Chapter Text
Ava wakes up at nine in the morning to a cold bed, alone and aching. She’s tucked neatly into the sheets, her comforter tucked neatly over her body with an unusual care. The muted smell of chocolate wafts through the air, closely followed by the muffled sound of Mary’s voice and harsh rock music.
Everything fucking hurts.
What’s going on again?
Her muscles groan as she untangles herself from the blankets, tossing her legs over the side of the bed. The balls of her feet make contact with familiar carpeted hardwood.
Oh right, I’m home…
But as Ava begins to push herself up to a standing position, her right foot shifts over and clashes with the left, sending her tumbling forward. She braces herself for the fall with her forearms, wincing as she makes contact with the floor. The impact is short and sharp, setting her nerve endings on edge as her muscles absorb the blow.
“Ava!” a low British voice calls out, the loud drum of footsteps echoing behind.
Her muscles relax as she presses her cheek into the plush carpet. “Beaaa! Ava mumbles into the floor lazily, happily. It’s comfy on the ground, she decides, closing her eyes. A warm palm gently claps against her back, strong fingers drawing large circles over it soothingly.
“Bea!” Ava exclaims, still excited but audibly groggy.
Her soulmate tisks, but Ava can hear the stifled chuckle behind it. “Are you alright, darling?” Beatrice questions, offering her a hand up.
Ava grunts, allowing herself to be hoisted up onto her feet. A goofy grin paints itself across her lips as she cocks her head. Her hair is twisted and standing up on her head, light drool trailing down her cheek. Everything about her should be the opposite of charming, and yet Beatrice giggles as if Ava is the funniest person in the world and flashes her a brilliant smile, her brow knit with concern.
Ava, 1. World, 1.
“Are you alright, darling?” Beatrice repeats, clearly amused at her soulmate’s clumsiness. She’s dressed in some of Ava’s oversized pajamas. It’s cute.
“Never better,” Ava deadpans, “I just love this carpet so much.”
“Oh? Should I have left you to spend more time together?” counters Beatrice, already rolling her eyes.
For a second, Ava contemplates the benefits and consequences of hitting the ground a second time this morning; this time, intentionally. On one hand, it could be absolutely hilarious and the odds of Beatrice predicting it would be slim to none. On the other hand, it may be considered taking the joke too far, and also, her arms would probably be black and blue for days if she actually followed through with it.
Beatrice shakes her head fondly, leading Ava through the doorway and down the hallway towards the kitchen. At some point, the hand on Ava’s shoulder blade makes its way down her back, slowly, eventually settling against her own. A calloused hand meets a smooth palm, rough ridges sliding against her skin, intertwining their fingers in a loose grasp.
“I made breakfast,” Beatrice reveals as Ava takes a seat at the small two person table in their makeshift dining room across from Mary. “I didn’t know if you wanted me to stay, so I figured that I could at least contribute a little bit.”
Mary smirks, taking a sip from her coffee and kicking her chair onto its back legs. “Looks like someone had a good morning,” she teases knowingly. “Can’t believe you brought little miss out of your league back home, didn’t know you had it in you.”
Ava opens her mouth to protest, but is quickly shut down when Beatrice slides a plate of scrambled eggs and chocolate chip pancakes in front of her. It looks delicious, and her stomach groans, making itself known.
Right, food. Food is good.
“Eat,” Beatrice insists, already disappearing back into the kitchen to clean up. God, what a woman.
Not one to turn down a good meal, Ava nods and accepts the offering, neatly cutting a piece from the stack of pancakes and taking a bite. Immediately, all thoughts of trying to eat politely are tossed out of the window as a perfect balance of fluffy buttery, chocolatey goodness coats her taste buds. Without thinking, she shoves another morsel into her mouth before she’s even finished swallowing the first.
Mary clicks her tongue. “Woah, easy there Romeo. You’re gonna choke like that, and not in the way you like.”
Ava forces a pained cough out, narrowly avoiding spitting pancake chunks onto her roommate. She swallows her current mouthful, vaguely reminiscent of a slapstick cartoon character. Her cheeks are burning at the undeniable truth of Mary’s statement.
Goddamn it.
It’s at this moment that Beatrice finally returns, another plate in hand, a smug smile on her face. She definitely heard that, Ava realizes. (Giddily? Despairingly? She’s not sure… yet). She scoots over on her chair until she’s mostly hanging off, a bad attempt at making room for her soulmate. Luckily, Beatrice seems to appreciate the gesture, setting her plate down and wrapping her left arm around Ava for stability as she sits down on the free half of the seat.
“So, how’s the weather?” Beatrice jests between bites.
Ava’s jaw drops, her brow visibly raising. “You’re kidding me. You’re not asking about the weather after I literally almost died.”
“I’m not kidding you, I’m Beatrice,” replies Beatrice, straight-faced, not budging an inch.
Ava sticks out her tongue.
From across the table, Mary guffaws, shaking her head in disbelief. “Damn Ava, you’ve really met your match, huh? No one would have predicted that this one is just as much a joker as you are,” Mary says, thumb pointing to Beatrice. “You know what? Good for you, for both of you. You’re one lucky bastard, Ava.”
Beatrice laughs at that. “She does have a pension for having extraordinary odds. Honestly sometimes it’s hard to believe she’s a real person.”
“Aw Bea, are you trying to call me a goddess? That’s sweet.”
“If you’d like to interpret that way, you’re welcome to,” Beatrice responds fondly, meeting Ava’s eyes.
They’re broken out of their trance by Mary, who loudly sets down her empty mug and stands, pushing in her chair. “You two are disgusting,” the older woman complains, but it’s obvious that she doesn’t mean it. “Thanks for the food, Beatrice. Good coffee, too. But if I stay here any longer I’m gonna be suffocated by how disturbingly into each other y’all are.” She waves them off as she disappears into her room, closing the door behind her.
Now that there’s a chair free, Ava fully expects Beatrice to move across from her, much to her dismay. Instead, she leans further into Ava’s personal space until the younger girl is forced to wrap an arm around her to stay upright (not that Ava minds). She tucks her head into the crook of Ava’s neck, taking a deep inhale.
“Hi,” Beatrice murmurs into Ava’s skin, content.
“Hi,” Ava returns, propping her head onto Beatrice’s. “You’re touchy this morning.”
She feels Beatrice flinch beneath her, quickly followed by a sudden flood of tension. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Beatrice apologizes, failing to hide the instinctual reaction. She begins to jerk away, but Ava pulls her back, tightening her hold.
“I never said it was a bad thing,” Ava mumbles, grumpy.
“Oh.”
“How long were you planning on staying?”
“I have a few things to take care of, but I’m really in no rush to leave,” Beatrice answers truthfully. “Your apartment is nice. It’s homey.”
“Well, do you want to go on our second date tonight then?” proposes Ava, completely ignoring the second half of Beatrice’s comment.
“What happened to taking it slow?”
“Oh, sue me. After getting hit with a bike and getting sent to the hospital, I think I deserve nice things! I have a cute girl like, literally in my lap and I want to take her on a date. She also happens to be my soulmate and a great fuck, so yeah maybe I have a few ulterior motives. Plus, a second date after like three weeks is pretty slow if you ask me.”
Beatrice’s eyebrows quirk up at that. She rises to her feet, silently waiting for Ava to scoot back onto the chair. As soon as she does, Beatrice throws a leg over her lap to straddle her and Ava can feel her cheeks flush an even deeper red. Reasonably, she’s flustered at the action, holding her hands in mid-air, unsure of where to put them.
Sensing her hesitation, Beatrice rolls her eyes fondly and takes matters into her own hands (literally). She takes Ava by the wrists, placing both hands onto either side of her waist. Her lips ghost against the shell of Ava’s ear as she whispers, “A few ulterior motives, huh?”
“Oh fuck you!” Ava loudly cries out, pouting.
“Well, apparently I’m a great fuck,” Beatrice counters with a smirk, taking the tip of her ear between her lips and sending a shiver down Ava’s spine.
“How the fuck do you go from like, domestic housewife to sexy flirt?” Ava demands to know, trailing her hands down to squeeze Beatrice’s ass. “This isn’t fair! It has to be illegal or something! I really don’t understand how you go from sugary sweet to ready to fuck my brains out.”
Beatrice shrugs, still grinning . A strong contrast to earlier, when she was shying away from Ava due to a stray comment, Beatrice stands firm in her resolve now. It’s incredible really. As uncertain as Beatrice is for everyday displays of affection, apparently that doesn’t apply to sexual situations. It’s super stupid hot, Ava decides.
Damn this girl is like, hella repressed. I can practically feel the Catholic guilt seeping out of her. Wait fuck, I think she’s just wet. Jesus Christ. What the fuck do I do.
Ava weighs her options. She could gives Beatrice a taste of her own medicine and fuck her here in the living room… but Mary would probably kill her. Instead, careful hands trace along the lines of Beatrice’s thighs as Ava looks up to meet her soulmate’s gaze.
“You have no idea how hard it is to not bend you over my knee and fuck you,” Ava admits openly.
Beatrice’s voice is breathy as she answers, so obviously turned on. “What’s stopping you?”
“Well, my roommate is right down the hall and I think she might kill me if she walks in on us.”
It’s like a bucket of cold water has been dumped right over Beatrice’s head, her eyes going wide with a sudden clarity. “Oh, right. That’s a pretty good reason,” she agrees, removing herself from Ava’s lap. Wordlessly, she stacks their empty plates and strolls back towards the kitchen, as if she hadn’t spent the last few minutes putting her soulmate on edge.
Ava groans, tossing her head back dramatically, tipping her chair onto its rear legs. For a moment, she thinks she might hit the ground for the second time this morning, but she’s able to steady herself before she tips the chair over.
Hell yeah.
“I am free tonight, if you actually want to go on that date,” Beatrice chimes in as she loads the dishwasher.
Ava can’t help her excited response. “Really?”
Beatrice hums in affirmative, setting a delay on the dishwasher and shutting the door. “I really do have a few errands to run today, but I’m free after say, six?”
“Oh! That works for me!” Ava replies enthusiastically. “Are you still down for mini-golfing and drinks?”
“That sounds wonderful, Ava.”
Ava fist pumps the air victoriously. “Hell yeah! I gotta warn you, I’m like, really good at mini-golf,” she brags.
“Oh yeah?” taunts Beatrice. “Maybe we should make some sort of wager then? Whoever loses at mini-golf has to do whatever the winner wants.” There’s flirty, sexy Beatrice again… Nice.
“You’re on!” Ava declares animatedly, standing from her seat and holding her hand out. Beatrice strides over to take it and they shake on the wager.
“I’ll pick you up at six-thirty?”
“Sounds like a plan!” Ava chirps, pressing a kiss to Beatrice’s cheek for emphasis.