#Their coven is found family

[boundinblueleather]

OK so is anyone going to talk about Agatha putting Teen’s safety above her own? This is the witch who is KNOWN for being selfish, and here she is with this cute emo teen who maybe reminds her of her son, and it’s all “no don’t make him drink the poison I’ll do it”, not to mention a few other scenes. I have seen this trope a hundred times and I will happily watch it a hundred more. I’m LIVING for it.

[caseynovaksecretgf]

Gone but never forgotten

[vecreations19]

Dear Marvel

the next season if continued of what if should include the following episode titles even if it’s not plot relevant

what if Nicky survived

what if Agatha and rio never broke up

what if Agatha never had the darkhold

what if Agatha adopts Billy

what if Agatha and rio become a suburban family couple

what is Agatha didn’t die

what if the coven survives

what if the coven group parents Billy

what if Agatha and Rio were a detective and fbi agent

Ik fan fic exists but I need moreeeeee cuz I read most of it already

[holyblanchett]

Jen was given the opportunity to leave the road but she stayed. It's really giving found family and sisterhood and this makes me want to cry.

[vivllainous]

PSPSPSPSPS NEW AGATHARIO FANFIC JUST DROPPED by yours truly - me <3

Anyway: TEACHER AU academic rivals but they’re both teachers who fight to have the highest scoring class!

Chapter One is out now! Go read it my loves

Summary:

Agatha Harkness is one of the most renowned teachers at West View Highschool. Her classes are always top of the school and noone was able to take her title, not until a new English teacher started at West View High. Rio Vidal, a young, charming and openly gay new teacher, fresh out of university and on the brink of stealing Agathas title.

Not only are they fighting for whos class will graduate with the best results but Agatha also discovers something hidden far away in he subconcious. The danger of loosing her title isn't the only reason her new collegue makes her blood boil.

[tiredwitchmachine]

Summary: The coven stays at Agatha's house for the night and discover Billy's intense fear of the dark.

(Agatha All Along Week - Day 5 - Free Day)

Fic Under the Cut:

“Alrighty, gang! That wraps up tonight's session, so you can all leave my house now!” Agatha says in her usual fake cheery voice. At this point, they all knew to just roll their eyes and let her have it. Tonight however, the ensuing remarks went a little differently. 

“In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s coming down in buckets outside.” Jen gives a pointed look out the window, the rain coming down so hard it’s impossible to even see the yard. “No way am I going out in that. I just bought this dress.” 

“Ugh, always with the drama, Jenny.” She jabs with a playful smile, proud of her school yard insults. “Everyone knows witches don’t actually melt in the rain.”

“Well I, for one, am with Jen on this one.” Lilia interjects. “We may not melt, but we’ll most certainly drown.” 

“Or run ourselves off the road.” Alice adds. “Do you know how many rain related accidents I had to respond to during my cop days? The answer is too many, and they were never pretty.” 

“My poor roses,” Sharon mutters to herself, looking out the window towards her own lawn. 

“Yeah, and I don’t wanna get in another car accident.” Billy says, finally speaking up from his place sitting in one of Agatha’s ornate yet comfy chairs. 

“I’m staying here regardless.” Rio comments with a hum and a smirk directed at Agatha but meant for everyone to see. Everyone made varying noises of disgust at the display. “So what's it gonna be, Agatha? Coven sleep over?” 

“Oooh, I haven’t been to a sleepover since I was in high school, and that was years and years ago.” Sharon muses, forgetting all about her roses at the idea. Agatha rolls her eyes and gags at the idea, before taking a look at her coven members faces and softening a little. She’ll never admit it, but she’s grown soft on all of them- especially Billy, who she never tries to deny is her favorite out of all of them. 

“Oh fine!” She forces her voice back into an overly sarcastic box and tries to hide the smile that creeps onto her face when they all cheer. “But you’re all figuring out pajamas and blankets and all that. Scrounge around, I’m sure Ralph left some stuff here.” 

“Ew, I am not getting near your weird fake husband's gross stuff.” Jen shivers and Rio glares. She doesn’t like the whole “fake husband” thing one bit, naturally. 

“I still feel kinda bad for him,” Billy says but no one's listening, already scrounging around for things they can use for bedding and pillows. 

-

They all set up camp in the living room, a suggestion made by a very excited Sharon, and the lights are all turned off as they settle down. No one seems to notice how Billy tenses as the room fills with darkness. 

He sits up and crawls over to his backpack, grabbing a pair of headphones from them and slinking back to his makeshift bed. Alice hasn’t quite fallen asleep yet and notices, lightly tugging at his pant leg. 

“You okay, Billy?” She asks when he spooks a little at the contact. 

“Fine.” He answers instinctively and offers her a small smile she can’t possibly see in the dark. “I was just grabbing my headphones, for white noise, you know?” 

“It’s raining outside, what do you need white noise for?” Jen scoffs and gets shushed by Alice. 

“I don’t- never mind, I’m tired so I’m not gonna bother trying to argue.” 

“You’re no fun.” 

“Everyone shut your traps, I’m trying to sleep!” Agatha exclaims loudly and Jen huffs, crossing her arms and laying back down. 

Alice gives Billy another look, but finds that the teenager has already put his headphones on, scrolling through his phone for a moment before clicking on something and setting the phone face down on the rug. When she’s sure he’s actually settled, she lets herself drift off into sleep as well.

-

A loud crash of thunder wakes Alice up hours later, so loud she’s unsure how the rest of the coven sleep through it. Blinking blearily, she looks around the room at the group, all asleep until her eyes land on Billy, or rather where Billy had been when she’d gone to sleep.

This sets off alarm bells in her head and something triggers inside her- police training instincts, sibling instincts, parental instincts, she’s not sure, but it triggers something and she’s kicking off her blankets in an instant, getting up to search the whole house for her baby witch. 

He’s not in the living room or the kitchen, and she’s about to go upstairs when she finds him sitting by the front door, knees pulled up to his chest and breathing harsh enough that she can hear it. 

“Billy?” She whispers, getting closer to him and kneeling down. “What are you doing all the way over here?” 

“The power went out.” He answers and he’s right. Alice looks out the window and sees the street lamps have all gone out, probably a downed wire or something. Whatever had happened, it had plunged the street into darkness and there was no light in the house. She’d been using her magic to guide herself around the house and she hadn’t noticed how dark it was till now. “It’s too dark.” He reads her mind. 

“Are you scared of the dark, Billy?” She asks, trying not to sound too condensing. She knows teenagers can be cagey about admitting they’re scared. But Billy isn’t like other teenagers, and he nods, body shuddering clearly. 

“I don’t like it.” He hiccups quietly. “It’s too cold and too dark. It reminds me of when I was gone, when I was stuck between being Billy and William. It makes me feel so alone, Alice. I don’t like being alone.” 

“You’re not alone, kiddo, not anymore.” She sighs, placing a hand gently on his knee, noting how he’s shivering with fear. “I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.” 

“You promise?” He asks, and Alice tries not to think about how small he sounds. The Billy she’s used to is sweet and kind but also loud and sometimes brash in a good way, but never small. 

“I promise.” She nods. “Now let's get back to the other witches in the living room. You’ll feel less alone with more people around, trust me.” 

“I trust you.” 

“Good.” She smiles, standing up and holding her hand out for him to take. When he does, she gives his hand a gentle squeeze and leads him back to the living room, using her magic as a flashlight. 

She makes sure he gets to his makeshift bed again and tucks him in, despite his quiet protests that she doesn’t have to. Quite honestly, she doesn’t know what comes over her at the moment, but she does it anyway and takes his protests as a sign that the fear is wearing off. 

“I’ll be just over here, okay?” She gestures with her magic to her place next to Jen and crawls over to it, settling down again. 

Sleep almost takes her again when there’s another crash of thunder and she hears Billy make a small noise of fear at the noise. She peaks an eye open and sees him huddled up on his blanket, electric blue magic running up and down his fingers, illuminating the tear tracks on his face. She sighs. 

“Billy,” She whispers, and when he doesn’t react, she tries again, a little louder this time. “Hey, Billy?”

“What’s going on, Alice?” Lilia’s voice comes from the couch where she’s half curled up, Sharon on the other half. Before Alice can answer, her eyes are already moving over to Billy, who’s still unresponsive and sparking blue. “Oh, mio bambino. What’s wrong?” 

“Dark.” He whimpers. “So dark. I’m all alone.” 

“Shh, Billy, you’re not alone.” Alice tries to comfort him, crawling back over to him. 

“Wha’s going on?” Jen asks from her pile of blankets, the commotion having woken her up. 

“Billy’s upset.” Lilia answers. 

“What’s wrong with Billy?” Agatha asks next, sitting up quickly and turning her eyes to her mentee- her adoptive son if you asked anyone besides her. 

“He’s panicking.” Alice answers this time, gently rubbing a hand up and down Billy’s back. “He doesn’t like the dark.” 

“Most children don’t.” Rio comments from besides Agatha. At this point, the whole coven sans Sharon is awake. 

“He’s not a child, he’s a teenager.” Jen retorts. 

“Legally that’s a child.” Lilia joins in before catching herself. “But now's not the time for that argument. The boy needs our attention.” 

“What should we do?” Alice asks when Billy doesn’t seem to be calming down. 

“Well, there’s always a witch pile.” Agatha suggests. 

“A witch pile?” Alice questions. “No way that’s a real thing.” 

“Okay okay, yes I made that one up, but you get the concept!” The purple witch argues and Alice just sighs. 

“For once I agree with Agatha,” Lilia says. “Maybe being closer to everyone will help.” 

“I guess it’s worth a shot.” Alice sighs. “I don’t like seeing him like this.” 

“No one does.” Agatha mutters, already moving herself over closer to them. Rio’s not far behind, despite her mixed opinions on the boy and his weird soul situation. 

Lilia moves herself off the couch, with minor protests about how the floor is going to hurt her back. Jen huffs but drags her blanket pile over as well. The whole coven moves till they’re all pressed together, Alice facing Billy with Agatha at his back and Rio behind her. Jen finds herself besides Alice and Lilia rests near the top of their heads, not so subtly stealing one of Jen’s many blankets. 

Billy’s breathing is still harsh, but it starts to slow down as he realizes his coven is all around him. More tears rise in his eyes and he lets them fall. 

“Thank you,” He whispers after he’s sure it won’t get lost in a hiccup or a sob. 

“Of course,” Alice responds. 

“We’re your coven, we’re here for you.” Lilia cuts in to say. 

“Yeah, so don’t make a big deal out of it and go back to sleep, Teen.” Agatha huffs, her miffed tone contrasted with the protective arm she’s thrown around him. He smiles softly and doesn’t mention it. 

“I’m so glad I found you guys.” He whispers instead and gets a jab to the rib from Agatha. 

“What did I just say,” She tries to sound upset but her tone is too soft and after a moment she continues. “You’re not all bad yourself, kid.” 

The whole coven falls back asleep like that, in a pile of blankets found around the house and scattered limbs thrown over each other. If they focus on it hard enough, they can all feel their magic moving together in sync, beating in a caring rhythm. 

-

The next morning when they wake up, they find Sharon on the floor with them and a photo of them all on the ground together. They all know Sharon took it, judging by the thumb in the corner of the photo, and once they’re all up Lilia announces she’s making breakfast, and they’ll all sit around the table they held their weekly magic session the night before. 

No one mentions Billy’s panic attack the night before, but the smile on his face when he looks at all of them is enough for them to know he’s going to be alright for now.

[existential-crisis-territory]

FINALLY WATCHED THE AGATHA FINALE AND THAT WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED

[rummikubcube]

Streets are saying that in her last fight with Rio, Agatha tried to use all the spells and help her coven had given her (Alice’s protection circle, Jen’s water incantation, Lilia’s divination prediction…)

Oh well, time to cry again.

[blorboazula]

Incorrect Quotes (but the source is my head)

I'm a weirdo obsessed with my own AU so...

Sharon, bringing a pile of steaming food: here, dear, your dinner.

Agatha: why do you always bring so much food? (As if she's not happily keeping her fridge stocked).

Sharon, pretending to not have war flashbacks from almost wrestling food down spellbound Agatha's throat: that's what grandmas do.

Agatha: I'm literally centuries older than you.

Sharon: and?

***

Billy sliding up to Rio: hey, I have a question?

Rio: yes?

Billy: since Agatha's my dad... Does it mean you're my stepmom?

Rio: run.

***

The coven bursts the door open to rescue Billy from Wanda. Sharon, pulling a AK-47 from her tiny purse: hello, Wanda, time to match your twin.

***

Agatha, handcarving a plaque with "Billy Kaplan": no, that's the guest room, he's just a regular guest.

***

The coven watching Agatha and Billy: there's two of them

The coven watching Rio and Tommy: oh goddess, that's even worse.

***

Group chat names: Coven of Queers (+ Adopted Ally) [probably named by Tommy]

Agatha: rabid dog n°1

Rio: feral gremlin

Lilia: slightly rabid dog

Billy: rabid dog n°2

Tommy: speedy boy

Jen: rabid toddler

Alice: the only actual adult

Sharon: secretly feral gremlin

[chicago-geniza]

From "every few centuries, somebody reinvents the coven" by katplanet on ao3...thank you FANFICTION

[ramblingsfromthytruly]

BLOOD RUNS THICKER THAN WATER BLOOD RUNS THICKER THAN WATER BLOOD RUNS THICKER THAN WATER BUT BOTH FEEL THE SAME WHEN YOU'RE EYES ARE CLOSED I AM THE RIVER'S DAUGHTER I AM THE RIVER'S DAUGHTER I AM THE RIVER'S DAUGHTER AND YOU'LL BE HER SON WHEN WE'RE BOTH REPOSED

[kelp-my-beloved]

A bloody lich. You had to be kidding.

“Look, Scott,” Cleo teases from where they are standing next to him. “That’s a cousin of yours over there”

“Ha, ha,” he responds, sarcasm filling his voice. He might be a lich, but that didn’t mean he had to let himself go.

Scott frowned, a disgusted expression on his face as the night lich flew right in front of the viewing area. It looked more like an squeleton than a person, the thin layer of pale skin giving it a horrid appearance. While it was dressed by some sort of robes, and seemed capable of conjuring a few basic spells as it tried to escape, it seemed as thought it was devoided of reason, more of an animal than a person. When it moved its head to look at them- at him, a hint of what could be interpreted as recognizion of its kind on its face, there were no signs of intelligence on its eyes.

He did his best to ignore the side looks from the other witches in the viewing box. It was no secret what he had done to himself, but now, with another lich parading in front of everyone to see, it seems like the rest has finally realized what it really meant.

The rest, of course, excluding Cleo, but when wasn’t that the case?

He had known what the ritual implied, and what were the consequences if his magic were to leave him. What he would become.

But, like all other sacrifices he had made since Milo died, he didn’t regret it.

At least now they knew exactly what he was willing to sacrifice for the victory.

“Three!” Bertha started, her voice resonating through the whole collisium. “Two!”

He wondered if she had picked that particular boss for a reason. If she had known that El was in his and Cleo’s coven now, and that they would be present to watch the trial.

“One! Go!”

With those last words, the gate was open, and Eloise entered the arena.

She was fast, and efficient, in a way that spoke of confidence grown from hard practice. The witch wasted no time in resorting to her wand and talisman, and even her ghost arrows, changing both her tactics and positions as the lich drew closer or flew away.

To its credit, it seemed to understand what was going on, and even try to predict its enemy’s movement. Once it realiced how quickly she could evade its shots, and how sturdy her armor truly was, it ran towards the walls, above the fighting arena and well out of the hex’s reach.

Eloise tried to shot at it with the amulet a couple of times anyway, and even tried to back away in an effort to get it back into the lower zone, where she had the advantage. But still, the lich refused to cooperate.

“You are going to have to go after it, El,” he mumbled under his breath. She was stronger with close reach attacks, yes, but it was time to get out of her comfort zone, and end the battle.

“She’s got this,” Cleo spoke. Her voice sounded confident, but Scott could see the way her fingers moved now and then, as if trying to conjure a hex for her. “It’s barely hit her, and she still has plenty of tricks under her sleeve.”

The necromancer made a noise of affirmation under his breath, not bothering with an answer. His eyes were glued to the newest coven member, who had managed to hang to the side of a wall to get a better view of the boss.

He looked up at the clock on the room. He wasn’t worried about her, he had seen her train. But it was the timing what was worrying him.

Unlike all other trials, Bertha had decided that for this one, they would all have a chance to fight their enemy, and whoever killed it the fastest would be given the chance to unlock their third ability.

Frustrated, El let go of the wall and used her powers to change their positions. He had to give it to her, that was one clever trick, and it managed to get her a few hits with her stack, but it wasn’t long until the lich flew up once again, away from her reach.

Then, they saw her try to aim another hit with her stack, but no power came out of it this time. She tried once, twice, three times with no results. From where her coven was standing, it was clear she was panicking over having lost her main weapon.

“It’s nothing, El,” Cleo was the one mumbling now. “Drop it. Don’t worry about it, you have other weapons”

She ran forth and back as she minded her distance with her enemy, hand switching to hold her sword instead. It was a powerful thing, both of the other witches of her coven had made sure of it. She had no reason to worry.

“She has other weapons, right?” This time, it was directed towards Scott.

He felt his mind bluescreen for a moment. What she needed for this fight were long reach weapons. Scott knows he has her sword, and worst case scenario her staff. But neither of them looked very promising for a fight like this.

The lich ignored the question. “Why is she taking so long?”

She should have already drawn her bow since the moment the boss had started flying around. They had talked about tactics.

It had to be just nerves, right?

“Scott, does she has other weapons?” The Time Witch turned for the first time to look at him.

Eloise was a powerful witch, much stronger than she had been when the competition had just started. But this wasn’t a question of wether or not she would be able to defeat the lich, but of whether she would do it faster than the other competitors.

She had worked so hard on this, he wasn’t going to let some nerves get in the way of her victory.

If anyone deserved to win this, it was her.

Scott looked around. The few people that were watching the fight, the other contestants, Bertha, and Mertha, had their eyes glued to the arena before them.

He took a tentaly step back. And another one. Nobody moved to look at what he was doing.

“Cover me,” he whisper to Cleo, before letting go of his form, and became a shadow.

The only answer he got was a small nood. Good. That was all he needed.

Even if he got caught, he had a feeling that he could intimidate Bertha into forgetting he had any cheating had occurred.

He floated over to where Eloise was standing, not unlike his lich counterpart, and watched as she conjured her broom and jumped on it, gaining height quickly as she approached her enemy. Catching up on her right, and making sure her body covered his from the viewing box, he let himself show for a moment, before going back to being invisible.

It was enough for El, as he had known it would. Her eyes went wide for a moment, head tilting to acknowledge him, before refocusing on the threat in front of her.

She had this, the three of them knew it. He was just there to make sure she ‘had this’ a little bit easier.

That was what covens were for.

He followed her as she took her broom closer to the lich, and started hitting it with her sword, balancing her weight in the thin wooden stick, hands free. It had to hurt, the damage it was doing to the creature was evident, but it made Scott nervous. From that distance, a few close hits could actually knock her out, and if that didn’t kill her, then the fall very well could.

Scott though of Cleo, and her question. El needed a bow, a crossbow, anything that would help her get a better stand against it.

As she started to fly in circles, chasing the lich, he took the chance to grab her shoulder with a hand, ignoring the way she shivered under the touch.

“If you land, I can give you my bow and arrow,” he whispered to her, just in case somebody was listening. He let go immediately after, watching closely her reaction.

She froze for less than a second, eyes going wide, and drove her broom as fast as she could to the other side of the coliseum, to the ground. Scott cursed at her speed, doing his best to catch up as soon as he could. He didn’t want to make it so obvious, but he couldn’t say that he really cared that much about keeping the appearances.

But before he had even reached her, Eloise had thrown a few things to the ground, and was grabbing her very own bow, a bag full of arrows near and ready to be drawn. It seemed like she had had them this whole time, and just forgot about it.

Scott resisted the urge to laugh. Of course she would be so nervous as to forget her weaponry. But she had it now, and was already going back to battle. Arrow after arrow, she started shooting the lich with all of her might, keeping a respectful distance between the two, so that she had time enough to move when it tried to attack her back.

He hoovered down, relaxing, as he watched with glee the lich’s life bar go down in the ceiling.

Soon enough, she shoot one last arrow, and the boss fell to the ground, dead for good.

“I should have just done that,” she said as she took her broom down, though it was unclear towards who.

The arena lightened up as the protective spells withdrew, and the other witches hurried out of the box.

“I should have just done that,” she repeted once more, though this time with a smile on her face, as she realized she had won her first official battle.

The viewers started shouting congratulations and advise, and Scott welcomed the distraction to sneakily go back into the viewing box, with everybody else. Nobody payed him a second look, except for Cleo, who muttered an excited ‘she did it’.

Faintly, he could hear El recriminating herself over taking so long to draw her bow.

[itsmiyamore]

kinda obsessed with this hoshina guy by proxy

LMAOOOO PLEASE I THINK ITS THE FIRST TIME ANYONE'S EVER SAID THAT TO ME SJXJSJN

If ur interested he's from Kaiju No. 8 and he's also the love of my life fr <3333 compression shirt scene is a life changer fr

[magical-mistakes-vm]

17

"No worries, Elmar, I have made challenge regarding Mahala.  As such, she will come home with me." Balor gave no one time to react before he strode quickly from the room, leaving the others to try and catch up.  He was grinning as he made his way down the hall.  It was game time.

"The fuck you will," Vollrath replied, and almost jogged after Balor.  He grabbed his brother, and brought him to a stop in the hallway.  Elmar and Baldur weren't sure if they should step in or just go grab Mahala and run.  "She is going nowhere with you."

"So, she does mean something to you?" He'd known it.  Baldur had been covering for his brother.  Balor broke out laughing, then calmed and leaned towards Vollrath.  "She needs away from emotional stress and raw power unrestrained in the air.  You're a live wire of both right now, little brother. " Balor tipped his head and raised his brows, waiting for Vollrath to try and argue. “And I still give challenge, so…she is coming home with me.” His grin grew wide.

"She doesn't even know you.  After all she's gone through she should either go home alone, or with one of us.  Do you really want to inflict Coven politics on her after what you know she’s gone through today?  Just to be a complete asshole to me?" Vollrath could not even say why he did not want her alone with Balor other than jealousy.  Unlike his two friends, it would not be beneath his brother to sabotage things with Mahala.  He was ready to resort to violence to stop his brother.

Balor led a faction of the Coven that leaned towards darker magic.  They butted heads regarding this frequently via email, but was one of the reasons it had been so long since a face to face meeting had taken place.   Not only could Balor cause a rift between him and Mahala, he could lead her down that path.  The thought of either of those made Vollrath’s heart hurt in his chest.  

"Let her decide." Balor knew he was playing with fire there, but he also wanted to make sure this was not Stockholm Syndrome or some undue influence. He'd never known Vollrath to do that, but something was definitely off with the whole situation.  If nothing was being done to cause her to choose his brother, he would abide by the female’s decision.

Vollrath didn't like it, but he also didn't want to keep fighting with him.  "Fine.  But what she decides is final." The men shook in agreement.

When the four men made it back to Vollrath’s office, it was clear Mahala was tired and really did need rest.  On the walk there, Elmar shared his suspicion that she was still suffering a concussion.   While he could force total healing, without knowing exactly what you WERE healing, you could do more harm than good.  So he had been mitigating symptoms more than anything and trying to boost her natural healing magic.

"Sweetheart," Vollrath started, and from the beginning she could tell something was wrong, "there is a possibility that you may have a concussion.   You shouldn't be alone tonight, and someone needs to keep you awake.  So, you have an interesting assortment of warlocks to choose from.  Baldur, Elmar, myself, or my brother, Balor. I believe you met earlier." 

Mahala looked at all four of them in turn.  Was this a joke?  Maybe a test? How was she supposed to decide on one of them?  After at least a full minute, she sighed heavily and closed her eyes.  What had she done to deserve such a day?  Maybe this was a hallucination and she had yet to wake up in Vollrath’s arms on his couch.  Unfortunately, she wasn’t that lucky.

"I have not totally forgiven Elmar and Baldur for their behavior earlier, " she started as she slowly opened her eyes.  Mahala wanted to fall into Vollrath’s arms, to feel his lips on hers again, to talk more as they had the night before.  However, he was irritated, and she could feel the same pressure in her head as earlier but not as strong.  As the day had worn on, she had learned to differentiate the vibration of each man, and it was Vollrath affecting her currently. 

Paying no mind to the others in the room, Mahala walked over till she was right in front of Vollrath.  Her hands slightly clasped the lapels of his suit coat.  "I need you to trust me.  You get jealous and mad after one night spent talking, and I get the migraine from hell from it.  You're doing it again." A soft sigh escaped her slightly parted lips as her gaze fell to the middle of his chest.

"Löwin, he's still getting used to you having gotten under his skin." Balor interjected, garnering looks from the other four assembled.  "He trusts you, he doesn't trust me."  His brows rose as he tipped his head towards his brother with an annoyed smirk that narrowed his eyes slightly.

Mahala looked back and forth confused.  She felt like she was being set up by being asked to choose who she was leaving with,  and she wasn't liking it.  "Then why even offer you as an option?  What is going on here?"  Vollrath tried to put his hands on her lower back as a sign of affection, but now she pushed him off.  "No, I feel pushed and pulled like this is some kind of game, and I don't like it.  You're all four fucked up." 

Pushing away from Vollrath, Mahala strode quickly from the room, tears streaming down her cheeks.  Vollrath quickly followed, not sure what he was going to say to make anything better, but knowing that he couldn’t leave her alone.  Her tears were already shredding his heart.  Fuck, what did he do now?

Balor was right behind his brother with Baldur on his heels, Elmar bringing up the rear.   None of them wanted Mahala alone or upset.   It was clear that the day's events, plus the familial issues between the brothers, had brought about a situation that needed handled, and needed handled NOW.

"Mahala, wait." Vollrath lightly touched her arm as he caught up with her in the hall.  He didn't want to grab her.  She'd been jerked around enough by Jonathan earlier, but he wanted her attention.  "I think you misunderstood."

She stopped and spun to face him, upset etched on every part of her face and laced through her voice. "Then explain. Do you trust me? Him? What is going on, Vollrath?" Her eyes searched his face, imploring him to give her an answer that made sense, to ease the ache in her heart and eradicate the feeling she'd been a fool.

He sighed, running his hands lightly over her upper arms. "Yes, I trust you.  After all we discussed last night, I would hope you would know that.  I also have no reason to demand or expect anything from you." Vollrath stepped closer, still wondering where the foreign feelings of protectiveness and possessiveness came from.  "Do I trust Balor to keep you safe and take care of you? Yes. Do I think he'd also tell you one sided truths and try to put me in a bad light?  Also yes."  One hand rose to cup the side of her face while the other found the small of her back to pull her closer to him. "We already know there is something pulling us together, little witch.  I'm sorry if my fumbling of handling it is causing you pain. I don't want that, and I don't want you pushed away." 

The other three men had stopped a few feet away.  Balor wanted to step in, not to cause his brother problems, but because he had a clearer picture of what was transpiring; and also the complications of who she was.  There were things he doubted Vollrath knew, things he needed to if he was to be with Mahala and protect her.  Unfortunately, he also knew if he even tried to utter a sentence at the moment, he would most likely end up with a broken jaw courtesy of the brother he’d be trying to help.

"I…I just feel so confused with all that has gone on.  Last night with us. Then today here, not only with Baldur and Elmar, but with Jonathan too." As she had earlier, Mahala’s hands gently held the lapels to his suit coat.  "I don't understand what is going on.  Not with us. Not with your friends. Not with any of this."  Her eyes slowly closed as she choked back a half sob.   Her heart hurt almost as much as her head.

“My brother is not easy to figure out, Löwin.”  Balor said from a distance, he might have decided to interject, but not to get in his brother’s reach.   “He’s still trying to figure it out himself, and he’s not the best with patience.”  The death glare that Balor was getting would make most men wither, but he was not afraid of Vollrath lashing out at him from a distance.  For one thing, his brother knew he was right, also, Vollrath had to be wondering what Balor knew that he didn’t.

“You aren’t helping.”  Vollrath’s jaw locked and he closed his eyes, focusing on breathing and not hitting Balor.  He would keep following Mahala if she kept trying to run away, but he would prefer not to have to.  

“I’m not trying to.  I’m trying to let her know what she’s in for.  After all, you haven’t been paying attention.”  Now Balor was just smug and all four of the others were looking at him quite annoyed.  He wasn’t going to share anything any sooner than he had to.  Watching his brother trying to figure it out was much more entertaining for him, and currently Vollrath couldn’t be much more frustrated.

Mahala took a breath, pulled away from Vollrath, turned and strode over to Balor quickly.  The sound of her hand impacting the side of his face seemed to echo off of the walls of the hallway, as the other three men stood there with eyes widening, Baldur’s jaw actually going slack as well. For his part, Balor looked no less stunned than the others that she had not only challenged him, but physically assaulted him.  He might be at least six inches taller than her, but Mahala went toe to toe with Balor and stared directly into his eyes, her face only inches from his.  Her chest rose and fell with her breath for a full minute before she spoke as she fought to get control of her own anger, fuck everyone else in the room.

“I honestly don’t give one single fuck what your problem is with your own brother, but if it concerns me then I do.  So either spit it out in plain fucking English or get the fuck out of here.  I’m losing patience with you and for some reason it seems like the other three in this hallway won’t confront you, so I damn well will.”   Her back was straight, her head erect, and she didn’t flinch from the icy blue eyes that seemed to be trying to bore a hole in her.  She wasn’t sure why Vollrath, Baldur, and Elmar were intimidated by him, but she wasn’t.  That could be a mistake, given she had no clue how powerful of a warlock he was, but it was her mistake to make.  She’d certainly made enough mistakes in the last twenty-four hours, what was one more?

[association-of-ideas]

More Bard!Hunter garbage 🎻

Imagine Hunter being taught bard magic:

Belos decides that since Hunter can’t do magic on his own, he should learn to do it without using spell circles or bile sacs.

Raine gets hired to teach this itty-bitty 5 year old. The kid is smaller than what they’re used to, even for a 5 yro, but the kid genuinely seems excited to learn and catches on quick.

Hunter gets pretty good for his age, so Raine suggest entering him in competitions and having him be part of an actual beginners class.

Naturally, Belos says, ‘no,’ because if Hunter started working with other kids his age, he might get the wrong ideas and consider rebelling once he got old enough to understand the word. But he does allow him to be in competitions because in the end, it will make him look good, sponsoring a young rising musician.

When Hunter is 10, Raine bends the rules a little and takes him to meet some other bard kids because while he’s great at playing the violin, he doesn’t have friends and doesn’t know how to talk to kids his age.

Under the guise of a lesson plan that requires them to leave the palace, Raine takes Hunter to Hexide and introduces him to the BATTs (minus teling him about the rebellion). Both Hunter and the BATTs are ecstatic to meet each because you know that Raine brags about their kids to their other kids. 

Hunter starts forming healthy relationships with kids his age and seeing the world for what is and not Belos’ seriously skewed version of it.

By the time he’s 14, Hunter’s lessons have gotten far and few, training and missions taking over most of his time. He misses Raine and the BATTs and at this point, he’s seriously starting the question his uncle’s motives.

A little after that, Hunter is sent on a mission where he wasn’t given all of the facts before-hand and sees just far his uncle is willing to go to put an end to wild magic. (killing an uncooperative wild witch.)

He’s scared and doesn’t know who he can trust. Because he got to form healthy relationships, Hunter has figured out his uncle isn’t the greatest, but now he doesn’t think he can trust him at all.

Raine grows worried as Hunter is purposely avoiding them outside of lessons, whereas, before, he would find even the smallest reason to talk to them.

Eventually, Hunter breaks down after practice and spills it all. How his uncle is hurting the people he was supposedly trying to protect. How he doesn’t want to be a part of it (the Emperor’s Coven/Belos’s plans) anymore. How he’s scared.

Any plans of playing spy go out the window, and while Raine wants to stop Belos (especially after Hunter's confession/meltdown), their priority is getting Hunter out of there as soon as possible.

So, in the dark of night, Raine gathers their things and the two go to the one place Raine is certain Hunter will be safe: the Owl House.

NOTE: Considering going further with this? If anyone wants to write this, feel free, just let me know.

[pynkhues]

lol this is so true about Jacob. The biggest Loustater of us all

https://www.tumblr.com/gracerings/754159263446876160/obsessed-with-jacob-andersons-mind-conjuring-up?source=share

He's honestly captaining the ship.