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Zari stumbles as she enters the kitchen to see Sara and Ava leaning side by side at the table, heads ducked close together and giggling like schoolchildren.
“Oh, sorry, I was just… I wanted some juice. I didn’t mean to – intrude, or…”
They both give her a wave in greeting, Ava choking on whatever she’s chewing before making a bright sound and helpfully passing her the juice. She reaches around Sara to do it, and Zari pretends not to notice the way she brushes her fingertips along the bare skin of Sara’s shoulder as she pulls back.
“Thanks, Ava,” Zari says, as genuinely as she can. She wouldn’t go so far as to say her and Ava are friends, per se, but she respects the other woman, and she trusts her, more or less, and she’s pretty confident that Ava isn’t gunning to toss her back in an ARGUS prison anymore. All good things.
Besides, she’s not blind; she can see how happy Ava makes Sara, and that alone makes tolerating any number of annoyances worthwhile.
She just wishes there wasn’t so much she had to tolerate.
“Sara?” Zari calls out, sticking her head around the corner to check if she’s on the bridge. She has a question about Amelia Earhart, and she wants to ask her before reading up from Gideon’s database.
A soft laugh floats out of the captain’s office, and Zari instinctively turns her head, taking a couple steps forward. That’s when she sees them, standing pressed up against the wood panelling of the wall with Sara wrapped around with Ava.
The expression on Sara’s face is teasing as she tilts her head back to smirk up at Ava, and Zari wrinkles her nose and does an about face, spinning on her heel and beating a retreat back towards her room.
Amelia can wait.
“Alright, listen up.”
Sara has her hands planted on the central console, looking every inch the authoritative leader that she is, and Ava is standing at her side in a freshly pressed pantsuit, arms behind her back and shoulders set.
“We’ve got a level four anachronism, and guys, seriously, we’re going to fix this one without it going over a level five, got it?” She looks at them all warningly in turn. “I mean it. We’ve made way too many mistakes lately, and you wanna know what it’s called if we make another one?”
“I’d call it Tuesday,” Ava speaks up, smiling wryly.
Zari watches as Sara’s eyes crinkle at the joke – god, Sara, it wasn’t even funny – and gives Ava a little nudge. Ava shoots her a softer smile in return, and then leans forward to point at a spot on the map in front of them, laying her other hand on the table next to Sara’s.
Zari doesn’t know if she does it on purpose, but her pinky finger brushes against Sara’s, and after a moment of hesitation, she moves to link them together, all the while doing her best to look like she’s concentrating on the mission briefing. Sara reacts by slowly drifting to the side, leaning into her, and Zari screws up her face and turns to Amaya instead. Amaya’s generally a safe bet, for almost every situation, but at that moment she happens to be sharing a knowing look with Nate, and Zari bites back a groan. She didn’t even think to bring a snack to the meeting to tide herself over.
The next day, as they’re gathered in the galley going over their new plan that will inevitably go horribly wrong, Sara pulls her phone out of her pocket and makes a surprised noise.
“Oh hey, Ava said she’d call with the status report, I must have missed it. Gideon, can you play the message?”
“Very well, Captain.”
There’s a click, and then Ava’s voice is echoing over the speakers.
“Hey, Sara! Um, it’s me. Ava. I haven’t gotten the info on the mission yet, I promise I’ll call back when I do, but I just wanted to tell you that it’s been like half a day, but uh, I miss you already.”
There’s a pause where Zari can hear the lovesick smile that Ava is undoubtedly trying to suppress, and she wonders how that’s possible.
“Anyways, yeah, I better get back to work. Just wanted to say hi! I’ll see you later, babe.”
Nate wolf-whistles as the others cheer, and Sara doesn’t even bother looking embarrassed, too busy smiling stupidly down at her phone.
Zari sets her elbows on the console table and then drops her head down as well, bringing her arms up and clasping her hands over her head as if to physically shield herself from her teammates best efforts to drown her in saccharine.
It doesn't work, but hey – can’t blame her for trying.
Zari heads towards the fabrication room, intending to ask Gideon for a jacket to replace the one she had wrecked on their last mission, but she pauses when she realizes the room is already occupied. Ava and Sara are standing in the middle of the room, and Zari stays quiet as she watches Sara laugh and press her face into Ava’s neck, Ava’s arms lifting to loop around her waist.
She murmurs something soft into Sara’s hair, too quiet for Zari to hear, but her eyes are gentle as her fingers carefully rub circles into the back of Sara’s t-shirt.
Zari would guess that the amount of times she’s seen Sara this content and relaxed is about equal to the amount of times she’s seen Sara covered in blood, so this probably counts as a vast improvement.
She stealthily turns around and creeps away before they notice her, deciding to go take a jacket off of somebody else. She’d steal one of Sara’s since she knows she’s otherwise occupied, because Sara has some really good ones, but she also values her life, so she goes to steal – borrow – one of Amaya’s instead. She can fabricate her a new one later.
Zari yelps as a time portal open right at her elbow, jumping back when two bodies crash through it without a moments notice. It takes her a second to process, but when she does it appears that Sara has just tackled Ava through said portal, and now they’re both lying on the floor of the cargo bay, thrashing around as it closes behind them. Zari exhales and lowers her hand from where it had been hovering defensively over her totem, and then the only thing she can do is blink at them in confusion.
“Oh, hey Zari!” Sara says cheerfully, craning her neck back with a grin and blowing some hair out of her face. Ava distractedly echoes the greeting as she continues to struggle in Sara’s hold, getting exactly nowhere, and all Zari does is stare. They’re both disheveled, obviously having been doing… whatever this is for a while, and she really doesn’t understand them.
“Hey, guys. Um… what’s up?”
“Ava put her hair up in a bun and I want it down,” Sara states matter of factly, sticking out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout when Ava sighs in exasperation.
“I told you, I have a meeting at the Bureau, and I have to be professional!” On the last word, Ava grunts and somehow manages to flip them both, landing Sara on her back.
Zari stares some more as they continue to scuffle. She wouldn’t have called this production of theirs professional, but hey, what does she know?
“…Right. Ava, half the time your hair’s down anyways?”
Neither of them give her an answer, but the air between them is starting to charge, becoming weighted in a way Zari doesn’t even want to think about.
“Oh, this is – this is some kind of – okay,” Zari nods to herself, turning away when she realizes neither of them are paying her any attention. “Ridiculous competitive foreplay, got it.”
She leaves and swipes her hand over the control panel to shut the door behind her, and then she tilts her head back and addresses the ceiling. “Gideon, could you maybe seal off the cargo bay for a bit? For all of our sanities.”
“A wise request, Ms. Tomaz.”
“Thanks,” she responds, scrubbing at her eyes and suppressing a shudder as she moves through the ship. She’d much prefer it if she were able to look her friends in the eyes later, thank you very much.
“Zari, what are you doing?” Sara asks, voice amused as she raises her eyebrows at where Zari stands frozen, half tucked behind the wall. The blonde is in pyjamas, a soft–looking t–shirt and plaid pants, and Zari gives her a hesitant grin.
“Hey, Sara, you look… great!” she blusters. “I was, um, well, I was… looking for… my… socks,” she finishes lamely.
In reality, she had been preparing herself to sneak past the entrance to Sara’s quarters, not wanting to interrupt anything that may have been happening between her and Ava, but she can’t very well tell her captain that.
Sara quirks an eyebrow and looks down at Zari’s socked feet, and Zari follows her gaze before glancing back up and giving her an innocent smile. “My… other socks.”
“Alright, well, good luck with that.” Sara laughs and pats her on the shoulder as she brushes past, the door to her room opening with a swish.
Turning and peeking her head around the corner, Zari sees Ava laid out on the couch, fast asleep. Her face is soft, hair down in loose tendrils, and there’s a blanket bunched up around her waist. As she watches, Sara bends down to press a gentle kiss to her temple, carding her fingers carefully through her hair to brush it away from her face, and Ava shifts in her sleep, unconsciously turning into her touch.
Without realizing it, a slight smile stretches across Zari’s face. The lines of tension Sara so often carries in her shoulders have all but disappeared, replaced with a relaxed sort of contentment that Zari rarely sees, and surprisingly, Zari thinks she feels it reflected in herself.
Then Ava wakes up, blinking blearily at Sara as a sleepy grin spreads across her face. Sara leans forward to kiss her, cupping her cheeks with both hands, and Ava hums, bringing her hands up to the ones Sara has cupping her face. She presses into the kiss with more urgency than before, and Zari scrunches up her face and turns to leave when she realizes this is leaving cute territory and hurtling in a direction she really does not want to be witness to.
Tiredly rubbing her eyes, Zari continues her zombie shuffle towards the kitchen, intending to grab a midnight snack before heading back to bed. She leaves the lights off and feels her way through the hallways, knowing the rest of the team should already be asleep at this late hour and not wanting to disturb anyone.
The sounds of the ship surround her, soothing in a way she had never known back in 2042, and she lets the hum sink into her, calming her even further.
There’s a dull thump that her sleepy brain doesn’t process, followed by some moaning and a muffled gasp, and Zari doesn’t put it all together until it’s too late.
She steps inside the kitchen, blinks, and then turns around and shuffles right back out.
She doesn’t need a snack that badly.
“Gideon, is Ava on the ship?”
“Indeed, Director Sharpe is still on board.”
“Great. Can you tell me where?”
“Her and Captain Lance are currently located in the library.”
Zari realizes she literally has one foot in the aforementioned library and recoils immediately, squeezing her eyes shut and bracing herself with her arms held out as if to ward off the sight that’s about to greet her.
“Zari?”
She cracks an eye open to see them both watching her with matching confused expressions on their faces, Sara in an armchair with her feet propped up on the table and Ava leaning against the edge of the table in front of her, blazer unbuttoned but arms crossed.
“…Hey!”
Sara lets her feet fall to the floor with a thump and trades an amused glance with Ava. “You need something?”
Zari waves a hand airily. “Just, you know… wanted to get in some research. But you know what? I can, I can totally do that from my room, so I’m going to… go. Bye!”
She gives them a quick thumbs up and then turns to leave, hurrying back out into the hall, and she misses the way they both grin after her.
“She bails every time she sees us interact with each other, have you noticed that?” Ava comments with a throaty laugh, and Sara gives her a lopsided smirk.
“Oh, I’ve noticed. That’s half the fun.”
Ava gives her a knowing look. “And what’s the other half?”
Reaching out to hook her fingers into one of Ava’s belt loops, Sara raises an eyebrow and tugs her sideways until she gets the hint and sits down on her lap. They laugh as they try to shift into a position that will fit them both in the chair, Ava’s taller frame hindering their progress, and Ava wraps her arms around Sara’s neck.
“You know this is extremely uncomfortable, right?” Ava tells her, looking pretty pleased with herself and not making any effort to move.
“I dunno, I’m pretty comfy,” Sara says cheekily as she noses at the underside of Ava’s jaw and tightens her arms around Ava’s waist, letting one hand slip under the back of her shirt.
“Is that so, Captain Lance,” Ava whispers, leaning closer, and Sara grins wider, moving to meet her. She closes her eyes when they kiss, instinctively sinking into it, but then a muffled thump distracts them.
“Argh!”
Zari is standing in the doorway again with her hand slapped over her eyes, and they look over just in time to see her turn around and walk into the wall.
“Why,” Zari complains, keeping her eyes covered as she throws her other hand up in the air and shakes it off before marching away, “Why me?”
Their laughter follows her out, and Zari finally catches on that they’re messing with her, at least partially. Lifting her hand, she narrows her eyes at the empty hallway, mind already coming up with ways to get back at them. As far as pranks go, Sara may be off limits, but Ava is fair game, and Zari purses her lips as she thinks about it. This shouldn’t be too hard – it’s a fine line she can walk where she won’t incur Sara’s wrath or retaliation, but she’s smart. She can hack things.
Her eyes light up and she grins mischievously, turning towards the kitchen and the food fabricator.
She’s taking away Ava’s French toast.
Back in the library, Sara and Ava watch Zari stumble away, not moving from their positions in the armchair.
“So you think she’s coming back?” Ava asks, carding her fingers through the hair at the back of Sara’s neck.
“Nah,” Sara shakes her head with a smile, calling out, “Hey Gideon, can you lock down the library and tell the team to stay the hell away for a while? We have some private business to attend to.”
“Right away, Captain Lance.”
“Private business, huh?” Ava murmurs, shivering when Sara presses the flat of her palm against the curve of her spine.
“Mm–hm,” Sara nods, smiling into Ava’s neck, “As fun as it is to see Zari’s face, I don’t think we want her walking in on this one.”
Ava giggles, shifting in Sara’s lap to face her properly. “I couldn’t agree more, Captain.”