Steampunk Shenanigans

Evie knew that soon Corbin would be giving them instructions for the “minor adjustments” he and Olessa wanted on the spider, and she was concerned about what those adjustments might be. She still didn’t know exactly what they intended to use the machine for, but it wouldn’t be anything good. She absentmindedly touched the cuffs on her wrist, imagining what it would be like to have them off. Hopefully they lived long enough for that; for all she knew Corbin and Olessa planned to kill them both once they had the spider.

She was still thinking broody thoughts the next morning as she got dressed. She’d slept in later than normal because they’d finished up at the lab late and then she’d laid awake for a while thinking too much. Her thoughts alternated between worry about Corbin and Olessa, and the fluttery feeling she always had around Damien lately. She knew it was probably dumb of her to like him so much but the butterflies in her stomach didn’t seem to care, and at this point she didn’t even need the threat of the cuff to stay close to him.

She smoothed her skirt one more time and readjusted some of her hair pins before opening the bedroom door. Damien was just coming out of his room at the same time and the fluttery feeling returned right on cue when she saw him.

“Sorry I overslept,” she said. “I didn’t sleep very well.”

“I overslept too,” Damien admitted. “Are you alright? You’re not sick or anything, are you?”

“No, I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind. I’m sure you do too.”

“What, because we have two maniacs making us build a potentially dangerous machine for them? Nah, I barely think about it at all.”

Evie nudged him, laughing. They had just made their way downstairs when there was a knock at the front door. Evie had forgotten that Sylvia wanted to have lunch, but clearly Sylvia hadn’t and now she came sweeping into Damien’s house like a queen into her court. She gave Damien a hug.

“Oh, I wasn’t expecting a visit,” he said.

“I know. I wanted to ask you how things-oh, Evie. You’re here.”

Sylvia noticed her and gave her a bright smile, though she glanced between Evie and Damien a little curiously.

“I just stopped by,” Evie said quickly. “I got here about ten minutes ago. I…borrowed a book and I was returning it.”

“Well, since you’re both here, we can all have lunch,” Sylvia said cheerfully. Evie was about to say they should really be getting to the lab, but then she thought taking a break for part of the afternoon didn’t sound like such a bad idea. As much as she enjoyed learning things from Damien in the lab, she was really starting to hate the sight of the spider. Between working so hard on that and the cuffs, she was feeling a little worn out and she was sure Damien must be too. Plus she liked Sylvia, even if she was still a little intimidated by her. Evie agreed to lunch and glanced at Damien, who shrugged and nodded.

“Where’s Fallon today?” he asked.

“She is spending some time with Grandpa and Aunt Alexis,” Sylvia replied.

“Poor Grandpa,” Damien laughed. “He’s got them both all day.”

“You know you should really stop by for a family dinner soon, you’ve been so busy. You could bring Evie.”

Evie almost choked on her drink. “Oh, I don’t think anyone would want me imposing on a family dinner,” she said.

“Don’t be silly, everyone would love you,” Sylvia insisted. “How are the clothes working out for you? I hope they’re comfortable; they certainly look good on you.”

Evie blushed. “They’re wonderful, thank you. I really appreciate you letting me borrow them. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I don’t mind. Honestly that blouse looks better on you than it would on me,” Sylvia laughed. “How are things going at the lab?”

“It’s going very well. Damien is a wonderful teacher,” Evie replied. Damien’s ears turned bright red.

“I can’t take all the credit,” he said. “Evie is a fast learner. She’ll probably be better than me before long.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Evie rolled her eyes. “I wish I was half as brilliant as you.”

His ears got redder and Evie flushed a little too when she realized what she’d said. Sylvia glanced between them, looking mildly amused.

“Yes, well. I’m sure you’re both quite brilliant and work very well together,” she said. “Have you given Evie a chance to find a dress for the Alumni Ball?”

“The what?” Evie said, pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth. Damien frowned.

“Is that coming up?” he asked. Sylvia rolled her eyes.

“It’s on Saturday,” she said.

“What is this ball and why would I be going?” Evie asked anxiously.

“Oh, it’s this annual event they always host in the summer, before the new school year begins,” Sylvia explained. “It’s all a bit showy to be honest with you, but all sorts of esteemed alumni and graduates attend, and of course faculty. Damien is now esteemed and faculty so of course he has to go.”

Evie felt her eyes grow wide in alarm and Sylvia patted her hand.

“Oh, you just got very pale. Don’t worry, Evie, it’s just a party. But I assume my brother hasn’t in fact given you the chance to find a suitable outfit.”

Sylvia shot Damien a mildly annoyed look.

“I forgot about it,” Damien mumbled. “We’ve been so busy, and I don’t even like parties.”

“Be that as it may, people will notice if you’re not there. And it would be good for you to bring Evie along.”

“I doubt I could possibly find a dress so last minute,” Evie said.

“One of the best dressmakers in all of Arcelia happens to have a shop right around the corner from here,” Sylvia said, looking a little smug. “And she’s a friend of mine. She’ll have something perfect, I can guarantee it.”

Sylvia popped into the cafe when they were done with lunch to freshen up, and Evie looked over at Damien in a panic.

“We don’t really have to do this, right?” she squeaked.

“She’s right, I do kinda have to go,” Damien said reluctantly, looking very unenthusiastic.

“But that means I have to go and I can’t go.”

“Why not?”

“Damien, I’m not like you. I don’t know how to fit in with University people. I’ll have to talk to them and try to pass for smart and sophisticated and I can’t do that.”

“Evie,” he sighed. “You are smart. And you’re charming. People will like you.”

“Can’t you just tell them you died and can’t go?”

He smiled. “I’m not sure they’d buy it if I contacted the Dean to tell him I can’t make it because I’m dead.”

Sylvia returned then, looking a little excited as she dragged a terrified Evie into the dress shop. Poor Damien had to lurk awkwardly by the door since he had to stay close to Evie. Sylvia and the dressmaker greeted each other excitedly, and then Sylvia explained the situation. The dressmaker took Evie’s measurements and then studied her carefully for several moments. Then she clapped her hands, startling Evie.

“I think I have the perfect thing,” she said, beaming. She grabbed Evie and towed her into the fitting room, rummaging around amid all the pretty dresses until she found what she was looking for. Evie hesitantly took the dress and tried it on. It was a grassy sort of green, with long ruffly sleeves that left her shoulders bare. She was glad for the sleeves because they hid the cuffs, but her favorite feature were the silk flowers that covered the bodice and trailed down her sleeves. It was the prettiest thing she’d ever worn.

Sylvia poked her head in with the dressmaker and grinned at her. “Oh, Evie. You look amazing. Now you’re really a fairy princess,” she added, laughing. The dressmaker came over and made a couple minor adjustments, then whisked the dress away to wrap up for her to take.

“Sylvia, the dress is gorgeous but I can’t possibly accept a favor like this,” Evie said once she’d gotten dressed again.

“You’re going to have to accept it, because it’s already done.” Sylvia smiled. “I’m more than happy to do it, Evie.”

Evie accepted the box with the dress in it, wrapped up with a pretty pink bow; but she still felt apprehensive and a little guilty for taking advantage of Sylvia’s kindness.

“If she knew who I really was she’d hate me,” Evie said that evening, staring at the dress box. “I feel so terrible that she keeps helping me.”

“She wouldn’t hate you,” Damien said.

“Damien, we met because I pointed a gun at you and made you get into that carriage with the Mycrofts and now you’re just stuck with me and stuck making this machine for them.”

“Sylvia would probably like you more if she knew you pointed a gun at me. Alexis would definitely get a kick out of it. My dad might think it was funny too.”

“I’m being serious,” Evie said, pursing her lips.

“Ducky, please stop worrying so much.”

“But she’s helping me because we lied about why I’m here.”

“She’s helping you because she likes you, and under the circumstances I think she’d understand why we had to lie. Plus, maybe it doesn’t have to be a lie.”

“What do you mean?”

“You really are good at this kind of work,” Damien shrugged. “Maybe you actually should try to enroll here when this is over.”

Evie was quiet for a moment, gaping at him. Then she snorted. “That’s not one of your best jokes, Damien.”

“Who’s joking? I mean it. Once you get away from the Mycrofts you can do whatever you want.”

“I’d never be accepted here,” Evie frowned. Damien rolled his eyes, flicking a loose curl as he walked by her.

“I know you’re small, but that doesn’t mean you need to sell yourself short all the time,” he said.

Evie tried to give him an exasperated look but she couldn’t stop a small laugh from sneaking through. But she was back to worrying once they got home that night. She tossed and turned for a while before falling asleep. She jerked violently awake again sometime around midnight, her heart pounding. A storm had rolled in and thunder was shaking the windowpanes. She hadn’t had the nightmare for a while, but thunderstorms always seemed to bring it back. Worrying so much about Corbin and Olessa probably wasn’t helping either.

Still shaken, Evie found herself climbing out of bed and stepping into the hall. Damien’s door was cracked slightly open and there was a light on inside. She crossed over to it and was about to knock but paused. She shouldn’t bother him just because she’d had a bad dream. But she didn’t really want to go back to her room and huddle sleeplessly under the blankets either. She was standing there feeling torn when Damien glanced up and saw her.

“Evie,” he said, looking surprised as he got up and opened the door further. “What’s wrong?”

“I…it’s stupid. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

“You're not bothering me. What’s the matter, you look upset.”

“I had a nightmare,” she admitted. “It’s a recurring dream from when I was little, and I guess I just didn’t want to be alone but like I said that’s stupid so I should just go-“

“It’s not stupid,” Damien said. “You can stay in here, if you want.”

“Are you sure?” Evie asked shyly. “I don’t want to bother you while you’re working.”

“You're not bothering me,” he repeated. Evie padded into the room, hopping onto the bed. Damien sat at his desk for a while longer, but he seemed distracted from whatever he’d been doing before she showed up.

“What’s your dream about?” he asked. “If you want to tell me.”

“I’m trapped in a big maze, and something big is following me. I can hear its footsteps behind me and no matter which way I go I hit a dead end and have to double back so the footsteps keep getting louder and then it gets dark and the maze starts to fill with water but I can still hear the footsteps right behind me.” Evie scrunched under the blankets, shivering a little. “I had it a lot when I was a kid, but any time I went to my parents’ room to tell them they’d tell me to just go back to my own room.”

“That’s…I’m sorry. You can stay in here as long as you want to.”

She smiled. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“I can sleep on the chair by the window if you want, so you’re not alone but you can have the bed.”

“I don’t need you to sleep in the chair,” Evie said, her face getting warm. “You can come to bed. Honestly it would probably make me feel better.”

“Oh.” Damien looked a little stunned. “Are…are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He still seemed unsure as he turned off the lamp on his desk and laid down on the opposite side of the bed. Evie started to lay down too, but then she scooted closer to Damien and tucked herself against his side and laid her head on his shoulder. He seemed startled but he didn’t move away from her.

“Good night, Damien.”