NO TWO ARE THE SAME

Ziggy Schutz

Content Warnings: none

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The cold hands take the most getting used to.

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Verity’s kisses are like snowflakes. Sybil can always see them coming, tries to catch them on her cheeks and lips as often as she can.

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(Other places, skin she never thought to expose to snow, they explore together – shoulders, wrists, behind her knees –)

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Kisses she can always see coming. It’s the surprises that make her jump, still. When Verity grabs her arm during a scary movie or reaches out to hold her hand as they cross the street, or the light touch against the back of Sybil’s neck as she combs semi-tangible fingers through her hair.

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After the cold comes the guilt – she should be used to this by now, should know the touch of her girlfriend enough to not flinch when it comes.

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But Verity can sense it, of course. In the same way she can tell when tea is about to over-steep or when a cat is about to scratch at the door to be let in, she can sense the guilt even as it wells up. She will pull Sybil into her arms, slow and kind, hold her until their temperatures even out, sharing the moment like they share body heat.

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‘Guilt pickles souls,’ Verity whispers, with the confidence of one whose soul has managed just fine without its shell for a while now. ‘If you hurt me, I’ll let you know. But until then, save the guilt.’ And then she leans in, like she’s sharing a secret. ‘Anyway, I’ve been told it’s very hard, to hurt a ghost.’

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Her breath is little more than memory, but the wind of her whisper still tickles at Sybil’s bones. It gets a giggle out of her, and her girlfriend grins like she does at all small triumphs, and they move forward together as two.

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Ziggy Schutz: 

Ziggy Schutz (she/her/he/him) is a queer, disabled writer who is at all times looking for ways to make his favourite fairy tales and horror tropes reflect people who look a little more like her. When he's not writing, she's spending his time exploring haunted houses and chatting up the ghosts who live there. This is not a bit. You can find more about her writing (and the ghosts) on Twitter @ziggytschutz.