Chapter Text
Ava started to notice it in Switzerland. The way Beatrice’s hands would twitch when she was distracted. Like she wanted to do something with them. Anything. Then her fists would clench and she would clasp her hands in her lap or behind her back. Ava also caught her bouncing her knee on more than one occasion, only to plant her feet firmly on the ground with a look that could only be described as intense frustration.
At breakfast one morning, Beatrice spun her fork once between her fingers, before setting it deliberately down on the table. Ava watched a muscle in her jaw tick from across the small table. She wanted to say something, but she wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. So she didn’t pry, instead making idle conversation about the coming day.
At work, Ava would tend to the bar, while Beatrice sat at the table in the quietest corner of the building doing math or paperwork or something (Ava wasn’t really sure what went on behind the scenes at the business, and frankly she didn’t want to). Ava liked when Bea did her work in the main room instead of up in her office. That way she could steal glances at her from behind the bar. For completely platonic reasons. Of course.
Beatrice was staring off into space, furrow in her brow the only indication of how hard she was thinking. The pen in her hand tapped idly against the table in a rhythmic pattern. Ava was distracted from her observation of Beatrice by Miguel. She listened to him with half an ear, while continuing to look at Beatrice out of the corner of her eye.
Blinking a few times, Beatrice snapped out of her trance. Her head turned, eyes briefly locking with Ava’s. The pen flipped through her fingers before she looked back down, breaking the eye contact. A blush crept up Ava’s neck at being caught staring.
She spent the rest of her shift absentmindedly handing out drinks, the image of Beatrice twirling her pen on repeat in her mind.
***
“I did it! Did you see that, Bea?” Ava whooped as she came to a halt in front of her on the rocky island shore. The Halo whined softly at her back as she did a little twirl.
“Yes, Ava. I always monitor your training sessions.” Beatrice gave her a soft smile. “But I’m proud of you.” Warmth spread through Ava’s chest at the praise. She’d been practicing running on the water for the past two weeks, but had never made it more than three quarters of the way to the island. She glanced down, noticing the smooth rock Beatrice was rubbing her thumb across.
Closing the space between them, Ava bumped Beatrice’s shoulder good naturedly. “Were you skipping stones?”
A few things happened at once. Beatrice’s hands stilled as her face flashed through a thousand different emotions. Her postured stiffened further, if that was even possible. Her eyes darkened and her expression shifted to something empty and unreadable. She dropped the stone and took a step away from Ava.
“I apologize, Ava. I should have been giving you my full attention.” Her voice has a carefully monotone quality. Hands clasped carefully behind her back. Shit. Ava had done something wrong. Beatrice was closing herself off again.
“That’s not what I meant,” Ava said quickly, longing to reach out. To comfort Beatrice in some way. Instead, her hands hung awkwardly in the gap between them, splayed in a placating gesture. Something was wrong here, but she still couldn’t figure out what, exactly. “I was actually hoping… maybe you could teach me?” Surprise registered on Beatrice’s face, before she schooled her expression into some semblance of neutrality. She remained tense, arms tight against her sides as she scrutinized Ava’s face, as though trying to determine the sincerity of the question.
“You’re serious,” she said after a beat. A statement, not a question.
“Yup! I should have the coordination for it at this point.” Ava gave her hands a pointedly annoyed look, mostly for Beatrice’s benefit. Beatrice studied her for a few more moments, before taking a deep breath. She relaxed slightly, hands finally unclasping.
“I’m certain you’ll be able to do it,” Beatrice stated confidently. Ava felt the urge to push again, but held back. Too many questions would cause Beatrice to shut her out more. The conversation could wait. Creating a comfortable, safe environment for Beatrice was priority number one. So she smiled brightly at Beatrice before kneeling to inspect the rocks. She knew flatter rocks worked better for skipping, but that was the extent of her knowledge.
Beatrice squatted down beside her, eying the rocks with the analytical gaze Ava had been intimidated by at first, but come to appreciate and love over time. She watched Beatrice pick up a few stones, weighing them in her hands.
“Here,” she said, passing one over to Ava. It was thin and ovular, dark, with a smattering of lighter grey speckles. The pebble was warm from the sun, as was Beatrice hand. They stood, facing the water.
Ava loved the way Beatrice explained new things to her. Calm, patient, in depth, but not in a condescending way. She never talked down to Ava, or treated her like she was stupid. A welcome change from literally everyone else in her life.
Beatrice started by talking about the basic physics involved, which didn’t seem all that important to Ava (something about gravity and gyroscopically and lift), but she loved how enthusiastic Beatrice got when she was allowed to talk about her interests. The way her eyes would light up, though her voice remained calm and even.
Next, she showed Ava the hand position (thumb on top, middle finger on the bottom, pointer finger wrapped around the edge), and stance (slightly angled away from the water, left foot forward).
“Remember to flick your wrist at the end so the stone sounds. And angle upwards at about 20 degrees. Although anything up to 45 can technically work.” Beatrice demonstrated, sending her stone spinning out onto the lake. Ava counted 18 skips before it sank. “That was so cool!” Ava said, throwing her arms around Beatrice’s shoulders. Bea was good at everything. Of course she would be a rock skipping prodigy too. Beatrice leaned sideways into her touch.
“It’s not that impressive, objectively. Kurt Steiner skipped a stone 88 times.”
“That doesn’t make yours any less awesome,” Ava insisted, letting go and taking up her best approximation of the stance Beatrice had shown her. She pulled her arm back, then threw the rock.
It sank immediately.
“Fuck,” Ava swore, frowning down at the rocks like it was their fault. Which it was. Stupid rocks.
“Language,” Beatrice chided, but there was no bite to the words. “Try again,” she encouraged, fully in teacher mode now. “Angle your hand upward a little more,” Beatrice took Ava’s hand, changing its position slightly. Ava threw the next stone Beatrice handed her. It skipped once before disappearing below the surface.
“See that, Bea? I’m getting the hang of it already,” Ava said proudly, turning to Beatrice. The feat was much less impressive than literally running on water, but the indulgent smile Beatrice gave her was worth more than anything in the whole world.
“Very impressive, Ava.” Ava ginned at the teasing edge to her voice. She loved this Beatrice. Relaxed, at peace. She felt honored to be able to glimpse what felt like the real Beatrice, free of all the masks.
Ava tried a few more times, with a record of five skips in a row, before Beatrice said it was getting late and they should probably head back to the apartment for dinner.
“Hey, Bea?” Ava reached out, taking Beatrice’s hand in hers.
“Yes, Ava?” Backlit by the setting sun, Beatrice was positively radiant, Ava thought. In a completely platonic way. Obviously.
“Thanks.” Beatrice’s lips quirked up into what Ava had learned was her genuine smile. The one that made her eyes crinkle. It didn’t appear very often, and every sighting was a cause for celebration.
“You’re welcome, Ava.” Ava still had questions. She still wanted to know what was bothering Beatrice. Wanted to know how she could help. But those questions could wait. Just a little longer.