February DWC Day 6: Useful
The letter had been sent days ago, and Illyrias was still uncertain if it had ever arrived to its intended recipient. He had hoped, but as more days passed without contact he thought maybe it was for the best. It had been a wild hair to send it in the first place - what the fuck has he been thinking, really? To ask more from someone who had already gifted him more than he ever could have asked for? It was selfish. Or egotistical of him to have even considered himself up to the challenge. Temporary insanity, maybe.
A knock sounded on the apartment’s front door, and he stood up from the couch to answer. Faolan was off at practice, so it was just Dirt and him. He didn't know who it was but maybe Lukel had decided to come visit…? Which would still be entirely weird.
He opened the door and was momentarily frozen by who stood there. She was shockingly gorgeous - every single time - and despite him being happily in a relationship, she always seemed to strike him a little stupid. “Uh…hey?”
The woman held up a letter between her two fingers, unsettling golden eyes affixed on his face. They always appeared to be molten, swirling inside her irises like something alive. Something trapped. “You meant what you said here?” Was her greeting, her smokey voice not gentle but nor was it unkind. It simply was, and he had to swallow at the no nonsense look on her face.
“Yes,” he said with a nod. “I did. Every word.”
She brushed past him and moved right into the overly pink living room, planting her hands on her hips as she watched him shut the door before leaning back against it. “I have never taken on an apprentice,” she began, still pinning him with that molten gaze. “I have never had the desire to and I have never met someone with the correct disposition or intelligence to keep up with my work.”
He didn't take it as a barb - her voice never wavered into unfriendly territory. Just factual information being relayed. “I don't really doubt that, ma’am-”
She cut him off, holding up a hand traced with golden ink, her perfectly shaped nails polished in the same hue. She was a living sunbeam standing here in his living room. “No. That's gross. Yeven. You don't call me ma’am. Ew.”
Illyrias smirked a little, dipping his chin in her direction. “Can I call you Eve? I mean, that's kind of like Yeven?”
Her eyes narrowed at him and he was given the impression of a large cat sizing up their prey. He was the prey in this situation and he wasn't certain he enjoyed that. “You can call me Eve if you last longer than a week.”
“So…that's a yes, then?” He asked her hesitantly. He'd sent the letter because in all his life, he'd never met someone like Yeven. Her engineering prowess and how she approached both magic and technology - it was amazing, the way she blended them together into something wholly different was unique. It was intriguing and kind of scary to see in person, but he'd never been able to forget it. It called to that part of him that wanted to make things that helped people - that were useful and good. To be more than what he was told he could be.
She considered him for another moment, fingers drumming against her hip as she narrowed those living embers on his face. “You built war machines, yes? Things meant for destruction and death?”
He swallowed hard at that question, nodding his head once. “Yes, I did.” To his eternal shame.
“Did you enjoy it?”
“No ma-...Yeven. No, I did not.”
“But you did it anyways?” Her head tilted to the side curiously, pale golden strands falling against her cheek.
“I wasn't really asked for my opinion or preferences. I was told. And at the time, I did what I was told believing that the benefit outweighed the cost on my conscience.” Truth. All of it was the truth.
Yeven took a few steps closer, the golden lines on her skin reflecting light that was not at all present inside the apartment, as if they were shimmering under some other sun, some forgotten memory flickering through the living ink. “Do you still do as you are told, Illyrias Sha’auvrea Silversun?”
He hated that name, but he stood up straight, towering over her in height and still…still he felt like she was somehow looking down her regal nose at him. “Only if I agree with the instructions. Only if it doesn't hurt people. Only if it's the right thing to do.”
“And if it is not? If I instruct you to do otherwise?”
“Then, respectfully, you can fuck right off.”
This retort brought a bright, glowing smile to her face, warmth suffusing those golden eyes. “Good boy.” She patted his chest, and despite her slender frame, her hand was solid against him. “We start next week.” She reached for the doorknob and Illyrias stepped to the side, maybe a little surprised by her acceptance.
Her feet paused on the threshold as she looked out towards the street, the people passing by, the life that surrounded them despite everything that had been thrown at this world. “I was built for things other than what I wished to be, too.” She looked over her shoulder at him, that warm smile on her face. “So I'll give you a chance to prove the people who created you wrong, Illyrias.”
@daily-writing-challenge
