Warrior nun one shots (avatrice)

Basic Education

Credit to kayr0ss on Ao3

Summary: Beatrice gives Ava a lesson on physics, gravity, and falling.

[Or: they are Studying in the Library and Smiling at Each Other a Lot]

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Beatrice didn't expect this much eagerness from Ava.

But then again, she supposed it made sense. While most others would scoff at the notion of two hours of basic education in a day, Ava wasn't like most others.

Schooling, in all its normalcy and mundanity, was something so easy to take for granted by those who saw it as a simple part of life.

Most people went to school.

Most people got to start stories with 'back when I was a sophomore', followed by a smile and the wistful taste of nostalgia at the tip of their tongue.

Ava, on the other hand, spoke about school with yearning. It was like watching a little girl outside of a pastry shop who had never gotten the chance to come inside.

She knew of the tropes, the drama, the intricacies of socializing in a space full of teens who didn't know each other any more than they knew themselves—but knowing of wasn't quite like knowing.

They were in the library, reading under pillars of light coming in through the high windows. Everything was yellow, dust could be seen dancing along the sunbeams. This might not have been the ideal school setup Ava had in mind, but it was something—and if anything, the excitement that bubbled from her at the concept of learning was enough to make Beatrice's chest feel full.

Today, they were talking about physics. The classical stuff—the law, Newtonian concepts, gravity.

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, though it can be transformed from one form to another.

Beatrice scanned the lines while Ava read them out loud. This was hardly necessary learning, not for their line of work, but it was something she liked to do that Ava loved to indulge in as well. So for today, physics. Anatomy for the sake of combat could wait until tomorrow.

"So you never really lose power."

"Not quite. There's always the case of entropy, where we lose energy through heat, so that would only be true if the transformation of energy occurs within an enclosed space without air resistance and a controlled environment."

Ava hummed. "You think the halo follows all this shit?"

"Language."

"Do you not get tired of doing that?" Ava was grinning at her anyway.

"Not until you remember." Beatrice tried to hide her smile. "But I'm not sure. I recall that Dr. Salvius mentioned the halo didn't exist in the same realm as ours. Quantum physics is already an entirely different can of worms from these, we can't expect the halo to behave accordingly."

"Nothing's easy with this thing, huh."

"With you as its bearer?" Beatrice was smiling.

"Even more so."

"Excuse me, is the teacher allowed to be snarky at her students?"

"If the student isn't paying attention..." The older woman tapped at Ava's readings. "Then yes."

"Gotta love a lady who tells me what to do," Ava laughed.

And Beatrice would have laughed as well, had it not caused the prickling feeling of heat flushing upwards from her neck to her ears. Honestly. This woman needed to be more careful with her choice of words. With the way she smiled. With how effortlessly she made Beatrice do the same.

Whether or not Ava could tell, she had no clue. Not a lot of points in the 'perceptiveness' department.

"The innate force of matter is a power of resistance. Matter endeavors to preserve its current state, whether it is moving or stopped; and will do so until acted upon by an external force."

"Good." Beatrice supplied.

"This is why it's so hard to get up in the morning," Ava groaned.

She laughed. "That's a very good way to look at it."

Ava sat quietly for a minute, watching. Beatrice felt self-conscious of the attention, noting at the back of her mind the little stray hairs escaping Ava's hair tie framed her face wonderfully, committing to memory the lopsided tilt of her smile.

"I like it when you laugh," she replied sincerely.

"Getting you to do that is most definitely requires an external force of great measure."

"Not tapping into the halo's reserves for this purpose, I hope?"

"To make you laugh more? I totally would."

"Ava."

"Thankfully, I'm funny enough to do it on my own."

There was that charming grin again.

Ava wasn't wrong to call herself an external force of great measure. A little clumsy, perhaps, but most definitely a force. Beatrice decided that objects with mass were relatable. She very much wanted to stay still—to preserve her current state of 'stopped' and sit within the safety of her comfort zone. But Ava—all smiles, and wit, and so quick to learn what it meant to be selfless—had slowly begun to push.

And soon enough Beatrice found herself in the state of motion—falling, falling, and falling without the will or the force to stop her.

So was Ava, apparently.

Out of her chair that is.

She jerked forward with a start—that's what you get when you lean back into your chair a little too far. Beatrice caught her by the wrist in time— always just in time —and pulled her back upright.

"You've gotten into the habit of saving my ass, haven't you?"

"Really?"

Ava grinned again. Darn it. "Yes. Really."

Beatrice was going to scold her but there was something soft bubbling up from her chest, shaking her shoulders and raking through her throat. It made her eyes crinkle and her heart feel light, and Ava sat in smug anticipation because she knew what was coming next.

Laughter.

Quiet laughter in a stolen moment, just between the two of them. Beatrice covered her mouth, defeated yet smiling. Ava laughed with reckless abandon—and soon there were stitches in their sides, both holding on to the edge of the table for dear life while their snickers echoed against the walls of the empty library. If the sun wasn't shining in through the windows earlier, it definitely was now.

"That was a very good introduction to the force of 'gravity', I think."

"You don't say!" Ava huffed. The hand around her wrist was now resting above the back of her hand on the table.

Ava turned her hand upwards. Beatrice thought she would shy away, but instead traced along the insides of Ava's palm. They were calloused now. She never had the chance to feel them back when they were still gentle—unused to work and movement.

"How fast is gravity anyway?" Ava was watching too, lips upturned and eyes half-lidded. "Like, wasn't it nine-something-something meters per second?"

"Pardon?" The older woman was still distracted by the subtle dance of their fingertips.

"How fast does a person fall?"

There was surely a scientific answer to this question, it was a lesson on physics after all, but science had long left the vicinity of her mind and all that was left was the traitorous ebb and flow of emotion.

"Four months." Beatrice replied in a whisper.

"Two weeks. Three days?"

"Huh?"

How long does it take to fall?

She looked up to meet those lovely, dark eyes.

"Since I met you."