My vampire queen.

10. Light.

Vanya put the documents down and slumped in her chair, swallowing dryly. "Fucking war contracts." She held her head in her hands and reached for a cigarette in her pocket, raising it up to her lips and lighting it up. She inhaled and her shoulders untensed, holding the cigarette between her two fingers.

She really wanted to see Cosima—she was actually pretty fast with getting these done. It was one morning, and Vanya hesitated to go to the girl's house, thinking she was asleep. But with all of that, she still snuck into the garden, plucked a white rose from a blooming bush, and wrapped it with a white ribbon.

Vanya put her coat on her shoulders and cleared her throat, preferring to walk quietly rather than go with her speed. She kind of avoided the main streets so the people would not see her. She perched her ears up and heard a soft hum in the distance.

Cosima wasn't sleeping—in fact, she was murmuring a lullaby, her gentle voice carried by the night breeze. She seemed to have already noticed Vanya's presence, even if the queen still had to climb the hill. Her hearing was that great—Vanya liked that in her.

The queen stopped in front of the door and opened it, turning the knob and bending down to enter her cabin. Cosima was nowhere to be seen in the living room, and Vanya's golden eyes darted to the left into the cozy kitchen.

The girl was there with her back turned to Vanya, cutting some vegetables, dicing them small, and holding the knife sideways. "Hey." She said calmly, adding them to the pan and smoking the vegetables.

Vanya cleared her throat and came towards her, tapping her on the shoulder and making Cosima turn her head at her. She gave her the white rose, and Cosima gave her a soft grin, nuzzling her nose into the petals, inhaling.

She set the flower on the island and stepped over Vanya's polished shoes, raising herself on her tiptoes and pressing her lips to her cheek. "Thank you." She lowered herself back down, and her fingers fidgeted with the ribbon. "But where did you get a rose in the winter?"

"My garden. I don't know what Farlan does to them, but they grow." Vanya scratched the back of her neck nervously, and Cosima hummed softly, giving Vanya the flower back, their fingers brushing against each other slightly.

"Would you be sweet enough to put this in that vase over there?" Cosima pointed at the window, and Vanya nodded quickly, taking the rose and placing it carefully in the vase on the windowsill. She gazed over her shoulder and saw Cosima open the boiling pot next to the pan. She took a spoon and raised a bow tie pasta to her mouth, blowing cold air to cool it down.

It was one in the morning, and Cosima was making pasta. Was this girl even sane?

She plopped it into her mouth, and her eyebrows threaded together slightly. "Vanya," she called her, and she took another pasta from the pot, chewing the previous one. "Come here." The woman nodded and neared her. Cosima raised the bow tie to her mouth, holding her other hand under the spoon. "Is it too salty?"

Vanya bit the pasta and chewed it, shrugging her shoulders. "That's salty enough." Cosima nodded, turning the stove off and focusing on the sizzling vegetables. Her hair was put into a messy bun, with wavy strands all over her face, but that's what gave her a feminine charm, so alluring and attractive to those burning golden eyes.

Vanya couldn't resist, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth. She took a small step forward and encircled her slim waist into her arms, resting both of her pale hands on her stomach and lacing her fingers together. She leaned her chin on top of her head, closing her eyes and sighing quietly.

Cosima's lips curved into a gentle grin, one of her hands hovering down from the pan and stopping down, placing it on top of Vanya's. She couldn't believe the queen initiated physical contact with her. But she was glad she did it.