Knox (knoxinator) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2021-04-25 11:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | #june 2018, knox, knox x reagan, reagan |
Who: Knox and Reagan
When: Monday, June 11, late morning
Where: Belladonna
Status: complete
With the weather becoming warmer during the day, Reagan had taken to opening the doors to Belladonna, finding it to be a bit more welcoming to people wandering by. Now that the winter was behind them, the shops were going to become much busier with foot traffic on Main Street. Since no life or death curses, or memory issues, were bogging Reagan down, she felt more inclined to spend her free time at the shop, getting new inventory out on the floor and changing things around for the warmer season. Caius would be busier at work too, now that the tourist season was upon them.
After she finished writing the day’s sales on the sidewalk chalkboard sign, Reagan carried it outside to set up by the curb. As she straightened, she brushed her palms together and turned to go back into the store when her gaze was drawn to a rather intimidating figure walking down the street.
It was so strange to see Shayna Mae’s familiar in town. Even stranger to see him without Shayna Mae nearby. Caius wasn’t there so Reagan allowed herself a moment to truly appreciate the man, because… well, damn, he deserved it. And she wasn’t entirely sure if he would remember her or not, but Reagan lifted her hand in a small wave and gave him a smile, wondering if she could sweet-talk him inside the shop to buy a few things.
Knox didn’t venture into town on his own terribly often. If he needed some time to himself, he had a whole huge forest to play in, in forms that were way more fun than his human body. The woods were interesting in a completely different way than the town though, and sometimes he volunteered to do some of the shopping just to have something helpful to do for the family. The O’Reillys kept to themselves for good reasons, and sometimes none of them wanted to make the trip. Knox didn’t blame them. There was bad juju in the town. Sure, there was a ton of bad magic in the forest too, but it was a different kind, a more natural and workable kind. People brought their own evil with them into civilization, and Point Pleasant had a high concentration.
Still, it was a nice day to be out and walking, and Knox was just starting his list of shopping errands when he spotted Reagan Kelly waving at him from the front of her shop. Knox knew her, like he knew all of the descendants of the Six, even if they’d never spoken. This one though, she’d been out to the homestead, and recently, so maybe it was worthwhile to stop for a chat. Knox gave her a bright smile in return as he approached, wavy hair loose around his big shoulders. “Mornin’,” he greeted, coming to a stop in front of her. She wasn’t as petite as Shayna Mae, but still short. “This your place?” He squinted up at the sign on the building.
There was a part of Reagan that knew Caius and Shayna Mae were becoming friendly. Or were friendly and while Reagan knew Caius only had eyes for her, she couldn't help but feel that spark of jealousy deep in her gut. It had more to do with their magic and that maybe, deep down, Reagan knew Shayna Mae might be more powerful than she was. And Caius was, of course, attracted to power, even if it wasn't sexual. So yes, Reagan was growing more curious about the wood witches and their familiar. "This is my place," Reagan confirmed, glancing up at the sign herself. "I've actually bought a few supplies from Shayna Mae in the past, to make some of the products." Her gaze was drawn back to his face. "You should come inside and look around. Maybe you'll find something for her."
Knox didn’t really get involved in his family’s business dealings with the other witches in the area, unless his talents were needed. But he didn’t have a head for trade or anything like that, so he left all of that up to Shayna Mae. He was curious to see if he could sense any of her plants in whatever Reagan had turned them into, though, so he wasn’t opposed to browsing a bit. Belladonna wasn’t on the errand list, but there was nothing wrong with a little detour. “Always hate to go home to her empty-handed,” Knox told Reagan with an easy grin. “Might need your help though, all this ... skin and hair stuff is ... not my area.” As he spoke he gestured to Reagan’s face and hair. Human bodies were frustratingly complicated sometimes -- they needed so many different types of goop. So weird. Knox turned to walk into the shop, his nostrils flaring as he took in all the scents in there.
Reagan's smile widened and she followed Knox into the shop, wishing she hadn't left her phone in the back room. It would have been fun to send Caius a photo of the delicious familiar in her store. "Shayna Mae always seems very... naturalistic when I see her, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find some things she would enjoy." There wasn't anyone else in the store at the moment so Reagan felt comfortable speaking freely. "I imagine you can sense the magic?" Reagan wandered over to one of the shelves where she kept the bubble baths. The aromatherapy line she had created was pretty popular in town and she figured Shayna Mae would prefer something more earthy than anything else.
Shayna Mae was naturalistic, and that was something that Knox loved about her. She didn’t bother with makeup most of the time, so he was free to touch her face and kiss her, she always smelled nice without being overwhelming, which he also appreciated. Knox walked along with Reagan toward the bubble baths, glancing around as they went. It was a nice shop, everything neat and orderly and modern-looking. A good place to buy presents for people, probably. “I can,” he confirmed to Reagan, sounding a bit amused by the question. “Plenty out here ... even more in the back. That's where you deal in hex bags and favors, right?” Knox picked a bottle up off of the shelf in front of them and twisted the cap off to sniff it.
Reagan arched a dark brow at him, but she supposed it would be stupid to feign surprise. Word got around and surely the witches in town knew about her shop and what she did there. "That's right. So if you ever need a favor... the first one is always free." Reagan smiled and reached out for the juniper scented bubble bath. "I think she would like this. It's infused with coriander and juniper, which helps with mental stability and balance. It also aids in a relaxing night of sleep." Gods, he was tall. And strong. "I have to know, being a familiar... do you have to worry about human hygiene the way we do? I've never had a familiar for myself, so a lot of these curiosities tended to go unanswered."
Knox put the bottle down he’d been sniffing and accepted what Reagan offered him. He gave that one the smell test too, grunted an approving noise, then chuckled softly over her question. “Not the way you do,” he answered, re-capping the bubble bath. “If I do out and roll around in mud, I’ll need to wash my body, I exist in a physical sense. Or I can change into an animal, then come back as a clean human. But natural BO and all that ...” Knox trailed off and shook his head. He did have his own smell, but it stayed consistent through all of his forms and no matter how much he’d sweated or hadn’t bathed, and nobody had ever said it was bad. It was earthy and warm, like the woods. That was what he was, after all. “Though I’m not the only kind of familiar, so can’t speak for all of us.” He wandered a few steps further down the shelf, eyes skimming over all of the choices in front of him. So much human goop.
Given where he lived, it wasn't terribly hard for Reagan to imagine Knox rolling around in mud. Or at least returning to his home caked in the stuff. Shayna Mae likely had a lot of patience for a dirty familiar, given the woman probably enjoyed bathing in mud herself. Folding her arms beneath her breasts, she watched him move, quite amused at the sight he made in her shop. A tall, strong man in the midst of so many delicate things. Honestly, she did wonder how the hell he and Shayna Mae comfortably fucked, if they did in fact fuck. "What about love?" Reagan asked, her lips quirking. "I mean, do you love the way we do? Or is that different too."
He was familiar with the term ‘bull in a china shop,’ and Knox felt somewhat like that as he meandered in Reagan’s store. There were a lot of small things, glass things, stuff to knock over and break. But it was all interesting to look at and smell, so he just had to be careful. He looked back at Reagan when she asked about love, one brow quirking up. “I love,” he said. “I love intensely. Whether it’s like you or not ... do humans even love the same as every other human? Tell me how you love, and I’ll tell you if it’s similar.” Knox knew that it wouldn’t be perfectly the same -- it couldn’t be, because he outlived every one of his loves, and would continue to do so until something destroyed him. But he loved his family and he loved Shayna Mae in a romantic sense, and maybe that was close to what Reagan was asking.
Reagan arched a dark brow and conceded that he had a point. Humans definitely didn't all love the same. "I suppose I meant in the general. Feelings of passion, romance... heartbreak? Obviously, the way I love my husband is different than how I love my mother and I know that familiars are loyal to their families. But I always wondered... do you feel human emotions when you're in this state." She gestured to his body. "Does your mentality shift when you're in some other form?" Maybe she was being invasive with her questions but Knox didn't come across as someone who would mind it.
Knox knew he was something special -- if not completely unique than definitely unusual, and people got curious about him. He didn’t blame them. It wasn’t everyday a person got to talk to an ancient spirit that had been bound to a corporeal form centuries ago. It wasn’t the first time he’d been interviewed by a witch outside the family, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. “I feel all those things,” he said. “I love Shayna Mae differently than I love Max and Aidan, but I love them all. And when they die, my heart will break and I’ll mourn them, as I’ve done for generations. I don’t know to call them human emotions, because other animals have emotions too, you’re not so special.” Knox flashed her a grin that was a bit teasing. “It’s probably different on some level, I have a longer perspective than my family can, but ...” he shrugged. “It does feel different to be in different forms, yes, but the core of me is still there.”
Reagan tried to imagine outliving people she loved time and time again. It was something that she felt would probably destroy her, but... she wasn't an ancient being. Maybe Knox had simply grown to love, mourn and recover in the centuries he had been alive. Her lips twitched as she studied him. "And did you choose this particular form? Or is it chosen for you when you decide to become a human... or rather, appear in human form." If he had the option of choosing his appearance, she certainly couldn't blame him for wanting to look the way he did. Knox didn't strike Reagan as the kind of non-man to care about being gorgeous, but he likely enjoyed coming across as intimidating. Which he probably was to most people in town.
It was never easy, losing family, especially the few bright stars in the O’Reilly line who Knox had developed extra feelings for. But it was all part of the cycle of life, and he knew that better than most. Everything died eventually, and they returned to the earth and the fabric of the universe, and there was beauty in the brevity. Reagan’s question made one of his oldest memories bubble to the surface, of being bound in a magical circle in the woods, the firelight nestled in the middle of the pure wild darkness. There had been chanting and singing and magic, a ritual that was already old by that point, that merged the free spirit he once was with heavy flesh. His gaze was distant for a moment, then he smiled faintly. “This is the only human form I have,” he told her. “They needed a body to bind me, and this was the sacrifice.” He briefly touched his hands to his chest and stomach. Whether the man had given up his body willingly or not, Knox didn’t and would never know. He liked to think of it more as a merging than a takeover, that some part of his soul had survived, but he hadn’t been the one wielding the magic. “With animals, I have more freedom, but I always did.”
Well, that was fascinating. Reagan had never had the desire to get a familiar for herself, so she hadn't researched it all that much. And she wondered, based on the hazy look in his eyes, if he hadn't thought of that sacrifice much until now. Then again, he was very old so he had probably thought of it quite often over the centuries. "It was the O'Reilly family that bound you?" Reagan asked. "Or did you find them after the fact." Because it would be fascinating to know Shayna Mae's blood had sacrificed a man to give their familiar a human form. Reagan knew the Earth witch couldn't possibly be all kindness and sunshine. If her blood had darkness in it, then she would too.
Knox knew he wasn’t the only type of familiar that existed. It was kind of a loose term, able to be applied to anything from an exceptionally intelligent cat that a witch bonded with on a deep level, to creations like him. Spirits pulled from their natural state and turned into something else. His family treated him more like a companion and protector than a servant, and Knox knew that made him lucky. Unaware of the assumptions Reagan was making, Knox nodded a little. “It was them,” he answered. “They desperately needed the help, living out in Blackwater Woods. Though of course it wasn’t called that back then.” He chuckled faintly and picked up another small bottle to sniff. “Has your family ever had a familiar?” he asked, glancing back at Reagan. Maybe it wasn’t his place to ask questions of witches who weren’t his, but it only seemed fair while she was interrogating him.
Reagan nodded as she listened intently, feeling somewhat satisfied that Shayna Mae O'Reilly wasn't as pure and sweet as she seemed on the outside. Sure, she hadn't been the one to sacrifice a gorgeous man for their familiar, but that power and darkness was in her blood. Maybe that was why Caius seemed to tolerate her presence more than the other witches in town. Or people in general. "I believe my great grandmother had a familiar but what happened to it, I don't know." Maybe the familiar had been released, or it died when her great grandmother had. All Reagan knew was that the last few generations of her family had not had, nor wanted, familiars. "I know for certain it wasn't a familiar who could take a human form, though. Certainly not one that looked like you." Reagan flashed him a smile before gesturing to the product in his hand. "What do you think? I imagine Shayna Mae makes her own soaps at home, but that might be a nice change for her."
Knox knew there was darkness in his family’s magical history, but that didn’t bother him much. Survival of the fittest was the only morality he’d come from, and Knox had since grown to believe that the human sense of right and wrong was all skewed anyway. The O’Reillys had done what they’d needed to do to survive, it was what it was, and he was happy to be in their service. He’d wondered off and on throughout the years whether that happiness was part of the binding ritual they’d captured him with, but maybe it didn’t ultimately matter. The particular way Reagan said ‘looked like you’ brought a little grin to Knox’s face. He supposed he’d been lucky to be bound into a good-looking form, it had come in handy more than once. Knox glanced down at what he was holding, two bottles of goop that Shayna Mae would hopefully like. “I like them, and I think she will too,” he said. “She makes a lot of stuff, but who doesn’t like a present?” He turned to walk toward the front counter. “How much for both?”
“Everybody loves a present,” Reagan agreed. She followed him to the counter, slipping behind it to ring up his purchases. “I’ve bought a few things from Shayna Mae myself. Nothing I could wash my hair with, though.” Smiling, Reagan slipped the two bottles into one of her shop bags. “She’s the only witch I know in town that bottles virgin blood. Though I imagine that will eventually be in low supply too. It’s twenty six dollars even.” Pricey, maybe, but worth every penny if you asked Reagan.
If Reagan’s prices were too high, Knox didn’t really know it. He’d taken more money than he needed for the stuff he was supposed to get, so he didn’t think it would be a problem. He pulled the folded wad of cash out of his pocket to pull thirty bucks free and offered it out to Reagan. Knox chuckled deep in his throat and nodded a little. “Ain’t no virgins in our house anymore,” he murmured with a bit of a self-satisfied smirk. He knew that Shayna Mae had built up a supply of blood before they’d consummated their relationship, but that would run out eventually. They would figure something out after that, they always did. “We always welcome the trade, though. Stop by anytime.”
Reagan arched a dark brow, her smile widening. She took the cash and opened the register for his change. "Good for Shayna Mae," she said, still smiling as she handed over the change and receipt to Knox. "I'm sure I'll be by again. It seems as though Shayna Mae and Caius are becoming bosom buddies, so I'm sure we'll be seeing more of you." And she did her best to sound pleased about that. Caius had never been a people person but she had always thought he ought to have a friend or two in town. She just wasn't sure she had wanted it to be another witch.
Knox shoved the money and receipt into his pocket without looking at either one, his attention still on Reagan. He hadn’t heard the phrase ‘bosom buddies’ in a long time, and he wasn’t quite sure how to read her tone. Maybe she didn’t like it. If he was being honest, Knox didn’t much like it either. Caius D’Onofrio was full of dark magic. Much more so than his wife. If Shayna Mae was going to be friends with either of them, he would prefer it was Reagan, but that wasn’t up to Knox. Powerful friends could be useful, but dark-tinted ones could easily become more of a problem than a help. Not that he was going to share those thoughts with Reagan at the moment, so he just smiled back at her. “Look forward to it,” he said as he took the bag off the counter. “Thanks, Ms. Kelly. Good to see you again.” After another lingering look, Knox turned to head toward the door.