Steampunk Shenanigans

Damien probably did die for a little bit. He felt like he was floating in the void. Suddenly he was concious again. He winced when he opened his eyes and bright light flooded into the room. Every inch of his body hurt, and it was hard to breath. He glanced down and noticed his chest was bandaged, then looked over to the side and saw someone was sitting in a chair by his bed.

His first thought was Evie, but as his vision adjusted, he saw that it was Sylvia. She hadn't noticed Damien was awake yet and was flipping through a book. Suddenly he felt a little bit panicked. Had Evie left after all? He wasn't sure how long he had been out, but hopefully not so long that she got too far.

Sylvia still hadn't noticed him, so he tried to swat her and get her attention. His hand sort of just flopped to the side and startled her.

"Oh, you're finally awake," she said with a relieved sigh. "Don't move, the doctor says you can tear your stitches."

"Why are you here?" he asked hoarsley.

"Well, isn't that a fine 'thank you' for watching over you the last two days," Sylvia snapped.

"Two days?!" Damien said, his voice practically a squeak. "Oh god, I have to find Evie."

He tried to get up and immediately felt like he had been hit by a train. He flopped back onto the pillows and Sylvia glared at him.

"What the hell did I just say?!" Sylvia said.

"You're not a very nice nurse."

"Evie is downstairs with Fallon," Sylvia told him. "Just relax, I'll go get her."

"Thank you my dear sister."

"Whatever."

"Love you."

"Shut up."

Damien tried and failed one more time to sit up in bed, and Evie walked in just as he nearly toppled out of bed again. She was a lot more gentle than Sylvia was when she helped him back into bed.

"You can't move this much," she scolded. "Damien, you're very hurt."

"I was about to be," he said. "I thought you left."

"I almost did," she said softly. "Your family stopped me. Damien, I'm so sorry. You almost died because of me."

"No, I almost died for you," he corrected. "And I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"But why?"

"Because I love you."

There was a beat of silence and Damien felt Evie squeeze his hand so hard it almost hurt. Her eyes welled up with tears again.

"Oh, Ducky, please don't cry," he grimaced. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I love you, too. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Then don't do anything without me," he said. "Stay here with me. We'll actually get you enrolled in the university. You can be my lab assistant and help me with commissions that actually do good in the world. We can do whatever you want to do."

"Really?"

"Of course."

She finally let out a small laugh through the tears, then leaned in and kissed him. It was nice at first, and then he winced when he felt a tug at his chest.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked. "The doctor said-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what the doctor said."

He pulled her in to another kiss, ignoring the pain from the wound when he did so. At least with Evie agreeing to stay with him, he knew he could actually rest. He was bound to bed for a couple weeks and couldn't eat solid foods, but it wasn't so bad with Evie there to help him. Alexis often stopped by to entertain them with all the gossip about what was going on in the inner circles of high society, and Fallon would bring by some of her fairy books to help Damien get better faster.

She flipped through to point out her favorite pages, and Evie was surprised to see the little blonde fairy princess really did look like her. Monte was absent for a few days, but when he finally made an appearance, he was trying to hide a proud grin on his face. Evie and Damien both waited for his announcement, but he was dragging it along for suspense.

"Dad, please," Damien begged. "I hate guessing games, just tell us."

"I pulled some strings," Monte said. "Miss Evie, you are the newest student at the university."

"What?" she said, eyes wide.

"Full scholarship," Monte grinned. "I know the dean for the school of engineering, and I told him your story. He was so impressed with your quick learning that he was happy to let you in."

Evie squealed in excitement and jumped up to hug Monte, who was glad to tightly hug her back. All of Damien's family had adopted her rather quickly and were giving her the family life she never had. She was shy at first, but was soaking it all up well.

Once Damien was healed enough to walk, his prep started for teaching his courses in the fall. Evie sat in the back of the lecture hall for his first class, and even if it hadn't gone well, the way she looked at him was enough to give him the energy he needed. She succeeded in her own classes, and being one of the few students who didn't buy their way in, she easily impressed all of her professors and passed her exams in the winter with flying colors.

When Christmas break rolled around, she was excited to spend it with Damien's family and have a real Christmas dinner for once. Damien had gotten her a velvet green gown with white trim that brought out her eyes, and she looked every bit the Christmas angel when they went to Sylvia's house that evening. Hudson was finally home from his business overseas, and Fallon didn't hesitate to point Evie out to him and tell him she wasn't kidding about her Uncle Damien becoming friends with the fairy princess from her book.

After a big dinner, everyone gathered around the tree to exchange presents. Evie got just as many as Fallon did, and everyone was feeling her excitement as she opened each gift and got choked up over every individual one. When all the presents were opened and everyone got distracted with their own conversations, Damien took the opportunity to pull Evie aside and give her one last gift in private.

She opened the box to find the bracelet he had given her before, which had the sneaky switch to control the spider. However, rather than being made from spare parts, Damien had a professional jeweler polish up the charm and turn it into an elegant pendant with a diamond in the center. The pendant was added to a pearl necklace.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Evie gushed.

"The original bracelet was a little rushed," Damien told her. "I thought you deserved something much nicer."

"I love it," she grinned, leaning in to kiss him. "And I love you."

"I love you, too."

He stood up and moved behind her to clasp the necklace around her neck. She was grinning so wide, Damien was worried she'd be sore the next day.

"Are you happy?" he asked her.

"Happier knowing it'll only get better from here."

"Then I'll make sure it will."