Chapter Text
Evelynn loved fittings. Seeing the new outfits and imagining just how her fans would react. She’ll admit she was unsure when Ahri first showed her the initial sketch, since she’d worn plenty similar before. But now, seeing herself in the mirror with attendants fussing around her, she loved it.
The dark color cut through by lines of gold, the fur-like cuffs at her wrists and biceps, and around the back of her top, and a signature pair of shades that were almost perfectly matched with her hair - all of it was as close to perfection as anyone could get.
“Not too bad, Foxy.” She muttered, turning to admire the outfit from all angles while her lashers came into her hands so she could admire their altered look too - the deep pink leather look matched her outfit perfectly, with heavy gold blades, which matched her new claws, holding a blue jewel in the center.
All in all, it was a killer outfit.
Casting her eyes to the side, at the row of accessories for the other girls, her eyes caught on a similarly coloured weapon. Like her lashers, they were a beautiful gold, the smaller kunai were bare while the larger kama, like hers, had a blue jewel embedded in it, settled between two sharp points before the blade curved to the point.
She couldn’t help the small grin that arose when she saw it. “Oh, Foxy. You are good.”
On cue, the maknae of the yet to debut group walked through the door.
Evelynn let her eyes slide back to the mirror, her lashers leaving her grip to flare out around her - she liked to put on the show for the newest member of Ahri’s passion project. She caught the rogue as she entered the room, head down wearing a dark gray acid wash cap and a pair of black headphones blasting music into her ears; she had on a gray hoodie, unzipped to show off an oversized black shirt with a neon dragon painted across the front, and some black straight leg jeans, paired with some black trainers.
She looked good, if very understated.
She walked through the room without so much as a glance at the diva, strolling through with a blank but awake expression as her ponytail bounced gently as she moved.
Evelynn would consider it an insult from anyone else, but Akali didn’t know her that well. And on the few occasions they had spoken Evelynn hadn’t exactly been completely welcoming, or gentle as Ahri had asked her to be with their maknae.
On the initial meeting, she’d been chatty. Asking Evelynn about her life, her music, why she agreed to join, and Evelynn had answered every single one with her signature talk show esk chatter - something Ahri had talked to her about after both Akali and Kai’sa had left. She’d said, “ They’re not secret newsagents, they’re going to be our girls. We have to look after them, not treat them like a threat. ”
Of course, her friend, as usual, had been right.
At the next meeting, a more casual hang out at one of the studios they’d booked to use over the next few weeks, Evelynn had been, at least she thought, more open with Akali. She’d looked through her lyrics and even listened to some of her demos while Ahri and Kai’sa were getting drinks, three coffees and a herbal tea (the latter for the maknae).
Akali seemed perkier than ever, happily showing Evelynn what she had made with the limited equipment she’d been working with. They talked about some of her demos, and Evelynn gave her some rather blunt but necessary advice.
“I don’t know, they’re not that good.” Akali said dejectedly, her smile wavering into something uncomfortable. “I still have a way to go before I’m the best. I’m still a rookie to all this.”
Evelynn scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Those who let the idea of being a rookie define their skills are the ones who fall the fastest, darling.”
“Huh?”
“Rogue, if you want to be the best rapper in Asia, then just be it. The world won’t wait for you to get there, and you shouldn’t wait to make the leap.” Evelynn’s smile was bold, somehow wicked while also being hard and genuine. “Ahri believes you can do it, and I’m starting to agree with her.”
Akali’s smile had been small and slightly embarrassed, but it was nice to see the young girl glisten under the praise. Most people looked bewildered when she spoke to them so bluntly. Akali was different… Somehow. It interested her to find out just how different she was.
As the diva found herself lost in the memory, Akali came back into the room wearing her own outfit for the music video. Evelynn let her eyes catch on the outfit in the mirror, watching Akali grab her weapons and a black mask that had been left on the table for her, leaving her back to the mirror.
To put it bluntly, the rogue looked good .
The purple cropped jacket suited her the way Evelynn knew it would, with the dragon design being bold without overtaking the rest of the garment. She couldn’t see the white crop top, but got a good look at the expanse of bare tanned skin between the bottom of the jacket and the belt holding up her pants - tightly fit to her like leggings but made thicker with a faux leather-like material that hugged her in all the right places, especially around the cut out at her thigh, which clung enough without restricting the skin. And her black and gold high top trainers, chosen by Akali herself, matched the accent colors well enough.
When she turned around, Evelynn got to see the rather large expanse of Akali’s bare torso - a sight she’d previously been denied thanks to Akali’s habit of wearing mostly oversized t-shirts and hoodies to the meetings. And to every god she didn’t believe in, Evelynn was thankful she finally got to see it.
Akali was clearly proud of her body, and had worked hard to achieve the stunning line of abs running up her stomach. Then her eyes flickered over to her hands, which were turning the kama over to admire, gripping the handle like it was second nature. She even swung in around a few times, never once losing her grip or seeming to falter in the 360 spin she was doing.
With a pleasant hum, Akali placed it on the table and picked up the two kunai, giving them the same inspection, twirling each around her fingers instead then catching them in a firm, well practiced grip. Still, the skill in the movement, the precision with which she pushed the weapons through her fingers, that wasn’t something you could just learn on the spot. No, that kind of absent precision took years to perfect.
She waited until Akali had put the weapons back down and turned to one of the other mirrors in the room - ironically the one furthest from the diva as possible. Evelynn watched her check out her outfit for a moment through her own mirror, seeing the subtle excited smile slowly creep onto her face, topped by her biting her lip when she slid her hands into the jacket’s pockets.
With a quiet huff, Evelynn looked over her shoulder and said, rather bluntly, “You look good, darling.”
Akali’s head whipped around, her smile dropping and eyes widening in surprise, as if she’d either forgotten the diva was there or just didn’t expect her to talk to her. It was kind of adorable.
“Hey.” Was all she said, turning back to look over her outfit, now with a sharp discomfort and more critical eyes scanning over every aspect of it.
“Nothing more to say, rogue?” Evelynn pressed, keeping her tone level with a faint hint of a tease. “What do you think of your look?”
“Oh… Um… I like it.”
“That’s it?” Evelynn cocked an eyebrow, turning fully to face her bandmate and crossing her hands over her chest, keeping on hand raised within the cross to hover near her face.
Akali shrugged. “I really like it.”
There was clearly more she wanted to say.
“ But? ”
“...I don’t know! I’ve just never worn this sort of stuff before. It’s weird having people dress you after you’ve been dressing yourself for years.”
“ Um-hm .” Evelynn softened her features, her smile softening ever so slightly as Akali caught her eyes in the mirror. “It took me a while to get used to it, too. But you’re luckier than I was.”
“How so?” Akali’s eyebrows creased and her top lip quirked up on one side.
“Well, darling. I didn’t get any say in what I wore. Most of the stylists would go to my managers and they’d choose something, or my parents when I was first starting out. Most of it was horrid.”
“Damn, I can’t imagine you ever letting someone else pick out your clothes, doubt even Ahri would attempt it without consulting you first.”
“She wouldn’t. Thankfully I broke away from the world of child stars and left my management when I was seventeen. I never let anyone tell me what to wear again, at least not without heavy input from myself.”
“...Oh.” Akali turned to look at her properly, her hands still tucked into the pockets of her jacket. “Well, thanks for saving me from all that, then.”
Evelynn breathed out a laugh, walking back over to the table to grab the one thing Akali didn’t pick up. A purple cap, matching her jacket with sewn in gold lettering that spelled K/DA. Taking in, she strode over to Akali and placed the hat atop her head, taking the time to unclip the back around her pong tail and snapping it together so it would sit on her head properly.
Once on and secured, she turned Akali back around to look at herself in the mirror. Resting her head on Akali’s shoulder, she pulled Akali’s hands out of her pocket, sliding her fingers through one as a form of reassurance.
“You’re welcome.” Evelynn said, catching Akali’s eye in the mirror and smiling. “But I think Ahri is the one responsible for that.”
Akali huffed, her mouth returning to a small smile. “Well, then thank you for the advice, and the outfit.”
Evelynn for a moment froze, raising an eyebrow in curiosity - they hadn’t said Evelynn was the one who took care of Akali’s outfit, and Evelynn had told Ahri not to mention it to Akali under any circumstances.
Akali burst into a short, quiet laugh at her expression, “I looked through your sketches, your signature was in all the corners.”
“And how did you get your hands on those, rogue?”
“I asked for them? Ahri told me to look over everything and see if there was anything I wanted to add, or take away.”
Evelynn only hummed, not detaching herself from Akali just yet. She couldn’t explain why, but it felt nice to be close to the younger girl.
“Anyway, thanks.” Akali added, averting her eyes from the rather intense gaze of the diva as her cheeks started to warm up.
Evelynn just chuckled darkly, “All the best parts were from your notes, darling. Take some credit at least.” Releasing Akali’s hand and turning to walk back to the dressing room to get changed. She stopped at the door leading out of the room, half turning to catch Akali still staring at the mirror. “See you later, darling.”