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saintheartwing · 4 years ago

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The Karma Circle: Sister Dearest

Welcome, children. Welcome…to the KARMA CIRCLE.

I take you to a simple town with simple people. McKeesport. A quiet town, filled with quiet people, kindly people. Away from the hustle and bustle of the big city of Pittsburgh, Dibbun Membrane lives with his sister and his father, having been at long last freed from his greatest concern: an annoying alien that finally blew himself and his base up, leaving a VERY helpful and playful robot behind for Dib to play with.

And Dib looks upon this new companion as a true comfort, for his father is never, ever around when he needs him, and his sister is beastly and cruel. Dib ¬simply does not have it in him to fight back against her, for she terrifies him to the very core…

Even more so than the haunted house by Emmett's Pond. He passes it by every day on his way back from school...unaware that that which is dead does not lie still. It lies in wait. Seeking what it lost.

…and it will soon strike. For the Piper is about to be paid.

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Throughout the town's history, several fires tore through McKeesport. The greatest of all took place on May 21, 1976. Fire had spread from the town's most enormous department store downtown, fourteen buildings going up in a blaze. Striffler's Funeral Home, Kadar's Clothing Store, Oddo's Hobby Shop, the Coney Grill Restaurant…

And the Emmett Family home. It had been especially tragic…a young, sweet child had run out of her burning family home after the flames had spread, rushing away desperately to get help, for there were only two ways to get to town, one by the road, the other by a small lake that led to another road into town. She'd supposedly been trying to get help, for the first path was alit with flames, and had hoped to cross the lake…only to drown in the middle of the lake instead.

The poor little girl had failed her family, and legend had it that she still cannot rest. At sunset, you'll see the smoke drifting through the trees though it's been a CENTURY since she drowned…and if you're wise, you'll RUN! For that's when her ghost rises from the dark lake in which she'd drowned. She searches and searches for her baby brother, her father, her mother, but will never find them…and you had best take care she doesn't find you.

Dib believed in ghosts, of course. He was twelve years old and had seen more than most his age. He'd seen demons and spirits flying through the skies. He'd seen beings from beyond the stretches of Earth. And his new "little brother" of sorts, his best friend and confidant, was a robot with a head full of garbage, paper clips and-

"Ba-doompa-doompa-bubble gum! Ba-doompa-doompa-bubble gum! Ba-doompa-doompa-bubble gum! I'm gonna buy some bubble gum!" GIR the robot sang out, waving his tiny little robot hands in the air, his cyan eyes glittering as he bounced about the kitchen, Dib smiling a bit as he munched on his "Choco-Flakes" cereal.

There was an article in the paper about someone supposedly seeing the "Departed Soul of Emmett Lake". And, of course, it had the famous rhyme that you were meant to sing as you ran by it, the magic charm. "Departed Soul of Emmett Lake, Come not Night for Mercy's Sake! For when the sun hangs in the sky then we shall safely pass you by".

Gaz probably believed in ghosts too, deep down. But she didn't know nor would she have cared about the haunted lake. Gaz didn't care about much that didn't immediately gratify her, like a Poop Cola or "Piggy Hunter May Cry 5". It was, in a way, amazing that Gaz could be so different from their mother even though the two were almost equal in appearance to their respective parents. Dib had his father's scythe-like hair and pale skin, and both had their mother's amber/gold eyes…but Gazlene, unlike Peggy Membrane, had eyes sharp like a hawk, her arms thin and her expression usually bitter, and when she DID smile, it was a grin like stretched elastic.

She only ever really smiled when Professor Membrane was in the house. Then she'd call Dib by his actual name and would calmly smile over at Dib in a faux-friendly fashion. But once their dad had left, the smile would vanish, she'd punch or hit him somehow for taking a soda she felt belonged to her, or would, occasionally, lock Dib in the cellar for taking what she felt was a slice of HER pizza.

Not that Dib and GIR really minded being in the cellar too much. Because Dib had just decided to move a great deal of his stuff downstairs, including a Papier-mâché version of people's heads, toy soldiers…GIR liked to play with the red ones…and a Tallest Red and Purple series of puppets that GIR had made. GIR especially liked to act out the "what happened when the Tallest decided to check that odd speck in the distance out the window". The "odd speck" turning out to be a tiny black hole. Zim, watching it all from his end, had evidently been mortified. Maybe THAT'S why he hadn't been paying attention to the explosive experiment that finally did him in!

"What the hell is that? That's gotta be the weirdest thing I ever seen in my life!"

"Man what the hell IS that?"

"Say Red, think we oughta check that thing out?"

"I dunno, Pur, why not-AAAAA! AAAAAAA! AAAAAAAAAA!" GIR cried out, waving the Red and Purple puppets about in the air as Dib held up the black hole he'd made from Papier-mâché as GIR "tossed" the puppets through it. There came a loud KLOKKA-KLOK and the doorway opened up, Gaz glaring down at them.

"Shut up. You'll make me lose my concentration on Vampire Piggy Hunter X." She snapped, slamming the door shut as Dib glared up at her as she re-locked the cellar door. Good thing he'd snuck down some circus peanuts today.

"I could cut her up into little pieces and feed her to Mr. Tiddles." GIR cheerily offered, Dib frowning a bit.

"For one, Mr. Tiddles has been dead since Gaz sacrificed him to get those gummy bears that feed on human flesh." He sighed. "And TWO, I'd just get sent to prison. Everyone knows I hate her…they'd blame me for sure." He mumbled, taking his glasses off and rubbing some gunk off of the lenses.

"Can'tcha…y'know…just tell your dad she's a meany head, Mary?" GIR asked, scratching his bucket-esque head as Dib shook his head back and forth.

"Dad wouldn't believe me. She always acts reaaaal nice around him and she doesn't leave bruises on me that leave actual marks. Besides, I don't think he WANTS to believe me. He wants to believe his children get on just fine so he can just keep working at the lab." Dib insisted, shaking his head again. "She'll be back in ten minutes. Remember, look SAD." He insisted, GIR taking his lips and turning the smile into a deliberate frown. "Good. If she thinks we're having fun down here, she'll just think of a worse punishment. Probably one that'll hurt."

"Like…goin' down to the lake?" GIR mumbled out, eyes widening slightly in fear.

"Zim told you about it?" Dib asked, raising an eyebrow up in the air…and though GIR was silent…Dib could guess what the answer was.

…

…then came September, and Professor Membrane had to be called away to a peace conference at the United Nations. Dib, of course, had tried to beg to come with him, but Professor Membrane had just good-naturedly laughed and patted his son on his head, saying Gaz would take good care of him before heading out the door. Gaz had IMMEDIATELY barricaded Dib in his room and he'd been almost without food had he not thought to keep Premium Saltines and peanut butter cups under his bed. Why? So she could eat all the pizza and keep HIM from taking it.

"I'm wise to all your tricks." She told him calmly. "And don't complain. Whiner." She'd added, slamming the door in his face when he'd asked to use the bathroom. Good thing the window could be opened enough.

"I wonder why Memby never notices the rose bushes under your window don't ever bloom." GIR asked as Dib did his business and then closed the window, Dib sighing as he plopped down on the bed and glanced over at the calendar on the wall.

"Oh. Good! Tomorrow's Wednesday!"

Indeed. The next day was Wednesday, and that meant that Gaz was chatting it up with her friend Tak, another Irken alien just like Zim had been who'd been considerably more…calmed down…over the years. With Zim dead, what psychosis she'd had had faded a bit into just occasional coldness and vaguely British snarkiness that always manifested whenever Gaz was compelled to drag Dib along with her to Tak's house down the street to play "Grand Theft Piggy 5: New Pork City" in Co-Op. Tak and Gaz both seemed to be made of the same material…that is, a big block of granite left in the middle of a Minnesota winter.

But hey, GIR and Dib could sneak Reeses Pieces from a small glass cup that Tak kept by the living room cupboard whilst Tak and Gaz played before Tak's big screen TV and they could ignore the nasty comments the two girls would sling their way whilst carjacking little old virtual ladies.

"Honestly, my brother is SUCH a whiner." Gaz muttered. "He keeps insisting I can't take the car. That "I'm too young". I could drive it just fine."

"You ALWAYS walk here?" Tak asked.

Dib paled. Oh crap. Ohhhhhh crap.

For you see, there were two ways to get to school AND to Tak's house, which was right BY the school. One was by the hill, and the other…well…the "shortcut" by the lake. The haunted lake.

"Yeah, it's a long walk up the hill to get to the stupid school-" Gaz mumbled as GIR's mouth hung slightly open, finally processing what Gaz and Tak were about to say, his eyes becoming tiny pinpricks. Oh no. Ohhhhh no!

"Why don't you just take the shortcut through the woods? Y'know, the one that has the lake nearby?" Tak asked.

"Huh?" Gaz blinked, pausing the game and putting the controller down as she scratched the purple hair atop her head, her amber/brown eyes turning to look at GIR and Dib as her tone became quiet and dangerous. "You KNEW about a shortcut?!"

"Everyone in town knows. Lemme guess. You didn't tell her about the shortcut because you're scaaaared of da spooooky ghoooosties!" Tak said, throwing her head back and laughing hysterically, antennae flopping about as GIR clung tightly to Dib, letting out a panicked squeak. "I'm sure your sister will be happy to cure you of such a silly fancy. It's just an urban legend. Supposedly this young girl's family burned to death and SHE drowned in the lake, and should you see smoke rising from the woods, you'd best RUN! It's all so silly." She said, her voice as sweet as honey from a wasp.

"You're a bad, BAD girl! You won't make us go past the lake! Not at sunset!" GIR yelled out.

"A GHOST? Really?! You didn't tell me about this shortcut because some GHOST is supposed to haunt it?!" Gaz snapped. "Gimme a break, like I should be scared of a stupid specter." She muttered, folding her arms across her chest and shaking her head back and forth. "While I'm doing IMPORTANT things you're picking your nose, laughing on how you make me walk three miles every day just to get to school! And all cuz of some dumb urban legend! Lemme guess, a headless lumberjack'll pop outta the woods and cut my head off?!"

"I wish." Dib muttered.

Gaz IMMEDIATELY launched the wireless controller she had in her hand at him and it smacked into his forehead, a bloody cut trickling down it as he flopped to the ground, Dib glaring triumphantly up at her as he picked up his dropped-down glasses. "Now I've got a cut, a scar to show Dad when he comes back." He told her.

"Shut up or you'll get worse than that!" Gaz told him sharply, grabbing him and GIR by the wrists, dragging them out of the house, heading for the woods…heading for the lake…

As sun was beginning to set, crimson rays being cast overhead. She continued dragging them along the path, over dead leaves and fallen sticks, a long shadow being cast behind her smallish frame, the setting sun glowing almost as brightly as her hateful eyes, the dark pond slowly coming into sight off in the distance.

"Maybe she's a witch?" GIR whispered to Dib. "You think she's a witch?"

"Shhh!" Dib hissed back. The charm. The magic charm. "Departed Soul of Emmett Lake, Come not Night for Mercy's Sake! For when the sun hangs in the sky-"

"What're you two whispering about?" Gaz snapped out.

"Nothing!" Dib said quickly, gulping a bit as the wind began to wrap itself around him, digging its claws into him.

It was no good. The charm only worked during the DAY, when the sun was up and now the sun had fallen past the gnarled and now-barren trees, the sky looking like it was lit up with burning flames as…as pale wisps of smoke came curling and creeping under the ground, like blind fingers searching…

"The smoke. The SMOKE!" Dib whispered out, eyes widening in horror. "The smoke from the burning house! It was there!

"Are you kidding me?" Gaz groaned, rolling her eyes. "Seriously? Smoke?!" She muttered, dragging them towards the lake, GIR trying to break free in desperation before Gaz tossed him away, shoving her brother towards the lake, sticking his head down towards it, shaking him a bit. "LOOK!" She yelled out. "There's nothing there at all! It's just mist rising off the water!"

She was looking at Dib when she spoke…and did not see what was rising out of the reeds nearby, making it's way towards her as she glared back at GIR, who was gasping in horror at what drew ever-closer. Something dark and wet and tiny, a figure made of rotted-away flesh and water and reeds. Greenish/brown muck clung to the decayed flesh and slightly-cracked bones, a frog stuck in one eye, calmly breathing and staring back from the empty socket. Its eyes were silver like the scales of a fish, it's mouth turning from a slight smile to a furious, baleful glare as it saw Gaz shake Dib again, threatening to drop him in the lake as she yelled at GIR.

"WELL?! You cowards, I can't believe you're scared of some stupid girly ghost, there's nothing-"

The ghost GRABBED her, Dib breaking free and scrambling back as Gaz and the figure went into the lake an instant later, dark water frothing about as the two figures struggled, snarls and screams filling the air, Gaz and the figure sinking down in a boil of bubbles.

"G-g-g-g-g-GHOST!" GIR screamed out, Dib and GIR immediately racing off down the path, heading for home as fast as their legs could carry them, but GIR's leg had been injured when Gaz had thrown him, and there was a KRAKKA-KRKK sound as he fell to the forest floor, letting out a yelp. Dib quickly knelt down by him, trying to help GIR up as they heard the bushes and bramble being pushed aside, the two rooted to the spot in sheer terror, white nests of toadstools around them as they clung together in fear…

And then Gaz burst through the bushes, looking…oddly nice. She'd evidently run so fast her clothes had dried on her body, and her cheeks now had a bit of a blush to them, her hair now falling around her head almost like a halo as she blinked a bit at the sight of the two.

"Are you alright, guys?" She asked.

…GUYS?!

"That was an awful stumble, huh? Oh and look at you, Dib, you're shivering!"

DIB?! Calling him DIB and not "Hey, you"?

"Lemme give you a piggyback ride, GIR." She offered, helping GIR onto her back and cheerily smiling at Dib. "I think there's some pizza left over I can heat up at home, okay?" She asked Dib as she calmly walked off down the path, whistling.

WHISTLING!

"Who are you and what have you done with Gaz?" Dib muttered a bit, walking alongside her, scratching his head in surprise.

…

…true to her word, Gaz heated up the leftover pizza in the microwave and poured them all some Poop Cola, breaking out the big, fizzy straws from the cupboard, smiling as she watched them eat, staying silent before heading to her own room, Dib and GIR going back up to Dib's room, the two sitting on Dib's bed as Dib nervously chewed on his lip, glancing over at GIR.

"Did…did that just happen?" GIR asked. "She's all…y'know. Cheery."

"Yeah, it's weird." Dib murmured, scratching his head in confusion. "But…you saw it, right? At the lake?"

"Yes. And she fell in, right?" GIR wanted to know. "I don't get it, why…why's she being so nice? It's weird, Mary. Really weird. She's so different!"

"I thought she'd be dead, but…" Dib trailed off. "…I hope dad comes back soon." He finally sighed. "Hopefully things'll be back to normal soon."

And so the two went to sleep, GIR plopping down in the corner underneath a poster of the X-Files whilst Dib laid back in his bed, listening to Gaz walk about downstairs, slowly and uncertainly, as if she'd lost her way.

Within a few days though, it became clear Gaz had changed since falling into the lake, as if all the unpleasantness had been washed right out of her. The house was now bright and cheerful, Gaz now happily sharing her pizza and soda with the two and never raising her voice. She let Dib play with her Game Slave and even Tak didn't seem to mind this new Gaz as much, because this new one was far more cooperative in co-op. She doodled with Dib during the evening, chatted with him as they looked at old corny B-movies on the TV. And above all, she never ever hit them or yelled at them anymore!

Dib and GIR started calling her "Gazzy", and Dib would stargaze with her on the roof of their house at night, looking up silently at the stars, resting one hand atop hers as they contemplated the majesty beyond.

"Dad's gonna be home tomorrow." Dib said one night. "You remember, right?"

"Yes, Matthew."

"It's just "Dad", really."

"Alright. Dad."

"…how long will you be staying?" Dib wanted to know, tilting his head slightly to the side as Gaz rubbed her chin and raised an eyebrow up.

"However long would you want me here?" She wanted to ask. "If…if you wouldn't mind, could…" She began to say before Dib smiled, patting her on the shoulder.

"I want you to stay with us." Dib insisted. "Okay?"

"…I'd like that." She admitted with a smile, wrapping her arms around her brother and hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Dib." She said, a single tear trickling down her cheek and onto the roof below.

…

… it was about two years before Dib made his way back to Emmett's Lake, going in broad daylight on a sunny Saturday in June, down the winding forest path to the dark lake where tragedy had struck o'er a century ago. The lake was peaceful now, tiny little tadpoles flittering about as butterflies flew overhead. He calmly sat at the end of the lake, on a tree stump as a water boatman skittered across the lake, leaving behind a small silver wake as Dib waited.

Sure enough, a few bubbles began to rise up to disturb the surface of the quiet water, small fish darting away as a scum of mud and filthy rose up slowly from the bottom of the lake, taking the vague shape of someone all-too-familiar who was scowling angrily.

"Dib, gemme out! She took my body that stupid little bitch! Look, if you bring her down here, I'll give you fifty bucks! I'll bring you chocolate every day to your room for breakfast, I'll-I'll wash your feet and never yell at you again, I promise, I-"

"Goodbye, Gaz." Dib firmly remarked, sitting up and walking away.

And that was the last time Dib ever walked by the lake ever again.

#fanfiction #fanfic #horror #humor #Invader Zim #Zim #Dib #Gaz #Tak #GIR #karma circle #karma

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sleepymarmot · 5 years ago

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The Untamed liveblog, eps. 33-38

Didn’t post a liveblog yesterday to avoid possible spoilers in the replies, so here it is now.

Before I proceed, here are my guesses as to the identity of the mysterious flute player: 1) Guangyao, the most obvious candidate 2) Xue Yang 3) idk, a new character 4) Guangyao is a red herring. The real villain is Nie Huaisang because that's funny

Relieved that WWX experienced the 16 years too. I was afraid he was regained consiousness straight from the moment of his "death" of whatever it was, so LWJ would be 16 years older with him which would have made the romance VERY awkward.

The room scene is beautiful, but one thing I particularly appreciate about it is that finally, probably for the first time in the show, these two are allowed time alone together in safety and relative privacy, and the scene can organically develop into a tender private moment that isn't for the camera to see or show.

"I must not reveal my identity" says WWX, who is dressed almost exactly like 16 years ago

Oh god I still can't tell apart the two young Lan disciples.

Switched to the subtitles from Viki. Unfortunately, they need to be resynced manually every time, and that, for some reason, messes up the file's internal subtitles. Ah well, I don't know Chinese anyway, and now the English subtitles actually say accurately what the characters call each other.

Feeling both represented by WWX's dog phobia and offended that it's a running joke

Oh "cool", another casual mention of supposedly likeable characters brutally beating their children :/

god, JC is really shitty at leading/parenting. "I'll break your leg", really?

"With my uncle's character, he would rather catch the wrong one than let the right one go." And execute the wrong one? Yikes

Wait, are you telling me NHS is a baddie for real lfmao

Aw, the fan scene is cute

Oh, so the first time we see Guangyao again is in a flashback about the mysterious death of the clan Nie leader. How convenient.

Stop! Making! Flasbacks! To the fucking Nonconsensual Alcohol scene! I am trying to ignore its existence! Why did you have to tarnish the current scene, very endearing by itself, with its presence?

Gasped IRL when Wen Ning's silhouette appeared. Good job writers!

Ouch, that looks painful

Oh, so the siblings weren't killed? That makes sense, if you pretend to spread their ashes on the wind, you don't need to show the bodies. Hopefully Qing survived too, but I wouldn’t expect much towards a female character from this series... Killed off the only two women, now we’re in No Woman’s Land comfortably and forever I presume

And here I thought WWX was actually going to apologize to Ning for treating him like a thing or a slave, now that he unexpectedly has a new opportunity to do so!

I'm assuming the chicken are a wedding gift joke?

WWX got so disctracted by the drunk LWJ he completely forgot about Ning smh

Maybe now it finally occurs to WWX to ask about his son...

Loving every look at how the common people interpret and interact with the epic history he participated in

I want to meet more of the recurring characters, but on the other hand: ghost town and WWX leading a field trip for a bunch of teenagers!

This show is too multi-faceted. I'm constantly going "This is my favorite part of the show: the sweet romance. No, this is my favorite: the ghosts and WWX being a cool necromancer. No, this is my favorite: the family drama. No, this is my favorite: clan politics. No, this is my favorite: WWX with kids." and it just keeps going in circles.

Aww, the kid thinking WWX is like LWJ because they're both competent leaders who make others feel safe*

And now it's an action movie where the hero and the villain exchange a whole spiral of "No, I outsmarted you first" and drop one-liners every minute. Hilarious

The kids watching two zombies punch each other through a window like a football match on TV, I'm crying

Kids: "Don't you think Light Bearing Lord is good?" WWX internally, with a dreamy smile on his face: "Haha what they're asking ME if I think the love of my life is 'good'? How would it even be possible to less than utterly admire someone who is so graceful, skillful, protective, just, kind, beautiful... Oh wait are they still waiting for an answer"

* Added after the episode: If this kid is actually Yuan and he feels this way because they're both his dads I'm gonna scream I WENT BACK TO EPISODE 1 AND THE SUBTITLE SAYS 'LAN YUAN'. TIME TO SCREAM I GUESS. I KNEW THIS NAME COMBINATION SOUNDED FAMILIAR Did LJW get beaten for bringing him in, then? Did he spend the first three years raising him? I checked the subtitles and the name Yuan is written with different characters but that's probably fine? I doubt LWJ ever asked WWX how his son's name was written, or even if he knew, he could have wanted to protect the kid's identity - he's Lan and not Wen, after all If this is true then WWX has the funniest and most valid excuse for being an absent father. Sorry I missed your entire childhood and adolescence, kid, I was literally dead the whole time But also, if this is true, why didn't LWJ bring it up immediately DAMMIT I WAS PLANNING TO GO TO BED AND NOW I WANT TO SEE THE FAMILY REUNION ASAP God, in the light of this, the silence spell scene in ep 2 becomes even funnier. The more I know about these characters, the better it becomes. LWJ's silent stare at JC, apparently, meant "Look how well I raised WWX's son. Must I also raise his nephew, since you are clearly unfit for the job?" Involving kids, especially other people's, in your powerplays is shitty, but the scene is fucking hilarious. Anyways if this ends up being a giant coincidence and the kid is given so much focus for no or some other reason you're NOT allowed to laugh at this paragraph

God, this feels like... idk any Celebrimbor/Annatar fanfic lmao. I'm in pain. Let me guess, people write very painful fics about these two right. Fuck. I'm 21 minutes in, is this going to last the entire episode aaaaaaa

Fuck. Well how am I supposed to sleep after this. This episode didn't even make me cry once, it's not that type of bad thing. And not the type where something is so brutal I shield my mind because I prefer to pretend that level of pain can't exist. It's just diabolically designed to be maximally fucked up.

#the untamed #blah blah blah

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rosiethero · 5 years ago

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Love Potions Don’t Exist

@aphrarepairweek2019 day 1 - magic ✨

characters/pairings: AmeLiet

rating: general

content/warnings: modern witch!au, fluff

notes: aaaaaaa i feel super out of practice with writing but i think this turned out p good??

liet's snake familiar is a reference to the l.ithuanian fairy tale "eglė queen of serpents"

read below or on ao3

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“Love potions don’t exist,” Toris said, setting a water-filled cauldron about the size of a fishbowl on a hot plate. “Not in the way people typically think of them, anyway.”

“Really?” Alfred asked. “I swear I’ve seen them in other apothecaries before.”

Toris snorted as he switched on the hot plate, quickly sketching chalk symbols on the burner surface around the cauldron. “And you’ll notice those witches close up shop and move on pretty quickly, right? They’re con-artists capitalizing on lonely people who don’t know better. You can’t change how someone thinks or feels with magic, and you shouldn’t be able to either.”

Alfred nodded astutely, scribbling “love potions = SCAM” in his notebook and underlining it. Something nudged against his other hand, and he looked down to see a fairly large snake, dappled in green and brown markings, trying to nudge it’s way up his sleeve.

“Žilvinas, he needs to focus,” Toris said firmly. “You can burrow later.”

The snake withdrew and gave him a look, before sliding apathetically off the counter and slithering towards the stove in the back of the brewery.

“He’s not cold, is he?” Alfred asked.

Toris shook his head with a wry smirk. “No, he just wants attention.” He paused, looking thoughtful as he scanned over the shelves full of jars that covered two whole walls of the brewery. “How would you feel about preparing some ingredients for me?”

Alfred blinked, taken aback. “Uh, yeah, sure!” Eager as he was to become a potion-brewer, it was only his first day on the job. He was surprised Toris was trusting him with something so integral so soon.

Toris traced a finger along the shelf, and pulled down a jar of some gnarled, twisted root, about as big as a fist.

Alfred’s eyes widened, and he leaned across the table. “Woah, is that a mandrake? No, it’s a bear-trap tuber, right?!”

“It’s ginger.”

Alfred deflated slightly. “Oh.”

Toris smiled, looking slightly amused as he placed the jar on the counter and nudged it over. “I love your enthusiasm, I really do, but we should probably start off with something simple.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Alfred said, but he couldn’t deny he was slightly disappointed. He’d been expecting a plant that would scream at him or try to bite his hand off, so this seemed rather… bland in comparison.

Toris’s hand landed on his shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze. “I know it’s frustrating. My mentor had me pitting cherries for months before I was allowed anywhere near a cauldron, and you can probably guess how annoyed I was. But, it’s all necessary practice.”

“Yeah, I know,” Alfred said, leaning back in his chair. “Don’t wanna get clients hurt or killed, yeah?”

“Or yourself,” Toris added, giving his shoulder another squeeze. “I wouldn’t worry too much though. You seem like you’ll get the hang of this pretty quick.”

Alfred looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. Despite his enthusiasm for magic, his few ventures into actually casting had ended up with sputtering sparks and little else. A learning disorder had made academia difficult so he couldn’t study to be a wizard, he grew up in the city, making him a poor candidate to be a druid, and without any magical lineage in his family, he’d ruled out latent sorcerer abilities long ago. Since witches worked almost exclusively with potions, he figured he’d be decent at something more hands-on, but even then he doubted he’d ever actually be skilled enough to become a witch himself. Answering Toris’ job posting for an assistant had been somewhat of a last-ditch effort to get to work with magic, one he still wasn’t completely sure would pan out.

“You think so? How can you tell?”

Toris gave him a little smile. “Call it a witch’s intuition. We have a knack for finding people with overlooked potential.”

That smile was so sweet and encouraging, Alfred felt his cheeks go warm. “Well, I hope I can live up to that!”

“I’m sure you will.”

A bell rang out in the front of the shop. “One moment, please!” Toris called out, and tugged open a drawer in the side of the counter. “If you could slice about half that root up for me, that would be fantastic,” he said, pulling out a small, sharp knife and a wooden cutting board and placing them in front of Alfred. “Thin slices are best, but it’s okay if they’re a little thick.” He plucked his pointed hat off the table and put it on, taking a second to straighten it.

“Should I peel it first?” Alfred asked, twisting open the jar.

“It’s not necessary, but you can if you want,” Toris said, heading for the door. “Actually, yes, go ahead and peel it, it’ll be good practice for skinning mandrakes.”

He shot him another encouraging smile, and Alfred’s face went slightly pink again.

“Ah, anything else I can do?” he asked.

Toris hummed, glancing into the main shop, then looked back at him. “No, this shouldn’t take too long, I’ll probably be back before you’re done. But, how about we use that ginger to make a cold remedy when I get back?”

Alfred’s eyes lit up. “You’ll let brew a potion? Already?”

“If you want to.”

“Yeah I want to! I’ll make you proud!”

Toris laughed and beamed. “I do love your enthusiasm. I’ll be back in a minute!”

He ducked out into the front of the apothecary and Alfred looked down at the ginger root on the cutting board, stomach feeling funny. Anxiety about starting a new job, anticipation over getting to actually make something, relief at how well this was going, and… something else.

He glanced over at the stove where Žilvinas was coiled up under it, and could have sworn the snake was smirking at him. It flicked it’s tongue out and he stuck his own tongue back out in retaliation, and turned back to his work, picking up the knife. He took a fortifying breath and began slicing off the skin in thin strips, quietly trying not to freak out as the realization slowly, steadily came over him.

Love potions may not exist, but love at first sight apparently did.

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