Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MidwayLives]

The punch connected right as Blanche's vision began to return.

Sheesh, any longer and he was gonna freak out!

Letting go of Vernal, he stepped back, his aura shimmering around his face as he held up his hand.

"Earlier I spit my cigarette at you. That was rude of me. I apologize."

Holding up his left hand to signal for a moment, he ignited another cigarette and placed it in his mouth.

"Not easy to find this brand y'know? You gotta find the right shop, ask the right people, and by the time you get em...?" Smoke ebbed from the end of his cigarette into the sky above. "You realize how much of a day you wasted." One may have wondered why the apology, why the inane babble, but there was a method to Blanche's madness, punch to the face and recovery from total blindness aside. "See, my semblance is a bit of a tricky one. People like you and my partner? It'll take some time for the mist to start aging you. You're...what...20s...30s? From a distance I'd give it an hour or more before you even click past 50s. Other people like civilians? They're not so lucky."

He gestured grandly with a wide sweep of his arm to the few people who'd been trying to flee from the scene. Some had managed to do so and quickly closed their windows and locked their doors. Others hadn't been so lucky as the grey hair and groans of fatigue and weakness showed. " I'd give it about an half hour-to an hour before anybody who's unfortunate enough to still be loitering around here is too old to move under their own power. 'Course 'Beyond the Years' can't kill on it's own but, hehehe, if you're left looking like that? I'd be glad with a mercy killing."

He slipped his lighter back into his pocket.

"So, you see Stranger? You can punch me, kick me, hell, even bite me. That's all well and good. But time's on my side." The grey mist flowed around Blanche's person as a grin cracked out among his features.

"I think you're already looking a bit grey around the edges. How's about I even it out, huh?~"

He lunged forward to try and grab a hold of Vernal once more. Close contact let the mist eat away at the aura much quicker....

~~~~

Char liked this bar.

He liked the staff, hell, he'd even played cards with them a couple of times.

Sure, he'd always tended to lose but he never held it against them. They were some of the few people besides Blanche who didn't look at him like a chump. That he was a schmuck without his semblance backing him up. To them he was just Char their drinking buddy.

Which meant that it ate away at him the more these kids seemed eager to play hide and seek with him. His entrance hadn't exactly been stealthy so why weren't they coming to get him? There wasn't any way they could have left, his Null Zone would have stopped any teleportation or speed semblances. He didn't wanna demolish this place, those hadn't been his orders. But if these punks didn't start showing themselves-

Well, here was...someone.

Aurora had mentioned that Black's spawn wasn't working alone. He may have said something about their semblances but if he had, Char hadn't listened. Whatever they were it didn't matter. They were in here and their semblances may as well have been left outside for all the good they'd do them now! Looking over Neo, Char's face scrunched up briefly in disgust. Pink hair....So, guess the theory that Aurora dyed his hair that color was wrong after all. He owed Vanille a soda. He didn't take any steps towards Neo, her murmur of realization that this armed stranger likely had something to do with her semblance not working and the hum coming from Riot Breaker being the only sounds as of this moment.

"Oi. Kid."

Char took a step forward.

"Name's Char. My comrades call me 'Tears of the Rat' and I'm a member of the Bound Ashes's Hitman Team. Not here to rough up any civvies so I'll let you got on your merry way..." His grip tightened around the handle of his blade. "....Once you answer a question of mine. Marcus Black's kid is here somewhere. Where? Tell me and I'll let you just walk on by. It'll be like we never met."

"...Though if that little umbrella of yours is full of tricks, then c'mon. I'm itching for a fight." ​

 

[MidwayLives]

"...Oh." Well that was not comforting news to hear. The other her being...gone. Is that what the mirror meant by what it said? Gods I hope not! Nora moved right along as best she could after hearing that though. "Punching people is great!" Nora agreed. So long as it was the right target, anyways. The next bit got the hammer wielding enthusiast to look far more solemn and serious, albeit while also miming the act of writing on a clipboard like she was some psychoanalyst. "Uh-huh. Yes. I see. Wrong things for wrong person, mhm. And how does that make you feel...?"

'...How did it feel?'

...Good seemed like the obvious answer.

Wasn't this the 'good' thing to do so it'd only make sense. The other Yang would have approved and Weiss had. It'd all been made clear to her how little she actually mattered in the grand scheme of things among Ozpin's subordinates. The world was their oyster and together the two of them would remake it as he saw fit. It was his dream and it was what she desired too.

Only to realize all she'd be in charge of would be a world of corpses.

So why was it so hard to come up with an answer here?!

Breaking her gaze away from Nora over towards Qrow's drunken form, she sighed.

Maybe that had something to do with it. Her crimes, numerous as they were, couldn't be wiped away with a simple sorry and hug. She'd need to repent in anyway possible.

"...That I have to do my best for the ones I care about.. Sorry if that's not a good enough answer..." ​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Not easy to find this brand y'know? You gotta find the right shop, ask the right people, and by the time you get em...?" Smoke ebbed from the end of his cigarette into the sky above. "You realize how much of a day you wasted." One may have wondered why the apology, why the inane babble, but there was a method to Blanche's madness, punch to the face and recovery from total blindness aside. "See, my semblance is a bit of a tricky one. People like you and my partner? It'll take some time for the mist to start aging you. You're...what...20s...30s? From a distance I'd give it an hour or more before you even click past 50s. Other people like civilians? They're not so lucky."

He gestured grandly with a wide sweep of his arm to the few people who'd been trying to flee from the scene. Some had managed to do so and quickly closed their windows and locked their doors. Others hadn't been so lucky as the grey hair and groans of fatigue and weakness showed. " I'd give it about an half hour-to an hour before anybody who's unfortunate--

That was about when he got interrupted, thanks to another bottle of beer that flew through the air. It was aimed to crack him in the face, shatter on impact and leave Blanche's face and possibly neck/shoulders splattered by the half of the drink that had still been in there. Whether it actually did so or not, the former maiden continued all the same. "You talk too damn much." Vernal hissed as she glowered at the man.

Even so, she wasn't exactly unappreciative of that speech of his. She wasn't sure how much longer he would have gone on if not for her interruption, though she didn't truly care about that or feel even the least bit sorry for it. That said, he had oh so helpfully outlined exactly what it was that his semblance did like he was some Saturday morning cartoon villain. And for that she was thankful. It also made her feel pretty sure about what needed to be done. Not to save any dumbass other people around, but to shut him up. Let's see if that still works when you're knocked the fuck out. A couple moments after she'd thrown the bottle, she charged forward herself. At the last possible second, she pushed off the ground with her foot to spring through the air in a lunging tackle with her intent being for him to end up sprawled on the ground while she perched on top of him in an advantageous pin of sorts. If it went like she planned, she followed through by punching him in the face.

Repeatedly.

However many it'd take until he lost consciousness.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...That I have to do my best for the ones I care about.. Sorry if that's not a good enough answer..."

"...and who are the ones you care about, then?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Meanwhile, back at resistance HQ: an annoyed teenage maiden sat at a table with a fair amount of desserts/comfort foods spread across said table. This totally blows. She couldn't help but frustratingly think that. She'd lost Vernal back in Argus after only roughly a month of training, and when she got up here? It had seemed like the other universe where these others came from had seen fit to throw her a bone! Another Spring Maiden to train with! Yet, apparently, the teenage Cinder's own universe didn't approve of that idea one bit, because that second Spring Maiden had just up and been swallowed up by the earth or some crap like that! She had not seen that other Raven since then. She didn't get to train for even a second with the fourth Branwen she'd seen! At this rate, she had no idea when she'd ever get a better grasp on what she could do with the power, how far she could creatively take it. Things she felt she needed a mentor for. Who knows when she'd get the chance to find another one...

AND ON TOP OF ALL THAT, THEY JUST LEFT ME BACK AT BASE!

She felt about as useful as a screendoor on a submarine. Totally useless. She didn't even get the chance to watch how that tournament would unfold. She was too young or precious or whatever. Couldn't risk her going. Meh. A piece of the dessert in front of her got stabbed by a fork and scooped up into her mouth. At least I have you, chocolate cake. The sweetness did make her feel a bit better, admittedly.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"...and who are the ones you care about, then?"

What was with all these questions??? It was like she was under interrogation again! Only without the good cop/bad cop routine and the lights in her face. Instead it was the smaller version of that rude thief that went and got herself killed. Not that Ruby held it against her or anything.

Words were wasted on the dead after all.

It was as if there was something of an internal struggle in Ruby's mind.

"Who do I care about...?" She looked down at her metallic arm.

"The person I'm doing this for, the one who got me this arm." If she'd said it was Weiss, would it have painted a target on her back? She doubted anyone here liked the councilwoman. Not that Ruby cared what they thought. She'd take on every scumbag and scoundrel here if Weiss asked her to. Looking over at Yang, Ruby recalled Qrow's demand of her back at the bar.

"...And that's it."

She said with more sadness than she would have liked to show.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"The person I'm doing this for, the one who got me this arm."

“Sooooo...you got the hots for Doctor Merlot that’s vague. Who would that be, exactly?”​

 

[Gus Gungus]

The breeze tore at Eve's hair, giving her cause to be annoyed as she stood with her foot skirting the edge of an icy outcropping and squinted at the distant bastion of light and smoke that was the unified kingdom of Atlas. Twin cities, though far from identical, connected both physically and by how many bones paved their foundations. It was the one part of Atlas they'd never admit to, the part everyone living there knew on some level but refrained from mentioning in all their product seminars and tech demos hosted for the benefit of other kingdoms. Too controversial. Especially during such a turbulent time. Even Schnee, supposed humanitarian that she made herself out to be, thought the best way to make reparations with the people her father and company subjugated was to not acknowledge any wrongdoing or mistreatment on the part of her kind at all. It didn't take a genius to know why. Bold, accusatory stances didn't poll well in Atlas; her talk of 'unfortunate tensions' and 'archaic hostilities' between their peoples had been as close as any elected official in Atlas came to genuine admittance in as long as the White Fang had been around.

It wasn't enough.

Not for someone from that family, not with what they'd done. Even those safe, diplomatic crowd-pleasing statements had been put on the backburner of late, word of the active hand faunus extremists had in the current state of their historical ally Mistral fostering an all-time high resentment of their people throughout the kingdom. Not that humans ever needed much of an excuse to pack their kind into mines and caves to die for cheap labor, but still. Plenty of Mantle's impoverished citizenry were angry and entitled enough to turn their pent-up rage at the the militia into verbal and physical altercations with the densely-populated faunus communities of their own city; or 'spies', as they were given to accusing. Eve's hands had not been idle in the time since they arrived here. Her core instinct to protect her own kind was all that kept her going at this point, even if she doubted she was worthy of it. She didn't care that she was every bit as much of an outcast now as she had been before, that the Shadow Fang was split between old friends who hated her and new sheep who didn't know her (but wove her neatly into Sienna's messianic rhetoric with gleeful enthusiasm anyway), that those who accepted she had returned but didn't buy into the penitence spiel saw her as no better than a collared animal. What did she care if her own people saw her that way? What did she care if Blake was just ignoring her ignoring her? W̶̹͝h̶͎́a̷̩͐t̸͚̆ ̷̩͝t̶̰́h̶̠̊e̴̙͂ ̴̼͝h̸̦͒e̶̳͋l̶͎̕l̴̠̍ ̵̼̔d̸̡̒i̷̻̎d̸̟́ ̷̲͋s̸̥͆h̴͙͌e̸̱͊ ̵͓̾c̷̹͝ą̸̃r̴͓̄e̶̜̒?̶͚̆

She had been standing there blankly for some time. More and more often of late Eve found herself spiraling uncontrollably into the cesspit that was her thoughts; not in a healthy or introspective way, but in a 'losing entire minutes to murky hazes of catatonic anger' way. The negativity and spite just flowed like a tidal wave through her mind, and everything on it was swept away until she inevitably came to her senses a few minutes later with a murderous red flare clouding her memory. It was usually safest for anyone around her at that point if they made it so they weren't.

Sometimes it had its benefits though, since on this occasion by the time her murder haze faded she was stepping over the bisected corpses of several chitinous ice-tunneling Grimm that had homed in on such a deep well of negativity as Eve from hundreds of yards away. She guessed she was just popular like that.

Wilt slid back into its scabbard with a satisfyingly smooth noise, and the bull faunus pulled her jacket and hood tighter as she scowled and dug heavy steps throw the snow towards the mouth of the abandoned mine Ilia had summoned her all the way out to. She really didn't see an eventuality where this meeting took longer than the time it took to get out here.

Come to think of it, why the hell was she even obliging this? Her feelings toward the Ilia she knew were as complicated as the rest of her disaster of a brain, and her last interaction with both incarnations had been a one-sided screaming match where she won. As bad as Blake's anger pulling her to the deepest possible level of this was, something about seeing the freckled idiot who used to follow them around trot willingly after her into it was just as horrible.

With so many ghosts haunting her, in a way it was fitting that she was stepping inside what basically amounted to a faunus's tomb.​

 

[MidwayLives]

“Sooooo...you got the hots for Doctor Merlot that’s vague. Who would that be, exactly?”

"Can't say right now... :/"

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Can't say right now... :/"

​

“Lame.”​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Sometimes it had its benefits though, since on this occasion by the time her murder haze faded she was stepping over the bisected corpses of several chitinous ice-tunneling Grimm that had homed in on such a deep well of negativity as Eve from hundreds of yards away. She guessed she was just popular like that.

Wilt slid back into its scabbard with a satisfyingly smooth noise, and the bull faunus pulled her jacket and hood tighter as she scowled and dug heavy steps throw the snow towards the mouth of the abandoned mine Ilia had summoned her all the way out to. She really didn't see an eventuality where this meeting took longer than the time it took to get out here.

Come to think of it, why the hell was she even obliging this? Her feelings toward the Ilia she knew were as complicated as the rest of her disaster of a brain, and her last interaction with both incarnations had been a one-sided screaming match where she won. As bad as Blake's anger pulling her to the deepest possible level of this was, something about seeing the freckled idiot who used to follow them around trot willingly after her into it was just as horrible.

With so many ghosts haunting her, in a way it was fitting that she was stepping inside what basically amounted to a faunus's tomb.​

"...I wasn't sure you'd come." Ilia had to admit that much. The chameleon faunus was not that far inside the actual place, head moving slightly to look over her shoulder as the sounds of footsteps approached. She gave a small smile, but it wasn't one that quite reached her eyes. She wasn't exactly swimming in positive feelings herself, standing here. She'd had to fend off more than a few Grimm herself, though there were no bodies to indicate such. Only tracks in the snow. In the place where they...passed. Despite that, she sounded completely, genuinely sincere when she continued. "But I'm glad you did." She turned around in full. Though her eyes stayed steady and unflinching on her fellow faunus, the way she was rubbing at her knuckles betrayed a sense of nervousness and apprehension about this. About where it could go.

It took a short while for her to even work up the nerve to speak more. "You didn't have to come. I...wouldn't have blamed you if you stayed away. I know we...aren't on the best terms, but I had to make the effort to try. There's...some things I wanted to say, and to ask. I won't fault you if you don't answer me, though. You don't owe me anything. I just...want to know. First off, you're...you're back with the Shadow Fang." Ilia coughed and lowered her hands to her sides at this point.

"...Why?" Her question carried no judgement for returning to that fold, nor anger or frustration or anything like that. She only wanted to try and understand, to hear it from Eve's own mouth...if she were willing to answer.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...I wasn't sure you'd come." Ilia had to admit that much. The chameleon faunus was not that far inside the actual place, head moving slightly to look over her shoulder as the sounds of footsteps approached. She gave a small smile, but it wasn't one that quite reached her eyes. She wasn't exactly swimming in positive feelings herself, standing here. She'd had to fend off more than a few Grimm herself, though there were no bodies to indicate such. Only tracks in the snow. In the place where they...passed. Despite that, she sounded completely, genuinely sincere when she continued. "But I'm glad you did." She turned around in full. Though her eyes stayed steady and unflinching on her fellow faunus, the way she was rubbing at her knuckles betrayed a sense of nervousness and apprehension about this. About where it could go.

It took a short while for her to even work up the nerve to speak more. "You didn't have to come. I...wouldn't have blamed you if you stayed away. I know we...aren't on the best terms, but I had to make the effort to try. There's...some things I wanted to say, and to ask. I won't fault you if you don't answer me, though. You don't owe me anything. I just...want to know. First off, you're...you're back with the Shadow Fang." Ilia coughed and lowered her hands to her sides at this point.

"...Why?" Her question carried no judgement for returning to that fold, nor anger or frustration or anything like that. She only wanted to try and understand, to hear it from Eve's own mouth...if she were willing to answer.

"Why do you care?" She shot back bluntly, having stopped in her tracks midway through the tunnel the moment she saw Ilia standing there. There was no scorn channeled in her voice, nor much of anything save for a vexed skepticism and incredulity as she slowly eased herself down into a sitting position against the cavern wall. She never loosened the dead stare she had affixed Ilia with from the second she came into view, though much of it was concealed under the ragged bandana she wore to hide her old wounds. "You Ilias are just dead set on getting involved in other people's business no matter what reality you come from, huh? Which reminds me, should I speak loud enough so both of you can hear?"

She sneered and shook her head, hand digging around the folds of her jacket for a second before she took out the Talon mask that had replaced her old one and tossed it indifferently across the mineshaft floor, letting it skitter to Ilia's feet so she could validate her current affiliation for herself. The angular bull helmet was already scratched and worn, telltale of a recurrent pattern of such improper care.

"I'll answer if you can give me one good reason. Who the hell am I to you to make you go through all this trouble? I'm just some dead asshole as far as your world's concerned, right?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Why do you care?" She shot back bluntly, having stopped in her tracks midway through the tunnel the moment she saw Ilia standing there. There was no scorn channeled in her voice, nor much of anything save for a vexed skepticism and incredulity as she slowly eased herself down into a sitting position against the cavern wall. She never loosened the dead stare she had affixed Ilia with from the second she came into view, though much of it was concealed under the ragged bandana she wore to hide her old wounds. "You Ilias are just dead set on getting involved in other people's business no matter what reality you come from, huh? Which reminds me, should I speak loud enough so both of you can hear?"

She sneered and shook her head, hand digging around the folds of her jacket for a second before she took out the Talon mask that had replaced her old one and tossed it indifferently across the mineshaft floor, letting it skitter to Ilia's feet so she could validate her current affiliation for herself. The angular bull helmet was already scratched and worn, telltale of a recurrent pattern of such improper care.

"I'll answer if you can give me one good reason. Who the hell am I to you to make you go through all this trouble? I'm just some dead asshole as far as your world's concerned, right?"​

"I..." Ilia hesitated, for several reasons she struggled to think about. It was hard to put into words. "I just do." She settled on that to start. "Care, I mean." She winced at the remark about her counterpart, but she didn't respond to it beyond that. She maintained that silence as the mask slid across the floor, all the way up until it came to rest by her feet. Her eyes looked down at it for several contemplative seconds...and her chest heaved in a nearly inaudible sigh a split-second before she lifted her stare back up towards Eve herself. "My world may not care, but I do. You're...not him. You may share his name, may share a lot of things with him, but you're also better. When Sienna and Blake and the rest were heading down a path you didn't like, you were the one who broke away. You did it on your own, too! That's more than I could say. I only broke away from that path when..." There was a second, far more audible sigh, though she didn't continue that sentence. She let the sigh speak for it.

"And you did it despite the cost. Because...it was the right thing to do, and you knew it. I'm hoping you still do." Ilia stepped over the mask and began striding closer to Eve. Barring any sudden hostile movements that warded her off, the chameleon moved to take a seat beside the bull if welcome. "Despite what this world has done to you, that takes...a certain kind of person. Maybe this makes me a hypocrite for...some other stuff, but I still think that you're better than many do. Better than you view yourself, too." Ilia gave a sad smile, her skin shifting to a pale gray and eyes flickering to a soft blue.

"...speaking of, if you don't mind...could I or you...remove that?" She indicated the bandana. "I want to talk to you face to face." ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"I..." Ilia hesitated, for several reasons she struggled to think about. It was hard to put into words. "I just do." She settled on that to start. "Care, I mean." She winced at the remark about her counterpart, but she didn't respond to it beyond that. She maintained that silence as the mask slid across the floor, all the way up until it came to rest by her feet. Her eyes looked down at it for several contemplative seconds...and her chest heaved in a nearly inaudible sigh a split-second before she lifted her stare back up towards Eve herself. "My world may not care, but I do. You're...not him. You may share his name, may share a lot of things with him, but you're also better. When Sienna and Blake and the rest were heading down a path you didn't like, you were the one who broke away. You did it on your own, too! That's more than I could say. I only broke away from that path when..." There was a second, far more audible sigh, though she didn't continue that sentence. She let the sigh speak for it.

"And you did it despite the cost. Because...it was the right thing to do, and you knew it. I'm hoping you still do." Ilia stepped over the mask and began striding closer to Eve. Barring any sudden hostile movements that warded her off, the chameleon moved to take a seat beside the bull if welcome. "Despite what this world has done to you, that takes...a certain kind of person. Maybe this makes me a hypocrite for...some other stuff, but I still think that you're better than many do. Better than you view yourself, too." Ilia gave a sad smile, her skin shifting to a pale gray and eyes flickering to a soft blue.

"...speaking of, if you don't mind...could I or you...remove that?" She indicated the bandana. "I want to talk to you face to face."

"So you called me here to tell me you're nosy. Great, I already knew. Can I go?"

Eve's scoffed response was bitter, the seemingly eternal frustration still coiling within the bull faunus no less potently than when they had last met. Her follow-on assessment was about as harsh as could be expected. "Look, you don't know me. Since you're so curious, here's a tip. I left because I was scared of what was happening to Blake and even more scared doing something about it would make her pull away. Get it yet? I had to be the one who walked away. I left because I'm a coward. I'm poison. That's the only reason."

When Ilia ignored the aggressive tone and barbs and sat close to her she seemed a bit perplexed, however, lips faintly parting in dismay as she leaned back against the tunnel wall unconsciously to keep a distance between them. Her posture was guarded, one knee drawn tight to her chest, and when she continued it was in one of her cocky, overbearing drawls.

"You're the second Ilia to make that mistake lately, you know. Coming at me like I'm still delusional enough to think I'm any kind of hero. Like I don't know exactly what I did to bring this insanity down on our people. Tch." She shook her head, breath hitching in a spiteful chuckle of derision she forced over any of the other emotions trying to edge in on her tone. "Poison is a murderer's tool. I just went back to the murderers. Simple as that. You and her, you're both real good at looking at something and seeing whatever it is you want to see, whether it's there or not. She looks at the murderers and sees a righteous cause, and you're looking at me. I wanna know why."

There was the makings of a menacing warning growl building her throat, but it died before it was truly born. If the sudden shift towards a more intimate discussion over appropriately distanced dramatic ninja conversation perturbed her, the offer to remove the bandana was outright flummoxing, and Eve was at a bit of a loss for words on how to answer a request no faunus in either incarnation of the Fang would ever have dreamed of making. Bar one.

She shifted in a rare display of more nervous agitation, and when her voice returned in a defensive snap it was with a throat that sounded dry. "What, the other guy never clued you in on the mask thing? It's not a stylistic choice. It's for your benefit, not mine."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"So you called me here to tell me you're nosy. Great, I already knew. Can I go?"

Eve's scoffed response was bitter, the seemingly eternal frustration still coiling within the bull faunus no less potently than when they had last met. Her follow-on assessment was about as harsh as could be expected. "Look, you don't know me. Since you're so curious, here's a tip. I left because I was scared of what was happening to Blake and even more scared doing something about it would make her pull away. Get it yet? I had to be the one who walked away. I left because I'm a coward. I'm poison. That's the only reason."

When Ilia ignored the aggressive tone and barbs and sat close to her she seemed a bit perplexed, however, lips faintly parting in dismay as she leaned back against the tunnel wall unconsciously to keep a distance between them. Her posture was guarded, one knee drawn tight to her chest, and when she continued it was in one of her cocky, overbearing drawls.

"You're the second Ilia to make that mistake lately, you know. Coming at me like I'm still delusional enough to think I'm any kind of hero. Like I don't know exactly what I did to bring this insanity down on our people. Tch." She shook her head, breath hitching in a spiteful chuckle of derision she forced over any of the other emotions trying to edge in on her tone. "Poison is a murderer's tool. I just went back to the murderers. Simple as that. You and her, you're both real good at looking at something and seeing whatever it is you want to see, whether it's there or not. She looks at the murderers and sees a righteous cause, and you're looking at me. I wanna know why."

There was the makings of a menacing warning growl building her throat, but it died before it was truly born. If the sudden shift towards a more intimate discussion over appropriately distanced dramatic ninja conversation perturbed her, the offer to remove the bandana was outright flummoxing, and Eve was at a bit of a loss for words on how to answer a request no faunus in either incarnation of the Fang would ever have dreamed of making. Bar one.

She shifted in a rare display of more nervous agitation, and when her voice returned in a defensive snap it was with a throat that sounded dry. "What, the other guy never clued you in on the mask thing? It's not a stylistic choice. It's for your benefit, not mine."​

"...You're right." Ilia agreed. "I don't really know you, but I'd like to. You might think you're poison but I don't believe you are. Not really. If I'm wrong about that...well, I guess I and a lot of other people will find out for sure in the coming days. But I truly don't think so. If you were poison...why would you leave in the first place? Poison would be right at home in that crowd. I would know. And don't give me that coward crap, either. You may be a lot of things, to a lot of different people but I wouldn't count coward among them. When the chips are down, and you're in the thick of it, fighting, you're...bold. I've seen that much, at least. Damn near fearless if you ask me. Like doubt and uncertainty aren't even problems for you. I think it'd be different for an actual coward. Besides that?" She shook her head.

"Yeah, maybe hero is stretching it for you. For both of us, even. I wouldn't call myself a hero either. But...you don't have to be a hero to do what's right." She paused for a second. "So if I'm reading this right, if I'm guessing correctly...the main reason you're back with them is because you don't think you belong anywhere else. If that's on the money...then I think you're wrong there too. The world can offer people second or third chances. I know that. Honestly...back home? I still don't think I really deserve the freedom my Blake's parents granted me. There's plenty of reasons why I should be stuck in a cell with Corsac and Yuma and the rest of them. They gave me another shot, though, even if they did have to knock some sense into me." And...shit, I don't know, maybe it's the same with Weiss. She reluctantly thought to herself. Time would tell.

"Just because somebody loses their way, it doesn't have to mean they are lost forever. Anyways, as for why..." There was another pause, though this one was far longer. Her stare grew strangely different, it was hard to place exactly why. The only thing obviously clear was that there was an internal struggle going on in her head. Finally, yet another sigh escaped her lips. To hell with it. She hurriedly leaned over as fast as she could, though she wasn't sure exactly what that speed was more for: to not let Eve avoid it or so the chameleon faunus didn't have any more time to second guess herself...as she gave Eve a quick kiss on the lips. It hardly lasted more than a second or two, Ilia well aware that she was likely pushing it...and that Eve had...a dangerous temper to say the least.

The smaller faunus pulled back swiftly after that, scooting away a few feet and turning away as well, unsure if she could handle...whatever expression might have been on Eve's face after that. She wasn't 100% sure if that had been some lingering Blake love and she recognized that Eve, in a few ways, filled in those shoes. Or if she was just glad that there was a Taurus who was better than the one she'd known. Or if she just thought Eve simply was that attractive all on her own. Maybe a mix of all that and more. "I...look, let's just say...I've seen a whole lot worse. Your face...it doesn't...bother me." She muttered. She didn't dare raise her voice louder than that.

Not right now.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...You're right." Ilia agreed. "I don't really know you, but I'd like to. You might think you're poison but I don't believe you are. Not really. If I'm wrong about that...well, I guess I and a lot of other people will find out for sure in the coming days. But I truly don't think so. If you were poison...why would you leave in the first place? Poison would be right at home in that crowd. I would know. And don't give me that coward crap, either. You may be a lot of things, to a lot of different people but I wouldn't count coward among them. When the chips are down, and you're in the thick of it, fighting, you're...bold. I've seen that much, at least. Damn near fearless if you ask me. Like doubt and uncertainty aren't even problems for you. I think it'd be different for an actual coward. Besides that?" She shook her head.

"Yeah, maybe hero is stretching it for you. For both of us, even. I wouldn't call myself a hero either. But...you don't have to be a hero to do what's right." She paused for a second. "So if I'm reading this right, if I'm guessing correctly...the main reason you're back with them is because you don't think you belong anywhere else. If that's on the money...then I think you're wrong there too. The world can offer people second or third chances. I know that. Honestly...back home? I still don't think I really deserve the freedom my Blake's parents granted me. There's plenty of reasons why I should be stuck in a cell with Corsac and Yuma and the rest of them. They gave me another shot, though, even if they did have to knock some sense into me." And...shit, I don't know, maybe it's the same with Weiss. She reluctantly thought to herself. Time would tell.

"Just because somebody loses their way, it doesn't have to mean they are lost forever. Anyways, as for why..." There was another pause, though this one was far longer. Her stare grew strangely different, it was hard to place exactly why. The only thing obviously clear was that there was an internal struggle going on in her head. Finally, yet another sigh escaped her lips. To hell with it. She hurriedly leaned over as fast as she could, though she wasn't sure exactly what that speed was more for: to not let Eve avoid it or so the chameleon faunus didn't have any more time to second guess herself...as she gave Eve a quick kiss on the lips. It hardly lasted more than a second or two, Ilia well aware that she was likely pushing it...and that Eve had...a dangerous temper to say the least.

The smaller faunus pulled back swiftly after that, scooting away a few feet and turning away as well, unsure if she could handle...whatever expression might have been on Eve's face after that. She wasn't 100% sure if that had been some lingering Blake love and she recognized that Eve, in a few ways, filled in those shoes. Or if she was just glad that there was a Taurus who was better than the one she'd known. Or if she just thought Eve simply was that attractive all on her own. Maybe a mix of all that and more. "I...look, let's just say...I've seen a whole lot worse. Your face...it doesn't...bother me." She muttered. She didn't dare raise her voice louder than that.

Not right now.

Her frown only tightened for the length of Ilia's words, it probably coming as no surprise that Eve wasn't any more open-minded or willing to be talked around than she had been the last time the chameleon faunus tried it. That she hunched up when Ilia's face made its quick approach wasn't any more surprising, and least surprising of all was how her face just froze up completely the moment she pressed her lips against it. Presuming some kind of parallel could indeed be drawn between their lives, Ilia knew through their long association under the rank of the White Fang that in spite of being tall, brooding and generally mysterious Adam Taurus had never been much of a heartthrob or anything. Embittered by the pain he had suffered, the kid was always standoffish, always surly; his violent dogwhistling had struck a chord with increasingly disenfranchised faunus everywhere, Ilia herself included, but any magnetism he had was grounded in fear and respect. He was scary, not sexy.

And, well... there were the scars. Blake and her kind nature had been captivated by his pain, had seen a soul reaching out for help, but the dark obsession that grew in that soul had arisen from the simple fact that he wasn't used to getting that kind of attention from girls. Desperate loneliness and an entitled way of thinking, fire fueled by the dependable gasolines of violence and ego, had been the core motivation at the bottom of Adam's shallow well of villainy. There really wasn't much else to him.

But it did provide a possible explanation as to why Eve's pursed lips had relaxed about halfway through, and why by the time Ilia pulled away she was actually tilting her head further into the kiss rather than making any sort of an effort to break it off on her end. It came as a surprise even to the bull herself, though it probably shouldn't have. It went without saying that her last conversations with both flavors of this face had turned... heated, and an outburst or intimidating taunt of some kind had very much been on the initial cards, but... simply put, Eve was so alone. Blake was just pitying her at this point, Sienna considered her some kind of caged animal, and the rest of the Talons just looked at her as the high leader's deranged charity case. Mom and dad were long gone. This was what she wanted, but now there was literally no one alive who cared about her and she hated it. She didn't even know what it was other than a thin fiber of pride already stretched way past its limit that had kept her from throwing herself back at Blake on hands and knees at this point. The way things had been going... all she wanted was to crawl into her lap and die. To talk like they used to, when things were better.

There were a multitude of reasons why that couldn't happen now. And outside of Blake, Ilia Amitola was one of the only people Eve actually knew. Who had made any kind of an effort to reach whatever was under the layers of trauma and bad-tempered defense mechanisms. Some really dumb part of her had wanted that conversation to go a different way when she showed up unannounced in her tower, and a part of the resultant frenzy she built herself to had come from a place of wanting to both kill that urge inside herself and warn Ilia to stay as far, far away from breathing the same cancerous air as her as possible. She had already polluted the things she cared most about, and had no desire to start working her way down the list.

But that had been easy because that Ilia came at her with accusations, and honestly most of them really did piss her off. It was easier and easier to slip into that rage these days. She had come prepared to do so here, to hear out whatever patronizing sermon or moralistic whining Amitola's (somehow) even more self-righteous cousin had rehearsed, bare her teeth a bit and make sure she scared her enough that whatever broken bird fantasy she was living out died and she stayed far, far away.

What she hadn't expected was for Ilia to sidestep all her opening hostilities and deliver a swift, succinct message that someone in Remnant still cared about Eve Taurus. Actually cared, not whatever Blake had stopped even pretending to do anymore. And she definitely wasn't expecting something deep in her chest to just... burst from that, a tension that had been tightening and tightening since long before she rejoined Sienna's people. The anxiety and dread that there was something unlovable about her. That Blake just saw their time together as a mistake that had been corrected. That her existence was only as valuable as its scars; that she had no worth outside of what she was as a symbol. A mask.

She never did have a great handle on her feelings though, and now here they were. The distance Ilia had put between them was suddenly negligible as Eve essentially just tackled her, and she didn't have to worry about her expression too hard in light of how deeply she buried it in the chameleon's neck. Both arms wrapped around her chest to draw their bodies as close as they could humanly get, Eve's frame wracked by a shiver as the heat differential informed her of how cold she was.

"...I'm s-sorry... y-y-you can..."

She hoped she wasn't expected to give some eloquent explanation for her actions now or anything, because she didn't have one. She just shook her head instead of finishing, both so she could nuzzle Ilia's neck and shift the back of her head for easier removal of the bandana if she wanted. In predator's terms, she might as well have been giving the other faunus her throat. But Eve wasn't thinking in predator terms right now, and it took a combination of the small sound that tore itself from her lips, the faint trickle of moisture where her face was burrowing into her neck, and the second violent shiver quaking her shoulders for Ilia to realize that they weren't shivers.

They were sobs.

"Suh-stop p-p-pitying me... I don't deserve anything, I don't WANT anyt-thing...! You don't get it, the sooner some idiot in a Talon mask has the balls to put me out of my misery the better off e-EVERYONE will be! ALL I AM IS A MASK AND A SWORD! I DON'T LIKE ANYTHING ABOUT MYSELF!"

Her anguished, heartbroken shrieks were muffled by Ilia's shoulder at this point, having had the wherewithal to shift her face to spare Ilia's eardrums. They echoed throughout the icy mineshaft all the same, and it was probably both alarming and inevitable that some faint, disturbed skitters had started to echo back up the tunnel in reply, no doubt roused by the floodlight of negativity that had just gone nuclear next to her.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Her frown only tightened for the length of Ilia's words, it probably coming as no surprise that Eve wasn't any more open-minded or willing to be talked around than she had been the last time the chameleon faunus tried it. That she hunched up when Ilia's face made its quick approach wasn't any more surprising, and least surprising of all was how her face just froze up completely the moment she pressed her lips against it. Presuming some kind of parallel could indeed be drawn between their lives, Ilia knew through their long association under the rank of the White Fang that in spite of being tall, brooding and generally mysterious Adam Taurus had never been much of a heartthrob or anything. Embittered by the pain he had suffered, the kid was always standoffish, always surly; his violent dogwhistling had struck a chord with increasingly disenfranchised faunus everywhere, Ilia herself included, but any magnetism he had was grounded in fear and respect. He was scary, not sexy.

And, well... there were the scars. Blake and her kind nature had been captivated by his pain, had seen a soul reaching out for help, but the dark obsession that grew in that soul had arisen from the simple fact that he wasn't used to getting that kind of attention from girls. Desperate loneliness and an entitled way of thinking, fire fueled by the dependable gasolines of violence and ego, had been the core motivation at the bottom of Adam's shallow well of villainy. There really wasn't much else to him.

But it did provide a possible explanation as to why Eve's pursed lips had relaxed about halfway through, and why by the time Ilia pulled away she was actually tilting her head further into the kiss rather than making any sort of an effort to break it off on her end. It came as a surprise even to the bull herself, though it probably shouldn't have. It went without saying that her last conversations with both flavors of this face had turned... heated, and an outburst or intimidating taunt of some kind had very much been on the initial cards, but... simply put, Eve was so alone. Blake was just pitying her at this point, Sienna considered her some kind of caged animal, and the rest of the Talons just looked at her as the high leader's deranged charity case. Mom and dad were long gone. This was what she wanted, but now there was literally no one alive who cared about her and she hated it. She didn't even know what it was other than a thin fiber of pride already stretched way past its limit that had kept her from throwing herself back at Blake on hands and knees at this point. The way things had been going... all she wanted was to crawl into her lap and die. To talk like they used to, when things were better.

There were a multitude of reasons why that couldn't happen now. And outside of Blake, Ilia Amitola was one of the only people Eve actually knew. Who had made any kind of an effort to reach whatever was under the layers of trauma and bad-tempered defense mechanisms. Some really dumb part of her had wanted that conversation to go a different way when she showed up unannounced in her tower, and a part of the resultant frenzy she built herself to had come from a place of wanting to both kill that urge inside herself and warn Ilia to stay as far, far away from breathing the same cancerous air as her as possible. She had already polluted the things she cared most about, and had no desire to start working her way down the list.

But that had been easy because that Ilia came at her with accusations, and honestly most of them really did piss her off. It was easier and easier to slip into that rage these days. She had come prepared to do so here, to hear out whatever patronizing sermon or moralistic whining Amitola's (somehow) even more self-righteous cousin had rehearsed, bare her teeth a bit and make sure she scared her enough that whatever broken bird fantasy she was living out died and she stayed far, far away.

What she hadn't expected was for Ilia to sidestep all her opening hostilities and deliver a swift, succinct message that someone in Remnant still cared about Eve Taurus. Actually cared, not whatever Blake had stopped even pretending to do anymore. And she definitely wasn't expecting something deep in her chest to just... burst from that, a tension that had been tightening and tightening since long before she rejoined Sienna's people. The anxiety and dread that there was something unlovable about her. That Blake just saw their time together as a mistake that had been corrected. That her existence was only as valuable as its scars; that she had no worth outside of what she was as a symbol. A mask.

She never did have a great handle on her feelings though, and now here they were. The distance Ilia had put between them was suddenly negligible as Eve essentially just tackled her, and she didn't have to worry about her expression too hard in light of how deeply she buried it in the chameleon's neck. Both arms wrapped around her chest to draw their bodies as close as they could humanly get, Eve's frame wracked by a shiver as the heat differential informed her of how cold she was.

"...I'm s-sorry... y-y-you can..."

She hoped she wasn't expected to give some eloquent explanation for her actions now or anything, because she didn't have one. She just shook her head instead of finishing, both so she could nuzzle Ilia's neck and shift the back of her head for easier removal of the bandana if she wanted. In predator's terms, she might as well have been giving the other faunus her throat. But Eve wasn't thinking in predator terms right now, and it took a combination of the small sound that tore itself from her lips, the faint trickle of moisture where her face was burrowing into her neck, and the second violent shiver quaking her shoulders for Ilia to realize that they weren't shivers.

They were sobs.

"Suh-stop p-p-pitying me... I don't deserve anything, I don't WANT anyt-thing...! You don't get it, the sooner some idiot in a Talon mask has the balls to put me out of my misery the better off e-EVERYONE will be! ALL I AM IS A MASK AND A SWORD! I DON'T LIKE ANYTHING ABOUT MYSELF!"

Her anguished, heartbroken shrieks were muffled by Ilia's shoulder at this point, having had the wherewithal to shift her face to spare Ilia's eardrums. They echoed throughout the icy mineshaft all the same, and it was probably both alarming and inevitable that some faint, disturbed skitters had started to echo back up the tunnel in reply, no doubt roused by the floodlight of negativity that had just gone nuclear next to her.​

"..." That was, in all honesty, one reaction she had not at all expected. Only in her wildest daydreams had she imagined Eve Taurus pretty much throwing herself at her, though those carried a way different feeling in them. Mostly. This...the fact that this was actually happening, it was just so unexpected, that the word unexpected felt too weak and light to accurately describe it from Ilia's perspective. Unexpected...but in no way unwelcome. Once the chameleon faunus had gotten over that shock, with her initially tense muscles relaxing surprisingly swiftly, both her own arms moved to give Eve a return embrace. Even if it wasn't physically possible for them to be any closer than they already were, given how strongly the bull had pulled her into that hug. Ilia might have been content to just stay there, wrapped up in that hug for as long as possible, to have a new warmth to fight against the bitter cold of Solitas...were it not for the shivers. Or, rather, for the sobs. That was further made clear the moment she felt something wet sliding down her neck.

Though Ilia didn't do anything more on her part until after Eve had finished wailing into her shoulder. Her frown deepened, listening to that. Even muffled by her own body, she still made out those words fairly easily. She shook her head with more than a fair amount of sadness, and a second or two after that, one of her arms pulled away from her return embrace. It moved instead to gingerly remove the bandana covering the redhead's eyes. Once she had softly pulled it away, exposing Eve's face in full, she let the bandana slip from her fingers as her hand went to cup Eve's chin and lift the bull's head up until they were looking at each other face to face. Ilia's now more purple-ish eyes stared deeply into Eve's own, and all the spots along her skin were faintly glowing a more pink color.

"That's not true." Ilia countered in a whisper. "It isn't pity. Believe me, it isn't pity, that's not true. Neither is that ridiculous idea that you don't deserve anything. You definitely do. You may not think yourself a hero, and that may be something that's up to personal opinion...but what isn't a matter of opinion is the fact that you fought to save people at Beacon. At Haven. No matter what your reasons were, your actions, they...they saved lives that might have otherwise been lost. You deserve someone in your corner, and for a hell of a lot more than just that. You deserve a lot." Her one arm still held in the hug wrapped even tighter around Eve. "As for not wanting anything...could have fooled me with that tackle." Ilia let out a soft chuckle despite the heaviness of a lot of those words.

"Most of the rest of those words may somehow be even more untrue. I don't believe this world would be better off without Eve Taurus in it. The opposite, in fact. And...no. You're more than just a mask and a sword, Eve. You are. You're not just some symbol, or a weapon to be used by...whoever. You're a person too. A person that I...that I would like to know better." Ilia gave a small but 110% sincere smile. There were no more words after that. Instead, now, Ilia leaned her face closer and went in for another kiss. One that she intended to be much longer than the first.

Even if it couldn't be as long as she wished it could be, painfully aware as she was of the faint sounds of something moving in the tunnels. More grimm.

The monsters never rest.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"..." That was, in all honesty, one reaction she had not at all expected. Only in her wildest daydreams had she imagined Eve Taurus pretty much throwing herself at her, though those carried a way different feeling in them. Mostly. This...the fact that this was actually happening, it was just so unexpected, that the word unexpected felt too weak and light to accurately describe it from Ilia's perspective. Unexpected...but in no way unwelcome. Once the chameleon faunus had gotten over that shock, with her initially tense muscles relaxing surprisingly swiftly, both her own arms moved to give Eve a return embrace. Even if it wasn't physically possible for them to be any closer than they already were, given how strongly the bull had pulled her into that hug. Ilia might have been content to just stay there, wrapped up in that hug for as long as possible, to have a new warmth to fight against the bitter cold of Solitas...were it not for the shivers. Or, rather, for the sobs. That was further made clear the moment she felt something wet sliding down her neck.

Though Ilia didn't do anything more on her part until after Eve had finished wailing into her shoulder. Her frown deepened, listening to that. Even muffled by her own body, she still made out those words fairly easily. She shook her head with more than a fair amount of sadness, and a second or two after that, one of her arms pulled away from her return embrace. It moved instead to gingerly remove the bandana covering the redhead's eyes. Once she had softly pulled it away, exposing Eve's face in full, she let the bandana slip from her fingers as her hand went to cup Eve's chin and lift the bull's head up until they were looking at each other face to face. Ilia's now more purple-ish eyes stared deeply into Eve's own, and all the spots along her skin were faintly glowing a more pink color.

"That's not true." Ilia countered in a whisper. "It isn't pity. Believe me, it isn't pity, that's not true. Neither is that ridiculous idea that you don't deserve anything. You definitely do. You may not think yourself a hero, and that may be something that's up to personal opinion...but what isn't a matter of opinion is the fact that you fought to save people at Beacon. At Haven. No matter what your reasons were, your actions, they...they saved lives that might have otherwise been lost. You deserve someone in your corner, and for a hell of a lot more than just that. You deserve a lot." Her one arm still held in the hug wrapped even tighter around Eve. "As for not wanting anything...could have fooled me with that tackle." Ilia let out a soft chuckle despite the heaviness of a lot of those words.

"Most of the rest of those words may somehow be even more untrue. I don't believe this world would be better off without Eve Taurus in it. The opposite, in fact. And...no. You're more than just a mask and a sword, Eve. You are. You're not just some symbol, or a weapon to be used by...whoever. You're a person too. A person that I...that I would like to know better." Ilia gave a small but 110% sincere smile. There were no more words after that. Instead, now, Ilia leaned her face closer and went in for another kiss. One that she intended to be much longer than the first.

Even if it couldn't be as long as she wished it could be, painfully aware as she was of the faint sounds of something moving in the tunnels. More grimm.

The monsters never rest.

"...But I... you can't... if you kn-knew the first thing about me you'd know I already got everything I deserve, every bad thing that ever happened to me was, a-a-all of it was because..."

Because the scars had been there long before anyone hurt her, she wanted to say. They were just an excuse to rage. Because everything Blake, Sienna, Ilia, and every other member of their species she'd managed to infect with the notion that donning the face of a beast and seeking blood to appease their rage was the way forward thought about her now was right, that she was broken and warped beyond any hope of salvation. Because no matter what purpose she set herself toward, Eve Taurus was always the one who fired the first shot and lacked the stomach to follow through. Her entire life was one led believing those scars were her calling, that receiving them had been her awakening to some higher purpose, that she was destined for greater things than to be just another statistic coming out of a labor mine not so different from the one they were in. Only now, after so long and so many mistakes, could she finally see the truth.

It was a brand, and nothing more. A label from man to set her apart as no better than cattle and a mark of shame bestowed by the gods to punish her for who she was. She was right to think the scars represented her destiny, just not the one she spent so long deluding herself with.

They were a permanent reminder that she should've died down in that mine. One she took to heart every time she caught a glimpse of her own reflection, or rubbed her eye and felt old wounds stenciled in the shape of letters. Well, she was finally listening. Sounded like whatever version of her the girl holding her knew had gotten the memo eventually. Eve couldn't imagine it'd take too much longer for her to follow suit.

They were thoughts she wanted so badly to articulate, to just unleash in a torrent of pent-up emotional distress now that she was being held by warm arms and soft eyes that wanted to listen for the first time in... a while. She was too hysterical and confused for her words to come out as anything more than the sort of incoherent mumblings relayed above, though; peppered in whenever there was a gap in Ilia's reassurances long enough to seize, made all the more difficult to comprehend from how she tried to shove her face deeper into the other faunus's collar the moment her eye covering was removed. It had taken a while for her to feel fully comfortable like this even with Blake, with both her face and the vulnerable core true intimacy demanded left exposed. It was a fact made apparent to Ilia by the heated shame she saw on Eve's face when she finally managed to lift it, burning a hole through the heady mix of other emotions being brought on by their closeness. The cold felt like a distant memory, if nothing else.

But she was still biting her lip, still having a hard time meeting the chameleon's gaze fully at this close a proximity as she spent the rest of Ilia's words conspicuously trying to flatten down her bangs until they covered her eye. She did manage a joyless giggle(?????) at the joke, which had her expression skewing more towards flushed embarrassment than shame, and by the time Ilia was finished she at least seemed a bit calmer as she nevertheless bit her lip again and started to huff.

"You still don't knowmmmmmmmm..."

Okay, so apparently they weren't talking anymore. Eve was honestly fine with that, allowing the kiss to silence her typically gruff voice that was anything but by the time the the consenting moan she gave into the other girl's lips finally died. She tended to follow her instincts, and right now her instincts said burying herself in the smaller girl's warm arms and compassion was what she wanted.

Affection-starved as she was, they were also telling her those weren't the only parts of Ilia she wanted to bury herself in. The hand cupping the chameleon's chest might've told her as much, as did the way Eve used it to reverse the leverage of the kiss, slowly push her back against the tunnel wall, and ease herself over so she was half-straddling her, gradually raising the intensity of whatever their tongues were doing.

She probably wasn't gonna be the first one to acknowledge those Grimm. Frankly, it wasn't even clear if she noticed.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"You still don't knowmmmmmmmm..."

Okay, so apparently they weren't talking anymore. Eve was honestly fine with that, allowing the kiss to silence her typically gruff voice that was anything but by the time the the consenting moan she gave into the other girl's lips finally died. She tended to follow her instincts, and right now her instincts said burying herself in the smaller girl's warm arms and compassion was what she wanted.

Affection-starved as she was, they were also telling her those weren't the only parts of Ilia she wanted to bury herself in. The hand cupping the chameleon's chest might've told her as much, as did the way Eve used it to reverse the leverage of the kiss, slowly push her back against the tunnel wall, and ease herself over so she was half-straddling her, gradually raising the intensity of whatever their tongues were doing.

She probably wasn't gonna be the first one to acknowledge those Grimm. Frankly, it wasn't even clear if she noticed.

Pulling away from where all this seemed it would inevitably lead to, was about the last thing she wanted to do right now. Even with knowing all about the Solitas cold, it...really felt so damn hot right now. But certain annoyances necessitated her at least trying to stop this stuff at least temporarily so that those annoying grimm pests didn't catch them with their pants down...quite possibly literally. So it was that despite it feeling really really good, Ilia forced herself to push back against Eve and give the two of them a little breathing room. "Wait. I'm sorry, but wait. Not that I'm not enjoying...this, because I am! But..." She jerked her head over towards the tunnel where the skittering sounds of the grimm were coming from. "I think we should...you know, deal with that first. Don't you think?" She gave an awkward smile, certainly never having expected that grimm of all things would interrupt a moment like this.

"...Also what is it that I don't know?" She added while she tried to reach for her weapon.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Pulling away from where all this seemed it would inevitably lead to, was about the last thing she wanted to do right now. Even with knowing all about the Solitas cold, it...really felt so damn hot right now. But certain annoyances necessitated her at least trying to stop this stuff at least temporarily so that those annoying grimm pests didn't catch them with their pants down...quite possibly literally. So it was that despite it feeling really really good, Ilia forced herself to push back against Eve and give the two of them a little breathing room. "Wait. I'm sorry, but wait. Not that I'm not enjoying...this, because I am! But..." She jerked her head over towards the tunnel where the skittering sounds of the grimm were coming from. "I think we should...you know, deal with that first. Don't you think?" She gave an awkward smile, certainly never having expected that grimm of all things would interrupt a moment like this.

"...Also what is it that I don't know?" She added while she tried to reach for her weapon.​

She parted reluctantly at first, but the moment after she did was an exercise in how quickly a faunus could oscillate from shame to passion and back to complete and utter shame again as the human side of her caught up with the animal and she went whiter than her old mask.

"...Right... Also, f-faunus probably died here so..."

She very abruptly stood up, playing off how awkward it was disentangling their limbs from one another and back ramrod straight as she stiffly turned around to stalk further into the tunnel.

"Me." She shot back harshly at the question, making a snap decision that reaffirming her usual coarse attitude was the best way to recover from whatever the hell that had just been.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

She parted reluctantly at first, but the moment after she did was an exercise in how quickly a faunus could oscillate from shame to passion and back to complete and utter shame again as the human side of her caught up with the animal and she went whiter than her old mask.

"...Right... Also, f-faunus probably died here so..."

She very abruptly stood up, playing off how awkward it was disentangling their limbs from one another and back ramrod straight as she stiffly turned around to stalk further into the tunnel.

"Me." She shot back harshly at the question, making a snap decision that reaffirming her usual coarse attitude was the best way to recover from whatever the hell that had just been.​

To her credit, she didn't flinch at the sudden harshness that crept back into Eve's voice right then as she followed after the bull faunus. "Well...if it helps? I like that side of you quite a lot. You're very...warm." She gave an earnest smile and hoped that the sudden switch in demeanor didn't mean they couldn't...go back to that after dealing with the grimm.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

To her credit, she didn't flinch at the sudden harshness that crept back into Eve's voice right then as she followed after the bull faunus. "Well...if it helps? I like that side of you quite a lot. You're very...warm." She gave an earnest smile and hoped that the sudden switch in demeanor didn't mean they couldn't...go back to that after dealing with the grimm.

Eve pointedly kept her back to Ilia for that response, both so she couldn't see whatever look was on the chameleon's face when she said it and to prevent her from seeing the doofy half-grin that arose on her own in turn. "I'm not. Everything else is just cold," she nevertheless shot back with impressive stoicism, stopping and putting a hand out where she had walked ahead to prevent Ilia from progressing any further. She ended up taking special care not to let that hand's placement go below collar level.

She shushed the other girl if she tried to say anything else in the next few seconds, her own senses obviously straining. They were subtle, but the vibrations rattling the frost beneath their feet were more than sufficient early warning for her to step back, bump Ilia out of the way protectively and decapitate the flailing centipede Grimm that erupted from the ice below, mandibles biting uselessly as the head bearing them went spinning away and hit the ground a full meter away from its body. Eve grimaced. The slash from Wilt hadn't been as straight as it should've been. Almost like someone was distracting her, a realization which had her hiss in frustration.

"...Why the hell are we in some mine if that was what you wanted, anyway? Are beds evil in your universe too?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Eve pointedly kept her back to Ilia for that response, both so she couldn't see whatever look was on the chameleon's face when she said it and to prevent her from seeing the doofy half-grin that arose on her own in turn. "I'm not. Everything else is just cold," she nevertheless shot back with impressive stoicism, stopping and putting a hand out where she had walked ahead to prevent Ilia from progressing any further. She ended up taking special care not to let that hand's placement go below collar level.

She shushed the other girl if she tried to say anything else in the next few seconds, her own senses obviously straining. They were subtle, but the vibrations rattling the frost beneath their feet were more than sufficient early warning for her to step back, bump Ilia out of the way protectively and decapitate the flailing centipede Grimm that erupted from the ice below, mandibles biting uselessly as the head bearing them went spinning away and hit the ground a full meter away from its body. Eve grimaced. The slash from Wilt hadn't been as straight as it should've been. Almost like someone was distracting her, a realization which had her hiss in frustration.

"...Why the hell are we in some mine if that was what you wanted, anyway? Are beds evil in your universe too?"​

"If you say so." Ilia remarked, sounding completely unconvinced by that statement. There was a grunt when she got pushed aside as Eve dealt with the freaky insectoid like grimm, and in the aftermath of the grimm fading away, Ilia's own ears were strained to determine if that poor beast had brought any friends along too. Though, she didn't miss what Eve asked. She hardly could have missed that. "I didn't...didn't plan on kissing you. It was...impulse. You're brave, and strong, and attractive, and I just..." She shook her head. "I couldn't help it. It's a different world and I've been...alone. Sort of, and beyond just...being in a different Remnant than the one most of my friends and the people I know are on. I'd been up in Atlas for more than a month, just...trying to stay isolated. Keeping everyone at length, because yeah, like you said. The other me could watch...everything I do. So that sucked. But you just seemed way more alone, and it just felt right to reach out and...yeah. What else can I say?" Ilia shrugged.

"Besides, I didn't expect you would reciprocate...if I thought you would have...yeah, I'd probably have just gone for a hotel or something. None of that was planned...but I like how it turned out regardless." She finished, lightly rolling her eyes at the idea of evil beds.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"If you say so." Ilia remarked, sounding completely unconvinced by that statement. There was a grunt when she got pushed aside as Eve dealt with the freaky insectoid like grimm, and in the aftermath of the grimm fading away, Ilia's own ears were strained to determine if that poor beast had brought any friends along too. Though, she didn't miss what Eve asked. She hardly could have missed that. "I didn't...didn't plan on kissing you. It was...impulse. You're brave, and strong, and attractive, and I just..." She shook her head. "I couldn't help it. It's a different world and I've been...alone. Sort of, and beyond just...being in a different Remnant than the one most of my friends and the people I know are on. I'd been up in Atlas for more than a month, just...trying to stay isolated. Keeping everyone at length, because yeah, like you said. The other me could watch...everything I do. So that sucked. But you just seemed way more alone, and it just felt right to reach out and...yeah. What else can I say?" Ilia shrugged.

"Besides, I didn't expect you would reciprocate...if I thought you would have...yeah, I'd probably have just gone for a hotel or something. None of that was planned...but I like how it turned out regardless." She finished, lightly rolling her eyes at the idea of evil beds.​

Eve's eyebrows raised dully at the reason for Ilia's self-imposed exile, an angry pull to her lips and scrunch to her brow when she rose from the low stance she fell in to slice down the trio of arachnid Grimm that pounced at her from the ceiling. She sheathed Wilt again with a click, either unconcerned with or oblivious to the presence of any more of the creatures as she immediately turned to stride a short distance back up the tunnel, brushing against the chameleon with just a bit more physical contact than could truly be considered necessary or unintentional when she came close.

"That figures. Your lookalike likes to pretend she's a real paragon for faunus rights, but turns out she's only too happy to play fast and loose with whichever ones she considers dispensable. Like privacy."

She had to scoff as she was reminded of what a bitch the native Ilia turned out to be, and she channeled every ounce of scathing disappointment from that scoff into an extremely flat and pointed stare at this one's eyes before she walked by. Just in case.

Then she realized she didn't know whose eyes she might've been spying through, if she was spying at all, and idly wondered how many people went nuts with paranoia upon learning what Amitola's semblance was. She did this while repeating the same harsh glare towards her own reflection in an icicle. She played it coy the moment she sensed the other Ilia turn, shooting upright to cross her arms and lean back against a frozen pillar with a look that spoke as much of uncertainty as it did how badly she wanted the other faunus to come over and thaw it with her. She chewed her lower lip again, averting her eyes off to the right.

"How human of her. Listen... I know you're not trying to... seduce me into leaving with you, or whatever." She was pretty sure, anyway. Infiltration was Ilia's whole thing, and she didn't give enough of a shit about anything anymore to try and make herself anything less than the easiest mark in the entirety of both Remnants when it came to that kind of thing. "...But if you have some inkling that I'm gonna come away with you after this, or that it even changes anything... then I'll be the one to say what happened back there was a mistake."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Eve's eyebrows raised dully at the reason for Ilia's self-imposed exile, an angry pull to her lips and scrunch to her brow when she rose from the low stance she fell in to slice down the trio of arachnid Grimm that pounced at her from the ceiling. She sheathed Wilt again with a click, either unconcerned with or oblivious to the presence of any more of the creatures as she immediately turned to stride a short distance back up the tunnel, brushing against the chameleon with just a bit more physical contact than could truly be considered necessary or unintentional when she came close.

"That figures. Your lookalike likes to pretend she's a real paragon for faunus rights, but turns out she's only too happy to play fast and loose with whichever ones she considers dispensable. Like privacy."

She had to scoff as she was reminded of what a bitch the native Ilia turned out to be, and she channeled every ounce of scathing disappointment from that scoff into an extremely flat and pointed stare at this one's eyes before she walked by. Just in case.

Then she realized she didn't know whose eyes she might've been spying through, if she was spying at all, and idly wondered how many people went nuts with paranoia upon learning what Amitola's semblance was. She did this while repeating the same harsh glare towards her own reflection in an icicle. She played it coy the moment she sensed the other Ilia turn, shooting upright to cross her arms and lean back against a frozen pillar with a look that spoke as much of uncertainty as it did how badly she wanted the other faunus to come over and thaw it with her. She chewed her lower lip again, averting her eyes off to the right.

"How human of her. Listen... I know you're not trying to... seduce me into leaving with you, or whatever." She was pretty sure, anyway. Infiltration was Ilia's whole thing, and she didn't give enough of a shit about anything anymore to try and make herself anything less than the easiest mark in the entirety of both Remnants when it came to that kind of thing. "...But if you have some inkling that I'm gonna come away with you after this, or that it even changes anything... then I'll be the one to say what happened back there was a mistake."​

She stood unmoving for a few seconds after that, plainly listening for more than just Eve's words...but when it seemed that there were no more grimm coming, she relaxed some. If more of the monsters did turn up, well, she trusted Eve would handle them just as effectively as with the ones already fading away. "Mhm." She grunted at the talk of her double. It still felt slightly strange talking about a her that was still...lost in that way. But she found herself not caring as much in this particular situation. If the other her was indeed spying...well, it wasn't like she could stop it, short of closing her eyes. But that would have meant cutting off the view of Eve's face...a pretty one, in spite of the scar left behind. The other her could watch all she liked, but she wasn't going to do that, and she wasn't going to give the Shadow Fang chameleon the satisfaction by being distraught about it now.

She strolled over to close the distance between them, halting well within arm's reach of Eve and lifting her head to look up at the taller faunus girl. "That's entirely up to you. But even if you go back to wherever the Shadow Fang are staying, that won't change what I know to be true. You're more than just a sword or a mask, more than whatever Sienna says you are, and...as far as I'm concerned, you really do deserve a whole lot better." Ilia said with a smile that managed to carry a hint of sadness. "Even if we end up on opposing sides in whatever the future brings here, even...even if we have to fight, that...it doesn't mean we have to hate each other. I think that's a choice we make ourselves. And even if all that does indeed come to pass....." Ilia stepped even closer, raising her head up to kiss Eve again, though it was brief. Initially.

"I'll still remember this fondly." She whispered when she pulled back slightly, and then after those words were spoken, she just went right back in for that kiss, intent on maintaining it for as long as was possible.​