#chloefrazer

This is exactly why Aline did not do nights out. More precisely, this is why Aline did not do nights out with Tina. She could not hold her drink and her friend often forgot that little detail. One bottle of ale and she was dizzy. Two bottles of ale and she needed help to go back home safely. At least the mood was light. Rare were these moments where Aline could just unwind and spend time with her friends without thinking about the precinct or the Agency. Wayhaven enjoyed a rare moment of peace. It’s been months now that nothing out of the ordinary happened. No supernatural incidents to investigate, no mad vampire scientist, no supernatural carnival, no kidnappers, not Trappers. The activity at the precinct was low and boring. Aline spent most her time down in the lab with Verda. She needed the stimulation during the day. Helping Verda with his medical analysis for the hospital was the highlight of her days lately and no, it is not as sad as it sounds.

Unfortunately, this lack of activity meant that Unit Bravo was not much available as they were sent on other missions elsewhere around the country. Missions without Aline and way too far from Wayhaven. The detective was always concerned when the four vampires she came to care so much about were out in the wild, facing dangerous foes. She knew they could handle themselves, of course. Unit Bravo worked together for such a long time and they did not need the detective’s help to succeed on a mission. It was stressful, nonetheless. Aline specifically avoided thinking about what could go wrong. If she said she was equally concerned about the four women, she would not be lying… technically speaking. Her concern was maybe more pronounced when it came to a certain Commanding Agent Ava du Mortain. She could admit that. This was rather safe to admit. Hell, it’s not like she was fooling anyone anyway.

There were so many close calls in the short year since they all met. Every encounter going south made the detective’s heart stop dead in her chest, no matter who was concerned, but when Ava was concerned… it felt like she was going to throw it up. Aline knew Ava would do whatever it takes to ensure the mission is a success, even if it means sacrificing her own life should the need arise. She certainly risked it before, much to Aline’s dismay. She understood. She was ready to do the same in a heartbeat if it meant keeping Wayhaven and its inhabitants safe from harm. Aline shook her head, clearing her head from these thoughts. Farah, Morgan, Nat and Ava were there with her and Tina. She did not regret getting dragged at the pub by Tina even if her former partner did not give her a chance to change into something a bit more comfortable for drinks at the pub. Aline rain checked Tina’s offer of a night out too often, so when she saw Aline in her office with Unit Bravo welcoming them back from their most recent mission – which went very well to Aline’s greatest relief and no harm done to any of them – she took the opportunity to invite them all. Her argument that Aline’s was off duty the next day, Farah’s excitement and Nat soft encouragements got the better of the detective’s – and Ava’s – resolve.

Now here she was, still in her black trousers and blazer and her thin blue stripe pressed shirt. Her black polished loafers were starting to hurt her feet. She remembered being vaguely grateful for the relative privacy of their booth, because Aline was slumped over the table with her second downed bottle of beer in both hands stretched in front of her. The cold surface of their table was doing wonders to cool her off. Her brain was macerating in more alcohol than she could handle and her usually pale face was aflame. She felt a hand in between her shoulders. She was sure she could feel the coolness of the skin through her blazer. It was more than welcomed and oddly comforting. Wanting to see who was the owner of the hand, Aline detached her left cheek from the table just enough to turn her head and place her right cheek on the wooden surface in its stead. Her smile stretched wide when her light green eyes met a similarly colored pair looking at her with concern. Ava drew her hand back almost immediately after, to Aline’s chagrin. The detective straightened slowly to not rattle her pounding brain to abruptly inside her skull and did her best to sober up. At least a little. The last thing Aline wanted right now was to make an even bigger fool of herself in front of Ava, her friends and incidentally a fair number of Wayhaven’s citizens.

“I’m fine Ava. Haven’t had a drink in a long time is all,” Aline managed to mutter without pausing for too long between sentences. Thank God, she could still be coherent somewhat.

“Who let her have a second bottle?” Tina said, her voice full of mirth.

“She didn’t say no, when I offered!” Farah answered, the concern in her voice obvious. She was right, though. Aline took the offered bottle knowing she shouldn’t, but she was so relieved Unit Bravo was safe and happy they were all spending time together that she indulged herself and she was off duty the next day. Sure, as the Detective of Wayhaven, Aline needed to be reachable at all times, but so far, she had always been able enjoy her days off with minimal work related matters interfering.

She saw Tina lean over the table to take her hand. “Aline, you want me to take you home? I’m sorry I forgot for a moment you weren’t much of a party girl.”

“Hey, I go out plenty!” Aline lied, her free arm bent on the table, her hand holding the weight of her head. Tina was right, but the ale made her take offense for the comment. There really was no reason for it. It was not like Unit Bravo did not already know she preferred to spend a quiet evening at her place or the vampires’ headquarters than hitting the pub to relax after a rough day.

“Sure, you do love,” her friend laughed. “Come on, I’ll go fetch your coat and I’ll tuck you in. We can’t have Wayhaven’s Detective go back home drunk alone.”

“We will do it.” Ava’s voice was as tight as her body was stiff when the words tumbled out of her mouth. Aline could feel the tension overtaking the vampire.

“It’s really no bother, I…”

“I said we will do it Officer Poname,” the Commanding Agent almost spat. “My Unit needs to leave anyway. It’s getting late and we have a debrief at first light tomorrow. Enjoy your night. I will… we will see Detective Andrieux is home safely, don’t worry.”

“But we already did our…” started Farah before being interrupted by Ava. It was all going a little bit too fast for Aline. The detective was too stunned to speak.

“It’s an order. Morgan, take the Detective outside. Farah, grab her coat. Nat, pay the tab and meet us by her car. Let’s go.”

Aline felt Morgan’s arms encircling her waist and being lift from her seat. She was sure she heard her groaning something about not believing a 30-year-old woman could not hold her liquor. Once on her feet, the vampire put one of the detective’s arm over her shoulders and Aline felt herself being put in a standing position and guided outside of the pub. Being the same height surely helped maneuvering without incidents. She managed to say goodbye to Tina and she faintly heard Nat apologizing for Ava’s behavior. No doubt to Aline that the tall and beautiful vampire’s warm smile and kind words would be enough to excuse her friend’s rudeness.

  ~~

The cold autumn air bit at the Aline’s skin, seeping through her clothes. Morgan let out a curse when the cold got to her too. The vampire’s body was warm at her side, but it was not enough and the detective shivered. Almost instantly, she felt her coat being slipped on her shoulders. She turned her head to see the friendly face of Farah, grinning. “Do you remember where you parked your car this morning, Aline?”

“The precinct’s parking lot… I guess… it was raining this morning, so I took my car you know?” Aline answered, slurring a little over the words. She heard Farah laughing gently. Morgan kept on guiding her on the pavement. After a few minutes walking the empty streets of Wayhaven, Aline and Unit Bravo arrived next to her beat-up grey car.

“Put her in the passenger seat. I’m driving her home. You can go back to headquarters. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Oh, so that what it was all about. You were just jealous of Tina wanting to get her back home. You know Tina is Aline’s best friend, right?” the detective could feel Farah’s full laugh behind her as Morgan installed her inside the car. How did they get the keys out of her coat’s pocket without her noticing? God, she really was that smashed after two beers? Pathetic.

“Could we please be done with this? We need to keep her safe. The quicker she’ll be home, the quicker we will achieve that and the quicker everyone will stop talking about tonight!” Ava’s voice was so low. It always did weird things to her stomach when her voice had that deep tone to it.

“Oh, please Ava, how long are you two gonna keep this up? We all know that…” Farah shut the passenger’s door right then. Aline wanted to listen to the rest of the conversation, so she put her forehead against the window trying her best to listen, brows furrowed. She could not make out what Unit Bravo was saying anymore, though. Her head was starting to hurt. Through the condensation on the glass, she could see Ava was standing tall, her arm crossed. Nat’s lips were moving, and she had a hand on Farah’s shoulder. She was probably calming everyone as usual. The youngest vampire was grinning, her white teeth flashing in the night. Morgan was rubbing her arms, her cigarette between her lips. Aline felt her eyes grew heavy and closed. Just a few seconds, she told herself.

  ~~

When Aline opened them next, it was to the image of Ava parking her car. The place was familiar, the block of buildings even more so. They have arrived at her appartment.

“We’re there. Do you need help to get out of the car?” the blonde vampire asked.

“No… I think I’m good,” Aline replied.

The two women get out. Ava locked it and stood closer to Aline that usual, walking her back to her building, her hand a ghost between the detective’s shoulder blades. Aline patted her coat, searching for the key opening the lobby and starting to panic when she didn’t find them.

“I have your keys; I drove you here, remember?”

“Oh.” She will never drink more than one bottle of beer anymore. “I’m sorry.”

“Why did you drink more than you could handle if you knew it’d put you in this state?” Ava asked.

“I was relieved Unit Bravo came back unarmed. That you came back unarmed, and I missed you… Erm... all of you… I mean…” Aline let out a deep sigh, feeling her face warming. She could feel Ava’s eyes on her. At least, the vampire could think her redness was due to her drunken state.

Silence fell over both women as Ava opened the lobby’s door. Not a sound was made while they climbed the stairs to Aline’s own door on the third floor. When they reached it, Aline had to stop to breathe a little, her hand on a nearby red brick wall. Those flight of stairs were not too much for her usually. She took them every day over the elevator, but in her intoxicated state, her body did not really feel like her own anymore.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah! Just… open the door. I need to catch my breath, and sit down for a while.”

Ava unlocked and opened the door. Aline entered her apartment, shrugged her coat on the small rack and went straight to the comfort of her couch. As soon as she sat down, she let herself sink into the cushioned seat for a few seconds before taking her shoes off. A satisfied sigh escaped her lips. Straightening back up, the detective realized the vampire agent was still at the door of her apartment, gripping the handle and staring at her with intensity. Aline always felt so seen under that gaze, it was too intense sometimes, the emotions that could take hold of her when their eyes met. The detective broke the contact and concentrated on taking off her black ankle socks.

“I know for a fact you don’t need my permission to enter my place, so why are you still over there? Won’t you come in?” Aline said while massaging her feet. Being bent with her head down caused the pulsing inside her head to come back with a vengeance. The pain was bordering on unbearable. “Shit, it feels like my brain is having a party of its own. Please, never let me drink more than one drink next time.”

“I’ll get you a painkiller. Bathroom mirror?”

“Yes… Thank you.”

Aline watched Ava disappear in her bedroom before letting her head fall against the backrest of her couch. She closed her eyes and heard the vampire’s steps going towards the kitchen, then a faint clinking of glass and the water running in the sink. It was oddly comforting to Aline hearing Ava going around the apartment, knowing in which cupboard she put the glasses and mugs, where she kept her medicines. The couch dipped slightly on her right and Aline opened her eyes to the sight of Ava handing to her one open palm with the pill, the glass of water tightly secured in her other hand.

“Thanks,” the detective whispered as their hands brushed against each other. Aline stayed unmoving for a moment. She sensed the stiffness taking hold of the vampire once again, feeling Ava’s fingers twitch nervously against her own. Those little moment of intimacy were so rare and they were usually followed by weeks of avoiding each other and throwing meaningful glances across the room when the other was not looking, quickly avoiding the other’s eyes blushing when they were caught. At this exact moment, Aline could not take it anymore. Farah’s voice earlier on the precinct’s parking lot came back to her. How long were they going to keep this up indeed? Aline placed the tablet on her tongue and gulped down the water, swallowing it quickly. She grimaced at the bitter aftertaste. Setting the empty glass on the coffee table, Aline turned her full attention towards the blonde vampire.

“Ava… I want to talk.”

“We talked plenty tonight, Detective,” she answered.

“Aline,” she corrected. “I thought by now, at least when we were alone, you’d call me by my name… Can we talk about us… s’il-te-plait?”

“Using French isn’t really fair… and you are drunk, I’m not sure it’s a good idea…”

“When will it be a good idea? I meant what I said outside, I missed all of four of you during your mission, but it’s you, Ava, it’s you I missed the most. You know that, don’t you?”

“Aline…” the vampire sighed.

“Come morning I won’t remember a thing! You’re plenty safe to deny everything if I ask you questions then!” said the detective.

“That’s part of the problem Aline,” Ava said in a whisper, barely audible. “It keeps getting harder to deny it and I don’t want you to forget if we talk about us. And as I told you before, it’s unsafe. For both of us.”

“When, Ava?” Aline answered with the same whisper. Her head was throbbing anew and she mechanically started to massage her temples. “Shit… I swear I’ll be happy never drinking a drop of alcohol ever again. Promise you’ll look out after me.’

Aline saw Ava’s lips pulling into a small smile, her eyes looking softly at her. Aline is pretty sure her heart skipped a bit at the sight.

“Aussi longtemps que possible,” Ava said. Aline’s heart to beat a little faster, but the vampire broke the growing tension quickly. “Let’s put you to bed. You’re exhausted.”

“No, just stay a bit longer. I’ll just lie here and rest my eyes for a few seconds, then I’ll go to bed.”

As Aline was saying this, she closed her eyes and started to lie on her couch, her head slowly leaning towards the other woman. Her head met the rough fabric of Ava’s cargo pants, her dark brown hair falling and covering half her face. As usual, the vampire’s first response was too tighten every single muscle she could consciously control. A few seconds passed, then a minute. The detective knew this was maybe the bolder move she ever made, but she was too tired and too drunk to really care. She settled herself a bit more comfortably on the couch and on Ava’s lap. Another minute later and she felt movement from above. Then, she felt cold calloused fingers slowly brushing her temple. Aline let out a trembling breath and kept her eyes closed. She didn’t dare speak, risking to break that marvelous spell they were under. After three ghosts of a caress against her temple, Aline’s breath started evening out. Even with her eyes already close, her eyelids felt heavier. Ava’s hand moved to Aline’s hair near her ear. As she uncovered the detective’s face from the previously fallen strands, the vampire grew slightly bolder and started to actually slip her fingers through them. Aline felt herself drifting away to the rhythmic feel of Ava’s touch, shivering when the other woman’s blunt nails were grazing at her scalp.

~~

The next morning, Aline woke up in her bed, a bit dazed. Her throat felt dry, but at least her head stopped pounding. She found her plugged phone and a glass of water on her bedside table. She drank the water in one go and checked her phone. Ten in the morning, no messages, which was a relief. Looking down at herself, she realized she was in one of her worn cotton t-shirts she favored for sleeping. Her trousers and her bra were still on. She did not remember making it to her bed. Her last memory of last night was drinking too much at the pub – Tina’s fault, but she was forgiven – then Ava brought her back home, Aline took her shoes off on the couch… and she felt asleep on the vampire’s lap. She felt a blush warming her cheeks at the thought. Did Ava really allow that to happen? Getting out of bed, Aline noticed her black blazer and striped pressed shirt were back on their hangers in her closet. She took of her trousers and put them in the hamper next to her bathroom door and left her room. She needed fresh coffee to clear her head.