Adjusting to life

Iris's best attempts to escape had been met with failure. There had been meta-related mirror activity before, but the tricks she remembered from how the team had dealt with those didn't seem to quite apply here.

Which left her staring at the mirror in the lab with no idea what to do next. The most she'd learned was that Eva seemed to have picked up some ability from the dark matter wave, a meta-human power that let her control the mirror to a limited degree. It wasn't enough to do much beyond reassemble the mirror after an attempt to escape had shattered it.

It was a lead, but not much of one. Iris groaned, at a loss.

She still wore the clothes she'd entered the mirrorverse in; all black, meant for drawing less attention when she'd investigated. Jacket, V-neck top and pants. Despite how the years seemed to have made Eva adopt nudity, she had no desire to immediately follow her.

She wasn't sure if Eva just wasn't embarrassed by her situation after so long, or if the presence of another person just outweighed any self-consciousness she might otherwise feel. As it was, Iris had definitely become rather too familiar with every inch of the scientist's body, the simple act of walking from one side of the lab to the other baring all.

Iris yawned. Eva was instantly at her side, almost fussing.

"Tired? Adjustment can be a lot," Eva said. "This dimension can have... side-effects. Small ones. Don't notice them so much now."

"A little," Iris said. "Where do you sleep?"

"Varies," Eva said. "Whole city out there. Whole world. Lots of places to sleep, and did explore more, a while ago. Now, just made a place in the building. Closer. Feels... homier, in here."

"Do you have a spare room, or something?" Iris said.

"Have changed rooms, over the years," Eva said. "Won't take much to make one of the old ones comfy again."

Iris let out a breath. There was a lot to process, here - an empty world, the tiny quirks all over the place that reminded her of just how wrong this place was, the fact they were apparently trapped, and then her perpetually naked housemate. Having something as simple as a room to ground herself would help, she hoped.

"Show me the way?" Iris said hopefully.

Eva nodded, twitching just slightly. "Follow me."

There were a lot of things Iris didn't know, Eva reflected. The way around the empty reflected-building was just one of them; Eva guided her towards the room she claimed had once been hers.

Or rather, the room Eva had prepared a few weeks ago. True, she hadn't been sure it would be for Iris then, but she'd known she wanted to bring someone else into this mirror universe. Something else Iris didn't know - along with the fact that Eva hadn't just found out about her powers that morning. Rather, she'd known about them for years, and they went much further than Iris knew.

More than anything, Eva wanted out of this mirror prison. To do that, she needed agents in the real world to move the pieces into place; as it turned out, Iris was well-suited for that. With her connection to both STAR Labs and the Flash, the mirror duplicate of Iris that Eva had made would be able to get what she needed, and wouldn't be stopped by the city's hero.

As it was, transitioning from the mirror to reality had... side-effects, ones she hadn't been able to shake off. Until her agents got her what she needed, she was trapped here.

Though she wasn't alone any more. Eva hadn't been lying about that - it was so good to have company, for once. Though it might be under false pretenses, she did care - all she wanted was out. She'd do anything to see that happen. She wouldn't even need to keep Iris here; once she was out, she ought to be able to save her. Eventually.

Lying was just necessary to minimize the likelihood of anyone getting in the way - she didn't want to stay in here for six more years. Still, she didn't want Iris to be uncomfortable here.

They reached the spare room, an improvised bed set up over a sofa. Iris sat on the arm. It seemed it was comfier than she'd expected. Then she looked back over to Eva, and sighed.

"I guess pyjamas are too much to ask for," Iris said.

"This dimension is empty. Only clothes are what you wore when you came in here," Eva said. "No pyjamas."

"Had a feeling you'd say that," Iris said.

"You should take those off," Eva said, trying to sound considerate. "Better to adjust now than..."

"You said," Iris said. "I still plan to get out of here sooner rather than later."

"Even then," Eva said. "Wearing them constantly increases the risk of damaging them. If you really think we can escape soon, then save them for then. If you're that worried about being naked, surely it'd be worse to have to go nude when back in the real world?"

Iris faltered. Something about the thought seemed to stick with her.

"I'll... I'll think about it," Iris said. "In the morning. Right now, I need to sleep."

"Oh. Right," Eva said.

Had Iris been hinting that sooner? Was she impatient? It was hard to tell - you could forget a lot of social cues over years of isolation, and she hadn't been great with them even before.

Iris yawned.

"Sleep well," Eva said.

Was that would people said? Eva paused.

"See you tomorrow," Eva said.

"Likewise," Iris said. "See you."

Eva turned around. She made it a few steps down the corridor, musing - she did have another room, fairly nearby, if distant enough she could talk to her agents beyond the mirror without being disturbed. She looked down at herself.

She had been a little antsy when making the transition to permanent nudity, all those years ago, but it hadn't been so bad, especially given that she was alone. Nudity didn't really stick out to her any more. It was easy to forget.

Maybe she should tell Iris that? Make her feel more at ease with her inevitable situation? Unconsciously, Eva scratched her arm. Would that help? Social cues again, she wasn't sure what would actually make Iris more comfortable. It felt like she should say something.

Eva turned around. Without knocking (she hadn't needed to worry about such things for a long, long time), she barged into Iris's room, and suddenly faltered. Iris screamed.

Nudity didn't bother Eva, she told herself. Still, suddenly she couldn't look away - there was Iris, her shirt with her bra and jacket, on the floor by the bed. Her shoes and socks had been kicked off, and her pants and panties were around one angle, in the process of being stepped out of. For an instant, Eva caught a glimpse of a lot of her involuntary mirror-cellmate, the bare triangle between her legs and her breasts, smooth and dark and somehow the most gorgeous thing Eva had seen for a very long time.

And then Iris had time to react, making a shrill noise and hastily covering herself up with her arms, crossing one over her breasts and squeezing them tightly over her chest - it concealed her nipples, though the image of the dark circles was still frozen in Eva's mind, and it only made her cleavage seem so much more enticing. At the same time, her other hand covered the gap between her legs, a spot Eva had only the barest, tantalising glimpse of.

"Eva!" Iris yelped.

Eva swallowed, throat suddenly dry. Nudity didn't bother her, she thought again. It was casual. It was just... a thing, nothing to be worried about. Suddenly that was feeling like another lie.

"Oh. I... I thought you weren't doing this?" Eva said.

She stammered despite herself, suddenly caught off-guard.

"I'm not! Full-time at least," Iris said. "But I'm not sleeping in them if I've got to wear them the next day."

Well, it was a concession. Eva swayed a little on the spot, still reeling.

"Knock next time!" Iris said, voice still high.

"Right," Eva said.

She was still staring, still shaking slightly, playing the sight over and over again in her mind.

"You can leave now!" Iris said.

What? Oh. Right. Social cues. Eva barely managed to knock, and walked backwards until Iris slammed the door shut on her. Eva swallowed.

That was...

Nudity hadn't bothered her, Eva thought to herself. Maybe it was the fact Iris was the first person she'd really seen for a long, long time, maybe it was just missing having company, maybe it was a distraction, or maybe it was something she probably should've figured out about herself long before she got trapped in a mirror. Either way, the conclusion was the same.

She wanted Iris naked. To see her again, definitely - and, maybe help her adjust to this new world. Right, that was it. She must just want Iris to adapt faster. That... that would explain her sudden desire to get and keep Iris nude.

Well, she had a lot of pieces to her plan ongoing. What was one more?