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Edie,

It has been a long time since I last saw you. twenty one years, seven months, and twelve days, to be precise.

I think I miss you. Damien had to explain what the feeling was to me. But it is much like what I felt when holding my breath for Deluge. I think I’ve been holding my breath waiting for you to come home come back. Now my chest aches. A lot of me aches, but I think most of it for unrelated reasons. I can longer tell what is the illness and what is just the pain of being. Every time I think back to you on the helicopter I understand more and more. You were not fully here that night, but you were trying. You were trying to be there so that you could be there with me. I keep trying to be here and stay here for you. I don’t think I can anymore.

I’ve been waiting to have another one of those blue ice drinks that stain my mouth. Turns out there’s red ones too, but I never tried them. My mouth is already red so I don’t see much of a point. But I have tried many other things that I think you’d enjoy: kettle corn, air hockey, nachos, go fish, and there are these strange holographic keychains at gas stations that have so many different names. I couldn’t find one of your’s that spelled it right, but I tried. Oh, and if you ever get the chance, go to one of the county fairs that humans have. They are dirty and always on the hottest day of the year, but they are filled with color and light. Are your days filled with color and light as well? Is that what it is like among the stars? Or is it cold and dark?

Every day feels more cold and dark on earth. But we are safe. And I am happy. It’s just Laura, Damien, and I now. A small team, but one I am glad to be a part of. I want you to know that although I lived these days alone, I was not lonely. I think humans are meant to find community and partnership. But I am not one of them. And nor are you. We got close, but we were never meant to be anything but alone.

I’m sorry I couldn’t keep the plants alive long enough to see your return. I’m sorry I could not keep myself alive long enough either.

But I’ve lived well, died well, and I think I will die well again. I think I want to die under the stars. You are in the stars. I think I want to die with you.

That is all.

Eve

#self para.

callededie:

he shakes his head . ‘ not forever, but for a time. ’ he had been worried the first time he had one, thinking he had made some mistake. he stood out enough as it was, without blue teeth and tongue. eventually though, it went away. he reached the same conclusion that she had: harmless. still, it was interesting to him that humans had food that changed them, even if only for a small period of time.

no matter how they saw each other, more or less human than then themselves, it would be impossible to deny that they had an ability to understand each other. neither exactly fit well with humanity but, at least in edie’s case, found it possible to let down their persona when they were alone. eve had always been willing to explain things she understood better to him, while they could commiserate together over the things the rest did that did not make sense. she never backed away when he became more focused, and let practiced expressions fall to the wayside. that was the edie that made others nervous, the emotionless alien, but he did not remember her ever seeming nervous or off put around him.

‘ i could do it by accident, ’ he thinks out loud. picking the wrong expression, saying the wrong thing … he had done it before actually. not in a romantic setting, but certainly he had given people the wrong impression over the years. ‘ showing feelings is difficult, lots of room for error. … not on purpose though. ’ he takes a seat next to her on the couch, and frowns back at her. ‘ really anything. i’ve seen two different movies about a green monster. ’ head tilts slightly when she suggests that’s why they like him. ‘ i always thought that was why i bothered them. so close, but not exactly right. maybe it’s both. ’

“hmm, that’s probably good,” she posits, “the people at the farmer’s market think that i am strange enough already.” she had tried many things at the farmers market. both in terms of things to eat and personas to wear. it seemed the perfect place to go stall by stall and talk to people. she got to know their lives and try free samples. and they were all very polite because they were trying to sell her something, and she theorized that allowed her more time and patience from them.

eve nods, “the face is very complex. lots of muscles to move and it’s difficult to control precisely. additionally, there are many ways the movements can be interpreted. i would deeply appreciate a world in which people entered a conversation saying how they are feeling and then announcing when that feeling changes. but humans prefer subtly, even if it does mean many misconceptions.”

eve sets down her slushee and folds her hands in her lap, “so close,” she sighs, “sometimes i feel that way too. as if i have disappointed people. they look at me, and see a face that is quite normal. and then i say something odd and it is as if i have let them down. i do not know why humans are so dedicated to the idea of only accepting those who are identical to them. perhaps i can change their mind. . .with time.”

#edie #plot drop 10.

captaiinkick:

while he hadn’t foreseen eve to retreat to her own ranch, he couldn’t say he didn’t understand it. while there was no impulse or desire left in him to return to indiana, there was something innately peaceful about the rural setting. maybe sometime in the future, he’d take zia on a spontaneous road trip to that corner of the world, just for the fun of it.

“how’s it been at the ranch? have any coyotes bothered you yet?” this last part was obviously a joke; as lackluster of a quip as it’d been, he smiled at it, like a fool.

eve had been observing will for a long time. back when it was her task to assess the team, he had always been the center of her focus. every fell around him. and it seemed that was still true. she didn’t believe in fate, but will always had a presence, like a gravity, that pulled people towards him. it was no surprise he and zia ended up in some special relationship. fantastic people gravitate towards one another. and eve was happy for them. she did not think she would ever understand romance, but at least she could comprehend their compatibility.

“it has been very nice. no coyotes yet. but i have been dealing with moles and carpenter bees. it almost feels like cheating to force the moles out of the ground using my powers,” she reasoned, “what about you? how is it working with kids? i cannot say i understand your decision.”

#will.#plot drop 10.

valentiincs:

“Quiet, huh.” Damien was too entrenched in the cacophonous noise of the city that the suburbs almost felt like something waited in the wings for him—it might have done him good to visit, maybe a road trip. He’ll call Eve about it in the summer; maybe Cassie could ride a horse. Or something.

“New York’s—well, it’s New York. Mostly a lot of people, a lot of tourists, the private investigation agency’s taking off. I still get to go to Cassie’s science fairs, and she’s learning the drums. Sadly. Carlos and I go on dates, grab a bite, make out in one of those picture booths.” There’s a blush in his cheeks; Eve and him had some sort of mutual understanding back then. No words, no actions, just a quiet, detached respect. Now, when they talked about the mundane things, feels like a triumph overall. “Mostly, I’m just figuring out what was with you and Eeds back then, like a soap. Sort of nosy, but I’m fresh out of cases.”

Eve had only spoken with Cassie briefly up to that point. Eve wasn’t exactly an amiable person in general, and she was especially tense around kids. But Cassie seemed to grasp the abnormal nature of her father’s profession and his coworkers, so she was understanding toward Eve and Eve’s strange backstory and demeanor. As a result, Eve liked Cassie. As much or more than she’d ever been fond of a child. Eve wondered if Cassie would be interested in going to a baseball game with her, since that was Eve’s favorite thing to do, but Eve did not voice the offer. She’d wait to see if Damien was willing to bring Cassie to the countryside at all.

“Sounds very busy,” she said, smiling brightly. She almost had trouble taking in all the information. It all sounded like very fun activities. And Eve wondered if she would be allowed to watch a child’s science fair. She thought it might be interesting. Eve is pulled out of her thoughts of low level chemistry by his words, and she frowns tilting her head. “Edie and I make a good team,” she said, confused, “But it is not like the soaps. We are rational. He understands me and I understand him. You understand me too, but in a different way.”

#damien.#plot drop 10.

thecreatvre:

“CUBAS… NICE. TANGO LIKE.”

He thinks he’d like to go back, some day. Now that he is Free, he thinks there are many places he’d like to go. Maybe he’ll have to figure out some sort list.

Tango tilts his head, trying to make sense of Eve’s statements. Had she thought that the team would not be able to save the world? That’s silly, of course they could. They did! Maybe Eve just needed to see it to believe it. That’s fair. Tango also needed to see some things before he believed them. Chocolate fountains, for instance.

“HOW… EVE? LONG TIME. TEN MONTH. WHAT EVE… DO NOW?”

“Maybe we can vacation there sometime,” suggested Eve, “I’ve never been on a vacation before. Although, I suppose my life is all vacation now.”

In Eve’s eyes Tango has proven himself completely worthy of his freedom. She had once been hesitant to grant him free roam of the world, but it was clear now that he had no intention of doing anything other than helping. She thought he and Edie were quite alike: odd and hard to understand but ultimately striving towards the goal of altruism. Before them, Eve never would have thought it possible to be so selfless.

“I’m very good Tango,” she said, “I have a home and a garden and lots of land to run around. Lots of food too. What are you going to do now that you are home?”

#tango.#plot drop 10.

callededie:

the stoic stare, the lack of facial expression , it wasn’t actually a loss of self. in fact, it was a moment where he wasn’t thinking about which face to make to express what he needed. it’s with such a look on his face, seemingly blank, that he displays to her his tongue. blue in color, dyed such by the sips he had taken on the way over. then he closes his mouth, and once more gives her a smile. ‘ it stains your insides, eve. ’

interesting that they both considered the other human, more than themselves. edie looked at her and saw someone who was born on earth, who seemed to understand them much better than he did, and saw a human. maybe she looked at him and saw someone who had grown up somewhere, someone who had become who they were without training, and saw the same thing. but no, he wasn’t happy to have no job. even with all that he head learned and accepted, there was still a guilt inside of him for surviving the collapse of his own home, though it was unclear how many he would have to save to remedy that.

‘ they do not, eve, ’ he agrees. ‘ but i think you are right. knowing that is knowing them. ’ he nods as confirmation, perhaps only to himself. humans were complicated, messy, and hard to understand. he had done his best, but even know some aspects alluded him. ‘ they got together at the end, in the movie. i do not think i would want that. i still do not understand why, but maybe i should stop trying to. the fish wasn’t a real fish. it was drawn and spoke like it was a human. ’

eve’s head quirks to the side at his blue tongue. it was fascinating to her, the thought of consuming something that could change your appearance. it was kind of fun, the thought of turning pink insides blue. blue was her favorite color, after all. “forever?” she asks, her voice is curious and unaccusing. maybe years ago she would have taken the marker as a threat, a way for a possible adversary to disadvantage her by making her distinct. but she’d started to shed her defensive thinking and instead take things to be what they were: harmless.

to eve, the major distinction between herself and edie was the way they were raised. from the little she knew of his past, he was raised like any other person in his culture. it may have been a culture unlike earth, but he was still brought up with a set of values and practices that were established and traditional. she figured if he was being judged by his own society’s standards he would be deemed normal. but that was not the case for eve. she was the only surviving member of a program that raised twenty four girls to be different. and she was the most different, and therefor most successful in the program and least successful at achieving humanity.

she sits down on her couch, gesturing for him to join her, as she takes another sip of the slusheee, “that does not sounds appealing to me either. i cannot fathom pretending to hate someone and then getting together with them. i have trouble even showing people i like them when i mean to. i don’t think i could perform hate when i actually like someone.” she frowned, “as for the fish, humans can see themselves in anything. perhaps that it why they see you as human too even though you are not. you sort of look like one and speak like one, and that is enough to them.”

#edie.#plot drop 10.

valentiincs:

Relatable? I mean, sure—she did fake her death, but that maybe was a niche audience that the program wasn’t counting on pandering to. But still, it was good that Eve was finding her feet through the scary process that was being human. Soaps and a ranch for Pendulum; he wouldn’t have dreamed of it back then, and even now, it seemed surreal. But back to the gossip, he supposed.

“Oh no, I’m a city slicker. Cassie might like a change of pace, though,” he replied, a smile on his face, a little too eager. “It must get—you know. Lonely. Any of your neighbors catch your eyes? Any friends?”

Eve thought that if someone at the bureau had done an evaluation of Eve and Damien twenty years ago, they would have been deemed least likely to integrate successfully into domestic life. And yet, here they were with homes and lives outside of Exemplar. He even had a child. They were supposed to be the isolated ones, and yet they proved everyone wrong.

“There’s not much to do out there,” she admitted, “but I like the quiet. And sometimes there’s a baseball game at the local highschool. Or sometimes I got to the bowling alley. I like the greasy food and screaming at inanimate objects. And I have friends. My neighbors aren’t very close by since I have a big piece of property but they’re nice too.”

“What about you?”

#damien.#plot drop 10.

thecreatvre:

Yes, Tango does understand now. He hadn’t understood before, though he’d accepted the explanation – now, he gets it.

“TANGO IN… CUBAS,” he replies, excited. “LAND IN… ISLAND. TAKE BOAT. COME HERE. MANY MONTH. TANGO MISS. TEAM.” So now that Eve has died and come back, and Tango has died and come back, he wonders how long it will take Addy, Cesare and Benji to come back. He misses them also. But he knows he will see them again. “TANGO… UNDER–STAND. EVE REASON. FOR PROTECT. EVE ALSO… GOOD. AT PROTECT.”

“Cuba?” she looks mildly impressed. “Can’t say I’ve ever been there before.” She rests her hands on her hips - a casual gesture of approval that she’s learned from the leaders on tv shows. She’d never really tried posturing with friends before, but now she found it quite fun. “Yeah, Tango. I’d say we are pretty good at protecting. Not just the other team members, but the whole world. I never would have seen it coming. All my assessments were wrong.”

#tango.#plot drop 10.

callededie:

the look she gives him makes him feel good , as if he had done the right thing. he thought perhaps, for a moment when he knocked, the he should not have come. he had not been invited, he could have asked first. edie did not do many things on impulse, but he had decided that he wanted to share this with her. ‘ i still am unsure what flavor blue is, but i enjoy them. ’

the ten months that passed had been strange for edie. a waiting game between phone calls from the beaueu. completing an obligatory ppt to help where he could, a more quiet way, even though no one doubted he would pass it. living with the growing feeling that he wasn’t needed anymore, and the itching want to figure out where he should be now. for someone who had more time than the rest of planet earth, his mind told him there was not a moment to spare. he was not human, and he was coming to accept that.

the woman who didn’t consider herself to be either made that pause for a moment. maybe his assessment had been wrong; she didn’t make him feel human, she just made him feel less alien. ‘ i have seen that, eve. it does not make much sense to me. ’ he shakes his head. ‘ what does she sound like ? i saw a movie recently a fish trying to get home, and another about two people who … it was very strange, eve. she was trying to make him hate her, and he was trying to prove she did not hate him, for their jobs. ’

his expression is kind and curious, what she’d used to by now. it seemed he had two modes: work and socialization. when he was at work it was like he lost himself. all of his expressions faded away into a stoic stare. it was as beautiful as it was formidable. but by now eve had come to know this side, and thus, knew not to fear him. she took a sip through the straw, “it’s something synthetic. blue flavor. but i like it too.”

she didn’t notice that he was restless, though. as good as eve had become at talking with other people, she still had trouble reading their faces. to her, edie should be happy. she considered him much like the humans, despite his insistence otherwise. and she assumed that the prospect of no longer having to work delighted him. she was glad to be unemployed. it allowed her to try new things without having to report back. although, she still found herself slipping back into old habits and describing jewelry purchases like intel hands offs.

slowly but surely, she was getting the hang of this human thing. she thought he was too. laughing softly, “humans don’t make sense,” she said, “i think that’s part of getting to know them, just accepting that they do things that are backwards and illogical. especially when it comes to sex and romance. i’m not so sure about the fish, though, i haven’t seen any fish shows.”

#edie.#plot drop 10.

valentiincs:

Okay. She knows a lot more than she did back then Double edged sword, but she was an assassin too, so Damien has his work cut out for him. “If there was just one, I’m not sure I could stand to watch the news every day. I deserve my soaps. That said, are Ricky and Jen in the Morning the only people keeping you company these days? Aside from your cat, of course.”

Designed to be a quick learner, Eve could assimilate easily if she tried. However, sometimes she was consumed by her new identity. Now she was trying to find a balance between the real her and the version of herself she constructed based on what others wanted. Damien helped to bring out the side in her that felt real. “Oh yeah, I love soaps. I saw this one called Days of our Lives where this woman faked her own death to protect her family but then came back like two episodes later. Very relatable stuff.”

She tilted her head to the side, “It’s just been Odette and recently, why? Looking for a countryside getaway?”

#damien.#plot drop 10.

valentiincs:

@retiredeve

“So, what’s new with you, cowgirl?” There’s a mischievous glint in his eye as he asks—he catches Beth’s eye. He wants to go in for the kill.

“that’s a figure of speech,” she declares triumphantly in response to the nickname. she was catching on to these things quicker now. “nothing much, i just started watching the news a few weeks ago as my source of intel. i don’t understand why there is so many channels. shouldn’t there be just one?”

#damien.#plot drop 10.#she's not gonna make this easy.

callededie:

he matches her smile , one that perhaps a bit more natural than it used to be. it is nice to see her in this way, in a way he got to see the others have for a time. he nods and gives his own confirmation, ‘ yes, eve, i would. ’ he holds up an object in his hands, two blue slushees – a human novelty who’s appeal had never faded for the alien they called edward turner – and held one out to her. ‘ good food after a mission. like the team used to do. ’ it had been days since they got back, but better late than never.

in the past ten months she’d actually learned that smiling could hurt. it was never something she’d experienced before. but some nights, after a baseball game, she’d come home and find popcorn in her bra and have to massage at her aching cheekbones. it was a good hurt.

she sees the slushees and her eyes widen, “ooh snack food! i’ve grown to really love ‘movie theater’ food,” she says, her gesturing quotations a little over the top. “sounds like a good tradition. humans are so talented at coming up with rituals. especially unhealthy ones.”

she leads him into the front room and flicks off the tv, “i’ve also been watching a lot of television she admits. i like the trivia show jeapoardy best, although i find the act of answering with a question baffling. there is also this show with a blonde woman named paris that is fascinating. i tried emulating her vocal intonations at a farmer’s market recently. it was not well received.”

#edie.#plot drop 10.

@thecreatvre

“it’s good to see you tango,” she says, “where have you been? are you beginning to understand what i meant when i said i had to go away to protect the team?”

#tango.#plot drop 10.

callededie:

he stands in her doorway , unannounced. humans saw each other outside of work, he had observed it to be true. ‘ hello. is this okay, eve ? ’ @retiredeve

it’s a surprise, that’s for sure. but she’d gotten used to the idea of people showing up without scheduling a meeting by now. she had neighbors, maybe even friends, so she’d given up the habit of answering the door with her gun drawn. she leans against the door frame and smiles, “this is okay,” she confirms, “do you want to come in?”

#edie #plot drop 10.

@captaiinkick

“if you see someone you recognize, even if you don’t know where from, point them out to me. i get the feeling this is the lion’s den. anyone who is anyone in the world of world-ending will be here.”

#WILL.#plot drop 9.

@captaiinkick / @addy-venture

Eve was glad to have been paired with Will. And she was doubly glad that he’d started taking charge and calling the shots. Although she was most acquainted with the terrain she didn’t like the idea of making a habit out of bossing the others around. She liked to report to a superior officer, it was what she felt comfortable doing.

She looked at her two partners, hunching behind one of the pristine lab tables, “The main portal prototype was in a secondary lab, a smaller room than this. The hallways are confusing but I believe it was on the west side of the facility. Perhaps that is where we should start? Or would it be better for us to stand guard and leave the sneaking to Damien?”

#plot drop 8.#Addy.#will.

ziadewans‌:

“Wow, spying on the Russians…” Zia echoes thoughtfully, as though Eve’s admission made reasonable sense, though there remains a part of her that still fails to understand why the rest of the team couldn’t be let in on the secret.

“They had a pretty public state funeral and buried an empty coffin when your body wasn’t found. It was supposed to be a symbolic gesture more than anything else,” Zia explains, as she recalls that day with new perspective. “We were all there, Will even spoke…it was nice…as far as funerals go, I suppose. Really, I’m surprised they never told you about it.”

“The irony is that I was raised as a Russian spy. I like to think that I am the weapon that will destroy them, they weapon of their own making,” she mused, a strange wistful tone in her voice. Her eyes grew distant, as if she was fantasizing about the fall of the place she used to call home, “But that’s a rather romantic notion. My contributions are merely a factor in a larger game.”

Eve didn’t smile, she simply nodded. Her face seemed to fall back into it’s emotionless default, “That is a nice gesture. I hope that it gave you all a degree of closure, despite the fact that I am here to reopen the issue,” she sighed and leaned over the counter, resting her elbows on the cool tile, “They didn’t tell me because I didn’t need to know. Contact was as limited as possible.”

#zia.#plot drop 6.

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