The Wand Maker's Daughter

Greenhouse 2

"You know you're not supposed to be in here."

Florence looked up, startled. Evy rested coyly in the doorframe, her body just a dark silhouette against the black sky.

"Neither are you," Florence bit back. She looked up from her work, her eyes drawn to Evy's silky frame.

"What are you... holy shit Florence!!" Evy was over by her side in a second, confiscating the blade that Florence had been guiding smoothly over her skin. "Relax" Florence said easily, tugging it back towards herself. "It's not what you think."
She gestured to their surroundings. The chaotic plants of greenhouse 2 slithered forward eagerly, the coloured glass in the windows broken and sharp."Why would they leave the key outside if not for a student to break in? Besides, there are no dangerous plants in here... at least not if you aren't counting the Venomous Tentacula, the Mandrakes, the Bubotubers or..."
"I do count them actually," Evy cut in. She leaned in, using the light of Florence's already lit wand to study what she was doing. Florence saw her look and giggled. She twisted around the plant of the leaves that she was using to display the label, which read "Pictuis Pulchritudo" in Professor Acacia's swirly handwriting. "It's for tattoos" Florence explained. "Here, watch..." she drew the blade softly across a line of ink that swirled up her forearm and across her collarbone. Once she had shallowly cut along the drawing, Florence took a pipette of a poultice she had made with the plants leaves and dripped in slowly into the cut, where it fizzled slightly before fully sealing the wound closed. A sun ray deflected off the glass windows threw light on her arm and Evy watched as hundreds of detailed and beautiful honey-coloured tattoos suddenly revealed themselves to her. There were moons and stars and suns and clouds and flowers, the line that linked them all together just the latest addition. Florence flexed her arm towards the sun and the honey colour turned a bright, shimmery gold in the light, before falling back to original colour as it relaxed.
Evy traced around a tiny lily that lay in the crook of Florence's elbow. "They're beautiful" she breathed. She looked up at Florence, her brown eyes wide and eager. "Can you do one on me?"

They sat in silence. Evy lay on the thick oak tables while Florence sat gently atop her torso, her eyes trained carefully on the blade that she drew across Evy's skin, but her body aware of every movement. The sun had risen significantly in the sky, but neither of them were aware of its movement.
"There," Florence whispered, and held up a mirror for Evy to see the tiny golden snake hidden behind her ear. It seemed to move in the light, or maybe that was Evy's tear, for one glistened down her cheek. Florence wiped it away gently. "It will get easier," she murmured. Evy held her eye contact. "I know it will."
Florence's heart ached in her chest, and she became increasingly aware that she was perched on top of Evy, their faces barely centimetres away. She didn't seem to be able to draw her eyes away from the curve of her neck, from the freckles on her chest and the slight lift at the end of Evy's nose. She was cloaked in a silky, blood orange nightgown that pooled around her on the table and glistened in the light with a liquid quality. Her hair was spread around her like a lions mane, but it's smooth, thick curls made it look anything but. Her eyes, laced by long, clean lashes followed Florence's as they traced around her face until they finally reached her own eyes. And when Florence finally saw the way that Evy looked at her, she leaned and pressed her lips to hers.

It was gentle and slow, so that either of them could pull out, but neither did, and Florence felt a warm rush as she drank in Evy's honey like taste. It felt so right, like they fitted together in this way, and as she kissed her, she was thinking not of the future, not of how this would work out, but how much she loved the girl who's hand rested on her cheek. When Evy pulled back slightly, Florence leaned forward for more on impulse. Evy laughed softly. "I need to breathe!" She smiled and, after making her wait for another few seconds she leaned in again for more.