Loving the Shadow

Perla

Perla watched the world scroll by as the car pattered down the road she gazed at the scenery, the rolling hills caught her interest as she spotted different animals out in the pastures. She wondered what other animals there must be in this world as they were very different from where she came from. Her mind wandered to the meal and how hot she got under Lyss' gaze, never had she had someone stare at her so intensely, while she was eating she tried to ignore the burning eyes that followed her every move. Her thoughts turned to earlier this morning and she started to feel uncomfortable in her seat. A sudden need coursed through her body. She had never done anything with anyone before so this was all new to her. The sensations, the burning need for them, the thoughts that clouded her mind was usually about Lyss but these were different.
These feelings she felt when she was with them, the safety, the tenderness, the security she felt. She felt a swirl of confusion as these feelings all mixed into one in her stomach. She wasn't sure what any of this meant. The world continued to scroll by as her thoughts floated about Lyss, eventually they reached the outskirts of a small town.
"Where are we?" She asked while looking around at all the scenery, the town was made out of brick mostly giving it a old timey feel, she was a little overwhelmed by all of the people and the cars driving around, it made her a little dizzy, but there were far fewer people than the place they originally teleported it was a little easier to adjust to everything with less hustle and bustle but she still pulled her beanie down over her ears, Lyss pulled her hand into theirs and offered a smile.
"We're in Decorah, Iowa. This is down town, lets look around for some shops yes?" Perla only nodded, she continued to look around as Lyss pulled into a area with other vehicles. They pulled into a spot and stopped the machine. "Let's go" They offered with a smile.
Perla climbed out of the machine grateful to be on her feet again. She felt a little better now that everything slowed down, she followed after Lyss as they took her hand. They led her into a couple different shops, grabbing items seemingly at random, but Perla was sure they had their own reasons to pick these items. After what seemed like the fourtith shop. Perla was beyond exhausted.
"Are we almost done?" She looked up to Lyss who only smirked.
"Almost just a couple more shops." They said as they held a door open for Perla.
Perla walked in and looked around, there were herbs hanging in the doorways and on the walls, bookshelves were interspersed in the store and were filled to the brim with books. Lyss walked up to the counter and rang a bell, they waited a few seconds before a small woman came toddling out of a backroom.
"Yes yes, how can I help you?" She asked in a soft voice.
"I'd like to purchase a book." They had a weird tone on the word 'book' and the lady had a knowing look in her eye.
"Ah, let me just get the catalog." She disappeared into the back room again, when she reappeared she carried a heavy thick brown book. She threw it onto the counter with a heavy 'thud' dust spewed from the pages, The woman waved her hand in the air to disperse the dust before she opened the leather cover.
"Flip through the pages and let me know what you would like." She said before she disappeared again.  Lyss flipped through the pages and beckoned Perla to join them. She glided over to their side and looked down at the book, the pages were yellow with age, her eye's widened when she saw what was on the pages, Lot's of different colors, materials, and bindings.
"What is this?" SHe wondered out loud.
"It's a book of options to make your own grimoire. A... spell book, basically." They stated, their haunting green eye's followed her as she flipped through the pages.
"I can pick anything?" She looked up at them surprised to see they were already looking at her.
"Yes."
Perla smiled and started from the beginning. She took her time to examine everything and considered her options carefully, her exhaustion from earlier was forgotten. After a few minutes she finally had her choices picked out. Lyss rang the bell again and the little woman toddled over once more.
"Know what you want?" She questioned, Perla noticed she was holding a note pad.
"Yes." She proceeded to describe what she wanted and the lady jotted notes down as she spoke. When she was done, Lyss paid and gave the woman their address to have it 'shipped' to their house whatever that meant. Lyss led her back out and to a couple more shops before they climbed back into the machine and rolled down the road back where they came.
Perla sighed in contentment from the busy day, and watched the world scroll by once again as they drove back to the cottage. Once they got there she helped unload the car, and headed inside arms full of bags.
"So what did we need all of this for?" She asked as she let the bags fall onto the floor.
"We need all of this to practice your magic." They stated simply as they placed their bags on the table softly.
"I don't even know where to begin with that. No one had told me I was a witch..." She suddenly felt inferior and stupid for not noticing this whole time that she had magic.
As if they read her mind, Lyss consoled "Your mother hid it from you it's not your fault."
Perla felt comforted and smiled a small smile, "Where do we start?"

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It had been weeks of practicing, Perla was exhausted but happy with her progress, she had managed to finally do some minor spells, like levitation. She also started to practice tarot reading and potion making. She was proud of what she accomplished in the short time she'd been practicing, but they were going to need a lot more practice if she was going to teleport them to the past.
Panting after having practiced another spell she looked over to Lyss as rasped out. "When can we try teleporting."
"You still have much to practice, you are making great strides but you're not yet ready to try that. Now, again."
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Perla groaned, it had been a couple of months of nothing but practice, training, and more practice, She rolled out of bed sighing as she mentally prepared for the day. Getting dressed was difficult, as her muscles ached, Lyss had decided that not only did she need to strengthen her magic, but also needed to work on her physical strength.
"What if you run out of manna, you need to know how to fight."
So on top of all of the magical training she had also been training her body. She was beyond tired but was impressed with the results that have been showing in the recent days. She made her way slowly down the stairs and smiled when she entered the kitchen, Lyss was looming over the stove, their hair pulled back into a messy bun, She watched them as they maneuvered around the kitchen.  Humming to themselves  in a low voice, they dished two plates and almost jumped out of their skin when they noticed Perla standing in the doorway.
"How long were you standing there?" They asked in a deep raspy voice.
Perla squirmed as the voice roused something deep within her. She tried to ignore it. "Not long." She made her way to the table and sat down, "This looks delicious." She said as she got ready to chow down on the delicious meal. She tried not to watch Lyss as they ate, how their sharp jaw moved with every bite, how their adams apple bobbed up and down when they swallowed, it just made her hot all over. She squirmed uncomfortably in her seat as a sudden craving crawled up her back. She looked away and quickly ate her food trying to distract herself from her thoughts.
"Are you okay?" Lyss asked, seeming worried about her sudden behavior. Perla blushed in embarrassment and could only nod in response as she ate the rest of the delicious food. The rest of their day continued much like the others before, eating, working out, practicing magic, practicing fighting, working out, and eating again. Perla collapsed on the bed at the end of the day drained from all the practice she had accomplished that day. She started to drift off before she completely fell asleep. Her dreams were filled with Lyss as they had been for a while now, it was always different scenarios, Them eating together, sleeping together, going on picnics, chasing each other laughing, or sometimes she'd have some really enticing dreams, ones where Lyss worshiped every inch of her body, filling her with pleasure. Tonight it seemed to be an innocent dream. She smiled at Lyss as they laid in the grass staring at her, the sunlight filtered through the leaves and made Lyss' skin and eye's glow.
Perla's breath caught in her throat as she admired the beauty in front of her, Brown flowy hair spread around them, their pale skin glowing in the light, the eerie green of their eye's tracing over her, it was too much. She looked away with a soft sigh and closed her eyes Enjoying the sunlight when it suddenly darkened. Her eye's shot open and Lyss was leaning over her, Their face inches away from her own. Her breath hitched and she automatically looked at their lips in anticipation wanting to feel them on her's again. She reached up and unexpectedly pulled them into her connecting their lips. The kiss started off slow but quickly turned into a frenzy of passion and lust, their hands traced over her body and she groaned at the feeling. Her breaths becoming heavier as Lyss continued to touch her. Their hands getting lower and lower, she closed her eye's in anticipation.