Kyra closely followed Gloria’s directions through the densest part of the kingdom until she reached a small armory. She peered inside to see several rows of armor displayed on stands.
The messenger stepped inside, idly scanning the sets of armor. Gloria had suggested that Kyra get a set of armor if she was going to stay nearby. As much as Kyra trusted Gloria’s ability to protect her if things went south, she figured that Gloria was right and she needed some of her own protection.
As elegant and sturdy as the platemail was, Kyra neither needed that much protection, nor was she strong enough to move fluidly within a heavy suit of armor like that. She instead looked through the selection of lighter armor. Kyra considered the more reasonable armors made from leather or layered fabric rather than heavy plate or chainmail
“Kyra?” A smooth, husky voice called from behind her.
Kyra jumped, startled by the sudden noise in the otherwise quiet armory. She whirled around to see Gloria, her body shockingly devoid of her usual breastplate. Kyra’s eyes scanned Gloria’s body, her mouth nearly falling agape. She knew Gloria had to be strong, but she was sculpted like a goddess. Her tanned skin molded to tightly corded muscles underneath. Kyra couldn’t pull her eyes away from the Knight before her.
“Gloria! hi! I didn’t expect to meet you here!”
Gloria raised her eyebrow. “You didn’t expect to see me at the armory I advised that you visit?”
“I didn’t expect us to be here at the same time! Y-you already have armor.” Kyra stammered. “Why would you need to visit an armory?”
“A breastplate.” Gloria hefted an extremely thick and heavy looking breastplate from the ground and into Kyra’s view. “I’ve been needing a new breastplate for a while.”
“Oh, a breastplate, of course.” Kyra breathed, trying not to stare at the knight’s exposed torso.
“I’m glad you came here.” Gloria placed her hand on Kyra’s shoulder, who tried her hardest not to blush at the gesture. “You’ve decided to get some armor like I suggested? If you’d like, I could accompany you while you make your choice.”
Kyra nodded, trying her best to dull her enthusiasm. “That would be nice”
Ava reread the chapter several times. It all felt… similar. The conversations that the two had were uncannily similar to when She and Ava ran into each other at the thrift shop.
“Gloria! hi! I didn’t expect to meet you here!”
Ava’s eyes transfixed on the line. That was, word-for-word, exactly what Paige had said to Ava, was it not? Later in the chapter Gloria even bought Kyra the armor pieces that Kyra had been interested in once she saw the price, similar to when Ava had paid for Paige’s food. She’d been planning on writing that into her own story, but that was completely off the table now. She didn’t need Moore thinking that Ava was copying her.
Ava tossed her phone to the side and fixed her position in bed. If she moved too much her stomach threatened to send its contents back up. Reading had been a distraction from how sick Ava was but she’d just run out of reading material. She groaned and reached for her water glass only to find it disappointingly empty. Ava scowled at the glass, as if it was at fault for being empty. She tried to sit up and immediately felt the need to vomit.
She wasn’t that thirsty, was she? She could go longer without having to put herself through the struggle of standing upright. Ava took a deep breath. The air scratched painfully against her dry throat, she’d been coughing her throat raw all day.
“Ugh, fine.” She grumbled to herself in defeat. Letting her better judgment win out in the end, Ava climbed out of bed in search of water.
Ava hobbled across her apartment, clutching her upset stomach. She felt awful, but the water was worth it. Drinking water was always a good idea, it even momentarily soothed her sore throat.
Three sharp knocks rang through the air from the front door. Ava frowned and turned to the source of the noise, she wasn’t expecting anyone. She ignored the other person and took another few steps to her room.
“Ava! I know you’re in there, open the door!” Paige’s muffled voice called from the hallway.
What was she doing at Ava’s place? The two hadn’t planned anything for the day, and Ava made sure to let Paige know that she didn’t need a ride home. Ava shuffled towards the door. “What are you doing here?” She asked as she opened the door, taking note of the overfull canvas bag in Paige’s hand. She coughed into her elbow.
Paige snorted with an amused look on her face. “Ava, You’re sick! You don’t expect me to just sit by while my best friend is rotting away in bed, do you?”
Ava frowned. “I am not ‘rotting away in bed’. I’m fine, Paige. I can take care of myself” Her voice was hoarse. It hurt to make it sound assertive.
“Sure, you could. But wouldn’t it be easier to not have to move around!” Paige chirped. “You need to rest to get better, and I’m gonna make sure you don’t have to spend any energy on anything but getting better.” She had a point. Getting up to do anything was the worst, it could be nice to let Paige bring her water when she needed it.
Ava frowned, if Paige stayed then Ava would infect her, she was constantly coughing and sneezing. “I’m contagious, you’ll get sick too.” Ava protested.
“You might believe that, but I have an incredible immune system. I’ll be fine.” Paige dug around in her purse. “And besides- Ah there it is!” She pulled a mask from her purse and put it on her face “I have this!”
Ava sighed. “I’m not getting rid of you, am I?” Ava relented and moved to the side, allowing Paige passage into her living room.
“You know me too well.” Paige said in a singsong voice. She stepped through the doorway and began unpacking the supplies from her bag: pre-packaged cups of applesauce, several cans of chicken soup, bottles of tea and honey, a few small pill bottles, and–
“A toothbrush?” Ava wondered aloud. “Paige, I already have a toothbrush.”
“Yeah of course you do.” Paige set a fresh tube of toothpaste on the table. “This is for me!” She pulled out a small blanket and pillow before crumpling the now-empty bag up into a ball.
“Paige. You’re not staying the night. You will get sick! I can miss a few days of work, but you can’t!”
“It’s Friday, Ava. I can stay all weekend.”
“And you want to spend–” Ava’s stomach twisted. She dashed for the sink, moving the fastest she had all day at the threat of her stomach emptying itself all over Paige.
She heaved into the sink but nothing came up. “Ugh. Fi–” She heaved again, nearly vomiting. “F-fine.” She struggled to catch her breath between retches. “You can sleep on the couch.”
“Good, because I wasn’t going to leave even if you said no.” Ava heard Paige making noises behind her, but she was too busy swallowing her bile to know what Paige was doing to her kitchen.
“Okay.” Ava took a deep breath once she was confident that she wasn’t going to vomit right away. “I need to lay down or I’m actually going to throw up.”
“Allow me~” Paige placed herself under Ava’s arm to prop her up and escort Ava to her bed. Ava felt her cheeks redden as the shorter woman held her upright.
“Feel better?” Paige asked once Ava was situated in her bed.
“Much.” Ava tried not to stare at Paige as she laid her down on the bed.
“Is there anything you need?” Paige put on her best nurse impression as she sat down at the foot of the bed.
“I don’t think so? I was just grabbing some water when you showed up.”
“Hmm.” Ava watched Paige’s face scrunch up in thought for a moment, “When was the last time you ate?”
“I ate a little bit for lunch, but my stomach didn’t like it, so I gave up.”
“You haven’t eaten since noon?” Paige put on a steely expression. “I’ll go make some soup.” She left the room before Ava could respond.
After a series of concerningly loud noises, Paige poked her head back into the room. “Where are your pots?”
“Cabinet to the right of the stove.” Ava kept her voice soft enough to not agitate her sore throat. She was still coughing often, but speaking quietly didn’t disturb the tender flesh quite as much. Ava closed her eyes and sank into her bed as Paige went to work in her kitchen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ava’s sense of smell was heavily dulled by her sickness, but she woke up to an incredible savory smell. Moments later, Paige walked into the room carrying a steaming bowl of soup. Ava’s stomach rumbled in response. She was much hungrier than she thought she was. “Paige, that smells amazing” Ava hungrily eyed the bowl.
“Thanks” Paige sounded proud of herself. “It tastes amazing too.” She placed the bowl on Ava’s nightstand and took her seat at Ava’s feet.
“I bet it does.” Ava pulled herself upright and scooted herself to the edge of the bed. “Thank you so much Paige, I’m starving”
“Try not to burn yourself. It’s still hot” Paige warned.
“I’ll take it slow.” Ava took a cautious sip of the soup and her eyes went wide. It was by far the best chicken soup she’d ever tasted. The gentle warmth even soothed her sore throat. “Holy shit. This is canned soup? It’s so good!” Ava took another sip from the spoon.
“The canned stuff is just an ingredient.” Paige waved her hand dismissively.
“Well it’s incredible! I didn’t know you could cook.”
Paige chuckled sheepishly. “It’s- uh… it’s just a hobby”
“Don’t be embarrassed! Cooking is a good hobby.” It was certainly more productive than writing was. “Is it a new hobby? Or have I been your friend for years without knowing?”
Paige smiled sheepishly. “I’ve always liked cooking but only got back into it recently.” she laughed. “I actually wanted to be a chef back in high school. I like food, if you couldn’t tell.”
“You? Liking food? I never would have guessed.” Ava cracked a smile and poked Paige’s tummy, eliciting a squeak from her.
“Yep!” Paige beamed through her mask. “I took a culinary arts class and absolutely loved it, but I fell out of practice when I graduated.”
Ava frowned. “You know… you don’t talk about your childhood very much.” Ava hadn’t really heard Paige talk about high school before, other than occasionally mentioning some of her old friends.
Paige shrugged. “I dunno. I was a depressed egg. It’s not really something I care to talk about.”
“Oh. I suppose that makes sense.” Ava laughed weakly. “Sometimes I forget that you’re trans.”
Paige turned to Ava, a wide-eyed and bewildered look plastered across the visible half of her face. “Really?”
“Well– I don’t actually forget, but sometimes I find myself assuming that you’ve always lived as a girl. You’re just an–” Ava bit her tongue to prevent herself from gushing about how adorable she thought Paige was. “You’re such a girl.”
Paige didn’t ‘pass’, Ava knew that. She’d only been taking hormones for about a year, and while she had gotten results it was still clear that she was a trans woman. She certainly wasn’t the skinny, conventionally attractive woman that a lot of people expected her to want to be. Ava was well accustomed to how often Paige got misgendered by strangers when they were in public, but she couldn’t see anything except a beautiful woman.
“That… actually means a lot to me.” She took a shaky breath. “Sometimes I worry that I make you feel weird. Hearing that I’m ‘just another girl’ to you is really reassuring.” Paige sighed and stood up. “Well… As much as I trust my mask, I probably shouldn’t push my luck by staying right next to you.” She giggled to herself, “Holler if you need me!” Paige gently shut the door behind her.
Ava quickly finished her soup and tucked herself back into bed. Being sick was exhausting.
Dense as f*ck... Not that I'm much better...
and thank you for reading =]