by Simply

Dank darkness descended on the abandoned outskirts of the tiny town, pushing the sparkling light outwards and away, up into the retreating sky. The typical sounds of the wooded forest were absent. Completely and utterly absent. It was as though all of the noise had been sucked from the air and displaced-

“Aghh, stop, Em.” Pale hands waved in the air between the pair that occupied opposing chairs in a small living room. “It’s…gah,” the speaker stuck out her tongue and shook her shoulders, “it’s so unbearably verbose. Make it stop, I can’t go on any longer.” The woman took a sip of the steaming beverage in her chipped coffee mug in an effort to wash the language away.

“He thinks himself the next J.K. Rowling and he’s only sixteen years old, Selene. With proper encouragement,” Emily was promptly cut-off from her words, mid-sentence.

“And the burning of his thesaurus,” her companion interjected, smirking, tucking a blonde strand of hair behind her ear. The light strands mixed with the darker ones, giving her hair a shine when beams of sunlight would hit it. She laughed, again, leaning back into the plush cushion of the chair. Merriment danced in her gray eyes as she swiped the paper from across the coffee table.

“Watch it. Could give me a paper cut.” Emily responded, but moved to cradle her mug instead. Selena flipped through the pages and then tossed them into the air in irritation.

“You have got to be joking with me. “ She shook her head. “Seriously, burning his thesaurus would be doing the whole world a favor. Never pick it up. Just let it rot there on the floor forever.” Sipping her coffee, her attentions focused back on her friend, who pushed herself off of the love seat and scooped up the paper.

“Be careful with these. I do have the grade them and give them back.”
“I’ll save you the trouble. Big, fat F.”
“Oh, it is not that bad. You wrote worse poetry about Kevin Lovett in middle school.” This elicited a groan from her friend.
“Don’t remind me.” The moan turned into a barking laugh. Interested gaze flickered across her friend’s face as Emily retrieved the wordy script from the floor.
“You know it’s half past ten, right?
“Ha. Funny.”
“No, seriously.”
“Fuck, Em. Come on, why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” Selena let her cup clattered onto the side table and attempted to steady it with shaky hands. “He’s going to kill me. I was supposed to open up an hour ago.” As she moved through the small apartment, she striped herself of her current lounge clothes. Exposed skin erupted in goosebumps from the chill in the air. A flurry of ‘fucks’ were muttered as she entered her bedroom and dressed herself. A white silk blouse covered her upper half and she struggled to jump into her jeans.

Sitting on her bed, she anxiously grabbed a pair of mismatched socks and yanked them onto her small feet, roughly. “Where are my boooots?” She muttered to herself, cursing all the while. She dropped to her knees and peered under the bed, finding no leather shows there. As she hurried back towards the living room, gray eyes spied them just under the chair she had occupied earlier. In a sweeping motion, she grabbed her purse and the shoes before running out the door with laughter following her down the steps to her car.

The town passed by in a blur to the frantic woman, but outside the town went about its usual business and remained ignorant of Selena's plight. She whipped past the high school, where the telepathic Mrs. George waited out front. Normally, she only screened the children mentally if there was something afoot but she always did a quick monitor to determine if anyone was bringing anything illicit onto school grounds. Selena had gotten caught with a few of her father’s love charms once – trying to sell them to the other girls to make some cash for the weekend. It had been foolish – she thought she could shield herself like the other witches. Unfortunately, that was not the care.

The other cars on the street displayed their custom license plate tags, emblazoned with the protective wars to prevent collisions. Not so much self-driving, as they were protective. People were capable of speeding and crashing but it would protect those inside for any life-threatening injuries. As she neared her destination, the witch passed the Numbers Nook where minor magicians and the commoners could attempt to decipher the future ad the secrets of their own universes by examining the numbers they encountered in daily life. Everything was perfectly normal.

Except that the shop Selena worked at was not open at promptly 9:30 as it had been doing for over a century.

A dark Ford escape waited in the parking lot of the Hervieux Medicinals shoppe. Slinging gravel, Selena whipped her burgundy Toyota Camry into the owner’s space. Frantically, wild eyes searched for the black truck that was her father’s. It was nowhere in sight and she exhaled a sigh of relief. She exited her car hurriedly, locking it behind her with a click of the keyless control.

“Hey Mrs. Parson. I am so, so sorry for keepin’ you waitin’.” She smiled and the freckles along the bridge of her nose inched up closer to her eyes.

“It’s fine, Selena. Wouldya mind mixing something extra for me, though? It wasn’t on my order.”

“Absolutely, Mrs. Parson. Least I can do for you.” Selena turned her back on the aging woman and slipped the golden key into the locks on the outside of the shop’s door. Entering, she flicked on the lights and the electricity began to hum within the walls. She worked her way through the short aisles and to the front of the shop, hearing Mrs. Parson’s cane click on the floor behind her.

“What can I make you?” Selena tossed the keys onto the counter and began rummaging through brown paper parcels beneath the cash register. She found the one with her own handwriting on the front, spelling out Mrs. Margaret Parson. She remembered filling the order two days prior. Some salve for arthritis and a poultice for eczema.

“Something…” The brown eyes were framed by gently rolling wrinkles. “Something to help Alfred Tinnamen realize that I’m…a catch.” The elderly woman said and Selena could not help but smile at her.

“You want a love potion?” She always teased those that came in for such things. It was something that she found rather frivolous. The community in which she resided had accepted the magically gifted among them and in return, the witches of the coven provided services and an ever growing and readily stable economy to the town. The Hervieux Medicinal shoppe had been open for nearly a century, providing remedies, potions and useful spells to those for a price. Selena was the third Hervieux to work in the shop after attending university in Charleston.

The blue in Selena’s eyes sparkled and she pushed the parcel across the counter. Elbows met the wood of the counter as she leaned over. “You are aware, Mrs. Parson, that such spells are not permanent and that the effects can wear off easily enough. He won’t be a lovesick puppy. He’ll just…begin to notice your positively qualities more. But…he may not be interested in that way, still.”

“I know, I know. It’s just so hard, at my age, to spend so much time alone together. I am hoping that something might peak his interest enough to give us some quality time.”

“Of course, I understand, but we do require that you sign this waver.” Leaning back, the young woman filed though a stack of papers and handed a stapled packet to the interested party. Selena placed a black pen on top of it of the papers and rang up the amount. “We could have that ready for you by this afternoon around 3, if that works with your schedule.”

“More than swift, Selena, thank you.” She said as she allowed her cane to hand from the counter, taking the pen to sign on the last page. “We are glad you are back from college. We thought Charleston may steal you from us.” You and me both. Selena thought as she calculated the total.

“Seventy-six and fifty two cents.” A pause. “I did love it there but this was always where I was supposed to be.” The patron did not pick up on the undercurrent of resignation to her tone. She paid what was due and clinked her way out of the store with her parcel in the carpet bag that she carried as a purse.

Selena tied up and began to collect the orders that had been placed online overnight. The silence settled on her and proved to be far too deafening. Pausing from her collections, the witch flipped open her Macbook and searched her Spotify until she settled on the Acoustic Afternoon playlist. It would do for now. She began to combine ingredients and worked through lunch, namely because the first two spells she tried were terribly unsuccessful. It wasn’t uncommon, for her to jumble an incantation or a hand motion for a spell the first time. As the heir to the coven, Selena was a startling disappointment when compared to her father and his seemingly endless supply of steady magic.

In spell classes as a child, she would end up practicing far into the night and never master what the others had grasped so quickly. Of course, everyone had their strong suites. Hanna was gifted at telekinesis. Paul managed to make pyrotechnic displays in Las Vegas look like children’s birthday parties. It had made her envious, once, but she soon grew to accept the fact that she was mediocre, at best. Her father tried not to make her feel inadequate but she could see it in his eyes.

Deep in her own thoughts, she finished the infatuation potion. She bottled it and wrote instructions, much like modern medical prescriptions. Pasting it to the glass, she packaged it carefully and wrote Mrs. Parson’s on the front in her flowing script. The door chimed around two thirty and she whirled around from her computer.

“Have it all ready, Mrs. Parson and I wrote- Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else. Is there something that I can help you with?” Selena called out to the new arrival. She had not seen him before.

Re: those who don't believe in magic will never find it

Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:35 pm

by rejecteddounut

"Eye of... N-" the dark-haired boy frowned, glancing up from the book at the red-haired woman who was standing before a cauldron, a spoon in her hand hovering above the cauldron.

"Sound it out, love," she stated with a smile, patiently waiting for him to finish reading the ingredient before adding it even though she knew what it was.

"Nnn-new..t? Eye of newt!? We're using newt eyeballs?!" He pulled a face, sticking out his tongue in disgust. “I don’t want to touch eyeballs.”

A tinkling laugh escaped the woman and she set the spoon to the side, “Oh, Owen, it’s not real eyeballs.” She walked behind the boy who was sitting at the large wooden table and leaned over him, putting a finger on the words.

“Almost all of these ingredients have secret names. What is in this book, this grimoire, is a code. It’s to prevent someone from getting the book that doesn’t know anything about magic and doing harmful things to others.”

“And using magic to do harmful things is dangerous,” Owen stated firmly. It was one of the first rules he remembered being taught. “Cause it could come back to you three-fold.” He wasn’t exactly sure what three-fold was, but he didn’t imagine it was a good thing.

His mother nodded, kissing the top of his head. “That’s right. Eye of Newt is actually Mustard Seed. And Elf Leaf is Lavender,” she pointed at an ingredient he named off earlier.

“Mustard seed? Like what we have on burgers?” He raised his eyebrows, tilting his head to look up at his mother with a curious expression.

She smiled, her nose wrinkling with her amusement. “Exactly, but that doesn’t mean you can squirt mustard in this potion, okay?” She wandered back over towards the cauldron, throwing in the appropriate amount of eye of newt. “What’s next?”

Pulling the book close, Owen pressed a finger to the other words. “Stir…” he paused, remembering this phrase from another spell, “stir clockwise until all ingredients mixed well.”

***

Owen blew out the candles on the cake, grinning as the people around the table (mostly women) around the table clapped. Picking up the wax numbers, he licked the icing off the 1 and then the 3 before handing them to his mother. "Thanks for this, everyone," he said with another smile. This was pretty much all he wanted for his birthday; all of the women in the coven to be together. It was rare that they were all here at the same time, and even then there were a few missing. They had sent cards and gifts with others or sent them in the mail and Owen understood that they had responsibilities that they couldn’t get away from—important spells needed to be cast or clients to tend to.

This was all that he wanted for his thirteenth birthday though. He didn’t care about the presents; he just wanted the coven as whole as possible because he knew that they would disperse and he would officially begin his studies in the craft. His mother and all the others had taught him many things about magic since he was a child. His aunts and uncles—as he called them—had drifted in and out of his life over the years. Not in a bad way, they were all loving and sent him letters and gifts.

Some of them stayed with him and his mother in their creaky old Victorian two-story house for various lengths over the years. They all had something to teach him: Louise had her scrying, Mark with his herb gardening, Muriel showed him so many things that he couldn’t even list them all. Once they were satisfied with what he knew at that point in his life, they would move back to where they came from or wherever their family had drifted to while they were away.

Now that it was his thirteenth birthday, his lessons would change. He would leave the house he grew up in and travel from one side of the states to the other and everywhere in between; Owen would live with the various members of the coven and learn more from them for the next few years.

His mother pressed a kiss to the top of his head as she finished passing out all of the slices of cake to everyone and produced a wrapped package from the small table behind her that held his gifts. “Here, love, this one is from me.”

Owen grinned, carefully unwrapping it because he didn’t know if it contained something fragile. More than once, he had gotten old books for presents. This was a book, but it wasn’t an old one. In fact, it seemed brand new. He could smell the fresh leather scent of the bound pages. Flipping through it, he could tell that it was made by hand and it was completely blank. There was obviously a lot of love put into it and he recognized most of the symbols that were stamped into the cover. It was then that he realized that what he was being given was his own grimoire.

"Oh, wow.." He breathed, delicately running his fingers over the symbols stamped into the leather. He had touched many grimoires. He knew that there were some that were passed down through generations--like his mother's--and there were others that were personalized to the individual. "Thank you." The birthday boy lifted his head to look at his mother before glancing at the rest of his coven. He was glad to have them, even if they weren't the most traditional of covens.

***

For the next seven years, Owen bounced from one side of the country to the other. He stayed at least a few months at each home, learning all he could from them. There were times where he just spent a summer and then there was the last town that held quite a few members of the coven where he stayed a year and a half. Once he turned twenty, he was on his own. Not in the sense that the coven completely kicked him out and cut him off, but they all encouraged him to make his own path. To find himself and then decide what to do. They chipped in for his funds and told him that their doors were always open if he felt he needed them.

He had spent a few months with his mother while saving more money and she had been so proud and impressed with his magic skills, but Owen knew that he had to try figure out what he did best. He had to understand himself before he could know what he had to offer to the coven. So after the winter snow melted, he got in his beat up car that he bought from one of the coven kids when he turned sixteen and headed out into the world.

Growing from a boy to a young man, Owen learned many things, but even now, at the age of 23, he knew that he still didn’t know everything. In fact, being “kicked out” actually helped him understand more of the world and of magic than he would’ve ever known by staying with his coven. Over the course of his wandering years, Owen came across many magical families who were extremely tight-knit, ones that never left their hometowns and, while they did have knowledge that he didn’t, it just seemed a bit strange to him. It felt like limiting yourself in more ways than one, but most were as happy and as loving as his own coven, so it may just have seemed strange because he was an outsider.

Arriving in the small South Carolina town, Owen knew that there was such a coven, which was a good thing because he was running low on supplies and energy within himself. He decided that he would try to make a living here for a few months. It was always safer to find a town with magical roots or—at the very least—an acceptance. Life could be dangerous for a wandering witch at times.

He didn’t want to trample on any of the business dealings of the coven that seemed to be very firmly settled here, but more than once Owen had assisted a family and learned from them. Perhaps the same could happen here.

Owen milled about the town before making his way to the apothecary. He definitely needed supplies before he did anything else. Walking through the door, the girl started chattering away and he sort of blinked and glanced around before he realized that she thought he was someone else. “Oh, um.. yes. Definitely not Mrs. Parson.”

His eyes wandered about the store briefly before settling on her once more. “I’m Owen. I was wondering if you sold your ingredients individually instead of already prepared.” He didn’t see any evidence of anything being sold for witches themselves, but they could have those in a separate room.

Re: those who don't believe in magic will never find it

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 10:49 pm

by Simply

The individual that stood in the hallway of the shop was certainly not Mrs. Parsons. He was tall, towering over the squat shelves that lined the hallway. He was currently occupying the area of homeopathic pain salves and tonics. (Fortunately for Selena, there were some remedies and potions that could be concocted and stored, rather than made to order – otherwise, how would she ever keep up reading the online blogs.) She had never seen him before and wondered if he was one of those historical wanderers. Every couple weeks, they would have an old couple or a young historian poking about the town. To them, their shop would look like at a classic little store stuck in the old ways and selling “tonics” and “potions” as trinkets and souvenirs as homage to the old ways.

“Pleasure to meet you, Owen.” The response was in her best shopkeeper tone and she rounded the corner of the register’s counter. “What particularly are you looking for?” Her eyebrows knotted together in the middle, in confusion. After all, she knew every single witch that lived in their town and this boy was certainly not a member of their coven. They always didn’t have many visitors and the store typically had a strict policy of not selling singular ingredients to patrons. That had ended horribly nearly a century ago, when a young mortal decided to make her own anti-aging serum.

“We do have a couple of packaged ingredients, but what do you need them for? We don’t sell them to mortals.” She put on her sweetest smile and motioned to a couple of pre-prepared elixirs. “There are a variety of prepared potions and salves for what bothers you, or I can create something more specific.” She brushed back a blonde strand of hair from her face, just as the door chimed again behind Owen.

“Mrs. Parsons!” The grin on her face became more genuine and she turned her back to the new arrivals. Returned to her counter, she withdrew the two parcels she had prepared for the older woman. “Remember what I said, now. I did not say it to be coy.” Selena’s eyes sparkled delightedly and Mrs. Parsons blushed as she placed her purchasing in her knitting bag. Placing it on her shoulder, she tapped her way out to the door.

“I’m sorry, did you decide on something that you wanted?” Selena inquired. She tucked her hands under her arms, letting them rest across her chest. It had been a relatively dull afternoon and she was eager to close up shop. The little Italian restaurant around the corner always had $6.99 endless breadsticks and pesto pasta on Tuesdays. She was starving and as though on cue, her stomach gurgled. She laughed, embarrassed. “Sorry.” Red tinted her cheeks.

Re: those who don't believe in magic will never find it

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 12:36 pm

by rejecteddounut

He wished that the damned bell on the door hadn’t rang when he walked in. Owen liked to watch other people and size up the situation before he barreled in. He liked to try and read someone so he would know how to approach them. There had been times when he had said the wrong thing about a person or their coven and had gotten disapproval. Once he had even gotten escorted out of town, but that was a serious misunderstanding.

The young man stood there as she asked him what he was looking for. Oh, maybe he should’ve actually gone through his supplies and made a list before coming here. He should’ve been a little more prepared. “Well, um…” he patted his pockets, trying to figure out of his small notepad was in his jeans or his button-up plaid shirt. Usually he did keep a small list of things that he might need. The poor boy was a bit scatter-brained at times and that helped… when he remembered to write the things down. “I’ll have to think,” he stated as she continued talking.

At the mention of ‘mortals,’ the corners of his lips twitched into a smile. That phrase always amused him. After all, witches weren’t immortal, not in the strictest definition. They just seemed to live a bit longer than those who had no magic in their blood. “Oh, no prepared stuff. I want—“ he was cut off by the chiming of the bell and Owen scooted closer to the salves the girl had pointed to in an attempt to stay out of the way of the business transaction. He did give the prepared items on display a look over, but it was absolutely nothing that he needed… or wanted. A lot of it seemed to be things for aches and pains, or for vanity purposes.

Once the old woman was gone, he turned his eyes back on the blonde. “I’ll have to get my list on what I need; I’ve forgotten it in my car.” Owen stated as her stomach growled. There was absolutely no way he could’ve held back his chuckle, even if he was trying to be polite. “That’s another thing I need. A recommendation on where to eat. I’m not from here. Which you probably know considering the size of the town,” he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around to see if there was a clock.

“Oh, and I’m a Traveler. Not a mortal.” He gave her the phrase for witches who don’t claim a coven, but then corrected himself in case this was a town that eyed Travelers with suspicion. “I have a coven. We’re just… different. Wanderers.” Owen knew that there was no sort of word for what his coven did, but he tried to set ‘wanderers’ out there everywhere he went. “And I’m low on supplies… and food… If you would like, you could show me a good place to eat?” He quirked a brow, tilting his head and hoping he didn’t come off too forward, but it was always a relief to find a witch that was close to his age. They were usually more open about his ways.

Re: those who don't believe in magic will never find it

Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 8:10 pm

by Simply

Selena watched him flounder with his pockets, in search of something that would aid in him describing to her what he required. A smile ached to press against her lips, but she did not want to seem rude to a new customer, even if he appeared a bit absent-minded. Yet, she was easily able to when he smiled at her at the mention of mortals. Clearly she had misspoken, but her attention was drawn away.

When Mrs. Parsons left, she strode back over towards him. The heels of her boots clicked on the tiled floor and came to a halt next to him. “Okay, well we’re about to close up if you want to…” The rumble of her stomach was terribly loud and the sheepish grin she gave only served to bolster the blush on her cheeks at his amusement. She almost offered to show him a good spot for dinner when he mentioned his coven. Confusion flickered across her face and was slowly replaced with surprise. “Oh. We don’t get many Travelers.” She rubbed at the back of her neck, leaving small red marks on her pale skin. Blond hair brushed back over, hiding the spots she left behind.

“In fact, I think you’re the first that I’ve ever met here….or anywhere in fact. Wanderers. Hmmm, I can’t say that I have come across the concept before. Though, I honestly don’t get much interaction with outside covens. South Carolina is the extent of my magical travels. Were you raised that way? Or did you just decide upon that one day?” She rambled on about Travelers as though they were cute animals at the zoo and she finally got to see one in real life. “Sorry, it just sounds terribly fascinating, is all and I’m being horrible unprofessional.” Thumbs hooked themselves into her back pockets to keep her from gesturing with them any further.

“I can help you with the supplies, but we’re just about to close up for today.” She looked around. Her eager stomach longing for the meal that she promised Emily she’d meet her for. She was trying to cover up for her earlier probing inquiry. Then he asked her to dinner. Or did he? Yes, yes, he did. Chewing on the inside of her lower lip, Selena found that one of her hands hand come back to scratch the back of her neck again.

“Sure. I’m meeting a friend for dinner at this burger place down the street if you want to join us. Then you can come back to the store tomorrow and I can take you into the back.” A moment of silence and then her face broke out in redness, flushing down her neck. “To show you our individual items. Like, what you’re looking for. Into the back to get the things that you want, I mean.” The words ran together like a marathon. Dear God, she was not good at interacting with people she hadn’t known her whole life. She turned her back and him and headed up to the counter. “We can walk down there and I can point out a few other spots to you that may come in handy while you’re here.”

Setting her computer in her bag, she swung it up on her shoulder and moved back over to him. “How long are you planning on staying, anyways?” She started towards the door and waited for him to follow her out. She drew the ancient keys out of her purse after a fair bit of rummaging. Locking the store and checking with a shake of the door, she moved off to the right. “There isn’t much to do here and I fear for the mental status of the poor unfortunate soul that told you to stop through here on your travels.”

Re: those who don't believe in magic will never find it

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 7:50 pm

by rejecteddounut

Owen decided that he liked the girl standing before him, not in any… romantic sort of way, but she seemed genuine and the fact that she kept kind of blundering with her actions and speech was amusing. It had been a few weeks since the young man had held any sort of decent conversation with anyone, especially anyone who had a magic in their blood—which was why he asked her to show him a place to eat. People liked showing off the gems of their hometown; the places they miss the most when they roam. He definitely had a few that he wanted to go to when he was homesick.

“You may have met Travelers before, but just didn’t know it. Some have had bad experiences in towns with covens and so they keep to themselves until they need supplies.” With a nod, he patiently stood there while she seemed to be doing all of the necessary closing up for the shop. “As for Wanderers, I think my coven may be the only one? Or, at least, we’re so few that we’ve never really crossed paths. I’ve never had anyone I’ve met in my travels that knew what a Wanderer was unless they’d already met someone from my coven.”

Her enthusiasm and questions didn’t faze him any. Owen was glad to talk about how he grew up. “I was raised this way. My coven has a few homes throughout the country where we can stay when we need to—but there are times where we just get the itch to wander.” His shoulders lifted in a shrug as he chewed on the corner of his lip. No matter how many times he described what his coven did, he never was really sure what to say to others. He knew, from his travels, that it was strange for a coven to not really be in the same town, raising their children together, and pouring over their grimoires together. As she had spoken of, there were covens that didn’t have very much interaction with others, actually refused to expand and grow—which seemed like a good way to stifle yourself in multiple ways, but Owen let them decide their own ways because he knew his were strange to an outsider.

The young man nodded while she stumbled over her words of taking him in the back. Until she went to correct herself, Owen hadn’t really put any idea except an innocent one to what she said. But then, he had to press his lips together to keep from laughing.

“I’d appreciate being shown around. I’ve made the mistake more than once of choosing the wrong restaurant in a town like this.” For Owen, those mistakes were as simple as thinking it would taste good because of how it looked from the outside or choosing a place that was rather unwelcoming of his kind. Some people seemed to just be able to sense that he wasn't mortal and going into a town that was segregated was never a good thing with his luck of choosing the places to eat that hated witches.

He followed along beside her, keeping a lazy stroll because he was sure he would out walk her with his long legs. Another shrug rolled from his shoulders as he took in the scenery. “I’m not sure how long I’ll stay. It depends on whether I’m accepted, if I can sustain myself here. If I don’t see things going positively in a few weeks, then I’ll find somewhere else to go. There’s a lot of interesting places out there that I still haven’t explored.”

Re: those who don't believe in magic will never find it

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 9:30 pm

by Simply

“I can see, that.” She brushed her bottom lip with her finger, rubbing the corner and dragging it down as they walked along. “We’re a pretty close-knit group of people. The older folks then to like our traditions.” Selena smiled a little. It was adorable, the way the older coven members would get flustered when someone came up with an idea that deviated from the very straightforward path that they had delineated for the coven’s journey. Being the leader’s daughter, well, she had never been one for rebellion. She towed the line. Once upon a time, she had mentally considered not coming back after college but the thought faded with time and here she ended up – walking the streets of her hometown with a stranger.

“Not much to choose from, but I can definitely show you around here.” As they walked along, bright eyes flickered over the streets she rarely looked at in detail. “Over there, that’s a great breakfast spot. They make their doughnut holes hot, instead of just sticking the ones from the day before in a bag. You’ll eat a dozen before you’ve realized what you’ve done.” A smile graced her face and she turned back towards him. “You know where to get the best magical supplies now, even if the owner’s daughter did not do a great job at first introduction.” Selene was adept at poking fun at herself and it did not bother her for a moment to bring attention to things that had previously been rather awkward. “ How do you plan to make a living here – what’s your focus, I mean?” Most witches had an area of expertise that assisted them in work. Their town wasn’t large and the witch population was small but prominent in the community. They were well accepted and encouraged to use their gifts to better their society.

They rounded the corner and she stopped beneath a red awning. “Mind if we wait here for my friend? She’s always running late at the end of the day. Finishing up school – she teaches the highschoolers English. She works miracles, though there are some hopeless cases in that class. She doesn’t practice magic.” The last sentence was added as an afterthought, with a wave of her hand. Shortly after she finished speaking though, her roommate rounded the corner down the way.

“Hey Selene and…you are,” Emily smiled broadened when she took in Owen.
“This is Owen. He’s passing through town. Met him at the shop and decided he wasn’t too frightening to show around town.”

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Owen. I’m Emily.” They walked inside and Selena cast a glance back at Emily, who walked in between her and Owen. Emily raised both of her eyebrows and gave a big smirk. Selena’s eyebrows knitted together with a roll of her eyes. It hadn’t even crossed her mind – though clearly it had not slipped past Emily’s notice.

Seated at the blue leather booth, Emily slid in next to her friend as to leave the opposite open for the new arrival. “So, Owen, what brings you to our little town. I know it wasn’t the booming tourist industry.” Emily smiled. Selena leaned back, letting Em take the reins of the conversation. That was the norm. Emily was much more of a social butterfly than Selena was – not to say that Selena didn’t enjoy the company of others, but she was less natural at engaging others than Emily.

Bright eyes wandered over Owen as he answered, as if trying to discern his abilities, his past and his future just by merely observing him. Unsuccessful, she turned her gaze out the window until the waitress arrived and took their order for drinks. Cherry coke for Selena, water for Emily – always healthy that one.

A small lull in the conversation permitted the witch an opening. “If you had to eat one thing during your entire time here, I would recommend the steak-wrapped chicken. It sounds excessive and if you don’t like meat then it is certainly not for you. I don’t know if you’re more holistic, y’know, some witches are. They really like the whole purity of nature and body stuff. Not that that’s a bad thing necessarily but…” she shrugged and realized she was blubbering again. “It’s not my thing, at least.”

Re: those who don't believe in magic will never find it

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2016 11:42 pm

by rejecteddounut

The witch nodded slowly while his new-found friend mentioned coven traditions, but he said nothing. It wasn’t his place to, in his opinion. He’d never experienced it and so he didn’t know if his coven’s way was better or worse than hers. And he wanted to be polite since she was being so nice and to showing him around town. Even if she didn’t think this place was anything special, Owen had yet to come across any place that was deathly boring. Each town had its quirks; he was fairly sure he was looking at one that belonged to this town as she pointed out restaurants.

A small chuckle escaped him as Selene brought up her poor service. “I won’t give you a one-star review on yelp just yet, so you’ve got time to redeem yourself and the store.” He grinned and then shrugged as the conversation shifted. He was already feeling like he was going to get along with her just fine and, if the rest of her coven acted the same way, then he might stay in the town for a nice bit of time. “I guess I’ll see what’s needed around here. I.. don’t really have anything I’m super strong at, but I’ve learned quite a bit. My coven doesn’t really have people who focus on one thing…” Owen’s voice curved upwards in a slight questioning tone even though his sentence wasn’t a question. “Everyone has their strengths, definitely, but we also try to learn as much as we can.”

The young man knew that this was yet another quirk of his coven and sometimes he felt awkward talking about it—usually when other witches gawk at him like he said his coven likes to try and grow an extra eye for clarity or sacrifice cute kittens—so he was glad when Selene changed the subject about meeting a friend. “Oh, sure thing. If she’s anything like you, I’d be delighted to meet her.”

Okay, so he was acting a little suave with that last bit, but she was pretty and there was a chance that her friend was pretty. Not that… he was going to be creepy. But Owen was a young man and thought girls around his age were cute.

And her friend was definitely cute. He smiled and gave a nod as they were introduced. “Nice to meet you, Emily. And, Selene is being a bit polite about our encounter. She gave terrible customer service and now she’s trying to make up for it by showing me places to eat.” Owen said it in a teasing manner, hoping that the fellow witch wouldn’t get offended by a stranger saying such things.

As Emily took over the conversation, he explained to her a similar thing that he had previously mentioned to Selene: being a witch, a Wanderer, and how he might stay in this town for an indeterminate amount of time depending on how things go. When Selene perked back up, Owen had to hold back a laugh from the way she babbled on. He couldn’t quite tell if that was a nerves thing or if it were just her personality. “Sounds pretty good. I might give that a go. Some of my coven are vegetarians or, at the very least, eat only fish. I can understand why, but I’m just too much of a meatatarian to give up things like bacon.”

They made their orders to the waitress and he handed over the menus before settling his attention back on the ladies. “So, what about you two? Selene mentioned you don’t practice magic. How did you become friends? Is your coven one that mingles education with mortals?” He pulled a face as he finished speaking, turning his eyes to Emily. “I hope you’re not offended by the word mortal…” Owen had come across some people that were, though, it was usually in a town where coven / mortal relations were tense.

Re: those who don't believe in magic will never find it

Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 9:45 pm

by Simply

Well, he was quite the charmer….until her ratted her out. “Hey! I’ll have you know that it is quite alarming to be talking to Mrs. Parsons and find an imposter standing there, looking like…” she waved her hand in front of him, up and down indicating his appearance, “you.” But she grinned a little as she perused the menu idly, looking at words she must have seen nearly an infinite amount of times. Growing up in a smaller town, with more limited restaurant options would do that. Hell, Selene could probably have written it verbatim at the age of ten. Her mother died when she was young and her father was certainly no chef. They ate here so frequently that the owner named a pie after Selena – mostly to cheer her up in those first few weeks but subsequently kept it because it was terribly popular.

“Mmm, no,” Emily said, keeping her eyes on the man before her with an amused smirk playing her lips. “We’ve known each other since we were children, used to live across the street from one another until we moved to the next town over – Fairbanks. My father had gotten a promotion but it wasn’t a long commute, especially since we Selene was constantly stealing her father’s car at fourteen.

“Borrowing. I borrowed my dad’s car, thanks. And, I haven’t wrecked a vehicle unlike other people at this table.” She drew out the word other in a rather annoyed fashion and drew the cherry coke through her straw, content to slip back out of the conversation her companions were having.

“Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted,” Emily continued on. “No, I’m very much a mortal and it does not offend me. The majority of our town is comprised of non-magical people. Most of Selena’s coven tends to marry other witches. It’s encouraged.” She didn’t discuss that any further. “Y’all aren’t immortal by any means but it makes a kind of sense, I suppose. Selene tried to institute remarkably unremarkable or R.U.s, when we were younger but it didn’t quite take.” She cast a side-glance at her friend, who was busy shrugging and appearing quite baffled by the lack of appreciation for her new name. “We all go to school together. Our witches are quite accommodating. When they take spelling, you know which one I mean, we take home economics or other elective courses. All witch babies are required to take the courses.”

Selena snorted. They weren’t her favorite classes. Emily looked at her for a moment before a carton of loaded fries was set in front of her companion. The witch took a handful and in a very unladylike fashion, shoved a few in her mouth. Licking the cheese off her fingers, she shoved it closer towards the man across the booth from her. “Wansome?” It came out as one word. “They’re pretty good.” She added when she had sufficiently swallowed her food.

“So that’s us in a nutshell. Couldn’t shake Selene in college and now she just lives in my house.”
“I pay rent too, y’know.”
“And sometimes it is actually on time.”
“Technicalities.”

Emily stole some of Selena’s fires and ate them in a much more appropriate manner. “If you choose to stay a while, Owen, you should hang out with us more. We’re quite fun.”

“Speak for yourself, Em. I’m terribly boring.” Selena smiled a little and finished off the last of her appetizer just in time for them to bring their entrees. The waitress filled up her coke and inquired if they needed anything additional.

“I teach at the high school so you will be left with Selene during the day, if you think you can manage.”

Re: those who don't believe in magic will never find it

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 11:48 pm

by rejecteddounut

Owen grinned as he listened to the two women banter back and forth. Even if they hadn’t told him, he could tell that they’d been friends for a long time just by the way they were speaking. He honestly wasn’t too sure if he could say he had a friendship like theirs. Even though he did make a lot of friends by being a Traveler, the young witch didn’t feel like he had formed such a bond as theirs with anyone. The closest he got was his cousin, Michael. They often stayed with each other while they bounced from coven member to coven member and they still occasionally crossed paths. They texted every day. In fact, he had just sent a text to Michael before he walked in Selene’s store to say what town he might be staying in.

“You can’t go wrong with cheese fries,” he gave a soft laugh at Selene’s enthusiasm for the fries. Owen moved to pick up his fork in an attempt to be polite about picking up someone else’s food, but there was a fry dangling off the edge that was just dying to be eaten, so he plucked it up and stuffed it in his mouth. “Oh, you’re right. This isn’t just any ol’ cheese.” He wiped a finger over his bottom lip where he could feel a faint string of cheese and popped that in his mouth too.

The young man nodded while Emily continued on. “I’m hoping to stay here for a bit, actually. Maybe learn a few things from Selene’s coven before moving on. It’s what Traveler’s do.” He paused for a second, trying to think if he spoke about this before Emily had joined the party. “My coven is a bit different from others. We don’t stick together in a pack. Our goal is to learn all we can from the world and.. just…” Owen trailed off, trying to think of how to word it. “Just sort of implement it in our lives. If that makes sense. We’re quite far from traditional covens that try to intermarry with other witches or just interact with only their coven or nearby ones—which is pretty hard in today’s world, but,” he waved his hand, dismissing all that.

“Anyway, yes. I’m hopefully going to be staying. And, I guess dealing with Selene would be okay,” he smiled in a teasing way. “As long as you come along after your schoolwork.”

The waitress came by and refilled drinks, making sure they had enough napkins and promising that the rest of the food was ready to bring out.

“I’m glad this town is really open about its coven and the witches. There are some places that are absolutely separated or some people refuse to acknowledge each other. It’s pretty silly, really.”

Re: those who don't believe in magic will never find it

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 6:03 pm

by Simply

Selene’s blue eyes flickered up to watch him put the fry into his mouth and nodded, approvingly. While Em continued to keep her gaze on their new companion, the witch cast a side eye at her best friend. A smirk played her lips before she rolled her eyes and attention shifted back to her cheese fries. She devoured them. Yet, at the mention of learning a thing or two from her coven, Selene tried not to choke on the mouthful of cheese-coated fries she had been chewing on.

She listened to him continue on and didn’t say anything right away. Other covens might be fairly accepting of his Traveler lifestyle but being the daughter of the leader came with a little bit more knowledge that Emily was privy too. The schoolteacher may be her best friend but that didn’t mean Selena could let her in on the inner workings. Uncomfortable with where the conversation was going, she chewed on her lip but fortunately the little flirt he threw at Emily caught her attention and set her at ease.

Emily smiled and took a long sip of her drink before excusing herself to the restroom again, no doubt to freshen up her lipstick. She has been the one to teach Selena the essence of flirting, which was another thing that did not come naturally to the witch. That gave Selena a moment of opportunity to speak with Owen privately. “Hey, not to burst any bubbles, but my coven isn’t too eager on drifters.” She said, trying not to be too off-putting but convey as much as she could without outright calling him and his own coven scoundrels for not setting down roots. “We may share with the local mortals but we don’t really let them in on all of the coven’s decisions. So about that silly thing…yeah, we probably fall a bit into that a bit.

Taking a sip of her drink, Selene shrugged her shoulders. “So you’ll be allowed to come to our coven meetings, most likely, but sitting in on séances and classes,” she shook her head back and forth. “But I could show you a bit around the shop, if you want. My dad is headed two towns over for a conference for a few days so he won’t be around to frown disappovin’ly at me showin’ you around.” She saw Emily exit the bathroom and head towards them, with a fresh light smear of lipstick across her lips. “That way, you can also take Em out.” She leaned back into the chair, crossing her arms. The smirk played her lips as Emily remained staining, oblivious to her friend’s prod at their new companion.

The food arrived just as Emily sat down in her seat. They small talked a bit about the town and Emily made quite the subtle displays of flirting that Owen obviously picked up on. Feeling quite comfortable as the third wheel, she finished off her food and just leaned back to participate a little in the conversation. However, it started to become apparent that maybe her presence wasn’t as necessary as it was before. She had made the introduction and she was no longer needed.

“I’m gunna take my leave. I gotta run to my dad’s before he heads out tomorrow mornin’. Em can give you my number, Owen, and you can stop by the shop tomorrow and I can help you with that list of stuff you had mentioned.” Selene slipped out and squeezed Em’s fingertips as she did. She walked back towards the shop. When she grabbed a few things from her dad’s house, she did not mention the new witch arrival that had made his entrance today. She felt a little awkward keeping it from him but she didn’t know how receptive he would be to an outsider. She didn’t bother to check to see if there was anyone else with Emily at the house. She went straight to her room and finishing reading the book she had picked up a few days ago.

The next morning, Selene showered and braided her hair back from her face. She descended the stairs to the kitchen and started to make herself a cup of coffee, seeing movement out of the corner of her eye at the kitchen island. “Mornin’ Em, how did it go with-,” she turned and saw someone that was completely not her roommate. “Holy shit, Owen. Couldn’t have announced yourself when I came in?” She released another expletive and leaned against the counter with her mug in one hand and the other against her chest, feeling the rapid pounding of her heart. Once the adrenaline started to run out of her system, she smirked at him. “Sooooo…..last night went well I see.”