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Beatrice woke up feeling warm and content. A smile spread on her lips and she took a deep breath, cuddling a little closer to Ava, but not moving enough to wake her up. It was still marvellous to Beatrice, that her mornings more often than not started like this now. Closing her eyes again and just letting herself drift between sleeping and wakefulness, Beatrice mused on how much her life had changed since Ava had crashed into it.
Before Ava had come on board of the Cruciform, Beatrice would have thought it a waste of time to stay in bed after she had woken up. She would immediately vacate the bed and start her morning routine of stretching and doing some workouts before getting dressed and starting her day. Now though, she cherished those moments where she could hold Ava, could breathe deeply, feeling happier and more content than she ever had.
Of course, Ava didn't always share Beatrice's bed, and sometimes they would stay together in Ava's quarters as well. Though now that Ava was officially Camila's assistant and therefore no longer forbidden from having sex, she obviously also spent a lot of time with others, especially Camila. Though they had to be careful to not make it look too much like Ava was training to be an entertainer since she was still not old enough for that. Even so, despite how much she loved now being able to have sex casually, Ava would still try to always make some time to spend nights with Beatrice, at least a few times a week.
They usually did not have sex, as Beatrice still didn't care too much about it even though she had found she enjoyed sex with Ava quite a bit more than she had ever imagined. But what she loved the most was to simply hold Ava and cuddle with her. Which was ironic, in a way, because that was what they had already done in the last few months, when Ava hadn't been allowed to indulge in more. Beatrice had been a little insecure about just wanting to continue on like that. Of course, she had told Ava about it, since she had learned her lesson and was now always open and honest with Ava about her doubts and confusions.
It had led to the discovery that Ava indeed also truly enjoyed their cuddles and talks and did not at all mind not having sex. Smiling to herself a little as she pressed her body closer to Ava's, careful to not wake her up, Beatrice thought about how her life truly was richer now that Ava was in it. Before, she hadn't even realized that something was missing, but now she could clearly see how much happier she was with Ava right here. Drifting off a little, Beatrice allowed herself to just feel.
Eventually, after a few minutes of simply lying there and listening to Ava's steady breaths, Beatrice felt the need to relieve herself acutely. Detangling herself from Ava carefully, glad when Ava only huffed a little but slept on, Beatrice pressed a small kiss on Ava's shoulder and then got up. After using the bathroom, Beatrice checked whether Ava was still asleep, which she was and then went to the wardrobe to find something to wear today.
It was a free day for her, which didn't happen all that often, so Beatrice decided to wear something other than her usual uniform. Which was also something that had changed with Ava's arrival. Before that, Beatrice's wardrobe had been small to say the least. She had owned some personal clothes and accessories, yes, but very few. Now though, her wardrobe was quite packed. Beatrice's abundance of choice in clothes was mostly caused by Ava being very excited about clothes (as she was about everything) and Beatrice getting swept up in that excitement (as usual).
Realising that she never really had given a thought to her personal style or what exactly she truly liked wearing had been humbling for Beatrice. But it had also represented an opportunity, one that Ava had gleefully helped Beatrice with. There had been entire nights spent just fabricating clothes, trying out completely different styles and fabrics, discarding those Beatrice disliked and keeping those she took to.
There was a lot of choice now, but instead of feeling overwhelmed by it, Beatrice felt a chuckle rise up in her at how much had changed but also how much had stayed the same. The wardrobe was very much still hers, everything neatly in its designated spot, folded or hanged precisely. Except, there was a pile of clothes on the floor of the wardrobe that Beatrice would not dare touch, which was Ava's. At first, it had grated a little on Beatrice's perfectionism to have a chaotic pile like that, as much as she loved that Ava felt at home in her quarters and wanted to keep clothes here.
But when Ava had offered to change it and had even painstakingly folded and sorted the clothes of hers she kept here to adhere to Beatrice's sense of order, Beatrice had found she disliked it immensely. It was orderly, yes, but it was not Ava. And if Beatrice had learned anything in the last few months, it was that the way Ava was uniquely herself at all times was exactly what she loved about her so much. Which was why Beatrice had immediately told Ava that she would prefer it if she went back to her chaos.
There had been a long conversation about that, of course, about Beatrice's comfort levels and how Ava fit into her life in ways Beatrice could have never imagined she would even just tolerate, let alone love as much as she did. It was one of those conversations that made Beatrice smile and feel confident about how Ava would make an amazing entertainer in the future. In the end, Ava had gladly taken all of her clothes back out of the wardrobe and stuffed them back, in what could only be described as the most chaotic heap Beatrice had ever seen.
It now made Beatrice feel happy and warm every time when she saw it. Smiling to herself at how much she had changed and grown into the person that truly felt like herself for the first time in her life, Beatrice went through her clothes, thinking about what she felt like wearing today. Landing on one of her comfiest jumpers, a dark and light blue patterned one both her and Ava loved a lot, Beatrice looked through the neat pile of jumpers, but frowned a little when she couldn't find the specific one she was searching for.
Making sure to double check, Beatrice tilted her head in confusion. She could have sworn she hadn't worn that specific jumper in a while, so it should not be in the wash. When she checked the rest of the wardrobe, even though the likelihood of her having put it somewhere that was not its designated spot was very low, Beatrice's frown deepened when she couldn't find the jumper anywhere. Stepping back a little, Beatrice scanned the entire wardrobe meticulously.
While usually, she would simply ignore the pile on the floor and barely look at it at all, now that she was searching carefully, Beatrice did find her eyes drawn to it. And immediately, she found herself scrunching up her brows as something dark blue, with a pattern that suspiciously looked like the missing jumper caught her eye. Crouching down, Beatrice pulled at the small part of the fabric sticking out, only to reveal that it indeed was the jumper she had been looking for. And now that she was looking in the pile, she also found other clothes that were clearly not Ava's but Beatrice's.
Laughing a little, Beatrice shook her head. Yes, Ava would sometimes wear her clothes, something that always made heat rise up in Beatrice, but she certainly did not remember having lend that specific sweater to Ava. Not really knowing how to react to this, Beatrice didn't have to think about it for long since a sleepy voice from the bed now took her out of her musings.
"Good morning," Ava said, with a yawn. Beatrice immediately turned towards her and got up from where she had been crouching on the floor, the jumper in hand. It was very amusing to see how Ava's eyes went wide in surprise, though there was also a slow grin now spreading on her lips. "Uh-oh."
The way Ava said it, with laughter swinging in her voice but also some amount of guilt, though it was clearly mostly played up, Beatrice couldn't help but laugh out loud. Walking towards Ava, Beatrice decided that confronting her about the jumper could wait until after their morning kiss and cuddle. Though she still did take the jumper with her and put it next to her when she sat down on the bed.
"Good morning, love," Beatrice said, smiling softly at Ava and sharing a brief kiss with her, melting into Ava's arms, as always. But Beatrice could tell that Ava was distracted, glancing towards the jumper. A chuckle rose up in Beatrice and she leaned back a little, raising her eyebrows. Patting the jumper, Beatrice tilted her head. "I just found one of my jumpers in your clothes pile. I wonder how it got there."
"Oh, I don't know. It must have fallen down," Ava said, cheekily, a big grin on her face that negated the way she clearly tried to look innocent. Beatrice chuckled a little.
"You know, if you want to borrow my clothes, you can just ask. You do it often enough," Beatrice said, softly, still a chuckle in her voice. But then Ava looked down and started fidgeting with her fingers like she always did when she was insecure. It confused Beatrice. It was just a jumper after all, it didn't mean anything. "Ava? I'm not mad. You can take my clothes whenever you want, you don't have to tell me. It's alright."
Beatrice meant it. Yes, she had been confused where the jumper was, but if Ava wanted to take her clothes without asking, that would be completely alright. More than alright, even. Beatrice found that the idea of Ava simply taking her clothes because she felt secure enough in their relationship to do so, made her heart feel warm. Ava raised her head, looking a little sheepish. To Beatrice's relief, there was again a bit of a grin on Ava's face, despite her eyes still glistening with some insecurity.
"No, I know, I just…" Ava trailed off and sighed, before chuckling a little and shrugging. "On TV, people always steal each others' clothes, you know? When they love each other? And I thought, well, I could steal your clothes. That it would be fun, you know? I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but, I mean, that was kind of the whole point."
Beatrice couldn't help but laugh lightly and pull Ava into a hug.
"No need to say sorry," Beatrice said, with conviction. "You can always steal my clothes, I don't mind." Tilting her head, Beatrice smirked a little. "On the contrary, I like it."
"Yeah?" Ava said, her eyes shining with relief and happiness, the grin on her face widening. Beatrice nodded with conviction, caressing Ava's cheek softly.
"Absolutely," Beatrice confirmed, though then she thought of something and scrunched up her brows, thinking hard. "I would steal your clothes as well, but I think my arms and legs are too long for your clothes. Maybe if you fabricated something short sleeved."
Ava laughed, her eyes shining even more as she nodded enthusiastically and already started to get up, clearly intending to immediately do what Beatrice suggested.
"Yes! Like an oversized t-shirt! We could both wear it," Ava said, excitedly, jumping off the bed and holding out her hand for Beatrice.
With a chuckle, Beatrice took Ava's hand and let Ava pull her along to the fabricator. Happily listening to Ava ramble on about what kind of clothes she could get herself that Beatrice could steal from her, Beatrice idly mused how her life would certainly never be boring with Ava in it.
And that was something she was immensely grateful for.