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"It was Mister Green in the library with the lead pipe!" Ava exclaimed, projecting all the confidence she was not feeling and ignoring the way Lilith rolled her eyes and Beatrice tried not to laugh. Not letting herself be deterred, Ava took the envelope with a flourish, making a show of holding it right up to her face so no one else could see and took out the cards, reading them. Her face fell immediately. "Damn, I was so sure."
Slumping her shoulders, Ava pouted as she put the cards back in the envelope and threw it on the table, just so able to stop herself from throwing down any of the tokens on purpose. Lilith scoffing and shaking her head did not make Ava feel any better.
"Of course that wasn't it. The lead pipe has already been ruled out and Mister Green wasn't in the library, we know that," Lilith said, smugly.
Crossing her arms in front of herself, Ava leaned back and stuck out her tongue towards Lilith, who only scoffed and rolled her eyes again. Camila and Mary laughed amusedly. Beatrice at least leaned closer to Ava, putting a gentle hand on her arm and smiling at her softly. That did make Ava feel better and she smiled at Beatrice gratefully. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't challenge Lilith, so she tilted her head in Lilith's direction and raised her eyebrows.
"Go on then, if you think you can do better," Ava said, her tone challenging. Lilith only scoffed again.
"I absolutely can and I will show you once I am certain. Patience and observation are the keys to solving a murder." Lilith's tone was teetering the line to being condescending and Ava suppressed the urge to growl at her. It was just a game. No reason to get all worked up over it. But then Lilith looked at Ava with a smirk, raising her eyebrows again. "I thought that's why we are doing this in the first place, so you can learn those traits and become a better private detective."
Ava felt annoyance rise in her, even though she knew she shouldn't rise to the bait. Beatrice's hand squeezing her arm a little and her leaning forward to say something to Lilith made Ava feel a little better. But before Beatrice could say or do anything, Shannon spoke up.
"Lilith, that's enough," Shannon said, not harshly but firmly, making sure that while it wasn't an order, she was being serious. Then she laughed a little, softening the blow. "It's just a game and I am sure Ava will get better at it soon. We'll just finish this round and then do another." Shannon tilted her head. "Maybe this time, instead of Mary and me playing together, it could be you and Beatrice, Ava. That way you'll learn from one of the best."
Ava's frown immediately turned into a wide grin and she turned to Beatrice, nodding excitedly.
"I would love that! You're like, the best at this, we'll win for sure!" Ava said, very excited now and still grinning. Even Lilith scoffing again didn't stop her from being happy about this. Instead of letting Lilith get to her again, she just turned to Lilith and send her a challenging look. "Yes, you won the last two rounds, but we're coming for you, just you watch!"
"I am shaking in my boots," Lilith deadpanned, making Camila and Yasmine laugh. Ava grinned.
Leaning back happily, holding out her hand for Beatrice to take, which she did, Ava watched intensely as the others played on. After all, she was very invested in who the killer turned out to be in the end. Not being in the game anymore did not stop Ava from participating in the lively discussion, mostly between Lilith and Mary. Shannon, Beatrice and Camila made sure that things did not get too heated, while Yasmine mostly stayed quiet, observing and analysing everything.
In the end, that was what won Yasmine the game. Ava squealed happily and shared a high five with Yasmine, while Lilith grumbled a little. But her face lit up fast when Camila leaned closer to her and put a hand on her arm, smiling softly and whispering something in her ear that made Lilith's eyes go wide and a smirk appear on her face. Ava frowned a little, good naturedly, putting the tokens back and already getting the cards to sort them again.
"Hey, no conspiring! If Lilith needs help, you can play together next round," Ava scolded playfully, grinning to make it clear that she was joking. Camila laughed lightly, while Lilith stared daggers into Ava.
"As if. You are the one needing help here, not that it will change anything, because I will definitely win the next round even with you and Beatrice playing together," Lilith said, with conviction and challenge in her tone.
"We'll see about that," Ava shot back, grinning still and putting more vigour into sorting the cards. Everyone else chuckled and shook their heads, putting the tokens back and preparing the board for another round.
Once she had sorted everything, Ava gave one stack of cards each to Beatrice and Camila, shuffling one of them herself while the other two shuffled the others. Once they finished, they all put the stacks in front of Yasmine, who had been deemed the most trustworthy to put the cards in the envelope. Carefully taking one card from each stack, Yasmine put them in the envelope face down, Ava making a show of keeping her eyes closed the entire time to not give Lilith the opportunity to accuse her of cheating.
Once the cards were in the envelope and put aside, Ava put the three stacks of cards together and shuffled them again, before dealing them out to everyone. Picking up her cards, she chuckled to herself when she saw the illustrations. This really was an old game. But that was part of its charm. It was why Ava had zeroed in on it when she went through all the board games in the Cat's Cradle's library. Well, that and the fact that what Lilith had said was true, Ava did see playing a game about solving a murder as great opportunity to learn more about being a private detective.
But mostly, there being a first edition Cluedo here had been fascinating to Ava, just as much as all the other games. Beatrice and Mary had only shrugged, saying that while they didn't often have time to play games, they did like getting all the new popular games when they came out. And Cluedo had made some waves already when it was new. Ava certainly had to agree that it was a fun game despite her not being all that good at it.
Putting her head together with Beatrice and whispering about who the murderer could be was at once making her feel more confident that they could win this round and less so, because Beatrice's proximity was very distracting, making Ava blush constantly when Beatrice came so close that Ava could feel her breath on her cheek. Camila of course chuckled every time, giving Ava meaningful glances that she answered with glares.
There was no heat behind the glares though. Ava knew Camila was rooting for her and Beatrice. After all, Camila was the first person Ava had told about her crush on Beatrice, once it had been obvious that it was here to stay and wouldn't just fade away in a few weeks like Ava had thought. It was comforting to know that Camila for one wasn't judging her at all, instead telling her all the stories about who had been with whom. It made the age difference between her and Beatrice seem a lot less important when she learned that Beatrice had slept with Jillian when she was a new immortal.
The lax attitude everyone here had towards sleeping with each other and others was something Ava was still getting used to, but she very much loved it. Craving new experiences in any form, Ava was looking forward to getting it on with more than just JC, who she had met in that shop right after finding out she was immortal and who she had spent a rather mediocre night with a couple of weeks later. But despite how disappointing it was, it had been exhilarating to have the freedom to have sex whenever she wanted to.
Though Ava had told herself to maybe choose more carefully next time, now that she had gotten her rocks off, as Mary had said so colourfully. Ava thought that right when Beatrice leaned in close to her, a strand of her hair falling into her face and tickling Ava's cheek, which made her breath hitch, heat rising in her cheeks. Camila's chuckle took Ava out of her Beatrice-induced haze and made her try to pay more attention. When Beatrice was finished telling Ava what their next move should be, Ava nodded eagerly. Beatrice turned back to the game and Ava turned around to glare at Camila once again, tilting her head in a meaningful way towards Lilith, making Camila raise her hands with a grin.
Ava grinned as well, looking around the table, glad that nobody other than Mary, who rolled her eyes, seemed to have noticed that interaction. Wiggling her eyebrows at Mary, Ava went back to concentrating on the game, or rather, trying to, since her thoughts immediately went to how Camila had confided in Ava about her own crush on Lilith. Which Ava thought was adorable and which made her glad that she was not the only one having a crush.
Unfortunately, Camila had sworn Ava to secrecy. Otherwise, she would have loved teasing Lilith about this, since it was very clear that she reciprocated Camila's crush as much as Beatrice did Ava's own. Or at least that was what Camila had said, Ava was still not so sure about it, but she hoped it was true. Chuckling to herself at getting distracted again, Ava straightened up and gripped her cards tighter, holding them so Beatrice could see them easily.
In the end, Ava and Beatrice did manage to win the round, making Ava jump up and pump her fist in the air, gloating at Lilith.
"Yes! Ha! I told you we could do it! There you go, I'm a great private detective, I can solve all the murders!" Ava exclaimed, grinning even wider and dancing a little in place. Everyone, even Lilith, chuckled a little, though Lilith schooled her face into a serious mask immediately rolling her eyes and scoffing.
"Whatever. That was clearly mostly Beatrice. Also, everyone can have some luck," Lilith said, though there was no heat behind it and Ava didn't let it deter her, pointing at Lilith and shaking her head, still grinning.
"Nope, you're not taking this from me. This is our win, fair and square, right partner?" Ava turned to Beatrice, holding up her hand for a high five. Chuckling a little, Beatrice high fived Ava. Realizing it was not enough, Ava spontaneously hugged Beatrice, who was a little surprised but hugged back just a moment later. Feeling herself turn red from how good Beatrice's arms felt around her body and how much she would love to kiss her right now, Ava leaned back and sat back down. Desperately looking for something else to talk about, Ava found it when she looked down a the table. "So, another round? For Lilith to prove herself of course."
Lilith let out a 'ha', but didn't protest, so they started another round. And if Ava was distracted by the way Beatrice was smiling at her softly, she truly hoped no one other than Camila noticed it. But she did tell herself that she would have to do something about this crush.
Soon.