#and a hint of avalil i suppose

[jtl07]

SPACE COWBOYS PLEASE 🤠🚀🐎🪐

3-2-1 let's jam! *cue horns* :D idk if it works but hopefully it works? kinda fun to think through, actually. thanks for being not mean this time :P

Beatrice doesn't notice anything wrong until she's already finished her rounds at the ranch. 

Normally, it takes her no more than two hours: she checks in with her assistant about the robots she'd repaired recently, confirms her schedule for the next couple days (I see the relation to surgeries but D, I'm far from being a doctor, please just call me Beatrice), goes to see those in recovery for herself before spending time with the swarms in the semi-enclosed space connected to the facility, letting them swirl around her, buzzing and beeping with stories of their latest travels, leaving little trinkets of warped metal and stardust in her palms. 

She's taking her spacesuit off and logging the results of her inspection of the enclosure when she sees a planter out of place, no more than an inch off from where it used to be. But it's not the measurement that matters but the fact that it's been moved.

She glances up at the circulation vent above it. Purses her lips and rolls her eyes. 

"You couldn't have just come through the front door like a normal person?" 

A shadow in the corner shifts. Materializes into a person, taller than Beatrice but just as somber. 

Lilith. 

Beatrice resists the urge to sigh as she stows the space suit in the closet, pockets the trinkets in her coat. "Tea?" she asks, already reaching for the kettle. 

"She's alive." 

The kettle doesn't drop but it's a near thing - Beatrice continues the motion as if nothing had happened. Sets it on the small stovetop with perhaps a bit more force than necessary. "We buried her five years ago." 

"You did." It's as sharp as the words Lilith doesn't say: I didn't. "She was seen on Jupiter just last week -"

"Lilith." 

"- and on Venus three months before that. Mars too." 

"For God's sake, Lilith -"

"You weren't the only one who loved her!"  

Beatrice closes her eyes. Feels Lilith's trembling from across the room. Clenches her fists to stop her own.

She opens her eyes to see Lilith pulling out an envelope from her coat, hands only slightly shaking as she holds it out to Beatrice. Her eyes are dark, a touch desperate; the years haven't been kind to her. Beatrice's heart aches at the sight. More at Lilith's words: "I wouldn't have come if I wasn't sure." 

Beatrice stares at the envelope for a long beat. Thinks of the life she's built, the quiet here, the robots she tends to, the healing they've done together. Knows that all of it will change now. Has, already. 

Her jaw clenches before she finally sets down the tea canister. Takes the envelope. 

They switch places - Beatrice hovering at the corner of the table while Lilith prepares the tea. It's halfway to steeping when Beatrice finally speaks. "Who else have you told?" 

"No one." Lilith's answer is immediate, almost affronted at the thought. 

"Keep it that way," Beatrice says as she hands the envelope back to Lilith. She takes one of the mugs and walks away. 

Lilith sputters, follows. "That's it? You're not even going to ask - how can you just -" 

Beatrice tunes her out as she walks down the maze of corridors. She stops in the library, sips her tea as she presses her palm to a hidden panel, motions for the still-ranting Lilith to follow her into the darkened chamber it reveals. 

"Look here," Beatrice finally interrupts, gesturing towards the retinal scan next to a locked door. It's only then that Lilith seems to take in their surroundings. Realizes that they've arrived at Beatrice's home. 

They step into a warmth that eases a part of Beatrice's soul every time she comes home; still does, even though it's bittersweet now. With Lilith here, it means the end of what's been a near idyllic reprieve. It was good while it lasted, Beatrice thinks as she sets her mug down on the counter. 

Feels Lilith freeze when they hear a voice call out from around the corner: "Hey lover -" 

A woman they both know bounces into view, brown eyes, bright smile; a woman very much alive.

"Ava?" Lilith breathes. 

Beatrice slips her hands into her pockets, shrugs when Ava meets her gaze. Watches as the surprise on Ava's face shifts into resignation. "Lover number two is here as well," Beatrice announces unnecessarily. Glances at Lilith, still shell-shocked beside her. "Lilith says you were on Jupiter last week.

Ava frowns. "No, I wasn't." 

"Precisely." Beatrice looks between the two of them and sighs. "I'm making a pot of tea."