Steampunk Shenanigans

"It's taking you a while. Are you slacking off?"

Damien hated every moment he had to spend around Corbin and Olessa, and sat cross armed in a chair while the man circled him like a vulture. Evie sat next to him, but she kept her head down and avoided eye contact with him. Olessa was sitting on one of the pub tables, making eyes at Damien that he tried his best to ignore.

"I assure you that I'm working hard," Damien said dully. "One wrong move and the entire machine falls apart. It takes a lot of finesse and testing."

"Aren't you supposed to be the top in your field?" Corbin asked.

"No," Damien said. "Actually, I'm not. I'm just starting to think I'm the first poor fool that caught your attention."

"And what if I kill you off and find someone who can do a better job?"

"Good luck finding them," he said, keeping his defensive attitude up. "I'm the only person who can make sense of those plans. All I'm saying is that it took six months for my mentor to build the prototype. I'm working around the clock to try and get this to you in half the time."

"You better be," Corbin growled. "Or you'll regret it."

"Our pretty Evie has been awfully quiet," Olessa piped up. "I hope you two haven't been... distracted."

"Distracted?" Damien asked.

"You don't think our pretty Evie is a pretty little thing?" Olessa asked.

She moved to stand behind Evie and bounce her curls playfully, but Evie turned a bit pale and kept her head down. It looked like just being near Olessa put a bitter taste in her mouth. Damien had an urge to shove the woman away from her, but he knew better than that.

"All I know about your Evie is that she holds a knife to my neck any time I start to slow down or doze off," Damien said. "She wants to finish this project and be rid of me just as much as you two."

The siblings seemed pleased with this, though it was a lie. Evie never threatened Damien. If anything, she had become a major partner in his lab and did almost as much work as he did. She picked things up quick and could hold her own, helping Damien out when he took over for the more difficult tasks.

At the same time, Damien wasn't sure it was a complete lie. He had to remind himself constantly that Evie wasn't around him because she wanted to be. She was there because getting too far away from him would get her electrocuted. She was probably eager to be rid of him as soon as those cuffs were off. He was a terribly dull person to be around, and it was wrong for him to have those nagging butterflies in his stomach every time she smiled or laughed.

He was lost in thought as they walked back to his lab from the pub, kicking along a pinecone as they went. Evie seemed to noticed his silence and elbowed him gently to snap him out of his daze.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "If it's Corbin, I wouldn't worry too much about his 'deadlines'. You can take years if you want. They need you more than they let on."

"But if I take years, I'll have to follow you around the entire time," he reminded her. "You'll get so sick of me."

"I don't think I could ever get sick of you," she said, though she turned pink and started backtracking right away. "I mean... you're nice. What I mean is there's no reason why I would be sick. I guess."

"Well, I made a promise that I'd get those cuffs off you," Damien said. "I intend on sticking to that promise."

"We'll see how it goes."

"I'm serious," Damien said.

He stopped walking and took her arm to stop her so he could turn her around and look her in the eye when he made his promise.

"I'm going to get you out of this mess," he said. "Not just the spider mess. Your entire mess with Corbin and Olessa. I see how they treat you, and I can see who you are when you're around them. I don't want you to be that person anymore. I want you to be yourself. The smart, bubbly, real version of yourself. So I promise I'm going to get both those cuffs off of you. Not just the one connected to me."

She seemed dazed and her eyes were a little watery as she looked back at him. He suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Everything he said was true, but it might have been a little too much. He was getting too attached to her, and it was making her uncomfortable. And she had no way to get away from him. He forced a smile and looked down as he started walking again.

"Sorry to break the light mood," he said. "I guess I just needed to get that out. We should get back to the lab before Minnie tears it apart for attention."

Thankfully, they made it back before Minnie got too bored and wrecked the projects they were working on. Damien's jacket, however, wasn't so lucky. He made the mistake of leaving it draped over a chair and the little fox had viciously chewed it up.

"Ugh, that's unfortunate," Damien grumbled. "Actually, maybe it's for the best. It's not exactly trendy, is it?"

"Is that a statement or a question?" Evie asked.

"I don't know," he said. "Both? Alexis says I dress like an academic, but I don't know what that is. She says it like an insult, but it's kind of just what I am."

"I think you dress nice," Evie shrugged. "It's what you like, right?"

"I guess so," he said. "I don't know. Ever since I got this teaching job, I've been overthinking it. I'll be around all these young students all the time."

"Oh, Damien," Evie said, cracking a smile. "Please don't tell me you're scared of school bullies."

"I'm not!" he said defensively. "I mean, bullies can't bully me. I'm a professor. That's ridiculous."

"I shouldn't have to tell you this," Evie said with a giggle. "You're not going to be bullied by your students for what you're wearing. If anything, I bet they'd be glad to have such a young professor instead of some old guy with a beard. And they'll look up to you. You're a great teacher."

"You think so?"

"You taught me," she reminded him.

"You listened," he noted.

"Yes, but they'll listen too," she said. "You're patient and you're good at explaining things. If they don't admire that, then they don't deserve to be in your class. In fact, they don't deserve to be in the university. Or any university."

Damien raised a brow at her and she tried to keep a straight face, but then cracked a smile. Damien laughed lightly and flicked her nose.

"You're so full of shit," he teased.

"But you feel better, right?" she grinned.

"Yeah. Thanks, Ducky."