Julia looked at the woman above her, her heart raced as she thought about kissing those thin lips. She was pretty sure she may have bruised something on her body, when she fell down, but she felt no pain. It had always been like this for her, she barely noticed when she accidentally hurt herself, and more often than not she would have unexplained bruises on her body from unnoticed collisions with furniture. People often told her she had the physique of a dancer, but the grace of a cart horse.

“Sorry, are you hurt?” Eliza asked her hurriedly, still on top of her.

The wizard leaned up and shook her head, she did not think she was hurt. She suddenly felt Eliza’s breath on her face and realised how close she was to her. She gazed into her azure eyes for a few moments before her eyes travelled back to the bard’s lips.

“I’m fine... I should start making dinner.” Julia said. Eliza stood up and held out her hand for her. She took the smaller woman’s hand and allowed her to help her get up.

The wizard opened her bedroom door with a flick of her wrist, the magic so practised it seemed effortless as she turned and walked into the kitchen. The cats came out of the room one by one, including Hala, Julia’s lazy, cat-shaped angelic familiar. Eliza was surprised to see him out of Julia’s company while she was researching. Rather than following the wizard, the creatures stopped to watch Eliza curiously.

***

How do witches get anything done with cats around?

Eliza had spent the last hour trying to learn another spell, but in the end she was distracted by the temptation to play with the cats; more specifically Hala and Schrodinger. The grey cat, Mazin, was up to mischief. She was lucky to have seen him attempting to destroy her tome, she had stopped playing with the cats and put her belongings away before the cheeky grey feline could do any more damage. She listened to the sounds coming from the kitchen and decided now was a good time to stop for the day.

Eliza moved to the kitchen and stood in the arched doorway and watched Julia cook. The tall woman had meticulous control over her kitchen, everything was done with fine precision and in an exact order. The bard knew better than to interrupt her from past experiences. She spent a few moments longer admiring the wizard, with how the glow from the stove caught her defined muscles; she was mesmerising to watch.

Leaving the kitchen she sat out on the balcony, the night air warm. She sank into the plush cushions and pulled out a case containing pre-rolled cigarettes; she enjoyed the smoking with the pipe but it only allowed her a few puffs before she had to refill it. Something more suited when she was adventuring or wanted a quick break. Clicking her fingers to produce a small flickering flame she lit her cigarette. She inhaled smoothly and flicked the ash into the tray on the table next to her, she was surprised that Julia had kept that there, she did not smoke, nor have many guests over that did. The wizard detested the smell.

The past few days had made it clear that Julia still held intense feelings towards her and her flat had constant reminders of their past relationship. She was glad to see that it had been reupholstered and decorated, she was sure that was her mother’s doing, or her younger sister’s.

Eliza knew she should not feel pleased that Julia had not moved on from her but another part of her felt an ugly emotion at the mere thought of Julia moving on.

She was well aware that she would have to end things with Perdita; they had agreed on an exclusive relationship and it was not fair of her to drag her into her emotional drama. Thankfully she thought that relationship was salvageable.

Eliza looked down at the black kitten that had just hopped onto her lap. Holding her cigarette in one hand she scratched behind his ear, producing pleased purrs at her.

“Why can’t I forget her and move on Hala?” Eliza murmured to the small angel, who merely mewed in response. She sighed as she became lost in her thoughts on the other woman, getting lost in memories from over two decades ago.