#painofhumanity jen

[billyktothemax]

"I know, I know you were, and you had every right," Billy said, looking down, kicking a toe at the floor. But she didn't give him much chance to hide. She took his shoulders, and he fought for a moment, rolling his head back with an exaggerated, teenish groan, but soon he had to drop it back to place, looking at her. He didn't know he could do what he did to her, he had no clue. That just wasn't much of an excuse when he could have killed her.

"Does it help if I say I'm not that great of an actor," He said, trying to joke... it probably wasn't the best. "Sorry. I just - sorry."

He couldn't say more than that, ever. He half smiled, one side of his mouth quirking up. "I promise. I don't want to take over the world. I just want what I wanted from the Road. But I'll never forget you saved my life! And my pores."

"Kid--Teen--Listen," she began with a wry smile. "You know I was angry when it happened. I wasn't shy about it. And if Lilia hadn't told me we were cool, I would've been pushing you up against that wall as soon as I saw you again," she admitted casually. "Because I thought the whole wide eyed, eager little new witch thing was an act, and that you'd been playing us the whole time. I thought that you were like Agatha. But. . . Then I saw how guilty you felt. And I remembered how upset you were about Mrs. Davis, and Alice. . . Agatha wouldn't've cared. She couldn't even pretend to."

Jen rested her hands on his slim shoulders and squeezed gently. "You could be the very best of us, or the very worst of us, Billy, depending on who's in your corner. . . So. I'll be in your corner. I'll teach you all I know. And then, if you do end up deciding to take over the world, just make sure to remember who helped you minimize your pores and saved you from bleeding out on The Road," she said with a wink.

[thehxrkness]

Continued from here

@painofhumanity

Agatha's past relationship with Jen had been intense and tumultuous at best. She had actually started to fall for the other when Jen had made it obvious it was never going to be more than a fling, and Agatha felt that she had been led on. It's what led her to helping bind her ex partner, what led to the anger between them, and now? Now...Jen was apologizing? It was an odd feeling, knowing the other finally acknowledged that what she had said had really hurt the older witch.

After a long moment of silence, having not expected that sort of response, Agatha took a deep breath, looking up, right into Jennifer's eyes.

"I'm sorry too. For what I did in retaliation. You really did hurt me, Jen. More than you know."

[billyktothemax]

He smiled as she patted his cheek, hoping it meant something positive his way. The wait panned out, and he quickly, quietly, pumped a fist in the air, grinning all the while a hissed out "yes!"

Billy didn't reach out to hug her, knowing better than that, but he was already hopping about, happily gushing, "you won't regret it. I know how to do the customer service thing, and I'm attentive, and everything! Technically I think she's haunting her necklace? But she's wearing that and hanging out in my room, so like?"

He shrugged, lips exaggerating a frown. "Oh, I totally didn't think you would put all your secrets online. You'll really teach me?"

All that wide eyed enthusiasm; he really was still just a kid. Jen patted his cheek before dropping her hand back to her side. "It's a yes, Billy. It would be nice to have another witch in the store. Hell, maybe we can start putting a little actual magic into my products." Why not make her skincare line worth the hype?

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Sorry, she does what now? What am I saying? Of course she haunts your bedroom. She's Agatha Harkness." Jennifer shook her head; Billy didn't seem too concerned about it, so she'd put that away to think about later. She wasn't all that surprised to find out he watched her channel. "Well, flattering as that is, I'll tell you right now that there's a whole lot that I leave out in those videos--like anything to do with real magic. So. I'll teach you all the inside secrets that none of my other viewers get to hear."

[billyktothemax]

"Is that a good thing? Is that a yes?" Billy asked, baring back the excitement that had started to build. It might be a yes. If he didn't have to spend his weekends washing down bowling balls, that would be the best thing ever and -

"If I can tell my parents that I work at your store then they won't blink an eye at me being there, you could teach me pretty much whatever. Also Agatha haunts my bedroom, so I can't really do much about that," Billy pointed out. "You know, I already know about your product and stuff, I happen to be a subscriber to your YouTube Channel, so I do know stuff."

Jen had long since gotten over the anger she felt after being rudely tossed off The Road and left for dead; he hadn't actually meant to hurt her, and he was still young, and learning to control an immense amount of power. So when the boy asked about working for her, all she did was smile.

"Oh, honey. My clients would eat you alive with that sweet little face of yours," she said, affectionately reaching out to squeeze his chin between her thumb and forefinger. "Then again. It'd be a good idea for you to get some education in the craft from someone besides that psycho Agatha, since you seem determined to keep hanging out with her." Jen acted like she was still mulling it over, but she was already thinking about how having a teen working in her store would attract younger clientele.

[billyktothemax]

"Can I work at Kale Kare? Part time, it would be so much better than the Hokey Pokey Bowl," Billy asked. "I could hold down the fort while you go off saving lives. It would be amazing! How do you open a midwifery practice?"

OPEN STARTER ;; Jennifer Kale

"Now that I've got my magic back, I'm thinking about getting back into the real craft. Obviously, I'd still keep Kale Kare going, because it makes me a fortune, but now. . . Now I can use that to fund the thing that I actually loved: helping people. Hell, I might even go back to being a midwife."

[billyktothemax]

"Oh, you know it," Billy promised. He quickly saluted her, a tiny, mocking smile on his face as he did. He should probably shut up, though, before he started saying something that would embarrass him. He'd already told her that she totally minimized his pores, surely she would know anything he wanted to say on the matter.

He snickered slightly, knowing she had earned every right to tease him on that. "Sorry about that, again," He mumbled, knowing it would probably be the first, or second or third, out of a hundred times saying it. "And I want to learn. I promise, I take it seriously. I'm just really happy you want to help. And I think potions are really, really cool."

This kid really had a way of making her want to wrap him up and protect him from everything. He was the kind the world loved to chew up and spit out. "Just bring that peppy enthusiasm you have for witchcraft and put it into learning about skincare, and I'm sure you'll do great."

Jen stopped herself from asking why in the world he even had Agatha's necklace to begin with, because she already knew: he had some kind of attachment to Agatha, for whatever reason, and he had from the very beginning.

"Yes, I'll really teach you. Most of us have our specialties, but every witch worth her brew learns more than that. It's good to be well rounded. Besides. The more you learn, the more you'll be able to use that power of yours intentionally instead of it just exploding out of you when you're upset." It wasn't said with malice, but with concern. That lack of control wasn't just dangerous for those around him, it could be dangerous for him.

[thehxrkness]

"I'm not surprised you still want to keep that sham of a company running."

Jen probably had thought she'd seen the last of Agatha, but here she was, now as a ghost, looking definitely older than before, but still ethereal nonetheless.

"Oh well, at least you're free to do as you please."

OPEN STARTER ;; Jennifer Kale

"Now that I've got my magic back, I'm thinking about getting back into the real craft. Obviously, I'd still keep Kale Kare going, because it makes me a fortune, but now. . . Now I can use that to fund the thing that I actually loved: helping people. Hell, I might even go back to being a midwife."