2019-11-08 - We Are Not Lost, But We Could Use Some Praying

"Evie. Do you trust me?"

These are all the warning Evie should have needed to grab her stuff and ran as fast as she could, but alas, she didn't. She had, like a fucking awesome friend, stayed, and now she is paying dearly for the power of sisterhood.

Sure, Madison had tortured her a little with 'We haven't hung out for so long' and 'You don't love me anymore' and 'Pleaaaaase I'll fall in a ditch and die without you', but in the end, it was the blonde who decided to put herself on the line to make sure Madison didn't vanish alone, like so many people in this town do.

Now they are going to vanish together.

...

"OKAY! This is -the- perfect place to stop for the night!" Madison huffs, and places her heavy backpack on the leafy floor of the glade, the sun above them threatening to retreat as the black-haired goth starts to set up the camp. Dressed in her purple leggins with bats on them, heavy boots, heavy jacket and chokers and spiky wristbands everywhere, Madison is looking ready to go to a concert and be depressed, but not at all for a camping trip.

"Man... so much has happened in these two weeks! You won't believe it! Connor is back, the Amulet finally has a groupie, my magic is working great, I have a goblin friend, my mushroom business is growing... stuff is looking up, Evie!" Madison fights the sticks of their one tent, yanking them out of her backpack so she can set it up once the goth is standing again.

Right now, she just lays on the ground, breathing heavily, showing that gone is all her cardio for hiking, even if she used to have quite the legs for dancing. "Shit. Me and the natural world have a complicated relationship, Evie... water, please..." She closes her eyes, and pats the leaves besides her. "Sit, sit. Lets commune with the forest while Maddie recovers her breath..."

"No, I don't trust you as far as I can throw you," would come the grumbled, sarcastic reply. Evie already knows what is coming. Unfortunately for her, she is also vulnerable to emotional blackmail from the woman who might actually be her best friend on the face of this planet. What does this say about the diminutive blonde? Far too much and nothing at all, really.

'You know I love you, you just want me to come on this damn trip' and '...God damn it, you're right. If I don't go I'll wake up and you'll be on the news dead in a ditch. Fuck. Okay, fine. Fine! I'm coming... Christ.'

That was all it took. Evie is wrapped around Maddie's little, utterly insane finger.

...

Evie's bag is almost as heavy, but somehow she handles it with ease, lowering down onto the undergrowth without a second thought as she turns to study their surroundings. For now, she allows the dark haired Goth beauty beside her to take up the lion's share of the work while she takes deep breaths.

Evie's dressed in worn blue jeans, a gray turtleneck sweater, black ankle high boots, and wearing a much oversized denim jacket that Maddie, of all people, knows belonged to her deadbeat mother. It's not a detail she would share without being drunk and crying first. The power of sisterhood in action. Or maybe Evie's tendency toward being a lightweight drinker.

"I ran into- Cameron- and we talked a bunch about some stuff.. We're cool now, so you don't need to worry about that." They were rabidly /not/ cool rather recently. Eve was like a chihuahua on the scent of a great dane: ready to viciously attack the ankle of, and then be stomped by, one Connor Cambridge withotu a second thought in defense of her loved ones.

"You have a water bottle. Right? Because I... Gave you one earlier." Both of Evie's brows loft and then she shakes her head, sighing heavily as she does. One deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. "Okay. Fine." Evelyn produces the requested water bottle. Hers is a purple nalgene, as it happens, durable and thoroughly tested. Evie has a way of being hard on clothes and supplies.

But the girl is always down to hike to weird places and climb strange things. No wonder she's out here with Maddie. And, finally, Evie sets into assisting with the camp while her friend gets her drink. Eventually, however, she ends up in the indicated seat. "Commune, huh? I... Can try."

Madison is weird tonight. That is, she is -weirder- today. She is surprisingly chill for her standards, which means they were able to make the whole hike without the goth having a stroke due to the lack of hydration and hyper behavior. Evie approaches her, and Madison sits up in front of her friend, those haunting bright eyes focused firmly on Evelyn's as she has the habit of doing with her friend.

"Cameron. I was not expecting -that-, man. I heard Connor was coming back and I got... I got pretty hype about it." Those eyes run away from Evie's in poorly hidden shame, shame that isn't really something Madison displays to anyone else. Evie, however, has seen the wreck of a person was left after Connor left, and how bad that asshole could mess with them both.

Madison pretends not to have averted her gaze, however, always burying things up, and takes a sip of the water, "I drank my water, Evie, what would I do with it?! Look at it?! I suppose I should have saved the bottle, though, now that I think about it!" Survivalist she is not. She hands back the bottle, and holds her hands to Evie, palms up.

"Hands on mine."

It is unclear whether or not Madison holds Evie's hands for mystical purposes or if she just needs the blonde's security sometimes. She keeps Madison in one piece, after all. "Cameron is something else. You will like her." And then, the words never uttered by Madison, "She is much better the Connor." Even the goth feels weird saying it. Like besmirching Connor is something the Wiccan can barely stomach, even after it all.

"Blergh! There is something in that water!" She laughs, grins, to get away of the awkwardness of the moment, before continuing, her hands squeezing Evelyn's gently, "Breathe slowly. I want to do something with you tonight, if you are ready. It is a little crazy, and it might be scary, but I want to do it with you. You are the only one I want to share that with."

With her eyes on the other woman's Madison winks at her best friend, "Thanks for having my back, Evie. I know give you a lot of shit and I stay up late in your house and gave your dad a lot of headaches, but... I am not too retarded to miss how much I need you."

"You mean, I /didn't/ spike it with weed or LSD or anything?" Evie's expression turns immediately wry and she takes a dep breath as she nods. A toss of her head and she throws stree blonde tresses away from those mahogany eyes, reaches out and... her sleeves fall down over her hands. That jacket is way too large for her. It always has been. It was unwearable until she had her growth spurts. The last of those growth spurts was when Evie was 13, and now she's... Able to manage it. Barely. Of course, she's so short that Maddie knows for a fact she wears lifts in her shoes pretty much all of the time.

"I... Think I had some idea. I was confused for a long time over COnnor. You know, since I've only ever been into girls. So actually --- this makes a lot of sense to me." Evie flashes Madison a smile at that and willingly holds the taller woman's hands. Evelyn is a social chameleon - she can go from sly to serious, hyper to reserved all at the drop of a hat. Her superpower is that she feels comfortable in each skin- there's something fundamentally 'Evie' about each of the modesshe takes.

"Okay. So. What was it you wanted to do with me tonight...?" Those wide eyes blink acouple of times as she latches her gaze firmly onto Madison's. Slow, deep breaths follow and Evelyn leans in very slightly, led on by her friend's gravitas. The fact they've had a slow, relatively serious day speaks volumes.

"My dad despairs that we were ever friends, but you've grown on him. Like a fungus," Evie replies drily, though there's a hint of a smile working across her lips as she does. "You're basically one of his kids too, you know. And we stayed up late together. I mean, you kept me up but part of the blame is mine. Like... Five percent?"

Madison listens of Evie talk about Connor, and somewhere in the depths of her mind, the goth shivers. Evelyn would make Cameron way happier and she -knows- it, the worms festering in her head digging self-doubt in the Wiccan, eyes scanning Evie. She is the best friend anyone can ask for, and Cameron is the best girlfriend anyone can have.

Madison is about to reply to that, crack a joke, anything, but Evelyn continues, and the talk goes to her father. Mr. Warner was like a father to her indeed. The man drove to the precinct more than a few times to get Madison out of trouble, and he always seemed to give a fuck.

Back then, back when she was way younger, she was furious at him. He confused her way too much. Why would a stranger care at all? Madison smiles at her friend, and blinking away a few tears, she draws Evie to her arms, and into a tight hug. Madison's eyes readily close, and she simply syphons that love and support like an emo octopus, needing to feel her friend close.

She doesn't say anything to ruin the moment, which is more sense than she usually shows, face buried into the blonde's neck as she smiles. "I am fucking lucky to have you."

When Madison parts with her friend, she does so laughing, grinning, and being sincere about her happiness for a change, instead of wearing it like a shield. "Also, half the blame. We don't do that shit here, Warner! ALWAYS half the blame, no matter what! We are ride or die, or we aren't, you feel me?"

She stands, and offers a hand to Evie for the woman to stand up. Without a word, Madison reaches for that oversized jacket, and slowly takes it off her friend. Any questions are immediately ended with a 'Shhh...' that is low, the taller goth's lips inches away from Evie's as that mouth curls in a subtle smile. She does the motion slowly, using the trust Evie has in her to bare the blonde, and hold that jacket in her hands once it is done.

Madison holds her stance even after Evie is without her oversized piece of clothing, so their breathing can mingle for a moment, and Evie can adapt to being without the cursed heirloom.

"You don't deserve this on your shoulders." Madison then takes off her lucky jacket, baring her corset-clad self and the fishnet shirt she wears underneath, her body hidden and bare at the same time. That is handed to Evie instead. "Try it. I want to see you like this. My Goth Evie~"

Evelyn is always more than willing to cuddle. When she was younger she got into trouble with prospective girlfriends because she didn't understand that cuddling had other implications. It's made her a bit warier as an adult, but none of that caution applies to Madison, of all people. Evie has plenty of love and warmth to share, even with an emo octopus latched onto her to draw every bit of that energy and enthusiasm out of her.

"You are lucky to have me," Evie agrees in a whisper, her rich mezzo soprano voice bluesy and just a little rough. She leans her head against Madison's and lets the Goth have her neck, sharing the feeling of their heartbeats and their own body heat between them. Then Madison is pulling away, leaving Eve to settle back onto her haunches and smile up at the taller woman wrily, nodding.

"Okay, half the blame. Fuck it. You haven't gotten me in trouble for anything lately yet, we're slacking off." The jacket is ceded without any hesitation, though Evie watches carefully to see what it is Madison might do. Her breath smells faintly of mint, something she sometimes spikes her water with, and it... Works. It's very Evie, really. Familiar.

"I like my jacket," Evelyn protests quietly as Madison slips out of her own, but her expression is thoughtful rather than indignant. She slowly reaches out and takes Madison's jacket into her own hands. "Okay. I'll try it." She's almost whispering. Evie raises her voice so rarely as to be like being struck by lightning, but this is a different sort of quiet intensity.

Slowly, the tiny blonde slips on her friend's jackt over her slender shoulders. It is, of course, far too big.

Madison smiles at Evelyn as the blonde tries the gothier jacket. She grins, and approaches Evie again, cupping the blonde's face in her palm, allowing her thumb to caress her friend's cheek lovingly. While Madison leans in, she touches the tips of their noses, always enjoying the intimacy with Evelyn, something that kept her sane when Connor wrecked her completely and left without warning.

That is, after she decided not to Tombstone Piledrive the blonde ho into the floor for sleeping with that douchebag. Alas, friendships are weird and Madison will deny any piledriving thoughts if asked!

"Trouble will find us, it always does. So fret not, my trusty Eve, I shall have you cursing at me before the night is over!"

...

Setting up the camp is more laborious than it should be, mainly because Madison makes sure to set it based on some astrological directions she has Googled, and that takes a whole lot of time. In the end, however, the tent is set, and Madison has made a protective circle of Kit Kats around the encampment.

Don't ask.

"In case Cancatcher comes around, I want him to be well fed so he will keep protecting us from the werewolves!"

I did say not to ask.

The remainder of the night is spent eating marshmallows and drinking soda from Madison's bag, Madison recounting how she once met a Native American that is now her partner on the shroom business, or that time when she destroyed Cameron on minigolf. Some stories are more salacious and scary than others, but in the end, it is a good night to reminisce and relax. until the rain, that is.

...

The sound of raindrops hitting the forest around them drowns anything else, as Madison and Eve sleep inside. There is no light but whatever they might want to provide with their phones, but right now, there is only darkness, and the two women in a tanglement of limbs that is at the same time chaotic, painful to look at, and perfect normal for the two of them. It just feels good to be in contact. Safe. Madison even brought their favorite blanket!

Maybe Eve finds it weird that she can hear a few cracks of wood outside at first, or that she is ALMOST sure some animal or animals pass by their tent a few times, but in the end, whether she finds those weird or not, it is Madison's voice close to her ear that breaks the silence for good.

"Why do you wear your mom's jacket, Eve?" She holds Eve close. She knows that is not an easy subject.

"I curse you practically every time we go out. It's, like, a thing. You drive me completely fucking crazy, Maddie. ...And I love you more than anything. So fuck you for making me want to do stupid shit, like have feelings." THere. Cursing managed, and they've only just begun.

During the encampment process Evie squirreled away a couple excess kitkats to devour quietly in a corner, hopefully without Maddie catching on. Of those ,most were stolen back and added to the obsessive protective ward, but she did end up with one.. So there is a smudge of chocolate on the blonde's cheek while they sit and consume marshmallows in quantities that would probably be disconcerting for most rational adults. Of course, such people are not welcome here and so it does not become an issue.

For whatever reason, Evelyn has always loved the rain. She doesn't have any issues laying in a tent or by a window and listening to the roar of it faling for hours. Especially not with Maddie close by, though that sentiment is never voiced. Their tangle of limbs means the two of them are pressed about as close as it is humanly possible to be without things turning decidedly sexual. Evie is smaller by a wide margin,and always leverages this to end up being more the 'cuddled' than the cuddler. She likes to tuck in nice and close and curl up a little.

"Mmm..." Evelyn turns over just a little bit, twisting until her head is agains Maddie's shoulder instead of her chest. "...The jacket? Well..." A deep breath follows in through the blonde's nose, and is held. Finally, she replies in a murmur. "It's the best thing that bitch ever did for me. It kept me warm, which more than she ever did. ...She abandoned the jacket too, you know? So..."

Madison smiles as Eve leans and rests the head on the goth's shoulder, an arm curling up around her friend and bringing her close. The whole town probably thinks they have sex, poor Mr. Warner, but to Madison the intimacy of it all makes this all the more precious than just having sex. Even if sex is pretty rad.

She kisses her friend's forehead gently, sighing softly and enjoying the blonde against her, the sound of the forest outside. Madison's mind would be wandering, thinking of something surreal right now, or Cameron, but the talk of Evelyn's mom is not something she ever takes lightly.

"I never thought about it in that way." Madison had never. She only thought it was a burden. Something to weight Evie down. But no. It is another broken buddy of their family of abandoned misfits. She grins, "This is why I need you. You are my conscience! You have the best ideas, and without you, I end up going off rails. The jacket stays."

A pause.

"Oh yeah, I was going to have you burn it tomorrow after we made an effigy of your mom. I was so sure it would be this great moment! Like the end of Stand by Me when they see the corpse? But with a burning jacket. But the jacket stays. I love it now. It is one of us." She smiles, and leans in, planting a kiss on the other woman's lips, "You are an awesome friend even to your jacket. Does it ever run out? The cool-ass juice?"

"Ideas? Me? Half the time I am just climbing all over things and being a nuisance. You just think I'm the sane one because we're usually like... Way out past pluto somewhere and I'm just chilling surfing Saturn's rings, you know? ...Maybe you don't." Eve shrugs very slowly and then breathes a sigh of her own. She buries her head again, nodding briefly.

"Yeah. Jacket stays. Before I met you this jacket was my best friend. You know. Remember, I was wearing it and crying like a little idiot because I scraped my knee." There's a sly note to the blonde's tone as she relays all of this, spoken in gentle whispers. Small fingers curl lightly against Madison's sides for now, her legs shifting slightly as she readjusts herself.

"Anyway." The young woman listens for a long moment more before Madison asks her last question and Evie pauses. The moment is audible. "The cool... Ass juice?" A beat. "I keep it for myself. I'll never tell."

Madison's fingers thread along Evie's scalp, digging into the mass of golden locks as she listens to the other woman. The goth eyes the tent above, pitch black in the darkness, and focuses on how the other woman moves against her, readjusts herself, how those fingers dig against her flesh.

The taller girl exhales, and shifts some, placing her lips against Evelyn's forehead. Madison closes her eyes and feels her friend against her, one arm going down Eve's to caress the blonde's back and ribs, slowly, feeling the contours of the other ruffian of Gray Harbor.

"Tomorrow, when we get back, I want yo-"

Madison pauses, and she leans in to actually place her lips against Evelyn's, a gentle peck given to the blonde that lingers, their mouths sticking to each other ever so slightly while Madison backs down an inch. She smiles at her friend, and leans in again, this time being slow to capture the bottom tier of Evie's lips between hers, suckling on the shorter woman's mouth in a gentle manner.

The goth remains almost frozen, otherwise, while she kisses her friend, not wanting it to be taken as something done to push Evie into a thing she isn't comfortable with. A lot of care is put into making the kiss the star of the show, soft and slow. Once done, Madison relaxes fully, laying down, and keeping Eve close, her heart beating hard.

"Love you, Eve." She smiles, and says nothing more, a big day ahead of them tomorrow, and a long way back home. Oh, what is that being carried away by the rain? Is that their map? Yes it is. Bye bye, map!

Tomorrow, being lost in the woods! Tonight, just sweet darkness.