In the woods Tag: Eva

"No, I understand. I was the one who offered to help you with her anyway," Eva said with a smile. "And don't be sorry about what I went through. It's not your fault, and you went through much, much worse."

Then she turned and went down the stairs to the kitchen. She wasn't sure why Freddy had gotten a house with such a nice, big kitchen, but she couldn't complain since it served them so well now. It took her a minute to figure out where he'd put the glasses, but once she had a tupperware cup, she took it down and filled it to the brim with water.

"Here's your water, sweetie," she said softly once she'd gotten back up the stairs to Lila and Ariel. "I hope that it helps, and I can get you more if you're still thirsty." She knew that they didn't want Lila to wet the bed, but Ariel still had a few more diapers, and she wanted the child to be able to sleep.

Ariel had smiled a little at what Eva said and watched as she left. While she was gone, Ariel rocked Lila a little as she waited for Eva to get back. Once she did, Ariel was glad. Hopefully Lila would sleep now that she had some water.

Now that there was water for Lila to have she gladly drunk it, hanging onto the cup as she did. Ariel had kept her steady as she drank, not wanting any water to spill. After Lila was finished drinking all the water from the cup, she waited for a short time to see if she would fall asleep. Thankfully, Lila did and Ariel was very happy.

Ariel quietly and carefully walked over to the bed and layed Lila down. She then quietly walked over to Eva and then quietly said, "Thank you. I hope she stays asleep for awhile this time."

Eva nodded and looked over them both, smiling. Lila had finally fallen asleep, and based on what Eva had been able to observe of sleeping humans, it looked like it was a pretty deep slumber.

"You're welcome, and I hope that she stays asleep too," she whispered. "Do you want to try and get a little more sleep too?"

Ariel was silent for a little while as she thought about what Eva said. Eventually she whispered, "Yes, I think that'd be a good idea. I'll try and get some more sleep too. I have to take what sleep I can."

After Ariel said that she walked over to the bed and lay beside Lila, then after laying there for awhile she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

Eva nodded sympathetically and gave Ariel a small smile. She was glad that the younger girl knew how to take care of herself when given the opportunity.

"With a two year old, you do," she agreed, "though while you're staying here, I'll try to help you with her as much as I can."

Then she went walked down the stairs, leaving the two to their much-needed, hard-earned rest.

Ariel slept for many more hours before waking up. She noticed that Lila was still asleep. Ariel lay beside Lila until she woke up. She then checked Lila's diaper and finding that it needed changing, went into the bathroom and closed the door. Before changing Lila's diaper this time, though, she went and gave her a bath.

After Lila had a new diaper on, and had been redressed in the outfit she had been in, Ariel put Lila beside the tub and took a quick shower. Well, as quick as she possible could without causing herself pain. After she was back in the clothes she had been in before, Ariel went and picked up Lila and walked out of the bathroom.

Ariel walked down the stairs so she could go and find Eva.

Eva had stayed in her bedroom, figuring that it might be good to pretend to sleep. She'd even changed into the sleeping clothes she'd bought for fun to make it more convincing. Then she'd sat down and picked up her book again. By the time she heard Ariel and Lila coming down the stairs, she was done, and she lay back on the bed again, mussed her hair some, and sat up again..

She yawned loudly, stretched, and sat up. She counted to five in her head before she got up and walked toward the door. She went slowly, counting the steps in her head to keep herself from walking too fast and arousing some suspicions in Ariel.

"Hey, morning," she said, faking another yawn for good measure. "How did you two sleep?"

Ariel had looked over when she heard Eva talking to them. She was glad that it hadn't taken all that long to find Eva. She hadn't necessarilly wanted to walk around the whole house to find her.

"We slept well," Ariel said. "Lila slept even longer than I did, which was really nice." She paused then said, "How did you sleep? You look like you might have slept pretty well." She paused then said, "Oh, what do you have for breakfast? I mean, in the house. I'll have to figure out something for me and Lila to have."

"Yeah, I did sleep well," Eva lied. It wasn't an important lie, she decided, since she was always well rested, no matter what. "And we have some eggs, some pancake mix, some butter, some bread, a few apples, and some milk and cereal."

She smiled as she finished reciting her list. She thought that she had an impressively big selection for a vampire.

Ariel was impressed at the amount of stuff Eva had in the house for breakfast. She wasn't totally sure, though, what she wanted to eat. She decided she'd find out what Lila wanted then figure out what she'd have after that.

"What do you want for breakfast? Do you want some applasauce?" Ariel asked.

"Yes. Want pancake too," Lila said

"Do you want any milk?" Ariel asked her.

"No milk. No like milk," Lila said, scrunching her face up.

Ariel looked at Eva and said, "I've tried to get Lila to drink milk, but for some reason she doesn't like it. She's had it a couple of times, but it didn't seem to agree with her. I don't know if it's just that she doesn't like the taste of it, or if it's something else."

Ariel paused then said, "In anycase, I'll go and make Lila and I something to eat. Do you want anything? I can make some extra pancakes if you want some."

"No, but thank you," Eva said with a smile. "I'm not hungry. I had a big meal before I went to sleep." That was a lie too, but it was a harmless one.

"Now, you need any help getting breakfast ready?" she asked, steering the conversation back in their direction. It was by the safer direction for the conversation to take.

Ariel wasn't really sure how to react to what Eva had said, so she decided to let it go for now. Besides, she was hungry and knew Lila was too. So, she'd figure out how to talk to Eva later.

After Eva had asked if she needed any help making breakfast, Ariel said, "Yes, actually, that'd be great. I can cook somewhat. I had to learn really quick. It'd be nice to have some help, though."

"Okay, awesome then," Eva said with a grin. "One of my jobs while I was wandering around the U.S. was being a short-order cook." That much was true. She'd held that job for about one month before she took on the much more fun and much less stressful job of being a hairstylist. By the time she started doing odd jobs, she'd gotten her thirst really well under control, and she had just been trying to build it too.

And right now, she was very glad that she had built it. It made it much easier to help Lila and Ariel.

"I'll start by breaking the eggs for the pancakes. Is that cool with you?" she asked.

Ariel was glad when she heard that Eva had been a short order cook at one point. That meant that she wouldn't have to worry about anything getting messed up. Yes, Ariel would help but she'd worry less about things getting burnt.

"Yes, definately," Ariel said. "Let me just tell you, though, that you'll have to make a lot of pancakes. Lila really, really likes them and I'm going to have some too. So, yeah, make a lot. Oh and I can make the applesauce, if you want. I wouldn't want you to make everything. I mean, I asked you for help not to have you make eevrything."

As Ariel waited to hear what Eva would say she headed into the kitchen with Lila. She then sat her down in a chair in the kitchen and waited to see what Eva would say.

Eva grinned when she heard what Ariel was saying and then let out a soft laugh once she was done finished speaking. In a way, it was just like being back at work. The only major difference was that Ariel was actually a polite boss and a polite customer, and that was a very nice difference.

"That sounds just fine, you two," she said. "I can cook fast, so you two won't be hungry." With that, she began cracking and stirring the eggs to start the batter. Next went in the batter, then the butter, the tiniest bit of cinnamon that she liked to add for flavor because she'd heard from plenty of humans that it tasted good, and finally the milk. Overall, she thought that they looked pretty appetizing. Or at least they would have looked appetizing when she was human.

Ariel smiled as she heard what Eva said. As Eva made the pancakes, Ariel went and got the apples out of the fridge. She then went and found a knife and cut up, cored, and took the skin off the apples. After that, she went and put the few cut up apples into a pot and cooked them.

After the apples had been cooked and mashed, which hadn't really taken as long as she thought, she turned that burner off and then looked over at Eva. She laughed a little, something that sounded strange to her, and said, "You do work fast, don't you? That's good, though. Now everything's done and Lila won't get cranky."

"Oh yeah, I'm a real speed demon, I am," Eva drawled, though she was laughing. She hadn't heard Ariel laugh at all, and she'd hardly seen her smile. The sound was surprisingly pretty, and it warmed Eva's heart. It felt so good to bring a little happiness to someone who had suffered so much. Hopefully, this meant that Eva could help them more.

"So, I've got the first round of pancakes ready for Lila and for you if you want them too," she announced as she turned picked up two plates with two pancakes each on them. She took them both over to the kitchen table and sat them down. She'd already sliced Lila's for her, and she handed the baby girl a small fork.

Lila was glad that she had her pancakes. Now that she had them, and a fork, she went and started eating. She didn't have her applesauce yet, but she knew she'd have it soon. So, for now she ate the pancakes.

Ariel was glad when she heard what Eva said, that some of the pancakes were already ready. "Ok, thanks,' Ariel said. as she went and found a spoon and then brought the pot with the applesauce over to the table. She put most of the applesauce on Lila's plate and took a little for herself. She then walked over to the sink and put the pot and spoon in it.

After that, she went and got a fork for herself and walked over to the table. She then sat down and started eating. As she did, she every now and then watched Lila to see how she was doing. Lila was, at different points, having trouble using the fork but she overall wasn't doing too badly. Lila also seemed happy now that she had her applesauce.

Ariel didn't say anything for awhile as she ate. She was hungry, so it'd make sense that she'd be eating and not saying anything, but she also was enjoying the pancakes and applesauce that had been made. At one point, she said, "You cook really well, Eva. I'm sure you've heard that a lot before, but you do."

Eva actually hadn't heard that before, so the compliment made her smile widely. She knew that Ariel was probably a bit biased and her judgment was a bit clouded since she was probably starving, despite the big meal she'd eaten the other day, and her body was craving food to make up for the food that she hadn't been eating lately, but Eva still took the compliment.

"Actually, I haven't," she said as she spooned out two more pancakes, one for Lila if she wanted it and one for Ariel if she wanted it. "Most of my customers weren't as nice as you two are."

She turned off the stove for a second, brought over the new pancakes, and sat down with them. She was wondering how the two of them were feeling right now. They looked much happier and much better rested than last night.

"So, do you want to get showered and bathed and everything once you're done eating and before we go into town?" she asked.

Ariel silently listened to what Eva was saying, sorry that her customers hadn't been nice to her. Even though that was the case, she now had heard the compliment. Ariel was glad when another pancake for both her and Lila had been brought over.

Ariel finished the pancakes and applesauce she had before she went and took the additional pancake. After she had eaten some of the third pancake, she said to Eva, "Actually, I already took a shower and gave Lila a bath. You probably can't tell, though, because we're back in the same clothes. We only have one other outfit, though, and that isn't really any better than what we're wearing."

After she said that, she went and finished eating and looked over at Lila to see how she was doing. She noticed that she had almost finished eating all her pancakes. As Ariel waited for Lila to finish eating, she said, "Do you have anything that I could change into? I know we're not the same height or anything, but anything would be better than what I'm wearing now."

Eva was on her feet to assist them very quickly. Now that she smelled them, she realized that they did smell much cleaner. It was just the clothes.

"Now that you mention, you two do look a lot cleaner. Your hair especially looks better," she said to make up for her slip. She didn't want to make them feel bad. "And of course you can borrow some of my clothes, Ariel. I have some dresses that'll probably fit you and where the length won't matter. Some are a little high-waisted one me, so they'll probably fit you well."

She picked up the empty plates and glasses and took them over to the sink. She decided that since they were her guests, it was only fair for her to clean up after them.

"You can start looking in my room now if you want," she said, "and you two can get some new things to wear while you're in town. I know that you'll at least want an extra outfit for Lila."

Ariel smiled when she heard what Eva said, about her having some dresses that'd probably fit her and about her not minding Ariel borrowing her clothes. "Yes, of course," Ariel said, after Eva had mentioned about getting new things. "Getting some new things would definately be a good idea. I'll probably get more than one outfit for Lila, though, and just get rid of her old outfits."

After she said that, she walked over to Lila's chair and picked her up. She then went to Eva's room and put Lila on the bed, before looking through Eva's clothes. After finding a dress she wanted to wear she quickly changed and then walked back over to Lila, making sure to bring her old clothes with her. She then picked up Lila and left Eva's room. After getting rid of her old clothes, she said to Eva, "Ok, I'm ready."

"I almost am," Eva said, looking down at her little sleeping shorts and long t-shirt. "I just have to go get dressed really quickly and then we can head out." Once Ariel had stepped out of her room, Eva stepped in, closed the door, and quickly threw on her favorite pair of black jeans, a long-sleeved purple v-neck sweater, and a pair of black wedges. Then she brushed out her hair once more, grabbed her purse and wallet, and walked out of her room.

"Now we're ready to go," she said with a grin. "Sorry that I don't have a car. I know that it might make things easier if I did, but it's not a long walk."

Ariel had stood and waited for Eva to change. She was glad that it hadn't taken all that long for her to do that. Once Eva was ready, and had finished talking, Ariel said, "It's ok. I'm sure I'll be able to walk into town. I'm feeling better than I was last night and I have some food in me, so I have some energy. So, I'm sure I'll be fine. Besides, I won't be doing anything that'll make any of my injuries worse." She paused then said, "Anyway, let's go. You'll have to lead the way."

Eva smiled and said, "I did fine as a guide last night, and I do believe that I'll do fine this morning." Luckily, the day was completely overcast without a drop of rain, so Eva would not sparkle, and the humans would not get cold. It was good luck all around, and that thought of it made Eva's smile widened.

As they walked, Eva's mind went back to Ariel's horrible injuries from last night, and she turned to the younger girl to ask her a few questions about them.

"When you showered, was everything from last night feeling and looking better?" Eva asked. "Did you put any more of that lotion on your skin?"