(A/N): We're back with Evie in 1966, which means Nuria, Minsi, Khal, Nicholai and Grey, as well as Lisbet and Jerremyah. Subtle (well, that depends) foreshadowing on a subject that is either means very little or absolutely everything to you, depending on how invested you are in Evie's journey. The chapter title is a combination of 'Worth The Wait' and 'The Weight of Silence'. I wasn't sure whether to go with weight or wait in the title, and ended up going with weight because I thought it looked better, and made more sense as a sentence.

January 16th, 1966

Evie

Grey was flirting with me- again. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind, but I also didn't know what to do about it. It would be complicated enough if he was single- or, well, uninvolved I suppose is the better term, since I wasn't sure whether he was technically in a relationship with any of the women he was seeing- but as it was, I'd need more information if I was ever going to consider... interacting with him, in a sexual sense.

I had no illusions that he might want more than that- why would he choose me, over one of his other partners- and to be honest, I wasn't sure whether I wanted more than that, either. Then again... I wasn't sure whether I could handle anything less than that. Not with Grey- well, not with Grey specifically- but with whoever might... spark my interest. Although... literally everyone in this room had 'sparked my interest' at one point or another, except for Minsi and Khal. It wasn't that he wasn't attractive, I'd just been a bit distracted by the whole 'prophecy' thing, and then the time had kind of passed.

"Thanks," The aforementioned man huffed a small laugh, and I realised he was talking to me. Oh God, had I said that- "You didn't say it out loud." I relaxed only minutely, since apparently it didn't matter whether I'd spoken the words aloud- he'd heard them anyway. "Still can't read your mind." I narrowed my eyes at him, and the corner of his lips quirked up further. "I'm working off of future conversations." Cheater! I couldn't tell whether he'd read my mind, or if I would apparently mention this in a 'future conversation', but I knew he'd heard me call him that, because immediately, his face split into a grin.

"Kiki, care to enlighten the rest of us?" Maybe Khal knew what I was thinking, but clearly Jerremyah had presented him with his own little blind spot, because his eyebrows shot up at the new nickname. Then, he got this sad little smile on his face that I really didn't like, knowing that he was a seer, and therefore, any sadness that didn't have a readily available cause was likely brought on by something in the future. Jerremyah's future, in this case.

"Just Evie thinking I'm the prettiest person in the room." Immediately, everyone else looked a combination of amused, and... jealous? Except for Minsi and Nuria, who both only seemed to be feeling the former. "Ah, but she still thinks you're the most striking, Khaleela." Was that... was that a blush? Was Nuria blushing? Surely not!

She smacked him on the shoulder in a manner that could almost be considered gentle, and looked both flustered, and frustrated. "Don't start." It was quiet, practically a low growl, but I still heard it. "Nothing can come of it-" Khal shrugged, effectively cutting her off.

"Maybe not," He agreed, and Nuria relaxed slightly. "But you could still have a little fun." She scowled at him, but I felt like she wasn't at full power, considering she was still blushing. In fact, if anything, the blush had intensified.

"When was the last time you saw me have fun?" She asked darkly, clearly rhetorically, but then Khal cocked a brow at her, and again, the blush darkened. Now, there was no way someone could mistake it. Nuria- fierce, implacable Nuria- was blushing.

"I don't think you want me to answer that, especially in front of company." He said just as darkly, then flashed me a small smirk that was really more of a grin. "Especially in front of current company." She continued to glare, and blush- and blush, and glare.

"Khal, I swear, if you're pulling the wool over, I'm going to-" He held up a hand, cutting her off as he inclined his head, looking quite interested.

Then, he winced bodily, his knees turning inward a bit as he hissed quietly. "Wow, Khaleela, I know you have no interest in that sort of anatomy, but that's just cruel-" She arched a brow at him menacingly, and he held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Alright, alright. I'm not tricking you, or lying. Your destiny isn't here yet, you can stop threatening my... what's the term again, Wasim?" Jerremyah was, predictably, grinning.

"Bollocks? Balls? Crown Jewels? Meat and two veg?" Khal tilted his head to the side, considering his options.

"Couilles?" Grey suggested, when none of those seemed to appeal. Khal turned to Nicholai- the only other person of the male persuasion in the room- who huffed like he was both offended, and annoyed.

"Testicles." He said archly, like he hated even saying the word, and Khal grinned brightly while eyeing him up and down.

"How do you get the job done, old chap?" Which was a funny thing to call him, considering that I now knew Khal was a lot, lot older than Nicholai. "And a good thing you did." Khal said, briefly cocking an eyebrow at me before he turned back to Nuria. "Ah, yes. Stop threatening my testicles, Khaleela." I had a feeling Khal had never been at a loss for words, and just wanted the excuse to poke fun at Nicholai. "While I admire your ruthlessness- and creativity- I'd prefer that neither be applied to me or my sensitive anatomy." Well, if there was one surefire way to get a man to do what you wanted, it would invariably involve that area- although what you did with it would depend on what you wanted, and how generous he was feeling.

Khal didn't give me a look here, so I figured either I never ended up telling him about this, or he really couldn't read my mind, since I assumed he'd inevitably have reacted to that particular thought. Nuria shot his groin a pointed look, and he took a step back with a nervous huff of laughter. "You'll know your destiny when it falls in your lap. Literally." Nuria's mood shifted dramatically, and suddenly, I thought I understood what was really happening- what Khal wasn't saying.

"Her destiny's a person- isn't it?" Khal met my eyes, but made no move to deny it. "A woman?" Nuria didn't even look at me, but I head Jerremyah move- and before I even finished hearing the sound behind me, where he'd been standing, he was in front of me, beside Nuria.

His head was lowered, his back gently curved as if he was trying to slyly make himself shorter, in order to better make eye contact with her. Not that she was looking at him- or anything else, for that matter. "Nuri..." He looked like he didn't know what to say- or even whether he should say anything. "Can I... anything I can do?" His voice was quiet, but almost desperate. Desperate to help, if he could. Even if he couldn't, probably.

"...not unless you can speed up time, apparently." His body tensed slightly, like he was considering finding a way to do so, before Nuria reached out, placed the palm of her hand against the center of his face, and pushed him lightly. It was clear to me that he'd let her move him- there was no way she'd pushed him hard enough to send him three feet back, and if she had, he'd have been stumbling, not stepping freely.

"Can't say I know how to do that, Nuri..." He fell silent for a second, the thoughts obviously warring in his head. "There's nothing I can say to make this hurt less, if there?" She shook her head, and I almost laughed instinctively as Jerremyah's lips dropped into an answering pout.

"I've been waiting a long time. A long... long, time." She sounded incredibly tired, and knowing how old she was- how long she'd likely been waiting- I couldn't blame her. "And apparently, I'll be waiting a while longer." She glanced to Khal, who was pointedly avoiding her gaze. A thought struck me, but I hesitated to voice it- in the end, the choice was made for me, when Khal turned his attention to me.

"You'll find your demigod whether you stay human or not." I flashed Nuria an apologetic look, and she gave me a shrug that was made all the more sad by the fact that this was Nuria, a woman who had no business looking that defeated. "Of course, you'd have a choice to make either way- now or then- but the timeline would be a little more..." He trailed off, and I tilted my head at him, trying to urge him to continue. He didn't.

"A little more what? Complicated? Convenient?" He shrugged. "And what do you mean, 'the timeline'? Are we still talking about my supposed future relationship, or whether or not I want to become a vampire? I assume that's what you meant by 'a choice to make either way', but what does that have to do with-" Jerremyah hissed in a breath, and when I looked at him, he was tearing his eyes away from Lisbet, who seemed- fine? I mean, she looked a little concerned, but not hurt or anything, so why had he-?

"Evie, there's... something we may have forgotten to mention." I blinked. Okay? "It's- I mean, it was so long ago that we forgot up until this point- I know I did-" He muttered darkly. "-but it could really affect your decision. Like... probably more than anything else, given your reaction- or lack thereof- to the other issues that come with becoming a vampire." I held my breath. "Evie, if you become a vampire... there's a mandatory isolation period, before you can safely be around humans." ...oh, God. He was right, that certainly was the first thing I'd heard all morning- and the previous night- that gave me pause, and made me start to reconsider whether this was as good an idea as it sounded.

"How- how long?" By Jerremyah's hesitation, and the dead- ha- silence of the room, I knew it was a long time. Days? Weeks? Months?

...a year? It seemed unthinkable to me, but these were vampires, who lived hundreds, even thousands of years. What sort of time period could daunt them, but would still be something they'd each accepted, when their time had come? I knew that days and weeks were almost certainly laughably optimistic, but I couldn't help it. It simply didn't compute in my brain that it could be longer than that, and if it was-

"A decade." I felt like I couldn't breathe. "Ten years, no humans. Even Minsi would have to make herself scarce. You wouldn't be able to see your friends, your sister-"

-it wouldn't be worth it.

(A/N): Khal: *asking for terms to call a particular part of the male genitalia*

Jerremyah: 'Hell yeah, my time has come! I've been training for this!'

Grey: 'Can I be of service? How about this?'

Nicholai: 'I wish you would die. Why won't you die?'

also

Them: 'Evie, do you want to become a vampire?'

Evie: 'Hmm, I'm not sure yet.'

Evie: *makes the same dumb vampire jokes as the rest of them, even as a human*

Them: 'One of us, one of us, one of us.'

also

Jerremyah: *calls Khal 'Kiki' just to be funny*

Khal: *has a vision of the very last time Jerremyah ever calls him that, which may or may not be the last time they ever speak*

Khal: '...well. I'm emotionally destroyed. Daiquiri, anyone?'

Translations:

Khaleela = (Arabic) Close friend, the female version of 'Khaleel'.

Wasim = (Arabic) Handsome/beautiful/good looking.

Couilles = (French) Slang for testicles- balls, basically.