#extra writing

[collegetennisoriginstory]

Tobin and Sam winter snippets

I'm very happy to announce that I had time to write today, and managed to finish Tobin and Sam's winter holiday snippets!

I'll be releasing them on Patreon and Ko-fi likely on the 1 Jan and 3 Jan (probably around 9pm GMT+8) after I've done a proof-read :)

Hope everyone's been having an awesome couple of days between Christmas and New Year's, it's truly the favorite time of the year for me (not biased at all because my birthday's on Christmas Eve haha).

[littledata]

@princington's amazing art brought me back to this fic so have a little extra for them.

There are many, many terrible things about dating Beatrice.

For example: she manages to wake up at six AM every single morning to go jogging and comes home looking sweaty and sexy while Ava is still dealing with bedhead. She's also organised to the point of insanity and remembers every important date, even the ones Ava didn't realise she knew (like the date she opened the coffee shop. They hadn't even met for fuck's sake), and manages to swoop in with a thoughtful gift or kind word to mark the occasion. Meanwhile, Ava is still scribbling DON'T FORGET DENTIST - TUESDAY?? on the back of her hand like a high schooler.

And if all of that wasn't horrible enough, even after almost a year of dating, Beatrice can still roll up the cuffs of her sleeves or adjust her glasses or recite some complicated piece of research, and Ava winds up hopelessly turned on in public on the regular.

It sucks, actually. Ava's life is awful.

None of that is the worst part of it though. The worst part of dating Beatrice, who is sexy and thoughtful and intelligent, is that she's fucking impossible to buy gifts for.

Beatrice doesn't actually want anything is half the problem. She reads a lot of books but she mostly checks them out from the university library. She drinks a lot of tea, but Ava runs a coffee shop. If her girlfriend wants tea, she has a store room full of it. Other than that, she mostly likes crosswords, the gym, her friends, and… well. Ava.

It's making planning for the first birthday Beatrice has had since they've been together exceptionally stressful. Particularly since Ava knows for a fact that Beatrice's parents believed in a "socks and school supplies" style of gift giving which, as far as she's concerned, barely even count.

"What are you getting Bea for her birthday?" she whispers conspiriatorially to Camila one Saturday afternoon in Mary and Shannon's back yard. Beatrice herself is bouncing the baby on her knee and debating some obscure scientific hypothesis - something about mold. Ava is surprised to find she actually has an opinion on the topic. Probably all those mold documentaries.

Camila snorts, "Have you just figured out she's impossible to buy for?"

"Yes," Ava stresses, "C'mon, what are you getting her? And if it's really good I'm stealing your idea."

"Oh no." Camila shakes her head, "It took me all year to think of something. You're on your own."

"Cam." Ava tries her best pleading, puppy dog eyes. They don't work nearly as well on Camila as they do on Beatrice.

"Ava." Camila pats her hand comiseratingly, "Just get her what every self-respecting lesbian wants for their birthday."

Ava frowns, "Power tools?"

Camila smirks, "Strap-on and lingerie."

So that conversation was entirely useless - mostly because Ava already owns more than enough of both those things and they sort of seem like a gift for both of them more than just Beatrice. And more than anything else, Ava wants her girlfriend to feel special. Like she's worth something great that's for her and only her.

Shannon is her next port of call. Ava corners her in the kitchen where she's refilling drinks and, probably pre-warned by Camila, looks entirely unsurprised to be accosted.

"We normally order some of the gross British candy she likes," Shannon informs her. "And before you even try it - she knows that's what we get her every year, so don't try and steal the idea."

Ava groans despondently, "I'm hitting a wall here. What the fuck do you buy for someone who doesn't actually want anything?"

Beatrice does always say that her best friend is unreasonably logical and practical in her advice. For the first time, Ava understands her plight when Shannon shrugs and says, "Have you tried asking her?"

With nothing else to do, Ava tries. Admittedly, she probably picks a bad time to do it: she's shirtless and sitting cross-legged on their bed while Beatrice massages lotion into the new tattoo on her shoulder. Bea's fingers are gentle and thorough and very, extremely distracting.

"Hey," Ava says a little breathlessly, her eyes closed, "What do you want for your birthday?"

Beatrice, because she is Beatrice, says, "You don't have to get me anything."

Typical. This is why dating her is so difficult. "Obviously I do," Ava points out. "For my birthday you took me to a theme park even though it's your idea of actual, literal hell." Bea had even bought and worn a t-shirt that said "I RODE THE BIG ONE". Camila has the photograph framed in her office.

"Not actual, literal hell," Beatrice argues, "I enjoyed that you had fun."

"There's really nothing you want?" Ava asks.

Disappointingly, Beatrice's fingers stop their movement and she puts a cap on the lotion, moving off the bed behind Ava. "Is this what you were whispering with Camila and Shannon about earlier?"

"Maybe. They weren't helpful."

Beatrice's smile is affectionate, "They never are." She leans in to kiss her, her hand landing on Ava's bare shoulder and skirting over her neck, "I'd like to spend my birthday with you. That's all."

Ava wraps her arms aroud her shoulders and sighs, "Dating you is the worst."

"Mm, awful," Beatrice agrees, kissing the corner of her mouth and then her jaw. "Shall we break up?"

"Yep." Ava turns her head to press their lips together again and uses her distraction to lie back, pulling Beatrice down on top of her. "We're over."

(On her birthday, they drink tea in bed and do a crossword puzzle with Ava's head on Beatrice's shoulder. Later, they wander through a museum eating wine gums and holding hands. At Shannon and Mary's place, Beatrice unwraps the cordless drill that Ava bought for her.

"Thank you," she says, "It's just what I wanted.")

(Ava saves the strap-on and lingerie for later.)

[teamconductors]

Also, have a deleted scene. There was gonna be an Ingo vs Emmet fight in Hisui, but I didn't like it. I did like this bit tho:

“This is my last pokemon,” Emmet said, showing a pokeball.

“As is mine. What a fine coincidence!” Ingo said. “All aboard, Gliscor!”

“Clear! Luxray!” Emmet said. He threw Luxray’s pokeball when Ingo threw Gliscor’s. The ace pokemon stared the other down, Gliscor grinning and Luxray glaring at each other.

“Oo, this is getting good,” Lady Sneasler said while munching on a handful of crunchy rock salt. She sat next to Akari, and her brash speaking after not doing so for so long made the human jump.

“Lady Sneasler? When did you get here?!” Akari asked.

“For a while. I wanna see which of my Wardens will win.” Lady Sneasler said, though she knew Akari would not understand what she said. However, a quick glance from Ingo and Emmet let her know they heard her. She laughed and continued eating salt.

[mieswritingarchive]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

A super self-indulgent one-shot of NAVE in the background of SOLAB.

Backlog: 56

[littledata]

There have always been rumours. People see lights in the windows of the rotting old convent, movement where there should be none. The locals whisper about vampires, blood curdling screams in the dead of night, a nun who should have died two hundred years ago.

Ava Silva doesn't believe in any of that bullshit, obviously. What she does believe in is having a roof over her head out of the rain and a place to sleep that cops aren't likely to come poking around in. When she steps through the doors of Cat's Cradle, she expects to find nothing more than a crumbling old ruin.

Instead, she encounters a polite English tour guide who refers to herself as a "member of the church".

Beatrice is sure a stern reminder that this is private property will be enough to deter the trespasser - it always has been in the past, after all. Instead, Ava Silva insists on asking questions and looking around. For the first time in over a century, Beatrice finds herself having a real conversation.

It would be easier to deal with, she thinks, if only she weren't so hungry.

[littledata]

I know you’re probably working on those prompts, but I, too, just ended up on North Sea tiktok, and if you have time, I’m curious what Ava’s reaction to that particular algorithmic destination would be. Because like, Bea’s the most capable person ever, but those waves are Very Big, and why isn’t everyone tethered to the boat at all times??

(From the on that dizzy edge universe. An example video if anyone would like context.)

For a long time, Ava's TikTok experience was predictable. It mostly went: hot girl biting her lip, hot girl playing guitar, hot dude baking a cake, weirdly mesmerising crafting video, drama about people she'd never met, hot person kissing another hot person.

The number of straight-up thirst traps has been on the decline recently though - mostly because Ava just has to turn her head and Bea will be changing her shirt or using a hammer or standing perfectly still, all of which is a lot hotter than any video she's ever seen. In its infinite wisdom though, The Algorithm has seen her scrolling past those videos and decided it needs to fill the void with something else.

That thing, apparently, is North Sea TikTok.

They're lying in bed when it happens for the first time. Beatrice had spent the first few weeks after she came home insisting they should try to maintain separate bedrooms, move their relationship along at an orderly and appropriate pace, but she pretty quickly gave in to the allure of spooning and her bedroom defaulted to being both of theirs.

Now, before they go to sleep, they often end up lying side by side while Beatrice reads one of her insane books about lesbian necromancers or whatever and Ava scrolls TikTok or reads fanfiction about hot people falling in love in coffee shops and stuff. It makes her feel mature and settled and safe in a way that's sometimes so exciting she has to take Bea's book out of her hands and make out with her about it.

Anyway, so they're doing that (lying in bed, not making out) when it shows up on her for you page. It starts with the weird, slow sea shanty, then there's the huge waves, and then someone is getting slammed in the face with the fucking ocean.

Ava lets it loop. Then she lets it loop again. Then she taps on the suggested search north sea tiktok and she's presented with a thousand more videos exactly like the first. People falling overboard and huge waves crashing over ships and and and -

"Bea." Ava taps her arm insistently.

Bea looks up from her book without much concern - she doesn't use TikTok but she does submit to being shown Ava's curated favourites. Also, she's wearing glasses and she looks super cute.

No, Ava, don't get distracted.

"Bea," she repeats and holds her phone up to her face.

Beatrice watches with a scrutinising gaze. When the video finishes, she says, "They really shouldn't be filming in those situations, it's distracting them from proper safety precautions."

Ava stares at her. "That's all you have to say? They could have died."

"Possibly," Beatrice agrees. "Once someone falls overboard it's very difficult to recover them, although certainly not impossible. And it depends a lot on the kind of ship. I assume someone wouldn't post a video where someone died though."

Although Beatrice's naivety about what people are willing to post on the internet is adorable, Ava's mind is stuck somewhere in between the words overboard and impossible. Even Beatrice, careful and capable as she is, couldn't keep herself from being swept off her feet by some of those waves. Ava can picture her so vividly, disappearing under the surface.

"You're not making me feel better about this."

"Oh." Beatrice blinks in surprise as if she has only just realised that they aren't having a purely practical discussion. She puts her book carefully down on the nightstand. "I'm not sure what to say. I can't lie to you and pretend it isn't dangerous. Those are cherry-picked clips showing the worst though, it isn't always like that."

Which, yeah, okay, Ava already knew it was dangerous. For all the months that Beatrice is away she lives with the low-level, prickling anxiety that the next call she gets will be telling her Bea is hurt, or worse. It's different seeing it though, seeing how quick it is, how powerful -

"How often are you in the north sea?" she asks, as if that's the only problem with it.

Beatrice winces, "Well, it depends. The contracts I work - " She explains something complicated and lengthy about shipping and demand and the company she works for and Ava thinks she's the most interesting person in the world but this stuff is, also, a little bit boring and she's still pretty busy picturing her girlfriend's imminent death.

She needs to send these videos to Camila. If there's anyone she can rely on to overreact with her, it's Camila.

"Ava," Beatrice says, seeing that she's lost her. She tugs Ava's phone gently from her hands and puts it down next to her book. Then she wraps one arm around Ava's shoulders and the other around her waist and pulls her in close.

Ava has always loved being hugged by Bea, even before they got together - she's strong and solid and lets Ava hold on for as long as she needs to. (Also, she smells fucking amazing, like, all the time).

It wasn't until they started dating that she realised Beatrice had been holding something of herself back though, not letting herself relax entirely whenever they touched. Now, it's as if her whole body sinks into it, like some tension evaporates the moment Ava's arms are around her.

Ava pushes her face into Beatrice's chest and inhales, lets herself hide there in the fabric of her shirt for a moment. It's dark and warm and hard to worry about anything.

"I promise I do everything I possibly can to come home safe to you," Beatrice says into her ear, "I'm sorry I can't give you any more reassurance than that."

"Okay," Ava says, voice muffled against Beatrice's chest. It's not enough but it has to be enough. This is Bea's job, the thing she loves more than anything else, and Ava won't ever touch the sanctity of that. "I'm still going to worry about you."

"I know." Beatrice presses a kiss into her hair and pulls back, "I worry about you too though, when I'm gone."

Ava rolls her eyes, "The most dangerous thing that could happen to me is Lilith finally snapping and turning on everyone she loves."

"So fairly likely then?" Beatrice asks.

Ava snorts, "Like a 90% chance."

They settle themselves to go to sleep, lying down fully and adjusting the pillows and blankets. That's another thing Ava learned recently: Beatrice - her big, tough sailor - likes being the little spoon. She won't admit to that, obviously, but she sighs contentedly whenever Ava wraps her arms around her from behind.

So when Beatrice reaches up to switch the lamp off, Ava does just that, presses herself against Bea's back. She listens to Beatrice's breathing become slow and even, and she clings on.

[littledata]

in your new fic (love by the way) just wondered if you could elaborate what Ava and Bea discuss when they call each other and realise they’re gonna be a couple.

Really interested to know when they both realised and how Bea discussed the beach night to her?

Thanks if you can

“It’s stupid because it’s not here in front of me,” Ava says, grinning stupidly. She can't seem to wipe it from her face, her mouth doesn't seem capable of doing anything else. “Four months, oh my God.”

On the other end of the phone, she can hear the wind rushing past Beatrice, and she half feels like it might sweep through the line and blow her way. For years she's carried the weight of loving Beatrice and believing she couldn't - or wouldn't - love her back, has borne the endless cycle of soaring hope and crushing disappointment with relative dignity and minimal crying into Mary's shoulder.

Now that Beatrice has said it though (I feel very deeply for you - she'll relive those words again and again) she's sure she could float away with the slightest breeze.

"Did you - would you have said anything? If I hadn't..." She doesn't want to say 'got down on my knees and begged you to love me in the middle of a train station' although that's certainly how it had felt; how it felt driving home in Lilith's car wondering if Beatrice would ever look at her the same way again.

"I don't know," Beatrice tells her. "Maybe not. I felt very muddled about all of it. I tried hard to resist it."

"How long?" Ava asks greedily. Now that she's had a taste of Beatrice wanting her, loving her, she can't get enough, will gladly drink it all down and ask for more.

"Hm." Beatrice says. Ava can't see her but she knows Beatrice's noises and silences well enough to understand that she's thinking about it. She's found, over the years, that where her own emotions are often clear and straightforward to her, looming large over everything she does, Beatrice's tend to be more subtle, more textured. Often, she has to sort through them before she's able to express them at all.

"Do you know that lots of girls smoked at my school?"

Ava's brows furrow, confused by the apparent non-sequitur, "Huh?"

"I mean, that lots of girls smoked, and I always refused to join in them. I didn't like it, I thought it was smelly and unpleasant."

"You smoked with me," Ava reminds her, "The first time we met." Ava thinks of it often - wonders regularly the path her life would have taken if she hadn't sneaked out of the tour of the rich asshole boarding school and found Beatrice crying behind the kitchens.

She hears the smile in Beatrice's voice, "That's what I mean. You offered me a cigarette and I accepted, even though I never had before. I think I wanted to impress you."

"Impress me?" Ava lets out a startled laugh, "You're like, the most impressive person ever."

"We'll have to agree to disagree," Beatrice says, amused. Ava wishes very badly she could see her, pull her close. "But I think that's when it started - although I didn't know it then, of course. I only realised it in little bits over the years. Coastal erosion, you know."

"I know," Ava agrees. She's so in love with this ridiculous nerd. "You remember when you came to the hospital to see me? When you were in university and I took those - uh. Well, when I ended up in hospital, anyway. As soon as you walked in, everything felt better, and I just knew."

"That long?" Beatrice asks softly.

"Yeah, that long." Ava agrees. It isn't that she's spent the last ten years pining: she's had boyfriends, girlfriends, even fallen in love a couple times over. But quietly, in the very back of her mind, it's always been Beatrice. Just Beatrice.

"I'm sorry I didn't act sooner," Beatrice says regretfully.

"Don't be sorry," Ava tells her immediately. "Don't. We got here. I didn't think we ever would. That night on the beach trip I kind of felt like I'd fucked everything up, like we'd never be friends the same way again."

"I think if anyone fucked up then it was me." Beatrice sighs, "I felt like I'd taken advantage of your desire for physical affection."

Ava pauses, decides she isn't going to say it and then says it anyway. "So I did turn you on, right?"

"Oh God." There is a smothered laugh and Ava imagines Beatrice is covering her face with her hand, "Do we have to get into that sort of detail?"

"So that's a yes." The grin is back on her face and bigger than ever.

"It's a yes," Beatrice admits, "And I'm sorry I didn't handle it very well. I was embarrassed, I think. And angry with myself."

"Angry?" Ava asks, "Is the thought of me touching you that bad?"

"No, of course not." Beatrice is quick to correct her, "The opposite, really. I was angry at my own lack of self-control in maintaining the boundaries of our friendship."

"Hm." Ava considers this for a long time, "You know, you should probably go back to therapy."

"I'm going to allow that comment only because it's you."

There's something in the way that Beatrice says you that makes Ava's heart flutter and dance in her chest. She wants badly to hug her, pull in her and tell her it's okay, feel the warmth and the strength of her. She wants to touch her again and see if she can make her gasp, hold her hand and run her fingers through her hair.

And she can say it, now, doesn't have to keep it inside anymore. So she does. "I want to kiss you really bad right now."

Beatrice inhales a shaky breath. She says, "I want to kiss you too."