Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

What Rhymes with Bliss?

Ava was looking over the edge of the ship, watching the waves crash up against it. She had been standing there with her chin on the wood for what felt like hours. She had run up shortly after Theo had and saw the Captain walk into her room. She didn't dare knock or bother her but she wanted to talk about what happened. She wanted to apologize for it. She had fucked up and now her place on the ship was probably compromised. Theo would probably tell Cooker and Xyra and she would be looked at differently forever. The stupid recruit who tried to kiss the Captain, how funny.

Ava heard a noise and her head snapped over to see if it was the Captain's quarters opening. It wasn't. Ava turned her head back to the water and let out a pathetic sigh. She felt a pit in her stomach, the anxiety of not knowing what would happen next was eating at her. After a while, she thought it best to just go inside. Theo didn't seem to be coming out and even if she did, she did not want to talk to Ava. She should have never gone in for the kiss. Ava had misread everything.

But had she?

Theo had kissed back. Theo had grabbed Ava by the waist and pulled her close. Theo did not step away from the kiss until it got heated. And then she ran. Ava was confused. Confused about Theo's reactions, confused about her emotions, confused as to what to do next. Her head snapped back to the Captian's quarters yet again after hearing footsteps. Not Theo. Ava was going to drive herself mad just staring at the water waiting for Theo to emerge so she retreated into her isolation cave, the library.

She found comfort in her chair. No one used it quite as much as her and she liked to believe it had molded to her shape. The table in front of the chair held her book, open to the page she left off on before Theo came to get her earlier that night. She reached for the book and pulled it into her lap. Her eyes read the words but her brain did not process them. Minute after minute she kept reading the same page, over and over. She closed the book with an angry grunt and sank lower into the chair with a huff. She felt a frustrated tear fall down her face and she wiped it away aggressively. Ava sat with her head against the chair until she fell asleep.

She woke up to loud whooping and cheering outside in the hall. Fucking noisy pirates. She lifted her neck off of the chair and was met with sharp pain. If the constant chattering she was hearing was any indication, it was breakfast. She got up and straightened herself up before walking into the mess hall. She yawned and scanned the area for the best place to sit. She found Morgana and Tuni and slid into the table they were at.

"Good morning," Tuni smiled and took Ava's hand into her own, "you didn't sleep well last night?"

Ava shook her head and laughed it off, "Fell asleep in the library again."

"That's the third time in seven suns," Tuni pointed out.

"Ow, my neck hurts Tuni. Do you have any ointment?" Morgana teased in a high pitched voice.

Ava picked off a piece of bread from a discarded plate in front of them and threw it at Morgana. It was true, she had been making it a habit to fall asleep in the library. Now that she was busy all sun and then at night, she was preoccupied with Theo, she didn't have time to read anymore. She would sneak off into the library after her sessions with Theo and end up falling asleep there, body exhausted from the training.

"I have ointment leftover from last time so I won't be needing any," Ava stuck her tongue out at Morgana and then took Tuni's hand as Tuni had, "May I take the day off to rest?"

Ava wasn't planning on getting any more sleep but she wanted to lay low for the day. Too embarrassed to have to face Theo.

Tuni let out a small giggle and turned to Morgana and wiggled her eyebrows, "I'm in charge. I get to be powerful and tell people what to do. I command their suns."