The lamb who seeks gold (TW)

Kaylin covered for her. Why? Did she know? Extreme amounts of thoughts started to flood her head. Was she trying to make up for what her brother had done to her, hoping that if she got something that seemed more loving it would hurt less? No. That wasn’t how this worked. The mere thought of Lucca was enough to make everything that was private hurt. Burn in pain.
They walked back inside Kaylin’s room. Stefanja just hoped that her brother wouldn’t come up to chat with Kaylin. As soon as the door was closed, Kaylin said that she could distract him. It made odd butterflies spread in her body. Every time they settled on the insides of her, or if their wings hit her, it gave odd pinches. “What?” she whispered and watched how Kaylin walked over to sit on her bed. She felt like her heart was spinning. Where was she supposed to go to? Should she stay or should she leave? “I don’t-” she stopped herself from lying to the woman she had just kissed. “I-” she looked over her shoulder towards the closed door. Her stomach turned a little while her heart tried to calm itself down, even though it was slow at doing so. Her eyes found her again, “I, I can stay a little longer,” she spoke softly. She didn’t want to seem too afraid of her brother, nor like she wanted to avoid him. But that was what she was. She was afraid, and as of right now, she knew she wasn’t capable of seeing him. She didn’t know what was going to happen if she saw him, but she knew that no matter what, it would be something negative. She walked over to sit next to her. She took a greater breath in. “How long have you lived here, in Gaia?” she wondered and pulled a small, friendly smile.

Kaylin picked up a magazine which confused Stefanja a bit. It seemed oddly distant compared to how close they had been a moment ago. Her words even seemed forced or halfheartedly, or maybe it was just Stefanja who overanalyzed things.
She nodded a little as she got the reply. Three years in Gaia. “Yeah, I, I remember your brother told me that, or,” she tried to remember it for a moment, thinking back to the better moments, “Maybe I just guessed it from his accent,” she laughed quietly, shaking her head. She looked toward Kaylin as she wondered how long she had lived in Gaia, “Oh, I don’t live here,” she quickly explained. “My address is in Russia. I’m just staying at a hotel,” she explained, nodding a little folding her hands in front of her, and folding her lips. “I got two sisters who live here,” she said taking a greater breath in, “And my twin brother is visiting Gaia with me,” she elaborated. “I hope it’s not too complicated,” she laughed a little nervously. Her family was getting closer and closer to Gaia, and it freaked her out. When she was traveling, she wished to distance herself as much as possible from her family. For some reason, she was afraid that someone would tell Maxim about what she was doing. She even feared that they would be walking by the house because they had some kind of tracker and- Yes, Stefanja feared a lot of things about her family. Even though some would feel safe, she didn’t.

Stefanja smiled as she was assured that her explanation of where she lived made sense. Stefanja slouched and look over at the wall opposite of the one their back was pointed at. “Well, yes and no,” she said with a smile curling up on her lips. The idea of moving from Russia was clearly an idea she liked. She looked back at Kaylin, “It’s a possibility,” she responded, “I like Gaia, but I have to get used to the…” she licked her lips, furrowing her brows while she thought of the best possible words, “All the supernatural stuff, you know?” she elaborated. She scratched her jaw a little, and suddenly became aware that she didn’t even know if either Lucca or Kaylin were supernatural. “I-uh,” she swallowed a lump in her throat, “I only really learned about the supernatural a month ago,” she mentioned, looking down and biting her lip. She didn't know much, because it was limited of what she had been able to ask her sisters and her brother seemed to know most about himself. “Do... Do you know about the supernatural?” she wondered and looked back up at Kaylin. It felt awfully safe to be with Kaylin, or maybe it was just Stefanja who was a little too naive when it came to human beings. Everyone were nice, right? Even Lucca had been nice.

Stefanja raised her brows as Kaylin replied that she was a supernatural herself. She was just about to ask what she was when Kaylin asked her to turn off the light. Stefanja furrowed her brows for a moment and watched how Kaylin approached the curtains, which motivated Stefanja to get up and turn off the light. “Okay,” she spoke softly without even knowing what she was or what she could do, she didn’t really wish to step away from the light. Who knew if she was… A basilisk or a siren or… Baba Yaga! Well, she had no idea where the supernatural started and ended. Some of the things had to be stories, right? She pressed herself close to the wall with the light, to be certain that she wasn’t going to be in the way of whatever Kaylin was going to show what she could do.

Stefanja kept herself glued to the wall. Her hazel eyes widened as she saw how blue light came from Kaylin’s hands. It started floating to the middle of the room. Her shoulders almost reached her ears in nervosity. When the blue light shaped itself into a horse, Stefanja managed to get herself to blink a couple of times. She was interested in touching it, how it felt, if it would react or if it simply would act like smoke. As the horse shook its head and started running around the room, jumping the walls Stefanja’s smile grew. Her head followed the horse, her eyes glowing with fascination. As the horse ‘exploded’ into many small dots all over the room, she raised her arms to protect her face, just in case it was something that could harm her. As it seemed like the dots had found their place, she lowered her arms and looked around the room her eyes were once again fascinated, and a calmer smile was on her lips. She even dared to go more into the middle of the room, where she met Kaylin. Her eyes looked down at her as she replied to the unsaid question. Her brows raised, “A witch?” she repeated. It felt surreal to actually stand in front of one, knowing it was one. Another thing was her sister who had been turned into werewolves. While she looked at Kaylin, she noticed a few letters. ‘St’. Her eyes were visibly looking at it and without asking, she raised her hand to push Kaylin’s long hair away from her left collarbone. It made her stomach twirl. “Why is my name on your collarbone?” she whispered, almost scared of what it meant. Of course, she had only introduced herself as Stef, but most people knew it was a nickname for a name similar to hers. Was she the best victim for an offering ritual, or was she some kind of target for something? Questions swirled around in her head, and she felt uneasy.

Mates. Companions? Ok, no. Close as in intimate? Rejection? She can die!

Stefanja stood completely still, but her eyes corrected themselves toward her. It was a hard pill to swallow.
She was about to tell her that she would never reject her, but the words were swallowed as Kaylin announced her plans. She could get it changed? Well, wasn’t it just simple then? However, when Stefanja mentioned how she wouldn’t want to trap her she furrowed her brows. How could she be trapped by being a mate? As she continued to apologize Stefanja’s eyes changed to calm. “You don’t have to apologize,” she spoke softly and chose to remove the hair once again. “I have this feeling that you’re not responsible for what name appears on your collarbone?” she wondered and carefully let her fingers glide featherily over the name. “What if my name reappears?” she wondered looking up at Kaylin, still with her fingers on the name. She also wondered how the tattoo was going to trap her.

Stefanja furrowed her brows, not really understanding why Kaylin should have stayed away from her. “It has been me who has come to you. Every time.” she tried to assure Kaylin that she couldn’t have done anything differently. It was Stefanja who had gone with Lucca, and it had been her who had come to get her earrings back. There was nothing else. Kaylin had done exactly what she was supposed to do.
Kaylin didn’t know what would happen or do if Stefanja’s name reappeared on Kaylin’s collarbone. Stefanja didn’t know if it was possible, but she just thought about it. If it was some kind of destiny, well, then destiny shouldn’t change, should it? It must be something tough to change, she imagined. Stefanja’s eyes rested on Kaylin’s as she asked her what she would choose for Kaylin to do. Stefanja felt like her throat was tightening as she thought about the answer that she wanted to say without hesitation. Her throat felt sore, and it made her think twice, however, it didn’t change her mind; “I think you should keep it,” she whispered, almost as if it was a secret that only the two of them could know of. Well, in Stefanja’s world it was like that. “But I shouldn’t be saying that,” she continued in a whisper. It made her so sad to think about the words she had just said. She knew that Kaylin might be hurt by it, even though she said she wouldn’t get offended. But homosexuality was such a bad thing in Russia. There were laws that discriminated them and didn’t protect them. She was certain that homosexuality once had been on a list of mental illnesses. Russia was no fan of it, and Stefanja was afraid what her family would say of it. She knew Maxim would dislike it. He had always been talking so badly about those who differed from the norm.

“They are already complicated. Even before we met,” she explained with a sad smile. Stefanja had never gotten out of the closet, of the fear of how her family would take it and how the rest of Russia would react. After all, her rights would be so much worse if she came out of the closet.
Stefanja’s heart almost twisted when Kaylin explained that she had never liked a girl before. It was new, and Kaylin didn’t expect anything. Her breath was taken from her when Kaylin created distance between them. The hand that had been on her collarbone slowly closed. She listened, and slowly the usual mask she wore in Russia got back on. It was hurting her because she truly wished to be closer to Kaylin than what she proposed. Kaylin was an attractive woman, and despite how she had been acting the other day, there was something between them that seemed to click. “That is a great idea,” she said with a smile. People who knew her well wouldn't notice how her voice changed, but it seemed much more formal and proper. The words were burying her heart which had been surrounded by pink skies. “An arm’s length,” she said and stretched her arm. Her arm was longer than Kaylin’s, which made Stefanja look down at her feet before she took a small step backward before she looked back up at Kaylin. “There,” she announced with a small genuine laugh. Almost as if it were Stefanja who carried the mate mark, she wished to grab Kaylin’s arm and pull her closer – but she didn’t. “What about you get my phone number. Then you can text me when you want to meet?” she offered and changed her arm to be ready to receive the phone so she could create her contact in it.