Archive of Our Own

The waterfall of notifications that come through to her phone is overwhelming, but Akali smiles fondly upon seeing that the bulk of the messages are Qiyana bombarding the True Damage group chat with what seems like her entire gallery. Filing through their touristy group selfies, blackmail worthy candids of other members in compromising positions, and records of backstage tomfoolery makes Akali's heart ache with a bittersweet fondness. 

Akali taps out a specific reply to a photo of Ekko's locs in little twintails, Akali's much larger hair in the same style, and both of their pairs of hands in peace signs and their lips in stupid pouts. Separated @ birth, she decides. 

The True Damage experience keeps sending her mind spinning with the old "impossible"s and "no"s that Akali's blown out of the water with the supergroup. She has a wealth of notebooks filled to show for how insane the past year has been. Notebook pages, her contact list, her music library, atrocious hickeys taking forever to fade - all a curation of Akali Tethi, the most creative rap artist in Asia, and beyond. 

Within reason, she did away with every notion of what was "industry-acceptable" that had been shoved down her throat during her ascent to stardom with the newly formed K/DA. The too-hot jackets they made her wear to cover up her tattoos, sexist execs dismissing her ideas, sanitized lyrics would not hold her in True Damage. Whatever press gymnastics came with it were well worth the price of re-introducing herself to the world - the stuff she's really made of. (That also meant a lot of hedonistic, young adult indulgence that Akali's still trying to piece together through the boozy, busty haze cast upon her brain every other night. Qiyana's shutterbug tendencies were a blessing and a curse.)

Once the discoveree, Akali travels across the globe and digs into those underground roots to take a stab at doing the discovering. In a way, it's helped her learn to trust her intuition more; if she can put together a team of people this good based on her gut feelings, only good things can come from tending to that endless momentum. 

Channeling said overwhelming momentum into her art comes easier these. She already feels miles away from her plucky mainstream debut, let alone the grainy videos teenaged Akali would make in her room or somewhere else in the dojo if she was in need of a change of scenery. Twenty views used to make her feel over the moon, full of satisfaction at the most minimal airtime on someone else's screen. Akali's immediate reaction to seeing herself stretching bigger, taller than the Eiffel Tower in the final cut of the GIANTS video was fucking sobbing.

She could still sob now, touching the soil of her home base. Running around with her new best friends makes coming home to family twice as sweet and stings the backs of her eyes before she's even off the connecting ramp.

For her dignity's sake, Akali decides on sending a selfie to the K/DA group chat to signal her arrival, because she knows that hearing the voices of her original musical companions will push her over the emotional edge she's been teetering on for months. Not that they hadn't seen Akali cry, or that she hadn't openly wept during group calls or in her unedited vlogs about sorely missing her girls. The crux of this is that Ahri, Kai'Sa, and Evelynn are close enough this time to hold her through it. Akali is wading over to her life preservers after going for one hell of a swim.

The resulting fanfare from the message is quick. One member is distinctly missing from the mix of replies, but her response comes in the private thread she has with Akali.

Your chariot awaits, superstar. 

Coincidentally, Evelynn is also her ride home from the airport.

The pair had spent a painfully little amount of face time together between now and the time the members of K/DA parted ways ("for now," one of them would always tack on). Save for a couple of days together crammed in between their respective travel schedules (Akali was slammed with press stuff; what Evelynn was up to, she couldn't say), the two of them have relied on all the video chats and cyber sex in the world to sustain their connection. It was torture, Akali felt, that the soft curve of Evelynn's neck down to her shoulder and the burst of heady citrus whenever she hugged Akali had just been a memory. Even though heading out to Paris was Akali's excited idea, she felt sore about being bitterly ripped away from her shiny new celebrity girlfriend so soon.

The now-short amount of distance between them makes Akali antsy enough to beat her bottom lip into submission with her teeth. Akali treats her girlfriend to a play-by-play of her trip through the airport. She triple, quadruple, quintuple texts Evelynn about anything and everything happening around her. Evelynn only replies to the essential bits of information about her location and treats Akali to a complaint or two about some clingy fans asking for too many pictures. Cutting under the excitement is eighteen months of growth as apparent as the black roots coming in under her blonde, and worry about the kind of change that's hard to be excited for.

A solo text from Qiyana breaks Akali's anxious focus. so are you going to talk to Eve?

Nothing to talk about. Miss u. Akali tacks a healthy sprinkle of Emojis onto her bid of love to seal the distraction. 

Some good one-on-one time with Evelynn, Akali expects, should wash the festering worries and suspicions right down the drain. If that doesn't work, she can do the immature thing and stomp on them until they plummet down the pipe.

Akali watches her bright red suitcase with airbrushed flame decals (stylized by Kai'Sa) tumble out onto the carousel, the first of her many affairs. She takes her place with the herd of passengers awaiting the same fate. Lugging her baggage back into her hands, Akali spares a thought for the others in the crowd who are as flighty as her and anticipating something a little too grounding on the other side of the gates.

No matter what, though, the sight of Evelynn's very silhouette from the end of the arrivals ramp puts the spring back in Akali's step like she'd just woken up from a long sleep. In a way, she has - it's been a dreamless one without her siren around.

The harsh lights of the airport mean nothing for Evelynn's radiance. In fact, Evelynn just has a way of making her surroundings seem glamorous with her essence alone; she's always the first one you see in a crowd, no exceptions. The lights cast an ironic halo down her long, stark white hair that blossoms into a bow at the crown of her head. Her telltale lashers are tucked away, like a nice, normal girl. Her phone balances idly in her hands with her attention elsewhere, focused and searching in the stream of people coming through arrivals. A massive pair of reflective shades, damn near a visor, obscures most of her face and calls even more attention to her plush lips than they already command. Especially so when her gaze finally locks onto her target and those lips break into a wide grin, schooled carefully to avoid showing too much feeling in public. 

"Eve," Akali sighs happily.

One look at Evelynn, and Akali's doesn't care how stupid she looks when she breaks out into a run to get to her. Luggage cart and all, she bounds toward Evelynn, abandoning her belongings to throw herself somewhere between Evelynn's neck and breasts, squeezing her tight. Standing here, Akali already feels like she's at home.

"Welcome back, darling." Evelynn cradles the back of Akali's head in her palm in her paparazzi-friendly version of a hug. The low strumming of her hypnotic voice boasts a touch of honey to supplement the tame embrace. "After that little private jet photo, I thought you'd transcended commercial air travel."

Akali lets out a content sigh at the vibration of Evelynn's voice under her chest. The silken material of Eve's jade green sundress is feather thin under her palms. "Ah, I like to stay humble... is this dress new? I like it."

Evelynn lovingly removes Akali from her person, intervening before her lover can get carried away. Still, Evelynn holds her by one of the straps of her backpack, inspecting Akali up and down like she's making a purchase. Akali assumes she passes her performance review; Evelynn squeezes her shoulder before letting her go. "Was the flight okay, darling? Did you sleep at all? Eat?"

"Meh, as good as a 15-hour trip can be." Akali recognizes this as the closest Evelynn typically gets to saying she cares. Evelynn cares; Akali has half a mind to tell Qiyana about that, to prove there's nothing wrong. "I had this weird green bean thing on the plane - I think it had some kind of cheese on top, but it kinda just looked like nail clippings. You should take me to dinner."

"Ahri has the evening's agenda covered; she has instructed me to have you hand-delivered to hot pot immediately upon arrival. Queen's orders." 

It's a fairly standard gesture. Even so, Akali's heart swells with longing and excitement for this family reunion. "Kai'Sa's not cooking?"

"Oh, that was a fight, trust me. She's on breakfast tomorrow. Come," Evelynn gently prompts with an opening-and-closing of her hand like she's offering to hold Akali's. Akali would love to, almost as much as she would love her girlfriend to help her with her bags. Watching Evelynn turn to lead the way, though, Akali is reminded that she already has enough to carry.

More than enough. More than Akali remembers.

Flexing her refined flirting skills on the siren after practicing on the local Parisian fare is something Akali simply can't resist, now that she knows just what she's working with. Akali keeps her verbal advances on the warm side, but her roaming eyes do the rest of the talking. "You look good today. If I'd known we were dressing to impress each other, I would've worn those leather pants you sent me. You know, the ones that fit real good."

Clearly amused, Evelynn casts a backwards glance at Akali with a pleased grin. "I'm sure you have some petites amies in your black book to play around with. Don't think I don't remember your little threesome stories."

"Hey, now, there's no need to be jealous. There's lots of 'Kali to go around." Akali jogs a couple of paces to fall into step beside her chauffeur with a roaming gaze at everything going on in that dress. She also watches to make sure Evelynn isn't actually jealous of the aforementioned flings - Eve seemed to relish in the lusty tales Akali relayed to her, even sounding a bit proud at times. The stories have even earned Akali an affectionate "Slut" title from her.

"You're right. Maybe, I'm even pretty enough for you to remember my name after you sleep with me."

Akali bursts into snickers and mutters something about low blows, letting Evelynn have the win because she doesn't want to talk over the sound of her sly laughter. Evelynn has a great sense of humor about all kinds of things. Another tick on the Everything's Fine checklist.

The gravitational pull of Evelynn's ass leads Akali through the tall, winding ways of the airport. The rapper is filled to the brim with just a fraction of whimsical tales from the recent past. Akali expects herself to talk Evelynn's ears off with tidbits from the past year and embarrassing stories she promised she'd never tell anyone, which meant she would at least tell two out of three members of K/DA, depending on who would and wouldn't scold her for it. Namely, Evelynn loved being privy to everyone's secrets, even if she constantly claims that Akali's blabbermouth would be the death of her. Despite this and the strong start she was off to, all that seems to come out of Akali now is travel-related small talk and icebreaker-like prompts that make her sound like a robot to her own ears.

Too many eyes and ears, Akali ponders as an explanation. Both her and Evelynn are donning their disguises, baseball caps and shades, but the two of them are still a distinct enough pair to prompt flashes and shutters and whispers around them. Fame has made Akali much more hypervigilant about time and place, often through "hard way" lessons of being a touch too fucked up to conduct herself well enough in public and reading about it on Soompi the next morning. Among the ways she's grown, Akali's gained much more understanding about Evelynn's sculpted, almost creepy poise in public; she kind of wishes she could have the same grace. Maybe it would rub off on Akali soon.

On the matter, Akali doesn't spare a moment's hesitation jamming the "door close" button in the elevator to seal her and her lover inside, alone. Akali pointedly parks her luggage cart in the far corner of the elevator, inconvenient for whenever they get to the garage and the perfect place to get rid of any obstruction from her girlfriend, standing beside her. Something tangible changes in the air, as Akali predicted; Evelynn treats her passenger to the sight of her eyes, finally, hooking her shades onto the plunging neckline of her dress. Diamond white pupils flex within their gold borders, getting used to the light and to Akali in her full glory. Akali's heart seizes in her chest at the breathtaking reveal of the woman - her woman.

"I can't help but feel a bit disappointed, darling."

"Disappointed?" A chill runs both ways through Akali's spine and a highlight reel of the last ten minutes spins through her head. Then ensues the emotional scrambling that Evelynn seems to prompt in her: Akali frets that she's already told on herself by clamming up, wonders if Evelynn's flawless read on her emotions is still as strong as it always has been.

Evelynn pivots a touch to get a good look at Akali, staring hard at her yet again. Akali shrinks under the scrutinous gaze, but loses the tension when Evelynn brings her palms up to Akali's face and starts to squeeze and pull at her maknae's cheeks until the hat obscuring it lies crooked over her eyes. Ignoring Akali's grimace, Evelynn elaborates through pouted lips, "You have been gone for two years, and I can't just steal you away and drink you in because those bitches want to have dinner."

"'Those bitches' are our friends, Eve," Akali chastises with her lips pushed into a matching pout by Evelynn's hands. Her retort has no actual bite to it; Evelynn's baseline of possessive love kinda works for her in some ways. To that point, Akali winds her arms around Evelynn's waist and leans proudly and happily into her girlfriend's palms; a deep inhale fills Akali's lungs with a sweet, peppery scent sticking to Evelynn's skin. New, but familiar. Probably that new fragrance of hers. "That why you're picking me up solo?"

Evelynn finally decides on holding Akali's jaw in her right palm. They hold each other's eyes for a moment; this is Akali's favourite way to study her own reflection, in Evelynn's scary bright eyes with a too-soft smile accompanying their gaze. The siren tells her lover, "I've always had dibs on you, love."

Akali, feeling refreshed by the admission, believes her. Evelynn's touch has such a way of melting the stone of Akali's fear; she's glad at least one of them can make do with it.

Their rest of the voyage to Evelynn's reserved parking spot feels extra agitating when the pair detaches themselves from one another, avoiding creating further material for prying eyes. Akali's brow is creased; she feels utterly left to her own devices without Evelynn squeezing and prodding at her like a new toy. Akali hasn't even been kissed yet. Being close to Evelynn was like a hard reset on the brain, wiping it clean of anything not relevant to... well, Evelynn. 

Getting lost in her is what started the mess going on in Akali's head, and she recognizes the pattern of thought emerge like a warning sign. Evelynn, however, is a glowing green light giving her permission to step on the gas; she would never steer her rogue wrong.

In keeping with Akali's desire for a quiet arrival, Evelynn has chosen to drive something a touch more civilian-looking than the unmistakable deep purple Aventador. It really is only a touch; her vehicles of choice are never anything less than egregiously luxurious. Patent white and gleaming, the four-door saloon bears Evelynn's signature DIVA license plate between a massive grill and a black trim that almost looks like a grin. Rims like sunrays surround a silver double-R logo, one on each wheel, and the Spirit of Ecstasy is ready to take flight on the hood.

Akali accesses the small bank of car knowledge that Evelynn has imported to her over the years to guess, "That's definitely new. That a Rolls?"

"Excellent eye, darling. White leather interior with violet accents, six-point-seven-five litre V12 under the hood, planar suspension like a fucking dream, and I have custom rims in the works. They called me a 'ghost', so I decided to buy one." Evelynn is clearly proud of her joke, boasting an impish grin and a flip of her hair.  "Pop the trunk - I wanna show you the inside."

Akali knows that Evelynn knows that Akali doesn't know what half of those things mean, but she's more than eager to get her grubby little hands all over the new ride. Evelynn's excitement about whatever shiny new car or watch or bag became contagious once Akali stopped thinking too much about the associated price tags. Delicately, almost afraid of how spotless the vehicle is, she hauls her belongings into the trunk and hops into shotgun.

Evelynn still prattles on about specs when Akali spares a glance at her phone. People are still trying to reach her, bidding her their welcomes and setting dates to hang out, but Qiyana's message telling her to stop being a pussy is particularly eye-catching and mood-resetting. Akali flexes her fingers to call her a bitch, but that would be stronger ammunition for QiQi than for Akali herself, so she settles on telling her to Back off. The rapper locks her phone and steams a bit, scowling hard at the constellation of stars cast onto the dashboard.

The engine of the beast in Evelynn's command purrs to life. Similar constellations cast along the car's ceiling softly pulse into their full illumination in time with the ignition. "Geez. What did you just read?"

Akali screws up her lips a bit and decides to break her scowl once she sees Evelynn's curious expression. Surprisingly candidly, she answers, "Qiyana's being a bitch."

"Ooh, what about? Let me in on the hot goss, darling."

Akali can recognize that she walked into this one, and she fully intends to walk back out untouched. Right in front of her is the remedy to her panging homesickness, and some nagging thoughts - or group mates - won't sully this for her. With that, Akali swallows the truth for the day.

"She's holding, like, three of my hoodies hostage. I should send her a fuckin' invoice."

"In that case, you'll have to bill the three of us along with her. Seatbelt, hon." The Ghost remains stationary; Evelynn's grabbing at Akali's face again, gentler and with a touch more skepticism. Akali focuses on returning the gaze and on keeping her thoughts steady to keep her chances of being read at bay. Evelynn attempts, "There's something on your mind."

Akali presses a kiss to Evelynn's palm then presses her cheek against it, trapping her hand between there and the head rest. "Tired, hungry, jet-lagged... kinda wishing it could just be you and me tonight, but I know that's not fair."

This answer pleases Evelynn greatly. That part isn't a lie, just carefully weaponized truth to stave off the prodding.

"Darling, you say the word and we can go anywhere."

With those words, Akali looks at the delicate night sky painted along the roof of the car. In a way, she feels like a giant here, on top of the world and touching the sky with her lover touching her. Evelynn's knack for creating little hideaways everywhere enables that part of Akali that always wants to slink off and be shady with her. Shadows can feel safe with Evelynn.

Akali's gaze is trapped by the starry display. "We should head to dinner, but I definitely have to get high in here."

"There's my girl."

They don't have to wait to get to the restaurant before they hear from the other half of the group. Ahri insists that they're taking far too long and wants to stay on the phone for the whole ride. Kai'Sa gladly chimes in to chat happily with Akali about the trip, what she'd missed since her own visit to Paris, and to make snide comments about what she would have cooked for them tonight. Evelynn rallies in support of eating out and presses the double entendre, in perfect line with her sense of humor. The melody of their familial bickering feels like a breath of crisp spring air, especially so when they reach their destination and Akali hardly has a foot out of the car before she's enveloped by two bodies and nine tails in a suffocating embrace.

Ahri's grateful tears run hot onto Akali's forehead with Kai'Sa's raining on her from above, triggering the exact tears Akali knew were inevitable. Evelynn politely gives them some cover for their emotional display with broadened lashers. Their leader commands the maknae, "Never leave us again."

"I don't know why I ever did," Akali weeps in reply.

The four of them swear to avoid "talking work", in the sense that they would have more than enough gruelling meetings and contract signing to be concerned with in the future. Tonight would be about catching up as a group of friends and lovers, separated for too long with too much to catch up on. Akali has a shitton of stories to tell, anyway, and she's too busy basking in the loving attention that her family showers her with to think of anything else. She hungrily takes in the girls' conversational quirks that she knows and loves, and spots the new ones that have developed - Ahri and Kai'Sa like to hold pinkies now, which Akali finds quite tickling.

All the while, Evelynn stays close and connected to her. A hand stroking her back as she speaks, switching to a firm thumping motion whenever Akali starts to choke because she talks with her mouth full. Feeding Akali when she let her veggies overcook, too enthralled by her own tales to remember to eat. Skinny lashers flex and curl around Akali's legs under the table and Evelynn only reluctantly lets go when her girlfriend has to go to the bathroom or make another sauce blend. On any other occasion, Akali would have teased her for being so clingy, but with her attention split in a thousand different directions, Eve's closeness is the only thing keeping her head screwed on.

Such excitement, in combination with a full stomach, lulls Akali to sleep on the car ride home. The conversation naturally winds down into pleasant chatter, mostly between the pair seated in the back, with Evelynn focused on charging through the streets at what she thinks is an acceptable speed - just the backdrop Akali needs to knock right out. As much as she's looking forward to going back to the house, seeing what's changed and clinging like hell to whatever's the same, it takes too much of an effort to wake her up upon arrival for Akali to do anything but rest.

Ahri seals this truth with a kiss on Akali's forehead as she recollects her consciousness in the passenger seat. "We're supposed to stay up and gossip, Akali, but you look like a zombie. Go get some rest - we have a good meal to look forward to in the morning."

"No, I can stay up with you guys," Akali unconvincingly protests.

Having taken the responsibility of transferring Akali's luggage into the house, Kai'Sa chimes in to sweetly advise, "It's best to get ahead of jet lag, 'Kal. We'll all still be here when you wake up."

The dancer's words hit a particular nerve that makes Akali pout. "Promise?"

Another chorus of coos ensues; Evelynn waits for the moment to pass to lean into Akali and assure her that there's nowhere she would rather be.

The idea of going to bed in a signature K/DA cuddle pile is appealing, but Akali feels inclined to spend some time alone getting settled into her room again. Though their disappointment is palpable, her groupmates bid her their sweet goodnights, adding their final touches to the gallery of lipstick marks on her face. Evelynn, finally, kisses Akali's lips.

The maknae feels the sentimental strings holding her heart together strain at the sight of her bedroom. Akali remembers the massive cleanup she did before she left, stoned off sativa and babbling something about "clearing the energy" of the space for her eventual return. Kai'Sa even lent her some incense for the occasion. The floor is clear, her desk tidy, her bed made; all that's left is for her to live here again. 

And to find room for the shitton of new clothes she brought. 

There was no way in hell Akali's unpacking tonight, so, she uses her stack of suitcases as a seat and her vantage point for yet another trip down memory lane. A fresh twenty-one with the chance of a lifetime falling into her lap and darting across the country to chase it, leaving a stagnant future at her family's dojo and her torture expert of a mother in her dust - finding a beautiful blend of friends and lovers and family on the other side. 

Leaving that behind to find herself again, in Paris this time, and realizing what it meant to miss home. 

Akali sighs deeply, shrugging out of her jacket and peeling off her other layers until she's left in a cotton bra and boxers. She lets the clothes be the first bits of mess on the floor, a fuck-you to living out of suitcases and temporary rooms with cold, empty beds that are missing the people she needs. 

True Damage is a tight-knit group of Akali's best friends - that much is evident. She seems to just attract the kind of people that gave great hugs and advice, and that would throw a blanket over you when you were too drunk to go out (only after autographing your face). But that particular set of best friends wouldn't want to be her big spoon and hold her throughout the entire night when her thoughts were racing too much for her to rest. At least, not the way that she needed. So, Akali didn't press it. Admittedly, she'd begun to forget how to ask for that kind of thing. Curling up with her phone on the pillow and listening to old voice notes from the K/DA group chat was her go-to, even if it made her pretty sad - in fact, that kind of sadness made it easier to sleep.

Akali regards her untouched, neatly made bedspread with a blank stare. It looks lifeless. It is.

A knock on the door alerts Akali to a visitor, and the door opening without her assent tells her the visitor is Evelynn before Akali actually sees her. She's taken the twenty-ish minutes since the rapper left to get into a tiny pair of shorts and a double extra large t-shirt of Akali's - black with a faded print of Spike Spiegel in the center. The bow in her hair is gone and her heels are off; Evelynn looks kind of unassuming, which is nice, considering she's invited herself in unannounced.

"You just can't leave me alone, huh?" Akali accuses with a wry smile. She allows Evelynn to ruffle her hair and doesn't mind when she opts to take it out of the ponytail altogether.

"I tried, but I could taste your depression all the way down the hall. I'm here to complain to the chef." Evelynn offers Akali a small smile that melts into a mildly upset expression, bordering on frustration - Evelynn's default when she was getting ready to express genuine concern for a loved one. She huffs, "You're at home now, Akali. You aren't going to get away with sulking on your own when you have all this love around you."

Akali's shoulders slump. Evelynn's hypocrisy aside, her naming of the feeling brings Akali some relief and shakes the floodgates that she thought were closed for the night. "I'm not sulking, just... thinking."

"Come to my room. That way, you can at least do your thinking with your head in my lap."

"I don't want to have sex," Akali immediately replies, and she outwardly winces at the knee-jerk reaction. Now flooded with worry about her girlfriend feeling rejected, Akali sputters, "I-I mean... I just- I don't--"

Evelynn rolls her eyes and interrupts, "Neither do I, dummy. Maybe you should get laid and you'd stop being so mopey, but I don't think that's what you need right now. What I do know is that you'll be wide awake if you try to sleep alone."

Akali's eyes drop to the floor. She feels like an idiot for trying to hide from Evelynn when she has a better read on Akali than Akali does on herself. It seldom matters that Eve isn't clued into the specifics of what's plaguing her, because she worms her way into the emotion itself until Akali is forced to crack it open and make room for both of them there. Usually, by the time that happens, Akali's let it turn over in her mind so much that it's really only Evelynn that can ease her back out of the pattern. This presents a problem for her in the turning-over that her mind has done about Evelynn herself. It's easier when Akali doesn't know what Evelynn will find when she dives into her pain; all that waits at the bottom of this particular well is an unrecognizable portrait of the two of them that she would rather let gather dust.

Soft, cold hands tuck under Akali's jaw and lift her chin to meet her lover's neutral, but insistent expression. Evelynn asks, "We don't have to talk about it, whatever it is. Just let me hold it."

Akali takes a deep breath. She puts those thoughts to bed, again.

"Only if you give me a ride." Akali gestures to Evelynn's lashers, at rest behind her back.

Evelynn rolls those too-soft eyes. "The city of love has made you soft."

The succubus obliges, fashioning something of a hammock to cradle Akali in for the voyage. Akali maintains that this is Cloud Nine.

There are moments where Akali notices Evelynn stopping herself from taking over. Random, purposeful grasps on Akali's torso make her tense with the familiar warning that she's about to be flipped over, but that moment never comes. Akali's holding back with her, willing softness into her touch. It's abundantly clear that both of them pictured something different for their first time back together - something rough and playful with much worshipping and just as much shit-talking. She wonders if Evelynn can read that she needs this, to pour her first whispers of consciousness that morning into feeling Eve and making her feel in return.

The extent of said feeling is revealed when Evelynn takes her turn with Akali. The want in her eyes creates a golden storm that shakes Akali to her core, stripping her more bare than she had already slept that night. Each drag of her teeth across Akali's ribs, every moment she spends trading their tastes with her tongue sends the human back to her first brushes with this immersive kind of loving. The lightest of touches threatens to break Akali with their knowing perfection - that ever-present knowledge of exactly what her lover needs. Though she reciprocates Akali's gesture of gentleness in her expert way, there is more than just her body involved; Evelynn works away at the knots in Akali's mind, making apparent her intentions to clear it. Akali blissfully, wholeheartedly accepts. 

More than anything, Akali is looking to welcome herself home in Evelynn. She wants to find the pieces of some of their first memories together in the grooves of her vessel and remind herself of their roots, what makes them tick together. Those origins have felt so far away from her, too far. There have been too many imitations of this closeness that have passed through Akali's hands in their time apart that being in this bed feels like a massive dose of some antidote Akali had been dying for.

"This is all wrong," Evelynn says with a dreamy smile as she catches her breath. "I am supposed to get dressed up and seduce you... show you my new toys... but I haven't even brushed my teeth yet."

Akali rolls her eyes and lets her head rest against Eve's thigh, lightheaded and heart coming down from its racing. "We have... all the time in the world for that stuff. I'm home now. Not goin' anywhere you're not goin', too."

"That had better be a promise."

There, gazing up at Evelynn at some of her most vulnerable, Akali promises her the world, and her own along with it.