Re: Zania and Caius
Caius hadn’t meant to monologue like that, but once he’d started, he hadn’t been able to stop the flow of words. He felt really good once he was done, like he’d shrugged off a huge weight. He couldn’t remember ever unburdening himself like that to anyone but Reagan, and even then in much more sparing doses. It just wasn’t a thing he felt comfortable doing. The stuff Shayna Mae had given him was really incredible. Zania’s implied threat didn’t even faze him -- he smiled instead. “I have more in my jacket if you want some, it feels amazing,” he told her with a faint chuckle. “Shayna Mae O’Reilly is a genius, apparently.” Caius really did owe her one. Several, even, if this shit made Reagan feel better too, even temporarily. “But no, we don’t know how temporary it is. I’ve been hunting and hunting for a solution and just ... haven’t found anything. I’m trying though. My father’s even trying.” Which honestly said a lot.
“It’s gotta be really good shit,” Zania said with half a laugh. “I mean, I wish you could’ve said some of that weeks ago. Months ago.” Years ago even, for some of it. Zania hadn’t honestly expected an apology from Caius. She’d just wanted him to understand where she was coming from, since he clearly couldn’t see it from where he was. “I wish you could’ve talked to me. I really did want to help.” Since they’d been there, she’d been going through the boxes in the basement, trying to sort and categorize the spells there, to figure out what was worth keeping and what was trash. She tried to think if she’d seen anything related to taking magic from someone or returning it, but she didn’t think so. That wasn’t the kind of spell someone gave up without a fight. “You think he’s really trying? Or just… pretending to try?” she asked. “You said it yourself, he’d like to break you and Reagan up.” She hated to even suggest it, but Anthony D’onofrio was the most powerful witch she knew, yet when it came to helping Reagan and Caius, he always seemed to come up short.
Caius found that he wished he could’ve said it months ago too. Or years, he had to agree. It was an overdue apology, and those never came easy to him with anyone. But now it was out and Zania seemed to have accepted it even if she couldn’t forgive him right away, and Caius felt loads better. The herbs were no doubt playing a big part in that, but he didn’t care. After all the misery of the past few months, Caius would take it. “You did help,” he said to Zania with a fond smile. “Both me and Reagan. Which I’ve been happy about, by the way -- you two burying the hatchet like you have. As for my father ... I don’t know.” He let out a huffed laugh and shook his head. “I never know for sure. But Veronica certainly won’t let it go, so he’ll have some extra motivation, I’m sure.” Reagan’s mother wasn’t going to let her daughter just languish in a magicless existence, and that made Caius more hopeful than anything.
Caius's apology and explanation was all such a shock to Zania that she couldn't completely absorb it at the moment, but it did temper her mood, and the more honest he was about their situation, the easier it was to consider forgiveness. "She's not that bad, after a few glasses of wine," Zania said with a roll of her eyes. "But I'd never wish that on her. Even before. If I find anything that might help, even a little, I'll let you know." As she nibbled on the brownie, she wondered if her own mother would put up the same kind of fight. They rarely saw eye to eye, but she knew how much her magic meant to her. "Could you take it from someone? I'm not suggesting you do, but... is that a thing?" It was a horrible thought, but also a possibility. Dying people could give up their organs to a living person, so why couldn't a witch 'donate' their magic?