A Walk in the Woods

Life, Identity

Evelyn walks in the woods with Dmitri and visits Fenneck.

Evelyn opened her eyes and quickly got dressed before rushing to the dining hall and sighing in disappointment as she realized Dmitri had already left for his morning walk in the Vallee. Evelyn grabbed a roll of bread and scarfed it down as she made her way back into her room. She wrote a quick note saying she had a headache and wished to not be disturbed that she put on her door before going back inside and locking the door. She grabbed a warm winter cloak and put on some boots before vanishing into a cloud of smoke and making her way down into the Vallee. She finally found Dmitri on the edge of the forest and she reappeared next to him after making sure no one else was around. "For Corellon's sake!" he exclaimed in surprise as she appeared in front of him. "What is your problem?!" he scolded her. "You shouldn't be here unaccompanied!" "I'm not!" she argued. "You're with me!" she pointed out. He glared at her. "Yeah, being alone in the forest with me makes this a million times worse, especially after what happened yesterday!" he told her disapprovingly. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay!" she told him. "Let me walk with you!" she begged him. "If something dangerous comes up, I can teleport directly to my room," she assured him. He sighed reluctantly and waved for her to follow as they started walking through the dead trees and snow. "I'm sorry for behaving the way I did yesterday," he told her. "You shouldn't have had to see that. Thank you for... helping me," he told her. She nodded. "Of course," she assured him. "Thank you for defending me. I'm sorry Nikolai acts like that." Dmitri nodded. "He's always been like that," he said. Evelyn nodded and stepped over a particularly large branch. "Do you think those things about me?" she asked him plainly. He stopped and looked at her cautiously. "I'm not gonna answer that," he said before pushing past her. She plopped her fists on her hips in frustration. "Why not?" she asked him. He stopped and she saw his shoulders rise and fall as he took a deep breath before turning back to her. "If I said that I did, I'd be a pervert and if I said I didn't I'd be an asshole," he told her. "It's a trap and I'm not falling for it." "Why would that make you an asshole?" she asked him. He shook his head. "Because then I'd be a liar, and I don't like lying to you," he told her bluntly. She looked into his pretty blue eyes and frowned. "Well... I'm not exactly innocent in that regard," she admitted. He sighed and walked back to her. "Look, Ev," he said. "I'm never going to sleep with you or kiss you or anything like that, okay?" he told her flatly. "I don't want to hurt either of our reputations, which is why you need to get back to the palace. I like being friends with you. You're cool. You're honestly the only person in that godsforsaken place that doesn't make me want to rip my hair out, but we aren't ever going to engage in such activities together and I need you to understand that," he told her decisively. She shrugged and nodded. "Of course not," she assured him. "I'm... seeing someone anyway," she told him. He cocked and shook his head at her. "Oh, Ev..." he said in a worried tone. "What?!" she asked him. "You're the one who told me to have an affair!" He closed his eyes in exasperation. "I know," he agreed. "You're just... being really confusing. Why would you ask me if I have feelings for you and then tell me you're sleeping with someone?" She shrugged. "I just wanted you to be honest with me," she told him. "I don't care if you think about me like that. Calling your wife my name while you orgasm might be pushing it, but-" He shook his head and smiled at her teasing. "I don't do that," he assured her. "You really think I still sleep with my wife?" he asked her teasingly. She rolled her eyes at him and continued walking. "Do you believe in love and romance?" she asked him curiously. He shrugged. "I just... don't really think it's in the books for me," he told her. "You haven't fallen in love with one of your whores?" she asked him. He chuckled at her bluntness. "No, not really," he told her. "What about me?" she asked him, prompting him to look at her and scowl. "What?!" she teased him. "You're my only friend," she told him matter-of-factly. "Even if I am involved with someone else romantically... I don't know. I think I still feel some type of affection for you. You said so yourself, I don't make you want to pull your hair out, which is a rare thing in that palace." He gave her a weird look. "Are you trying to tell me you love me?" he asked in confusion. She shook her head. "No, not like that," she assured him. "Like, when you were injured yesterday... I was really worried about you," she told him with an innocent look. He smiled thoughtfully at her. "I like you too, Ev," he told her. "I just want you to be careful," he warned her. "Your brother is clearly out to get you and I don't want to get caught in the crossfire." "Speaking of Nikolai..." she said. "Ivan told me they're planning a coup," she said casually. "Do you know about this?" Dmitri avoided her eyes for a moment. "I don't know what you're talking about," he told her with a nervous look. "I'm not... surprised they're concocting something but I'm not involved," he promised her. "I took an oath of loyalty to your uncle and Lenisily when I joined the KAV and I don't plan on breaking it for a couple power-hungry kids." She smiled with relief at this. "Good," she said. "I told Ivan I didn't want to be involved," she told him. He nodded. "Probably the best decision," he mused. "So who's the lucky fella?" he asked her curiously as they continued walking. "I don't want to know his name," he clarified. "Or profession. I want you to be as vague as possible in case I'm questioned about it." She smiled as she thought about Fenneck. "He's really sweet," she told him. "He's so... innocent compared to you guys." "I should hope so," Dmitri mused. "Not that that's hard to beat." She chuckled. "He's a romantic, so he's nothing like you," she teased him. He smiled. "Again, not hard to beat." "You're such a pessimist," she said as she playfully punched his shoulder. He shrugged. "Do you really blame me, Ev?" he asked her. "I kill and torture people for a living. My wife is a stoic bitch who despises me and I have a single good friend in the entire world who has started sneaking off with some other guy," he scoffed. "My life blows." She giggled at him. "You're ridiculous," she told him. He shrugged. "You're being careful, right? He's not gonna blow it up to try and take advantage of your power, right?" he asked her. She scoffed at the idea. "Of course not," she assured him. "Honestly... I think he just... loves me," she said, smiling sweetly to herself. "I... I think we might be thiramin." He gave her a surprised look. "Really?" he asked her curiously. She nodded. "Yeah, actually," she told him. "The day we met I just... I've been turned on before and attracted to people but with him it just... it all just happened, all at once. I fell really hard for him. From what I've read about this soulmate stuff it... it doesn't sound too off from that." They continued walking for a moment as Dmitri pondered this. "Huh," he said thoughtfully. "Well, honestly... I hope it's real. Not that it really matters for me, but... at least you have that. It's a nice thought, the idea of being in love," he mused. She cocked her head. "You and Amalya really never loved each other?" she asked him. He shrugged. "I don't know. She is beautiful," he conceded. "It's just... we feel nothing when we're with each other. I know what it's like to feel something with someone. To feel passion and excitement and we just... never really had that," he said sadly. "I wanted it. I hoped it would show up in time. I told myself for a while that the reason I felt this way was because I was still young, but... I'm over a hundred now and nothing's changed." She gave him a sad look. "I hope it gets better," she told him. "It's such a wonderful feeling." He smiled sweetly at her. "Me too," he said. "You should really get back to the palace," he told her. "If we got caught out here together we'd both get in a lot of trouble." She sighed in defeat and nodded. "Thanks for letting me tag along," she told him. He smiled at her. "Thank you for checking in on me," he told her. Evelyn smiled and closed her eyes as she teleported into her bedroom.   A few days passed before she risked seeing Fenneck again. She appeared in his room one night while he was meditating and she slowly walked over to him. "Fenny?!" she whispered to him, prompting him to open his pretty green eyes and smile lovingly at her. She went to him and he pulled her into his arms and down onto the pile of furs and blankets. "I've missed you so much," he told her as he removed her clothes. She giggled from his excitement and lovingly kissed his smooth neck as he removed her smock. They made love and Evelyn curled up happily in his arms. "How are you?" she asked him. He smiled thoughtfully at her. "I'm good, not much has happened," he told her with a shrug. "What about you? How's palace life?" She shrugged. "It's fine. Just normal family squabbles, really," she told him. He chuckled. "It must be nice having siblings," he mused. She frowned in disgust. "Not really," she told him. "They don't really like me. My brother has been especially difficult lately." He kissed her forehead lovingly. "I'm sorry it sucks up there," he told her sweetly. She smiled at him and caressed his smooth chest. "You're so handsome," she told him admiringly. He smiled bashfully at her. "I'm glad you think so," he said. "Would you like to rest here tonight?" he asked her hopefully. She frowned and shook her head. "No, sorry," she told him sadly. "It's just risky," she explained. "I'll try to see you again soon, though," she promised him as she got out of bed and put her shift and robe back on. He smiled at her. "Okay," he said. "I uh... goodnight, I guess," he said awkwardly. She smiled sweetly at him, wishing she could curl up into his arms forever. "Goodnight, Fenny," she told him before teleporting back into her room.