Disclaimer: I don't own anything but those poor words.

Summary: A deep conversation in the kitchen lead to some interesting trivia about bell peppers.

Hey everyone, here's part two of the trilogy. It can stand alone, but it might be more enjoyable if you read part one.

It's an Avatrice story, so if it ain't your thing, don't read.

Enjoy,

So ;)

Bell Peppers Interlude

By SoFrost

Ava leant against the kitchen doorframe and grinned. Beatrice had her back to her, from the sound and her movements, Ava guessed Beatrice was cutting something on the chopping board.

Watching Beatrice was one of the things Ava liked to do, especially when Beatrice was lost in her own world. Ava was fascinated by the way Beatrice always put all her focus in the smallest task. Everything had to be perfect or perfectly executed.

What she liked most was when Beatrice was immersed into what she was doing and would sing to herself, like right now.

Ava indulged in her contemplation for two minutes. She watched Beatrice set her knife aside and grab the towel she had over her left shoulder to dry her hands. She silently walked behind her and set her hands on her hips. She then put her head against her back, listening to the soft echoes of her heartbeat.

Beatrice startled at the unexpected touch, but immediately relaxed. Ava's arms tentatively snaked around her waist. The warmth and affection filled her with delight. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before her insecurities and the ugly voices in her head resurfaced. She tensed in spite of herself, and the feeling that she was doing something wrong took over.

Ava felt the shift and undid her embrace immediately. She moved to Beatrice's side and leant against the counter so she was kind of facing her. Beatrice kept her eyes cast downward, focusing on whatever was on the chopping board.

"What are you cooking?" Ava broke the awkward silence with what she hoped was a casual tone.

"I'm… improvising," Beatrice replied with a small shake of her head.

Ava nodded. She could walk away but the tension made her uneasy. "You okay?" she asked softly.

"Yup," Beatrice's response was immediate but unconvincing.

Inwardly Beatrice was reciting her new mantra, trying to fight off her inner demons. There's nothing wrong with me…what I feel is normal… I am normal… there's nothing wrong with me…

"Are we?"

"Of course."

Ava frowned and hesitated. Something was off and worry was starting to twist her guts. "You think you could…say that again while looking at me?" she let out a nervous chuckle.

Beatrice's head snapped up to look at her. "We're good," she flashed a lifeless grin before returning her a gaze on the bell pepper she was chopping.

Ava's mind started to recall the past few days. They had kissed a couple of weeks ago. Beatrice had seemed fine with it then, just as elated as she had been. Ever since, Ava had felt the constant need to express her affection via little touches. A hand on Beatrice's, on her shoulder, on the back of her neck or on her arm. Nothing exuberant, just small gestures to connect them physically. Beatrice would always grin before looking away, like she had just now.

However, Ava realised that maybe she may have misinterpreted discomfort for bashful reciprocity…which would explain why Beatrice never initiated anything or returned the gestures…

Oh damn… Ava was about to be sick.

"I'm sorry," she said with contrition. "I thought…" she trailed off. She had thought that Beatrice had welcome those displays of affection, never considering otherwise until now. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable with my touches…"

There's nothing wrong with me… what I feel is normal… I am… wait what?

Beatrice looked up again. She had been so locked up in her own head, her responses to Ava been automatic. Ava's words were only now making it through the thick veil of her inner struggle.

"Ava, no," her words tumbled in a rush, mingling with Ava's as they spoke at the same time. "You didn't…you didn't make me uncomfortable…"

"I won't…do it again… I…" Ava petered out.

"You didn't make me uncomfortable," Beatrice repeated more firmly now that she had Ava's attention.

Ava stared at her, gauging her. "Are you sure?" she bit her lower lip anxiously. "Your face and body are kind of saying the opposite, right now."

"You didn't, I promise." Beatrice assured her. "I like… I like your touches," she added in a whisper.

"Yeah?" a tentative grin pulled at the corner of Ava's lip.

"Yeah."

Ava let out a sigh of relief, she hadn't misinterpreted anything. Now that Beatrice was looking at her, truly looking at her, she could see the affection mirroring her own. Though timid, it was there, resolute.

"Good," she acquiesced with a soft grin.

After a long pause, Beatrice returned her attention to the bell peppers she was prepping. Ava kept her eyes on her.

Something was bothering Beatrice. Whatever it was, it ran deep, Ava could sense that much.

"Tell me?"

Beatrice ignored the soft prompt and kept cutting the peppers, clearly not wanting to talk. Ava didn't probe again, but waited patiently. Sometimes silence was the best incentive.

It took almost two minutes but eventually Beatrice stopped her movement. When she spoke, her eyes remained on her stilled hands.

"When you spend a lifetime being told that something is wrong with you, that what you feel is wrong… that you're some kind of aberration of nature… and you get daily reminders of those beliefs shove down your throat for long enough… after a while it becomes your reality."

Beatrice raised her gaze sideways but didn't meet her eyes.

"You become that ugly thing they say you are… and you hate that thing… even more than they do…" she snorted bitterly. "So, you do everything to smother that part of you, to fit into the right mould… to be acceptable… normal… or at least what they deem normal."

She looked away, tilted her head up as if to hold back tears and cleared her throat. She turned her head back in Ava's direction, but still didn't look at her in the eyes.

"Even when you learn better… when you start understanding that they were the problem, not you… their voices are still loud in your head… the loudest… because of years of conditioning…"

Ava stood still. She could feel how taxing it was on Beatrice to open up and reveal so much. If she spoke, her words would be maladroit at best, and saying 'sorry' felt inadequate. So, she remained silent, because she didn't want to spook Beatrice into a retreat, and she didn't have the right words anyway.

She watched helplessly Beatrice wiping off her tears with the back of her hand in a delicate gesture.

After a beat, Beatrice finally looked Ava in the eyes.

"Objectively," she continued "I know there's nothing wrong with me… or the way I feel…I know that, I do… but it's hard to shut those voices up…"

Beatrice put her hand close to the one Ava had on the countertop. She tentatively put her pinkie over Ava's. "I like your touches, they help me being louder," her sheepish grin made Ava's stomach flutter. "Please…don't stop…"

Ava smiled back. "I won't."

Beatrice stared at their touching hands, moving her pinkie in a hesitant caress. "It's not that I don't want to initiate, or return them… because I do…it…it takes time to readjust…to… recalibrate my brain."

Ava turned her hand up to grasp Beatrice's fingers, she ran her thumb over her knuckles soothingly.

She perfectly understood of where Beatrice was coming from. She had spent a decade being told she was unworthy and unwanted. She knew the permanent, invisible scars words left on one's psyche. For her, they had left deep-seeded fears, Beatrice had inherited deep-seeded pain and self-loathing in addition.

When Beatrice retracted her hand and looked away again, Ava knew it was because she felt embarrassed at her display of vulnerability. Ava decided to provide comfort the only way she knew how: with humour.

"Well, I've come across some life-altering information recently," she said solemnly.

"Have you now?"

Beatrice latched on the topic change. She felt bare and it was distressing. She didn't want to hide for Ava, but talking about her shame and pain was unbearable.

"Brace yourself for this one," Ava warned. "Did you know bell peppers have a gender?"

"They do?"

"Yes. If you lay them on their side and count the bumps at the bottom you can tell which is which. Four bumps mean it's female and three means it's male."

"Uh, interesting."

"I know, right?" Ava grinned. "The females are full of seeds, obviously. They taste sweeter and apparently, they are best consumed raw, whereas the males are best when cooked."

"You're a bottomless well of trivia," Beatrice said with an appreciative pout.

"That got me thinking. Since they have gender… it begs the question: do bell peppers have sex?"

Bea burst out laughing unexpectedly at the absurd query.

"And if they do have sex… what does that look like?" Ava kept on her roll. "Or, are we talking about a literal 'birds and bees' situation here?"

The fact that Ava was speaking with a straight face, and made her questions sound genuine only made her laugh harder.

"And… if you have a full patch of bell peppers does that mean there's an orgy going on or are they all ace? And what about genderfluid bell peppers, do they have five bumps? And…" Ava kept pushing her silly questions to the extreme.

Beatrice was laughing so hard her sides were hurting. "Please…stop talking," she wheezed.

"So many questions, I can't even begin…" Ava mused with a shake of her head.

She watched Beatrice laugh and felt warm at the sight. She loved that sound so much. Beatrice's laughter always made her heartbeat go a little crazy. Not to mention how it enhanced Beatrice's beauty.

It took almost two minutes for Beatrice to get her laughter under control. When she did, she was breathless, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Whatever am I going to do with you?" Beatrice sighed with a shake of her head. She wiped the unshed tears from her eyes with a knuckle.

Silence filled the room again, but this time the bad tension was gone.

"Thank you," said Beatrice in a much sober tone.

Ava smiled tenderly at her. "As I've said, don't hate what you are, what you are is beautiful," she stated softly but firmly. "I don't mind saying it every day, every minute of every day even… if that's what it takes for you to accept those statements for what they are: the truth."

She straightened up so she could kiss Beatrice's forehead. She cupped her cheek before resting her forehead against Beatrice's. After a moment she leant back and ran the back of her fingers on Beatrice's cheek.

Looking at Ava, Beatrice felt grounded again. She couldn't find the words to express her gratitude to Ava. She didn't feel deserving of all the kindness and affection Ava was bestowing upon her. Be as it may, she treasured it as the most precious gift she'd ever received. And it was.

Ava's eyes drifted briefly on Beatrice's lips. She was about to lean in but Beatrice moved back a bit, breaking the contact. Undeterred, Ava leant back against the counter and simply grinned.

"And the real question is what would you do without my awesome, mind-blowing bits of trivia? Say what you will, I know you've been thinking about bell pepper sex for the past 2 minutes," Ava waggled her eyebrows.

"Oh, hush!" Beatrice rolled her eyes.

"Can I help with anything?"

"Chop an onion and then mince the meat if you don't mind"

"On it!"

Ava straightened up again, Beatrice caught her wrist before she could walk away completely. Beatrice was looking down, a deep frown marring her face.

"Bea?" Ava called her after a beat.

Beatrice looked up, her eyes set on her lips and Ava held her breath. Beatrice moved to lean in but closed her eyes with a deep sigh of what appeared to be resignation before letting go of Ava's wrist.

Even though, Beatrice hadn't followed through her clear desire to kiss her, Ava appreciated the effort. It was yet another assurance that they were on the same wavelength.

There's nothing wrong with me… what I feel is normal… I am normal…

Beatrice took a deep breath and a step back, then she put a hand flat on Ava's chest and pushed her gently. She didn't stop to think, when Ava was back against the countertop, she leant in and captured Ava's lips in a soft kiss.

Ava exhaled sharply in surprise, her eyes fluttering shut at the contact. In a second her entire being was humming with some indescribable feeling. She felt warm, her head was spinning and all her nerve endings tingling. She could feel the halo amping everything up and just like that she knew she was glowing, literally.

It was, wow.

The kiss came to an end to soon to her taste. When she blinked her eyes open, Beatrice was grinning bashfully. "I guess, we can call that a… light kiss."

Ava's face lit up instantly at the pun.

Beatrice made a show of rolling her eyes. In truth, she knew how much Ava loved puns and to see her smiling from ear to ear was worth the lame joke.

Ava was high on euphoria. Beatrice had kissed her and made a pun out of it. Life couldn't get better than that at this very moment as far as she was concerned.

"You're such a bad influence," Beatrice muttered.

"And proud of it," Ava beamed.

"Whatever… just get to work, please."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Ava replied with a wink, a gigantic smile plastered on her face.

I shall be back soon with the third part.

Thanks for reading!