Clang!
Evelyn jumps at the sound of metal colliding with metal and her eyes grow wide as the ninja's head is forced to the side in time with the sound. A small orb, the brunette woman recognizes as Zenyatta's, hovers over the ninja's head, a yellow stream of light connecting the orb to Genji. Both man and woman slowly look in the direction the orb had come from to see the aforementioned Omnic floating toward them, arms folded over his chest.
"May I ask why you are threatening our guest, my student?" Zenyatta asks calmly as the ninja slowly retracts his weapon but doesn't ease his grip on her.
"She knows far too much. I am...suspicious." He says, though he sounds guilty and there is little malice in his voice.
"I did not think you still jumped to such conclusions." There's a slightly teasing sound in the Omnic's voice but that doesn't seem to lessen the blow as Genji's grip on the brunette twitches.
"Forgive me, sensei, I-"
"Didn't do anything wrong." Evelyn interrupts, drawing both men's attention. The brunette looks to Zenyatta. "It was suspicious, sir, I don't blame him for threatening me." Though neither men had visible facial expressions, she could practically feel their question of her sanity. She laughs sheepishly and tries to explain herself.
"I said some things that were suspicious, I know how to fight…I'm not exactly normal." She says. "Genji should be suspicious." The two men look at each other for a long time as the ninja releases the girl and straightens. A little nervous at the prolonged silence, Evelyn actually jumps when they start to chuckle. Zenyatta approaches as the cyborg sheathes his weapon and takes a step away from the girl.
"You do not help your cause, little one." He says, making the girl flush in embarrassment. Opening her mouth to speak, the Omnic holds up a hand to stop her. "You are a very honest person." He commends, laying a gentle hand on her head. "I do not think we need further convincing." Looking to Genji, the two don't seem to need facial expressions or words to communicate their meaning as the ninja looks to the brunette.
"Let us get you food." Genji says, walking a little ways ahead. The woman nods and thanks Zenyatta before striding after the Japanese man.
The two walk in silence for a while till Zenyatta's out of sight. As they turn the corner, the ninja stops and places a hand on Eve's shoulder. Pausing, the woman looks up at the taller ninja with curious eyes.
"Gomen. I do not mean to hurt you." Genji says, his tone sweet and genuinely apologetic. The brunette giggles and shakes her head.
"I really do understand." She assure, smiling up at him. Her smile fades a little and her eyes widen when he runs his fingers along the soft skin of her throat just under the nick he'd caused, wiping the blood from her skin. Her cheeks turn a soft red and she gulps quietly. The man pulls back his hand instantly.
"Forgive me. I do not mean to frighten you." He looks away and straightens as he lowers his hand back to his side. Catching his hand in her smaller one, she draws his attention back to her.
"You didn't frighten me. I'm okay." She grins up at him. "You worry too much!"
The rest of the walk was quiet. As promised, Genji leaves when she's sat at the table, an Omnic walking in and placing a plate of food in front of her. It takes him little time to return with her shoes.
"Do you remember how to return?" The man asks. Mouth full, the woman can only nod and assure him that she knew the way back.
"Then I will leave you be." He bows his head politely, which the woman returns before swallowing her food.
"Thank you, Genji. Have a wonderful night." Her food was finished quickly and she got up, heading into the kitchen when she was done. Empty of any of the others-Omnic or human-Evelyn cleans her dishes, dries them and, after a few tries, finds where they go and puts them away. Smiling, warm, full, and safe, she heads back to her room.
I'm so happy Mondatta let me stay with him. Her smile fades slowly. Now that she's not fighting for her life, hungry or cold, the thoughts she'd been unconsciously holding back start to surface. Mondatta...Genji...Zenyatta...they're...they can't be real. And yet...what...if they are... Turning a corner, the woman shakes her head, frowning deeply.
What...happened? How...did I get here? And how do I get back? Mom. Dad. Adam. I-I need to get back to them! I want to go home! Cold air blows past the woman's face and stings her cheeks as it chills the tears she hadn't realized we're making their way down her cheeks. A little startled, she looks up and rubs her eyes quickly before looking around. Standing outside, the brunette suddenly realizes that she has no idea where she is. Face falling from surprised to depressed, she looks around. Spotting a small rock wall, the woman walks up and hops onto the stones nimbly. Dusting off some snow with her shoes, she sits down and pulls her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. Burying her face in her pants, her thoughts and fears hit her hard and she starts to cry.
Why can't I remember how I got here?! Was I in an accident? Am I in a coma? Is this a hallucination?! But...do people in comas think they're in comas? Do they get hurt in hallucinations? This feels so real... The panic begins to fade a little, just sadness and desperation remaining as she tries to reason with herself. I have to find out how to go home. If this isn't real or if it is, I can't just do nothing. I have to try and assume this is real... She tries to reason with herself but the sadness and fears linger. I want to go home. I want my family.
Memories of her time with her parents, of her childhood, her life, and her brother, begin to play in her mind, making the tears worse. The cotton of her pants begins to soak with warm tears that quickly turn cold and burn her skin, but she can't be bothered.
Who knows how long she sat and cried, her body growing dehydrated till she could cry no more. Exhausted by the crying and the strain of the stress, the woman ends up falling asleep in the cold.
A silent figure searches the grounds for the woman who had never made it back to her room. Nearly midnight, the mountain now much colder as snow falls lightly, sprinkling the grounds with a light dust of snow; the ninja was starting to worry. Green visor glowing, he looks around before finally spotting the woman sitting on one of the rock walls. Walking towards her, the cyborg notices a thin layer of snow on the brunette and quickens his pace. Hoping onto the wall beside her silently, he crouches and places an arm around her back, his other hand tilting the girl back into his hold so he can see her. Eyeing her behind his mask, he sighs gently. Though pale faced, the woman breathes still, her lips a dull pink but thankfully not blue. Neither are her fingers. She just appears to be asleep, though she does shiver due to the cold.
Moving his free hand under her knees, the ninja picks her up, cradling her close to his warm body as he stands. Moving quickly, the ninja makes it back inside and into the warmth. Though unconscious still, the woman relaxes considerable in his hold when she gets into the warmth and leans against him.
Glancing down as he makes his way towards her room, the ninja frowns behind his mask. Her eyes, even closed, were slightly red around the edges, her cheeks pink as well. The observant man knows she's been crying and he feels a dull pain of sympathy in his chest.
"Ah. You have found her, Genji." Comes a calm voice beside the ninja who pauses and over at the Omnic that approaches him. Bowing his head in respect, the cyborg faces Mondatta, the unconscious woman still in his arms.
"She was asleep outside." He says as the Omnic approaches and looks over the brunette.
"In the snow?" He asks, to which the ninja nods. "The stress must have taken its toll." He brushes some hair from her face, looking her over. She seems alright, which relieves the Omnic. He steps to the man's side and gesture for him to continue walking, keeping pace with the taller human.
"I have a request of you, Genji. I believe your master has talked to you about helping to train Evelyn." The ninja nods, looking down at her.
"Yes." He affirms, glancing over at the Omnic.
"Do you mind starting training tomorrow?" Mondatta asks as they walk at a calm pace. "I worry that Ms. Evelyn will be in danger. I would ask you to keep you eye on her and help her learn to better protect herself." The ninja nods gently as they slow to a stop in front of the girl's room.
"Good. I have a feeling this will be good for both of you." The Omnic says. Looking over at Mondatta, Genji tilts his head slightly.
"Both of us, Mondatta-San?" The monk just chuckles and pats the man's shoulder before walking off.
"Have a good evening, Genji." The Omnic calls over his shoulder, leaving the ninja standing in front of the door. When Mondatta turns the corner and is out of sight, the ninja looks back down at the brunette in his arms. Shifting his grip to hold the sleeping girl up in one arm, the ninja opens the door carefully and steps inside. Closing the door quietly behind him, the cyborg carries the girl to the bed, able to see in the dark even without the dimly glowing green light from his body or the night vision on his visor. Setting Evelyn in the bed, he pulls the blankets onto her.
Genji's hands linger near the woman as he watches her, studying her face without much thought. While he takes in the slight red in her hair at the catch of his lights, her face starts to contort slightly before tears start to silently stream down her face. Feeling sympathy for the woman, the man reaches out and wipes the tears from her cheeks gently but they just keep flowing.
Sitting gently on the bed beside the woman's hip, he watches as she starts to whimper softly in her sleep, clearly having a nightmare. His experience with women has been nearly nonexistent since the days of his youth and he had little experience dealing with crying women even then. However, there was one way he knew that often worked to calm those few instances he had come across.
Reaching back gently, the ninja presses the release on his helm. A soft hissing fills the room as his visor grows dim. Grasping the metal of the plate that hides his face, he slowly removes it, closing his eyes and inhaling the cool air for a moment. Slowly, he opens his eyes, his gaze falling back onto the woman's face as she continues to whimper and cry quietly in her sleep. Sympathy fills the man's honey ember eyes as he watches her, hesitant at first. Seeing the woman flinch away from some unknown attacker of her nightmare, the man slowly leans down.
Closing the gap between them, the ninja's lips press lightly against her, still slightly cool, ones. The woman beneath him fidgets momentarily before relaxing visibly, her whimpers subsiding and her tears stopping altogether. Pulling back slowly, the cyborg finds his heart is pounding in his chest. Frowning slightly, he wonders if his years without physical contact with a woman-another human even-has made him sensitive to touch or if his new body is to blame. Regardless, it seems the man is far from rusty as, even in her sleep, the woman blushes lightly. A small, satisfied, smirk tugs at the man's scarred lips, both because of his retained talent and her, now peaceful, face.
Placing his mask back on, the ninja returns to his feet silently. His gaze lingers a moment on her face to make sure that she is peaceful before he slips out silently.
It's cold. Someone's screaming her name, desperation and anguish clear in their voice. It's familiar, this voice, and her heart throbs at the sound. It's dark and she can't see. She's scared. She can hear voices but their muffled, like they're on the surface while she's beneath the waves. She hears a gunshot and a sound of pain. She knows the voice now; Adam. Her brother's in trouble. Sight slowly fades in, but she can't seem to focus it. Why can't she focus? She can see the blurry image of her brother. He looks like he's tied down to a chair. There's a man beside him, but she can't make out any details. Does she know this guy? He's holding a gun to Adam's head. No! She has to get to him! She tries to run but her limbs aren't responding properly. She's slow, sluggish, like she's trying to walk on legs that have fallen asleep. Grabbing at the wall and carpet, the doorframe, anything, she pulls herself faster but it's not enough. She won't make it. She knows it, her brother knows it, the, now cackling, blurry-shadow-man knows it. Don't! She wants to shout. Stop! But she can't speak. Tear are streaming down her cheeks now as she tries to get to her brother. Suddenly, a flash of blue then an explosion. The woman flinches away but the flames engulf her.
Color. There's just a kaleidoscope of color all around her. No floor, no ceiling, no walls or doors, just distorted, beautiful color. Is she dead? Is her brother? Tears fall anew before a black figure appears above her. She tries to scream, tries to move, but she can't. She can only stare as the thing starts to take the form of a shadow and move closer till his black, featureless, face hovers before hers. She can't see him, can't know, but somehow, she's certain this is the figure that was trying to kill her brother. Rage fills her even as the tears flow faster and her anger seems to burn off her paralysis. Suddenly, before the woman can start to fight, there's a bright light and the color and the shadow disappear. She's surrounded by white as a comforting and blissful warmth fills her and melts away her anger, her fear, her sadness.
Slowly, she finds herself standing. Her bare feet touch the ground before the white devolves to moss green grass and flowers. In a white summer dress in the middle of a field, she looks around. Spotting a new figure of bright white beside a creek, the woman wills her body to run after him, for she knows it is a he, but it is sluggish once again. The figure watches, she knows though it, like the shadow, has no clear features, before turning and walking away. She tries to call and reach for it but it just keeps the same distance as when they started.
"Wait! Who are you? Please! I must know you!" She calls but it sounds quiet. The figure stops and turns before offering it's hand. Grabbing at the trees that now surround them, the woman forces herself to go faster before finally getting close enough. Desperately, she reaches out and grasps the hand. Fingers curl gently around hers and she's suddenly filled with a warmth that fills her and soothes her down to her very being.
Opening her eyes, Eveyln stares up at the ceiling above her bed, the room filled with a gentle, early morning, light.
"What a strange dream," she mutters. Slowly, the woman sits up and looks around. Frowning, tries to remember how she got back into her room. Last she remembers, she was sitting on a wall outside, crying. She frowns deeply and rubs her eyes, feeling moist tears on her eyes. Thinking hard, she can't really remember her dream, already forgetting why she was crying. She feels warm now, perhaps a little more than normal, and far less stressed, so she can't complain about not remembering her dream.
Stretching, the woman hums, her shoulder, while still sore, feels much better. Slipping out of bed, she heads to the bathroom to get ready to take on the day, heart and mind lighter.