Cleo's Game

32. Tails

The same night, miles away on a secluded beach...

"What have I been telling you all this time? She's bad for you. She doesn't love you back. If she loved you, then she would've went with you, wouldn't she?" 

Blake snarled in response, reluctant to acknowledge the question. "Loving me and not running away with me on a whim aren't mutually conclusive. I was asking too much," she replied, sitting on the sand. "Exclusive," they replied. "What?" Blake snapped. "Mutually exclusive, not conclusive," they corrected. "You're wrong either way. I don't know how much longer you can continue to lie to yourself."

"Fuck off, Eereva. Are you just here to taunt me?" Blake grilled. "Taunt you? What are you even talking about, Blakey? I'm, again, here to help. Don't you think I might be your solution?" "You wouldn't've ran away with me either, I don't see what room you have to criticise Tranquility with."

Eereva dropped herself onto Blake's lap. "Of course I'll run away with you, Blakey. As soon as all of this is over, we're going to travel the world together, hand in hand." "Yeah, yeah, 'as soon as all of this is over'. I bet that's what Tranquility's deal is as well. But at least she also has a lot more empathy and a lot less genocidal tendencies."

"Those are big words, Blakey. Are you sure you really know who I am? You gonna trust your group's information, which I'm sure couldn't be biased in the slightest." Eereva leaned in closer. "Or worse, it could be just Northern propaganda to make me look stronger than I am. You have a pretty girl on your lap and you're worried about some stories you've heard?"

"Yeah, you know what, I'm getting up anyway. Off my lap," Blake commanded. Eereva grinned while refusing. "You're contradicting yourself, Blakey. You remind me of my scary reputation and then talk to me like that? If I was really as bad as the rumours say then you certainly wouldn't be safe." "You could've killed me by now. You obviously want something."

"Listen, our little business arrangement doesn't have to end here. You know, me helping you into that nice promotion and you providing me with whatever I want to know in return. Isn't that a little fucking basic? That sounds like a pretext for a straight romance." Blake rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Listen, I'm willing to do everything that your girlfriend wouldn't do for you, Blakey," Eereva continued to press. She drew a line across Blake's cheekbones with her finger. "Anything and everything."

Blake grunted. "This some attempt to seduce me into a worse deal?" Eereva rested her soft hand on top of Blake's. "You know, while I'm down here, I think you should put your hand where you want it to be." Blake eyed up Eereva's serious expression and watched her deflate as she laughed from the belly. "Oh my god, is this real? You're trying to use sex? Have you seen my fucking skin?!" Blake growled. "Rough, rough, rough. If you want to hump sandpaper then go ahead," Blake sneered, Eereva flashing an ireful grimace before quickly recovering.

"I think I'll pass, Blake. I'm not into the whole 'sex' thing, let alone with 'sandpaper'. That's not what you did with your ex, is it?" "Can we drop Tranquility already? Seems like she's all you wanna talk about," Blake snapped in response. "You know why that is, don't you?" Eereva asked. "No, why is the biggest psycho in the Northern Army obsessed with my gir- ex girlfriend?"

Eereva smirked. "You know, Blake, working with you has made it super difficult to not realise how cute you are." "Cute? Oh, honey, I'm a lot of things, but cute isn't one of 'em." "That's exactly how I'd expect big tough Blakey to respond. I find it cute how terrified you are of being cute." "It's clearly not a fear. I fear nothing."

"Yeah?" Eereva followed up. She wrapped Blake's lure around her outstretched index finger playfully. "I think you're the prettiest anglerfish I've ever seen." Eereva's comment infuriated Blake, causing her temperature to skyrocket and making her lash out. When she attempted to slap away Eereva's finger, Blake was too late to catch Eereva before she dematerialised, instantly reappearing a few footsteps away.

"If you're trying to piss me off until I do something for you, then that's an awful plan." "I don't plan on annoying you. I'll tell you what I plan to do," Eereva replied, cold and politician-like. "I plan to give you the love that you need—the love that you DESERVE, and that none of your supposed friends or that girl are giving you—and all I'll need is your loyalty in return.

"My loyalty? Don't be ridiculous. I'm not a traitor," Blake brushed off. Eereva switched up sharply from her praiseful demeanour. "Not a traitor, huh? Then why are you here? Why don't you explain what this meeting is about?" Blake didn't have a response, but her flustered reaction to Eereva's tone switch was quite visible. "You don't actually have to answer that. Just don't give me any of that 'I'm not a traitor' crap. I can see right through you, Blake. You're in some sort of pathetic state of denial, but there's really no coming back from this. You've already betrayed and backstabbed everyone you know," Eereva finished, leaving Blake feeling utterly tiny.

"I still don't need your love, okay, Eereva? Let's just leave it like this," Blake bargained, presenting herself quite defeated with her tone and her big eyes. Eereva started to visibly twitch as she considered all of her options. Her options and, of course, the consequences that come with them. 

"We can keep it like this for now, Blakey. I wouldn't want to force you into anything," Eereva comforted, reaching up and holding Blake's chin while she couldn't bother herself to slap Eereva's hand away. "I want to meet with you again really soon. A week from now, same place, same time," brought up Eereva. Blake was visibly frustrated, even crossing her arms, though she didn't have quite as much bark in her as at the start of the conversation. "Why?" Blake asked.

"Does that particularly matter, Blake?" Eereva grilled, capitalizing some more on Blake's low emotions. "I suppose it doesn't," she meekly replied. "Then I guess I'll be seeing you here next week, as I have arranged."

"Okay, I'll see you then."