Work Text:
Ava has been looking for the detective – Agent Ysla Kingston, she reminds herself – for quite some time now, with no luck. Her search had her walking by the door to Ysla’s room, her mind racing to both replay images of the last time she was here and shut those images down. Ysla had made herself clear that night: just one kiss. One kiss that played on loop in Ava’s memory anytime her brain found a moment of quiet. But since then, Ysla hadn’t made any more of her terrible – terribly effective – attempts at flirtation, a fact for which Ava didn’t know whether to be grateful or disappointed. Worst of all, Ava was starting to think that she was trying to avoid her. The thought pinched at her heart, even though she tried to reason to herself that it was likely for the best. That it was what she’d asked for.
“Looking for someone?” Farah’s voice piped up, breaking Ava from her thoughts as she passed the living room for the third time in ten minutes. “Our dear detective-turned-agent, perhaps?” she added with a knowing smile.
“We had a training session planned, yet she is nowhere to be found.” she replies, ignoring Farah’s smug grin.
She notices Nat also seated in the living room, a book on her lap.
“Has either of you seen her?” she asks.
Nat lowers her book and shakes her head, her brow creasing in concern, but Farah shrugs.
“She’s probably still in the workshop.” she says.
Both Ava and Nat stare at her.
“The workshop?” Nat repeats, echoing Ava’s thoughts.
Farah nods. “Yeah, she found a workshop in the back, she’s been holed up in there for a while now, working on something she didn’t wanna tell me about.” she adds with a pout.
“I didn’t even know there was a workshop.” Nat says, arching a brow.
Ava shakes her head. “No matter. She cannot miss training sessions, especially now that she is an agent.”
“Aw, come on,” Farah frowns, “Can’t you let her relax for a bit? She seemed so excited to have found that workshop, let her enjoy it before you go back to pounding into her.”
Ava pointedly ignores the young vampire’s smirk and the very inappropriate thoughts trying to worm their way into her brain at the words.
“Where is this workshop?” she asks instead.
Farah exchanges a glance with Nat, who gives her a subtle nod, and sighs. “Will you tell me what she’s working on, then?”
Ava’s lips twitch, suppressing a small smile. “If she does not wish to tell anyone of her project, then I will not divulge her secret.”
“But she’ll surely tell you, huh?”
The team leader swings around to exit the room, barely waiting for Farah’s answer.
*
The workshop is a small, shed-like building covered in vines and almost hidden between trees and bushes, a few paces behind the warehouse itself. A buzzing sound comes from behind its door, as well as loud, barely muffled music, and beneath that, Ysla’s unmistakeable heartbeat. Ava knocks on the door, her own heart beating a little faster as the memory of their last time alone settles at the forefront of her mind. No answer comes. Ava hesitates, then opens the door to enter the workshop. What greets her is a surprisingly vast, though cluttered space littered with tools, planks, parts and various contraptions she can only guess the use of. Two open windows on either side create a pool of light in the centre of the room. And in the middle of the mess, bathed in sunlight, stands a lithe silhouette hunched over a large wooden plank, a round electric sanding tool sending motes of sawdust flying. The sander suddenly stops, and the figure stands straighter, finally noticing Ava’s presence. It is her. Though her usually loose honey-blond hair is now held in a tight bun, goggles cover her dark blue eyes and a large respiratory mask obscures the lower part of her face, but Ava would recognise her anywhere. Ysla tugs a heavy glove from one hand, reaches up to the bulky headphones covering her ears, and the loud punk rock music stops. She then removes her googles and mask, and sunlight shimmers on her features. Ava forgets to breathe.
“Ava.” Ysla says, and she sounds as breathless as Ava feels.
She steps closer, folding her arms to gather her thoughts. “We had a training session scheduled.” she declares, trying not to let her eyes linger too long on Ysla’s bare, slightly muscled forearms.
Dark blue eyes widen. “We did?” Ysla asks, then winces. “Sorry. The outside worlds tends to… fade away when I’m so focused.”
Ava raises an eyebrow. “I tried to call you. Twice.”
Ysla holds up the clunky disk player her headphones are attached to with a small smile. Barely twenty years old, yet already obsolete.
“I took you for an adept of modern technology.” Ava says.
Ysla shrugs. “I am. But I find the more vintage stuff to also have beauty. Like you.”
Quiet falls between them.
“I didn’t– I mean–” Ysla fumbles. “Like with your car.” she says, and Ava thinks she sees a flash of pink on her cheeks.
She clears her throat, trying to ignore the flutter in her chest. Her eyes fall on the plank settled under the sander. It curves gently on both ends, and its edges are wide and round. Curiosity gnaws at her.
“What are you working on?” she asks.
Ysla’s fingers tighten on her tool, her eyes going back and forth from her work to Ava as if battling a decision in her mind. One side wins the battle, as she relents with a sigh.
“Something I haven’t indulged in, in a long time.” she says with a small smile.
Hearing her own words parroted back to her has Ava smiling in return. Then Ysla frowns.
“And something Rebecca cannot know about.” she adds in a grave tone, and alarm bells start to ring in Ava’s ears.
Until Ysla reaches down under the work station and pulls out something Ava had absolutely not expected.
“A skateboard.” she says, bewildered.
Ysla nods, a wide grin illuminating her face.
“Technically, this is a longboard, but it’s basically the same thing. My project, though, is just a regular skateboard.” she explains, her gaze caressing the skateboard in such a tender way that Ava almost feels jealous of the object.
“Why can Agent Kingston – Rebecca – not know about it?” she asks to distract herself from the thoughts.
“She never approved of it.” Ysla replies. “Said it brought out my rebellious tendencies, so she forbade me from skateboarding.”
Ava arches an eyebrow, very much aware the detective’s so-called ‘rebellious tendencies’ – as well as her impossible stubbornness. “And you obeyed?”
Ysla’s wolfish grin is enough of an answer.
*
Somehow, they found themselves on the wide asphalt road passing through the woods, the same road Ava had driven them to Fox Grove, what seemed like so long ago. She can’t remember agreeing to this – they were supposed to be training – but well. Farah was right, Ysla did deserve a break. And Ava had been curious, so curious to know more about that part of Ysla she never would have expected, curious to know everything that made Ysla Ysla.
“It’s been a while since I practiced,” Ysla admits, spinning the board on its hind wheels, “The captain would have my head if he saw me dipping one toe outside of the law again, and with… everything that’s been happening, I didn’t really find the time.” she frowns a little, then smiles again. “But now that I’m no longer with the Wayhaven PD, I’m free as a bird.” she winks.
“You do not appear to regret the police station too much.” Ava states.
Ysla shrugs. “I never had a great relationship with the police itself. But I am gonna miss seeing Tina and Verda so often.”
A wistful smile catches her lips, then she smirks.
“Do try to catch up, will you?” she winks.
The skateboard spins on one wheel to land at Ysla’s feet; she steps on it, kicks the ground, and then she’s off, speeding away on the asphalt road. The sight of the woman out of her usual carefully put together stylish outfit and in a casual, dark tank top and ripped skinny jeans draws a breath from Ava. The exposed, slightly tanned skin, covered in a very fine sheet of sweat beckons her fingers stronger than she had expected. With a sigh, she sprints after her… and catches up very easily.
“This is not very fast.” she comments at Ysla’s height. She’s not even running.
Ysla laughs, the sound so carefree and bright that Ava almost falters in her steps.
“Speed isn’t the point!” she replies, the wind whipping at her hair which she had shaken loose from its bun.
Ava drinks her in, hypnotised by the sunlight shimmering on the freckles that smatter her cheeks and the breeze dancing in her honey-blond locks.
“What is the point, then?” she asks, breathless.
Ysla’s grin widens, so bright now that it rivals the sun, and yet, this is a sun that doesn’t hurt. She is a sun that heals.
“To have fun!”
This is how Ava discovers that you can dance on a skateboard. More precisely, that Ysla can dance on a skateboard. Her feet shuffle on her board as it winds on the asphalt, her body following a rhythm only she can hear, and as the sunset bathes her in a golden glow, Ava can see nothing but her. Nothing but the confident sway of her hips, nothing but the radiance of her smile, nothing but the stars in her eyes. It hammers away at the walls Ava had been desperately trying to place back up.
Ysla slows down so Ava can walk alongside her at a more human pace as they approach the town.
“See, having fun once in a while isn’t so bad.” she says with a wink. “You should try it sometime.”
“Perhaps I shall,” Ava replies, then, before she can stop it from tumbling out of her lips, “if it is with you.”
Ysla turns away then, but not fast enough that Ava doesn’t notice the sudden, glossy shine to her eyes, and she curses her lack of control, as she so often does whenever the detective is concerned. Silence settles between them as Ysla stops, then steps down from her skateboard, kicking it up so it lands in her hands. Ava keeps walking, her gut twisting from the hurt in the detective’s eyes. Her heart lurches in her throat when she suddenly feels a hand on her wrist.
“Thank you for coming with me, and letting me indulge.” Ysla speaks again, her voice smaller, quieter.
“You did not need me here.” she replies in as hushed a tone, not daring to break the soft moment.
“I suppose not. But I wanted you here.” Ysla replies, and Ava’s heart stops, then tears when the detective drops her hand, anger and hurt battling in her eyes. “It seems that no matter what I do, I can’t keep myself away from you.”
And then, before Ava can say anything, Ysla turns fully away, and disappears in the shadows of the town settling into the night.