in honor of [REDACTED] still being in jail, here's the zari movie post i was going to reblog for the movie's release but uh... can't because i'm in jail
[Image ID: an image of a woman with brown skin looking up, cut so that you can see her neck and top of her shoulders, colorized purple and with the words citrus and spice over it.] (Image Source: a Russian news site? I found it on Pinterest and there’s no reverse image search from before then.)
Pairing: Zava 2.0 (Zari Tarazi/Ava)
Rating: M for non-explicit sexual content (minors DNI).
Word Count: 2606.
Summary: Zari and Android Zari each trying to convince Ava that they’re the real Zari, can’t they tell how much they each like Ava? Requested by @hizzieluthor.
Warnings: Infidelity, non-traumatic flashbacks.
Created For: @lgbtqbingo, filling out the free space and @badbitchesbingo, filling out the “friends to lovers” square.
Read on AO3 here (links to chapter 2, chapter 1 is unconnected) or below the cut.
Ava's in the room she and Sara have claimed as theirs in John's mansion, going over her mental lists for the mission, when she hears yelling and grunting for downstairs. It doesn't make sense, since she's the only one in the mansion, except maybe the person she's waiting for--
Did she get caught up, somehow?
She runs downstairs to see something that probably shouldn't be surprising, but is: two Zaris, dressed identically, slapping each other in a comically-ineffective fight. "What--stop!"
Both the Zaris do, looking up at Ava with the same adoring expression. Like, exactly the same. She looks back and forth between them, trying to figure out which is which, and just...can't see any clues. It doesn't help that their silence only lasts for a second before they start interrupting themselves and each other.
"I'm the real Zari, she's the robot!"
"What? I would never wear these cargo pants if you hadn't made it necessary! I'm the real Zari!"
"Please, you think I'd do this makeup?"
Ava still can't figure it out as they continue arguing, and one of them turns to Ava with a pleading expression. "Look, I'm the real Zari. I'll prove it. Do you remember when you walked in on me naked?"
God, okay, they're doing this trope then.
--
A few days after the clusterfuck with Marie Antoinette's perfume, Ava's walking through the Waverider to talk to Zari about if she'd like to join them for the movie night they're planning this weekend. The room Zari's staying in used to be storage, so it's just habit that has her walking in without knocking, not an excuse but still--
She freezes when she sees Zari, standing in front of a mirror and wearing not a stitch of clothing. Zari notices her right away, but she doesn't seem mad, smirking when she notices where Ava's looking. This is so unprofessional, she--
"Like what you see?"
Still stunned, Ava nods, helpless to do anything else. "Very much." It's the utter inanity of what she's said that shocks her out of her stupor, bolting out of the room immediately, cheeks so warm she's sure she's blushing red as a tomato.
Ava heads back to the study of the ship to, ostensibly, look at the encore map but actually to avoid having to talk to someone and risk blurting out what she'd done or said or, worst, have to talk to Zari about it. But, of course, Zari walks up to her, and there's nothing to do but bite the bullet and apologize.
"I'm really sorry about that," Ava says. "I didn't mean to, but that's not important. I--"
"Apology accepted," Zari says, interrupting Ava's word vomit. "You know, if you ever wanna see me naked, all you have to do is ask me."
Before Ava can say anything to that, like "I have a girlfriend", "this seems like a weird response", or "I don't have any idea what's going on", Zari winks and slaps Ava's ass. Ava jolts and her mouth falls open in shock, watching Zari leave with a red face.
She doesn't turn back to the encore map for a long time.
--
Ava's blushing at the memory, but before she can shoot the other Zari and get this whole mess over with, she interrupts her. "I remembered that too! I can't believe the robots also took our memories. How'd they even do that?"
"Ugh, that's so stupid. I'm so mad at Evil Gideon right now."
"Shut up, Evil Zari!"
"I'm not Evil Zari, you're Evi--"
"Ava," Zari--the second Zari, maybe or maybe not the fake Zari--says, looking right at her. "Do you remember when we almost kissed?"
--
Ava's a little high. She's not sure she likes it, but she doesn't hate it, either. Plus, it's helping her fit in! It's her first punk concert, and Charlie's music is--well, not really her thing, but she's happy to see her happy. But mostly what she's feeling now is a little overwhelmed, the noise, the mass of people, the smell. (As in olfactory, not the band. Actually, probably at least partially the band.) She's stepped outside just to get some fresh air, spotting Sara animatedly chatting with some of Charlie's friends.
Walking a little further (not up for talking with strangers right now, even with Sara there), she sees Zari, leaning against a wall. One-on-one with a friend, she can handle, so she walks closer until she's in Zari's earshot without needing to yell. "What are you doing out here?"
Zari smiles, a little tense. "Just stepping out for some fresh air."
"So am I," Ava says, smiling back.
Zari relaxes and lets Ava step closer, smirking at her in a way that--feels a little different than her usual teasing. Maybe it's the weed? But maybe it's just Zari, the rush of everything finally being okay, being here with her. They've flirted, sure, but it's always stayed just that, light comments that could reasonably be mistaken for something else. This feels real, harder to deny.
She should mind. She doesn't.
Ava raises a hand and holds it up to Zari's cheek, and Zari leans into the touch. "You look so beautiful."
"I know," Zari says, wrapping her arms around Ava's waist and pulling her close. Ava laughs a little, resting her forehead against Zari's. It's stupid to do this here, out in the open, but she finds that she doesn't care half as much as she should, especially when Zari moves her hands to Ava's ass and gives them a squeeze.
Ava gasps, face right in front of Zari's, and it's a little too much, suddenly, so she pulls back, just slightly, takes a breath that just smells like Zari's perfume. Zari looks at her questioningly, a little worry in her expression. That reassures Ava enough that she's back to feeling light and floaty, looking into Zari's eyes and then glancing back down to her lips. With only a quick glance up to confirm Zari's looking at her the same way, she slowly leans in--
Just as their lips are about to touch, Ava hears a group of people walking past them, talking loudly. They both jump apart from each other, Ava scanning to see if Sara's in the crowd--but no, it's just some punks that are probably too young to be at this venue, even with the UK's more lax alcohol laws. This was a mistake, she shouldn't have done this.
"I-I'll meet you inside," Ava says, voice shakier than she'd like, face warm as she rushes away. When she looks back, she sees Zari looking at the group angrily.
They don't talk about it after that. Not after Ava gets drunk to try and deal with it, not after she sobers up, not after they discover Sara's been literally abducted by aliens, not after they found out Sara was going to propose, not after the Waverider explodes. It's too chaotic to add anything else on top.
But they keep flirting through all of it.
--
Ava's face is even redder now, and she wants to tell them that that's enough. Not because she's figured it out--she still has no fucking clue--but because she's getting, embarrassingly enough, turned on just by talking about them almost doing things. God.
But before she can, the Zari who'd brought up memories first says, "Fine." She looks at Ava with a sexy smirk on her face, and her mouth goes dry as she continues, "Do you remember when we kissed for the first time?"
--
Ava's only wearing a shirt and underwear when she walks into the kitchen, seeing a slightly-more put-together Zari staring at a couple of whiskey bottles like they've done something wrong.
"Aves."
"Hi, Z!"
"How many bottles of whiskey are there on the table?"
Okay, people grieve friends in their own ways, so she tries to stay cheerful. "Uh, two!"
"...two! The fridge is making whiskey."
Oh, nice. "What? That's fantastic."
Zari's eyes are wide. "The Waverider."
"...yeah? I guess it's kind of like the Waverider. Although the fridge doesn't take requests like Gideon."
"No, no, no, this bottle--this bottle is the Waverider. And this bottle is the mystery Waverider that blew us up." She pauses, just for a second. "So if there's two Waveriders, who's to say there isn't..." She turns to open the fridge and gasps, pulling out another bottle of whiskey. "Third Waverider?" She grabs another. "And a fourth. It will never end."
"Oh, I get it. You're still really stoned."
"So--so, let's say we go back and stop the mystery Waverider from blowing us up. That's great, but that mystery Waverider came from somewhere which means if one showed up, then another one could. And another, and another, and another--"
"Okay, wait--" Ava moves over to the other side of the counter to try and distract Zari. "Let's just slow this train down. Take this." She hands her a bottle of some all-purpose cleaner. "Remember this? Here. Grab this. Hi, hi, hi. Look, squirt." She should maybe be self-conscious about choosing that phrasing, but she's come this far. "Squirt, squirt. Squirt and wipe! Squirt and wipe, and the gummies are gonna wear off, and then you're gonna be feeling the natural high of a job well done." Zari looks at her with a confused expression, clearly not understanding what Ava's saying. "Look. Show me." She steps back, giving Zari space to clean.
"Wait--" Zari holds Ava's hand, stopping her from walking away and pulling her closer. "I know another way to help the gummies wear off."
"I--Sara's up there, she'll hear us--"
"Then be quiet!" Zari says, like it's that simple, and kisses Ava. After so long, Ava barely knows how to respond, holding back a moan and kissing Zari back. Zari deepens the kiss, Ava hesitantly putting her hands on Zari's waist to encourage her to keep going. With surprising strength, Zari lifts Ava up and onto the counter. Ava moves her hands up Zari's sides and locks her legs around her hips, the kiss intense and heavy and--not stopping, moving into the next kiss and the next and the next until Zari does pull away just to pepper kisses to Ava's neck.
Ava moves her hand to Zari's bun just to feel her hair, still soft and healthy even after all this, tilting her head to give Zari better access. She has to bite back a groan when Zari bites down, hard, not enough to break the skin or bruise but definitely enough to threaten it. The thought should be sobering, but it's anything but, especially when Zari moves her hands to Ava's ass and squeezes. "God, Z, you're gonna be the death of me."
Zari bites and kisses her way up Ava's throat and back to her mouth, kissing her again, nipping her bottom lip. One of her hands slowly moves down Ava's leg from her ass and to her thigh, then back up towards where she's soaking her underwear. Ava whines, egging her on, but right as she's about to touch where Ava wants her, they hear footsteps.
They both pull apart to stare at the entrance to the foyer, and Ava whispers, "It's Sara." Fucked up as it is, part of her wants to yell at Sara for interrupting the moment. Zari moves aside to give Ava room to jump off the counter, shirt falling down to hide the evidence of what they've done. Ava presses a quick kiss to the corner of Zari's mouth as an apology, then heads out of the kitchen, pretending nothing's happened as she comes across Sara in the hall.
--
"Okay, that's enough!" Ava rubs her face in an effort to try and control her blush, knowing it's probably hopeless.
"Alright, that's it," says the second Zari, cutting off the other one. "I'm the real Zari, and Ava is mine." She pulls Ava in for a kiss, who's stunned into stillness by the suddenness of it. As this Zari deepens the kiss, though, she can't help but melt into it, moaning into her mouth and slowly responding.
She keeps an eye on the first Zari, though, who's standing with her hands on her hips and glaring at the makeout in front of her. "No, I'm the real Zari, and Ava is mine!" She pulls Ava away from the first kiss and kisses her. The kiss is--fantastic, like Zari's always fantastic, although this could be a fake Zari. A robot sent to kill her. But when she kisses like this--
The other Zari pulls Ava towards her. "She's not yours!"
The one she was just kissing pulls her back. "Yes, she is!"
Like puppies playing with a toy, they start yanking Ava back and forth between them for a few seconds until Ava, getting a little fed up, says, "That's enough! I'm gonna find out who the real Zari is right now."
"How?" they ask in unison, neither letting go of her arms.
"If you let me kiss each of you properly, I'll be able to tell who the real Zari is," she says. Before she can think better of it, she adds, "I know how she tastes."
They both look a little flustered at that, nodding in agreement. Ava pulls the one who'd kissed her first into a kiss. That Zari wraps her arms around Ava's , pulling her close as they continue to makeout. She sucks on Ava's tongue in a move that has her knees weak, and when Ava breaks the kiss, she gives Ava a sexy smirk and presses another quick, chaste kiss before letting her go. Ava turns to the other Zari, who looks a little distracted by the display but still perks up when Ava kisses her.
This Zari pulls Ava closer by wrapping her arms around her waist, moving one hand to Ava's ass and giving it a squeeze. Ava groans into the kiss and pulls back with great reluctance. But she knows what to do now, and walks away from this Zari to stand next to the other one. Stunned, the Zari she'd just walked away from stares in abject shock as her doppelgänger pulls Ava close with an arm around her shoulders and sticks her tongue out at Zari.
Ava pulls the winning Zari into a kiss, pulling her close and getting a hand in her hair, then down her neck, and then--she pulls the CPU out from her neck, watching as the robot falls to the floor.
"Oh. Oh!" Her Zari, the real Zari, is looking at her with her mouth wide open. "How...?"
Ava shrugs. "I know your obsession with my ass."
Zari snorts before smirking at her, walking closer to Ava and wrapping her arms around her waist. Ava brings her hands to Zari's shoulders as Zari pulls her in close. "You know me. Better than you know your wife, I'd bet."
It's goading her into a reaction Ava's not given yet, Ava's not blind, but she can't say she doesn't agree. "What can I say? Sara's good, but you're the best." She kisses Zari quickly, just a little affection after the--high-stress experience.
"So," Zari says. "Your ass saved me, huh?" Once again, she brings her hands back down to Ava's butt and gives both cheeks a squeeze. Ava gasps and jolts further into Zari, whose smirk deepens. "You know, the Legends won't be back until the evening. You want to know what other parts of you I'm obsessed with?" She punctuates the thought by copping another feel.
Ava moans again and kisses Zari roughly, mumbling her answer into the kiss. "Yes. Obviously. Why'd you think I invited you over in the first place?"
