes the world go round. It's the best way to start the day, the stuff of life," he corrected her. "But hot chocolate is pretty good too, I guess."

That they could still make light of anything was a welcome comfort; every problem they faced should be so easily overcome. It was good, too, to see Stormy bounce back so quickly rather than fall to brooding or deflecting.

He pulled back as Stormy did, just far enough to meet her perplexity with a curiously raised eyebrow of his own. "Did he not tell you?" Was that supposed to be kept under wraps? Oops, Evan thought with a regret he didn't really feel. "That's a pretty big thing to keep from you. Definitely worth dumping him over," he said with a solemn nod.

Ol-j-man

slkdjflksdjf u r the qtest

 

[medigel]

She would have shown more amusement about the coffee defense if she couldn't so easily imagine Jack saying it. In fact, it had been an often visited, silly argument of theirs, that memories threatened to stir back up. It was probably why Stormy reacted a little more strongly than usual at the cousin revelation, her brows dropping into a deeper than normal furrow as she made a soft noise of confusion.

Part of it was from surprise, the other part from guilt. She hadn't really told Gale about Noemi either. Did he feel the same way she did, though, about having family on Deus? Or was he glad to have someone who shared blood around at all? Someone who wasn't Leslie, forever asleep in the pods until the day they flushed her out? Did he think that was more important than keeping them out of this place? Don't think about it right now, Stormy told herself, realizing it would just lead to another trigger if she kept following the spiral down.

"No," she answered to both Evan's question and his suggestion, her expression not quite so wrinkled anymore. "He might've forgotten. I forgot to tell him about Noemi, so . . ." She turned sullen. "I haven't even made you two meet, and it's been way over a year. I'm a horrible girlfriend and sister, I dunno how you guys stand it." And once again she buried her face into his chest to hide from the shame.

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

With an easy shrug, Evan dismissed in Stormy what he had disapproved of in her boyfriend. "You had other things going on." It was easy to forgive--and excuse--her for a lot; clearly she had been unwell after Nevada's death, and as both a girl and his adopted sibling, he was all too willing to forgive her anything. She was blameless in this, utterly, a victim of circumstance just as much as anyone else on the island.

He stroked her back as she snuggled close again, log, soothing, idle sweeps of his hand to give her the comfort that his clumsy words could not. "Nah, you're great. We're lucky to have you." He let the words hang before snorting softly. "In fact, it's probably for the best that we haven't formally met. I wasn't kidding about hauling him up a flagpole. I've got enough duct tape. He's not that big, it wouldn't take much." His tone was teasing--mostly--but he probably wouldn't have gone through with it even if he had the opportunity. He would never hear the end of it from Stormy, to say nothing of the figurative and, likely, literal kicking he would get from Nora.

Ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

It was wrong to fish for compliments, but that didn't diminish the little spark of pleasure she took from them anyway. "Little sister says no," Stormy mumbled into his shirt. "No, no, and no. 'Cause if you do, I'll glitterbomb your room and find your alcohol and take it away and permaglue That's So Raven posters on your walls so you can't escape the all-seeing eye." Her voice was mild-mannered, but the threat was real; all Evan would have to do was ask Leslie.

"I have an external mission coming up, but when I get back we're all going to sit down and have a family dinner or lunch or something." She turned her head and rested her cheek on his chest, glancing up at him hopefully. "And you're going to be an awesome big brother on his best behavior which means no threatening of any sort, right? Right."

Pleased with the answer for him, Stormy peeled away and took another piece off her sandwich to nibble; maybe the more Evan saw her eat, the more goodwilled he'd feel about that particular plan.

"So! Um. What was it I was supposed to talk to you about again?"

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

Evan wasn't sure who That's So Raven was, but accompanied with the threat of glitterbombing, he was certain he didn't want to find out. He squinted in consideration at the top of Stormy's head, trying to gauge how serious she might be. It immediately melted into an innocent smile as she turned her head to look up at him. "I will be on my absolute best behavior," he promised, carefully not making mention of all of the plans he was still in the process for when--not if, because he was hopeful, but he wasn't stupid, and above either of those he was well-prepared--Stormy's little male friend acted out.

Truly, though, he was happy to see Stormy confident enough to boss him around rather than wait to be given orders. He let her go without a struggle, looking on approvingly as she continued to eat.

"I think you were going to start with why you were trying to kill the trainees and end somewhere in the area around the sudden costume change." Evan settled back into the cozy nest and waited patiently for his story, keeping his arms at his sides in case Stormy needed to avail herself of them again.

Ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

"Oh, that." She continued to leisurely nibble her way through the sandwich piece, her expression growing thoughtful. Had Evan been around during that mission? Hmm...Come to think of it, she wasn't sure she had met anyone aside from Gale before then...God, she had been a different person then.

< < You are not so weak now, > > Thane said with a hint of pride, mostly because he believed that was due to his influence more than personal growth.

Dusting her fingers of crumbs, Stormy reached over and fixed her tea (one cream, lots of sugar). "Okay, let me think...It was January of 2013 I think? There was this mission for some artifact that involved the seven legacies," she began, blowing on her tea a little more. "We had to get hooked up to a device to get in and it gave us different identities based on what kingdom we ended up in. Of course something happened midway in the process so we all forgot who we really were.

"I was a servant in the gold kingdom called Regalia: think really imperial Chinese-ish. I didn't know it then, but pretty much all the horsemen were there. The person you saw back there? That was me after the emperor gave me the power to fight in his service." Stormy was chagrined, keeping the teacup close to her mouth as if to hide behind it. "I wanted so hard to prove myself, and since the legacy is pride, well...That's why I acted horribly. Something back in that tower made me 'remember' all of that, and it sort of twisted the story in my head that you guys had kidnapped me, too."

She sipped her tea and then gave Evan an apologetic look. "I know I should've been stronger against it. I mean, I'm not a trainee anymore...So sorry for the trouble. It's just...When that horseman, Mengyao, ordered me to attack, I-I couldn't ignore it," she explained lamely, then went back to drinking her tea I'm shame.

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

Waiting for Stormy to start was hard, but Evan sat idly with the patience of someone who knew they were going to get what they wanted anyway as she ate her sandwich and fussed with her tea. It wouldn't have been unlike Stormy to evade the story completely, and he found himself pleasantly surprised when she actually began.

Of course, he thought to himself; Stormy sounded so matter-of-fact that of course something had gone wrong, like (because) something always went wrong and always stuck with them and always made itself known at the worst and most inconvenient times. She wasn't wrong, of course. It was just one of those frustrating things that Evan didn't have much choice but to accept, like the fact that she had been enduring s**t like this since before he had even woken up.

Evan let Stormy finish her story uninterrupted, though the corners of his mouth twitched into a disapproving frown as she blamed herself for it. "Don't apologize," he chided gently. "It's not your fault. Not like you asked for any of it. The trainees, they'll get over it. They'll have their own issues to deal with someday, if they don't already," he said, resigned.

Ol-j-man