Warrior nun one shots (avatrice)

Put your empty hands in mine

Credit to WishingTree on Ao3

Summary: Ava assumes that the others haven't really grasped exactly how much she's lacking in terms of the whole fine motor control thing, and she's really in no hurry to tell them.

All she has to do is not let on to the fact that she's kind of terrible at moderating her physical touches when interacting with people, and she'll be set.

Title from 'Stand By You' by Rachel Platten;

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Ava assumes that the others haven't really grasped exactly how much she's lacking in terms of the whole fine motor control department, and she's really in no hurry to tell them.

All she has to do is not let on to the fact that she's kind of terrible at moderating her physical touches when interacting with people, and she'll be set.

Her balance and reflexes have clearly been affected by the Halo's power, but she figures that can only take her so far.

In moments of adrenaline–fueled combat, it's easy to react to whatever's going on around her, mindless and instinctive – it's in the slower moments that she finds difficulties in modulating force and pressure, in performing any number of physical touch–related movements without going completely out of whack.

The instincts and muscle memories that everyone else displays on a daily basis just aren't programmed in her brain yet.

She thinks that she's adjusting exceptionally well all things considered, but she still hopes that she can sort everything out before the others notice.

Easy enough, right?

*

"Hey Ava, think fast!" Mary calls out across the common room, distracting her from where she's been valiantly trying to read yet another historical record on demons, and Ava jumps.

She looks up to see a split second of something hurtling through the air towards her, and all she can do is cringe and squeeze her eyes shut before it impacts her full in the face, completely bypassing her panicked hands.

It doesn't actually hurt when the object makes contact with her face, but Ava still reels backwards in surprise, tipping over in her chair and landing hard on the floor.

"Ava!"

There's a clamouring, and before she can even push herself up Beatrice's hands are on her again, cradling her jaw and gently turning her head to examine her.

"I – I'm fine," she manages, suddenly very distracted by the enchanting sight of Beatrice's face so close to hers. Her eyes are wide and concerned, and Ava does her best not to fall into them.

"Sorry dude, I thought you'd catch it," Mary says, her head poking out over Beatrice's shoulder. "You good?"

"Yeah, what was that?" Lilith chimes in, and Ava blinks herself back to attention when Beatrice seems to be satisfied with her appraisal, leaning back and helping her sit up.

"It's like you raised your hands but then stopped without even trying to block it."

Camila moves to grab her arm in an effort to help Beatrice, and then they're all looking at her expectantly.

"Uh..." Ava rubs the back of her head, trying to think of something to say. "So it appears that I am not too good at the whole... motor control thing? When it comes to more exact things?"

She opens and closes her hand in a poor demonstration of her words, but thankfully Beatrice seems to get it.

"Oh, well that's simple," Beatrice straightens assuredly, and Ava wonders why she didn't talk to her about this earlier.