Nate Kelly (somedaymaybe) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-06-25 15:55:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, nate, nate x reagan, reagan |
Who: Nate and Reagan
Where: Reagan’s house
When: Morning, October 31st
Status: Complete
With the Halloween party at Dragonfly later that night, Nate had hours worth of work ahead of him followed by hours and hours of clean up. He was excited about the party though, and knew it was good for business. He’d had people call and ask what time they opened, what they were serving, and if people under twenty one would be admitted due to the holiday. The answer was still no, that he couldn’t take that liability, but that he looked forward to seeing them in the future. It was going to be an incredible night, but he had a few errands to run before he could really get started.
The first was to stop by Reagan’s house and finally pick up their family’s journal. With the full moon coming, he would finally start the process of getting rid of this damn curse for good, rather than putting a bandaid on it, which was what he’d essentially done for the time being. Hex bags helped, but he still had to be careful. And while he knew the spell he needed in order to break the curse, he thought he might as well make himself a copy of the journal while he was at it. That way he wouldn’t need to go to his mother again. He texted Reagan to make sure it was a good time to drop by, then headed over, knocked on her door, and waited for her to answer.
Reagan was feeling pretty good.The bloodletting ritual had gone smoothly, as she had known it would, and now she and Caius were thiseclose to breaking their family curse for good. At least, Reagan hoped they were. There was no guarantee the spell they had planned would work, but deep in her gut, Reagan knew it would. It had to. If it didn't, she wasn't sure she or Caius could handle the disappointment, especially knowing they were back to square one In her mind, this was the best chance they had to succeed, so they had to succeed.
Other than that, it was her birthday and she wasn't working. Reagan had and appointment to go get a mani-pedi and she bought a new dress to wear to dinner that night with Caius. She was excited to spend time with her husband that didn't include blood or dark magic or worry over their future. Today was about her, and she knew Caius would come through for her, making it a birthday to remember. He always did... at least when they were together.
She didn't mind Nate coming by, since his visit wasn't conflicting with her appointments. Reagan was in the kitchen drinking coffee when she heard the knock at the front door. Her heart lurched in her throat unexpectedly and she realized her hands had started to shake when the coffee nearly spilled over the side of the mug in her hand. It was residual fear from Caden Lucas's visit, especially since she was home alone at the moment. She knew Nate was coming by, and Caius had reinforced the magical protection around their home, so she was okay and she knew it. Still, Reagan inhaled deeply and closed her eyes to calm her nerves before she headed for the front door. At least if it was an unwelcome guest she could toss hot coffee in their face.
Peeking through the peephole, Reagan relaxed when she saw her brother, and Reagan unlocked the door to let him inside. "Hey," Reagan said with a smile, beckoning him inside. "Want some coffee?"
“Sure,” Nate said, giving Reagan a smile and stepping inside her house. “Happy birthday.” They didn’t celebrate together, but Nate would never forget her birthday with it being on Halloween. Sometimes he saw her, sometimes he didn’t. This year, he expected her to be busy, and yet he was there, interrupting her coffee. “Thanks for letting me drop by. Earliest I can do this spell is Sunday, but I want to be prepared, you know? How’re things going for you? Any big plans tonight?”
"Thanks," Reagan said, setting her coffee mug down on the counter to get another from the cabinet so she could pour him a cup. Her parents would call her soon to say the same, and her dad usually sent her flowers if they didn't have plans to see each other on her actual birthday. Reagan had a feeling her mom would try to gather them all together for dinner this weekend to celebrate. "It's not a problem. I can understand wanting to be prepared. I would offer to help you if I didn't already have so much on my plate." Pouring the coffee into the cup, she then offered it to Nate. "Caius and I plan on getting dinner. I'm not sure what else he has planned, but he usually likes to surprise me, so we'll see. Are you excited for Halloween at the bar?"
“It’s not a hard spell. Just one I haven’t done before,” Nate said. He also figured that if he did it wrong, he could just do it again. The only thing he had to be careful of was the backlash, since it was a curse he was breaking and he was cursed with bad luck. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise him if he screwed it up the first time for that reason alone. “How’s that all going, by the way? Any new progress?” He knew they were both eager to break the curse, something he’d come to appreciate more and more while dealing with his own. It was easy to think they had all the time in the world, that they’d already lived with it this long, but he knew it could lash out at them at any second. It was better to do it sooner, rather than later. “It’s gonna be a good night,” he grinned. “You should drop by if you’re not too busy, just to see the decorations.”
Reagan had a feeling she and Caius would be spending the entire evening alone, but she nodded at Nate's invitation anyway. "We'll see what we can do. But if we don't make it, make sure to take pictures so I can see them later," she said before picking up her coffee to sip it again. "As for progress, we've made quite a bit of it. Caius and I were able to find one of Baron's descendants in town. Caius knew a spell that would help locate one, but it took blood from the both of us. Thankfully the person in question was willing to help us, and we've got a significant amount of his blood now to try and break the curse. I know there's no guarantee that it will work, but I have a really good feeling about it." Reagan paused and studied Nate. "Please don't tell mom. I don't want anyone knowing about this until we know whether or not it works."
Nate didn’t expect Reagan to drop by, but the offer was always open. He was sure there’d be plenty of picture as proof of the night, even some that people would prefer didn’t exist. “Wow, that all happened a lot faster than I expected,” Nate said, surprised to hear that they’d not only located the descendant, but they already had the blood needed to break the curse. “I’m surprised you haven’t broken it yet. Is there something you’re waiting on? You don’t need the full moon, do you?” Because waiting on the moon was a pain in the ass. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on talking to her again unless I have to. But let me know how it goes?”
That was the one thing that gave Reagan pause, that despite the hours of research and frustration, was it really so easy? No one else had thought to dig up Baron's bones? The corpse hadn't appeared to be disturbed before she, Caius and Nate reached it. Had they tried the bones of other descendants? Had they tried blood from both sides of the family, or just one? She had so many questions and no answers, mostly because she was too stubborn to ask Veronica, and Anthony hadn't told Caius much - and if he had, Caius hadn't told her. "We're planning on trying tomorrow," Reagan explained. "We just got the blood yesterday, and we want to make sure we know what we're doing. It's going to be dangerous, so it's best to go over everything as many times as necessary to ensure success. Besides, I didn't want to play with blood on my birthday," she added with a quick grin. "One night of celebration, and we're back at it tomorrow. When do you plan on trying to fix yours?"
“Eh, seems fair,” Nate snickered. He didn’t enjoy playing with blood ever, but he knew that sometimes the spell required it. And if that’s what it took to break the curse? Then it was worth it. He just knew he’d be like her, putting up every protection he could to ensure it was successful and didn’t get him killed. “I can start the spell to break the curse once the moon is waning, but then I have to wait until the next new moon to break it completely. And I get to carry around a clay disc in the meantime,” he said, rolling his eyes. That was going to be the worst part, toting around a clay disc for protection until he could finally break it.
"Better to be safe than sorry," Reagan pointed out, though she couldn't help but smirk a little before sipping her coffee again. "At least you'll have some protection to get you through, right? How have things been going? Have you been experiencing any more bad luck since the party Friday night?" He seemed to be doing okay then, but it had been several days since they last spoke. Nate didn't look hurt physically, but that didn't mean anything. Bad luck wasn't always injury and pain.
“Things have been better since I made more hex bags and started blessing pretty much everything,” Nate said laughing a little as he sighed. “Some things still seep through though. I don’t have any power at home right now. They accidentally cut a line while doing some work in the neighborhood. And the guy I had scheduled to work the bar with me tonight called in sick with food poisoning, so I might need to call in a favor, but nothing that’s the end of the world.” So far it had been things he could handle. Inconveniences that were driving him crazy, but weren’t actually killing him. A few more days and he’d be safe.
"Some curses take time to ramp up," Reagan said, though she knew Nate knew that, which was why she was glad he was already taking steps to break the curse before it got too bad. "I mean, Jesus, Caius and I have been together since we were fourteen years old... on and off, obviously, but if the curse was affecting us then, it was pretty tame up until the last month or so, and even then I can't help but wonder if some of our problems have stemmed from the curse, or they're just shitty things that have happened. I'm glad you're trying to take care of it before it really hurts you, though. Is there anything you need for the actual ritual?"
“Oh, I know,” Nate said. “It could go from annoying to deadly pretty easily, which is why I’m doing my best to stay on top of it. I’m a little worried about the other guy though. I don’t think he really understands the importance of the hex bag right now.” He’d gone over it with Jack, but knew it sounded kind of hokey. Unfortunately, he’d be taking on the curse in full force without it and Nate didn’t know exactly what that would look like at this point. “All the stuff I need’s pretty easy to come by-- black candle, solar water, bay leaf, clay. No blood or bones. I’m gonna leave those curses to you.”
Reagan shrugged one shoulder and set her coffee mug on the island counter again. "I would rather not be the one breaking those curses. It's exhausting, and I don't use blood as often as you might think." And if she did, she was certainly going to charge accordingly. "But if you do need anything, you know where to find me." She moved away from the counter to lead him into the living room where the journal was waiting on the coffee table. "Do you plan on breaking this curse for the other guy? Is he aware of what's happening?"
“That’s good. I understand the backlash on those kinds of spells can be brutal.” It wasn’t that Nate wasn’t capable of those kinds of spells, but that he had no interest in getting involved with anything that would require them. In this case, he knew it wasn’t Reagan’s choice and he did worry about what might happen when trying to break a centuries old curse. Even with a backlash ring, they could be seriously hurt. “Yeah, it doesn’t seem right not to break it for him. I told him that we’re cursed and gave him the hex bag, but haven’t come right out and told him that I’m a witch. I’m sure he’ll pick up on that when we get to the curse breaking part.”
Backlash could be brutal, even with spells she found fairly simple. Reagan would have been lying if she said she wasn't a bit anxious about what she and Caius were going to do. He had more experience in blood magic, but neither of them had ever done anything on this scaled. More than once Reagan had thought about asking Anthony to help them, but she knew that would piss off Caius, and also, this was something they needed to do together, without outside help. "I'm sure he'll appreciate the help, even if he doesn't fully understand what's happening," Reagan said. "Hopefully he'll follow your instructions. I know not everyone here is open minded."
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Nate nodded. He’d given specific instructions to Jack, but he couldn’t hold his hand. If he decided not to heed Nate’s warnings, then there was little more he could do. They were both adults, after all. “So you don’t mind me borrowing the journal for a bit? You don’t need anything else from it, do you?” He should’ve copied it years ago, but he’d never had a reason to perform half the spells in it. Now he thought it would be better to have them on hand, just in case. He’d rather look them up himself than go to his mother again.
"It's just as much your journal as it is mine," Reagan said, offering it to him. "I might need something from it in the future, but nothing in there will help Caius and I with what we're doing, so I don't need it right now. I'm sure mom will eventually want it back, but I also think she's memorized most of it, so..." She shrugged. "There's some good stuff in there, though. Spells I think you would benefit from knowing." Reagan smiled faintly. "No blood or bones involved."
“I know,” Nate smiled, taking the journal from her. “I need to learn that salve you made, even though it didn’t work this last time. And I wanna learn the one mother used that did work.” He didn’t plan on needing it, but he didn’t want to be in the position of having to go to her for the same spell twice. It was a matter of pride at this point. If the spell wasn’t in the journal, he’d have to ask her for it. Which would suck, but be better on depending on her. “I’m gonna start making a copy, that way we can both have one. It might take a while though.”
Her smile eased a little and Reagan rested her hands on her hips as she studied him. "If you learn everything you'll have no reason to visit anymore." That wasn't necessarily true, but it wasn't as if the siblings spent a lot of time together, and honestly, Reagan sort of liked it when Nate needed her help, or advice. It didn't happen often, but it was welcomed every now and then. She could understand his reluctance to have to ask their mother for help, however. Reagan had always turned to Veronica for guidance, not only in her personal life, but her magical one too. These days, Reagan did everything she could to keep from picking up the phone. It was hard not to resent the woman after what she had kept from Reagan and Caius their entire lives.
“I’m sure it’ll be years before I learn everything. I’ll have to hit you up when I can’t interpret the gibberish that’s been scribbled down as a spell,” Nate grinned. “And, you know, social calls are fine too.” If he had to wait until he needed help with a spell again to see Reagan, then they’d see each other even less. Not because he didn’t want to see her, but because he’d really like to get to a place where he wasn’t dealing with some magical issue. Nate liked a different kind of excitement in his life, the kind that didn’t feel like it was trying to kill him.
They didn't see a lot of each other, but there was always the potential for that to change. It didn't need to be because of a spell, or a family dinner. And once she and Caius broke this inconvenient curse plaguing them, things would surely settle down and they could get on with their lives as normally as possible. And maybe that included spending more time with her brother. Nate wasn't Caius's favorite person in the world, but maybe they could become friendlier. "That's fair," Reagan agreed with a smile that came a bit easier to her lips. "And you know, I wanted to say thank you for helping us dig up that grave. I know it wasn't easy, and it wasn't fun by any means, but we couldn't have done it alone. We definitely owe you a favor or two, Nate."
“You’re welcome,” Nate smiled. “I like to think you’d do it for me, if I was in the same position. Hopefully there’ll be no favors of that sort to call in.” Nate knew that digging up graves really wasn’t Reagan’s thing and she probably wouldn’t sign up for that kind of a task, and he wouldn’t ask her… nor Caius. But they were both a bit more skilled in some areas than him, and that was something he might need help with in the future, but hopefully not. “Okay, I should get going. We’ve still got a lot of setup to do at the bar. Tonight’s gonna be crazy.”
Her lips quirked. "I don't know if I would be the one you would want to call to dig up graves, but... I would help you with just about anything else. But, like you said, hopefully you won't need to call in any favors anytime soon, or ever." She would be there if he had to, though. Reagan moved to walk him to the door, now that he had what he had come over for. "Be safe tonight," she told him. "I know Halloween is generally shockingly low key around here, but you never know with this town."
“Low key wouldn’t be a bad thing,” Nate said with a smile. He enjoyed some excitement, but usually when it was something he was creating for himself. The kind that Point Pleasant inflicted on it’s citizens was usually a more complicated, messy sort that he’d like to avoid. “Thanks, though. You too. Enjoy your birthday.” Hopefully Caius had something good planned. He wasn’t Nate’s favorite person, but he usually did a decent job of pampering Reagan when the situation called for it. At least he was good for something.
"I hope to." Reagan smiled and opened the front door for her brother. "I'll talk to you soon." She had complete faith in Caius making it a good day for her. And then they would work through this horrible curse and enjoy the rest of their week like a fairly normal married couple. Of that, she was confident. Or confident enough. Reagan gave Nate a small wave and waited until he was at his car before she quietly closed the door and went back to her business.