“Wow those sketches are terrible,” Elle says peering over into Agatha’s notebook.
“Well I’m trying to be a writer not an artist so I suppose that’s a good thing right?” Agatha looks up for a moment to re-examine a tree branch that was ominously breaching up out of the water.
“Sure. Now can we please get the tent up or something. It took all my composure to even sit down on this rotting thing,” Elle pokes at a piece of softened bark which crumbles and tears off threads of cellulose.
“Right, yeah. That is probably a good idea,” Agatha closes her book and stands up from the log.
Careful not to slip in the mud the two make their way back to where Agatha had dumped their things. Unzipping the bags she pulls out the tent which is tightly folded and wrapped in a thin nylon bag.
Agatha hadn’t set up a tent since she went with her dad. When she bought this one she didn’t even bother to set up to get a feel for it. In hindsight that was probably a poor idea. The tent that was set up before them was quite small. Definitely big enough for one person but trying to fit a second would be tight.
“Are you sure this is meant for two people?” Elle picked up her things and walked in front of the tent, doing a full lap around.
“Almost certainly,” Agatha shuffled the tent bag around looking for a tag that might be of use. “Like ninety percent sure… Look here, ‘2 person camping tent’.”
“Maybe it means more like two things? Like a person and their things?” Elle says.
Agatha is the first to enter the tent. She unzips the flap and folds it over one of the poles to keep it out of the way. After crawling in she picks up her bags and drags them in with her. Shoving her things up into one of the corners as tight as she could Agatha attempts to lay down as comfortably as she can. She rolls over to look at the space next to her.
“There’s totally space for you in here,” she calls out.
Elle walks up in front of the open tent and after a moment hesitantly and carefully squats down. She peers in and looks to both ends of the tent, slowly dragging her eyes across the stitched floor.
“I don’t know,” Elle says.
“You might have to use your luggage as a pillow like I’m doing but we should be good, cramped but good,” Agatha says.
Elle drops her things in and slides them to the same side Agatha had her things.
After Elle had finally agreed that this tent would be sufficient for the both of them. Agatha once again set off around the campsite this time in search of anything that would be dry enough to start a fire.
Several laps and a close call that nearly led to Agatha being covered in swamp water later and Agatha had built up a pile of wood that should hopefully last them at least the night. Elle had meanwhile procured a small foldable stool she had bought at the camp outlet earlier. She sat quietly staring into the unlit fire pit.
While Agatha had been collecting what ever she could find, she had instructed Elle to begin separate out the kindling into a pile in the center of the pit. There wasn’t much due to all the moisture but there was a suitable amount that when combined with the fire starters they had brought along, a fire should be easily lit.
A few failed attempts later and a small fire began to burn. The smoke billowing out filling the surrounding air with the thick woody and mildly sweet smell.
“So know what?” Elle asks, having grabbed a stick she was began poking about the fire.
“Not much, we just relax. Enjoy each other’s company a little. If we had gotten here a little earlier we might have been able to explore around, see the trails, but the sun is setting so were better off just staying put,” Agatha stares into the churning coals. Their glow flickering from a vivid blue to neon orange all with a moment. The warmth it radiated tickled her skin trying to draw her closer, but she kept her distance both from the fire and Elle.
Agatha had felt an awkwardness between the two of them since the taxi. Perhaps it was all on her nevertheless it was strange, this tugging feeling in her gut. She wasn’t used to feeling much anymore this days besides the constant thrum of hunger that loomed over her. Not that she didn’t experience emotions, but Agatha tried to lead a mundane life. Keep the insanity of her existence to a minimum. For the most part it worked, the downside was she rarely left her comfort zone and the whims of her emotions thus stayed reigned in.
This was all in a way new for Agatha, this trip in and of itself was impulsive. A decision she would normally never make. And not only that but she dragged someone along with her. Someone she thought she could share this old passion she had. Someone who she could talk to about seemingly anything. There were times in the past few years where the only redeeming quality to life was that every day she would come into work and there Elle would be, looking over expense reports, or filling away the returned books. Now here they were out in the middle of a swamp, hundreds of miles away from home. Just the two of them.
They talked about nothing. Elle went on about the little joys and inconveniences Tom had put her through throughout the week. It would be annoying if she didn’t know how incredibly earnest Elle was about everything, it was her most endearing quality. Agatha talked about the books she’d read. Eventually Elle had asked her more about her condition. Agatha knew this conversation was bound to happen eventually and now that they were gone, free from and eavesdroppers and the like, Elle knew it was a safe time.
It was mostly tiny things, how she experienced the world, tastes and smells and visuals. Elle also asked Agatha to turn into a cat again which she reluctantly did. As soon as her paws hit the dirt she was almost immediately scooped up into Elle’s arms and carefully placed atop her lap. The fire had warmed Elle’s pants to an incredibly pleasing temperature, combined with the still steady flames and the body heat from Elle, Agatha found herself quite comfortable. Her feline body starting to purr she curled inward, cozying up to Elle. The next thing she knew her eyes were drooping and sleep overtook her.
When she woke it was darker and colder. No longer was she laying warmly on Elle, instead she was back in her human form and laying on her sleeping bag. She doesn’t recall having moved to the tent. Maybe Elle moved her there at some point during the night and then at some point she turned back. She rolled her head over to the side and found Elle, already asleep. Her hair sprayed out around her like the wings of an angel.
Agatha was once again overwhelmed by a flurry of emotions and sensations all through her body. She continued to stare at Elle’s form, so serene and peaceful even when shoved into this tight space. Agatha’s eyes wandered down to Elle’s chest watching it rhythmically move up and down. It had been so long since Agatha had just slept with someone like this, a complete trust in the other. Sleep is a dangerous time, the single most vulnerable point of any persons day. Sure it had only been a day since she had fell asleep in Elle’s presence but this— this felt different. They were closer, alone, it was almost intimate.
She felt the fluttering wash over her, much more powerful this time. It had slowly been growing more intense the more she observed Elle. Perhaps that wasn’t quite the right word for it. At times it felt more like appreciation than just pure observation. The way the lines of her face sculpted and crossed on her face. The outline of her body poking through the obfuscation of her sleeping bag.
It reminded her of a time long ago, well before she had even thought about moving to America. Before everything in her life went to shit. Back then she had everything, a spouse a kid, a home. She remembered nights similar to this, her and Brian laying next to each other. Agatha was never the first to fall asleep, she always stayed up into the night tossing and turning. She would calm herself by looking over and appreciating everything about her partner and all that they had. The love they shared and the bond the two of them made.
Is that what this was? It couldn’t be. Agatha had had plenty of women friendships over the years and while it had been a while she couldn’t recall ever feeling like this about another woman, but she also couldn’t deny it. Maybe this was how all women thought of each other? There were studies and articles, women just had more emotions or something and they express those more openly, especially towards each other.
Besides she couldn’t be like that, she liked men, hell she was married to one… well kind of. Was it rude to still think of Brian like that. But that was a weird case, hardly even counts and even if it did that would only be one instance. Hardly a rule at that point, more so an exception. She liked men and the one kind of sort of woman.
Yet here she was inches away from this girl, this absolutely beautiful creature spun, feeling things she shouldn’t be feeling. What if she tested it somehow? Touched her in some way, let Elle touch her? No that would be invasive and cruel, an utter abuse of Elle’s current vulnerability.
But what about a kiss? Those were in generally fairly chaste. Further she had known people who had done so casually amongst friends for years without so much as batting an eye. Agatha’s breathing grew heavy, her sleeping bag growing increasing uncomfortable and hot.
It would be quick, just a test. Yes, this could work. She looked over to Elle her eyes taking a long route up across her body eventually stopping at her lips. Agatha leaned in, slowly closing the distance. The heat from the sleeping bag becoming too unbearable she squirms and kicks it off. Agatha pauses centimeters away. She looks up into Elle’s eyes, her eyelids still and shut, but the flickering of REM keeping her eyes restless. She takes a long, deep breath and goes to close the space between them, she wants Elle’s lips on hers now, the absence becoming a pain she hadn’t felt before. Just before she makes it, Elle shifts. Agatha’s eyes lock open in fear and embarrassment. Elle’s going to wake up and see what she was trying to do and think terrible things. Their friendship ruined. Everything ruined. But she doesn’t instead Elle just groans a cute little sound and rolls over ripping away Agatha’s chance. Probably for the best.
Her body calms, she leans back over to her side of the tent. More confused now than she had been she pulls tries to pull the sleeping bag bag over herself, wanting nothing more right now then to hide herself away. She only makes it half way before feeling the stuffy heat of it and deciding to sleep on top of it for the night. She turns away from Elle, and does her best to try to fall asleep, ignoring the thoughts that are rampaging through her head.
***
The next day Agatha doesn’t talk much, scared she’ll say something embarrassing or worse. Elle thankfully doesn’t seem to notice. The few things Agatha does say are just to get the activities going, starting the fire for Elle’s food, unfolding the map to route a hiking path, meekly asking to draw blood. When night fell yet again and they sat around the fire talking about the joy of the day, Agatha remained closed, speaking of nothing else besides what Elle had first spoken of.
This trend continues for the remaining days of their trip. By the time they were done packing up their supplies Agatha had still said nothing about that first night. She had also pushed the feelings aside when ever they returned, scarred to examine them any more. Subconsciously she probably already knew the answer but she wanted to remain in denial at least a little while longer.
Elle was in eager spirits this morning. After having trudged through what to her was a surprise camping trip, they were now on their way to a beach. It was the perfect day for it, warm, not too cloudy, steady sun. Perfect. Agatha was slightly less enthused. She had promised Elle they would have time to go before their flight but she wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. It was one of the few things that had become actively painful to engage since becoming a vampire. Her skin burned far too easily. Her hope was to be able to find a tree nearby and hang out there taking notes and writing for her book.
Since Elle had pushed her along she had been steadily narrowing down ideas. There were three that she considered to be her top choices at the moment. One was a murder mystery set in southwest about a Chupacabra. Of course the characters wouldn’t know it was a Chupacabra until far later into the story but there would be signs. The second was in the Appalachians. In a swamp far from civilization there was a creature that had laid dormant for centuries, having been appeased by the natives every century or so. But now with the native population gone the creature rises once more to destroy everything in it’s path. The third one involved a group of sirens. She didn’t know what they would be doing or who would be interacting with them but the setting seemed interesting enough she had kept it near the top of her list. Maybe if the Siren thing didn’t work she could rework it, a Kraken or something.
The beach, once they arrived, was shockingly sparse. There were still plenty of people spread along the sand, but for a weekend and on such a nice day it seemed a pity almost.
Elle instantly ran down into the water, leaving Agatha behind to find that shaded place she could hide at. She was lucky, while the beach ran for quite a long ways, it was not very wide so Agatha found a tree she liked that provided all the shade she could ask for and sat beneath it, watching Elle splash about and swim through the shallow waters of the ocean. Part of her wishes she could join her, but among other reasons Agatha had not even thought to bring a swim suit. Honestly she wasn’t even sure if she owned one, she hadn’t been swimming in quite literally decades.
Agatha didn’t make much progress on her planning, every few minutes she would become distracted and her mind would eventually drift back to Elle. After the fifth time Agatha knew she couldn’t escape it anymore and had to set her notebook down. By then Elle had come back, sprawled a towel across the sand nearby and was sunbathing.
It was a cruel feeling, to have all of this burning emotions build up for a person over the years only for them to not even have been an option to begin with. She had met Tom before, hell she even liked the man. Him and Elle— for as weird of a couple as they are sometimes— are genuinely perfect for each other and Agatha would never want to ruin that. Not even to start with the fact that Elle most certainly did not feel what ever the hell it was she was feeling. That she was sure.
Shortly before they left the beach Agatha thought about telling Elle. The feelings bubbled up inside of her again and she panicked. She wouldn’t tell Elle yet, she couldn’t. Maybe eventually though she would.
Elle stopped them before the ocean faded behind them. She spun the two of them around to face the endless blue.
“This was pretty nice after all,” Elle took in a deep breath of the fresh salty air. “Maybe we could do this again some other time. Perhaps with proper warning.”
“Yea, I had a fun time too,” Agatha flushed dropped eye contact. “I’m really glad you came with me.”
“Aww, you’re adorable,” Elle bumped into Agatha’s shoulder. “Now lets go, believe it or not I think I’m actually all beached out.”
They took a taxi back to the airport. The airport was bustling along with plenty of people, far more than the beach. Their terminal was nearby so they luckily wouldn’t need to push their way through the thick crowds. They boarded their plane and they were off.
END
Ngl, I got invested in this small interlude and would love to read more about Agatha's past
Also damn, curious if she ever told Elle about her feelings, tho it would probably not end well
Thank you! Compared to the regular chapters this interlude has gotten very little engagement. It's good to know there are people who liked this look into Agatha's life. I enjoyed writing it it was fun. As for Elle there may be answers regarding her eventually. Still toying with that idea and how to implement it if I do.