lookinside (lookinside) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-04-10 22:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, greg, greg x sebastian, sebastian |
Who: Greg & Sebastian
What: Sunday post-crash blues chat idk
Where: Greg's house, Overlook
When: Sunday afternoon 10/15
Status: Complete - Part 1
Warning: Language
This weekend had been a total bust. Greg had planned to party like crazy but instead he stayed home, nursed a headache and got super-doted on by his mom. It wasn't all bad, but he was a seventeen year old boy and he wanted to party, damn it! He was also covering for Sebastian and while he didn't tell his mom why he did ask her to say Sebastian had been hanging out all Saturday. Jessica was nosy and tried to prod him about details and he promised he'd tell her later but not now. Concussion and a bandaged arm helped sell the tired pouting so she got off his case pretty fast.
For Sunday he actually did plan on hanging out with his best friend. He'd texted Sebastian when he woke up and told him he was just about ready to die from cabin fever and he needed company that was not his mom STAT. It was hard to entertain himself when he couldn't really paint because his hand was all sore and he got tired from watching TV really fast. It really sucked, to say the least.
He was listening to music and singing along quietly for something to do when he heard Sebastian come inside. At least he assumed it was him since Jessica had gone out shopping. "Yo," he drawled, stretching a bit so he could peek out from where he was lying on the couch. "What's up, bro?"
Saturday evening with Hunter hadn’t exactly been what Bash was expecting, but it was wonderful in it’s own way. He wasn’t up for more than cuddling, as much as he might have wanted more, and neither was Hunter, so lazing about and watching movies was a good plan. And kissing. He loved the occasional kisses. The feeling of Hunter’s lips on his stuck with him long after he left and he was already wondering when he could see him again. He was hugely appreciative of Greg for covering for him and had planned on dropping by his house on Sunday even before he received the text. Sure, his parents thought that he was spending a ton of time over there, but that was pretty much the norm.
“Hey,” Sebastian smiled as he strolled into Greg’s room and flopped down on the chair. “Not much. Lots of sleeping. Feeling better, but it’s going to be a good week before the bruising goes down. How’s you?” he asked, kicking his feet up on the coffee table.
"Going stir crazy," Greg sighed. "But you know, a little better. Spence stayed with us for a bit and got mom off my back some but then he fucking left me and I've been so bored." There was a subtle jab there at Sebastian too though it was mostly teasing. He'd cover for him anytime and at least this time it meant something. "How's your boyfriend?" he asked, even more so teasing as he called Hunter that. Like they were twelve and Sebastian was sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. It wasn't funny but at this point Greg got his entertainment wherever he could.
Sebastian’s head lolled to the side and he gave Greg an apologetic little smile. He wanted to be there for Greg, but he knew he’d been exactly where he needed to be. He smiled at the question, mostly because any mention of Hunter made him smile, and he was pretty sure boyfriend was accurate, but then when it came to answering it he got held up. “He’s… He’s in pretty bad shape,” he said, a frown taking over his face as his brows drew together. “You up for another heavy conversation?”
Greg frowned, more in confusion than anything. He would have thought Hunter was fine, he hadn't been on the bus, he should have been doting on a traumatized Bash and making him feel better but... No? "I don't know, dude," he said, furrowing his brow. "But I'm gonna say yeah 'cause now I gotta know." He'd seen Hunter at school on Friday and he'd seemed fine, if a little hard pressed to keep a straight face around Sebastian. "Was this like a major Friday the thirteenth or something?"
“You don’t have to know. You’d probably be fine not knowing. But… things have been weird lately and I feel like maybe you should.” Bash had thought long and hard about it and eventually decided that knowing what was out there prepared you for facing it. If Sabrina, Mak, and Hunter had had any idea that demons were a real thing, none of them would’ve touched the Ouija board. While he knew Greg was superstitious enough to keep away from those anyways, there was more to it than that. The problem was, one he knew, he couldn’t unknow. “Yeah. Like… Horror movie calibur, I think. I don’t have all the details. But… you sure you’re in?”
Greg watched him with a dubious look on his face before motioning for him to stop. "Hold on," he said sharply and got to his feet, stalking off to the fridge. "If you're in, I'm already in, you know that, right? But if this is heavy then.. We need drinks." This time around said drinks were just Mountain Dew which he brought back in a couple of cans, flopping down next to Sebastian again and holding one out for him. "I'm not gonna like this, am I."
Sebastian watched Greg, a fond smile sliding into place. He’d never known anyone else so quick to sign on with him, no matter what it was. He loved him in a completely unromantic way and knew they’d probably follow each other off a cliff without a second thought. Greg might bitch the whole way down, but they’d fall together. “No, you’re not,” he said, popping the top on the Mountain Dew. “But if you want to punch me for keeping things from you, can you hold off a week? I can’t take a hit right now.”
"No, you look pretty beat up," Greg said with a renewed frown. More secrets? Fantastic. "For what it's worth I'm not going to punch anything today, my right arm is still stupid sore." He didn't show it but there was definitely a little ball of anxiety growing in his chest. More secrets that Sebastian hadn't wanted to tell him before, gay was one thing but something else? "Lay it on me, bro," Greg sighed because the last thing he needed was for his mind to run off with him.
“Yeah, I’ve got this bruise on my shin that’s practically black. Hurts to touch,” Sebastian said with a nod of sympathy. Neither of them were in the best of shape, but Hunter still had it worse. “Okay, so… you know how I broke into that shop so Sabrina could return a Ouija board?” he asked, knowing for certain Greg would remember. “She was trying to return it ‘cause when they used it, they… they got something’s attention. A demon. Her, Mak, Hunter, and a few others. It was attacking them in their sleep. Like, Freddy Krueger style. When she got back home, it was back on her bed.” He took a sip of soda as he let that sink in, then continued on. “So, I told her to put a ring of salt around her bed, and then we went to see a witch to get them hex bags for protection. At least until they figured out how to get rid of it for good. Well, Friday night the demon took possession of Hunter.”
Greg was doing a little face journey during all of that and the only reason he didn't roll his eyes or ask Sebastian if he was fucking with him was because he knew his best friend and Sebastian was so not the type to pull a prank like that. "So you're telling me," he muttered slowly. "Witches are real and demons are real and ouija boards work." He knew there were strange things in the world, it was hard not to be aware when weird shit had happened to his own family but what Sebastian was saying sounded more like his aunt Holly's mad rambling than anything Sebastian would ever say. "Okay just so we're clear," he said. "Just how hard did you hit your head on Friday night?"
Sebastian took a deep breath and nodded, then pulled himself to his feet. He knew he sounded crazy. This was why you didn’t run around telling people about demons and salt and witches and hex bags. But he could prove it to Greg. He needed him to hear what he was saying at take it seriously. “Be right back,” he said, disappearing from the room for just a moment before turning with a glass of water. He set it on the coffee table, then put his hand over it, hovering about a foot above the top of the glass. He looked up at Greg, then down at the glass, focusing on the water. He didn’t want bubbles or a whirlpool. He wanted something stronger. Real proof. Rain, he thought. Make it rain. At first there was nothing. Please, dear god, make it rain. Make it fucking rain. Then, slowly, the water started to drip upwards from the glass, raining against his hand, fighting gravity to do so. A smile tugged at Sebastian’s lips.
“I’m saying I’m a witch. And that Friday night, the thirteenth, my boyfriend was possessed by a demon,” Sebastian said, his eyes still on the glass and the water that was starting to soak his hand. He pulled his gaze away, up to look at Greg, and it stopped. Outside, it began to rain.
It was quiet and tense between them for a few long moments before Greg leaned back in his seat. "Oh fuck you," he said, more out of surprise and shock than any actual anger. "How the fuck did you..." He shook his head and sighed in frustration. "Motherfucker." He put his soda can on the coffee table and crossed his arms over his chest, frowning up at Sebastian. "So this is just ... something you do? Like it ain't no biggie?" If there was an appropriate way to react when your best friend started doing for-real magic then Greg did not know what that might be. Cursing seemed like a suitable reaction. "Did you just make it fucking rain too?"
Sebastian didn’t know what to expect, but he could handle being cursed at. He knew a part of Greg would be pissed off. This was something he’d been keeping from him forever. But it wasn’t like being gay. It was a legit secret, one that would never be public, that he’d honestly thought would never matter until recently. “No, actually. This is the most impressive thing I’ve ever done. For real,” he said, wiping his hand on his jeans, then sitting back down. He kept his arms at his side, trying to remain open, though it would have been so easy to mirror Greg’s position. To be defensive. He glanced towards the window and frowned. “I… I don’t know. Maybe.” He’d wanted rain, but the idea that he was responsible for the weather was huge. “I don’t practice. I mean, I want to, and now with all of this I plan to, but my parents are super against it. Like, this is why I was never allowed to attend those field trips. And why she’d rip me out of class in elementary school whenever we studied local history. Mom’s fanatical about it. So this is about the extent of my abilities.”
Greg would never be able to describe how he felt in that moment. There was a riot going on inside of him and he wasn't even sure if he was just excited or if he was angry for real. This was huge, this was messed up, this was fucking crazy. He shook his head slowly as he listened to Sebastian talk about things that sounded more like something straight out of one of his fantasy stories. "So... You're basically a ridiculous badass," he said with a sigh. "Just don't go like... pledging your soul to a god and becoming some crazy military wizard?" He was going to need time to process this, maybe even more so than when he found out Sebastian was gay. At least he knew gay people existed for real so that had helped a lot! "I swear to god if you go to the dark side and I have to like defeat you or some shit, I'm gonna be piiiiiissed."
“No, I’m not,” Sebastian said, leaning forward as he tried to emphasize how much of a badass he was not. “I can’t light candles without a lighter. I can’t heal a papercut, let alone a concussion. And I sure as hell couldn’t have done a fucking thing about a demon taking over Hunter and attacking people in the process. Right now all I have is a thimble full of knowledge and some really cool party tricks.” He thought about telling Greg that he didn’t think witches and wizards were the same, but that felt like splitting hairs and was really besides the point. He was never going to be some crazy military anything. “Come on, you know me. Do you really think that’s going to be an issue?” It made him sad to think Greg was really worried about these things, that maybe this was too much for him and he should have kept it to himself. He’d always been more worried that being gay was the secret that would drive him away, where being a witch was the one that was dangerous and could get him killed. It was starting to feel like the worries should have been on in the same.
Greg almost told him that no, he clearly didn't know him at all because he hadn't told him anything all these years. He wasn't angry enough to go there and he knew Sebastian would be so damn hurt if he did that he nixed the impulse and shook his head. "Dude," he said simply, like it was a whole sentence all on its own. "Magic is fucked up," he then muttered because not talking was not helping him think. "Supernatural stuff? Is fucked up. You know what happened to my cousin, it was fucked up and my aunt Holly is crazy because of it but... Now you're kinda telling me she's right about all of it, all that weird shit she keeps giving me to keep me safe and..." He tilted his head back and groaned loudly. "I just don't know what the fuck to do with that."
Sebastian was quiet as he let Greg try to process it all, slipping his shoes off and pulling his feet up into the chair with him. It was a lot to take in. It was always going to be a lot to take in, no matter what the circumstances. “You don’t have to do anything with it,” he finally said. “Chances are you won’t ever meet another witch. We’ll leave for college and escape the Point Pleasant crazy. This place seems to be a magnet for it. I don’t really understand why.” There were a lot of possible explanations, but they all sounded a bit too much like supernatural tv lore for him to dive into any of them. “But while we’re here, it suddenly felt like not telling you was-- was doing you a disservice. Like, you aren’t prepared for the shit to hit the fan, if or when it does. I don’t really know what happened to your cousin, but… yeah, it’s all kinda fucked up.”
Greg decided then and there that yes, Sebastian was the only witch/wizard he'd ever meet, that he had enough trouble tackling biology without trying to learn about the supernatural as well. "Okay," he sighed. "You being a witch is like you being gay, it's none of my business but I support you and you can rant about it to me all you want. Just don't expect me to understand half of that shit, okay?" He huffed and shook his head then pointed at Sebastian. "And for the record? If you have any more earth shattering secrets you're keeping from me? Now is the time to tell me 'cause I'm so not in the mood to do this every week, you hear?"
“It’s not the same,” Sebastian said, shaking his head. “It’s not… it’s not ever going to come out publicly. I’ve gone years without even thinking about it. And I don’t understand much more about it than you do. So if you don’t want to know, I won’t ever bring it up again. But right now, it-- it feels like it matters.” Maybe he was wrong and everything would go back to normal forever and ever. He’d never need magic again and this would all be an attempt to fix something he’d already missed his chance to fix. But he didn’t want to find himself in another situation like that ever again. “No, no more,” he said, looking down at his hands, his voice quieter. “No more room in the closet for anything else.”
Greg almost asked if he was sure but Sebastian looked pretty beat down and his sad face was even worse with that damn shiner he was sporting. "Nah, I wanna know," he said instead. "So you can like talk to me while you figure it all out. Just don't expect me to understand it, I mean, I suck at math and math is like..." Real? "More common." He wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "I don't know man, it's fucking weird but I mean... Fuck. I'm a little more worried about that other thing? Like... an actual demon? What the fuck, bro? What do we do about that?"
“We don’t have to do anything about that,” Sebastian said, taking a deep breath. “They took him to some other witches and they… they got rid of it. And burned the board. Hunter doesn’t remember anything he did while he was possessed, but he knows he hurt Mak. He’s really shaken up, like, mentally and physically. Worse than us. He had a concussion, plus… who knows.” He could tell in the way that Hunter moved that everything had to be hurting. Sebastian had hugged on him as gently as he could, worried that he’d touch a bruise he couldn’t see. “He didn’t really want to talk about it. I mean, it’s over, which is good, but it really fucked with him, you know? And it could’ve… it could’ve been so much worse.” It made him feel sick to think about. They were all so lucky to be alive.
Greg listened with a frown as Sebastian talked. The fact that there was one demon meant there were more and that was what had been worrying him but hearing what had happened to Hunter, to Mak, it made other demon problems a lot more hypothetical for now. "Fuck," he muttered and while he still didn't know how to process any of this he knew his friend was hurting and while he couldn't fix that, he could be there. "C'mere," he muttered as he sat up straighter, not giving Sebastian much room to think about it before he'd pulled him in for a hug, patting his back firmly. "Is Mak okay?" he asked quietly because 'Hunter hurt Mak' was vague as hell.
Sebastian tensed just slightly when Greg wrapped his arms around him, then gave in and relaxed, ducking his head so his friend couldn’t see his face. All he’d wanted was to be strong for Hunter, to help him and protect him, and Mak, and Sabrina. And even Greg, which felt a bit silly, since he was pretty sure it was almost always the other way around. But he felt like he’d failed, that he’d waited too long, and things had gotten far too dangerous. And all he could do was comfort and be confident that everything would be better in the future, when really he had no idea. He refused to get emotional about it again, there in front of Greg, but he needed the hug more than he could’ve ever said. “I don’t know. I think so. Hunter would’ve said if she wasn’t. I don’t think he knows what happened exactly. And he was upset, so I didn’t really want to push.”
Greg leaned back again, calmer now that it was obvious how much Sebastian really was fretting about everything. "I knew the ouija board was a bad idea but I was just thinking about poltergeists and bad karma." He huffed and leaned his shoulder against the back of the couch. "So there's just a bunch of witches in town? You said they went to some other witches." Holly had talked about getting protective items from witches but with Holly you never really knew how much was true. She was very superstitious and she did a lot of strange things to keep herself and what was left of her family safe.
If it wouldn’t have been weird, Sebastian would have curled up with Greg, but it would have been weird, so he sat back and found a pillow to hold onto, making no attempt to put the distance back between them. He was feeling needy at the moment and Greg didn’t seem to mind them being squished together. “I’ve never used one myself, but my cousins used to call them demon boards. If you find an authentic one, you can summon all sorts of things, but most of the time it’s demons pretending to be ghosts.” And once a demon found someone to latch onto, they rarely let go without a fight. “Um, I don’t know how many really, but I think there might be more here than usual. I heard my dad say a lot of the old families never really left, so I’d put my money on six or more. I only knew one for sure, outside my family. But I also think at least half those at the festival this weekend will be fake.”
Greg didn't think he'd want to go to that stupid festival now, but maybe it would be fun if Sebastian went with him and they could poke fun of all the fake witches or something. Or Sebastian could, Greg wouldn't even know which ones were real and who weren't and he wasn't about to risk pissing off some real witch. It was fine, he'd much rather go to a party, drink and dance and forget about life for a bit than go look at some witches, real or fake. "So, your cousins are wizard too?" he asked, because it was a logical question to ask if his cousins knew all about demon boards - and Greg was willing to bet people wouldn't be as eager to play with them if they were called that on a daily basis.
“Witches,” Sebastian said, a tiny hint of a smile showing through. “Think Point Pleasant Six, not Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.” Though wouldn’t that be cool? He wouldn’t mind using a wand if he could do some of the stuff those kids could do. “Being a witch is a genetic thing. It can skip over you, like any genetic trait, but if both parents are witches it’s more likely to show up. The McCarthys date back to the six. I don’t know as much about my mom’s side. She doesn’t talk about it. We’re pretty cut off from ‘em. And then when she caught my cousins on my dad’s side showing us something when we were kids, we stopped seeing them too. Normally you can start learning at thirteen, but my mom’s a little nutty about us not. She’d be all kinds of pissed at that little display. Sometimes I think maybe she’s not a witch. I don’t know.” He’d never really gotten a good answer as to why they shouldn’t practice magic. Eventually he stopped asking.
"Witches," Greg said and shook his head again because it was just too damn weird. "Shit so you're like... actually descended from one of the six... And they were the real deal." His aunt Holly would have scoffed at him for wondering about that because of course they were the real deal but it wasn't really something he had thought much about before now. It was just local legend, history mixed up with fairy tales. Or not, as it turned out there were actual witches in the world so maybe all of it was true. "If you start learning magic you should make it a priority to learn healing," he muttered. "Just saying. It'll come in handy after drinking - or a bus crash."
“Yeeeeeeep,” Sebastian nodded. “I don’t know for sure if all of them were, but Helena definitely was. I was thinking about going on one of the tours this weekend, if you wanna join. It’s probably fifty percent fiction, but it’s more than my parents are willing to share and they can’t really stop me at this point.” He was all kinds of done with the ‘no magic’ nonsense. If he didn’t get into anything dark, it wasn’t likely to hurt him, so they just needed to chill. “I’d thought of that,” he said with a tiny smile. “Would be nice to magic away a concussion, that’s for sure.” There were some things he couldn’t do, since walking back into school fully healed would be noticeable, but taking the pain away would’ve been nice.
"Yeah, I'll go with you," Greg agreed. "Might as well learn shit that actually affects me." He thought Sebastian would probably want to go with Hunter and if he was out he totally would. Ever the wingman, Greg nudged him gently and grinned. "If you want we can take those gay dorks of yours with us, make it a group trip." If Sebastian thought he could behave himself around his new boo that is. "It'd be fun." Of course he always liked being in groups, though he was a great deal calmer when he wasn't.
Sebastian wanted to go everywhere with Hunter, but there was only so much they could do in public without him outing himself. So until he was ready for that, things with a group were better. Plus, he didn’t want to abandon Greg. He was his best friend for a damn good reason. “You wouldn’t mind me asking ‘em?” he asked. “It’s a really different crowd.” But so far he really liked them. He just wasn’t sure they’d want anything to do with witches after the weekend they’d had, but knew he’d have to ask to find out.
"I don't mind," Greg said with a shrug. "As long as it's a group and not just you, me and Hunter." He laughed at the thought because that would be so freakishly weird. "My name may be Wheels, but I'm not doing that third wheel thing." He furrowed his brows as he thought of something. "Isn't Hunter friends with Jules? Might drag her along too, make it less weird looking." Would it be weird looking? Bash and Greg suddenly hanging out with Hunter and Mak outside of school? Possibly. He didn't really give a shit but he knew Sebastian was fretting about appearances.
“I wouldn’t do that to you,” Sebastian said with a little smile. “I’d ask Mak and Sabrina. I could ask Jules, if that won’t make things even weirder. I know she’s friends with Hunter, but I don’t know about the girls. Maybe I’ll run it by Hunter first and see what he thinks.” A big group could be a lot of fun, or a complete mess. He also wondered if Jules would want to bring Jasper and that made him even more nervous. There was a lot to consider. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it’s not just the three of us. Though after I kind of want to hang with him.” They needed a make up date, just the two of them.
"Yeah, of course," Greg murmured and he absolutely understood that. It was even tougher for Sebastian since he couldn't get all familiar with Hunter at school so weekends and evenings were really the only time he had for doing the whole relationship thing. It really sucked and Greg felt bad for him which was just one of the reasons why he was happy to cover for him when he went to see his secret boyfriend. He couldn't imagine dealing with that shit. Sure it was probably fun and sexy for a few days, keeping it a secret, but then he'd want to take his girl wherever the hell he wanted without fretting about it. "His family's not a problem is it?"
Sebastian had to think about that for a second. “I don’t think so. I’m not sure if his dad knows about us, but he knows Hunter’s gay, so I can’t see why it would be an issue. His sister… I kinda need to talk to Jen. She was there when I went by last night and I just want to make sure we’re cool.” She’d been super cold to start with, but had warmed up before disappearing. But she’d also walked in on them kissing and he felt like he needed to make sure that wasn’t going to come out. Hunter had a lot to deal with right now and reminding his sister that his boyfriend wasn’t out probably wasn’t high on the priority list.
Greg pulled a face. "Yeah, good luck with that," he said and gave Sebastian a pained grin. "I can't get a read on that girl at all. If she loves her bro though, she won't be a bitch to you?" It was a guess since he knew plenty of people who were horrible to everyone regardless of anything. It was like they got off on it or something, catty bitches. For what it was worth, Jen Barrett didn't seem to talk much so she was likelier to keep a secret than, say, Victoria Chapman.
“I can’t either, but she does love Hunter and I don’t think she’d want to upset him,” Sebastian said with a sigh. He really couldn’t count on Jen to do anything for his sake, but maybe she would for Hunter’s. “She seemed super protective of him, so I’m gonna cross my fingers and hope she knows he doesn’t need extra drama right now.” Because, like it or not, if he was forced out, Hunter was going to be dealing with it as well.
"Does she know what happened?" Greg asked and he couldn't imagine having to keep that kind of thing a secret from everyone. Especially if Hunter was hurt. He was guessing she knew, if she was being so protective, but maybe she just was in general. "Maybe more importantly... Does she believe it?" It took a special type of person to buy all this crap, people who already believed it and gullible suckers like him. He just had no reason not to believe Sebastian. His best friend wasn't known for playing pranks, even in retribution for Greg's occasional mischief. It just wasn't Sebastian's style.
“She… I don’t know,” Sebastian frowned. Hunter had been so upset, had seemed so fragile, that Sebastian hadn’t wanted to push for answers on anything that he didn’t willingly give. It left him with a bunch of questions himself, holes that he hadn’t even seen until Greg started pointing them out. “She doesn’t know I’m a witch, but everything else, I don’t know. I can’t imagine Hunter not telling her. He was… Greg, it was bad. I can’t imagine her not believing him.” It would have crushed him to have Ophelia not believe him if he was that shaken up, no matter what it was about.
"Shit," Greg whispered because the way Sebastian was talking it was hard not to be worried. "How bad are we talking?" he asked hesitantly. "I mean... how hurt is he?" He felt like an ass suddenly, like Sebastian had tried to tell him Hunter was really hurt and he just hadn't realized it because he was too caught up in the whole witch thing and Sebastian keeping secrets from him. Dick move, Greg Wheeler, don't be a dudebro.
Sebastian took a deep breath, wondering how much he could say, but he knew Greg well enough to know he’d keep it between them. “It’s hard to say. He knew he had a concussion. I’m guessing they had to knock him out. Demons don’t willingly go to be exercised. But that would mean they needed to get him in a car, if he wasn’t already there, so…” He tried to imagine Mak and Sabrina trying to move Hunter. He wasn’t huge, but he wasn’t tiny either. Bash only had a couple inches on him himself. “He moved like his whole body hurt. He was pale. He’d been crying.” Sebastian bit his lip. “He could’ve killed them. He could’ve killed himself.”
"Shit," Greg whispered again, then reached out to grasp Sebastian's shoulder. "But he didn't," he said warmly. "And it's over, right? They know better than to play with demon boards again and... that's really the only way you're inviting in a demon. Right?" He didn't know that last part so it was a legitimate question to ask. Were there other ways? Did he have to start worrying about that now? He already avoided things his aunt Holly was superstitious about, he didn't go anywhere near that mausoleum but now there were demon boards and possessions to worry about too.
“I’d probably stay away from seances too, but otherwise… I think so,” Sebastian nodded, running his fingers through his hair. He’d feel better if he knew for sure, but generally doing everyday things didn’t summon up demons. It was messing with dark magic that usually summoned dark creatures. “He’ll be okay. Reagan gave him some tea to drink that’s supposed to help him heal. It just really freaked him out. It freaked everyone out. It freaks me out and I wasn’t even there, you know?”
"Dude," Greg said in agreement. "It's freaking me out and I didn't even see him." He shook his head, then furrowed his brows. "Wait, Reagan Kelly? She's a witch too?" He knew who she was because she lived in their neighborhood when Greg hit puberty and unlike Sebastian Greg was not gay. "Who else?" He had to ask. Was everyone a fucking witch? He tried to recall all the names of the Six but history wasn't exactly his strong point either.
Sebastian would have felt bad about dropping Reagan’s name, but didn’t kind of do this for a living? Not officially, but he had the feeling she took people into that back room at her shop on a pretty regular basis. “She’s the one we went to to get the hex bags. Charged us seventy five a piece,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face. He felt bad that Sabrina had to cough up so much cash, especially when it hadn’t seemed to work. Which was weird. He wanted to ask Reagan about that. “I asked her if she’d teach me, but I haven’t heard back from her yet. I might go by this week. But yeah, pretty much the last person you’d expect to be a witch. I don’t know anyone else, but Hunter said there was a guy there. He didn’t have a name.”
Greg laughed, not quite out of amusement - more out of exasperation. "I jerked off to her when I was like twelve," he groaned. "I mean I jerked off to most girls but still. You should get some of that money back, those bags didn't do shit. Unless Hunter didn't get one?" What did he know. Was it even safe to demand your money back from a witch? "Just don't get turned into a toad or anything, maybe don't get your money back. Just don't buy hex bags from her again? Get someone else to teach you? I don't know."
“Yeah, I didn’t jerk off to her,” Sebastian snickered. He was pretty sure Greg didn’t want to hear who he’d jerked off to, but it certainly wasn’t Reagan Kelly. “They did help though. The demon had been attacking them in their sleep. It kept them from waking up with bruises and cuts. I don’t know why it would suddenly stop working, but I’m definitely going to ask her. I know Hunter had one.” Maybe there was some kind of time limit on them? Maybe it got moved and Hunter didn’t know? “I don’t think she’ll hurt me. But if I do suddenly go missing? This is, like, the one time where you’d want to tell my dad.”
"Jesus, dude, don't go missing," Greg said with a frown. He knew Sebastian was joking but still! The more he heard about that demon the more creeped out he was - which he supposed made sense given that it was a demon. Still, attacking them in their sleep and hurting them for real - that was some next level shit. "Wait, does that mean your little sister might be a witch too?" he asked then. Ophelia hated him and he had no interest in inviting the ire of a teenage witch. "I might need one of those hex bags."
“I’m not going to. Promise,” Sebastian said, realizing too late that that wasn’t something to joke about with Greg. He should have picked better words, like if he suddenly got turned into a frog. He didn’t really think witches could do that, but he’d love to know for sure so he didn’t sound like an idiot. “Um, yeah, but she’s like me. We don’t practice. And she’d never hurt you, dude,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You don’t need a hex bag to protect you from my sister.” Not unless she’d been learning in secret. In which case, they really needed to compare notes. But he still didn’t think Greg needed to worry.
"I don't know, dude," Greg said with a serious expression even if he was mostly joking. Mostly. "She gives me the evil eye whenever I see her." She wasn't the only one, a few girls always seemed to hate Greg and he had a hell of a time trying to figure out why so he tried to ignore it for the most part. It was just harder when it was his best friend's sister. "You say you don't practice but you can still make it rain upside down from a glass so, you know, I'm not dying to find out what Ophelia can do."
“Yeah, I don’t know what the hell that’s about, but she still wouldn’t hurt you,” Sebastian said, picking up his can and taking a sip. He’d never heard her say anything bad about Greg, but he had also noticed that she was cold to him, which was just weird. There were a lot of things he didn’t understand about Ophelia though, just like there were a lot of things she didn’t seem to get about him. “It’s not my place to tell you,” he smiled. “But… witches usually have an affinity for one of the four elements. Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Mine’s water. Obviously. I’m not gonna share hers, ‘cause that’s her thing, but now you know.”
It was hard not to associate both Sebastian and his sister with fire, but that was stereotypical since they were redheads. "Man, you're gonna have to show me everything you learn," Greg sighed. "This is so wild, dude. I'm still processing." He nudged Sebastian's shoulder lightly and grinned. "You'll just have to protect me if your sister goes nuts or something." Or any other witch. He had to wonder how many of them there were and what they were capable of, but that was a question he might never get the answer to so he knew he shouldn't torture himself by worrying about it.
“I will,” Sebastian smiled. He was feeling better now that Greg had started to warm up to the idea, even if he knew it would take a while for it to really sink in. “I really wanted to tell you last time, but… I dunno, I’m gay, and oh, by the way, I’m also a witch seemed like a lot. And I didn’t think the witchy thing would matter, but then it felt like it did, and I kinda hated that other people knew and you didn’t.” It just didn’t sit right with him. Greg knew everything about him. He should know this. “Sure, I’ll protect you with my massive rainstorm,” he said with a little laugh.