Scylla let out a sigh of exhaustion and relief when she finally stepped over the threshold. It felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders as she dropped her keys into the bowl next to the door, a small smile on her face and a flutter in her chest as she spied another pair already there.
She was overtaken by a moment of nostalgia as she removed her coat and boots, her thoughts warming her more than they ever could. She had never imagined that her life would turn out like it had. She had lived most of it alone and liked it that way. She had learned long ago that attachments only meant heartbreak and complications; a lesson that was painfully driven home when she had lost the only two people she was most connected to.
The loss of her parents had shattered her. They were her whole world, the two things in her life that remained constants no matter what else changed. They were her home more than any four walls could have ever been. After their passing, Scylla had packed up and left. Never staying in one place for more than a few months, never truly bothering to learn much about the people she met beyond what was needed to be polite since she would likely never see them again. It was a game of sorts that she had become quite adept at playing. She would smile and nod, taking interest in the details of their lives and sharing only as much of hers as was necessary to maintain the bond. It was a great life. She had been to many foreign lands and seen many sights that most people could only dream of and would have happily been off to her next destination...if not for a certain persistent doctor.
Scylla chuckled at the memory.
*******
She had remained in Boston for a few weeks longer than expected due to an unexpected snowstorm that was grounding more and more flights the longer it raged, turning the runways as well as the roads into vehicular slip and slides for any motorists daring enough to brave them. It was a game of survival and, for the moment, Scylla’s flight was holding strong and, against the advice of newscasters and meteorologists everywhere, she had gotten into her rental car and headed for the airport.
What did they know anyway?
As it turns out? Quite a bit. She was about 3 miles from the airport when her car hit a patch of ice on its way around a corner, sending the vehicle spinning out and crashing into the fence of a building that Scylla was too unconscious to remember the name of. The next time she opened her eyes she was met with a blinding white light. She snapped her eyes shut, groaning at the burning behind her eyelids as she waited for her brain to solidify and form coherent thoughts.
Well...at least if I’m dead I won’t have to-
She registered the sound of a door opening and closing somewhere nearby, but the memory of what happened the last time she opened her eyes kept that curiosity at bay for the moment.
Practiced hands poked and prodded and roamed over her form, periodically disappearing to write on what Scylla imagined was a clipboard. She groaned again.
How is it fair that I’m dead and still have to be experimented on?
“Can you open your eyes for me?” A voice asked.
Scylla groaned in response and a quiet chuckle came from the direction of the voice.
“Oh come on, I promise you can go back to contemplating whether you’re dead or not right after?” the voice offered, “Which you’re not by the way, but, that’s just my professional opinion.”
She didn’t need to have a fully solid brain to hear the smile in her mystery guest’s voice. She had a headache, may or may not be dead at the moment, and had also definitely missed her flight now that she thought about it. She was in no mood for this.
Scylla cracked a single eye open to glare at the mysterious voice and her breath caught. The brightest pair of blue eyes stared back at her, a smile in their depths as they waited for her to comply with their request.
Her words died on her tongue as she opened her eyes, her blonde examiner stepping closer and making some sort of explanation that Scylla missed, the crystal blue of her eyes drawing all her attention as the doctor continued to examine her.
*******
Scylla had ended up staying in Boston for two more weeks for observation as Raelle had called it. The doctor had been popping up consistently throughout that time, her visits becoming less and less about Scylla’s ‘concussion’, not that the brunette had really minded. She had become fond of Raelle throughout those weeks. Her effortless charm and boyish good looks changing the rules of Scylla’s little game indefinitely.
It may have been ‘doctor’s orders’ for her to delay her trip for a few weeks. Her inability to reign in the curiosity that burned within her everytime the doctor spoke was why she had delayed it a few weeks more, deluding herself with phrases like ‘the world will always be there tomorrow’ and ‘I can leave wherever I want’. It had been 3 years since then, and Scylla couldn’t even entertain the notion of leaving.
She had found a new home in Raelle. A safe haven in her arms and in the eyes that had broken down her walls and put her back together in the most beautiful of ways.
These memories continued to warm the brunette as she made her way to their shared bedroom, intent on getting a change of clothes before going on the hunt for Raelle and whatever project she had decided to work on today.
She had just finished changing into her sweats when a loud crash echoed its way from the kitchen followed by a string of curses.
Well, at least I don’t have to look for her Scylla mused, making her way to the room to survey the damage.
She rounded the corner from the living room to the kitchen and froze at the sight before her.
“Uhm, Rae honey? What exactly are you doing?” she asked, already knowing the answer but unable to stop herself.
Raelle looked up at her girlfriend, a huge grin splitting the annoyance on her face and replacing it with a warmth that was always present around the brunette.
“Oh, hey Scyl,” she greeted, “didn’ hear you get in.”
Scylla nodded, still staring at the scene before her and waiting for an explanation.
Raelle looked down at her hands, covered in pumpkin guts that had spilled out onto the floor when she accidentally knocked over the bowl she had been putting them in.
“‘M carving pumpkins” She smiled sheepishly, noting Scylla’s incredulous expression.
Scylla hummed, “Carving pumpkins?” she repeated, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she contemplated her next words. “”
“Well...yeah, except...” Raelle sighed, gesturing to the half-carved pumpkin corpses around her, “they weren’t cooperatin’” she groused.
“Okay, okay” Scylla chuckled at the tiny frown on Raelle’s face, rounding the table and placing a kiss on her temple then smiling when her face smoothed in response.
Why does she have to be so cute when she’s frustrated?
“How about you give me this-”
“No!” Raelle exclaimed, shifting out of Scylla’s hold and backing away.
Scylla bit back another smile. She had expected this response and had planned accordingly. Raelle could be so stubborn when she set her mind to something but, in turn, Scylla had gotten good at finding ways around that. There were two courses of action when Raelle decided to dig her heels in: Scylla could either ply her with kisses until she relented, her mind focused on other things, or, she could feign surrender and wait for the blonde to finally relent on her own. Considering there were sharp objects involved, Scylla chose path number two.
“Okay,” she began, raising her hands in surrender and turning toward the cupboards as she did so. She puttered around the kitchen as she gathered the items and ingredients for her tea under Raelle’s suspicious eye.
Stemming mug in hand, she approached Raelle once more, pausing before reaching up and kissing the corner of her mouth and retreating to what was probably the only pumpkin-free stool at their kitchen island. Raelle watched her for a few more seconds before finally being satisfied she had ‘won’ this round and returning to her pumpkin carving.
Scylla sat at the island, book in hand, and watched her girlfriend out of the corner of her eyes, biting back a smile everytime the blonde cursed at the orange offender in her hands.
To her credit, Raelle lasted quite a bit longer than Scylla thought she would, before rounding the island to her side. The brunette looked up, a deceivingly innocent smile on her face as her blonde rested her head on her shoulder, stiff pout in place.
“How’s the carving going?” Scylla asked, knowing the answer but unable to resist teasing Raelle just a little.
Raelle huffed but didn’t answer, the frown on her face deepening. Scylla chuckled and shifted her shoulder from beneath Raelle’s head, taking her face in her hands as she forced the blonde to look at her.
Sensing that Raelle was finally ready to accept her help, Scylla placed a chaste kiss on her lips, hoping to chase her melancholy mood away before she made her proposal.
“How about-” she began, her sentence getting cut off when Raelle dove in for another kiss, this one a little less chaste in nature as the blonde slowed their pace, her tongue teasing Scylla’s bottom lip as the brunette began to lose her train of thought.
A quiet, satisfied hum filled the space between them when they finally broke apart, their foreheads resting together as they just existed in each other’s presence.
“Hi” Raelle greeted for the second time today.
“Hi” Scylla responded, smiling at the cheesiness of it all.
She leaned back slightly, catching Raelle’s gaze and caressing her jaw with the hands that were still there. She sighed, absolute contentment and love permeating her entire body as she looked into the eyes of the one person who made her stay.
“How about,” she tried again, “I get you a beer-”
“Loving this already” Raelle interrupted, smiling when Scylla rolled her eyes.
“How about I get you a beer, we clean this mess up, and finish carving the pumpkins together” she emphasized.
Raelle looked like she was about to protest but Scylla knew better, she was out of steam.
“Okay,” she agreed.
The brunette nodded, “Good, now you go grab some gloves and a garbage bag, and I’ll go pick get some new pumpkins” Scylla quickly said, hopping out of the blonde’s grasp and getting halfway out the door before Raelle’s brain fully caught up.
“Wha- hey!” Raelle said, whipping around to where Scylla had escaped, boots already on and keys in hand.
“Teamwork makes the dream work babe, I’ll be back in ten minutes” she assured, blowing Raelle a kiss before slipping out the door.
Raelle rolled her eyes as she dug around for the bright yellow gloves Scylla always kept below their kitchen sink, duped again, she shook her head, a small chuckle escaping her lips as she slipped them on. Promising herself that one day she’ll have to figure out how on earth Scylla does that, she got to work.
True to her word, Scylla was back in ten minutes flat, two new pumpkins in tow along with a case of Raelle’s favorite beer.
“Wow,” she began, her eyes roaming over their now pristine kitchen, “you did good Rae, I’m impressed”
“Don’t sound so surprised,” Raelle scoffed, opening a beer from the case and taking a sip as she went to help Scylla unload the rest of her haul. “I have been known to clean from time to time”
Scylla gave her an incredulous look but said nothing, her face speaking louder than words ever could.
Raelle rolled her eyes, “Don’t”
“I didn’t say a thing,” Scylla said, mock innocence all over her face.
“Your mouth didn’t but your face was screaming,” Raelle said, dropping the last of their supplies on the island.
“Oh? Been thinking a lot about my mouth have we?” Scylla teased, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth when Raelle all but choked on her beer.
They set to work on their pumpkins. Raelle cleaning them out before passing them off to Scylla for carving. After their first success, they began trading jobs, Scylla cleaning out a few of them before handing them off to Raelle, offering advice and instruction where she could and plying the blonde with kisses as needed, and they were always needed.
Soon enough they had four perfectly ghoulish jack-o-lanterns carved to perfection. Raelle beamed as she presented hers, the pride of a job well done permeating her very being.
They finished up their work, placing electric candles in each of the pumpkins before taking them outside.
Raelle positioned the lanterns, turning them so that no matter the angle at which you approached their house, you would be greeted with their creations. Satisfied, she retreated to her girlfriend’s side, wrapping her arms around the brunette’s waist and resting her head in the crook of her shoulder as they surveyed their work.
“We did good didn’t we?” she commented.
Scylla hummed, leaning deeper into the blonde’s embrace as she answered, “Yeah we did.” She could feel Raelle smile against her neck before placing a few small pecks against her pulse point. She sighed as a warm feeling that had become all too familiar over the years radiated through her body. God, she loved this woman.
“Happy Halloween Scyl,” Raelle whispered.
Scylla smiled, turning so she could face her world, “Happy Halloween Rae.”