Lower Fens Home Early

[Billy Broder]

Billy carefully poured out colorful sand from a jar, making slow progress with the circle in the living room carpet. This wasn't the best way to draw a circle, he knew that perfectly well, but for this it would serve. He'd been doing a lot of research into this and if it all went well he would only have to draw the circle proper once, well twice but once on the ground. The symbols themselves were piled on the coffee table, drawn on small sheets of paper he would tack down into place. He had warding stones but the paper was partly for an experiment and he wasn't too worried how it would go on that front. No the sand and the components were the big draw here. Oh... and the small booby trap he'd rigged up. It wasn't anything crazy, just a string and pully tied to the iron that Billy pretty much had never once used to get wrinkles from his clothes. Fuck, he'd used the fold up ironing board stored in the cupboard for a table more than its actual purpose.

Billy made a very careful slow circle until the colorful sand was all perfectly laid out. He tried not to do much proper magic in the apartment, sure some small spells in his bedroom but he had separated that space so that it wouldn't bother Junebug. However this circle, for its first time cast, was going to just be too big for his bedroom. between his bed and dresser he couldn't make enough space even if he tipped the bed on its side like he'd done before.

It was all fine though, Juniper had classes today. Or her part time job. Either way she probably wouldn't be home for another fifteen or twenty minutes and this wouldn't take that long. Stepping over the sand circle, Billy laid down a notebook with its blank pages open at the center. He was ready, and absolutely nothing could muck it up. As long as a window or door didn't suddenly open up to disturb all the groundwork he'd just laid.

[Juniper Gray]

A moment later, the door opened. Juniper was a little forceful with it, needing it to stay open long enough for her to wheel her bike through while her other hand was occupied with groceries. She'd finished her last courier job early enough to stop by the store for snacks, and so, as she rolled through, she announced triumphantly, “Spicy Cheetos were on sale!”

And she did, in fact, have several bags of them, bumping against her hip as she propped her bike in the front hallway. They had a wall-mounted bike rack to save room, but she didn't yet lift hers onto it, meaning to pass into the kitchen to put the goodies away.

That was when she spotted Billy in the living room with a jar of colorful sand, and she paused, clearly perplexed. “The beach is like... right down the road,” she said with a confused little snicker. Realistically, it was at least thirty minutes away by car, but they were a port city despite all the traffic.

[Billy Broder]

Billy was getting the sand into a solid circle shape when the door snapped open and Juniper came in like a storm. Oh it wasn't that bad but the door was open long enough to let a disturbing breeze in and she rolled her bike through while holding a lot of bags. Rowling instantly ruffled his feathers up annoyance but Billy just snorted and grinned at her timing. Honestly... better now than right in the middle of it all. He was just putting the colored stand down on the ground when she mentioned the beach was down the road. He looked to answer when his booby trap went off, likely from Juniper slamming open the door, it hadn't meant to be super good or anything. The iron, tied to string and the ceiling, came off the shelf it had been precariously balanced on and swung right toward the Wizard.

He ducked on instinct, then caught it as it came back around. It wasn't going very fast since it was really more just meant to test the defensive spell he had been about to try. Ideally it would have bounced off a barrier, if he had one. He smirked and then let it swing listlessly in the air as he walked away from his colorful sand toward Juniper. “Hey Junebug, need any help with the bags?” he said.

This was something he had been working on, prioritizing people over rituals and magic. He could finish his circle and experiment later, at that exact moment his roomie had a bunch of bags on her arm and- unless he was waaaay off the mark- he was willing to bet he could snag a few cheetos as tax for offering to help her square everything away. “"How was your day?” he asked, forcing a bit of cheer into his voice that wasn't really there. Still, it was about the effort. He'd been way too gloomy lately. He didn't want to bring Juniper down with his drama any more than he already had.

[Juniper Gray]

The more Juniper looked at the set up in the living room, the more perplexing it became. There was an iron on a length of rope, the colored sand, and of course, the giant fuck-off owl looking at her with death in his big eyes. Honestly, typical wizard things and she had to shrug it off.

Shaking her head to his question, she slung the bag down on the kitchen table along with her trusty backpack. The tiger smelled like a work-out and the outdoors, having just come in from biking across town, but the exertion always left her in a good mood. At least, until she caught the forced cheer in Billy's voice.

It was a common thing these days, ever since they got back from Vegas last year. Juniper got why, but she was concerned. Billy was her friend, and they'd gone through something fairly traumatic. Still, she wasn't going to poke at it right away. “Good, busy,” she said succinctly, before stepping up to the threshold of the living room and taking a better look around. She leaned on the door jamb. “What's this? Are you playing Home Alone?” She gestured at the swinging iron.

[Billy Broder]

Billy acknowledged she didn't need real help with the bags. For all of his own insistence on never making more than one trip when towing groceries, June could outpace him a hundred times over without a bit of trouble. To be expected when you were a super cool weretiger. Instead, he moved around into their small kitchen and started opening cabinets and drawers to help put everything away. As messy as he could be, he liked everything having a proper place and legitimately enjoyed sorting such things. Also, again, this was his best chance to score a cheeto tax.

He nodded his head when she said she had been good and busy then glanced up at the living room when she commented on his little project. Rowling ruffled his feathers at the insinuation that this could be anything other than a ritual but Billy just waved his hand nonchalantly. “Its a ritual, I needed the extra space and didn't know you'd be home so soon. I'll clean it up in a minute, no worries.” he said, causing Rowling to turn an eye to him just as annoyed. He made eye contact with the bird for a moment and the two exchanged a quick mental link. No words- just feelings. The Owl's annoyance and desire to do the ritual and Billy's stubborn refusal. He was the wizard so in the end, Rowling hopped off his perch and then walked across the floor over to Billy's bedroom. A moment later the door shut with a soft click- the equiveillance to a slam considering the bird had to use all its weight to get that result.

Billy smiled and shrugged at June. “Sorry, he get's grumpy when he misses a meal.” he explained.

Rowling did not need to eat.

[Juniper Gray]

Watching them like she was, Juniper didn't miss the silent exchange between Billy and the big bird. These moments were always perplexing. The energetic silence, the emotional aftermath of... well, she wasn't really sure. Some sort of communication.

It was interesting and weird. It reminded her that her personal experience, even as ravenous transforming tiger, just wasn't the full breadth of it, not even a fraction. The world was a big place. Billy apologized and she just huffed out a little laugh, shaking her head.

“It's aight, I don't think we're, like, ontologically allowed to get along.” She grinned, showing a little teeth, giving a cat-like edge to her smile. Juniper had taken freshmen level philosophy and now knew words like 'ontological'. The saving grace was that she used them more or less correctly. She went on brightly, “You don't gotta clean up, I just wanna get to the couch.”

[Billy Broder]

Billy started to fuss about the kitchen, helping where he could with the bags Juniper had brought in but mostly starting to pull other things out of cupboards with little initial explanation of his actions. Instead he glanced over at the weretiger and quirked an eyebrow. “Ontologically? That's like a word-a-day-calendar kind of word. What's it mean?” he asked, not ashamed he didn't really know the term. He could make a solid guess on context but he would much rather hear June explain it. She'd been working super hard in her classes and he was really proud of her. All the while he started pulling out a pan, some seasonings and fix'ins, and turned on their stove top once he cleared the space off a bit.

When Juniper said she was happy to let him do the ritual so long as she could stay on the couch he just shook his head no. “Counter, what if I cook up that sliced chicken in the freezer while you order Chinese food. Then when it gets here we add all the chicken to the meal to improve it, before vegging out on the couch and watching movies or something?” he said. He popped open the freezer door and pulled out the frozen chicken, it was a few days from its expiration date but with the freezer it would have lasted past that. Either way, he suspected Juniper would love a big meal and some take out asian rice and a hang. They hadn't really spent any solid time together since they got back from Vegas.

His mom had really liked Juniper too and kept texting to see how she was. Jeez... did his mom like his roommate more than she liked him? Eh, probably. Junebug was likable.

[Juniper Gray]

“S'like, uh...” here, she paused. She knew it in theory, but explaining it? perhaps she didn't understand it too well. But she tried. “The basic substance of something. Y'know. Cats, birds. We don't get along.”

Their apartment was, in a word, cluttered, but in such a way that both were content with the arrangement. The countertops were crowded the most-used appliances holding permanent places. Food was stacked high in the pantry, with the bulk consisting of ramen, macaroni, cereal boxes, crackers, and rolled up bags of chips. Fruit gummies, cookies and pudding cups were another staple. The fridge was also packed tightly, with an possibly absurd amount of animal protein. Juniper, predictably, loved meat, and Billy had her number on a big meal for the evening.

She watched with growing curiosity as the wizard started to pull things out and fiddle with the stove. It didn't matter who was cooking, she just liked being there when it happened, between the opportunities to pick off morsels and then enjoy the final product. When he pulled out the frozen chicken and suggested ordering in as well, she was lasered in on the process. “Ye, ye, let's do it,” she chirruped.

Instinct and habit both dictated that she get a closer vantage point from an elevated position, so she hoisted herself up to sit on the counter. Kind of out of the way, but she'd need to be shooed if the wizard needed any more counter space. She pulled out her beat-up phone to get a look at their closest Chinese place. They had a favorite, so instead she asked, “What kinda movie you feeling? Something scary?”

[Billy Broder]

Billy left Juniper in charge of the chinese food. She'd make sure he got his eggrolls and noodles. Instead he busied himself with the chicken, pulling out a few more spices and throwing a thin coat of olive oil in his pan. As he set it to simmer he pulled out a cutting board and a large knife which he began to viciously assault the frozen chicken breasts with. It was still fairly hard and he put force into each cut as he diced the meat up. He'd been watching a lot of cooking on Youtube since moving in with Juniper- a personal mission of his to not be as bad a cook as his beloved mother was. He got out a small plastic bag from the fridge with an amalgamation of... things... in it. Honestly it looked unholy, but it was the key to a lot of his better recipes. The bag held a clump of butter, spices, seasonings, and such and was left to marinate, then used in part over different meals. Suvede? That probably was the wrong word. Or not a word at all. Regardless, Billy made a bag of this once a week when he remembered. Did wonders for flavor and would pair well with the chinese.

He started putting things together and tossing them into his pan, which made a satisfying sizzle on contact, before glancing up at Juniper. “Anything is fine, just no vampires... Oh and no time travel- I watched Triangle recently and it was fine but gave me a headache.” he told her.

With the way his life went, Billy had a habit of watching Horror movies and imagining it happening to him. When you knew magic and stuff existed you had to plan for the worst and that was usually what horror provided. A lot of the time he would put a bit of his brain to figuring out the how and why, thinking up what he could do if he were there with his rituals. Triangle was a fucked up movie from that mindset. Being trapped in that cycle, well he was already a part of the problem and likely unable to escape. In truth, with his magic and the way it worked most of the time he might actually be more susceptible to something like that. He hated that idea.

Decent movie though.

“You want your chicken spicy or no?”

[Juniper Gray]

Juniper did not know that Billy's mission was to surpass his mother's cooking. She thought that his cooking aggression came from catching her eating raw meat far too many times. It wasn't because she couldn't cook, though. She just... liked.

That said, she was grateful. Cooked seasoned chicken was better, even if it didn't have the texture she craved. When he said no vampires, she threw her head back and groaned at the ceiling. “Spicy,” she answered quickly, and then quickly dove back at the vampire thing. “Why no vampires?” she whined, “We never do vampires.”

[Billy Broder]

Billy kept his hands in motion when Juniper asked her question. His vision seemed to narrow a bit as he focused on shifting the pan around and stirring everything evenly. He considered making a joke, some throw away comment Junebug would shrug an accept before they moved on. He could just tell her they scared him and that would probably be enough too.

But Juniper was probably his best friend. They lived together, and hadn't hung out much lately, but they got on well and she'd even gone with him in what he objectively considered his worst two weeks ever. He unconsciously pouted a bit as he thought before coming to a decision.

He kept stirring. Keeping his hands moving and quickly stripped the information of all emotion. When he spoke it was cold and clinical in a way that felt fragile... like too much poking or prodding would cause spider-web lines to lace through the person speaking.

“Just after graduating high school, I was hunted by vampires. Two of my friends were turned. I started a fire to escape. But people got hurt, and I think my friends died in the fire.” he said.

He had clipped it down to 4 simple sentences.

4 sentences that encompassed the 2 miserable hours of looking for two girls he thought of as his best friends... finding them laughing and smeared in blood. The mocking, the guilt, the running through the upper corridors of the casino. Panting in a small coat closet and then holding his breath praying not to be heard. The tears as they asked for his help, that same mocking tone under every word. The clawed hand punching through the closet door... too long fingers and razor sharp claws painted with the Nightmare Before Christmas nail art his friend had been so proud of.

The circle.

The fire.

Billy let out a long slow breath. He thought his dad would help him work through it all, but that was also the year his dad vanished. Thinking about it all dug up all of it again, but the unearthed remains of the experience were stale. Old. Bones of who he had been ringing hallow echos of what he had felt and thought years prior.

“So... no vampires movies.” he added with a small smirk. It didn't reach his eyes but not many of his smiles lately did. At least he was trying.