f i g h t e r;

While she knew that Danielle was only trying to help, having the triggering process explained made her feel queasy. Surely Eliza couldn’t die that way, at the hands of her friend. It might be viewed as karmic justice by some, but to Eva it was just wrong. “Guilt can be difficult, but over time it becomes easier to manage.” Easier, but not easy, which was a distinction she was left to face every time she fed. “I would like to read more on your kind, though. I’ll admit I’m not as well-versed as I’d like to be.” That was a slight understatement, though Dani didn’t need to know that all she knew about werewolves came from one brief encounter with a more knowledgeable vampire nearly eighty years ago. “I’m not a snoop,” she pointed out, leaning into her accent to accentuate her point. It still amused her how an English accent seemed to equate to seriousness in the United States. “I’ll wait for you to be in the vicinity before conducting my research… perhaps while you’re busy downstairs running the business, as you do.” Eva smirked. “That might be because I do want you in my house anytime that you want to come over. Consider it a standing offer whenever you find yourself in this part of town.” It was conveniently located near the hospital, though the main epicenter of town was a little further away. She’d purchased it with more of an eye for work convenience than social convenience. “I can believe that, it was nice to sleep through a full moon for once,” Eva agreed. It had been the best sleep she’d gotten in a while, devoid of any dreams, or nightmares, and she’d been afforded the luxury of waking up beside Dani. She hadn’t expected Dani to move towards her, part of her thinking that the brunette might regard it as a fun piece of information and move on. The consideration in her voice was a welcome surprise. Eva gave Dani’s hands a little squeeze in return, head dropping so that she could focus on tracing light circles on the back of Dani’s hands with her thumbs. “She’s the reason… there’s only two of us,” she whispered, inviting all of the memories to come racing back. The confusion followed by sorrow that was only amplified by the realization that she wasn’t human anymore. “It was over three hundred years ago, I shouldn’t still be like this. I’m sorry,” she choked out, a tear rolling down her cheek as she looked up to meet Dani’s eyes. “I saw her the other day and she seemed so sad and fucking apologetic but it’s just— Dani, I don’t think I can forgive her.” The thought earned a choked sob and a few more tears welled at the corners of her eyes.

Danielle honestly didn't think she could take Eliza's life, she was her friend after all. So that was out of the question, she couldn't actually kill someone that she cared about. At least she hoped that she couldn't or wouldn't. "Right easier to manage. But I don't know how to manage it. I felt guilty stealing cookies from the cookie jar. I ended up telling my mother." The brunette explained. Nodding her head a little bit. “Well I have a tons of books if you want them. Pretty interesting read actually.” Maybe she would even let Eva read her families journals. “Uh huh sure you aren’t.” She teased lightly, with a grin before chuckling a little bit. “See I knew it you are just a big snoop that is trying to get to know all my weaknesses this way I can just swoon over you and be yours.” The brunette teased once again. Hearing the offer, she couldn’t help but allow her grin turn into a smile. “Very smooth, Doctor Holmes. Very smooth.” The fact that Eva gave her that invitation to come over whenever was one that Dani would probably take her up on. “Who knows you might just come home and find me cooking in your kitchen one day considering it’s a lot more bigger than mine.” The brunette pointed out. “I’ll be honest, I really liked sleeping through the full with you and waking up next to you.” Her voice had been soft when she told Eva that confession. It had been one of the best sleeps she had gotten in a long while. Feeling the light trace of circles on the back of her hand, felt relaxing although she was suppose to be relaxing the other woman. Listening to her, she frowned slightly. Danielle really listened, lifting her free hand up to Eva’s cheek, she brushed away the tears. Looking back into Eva’s eyes still. “Hey, no one is expecting you to forgive her. That is your call, Eva.” Her thumb continued to run across her cheek gently. “I can’t imagine what this must feel like. But I’m here for whatever you need. She didn’t stay after she--she changed you?” Moving her other hand from Eva’s, that was when it wrapped around the taller woman, hugging her closely. Dani was planning on being there for her no matter what happened. 

The tattoo parlor. It made sense, Eliza had always been the artist in the family and people in town would seek her out. Somedays she would try to emulate her skill,  staring at her paintings for forever in hopes that she might ‘get it’ and suddenly be like her older sister. Were the circumstances different, she might ask her to tattoo her. Now, though, she only knew where to avoid. “Good, I’ll get a bag first thing tomorrow,” she said, though her voice was far off as she still struggled to comprehend the situation. When Dani tilted her chin up, Eva hesitantly met her stare, the conflict clouding her eyes. “Trigger your gene?” Though it was probably meant to be a comforting thought, all it did was concern her more. Did she really want it to come down to one or the other? Yes, what Eliza had done was unforgivable, but that didn’t mean that she deserved to die for it. Unless, of course, Dani only meant that the encounter would be so intense that she would go out and potentially trigger her gene via someone else, which also wasn’t ideal. Either way, it didn’t sound like there were going to be any winners in this situation. Eva didn’t say anything in response, instead nodding and returning her squeeze. “I’m sure I can work something out,” she winked. The redhead allowed herself to be distracted from her dilemma of whether or not to tell Danielle the full truth, momentarily finding solace in Novak’s new walk schedule and her hypothetical plans to read the other woman’s diary. “That would be amazing, I keep a spare key in the flower pot outside so letting yourself in shouldn’t be a problem and all of his supplies are in the corner,” she nodded to the corner in the far side of the kitchen, where a shelf-full of small waste bags, leashes, and treats hung above his silver water bowl. “Positive, I don’t need to sleep, remember?” she teasingly pointed out, leaning back against the counter and simply watching Dani make quick work of the vegetables. “I just value my comfort.” In watching her, Eva’s mind drifted back to Eliza. Why did it have to be her? And why did Dani have to be so understanding? “She’s my sister.” Her voice was a little above a whisper when she said it. It was the first time she’d referred to Eliza as her sister aloud, and she had to take a breath to steady herself. “Older by two years.”

"Sounds good. You can drop it off whenever." Of course Dani noticed the look in the eyes, how could she not? She hadn't seen it before from the Eva. "Yes, triggering my gene or the werewolf. Accidentally killing someone is the way to do it. Or if it's intentionally James would set it up. He's the Alpha of the Armstrong pack that my family belongs to. My family tends to trigger it when they are twenty five. So it has been on my mind a lot. But I’m not sure I can handle the guilt of knowing that I took someone’s life rather they are scum bag or not.” She did her best to explain it to the older  woman. “Maybe I’ll bring some werewolf reading over for you to brush up on.” Truthfully she was still trying to avoid triggering it. Like Serena had pointed out the other night, she would change during the full moon. Which meant that she couldn’t be around her bar, which also meant that she couldn’t be around Eva to feed her. “Oh, I’m sure that you will. Might just sneak in when I’m not there.” She winked. Glad for the distraction because she didn’t want to think about triggering her gene right now. “See now it sounds like you just want me in your house anytime that I want to come over. But I’m sure Novak won’t mind the company.” She stated glancing over to the corner where Eva had nodded towards. Her attention returning the vegetables as she was starting to finish up with them. “That’s right you don’t but you were totally snoring the other night.” The brunette teased lightly, with a small smile on lips. “I will make sure not to get into the way of your comfort and you.” She joked lightly, as she finished up. Dani didn’t mind the silence that seem to fall between them, it was almost comfortable. The moment that she heard Eva’s statement, Danielle was glad that she had finished. Moving so she was now facing Eva. “What happened?” She asked quietly but she didn’t want to pressure Eva into telling her. Reaching out, she took the other woman’s hands into hers once again. “You can talk to me about anything whenever you are ready. I’m not going anywhere tonight until you tell me. I’m yours for as long as you want.” 

Eva froze, her jaw clenching and voice catching in her throat. “Eliza?” The town was too small for there to be two women, both named Eliza, who were vampires, yet Eva still wished for it to be true. “Keep it that way.” The seriousness in her voice wasn’t only from a desire to keep the intimacy between them, though that certainly played a role. “I can get you a bag from the hospital, it’ll be like donating blood. One bag should be enough for at least three batches, give or take.” It was a far cry from a permanent solution but it was the best she could go up with, her mind still reeling from the knowledge that the whiskey had been meant for her sister all along. “It’s not perfect but I can help — I’m sorry, just please be careful. I don’t trust her and if anything happened to you…” Even if she wanted to, Eva couldn’t disguise the fragility that had found its way into her voice by the end of her spiel. That was how she’d lost her mother, father, brother, and, consequently, both her sisters; she couldn’t let it happen to Dani too. “It suits you, but be careful what you wish for,” she hummed around a smile. There was a very good chance that her lunch break the next day, during which she went home to take Novak out, would include a quick stop at the bar.“I might have, but feel free to give me a recap,” she jokingly said with a chuckle. Hearing her potential plans, Eva nodded, “More than okay. So long as he comes back in one piece, the world is your oyster. I’m sure he’ll love it.” With the hours she kept, she felt bad that on some days he only saw her long enough for her to feed him and take him on a walk. She tried to make up for it on the days when she wasn’t busy, but even then it didn’t always feel like enough. “I think I can handle that, so long as you don’t mind having a blanket over you. At this point, I’m predisposed to needing a blanket whenever I watch anything longer than a commercial.”

Danielle's eyes moved over to Eva for a moment, noticing that she froze after the mention of Eliza's name. "Yeah, she owns a tattoo parlor." She wasn't going to go in much details than that because Eliza was her friend. “Yeah, okay I will. Nothing to worry about. What happened during the full moon is just for us. No one else is going to take a bite out of me so to speak.” Nodding her head a little bit. “That could work. It’s better then having to stick my arm multiple times with needle.” That part was honestly Dani’s least favorite thing. She stopped chopping the vegetables and put the knife down, reaching over she placed her hand on top of the older woman's. Clearly something had happened between Eliza and Eva. “Hey, look at me.” She spoke softly, taking her free placing it under Eva’s chin gently, this way she could move the other woman’s head to look at her. “Nothing is going to happen to me especially with Eliza. I’m not going to lie I find the fact that you want to protect me very attractive and cute. But nothing is going to happen to me. The most that will probably happen is that I trigger my gene rather it’s on purpose or accident is yet to be determined.” Her voice was soft and gentle, her hand lingered on her cheek for a moment before she pulled it away, squeezing her other hand gently. “And whenever you want to talk about what it is between Eliza and you, I’m here ready to listen.” She reassured her for a moment before letting her go. This way her attention to go back to prepping the food, before smiling once again. “Well I don’t think I would take this wish back.” Truthfully she wouldn’t mind seeing Eva whenever she had the chance and time. Shaking her head lightly. “Nope guess you are going to have to figure out how to get back into my bed to read it.” She teased lightly with a small chuckle. “Of course he will come back in one piece, I’ll protect him like he is my own. We can totally figure out a time and stuff for my to take him there. He can even hang out with me at the bar until you get off work.” Her smile grew at the thought of cuddling up next to Eva on the couch with a blanket over them. “Certainly doesn’t bother me so I am perfectly okay with that. Are you sure you are going to make it through an almost two hour long movie?”

“You’re too kind,” Eva laughed. Parting gifts appealed to her old-fashioned side and whiskey was always a welcome gift in her books. “Have you spoken about it with your friend?” The idea of Danielle constantly sticking herself for the sake of her friend, while noble, concerned her. Turning herself into a living pincushion didn’t seem sustainable, and Eva didn’t like the idea of her hurting herself every time the bottle ran low. The redhead respected her views on the intimacy of the act and frankly found herself beginning to agree following the events during the full moon, but the easiest way to give blood was directly from the source, as it had been when she was first forced to resort to it. What that meant in Danielle and her friend’s case remained to be seen. “That’s a very bold statement, Miss Flanigan,” a teasing smirk on her lips, Eva looked over at Danielle. “I should warn you that I’m hard to get rid of, and I’ll drink all your whiskey.” The latter was almost a guarantee. “You caught me,” she smiled, “It was a very interesting read. Super informative.” Eva quietly observed the two from her station, an amused smile on her lips as Novak followed her towards the sink only to realize that Danielle was officially finished with feeding him. “Sorry, Vacs,” she chuckled, putting the dish into the oven. “She’s helping out. You can play with Dani later.” Then, turning her attention back to her date, “Alright, so we have twenty minutes until the meat needs to be flipped.” She’d chosen the recipe for its need for minimal supervision. The prep was the difficult part, and after that, it was just a matter of reading a thermometer. After rewashing her hands, which was a task that was so deeply ingrained in her thanks to nearly half a millennia of working in hospitals, she grabbed a wooden spoon from the drawer and went over to the bowls of vegetables. “Do you want to start decorating when we’re done here?” she asked, looking over the peas and sliced courgettes, to ensure that they had enough and didn’t need to dip into the extra bag in the fridge. “I was thinking we could finish the living room and then watch the movie in a perfectly decorated space?”

"I try my best." Shaking her head slightly when Eva asked her that question. "No, I have not. Honestly I don't know how much control Eliza has over herself sometimes and currently there is only one vampire that I want to fed off from me. Which is well you. that sounded a lot more better in my head." After the events from the full moon, they remained on the brunette’s mind a lot and not just the act itself but the aftercare as well.  “So if you have any ideas besides that how to make it easier, I’m all ears.” Glancing over at her for a moment, her mouth curved into a small grin. “Well what can I say I like to be bold, doc.” She drew her lower lip between her teeth for a moment. “I wouldn’t mind you drinking all of my whiskey especially if that means I get to see you more and spend more time with you.” Danielle did her best angry face but she couldn’t hold it as she shook her head  and smiled. “Ya know there are really personal things in there. Did you get to read what I wrote about you?” She teased lightly, as she fed Novak the treat and played with him for a bit until she stood up to go and wash her hands. “Promise buddy I’ll play with you some more later. Might even snag you when your mom is at work and take you to the dog park. If that is okay?” She asked as she moved over to the vegetables to get started on them, chopping them just right. At least she hoped, placing them into the bowl. Smiling at the other woman’s suggestion, glancing over at her once again. “That sounds like a really good plan actually. I like that. And you already know I’m snuggly so be prepared to probably get some snuggles while watching the movie.”

Eva chuckled on their way to the kitchen, “I’m sure you do.” She liked how they were able to tease each other without worrying about the other misinterpreting it. “Y’know, I think I’ll let you hang onto the bottle for a little while.” When she set out the whiskey bottle, the redhead eyed in but decided to save the drinking for later. She needed to focus on perfectly cooking the lamb, then she could have a celebratory drink. “I can assure you that you are not in danger of monopolizing my time against my will,” she assured her, “I like spending time with you.” Aside from a few of her colleagues, she spent most of her time with Danielle or, at the very least, thinking about how she would like to be spending time with her. When she went into things, she went all-in. There was no halfway for the doctor, and the same was true in her relations. If someone she liked called on her, she’d be there in an instant, already swinging. It was natural for her, something that only betrayal could put an end to, and even then, not all of her could let go. In Danielle’s case, she would be more than happy to simply sit in the bar as she went about running the business; hell, if Danielle were to call in the middle of night saying she’d run out of some exotic type of rum, Eva wouldn’t miss a beat in tracking down the drink for her. “Lucky guess,” she winked. Seeing Novak eagerly accept the treat and simultaneously inch closer to her, Eva couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ve officially won him over, he might never let you leave that spot now.”

"I do actually." Danielle smiled brightly as she glanced over at her while following her into the kitchen. She liked it also, the teasing back and forth without it being interpreted another way. That bright smile of hers remained on her lips. "Got it. You can also keep the bottle. Something to remember me when I leave tonight." She winked playfully as she set the bottle down onto the counter. Pushing it back slightly this way it wasn't in the way. "I have to make more soon. I just hate sticking myself with needles at times though." She told the other woman honestly. It wasn't her favorite thing to do, and she just wished there was a faster way to do it. Hearing Eva’s next word, caused  the brunette to smile and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “Well that is good to know because I like spending time with you also. And I would like to continue to spend time with you.”  She had friends, and her family but lately her time was spent with Eva. Or at least thinking about the other woman. Truthfully she was in this if the other woman was. Danielle wasn’t the type to do things half in and half out, once she was invested in something or someone she was all in. “You secretly read my journal didn’t you?” She teased lightly. Petting Novak, she couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit at the older woman’s words. “But I need to move from this spot, buddy. I gotta help mom.” She gave him one more pet before standing up, pulling her hair up really quick. Before going to rewash her hands again this way she could chop the vegetables.

“Aside from the cable guy, I believe you are. Hopefully, it doesn’t disappoint.” She gestured to the lone photograph that hung on the wall. It was a simple, black and white close-up of a horse’s face. She’d purchased it a while back from a gallery in Brooklyn, and it had hung nicely over the couch in her flat. Now that she owned a larger space, however, she’d moved it to the entrance area so that anyone who entered would have to pass it. “Me? A show-off? I don’t know where you could have gotten that idea,” she teased right back, looking at the back of treats. “And don’t worry, while he’s happy to eat anything, I know for a fact that’s one of the brands he likes.” Eva nodded at Danielle’s answer, starting in the direction of the kitchen, “Wine it is. It’s right through here.” She reached into the wine cooler, grabbing the only bottle that resided in it. Stocking up to entertain was on her list of things to do, much like decorating was, and actually setting aside a day to learn her way around town. “I’m glad you approve,” Eva smiled, pouring the brunette a glass and holding it out to her. “The lamb has… five minutes before it goes into the oven,” she confirmed, glancing at the timer, “but, if you wouldn’t mind tossing the vegetables, that would be helpful. I didn’t combine them yet in case you didn’t like something — there’s broad beans, peas, asparagus, and courgettes. I think the recipe also said to add almonds as a garnish.” A squeaking alerted Eva to the fact that Novak had found his toy, and within a few seconds he was trotting into the kitchen and dropping it at Danielle’s feet.

Glancing towards the photo that hung on the wall, she thought it was beautiful. "I think that is a beautiful photo. I like the way the photographer got close up to the horse.” She told her, smiling still. “Well I feel special for such an honor. You already told me you didn't have much yet so I don't think it will besides we are decorating it still, right?" Most of the stuff she owned was in her apartment, the rest of it was at her mother’s place. Stored in her old bedroom until she got a bigger place. There was a small chuckle that came from the brunette when she heard Eva’s response about being a show-off. “I know a show-off when I see one.” She continued to tease lightly, even though she didn’t think of Eva that way. “That is good to know that he’ll like the treats.” She smiled brightly, before following the other woman into the kitchen. While Eva went for the wine, Danielle set the treats down on the counter before going into her bag to take out the whiskey. “You can keep this bottle unless you like coming in to see little ol’ me.” Glancing over at her for a moment. “And you know if you need help with anything besides feeding and decorating I’d be more than willing to help. Not unless I’m taking up all your time and you would much rather be with someone else or something.” She was mentally kicking herself in the ass for beginning to ramble a little bit. Setting the whiskey down when the glass of wine was offered to her, she gladly accepted it and thanked Eva for it. “It smells really good and I can’t wait to actually eat it.” Hearing her list  of the vegetables, she took a sip of the wine before setting the glass on the counter next to the whiskey. This way she could wash her hands before she got started. “Those are actually all the vegetables that  I like.” Hearing the squeak, she glanced down the moment that Novak was at her feet. That was when she grabbed the treats and opened the package. Taking one out, she leaned down and gave Novak a pet before giving him the treat. “Yup a show-off just like his mom.”