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ok here's chap 14 things have been pretty emotional lately with Evie and Danny, and sassy/flirty in their own way with Cass and Mattie but there's always a few who are missing and I want a slow/short/sweet chapter before the fun that is the insanity so here it is a Carmilla chapter!
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The house was silent, a rare occurrence for the gang and Carmilla couldn't be more relieved. Nights spent chasing after her girlfriend through catacombs, fighting off angry mobs, and the general student body were far too normal these days and she didn't like the constant stress it put on her tiny human. Laura was, on average, an all or nothing kind of girl. She was fine when between projects like they were after her sire's death, they traveled, drank coco, and had plenty of time for cuddling. Now though things were changing at such a rapid speed Carmilla didn't even feel like she was part of this universe. no she felt like a spectator watching everyone's lives as they passed by.
Laura was knee deep in old papers and boxes from Maman's old office trying to find some kind of loop hole to get Mattie kicked off the board. This was yet again one of her girlfriends hopeless attempts to save the school but Laura didn't understand that Mattie was on the board for a reason. No one could talk like Mattie. The vampire was a world class talker, she could convince you that the world wasn't ending even if you were on fire from the meteorites that just hit your house. The problem with both Laura's scheme and Mattie's cockiness about her position was that they would constantly buttheads. No matter how amusing it was eventually one of them would snap or prevail and when that happened there was no telling if Armageddon would come raining down upon them or sweet relief.
Speaking of relief she wasn't the only one who needed it, Evie had a really hard week.
Ever since Mattie got curious about their "inheritance" she hadn't left the blonde alone which didn't help anyone. Together the two annoyed or amused the other, the only happy medium was when Carmilla was there to mediate and that was usually fine but on their own it was a miracle no one died. Somehow Mattie had caused one of Evie's panic attacks and from there Carm went full big sister on Mattie. They might be sisters and all but it was moments like that when their sister roles came into play. Evie would forever be the youngest but where Mattie claimed eldest power wise, Carmilla claimed eldest emotionally and used it when the youngest was threatened, even by Mattie. Needless to say Mattie agreed to back off and stuck true to her word steering clear of the ginger twins because Evie had taken up residence with them for the time being.
Carmilla felt a little saddened that her sister didn't take comfort in her. Evie always came to her for that but things were different now, they had friends for the first time in ages and with that came a support system, which they'd never had before in their immortal lives. To finally have someone around to pick them up when they were down was so foreign but Carmilla knew Evie wouldn't shy away from it, the blonde soaked up the affection like a starved wolf
Still to see her sisters hurt each other knowingly or not didn't sit well with her. Mattie and Evie always fought like cats and dogs when together but then again cats and dogs didn't quite fit as well as wolves and ravens did.
It was ironic, Carmilla thought, during her time alone before Mother had officially welcomed her back she'd wandered the forests of Europe unable to stay inside for long out of fear and what she later learned was claustrophobia. She couldn't stay in a house for more than ten minutes at a time so she lived in the forests where there were no walls or ceilings closing in on her and during this time she came across a few animals but one in particular caught her attention. The wolves always hunted in packs as was their nature but something she noticed, aside from their resemblance to Evie, was the Murder of ravens that seemed to follow them.
When the wolves hunted, they would all take their fill of the evening meal and the ravens would sometimes dine with them. If a hunter was nearby or greater predator was getting too close then the ravens would warn the wolves and the pack would take action. The two creatures could rely on each other and if I happened in nature it made her wonder more than once why her sisters couldn't do the same? Sadly the answer went beyond simple animalistic nature and fell more on their human side. Mattie was someone who'd lost her morals and most of her humanity centuries ago while Evie clung to hers with such fierceness it had stopped her from truly accepting her vampiric nature.
The endless list of contrasts between the two were too many for her to count right now but that didn't stop her from thinking about it from time to time.
Shaking her head the vampire looked down at her sleeping girlfriend cuddled in her side. Laura's quest to somehow dethrone Mattie wouldn't work, they could go through all the paper work they wanted but none of them were political science majors. They didn't understand the delicate balance that held Silas from falling off the edge and shattering into a million pieces. They could talk all they wanted but it wouldn't do them any good and Carmilla would be there when they finally realized this, to help with what she could and she knew Evie would be right there beside her.
Her thoughts were breached by the near silent creak of the stairs. Carmilla slipped out from under the covers making sure to tuck Laura in. Gods knows her girlfriend needed the sleep. She would be fine doing a few patrols around the house no one was up anyway. Even Mattie had gone to bed early so she would have enough patience for the all-day board meeting she would have attend.
Soundlessly leaving the apartment Carmilla saw the kitchen door still swinging ever so slightly.
"Someone's up for a late night snack" Feeling curious she headed for the kitchen hoping to appease the cat in her.
Pushing the door open with the tip of her finger she found Evie on the other side an empty mug sat in front of her as the kettle started to boil. Taking a closer look at the blonde she could see the rings under her eyes and the slight tremor in her hands. It seemed pieces of the old Evie coming through but that wasn't true the old Evie was still there she just stood behind the new one, the one who was willing to take risks as long as they all came out alive.
It felt like ages ago they'd actually talked maybe now they could make up for that.
"Hey"
Evie jumped cracking the granite counter top when she slapped it out of panic.
"Oh goddess, sister don't scare me like that"
"Sorry I thought you'd hear me with how strong your hearing is now" That was new along with a few other things Carmilla had noticed but now wasn't the time to bring those up. She was there to reassure Evie as much as possible not make her paranoied.
"It's ok I was just…distracted is all"
"I don't blame you things have been pretty crazy around here"
"Yeah…"Evie frowned looking down at the fractured granite. It wasn't as bad as it could have been but she didn't think she'd hit it that hard, she was always so careful about her strength.
"Are you ok?" Now that she said it Carmilla realized how stupid it sounded to ask. Seriously Evie's emotions had been off the walls since Maman's death and to be honest she wouldn't be surprised it a lot of residual feelings hadn't been released yet, there simply wasn't time.
"I've been better this week's just a little rougher than most but Danny came" A tiny smile lit up her face at the mention of the huntress.
"Of course seeing your girlfriend would help, I know making out with her would certainly help you"
"SISTER!"
Evie's blush made the small jab worth it.
"What?"
"You know we're not like that"
"Your right, somehow you and Lawrence are like an old married couple"
Evangeline actually squeaked! Her blush intensified and Carmilla couldn't help pulling the flustered girl into a hug.
"Sister!"
"I know, I know but seriously you guys have no words to describe how ridiculously cute you are and the fact that there's such a height difference only makes it worse"
Evie groaned hiding her face in Carmilla's shoulder. There was no escaping the light jabs but Carmilla was happy to see the blonde show something other than panic.
"Ok Evie I'll lay off I promise"
Pulling away the blonde eyed her suspiciously.
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart"
"Alright"
Evie hugged her tightly, missing the comfort her sister's arms always offered. Carmilla returned the hug but this act of comfort only reminded her of how much of flake she'd been lately and she couldn't help addressing it.
"Look I know I've been pretty consumed with Laura and her quest for Mattie's removal from the board but I should have done more about the whole situation, I know what Mattie's like once she's got her sights on something I should have stopped her before it went too far "
"Honestly sister its ok, Danny and I talked about a lot of things and so did Lafontaine, we…I don't know we talked and even if it didn't get me the results I wanted it still helps to have the extra support"
"But I should've done more"
"Mircalla nothing would have stopped Matska in her hunt for knowledge, she would have torn up the house in search of me if she had to but I know this house better than she does"
"Still…" Carmilla looked away the failure as a sister still hung in her mind no matter what Evie said she could have done more.
The silence was filled as the kettle whistled till Evie took it off the burner. She didn't bother asking the brunette she took out her favorite mug that had Shakespeare's greatest insults. Filling both mugs Evie nodded towards the counter before setting the kettle aside. Carmilla leapt onto the counter with ease taking in the scent of jasmine and sugar, her favorite.
"It's ironic that you would pick my favorite tea"
"Not really because it's my favorite too, little things like this always make me feel better but not half as good as the memories behind them" Evie ran her thumb over the edge of her cup eyes transfixed by the rising steam.
"True"
Carmilla looked down at her own cup before an idea struck.
"Remember when I took you hiking in Russia?"
"Sister trekking up the side of a volcano to roast marshmallows over an open lava pit wasn't the safest idea, even for vampires" Evie could still feel the heat on her arms as they held long tree branches covered in marshmallows over the side.
"But you can't deny those were best s'mores we'd ever tasted"
"Not fighting you on that one but we're never doing that again"
"Or the time we went zip lining in Peru before zip lining was invented?" Carmilla smiled remembering how windswept her hair was after words it was almost impossible to fix but she was too excited to care.
"Might I remind you, you crashed face first into the side of a mountain?" Evie deadpanned.
"Good times, painful but good"
Taking a sip of her tea Evie let the warmth fill her from the inside out. She missed warmth but vampires couldn't generate heat even when they blushed it was cold but that's what Danny was for aside from everything else she reminded her of what warmth truly felt like. Warmth was always something she tried to replicate but never could, still she'd always had a funny relationship with warmth and heat in general.
"Do we have anything to go with this tea?" Carmilla's voice pulled her out of her head but that did make her wonder if they had any snacks.
"I don't think so, the humans may have torn through the cookies"
"Damn"
"You know all this sentimentality makes me kinda want…some…" Evie searched her memories for a name, she could remember the taste, simple but creamy. It was an extra treat from her barren childhood. Her elder sisters, Seraphim and Aurlie, used to make it when they could convince one of the farmers to trade them some eggs and used milk from the cow before it was sold to make a simple treat.
"Pot de crème"
"Pot de crème?" Carmilla repeated it perfectly but her curiosity made it a question.
"It's considered simple, if not plain compared to most desserts you've had but for us, me and my…my human sisters, it was treat that was rarely made but to me it was the best thing in the world" Evie bit her bottom lip, her eyes lost in the few memories she had of her human sisters, the few good ones.
"Want to make some?"
"What?"
Carmilla set her mug down, slipping off the counter with a rare grin.
"Do you want to make some, we could make pot de crème, mousse, pies you name it"
"Dessert crepes?"
"Now you're thinking sis, you grab the ingredients I'll get the pans"
"Yes ma'am" Evie gave a mock salute before flitting through the cupboards. They had a lot of sweets to make and that meant taking out all the supplies they had.
"Hey Evie maybe if we have enough apples we can make tart norm?"
"Ooo! I should check the pantry for apples!"
Evie knew they had strawberries and blueberries in the fridge but the one she loved most with her tarts were apples. Sure enough in the back of the pantry was two small crates of red and green apples.
Looking down at the apples Evie smiled.
"I've always liked apples"
"I know you do that's why I suggested tarte norm" Called Carmilla pouring milk into the mixer. She had plans to touch almost all desserts and sweets she could think of which was many almost as many as the artifacts Maman kept, that reminded her of something.
"Hey are the apples the ones Maman raved about? Because I never got to try one"
Evie frowned looking down at the red and green apples for a moment assessing them for any unique qualities.
"No I think she gave away one of her last ones ages ago unless she up rooted the tree or it burned down with the school"
"Damn I really wanted to try one"
"In all honesty they weren't all that good it was just the hype" Evie shrugged, nervously glancing towards the door.
Carrying the crate to the counter Evie wasn't surprised to see Carmilla already making chocolate mousse. While not the biggest fan of sweets Evie didn't mind them every now and then so tonight would make up for the last five months being sugar free.
"Lame~ anyway why don't you start on the pot de crème while I make the mousse?"
"But getting the apples made me hungry for tarts" Evie whined.
"Ok then start on the tart norm with your precious apples" Carmilla teased adding the delicious Belgian chocolate to the mix.
"I think I will"
Evie was slicing the apples humming to herself enjoying the companionable silence. Light clanging of pots and stirring whisks lulled Evie into a rare state of calm that she'd missed since Danny left her side. Turning to grab some more apples a handful of flour suddenly hit her in the face.
Evie gaped as flour fell off her eye lashes with each blink Carmilla's snickering told her all she needed to know.
Grabbing an apple she threw it at the back of Carmilla's head.
"OW!"
"That's what you get for trying to be sneaky"
"I wasn't being sneaky" Grumbled Carmilla rubbing her 'wounded' skull.
"I know because if you were you would have dusted off your hands"
"Knew I forgot something"
"I think your losing your touch"
Carmilla looked offended "Losing my-I'll show you losing my touch!"
Grabbing another handful of flour Carmilla started what would be the great flour war of 2015. Flour, sugar, and various utensils littered the floor as they went back and forth laughing and staining the others clothes till they were almost more flour than vampires.
Somehow in all their fun they managed to make a few of the recipes. The chocolate mousse was a lost cause after a stray cookie tray took it out, spilling it on the floor. The tart norm was a success because there were two crates of apples they were bound to at least attempt it. The only other recipes that made it passed the mixing stage were the strudels, and Evie's precious pot de crème. Carmilla thought about sabotaging it but the look on Evie's flour smudged face as they put it in the oven stopped her, she couldn't say no to that face.
Her baby sister needed a few more good memories to help weather the storm that was no doubt heading their way. The whole nonsense with the board would either sink or swim, the anglerfish was still trying to get out, and Mattie's search would come to a head. All Carmilla could do was gather her strength and brace for impact, hoping they could hold out till it all blew over.
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so that was chapter 14 I ended it on a rather odd note but I wanted you guys to see a few things here and there. Evie's getting better and worse at the same time, Carmilla sees these little quarks and sort of ignores them yet worries at the same time she doesn't want her baby sister to her herself or anyone else by extension. either way I gave them a sweet moment because its been mostly Evie/ Mattie spats and snark, so sisterly bonding was a must.
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