Work Text:
"Woah! Hey… Is that…?!"
Evelyn's expression was almost bored as she leaned against the warm, concrete wall of the theater building. She kept her eyes and ears open, though. Of course, with Astra Yao around, it was always a spectacle. Even those who didn't stop to stare couldn't help but whisper and point as they passed by. Evelyn knew that most of them meant no harm at all, but every crowd could have its hidden dangers.
"Yeah, it is! I think that's her!"
Heh. Who else would it be? Evelyn smiled wryly.
"What is her name again…?"
Evelyn's smile vanished immediately. Wait, what? Who are you talking—?
"I think it's… Evelyn, right? Ms. Chevalier?"
For the first time in recent memory, a civilian managed to catch the well-trained bodyguard off guard. "I—what?" She almost stuttered as she straightened up and straightened out her jacket. Her eyes darted up and down wildly, torn between averting her gaze and meeting the civilian head-on. "I mean, yes, yes, it is. Did you need anything?" She was Astra's and Astra's alone when it came to service and bodyguarding, but an implied part of the job was still being courteous to fans and civilians, so long as they were courteous in return, of course.
"Oh! We just wanted to know…" There were three of them, all young, around high school age. One was blonde, one had long, dark hair, and one was a cow Thiren, more on the human side than cow. They glanced at one another excitedly, nervously, as if discussing a secret dare. For just a moment, Evelyn almost frowned.
What's going on here…? But she kept her expression neutral, careful to give away nothing.
"C-could we…? Have your… autograph?" The cow Thiren held out a pen and paper while the other two giggled behind their hands.
"What?" For a second time, Evelyn couldn't help but go deadpan from shock, confusion. Is this some kind of ploy to get to Ms. Yao…?
As if reading her thoughts, the singer finally seemed to notice her bodyguard locked in conversation with some of her fans. When she glanced over to see Evelyn awkwardly backing away from the trio, waving her hands, the singer giggled to herself, finally interceding.
"Looks like you're becoming a bit of a celebrity too!" she teased.
"Ms. Yao!" Evelyn almost seemed embarrassed as she whipped around, Astra suddenly right beside her.
"Astra!" The trio's eyes lit up. "Could we have your autograph too?"
"Now hang on a minute," Evelyn tried to regain control of the situation.
"Oh, don't worry, Eve! Let's just have a bit of fun with this!" Astra tried to encourage the other woman.
"Oh, Eve!" The girl with long, dark hair muttered.
Evelyn's skin prickled. Only Ms. Yao calls me that…
"That's how I remembered her name, I saw it on NewRidu NetWork."
Saw what where?
"Oh, yeah, I think I remember that post. It was that most recent Astralyn one, right? About the grumpy one being soft for the sunshiney one? That one was so cute!" the blonde whispered back, giggling again. Evelyn could only stand there and blink, dumbfounded.
Astra, meanwhile, smiled sweetly. "How about a group photo?" she suggested.
"Really?!" The trio drowned out Evelyn's surprised protests.
"Ms. Yao, this isn't a meet-and-greet!" she whispered, and it wasn't just her strict adherence to the work rules and schedules that led her to remind the singer. If enough people notice, all of New Eridu will want a picture! We have half an hour before rehearsal for tonight's show. That's enough time to chat with a few people, but certainly not enough to pose for photos with everyone!
"What are they going to do, fire me?" Astra shot back with a haughty sniff. Of course, none of it was directed at Evelyn, but upon reminder of how chafing and restrictive the rules surrounding her work could be, it only made Astra feel even more defiant. They're MY fans! If I want to see them, I should be allowed to! I don't want to make it so that only people with money to shell out get the chance to talk to me… "Come on," said Astra decisively, gesturing for the blonde to lend her a phone. "Just a quick one won't hurt."
"Oh, Ms. Astra! Thank you so much!" The trio was quick to huddle around the singer, then she turned to her bodyguard.
"Come on, Eve!" she held out a hand, smiling warmly.
"What? But I'm not—" Evelyn's face flushed. "I thought I was going to be the one taking the photo…"
"They wanted your autograph, I'm sure they'd love a photo with you too!" Astra winked. "Besides, we're taking a selfie this time, so all of us can fit!" No hiding behind the camera excuse, Eve, the singer thought teasingly.
Evelyn heaved a resigned sigh and allowed Astra to drag her into place, the three girls staring up at her in awe and adoration. Evelyn looked away, only looking up again when Astra began taking pictures, the camera clicking rapidly several times.
"There we go!" the singer declared proudly when she was finally finished, returning the phone to the blonde.
"Oh, Astra, Evelyn, thank you both so much!" the trio gasped and clasped their hands appreciatively.
While Astra waved them off sweetly, Evelyn watched them go, a little more befuddled. "What was that?"
"Hey, you may find it hard to believe, but… some people actually do like you, Eve," Astra teased.
"But I'm not a celebrity!" the bodyguard finally said. It was what she'd tried to say earlier, before the photo.
"But they wanted to see you just the same," Astra repeated gently.
"But why? That's what I don't understand." Evelyn shook her head. It wasn't just self-deprecation, if that was what Astra thought. Evelyn wracked her brain trying to understand what she could've done to gain this spike in popularity. Of course, she knew that ever being in Astra's orbit was bound to draw eyes and speculation. She was aware of the people who "shipped" (a concept she still didn't fully grasp, even though Astra explained it to her several times before) her with Astra, but no one had ever asked her for an autograph before. And usually, the ones who asked for photos were drunken sleaze-bags at afterparties. But this trio, Evelyn could tell, was just a group of fans, not opportunistic business suits.
"Starloop Tower ring any bells?" Astra teased again.
"Oh. That." Evelyn winced at the reminder. As if the night itself hadn't been nightmare enough, the PR cleanup afterward was a whole other battle. It was a concert that nearly ended in massive death and property damage, after all. They were lucky Astra's voice was able to bail them out, both the night of the incident, and in every night following.
"They know you're a hero, Evelyn," Astra winked.
"What?" Evelyn was jerked violently from her ruminations.
"You did save my life that night in front of everyone, if I recall correctly." Astra chuckled lightly, but she reached out suddenly to hold her bodyguard's arm, face softening. "I know you're not really comfortable with the spotlight, so I promise I won't ask you to keep handing out autographs and photo ops, but… you do deserve to be recognized and admired too, you know?"
"Oh, well…" Evelyn chuckled, trying to swallow down the nervousness. "It's enough being recognized by you."
Astra sighed fondly and smiled, but shook her head. You'd probably insist the opposite if I said you were a romantic, but sometimes the things you say without even realizing…
Before their conversation could continue, a head poked itself out of the theater. "Ms. Yao! There you are! The rest of the staff is ready!"
"Ah, yes, right, coming!" Astra sing-songed and waved. The man nodded, then retreated back into the theater. "Well, I guess that's our cue to go." The singer smiled wryly at her bodyguard, and Evelyn nodded, following obediently after the singer.
ooo
The performance went off without a hitch, and Evelyn and Astra parted ways at the end of the night. But long after the singer was asleep, the bodyguard was awake, scrolling on her laptop.
I'm doing this for… scientific research, she told herself, trying to stave off the embarrassment. It wasn't entirely a lie either. She couldn't stop thinking about what the girl with the long dark hair had said, before the photo op.
"That's how I remembered her name, I saw it on NewRidu NetWork."
As Astra's assistant and manager, on top of playing bodyguard, Evelyn understood that totally keeping her name out of the public eye was impossible. As she'd noted before, Astra had a way of illuminating everything caught in her orbit. But for that girl to have recognized Astra's nickname for Evelyn? Astra said it publicly just as often as privately, but something about it rubbed the bodyguard the wrong way.
It didn't take long for Evelyn to reach , though navigating the server tagging system was a little confusing. Luckily for her, or perhaps unluckily, the target of her interest was very clearly labeled: The Evelyn Chevalier Fanclub.
The what? At first, Evelyn could only stare. Then she exhaled slowly, resigning herself as she clicked on the join link for the server. She was prompted to create an account, and several minutes and one burner email later, Stargazer53 entered the chat.
Evelyn scrolled through the server and quickly noted that it wasn't very large, and because of its relatively recent creation date, there weren't many posts. She scrolled through merch and cosplay selfies, blurry video clips, screenshots of old concert posters and ads, and pictures of fanart, both digital and traditional.
Well. I'm pleasantly surprised to say… so far, not bad. She didn't manage Astra's social media as closely as she managed other areas of the singer's work life, but she'd seen and heard of some of the Astranauts and how wild they could be. This server, as strangely named as it was, seemed decently lowkey. Evelyn's shoulders lowered slightly in relief.
She scrolled past the selfie Astra took of herself and the three fangirls. The caption read: "OMG YES! Dream come true! #OTP #Astralyn #wisheduponastar".
One of the top-rated comments—by someone marked as the server admin, username Ghayotic Bi Rice—said: "Wow! What a White Knight!" with three heart-eyed emojis beside the statement.
Some other well-rated comments included:
"Wife."
"Wife material!"
"#waifu4laifu"
I… don't even know how to react. Evelyn took a breath to compose herself and navigated away from the website. She wasn't there just to lurk. As she noted before, it wasn't entirely a lie when she said it was for "research purpose". The science she was interested in for this case was computer, more specifically, cybersecurity. Using the tricks a certain pink-haired hacker once taught her back when they worked together, she backtracked through the server and its admin's history and creation.
Then, with that information, she backtracked through the account to search for the device and location. The bodyguard grit her teeth when she was met only with a general scope, a map of the city rather than a specific street. Even though it narrowed down where in New Eridu the original server owner resided, Evelyn didn't have time to knock on every door until she found her answer.
I wonder… She pulled out her phone one last time that night and messaged Rain.
ooo
The next morning, Evelyn woke up to a text message. Rain had come through for her. She reminded her old "coworker" that although NewRidu NetWork stripped the metadata (like geotags) from photos, it didn't always do the same as consistently with videos. Lucky for Evelyn and Rain, "Ghayotic Bi Rice" had posted a handful of videos in the past, and after checking the coordinates of where each one was filmed, it became clear that "Ghayotic Bi Rice" liked to post from the recording studio. As Evelyn read Rain's message, her face darkened.
Is there another traitor in our ranks that I need to smoke out? Is it someone intentionally trying to compromise Ms. Yao's position?
Because it was the day after Astra's last show for the time being, her schedule was a little more relaxed. The reprieve wouldn't last long, but at least for that morning, she and Evelyn were scheduled to meet one another at the studio rather than Evelyn picking Astra up bright and early. Evelyn made a beeline for the recording studio, using the coordinates Rain sent her as a guide.
Ms. Yao? The bodyguard stopped dead in her tracks. The singer was already there, but resting in a chair in the lobby, texting on her phone. A second later, Evelyn's phone buzzed, and she looked down, expecting to see a message from Astra asking where she was. Instead, it was a notification from the Evelyn Chevalier Fanclub.
Ghayotic Bi Rice: Heyyy guys, sorry everyone, I forgot to post these last night, but I got a few more pics of our favorite bodyguard ;)
A series of photos were posted, and as Evelyn looked up from her phone again, her stomach tightened. Wait a minute…
Without thinking, her fingers trembling slightly, she typed something in the chat in response to "Ghayotic Bi Rice"
"What is your favorite photo that you took that night?" The second she hit send, she looked up intently. Astra began typing again, and the moment she stopped, Evelyn felt her phone buzz a second time. She didn't wait a single second longer, striding across the lobby toward the singer.
"Eve!" Astra heard her coming and looked up from her phone, face lighting up the second she saw the other woman.
"Is this… you?" Evelyn held out her phone, too embarrassed to read the name out loud. Astra leaned forward squinting, then—
"I—! Uhhh… Wh-what?!" She jerked back with a nervous laugh. "What makes you so sure th-that's me?"
Evelyn's face went deadpan. "Well now I'm sure."
Astra gave another nervous laugh, then her shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, Eve. I just like to gush about you sometimes! But I know it makes you uncomfortable, so I didn't want to bother you by doing it too much!"
"So you thought gushing about me to strangers would somehow be less… strange?" Evelyn couldn't help but smirk as she quirked an eyebrow. Astra winced guiltily.
"Well, when you put it that way… But I promise I never gave away anything too personal!" The signer held up her right hand.
Evelyn gave a soft huff of laughter. "Of course. I believe you." And she meant it. Technically speaking, Astra's nickname for her wasn't "too personal", because as Evelyn had noted before, Astra called her "Eve" in public just as often as she did in private.
"You're… not going to ask me to delete the server, are you?" asked Astra, shoulders rising again around her ears.
"Well… So long as it never compromises your safety. I have… taken a look around and I haven't seen anything problematic so far…"
"Yay!" Astra brightened up in relief. "And don't worry, I promise I'll be careful! I only share photos that could've feasibly been taken by fans so that way nobody gets suspicious!" She puffed out her chest, awfully proud of how clever she was.
Evelyn couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head. "All right, come on, the rest of the staff will be here soon."
"It's a shame I can't share snippets of us in the recording studio!" Astra sighed wistfully.
"Let's not get carried away now," Evelyn reminded her, still smirking.
"But now that you know about the server's existence, it would still be fun to do something together! I don't know, maybe a photoshoot or something?" Astra asked hopefully as she and Evelyn made their way from the lobby to the recording booths. "I may have a lot of fans of my own, but Eve, you can consider me your Number One fan!" A dreamy expression crossed the singer's face as she cast a glance at her bodyguard. "The Queen of New Eridu and her most royal and beloved consort…"
"Ms. Yao…" Evelyn sighed, but Astra was already off fantasizing about all the different outfits she could have Evelyn try on for this "Astralyn photoshoot". And although Evelyn wasn't going to say it out loud, her mind wandered too.