Chapter Text
As soon as Evelynn saw the props for that evening’s shoot she knew she was in trouble.
In all honesty she had known back when she had agreed to do this show like an absolute idiot. In interviews she said she accepted because she didn’t want to leave Kai’sa to do it on her own, their second youngest member had been inadvisably eager to join the cast of this off brand K-Drama. However the truth was that she had simply stolen Ahri’s reason for joining their bandmate. The real reason was because the director David Clarkson had passionately pitched his idea to them and it just so happened to hit the exact right buttons to make her accept.
He had inadvertently said the only thing that would make her leave her home at an ungodly hour to film for a show that would likely go down in history as the worst piece of content their brand was ever involved in.
There was no way he could know that in addition to being a demon that was older than the building they were standing in she had a deeper and, in her opinion, darker secret. That Evelynn, the ‘Dommy Mommy of K/DA’, was massive masochist.
David had explained his vision, of Kai'sa playing a mean spirited villain who regularly tortured those in her employ, using blackmail or coercion to get what she wanted while Evelynn would play one of her victims. Sure the plan was to have her eventually develop a split personality and fall back into the role everyone would assume she would take, overpowering Kai’sa’s character and becoming the dark hero or whatever, but the first part made her shiver.
The idea of filming scenes where she got to be tied up and talked down to… despite every sense of aesthetics in her screaming no, she gave a cool yes to the producers. Kai’sa had looked surprised and Ahri had laughed thinking it was a joke only to fall silent when Eve never took back the affirmation.
Evelynn was not exactly surprised with her betrayal of her wants to her needs. It was something she was viciously insecure about and as such had repressed the urge, especially as of late. Of all the otherworldly beings she had met in her long life none of them ever thought much of a pain demon who was not all that interested in inflicting it. She was laughed at in the best of times and shunned in the worst. And of the humans who had ever found out none were ever able to be what she needed.
For a while, back when humanity was young she had tried playing the victim in dark alleys, figuring she could do the world a service while sating her hunger and desire to be dominated.
Only the types of people who would come to harm her never tasted very good as their enjoyment was strictly based on her not feeling pleasure. And after a few particularly hairy encounters she put off submitting to the will of strangers.
In the end she simply decided it was better to play the part people expected. It made eating easier, though not quite as fulfilling. She thought of it as an odd quirk, sort of like how she stopped torturing people to the absolute zenith of her ability, eating their delicious screams of torment as they died and instead getting a fine meal off the ecstasy her lashers could provide for a select few.
Then her music career blew up, the expectations became iron clad and it became impossible to find someone who didn’t want her to dominate them. So she gave up and decided to just lean into what she was clearly meant to be, built a persona out of it.
At least she thought she did. Until a lanky man named David told her she could potentially spend an evening with a very trusted friend pretending to choke her.
And honestly she could talk Kai’sa out of making it pretend.
She didn’t even consider feeding off of the interaction, not even a little, but the very idea of getting the tiniest bit of what she had denied herself for so long made her run hot.
However she played it cool, kept calm and acted as if it were all beneath her, as if this were just another press thing that needed doing.
Then she showed up to set on the third day of filming and saw the choke collar. Her mouth watered and her knees went weak and she knew she was in trouble.
“Whaaa… how do you even use this?” Kai’sa asked, picking it up and turning it over in her hands.
Evelynn made a point not to be the one to answer.
“It’s a little different than normal,” Ahri said, plucking it from her friend’s hands, “It tightens all the way around with this,” she pulled a ring that at first looked like an attachment for a collar but was in fact a mechanism for making the entire thing shrink in diameter all at once.
“Why not just have a regular choke collar?” Kai’sa asked, “Simple.”
“One word,” a stagehand said as he swept onto the scene, a coffee and clipboard in hand, “Sponsors.” Clapping to refocus attention that had not waned he went on, “Okay, Evelynn and Kai’sa makeup is ready for you, Ahri you’re in the scene after so feel free to watch or wait in your dressing room until it’s time.”
Ahri just sighed, tossing the collar back among the props and shrugged as she moved towards Kai’sa and Evelynn clearly intending to join them. As they walked Kai’sa produced a copy of the script from her jacket turning to well worn pages with her lines highlighted.
“You ready for your big scene today?” Ahri asked her.
“Actually…” she said slowly, turning to Evelynn, “I was wondering if you had any pointers, since this is your domain and all.”
Eve sighed, “Nothing to it really. This character isn’t so much a dom as she is purely sadistic so just show contempt and be aggressive.”
Kai’sa scratched the back of her neck as Ahri laughed and opened the door to the makeup room for them.
“Yeah, I got that,” Kai’sa mumbled, “I mean more like… how do I show that? You make it look easy, but when I tested out my ‘mean’ face in the mirror…”
“Let me see!” Ahri exclaimed in amusement as Evelynn greeted her own makeup artist and sat in her chair.
Eve did not envy the young woman’s task of trying to do a better job on her makeup than she herself had this morning, but she allowed the woman to try as she watched Kai’sa attempt to mean mug Ahri.
The young dancer pulled a face that made Evelynn think she probably had a stomach ache and Ahri clearly agreed.
“Oh, well, that could use some work,” the fox chuckled as she hopped up on the makeup counter facing Kai’sa.
“Just pretend someone said something mean about those ridiculous comics that you and Akali love so much,” Evelynn drawled, keeping her eyes on the mirror before her. When Kai’sa hit her with a venomous glare she could feel on the side of her face Eve smiled and pointed to her without even having to turn her head, “There we go, harness that.”
Pulling off her coat Kai’sa finally settled in her chair, “I still can’t believe you’re here instead of Akali,” she said to Eve, then abruptly amended, “Not that I would rather her, it’s just y’know, weird in a good way. I think we work well together like this, maybe we can do a movie next?”
“I don’t know about that,” Evelynn sighed.
“Maybe not right away,” Ahri mused absently as she twirled a bottle of concealer in her hands, “but let’s not rule anything out before we’ve even finished shooting.”
The door behind them opened and David bustled in looking harassed with the same stagehand from earlier behind him.
“Three megastars on set, on time? Are you sure you aren’t angels in disguise?” he asked breathlessly, flipping through a copy of the script.
“Quite sure,” Evelynn snorted, her eyes on his through the reflection in the mirror as some of her eye shadow was removed to make way for what had to be an inferior product.
“We all share a house so it only makes sense to arrive together,” Kai’sa said helpfully.
Evelynn seriously considered making a comment about how dedicated she seemed to be to coming together with Akali, but she opted not to fluster the woman so soon before they started filming.
“Whatever the reason I love it. Okay, so we’re doing the choking scene first today, I just need to know how it all looks in motion because the rest of these episodes hinge on how well you two play off each other here.”
Kai’sa nodded fervently, clearly taking his worry to heart, Eve just kept on staring at him until he spoke again.
“So after the ‘beg dog’ line I would like to hold for a while, Neera doesn’t want to give in to Tanya’s desires so she stubbornly holds back. I want a closeup,” he said, moving closer to Evelynn and framing her face at a distance with his hands as she gave him a side eye, “I want to see the desperation, but doing so will probably give away the fact that the collar isn’t actually tight so our options are,” he paused to tuck his script under his arm and count them out on his fingers. “Cut and have makeup add just a ton of blush to your face and keep shooting. If that doesn’t look right, have one with you simply pretending and see what the special effects kids can add in post or, my least favorite option, do a wide shot.”
“Isn’t it up to you to pick one?” Ahri asked, now twirling a brush in her hands much to the irritation of the woman working on Kai’sa who seemed to want to use it.
“Yes, but I suppose what I need to know is, will Evelynn be willing to work the scene three separate times? Each option has different requirements on the technical end meaning I will need three separate performances.”
It was so easy Evelynn almost cracked a smile, “Or she could just actually choke me.”
The room was quiet for a moment, even both makeup artists froze before David spoke up again, “Well, to have the shot the way we need it you’d end up being that way for…” he waved his hand uselessly, “a while. I think that be a bit stressful for you to-”
“No more stressful than filming this three times. I can do it.”
The room was silent again, across from her she could see Kai’sa blanch, absolutely confounding the woman who was applying blush, and Ahri just stared at her, ice blue eyes searching for the answer to the question Kai’sa then asked.
“Why? You could just… hold your breath until you go red?” she tried.
“With the takes we need she’d pass out before lunch,” the stagehand answered.
Looking stricken Kai’sa turned in her chair, her makeup lady scrambling to follow and not draw mascara all over her face, “I’m a total novice at acting and choking someone, what if I hurt you?” she asked panicked.
“You won’t,” Evelynn said, fixing her with a steady gaze. Kai’sa knew what she was, as did every other member of her group, though the younger girl regularly forgot.
When the realization hit she nodded, “Alright, I’ll trust you to, I dunno, punch me or something if I do it wrong.”
“Don’t worry I will,” she chuckled softly, internally celebrating the easy win.
*-*-*
It all seemed like such a sweet victory until it was time to film. Until that leather contraption was put around her neck and Kai’sa gave it a test tug.
Eve had expected to enjoy it, to get a little sexual thrill from the feel, to get lost in the role and simply indulge.
Instead the sensation of that leather tightening around her neck made her moan like a wanton harlot and she had to cover the sound with a cough that had apologies falling out of Kai’sa’s mouth before she could even try and explain it away.
They found a comfortable medium which was to have the cord pulled much farther than Kai'sa was okay with and much shorter than Evelynn would like, but her face reddened with the strain as needed.
The takes with Kai’sa’s close-ups were first, the collar simply in one hand and the ring of the collar pulled up near her face by the other to give the illusion that she was yanking it tighter than she really was.
Evelynn shuddered wondering how it would feel if they tried that for real.
Then the over the shoulder takes were done from earlier in the scene and Eve truly saw how far gone she was, because in the leather pants, low cut top and with a successful mean face Kai’sa looked every bit the sadist she was meant to be. And when she pulled the collar taut Evelynn had to constantly remind herself that her character did not want to be in this position. She kept her expression settled somewhere on belligerent, even when David had the random idea to add a little flare and try a shot with Kai’sa putting a heeled boot on Eve’s shoulder as she was knelt on the floor.
Kai’sa constantly checked in to make sure Eve was okay, and while she was technically pulling harder than they had agreed and the heel of the shoe was digging in deep into the skin of her shoulder Evelynn assured her everything was okay.
By the time Kai’sa told her to beg she was wet and willing to do it, but she was immediately slapped back to reality by Ahri.
The gumiho was standing off stage looking at her with those piercing eyes of hers, pupils narrowed to slits as she stared with the expression of someone who saw what was actually going on.
Mouth dry Eve turned her attention back to the scene and was able to keep her face stoic throughout, fear keeping her reactions in check.
Because Ahri was her oldest living friend and whatever there was of Eve’s demon heart wanted desperately to be everything the fox wanted to see. Ahri always complimented her directness, her ability to take charge, her competence as a leader.
To show her that she was all bark wishing for a bite was horrifying.
So she straightened up and spent the rest of the shoot berating herself for even allowing this situation to happen.
They finished the shots and while the director called for a break as so he could look over them Eve was finally able to stand up and stretch her legs. It was then that she heard Kai’sa gasp.
“Oh, shit Eve, did I do that?!” Kai’sa exclaimed, her hand going to the red spot on Evelynn’s shoulder that was now bleeding slightly.
Waving her worry away Evelynn just wiped away the blood, “I heal quickly, don’t worry. If anything it’ll make the shot look better.”
Kai’sa was unamused but Eve rushed off before she could press further. However once she was clear of the set she saw Ahri who was still considering her with those X-ray eyes.
Not knowing what to do with herself she went to her dressing room to change out of the dour maid costume and into the Louis Vuitton she had come in. As a distraction she busied herself with social media, seeing what had changed in the world in the few hours she had been gone and taking a few selfies to promote the show.
Then the door to her room abruptly opened and shut as someone came in. Anger at the intrusion turned quickly into fear as she saw Ahri standing there, the hands behind her back clicking the lock on the door.
Like you should have done you fucking idiot, Eve chastised herself.
“Yes?” she tried, figuring acting innocent was her best bet.
Ahri raised an eyebrow, her tails appeared now, fanning out and slowly waving in a way that told Evelynn the fox did not intend to back off, “What was that out there?”
Looking down blindly at her phone Eve flipped through random content hoping to look nonchalant, “What was what?”
“Eve did you forget I can hear your heartbeat? Or, more to the point I have a keen sense of smell. That really got you going.”
She had forgotten actually, “I was being choked and I don’t know what you think you smelled, but it wasn’t me,” she said simply, as if the accusation was stupid.
“Mhmm,” Ahri said coolly, stepping further into the decently sized room, “that doesn’t explain the little gasps you kept letting out.”
This time Evelynn looked up, “I was being choked,” she repeated in exasperation, “Is that why you came in here? To ask me why I gasped while lacking air or why someone around you was getting turned on by the erotic scene featuring two hot women?”
Ahri’s smile became dangerous, “Sure, we could play this game, but we both know that isn’t what was going on. All I really want to know is if you have a little crush on Kai’sa.”
That made Evelynn blink in confusion before she laughed outright, “Oh please, our little bokkie? She only has eyes for Akali and I’m practically a sister to her, don’t be silly.”
The smile still didn’t leave Ahri’s face, “I thought not, so the only other thing I could think was that you got off a little on this,” and with a flourish she produced the collar from behind her back.
Evelynn tried to control her face, but the way Ahri’s eyes flashed told her it was too late for that.
“You know I thought it was strange,” Ahri said airily moving even closer, “Not just that you agreed to do this but how. Prior to David going off on his rant, you kept saying no, in fact Kai’sa had to practically beg you to even show up at the meeting. Then he talks about your role and all of a sudden it’s a no strings attached yes.”
Still unwilling to give up the lie Eve went back to pretending to care what was on her news feed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve already told you I-”
“Didn’t want Kai’sa to be alone? Stop it Evelynn you knew I was going to do it if she did and I refuse to believe you think I can’t be trusted to watch her.”
Now Ahri was in her personal space and needing room Eve tossed her phone down and stood, creating as much distance as she could between them in a room that suddenly seemed tiny. “You think I’d put myself through all this for Kai’sa to put a collar on me? I could add it into a music video if I wanted it so bad,” she scoffed.
Ahri’s smile settled into one of contented amusement as she walked closer to Eve, diminishing the already insufficient space.
“What I think,” she said slowly, twirling the collar on a long finger, “is that big, bad Evelynn would never directly orchestrate such a thing. For whatever reason, pride, denial, fear-”
“Fear of what?” Evelynn huffed dismissively, and the flash of blue irises told her that she should have kept her mouth shut.
Ahri closed in on her, something Evelynn only noticed when she realized she was backed up against the wall.
“That someone will find out your kinks aren’t what everyone thought they were.”
Ahri’s smile was familiar, Eve knew she was goading her, playing around with the accusations, possibly without fully believing them. She had done this countless times before, been a little pest about something Evelynn was trying to do quietly or hide, questioned her motives with an equal record of being right and wrong.
This was different though.
This was the first time Evelynn would give anything for her not to see the truth.
“That’s ridiculous,” she said, rather unconvincingly.
“Fine, then you won’t mind a slight test, right?” she asked, slipping the collar over Evelynn’s neck once more, not even bothering to move her long platinum hair out of the way.
Eve’s fear outweighed everything else and she did not react to the feel of the supple leather, the twitch of Ahri’s ears confirmed she was not hearing what she expected. Then the fox grabbed the ring and pulled it taught, placing a hand on Eve’s chest to keep her pinned.
Immediately Evelynn’s heart raced and the rush of arousal made her gasp involuntarily, an easy enough thing to say was simply surprise, but Ahri didn’t inquire, she just stared into Eve’s eyes as she pulled tighter.
“If you really don’t like it tell me to stop,” she said grinning, “Give me any signal at all.”
Eve was about to, wanted desperately to comply, but Ahri kept applying pressure, every slight increase tripling the pleasure she felt.
“Tell me to stop,” Ahri commanded again, her tails swishing deviously as she got her way, but when Evelynn said nothing, arms dangling pointlessly at her side, Ahri’s excitement became confusion, “Tell me to stop.”
When she still didn’t the other woman frowned slightly and pulled hard. Blood and air stopped traveling to Evelynn’s brain, but it was just as well because her state of arousal was making it impossible to think. Her lashers formed behind her, a reflex since usually by this level of excitement they were called into play, but now they just hovered in the air as useless as her arms.
“Eve?” Ahri questioned, “Evelynn?” When no response came she pulled with the strength only a supernatural being could summon and Evelynn saw stars.
“Tell me to stop,” Ahri said again, her expression unreadable.
Consciousness started to slip away from Eve, but she couldn’t bring herself to make it end. It was the closest she had come to a real climax since the first time she had ever been dominated eons ago and her elation outweighed the crushing shame she knew would flood her the moment this was over.
Unfortunately Ahri made the call on her own, releasing the ring and stepping back as Evelynn coughed and gasped. The rush of pleasure as she sank back to reality was second to none and only when the air returned to her brain was she aware of how little it would have taken to put the topping on the embarrassment cake. In those moments if Ahri had so much as touched her arm she would have come on the spot.
Now, with her mind somewhere in the vicinity of sane the shame showed up and snuffed out the arousal. Looking up she saw the disbelieving stare of her friend and felt ill.
“I didn’t know…” Ahri started awkwardly then paused, “I didn’t know you were into both sides of the S and M thing like that.”
Figuring at this point she may as well be honest she rubbed at the small divot now on the skin of her neck and croaked, “I’m not into both... just one.”
She wanted to turn into smoke, vanish into thin air and go hide until the day was over, but she still had several more scenes to film and worst of all Ahri could track her even when she could not be seen. So with as much dignity as she could muster she retracted her lashers and walked out of the room, deciding that she would deal with the fallout of her ruined friendship later.
*-*-*
In the days that followed it became apparent to Eve that she had overreacted.
Since their strange and painfully arousing confrontation Ahri had not said a word about what happened, hadn’t even hinted at it. They went about their days as they always had and Evelynn was able to slowly but surely allow all the worry in her muscles bleed out and finally relax.
Ahri had always been different from every other nonhuman entity. In fact she was the kindest one Evelynn had ever met, it was why they were friends despite how unlikely a pair they made to onlookers. It was why she trusted the fox with half of her singing career, something she never would have imagined could happen when she was younger.
After a week they made it to the final scenes where Evelynn’s character turned into the dominatrix type the director cast her for and everything felt normal.
She felt like she was back in the swing of things. Being the one in control, the one holding the leash, the one staring down with haughtiness. It came so easy these days, even the longing to be on the other side was quelled by remembering how poorly she had behaved the one time she’d done it for the camera.
They wrapped shooting, Eve driving the trio back to their mansion in Los Altos Hills, taking the winding turns in a way that make Kia’Sa grip her seatbelt and Ahri squeal with excitement. It was like any other day, and with the filming done it felt like life was finally ready to go on.
Then, after they got home and Kai’sa vanished up the stairs deep in a text conversation, undoubtedly with Akali given the silly grin on her face, Ahri draped herself over the counter as Evelynn searched for a snack and absolutely ruined her calm.
“How long have you had a choking kink?” Ahri asked as if inquiring about the weather.
Eve almost dropped the bottle of water she had picked up, pretending to juggle it from hand to hand as she turned around, feigning cool while she bumped the refrigerator door shut with her hip.
She thought they had an understanding not to speak on the matter. Seeing that they clearly didn’t Eve decided to try and initiate one.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said evenly as she opened her water, walking away while drinking it to try and hide her face, keep those keen eyes of Ahri’s from spotting anything telling.
It was useless regardless, with a frown Ahri rounded the counter, cutting off her escape, “Come on, don’t do that, not to me. I thought we trusted each other.”
The most Eve could get herself to relent was, “I do trust you, I just don’t want to talk about it,” she said and pushed past Ahri to go to the main leisure room of the mansion. It was a wide space with dozens of spots to sit and relax in front of a massive television. Evelynn knew when she sat down and turned on Entertainment News that Ahri was going to bypass every other seat and sit next to her.
Didn’t stop her from sighing when it happened.
“Why not?” the gumiho whined, her tails appearing, swirling slowly.
What does one call being too ashamed to admit they are ashamed?
“I just don’t.”
“Then just do. I thought I knew everything about you, well… at least the basic stuff, but it turns out I have your entire persona wrong-”
“You don’t have anything wrong, I am who I am, it’s as simple as that,” Eve said, finality in her voice.
Ahri watched Evelynn try to watch the members of Pentakill on screen for about four seconds before she sighed, “Eve please talk to me-”
“About what?” she snapped.
Grabbing the remote Ahri turned off the television, fully facing Eve, “We’ve known each other for decades. We’ve been rich and poor together, we’ve shared lovers, we’ve fucked each other and never once have I known this was something you liked. Why?”
“I don’t-” Eve started, completely unprepared to have this talk, “It’s not something I like about myself.”
Ahri frowned, “Why?”
To cover her irritation at the question Eve downed half her water trying to think of an answer that wasn’t the truth.
As she stalled Ahri just watched her patiently, her eyes kind in a way that made Evelynn want to just relax.
But she couldn’t.
Not with a lifetime’s worth of rejection sitting in her gut.
“It’s not as marketable,” she tried and knew it was a flop of an answer even before Ahri barked out a laugh.
“Was that a joke or are you actually blind to how the world works? If anything the ‘Dommy Mommy’ thing was a much harder sell for our start in Korea, all the work that had to go into making that persona marketable, ad-friendly and believable in our popstar group. And if it isn’t yours naturally then you know that even better than I do since you were the first to market it solo.”
She was so right any further attempt at lying seemed really stupid, “I’ve never met a supernatural being who thought much of a pain loving pain demon,” Eve said quietly.
Ahri’s frown returned, her eyes darting to the side for a moment as she shrugged, “So? When have you cared what others thought?”
“It’s easy to be that way now. Easier. But when I was younger, fuck when the world was younger, it wasn’t. When your sexual preferences are tangentially tied to how you survive things get complicated.”
While she knew Ahri’s memory eating was not necessarily sexual she also knew the gumiho understood the fine line between what was wanted and what was needed.
“And you just never thought to tell me? When we made this group you could have switched things up and instead you’ve had me maintain this whole…” she waved her hands, “character around you. We could’ve changed the brand, marketed me as someone who tamed Siren-”
“It’s not something I want to market!” Eve snapped and Ahri raised her hands.
“Okay,” she replied soothingly, “Okay… I just… when I was teasing you I just wanted you to admit you liked it a little. I figured you were mostly lost in the role and got a little thrill out of the collar, but when I choked you hard you were really turned on. I don’t mean to be on your ass about this, but I’m just trying to understand why you’re ignoring that- yes, yes, I know it’s easier for you to feed the other way around,” she interjected seeing Evelynn attempt to respond, “but separate to that, is there not anyone to… help you satisfy that need?”
“It doesn’t need satisfying,” she said evenly.
“We both know that’s a lie,” Ahri replied in the same tone. “All these years and you’ve never just had someone on the side to tie you down?”
Eve huffed, “I tried at different times in my life. It was always more trouble than it was worth. The main problem is as dom I can do as I like to the people I’m with, fuck them, feed off them, kill them, something in between, but as a sub? Not so much. That’s a position that requires trust, for the reasons I just named.”
Ahri gave a crooked smile, “Does it really? For you I mean. What human do you need to trust not to go too far? The way I pulled that collar towards the end would have snapped a regular person’s neck.”
“Well, what I learned, in about the sixteenth century is that there are supernatural beings who enjoy playing human as much as I do, and in many cases their strength is equal to or greater than mine. I also happen to know after a very ill advised romp through the streets to get the attention of a killer I intended to play the victim to before killing him was that, while I am incredibly durable, there is a limit.”
“What happens if you hit the limit?” Ahri asked, her tails stilling as she listened intently.
“If I hit it? I become about as weak as a regular human, if I go past it…” she sighed, “I’ll return to the dark. If I ever manage to form a physical body again it won’t be this one, and the Evelynn you know will be gone.”
Her tails began to slowly move again, “Best to avoid that then. I still don’t understand why you didn’t ever mention this to me.”
“It’s never been relevant,” Eve said, her eyes dropping to her water bottle as she turned it in her hands.
“So when we were together, it never occurred to you to ask me to choke you? Or even give you a little spanking? Nothing?” she asked, her tails moving as one now.
“What does it matter? Didn’t you have fun?” Evelynn asked, a purr to her voice, hoping to throw Ahri off her line of questioning.
“I had a lot of fun, but now I’m finding that something I thought was core to the personality of my best friend has all been an act. I mean what else have you been keeping from me? Do you even like music?” she asked, though there was a light playful note to her accusation.
Rolling her shoulders Eve made to move away but Ahri cut off her escape again, placing a calming hand on Evelynn’s arm, “Seriously, why didn’t you tell me when it was just us?”
“At that point I just thought it better if no one knew. My mother always told me my life would be easier without bringing it up.”
At that the golden furred ears perked up, “Your mother? You’ve never mentioned her before, what was she like?”
Absolutely not ready for that Evelynn unthinkingly responded, “And you’ve never mentioned yours, I assume for a good reason.”
Ahri shrugged, “She was killed when I was small,” she said her voice soft, “Nearby villagers wanted her tails to make charms and potions.”
Feeling like an asshole, she muttered, “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago obviously,” she said with a toss of her hair, “but I didn’t even know pain demons had mothers in the traditional sense.”
“Our physical bodies come from them, the shadows supply the rest,” she said pulling away from Ahri, hoping this talk of her shame and her past would end. Ahri let her go, and thankful she stepped past, glancing over her shoulder before she left the room, “I didn’t tell you because I promised myself I wouldn’t tell anyone, it wasn’t about trust. I trust you Ahri.”
The smile her friend gave her was of grim acceptance, and as she walked away it hurt Evelynn to know that the vague assurance was all she could give her friend.