Work Text:
The apartment was mostly shrouded in darkness when Beatrice closed the door behind her, the only light she could see at a glance was coming from the living room.
Beatrice set her bag down and slipped her shoes off before moving through the apartment towards the source of the light.
Unsurprisingly, it had been coming from the TV, some kind of cooking show, the volume turned down low.
Beatrice's attention, however, was drawn to the sofa.
More importantly, to Ava, fast asleep and sprawled across it.
Beatrice smiled and moved closer and perched on the edge of the sofa.
Her hand moved easily, brushing through loose strands of hair and comes to rest against warm cheek.
Beatrice couldn't quite pinpoint where in their relationship she stopped hesitating and over thinking every physical touch, just that at some point it became as natural as breathing.
Speaking of breathing, she felt more than heard Ava's sharp intake of breath and watched as she began to stir, pressing her face further into Beatrice's hand.
Ava cracked open one eye and grinned up at Beatrice.
"Hey."
Beatrice smiled back. "Hey."
Ava rolled onto her back, grasped at Beatrice's hand and linked their fingers together.
"What time is it?"
"A little after five, did you have a good day?"
"Lilith kicked my ass. Again. How many years later and I still can't beat any of you." Ava closed her eyes. "So I came back here for a post sparring nap."
Beatrice smiled down at her girlfriend, yes, the war had been won, but the echo of Adriel's influence could still be felt across the world.
They were still waiting for the day where they could finally rest, but until then they grabbed the moments of peace that they could with both hands.
Ava had once made a promise to be the last warrior nun and she didn't show any signs of stopping yet.
Beatrice was so proud of her, of how far she's come and how much change she's brought.
"How about you?" Ava asked. She played with Beatrice's hand aimlessly and smiled up at her. "Mary all settled in?"
Two years after Adriel's defeat, it had surprised everyone when Beatrice had announced her plans on moving out of Cat's Cradle, Ava had followed shortly after and together they'd made a home.
Beatrice never thought she would have left before Mary, but then again she never thought she'd fall in love or give up her vows.
"Almost, there's still some furniture we need to put together."
Ava frowned. "I should have come with you instead."
"You can come tomorrow if you like? I just don't want you to be bored."
There was an unspoken rule about Ava and building furniture, it just never ended well.
Ava beamed and reached up to cup Beatrice's cheek. "I'd like that."
Beatrice knew what Ava was going to do immediately and allowed herself to be pulled down onto the sofa, rearranged herself so that she could slot herself against Ava who rolled back onto her side so that they were face to face.
"Mother Superion asked about you, and Camila asked if we wanted to join them all for dinner."
"Shouldn't we start getting ready then?" Beatrice asked.
Ava slipped a hand under Beatrice's shirt, sliding up to rest between her shoulder blades.
"Not yet." Ava replied. She pressed a kiss to Beatrice’s waiting lips, lingering for just a moment before she tucked her face into Beatrice's neck. "We have time, lets just rest for a while."
And because Ava was nothing if not convincing, Beatrice didn't protest.
She pressed closer, curled an arm around Ava and held her.
"I love you." Ava whispered.
Beatrice smiled and closed her eyes. And here's the thing, when she had promised Ava all those years ago that she would never leave her, she hadn't planned on this. Had never seen it as a possibility.
But her answering words fell from her lips as easily as a prayer.
"I love you too."
Later they would rise and join their family for dinner, share in laughter and retire to their bed as the night drew to its close.
It was a beautiful life.