Who: Felix Weissman and Stevie Wyrzykowski What: Moving day When: Saturday, April 20, 2019 | Morning Where: Stevie's Their apartment Warnings: None
Felix had only seen his new roommate very briefly that morning to be directed to his room, and then he was left to his own devices to levitate his very limited belongings into place and unpack them. Other than the plants that he had to make sure were appropriately oriented with the windows and their various charms to ensure they'd flourish, it barely took any time at all, and he found himself wandering back into the main part of the apartment. It was nice enough, though probably not the style he would have chosen if he ever cared to choose a style.
"I think that's it," he said as he came around the corner to the kitchen. "Advantage of coming off of a traveling job—barely anything to unpack." He pulled his wand and laid it on the counter-top, sliding it over toward her. "Key me to the wards? Then I think that's it, unless you've got any, what do you call them...ground rules?" He waved his hand vaguely at the term.
Stevie barely stifled a groan when she heard Felix’s voice in the kitchen. She’d been hoping to have a bit more time before she needed to deal with him. It was bad enough that his move-in date happened to coincide with Nat’s hospital stay. Not that there was anything to do at the hospital besides wait… all the testing was making Stevie nervous. The healers were remaining calm, but it was obviously a bad sign that they still didn’t have any answers.
Still, at least all that nervous energy meant that the apartment was newly deep-cleaned for Felix’s arrival.
“Ground rules…” Stevie set down her mug and looked toward Felix, not quite meeting his eyes. She’d never really needed to set ground rules with Naomi, but then again, shen and Naomi were the same kind of person, and Felix… was not.
On another day, Stevie would’ve fretted about what to say next. She would’ve worried about being high-maintenance, too demanding, no fun. But after this weekend, she simply didn’t have the emotional energy to care.
“One: I like to keep the place clean. You probably already noticed. I don’t expect you to get on my level, but take care of your shit.
Two… silencing charms. Use them.
Three, baked goods are always up for grabs unless otherwise labeled. Seriously, please eat them.” There, now she didn’t sound like a complete bitch.
She focused her vacant stare, making eye contact with Felix for the first time since he’d entered the kitchen. “You got anything to add?”
Felix leaned against the counter, an easy smile on his face. Even with that expression, it was hard to take his new roommate too seriously. She was just too...cute. But then, he thought anyone who was more than a foot shorter than him was cute, so it wasn't anything new. "If the last month and a half is any indication, I won't be here enough to make a mess. I am very good at silencing charms. And you may possibly be the best roommate ever if there's baked things to eat."
He poked his wand with a finger, sliding it a little closer so she wouldn't forget the wards. "Only one. Make sure to keep the kneazle out of my room." After a second, he realized how that might sound and added, "There's a plant in there that's moderately toxic to cats. If they eat it, I mean. I can only assume it's toxic to kneazles, too. I'll keep the door closed, but you know, kneazles. Too bloody smart for their own good."
The fraction of Stevie's mind that was paying attention to this conversation registered some surprise at how easily Felix had taken her demands in stride. Maybe this was going to be easier than she thought.
She nodded at his request, then took another sip of coffee. “Noted. Maybe we can set up a ward for that…” Stevie glanced toward his wand on the counter.
“That's not… I'm not…” she started, faltering. “Are you any good with wards? Might be best if you do it.”
Felix raised an eyebrow, partly in question and partly in confusion. "You want me to key my own wand to your wards? It won't work without your wand, if they're worth anything at all. That's rather the point."
“Yeah, I meant,” Stevie was half mumbling and already getting up from the table. “I'll go grab my wand, just a sec.”
Felix never met a witch who didn't have her wand on her at pretty much all times, but he supposed it wasn't all that strange when she was at home. He levered himself upright, grabbed his wand, and waited patiently for her return. She got another raised eyebrow when she handed him her wand. He wasn't even sure he could do magic with someone else's wand; the last time he'd tried had been his brother's the summer before he'd gotten his own, and it hadn't been pretty.
"Well, let's see how this goes, then." He crossed to the front door and held out Stevie's wand, eyeing it warily before attempting to examine the wards. It stuttered slightly, but then answered the call of his magic well enough. From there, it wasn't too difficult to add his own and make sure he was cleared not only to enter the front door, but apparate in directly. "That should do it." He held out her wand. "I'll see what I can do about warding my room, too."
Stevie was glad that Felix didn't ask any questions, though she could read the confusion on his face. She was even gladder when he managed to complete the warding process with her wand. She might've been able to do it herself… but she never liked risking it in front of near strangers.
She snapped her fingers, and her wand floated back to its spot on her bedside table.
“So, um,” Stevie spoke up, partly to change the subject and partly because it needed to be said sooner or later. “I don't know if you know this, but… I'm Finn Campbell's cousin. I didn't know about you guys until after you signed the lease. And I'm not the type of person to go back on my word… but what you did to her was shitty. Maybe you already know that, but I just need to make sure. You did a bad thing. But if we're going to be roommates I guess I should give you a chance to start over.”
Ah, here it was. Felix had wondered how long it would take to come around to this subject. It was a relief to get it done without having to bring it up himself. "I do know. Your...dad, is it? Jesse. He was kind enough to inform me of the relationship." He walked the few steps back into the living room and sat down lightly on the arm of the couch. "Finn is a far, far better person than I am. Don't think it would surprise anyone who's ever known me to hear that. I have more than a few character flaws, and I've never tried to pretend otherwise." He lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender, his wand still held between his fingers. "I don't recommend dating me. Outside of that, chances of success are far better."
“Thanks for the warning,” Stevie responded dryly. Perhaps it had been too optimistic to hope that he might actually take responsibility for his actions – whatever. She wasn’t his mother.
“Hey so, I actually have to go… I’m in the middle of a family emergency.” Maybe he’d already heard about that, too, but she wasn’t counting on it. “I should get back to the hospital. Is there anything else you need besides the wards?”
Felix gave her a little salute. "No, I think that covers it." It wasn't difficult to tell that she didn't want much to do with him, and neither was it surprising. Lucky for him, he was more concerned about space and privacy than making friends. And, well, maybe she'd come around. Sometimes people did. "Hope everything goes alright with your" —he waved a hand inarticulately, since he didn't actually know what the emergency was— "family things."
“Thanks,” Stevie said again, genuinely this time, before disapparating with a crack.