Chapter Text
There was a small part of Vanessa that had always known that getting other people involved in this was a bad idea. In fact, it kind of… irked her. It wasn’t their business to begin with, and by the looks of things, they were just making it worse.
...she appreciated their efforts to help, though. Humans were so… complex and unique in every way, and even though some tended to have low empathy, they still tried to help in every way they could. And she appreciated that a lot.
But she had seen how Ivy came home from the three interventions. The first one she hadn’t even known it had happened - all she knew was that Conner called her to ask a couple of questions. Ivy had come home, looking angry and dejected. She didn’t say anything, but she just sat down next to Vanessa, small comforts being offered in small shoulder touches and light banter here and there. She went to sleep early that night, and right after was when Vanessa received a text from Conner that turned her world upside down.
It made her chest hurt. It made sadness settle in her stomach, and it made her metaphorical ‘heart’ drop to her feet.
She wanted to help immediately, she told Conner, but Conner told her to hold off. He said that he wanted to see if anyone else could help - if there were other people who could get to her. He said that it was nothing against her, but he was confident that those who had been out in the human world for longer and had seen more.
...she supposed it made sense. She was still itching to do something, though. And she thought, with no offense to the others, that she was the most qualified to get through to Ivy.
But she trusted the humans. So, she let them do whatever they wanted.
Rin had lost Ivy about half an hour into their visit, leaving only Rin, Sagar and Vanessa standing in the house, a heaviness in the air and a somberness seeping into everyone in the house. They all knew what was going on, yet, couldn’t do anything about it.
Ivy came back that day two hours later and didn’t even say a word - she simply grabbed Vanessa by the hand and left. Vanessa offered her small comforts when they got home, but Ivy was a little more… distant that night. It wasn’t until the next day that Vanessa was able to actually talk to Ivy, who, while she didn’t want to talk exactly about what Rin said, allowed herself to be comforted by Vanessa for a few moments.
Now, after she came home from Joe, Ivy seemed… angry. Really, really angry. Not even dejected or sad - just angry. Vanessa wasn’t sure if she was angry at Joe or… herself.
The moment Ivy slammed the door to her room, Vanessa’s phone buzzed, and the first thing that caught her eye was the contact name: Mr. Miller.
Mr. Miller ; 4:35 pm.
Hey, Vanessa. It’s me. It didn’t go so well - I thought I had her for a second but I really didn’t. I just wanted to let you know because I know that you probably want to do something. Check on her, okay? And tell her Zark is worried about her.
Mr. Miller ; 4:35 pm.
Good luck, Vanessa.
Vanessa turned off her phone after reading the messages, biting her lower lip. It… it bothered Vanessa that she was the last option - the ‘damage control’ option. She should have been the first one to say something - the first one to take action.
...well, she knew what to do if something like this ever happened again. Hopefully it wouldn’t, but she would learn from this.
...but she would let Ivy cool down for a little. She didn’t want to irritate Ivy or bother her any more than she already was - Ivy needed a second to cool down and breathe. She needed some space.
That would give Vanessa some time to figure out what she wanted to say to Ivy.
So, for the entire day, Vanessa formulated what she wanted to say, how she was going to say it, and left a little glass of water outside of Ivy’s door and told her about it so that she wouldn’t run out of fuel and energy.
(She pretended she didn’t notice when Ivy stepped out to get the water.)
When the next day rolled around, Vanessa bumped into Ivy, who was in the kitchen, getting water.
...it was now or never.
“Hey, Vee.” Vanessa said softly, leaning against the wall innocently. “Are you… feeling better?”
“...a little.” Ivy muttered with a small shrug. She refused to meet Vanessa’s eyes.
“Well… at least it’s a little. You’re on your way!” Vanessa chirped, her spirits lifting when Ivy offered her a small smile. “I’m glad to see you’re smiling again.”
“...thanks.”
Ivy had never been a person of many words, but goodness Ivy was being curt today.
...it made sense. Ivy acting this way made sense .
Vanessa knew that it might have been a bad idea to get others involved - she had thought it from the beginning. Essentially, she was the damage control, and the last hope to try and make Ivy feel better.
...she should have said something from the start.
(But they wanted to help. Humans were just… emotional like that. When there was someone they cared about, they would do anything for them.)
(...that was just another thing that made Ivy so, undeniably human. )
“I feel like I haven’t had a chance to hang out with you in a while.” Vanessa continued, making her way to stand next to Ivy. “Maybe we could… do something today. Like watching a movie. If you’re… up for it, of course?”
Who was Vanessa kidding? There was no way she could just hit her with the whole ‘humanity’ spiel a day after another happened. There was no way she had it in her to do that - she decided right then and there that Ivy needed some time; some time to think about what the others had said to her and to calm down.
“Or! We could go out to a cafe or a park or something. If you’re up for it. It’s completely up to you!”
...yeah. She was going to take it slow.
Ivy blinked a couple of times, then took a sip from her water, looking… unsure. She fiddled with the cup in her hand, silent for a couple of moments. “...I mean… fresh air would be nice…”
Vanessa perked up, a soft smile stretching across her face. “Are you sure? It’s your call, Vee.”
“...yeah. I think… I think it would be nice.” Ivy gave a lopsided smile to Vanessa. “And I would like to hang out with you.”
“Great!’ Vanessa clapped her hands together, grinning widely. “Just tell me when you want to leave, okay? But take your time.” She reached out and squeezed Ivy’s arm, trying to offer some kind of comfort to her. “Let me know.”
“...okay. Thank you.” Ivy fell silent for a moment. “...do you think we could leave in a couple of minutes?”
“Sure!’ Vanessa let go of Ivy’s arm, drawing her hands to her chest. “Let me just go get my purse!”
“Alright. I’ll wait for you by the door?”
“Yeah!” Vanessa quickly made her way to her room, grabbed her purse, wrapped it around her shoulders to make sure it rested on her hip and quickly ran back out, grabbing onto Ivy’s arm as they began to walk out. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“...yeah. I’m sure.”
Ivy closed the door behind them, locking the door and leading Vanessa out of the apartment complex. Vanessa, beginning to grow uncomfortable with the silence, began to chatter about anything she could think about.
It was fine, though. That was kind of their dynamic - Vanessa had enough energy and words for the both of them, so she was always filling in the silence.
...but it was a little different. Ivy usually offered something - small sentences, ideas, and banter - but today, she simply listened, nodded and only offered a small smile here and remained silent for most of the time.
It looked like Vanessa was going to be doing a lot of the talking today. She was fine with that, though - she was happy that Ivy was getting some fresh air. As long as she was helping Ivy feel better, she would talk for as long as she needed to.
They stopped at a small cafe, and Vanessa decided she would stay with Ivy as they ordered. Like always, Ivy ordered a coffee and Vanessa got a cupcake, and they were lucky to get their usual table near the window. Vanessa began rattling off about whatever she could think of, filling the silence between them as everything moved around them. As she spoke, she noticed that Ivy’s eyes were beginning to wander. Vanessa followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at all the humans around, interacting and laughing and just… being human.
Vanessa was wrong to think that her metaphorical heart couldn’t be broken even more.
With a weak smile, Vanessa reached across the table and gently took Ivy’s hand that was resting on the table in hers, running her thumb over her knuckles. “Hey. Talk to me - how’s your music going?”
Ivy blinked a couple of times, squeezing Vanessa’s hand weakly. “Well… it’s going good. I’m fixing the mixing.”
“That’s good!” Vanessa chirped. “I… I hope you liked the orchestral bits I made. Do you think they’ll like it?”
“Of course.” Despite Ivy’s hesitance before, she did not hesitate to answer this time. “Music with orchestral bits is popular nowadays. But I think… that this song will be the best out of all of them.”
“Why?”
‘Because you helped me make it.” Ivy offered her a small smile. Vanessa parked up, a happy gasp escaping her lips.
“Really? That’s… so nice.”
Ivy let out a small snort, ducking her head. “...it’s true, though.”
The rest of the day went rather smoothly - Vanessa was able to get Ivy to come out of her shell and get her talking a little, and she listened to Ivy quietly explain some things about her new song. As they walked home, Vanessa took the reins in filling in the silence again, grabbing onto Ivy’s arm so that they wouldn’t get separated in the crowds.
Vanessa’s original plan was to follow up the next day and ask Ivy to talk to her, and then she would address what had happened and ask her what she thought, but after Vanessa saw the look on Ivy’s face as she looked at all the humans in the cafe she decided she would have to give Ivy a little more time - just a little to take a breather.
A couple of more days turned into a week.
Conner and Joe were texting her, asking her if she had said anything yet, but she always replied with no because Ivy needed more time.
She understood why Ivy got so upset - she was being told by people back to back to accept that she was a human, and while it was really nice of them to do that, it was just too quick.
In fact, Vanessa thought that maybe, because it was back to back, Ivy had already built this resistance to it that had her mind on one track.
So Ivy just needed a week - a week to clear her mind and take a breather-
And Vanessa was there for her every single day, making sure that she was taking care of herself and getting some fresh air and that they were talking. It was… peaceful. Calm. Ivy seemed less upset as the days went on, and she began to talk a little more.
And then the end of the week came and Vanessa knew she had to say something .
She couldn’t let this manifest and stay internalized anymore. Ivy just needed to… know and try to accept that she was human. That’s all.
And it was hard. But… she was going to try her best.
(Not to toot her own horn, but if anyone was going to get Ivy to listen, Vanessa would be the best bet.)
And so, on Sunday, she sat Ivy down on the couch and took Ivy’s hands in hers, a reassuring smile on her face. “I have to talk to you.” She let out a nervous giggle. “...and by the looks of your face I think you already know what it’s going to be about.”
Ivy recoiled and scoffed, looking away. “Vanessa, please, I really don’t need-“
“No, no, hear me out. Please.” Vanessa said quickly. “And please don’t run away - well, you can if you want but I want you to listen, okay?” She reached out and cupped Ivy’s cheek softly. “Please?”
“...okay.” Ivy still didn’t meet Vanessa’s gaze, but she settled down again, her overall body language a little more relaxed than before. She settled down against the couch as Vanessa began to speak.
“Ivy I… I just want to begin by saying you mean so much to me, and it hurts me to see you hurting like this. And… I really want to help.” Vanessa started, squeezing Ivy’s hands. “And well… at first, when you came back from Joe’s, I have to admit I was a little… annoyed. I wondered why they were… meddling with all of this and in the process just… making things worse. But…” She let out a small laugh. “Humans are just odd like that. Their emotions are weird and all over the place but… I can tell that they care about you. And when humans care about people, they go above and beyond to help them.”
Ivy nodded quietly, her eyes flickering up every now and again.
“And… when I think of that, I think of how you went above and beyond to help me. You put all this stuff together, and made all this music and… you almost…” She bit her lower lip, then shook her head. “You went out of your way to help me and that’s what makes you so, undeniably human. Your emotions, your actions, your thoughts… they’re all human.”
“...how do you know that?” Ivy asked quietly, sinking into the pillows on the couch. Vanessa squeezed Ivy’s hands again, a small hum escaping her.
“I’ve had… my fair share of information about humans.” She smiled weakly, running her thumbs over Ivy’s knuckles. “I’ve seen and… known things that are still rather fuzzy to me, but the one thing I know about humans is that they’re so complex and emotional and… they just have so many layers to them. And you, Ivy, have many layers to you.”
Vanessa scooted forward a little to get closer to Ivy as Ivy inhaled shakily. “...layers?”
“Yeah! Here - I’ll list them for you.” Vanessa intertwined their fingers as she spoke. “Your first layer is this strong, stoic front that you put up and that makes you just… so cool and strong? But then when you get to your second layer you’re softer and… you’re funny and sweet and despite what you say you’re kind and open to a lot of things.” She grinned. “And that’s only two layers. I could go on and on and on-“
“Please don’t.” Ivy smiled weakly. “I… I think I’ve heard enough about that.”
Vanessa frowned, tugging Ivy to sit up. “Vee… just, let me say one more thing?”
“...okay?”
Vanessa let go of Ivy’s hands and put her hands to Ivy’s chest, her frown turning into a small smile. “I feel it.”
“...feel what?”
“Your metaphorical heart.” Vanessa replied. “We… we may not have an actual heart, but we do have a metaphorical one - one that beats and keeps us alive and helps us feel. And… you may not think it, but it’s something that you have in you.” She pulled her hands away and opened her arms. “You just have to embrace it!”
For a second, Vanessa thought Ivy was going to bolt. She froze for a couple of moments, her eyes studying Vanessa slowly and carefully, but then she moved forward and fell into Vanessa’s arms. Vanessa brought her arms around Ivy tightly and simply held her, not saying a word.
...Ivy didn’t need a lecture, or any more words.
She just needed silence and a hug.
And Vanessa was here to supply that.
Ivy hugged her back weakly and buried her face in the crook of Vanessa’s neck, a shaky sigh escaping her. Vanessa smoothed Ivy’s hair away from her forehead and smiled softly, holding Ivy for a couple of more minutes before moving away slightly so that she could look Ivy in the eyes.
“Repeat after me, okay? I am human .”
Ivy was silent.
“...please?”
“...I am human.” Ivy’s voice was barely audible, but it was there.
“Can you do it a little louder?”
“...I am human.” Ivy said a little louder.
“One more time.”
“I am human.”
Vanessa grinned and hugged Ivy tightly again, a small laugh escaping her. “Yes! You are! And I’ll remind you that you are until you believe it.” She fell silent for a couple of moments, then continued, softer this time. “...I’m proud of you, Vee.”
“...I… thank you.” Ivy murmured.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
(...and if Ivy’s shoulders began to shake and wetness was beginning to seep into Vanessa’s collar, she wouldn’t say anything. Ivy needed this.)
(...Vanessa was going to help Ivy every step of the way with this.)
(Because whether they believed it or not, they were both totally, undeniably human. )