The fancy dress and enveloped invitations didn't disguise the fact that entering a military base was still entering a military base. All the regular checks still applied, but their brevity startled her, reminding her she was short a rifle and a handgun. Between the sleeveless dress and lack of firepower, she tried to recall the last time she felt so exposed.
"Brilliant makeup, ma'am," a female checkpoint officer commented, shining with genuine admiration.
"Thank--oh, this is...." Evalyn's eyes caught the markings on her arm. She had no real reason to cover them nor the marking on her cheek. The amount of concealer she was comfortable with wasn't enough to cover it, only enough to make it appear as a blemish or, in the worst of cases, a bruise.
Elliot didn't need that reputation.
The man in question thanked the two checkpoint officers, shifted the gears of his standard-issue rental, and joined a long line of more of the same.
It was night outside the Steel Whale, but the beast's innards seemed to take on its own sense of time. Somewhere between day and night, but again wholly removed from dusk and twilight. A different possibility, as if there was no light left in the world besides the persistent burning of oil lamps and electrical buzzing.
The entire ship was unwinding, every floor in celebration like a subterranean city during a festival. Different tiers of lights and streamers, drink and chatter, thunderous cacophony just from talking as the celebration painted on the soulless steel the colour of its crew. Every single dot a person, and every single light a life. Even with the bow allowing for full ventilation, letting in the chill spring breeze through shutters the size of small alleyways, life seemed to dominate nature in that single, small pocket dimension.
It was what Evalyn noticed every time she made the visit to Marie's office, but she'd never seen it in full force before.
Speaking of noticing.
"People are staring at me," Evalyn asked as she and Elliot walked side-by-side, guided along a catwalk to a nearby elevator.
"You forget how beautiful you are," Elliot suggested, grinning proudly. "Flaunt it more; it's a special occasion."
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She doubted anyone would know exactly what the occasion was even if she asked.
"No. This is way too much. Even with the markings."
Elliot pondered for a moment, scratching his freshly shaved chin. "Well...you are a bit of an urban legend."
"A what?"
"The really beautiful woman who also dresses really manly. Everyone's seen you, and rumours started to spread."
"Huh?" She could feel her temperature rising.
"Oh yeah. I only mentioned to my class that you were my wife recently. Word probably hasn't gotten around yet."
She shook him. Violently. Enough to get the attention of nearby onlookers the moment she was about to push him over the legde.
Evalyn hadn't managed to find herself a post in all the time she'd spent on the party floor. The usual venues in the market square—a mixture of cheap restaurants, general stores and speciality merchants—were superseded by finer catering. Senior Officers only, after all.
And Evalyn had never seen a thicker concentration of their likes in one place.
Although they weren't as sleazy as her eighteen-year-old self remembered them being. Then again, they were older as well.
Senior officer. That bratty Flight Lieutenant had made it all the way to a Group Captain. She watched him as he conversed, halfway between cheap airs and genuine conversation. It wasn't banter between friends, nor was it networking. Simple co-worker speak.
Then, it would be her turn. She'd say a few words, get an almost obligatory 'oh!' in response to her occupation, and continue on until they ran into the next acquaintance like it was switching partners at a ballroom dance. The music certainly seemed to fit.
"How are you holding up?" Elliot asked, trying to maintain a proper smile.
"Fine," Evalyn said. "Pray your opinion of me hasn't degraded to the point you think a mere decade is enough to make me forget my training."
"Ah. There it is. Pompous rich girl speak."
"And you find issue?"
"No," Elliot smiled. "A part of me missed it."
Her heart fluttered a little, and she would've punched him if she hadn't boasted about her training only a few moments prior.
She hooked her arm around his, and they continued on.