[Formerly known as 'Trinkets']
Mahika and Amoli can't stand each other, but that's not the only thing they have in common.
Mahika treats Amoli like she's childish. Amoli thinks Mahika is a stuck-up prude. But Mahika's best friend and Amoli's brother...
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Amoli wakes slowly, surfacing from sleep like she's floating to the top of a still lake.
The world around her is quiet, wrapped in the leftover hush of the rain, the air thick with that post-storm freshness. She registers warmth first; the solid weight of someone curled against her, the soft rise and fall of breath against her shoulder.
Everything from last night comes flooding back in vivid, overwhelming wholeness.
The way Mahika had looked at her. The way they'd finally, finally stopped being afraid. Her heart does something complicated in her chest, something warm and settling.
Her eyes flutter open to the quiet hush of Mahika's room, her gaze immediately finding the girl still fast asleep beside her. She's turned slightly towards Amoli, one arm tucked under the pillow, the other resting in the space between them, fingers slightly curled. Her brows are relaxed, her breathing deep and even. The morning light is soft, filtering through the curtains and casting gentle shadows across Mahika's face, highlighting the smattering of beauty marks Amoli has come to adore: the one just above her left eyebrow, the barely visible cluster near her temple, the small one at the corner of her mouth.
She watches Mahika sleep, tracing the details of her face with her eyes; the gentle curve of her jaw, the soft parting of her lips, the way a few stray curls have escaped her bun to rest against her temple. There's a feeling in her chest, something full and warm and right. This ...she thinks. Is this what it feels like to not be afraid?
Unable to resist, Amoli reaches out and gently tucks one of those loose curls behind Mahika's ear. The touch is feather-light, but it's enough.
Mahika stirs at the contact, and Amoli holds her breath. Mahika's eyes flutter open — slow, hazy with sleep — and when they land on Amoli, her whole face softens. A smile spreads across her lips, small and sweet and unguarded.
"Hi," Mahika whispers, her voice rough with sleep.
"Hi," Amoli whispers back.
They just look at each other for a moment, neither moving. Then Mahika reaches up, her fingers brushing along Amoli's cheek, tracing the line of her jaw with the kind of gentleness that makes Amoli's breath catch.
"You're here," Mahika murmurs, and there's something wondering in her voice, like she's still half-convinced she's dreaming.
"I'm here," Amoli confirms softly. She catches Mahika's hand, brings it to her lips and presses a kiss to her palm.
Mahika's smile gets a little bigger, a little brighter. She shifts closer, eliminating the small space still between them, until they're pressed together from shoulder to knee. "Good," she says simply.
For a while they just exist like that, tangled up in each other and the early morning quiet. Mahika's thumb strokes back and forth across Amoli's cheekbone. Amoli's fingers find the back of Mahika's neck, playing with the baby hairs there. The rain picks up outside, a gentle patter against the windows that makes the room feel even more like a sanctuary.
