"Understanding", Baccano! NaNoWriMo response
Huhhuhuhu, I finally get to let my Luck/Eve fangirlism run rampant thanks to festivewind, fueled by spoilers of the 1932 novel. Excellent. >D
Character(s)/Pairing: Luck, Eve
Genre: Fluff
Rating: PG13 or above?
Prompt: Looking at something from different POVs, (or) Birds and bees talk.
Title: Understanding
Characters: Luck/Eve
Genre: Drama/Romance/Comedy/Fluff
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: A little risque; gun violence and bloodshed; 1932 novel spoilers FTW. (It's very different from the anime version. :O)
Wordcount: 4399
Total Progress: 47687/50000 = 95.37% complete
Eve Genoard felt that the greatest of spiritual lessons was the importance placed on gaining the ability to walk a mile in another's shoes, learning what they felt and why they felt that way, leading to the comprehension of the motives behind the actions that sometimes lead to the pain and suffering of others. Forgiveness was the central idea of Christianity, but forgiveness without understanding was meaningless and a lie--no matter what was said, the hatred would still remain as long as two people held each other at arms length. There was no reconciliation until after they fully accepted each other within their hearts. Hate severed ties, but love repaired them. She felt that a truly wonderful person would be able to find things to love about every person in the world.
It was hard for Eve to accept the fact that she was nowhere near as good of a person as she had previously always thought herself to be, but she felt that realizing her own hypocrisy was a step in the right direction, though she still had a long way to go before she could be happy with herself. Accusing Luck Gandor of being selfish for taking the law into his own hands, only to attempt to do so herself just moments after had really opened her eyes. How long had she believed that she was righteous and a better person than most? She had been completely surprised and taken over by the darkness within her heart, absolutely prepared to take the life of another human being for her own satisfaction, and would have succeeded if Luck hadn't put himself between the shotgun and Gustavo as she pulled the trigger. The realization of her own selfishness was a lesson she would not forget, the memory stained in the blood of the arm she had blown off, as he accepted and understood her pain. As he had said before, it seemed that he was completely serious with the words she'd assumed he had said on a whim; he would not let her project her hatred on anyone but himself, a man who could not be killed. As is so happened, the man who had dropped her brother in the river to drown uncountable deaths was far more righteous than herself, willing to take every ounce of her suffering to prevent her from abandoning her innocence through the act of murder, something he himself had likely achieved long ago. After the fight was over, his face pale from the pain and loss of blood and limb that were only just beginning to return, seconds from unconsciousness, he had been far more concerned about her safety than his own poor state, and she realized then that there was no way she would ever be able to hate him nearly as much as he wanted her to.
Her brother had killed four of Luck Gandor's men, who were probably also close friends of his on top of their business relationship--four men who could no longer return to life. With that in mind, Eve could now understand his reasoning: when faced with the man that had taken the lives of the rest of her family, she wouldn't have been satisfied with Gustavo's arrest and imprisonment. What he had done to Dallas was awful but not altogether undeserved, and he was still alive down there on the bottom of the river. Unlike the men he had killed, he had a chance to live out the rest of his life with plenty of discipline to guide him back onto a more reasonable path. Being trapped underwater for a year would have changed him far more than however many years he would have spent in jail had the Gandors turned him in to the police. After being separated from him for so long already, she could at least be glad that she would be able to spend more time with him and help him release all of his bottled up and festering anger.
However, after giving her directions detailing the location where he had watched Dallas sink into the river alongside his older brothers, Luck had told her that she could pull him out if she thought the pain in his heart caused by her brother's actions had disappeared. Once again, she suspected he might have said it on a whim, but she couldn't help but believe he was completely serious after everything that had happened. He was a riddle she was determined to solve, and, in the end, Eve waited over a week before she hired a crew to pull her brother out of the river. In the time between, she met with Luck Gandor several times and thought hard about what she was supposed to do with each and every moment. She could let herself be selfish and save her brother without giving Luck's pain a single thought, she could accept his decision and let Dallas stay submerged until he was satisfied, or she could push through a compromise, doing all she could to heal the pain in his heart so she could pull Dallas out of the river with a clear conscience. She had made the decision before she fully realized it, the epiphany dawning on her the fourth time she went to speak with him to theorize and study the extent of his suffering after a year's worth of healing, and all at once, the understanding had flooded in--she and Luck were so very different, but, as with everyone else walking the earth, at the core, they were very much the same.
How long had they both lived in their self-centered worlds? Luck had been so certain that no one in the world could understand and sympathize with the loss of four good men, and Eve, after losing her family and unable to locate her last remaining blood relative, had been convinced that there was no one else in the world could compare with her misfortune, making a martyr of herself. All at once, Eve understood why Luck had stepped in front of the gun--it was because his eyes had been opened and there was indeed a person who suffered just as much standing right before him, about to make a grave mistake. It wasn't worth throwing away one's innocence, because even though the law sometimes wasn't nearly enough for closure, taking revenge was empty, unsatisfying, and didn't change anything or bring anyone back from the dead.
Both of them had lived a year mourning the deaths of their loved ones, but after meeting Luck and understanding him, suddenly, the pain in Eve's heart had faded, and, after seeing him again and again, she began to notice signs of his healing as well. As they talked to each other about their losses, gradually, the distant look in his eyes began to fade and he looked at her more often than out into the distance, and Eve could only imagine the progression of her own disposition--somehow, she was able to tell him things that she'd never said to another living soul, and even though she was certain that revealing her innermost heartaches aloud would only cause her additional suffering and tears, somehow, what she ended up achieving was happiness and smiles as her burdens were lifted one after the other. The same had to be true for Luck as well, since in the beginning, he was rather tight-lipped and vague about his own collected traumas, letting Eve direct the conversation, but as the minutes ticked by, more and more would slip out and his posture would gradually become more relaxed. If he ever thought her visits as troublesome, certainly he didn't find her presence so annoying anymore, because Eve was now convinced that the pain in his heart had been put to rest, because there was nothing left of her own.
The barrels had been partially filled with cement, preventing the current from taking them far from the initial drop zone, preventing those contained within from escaping. She paid the recovery crews very generously to prevent them from talking about what they had seen, and had Dallas' friends returned to their families. She thought she would be filled with joy at the sight of her brother, but the first thing she did after Dallas stopped choking up water long enough to look her in the eye was slap him across the face with all the force she could muster.
~~~
Luck Gandor could barely believe what he was doing, convinced that he had lost his mind. Why else would he be seeking out Eve Genoard on today of all days? She had dropped more than enough clues during their conversation the day before with her telling expressions, and after overhearing about the sudden activity near the river, Luck knew that she had made up her mind to save her brother. The knowledge didn't bother him as much as he thought it would, and he had already decided to allow her to make her final choice without continuing to confuse her with his own feelings on the matter, but overnight, he had realized that what little dread he felt was in concern for Eve herself. There were times that he envied her ability to act upon her convictions without restraint, but letting herself be ruled by her emotions would also sometimes have the added effect of irrational behavior that could lead to her doing something she would come to regret. He would rather never seeing Dallas Genoard again in his lifetime, but at the same time, if he had to meet him again to prevent additional darkness from invading Eve's heart, he felt he would have to endure it. There was something about her that he was desperate to protect and preserve. Was it her innocence? Her honesty? Her conviction? Was it because she was the exact opposite of himself, yet shared similar tragedies, that she drew him to her so easily? They were like two pieces of the same puzzle--where she ended, he began; what he lacked, she contained. Now that they'd been found and fit together, he didn't want her to twist herself into something completely unrecognizable, leaving a gap in his life he feared he would never be able to fill again. He needed to know that there was still innocence left in the world.
He had been surprised to find her waiting for him outside only the day after he had given her the information to find her brother. Considering the circumstances and their parting words, he hadn't expected to ever see her again, much less hesitating to save her last remaining blood relative, for whom she held a great deal of love despite his countless shortcomings. And yet, there she was before him rather than waiting by the riverbed for her brother's recovery, acknowledging and honoring his embittered heart, hoping to heal it so she they could both move on in peace. During the first couple visits, while he was still "Mr. Gandor" rather than "Luck", he had nearly told her at several different times that she shouldn't care how he felt, that she should hate him, and that she should go ahead and save her brother without wasting another thought on the man who drowned him, but every time he tried, there was always something holding him back, something that didn't want to be separate from her, something that told him that it was well within her ability to heal him. Before meeting her, Luck had held onto his bitterness like a life-line, but now all he wanted to do was let it go and see where he landed after the fall.
She told him all about the side her brother saved only for her; how protective and gentle he could be, and how it didn't matter how much of a terrible day she'd had as long as Dallas was there, because he could always cheer her up without fail. She explained how their rich lifestyle had stifled and smothered him, all the fake kindness warping him, and his difficulty in living up to the expectations set by their elder brother, his frustration driving him out of the house and onto the street. She never treated her explanations as a way to excuse his crime, only so that he would be able to understand why she still believed that there was something inside of him that was worth rescue and another chance. Eve assured him of this with such conviction that he really wanted to believe that she would be able to force change onto her brother, because if he didn't let go of the past and acted out in vengeance once more, he would be unable to stop Keith and Berga from devising a more permanent method to ensure that they would never hear from Dallas Genoard again, and if they found out about his part in the man's reappearance, they would undoubtedly punish him in some way for not talking with them about it first. Being immortal, the possibilities were endless, though he doubted that they would actually be interested in ending his existence outright, just as he couldn't imagine ever doing the same to them.
In reply, he told her all about the men Dallas had killed; their lives, their families, their friends, and their robbed futures. They had been good men who would have never taken a step into the shadier side of business if it hadn't been for the depression. He explained how learning of their deaths had opened a dark chasm in his heart. Those four had been some of his most trusted colleagues, and losing them had hurt in more ways than one. Worse than being told what had happened was walking inside to investigate the scene, and infinitely worse than that was going to meet their loved ones to inform them of their passing. Finding himself unable to grieve in any public manner, every tear of another bit deeper as he hollowly offered his condolences and assured them that they would be be well taken care of by the Gandor family for the rest of their lives; their widows would have no need to worry about finances and their young children could seek a full education if they so desired. It was nowhere near enough to console them, but it was all he had been able to offer. At least, in the future, they might be able to look back on a life lacking financial worries and appreciate the sacrifice made by their sons, husbands, brothers, and fathers, but Luck was certain that he would still be looking back on that day, wondering if he could have done something differently to prevent it somehow. He didn't say it to make her sad and doubt her love for her brother--he just wanted her to fully understand his actions now that she had made up her mind not to hate him, but more than that, he wanted her to make absolutely sure that, once she pulled Dallas out of the river, he would never take another life undeserving of death. If she could do that, Luck could believe that he might be able to remember Mike and the others one day without feeling pain. If Dallas turned his life around and took proper care of his sister, there may even come a day when his resentment faded to nothing. In Luck's suddenly unlimited time, it was possible that he may even eventually forgive him if he did enough good with his life.
Until the sudden epiphany the night before, he hadn't expected Eve to feel anything other than joy upon being reunited with her brother.
As it turned out, Luck hadn't needed to search for her at all, because as he slipped around a corner on his way to either the river or her mansion--he hadn't decided yet, but if she wasn't at one location, she would undoubtedly be at the other--they nearly crashed into each other as she was on her way to meet him as well. It was only thanks to Luck's quick reflexes that he was able to catch Eve by her shoulders before she could plow into him, knocking either or both of them over through her momentum. He knew immediately that she was upset just from the way she had been running, not even needing to get a good look of her face, which was just as expressive of her inner turmoil as the rest of her body. Eve had already been close to tears, but the sight of Luck nearly sent her over the edge as the first few drops began to overflow from her eyelids.
"It was too soon," she choked out. "It was too soon, wasn't it? I thought it would be all right, now, but it still hurts, doesn't it?" She lifted both hands to cover her face, sobbing, "I thought it had disappeared, but there's still so much pain!"
It was exactly as he had feared; over the course of the week, Eve had been so focused on understanding his point of view that it had corrupted her own, and the very first thing she had seen once looking upon Dallas' face for the first time in over a year was not the brother she loved, but the man he hated. She had taken his pain and reproduced it inside her own heart.
The commotion was beginning to draw stares, so Luck gently turned her by the shoulders to guide her into the nearby alley for some privacy--the absolute last thing either of them needed was for Eve to say something sensitive a little too loudly in her hysteria and have the wrong person overhear. "Calm down," he said, once he felt they were far enough from the main street. "You shouldn't be upset because of someone like me. You need to stop crying and go back to your brother. There's so much work ahead of you that you shouldn't be wasting any time."
His words had the opposite effect of what he'd intended, but her anger was far more desirable than her tears. "I will not!" she shouted at him, twisting around beneath his hands so she could stare him straight in the eye. "I won't let you pretend you're perfectly fine with this, much less tell me that I shouldn't consider your feelings! I couldn't look Dallas in the face without thinking about you--there's no way I could have done anything to rid you of your pain, just like you said so yourself! I'm just a girl; a stupid, useless, self-centered girl who couldn't even take away the pain of her older brother before he became a delinquent, and then a murderer!"
Her fury awakened something deep inside him, and all of a sudden, Luck was no longer as cool or collected as he thought himself to be. Later on, he would begin to wonder just how much her frank, spontaneous outbursts had rubbed off on him. After pushing Eve firmly against the alley wall, in a voice he barely recognized passing through his lips, he hissed, "Stop this. An innocent girl should have nothing to do with mafia--forget about me and focus on your brother. How many times did he drown over the past year, and you're more concerned about the man who dropped him in the river in the first place? Why don't you hate me? You should hate me."
Amazed by the unprecedented outpouring of emotion from Luck, who had spoken of the deaths of his comrades with a neutral face, Eve, shaken from her anger, could only softly reply, "You can spit as much fire and brimstone as you'd like, Luck Gandor--it's impossible for me to ever hate you."
He must have lost his mind. Fire and brimstone indeed, for he would live an eternity of torment, and he may as well have brought back a souvenir from his occasional round trips to hell and back. She really did not have any idea what she was doing to him, talking like that and acting that way. Luck could barely even stand it anymore--his head turned to every girl he passed on the street, disappointing himself as each one was revealed as a stranger in turn, and his encounter with Kate the other day had gotten him thinking of marriage of all things. The last thing he could do for her was convince her to stay away from him before he pulled her the rest of the way into a life of crime.
"Is that so?" he challenged her, stepping closer, abruptly pinning her against the wall with his body, tilting his head down as she raised her face in shock. "If you're so certain of that, surely you wouldn't mind a little test of your conviction?" When he leaned down the rest of the way to kiss her, Luck forced himself to be as crude and vulgar as he could manage, but despite his plans, went about it significantly more gently than he would have wished. He had invaded her mouth with his tongue before she was even fully aware of their lips coming into contact, but instead of ruthless plundering, he delicately traced the interior, unable to completely quell his desire to kiss her with a gentle sweetness, and to scare her further, he had planned to let his hands drift all along her body, but lowering his hands from her shoulders to rest just below her armpits, his palms only just barely in contact with the edges of her breasts, was all he was able to manage before the kiss itself distracted him, giving her plenty of time and the opportunity to push him away.
She was still much too young and inexperienced to understand how much he had held himself back, but though Eve was definitely angry and embarrassed, blushing an attractive beet-red that made him want to lean in again, Luck still did not identify hatred swimming around her expression. "How could you do that?!" she demanded. "How could you do something so... so improper?"
Her words almost gave him cause for laughter. "Improper?" he repeated. "I wonder what type of behavior you seriously expect from a mafia executive? If you don't remember, I have done plenty worse, with only more to come, if you're willing to risk seeing it first hand."
Eve, however, stood her ground, identifying his motives easily, as she already knew him far too well to be tricked so easily. "Why are you trying to frighten me away?"
"What makes you think I'm trying to scare you?" Luck replied, leaning in again but keeping his distance this time around, the previous kiss still much too vivid in his mind, and while he realized that he would have had to take it even farther to change her opinion of him, he knew that taking it too far would be counterproductive, causing him to want to keep her by his side all the more. "I'm just showing you how I truly am--the type willing to take advantage of minors."
"Stop lying," Eve insisted, his words became less and less believable with each passing second.
"I'm sorry if I somehow lead you to believe that I actually cared for you," he added.
That got Eve's attention, but for all the reason's Luck didn't want. "You care for me," she was able to deduce with a slow smile. "You're worried about pulling me into your troubles, so you're trying to drive me away."
Stepping back from her, wanting to erase the entire conversation thus far, Luck turned away from her and said, "You should go back. I'll get you a taxi."
However, Eve wasn't having any of it. Quick to make her decision, and holding more than enough confidence within her small body to see it through, Eve marched over to face Luck, grabbed him by the tie, and pulled him down to press her lips against his in a far more brief and chaste version of their earlier kiss. Luck was so shocked that he didn't immediately loosen his tie until after he found himself unable to breathe after holding his breath for a moment or two. "I won't be driven away," Eve said softly, unable to look him full in the eye, but Luck knew her well enough to know that by this point to know that he would sooner be able to conquer the planet than change her mind now that she'd reached this point.
"I see," he somehow managed to say in response. Then, believing that he would be able to think better while in motion, added, "I'll walk you home."
Eve didn't dispute him this time, falling into step beside him, but too shy with herself, reliving her actions again and again, to break away from the silence.
"How is he?" Luck asked, on one hand, not caring in the least, but on the other, caring very much.
"You don't have to force yourself to ask about him," Eve replied, as it was the very first time he had ever approached the subject himself. "He seemed a little disorientated, but I think that was just because I slapped him before I started yelling. I think he's fine, though. The workers should have dropped him off by now." She suddenly remembered her reason for searching for Luck in the first place. "...Are you troubled that I decided to pull him out without telling you first?"
The only thing troubling Luck at this point in time was Eve's youth and inexperience. He shook his head. "I knew what you were planning since yesterday afternoon." He paused. "I'll walk you home, but I don't want to see him. Though, it occurs to me that, as your last living relative, he's going to be responsible for your education. It will be a long while before I am able to forgive him, but if you'd like, you can tell him that it would be a good start to teach you all about the birds and the bees."
"The birds and the bees?" Eve repeated, it being the very first time she had heard of such terms, just as Luck suspected. It was just a joke to gauge Dallas' current frame of mind, since it was more than likely that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to teach his little sister about it, because, despite everything, the last thing Luck wanted to do was rob a minor of her innocence. He had all the time in the world to wait for her to grow up, after all.
Character(s)/Pairing: Luck, Eve
Genre: Fluff
Rating: PG13 or above?
Prompt: Looking at something from different POVs, (or) Birds and bees talk.
Title: Understanding
Characters: Luck/Eve
Genre: Drama/Romance/Comedy/Fluff
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: A little risque; gun violence and bloodshed; 1932 novel spoilers FTW. (It's very different from the anime version. :O)
Wordcount: 4399
Total Progress: 47687/50000 = 95.37% complete
Eve Genoard felt that the greatest of spiritual lessons was the importance placed on gaining the ability to walk a mile in another's shoes, learning what they felt and why they felt that way, leading to the comprehension of the motives behind the actions that sometimes lead to the pain and suffering of others. Forgiveness was the central idea of Christianity, but forgiveness without understanding was meaningless and a lie--no matter what was said, the hatred would still remain as long as two people held each other at arms length. There was no reconciliation until after they fully accepted each other within their hearts. Hate severed ties, but love repaired them. She felt that a truly wonderful person would be able to find things to love about every person in the world.
It was hard for Eve to accept the fact that she was nowhere near as good of a person as she had previously always thought herself to be, but she felt that realizing her own hypocrisy was a step in the right direction, though she still had a long way to go before she could be happy with herself. Accusing Luck Gandor of being selfish for taking the law into his own hands, only to attempt to do so herself just moments after had really opened her eyes. How long had she believed that she was righteous and a better person than most? She had been completely surprised and taken over by the darkness within her heart, absolutely prepared to take the life of another human being for her own satisfaction, and would have succeeded if Luck hadn't put himself between the shotgun and Gustavo as she pulled the trigger. The realization of her own selfishness was a lesson she would not forget, the memory stained in the blood of the arm she had blown off, as he accepted and understood her pain. As he had said before, it seemed that he was completely serious with the words she'd assumed he had said on a whim; he would not let her project her hatred on anyone but himself, a man who could not be killed. As is so happened, the man who had dropped her brother in the river to drown uncountable deaths was far more righteous than herself, willing to take every ounce of her suffering to prevent her from abandoning her innocence through the act of murder, something he himself had likely achieved long ago. After the fight was over, his face pale from the pain and loss of blood and limb that were only just beginning to return, seconds from unconsciousness, he had been far more concerned about her safety than his own poor state, and she realized then that there was no way she would ever be able to hate him nearly as much as he wanted her to.
Her brother had killed four of Luck Gandor's men, who were probably also close friends of his on top of their business relationship--four men who could no longer return to life. With that in mind, Eve could now understand his reasoning: when faced with the man that had taken the lives of the rest of her family, she wouldn't have been satisfied with Gustavo's arrest and imprisonment. What he had done to Dallas was awful but not altogether undeserved, and he was still alive down there on the bottom of the river. Unlike the men he had killed, he had a chance to live out the rest of his life with plenty of discipline to guide him back onto a more reasonable path. Being trapped underwater for a year would have changed him far more than however many years he would have spent in jail had the Gandors turned him in to the police. After being separated from him for so long already, she could at least be glad that she would be able to spend more time with him and help him release all of his bottled up and festering anger.
However, after giving her directions detailing the location where he had watched Dallas sink into the river alongside his older brothers, Luck had told her that she could pull him out if she thought the pain in his heart caused by her brother's actions had disappeared. Once again, she suspected he might have said it on a whim, but she couldn't help but believe he was completely serious after everything that had happened. He was a riddle she was determined to solve, and, in the end, Eve waited over a week before she hired a crew to pull her brother out of the river. In the time between, she met with Luck Gandor several times and thought hard about what she was supposed to do with each and every moment. She could let herself be selfish and save her brother without giving Luck's pain a single thought, she could accept his decision and let Dallas stay submerged until he was satisfied, or she could push through a compromise, doing all she could to heal the pain in his heart so she could pull Dallas out of the river with a clear conscience. She had made the decision before she fully realized it, the epiphany dawning on her the fourth time she went to speak with him to theorize and study the extent of his suffering after a year's worth of healing, and all at once, the understanding had flooded in--she and Luck were so very different, but, as with everyone else walking the earth, at the core, they were very much the same.
How long had they both lived in their self-centered worlds? Luck had been so certain that no one in the world could understand and sympathize with the loss of four good men, and Eve, after losing her family and unable to locate her last remaining blood relative, had been convinced that there was no one else in the world could compare with her misfortune, making a martyr of herself. All at once, Eve understood why Luck had stepped in front of the gun--it was because his eyes had been opened and there was indeed a person who suffered just as much standing right before him, about to make a grave mistake. It wasn't worth throwing away one's innocence, because even though the law sometimes wasn't nearly enough for closure, taking revenge was empty, unsatisfying, and didn't change anything or bring anyone back from the dead.
Both of them had lived a year mourning the deaths of their loved ones, but after meeting Luck and understanding him, suddenly, the pain in Eve's heart had faded, and, after seeing him again and again, she began to notice signs of his healing as well. As they talked to each other about their losses, gradually, the distant look in his eyes began to fade and he looked at her more often than out into the distance, and Eve could only imagine the progression of her own disposition--somehow, she was able to tell him things that she'd never said to another living soul, and even though she was certain that revealing her innermost heartaches aloud would only cause her additional suffering and tears, somehow, what she ended up achieving was happiness and smiles as her burdens were lifted one after the other. The same had to be true for Luck as well, since in the beginning, he was rather tight-lipped and vague about his own collected traumas, letting Eve direct the conversation, but as the minutes ticked by, more and more would slip out and his posture would gradually become more relaxed. If he ever thought her visits as troublesome, certainly he didn't find her presence so annoying anymore, because Eve was now convinced that the pain in his heart had been put to rest, because there was nothing left of her own.
The barrels had been partially filled with cement, preventing the current from taking them far from the initial drop zone, preventing those contained within from escaping. She paid the recovery crews very generously to prevent them from talking about what they had seen, and had Dallas' friends returned to their families. She thought she would be filled with joy at the sight of her brother, but the first thing she did after Dallas stopped choking up water long enough to look her in the eye was slap him across the face with all the force she could muster.
~~~
Luck Gandor could barely believe what he was doing, convinced that he had lost his mind. Why else would he be seeking out Eve Genoard on today of all days? She had dropped more than enough clues during their conversation the day before with her telling expressions, and after overhearing about the sudden activity near the river, Luck knew that she had made up her mind to save her brother. The knowledge didn't bother him as much as he thought it would, and he had already decided to allow her to make her final choice without continuing to confuse her with his own feelings on the matter, but overnight, he had realized that what little dread he felt was in concern for Eve herself. There were times that he envied her ability to act upon her convictions without restraint, but letting herself be ruled by her emotions would also sometimes have the added effect of irrational behavior that could lead to her doing something she would come to regret. He would rather never seeing Dallas Genoard again in his lifetime, but at the same time, if he had to meet him again to prevent additional darkness from invading Eve's heart, he felt he would have to endure it. There was something about her that he was desperate to protect and preserve. Was it her innocence? Her honesty? Her conviction? Was it because she was the exact opposite of himself, yet shared similar tragedies, that she drew him to her so easily? They were like two pieces of the same puzzle--where she ended, he began; what he lacked, she contained. Now that they'd been found and fit together, he didn't want her to twist herself into something completely unrecognizable, leaving a gap in his life he feared he would never be able to fill again. He needed to know that there was still innocence left in the world.
He had been surprised to find her waiting for him outside only the day after he had given her the information to find her brother. Considering the circumstances and their parting words, he hadn't expected to ever see her again, much less hesitating to save her last remaining blood relative, for whom she held a great deal of love despite his countless shortcomings. And yet, there she was before him rather than waiting by the riverbed for her brother's recovery, acknowledging and honoring his embittered heart, hoping to heal it so she they could both move on in peace. During the first couple visits, while he was still "Mr. Gandor" rather than "Luck", he had nearly told her at several different times that she shouldn't care how he felt, that she should hate him, and that she should go ahead and save her brother without wasting another thought on the man who drowned him, but every time he tried, there was always something holding him back, something that didn't want to be separate from her, something that told him that it was well within her ability to heal him. Before meeting her, Luck had held onto his bitterness like a life-line, but now all he wanted to do was let it go and see where he landed after the fall.
She told him all about the side her brother saved only for her; how protective and gentle he could be, and how it didn't matter how much of a terrible day she'd had as long as Dallas was there, because he could always cheer her up without fail. She explained how their rich lifestyle had stifled and smothered him, all the fake kindness warping him, and his difficulty in living up to the expectations set by their elder brother, his frustration driving him out of the house and onto the street. She never treated her explanations as a way to excuse his crime, only so that he would be able to understand why she still believed that there was something inside of him that was worth rescue and another chance. Eve assured him of this with such conviction that he really wanted to believe that she would be able to force change onto her brother, because if he didn't let go of the past and acted out in vengeance once more, he would be unable to stop Keith and Berga from devising a more permanent method to ensure that they would never hear from Dallas Genoard again, and if they found out about his part in the man's reappearance, they would undoubtedly punish him in some way for not talking with them about it first. Being immortal, the possibilities were endless, though he doubted that they would actually be interested in ending his existence outright, just as he couldn't imagine ever doing the same to them.
In reply, he told her all about the men Dallas had killed; their lives, their families, their friends, and their robbed futures. They had been good men who would have never taken a step into the shadier side of business if it hadn't been for the depression. He explained how learning of their deaths had opened a dark chasm in his heart. Those four had been some of his most trusted colleagues, and losing them had hurt in more ways than one. Worse than being told what had happened was walking inside to investigate the scene, and infinitely worse than that was going to meet their loved ones to inform them of their passing. Finding himself unable to grieve in any public manner, every tear of another bit deeper as he hollowly offered his condolences and assured them that they would be be well taken care of by the Gandor family for the rest of their lives; their widows would have no need to worry about finances and their young children could seek a full education if they so desired. It was nowhere near enough to console them, but it was all he had been able to offer. At least, in the future, they might be able to look back on a life lacking financial worries and appreciate the sacrifice made by their sons, husbands, brothers, and fathers, but Luck was certain that he would still be looking back on that day, wondering if he could have done something differently to prevent it somehow. He didn't say it to make her sad and doubt her love for her brother--he just wanted her to fully understand his actions now that she had made up her mind not to hate him, but more than that, he wanted her to make absolutely sure that, once she pulled Dallas out of the river, he would never take another life undeserving of death. If she could do that, Luck could believe that he might be able to remember Mike and the others one day without feeling pain. If Dallas turned his life around and took proper care of his sister, there may even come a day when his resentment faded to nothing. In Luck's suddenly unlimited time, it was possible that he may even eventually forgive him if he did enough good with his life.
Until the sudden epiphany the night before, he hadn't expected Eve to feel anything other than joy upon being reunited with her brother.
As it turned out, Luck hadn't needed to search for her at all, because as he slipped around a corner on his way to either the river or her mansion--he hadn't decided yet, but if she wasn't at one location, she would undoubtedly be at the other--they nearly crashed into each other as she was on her way to meet him as well. It was only thanks to Luck's quick reflexes that he was able to catch Eve by her shoulders before she could plow into him, knocking either or both of them over through her momentum. He knew immediately that she was upset just from the way she had been running, not even needing to get a good look of her face, which was just as expressive of her inner turmoil as the rest of her body. Eve had already been close to tears, but the sight of Luck nearly sent her over the edge as the first few drops began to overflow from her eyelids.
"It was too soon," she choked out. "It was too soon, wasn't it? I thought it would be all right, now, but it still hurts, doesn't it?" She lifted both hands to cover her face, sobbing, "I thought it had disappeared, but there's still so much pain!"
It was exactly as he had feared; over the course of the week, Eve had been so focused on understanding his point of view that it had corrupted her own, and the very first thing she had seen once looking upon Dallas' face for the first time in over a year was not the brother she loved, but the man he hated. She had taken his pain and reproduced it inside her own heart.
The commotion was beginning to draw stares, so Luck gently turned her by the shoulders to guide her into the nearby alley for some privacy--the absolute last thing either of them needed was for Eve to say something sensitive a little too loudly in her hysteria and have the wrong person overhear. "Calm down," he said, once he felt they were far enough from the main street. "You shouldn't be upset because of someone like me. You need to stop crying and go back to your brother. There's so much work ahead of you that you shouldn't be wasting any time."
His words had the opposite effect of what he'd intended, but her anger was far more desirable than her tears. "I will not!" she shouted at him, twisting around beneath his hands so she could stare him straight in the eye. "I won't let you pretend you're perfectly fine with this, much less tell me that I shouldn't consider your feelings! I couldn't look Dallas in the face without thinking about you--there's no way I could have done anything to rid you of your pain, just like you said so yourself! I'm just a girl; a stupid, useless, self-centered girl who couldn't even take away the pain of her older brother before he became a delinquent, and then a murderer!"
Her fury awakened something deep inside him, and all of a sudden, Luck was no longer as cool or collected as he thought himself to be. Later on, he would begin to wonder just how much her frank, spontaneous outbursts had rubbed off on him. After pushing Eve firmly against the alley wall, in a voice he barely recognized passing through his lips, he hissed, "Stop this. An innocent girl should have nothing to do with mafia--forget about me and focus on your brother. How many times did he drown over the past year, and you're more concerned about the man who dropped him in the river in the first place? Why don't you hate me? You should hate me."
Amazed by the unprecedented outpouring of emotion from Luck, who had spoken of the deaths of his comrades with a neutral face, Eve, shaken from her anger, could only softly reply, "You can spit as much fire and brimstone as you'd like, Luck Gandor--it's impossible for me to ever hate you."
He must have lost his mind. Fire and brimstone indeed, for he would live an eternity of torment, and he may as well have brought back a souvenir from his occasional round trips to hell and back. She really did not have any idea what she was doing to him, talking like that and acting that way. Luck could barely even stand it anymore--his head turned to every girl he passed on the street, disappointing himself as each one was revealed as a stranger in turn, and his encounter with Kate the other day had gotten him thinking of marriage of all things. The last thing he could do for her was convince her to stay away from him before he pulled her the rest of the way into a life of crime.
"Is that so?" he challenged her, stepping closer, abruptly pinning her against the wall with his body, tilting his head down as she raised her face in shock. "If you're so certain of that, surely you wouldn't mind a little test of your conviction?" When he leaned down the rest of the way to kiss her, Luck forced himself to be as crude and vulgar as he could manage, but despite his plans, went about it significantly more gently than he would have wished. He had invaded her mouth with his tongue before she was even fully aware of their lips coming into contact, but instead of ruthless plundering, he delicately traced the interior, unable to completely quell his desire to kiss her with a gentle sweetness, and to scare her further, he had planned to let his hands drift all along her body, but lowering his hands from her shoulders to rest just below her armpits, his palms only just barely in contact with the edges of her breasts, was all he was able to manage before the kiss itself distracted him, giving her plenty of time and the opportunity to push him away.
She was still much too young and inexperienced to understand how much he had held himself back, but though Eve was definitely angry and embarrassed, blushing an attractive beet-red that made him want to lean in again, Luck still did not identify hatred swimming around her expression. "How could you do that?!" she demanded. "How could you do something so... so improper?"
Her words almost gave him cause for laughter. "Improper?" he repeated. "I wonder what type of behavior you seriously expect from a mafia executive? If you don't remember, I have done plenty worse, with only more to come, if you're willing to risk seeing it first hand."
Eve, however, stood her ground, identifying his motives easily, as she already knew him far too well to be tricked so easily. "Why are you trying to frighten me away?"
"What makes you think I'm trying to scare you?" Luck replied, leaning in again but keeping his distance this time around, the previous kiss still much too vivid in his mind, and while he realized that he would have had to take it even farther to change her opinion of him, he knew that taking it too far would be counterproductive, causing him to want to keep her by his side all the more. "I'm just showing you how I truly am--the type willing to take advantage of minors."
"Stop lying," Eve insisted, his words became less and less believable with each passing second.
"I'm sorry if I somehow lead you to believe that I actually cared for you," he added.
That got Eve's attention, but for all the reason's Luck didn't want. "You care for me," she was able to deduce with a slow smile. "You're worried about pulling me into your troubles, so you're trying to drive me away."
Stepping back from her, wanting to erase the entire conversation thus far, Luck turned away from her and said, "You should go back. I'll get you a taxi."
However, Eve wasn't having any of it. Quick to make her decision, and holding more than enough confidence within her small body to see it through, Eve marched over to face Luck, grabbed him by the tie, and pulled him down to press her lips against his in a far more brief and chaste version of their earlier kiss. Luck was so shocked that he didn't immediately loosen his tie until after he found himself unable to breathe after holding his breath for a moment or two. "I won't be driven away," Eve said softly, unable to look him full in the eye, but Luck knew her well enough to know that by this point to know that he would sooner be able to conquer the planet than change her mind now that she'd reached this point.
"I see," he somehow managed to say in response. Then, believing that he would be able to think better while in motion, added, "I'll walk you home."
Eve didn't dispute him this time, falling into step beside him, but too shy with herself, reliving her actions again and again, to break away from the silence.
"How is he?" Luck asked, on one hand, not caring in the least, but on the other, caring very much.
"You don't have to force yourself to ask about him," Eve replied, as it was the very first time he had ever approached the subject himself. "He seemed a little disorientated, but I think that was just because I slapped him before I started yelling. I think he's fine, though. The workers should have dropped him off by now." She suddenly remembered her reason for searching for Luck in the first place. "...Are you troubled that I decided to pull him out without telling you first?"
The only thing troubling Luck at this point in time was Eve's youth and inexperience. He shook his head. "I knew what you were planning since yesterday afternoon." He paused. "I'll walk you home, but I don't want to see him. Though, it occurs to me that, as your last living relative, he's going to be responsible for your education. It will be a long while before I am able to forgive him, but if you'd like, you can tell him that it would be a good start to teach you all about the birds and the bees."
"The birds and the bees?" Eve repeated, it being the very first time she had heard of such terms, just as Luck suspected. It was just a joke to gauge Dallas' current frame of mind, since it was more than likely that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to teach his little sister about it, because, despite everything, the last thing Luck wanted to do was rob a minor of her innocence. He had all the time in the world to wait for her to grow up, after all.