Who: Reagan and Sebastian When: Evening, Thursday, October 19 Where: Her home in Black Cove Status: Complete
After the somewhat chaotic, exhausting week that she’d had, Reagan was in need of some distraction. She supposed she could have planned for an evening spent in the bath with some wine, but Reagan had found herself texting Sebastian McCarthy that morning, telling him to come to her house at seven o’clock. Caius would be working late, so she would have the house to herself. Reagan wasn’t terribly thrilled by the prospect of teaching Sebastian what his father should have already been teaching him, but, it was probably better that he learn from a witch who knew what she was doing, than try to do it on his own, or find someone else. And maybe being able to harness her energy into something other than the damn family curse would recharge her batteries some. She could only imagine what Caius would say if she told him what she was doing, but, well, he wasn’t home so he couldn’t say anything about it at the moment.
Since Sebastian agreed to come over, Reagan got her work room cleaned up again, thankful to Nate yet again as his suggestions had actually cleared out the room of lingering sulfur. It smelled like vanilla and lilacs again, and she got a few things out and ready for Sebastian to use. Or try to use. This was still her space, and Sebastian could have to create his own eventually, but they would work with what they had.
When seven o’clock rolled around and she heard the doorbell, Reagan carried her glass of wine to the front door and pulled it open to greet Sebastian. “Hey, come inside,” she told him, wrinkling her nose at the rain still pouring down outside. “Take your shoes and coat off here,” Reagan instructed, motioning to the foyer. “I don’t want water trekked through the hall.”
Sebastian had been waiting for her call and was just about ready to stop by the shop again when he got it. And then the nerves hit. It was one thing to talk about learning magic, and another to actually embark upon it. His mother had once preached about the dangers of magic, the way it could backlash and hurt the caster. But the little bit he’d done hadn’t hurt him, and he felt like he at least needed to understand his abilities in order to make a decision. If it hurt him more than he could handle, then he’d stop. But a little pain to help himself and his friends seemed worth it. It couldn’t hurt more than seventy-five dollars a pop hurt his wallet.
Then there was Reagan, the witch who’d saved his friends from a demon. She’d saved Hunter. She was impressive and intimidating and Sebastian knew in his gut this wasn’t the kind of thing she just did. She didn’t just help people for nothing and she didn’t teach high schooler’s out of the goodness of her heart. So he needed to take her up on this while it appealed to her, for whatever reason that might be. When she said to be there at seven, he was there, despite the rain. He ran from his car to her front door, the umbrella barely serving it’s purpose with the downpour, and shook dry before ringing the doorbell.
“Hi,” he said, giving her a little smile. “Yes, ma’am,” he nodded, doing as she asked, leaving his wet shoes and coat at the door. While it was a smaller house than those in Overlook, it had a similar feel. Reagan knew how to decorate, of that he was certain. Sebastian slid his hands into his pockets, eyes wandering curiously as almost anyone did in a house they’d never been in before. He wondered then where they’d exercised the demon. Definitely not in the foyer.
Reagan grimaced and shook her head. "Oh, gods, please do not call me ma'am. Just Reagan is fine." She wasn't even thirty yet, and she did not need to be called ma'am by a teenager. She only preferred being called ma'am by customers in her store, and even then it was mildly irritating. "Come with me," she instructed, leading him down the hall into the living room where they could pass through to the door where she had built her workshop. "I don't think it needs to be said, but I'm going to say it anyway. Whatever you learn in here stays between us. At least in terms of who taught you. I don't advertise what I am, even if most people are already aware of it. And I don't need one of your parents knocking angrily on my door." Reagan unlocked the door with one hand, sipping her wine as she pushed it open and stepped inside so Sebastian could follow her. "Think of my place as Vegas. What happens here, stays here. At least until you start practicing elsewhere, okay?"
“Sorry,” Sebastian nodded, working to make the change in his head. Just Reagan. The only people he associated with that were her age were teachers, none of which he called by their first names, but he could adjust. He wasn’t at school. “Trust me, neither do I,” he said. If Reagan thought she’d get it bad, she had no idea how it would go down at his house. Trip’s incident with a poltergeist had cost him his car for a month. Sebastian didn’t want to find out what he’d lose if he got caught practicing magic. His steps slowing a little as he stepped into her workshop. It had a different feel to it than the rest of the house, along with the light scent of lavender. Though it had been thoroughly cleaned, light markings remained on the floor. His eyes were immediately drawn to the cabinets and shelves, as well as their contents, before he looked back at Reagan. “Okay.” That was easy enough to agree to.
Reagan took another drink of wine then set her glass down, out of the way. She motioned for Sebastian to approach the table, where she had some things already set out, including a square glass vase filled halfway with water. "How much do you actually know," Reagan began. "I'm aware that you're not supposed to be here, or learning any of this, but is there anything you can do? Were you told anything about witchcraft from your parents? Or should I treat you as a complete novice? Because before we start anything, you need to know what can happen, and what the consequences can be." Reagan knew his father was a witch, but she knew nothing about his mother and assumed she was probably the reason why Sebastian wasn't allowed to use magic. She didn't know if that meant he couldn't learn its history either, or if he was just forbidden from practicing.
Sebastian hadn’t really known where to start, so he appreciated Reagan giving him a jumping point. He put his hand out over the vase, wondering to himself how she knew water was his thing, and began to focus as he spoke. “Yeah, there’s a little,” he said. “I know that magic is hereditary and begins to manifest when we’re thirteen, and that we each have a natural affinity for one of the four elements. I know mine must be water, but I’m kind of curious how you knew that. Or maybe you didn’t.” His eyes rose to hers for just a second before moving back down to the vase. Slowly, the water began to rise towards his fingers, bubbling like a fountain, then suspended mid-air as if dripping back towards his hand. “My mother says it’s dangerous, that using it will get us killed, which seems a little over dramatic, but whatever. My dad’s a descendent of the Point Pleasant Six, which they tried to hide from us as kids, but I don’t really think anyone’s going to hang me for it. I don’t tell people unless I have to or I trust them.” He turned his hand around it was like a small ball of water was floating in his palm. At that point, he couldn’t keep talking, his focus completely on the water. At that point he dropped it back the vase so he could look back at Reagan. “I might’ve made it rain the other day, but it could also have been coincidence. That’s about all I can do.”
"Magic can get you killed, if you don't know how to use it," Reagan said, watching as Sebastian manipulated the water. "Which is why they should have taught you how to harness and practice safely, instead of just forbidding it. It's only dangerous if you attempt to use it irresponsibly." She couldn't help but grin a little bit, since it seemed like she wouldn't have to use the Witches for Dummies approach today. "Making it rain takes some pretty strong magic, so I'm inclined to say it was a coincidence, but you never know. And I knew you had a water element. Your element is in direct contrast with mine, fire, so I could sense it more acutely when we met. Anyway, we're not going to practice any difficult magic tonight. But we may in the future, if you catch on quick enough. So the first thing you need to do before you come back here again is to find something that's going to absorb your backlash, preferably a piece of jewelry that you can wear at all times. You may never perform dark magic, but even white magic, or potions, can go awry and backfire on you. The jewelry will take the brunt of the backlash so it doesn't injure you too terribly." Reagan held up her white gold ring on her right hand, encrusted with tiny diamonds. "Looks normal enough, but this is full of magic. If it gets destroyed, or if I take it off, the consequences would be pretty severe. Does that make sense?"
“Yeah, I’ve never done anything more than play with water. I mean, I once tried to heat it up and blew up the glass, so that was the end of that,” Sebastian said, running his finger down the side of the vase. It spun around, a tiny whirlpool, definitely not as fancy as the trick he’d done before, but almost mindless. All it took was a little push. Listening to her, he wondered if he could sense Ophelia’s element, or even his father’s. Phee felt like earth to him, but he wasn’t sure if that was because he already knew she was. His father… he wasn’t sure. He didn’t have a clue what the other elements would feel like. “I can’t take it off? Like, ever?” Not even to shower, he wondered. He couldn’t imagine trying to pick out something he was going to wear forever and his parents not noticing it. What Reagan had made sense, it was beautiful, but Sebastian couldn’t afford gold or diamonds. “What does backlash feel like if you don’t have something to absorb it? Just so I know.”
"You can always change to another piece of jewelry with some careful magic, but no, you can't take it off otherwise," Reagan explained. She didn't care what kind of jewelry any witch wore. It could be expensive, or something found in a thrift shop. Reagan just knew if she was going to wear something day in and day out, it was going to be gorgeous. Not everyone had her tastes. She reached for her wine to take another sip before answering his question. "Backlash depends on what kind of magic you're performing. The intent, the result. It can give you a headache, or it can maim you. Strong backlash can kill you." Reagan set her glass back down and lifted her shirt to pull down the side of her yoga pants so Sebastian could see her hip. She had a scar there, still slightly pink, but faded over the years. "That was my first experience with backlash. I had to get stitches. It could have been much worse if I hadn't had my ring."
This was something Sebastian knew to take seriously. It was the reason his mother didn’t want them to learn, that the consequences of using magic could be worse than the benefit if things went wrong. She’d never gone into detail, but he understood then, looking at Reagan’s scar. “What kind of magic results in that kind of backlash, if you don’t mind me asking?” Sebastian said. He’d never suffered any playing with water, but that’s all he’d been doing, playing. It had always felt natural, so he hadn’t worried about it. “Is there a way to slowly drain the backlash off the object so that I can eventually take it off? Or will it always be like, everything it’s ever absorbed hitting me all at once and killing me?”
"Mainly dark magic," Reagan said, not wanting to delve too deeply into blood magic at the moment. That was something she would not be teaching Sebastian. She hadn't mastered it herself and it was something she only used in special occasions. "But even magic with good intentions can go haywire and hurt you. It's up to you whether or not you want to take that chance. If you stick to mostly white magic, it shouldn't hurt you to take the jewelry off, but it's always a risk. All of that backlash simmering in one object can be lethal, no matter what kind of magic you practice." She knew damn well what would happen if her ring came off or got destroyed. The curse wouldn't matter anymore, because Reagan wouldn't likely be a bloody puddle on the floor. "I'm going to recommend you get something, whether or not you want to learn dark magic or not. I can't make you, obviously, but what kind of teacher would I be if I didn't at least make the suggestion? Any injuries you incur from here on our are entirely your responsibility, agreed?"
“Agreed,” Sebastian told her. “I’m going to get something. I just want to make sure I understand the consequences. I’m mostly interested in white magic, I think, maybe some self defense, if that’s a thing, and knowing enough so that my friends don’t show up at your house possessed by a demon.” He didn’t think he’d ever be powerful enough to do any kind of an exorcism, but he could get to know people who could. He could expand his knowledge so that he’d be better prepared for that kind of situation. “Maybe, once I’ve learned a little, you can teach me how to switch from one piece of jewelry to another?” Because finding something he wanted to wear forever seemed incredibly intimidating.
"Self defense is a thing," Reagan said with a nod. "Protection spells, hex bags... they're not always one hundred percent effective, depending on what you're trying to defend yourself against, but they're pretty damn close." She eyed Sebastian for a moment before adding, "The only thing you can do to make sure your friends aren't possessed by a dark entity is to make sure they know the consequences of playing with otherworldly forces. Once they opened that door, there was nothing you could have done to stop it without some pretty powerful help. The only way you protect against, say, a real Ouija board, is to not use it at all. But yes, I can teach you, when we get to that point. Tonight though, I want to teach you how to tap deeper into your magic. You showed me a couple of tricks with the water, but is that the best you can do right now? Can you create more? Cause it to dissipate? Conjure it yourself?"
“They didn’t know,” Sebastian sighed. “They do now.” If he’d been there, he would have stopped them. He would have told them it was dangerous, even if it meant outing himself as a witch to prove it. But that had been before he’d entered their social circle and he’d done the best he could with what he had. It just hadn’t been enough. “That’s all I’ve ever tried to do,” he said, moving onto her questions regarding his magic. “I only just started messing with it recently and I wasn’t really sure what the boundaries are. So I’ve always just started with water that’s already there. Should I be able to do those things?” It sounded cool, but he wasn’t totally sure how to start.
"If someone had begun to teach you when the magic manifested, you would be able to do that and more by now," Reagan said. "It requires intense concentration and practice." She held out her palm toward Sebastian and there was a flicker of light before a small ball of fire hovered above her hand. Reagan made it grow until it was the size of her entire palm. She could feel the heat from the flame, which was always something that comforted her when she was performing magic. Then she extinguished it by curling her fingers into a fist and snuffing it out. "You call on your element when you want to use it like I just did... but you invoke all four elements when you're practicing, as they'll protect the space. We'll get to that eventually." Reagan turned and picked up a pencil before placing it front of Sebastian with a small smile. "First, you need to tap a bit deeper into your magic. Use it for something other than your element. Make the pencil levitate. Picture it in your mind and concentrate."
Sebastian rocked back a step when she called upon the fire, both amazed an intimidated by her abilities. She was saying this was something small, something he should’ve been able to do years ago, yet it was the most he’d seen other than his own little tricks. When the fire went out, he exhaled, realizing then that he’d been holding his breath. He looked at the pencil, then at Reagan, torn between disbelief and confusion. “I didn’t realize witches had telekinetic abilities,” he said quietly, but then tried to do as she asked. At first it felt like he was having a staring contest with the pencil and it was winning, but then it began to tremble. It felt like a huge accomplishment on its own, a sign that he was capable of it, but he couldn’t seem to get the damn thing to rise until he lifted his hand a touch. While one shouldn’t have been connected to the other, that seemed to be the push he needed and the pencil lifted off the table, holding there for as long as Sebastian was focused on it.
Reagan made a little face before thinking it over. "I don't like to call it telekinesis. We can't float ourselves, or move huge, heavy things beyond our physical capability. It's not so much mind ability as it is magic. It's difficult to explain. But you can feel it move through you when you summon it." She smiled a little when she saw the pencil move, and then lift. "It will come you more naturally the more you practice. Do it wherever you're most comfortable. Eventually you'll be able to just look at it and it'll levitate, if that's what you want it to do. Air witches usually have no problem with it," she murmured before glancing over at the ingredients she had laid out. "That's one thing I want you to work on before we meet again. The other thing I wanted to show you tonight was how to put together a hex bag. It's basic magic, and pretty safe for a beginner. Hex bags can be used to curse or protect, so we'll be sticking with protection tonight. I'll walk you through it, but I want you to do it on your own."
Sebastian nodded, able to feel what she was referring to, almost like a little tingle in his fingertips. It felt like he was exercising a rarely used muscle, pushing it as hard as he could, but it was too weak to do much yet. He would definitely have to practice, he thought, and he set the pencil back down. “So does that mean there are people that do have telekinetic abilities without magic?” He asked, trying to line up fact and fiction where he could. He looked towards the ingredients, a little smile tugging on his lips. This was something he’d definitely wanted to know. “Okay,” he said, looking over what she’d laid out. “I thought hex bags were only for protecting. Can you tell the difference just by looking at them? Or is it the ingredients?”
"Do you mean are there psychics? Yes. They're rare, but they exist. And hex means to cast a spell on," Reagan explained, reaching for her wine again. "It also means to curse. Again, it depends on the intent of the magic." She sipped from her glass and motioned to the ingredients. "Some witches can hold a bag and know what the intent was, depending on how strong the magic was, and how skilled the witch is. But it's never a good idea to just assume. You should always open the bag to see the contents, and that's likely to give you a pretty good idea of what it was meant for. Hex bags include intent, spirit, life and sacrifice. Intent... protection, empowerment, curse, healing. Spirit, an item of the person you're creating the bag for. It needs to be something they won't need back since it needs to stay in the bag." She took another drink before continuing. "Life is the herbs, or seeds, sometimes plants that represent the purpose and sacrifice is what you're willing to offer for the protection or curse. Usually a crystal of some kind, or blood. Got it so far?"
“I feel like I should be writing this down,” Sebastian said with a soft laugh. “Um, how does the spell know the intent? That seems like the only thing that doesn’t have an ingredient associated with it.” Ingredient felt like a weird word, like this was a potion or a chemistry project, but all of these things were dry. They weren’t going to mix. They were just going to sit in a bag, which meant there had to be a magical element, otherwise anyone could make one. “Where do you get this kind of stuff? And how do you know which herbs or seeds?” He doubted he could use just anything.
Reagan sighed softly, thinking she should have just typed all of this up for him. It was one thing to teach, but she had make the mistake of just assuming he would understand once he was told how things worked. It wasn't that easy, she knew, but it made her realize this would take longer than she thought. "The spell knows the intent, because you know the intent. You're the one creating the spell. The magic comes from you, so you decide what it's meant to do. But, magic can be fickle, so whether or not it works exactly how you want it to is another matter. Again, that takes a lot of time and practice. You call on the elements to aid you, then you perform the proper spell to go with the ingredients you've chosen." She paused and eyed him. "I imagine your father has a book of spells from your family. You aren't likely to see it unless you find it yourself. I can give you a basic spell to use, but you'll probably want to buy a journal or something to write them down in until you know them by heart. I grow a lot of the herbs myself. Some of them I buy from others. I learned which ingredients to use by learning from my mother, and her book. She learned from her father and so on and so on. This is why you need to be taught. When you begin to learn what the herbs and crystals represent, you'll know what spells they're best used for. It's just a process, Sebastian. I can't teach you everything in one go. Now do you want to make this hex bag? The best way to learn it to do it yourself."
Sebastian nodded as she spoke, thinking that he was very, very behind. It wasn’t just the time, that he was starting four years later than he could have been, but that he was working without all the proper materials. He didn’t have a list of spells to learn, or a list of herbs and what they were best used for, or what crystals were even available and what they might represent. If his father knew anything, he wasn’t sharing, and he kind of wanted to go on a search for the book, if it was even in the house. Starting from scratch, from the ground up, was going to take forever. “I’ll see if I can find it, and get one for myself,” he said. If he was going to start cataloging herbs and their uses, he needed to write it down. It was too much just to store in his head to start with. “Yes. So how do I start? Just put the herbs in the bag?” He remembered watching Reagan make them, when he’d been there with Sabrina, and it hadn’t seemed that hard.
"Hold on." Reagan carried her wine to one of her cabinets. She opened it with one hand and pulled down a small wooden box. Setting it on her counter, she flipped it open and rifled through the papers before pulling one out. It was only half a sheet, and yellowed from age. She placed the paper down in front of Sebastian. "That's a hex bag for protection. It lists the ingredients and how to prepare them. You can invoke the elements, either out loud, or in your mind, but you have to truly believe in them, Sebastian, or they won't come to you. The hex bag will be useless then, even if you do everything else correctly. Just focus, pay attention and create the bag with the intent of wanting to help shield yourself, or someone else, from harm. I'll stay out of your way. Don't talk to me unless you have questions, or you'll distract yourself from what you're doing."
“Okay,” Sebastian said, then took a deep breath before reading the instructions over. It sounded simple on paper, all except the invoking the elements part. The intent came naturally to him, a desire to protect himself, or Hunter, or Ophelia. He could almost picture a bubble around him, shielding out the darkness. Sebastian focused on that as he prepared the ingredients and added them to the bag, and the rest of the world melted away. When it came time to invoke the elements, he decided to start with his own, since that was where he was the most confident. “Water,” he whispered, and could almost feel it forming on his fingertips. “Air.” He put faith in his breath, in the wind in his hair, and the movement of the pencil. “Fire,” was Reagan’s flame, so hot in her hand, real enough to smoke out with the close. “Earth,” he breathed and Ophelia came to mind, a little vine growing around her finger, climbing higher. When he was done, Sebastian came back to himself, turning his attention from the bag to Reagan. “How can I tell if it worked?”
Reagan arched a brow and finished off her wine, wishing she had brought the bottle into the room with her. "You'll know," she said. "You'll be able to feel the magic surrounding the bag. The potency can be a bit hit or miss, and since this is your first try, it isn't likely to be as strong as you'd want. There's not always a scientific explanation to this," she explained. "Being a witch is about becoming one with your element, and nature and metaphysical existence. Practice, Sebastian. Everything will start to come to you more naturally, including whether or not a spell has worked." She grinned then. "That's not going to work terribly well, because you need to invoke the elements first to bless the space. You can't do that after the fact. Take it apart and try again."
“Dammit,” Sebastian sighed, but then nodded. “Okay, again.” He might not get it right the first time, but he’d get it the second, or the third. Or the twentieth if Reagan didn’t kick him out. Practice was something he was used to, even if the medium was different. He’d done so many fly routes in football that he could practically run the pattern in his sleep. Magic wouldn’t be different, but he was just starting at the beginning. He didn’t get it the second go round, or the third, but on the forth he finally managed to evoke the air element, his frustration enough that it ruffled his hair. When he finished, he could feel the difference in the bag, positive that he’d done something that time, even if he wasn’t sure of the potency. He held it out to Reagan. “How’s that?”
Reagan didn't interrupt Sebastian, and stayed out of his way as she said she would while he practiced getting the bag right. She paced a little, biting her tongue to keep from correcting him when he messed up. He always seemed to realize it though, and fix the issue, so she hadn't needed to tell him to start over. He just did it. That was probably a good sign that he would be easy to teach, rather than insisting he knew more than he did. When he finally finished, she walked over to take the bag. "It's good," she told him, brushing her finger over the fabric. "The only thing missing is an item from who it's intended for. You can always add it in later, but like I said in my shop, it's important that it's not something that will be taken out again." She smiled a touch. "I can feel the magic radiating from the bag, which means you did a pretty good job. I think you should take that home and make some more," she suggested, motioning to the paper on the work table. "I know you're not supposed to be practicing, but you need to find a place where you feel comfortable doing it. And, for ingredients, you can come to my shop and I'll give you some, or try Castell Exotic Tea and Spices. Tell them Reagan Kelly sent you." She really hated sending more business to Zania, but Sebastian needed options, and Reagan bought a lot of her own things from Nic.
Sebastian relaxed, a little smile on his face, pleased that he’d finally managed to make one successfully. He felt like he’d need a lot more practice to make one on the first try, but that he’d gotten there at all was an accomplishment. “So it’ll last as long as I can feel the magic in it?” He asked, thinking that was the case, but wanting to be sure. “And can I take your instructions and bring them back? I just want to copy down the ingredients.” The spell itself he was pretty sure he’d remember, but it would help to write it out. Reading it, writing it, and practicing it would drill it into his head. “The tea shop?” He asked, brows drawing together. “Are the Castells witches?”
"It should last for awhile," Reagan said with a nod. "But I always say it's best to replace them after so many months with fresh ingredients. It's really up to you." She was feeling the effects of the wine now, and wished that Caius was home already. "You can keep the instructions. I don't need them. They've been in that box for years now." She waved it away and moved to pick up her empty wine glass. She felt like that was enough for day number one, unsure if she had the patience to handle more of his questions tonight. She turned back to Sebastian, her brow lifted, but her expression unreadable. "Just tell them Reagan Kelly sent you," she repeated simply, not in the habit of outing other witches. At least not directly. Sebastian would probably figure out soon enough. The Castells could just be ordinary people who sold supplies to witches for all he knew. "I think that's it for tonight. You have plenty to work on for now."
“Thank you.” Sebastian nodded in appreciation, adding the instructions to the small pile of things he had to take with him. He’d need a place to store his supplies, as well as a place to practice. Some place his parents weren’t likely to stumble upon. Maybe the attic. Or the loft of the boat house. He had a lot to practice, even though she’d only taught him one little spell. He had the feeling that he’d be calling on the elements in a number of them, so that was something he needed to get down. And the levitation trick, that would take work. “I do,” he nodded. “Um… Thank you again. For a lot of things.” He felt like he should be paying her or something, but they’d never really talked about that.
"You don't have to thank me," Reagan said. She would have to cleanse her room after he left. She had always been extremely touchy about other witches in her space and while she had felt all right with it, she was still starting to feel like she needed to make it hers again. Much like she had after Caius had driven that entity out of whatever his name was. She led Sebastian back to the door and opened it to lead him out into the living room. "Let me know when you buy your own supplies and I'll tell you how to consecrate your tools. It purifies the items by removing negative energy. It's not something that's required, but it certainly helps at keeping unpredictable energies at bay."
“Yeah, of course,” Sebastian nodded. “Let me know if there’s anything I should bring next time.” He knew a few things he needed to acquire, a piece of backlash jewelry and a journal, but he wanted to come prepared. He could tell from looking around Reagan’s room that she kept a lot more on hand. Maybe he’d get a box of some sort to put it all in, if he had to store it away. It was something to think about. Pulling on his jacket and shoes, Sebastian stepped towards the door, ready to open the umbrella and make for the car as soon as he stepped outside. “Thank--” he caught himself and gave her a small smile. “Have a good night, Reagan.”
Reagan nodded and waited by the door as Sebastian put his shoes on. She hadn't decided about whether or not she wanted to tell Caius about her student. She knew he wouldn't care, but he might wonder why she was spending her free time trying to teach a witch magic when his father should be doing it. Maybe she was just tired of parents doing such a shitty job of deciding what was best for their kids. Taking away their choices. There could be a bit of projection there, but she didn't want to think too deeply into it. "Good night," she said with a small smile, opening the door for him. It was still raining, but with water being his element, she doubted he would care much if he got wet. Reagan watched Sebastian duck out into the night before she closed her door and flipped the lock. She carried her wine glass back toward the kitchen, more than ready for a refill.