#grandpasweeklychallenge

[minhieu-art]

Happy birthday, Neil!!!

[banh---bao]

renee walker, the love of my life, who is definitely not white,

[glendowen]

A Different Kind of Magic

Summary: At Kevin’s insistence, Allison and Thea visit the tea shop his boyfriend works at, and find themselves enchanted by the two witches that run it. The girls are oblivious, Matt is frustrated, and Kevin doesn’t understand why everything has to be such a big deal.

Author’s Note: Here’s my fic for @polyhymina for the @tfcfemslashnet exchange! She asked for a fantasy au, and so I ended up with a modern witch au! It’s not a fantasy filled as I had hoped it would be, but I hope you still like it! 

Word count: 2362

Pairings: Allison/Renee, Dan/Thea, Matt/Kevin (a new ship for me. I hope you don’t mind me including it!)

Warnings: None! 

Ao3

As Allison opened the door to the quaint little shop in front of her she could hear a gorgeous chiming sound from somewhere in the shop, but there was no bell above the door.

“You know, when Kevin said that the shop was owned by witches I didn’t think he was being serious.”

Allison shot Thea a look of shock before saying, “Is Kevin ever not serious about something? He laughed the other day when he was talking to Matt on the phone and I thought something was wrong.”

“I heard the name Matt, can I help you, ladies?”

Allison and Thea had never actually met Matt before, Kevin tended to keep anyone that he even remotely enjoyed the company of away from them, but he definitely looked like the kind of guy that could pull a laugh out of “actual grumpy old man” Kevin Day. He was tall, a little bit taller than Kevin, and extremely built. He and Kevin met in college when they were both on the soccer team, and despite their contrasting personalities, it didn’t take very long for them to get together after Kevin and Thea broke up.

“Hi, I’m Thea, and this is Allison,” Thea said with a smile, sticking her hand out to shake Matt’s, “Kevin has been telling us for weeks that we’d love it here, and so we figured we would check it out.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you two, I have a better idea of the faces behind the names besides ‘the blonde one’ and ‘the brunette one.’ Can I get you some tea?”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

Matt scurried off somewhere to make their tea, and Allison and Thea sat down and pulled out the work they were planning on doing while in the shop. They had just finished setting everything up on the table when Matt came back with their drinks.

“Here you go. Renee and Dan should be down at some point, they’re probably upstairs messing around with plants for a new tea or something. If you need anything else, just call my name. Enjoy.”

His smile was bright and easy in a way that only came when you worked for it; Allison knew that Matt had a rocky past with drugs and partying from Kevin, but it was harder to connect that past with the carefree person she had just met.

Allison worked on designs for her newest collection, and Thea gave her input on the pieces and helped in whatever ways she could. Allison and Thea had met in college as well, playing for the girl's soccer team; while Thea had gone on to become a professional player and joined the US Olympic team, Allison had packed up her cleats and shinguards and joined the bustling world of fashion.

Allison could find aspects of the room they were in scattered within her pieces when she took a step back and truly observed them; there was a vine branching down across a dress like the ones in front of the window and the shade of pink of the shirt she had just drawn matched the flowers on the counter perfectly. The tea shop was exactly what she needed to bring her next collection together; she loved it here.

Dammit—this meant that she was going to have to admit to Kevin that he was right about something.

They had just finished up their second cups of tea when there were footsteps on the stairs that were far too light to belong to Matt. They were quickly followed by another set, and then suddenly the most attractive girls in the world had appeared.

The first girl was a few inches smaller than Allison kept her dark hair cut short. Her brown eyes sparkled with the promise of adventures and her smile reminded Allison of a lion stalking its prey. She appeared sportier than the girls that Allison usually went for, and, looking at Thea’s face, it seemed as though wouldn’t matter if Allison thought she was perfect because there was no way she was getting her.

The second girl had to be an actual angel. She had bleached white hair that ended at her shoulders, fading into pastel pinks and greens and blues that surrounded her face with a rainbow. She was tall and lean, a button-up shirt tucked into a black skirt with a cross necklace resting on her chest. She was warm and soft and Allison wanted to stare at nothing but her for the rest of time.

“Hello, I’m Dan, and this is Renee. We own this tea shop and we just wanted to come down and say hi, spend some time with our new customers. Do you mind if we sit with you while you work?”

Thea was apparently able to process the world around her despite the two goddesses/witches/angels in front of them and shot them a bright smile.

“We would love that! You seem like people that we would get along quite well with.”

The two girls joined them at their table, and soon Allison’s plans were entirely forgotten as they discussed their lives and their dreams and their favorite songs. After an hour or so the girls had divided themselves, and while Dan and Thea discussed soccer and the world of sports (Dan had also and played in college, and coached the local high school team alongside running the tea shop), Allison realized that she could find nothing wrong about Renee.

Renee had turned towards Allison’s designs and was looking over a few pieces when she said, “I really like what you did with this vine here, how it travels around the dress in cute, little-crooked corkscrews instead of spiraling around perfectly. And this pink and blue combination is incredible. Am I going to be able to wear them anytime soon?”

Renee had a soft voice that reminded Allison of a summer meadow filled with wildflowers, the colors gently flowing in the breeze, and she really wanted to hear more of it. There was a faint blush on her cheeks as if she were unsure about whether or not Allison appreciated her comments, and it made her freckles pop out.

“Thanks, I’m planning on featuring them next season, and I’ll make sure to send you one of each piece for free, on one condition.”

Renee had scooted further forward in her seat, and she was leaning so close to Allison that their knees were touching; Allison was no stranger to touch or to intimacy, but no amount of practice would have prepared her for the butterflies that came with the strange witch in front of her.

“And what would that be?”

The were whispering now as if there were more than two other people in the room and they had to keep this exchange secret.

“You have to let me see you in them, of course. What good is designing clothes if you never get to see people outside of models wearing them?”

Renee opened her mouth to respond to Allison when the bell went off again, and she and Dan snapped up.

“It’s been lovely talking to you both, and I hope you don’t mind our abrupt departure, but it’s time to close up shop, and if we stay open too late the plants aren’t happy. I hope we’ll see you again?”

Allison and Thea shared a look before Allison responded, “It’s no problem, really, we should be going anyway. It’s been great getting to know you, and your shop is absolutely adorable, so expect to see us here quite often.”

They swapped numbers just in case they couldn’t make it back to the shop soon enough and sped back home to tell Kevin everything. He wouldn’t care, and wouldn’t understand why they had to make such a big fuss about it, but they needed someone to talk to, and their pool of close friends happened to be ridiculously small.

Allison had texted Kevin to come over before they had left the tea shop, and so she pushed open the door to reveal Kevin swiping through his phone on their couch, his key to their place sitting next to him.

“So, how was the place?”

“Look, I’m not going to say this to you ever again, but you were right; I absolutely loved it there. The atmosphere, the decor, the witches, everything was perfect.”

He looked pleased with himself at Allison’s confession, and she almost regretted telling him, but Thea dove into the story of their day before either of them could process the interaction.

“And I think I may actually be in love,” Thea concluded, “They’re both incredible human beings, and Dan is the most attractive person I’ve ever met, no offense to the two of you. She’s just perfect, all fire and spirit without being cold or overbearing.”

Kevin raised his eyebrows at Allison as if he was expecting an explanation or a sign of solidarity, but she had no such thing for him. Instead, she decided that if Thea could gush about Dan, she could gush about Renee.

“Renee is so soft and warm, but it's not too childish or unrealistic. She’s kind and strong, and it’s quite possible that she is actually a goddess or an angel as well as a witch.”

“So ask them out.”

Kevin said it like it was the simplest thing in the world; like there was no other option for the two of them besides that.

“We can’t do that! What if they don’t like us back? I mean, they are actual goddesses who run the most aesthetically pleasing tea shop and can make flowers bloom at will, why would they want us?”

Kevin let out a sigh like he couldn’t believe that he was still friends with these two before shoving his keys back in his pocket and standing up.

“Look, there’s no harm in asking, and from what I’ve been hearing from Matt they are in love with the two of you as well. Now, I’d love to hear you gush about your soulmates, but I’m having dinner with Neil to discuss a new setup for practice and I need to leave now to be on time. See you.”

The door shut behind him with a final click, and the two girls fell onto their couch with a squee of delight, talking about their crushes like they were middle schoolers again.

Allison and Thea visited the tea shop and their newly found true loves every day for the rest of the week, and every day Kevin would ask them if they had actually asked them out yet, only to be frustrated and confused by their adamant ‘no’s.’

Kevin had off of practices on Saturday afternoons when he didn’t have a game, and so he decided to join the girls on their daily outing so he could pick up some new herbs and not so secretly make out with Matt in the back room like they were teenagers again.

The girls sit down in their usual seats, Allison laying out her designs while Thea pulled out a book, and Kevin headed towards where Matt usually hid out baking when there weren’t any proper customers.

Dan and Renee came down a few minutes after they had entered with new teas for them to try, and their conversations started up as they did like any other day.

Everything was going just like the six before it until Matt and Kevin walked through. They stopped their conversation when they noticed the four girls in front of them, and shared a look of mischief that Allison is unused to seeing on Kevin’s face.

“You know, Kevin, I think it’s ridiculous that they aren’t together already. They obviously like each other, and they’re already around each other all the time. It just makes sense,” Matt said as he passed by.

Dan and Renee pushed them out the door with some vines and slammed it behind them for good measure, before turning back to their previous conversations.

They heard the door creak open, and quickly, Kevin’s head appeared in the doorway.

“I’m leaving, but you all should just get together. Really.”

He shut the door behind him, and the girls were all left staring at the table, trying to find the nerve to ask the other girl out without embarrassing themselves.

Dan and Renee smiled at each other before forming a bouquet of flowers (shades of pink for Allison and white with accents of dark blue for Thea) and turning to face their respective crushes.

Allison couldn’t quite hear what Dan was saying to Thea, but as she went to tuck one of the flowers behind her ear, Thea had pulled Dan in for a kiss.

She was a bit more preoccupied with the blushing goddess in front of her who was attempting to hide behind the gorgeous bouquet in front of her.

Renee pushed them out in front of her with a timid smile before speaking.

“I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me. Like, on a date that isn’t in this tea shop for once. We can go out and watch classic movies since I know that they’re your favorites, and you can dress me up and I’ll model some of the clothes that you’ve designed, and we can spend time together without the pretense of working.”

Allison beamed at the soft, warm, strong girl in front of her and pulled her in for a kiss.

“I’d love to spend an evening with you, Renee, and many more after that.”

Renee’s smile could have fueled cities it was so bright, and with that, she pulled her in for another kiss, as Thea did the same to Dan.

The flowers around them all blossomed, growing as big, and as bright, and as beautiful as possible; the room was a plethora of colors and smells that all ran parallel to the emotions running around inside the four girls in the tea shop.

They all send Matt and Kevin thank you cards. The boys try their hardest to avoid I told you so’s. (They don’t do a very good job.)