(A/N): We're back with Evie and... well, technically Vi and Pip are mentioned as being present at certain points, but Lou is the only other person that's a prominent part of this chapter, so... we're back with Evie and Lou, basically.
Trigger Warnings: Evie's anxious about her friends possibly finding out that she's bisexual, which causes her to react strangely whenever she perceives them trying to bring it up. It isn't directly mentioned at all, but based on the other chapters, we can pretty safely assume that the others are not, actually, trying to bring up her sexuality- at least, not in that sense. They're worried about what happened to her the previous night, and are concerned that she might have been sexually assaulted or raped, or something else. Again, it's never mentioned (because this is from Evie's pov and she's essentially oblivious to how concerned they are about that particular scenario). Uh... unintentional nudity? Sort of? A certain individual is seen in their underwear by another individual without realising it, until the second individual brings it up after a long conversation. Nothing's really seen, and neither of the people involved really care, but there is mention of someone else possibly seeing it, in which case, it WOULD become an issue. Mention of things of a sexual nature in relation to a person referred to as a sibling? (sigh... more specifically, Evie's shirt is see-through, so Lou can see her bra, and suggests she put something on over it or changes shirt, so that she won't essentially be flashing Pip- 'lest you burn our poor brother's eyes').
January 16th, 1966
Evie
Vi seemed hesitant to leave me on my own for even a minute, but despite the confusingly concerned look she shot me when I asked her to give me some privacy so I could change, she didn't put up much of a fight. When I was finally ready to leave my bedroom, I opened the door and immediately froze- locking eyes with Lou as she trudged up the stairs. She paused for a second too, then rolled her eyes, and as she reached the hallway she said, "Vi's sending me to bed like a naughty child." I blinked, and watched on wordlessly as she leaned against the wall between me and the staircase, essentially blocking my escape unless I wanted to physically push past her. She cocked an eyebrow at me expectantly, and I felt my cheeks heat.
"Did you... want me to do something about that?"
The corner of her lips twitched as if she was amused by this- or maybe disappointed. It was hard to tell sometimes, with Lou. "Nah, pretty sure I deserve it." I eyed her warily, somewhat unsure how to respond to this casual, more relaxed side of Lou, after the way she'd laid into me earlier. The way we'd laid into each other, if Pip's response was anything to go by- which I usually found it was. "Hettie crossed a line," She said abruptly, and I winced. "So did you. So did I. We're all crossing lines left and right, today... when did we get so many lines?" She didn't sound sad like I would have expected, only curious- which was probably the reason I managed to limit my reaction to a frown, rather than a full on cringe.
"I- I can't speak for Hettie," I started carefully. "But I've always had certain lines- this is just the first time I've pushed back quite so harshly when someone tried to cross them." She stared at me in a disturbingly contemplative manner. "I didn't mean to be so- That's not me. That's not who I am. I just panicked, and I didn't know what else to do- to say. She started pushing, and I just knew I couldn't let her, so I- I said the first thing that I knew would stop her, even if it hurt her." None of this seemed to surprise her, but I suspected that even in her supremely sleep-deprived state, she was taking mental notes on my answer- the way Lou was known to do. "I think we're all just a little on edge, today." She nodded.
"We were really worried, Evie." This was nothing new, and maybe selfishly, I wished they could just relax for five minutes and let me figure things out for myself- without having to constantly manage their anxieties and insecurities. "I think we knew something was wrong, somehow- that you were gone, before we even should have." Huh? "I brought it up first, of course- as you said, I tend to be a bit..." She grimaced. "Well, a bit more anxious than most. More anxious than the others, at least. I brought up my concerns, and Pip was already worried, too. Vi wasn't far behind, and Hettie- well, she came around pretty quickly when we couldn't find you in the main part of the club."
I felt my eyebrows furrow- if I wasn't in the main club, did that mean Jerremyah had already apparated us away, or...? Was I in their house in Thetford, or maybe even at Nuria's already, or- or had they reacted so quickly, that I was still in the bathroom, between Lisbet and Jerremyah's bodies- and fangs? "Lou, how- how soon?" She stared at me silently- not like she didn't understand the question, but like she wasn't sure whether she wanted to answer. Wasn't sure whether she wanted to hear my reaction to her answer, more like. "How soon did you come after me, Lou? Tell me. You can tell me, I won't- I won't be mad, or anything." She said nothing for another second, giving me a pointed look as if to drive home the idea that she would certainly be holding me to that little promise.
"When I brought it up," She said slowly, as if testing the waters- but I felt as though she was trying to give me more time to adjust than herself. "Pip said it had been seventeen and a half minutes." Ugh, I knew getting him that new watch with the timer on it was a bad idea... I- I wasn't sure where I'd been. I ran through the mental math, trying to figure out how long we'd been in the bathroom before the Hunters had attacked- how long I'd been in the booth with Lisbet and Jerremyah before that, even- but no matter how hard I tried to calculate the events of the previous night, I couldn't pinpoint exactly when, in that series of events, I now knew my friends had panicked. Was it just after we had apparated away, or when we'd been attacked? Or maybe even before that, when Lisbet had Influenced me, and I'd found out what they were?
It had to be a coincidence- the fact that my friends had felt that something had gone awry, almost precisely as it had... but now that I knew the world was hiding such things as vampires, werewolves, witches and wizards, and seers... I wasn't so sure I believed in coincidences anymore. I refocused on the conversation and realised there wasn't one; Lou had allowed me the time to think, and was watching me carefully- as though even if she didn't expect a verbal response, she might find an answer in my body language. Knowing Lou, she just might. "I'm not sure when that was- a lot of things happened pretty quickly. But, I think that was somewhere between me meeting up with Li- her, again, and when... when he got hurt. Or right as we left, which- was just after that, so... yeah. Kind of hard to say." She stared at me as if she was trying to peer into my very soul- I almost felt like asking her to tell me what she saw there, but I feared I wouldn't be able to handle her reply, so I pushed the urge aside.
"Alright," She said quietly, gently- and it struck me as odd, because the tone was far more 'Pip-like', than 'Lou-like'. Maybe he'd had a word with her, about earlier. "Thank you for telling me, Evie. I know last night was hard on all of us, but especially on you-" Yeah, that sounded like an apology speech Pip might have written for one of us, had it ever come to that. "-so I'm really grateful that you're willing to open up even that much." Uh oh. Why did that feel like-? She reached out and tentatively laid a hand on my arm. "If- If you ever feel like talking to one of us, about anything... you know we'll listen, right? And we don't- we don't judge. That's the rule, right? None of us judge each other?" She gave me an incredibly soft look, which I wasn't used to seeing on her face. Lou usually cared far more subtly than the others- quietly, much like everything else she did. She preferred silent gestures over heartfelt conversations- which made this all the more concerning. "You don't have to be afraid of us, Evie-"
"I'm not afraid of you," I said quickly, even if it was partially a lie, and she seemed somewhat skeptical- or maybe just sad. "I'm not- I have nothing to hide, so there's nothing to fear." Apparently this was the wrong thing to say, because I saw awareness light in her eyes- like she'd just found the next note she wanted to take about our conversation- and panic gripped me again at the mere thought. "Lou- Go to bed. It's been a long night, and you deserve some rest... let someone else overthink things, for once." Maybe it was a bit of a low blow, considering how she'd reacted to me bringing up her more cautious nature earlier, but she just snorted as if she was amused by my barbed comment.
She pulled herself off of the wall languidly, and gave a pointed- albeit genuinely sleepy- yawn, which pulled at her upturned lips. "Okay, sure. Whatever, Evie. I'll go to bed, and you can go downstairs and talk to Pip- I'm sure he's still waiting to ambush you by 'accidentally' bumping into you at the bottom of the stairs." Judging by the minced oath and quiet shuffling I heard from that general direction, I suspected that was true. "Before you do, you might want to put on another layer, though... lest you burn our poor brother's eyes." Clearly, my confusion was evident, because Lou huffed a quiet laugh- which was really the only sort of laugh she ever made- and her eyes flicked down to my chest before returning to my face. "While I think that lacy red bra you're wearing is incredibly cute- I'll have to ask Hettie where she bought it for you- I don't think it's the kind of thing you want on display right now. So, either put on another layer or put on a thicker camisole, 'cause Evie, sweetheart... I'm getting quite the eyeful."
...oh, HELL!
(A/N): Long thing about team Wright and Friends fashion choices, which absolutely isn't necessary to read if you aren't interested in that sort of thing.
For the record, when Lou says 'I'll have to ask Hettie where she bought it for you', in reference to the bra, I mean that when Hettie and Evie go out shopping, Hettie is always like, pulling saucy things off the rack (mostly for herself), and then teasing Evie that she'd look good in them, and that she might get her some for her birthday or something. Eventually, this stopped being a joke, and Hettie started occasionally buying Evie more adventurous lingerie (and by more adventurous, I mean adventurous for Evie, not adventurous for Hettie- they're all very practical, they're just a little less conservatively cut and in bolder colors than Evie typically goes for. Lou knew it was a Hettie purchase because A, it was lacier than usual, and B, it was red, whereas Evie usually prefers white or pastels). I originally imagine Evie in like, a bralette- because curse my modern brain (I had the same problem with imagining what she's wearing on her legs, because my brain immediately went, 'ah yes, leggings/yoga pants', and then immediately was like, 'well, THAT'S not right'), so I looked up 1960's bras and found one that I think fits what I thought she would wear in this context, and is similar to a style I've actually worn (it was my grandmother's favorite, she got the wrong size and gave it to me, but it's a modern sort of reproduction of a more vintage style) and it was quite comfortable, so I think especially with the fact that Evie is WAY more used to that sort of style, she'd be very comfortable in it.
Also, I don't remember if I've mentioned it, but everyone of this group has an assigned color- basically their favorite, or the one they wear the most, or the one I associate with them. The only one I've actively mentioned is Hettie's, I think- being pink, like her club dress. Vi's is the only other one I've mentioned in passing, which is blue- but Vi's is a dark blue, whereas the dress she loaned to Evie (and now gave to Evie) is light blue, which is sort of Evie's secondary color. Lou's is green, and Pip's is purple (he particularly loves a good lilac, but he'll take what he can get, since purple isn't the most prevalent color when it comes to menswear), and Evie- Evie tends to borrow from the others a lot, so her color is the least easy to pick out, but if you actually look at her wardrobe and take out everything that she's borrowed from her friends, you'll find that her color is, predictably... yellow. Like her sunny disposition. So, basically, if I don't mention what these particular characters are wearing at any given time, feel free to imagine them in their assigned color.
As for their style... Hettie's obviously rather fun and flirty, short skirts and tight cuts, but won't wear anything she feels she can't move freely in. She wears almost entirely bright, bold colors and patterns, with interesting or revealing cuts, because she likes the attention (and knows it makes Evie and Lou feel better when she does). She does keep a few more modest pastel items (particularly pastel pink) in her wardrobe though, just so Evie can borrow them. Obviously, her favorite color is hot pink- because her mother told her it didn't go with her hair once, when she was younger, and Hettie hasn't let her have a moment of peace since. Lou is the most 'tomboy-ish' of the group (though I think she's less masc leaning and more just 'practicality' focused, which happens to sort of coincide with more menswear inspired styles)- she prefers jumpsuits/pants/shorts or skorts, and tends to cover up a bit more than Hettie or Vi, because she doesn't like drawing attention to herself. She's also the girl most likely to have her arms covered (almost constantly, in fact), and prefers high collars and good fabrics (sturdy like denim, corduroy, or wool, or high quality like silk), but again, needs to be able to move.
Vi's style is probably the one I have the most trouble categorising (other than Pip, because... menswear), since I sort of made her share her color with her sister, given Evie's first appearance was wearing one of her dresses. I want to say... girl next door, but the girl next door is (approachably) hot? I think her preferred outfit/item of clothing would be an a-line dress, sleeve length depending on the occasion, but casual is typically short sleeve and clubbing is sleeveless. Pip is preppy/smart casual, he's very much a 'nice pants plus sweater or button down shirt' kind of guy... maybe a button down UNDER a sweater, even. A nice jacket, maybe. Knit polo, that sort of thing. He just wants something soft and cozy to hang around in, but also to look put together. Evie is, obviously, the 'soft' one. Very flowy- flowy sleeves, flowy skirts. She also tends to prefer older styles, both because she buys pretty much all of her actual clothing secondhand, if not wearing her mother's old clothing, and because she just thinks they look/fit her better. They're also longer, which she likes, since she feels incredibly awkward showing off most parts of her body- because if men are looking at her, she's reminded of her issues with her sexuality, and that's the last thing she wants in general, let alone when she's meant to be trying to enjoy herself. She prefers solid, pastel colors and simple cuts, but if she knows the others are being particularly bold (and therefore everyone's eyes will be elsewhere) she'll indulge in a pattern or print, and maybe some sheer sleeves or something. Of course... all of that is subject to change (muahahahaha).
If you want to know more, they all have wardrobe sections on my pinterest for this story (pinterest dot com/intothefirefanfic) or by just searching 'Into the Fire Fanfic Pinterest' on google, along with each having a section devoted to what their hair looks like (well... the color anyway), and an extra special *secret* board, like a lot of my other characters (which certainly contains spoilers, though not any you're going to understand).