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[enthrallinglyeden]

TIMING: pre-finale LOCATION: wicked's rest public library PARTIES: eve @technowarden and eden @enthrallinglyeden SUMMARY: eve and eden are stuck in the library until the fog and lightning dies down. CONTENT WARNINGS: none!

In his few months in Wicked’s Rest, Eden had already developed an enemy. It wasn’t some strange creature lurking in the shadows or a powerful spellcaster that had it out for him. No, the supernatural had nothing on his real enemy. The ancient computers in the library haunted him daily, always making his life worse just for the sake of it. Sometimes they would turn off on their own, other days they’d refuse to turn off at all. No matter how many times Eden slammed his hand on the computer, it was like the piece of junk had a mind of its own. Simply put, it was mocking him, and he was done letting a computer be his downfall.

He had suggested a few times to his boss that they just replace the computers all together, Eden could’ve easily made a hefty donation that would’ve covered the complete cost anyways. However, he was turned down every time. According to his co-workers, the ghosts despised changes to the library, and Eden was not going to be the newcomer who pissed off the ghosts. 

His next best option was to call in reinforcements — at least the ghosts seemed to approve of tech support. Eden wasn’t sure if anyone was going to answer his initial call. After all, anyone with an understanding of technology would know that these computers were beyond saving. But then Eve by her own free will, and she managed to keep the computers alive from week to week. Sometimes, she even got them to work fast, and that was as big of a miracle that Eden could ever hope of seeing.

“Thank you again, really,” he said to the woman, resting his hand on the table as she worked on one of the computers. It was a late night for both of them today, with the library essentially deserted just minutes before closing time. A part of Eden felt bad that it took Eve until the evening to figure out the issues today, but she seemed to enjoy her work and it wasn’t like he was in much of a rush to go home either. “Seriously, we owe you big time. If there’s anything I can do for you, just say the word.”

—

The town was ending. Unfortunately, this was happening slowly, on a timeline only the demons could see. While Eve did what she could, sometimes her job involved just waiting, whether that was for a program to upload, or for someone to click on one of her promoted adverts, or for an email reply. Hers was a hunt of patience. Which meant Eve had time for her other unending pursuits, such as maintaining the library computer systems.  

Unlike most of Eve’s contract work, she didn’t ask for payment from the library. Maintaining the computers they had was fulfilling work, despite how decrepit they might be. 

The irony of it didn’t escape her. Here, the master of deceptions and suppressing information was helping ensure people could reach it. But libraries were so much more than their books and computers, genuine community hubs for people from every walk of life. That said, if playing nice with the library staff made it easier for her to occasionally modify a database or “misplace” a book if something looked like it might interfere with her core mission. It was also true that the company was nothing to sneeze at. While he was often busy, it was nice chatting to Eden when he wasn’t, about whichever books they might be reading. When he wasn’t around, Eve hummed quietly as she worked, updating drivers and replacing faulty fans.  Every hour or so, she’d pause to check through her phone, and set off any bot commands she needed to. But she didn’t suspect Eden minded all that much. 

“That’s alright. No need to thank me,” Eve replied, dropping the last fried fan that she had replaced from a computer tower into her bag. Or thank anyone, for that matter, but Eve couldn’t exactly tell him that. As he offered her a favour, Eve dropped a hand on her hip, tapping her chin with her other hand, as if seriously considering it. 

“You know, there is one thing you could do for me,” Eve said slowly, turning back to Eden with a slow smile. It was the same favour she asked every week, and every week Eden said no.  “You could upgrade this computers to something from this decade. For some of them, I’ll even just settle for something from this century.” She eyed a couple of the desktops in the corner that were almost as old as she was. “I just don’t get it. You can get computers second hand that wouldn’t need their drivers checked every month. I’m not sure how long we can keep doing this Sysiphus bit before the proverbial rock stops moving altogether.”

—

Eden shook his head while offering Eve an apologetic smile. He should’ve seen it coming as soon as he offered her a favour. After all, it had become a sort of running joke between the two of them over the weeks. “Haven’t you learned to save your breath by now?” He said with a glint in his eye. She knew very well that Eden would replace every computer in a blink of an eye if it were up to him. 

“Though I do look forward to the one week where I can finally give you a different answer, I wouldn’t get my hopes up. Unlike Sysiphus’ proverbial rock, ours is powered by the spirits of angry library ghosts, and I don’t think they have any plans of letting this piece of junk go anytime soon.” In truth, Eden had yet to really catch a ghost in action in the library, but it was an added amusement to his day when he got to spread the stories amongst the library’s patrons. Not that he didn’t believe they existed — they probably did, but after getting to know more about the supernatural happenings of Wicked’s Rest, grumpy old ghosts were the least of his worries.

“Of course if this commitment ever becomes too time-consuming, I can push harder with the staff to replace everything so you won’t have to make all these trips,” Eden said, furrowing his brow. Of course he was aware of the fact that Eve was offering her services for free, and he didn’t want to have to turn to her when she had other paying customers to tend to. The library would have to change with the times eventually, and if there was anyone who could convince the library ladies to do so, it would likely be him. 

Eden pulled his phone out of his pocket as Eve finished up with the last computer. 9:07 pm. Not considerably overtime, but late enough to be closing up. He proceeded to the nearby window to make sure it was shut all the way — who knew what wild creature he’d come back to in the morning otherwise. However, something else caught his attention as he put his hand on the latch. Standing by the window that would usually give Eden a clear view of the parking lot, neither his nor Eve’s vehicles were visible past a pitch-black fog. “Wow, it’s dark out. Do you know if they said anything about a storm tonight?” 

—

“You can’t blame a girl for trying,” Eve shook her head, looking up at him from her chair. “Uh huh. Just blame the imaginary ghosts, and definitely not your colleagues who are afraid of progress,” Eve teased, hoping he was joking about the ghosts, or that he had already picked up the Wicked’s Rest superstitions. “I don’t mind. Actually, I kinda like the challenge. Your computers have problems I’ve never seen before. But if you upgraded just a couple of them, you might have less of a headache during the part of the week where I can’t be here.”

“No. I guess the sun is setting earlier and earlier every day,” Eve replied. She stood up, frowning as she peered out of the windows. Even with the sun down, they should have been able to see the street lights, but there was a thick fog dimming the light. Her brow furrowed even deeper. The other problem with fall was that fog was a natural part of the weather. Was this fog or was it The Fog that a couple people had already mentioned to her? Eve wasn’t willing to risk it. She stepped back, turning to face Eden. “You’re right, the weather looks miserable out there. We should probably hole up here until it passes, just to be safe. At least I have good company.” 

It might be worth getting further away from the entrance too. “As I’m here, I noticed you had a bit of a dodgy-looking electrical socket on the far left back there. Wanna see if I can do something about that while the weather clears?”

—

“Hey, you try telling Helen that you’re replacing the only piece of technology she knows how to use in this town,” Eden said as he threw his hands up in the air. His co-workers were like the stereotypical elderly ladies he saw on TV, but on the rare occasion, he’d seen people get on their bad sides. If he knew what was good for him, he had no intention of being on the receiving end of their wrath. Eve did have a point though. The responsibility fell on him when things broke down on the days she wasn’t present, and it wasn’t like Eden even knew a damn thing about technology. “I’ll consider it. For both of our sakes.”

For now, Eden was going to focus on the more pressing issue at hand. The fog was darker and thicker than any fog he’d witnessed before, even more so than the occasional smog that would cover Shanghai. He hummed in agreement at Eve’s suggestion to stay put. “Hm, well how can I say no to being called good company?” Eden smirked, closing the window tight before heading back to where Eve stood. Inflated ego aside, there’d be no point in trying to navigate his way back home in this weather anyways. 

“Oh! Yeah, I forgot about that one. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Seems to be the running theme in this building,” Eden said as he started leading Eve to the back left of the room. “I’ve been meaning to ask, how did you become so skilled with tech anyways? You’re probably more efficient than any other electrician I’ve dealt with.” If they were going to be holed up in the library for now, the least Eden could do was try and get to know the woman. 

—

“Let me try. I’m so persuasive! I’ll take her out for a coffee, tell her how impressive it is to be the guardian of all knowledge as a librarian, and then I’ll hold her hand and assure her that computers are so much easier to use now, and she’s so smart she’ll figure it out right away.” Eve shook her head, smiling. “I think it would be good for everyone involved.”

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.” Well, Eve would, but for once it was reasonably truthful. Her brow stayed furrowed as she followed Eden through to the back. She couldn’t help but glance back at the window a few more times. It was a cloying fog. 

“Oh, I’m not an electrician! I can just about wire a socket, not a whole house. As for the computer stuff, well, I’m just a natural,” Eve replied, “I was born knowing how to do all this!”  

“I mean, the far less sexy answer is that I spend way too much time working on this stuff, both as a hobby and a job. But that would make me uncool, and we couldn’t have that!” Eve grinned up at him unconvincingly. She had been about to continue her joke, when a flash of light lit up the windows, followed immediately by an ear deafening crack of thunder. Tilting her head, Eve frowned at the window. For a moment, it had looked as if the lightning had travelled through the fog itself. Which wasn’t how that worked, right? 

Lightning flashed through the fog again, this time plunging the library into darkness. When the thunder crashed, so did a window. 

—

“As long as you’ve got a plan to wine and dine her, I won’t say no,” Eden smiled at Eve’s generosity. Accepting help was still something he was trying to work on, or rather, accepting help from others and not feeling like a burden. Though the fact that this was all for the sake of the library was a comfort to his conscience. 

“Hey, wiring a socket is already more than what I can do, so in my head you’re an electrician,” Eden joked as he guided them through the shelves to the socket in question. The library was notorious for being dim even with all of the overhead lights on, and he could only hope that it was enough light for Eve to work under. “Being so talented at anything is cool, whether it’s because of natural talent or years of practice. You can trust me on that. As a librarian, I am obviously a trusted authority on what’s cool,” Eden said, winking at the woman.

However, their banter was cut short by a sudden flash of light, followed by the loudest noise Eden had ever heard in his life. He instinctively brought his hands up to his ears, wincing at the thunder. Funny, he thought to himself as he peered out the closest window. It wasn’t raining when he last looked through the fog. Perhaps it was a sign of the weather to come. As if on cue, a bright flash blinded the library once again and Eden stopped in his tracks. This time, the lightning had taken the rest of the building’s lights with it. He wasn’t too worried about navigating the dark since he could still sense Eve’s presence at his side, but it was the following crack of thunder that officially sent things into chaos. 

Somewhere to his right, he heard glass shattering. “What the fuck,” he whispered under his breath, as if speaking normally would attract nature’s wrath once again. Eden cautiously turned out of the aisle they were in, glancing at the shards of glass on the floor below a completely destroyed window. “Oh my god, that’s going to be a pain in the ass to fix,” he said with a groan.  Eden turned to face Eve, about to open his mouth to say something, when the next flash of lightning hit. A crash of thunder predictably followed suit, but neither of them were prepared for the window overhead of where they stood to break with it. 

“Fuck!” Eden yelped as the glass started to fly, bringing his arm over his face to try and lessen the impact. He hissed at the sharp sting he felt on the back of his hand, but regardless reached down to grab Eve’s arm to pull her back to the aisle. “Get away from the windows. Now.”

—

Eden pulled Eve through the aisle, to the furthest wall from any windows. She kept her eye on the fog and the windows as they kept moving, hopping over shattered glass. More crashes of thunder followed flashes of lightning, but no windows shattered for now. The mist did not pour into the library, but instead clung to the edges of the windows forebodingly. Something wet ran down Eve’s wrist. She glanced down, and winced. “Eden, you’re bleeding.” She grabbed a flashlight from her backpack to see while they came to a standstill. 

“Let me see?” Eve asked. “Just to keep you going until you can get a professional to look at it. I’m trained in first aid, even have a little kit in my bag.” Not to mention second aid, or third… or fourth. Most hunters preferred to avoid the emergency room where possible, so were exceedingly well versed in patching themselves and each other back up, and keeping the wounds looked after. While the precautions and healing times for humans were different, the base principles were the same.

Eden offered his hand, and Eve took it in hers carefully, looking it over. “It’s not so bad.” A hunter probably wouldn’t even worry about it, but perhaps that spoke more to the callous disregard that most hunters showed their own bodies, having been taught to see them as little more than weapons. “You might even avoid the medical bill entirely.” She fished her first aid kit from her backpack, and found a counter to start setting up on. 

—

The storm was relentless, but they seemed to be spared from any more flying glass for now. Catching their breaths as they reached the furthest wall from any windows, Eden finally took a proper look at his hand. Probably not an incredibly deep cut, but still enough for a stream of blood to run down his wrist onto Eve’s. “Ew. I’m so sorry,” he said with a wrinkle of his nose. He was never really fond of blood, even back in the colony when he was still eating hearts. Ever since swearing off of them, his dislike of the metallic scent only grew.

A part of Eden wondered why an IT contractor like Eve would need to know first aid, but then again, it just seemed like a good skill to have in a town like Wicked’s Rest. Whenever he had gotten scrapped up in the past, whether it was in his human or siren form, he always had someone to patch him up. He was on his own now — perhaps it was time he learned to do so himself. 

Though deciding that now wasn’t the best time to ask Eve where she’d gotten her first aid training, Eden stuck out his hand for her when prompted. “That’s a relief,” he said after she thoroughly analyzed the cut. Not that a medical bill would’ve been much of a hassle for him, but he did like to avoid the hospital if possible. Eden watched as Eve pulled a first aid kit out of her bag, trying not to think about how much this would sting in a few moments. “It seems like I can’t stop owing you favors.”

In order to distract himself as Eve got to work on his hand, Eden let his gaze wander to the broken windows. With how thick the fog outside seemed to be, he was half-expecting it to trickle its way into the building. However, the mist seemed to stop right at the threshold of the library. “This weather is so ominous…” Eden said as he reached for the flashlight with his good hand, shining it for Eve so that he didn’t feel completely useless. “I’ve been in some pretty bad storms, seen lightning that has knocked the power out of entire blocks, but never something this…destructive.”

—

“Don’t worry about it. My siblings and I used to rough house as kids all the time, cleaning up scrapes was pretty much an every-day thing.” Eve smiled up at him. Rough-housing was a generous term, and so were scrapes. When she’d been very small and it had just been play, her old siblings had insisted on patching up every little thing, but as soon as her hunter training had begun, Eve was just as responsible for taking care of the hunting wounds on her adult siblings as they had been for her training scratches. 

“This’ll sting,” she warned, carefully wiping down his hand with disinfectant on gauze. The bleeding was already slowing, fortunately. There were no glass splinters in the wound either, but she opened a sachet of saline anyway, just to clear the wound. “You don’t owe me anything, Eden. Seriously. I don’t believe much in counting favours or tracking debts.” In the same way she didn’t often thank people. Just because she couldn’t feel a fae nearby didn’t mean you didn’t need to watch your words. “It’s just, you know, being part of the community.”

While she was focused in on carefully adding butterfly strips across the cut, Eve did occasionally glance up, watching the mist, and for what might emerge from it. Despite her gnawing concern, Eve’s tone stayed light. “The weather by the coast can be so unpredictable. I’ve never seen a thunderstorm without wind or rain,” — or clouds — “but I guess that can happen with the mixing weather fronts. We’ll have to get something to cover the broken windows, though.”

— 

Even with Eve’s warning, Eden couldn’t help but grimace when the disinfectant touched the cut. His pain tolerance used to be better but ever since settling himself behind the library desk, his body had become used to a life of plush office chairs. Perhaps he needed to take up sparring again, just as he used to do regularly with the other members of the colony in both his human and true forms. That was the closest he ever had to the sibling rough housing that Eve described, though of course he wouldn’t tell her that in such exact detail.

Community was such a meaningless word to Eden. It was always a sentiment that the colony pushed for, but never something he actually felt from them. He knew that was part of the reason why he came to Wicked’s Rest in the first place. He craved the supernatural community he never had, but it was hard to be open about his true identity when he still wasn’t quite sure who to trust. For now, maybe he’d just have to focus on his human community. Returning lost items, helping someone cross the street, or tending to a wound in Eve’s case. “Just being part of the community,” Eden repeated out loud with a small nod of acknowledgement, more so for his own sake rather than Eve’s. 

He let his eyes drift to the windows, or what was left of them anyways, as Eve continued her work. “Yeah, probably the mixing weather fronts…” Eden said with a hint of uncertainty. There was always the possibility that it was something else, something more, but believing that the destruction was purely caused by nature was the only thing keeping him sane. Eden pursued his lips as he began to think. “I cleared out some cardboard boxes earlier and they might be big enough to cover the windows. The only thing is they’re out back with the rest of the trash and recycling…like, outside.” 

— 

“Exactly,” Eve smiled, taping down the last bit of gauze and gently smoothing the tape over his skin with her thumb. “We take care of each other. Especially when the weather gets shit.” This was the duality of hunting. You were built to spill blood and to have your blood spilt, to give everything to a population who had forgotten how to do anything other than take. Their large communities were what kept humans safe, and they had forgotten how to treasure it. It drove Eve up the wall, sometimes. This was why she came to the library and fixed the computers. Libraries were community hubs, and not everything that helped humans had to be life or death. It was why she helped Eden. “There you go. Just ensure you'll see a medical professional if it becomes infected, okay?”

Her eyes followed his to the windows. She frowned, weighing her options. There were things in the fog, she knew. Cardboard wasn’t going to hold much out for long, but then neither did glass it might just hide that there was someone in here to hurt. Better than nothing. She tilted her head, considering. “Hmm. How lightning proof are you feeling? You know, they say it never hits twice in the same place.” She didn’t sound optimistic despite her cheery words, because she wasn’t. Eve did not fancy being hit by lightning, but she fancied a human doing it even less. “I guess no time like the present, right? How far is your recycling from out here?”

—

“Right. Duly noted, doc,” Eden replied with a click of his tongue, though he was hoping she wouldn’t notice how her words went through one ear and out the other. He preferred avoiding the doctor’s office for as long as he could — not because he distrusted them, but because of the possibility that they’d discover something that they shouldn’t. Back home, he had only ever seen doctors who were sirens themselves for that very reason. He didn’t have that much faith in human technology to be able to expose him like that, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. 

Though the possibilities of infection were probably slim with how solid Eve’s patchwork was. Quite impressive for an IT contractor, really. Eden admired the bandaging on his hand once more before turning his attention to the library’s back door. “No idea how lightning proof I am, but I feel like I’m about to find out,” he said, his humor faltering as much as Eve’s optimism did. 

“It’s at the corner of the back parking lot. Probably 30 seconds there, 30 seconds back. Of course, that’s if everything goes smoothly…” he trailed off, already trying to envision the most effective way for him to get the cardboard. There was no way he was letting a human go out there with the destructive lightning, let alone the risk of whatever was lurking in the fog. “Don’t worry though, I like to think I’m a pretty fast runner.”

—

“Oh, you’re so chivalrous, but I guarantee I’m faster,” Eve replied with a playful wink. Which… was technically true. In certain situations. Like when she was wearing her running leg instead of her walking leg. While her walking leg allowed for a brief brisk jog (faster than any human would manage on the same leg), it wasn’t Warden speed. It didn’t really matter, by the time she was out there, it would be too late for him to stop her. There was no way she was letting a human risk their life on her behalf. “The captain should stay with his ship, and this is your library. Anyway, I need someone ready to catch the cardboard when I throw it through.”

She didn’t give him time to argue, dashing out the door before he could reply. The momentary satisfaction of winning was quickly overturned with the threat of the thick fog. Squinting, Eve hurried over to where Eden had described, half running, half hopping on her good leg. 

—

Eden scoffed at Eve’s challenge, though he was admittedly grateful that she was able to bring some humor to their bleak circumstances. “I mean, I’m flattered that you think this is my ship. Nancy would heavily disagree. I swear she thinks she owns the pla–” His rambling came to a halt at the sound of the back door flinging open, Eve running past him in a blur of motion. 

“Eve! Damn it…” Eden scrambled to the door, only catching the slightest view of the top of her head before she disappeared into the fog completely. She is undoubtedly much faster than me, he couldn’t help but think to himself, though he was going to blame it on the fact that he had been distracted. Focus, Eden. There were clearly bigger issues at hand than his bruised ego. 

He took a step out the door, the thick fog quickly enveloping him. Practically clinging to his body, it was unlike any fog he’d ever experienced before. For a second, Eden thought back to Eve’s orders about staying put. However, he quickly wrote off the option. He was a siren after all — even if he lost sight of the library, he was confident he’d still be able to find his way back. Another reason why he needed to go help Eve, and one of the rare moments that he was grateful for his siren DNA. 

Continuing forward, Eden walked the direction to the recycling that he’d done day in and day out. “Eve? Where are you?” He called out, though he kept his voice low. If there really was something lurking in the blinding fog, the last thing he wanted to do was draw their attention. Eden furrowed his brow as he neared the recycling area. The pull back towards the library overwhelmed his body, but he was determined to finish what he’d started. “Eve, are you okay?”

—

Eve jogged, arms raised like she might fend off the lightning if it came for her. There was something desperately human about it, in the same way a human would try to claw uselessly at a vampire, Eve still raised her arms to fight nature itself. Even if the nature was far from natural. 

There were no waypoints visible through the fog, so she stretched her fingers out to run them along the side of the library walls, until she reached the fence of the car park and followed that. When she caught sight of the recycling bins, Eve hurried forward, grabbing the large cardboard pieces.

Something scuttled by in the corner of her eye. Eve spun, squinting into the fog. Nothing. But then again, she heard the crackling of something creeping nearby. There was something out here. 

There was something else, too, calling her name through the fog, like the foghorn on a lighthouse…. 

“Eden? What the hell are you doing out here?” Fucking humans. Always too damn eager to help. “We need to go, now!” If she grabbed his arm a little too tight, she did not notice. If she pulled him just an inch too fast, back towards where she remembered the library being, she didn’t care. There were ways to lie about the source of your superhuman-ness later, it was much harder to lie about a dead corpse. 

Eve had plenty of practice, of course, but she actually liked her little visits with the local librarian. It wasn’t a place she wanted to practice her duty. 

—

There was no immediate response, but Eden swore he sensed movement near him. His eyes darted around the area, as if he’d be able to catch anything through the fog. Silence washed over him for a second as he contemplated what to do next, but the sudden hand on his arm jerked him back to full attention. 

Though the fog still clung to them, Eve was standing close enough that Eden could identify her — close enough that he could make out the furrowed brow on her face. “I’m here to make sure you didn’t die after you recklessly ran out here,” he hissed. Humans were always too confident for their own good. Most of them didn’t even know half of what was lurking out there, only finding out when they took fangs or claws to the leg. Even if Eve thought her physical capabilities were above average, what good would a human do against a siren song or a banshee scream?

But now was not the time to be contemplating the existence of humans, and Eve seemed to think so too by the way her grip tightened on his arm. On another day, maybe he’d whine that she was pulling him too aggressively, but Eden wanted to get back inside as much as the next person. He even followed Eve’s lead considering she was moving with such certainty, not wanting to get in the way of whatever she was trying to prove to herself by running out here in the first place. He’d be ready in an instant if things went awry though, which they seemingly often did in this town. 

A few metres forward and the library building started coming into view, at least the silhouette of it that was visible through the fog. Before Eden could feel too relieved, a shattering clap of thunder boomed over their heads. Even though he knew what was going to come next, he didn’t want to stick around to make sure. “Hurry,” Eden said as if that wasn’t what they were already doing, but he instinctively shoved Eve through the door anyway. The following bolt of lightning felt close enough to make the hairs on neck stand, but he didn’t dare look back to see what the damage was. Slamming the door behind them, Eden had never felt more relieved to be standing in the library. 

“So…” Eden began, eyes darting between Eve’s face and the cardboard in her hand before he let out a nervous laugh. “I think that went pretty well.”

—

"How is you being here going to protect me from lightning?” Eve hissed back as they ran inside. "Who is being reckless now?" Fortunately, whatever else had been out there (or perhaps it had always been Eden), had decided not to take chase. Perhaps it had been as spooked by them as they were by it. Eve swung the door shut behind her. Not that much mattered, considering the state of the windows, but it gave her something to do, a way to look away from Eden as she tamed her tempest of frustrations. She did not flinch as thunder rumbled outside.

One, two, three. That was the number of heartbeats it took to calm the irritation out of her system. To remind herself that humans (especially human men) were also conditioned to protect each other. Just as she had said earlier, they were a community-driven species. She couldn't fault him for not knowing better. Eve turned back to him with a relieved smile. “Yeah! Neither of us got struck by lightning! That would have been a complete bummer.”

Eve looked at the ring of pink on his wrist where her hand had been, already starting to bloom purple spots, and her heart sank in her chest. She exhaled, deflating visibly. For as much as she was angry with him for taking such a foolish risk, the last thing she’d wanted to do was hurt him.  “Sorry. I got a real fright from you being out there.”

—

Eden huffed. “There could’ve been things lurking around. How could you have watched your own back when you couldn’t even see more than a metre in front of you?” He wanted to say more, but froze as he caught the genuine frustration in Eve’s voice. She turned her back to him with a furrowed brow, a pause, then faced him again with a smile. The quick shift in tone was jarring, but also something that he knew all too well. It was the switch he did when arguing with his mother, from complete anger to an empty smile. Anything to shut the conversation down and get her off his back.

Though Eve’s switch was different. There was actual emotion behind it, which Eden didn’t understand. Why did she care so much to the point of putting her own life on the line, and for his sake no less. However, as her smile faded into a look of concern, Eden felt a degree of guilt. To have someone actually give a shit about whether he lived or died? Not because of his money or reputation, but simply just because? It was odd, yet…refreshing — refreshing enough for him to put his ego aside for now. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you, and I apologize for acting rash. I thought I could handle myself out there, but clearly you could too,” Eden said, thinking back to how effortlessly she had sprinted out there. He wanted to meet her eye, but her gaze was fixated on something else. Looking down to where she was starring, Eden finally noticed the pink and purple spots on his wrist. “What the…” He was positive that hadn’t been there before —- at least, before their little trip outside. 

The reason was right in front of him, but Eden was having a hard time believing it. Sure, he remembered the sting of discomfort from Eve’s particularly tight grip, but it had only been minutes since then. It seemed impossible to even bruise that quickly, but perhaps the woman was truly stronger than he thought. “You…” Eden started to speak, but he was interrupted by a loud crack of thunder. The following gust of wind that blew through the glassless window reminded him of the task at hand. 

“Window first,” Eden said, quickly ducking behind the checkout desk to find the roll of duct tape in the drawers. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t even really hurt,” he said as he stood back up, shooting a brief glance at his wrist before flashing Eve a somewhat reassuring look. 

—

“No need to apologise! I suppose the likelihood of either of us being hit by lightning was very low to begin with,” Eve said lightly, which was true of regular lightning, if not this kind. “If nothing else, at least you’ve proven chivalry isn’t dead.” She winked at him coyly, letting the disagreement vaporise into thin air. It didn’t matter. Nothing had gone wrong. This wasn’t a situation where a human had followed her into the void and ended up dead. No limbs were lost, not injuries missed. It was fine. Even his wrist would heal. She could let the bygones be bygones. 

“Window first,” Eve agreed, smiling in acknowledgement of his reassurance. “Good.” She used her phone to change the settings on her prosthetic leg to ‘lifting heavy objects’, and then grabbed one of the chairs from a nearby desk to set by window. She pulled off her jacket, wrapping her hand in it to protect her skin as she pushed the last pieces of glass out of the window frame. Just because Eve would heal from a cut fast didn’t mean that she needed to. Once the last shards of glass had been cleared, Eve reached for the cardboard, and the two of them made quick work of covering the broken windows. “It’s not perfect, but it’ll keep you going until you can get proper plywood in there, and get the glass repaired.”

—

He emerged from behind the desk with a graceful bow, in what was Eden’s own attempt to lighten the mood. “Well, I’ve always been known as a gentleman,” he said in a joking tone, even if it wasn’t really a joke. That was usually the vibe he gave off to other people, all thanks to his extensive etiquette training rather than his own volition. He pulled up a chair alongside Eve’s, considering helping out with the glass but ultimately deciding against it. He already had one too many glass-related injuries for the night.

The two of them repaired the broken windows in relative silence, as if to catch their breaths from their short but intense journey into the fog. As Eden ripped the tape for the cardboard pieces that Eve held up, his gaze kept falling to his wrist. The colors were getting angrier and harder to ignore, even in the dark of the library. It wasn’t really bothering him — rather, he was intrigued at how Eve managed such strength. Perhaps on another night when he hadn’t spent the past hour dodging flying glass and lightning strikes, he would ask more questions. For now though, he couldn’t find it in him to overthink like he usually did.

“I personally think the cardboard is a look. Maybe we’ll keep it this way,” Eden said as he took a step back, looking over their handiwork as if he was actually considering that possibility. The sudden crunch of the glass under his shoe made him freeze in place, and he mentally groaned at the prospect of yet another task to do before he could leave. “Watch your step, I’ll be right back,” he called back to Eve, making haste to the nearby supply closet. He fumbled around in the dark for a moment before getting his hands on the broom and dustpan. 

“Hopefully by the time we’ve cleaned this up, the fog will be somewhat manageable for the ride home…” he said as he returned, though it wasn’t so much of a hope rather than a desperate plea to whoever was controlling the weather. 

—-

“I can believe that,” Eve teased back. Other than that brief moment outside, Eden was always perfectly poised. 

“Mmm, yes, I’ve always thought the library had too much sunlight. Without the windows it’s a whole lot more dark academia.” Eve teased back, eyeing the cardboard. It was a patch work job, barely thick enough to keep the fog out. The moment it rained, game over.  “I guess it’s lucky none of your computers in here are worth stealing.” She watched him run for a dustpan and brush, and began picking up the larger pieces to dump in a filing box while he brushed up the glass. 

Fortunately, it wasn’t long for the fog to thin, the lightning rumbling to a quiet for now. Whatever crept in the fog had stayed away. There was a distinct awkwardness in the air, despite Eden’s grace and Eve’s usual bubbles. No matter how they joked around it. She looked to his hands, one she had bandaged, and one she had bruised. She swallowed, and smiled at him. “Looks like we can finally get out of here.”

“Alright, I’m sure I’ll see you next time one of your computers starts acting up, so maybe next week,” Eve said teasingly, already packing up her things. “Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything!” And with that, she was out the door, away from the complicated mess of feelings. 

—

“Lucky indeed,” Eden said quietly with genuine relief. With all of the damage done tonight, the absolute last thing he wanted to worry about was someone using this as a chance to steal. He already had enough to explain to his boss tomorrow. They cleaned in relative silence, but not a comfortable one like when Eden would sit at his desk while Eve worked on the computers. This silence was awkward, interjected with quips every now and then that just didn’t land like they usually did. Perhaps it was their collective exhaustion, or maybe it was the fact that they had both seen a little more to each other tonight than their working relationship usually allowed. 

The moment that the fog parted and their vehicles became visible again, Eve was out the door before Eden could say another word. Guilt still gnawed in his gut from the scare he had given her. But maybe it would all be fine — like she said, she’d probably be back next week and they would both be well rested. His cut will have healed and his bruise will have faded. The windows would be fixed and the events of the night would largely be forgotten.