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They definitely didn't plan to walk for so long. Even Ava, who always has a million thoughts in her head. As usual, after finishing the night shift, they return home from the bar, and quite suddenly, Beatrice suggests a walk on the beach. So that you understand, the same Beatrice who even eats according to the schedule. So Ava, not even fully realizing the offer, nods furiously.
She grips Bea's hand (what if she changes her mind) and drags the girl to the beach. The sun wouldn't rise for another couple of hours, so they didn't have to worry about anyone noticing them. At least for a moment to relax and just live, which both lacked so much.
Ava is still holding the nun's hand, justifying this by saying that there is not enough moonlight, and the halo does not always work like a flashlight. Come on, Bea, we don't want me to trip and break my leg. She makes excuses, not even noticing that Beatrice does not show displeasure. She smiles (it's good that it goes unnoticed in the dark) and lightly squeezes Silva's palm, encouraging the girl not to strain so much. And the tension immediately dissipates.
Ava wanders across the sand, jumping excitedly with every step. She looks like an impatient puppy, and that's what Beatrice loves about her.
Of course, it is unlikely that she will have the opportunity to confess, but she is ready to keep this love deep within herself and allow herself to enjoy the moments. During two months in Switzerland, without the supervision of other nuns, she got too close to the restless bearer of the halo.
“You know, when I came to my senses, I ran away from those terrible men and found normal clothes for myself. Well, after I was hit by a truck and flew through the wall of the store. Which, actually, was funny...”
“Ava…”
“Yeah, yeah. I went to the beach. I just lay on the sand, then running until my lungs started burning from the inside... I think there will always be a special place for the beach in my heart.”
Beatrice can't help but smile again. Did Mary tell her this story that Ava told her at the beginning of their acquaintance? Yes. Did this story influence the fact that Bea taught the girl to swim and brought her to the beach at night? Debatable.
“I just had a brilliant idea. You'll be proud of me, Bea.”
“We definitely won't go swimming in the sea at night.”
“What? Sorry, I can't hear you well.”
Ava let go of Beatrice's hand, which made the nun have to summon the last remnants of self-control not to grab her again. The brunette didn't even have time to open her mouth to object when Ava started pulling off her clothes. Of course, thank God, she couldn't see all the details, but Silva's silhouette in the moonlight stood out perfectly.
“Ava!”
“I don't hear you. I'm going swimming!”
“You'll drown.”
Beatrice suppressed a tremor in her voice as she watched Ava get rid of the last item of clothing - a bra. How she did not dare to take off her underwear completely remained a mystery for the nun. And she could bet a month's salary that Ava was smiling conspiratorially when she turned half a turn.
“Come on, Bea, you can't let that happen. Mother Superion will be disappointed.”
And Beatrice has no choice but to start undressing. The warrior nun has already entered the water, rejoices like a child, splashes in the water while the halo responds to her joy with a faint glow. The nun shakes her head in disappointment, mumbles to herself, pulling off her trousers. She won't allow more.
She just has to go home in wet clothes. Not such a high fee for spontaneous decisions. Decisions she won't make anymore. As if one could expect that Ava, gifted with freedom for a second, would not do something like that.
“Bea, the water is perfect. You have to feel it.”
Beatrice is barely ankle-deep in the sea when Ava's fingers close on her shirt and pull her forward. And it seems that Silva is mega clumsy, and Bea is a trained warrior, but it is she who stumbles over her own feet and almost falls forward.
She is preparing to plunge headlong into the warm salt water, which she did not plan to enter at all. What she's not prepared for is the grip of strong hands, the well-defined muscles in sight, and, hello, Ava's bare breasts right in front of her nose.
“You'll drown” She mumbles. “I didn't think you were talking about yourself, Bea”
Ava grins, but the giggle is interrupted when Beatrice exhales hot air on her dripping chest. It seems that Ava herself has forgotten in what form she is, that she is almost pressing a nun in her naked body.
“Swim. Need. I need to train so that I don't drown.”
Silva takes a couple of steps back, making sure that Bea doesn't fall and doesn't swallow dirty salt water. All Beatrice wants is to get out of the water, run home and stand in the shower for an hour, washing away the feeling of water and hot fingers on her skin.
But she dutifully follows Ava into the depths. In some ways, this dork is right. It would be terribly unfair if, instead of fighting for humanity, Ava suffers by swimming naked in the sea.
The nun lies down on her back, feeling the water pick her up conciliatingly. The shirt still resists, inflating with air, but Beatrice subdues her, spreads her arms to the sides and looks at the sky.
It's beautiful, there are no words. She had never spent time like this in her life. She never swam in the sea at night. She never looked at the starry sky. She had never been in close proximity to a girl who blew up her refined mind with a single smile. She was never allowed to feel happy.
She felt so much for the first time. And all thanks to this beautiful creature who must save them all.
“Bea. Bea? Beeeaaa”
“What, Ava?”
The girl sighs, interrupting her thought processes, finding herself on her feet again and looking around in search of Silva. However, she can see no further than an outstretched arm, everything else is just the black expanse of the sea and the rare lights of a small embankment.
There's no Ava. There is only panic, which grows inside Beatrice faster than any disease.
“Ava!? Ava, please, this is not funny”
It's funny, according to the formidable warrior, a descendant of the Great Areala, who comes up with splashes a few inches away from Beatrice, scaring the hell out of her. Bea grabs the girl's arm, trying to catch her breath, while Ava laughs loudly.
“I'm glad you're having fun. But remember that I don't have a halo in my back that will save me from a heart attack.”
Beatrice needs a couple more breaths to recover, and when she is about to pull away from the girl again, something strange happens. Something that causes a short circuit in her head.
Ava approaches, doesn't allow the girl to step back. She's so close that Beatrice can practically see the gleam of her eyes. And furrowed brows.
“I'm sorry, Bea. I really didn't mean to scare you. It’s just… It's not like we're doing a lot of fun stuff here. Yes, I've learned a lot in two months. You're a great coach and boss. But... Sometimes I just want to catch up on what I've missed over the years, you know? Fool around, swim naked, look at the stars.”
Beatrice understands. She's embarrassed, her cheeks are probably the shade of ripe cherries, but she's not going to deprive Ava of little joys. This girl lost twelve years of her life, found herself completely alone in a world of pain and suffering. And, only having found a semblance of a normal life, she is forced to learn how to fight with an alien demon, which, most likely, will kill her in a fight.
The girl swallows to wet her dry throat. Not today. She won't think about it. Maybe tomorrow Mother will send a signal, summon them to the battlefield. So she should give Ava all her first moments that she can.
“What else do you want to do? We could hang out with Hans' friends at that municipal pool you adore. Not tomorrow, of course, tomorrow a new batch of drinks will arrive, but this week we will definitely find time...”
“Bea?”
“Hm?”
The girl looks into the Ava's eyes again, only now realizing that she has adopted Ava's stupid habit of talking when she is worried. But how can she not worry when Silva's hot body is pressed against her own, and her palms support her waist?
“I've never kissed a girl at night, standing waist-deep in seawater.”
Ava whispers faintly, but words are deafening Beatrice. Suddenly her body flares up, the touch almost hurts, although a moment ago she tried to drive away the pleasure. Silva is so close, take a step and their noses will touch. But no. Anything but that.
Although... She has a duty. To protect a warrior nun, to do what is best for her. For two months she devoted herself to this duty, which too quickly became a pleasure.
And she gives in, leans forward, blindly, because she closes her eyes, afraid to change her mind. She will give Ava everything she wants. Her own heart, if it necessary. She will fulfill any whim, but please, let this night never end. Let them stop being the warrior nun and the sister warrior at least for this moment.
When their lips touch, it's like the universe stops. Someone has definitely put the movie, in which they're filming on pause. Beatrice holds her breath, even though it's not even a full-fledged kiss. She knows that she is not Ava's first (she would never dare to pretend), and Silva is not the first girl she kisses. But it's somehow... there's something else.
She didn't allow herself to imagine, especially while she was within the sacred places. But in the last two months. Okay, maybe a couple of times she had the thought of what it would be like to kiss Ava Silva. The same lips that she had stolen a glance at so many times in the bar, without even dreaming of touching them.
And now she wants more. To feel every roughness of cracked lips, to lick the salt with her tongue. She wants to outline every inch of Ava's skin with her fingertips. But she only allows herself to squeeze her fingers around her biceps and pulls away, barely touching the lips of the girl opposite.
Ava's eyelashes are fluttering, her lips are slightly parted, and she clearly forgets to breathe, because the next breath is as if she has risen from the depths to the surface. Fingers dig into the wet fabric of the shirt at Beatrice's waist.
“I…”
Beatrice is definitely not going to talk anytime soon.She doesn't trust herself. She simultaneously wants to cry and hug Silva to her. But she dutifully waits for what the warrior will say. Waiting for the command of her goddess, in whom she has found true faith.
“Also I've never kissed a girl I'm in love with at night, standing waist-deep in seawater.”
And the rough lips are pressed against Beatrice's lips again. She does not try to realize what Ava said, does not try to cope with emotions and suppress desire. At this particular moment, she allows herself to pretend to be someone else. Fingers on Ava's bicep relax to run up her arm and sort through wet strands of short hair before pressing her palm to the back of her head.
Teeth bite the lower lip, tongue dives into warrior's mouth. She doesn't expect such knowledge of kissing from herself, but with Ava it's natural. She wants her, wants everything this night can give.
But the first rays of the sun from beyond the horizon make them return to reality. Ava tenses in her arms, catching the glare out of the corner of her eye, squeezes her grip on Beatrice's waist, as if afraid that the nun will push her and run away, waking up from the obsession.
And part of Beatrice, the part that has been suppressed in her for years, called wrong, deviant and disgusting, wants this. But the other-surprisingly large part -is ready to burst into tears with relief. Because it's beautiful. This is the best thing she has experienced in her life.
The girl breaks the kiss when her lungs begin to burn, touches Silva's forehead with her own and smiles, feeling hot tears running down her cheeks.
“Bea… I…”
“Shh”
She briefly kisses Ava, silencing her, and then pulls away again. Beatrice does not want to open her eyes, because the new day has already washed away the mystery of the night.
Because she's not ready to see Ava yet. It's too much to realize right now, so she just wants to feel. The soft skin of the neck under the fingers, wet hair, the warmth of Silva's body.
“When we get home, you'll pretend that nothing happened.”
Ava is not angry, just stating the fact in a slightly hoarse and sad voice. Beatrice wants to reassure her. Everything will be fine. They will understand what to do with it. They'll figure it out. They still have time until Superion has dealt with the conclave and the remaining nuns of the OCS. They will have the whole world if they buy tickets today and leave in a direction known only to them two.
But they won't do that. Even with a new selfish side that wants to be indulged, Beatrice will not choose herself above her duty to God. And Ava has already outgrown her selfishness. She will not allow the people who have become her family over the past few months to fall victim to a false prophet.
Bea bends down to Ava's ear, leaves a gentle kiss on it before whispering.
“I will love you in the next life if you let me.”
Ava grins and then sobs.
“In this life or the next? No way, Bea, I'm going to kick that asshole's ass, and then we'll do it right. I'll take you on a date with more clothes and less salt water. And you will say these words to me, looking into my eyes.”
“Promise? The word of a warrior nun?”
“No, something more weighty. The pinky swear.”