there's a world of angst to explore in eva stratt trying to navigate her way through a bunch of old white men that 90% of the time do not respect her as a person, let alone a woman.
the condescending tone of voice, casually talking over her, acting like they know best, trying to put themselves above her, and, of course, the sexual harassment.
eventually, people do part in front of her and she can silence a room simply by standing in it, but what did it take to get there?
how many times did a man try something before realizing there will be consequences for his actions and he has no power over her? how many times did grace stand next to her, quietly burning with anger and the urge to punch a guy in the face, while she turned herself to stone until the other person caved in?
how many times did he overhear dismissive or sexually charged comments, wanting to draw attention to it, to embarrass whoever dares to fucking talk about her like that, just to remember a conversation he'd had with her once?
late at night, though night is relative on a plane flying to a ship; they're chasing the sun and losing.
a few hours earlier, she had quietly shaken her head when he'd opened his mouth to defend her, and he'd swallowed everything he wanted to say and closed it again. she didn't say anything herself, and logically he knows, he knows, why and the position she is in, yet he can't help but ask—
"why do you let them talk about you like that?"
he winces, it sounds accusatory and that's the last thing he wants to be. eva doesn't seem to mind his tone, though.
"attention is power," she says without looking up from her tablet with a smooth voice, "and time is something i do not have enough of to waste on pitiful creatures like that."
with a non-committal hum, he turns to stare out the window and into the dark, spinning a pen between his fingers. round and round and round it goes.
"it bothers you more than it bothers me," eva states after a little while, and he shrugs before finding her eyes in the reflection.
"of course it bothers me. you don't need someone to defend you, i know that, and i know this is nothing new for you either. i just—" he sighs and tilts his head to face her, leaning against the cold plastic.
"i don't get how they do it in the middle of a crowd and no one intervenes, no one says anything, no one challenges them. if you'd let me, i—"
"you'd call some highly-influential businessman a staggering waste of carbon and get our funding cut?" a smile plays around her lips, faint and tired, but he sees it, he always does.
"rude of you to assume i wouldn't come up with something new."
eva makes a sound that could be a laugh and he calls it a win, leaning back in his seat to try and get some sleep.
hours later, grace slowly comes to realize that yes, her attention is power, and yet he cannot recall a time she has cut him off or abandoned their shared conversation like she does with so many others.
when he speaks, the most powerful woman in the world listens, and he has no fucking clue what he's done to deserve that kind of respect.
meanwhile eva would never admit it out loud, but many times it has been his reaction and anger that has kept her calm. it's safe, somehow, and while she needs no knight in shining armour, it's comforting to know he will step between her and the world without hesitation and thank her for it.
