Lucy exhaled sharply, rubbing at her eyes. She really hated talking about this. “We were close friends for a while, extremely close.. Then we got into more private relations,” she explained slowly, biting her lower lip. “But he got too possessive, even broke another friend’s nose when he made a joke, so I cut it off.”
She really hated talking about it. She remembered the sleepless nights, sobbing over the relationship that she thought was absolutely perfect. They had even discussed getting engaged at some point in the future, but it got too much for her to handle. “I’m sorry,” she continued quickly, concentrating back on her book. “This is stupid to talk about. I don’t enjoy it, you obviously don’t enjoy it, so we can drop it.”
"I see. So, do you have a guess for how many- er," Lata silently mouthed the word 'magic' before continuing.
"kids that there are?" she finished
“I think there are three other kids like me. There might be more, but I don’t know,” Ben chatted casually in a squeaky sounding tone as he pushed open the door to the shared room
"Can you gather them up for me? I need to go speak with Or- um, Castor," she attempted to cover up, nearly giving away the other visitor's name.
Ben nodded, quickly hurrying in, coming out a moment later with another girl around his age, and a slightly older boy.
Sam frowned. "I…Have had similar experiences. One in particular did not play out very well. Apparently fire and water really do not mix," he said, sipping his tea idly
Lucy let out a pained, forced laugh, nodding slowly. “Yeah, obviously..” she responded softly, picking at one of her nails. She glanced down at the first page, wanting to get away from the painful topic.
"Do you like ice cream? I think I saw some in Orion's fridge," Sam asked, noticing Lucy's discomfort
“Hm? Oh er, I guess, yeah. But isn’t that too cold for you to touch?” Lucy asked, glancing up at him for a quick moment before adverting her gaze again.
Sam shrugged. "I'll wrap my hands in oven mitts or something." He got up to get the ice cream, wincing as the cold air from the freezer hit him. It didn't crack his skin at the very least, which he was grateful for. "What kind do you like? There's a…road of rocks? And a mint chip?" he said, frowning at the names of the flavors
Lucy frowned softly when he went to go get it. So damn stubborn, she thought. “The mint one will be fine,” she responded, eyes skimming the first page of the section. Already, the first page discussed hexes. The most sickening one was to make a person cough up pins and needles, slicing the inside of their throat open in a long, and painful death
(Me: A ROAD OF ROCKS)
Lata nodded a thanks to Ben. She ushered them all into the room and shut the door behind her. Lata sat on the floor in front of the closed door, legs crossed.
"You all have magic abilities then…?" Lata asked hesitantly.
Orion continued to talk to the woman, feeling his skin crawl at the way she looked at the kids; almost like they were slabs of meat and her a hungry fox. Feeling his discomfort grow, just for a moment, he thought he felt a trace of dark magic form her. Testing the new theory, he put out a Dark Aura and waited for her reaction. A witch would react much more strongly than a normal human, with coughing and choking, while a human would simply seem uncomfortable.
(Sam doesn't understand ice cream lmao) Sam went through the drawers again, looking for oven mitts. He finally found some, and he put them on before awkwardly grabbing the ice cream out of the fridge. He grabbed a bowl and a spoon out of the nearby drawers and scooped some ice cream into the bowl. He put the spoon in the bowl and walked over to Lucy, looking ridiculous as he held the bowl as far away from himself as possible
The woman shifted slightly, clearing her throat softly, but her husband was the one who began coughing sharply, grimacing as he did so.
The children each looked at each other and nodded, looking at Lata nervously. “They are more scared of Mrs. Quill,” Ben said quietly.
(That’s hilarious lmao)
Lucy took it from Sam when he came over, stifling soft laughter. “Thank you, was that so hard?” She asked, trying to lighten the mood the best she could.
Orion's careful gaze fell onto the man, and unleashed a bit more of his aura. Blue eyes seeming to bore into his soul, the man knew he was outclassed. Smiling at the woman again, the man catches a glimpse of sharpened teeth, before the 'customer' continued talking with his wife like nothing was wrong.
Sam tried to scowl at her but couldn't for long. He cracked a small, awkward smile. "I look like Lillith," he chuckled, looking down at the flower-covered oven mitts
The man went noticeably tense at the customer, glancing away as quickly as he could, knowing he had been caught. “Where did your wife go, sir?” The man asked, regaining his composure.
Lucy smiled lightly when she made Sam smile. Again, she took it as an achievement of some sorts, seeming as he was always serious. “Floral is definetly not your thing, I’d stick with the suit style clothes,” she said in a teasing tone.
"I agree," he said, smiling a little more. He went back into the kitchen, putting the oven mitts away before sitting on the floor again. He smiled a small bit as he drank his tea. "I wonder if Orion will let me use his oven at some point. I think I make good lava cakes," he wondered aloud
Lata hummed in thought. She wasn't sure how many kids Orion planned on rescuing- er adopting, so she couldn't promise them anything.
"I'm not her, it's okay," she tried to soothe them, despite not being very good at it. Lucy was better at that than she was.
"I'm like you guys," she said, summoning a small illusion of a flower in her palm.
"She went to talk with a few of the children, to find if they were a good match for our household." Patiently Orion replies to the man, his tone pleasant as can be.
(Aslo! Orion's pseudonym is a play on words!! Castor, like Caster, Castor is a star, and Caster means someone who casts. In this case, it is casting spells)
“Oh? I see..” The man responded, his dark eyes having a sharp glint in them now as he stared at Orion.
Ben and the other children gasped in amazement, scooting closer to look at the flower. The younger girl reached out, moving to touch it with her finger, only to be suprised when her finger went through it. “Wow!” The young girl cried.
Lucy watched him, pleased that he was now smiling. “Maybe, but it will probably take a lot of convincing,” She said, shrugging her shoulders loosely. She shut the spell book and put it aside, being more interested in the conversation now. She told herself she would read it later.
