(A/N): We're back with Evie, and we get to hear more about Khal and Nuria's past together- and their style, because I had fun with that.

Trigger Warning: Um, so... Evie thinks she's about to get outed? Sort of? Plus her mentioning sort of in passing that she thinks she shouldn't feel the way she feels (in regards to her sexuality)? Internal Homophobia/Biphobia, I guess?

Evie

January 16th, 1966

She... God. I knew she was old- a lot, lot older than Jerremyah and the others- I guess I... just hadn't quite understood the scale that they were working on. I thought 'a lot' was one or two- or possibly even three- hundred years, not... almost a thousand years. I'd have to remember to take that into account, in the future.

"You-" She turned her head to look at me. "You've... aged really, really well." Maybe I was imagining it, but I could have sworn that I saw her cheeks color, just a little bit.

"I haven't aged at all, Ghalia." ...right. True. Khal slung an arm across her shoulders- the bright buttercup yellow of his sleeve contrasting quite strongly with the oatmeal color of Nuria's own shirt, not to mention the dark brown leather jacket it rested directly against.

Nuria's shirt almost seemed as though it had come to life, and taken it upon itself to try to embrace her as closely as it could. It was a wrap style, made of a stretchy knit fabric, and while I didn't think the color would have flattered me, with Nuria's much darker skin tone, it had quite a nice effect. Her leather jacket was a different cut than Jerremyah's- his was a big, thick, protective motorcycle style jacket, whereas Nuria's was closer to a blazer style.

Khal, as if specifically to oppose Nuria's neutral- and fairly casual- style, had opted for the yellow button down shirt, yes, along with the checkered royal purple and lime green knit vest he had placed over the top- and the shimmery, burnt orange ascot he had wrapped jauntily around his throat. To finish off this most... exuberant, of outfits, he wore a pair of striped bell bottoms- mostly striped in different shades of brown, but with the occasional dark blue, just to break it up, I suppose- and a pair of baby blue leather loafers, with a chunky heel on them.

It hadn't seemed all that important before, when he was spouting prophecies and predictions, but... Khal- or at least, his outfit- was quite loud. Nuria- or, again, her outfit- was more understated- or at least, less offensive to the eye. I don't think it could quite be considered 'understated', though, because it was on her- and I knew that, if I were to see her in the street, without even knowing her, or what she was, my eye would be drawn to her- which I wouldn't call understated, by any means.

"I've aged better." Khal said, as if he were trying to sound smug, but he wasn't as good at achieving that outcome as Jerremyah- or even Grey- was. He angled an eyebrow at me. "You know, I'm the oldest person in this room." Nuria rolled her eyes at him, crossing her arms over her chest, even as she was slightly hindered by the weight of his arm on her shoulders.

"Just barely." She muttered, and to my ears, it sounded almost bitter- like she had heard this all too often- and Khal beamed down at her briefly, before he turned back to me.

"I'm Khaldun Rashid Irshad Elmahdy, I'm one thousand, four hundred and twenty-eight, and I was born in 538 A.D- about four and a half short cycles before my dear Khaleela, here." Oh. Well. For there being such a large gap between Jerremyah and Nuria, there was a much smaller gap between Khal and Nuria. I felt my eyebrows furrow, and I looked to Jerremyah- whose lips quirked up, as he caught me looking.

"Short cycles- moon cycles- months. He's four and half months older, roughly." I turned back, and Khal shrugged.

"We grew up close- both literally, in the fact that our homes were located near each other, and that that we were good friends. It wasn't until we were a little older, and we both came to the realisation that... well. That we weren't interested in the type of people we were supposed to be interested in." What-? Oh. Oh. So not only was Nuria- but Khal, too?

"And was that... an issue?" He shrugged.

"Less of an issue at that point of time, than it has been at certain other points throughout the years." ...right. "People were a bit more inclined to... look the other way, for the most part, as long as you were discreet. Probably because they knew that they, themselves, had more to hide." He arched an eyebrow in my direction, in a way that made me think that maybe he knew some of those 'things', and they were... scandalous. "Because of that- our interest, not other people's opinions on them- we decided that, for all intents and purposes, we would... assume the role of each other's other half." Was he saying-?

"What-?" He continued, not exactly talking over me, because I stopped myself, so I could listen to what he was saying.

"It wasn't viable for us to live our lives as two separate, single entities- and we knew that we weren't going to find... like-minded individuals, to tie ourselves to, for a long time, so... we pretended to be that, for each other." So... there was a point in time, where Khal and Nuria had... pretended to be in a relationship? Was that what he was saying? If not... married? Wow... wait, why was he telling me this?

"That's... nice?" He gave me a kind smile, like he knew that I was confused by his choice to tell me this, but was too polite to say anything more direct about it- maybe he did.

"Nuria is more than my best friend- she's my life partner." He turned his head, and they shared a small, almost tender smile. "I'm sure if we were both... interested in that sort of thing, we likely would have made a real go of it- even if, at first, we had no real romantic feelings for each other. People did that, in those days- if there was someone you got along with, even if you didn't feel that spark, you persevered, with the hope that one day, it might develop- sometimes it did. But we knew it would never be that way for us." Neither of them seemed even the slightest bit upset by this.

"But you knew at some point you would feel that spark? With someone else, I mean. Because of your... gift?" Was that what I should call it? He frowned slightly, even as he seemed vaguely amused by my rambling.

"I don't... I rarely see my own future- and it's never really about me, when I do. I'm just sort of... in the background. I only knew that I was meant to be a vampire, because I looked into Nuria's future, and saw us both that way, much much later." Wait, so... Khal was the one that told Nuria to become a vampire? She had said that, 'a trusted friend had told her to become a vampire, and so she had'- who else could that be, if not Khal? "And while I've foreseen the... romantic successes of certain individuals over time-" His eyes darted to Lisbet and Jerremyah. "The only time I've seen the outcome of my romantic endeavors, is when looking into my partner's future- and all have been failures." He got this look in his eye- almost haunted. "Of varying degrees of disaster." Oh. That... sucked.

"So you... you foresaw the end of your own relationships?" He winced, then shrugged.

"Or their future relationship- a much more successful relationship- with someone else. Or... their death." Oh, hell!

"That- that-" His face screwed up briefly, before he clearly forced himself to perk back up.

"On the upside, I've had a lot more fun with my various exploits, now that I'm not looking for something serious- or into the future. I suppose that's what I'm trying to get at- what I'm trying to tell you." He was trying to tell me something? "See, something important to tell you about vampires, that might affect your decision-" I came to attention. "Is that Nuria and I are kind of anomalies, among the vampire community." Oh. Um... okay? I saw the knowing look in his eyes, and I jolted- it was knowing, because he knew. He knew what I was, how I felt- how I shouldn't feel-

He turned to Jerremyah, and I felt my panic rising- and I saw the concern on Lisbet's face, as she immediately snapped her head around in my direction, like I had shouted her name, instead of silently panicking. I saw Khal gesture to Grey, drawing Jerremyah's attention to said man.

"Weren't you meant to express your gratitude in person?" What? Jerremyah seemed just as confused as I was, before it apparently dawned on him, and a wolfish grin spread across his lips.

"Oh, right. Don't mind if I do- Grey." Grey's eyebrows furrowed as Jerremyah stood, and stalked over to him- still wearing that same grin- and then, when he got within reach, he grabbed Grey's face in both hands, leaned in, and... kissed him. Right on the lips.

Oh. My. God!

(A/N): Khal: *sees an item of clothing*

Khal: 'It's hideous... I love it.'

also

Nuria: *typically wears neutrals, and wears understated, casual but put together outfits*

Khal: *is the human personification of pattern clashing*

Nuria and Khal: 'Besties!'

also

Khal: 'Nuria's a lesbian, I'm gay, and you, dear Evie-'

Evie: *panics*

Lisbet: *smelling her fear, and showing her concern*

Khal: 'Jerremyah, help me out here, stick your tongue down Greygorry's throat.'

Grey: 'What?'

Jerremyah: 'Don't mind if I do!'

Jerremyah: *kisses Grey*

Evie: '!.!.!'

also

Khal: 'Every time I tried to look into the future of my romantic relationships, I saw that they didn't work out.'

Evie: 'You foresaw your own break ups?'

Khal: *flashes of his ex-lovers falling in love with other people, or dying*

Khal: '...something like that.'

Translations (Arabic):

Khaleela (or Khaleelah) = Close Friend. (The feminine version of Khaleel. This word is used to describe someone who has gone so far into your life and your life details, maybe into your house, your family, your secrets, into the smallest details of of all your life, so, they are your close friend.)

So, Khaldun's full name is Khaldun Rashid Irshad Elmahdy. The Egyptian Arabic naming conventions are apparently the same as the Arabic ones, in which the child is given a first name, and then following it is their father's name, and then their father's father's name. So, Khal's father is Rashid, and Rashid's father is Irshad (which happen to be anagrams of each others). Surname's are becoming more popular, but aren't required- and considering that they're becoming more popular, I figure they wouldn't be all that popular in the 1960's, which is why Nuria doesn't currently have one. Khal would have chosen his at some point, he didn't have that last name originally. All of these names (and Nuria's family's names) have relevant meanings, but I think it would be way too long to get into that here.

Also, the 'short cycles/moon cycles/months' thing is supposed to be a witch/wizard thing, rather than an 'ancient people' thing.