︶꒦꒷PIX꒷꒦︶

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ.〰₊⋆ ┆pix.ᐟ ┆foggy mirrored pronouns ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁‧₊˚✩彡 ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა aegoaroace ☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★ girl ˚ ༘`✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹

[eyitzme]

｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ｡ ﾟ。blog intro 　ﾟ･｡･

Hey! My name is Pix! This account is my writing account, so if you want random posts, find me here! I crosspost most of my work, so you can also find me as eyitzme on AO3 and Wattpad! Here's a masterlist if you want to read here. Thanks for coming to see me :)

[pix-3ll]

So Mark Berskii’s voice actor Faza was exposed for dating a 15 year old when he was 20, and the Project: Eden’s Garden team knew about this for 4 years, but they didn’t do anything about it…

Link to the Google Doc

I think the P:EG Twitter account isn’t following Faza anymore but they haven’t said anything (hopefully they will…)

[eyitzme]

ˢᵒᶠᵗ ᵛⁱᵒˡᵉⁿᶜᵉ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 15: Soulmates (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: There's a black mark on people's hands for where their soulmate will first touch them, and that mark will disappear after their soulmate has touched them. Eva has ignored the black mark on her hand until now. Unfortunately for Cassidy, they won't be soulmates for long. Notes: Spoilers (Chapter 1) Word Count: 1,075 A/N: I skipped the prompt "Polyamory" because I wanted to keep this strictly Casseva, which isn't a poly ship, and I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with a prompt like that. So, this is the last one shot for Femslash February from me. :)

oh...

In this world, everyone was born with a black mark on their hand. This was where they would first have physical contact with their soulmate. After the first contact happened, the mark would disappear. Most people wondered how the first contact would happen, especially if the mark was somewhere prominent. Eva's mark was on her palm. It was almost entirely black. She sometimes wondered if she would meet her soulmate by slapping them or something similar.

Eva had no time to care about soulmates when she was in a killing game, though. Right now, her priority was only to escape. She had the perfect plan, and what she needed to do right now was help Cassidy, Jett, and Mark set the dining hall up for the gaming tournament that would be held later.

"It's nice of you to offer to help," Cassidy told her when she met up with them in the dining hall. "Right, guys?"

Mark was ignoring everyone as he focused on his DJ pad. Jett only nodded vaguely in their direction before turning his attention to Mark.

Cassidy rolled her eyes. "Ignore them. They're still a little... They're still thinking about what you said your talent was."

Eva knew that Cassidy was still thinking about that too because who wouldn't be? She couldn't afford to mess up everything here, though, so she forced the words down. She asked instead, "Do you need me to do anything specific?"

"I think we first need to move the dining table and all the chairs to the side. Wait, Eva—what do you think?" Cassidy extended a white bedsheet that had been placed on the kitchen counter. On it was what she could guess to be confetti around the words, Supa-Slam Tournament!

Eva wanted to ask where she got it from, but she instead said, "It's nice..."

She beamed. "We're gonna hang this up! Wanna draw something before we do?"

"What?"

"I wrote the message, and Jett added the little confetti pieces. Mark didn't wanna add anything, but do you?" Cassidy picked up three markers, one red, one black, and one dark green. She handed them to her.

Having the markers in her hands, she felt like she couldn't say no now. "What do I draw?"

"Anything you want!" Jett called out her name, so Cassidy said, "I'll be back soon!"

Obviously, whatever Eva drew, it had to be something that Cassidy would like to see. Eva wasn't too sure what Cassidy liked, though. It wasn't as if she could draw well anyway. Knowing the type of person she was, an idea came to her mind. If it was embarrassing, she wouldn't have to deal with anyone holding it over her head for that much longer, so it should be fine.

A few minutes later, Cassidy came back. She peeked over her shoulder and gasped. "Oh my—"

"Shut up," she hissed, "and don't make this a big deal."

Quickly, she nodded, but her eyes were bright. She bounced on her heels as she pointed to the drawing. She whispered, "That's me!"

"Yes, obviously." She rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, Eva! I'm gonna hang this up—but don't worry, I'll say I drew it." She picked up the blanket and winked.

Eva looked away. If she wanted to survive, then she couldn't be distracted. Right now, she had to move the dining table and the chairs to the side. She could do that—and move a sofa near the vent that connected the dining hall to the boiler room. Obviously, she could do that.

When the banner was hung up, Cassidy joined her in moving the chairs. Fortunately, it was after she had the vent ready, so there was nothing to stress out about. When Cassidy was picking up a chair, Eva noticed that one of her palms was mostly black, just like Eva's palm. It made Eva want to wipe her hand against her skirt.

"You know, Eva," Cassidy began, "it's really nice of you to help us out. You're usually pretty distant."

The pause told her that she needed to reply, so she said, "I know."

"Are you participating in the tournament?" she asked.

"No."

"So you'll just watch?"

"You can say that."

"That's cool. You should still hang out with us more, though."

Eva turned towards her. Cassidy was busy moving the chairs, but the casual smile on her face was genuine. She looked away.

"I'll think about it," she said quietly.

"Great!"

A few minutes later, the dining table and all the chairs were moved away, and some of the sofas were moved closer to the television that had been brought from someone's dorm. Eva couldn't care less about who owned it. Her sofa near the vent was right where it should be.

"We did it, Eva! High-five!" Cassidy held out her hand towards Eva. Without thinking, Eva high-fived her. It made Cassidy's smile grow. "Let's help Jett put up the speakers everywhere!"

Eva nodded. She moved to the nearest speaker and went to pick it up. When she caught a glimpse of her hands, she froze.

The black mark on her palm was gone.

Eva wiped her hand on her shirt. The mark was still gone.

Obviously, that wouldn't do anything. She just had her first physical contact with her soulmate. Her soulmate was in this killing game. She went through her memories, but she didn't have to search far.

When she high-fived Cassidy, Eva had used the hand that had the black mark on the palm. And Cassidy had a similar mark on her hand.

Eva looked for Cassidy. She was talking to Jett with the smile that she normally had. She hadn't noticed.

An urge came over Eva to talk to her about it. She didn't know what would happen if she did, but it did make her face feel warmer. It also felt warmer when Cassidy noticed her stare and waved. She turned her head towards the speakers.

Eva could not talk to Cassidy about this. Eva was going to leave this killing game after killing Wolfgang, and she would never see Cassidy again. She had better things to be doing right now, and soon, she would have better things to do in the future. Soulmates were pointless anyway.

[eyitzme]

ʰᵃⁿᵈˢ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ⁿᵉᵛᵉʳ ˡᵉᵃʳⁿᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ʰᵒˡᵈ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 14: "Is This the Best You Can Do?" (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: After the gaming tournament where nothing goes wrong, Eva is convinced by Cassidy to play a quick game with her before they start cleaning up. Notes: Canon Divergent, Spoilers (Chapter 1) Word Count: 1,443 A/N: I don't actually think what happens in this one shot would happen in this situation, but for the sake of Casseva, we pretend like it would. By the way, happy Valentine's Day!

are you okay...?

Diana hadn't gone to the boiler room. Wolfgang was there, unconscious and drugged, but Diana was not there. She had chosen not to go, and she had spent the entire time doing who knew what. Maybe she was talking to other people, or maybe she was taking a walk. It didn't matter.

What mattered was that Eva had to make the choice if she wanted to kill Wolfgang without anyone she could frame or if she wanted to delay it all and risk losing her own life. She did not like this, but she needed to be absolutely sure that she could kill someone—and it sure as hell was going to be this fuck-ass lawyer—and not have to worry about anyone suspecting her.

But now, Wolfgang was going to wake up, and he was going to wonder who did that to him, and she was going to be the one people suspected the most because why wouldn't she be? She and Damon were the ones who hated him the most, but Damon had his stupid roommate that gave him an alibi, so it was just her. She should have just killed him and prevented herself from being stuck in whatever mess she got herself into now. No one could give her an alibi, so she needed to create a lie that was convincing to a group of people who already disregarded basically everything she said because she lied about her Ultimate talent. It needed to make sense but still feel like it had some truth to it. Maybe she could say—

"Hey, Eva!"

Eva immediately shut her gaming console when she heard the voice. Cassidy was next to her chair.

"The gaming tournament's basically over now," she said. "Jean's making some snacks right now if you're hungry."

"I-It's over?" Now Eva really had no alibi if she decided to kill Wolfgang right now.

"Damn, you were really into your game, huh?" she chuckled. "But, yeah, it's over. I won!"

She paused with an expectant expression. Eva's throat felt too dry to give her the congratulations that she wanted to hear.

Her smile dimmed at her silence, but she continued speaking. "Grace and Damon left, but everyone else is still here for Jean's food, like I said. I can ask him to make something for you. He said he's open to everything, as long as he knows how to make it—and he knows how to make a lot, apparently. Guess that's what you get when you're basically a pirate."

Eva stared at her gaming console. She needed to make sure that Diana didn't find this for longer now, and she should probably find another use for it. Somehow.

"Hey, are you okay?" Cassidy's voice was gentler than Eva had heard before. When she glanced at her, she saw that her expression matched her tone. "You're a lot quieter than usual, and your face is really pale... Are you going to pass out or something?"

There was no way that she could defend herself against Wolfgang's accusations like this. She tried to swallow, but her throat didn't feel any less dry. Her breathing was barely steady.

She hadn't noticed that Cassidy had left until she noticed that she now had a glass of water in her hands. Eva finished the glass slowly. It helped her just enough for her to say, "Thanks..."

"So... What happened?" she asked. "I was more focused on the tournament, but if something happened to you, you can tell me. If someone else did something, I'll take responsibility for it. I'm basically one of the founders of this event, so if something bad happened here—"

"I'm okay," Eva interrupted. "Really, I'm... I'm okay..."

"Are you sure?" Cassidy asked. "You can tell me if you're not."

She could never tell anyone what happened, so she only said, "I'm sure..."

Cassidy looked around. Her eyes locked onto the television screen that was displaying the home screen of the video game that was being played during the gaming tournament. "Hey, Eva, wanna play a round together?"

"Of Sublime Slam Sisters?"

"Yeah! It might help you destress."

Nothing would, but one look at her made Eva realize that now that Cassidy knew she wasn't feeling the best, she wasn't going to stop until she was happier, if not totally happy. She could probably fake being happy after one round of a video game that she was relatively good at, so she nodded.

Everything was still set up, so Eva sat down on the nearest couch. Cassidy sat on the other, but she moved to be as close to her as she could. Eva didn't move any closer to her.

"Do you need a refresher?" Cassidy asked her.

"I'm fine..." She had already told her that she was a fan of this video game before the gaming tournament began. Obviously, she knew how to play.

Thus, the round started. Eva didn't hesitate and immediately went to attack. And, almost instantly, Cassidy fought back and killed her character.

Eva stared at the screen that announced her loss and Cassidy's win. Next to her, Cassidy laughed and asked, "Is this the best you can do?"

"That was a practice round," she sputtered out.

"Oh, really?" She didn't have to turn to know that she had the most infuriating smirk right now.

"Yes, really. The real round starts now."

A new round started. Eva switched to defence this time, but Cassidy still found a way to beat her.

"It's out of three," she quickly said.

"Since when?" There was now a playful tone to Cassidy's voice that was even more annoying than her smirk.

"Since now."

When Eva lost for a third time, she said, "It's actually out of five."

"How high are we going?" she asked. "'Cause I might tap out after six or seven rounds."

They were going as long as it took for Eva to win. It wasn't the fourth round, nor the fifth, nor the sixth. Some had stayed to watch for a little, but ultimately, by the time the seventh round started, everyone else had gone off to do their own thing, Jett specifically claiming that he would be back to help clean later after the two of them were done having fun with their video game. Eva lost that round too.

Cassidy made a show of stretching. "I said I'd tap out after the seventh round, so—"

"One more round," she quickly said. "One more round, and then we're done."

"Whatever you say, Eva."

The eighth round began. By now, Eva had a better idea of how Cassidy played, but her movements had just enough randomness that she doubted that she would ever fully be able to guess her next move. She tried being random in some of the previous rounds, but it didn't work. Some logic also needed to be put into it. She didn't normally do things like that, but she needed to try now.

And then, Eva won.

When the screen announced that, Eva leaned back against the couch and sighed. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. Her posture was relaxed, but it stiffened when she realized that Cassidy might have let her win. She was the Ultimate Pro Gamer, after all; seven rounds against her shouldn't be enough to make someone win against her in the eighth round. She mentioned leaving after seven rounds, which could mean that she was tired, but some tiredness shouldn't be enough to beat Cassidy in a video game with very little preparation.

Eva was pulled away from her thoughts when Cassidy asked, "Hey, are you hungry?"

She put her glasses back on. "I guess..."

"Jean's not here to make anything for us anymore, but we can still make something together!" She put the controller to the side and stood up. She extended her hand towards her.

Eva shouldn't. She had things that she needed to plan. She still had no alibi for the time when Wolfgang was hit over the head. Other than Diana and maybe Damon if she believed hard enough, no one would believe that she didn't do this. Everyone would point their fingers at her, and she would lose her chance to kill Wolfgang—kill anyone—and then Tozu would kill her.

But Cassidy was looking at her with a warm smile, even though she had just lost. One singular smile shouldn't make her be willing to risk losing everything she had left in this hellhole, but after staring at that smile for a second too long, Eva still held onto her hand. Cassidy held on tight.

[eyitzme]

ⁿᵉʷ ᵖˡᵃⁿˢ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 9: Promise (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Cassidy is bored, so she watches Eva play pachinko. Notes: Canon Universe, Spoilers Word Count: 1,040

see? i'm so quiet

Maybe a secret motivation to kill that Tozu put in the killing game was boredom. There was literally nothing for Cassidy to do here. She could go to sleep, make food, play with the Gachapon, or play with the pachinko machine—but she also needed Tozu's weird Marabuck currency for the last two, and she needed to actively look for it or play pachinko and gamble. She was honestly kind of broke in this killing game, so really, her only options were to sleep, make food, or beg people for money to play with either the Gachapon or Pachinko machine, which she was not doing.

But again, Cassidy had nothing to do. She had 10 Marabucks, so maybe she should use them while she still could. She should probably get more money, so she decided that she was going to gamble with the pachinko machine. But, when she went there, she found that the pachinko machine was already in use.

Eva was gambling. Cassidy considered using the Gachapon, but there wasn't anything that she wanted to get. She hadn't exactly spoken to Eva before, and she especially didn't after it was revealed that she lied about her talent, but there was nothing else to do, and there was no one else here. A little bit of conversation never hurt anyone anyway.

"Hey, Eva!" Cassidy smiled and waved, but Eva didn't turn around. "Did you win anything yet?"

Her silence lasted long enough that she started thinking that she was purposely being ignored, but then she said, "Some."

"Some Marabucks?"

"What else?" That was a go-away tone if she ever heard one.

Maybe she should listen, but she asked, "Can I watch you play? I promise that I'll be quiet. You'll forget I'm even here!"

She grumbled something that she couldn't hear. It wasn't an outright no, though, so she would take that as a yes.

As she promised, Cassidy did her best not to say anything. She just watched Eva play multiple rounds. For some of them, she won, and for some, she lost. It was a pretty even split, but Cassidy was getting a little antsy. She hated when people became backseat gamers, so she obviously wasn't going to do that, but she needed to say something.

When she couldn't handle the quietness anymore, her brain had fortunately come up with a safe question to ask. "How much money are you trying to get?"

"Enough," Eva answered.

"How much is that?"

"Just enough."

"Are you trying to be mysterious?" Cassidy asked. "No offence if you are. Mysterious girls are cool. I'm... I'm actually attracted to mysterious girls."

Eva turned to face her with a weird look. With her lost focus, she didn't get as much money as she wanted to, apparently. She cursed under her breath when she saw how many Marabucks she was now getting.

"Can I try?" Cassidy asked. "I promise I'll give you half—no, three-quarters of what I earn!"

"That much?" she replied dryly.

"Well, there's not much to do here, and I don't really care how much money I'm earning. I actually came here to choose if I wanna waste time playing Pachinko or with the Gachapon, but then I saw you, and I figured I might as well watch you."

Eva was silent for a moment. Then, she moved away, giving Cassidy space to play.

"Thank you, Eva!" she said, smiling.

Eva turned her head away.

Cassidy had never played pachinko before, but she watched Eva play it enough to know how it worked. She was pretty confident that meant she would also be able to win at least a little bit of money, but she ended up winning nothing.

Eva's voice was as unimpressed as her expression. "I thought you were the Ultimate Gamer."

"The Ultimate Pro Gamer," she corrected, "and this... This is gambling! I'm a gamer, not a gambler!"

"This is like a game."

"It's still gambling! It's gambling, right?"

She shrugged. "In Japan, these are like how slot machines are here in America..."

"So it's not related to my talent! I'm not a French gambler!"

"Why do they have to be French?"

"I don't know, it feels right."

Eva pointed to the pachinko machine. "You said you would give me three-quarters of whatever you win. Play until you get something."

"What are you even going to do with your Marabucks?"

"More than you will, so get to playing."

It didn't exactly feel like Cassidy had enough of a choice, so she started playing again. She failed a few more times, which made Eva try helping her. She didn't understand a word of what she was saying, though. What the Hell did angles have to do with this? She couldn't remember what the difference was between acute angles and obtuse angles, and Eva was mentioning them like they were well-known things. And maybe they were, but Cassidy never claimed to be smart at math.

Eventually, she got the hang of it, and she managed to win a grand total of 20 Marabucks!

Cassidy cheered as she held up her new money. With a smile on her face, she asked Eva, "Are you proud of me?"

"So proud," Eva replied. Her voice was less dry than usual, and her gaze looked a little softer too. "Have fun with that."

Eva left soon after that. Cassidy wanted to treasure her 20 Marabucks, so she decided to give it some time before she tried playing the pachinko machine again or tried the Gachapon for the first time.

It was only after the nighttime announcement did Cassidy realize that she hadn't given Eva the three-quarters of her winnings like she promised. How much even was that for 20 Marabucks? Four, five, six, seven? Eva could probably figure it out. She was smart like that.

But Cassidy had broken her promise, and that was something that she did not like. She told herself that she would give the money to Eva the next morning when she saw her. But the next morning, she was too busy, and she kept postponing it, telling herself that later, she would be free. She was free a few days after the gaming tournament, but by then, it was too late to give Eva anything.

[eyitzme]

ʷᵉ ʷⁱˡˡ ᵇᵉ ᶜᵒˡᵒᵘʳᶠᵘˡ ᵃᵍᵃⁱⁿ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 12: Reincarnation (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Cassidy waits for Eva to be reincarnated every time so they can be together again. Notes: Reincarnation AU (Immortal Cassidy/Reincarnated Eva) Word Count: 1,112 A/N: Just so we're all on the same page, it's said here that Eva's allergic to avocados. It's a headcanon I have, and it comes from Eva's animal motif. Avocados are toxic to crows, so I say that Eva is allergic to avocados.

you're home...!

Being immortal meant that life could get pretty boring really fast. During those times, Cassidy often wondered if she should find a way to try to die. The only thing that kept her going was remembering that she had fallen in love with a girl who was reincarnated every few years, and eventually, they would be reunited. Life always felt better when she was with her, and her girlfriend always looked forward to meeting her again, so she had to keep going.

Cassidy tried to make sure it was easy to find her. She had found a house that was relatively far from other people, and she made sure that she lived relatively the same life as much as she could, at least a life that was similar to that which she lived while her lover was still alive. She didn't like living a static life like this, especially when she didn't know when her girlfriend was reincarnated and when she would remember her past lives, but she would do it for her.

January 31^ST was a special day for her. It was when she and her girlfriend first met, and it was also her girlfriend's birthday. In every life, her girlfriend was reincarnated on that day, so every January 31^ST, Cassidy would sit outside her house. There were a few times when her girlfriend would reunite with her on this day, but it wasn't that often. Still, she would wait and see if her girlfriend would be coming up to her house, ready to be with her again.

This time, when Cassidy sat outside her house, she saw someone coming towards her house. It wasn't that unusual for people to come by her home, but she still automatically thought it was her girlfriend. She had made some embarrassing mistakes because of that assumption, though, so she waited for them to come closer.

When the person was closer to her, she could see her appearance better. She was taller than her, and she was very pretty. Her eyes looked familiar, and Cassidy had already come to the conclusion for why before the woman said, "Cassidy?"

"It's you, isn't it?" she said.

She nodded.

Cassidy beamed. She got up and ran to her girlfriend, squeezing her in a hug. Even though she had a new body now, she still had the familiar warmth that she always savoured.

She leaned back and held her girlfriend's face in her hands. She had the time, but she still spent a moment looking over her girlfriend's face in this life and trying to memorize it right now. How she always managed to be so beautiful in every life was something that she would never know, but she was okay with that.

"What's your name in this life?" she asked.

"Eva Tsunaka," she answered.

"Beautiful name."

"You always say that."

"And it's always true!" She was going to kiss her, but she already asked the first question that she always asked when they reunited, so now, she should ask the second question. "What do you want me to call you?"

Sometimes, when Eva remembered her past lives, she wanted to be called by a name she had before instead of her current life's name. It was usually the name she had in her first life, and this time wasn't different because she said, "Eva Tsunaka."

"Alright, Eva!" All the questions were asked, so they could make out now.

Eva pulled away after some time, but she let Cassidy peck her lips with another kiss before she said, "I'm hungry."

Cassidy held onto her girlfriend's hand tight. "What do you wanna eat?"

"What do you have?"

"You liked avocados in your past life, so you want anything with them?"

She shook her head. "I'm allergic to avocados in this life..."

Now Cassidy had a lot of avocados to eat by herself, and she didn't exactly love them, but anything to make sure her girlfriend didn't have to be around things that she couldn't have.

"I'll make you something," she promised. "I'll be a perfect chef!"

"I don't want anything heavy. I'm not that hungry," Eva added as they entered Cassidy's home.

A sandwich was good enough for Eva, so Cassidy made it her new goal to make the perfect sandwich. She had a pretty girl to look at and motivate her too. Eva was leaning against the kitchen counter, watching her.

"How'd you realize you had past lives this time?" she asked.

Eva stated, "I almost died from eating an avocado."

She couldn't stop her laugh. "You hate avocados now?"

"I might, but at least it made me remember."

"How long ago was this?"

"Around two years ago."

"How old are you in this life right now?"

"You kissed me without knowing my age?" Eva asked flatly. "That's a little problematic..."

"You only come back to me when you're an adult!" Cassidy pointed out.

Eva smiled—God, just seeing that again was making her fall in love all over again. "I'm 18 right now."

"So you figured it out at 16." She frowned. "You never had an avocado before you turned 16?"

She shrugged. "I never thought about trying it."

"Well, reuniting in two years is still pretty fast. I think that's a new record for you."

"No, I once found you in half a year—but that was when I was born rich." She sighed. "I kind of miss being rich..."

"How much do you actually remember from that life?"

"Enough to want more money."

Cassidy smiled. She then presented Eva the plate in her hands. "Ta-dah, your sandwich!"

"Thank you." Eva kissed her forehead. "Did anything special happen while I was gone?"

"Nope. Life is so boring with you," she sighed. "Tell me about your life instead! You never had avocados before you turned 16, and when you did, you almost died because you didn't know that you were allergic to them. Anything else I should know?"

"Well, I'm more interesting than that..."

Usually, Eva didn't like eating in the living room, but Cassidy took her there anyway. She needed to make up for all the time Eva spent in her new life, so yes, they absolutely needed to cuddle on the couch. There was no other way, and she wanted to hear Eva talk about her current life anyway.

And already, Cassidy's life felt brighter and more interesting. Maybe Eva was too tired for today, but tomorrow, she would make sure that they would spend enough time that it would feel like no time had passed. There were so many things that she wanted to do with her, and even though she could wait a little longer, she had waited long enough.

[eyitzme]

ᵖᵘˡˡⁱⁿᵍ ᵃᵗ ˢᵗⁱᵗᶜʰᵉˢ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 11: Heist (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Cassidy meets Eva, who is currently locked up for participating in the biggest heist in modern history. Notes: Prison AU (Prison Guard Cassidy/Prisoner Eva) Word Count: 1,246

so...is there anything you like?

From what the other prison guards had said, Eva hadn't fought much when she was being arrested, and she wasn't fighting back much while she was in jail either. Honestly, she seemed to enjoy being treated like she was in solitary confinement. She was a weirdo, but that was probably to be expected from someone who was arrested because she participated in one of the biggest heists.

Cassidy would give credit where credit was due, though; Eva was pretty loyal. She wasn't telling anyone anything about who she worked with, and she wasn't telling anyone if she was the leader or just a follower. It was annoying to deal with when millions of dollars were gone, but Cassidy had to give credit where credit was due. Besides, she was a prison guard, not a police officer. All she had to do was make sure nothing crazy happened in the prison, and she got paid.

She had never actually met Eva, though. She was too busy with other inmates. When she heard that Eva had been refusing to eat anything since she arrived, she offered to go talk to her and see what was up. Eva was in her prison cell, and when Cassidy arrived, she was sitting on her bed with her back against the wall. Her knees were pulled to her chest, and her long hair fell over her face while her pale eyes behind her glasses stared at a vague spot in front of her.

Cassidy never had expectations for how the prisoners would look before meeting them, but she definitely hadn't expected this prisoner to look so pretty.

Cassidy opened the prison cell's door. She leaned her back against the doorframe. Eva didn't look up once.

"You know," Cassidy began, "if you're trying to starve yourself to death or something, it won't work. Some other people tried to do that before, actually, but you need a lot of willpower to willingly starve yourself to death, and not a lot of people can do that."

"I'm not hungry." Her tone was flat, but her voice made Cassidy's heart skip a beat nonetheless.

"Not tryna imply anything, but you'll be hungry soon enough," she replied. "What do you feel like eating?"

"Nothing."

"Then what's your favourite food?"

She paused. "Eggs."

"What kind of egg? Do you like them scrambled, boiled...?"

"Raw."

She slowly nodded. "Should I just...buy some eggs and just give them to you?"

"Yes."

Yeah, she was weird. Cassidy could try to get behind it, though. "What do you like about raw eggs?"

"The shell and the yolk. I don't like the albumen."

"The what?"

"The white part of the eggs."

So Eva either knew random trivia, or she was smart. It was obvious which one might get her to open up more.

Cassidy began, "I didn't know that. You must be pretty smart, huh? When did you—"

"How old are you?" Eva lifted her head and looked directly at Cassidy. Her eyes were cold.

She could feel her face getting warmer, so she looked away. "19..."

From the corner of her eyes, she could see her scowl. "Just because I'm a year younger than you doesn't mean you can treat me like a child."

"You're 18?" she gasped, her jaw dropping. "How do you steal millions of dollars when you're 18?"

"How do you become a prison guard at 19?"

"Those are two entirely different things!"

Eva returned to staring at the vague spot in front of her, but Cassidy could see her smile. Huh. This wasn't her go-to way of bonding with inmates, if she even bothered to try bonding with them at all, but she could roll with it.

Cassidy straightened her posture. "But anyway, Tsunaka—"

"Eva."

"Anyway, Eva, the other prison guards and I talk about inmates 'cause, you know, it's our job, and some of them noticed that you haven't eaten anything since you arrived here."

"I don't like the food here."

"You know, inmates aren't usually picky about their food after coming here..."

"I am. I hate the food here."

She smiled. "Since you like eggs, I can get you an egg or two. Raw eggs."

Eva looked at her through the strands of her hair. Her eyes were suspicious, and Cassidy really wanted to tell her to look away and focus on whatever in front of her was so interesting again. She didn't, mainly because her throat felt too dry.

"Aren't you supposed to be interrogating me or something?" she asked.

She swallowed hard before answering. "No, that's a police officer's job. I'm just here to make sure you're—you and the other inmates—I'm just here to make sure you guys aren't dead or something. And you will be dead if you don't eat anything."

"'Raw eggs' is a suspicious answer, though, right?"

"Yeah, but that's not my place to question it. You want raw eggs or not? You can even eat it in your cell if you want—and I can also get you anything else. Any other food. Or drink. Are you thirsty?"

Eva stretched her legs out in front of her. She stared at her hands clasped in her lap—her fingers were long—and thought. After a moment, she said, "I'm not, but...scrambled eggs would be nice—but no salt. I hate salt."

"Really? Why?"

"I hate the taste."

Cassidy flexed her fingers. "Well, I'll go get your eggs. I'll be back soon."

Cassidy locked Eva's prison cell behind her. It took her longer than planned to get the eggs. When she returned, Eva was still in the same spot as she was before. She watched Cassidy enter her prison cell, and her eyes widened just enough to be noticeable when she noticed the plate of eggs in Cassidy's hands.

"Did you actually think I wouldn't get them?" she asked.

She shook her head.

"Well, I did!" She handed her the plate. "Eat up, don't starve yourself, and I guess I should tell you to think about the crime you committed."

"I won't."

"I didn't expect you to." She smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Eva."

"R... Right..." Eva's pretty eyes lifted from her plate and met her gaze. Again, that simple action felt like it was enough to knock Cassidy off her feet, and it didn't help when she added quietly, "Thank you."

"No problem!" Cassidy awkwardly laughed before almost rushing out of the prison cell. She almost forgot to lock the prison cell door behind her, but she remembered just in time.

See, Cassidy was as professional as she should be! She was a good prison guard. She was not distracted, and she was fine. Fine! She just needed to have the police finish their interrogation of Eva and wait for them to find the other criminals who participated in the heist, and she would be even better. There was absolutely nothing to worry about!

[eyitzme]

ᵒᵛᵉʳᵈᵘᵉ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 10: Ruins (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Five times Eva refuses to ask Cassidy to help her pass a level in a video game, and one time she asks Cassidy to do it for her. Notes: No Killing Game AU, Established Casseva Word Count: 1,246

i can do this myself

Since she was the Ultimate Pro Gamer, Cassidy would often be exposed to more video games compared to Eva, so she would often recommend new video games for Eva to try. Eva often tried those video games because they sounded like something she would be interested in, and she might as well at least look into what her girlfriend recommended to her, but sometimes, she wondered if Cassidy forgot that there was a difference in their skills when it came to video games. Her girlfriend's talent was, again, literally related to playing video games. There was a good chance that the video game that she found easy would be a struggle for Eva.

Eva might have given up when she started struggling with this level where she had to go through some ruins, but the story was interesting, so she was going to keep trying, even if that meant she had to carry her video game console practically everywhere she went.

Today, Eva had planned to skip dinner to continue her video game. Cassidy wouldn't let that happen on her watch, so she fed Eva while she watched her play. Eva tried ignoring her and not thinking about how embarrassing it was to struggle in front of her.

On her fifth retry, Cassidy asked, "Do you need any help?"

"No," she said flatly.

"'Kay, but I'm here if you need me!"

Eva could do this by herself. She didn't need anyone's help.

. . .

Eva spent all day trying to beat this ruins level. She barely left her and Cassidy's bedroom to make sure that she was fully focused on it, but again, she was struggling.

Sometime during the day, Cassidy came into the bedroom. She lied down next to the bed and, like before, watched her play. When she had to restart for the fourth time, she asked, "Do you want any tips?"

"No," she grumbled.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm—" Eva's character just died again. Her jaw clenched. "I'm fine..."

"If you say so." Cassidy kissed her cheek and left. At least she did that before Eva restarted the level. She did die again soon, though.

. . .

Cassidy had taken Eva to come with her on a walk. She was without her gaming console. She couldn't tell if she was happy about this or not.

Cassidy was unnaturally silent during this walk. When she finally spoke, she said, "Eva-cado, I feel like you're cheating on me."

She frowned. "What?"

"You have this toxic relationship with that game. You're spending a little too much time with that, so now you're, like...mentally cheating on me..." She pretended like she was about to faint.

"That's not a thing," she said.

"You're still spending a little too long with that game. You know you don't have to play it when you don't want to, right?"

"I want to play it."

"And you know it's okay to ask for help, right?"

"Obviously."

"And you know you have a pretty cool girlfriend who played that game and can easily replay it, right?"

"I know."

"So do you need my help?"

"No."

Cassidy gave her an unamused look before she began laughing. She playfully elbowed her. "Well, I believe in you! You got this!"

And she did have this. Eva could win. She just needed a little break from it, but when she came back, she would have a fresher mind, and she would easily be able to do it.

But when Eva came back to the video game, she didn't find it any easier than she did before her break.

. . .

Eva was starting to give in, but she wasn't giving in by much. She only searched up other people playing the ruins level to see how they passed it. She tried copying what they did, but she still couldn't do it. It was like this video game hated her...

Cassidy joined her in watching one of the videos she found online. She said, "You should watch my playthrough. I think I'm pretty good."

"I'll see," Eva said, knowing that she won't. She loved her girlfriend, but she didn't feel like comparing their gaming skills right now.

"And I can explain what you need to do. You can get a private livestream from the Cassidy Amber just for you! I can talk to you, we can see each other, we can play games together..."

"Isn't that just a video call?"

"I still think that's a cool experience."

"I know you do." She kissed her cheek before focusing on the video again.

When it ended, she turned on her gaming console. She rewatched parts of the video she needed, but even so, she still couldn't pass the level.

She could feel Cassidy's eyes on her. Without taking her eyes off her gaming console's screen, she said, "I don't need any help."

"Figured," Cassidy said. "I love strong and independent women, Eva-cado, but I'm still here if you need me."

"I can do this by myself."

"Have fun, then."

Eva was not having fun.

. . .

Eva had pulled an all-nighter trying to get past the ruins level, which made her sleep for so long in the morning. When she woke up, she tried looking for her gaming console, but she couldn't find it.

When she brought it up with Cassidy, she said, "Oh, I hid it."

She frowned. "Why would you do that?"

Cassidy continued scrolling through movies to watch, lying on the couch in their living room. "You've been spending way too much time on that game."

"You're a gamer."

"I can still take care of myself, but I don't know how well you are..." She met her gaze when she said, "You should take a break, Eva. A really long break. And I'll make you take one if I have to."

All this felt like an overreaction. She had been fine and was still fine. Even so, knowing that she didn't have to see that stupidly hard ruins level for a while made her feel lighter. She felt like she should be mad, but she instead joined Cassidy on the couch, who was happy to cuddle with her.

"You can still ask me for help if you need it," she reminded.

Eva didn't reply. She didn't know anything about the movie that Cassidy picked, but she was okay with watching it anyway. However, the sleepless nights caught up to her again, and she fell asleep midway through the movie.

. . .

A few weeks later, Cassidy gave Eva her gaming console again. Eva turned it on and started the game. She stared at the ruins level before handing it to Cassidy.

"Do this level for me," she said.

She took it, but she still said with a cheeky smile, "Say, 'Please.'"

"Please."

"On it!"

While Cassidy played the ruins level, Eva looked away. She didn't want to feel any more embarrassed about her skills than she did before.

A few minutes later, Cassidy declared, "I cleared the level! So, where's my reward?"

She took the gaming console back. "You never said I had to give you a reward."

"I did now, so where is it?" She puckered her lips.

Eva took off her glasses and kissed her. "Happy?"

"Very." Cassidy kissed her again.

Eva was happy too. The moment she was done, she would never be replaying this stupid video game again. She probably had some sort of trauma when it came to seeing ruins now, actually. She would be fine with watching Cassidy play this with ease instead—after some time had passed and her trauma with ruins wasn't as great.

[eyitzme]

ᵒᵘʳ ᵒʷⁿ ʷᵒʳˡᵈ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 9: Crossover (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Eva and Cassidy come home from grocery shopping together. Notes: Domestic AU, Established Casseva Word Count: 778

i'm hungry

Eva learned fast into their relationship that Cassidy could drive, but she preferred sitting in the passenger seat and having Eva drive her around in her crossover SUV. She liked having her "personal chauffeur," apparently. Eva was at fault for always agreeing to drive her, and this started becoming more prominent when they started living together. Eva wasn't complaining, though.

They had gone grocery shopping today. As Cassidy got into the passenger seat and Eva got into the driver's seat, Cassidy said, "I still think we should've brought my snacks."

"You're going to get a cavity with all your snacks," Eva said as she started the car. "You don't even like the dentist."

"Yeah, but I'm not a child. I can survive a visit to the dentist!"

Eva still didn't want her girlfriend to get a cavity in the first place, which was the reason why she didn't agree to buy her the snacks she wanted in the first place. Also, the snacks were expensive. Cassidy insisted that they had the money to pay for it, and she could always start a livestream and get more donations through that, but she still said no. They needed to be responsible with how they spent their money, after all.

As they left the parking lot, Cassidy went through songs that she could play. This was technically only Eva's crossover SUV, but Cassidy had happily claimed it to be hers too. She claimed it was girlfriend privileges that gave her permission to put things in the glove compartment, hang up an accessory on the rearview mirror, and, in this case, be able to play whatever song she wanted. Again, it was Eva who could acknowledge that this was her fault for never saying no to her.

"Oh, Eva-cado!" Cassidy exclaimed. "I heard this song online, and it immediately reminded me of you."

She started playing it. It did sound like a song that she would be interested in. The lyrics were in Japanese, which meant Cassidy didn't know the lyrics. She still mumbled sounds vaguely similar to the lyrics, having more confidence when she sang the occasional English word or phrase.

"How many times have you listened to this song before?" Eva asked.

"A few times," she admitted.

The song continued playing. When it ended, Cassidy put on their shared playlist. It was supposed to be songs that they both had, but after Eva realized that Cassidy was putting more songs that she thought Eva would like—which she was always right about—she forwent putting songs that she liked and put songs that she knew Cassidy liked or would like. At this point, she was certain that almost all the songs were random songs that reminded them of the other, but all the songs were good, so that was alright.

Somewhere in between the playlist, as Eva stopped at a red light, Cassidy said, "Eva-cado, I'm hungry."

Eva paused before she spoke only because she noticed the red light turning green. Then, she said, "You brought candy with you. Eat that."

"Can I still complain?"

"No."

"Aww..." She opened the packet of snacks that she had bought while grocery shopping. "Want some?"

"Wait..." The next time she stopped at a red light, she leaned towards Cassidy. Cassidy pecked her lips before feeding her the candy. Eva turned her attention back onto the road when she noticed the light turned green.

In between her snacking, Cassidy said, "We should bake something. Maybe tonight or tomorrow. Or sometime this week."

"What are we baking?"

"I dunno. You got anything in mind?"

"Nope."

"I'll figure it out—unless you wanna eat something later."

When Eva glanced towards her, she knew what that look in her eyes meant, so she said, "Don't choose something too sugary."

From the corner of her eyes, she could see Cassidy turn to her. "How do you know I'm going to choose something sugary?"

"Are you?"

She hesitated. "Well, yeah..."

She had a small smile. "I love you too."

"I love you more!"

Soon, they made it back to their home. Cassidy got out of the car first, and she ran to the other side to open the door on the driver's side. She went into a deep bow, and she said in a deeper voice, "After you, m'lady..."

"Thanks." Eva got out of the car. She had Cassidy stand up straighter, then kissed her forehead. "Now help me put the groceries away."

"Can I have more kisses as an award?" she asked.

"I'll think about it."

Eva already knew that she would give in to whatever Cassidy wanted, but she could make Cassidy work for it a little.

[eyitzme]

ᵐᵃᵏᵉ ʰᵉʳ ʳᵉᵐᵉᵐᵇᵉʳ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 8: Last Minute (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Cassidy invites Eva to join her livestream last minute. Notes: No Killing Game AU Word Count: 1,323

don't any of you mess up!

Cassidy normally didn't interrupt her own livestreams if someone was knocking on the door, but today, she felt like she should open her dorm's front door. It was a good thing she did because her crush was there.

Eva gave her a bag. "It's from Diana. It's for Eloise. She apparently wanted some makeup tips from Diana, so Diana decided to help out and get her a few things."

"Oh, cool!" Cassidy replied coolly because she was definitely cool. "I'll give this to her and let her know."

Eva turned to leave. Cassidy barely ever got any time alone with her, and with Eloise out of their dorm to hang out with friends, she was not going to let this opportunity pass!

Unfortunately, she said the first thing she thought of, which was, "Do you wanna come in? I'm live right now, but it's actually just the chatting part I do at the end while I wrap things up."

That was not what she should have said, but Eva actually said, "I guess I can come in."

"Wait, really?"

"I don't have anything better to do..."

"Oh, cool. Cool, yeah!" Cassidy needed to pull herself together now.

Cassidy excused herself and practically ran to her bedroom. She shut the door and quickly sat in her gamer chair. She said, "Okay, comrades, I have to go right now. A girl just came over—"

Her bedroom door opened. Eva was standing there.

"Hey, Eva!" Cassidy said in a more cheerful tone. "Do you mind being recorded? Because I'm still recording."

She eyed the camera. "That's fine, I guess..."

Cassidy turned back towards her computer. Her chat was being filled with people being surprised at Eva's appearance, and a lot of them were wondering who she was.

Cassidy gestured for Eva to come closer. When she did, Cassidy said, "So, comrades, here's a last-minute guest appearance. This is Eva Tsunaka. She's the Ultimate Mathlete—"

Eva stiffened just slightly. She was failing already.

"—and we go to Eden's Garden Academy together. Eva, you wanna say hi?"

"Hello," she said.

"Oh, do you wanna chat with my viewers? I can get you a chair."

"I can stand." Eva stood behind her. She put one hand on the armrest of the gamer chair, leaning on it. They were so close to holding each other's hands. "What were you guys playing earlier?"

"Nothing important..." She knew Eva played video games, and she also knew that Eva had really good taste in video games, but she didn't know if this one was something she would like. "Hey, comrades, is there anything you guys wanna tell Eva, or...?"

Someone sent in a donation. Eva read it out loud. "'I might have to start coming to Eden's Garden. I didn't know this school had fine-ass girls like this.' Are you talking about me?"

"Who else?" Cassidy smiled at her, but to her chat, she gave them a look. Were they trying to flirt with her? They better not...

Eva read a question someone asked in the chat. "'Eva, do you watch Cassidy's livestreams often?' No, I don't. I'm not a big fan of watching livestreams."

"And that's totally okay!" It would be so embarrassing if she actually watched her livestreams. She was proud of how cringe she could be, but what if Eva noticed that whenever Cassidy had to play a game that involved romance because her fans really wanted her to, she always chose the character that looked the most like her, or if she could choose how her love interest looked—

Wait, did her fans realize that Eva looked exactly like the girl Cassidy was always trying to make in her romance games?

"'How long have you known Cass?'" Eva read. "Since the first day of school, basically, but we haven't spoken to each other much."

"We hang out whenever there's been a little class get-together," Cassidy said, less as an answer for her fans and more as a reminder for Eva. Did their interactions really mean that little to her?

"We don't spend a lot of time together when it's only us," she pointed out. "I think this might be the first time we have."

Someone sent a new donation. Cassidy read it out this time: "'Hey, Eva, you're cute, and smart, and honestly perfect... Are you single? Are you into girls? Are you into me?' Thank you for the $10, but, comrades, don't make her uncomfortable! You'll never see her on stream again if she ends up hating you!"

"It's okay." To the viewers, she said, "I'm single, yes, and I like whoever I like, so that includes girls. I never met you, so I'll say that I'm not into you."

"Rejected in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers, how sad." Cassidy tried casually laughing, but inside, she was cheering. She knew Eva was single but had yet to find out if Eva was into girls, and now, she knew! This day was beautiful!

A new donation came in, and Cassidy read this one again. "Thank you for the $5! 'Miss Eva Tsunaka, what's your type? Because I can be whatever you want...'"

"I don't like overly flirty people," she said.

That was not Cassidy, so she was fine. She smiled at the message someone sent that said, I'm nonchalant, so I'm okay. I also have 10 mansions if Eva cares...

Eva tapped her finger against the armrest. "I don't really have a type. Again, I like whoever I like. The only thing I require is that we get along."

Cassidy turned to her. "Do we get along?"

She shrugged, and she met her gaze with an unreadable expression. She was silent for long enough for Cassidy to feel her heart beat a little too fast before she said, "I guess I don't hate you as much as I hate some other people in our class."

So she was doing fantastic! She had a chance! It was a great day to be alive!

"'Eva, come on Cassidy's livestreams more often,'" Cassidy read from the chat. "Yeah, Eva, you should! We'll have fun together!"

She shook her head. "I'm not a big fan of being recorded..."

Her smile fell. "Oh, sorry..."

She met her gaze with those piercing eyes that always made Cassidy's heart skip a beat. After a moment, she said, "I can join your streams if you really want me to."

"Well, you probably shouldn't if you don't feel comfortable..."

"I'll tell you if I'm not."

"Then, yeah, join us more! My comrades like you, right, comrades?"

Her comrades cheered in the chat. A few donations were sent, all of them welcoming Eva, while some had more flirty comments. Cassidy couldn't let them go too far, so she was starting to wrap things up.

Then, she heard Eloise call out her name. Eva said, "She probably found Diana's gift. I'll go explain it to her. Bye."

Cassidy watched Eva leave. When the door was closed, she turned back to her computer, unable to stop the smile that was spreading across her face. Her chat was filled with people commenting things like, Go get your girl, It's ok, Cass, I'd be down bad for her too, and, Can we fight the Ultimate Matchmaker for her title?

"You guys are amazing," Cassidy told her fans, "but keep it on the down low, okay? If I fumble, I don't want it to be because of you guys..."

Someone in the chat said, Don't you dare fumble after we helped you get your future girlfriend to spend more time with you. Now she had another motivator to actually find a way to make a move on Eva.

Cassidy said her goodbyes and ended the livestream. She exited her bedroom, ready to ask Eva if she wanted to go outside and do something together, but the only other person was Eloise, who was looking through the makeup products from Diana.

"Where's Eva?" she asked her.

Eloise glanced at her, then focused on her gift again. "She said she should probably leave soon, so she left."

"Did... Did she say why?"

Eloise shook her head.

Cassidy already fumbled. There was no way her fans could know about this.

[eyitzme]

ʳᵉᵈⁱʳᵉᶜᵗⁱᵒⁿ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 7: Road Trip (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Eva and Cassidy make a pit stop on their road trip. Notes: No Killing Game AU, Established Casseva Word Count: 644

let's get some fresh air!

Eva actually really liked to travel, but she liked it more when she could be in open spaces. Being in one place for too long made her feel too uncomfortable, and she began counting down the seconds until she could go somewhere more open. So, while the travelling would be fun, Eva did not like long car rides, so she hated road trips no matter where they were going.

Cassidy, however, really wanted to go on a road trip together. She would have said no and to take someone that actually liked car rides, but Cassidy looked so excited about the idea that she had to go. She knew that it wouldn't be so bad when she found out that it would only be them in a car and no one else, and she was even more relieved when she found out this road trip would only be one week, but it still wasn't the best thing she ever experienced. Cassidy was having fun, though, so she could put in a little bit of effort into trying to have fun too.

They made a stop to stretch their legs. They parked on the side of the road, but it was empty, with no other cars coming from either direction. The road was on a slight hill, and at the bottom was tall grass. Cassidy made a big show of stretching while Eva sat on the hood of their car.

"We've been sitting forever," Cassidy said. "Come stretch with me!"

"I'm okay," she replied.

"Am I just your jester?" she teased. "I mean, I'll be a jester for you, if it makes you happy."

"I'm very happy right now," she said, even though "entertained" would have been a better word.

Cassidy hopped onto the hood of their car, seating herself next to her. She rested her head on her shoulder, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Thanks for coming with me," she said. "I know this whole travelling-by-car thing isn't your favourite thing ever..."

"It's fine. You like all this, right?"

"Yeah, but I like you more."

"It's too late to go back anyway—"

"Wait, do you actually hate it here?" She lifted her head and grabbed onto her arm.

"I never said that," Eva corrected. "I just said that if I did hate it, there wasn't much I could do now."

"So...do you hate it?" There was worry in her eyes.

She didn't like it, but it wasn't enough to go into hate. She could never say that when Cassidy was looking at her like that anyway. "I don't hate it."

She relaxed. "Well, if you ever hate-it, hate-it, tell me. I'll be your little jester and cheer you up."

"Oh, really?"

"Really!"

Cassidy got up and straddled her. As Eva wrapped her arms around her, Cassidy took off Eva's glasses. Eva closed the gap between them, and they stayed like that until Eva felt a drop of water fall onto her head.

She leaned back and looked up. She hadn't noticed the grey clouds forming earlier. When she held out her hand, she felt raindrops fall onto her palm.

Cassidy groaned as she put Eva's glasses back on her. "I think Mother Nature hates lesbians. If she didn't, we could make out for as long as we want..."

"We could make out in the car," she suggested.

"That's not the same, though... And we should probably start going again..."

Eva gave her one last kiss before Cassidy got off her. That seemed to keep Cassidy happy enough to not complain anymore. When they were both back inside the car, they started driving again. Eva was already sick of this and everything else this road trip had to offer, but again, it made Cassidy happy.

[eyitzme]

ʳᵃⁿᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵐʸ ᵈⁱᵃᵐᵃʳᵏ ᵒⁿᵉ ˢʰᵒᵗˢ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

I've been seeing if I can write 150 Diamark one shots, and I've managed to write 25 of them! I decided to rate them and get my beta reader to rate them too. If you want to read them on AO3, you can go here, and if you want to read them on Wattpad, read them here! :) Also, my beta reader's list has some things in brackets for her to remember which fanfic is which because she keeps forgetting (other than The Heart Forger. She remembers that one). So, I guess if you want a few words to describe the one shots, read her ranking

pix's ranking (the author's)

It's Late

Gentle Hearts

Backwards Clock

Home's Changed

Dear to Me

Liar, Liar

Grief as a Creature

Somewhere Between Now and Then

Burnt Steak and Gunpowder

Answering the Call

Something Almost Human

A Story Without a Moral

Counting Heartbeats

Hanging Out

Done For

Sunset Lovers

The World Keeps Spinning

How To

Forgotten Lullabies

The Heart Forger

Uncertainty

Stranger Conversations

Circus Performers

The Big Day

The Silence Between Heartbeats

ramen's list (the beta reader's)

Counting Heartbeats (KotLC)

Answering the Call (first idol Mark)

Home's Changed (coffee shop)

Something Almost Human (talent swap)

Backwards Clock (bully Diana blackmail)

Somewhere Between Now and Then (soulmate AU)

A Story Without a Moral (Yandere AU)

Forgotten Lullabies (Princess Diana Italy)

Hanging Out (Nifast sidewalk art)

The Silence Between Heartbeats (wedding)

The Heart Forger

Burnt Steak and Gunpowder (alien Mark R:1999 AU)

It's Late (vampire)

Done For (Kaimon restaurant)

The World Keeps Spinning (breaking eggs)

Uncertainty (childhood friends)

Grief as a Creature (V3 AU)

Dear to Me (fae AU)

Sunset Lovers (complaining about Alberta summer)

The Big Day (proposal)

Stranger Conversations (Diamark getting up in the morning)

How To (board games)

Circus Performers (Mark sneezing around Diana)

Gentle Hearts (Teen Beach)

Liar, Liar (Mark baby R:1999)

I'll probably post another ranking list when I (hopefully!) get to 50 one shots

[eyitzme]

ᵈⁱᵈ ʸᵒᵘ ʰᵉᵃʳ? ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 6: Impatience (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Cassidy tells Kai a secret that he absolutely cannot tell specifically to Eva. He doesn't tell Eva, but he does tell Mark, and eventually, it gets to Eva, but it's far from what Cassidy originally said. Notes: No Killing Game AU, Mentioned Sexual Activities, Mentioned Miscarriages Word Count: 2,383

so i heard...

Kai had noticed that Cassidy had been a little distant throughout their entire conversation. She kept staring at her drink—which was something she would never order, by the way—and he kept needing to repeat himself. Eventually, he got sick of it.

"Just tell me what's wrong!" he said. "And don't try to lie and say everything's fine when you've done a very bad job at trying to convince me!"

"Kai—" She sighed. Her finger tapped rapidly against the table. "Okay, listen, you can't tell anyone, but I... Ugh, how do I say this?"

Her face was red. She was distracted. She had a drink that she would never order unless someone else told her to—or if someone else liked it.

Kai gasped. "You have a crush..."

"Okay, you don't need to say it like I discovered gravity or something..."

He leaned forward and did his best to keep his voice low. "Who is it? You need to tell me, or I'll literally explode."

"You have to promise not to tell anyone," she whispered with wide eyes.

"I won't tell your crush!"

"Great. Then, uhh..." Cassidy leaned back. She looked away from him. "Well... Eva's been—"

"Eva?" He frowned. "Like, the Eva I know?"

"How many people named Eva do you know?"

"I don't know, the one from the Bible?"

"That's Eve—and why would I get a crush on Eve from the Bible?"

"I don't know, but...Eva?" he repeated slowly. "The mathlete? Seriously?"

"Yeah. Seriously." She crossed her arms. "I've seen your taste. It's way worse than mine could ever be."

"So you're implying Eva's a bad person to like."

"I never said that! But you're not going to tell her, right?" she asked in a quieter voice.

"She won't know anything from me."

She smiled. "Thanks."

Kai smiled back, but it felt so fake. Cassidy and Eva? That was a couple he never expected. He needed to talk about this to someone. Right now. Someone needed to know about this. But who the Hell did he talk to?

Ugh, why couldn't someone just appear now?

. . .

Mark liked Eden's Garden Academy's library not for studying but because it was quiet. He could spend hours in there just because of it, but he knew when he had to leave. He was on his way back to his dorm when he was grabbed from behind and forced to turn around.

Kai held him by the shoulders. He looked desperate. "Cassidy likes Eva!"

"What?" he mumbled, his brows furrowed.

Kai sighed, relieved, as he let go of Mark. "That felt good... Yeah, so, Mark, Cassidy likes Eva, and she told me not to tell anyone—not to tell Eva—but I really needed to talk about it with someone, and you seem like someone who can keep secrets. Thanks, Mark!"

Mark wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with this information, so he simply nodded and walked away.

. . .

Jett had asked Cassidy if she wanted to hang out with him and Mark, but she said she was too busy. Again.

"Do you think something's wrong with Cass?" he asked Mark while they hung out in their dorm. "Is she mad at us? Is that why she's avoiding us?"

He shrugged. "It's probably because of Eva..."

"Eva? Why her?"

"Cassidy told Kai who told me that she liked her—"

"She likes Eva?" he exclaimed.

He nodded.

"Are we supposed to know about this?" Jett asked.

"She told Kai not to tell Eva," Mark replied, "but I never promised anything."

Cassidy and Eva. That was a weird pairing, but if Jett squinted, he could see it. He would support his friend and her feelings!

. . .

Valentine's Day was coming up, so some students and staff had the idea to place decorations around the school. Jean had volunteered to help, as did Jett.

As they looked through the decorations they were given, Jett chuckled as he said, "It's not Christmas, but maybe we can still put up a mistletoe. I'm sure Cass would love that!"

"Cassidy?" Jean echoed. "Is she missing Christmas?"

"No, but she would probably love to make out with Eva." He faked kissing noises. "I heard it from broskii, who heard it from Kai, who was told by Cassidy that she loves Eva."

So it seemed Cassidy and Eva were together. Jean smiled. He loved seeing his classmates happy. Good for them!

. . .

Desmond liked relaxing nights after a long day. Tonight in their dorm, Desmond was finding a movie he and Jean could watch together while they ate dinner.

"Oh, Desmond?" Jean called out from the kitchen. "Did you know Cassidy and Eva are together?"

Desmond frowned. "You mean...together-together?"

"That! They're in love! I heard it from Jett, who heard it from Mark, who heard it from Kai, who was told by Cassidy herself."

Neither of them made any announcement about their relationship. Desmond could see Eva keeping a relationship a secret, but he couldn't see Cassidy being able to shut up about getting a girlfriend, especially if they were in love. Maybe they were hooking up or something. He also wondered if Toshiko knew about this.

. . .

Grace wanted to eat alone in the cafeteria, but all the tables were full, so she was forced to sit at a table with Desmond. She sat as far away from him as she could and hoped he would ignore her too.

He didn't and asked her, "Do you know where Toshiko is?"

"She's in a different country right now," she said, stabbing her fork into her food. "Some matchmaking job that was so important that she had to go now. You hooking up with someone?"

"No, but Cassidy and Eva are."

Grace looked up from her plate. "Really?"

He nodded. "I heard it from Jean, who heard it from Jett, who heard it from Mark, who heard it from Kai, who was told by Cassidy herself. I was wondering if Toshiko approved of this. Apparently, they're in love too, so I wanted to hear what she thought about this, if she knew."

Grace slowly nodded. Cassidy must have a real bad taste in women if she chose that mathele, but at least that gave Grace something to talk about.

. . .

Wolfgang was studying in the library when Grace joined him, sitting on top of his table. He was saying hello when she said, "Cassidy and the mathelete are in love and are hooking up."

Wolfgang frowned. "They're... What?"

"Heard it from Desmond, who heard it from Jean, who heard it from Jett, who heard it from Mark, who heard it from Kai, who was told by Cassidy. They're going to be together forever," she laughed to herself as she got up and left.

Being together forever meant marriage. Cassidy was 19, and Eva was 18. They were far too young for that, but that might only be Wolfgang's opinion. He hoped they were both safe and making choices they wouldn't regret at least.

. . .

Wenona had come to her first class this morning early. Wolfgang was here as well, although he wasn't someone she particularly liked. She could tolerate him more than she could tolerate others in this school, though, so he was alright. They didn't talk to each other that much, and she thought it would be the same today.

She was proven wrong when Wolfgang asked her, "Do you have an idea of why two people would get married young?"

"How old are they?" she asked.

"18 and 19."

That was quite young to get married, but she had a few ideas as to why that might be. "One could've gotten pregnant—"

"Miss Amber or Eva is pregnant?" Wolfgang gasped.

She frowned. "What?"

"I heard from Miss Madison, who heard from Mister Hall, who heard from Mister DeLamer, who heard from Mister Dawson, who heard from Mister Berskii, who heard from Mister Monteago, who was told directly by Miss Amber that she and Eva were to be married soon because they were in love."

"Oh." That list felt a little complicated to remember, but Wenona had a feeling that she would remember it. "Good for them."

Wolfgang's voice lowered. "Do you know which one of them is pregnant, though?"

Wenona shook her head. If Cassidy was happily telling people that she was getting married to Eva, then she either didn't feel any shame about being pregnant, or she felt as if she had no responsibility. That might mean Eva was pregnant. Again, good for them, but she hoped that baby had two parents that could take care of it. She would not trust those two to raise a child together.

. . .

Ulysses often spent time in Wenona's dorm to get away from Wolfgang. He was still waiting for his and Wolfgang's request to switch roommates would be accepted, as did Wenona with her and Grace's request to do the same. This was the best they could do until then.

They didn't normally spend that much time having conversations, which was okay with him. He paid attention when Wenona did want to talk, and today, he definitely paid attention when Wenona said, "Ulysses, if you didn't know, Eva is pregnant."

"What? With who?" Ulysses instinctively opened his notebook.

"It's Cassidy's," she answered. "Don't ask me how because I don't know, and I don't want to know what their bedroom life is like. They're getting married because of Eva's pregnancy, actually."

Ulysses hadn't realized he had written her words down until he looked at the page. "No offense, but how do you know?"

"I heard it from Wolfgang, who heard it from Grace, who heard it from Desmond, who heard it from Jean, who heard it from Jett, who heard it from Mark, who heard it from Kai, who was told it by Cassidy."

Ulysses counted how many people she mentioned. Including Cassidy, this information was told to nine other people before being told to him. He had to wonder how true it was, but then a bigger question took over his mind.

"Eva isn't pregnant, though," he said. "I know she's not because she would have told Damon if she was."

"And how much does Damon tell you?"

"Enough to know Eva isn't pregnant..."

"Then maybe she's not pregnant anymore."

Wenona said it dismissively, but Ulysses realized that could mean that Eva had given birth. It would explain why she had been distant. It wasn't a new thing for her, but it seemed that she wasn't as close to Damon or Diana as she was before. Everything felt like it made a little more sense.

. . .

Damon found a lot of people in their class at Eden's Garden Academy annoying, but there were a few people he could tolerate. Ulysses was one of them, so when Ulysses asked to talk to him privately, he agreed. He looked worried anyway, so it had to be serious.

He found out it wasn't when Ulysses asked him, "How is Eva's kid?"

"Eva's what?" he repeated.

"Eva's kid. I heard..." He opened his notebook. "I heard that she had a kid from Wenona, who heard it from Wolfgang, who heard it from Grace, who heard it from Desmond, who heard it from Jean, who heard it from Jett, who heard it from Mark, who heard it from Kai, who heard it directly from Cassidy herself."

"What does Cassidy have anything to do with this?"

"It's her kid. It's why they're getting married."

Damon's brows furrowed. "They're both girls... And even if they weren't both girls, Eva never had a kid. And for the marriage part—"

Ulysses gasped. "She had a miscarriage?"

"What?"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know!" Ulysses fumbled out more apologies, ending with, "Please tell her I wish her well, and if I can do something—anything—to help her, she can tell me!"

Damon let Ulysses awkwardly walk away. Damon had a feeling Eva needed to know what people were saying about her.

. . .

Eva had come out of her bedroom not to see Diana but to see Damon in her dorm's living room. Diana must have let him in.

"Hey," she said as she sat next to him on he couch.

"Hi," he said. "Finished your anime?"

She nodded with a frown. The animation was beautiful, but the story sucked so much that she wished that she never watched it in the first place. She literally spent so much time in her bedroom just to watch it, and those were days that she could never get back.

"So you're ready to talk to other people again?" he asked.

"I guess," she mumbled.

"Good," Damon said, "because you're getting married."

Eva sat up. "What?"

Damon shrugged. "I heard from Ulysses, who heard Wenona, who heard from Wolfgang, who heard from Grace, who heard from Desmond, who heard from Jean, who heard from Jett, who heard from Mark, who heard from Kai, who supposedly heard directly from Cassidy herself that you two are getting married because she got you pregnant, but you also had a miscarriage."

Her frown deepened the more Damon spoke. "What did I miss...?"

"I don't know, but you'll probably have to fix this yourself because I heard from Ulysses—"

"Okay, shut up—but do you know where Cassidy is?"

Damon told her. Eva said her thanks before leaving. If anyone had an idea of how this all started, it should be her.

. . .

Eva found Cassidy coming back to her dorm. Damon had said she was probably in class or something similar, but this was better than walking all the way over there.

"Hey, Eva!" Cassidy said with a bright smile.

Eva replied, "What did you tell Kai?"

Her smile dimmed as her face paled. "What?"

"I heard from Damon, who heard from Ulysses, who heard from Wenona, who heard from Wolfgang, who heard from Grace, who heard from Desmond, who heard from Jean, who heard from Jett, who heard from Mark, who heard from Kai, and he apparently heard from you that we're getting married because you got me pregnant, but I had a miscarriage."

"I did not tell him that!" Cassidy defended.

"Then what did you tell him?"

"Just that...you know..." Cassidy fumbled with her words before settling on, "We're friends! And I like being around you!"

Eva wasn't sure if they could be classified as friends, but Cassidy seemed to be the type of person who would call anyone and everyone her friend. She nodded and said, "Maybe don't tell anything to Kai next time..."

"Don't worry, he is so dead." Cassidy headed straight in the direction of Kai's dorm. Eva decided not to pray for him.

[eyitzme]

ᵃ ᶠᵒʳᵍᵒᵗᵗᵉⁿ ᵈʳᵉᵃᵐ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 5: Adoption (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Cassidy finds out that Eva has always wanted a pet dog. Notes: No Killing Game AU, Established Casseva, Light Sexual Humour Word Count: 1,143

woof, woof!

When Cassidy first looked at Eva, she thought that she was a cat person. She just gave off that energy. She was pretty quiet, she could be a little mean when she wanted to be, she could look down on others, and her looks often reminded her of a cute black cat. It just made sense for her to be a cat person.

But tonight, they were watching a random movie on a regular Friday night in Eva's dorm. Her roommate, Diana, was pretty close to more celebrities than expected because of her cosmetology skills, so since one had invited her to come to a live show, Cassidy could hang out in Eva's dorm with just the two of them as much as she wanted. The movie's protagonist was just surprised with a new pet dog. It was pretty cute, but Cassidy wouldn't have thought much of it. She did when Eva casually mentioned, "I always wanted a pet dog."

Cassidy was resting her head on Eva's lap. She sat up when the words processed in her mind. "Wait, you do?"

"Yeah. Dogs are cute."

She laid back down. "I thought you liked cats more."

"Cats are cute, but I always liked dogs more."

"How come you never had one?"

"My parents refused to let any pets be inside our home."

"Huh." Cassidy watched the movie's protagonist play with the new dog. "We should get a dog."

"We're still in Eden's Garden right now, and they don't allow animals that aren't service animals. Also, we're not even roommates."

"But we could be next year."

"But we're not this year."

"We should still get one, though."

"Maybe one day, but not now."

Cassidy knew she wouldn't be able to convince her to get a dog right now, so she wouldn't try to. There was another idea in her mind, though, and she was pretty sure that she could get Eva on board with it.

. . .

There weren't as many adoption centres for pets near Eden's Garden Academy as Cassidy thought, but she managed to find one. She asked Eva if she wanted to go there. Her answer was no, since one Ultimate showing up in a public area brought a lot of attention, so two Ultimates, where one was also a famous livestreamer, would bring even more, but after Cassidy showed her pictures of some of the cute dogs there, she agreed.

Eva was right about Ultimates bringing a lot of attention, though. Maybe Cassidy should have called and let the adoption centre know that they were coming, but she didn't, so almost immediately, they could feel a lot of attention falling onto them.

Eva nudged her with her arm and whispered, "I told you."

"It's fine," she whispered back. "It's fine. It's cool. We're cool. You're cool."

"Thanks."

Eva was looking straight in front of her with a focused expression. Cassidy squeezed her hand—they were always so warm for what?—and walked with her inside. Eva was holding onto her hand tightly, but she let go when she saw the dogs. She crouched in front of one. She petted it as much as she could through the dog's cage.

Cassidy placed her hands on her knees and leaned forward. "Cute, huh? We should get it."

"We don't have the space—or the time," she added.

"Well, we could always visit."

"It took too long to get here to make this a regular thing."

"Come on, Eva, I love you, but work with me here."

Eva's face wasn't towards her, but she could tell that she was smiling.

See, sometimes being an Ultimate in public was annoying, but other times, it was a blessing to be one. A staff member literally came up to them and asked if they wanted to play with the pets—well, they offered that after rambling about how much they loved Cassidy's content and were a huge fan. Cassidy nodded along, but she was wondering when this would be over. She loved her fans, obviously, and it was so cool meeting them, but she also liked being able to spend time in public when she was with her girlfriend by themselves. Besides, it made her feel bad when people interrupted them because they were a fan of only her and not also a fan of Eva. Eva didn't mind, thankfully, but it still happened often enough that Cassidy was praying that one day, someone would come up to them and only be a fan of Eva, if they just had to come up to them in the first place.

Cassidy accepted the offer to play with some of the dogs, and they were taken to a different room. The dogs that came out were all playful and lively. They all seemed to take a general liking to Eva, letting her pet them and play with them, but while Cassidy could get some dogs to play with her a little, none of them seemed as friendly to her as they were to Eva.

"That one bit me," Cassidy told Eva when she started petting a new dog.

"This little girl? The one named Domna?" Eva pulled Cassidy's attacker into her lap. "She would never..."

"She tried to, but I got away because I'm amazing like that."

"I'm sure you are."

"That sounded sarcastic."

"I mean it."

"Doesn't feel like it when you're literally petting the dog that tried biting me right now."

"She's innocent."

"Rude."

Despite how wary the dogs seemed to be around her, Cassidy still had fun, and it was great seeing Eva so happy. When they were going to leave, they had to turn down offers that asked if they wanted to adopt any of the dogs and then had to turn down offers to become volunteers at the animal shelter.

Outside, Eva whispered, "They just want your publicity."

"Yours too," Cassidy added.

She gave her that look she always had when Cassidy said something that was obviously a lie.

"And anyway," she quickly said, "maybe we should adopt a dog from here at some point. A cute little dog—but not the one that tried to bite me."

She smiled. "I liked that one."

"No, you didn't. You like me more, right?"

"Yes, but that dog was also cute."

"I can be cute too! W—"

Eva clamped her hand over her mouth. "Not in public..."

She moved her hand away. "Oh, so in private? Are we keeping it in the bedroom? Eva, I didn't know you were—"

Eva pressed two hands over her mouth. Cassidy smiled.

Because she was nice, Cassidy didn't say another thing that could annoy her beautiful and wonderful girlfriend. Nothing more about dogs was said between them, but later that night, Cassidy did some more research on what it took to take care of a dog. She wondered what sort of dog breed Eva wanted...

[eyitzme]

ʷᵉᵃʳ ᵐʸ ˢʰᵒᵉˢ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 4: Marriage Hunt (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Cassidy has to leave the country for a video game tournament. Eva is very lonely without her. Notes: Royalty & Pirate AU (Pirate Cassidy/Princess Eva) Word Count: 7,400

anything you'll be doing today?

Cassidy used to live a real life. She used to be a pirate. She used to travel across the seas with her pirate crew, TRE4SURE—well, it wasn't officially one. Their captain, Jean, swore up and down that they weren't pirates, and they were just a group of friend that travelled the seas together, but they did everything pirates did and acted like them, so they were pretty much pirates. And she used to live a real life as one, stealing treasures and exploring new places.

But then their ship got caught. She was willing to let herself be taken hostage if it meant Jean, Diana, and Kai could escape, but now she was forced to be a prisoner that they were forcing to be a servant in a stupid castle in a new, foreign country.

Cassidy was going to rebel, though, because what else could she do? She couldn't try too hard and leave just yet. That would probably be a death sentence—literally. Exploring the castle would be better. Maybe she could find a few things to steal in the process!

Cassidy finished her cleaning for the day, then began her unauthorized tour. She explored stairways she always wanted to go through and walked down hallways she had never seen before. There were so many pretty things that she could steal, but they were too big and would be noticeable if she stole it. If she was with the rest of TRE4SURE, they would probably find a way to steal it.

Her heart sank at the thought of her friends. She hoped they were happy. She hoped they knew that she was alive.

Cassidy worried about getting lost, but the castle wasn't as big as some would think. She didn't forget a single turn as she headed up the stairs to the highest room. It was a pain to go up every single step, but if the staircase was this long, that had to mean there was something good there. More struggles meant greater rewards!

The walls had paintings of different members of the royal family, but the higher she went, the paintings had started to change from family members to paintings of only this one pretty girl in the family with black hair and pretty pale eyes. At the top, there was only one door. She tried to open it, but it was locked. She checked herself for something to pick it but found nothing. Sighing, she turned around.

Then, from inside the room, someone called out, "Is someone there?"

She turned back around. "Umm... Depends on who's inside..."

Not the smoothest thing she ever said...

"It's Eva," the voice said.

"Who?" she asked before she could stop herself. She heard of the royal family's only daughter, Princess Eva Tsunaka. In a place like this, there was definitely only going to be one Eva.

There was silence from the other side. Then Eva said, "That's funny."

She wasn't trying to be, but Cassidy would consider herself pretty funny, if she had to say so herself. Eva wasn't laughing, so maybe that comment was actually meant to be sarcastic, but at least her tone was light-hearted and sounded a little geniune.

An idea formed. "Hey, you wanna unlock this door so we can talk?"

There was a pause. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm supposed to be here until I'm married..."

"To who?"

"I don't know yet. They're searching for a potential suitor."

"So they're, like, hunting a partner for you? A marriage hunt?"

"I guess..."

"That's sad." She had nothing better to do today, so she asked, "You got any company in there?"

"I get food sent to me three times a day."

"So basically nothing." Cassidy sat on the top step right outside the door. "Luckily for you, I got plenty of time!"

"Are you allowed to?" Eva's voice sounded louder now, like she moved closer.

"No," she admitted, "but who cares? Oh, I forgot to tell you my name. It's Cassidy, Miss Princess! Cassidy Amber!"

"That's nice, Cassidy, but... 'Miss Princess?'"

"Just 'Princess' then. So, Princess, anything you wanna talk about?"

"Not really." She paused. "You should go before you get into trouble..."

That was probably a good idea, but she couldn't just leave a woman locked up by herself! "I'll come back soon. I promise!"

Eva didn't respond, so Cassidy said goodbye and made her way down the stairs. It was so much easier going down than up, and the best part about the whole thing was that no one knew who she was talking to earlier!

. . .

Cassidy overheard some talks about more ships coming in for trade. It reminded her of her ship with TRE4SURE, which only made her feel lonely. Eva probably felt lonely, so when she was done with her work, she went to Eva's tower. It was easier to go there today than it was yesterday.

Sitting outside the door again, she said, "Princess, you wanna ask questions to get to know each other?"

"Shouldn't you know everything about me?" Eva asked.

"Maybe, but I might as well hear it from the source."

"Okay, then..."

"I'll start! So, how old are you?"

"18. How old are you?"

"I'm 19. What's your favourite colour?"

"Blue. Yours?"

"Red. What's...your favourite animal?"

"Crows." After a pause, Eva asked, "What exactly do you do in my castle?"

Cassidy could lie, but it wasn't like this information was something she was embarrassed about. "I'm a prisoner."

Eva's voice had no worry. "What did you do?"

"I'm a pirate part of TRE4SURE. Ever heard of us?"

"No."

Cassidy wasn't sure what to say to that, so she ignored it. "Yeah, so I'm part of TRE4SURE, and this pirate crew steals every piece of treasure that we can! We're normally okay, other than a few injuries here and there—I have a few scars actually. From battles and stuff."

"Do they hurt?"

"No, but they make me look badass!" she said proudly. "Anyway, we got caught recently by people from your kingdom. Almost everyone in TRE4SURE would've been caught, but I sacrificed myself so the others could get away. Now, I'm stuck here being a maid."

"Are you upset that your crew mates are out at sea while you're not?"

She shrugged. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little angry, but I'm okay. They're living their best lives, and I like them enough for me to be happy with that. And who knows, maybe they're looking for me!"

Cassidy had no proof of that, and she didn't want to think about how likely it was. She never let that thought stay for long because what if it gave her false hope? What if she spent years in this castle waiting for her crew mates, her friends, just for them to never come? Really, it was easier to pretend that they didn't miss her at all.

Eva distracted her from her thoughts by saying simply, "That was very brave of you."

She smiled. "Thanks."

There was a pause. "Cassidy, when you found your way to my room, were you trying to find something to steal?"

There was another pause. "Do you want the honest answer?"

"I do."

"Then, yeah, I was..."

"How evil," she said flatly.

It made Cassidy chuckle. "I'm a pretty frequent rule breaker! That's why I'm here, after all!"

"You should probably leave soon..."

"I guess." Even so, Cassidy spent a few more minutes talking to Eva before she finally left.

. . .

More ships had been coming in. A lot of them were unplanned ones, but they gave good materials, apparently, so it was okay.

Cassidy didn't think much of it because she wanted to see Eva. She sat outside her bedroom door and told her, "We talked a lot about me yesterday. Tell me some things about you!"

"What do you want to know?" she asked.

"What do you like to do?"

"I like..." She paused for a second too long. "I like to play games."

"Me, too! Any favourites?"

Cassidy learned that Eva had amazing tastes. Everything she liked were games that Cassidy also liked or games that she wanted to try out but couldn't because of her pirate and TRE4SURE duties.

"I can try to advocate for you," Eva said when Cassidy brought up how busy TRE4SURE could keep her.

"For a prisoner you're not supposed to meet? Bad idea, Princess."

"We're not supposed to know each other right now, but I could meet you before my marriage when I'm allowed to leave my bedroom. We could get along well enough that I can convince my parents to let you come with me to wherever I'm being sent to."

The reminder of Eva's current marriage hunt made Cassidy's smile vanish. "Do you know who you're marrying yet?"

"My parents still haven't found someone."

That one sentence lifted some weight off her shoulders. "So I guess you're still stuck with me."

"Unfortunately."

"Shut up, you love our little talks."

Eva didn't reply. Cassidy chose happiness and pretended she was smiling.

"So anything else about you that I should know about?" Cassidy asked.

"You know my family and why I'm here," Eva said. "That's all you need."

That was boring. Yeah, knowing who a princess's family is and whose kingdom a princess was from was probably the most people needed to know for political reasons, and why Eva was locked in a room would probably be on everyone's mind if they stumbled upon her. It didn't actually say much about Eva herself, though, but if she didn't want to share, she wasn't going to force her to.

Eva warned her that she came close to dinner time, so Cassidy had to leave sooner than she thought. She made a mental note to herself to come earlier than she planned tomorrow.

. . .

It turned out that Cassidy could not see Eva early the next day. She had to spend the entire day cleaning for a visit from royalty from another kingdom. Some servants had begun gossiping that this was the reason so many ships had started coming to their docks, but no one could figure out an actual solid reason. Cassidy would have loved to participate in the gossip, but being a prisoner meant more of the work was placed on her.

She had to see Eva the day after. She was in a good mood, but it was ruined when Eva didn't immediately answer. Just in case, she checked the door. It was still locked.

From the other side of the door, Eva finally answered, but it wasn't in her usual slightly-curious-but-still-a-little-distant tone. "Where were you yesterday?"

Cassidy thought about sitting down, but she had a feeling that she should remain standing. "I was cleaning..."

"For the entire day?"

"Because some royal family was coming over."

"And you couldn't leave once?"

"Not really. They had me doing all the work no one else wanted to do.. ."

Eva didn't respond.

Cassidy fiddled with her hands. "So... Are you mad at me?"

She still didn't reply.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't come yesterday. I wanted to, but I was too busy."

There was still no response.

"Do you want me to go? I can give you some space to cool off."

When she was again met with silence, Cassidy said goodbye and left. She didn't know Eva could get upset over something like this.

. . .

The royal family was going to stay for a few days. They had a son who was around Eva's age. Cassidy hadn't seen it herself, but from what she overheard when other servants gossiped, Eva's parents really liked this prince. The hunt for a suitable partner for Eva might be over soon. Eva would get married and, if the servants were right, leave for the prince's kingdom, never to come back except for political reasons.

Hearing that made Cassidy's heart sink. If she had TRE4SURE behind her, she would find a way to convince them to send the prince away. But she didn't have TRE4SURE, which not only meant she couldn't do that, but she also had no one to talk to about why she felt so sad at the thought of Eva getting married and leaving.

Oh, God, what if Eva left while still being mad at her?

Cassidy finished her work as soon as possible. The moment she was gone, she sneaked off before someone could assign her more. When she arrived at Eva's bedroom, she called her name. There was no response, so she tried knocking. That got no response either, so she tried the doorknob.

It opened.

When she thought of a room a princess would be forced to stay in, Cassidy thought of a vaguely elegant but plain room that would remind someone of a prison. If she didn't know that a princess was forced to stay here, she would've thought this was a regular bedroom of someone wealthy. The bed had more pillows than someone could ever need, there were organized books that were clearly well-read on a bookshelf with some of those books finding spots elsewhere in the room, and there were trinkets here and there. They looked expensive.

Cassidy usually had an urge to touch everything, but here, she felt too uncomfortable to touch anything. Maybe it was because she knew it was Eva's room—but shouldn't that make her want to touch things more? She knew for a fact that this room belonged to a princess; she should be taking everything she could!

But she didn't want to touch any of Eva's stuff without her permission. After all, none of this belonged to her.

Which had never stopped her before, but it did now. Weirdly.

Before she could figure out her own emotions, the door opened. A tall woman entered. She had long black hair cascading down her back, and the ends were grey. She had pale blue eyes behind her glasses, and those eyes were looking right at her.

The woman looked just like the paintings on the nearby walls outside.

"Eva?" Cassidy said.

Hearing her voice, the woman's posture relaxed as her eyebrows raised. "Cassidy?"

So it was Eva.

The paintings didn't do her beauty any justice.

Eva's surprised look hardened. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you. I know you were mad—"

"Not anymore," she said.

"So you don't mind me visiting you again?"

When she replied, her words were stiff. "I don't know if you will."

"Why not?" she asked.

"My parents liked the new prince. They might end their marriage hunt and marry me off to him."

"Oh," was the only thing Cassidy could say. It was one measly word, but what else could she say to describe how it felt like her heart stopped along with time itself?

Eva turned to her bedroom door, then back to her. "You should leave soon. Others might arrive soon."

"Yeah. Okay... It was nice meeting you. You're really beautiful," she added before she could stop herself.

Eva blinked, staring at her. Cassidy made her way to the door like she wasn't. Before she left, Eva said, "You're beautiful too."

She paused. She turned around, but Eva seemed to be getting ready for bed. It would be rude for anyone to stay. She might be a pirate, but she had morals, and crossing boundaries with a princess was nowhere near the line where her morals were drawn.

"See you later, Eva," Cassidy said, then left. Eva didn't say anything back.

. . .

Someone had apparently asked the visiting royal family if they sent all the ships that had recently started to arrive, and they claimed that they never had. The ships were still coming, which started making some people worry about where they were coming from. Some tried to calm others by reminding them that if the King and Queen weren't doing anything to stop the ships, then it couldn't be that bad, but some people had already made up their minds.

Cassidy didn't care about the ships for a long time. She still didn't care when she was sent to clean outside like there even was something to clean. And even if there was, shouldn't cleaning outside be something like a gardener's job? They were really having fun with having a prisoner, huh?

Soon, she forgot about all about her worries when a familiar voice hissed her name. She turned to it and found Diana hiding behind a statue in the garden. She rushed to her side, both of them ducking even when there was no one else there.

Cassidy was beaming, but she tried to keep her voice down. "Diana! How are you here?"

"I sneaked in," she answered. "Jean and Kai are working right now with a bunch of other ships. They're making them come to this kingdom's ports to make it feel like it's normal for all these ships to come. I'm in charge of talking to all of Jean's other connections, so that's why I'm here. Anyway, then TRE4SURE's ship will come, and no one will think anything is wrong, and when they realize something is wrong, we'll be long gone with you, and we won't have to rewrite 'treasure' and have to figure out which E the three would replace! That was one of Jean's worries. He doesn't want to lie about our crew—and he does hope his plan works to bring you home!"

She could always rely on Jean to get them out of tough situations! Her response should be to celebrate, but instead, her response was asking Diana, "When are Jean and Kai coming?"

"In a few weeks at most," she answered. "We don't have specific dates yet."

Now she was wondering when Eva was supposed to get married. And now she was wondering why she cared.

With Eva on her mind, she asked, "Do you wanna come meet the Princess?"

"Princess?" she echoed. "Since when were you so close to her?"

"We've been talking for a while. We're not, like, super close, but I think we're...friends."

Diana didn't catch her hesitancy. "I would love to meet her, but I have to go soon. Jean made sure I knew that I couldn't be caught, but I really wanted to see you..."

Cassidy patted her shoulder. "Stay safe."

She smiled at her. "You too."

With a goodbye, they both left. Cassidy went to Eva's room. Just in case, she tried the door. It was locked.

But then it opened a moment later.

Eva stared at her for a second. "Hi, Cassidy..."

She smiled. "Hey, Princess. Can I come in?"

Eva looked behind herself, then behind Cassidy. She directed her to sit on the bed. She did.

"So you're allowed to leave now?" Cassidy asked.

Eva nodded. "I'm going to be married to the prince who arrived."

"Oh." That wasn't polite, so she made herself ask, "When is it? Your wedding."

"In a few months. Will you be attending?" Her voice sounded a little more hopeful.

She huffed. "Can you keep a secret?"

"I've been keeping our conversations a secret."

"Then my secret is that my pirate crew's working on a plan to help me leave, so I'll probably be gone by the time it's your wedding..."

"Oh." It took Eva longer to ask a follow-up question. "Where are you going with the rest of TRE4SURE?"

"Anywhere and everywhere. We're pirates! The entire point of this is to do what we want whenever we want!"

"That sounds nice. I wish you the best on your travels."

"Yeah, you too. For your marriage. And your travels, since you'll be going to a different kingdom... You'll be a queen in a few months," she realized. "You excited?"

Eva finally sat down next to her. Up close, Cassidy could see her face better, and she could easily get lost in her eyes that were currently focusing on the ground. It took her a second to register that Eva had answered, "Not particularly..."

Cassidy cleared her throat. "That sucks. Ever thought about running away?"

"I'm not a pirate like you."

"I guess that's true... But you'll be great as a queen."

Eva sneaked a glance at her, but she didn't reply. Cassidy was a little thankful because she couldn't think of anything else to say. She was almost grateful that she had the excuse of doing more work, making it so that she could leave soon, but at the same time, she also wanted to stay.

. . .

Cassidy decided that she was a woman with a goal, and her goal was to spend time with Eva either before Cassidy left with TRE4SURE, Eva got married, or both. She made this clear to Eva during the next visit.

Eva said, "I'm becoming busier..."

"We'll make it work," Cassidy responded.

"Then if you insist..." Her voice sounded reluctant, but Cassidy swore that she saw a small smile.

Cassidy looked around Eva's room. When she picked up one of her trinkets, she said, "Don't steal it."

"Just because I'm a pirate doesn't mean I'll steal everything," she huffed as she put it back.

Eva hummed in response. She watched Cassidy from a distance. Cassidy wanted to say something to make her feel more comfortable, but her mind was blanking. Maybe she was hinting at something earlier with her potentially stealing from her. Maybe she shouldn't have been so proud about being a pirate, at least not in front of her.

Cassidy left the trinkets. The bed didn't look like it had that many expensive stuff around it—well, the blankets alone probably costed a lot, and they would probably cost more if it was advertised as the blankets of a real princess, but she didn't feel like trying to get a rough estimate right now—so she sat on on the bed. She kept her feet on the ground, but she decided to lay down. When her back hit the mattress, she noticed that her head had narrowly missed Eva's lap after she had decided to sit down too. She fought the urge to tell her to move closer.

"So," Cassidy said slowly, "anything new you wanna share?"

Her eyes met hers, but Eva soon looked away. A second passed before she answered. "I don't like my fiancé."

A smile tugged on her lips. "Does anyone actually like their partner in an arranged marriage?"

"I don't know, but I don't like him."

"What did he do?"

It took another second to get a reply. "Nothing."

"So he wasn't even gentlemanly? Damn."

"No, he was nice. Sweet."

"But boring?"

"No, not boring either, I think. He has goals for his kingdom, and while he focuses on that, he has some interests outside of it."

"So he's nice and interesting. Is there something big he did that made you hate him?"

Eva silently shook her head.

"So what don't you like about him?" she asked.

Eva didn't answer. She only adjusted her position and laid down. Her head was closer to Cassidy's, but Cassidy decided to choose sanity and not turn her head to see how close they actually were. Ceilings had suddenly become more interesting anyway.

"So things haven't been great for you?" Her voice was unintentionally quieter than before.

"No," Eva answered. "But things are for you?"

"I think enough ships have come. My crew mate, Diana, visited me yesterday, she says that the next time she comes, it's to tell me where I wait on what day to leave."

She could feel Eva's focus on her. It would be so easy to turn her head and see Eva's face and get an idea of what she was thinking, but she wouldn't. She needed to do anything that could help her mind feel clearer.

"I wish I was a pirate," Eva said quietly.

Cassidy's tone matched hers. "It's not all fun and games. We have to keep running from the law, we make a lot of enemies, the sea can be so annoying..."

"I figured, but having the freedom to do basically whatever you want would be nice.. ."

Cassidy was going to ask what she meant by that, but she made the mistake of turning her head to face her first. She now had the clear view of Eva looking right at her with a soft gaze, and she was loosely playing with a strand of Cassidy's hair that she hadn't realized that she had gotten a hold of.

Her throat felt too dry to ask anything.

Eva spoke for her. "I know I can't offer anything to pirates, but it would be nice to be away from everything and everyone. There aren't any marriages you have to think of out there in the sea.. ."

Cassidy made herself nod. She knew that she was staring, but she couldn't bring herself to look away.

Eva didn't add anything else, and when nothing could come to Cassidy's mind other than how Eva looked—not a good conversation starter—they fell into silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, but when she had to leave, Cassidy didn't know if Eva felt uncomfortable about her new staring problem. God, she was a mess...

. . .

Today, when Cassidy visited Eva, it was earlier than she normally visited. Eva was wearing pyjamas. After realizing her staring problem, Cassidy made sure that she only looked at Eva's face and her gaze never went lower.

Okay, maybe it did one or two times, but she always brought it back up the moment she caught herself!

When she was allowed inside, Eva picked up her hairbrush. Cassidy blurted out, "I can brush your hair for you."

Before she could cringe at her words, the hairbrush was handed to her. Eva had her sit on the bed. When she was comfortable, Eva sat in front of her, and her long, luscious locks were right in front of Cassidy's face. They were so soft to touch. It took a moment for her to remember why they were in front of her to begin with.

"I'm supposed to be seeing my fiancé later today," Eva said. "We're supposed to actually talk. From what my parents told me, he didn't like me that much either—"

"He's got horrible taste in women then," she huffed.

She paused. "That's just what I was told... We're supposed to talk and see if we like each other more, but if we don't like each other enough to not want to get married immediately, then it probably won't change after one day together."

"Do you think you could ever like him?"

"Maybe as a friend, but never as a lover. I've never felt that way about a man."

"About a—wait, did you ever date anyone?" Cassidy gasped.

"No? Where did you get that from?"

Cassidy was going to answer, but just then, Eva turned around. She had taken her glasses off while her back was turned to her. She looked great with glasses on, but this was her first time seeing her without them, and, just wow...

When Cassidy failed to give a response with her malfunctioning brain, Eva turned back around. "I've never had any lovers, male or female. I think women are pretty, though. I wouldn't mind having a female lover."

"What a coincidence, me too. About having a female lover. A girlfriend. Except none of them were ever really girlfriends..." She attempted to chuckle, but it came out weak. She tried brushing Eva's hair, but her fingers were struggling to work.

"So what were those women, if they weren't girlfriends?" Her voice sounded more interesting than she would have expected.

"I had a few flings with some other women here and there. Nothing special, nothing deep. Us pirates can't stay in one place for too long, after all."

"Why can't they join your pirate crew?"

"Spending basically all your days out at sea isn't everyone's ideal life. Also, our captain has this specific vision he wants. He might just want four members—he felt really smart with he replaced the A in 'treasure' to be a four—but he also has a criteria for all new members that he won't tell anyone else. I literally never spoke to him before he came up to me one day at a bar and asked me if I wanted to join a ship crew. And I've never been out at sea before this, so I didn't even know how to take care of a ship."

"And you still said yes?"

"Well, I didn't think he was serious..."

And then Eva laughed. It only lasted for a moment, but Cassidy felt her heart jump out of her chest, and her body stopped just to process it. She needed to get Eva to laugh more often.

But that had to be later. She needed to brush Eva's hair right now.

"Isn't it a waste of time to have a fling when if you know you'll leave soon, though?" Eva asked.

"I mean, the point of a fling is to be short..."

"That still feels like a waste of time, though. You could be putting that effort into finding someone you will spend a lot of time with."

Cassidy opened her mouth, but she shut it when she started wondering if this was a different sort of message. She decided to quietly braid Eva's hair instead.

When she finished, Eva checked it in the mirror. She smiled. "Thank you, Cassidy."

"Yeah, it's...it's no problem..."

She looked to the clock. "I still have some time before I have to go. Cassidy, do you have to go, or..."

Cassidy decided her schedule was free. "I have some pirate stories if you wanna hear them."

Eva nodded. They saw next to each other on the bed as Cassidy began whatever stories she could think of that Eva would like to hear. She had realized a lot of her stories didn't feel as funny as she thought they were before—would Eva think she wasn't funny? She could be funny!—but she said them anyway because it was too late to back out now. Fortunately, Eva seemed entertained. She was going to find a bridge to jump off of if she found out Eva was actually only pretending...

. . .

Eva and her prince fiancé had gone out of the castle for the rest of the day after Cassidy left yesterday. Today, when Cassidy visited, Eva had gifts for her. They ranged from snacks to card games to teddy bears, accessories, charms, and pillows.

Cassidy was happily going through everything when Eva announced, "I messed up."

She looked up from the trinket she was given of some guy with a goat mask. "Messed up what?"

She didn't look up from her shoes. "On my outing with my fiancé yesterday, I, umm... He wanted to know if there were things I would like to get that I normally couldn't because now we didn't have anyone telling us what to do, and... I ended up making the entire conversation about you..."

A smile threatened to form, but she did her best to keep it away. She tried not to sound that pleased too. "Really?"

She untucked a strand of hair from behind her ear. "I didn't realize it, but... My fiancé didn't mind buying gifts for you. His heart isn't really in this marriage either. Honestly, if we got married, I think he wouldn't mind me having a mistress on the side as long as I don't bring enough attention to it that we start facing backlash."

Cassidy really, really wanted to ask who this mistress was that she was thinking about, but Eva just talked about not bringing attention to it, so she wouldn't.

She instead said, "Well, thanks for the gifts. And thank you to your prince fiancé too, I guess, for not throwing a fuss about this. I probably would've if I was him."

"You would get upset if I was talking a lot about, I guess for us, a boy?"

"Well, yeah! I have a new rival for your attention."

"My attention?" Amusement entered her eyes. "Are you the jealous type?"

Normally, the answer would be no, since she couldn't remember ever feeling jealous. But with Eva looking at her with her small smile and curious eyes, she was questioning herself.

"M-Maybe?" Why did she stutter? She was making a complete fool of herself...

Eva's smile grew just a bit. "That's cute."

Princess Eva Tsunaka thought she was cute. Cassidy ducked her head and focused on the ugly goat-mask man doll. She hoped her hair was covering her face from Eva's view.

"Oh, Cassidy." Eva showed her a book. "I don't know how much you like reading, but I bought this just in case you do. It's really good."

"What's it about?"

Eva started explaining the story. It sounded very nerdy, which wasn't something she would have expected Eva to like. She wasn't complaining, though, because Eva's eyes shone brighter than she had seen, and her smile was bigger too. Cassidy's hands itched to hold her face and pinch her cheeks, but she settled for squeezing the goat-mask man doll so hard that if it was real, his bones would've been broken. Her heart raced fast, but even with the warm feeling inside her, she still couldn't look away from her joy.

Cassidy barely got the story by the time Eva finished—she probably could've gotten it if she paid less attention to Eva's looks. She was the worst, but it gave her a new idea. She told her, "You should read it to me."

"Right now?" Her voice sounded more nonchalant than it was five seconds ago, but she was already opening to the first chapter.

Cassidy adjusted her position to be next to Eva as she began reading. Eva focused on the words on the pages, but Cassidy's eyes were on Eva only. Her voice was so nice to listen to...

Did Cassidy really have to leave Eva so soon?

. . .

Diana came to see Cassidy today in the castle gardens. She announced that in three days, their plan to get Cassidy out of the castle would begin.

"Are you excited?" Diana asked, bouncing on her heels.

She tried to smile, but it was a failure. She probably would not have a chance like this again, so it was now or never. "Hey, Diana, I have a big favour to ask..."

Diana planted her feet firmly in the ground. "What is it?"

She practised this over and over in her head, but it still felt nerve-wrecking to ask, "Can I take Eva with me?"

"Eva?" she repeated with furrowed brows. "Eva as in..."

"Princess Eva Tsunaka."

"Oh..."

Yeah. Oh.

Diana fiddled with her hands. "Umm... Can I meet her?"

"Don't you want to stay a little hidden?"

"Yes, but maybe I'll have a better chance of convincing Jean if I knew how she is..."

Cassidy took her to Eva's room. When she opened the door, Eva's eyes brightened when she saw Cassidy, but frowned when she noticed Diana.

"Hey, Princess," Cassidy said as happily as she could. "Can we come in?"

She slowly nodded, her gaze still on Diana. Inside her bedroom, she stood closer to Cassidy.

Cassidy gestured towards Diana. "So, this is one of my pirate crew mates."

She smiled. "My name is Diana."

"And, Diana"—Cassidy intertwined her arm with Eva's—"this is Princess Eva Tsunaka."

Eva nodded her greetings.

"Did Cassidy tell you what she was going to ask me?" Diana asked her. "She asked if you could come with us when we help Cassidy escape."

"To get away from my arranged marriage. Yes, she told me that," Eva lied smoothly.

"Are you okay with that?"

"Yes. I am."

Cassidy's shoulders relaxed.

Diana nodded. "I'm guessing Cassidy told you that Jean does what Jean wants, so I guess I'll just leave it to him. I'll probably come back later, so, Cassidy, forget everything I told you."

"Will do!"

Diana tried to spend a few more minutes talking to Eva, but Eva's replies were short and blunt. Eventually, Diana left.

Alone, Eva turned to her. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I was going to," she hasitly said, "but Diana came to me first, and I wasn't sure if I would ever have another chance like this... Are you mad?"

"I'm not mad. Even if your captain doesn't accept me, I'll be outside the castle. I can leave and do my own things, so... Thank you, Cassidy." She smiled at her.

The only thing Cassidy could think of doing was awkwardly laugh. God, she was so pathetic...

"What exactly is out there, though?" Eva asked. "What's it like for a commoner?"

She rubbed her hands together as she let out a low whistle. "It's been a while since I haven't been a pirate..."

"That's okay."

And so, Cassidy told Eva everything she remembered about what it was like to be a commoner. She had to keep reminding herself not to look at Eva because if she did, she would lose her train of focus from how Eva was looking at her.

. . .

There was now a confirmed marriage date for Eva and her prince fiancé. It would be in exactly one month from now, and it was planned that Eva would leave to her new prince husband's kingdom after the wedding. When Cassidy found this out through overheard gossip between servants, she immediately when to Eva's room.

Eva didn't seem upset at the news. Cassidy was going to ask why, but Eva was already answering her question. "You're getting me out of this place whether I join your pirate crew or not. I don't have to worry about this."

"So it all comes down to me?"

"Basically."

No pressure at all...

"I want to go on a walk around the castle," Eva announced. "Let's go, Cassidy."

She offered her hand. Cassidy took it. As they walked, Eva told her stories that happened in random places. Some of them were light-hearted, and there were a few funny ones, but there were some unpleasant ones.

When she finished the story she was just on, Cassidy asked, "Do you really hate being a princess that much? Like... You hate it enough to run away?"

"Of course," she said like it was a fact.

"Why?"

Eva stopped walking. She turned to her with a serious expression. "Why should I like it?"

There were things like pretty dresses and all the money, but being in an arranged marriage wasn't fun. Neither was being forced to leave your kingdom, only returning for political reasons if there were any. And it wasn't fun to be locked in your room until your parents' hunt for a suitable husband for you was completed. And that was probably only scratching the surface.

Without a reply from her, Eva kept walking. Cassidy eventually had the courage to ask, "Are you sure we should be holding hands? Even we weren't both girls, you're still a princess, and I'm still a prisoner-forced-maid..."

"It's fine. Again, I'm leaving soon. I don't care what rumours start about me now."

That was fair enough. Cassidy should probably start having that mindset, so she did her best not to care. It required more energy than she thought.

They eventually made a full round, and they made it back to Eva's room. Eva had the two of them lay on her bed together. She moved a little too close to her. Cassidy didn't complain.

When Cassidy spoke, her voice wasn't as loud as she expected it to be, but she couldn't bring herself to be louder when Eva's face was right in front of hers. "So, what do you want to do when you leave the castle?"

"Get a job," she answered simply.

She laughed. "Employment on the first day of freedom? Seriously?"

"I need to be able to feed myself somehow."

"I can take care of you. I know tons of ways to get money. In legal and illegal ways." Her smile was smug.

The corners of her lips twitched. "I still need a way to support myself if your captain doesn't accept me."

"Jean will accept you. And if he doesn't... I don't accept Jean! I'll leave TRE4SURE!"

"No, you won't, but thank you."

Before Cassidy could ask why she was so certain of that, but Eva was brushing her hair away from her face, so she didn't feel like talking now. Instead, she moved closer, basking in her touch. Her eyes became half-closed.

Eva's hand rested on her cheek. She whispered, "You have smooth skin for a pirate."

That sounded a little backhanded, but one look at her tender expression made her know that it was genuine. "Thanks."

Eva's gaze drifted down. It stayed down for only a second, but Cassidy noticed. Her heart skipped a beat.

She said the first thing that she could think of: "You should take off your glasses first."

"My glasses?" she repeated. "Why?"

Shit.

"Never mind. For—"

"No, do what you're thinking."

Now Cassidy was wondering if Eva was purposely waiting for her to take the lead. There was only one way to find out.

Cassidy sat up. She got on top of Eva, one leg on both sides of Eva's body. Eva turned onto her back and faced her. Gently, Cassidy took off her glasses and placed them to the side. She smiled as she watched Eva blink a few times, adjusting to her new vision.

Cassidy leaned down. Their lips met, and Eva pulled her closer. And still, it wasn't close enough.

Nothing else mattered other than to be as close to Eva as Cassidy possibly could be.

. . .

Diana had come by this morning. Jean said Cassidy could bring Eva, and they were all going to leave tonight. Diana would be the one to help them leave.

"It's super easy to break in and out," Diana assured Cassidy. "No offence, but I'm surprised you haven't broken out yet!"

She probably could've if she wanted to. "Well, I have a princess I wanna see..."

"I can tell," she said with a smile.

Cassidy excused herself to go to Eva's room. When she did, she told her what would happen tonight.

"What should I bring?" she asked.

"Just some comfortable clothes and probably some money. And maybe some things you can maybe trade later."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to steal them when I'm not looking?"

She smiled. "Maybe!"

Cassidy helped Eva pack. When they reunited with Diana, she asked Eva, "Are you leaving anything behind, like a note saying where you went?"

"No," she answered. "Even if your captain doesn't accept me, I'm still going to leave this kingdom."

Cassidy wrapped an arm around her waist. "And I'll come with her."

"No, you won't," Eva told her, but she had a softness in her eyes.

At the same time, Diana looked horrified as she exclaimed, "You will? Why didn't you tell me? What am I—what are we going to tell Jean? Going to tell Kai? Will we actually have to put a three somewhere in 'treasure?'"

"Nothing," Cassidy answered her. "I'll figure it out after Jean says if Eva can stay."

Diana nodded, but she still looked sad. Eva offered her one of the bracelets she had taken with her, and that cheered her up. Maybe if Cassidy and Diana liked Eva, Jean would agree to let her in their crew. Hopefully...

. . .

Eva was allowed to get onto TRE4SURE's ship, but Jean hadn't made a definite answer as to if she could stay yet. He claimed that if he decided that she couldn't stay, they would drop her off in whatever kingdom she felt like. Cassidy didn't like hearing that, but she also knew that there was so point in trying to make him get to an answer faster.

They had left Eva's kingdom and were now in the middle of the ocean. The familiar rocking of the boat brought Cassidy more peace than she thought, as did sitting on the dock with Diana and Kai, now with the addition of Eva. Eva was showing off some of the trinkets and jewelry she brought.

When Kai picked up a ring, Eva snatched it from him. She said, "Don't steal my things."

"I wasn't going to?" Kai replied, frowning. "Is this stereotyping? This feels like stereotyping."

"I don't stereotype pirates. I'm close to one."

"We are." Cassidy was resting her head on Eva's shoulder.

Kai huffed. "So it's discrimination..."

"I don't think that's right," Diana said as she tried on a necklace that Eva didn't take from her.

"Cassidy!" Jean came out of the captain's quarters. He gestured for her to come over.

Cassidy squeezed Eva's hand before she got up. When they were in private, she was going to ask him if he made a decision with Eva yet.

Jean got it to first by telling her, "I don't like how 'treasure' looks with a five replacing the A."

Her shoulders sagged. "So it's a no...?"

"Well, no one outside of our crew needs to know exactly how many people are in our crew."

Her back straightened. "Wait, so that means—"

"Eva can join us," Jean said. "We'll probably find some use with an ex-princess on our side."

Cassidy beamed. She squeezed him in a hug and rambled on with her thanks. Jean patted her head. He told her, "I think I'll leave you to teach Eva what she needs to do."

"I'll teach her everything! Thank you so, so much!"

Cassidy ran out to find Eva. She was right where she left her, and she crushed her in a hug. Eva adjusted her position for her.

"Jean let me stay," she stated.

Cassidy giggled. "He did!"

"Wait, are we spelling 'treasure' with a five now?" Kai asked, pausing his conversation of trying to convince Diana to give him Eva's necklace that she was currently wearing.

"Jean said we're lying," Cassidy said with a smile.

Diana gasped. "Jean is becoming a real pirate now..."

"Don't let him hear you say that," Kai told her.

Cassidy sighed as she leaned against Eva. Eva held onto her with a smile. They didn't have to worry about marriages anymore, not now that they were on this ship far away from everyone else.

Being a pirate really wasn't so bad!

[eyitzme]

ⁿᵒᵗ ᵘᵖ ᶠᵒʳ ᵇⁱᵈᵈⁱⁿᵍ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 3: Pining (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Cassidy has to leave the country for a video game tournament. Eva is very lonely without her. Notes: No Killing Game AU, Established Casseva Word Count: 739

so you'll be gone for a while...

It wasn't out of the ordinary for Cassidy to tell Eva that she would be leaving soon to go to a different tournament. It was usually for a few days in a different state at most, but today, Cassidy said during dinner tonight that she would be leaving the country in a few weeks.

"For how long?" Eva asked slowly.

"Three weeks," she answered.

"Where are you going again?"

"France."

So an ocean would be separating them.

"Is that okay?" Cassidy asked. "If you don't like it, I'll cancel my spot immediately!"

Eva didn't want to seem like a controlling girlfriend, so she said, "You can go, obviously. Have fun."

"I'll get you gifts!"

Gifts didn't sound that appealing, but Eva nodded anyway. They still had some time together, so she just needed to make the most of it before then.

. . .

Cassidy had left about a week and a half ago. That meant Eva had to wait another week and a half for her to return. That wasn't that long. She already went through one week and a half, so it would be okay. Eva could survive one week.

But Eva was also staring at her phone, looking at pictures Cassidy posted online and had sent her.

They had literally just talked, and Cassidy had just hung up to go to sleep after Eva said she didn't feel like sleeping yet, so they couldn't fall asleep on call together. Even so, Eva stared at the pictures that had Cassidy in them.

She looked so happy there, meeting new people and getting along with them. A pro gamer in a gaming space was obviously where she would be the happiest, and it was nice seeing her like this. Eva was beginning to wish, though, that she could be next to Cassidy.

This was like before they started dating, and Eva had started feeling jealous whenever she saw Cassidy having fun with others, especially pretty women. She didn't feel jealous, but like then, she wanted to be next to her and see her smile up close.

Eva wasn't pathetic, though, so she stopped looking at the pictures. She could be calm without Cassidy. She could do other things that didn't involve her, and she could think about things that didn't involve her. Right now, actually, she would be doing that. A new episode of her favourite show came out, so she would watch that and not think about anything else.

But later, Eva looked through photos of her and Cassidy, but mainly photos of Cassidy.

. . .

Cassidy had told Eva the day that her plane arrived that she couldn't meet up with Eva yet to do some video stuff. Eva said that was okay. Because it was okay. She wasn't going to interfere with her girlfriend's career. It gave her more time to prepare stuff for her when she got back.

Cassidy would like big surprises only when she had the energy. She never had energy after long flights, so Eva only had her favourite food and her favourite movie ready for tonight. Tomorrow, when she had more energy, they would be going to a theme park, where they could try out every single ride there. For now, she could rest.

Eva laid on her bed and doom-scrolled on her phone, but her eyes kept flickering to the top of her screen. She also kept pausing her doomscrolling to physically check if she had any new text messages. For a long time, there weren't any.

Finally, she sat up when she saw Cassidy text her that she was home.

Eva greeted her at the door. Cassidy squeezed her in a hug, nuzzling her face in her shoulder.

"My body hurts," she whined.

She rubbed her back. "What did you do?"

"Sleep uncomfortably in the car..."

She smiled. "Are you hungry? I made you food."

"Oh, yeah, now that you mention it, I'm hungry!" She kissed her cheek. "I missed you!"

Eva was going to be nonchalant and find a way to avoid answering, but upon seeing her girlfriend's bright eyes and beautiful smile, she answered, "I missed you too."

Cassidy's smile grew. She cupped her face and kissed her. Only now did Eva realize just how much she missed her, and God, was she happy that she had her back.

[eyitzme]

ᵃ ᶜᵒˡˡᵉᶜᵗⁱᵒⁿ ᵒᶠ ᵐⁱˢᵗᵃᵏᵉˢ ;; ᶜᵃˢˢᵉᵛᵃ ⁽ᵖ:ᵉᵍ⁾

February 2: Serenade (bingo by @femslash-february) Summary: Cassidy always romances a character close enough to Eva whenever she plays video games. In this game, she gets to try to make her character fall in love with Eva's character that she made. Notes: No Killing Game AU, Established Casseva Word Count: 1,274 A/N: It's not clear what Cassidy is playing, but for simplicity's sake, pretend it's the Sims or something similar.

look, look, it's us!

Cassidy didn't care much for playing video games that involved romance. If it existed in a video game she was playing, cool, but unless her fans were begging her to play a specific romance game, she wasn't actively looking for it. Now that she had Eva in her life, she made it clear to her fans that she would not play any games that involved romance if she couldn't make herself date Eva or date a character that was so close to Eva that it was basically her—but it would never be her, obviously. She wasn't being serious at first, but this led her to discover cool games, so she decided to be serious about it. She was loyal!

One fan had recommended her a lifestyle game where she could make people live in a house. She could control their lives or watch them do what they decided to do. Basically, she could be God to a small group of humans. She gave it a chance, even though it didn't seem like something she'd be interested in, and she immediately fell in love.

"Look, Eva," she said, showing Eva her computer screen, "it's us!"

Eva watched the screen. "That's cute."

"I know! We even have that dog you always wanted! But we're not dating yet," she clarified.

"Why not?"

"So I can relive our love story, obviously!"

"Cute," she said, directed to Cassidy this time instead of the game. She kissed her cheek. "I'm making dinner soon. Do you want anything special? And don't tell me to sit on your face," she said before she could tell her exactly that.

She sighed dramatically. "If we're going to be boring, then no, I don't want anything special."

"Okay. Have fun with your game."

Cassidy made sure the video game versions of herself and Eva were fed before she left to join the real Eva.

. . .

Cassidy had made her video game character flirt with Eva a lot. It seemed to be working, because Eva's character would always get flustered by the actions. Cassidy made sure to tell her fans that was how it actually happened in real life, but her fans were convinced that Eva was more nonchalant than this. They were partially right, and she was partially lying, but there were times when she could make Eva get flustered!

Whenever she could, Eva watched her livestreams when Cassidy was still streaming, but when she was busy, she watched them after. Cassidy never thought much about who watched her streams until she first heard her own voice coming from her then-crush's phone, and she realized that she could be so embarrassing online. She didn't think that anymore, but she did feel a little self-conscious when she knew that her girlfriend was watching her be so goofy.

Cassidy recognized her own voice coming through Eva's phone, and she recognized the words video-Cassidy was saying as what she had said during her livestream today. Without looking up, Eva said, "I don't know if I like being serenaded."

Cassidy came up behind her. "Yeah, I thought so, but I also thought it'd be funny."

The characters spoke in a made-up language, so whatever they said immediately sounded silly. That meant songs sounded silly too. When Cassidy saw that she had the option to attempt to serenade Eva's character, she knew she had to do it.

"Oh, I rejected you," Eva said. Cassidy didn't need her to say that because she could hear her loud confusion coming from her phone.

"You didn't reject me," she said. "You said you'd think about it."

"That's basically a rejection."

"But you'll accept my feelings, right? We literally have a pet dog together!"

"We can share custody. Besides, I never had any dream of being serenaded..."

"Whatever," she huffed. "Maybe video-game-me can be depressed that she didn't get the love of her life, but that's okay because I have the real deal!"

Cassidy tilted Eva's head up and kissed her. She could feel Eva smile into the kiss. It would've been so romantic and cute, but she forgot that a little after Eva's character rejected-but-totally-didn't-actually-reject Cassidy's character, their dog died, which made the real Cassidy and her chat go crazy.

. . .

Eva asked Cassidy, "Are you okay?"

Cassidy shrugged, playing with her own fingers. She was sitting on one end of the couch, and Eva was sitting on the other side.

"Did I do something?"

"You rejected me..."

"I told you it was too hot to cuddle last night."

"Not that! Well, sorta," she said, "but you rejected me in the game..."

"In what—oh," she realized. "Sorry?"

Cassidy's character's serenading didn't work. Eva's character rejected her, so now Cassidy's character had to deal with who should've been her girlfriend rejecting her and the death of her dog—which was also the dog of the girl that rejected her!

"If it makes you feel better," Eva said, "I probably would've rejected you if you had confessed your feelings to me through serenading."

"That doesn't make me feel better at all..."

"At least you know it's realistic."

"I guess, but—" She gasped, sitting up straighter. "Does this mean I still have a chance?"

"What?"

"Because your feelings for me wouldn't immediately go away if I confessed by serenading you, right?"

"I guess not?"

"So I still have a chance!" Cassidy moved closer and kissed her. "Thanks! I love you!"

Eva still seemed a little confused, but her voice was genuine when she said, "I love you too."

. . .

When she went live, Cassidy had informed her chat of what the real Eva told her and what that meant for their video-game love. With the help of her fans, Cassidy worked to redeem her character in the eyes of Eva's character.

And in the end, their hard work paid off.

Cassidy cheered when she saw that Eva's character accepted her character. She stood up so fast that her chair was knocked over, but she didn't care as she did a small victory circle in her room as her chat celebrated alongside her. Then she got a text message, which she immediately read when she saw that it was from Eva. She picked up her chair as she read it. She playfully gasped.

"You guys, look!" She showed her phone screen to the chat, trying to make it so that they could read it. She gave up after a few seconds and read it herself. "The real Eva just texted me, 'I'm watching your stream right now. I'm happy for our video-game selves, but just so you know, you had it easy. It would've taken a lot more for me to actually accept your feelings if you really tried to serenade me.'

"Chats, she's lying! I probably would've had it easier in real life! I just need to give her something related to whoever her favourite character is at the moment, and she'd be begging to go on a date with me."

Eva sent her another text. Cassidy read that one out loud too. "'No, I wouldn't. Stop lying.' You stop lying! She's the liar, not me!"

After some more back and forth, Eva let her get back to the livestream. She loved Eva, of course, and she loved talking to her, but Cassidy did need to focus on the video game. She was going to make sure that she would always be together with Eva in every universe—or really, every video game—so she couldn't afford to make Eva's character hate her again!