Secret Entrance

He'd looked for this place once before, more than two years ago to be exact, with others at his heel: the winters, Ethan and Colette, and some initiate that he'd forgotten the name of. Back then, it was because he'd found an old map in the back of the library, when a few books had been accidentally knocked off the shelf. Jason had found a map. It was a crumpled, worn old thing, with a vague sketch of the forest and a faded black 'x' somewhere in the middle. He'd went on the search for the 'x' out of curiosity. They'd never found it, but he still thought he'd hold unto it.

Funny, how one day a certain Spring had found it in his things and was able to figure it out in an instant. 'Hey, I think I know where that is,' she'd said, 'That's the old cavern where they hid one of the eggs.' He'd heard all about it then from her whilst she had the proudest, smuggest look on his face - up until he questioned if she actually won the big hunt. Suddenly she had other matters to attend to then.

Still, once he knew where and what it was, he had to go find out if it was real for himself - and once he had done that, it wasn't long until another good idea soon followed.

The blonde tried to avoid what undergrowth they could as he walked, shooting a small smile back in the direction of the Winter. "We're almost there, I think," he called. He tried not to make it too obvious, but he was pretty excited. He didn't give her much clue as to where they were going - only that it was supposed to be special, just for the small chance that it didn't work like it was supposed to, but hey, if it did...

He paused once he saw it then. The brush had been shoved back to it's original state, and it was hard to see the flimsy entrance behind it, but he knew it was there. Jace walked over, beating away the plants there until there was enough room for them to get inside. "I hope you don't mind getting some dirt on you." It was dark inside, but if you looked close, it was easy to see how steep and slick the walk down was.

This was it, huh?

They'd been trekking through the woods for awhile now, and for a second she'd been afraid that Jace had gotten them lost. That seemed in his character. But no, somehow, some way, they'd actually managed to find it. Evelyn stood a short distance away, wearing a violet blouse and a cargo hat that she thought looked vaguely "explorer-y", watching Jace clear out the brush through unfocused eyes.

Okay, yeah, so she'd had a bit to drink. Was that so much of a crime? One small sip when she woke up, one small sip to keep her going, one small sip to keep her mind off some things; it'd turned into one small shot and then one small bottle and then a few more sips here and there. She was buzzed at best, and that was the best state of mind you could be in. Not drunk enough to be stupid, but still drunk enough to be cool, confident, casual. This way, at least, Evelyn could say something dumb without wanting to kill herself right afterwards.

It was a warm, floaty feeling, and she could feel her heart starting to race when they approached the cavern. Jace had mentioned the rumor about this place.

Your powers don't work inside.

That was nothing to someone like Jace, but it made an entire world of difference to her.

Behind the electric thrill, both from her drinking and her excitement, there was a tinge of nervousness. She couldn't help but be nervous. Her power was a suffocating cloak, but it was also her shield, her protection, her one true defense. Stripping it away would be like walking into the cave naked. That was stupid to worry about. Jace had seen her naked, actually naked, but this was different. Had he ever really... seen her?

She'd always wondered what kind of effect her gift had on another person. They'd described it to her, sure, and she could watch how people looked at her, but Evelyn had never been able to feel it herself. When he looked at her in the dark, if this rumor was really true, then what would he see? A plain-looking girl with cropped, choppy hair? Something different from what he'd really thought?

In a way, it was like washing away the make-up. Evelyn never wore it, and after a small internal struggle, decided not to try putting it on today. If he was going to see her completely clearly, then he wanted him to see her for... her. All her flaws, all her boring averageness, in all her glorious disappointment. That was something she'd wanted her whole life, even if she hadn't realized it until a few years ago.

Swallowing her anxiety, feeling the flutter in her chest, Evelyn made her way toward him, picking her way through the undergrowth until she was at his side. Without thinking, she twined her fingers in his.

"I'll l-live," she replied in a whisper. She wasn't sure if she was answering his question or just trying to reassure her own muddled thoughts. No, I'll live. Probably.

He was still staring down inside the cavern when he answered, the sound of her soft voice only stacking onto his growing headache, but he did his best to ignore it. Eager not to wait up on the surface too long, Jason took a few steps forward, hesitation when he'd only then realized that his hands was caught up softly with hers. He paused, glancing her way and giving her a warm look for a heartbeat before squeezing her hand gently and continuing on. "Don't slip," the Autumn muttered, taking a few steps downward. By the time they were both totally inside, he had already almost lost his footing himself.

Jace had heard the easiest way to get into the cavern was to just run down quickly, but he preferred to see where he was going exactly, and it was hard enough navigating in a pitch black cave without accidentally running into God-knew-what. Maybe it was a good thing they were doing so anyways. The deeper they went inside the cavern, the more he felt the migraine that plagued him fade away. By the time they reached the bottom, it'd completely disappeared.

"Think it's working?" He asked, as if she'd know that answer herself. The young man glanced back to look at her, but of course she was still impossible to see in the darkness. It only made Jace smile to himself a bit more in relief. This would've been a completely wasted trip, that is, if he hadn't actually thought ahead for once. He tugged the girl along, navigating the damp cave with his free hand before finding a small area he was looking for.

The first time he'd visited this place, he'd brought a few things to leave behind, just in case this all actually worked - a lantern included.

He seemed all too proud of himself as he bent down to pick it up. It was a simple thing, a small glass-paned box that lit up the area with the smallest flick of the switch. Jace held it between him, guiding her hand to the small 'on' button. "Ready?" Moment of truth. dun dun dunnnn

That small look was all it took to make her heart flutter in her chest. Was that anxiety from the cave, or something else? She couldn't tell anymore. With one small breath, there wasn't anything left to do but to walk inside, plunging herself into the darkness. It was steep and treacherous here, but she was reassured by the warmth of his hand in hers.

Evelyn followed close behind him, careful not to step on his heels or to hold him back. It was pitch black in here, but after a few minutes, her eyes had begun to adjust to the gloom. How did anybody find this place to begin with? She almost tripped when he spoke, his voice ringing around the cavern. "Um... I d-d-don't know..." Everything still felt normal to her. Was it supposed to feel like that? Once again, she could feel that creeping anxiety send tingles up her spine to the back of her neck. What if it didn't work? "Do you?"

That's when they arrived.

Instinctively, she grabbed at the snowflake pendant hanging around her neck. Her fingers found the 'on' switch easy enough as he guided her forward.

Ready? She didn't know.

She flicked it on anyways.

It was hard not to wince a little away from the light at first, seeing at it was pitch black not a few moments before, but he adjusted quickly enough. And then he saw her... really saw her, for the first time. The surprise had to be plain on his face, if only for an instant.

He'd always known what she'd looked like, in a way, but it was always more of an idea in his head than an actual picture. Whenever he saw her, he always felt the urge to look away right after, and the image of her likeliness would quickly fade away to a haze. Now, there wasn't a single thing bothering him as he looked at her. Jason found himself staring, taking in every little detail of her face.

She always said she was too plain looking, but he'd always dismissed it as her just putting herself down. It had to be some kind of shallow to think it then, but maybe she hadn't been exaggerating. Her hair was short and choppy, cut crooked to an angle - like she'd held all her hair in one hand and scissors in the other. He brought a hand up, brushing the messy bangs out of the way to get a better look of her face.

Evelyn was so pale, he thought, and it was all too easy to see the dark circles under her eyes - as if she hadn't slept right for weeks. Her cheeks could've been considered a little chubby too. He wasn't sure what to think, and he tried his best to put on a smile to hide whatever else he might've been feeling. "It's definitely working," he muttered, trying to fill the silence and tilting his head, still looking.

She couldn't meet his eyes, glancing away with a blush and fidgeting with her hands. "R-really...?" she muttered back. Evelyn gave a nervous smile, and summoning the nerve, forced herself to look at him. The Winter had seen his reaction, just for a heartbeat, but in the lantern light, it could've meant anything. Was it just a trick of the light, her imagination? Was he disgusted? Her head was starting to spin with all the possibilities, trying to find some hidden meaning in his words.

Nobody had ever paid attention to her. Not any boys or girls or... anyone. She'd gone through her whole life as a ghost, the quiet figure at the edge of your vision that no one else saw.

Would he tell her the truth if he asked her? Did she even want to know?

This was what she'd always wanted, but now that she had it, she was terrified beyond belief.

His words were the ones that would mean more than anyone's.

"W-what..." She wanted to turn away and hide her face, but she forced herself to stare up into his eyes. Her mother had always said that you could see the truth in people's eyes. "What do you think?"

Her whisper echoed through the cavern, and Evelyn held her breath.

His gaze continued to search her until she began to stare into his eyes, and he felt little other option to do anything but stare back. He still didn't seem entirely sure on what to say, but the look on his face softened anyways, noticing how nervously she pursed her lips - and how completely flustered she'd seemed. Normally, it'd be a lot harder to catch onto - and he'd never really remember seeing her so nervous. Seeing it so clearly now was somehow, in a strange way, endearing.

He'd had very few memories of catching her with her gift weaker as she slept, and even fewer he could remember decently, but the more he looked at her - the more the warm memories became clearer then. Bits and pieces of other vague memories followed, coming and going. Maybe it was his imagination filling in the gaps?

"I think you're really cute, Snowflake." Jace smiled a bit more, his hand falling to her shoulder. "And your eyes are as pretty as I remembered."

There was still the slightest thing wrong between them that he felt there, but he couldn't place a finger on what it was exactly.

He could've been lying to just be nice, for all she knew. His smiles had always been hard to read at the best of times, and despite everything that had happened, she could still be so stupidly naive. But those words were all that it took. Relief flooded through her and she let out a deep breath. "T-... Thank you..." she muttered, not able to hide her smile. Evelyn rested her forehead on Jace's chest, unable to stand the stares any longer. "R-really..."

The blond said nothing for some time, looking down at her as she smiled and quietly rested her head against him. He wondered for a moment if would still be able to remember any of this when they'd left the cavern again. It didn't take long for Jace to push those unpleasant thoughts away, running his fingers through her hair and enjoying how peaceful the moment seemed.

"Eve..." He whispered her name to grab her attention, taking a small step back and waiting until she looked up at him again. They had all day and night to be in the cave, but he didn't want to waste any time making the best of it. The Autumn leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. It must've seemed really sweet then, until he got a lingering taste of something familiar, but bitter.  He had to frown a bit and pull away then. "Have you been drinking?"

She fell into his kiss, wanting nothing more than the reassurance of his closeness, to be sure that he had really been telling the truth and that this cavern hadn't ruined anything between them. To her, the kiss tasted as sweet as any other, a reminder that someone loved her, and could see her for... her, even if only in this dark cave.

When he pulled away, she could feel her heart drop at the sight of his frown. A flicker of confusion passed over her face. She pursed her lips and glanced away. "Um... y-yeah... W-why...?"

Maybe it was a little bit of a moment killer, he figured then - a little bit too late. Jason watched as the expression on her face quickly changed and how she avoided his gaze. For her sake, he put on an uneasy smile, though the concern still was clear to see. "I could tell..." He said, tilting his head to the side to try and get a better look of her face. "Why though?" Instinctively tried to lighten the questions, make them seem more like jokes. "Didn't even bring something to share?"

Evelyn shifted uncomfortably in place. "W-why...?" she repeated, with an uneasy smile. What was all this about? It wasn't like she tried all that hard to keep her 'habits' secret from him. For the most part, Evelyn avoided getting black-out drunk when they were together, but there had been a few... incidents. Wasn't this how this had all started, anyways? With a bottle of vodka? "I f-f-figured y-you wouldn't w-want any," she answered, trying her hardest to match his light tone, but there was still a tinge of confusion. What was this all about? Another one of his games? "I a-always... um... d-drink..."

That sounded so much worse out loud than in her head. What a shitty explanation.

Jason held back a small sigh, trying his best to keep a light look on, but it was becoming more obvious quickly that the cheery attitude wasn't helping at all. "Just worried," he said simply, leaning down and setting the lantern on the ground, his newly freed hand moving to her waist. He looked thoughtful, then. "Always? ... You don't think that's a problem...?" He hated that their evening was going this way, but the more he stood there and thought about it, the worse it seemed then. "Am I scary when you're sober or something?" Was it his face? D8 /shot

When Jace pulled himself closer, Evelyn did something she never expected doing. She took a step back. Beside her confusion, there was something else. A hint of indignation. "Of c-c-course not..." Well, that was only half the truth. 'Scary' was too strong of a word. Maybe... intimidating? No, wait, that was worse. Fuck. It didn't matter anyways. "It was j-just a little b-bit... W-what's the p-p-pruh-problem...?" It wasn't hurting anybody.

Admittedly, it'd thrown him off once he'd taken a step away from him, and the surprise had shown on his face. That had hurt, just a little. He let go of her then, letting both his hands fall to the side. 'Just a little bit', she'd muttered. Did she really need to have any at all? He wasn't sure which answer would be worse. "Alright, tell me something then," he said, "When was the last time you've talked to me sober?" As soon as he asked it, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know the answer.