Field of Quartz

[Black Philip]

She didn't need him to be sorry. Her life had a purpose. Black Philip had made that clear for her. He gave her order, structure, power. All he'd asked for were a few souls, and a little mischief. Maybe one day Wren would understand that. Maybe one day they could serve a purpose together. She felt for him as she heard he was cast out. They were really so alike. She wanted to tell him that, but she feared he wouldn't agree. She feared he'd regret this time they shared. She wanted more time, and was happy that he wanted to go somewhere else with her. The problem was where should they go? She didn't want to take him home and just have sex with him.

That isn't to say she didn't want to have sex with him. She did. It wasn't that simple though. She liked that they were talking about their pasts, and themselves. It's something she almost never got to do.

"Can it be a bar," she asked, her need for a drink pretty strong right now. "I also got some killer weed in my bag. Indica dominant hybrid grown in blessed soil and just a touch of fae energy. It's really strong."

He was a druid. They smoked, right?

[Trillian]

He shifted around, releasing her and sitting up. The wind was still biting him through his clothes but it wasn't as aggressive as it had been just moments ago. Like a tantrum, it had begun to blow itself out. He leant on one hand, the other hand removed from her waist and dangling by the wrist off his bent knee.

"I don't drink or take drugs," he said, the comment coming out of his mouth by habit than any conscious desire. As soon as it was out, though, he wondered why. It was the circle's rule. Clean living, clear mind. He was already confused. Nothing he drank or smoked was going to addle him further. "I've never taken drugs," he amended, "or consumed alcohol."

He didn't tell her he'd never stepped into a bar, either. He thought she'd work that one out on her own.

[Black Philip]

No wonder he always looked tense. He wasn't getting laid, and had never been drunk or stoned. Well she'd fix that. She was actually happy for the wind and setting sun. She didn't know what the weed policy in the city was, they were now the only people on the beach. She'd actually managed to keep a low profile with the human cops, other than when she stole the Birth Tusk.

The witch reached into her purse and pulled out a fat joint, rolled with thin paper, and a homemade filter. A light, almost pink, red lighter appeared and she took a drag, holding it in for several seconds, and then blowing it out her nose. She made it look as easy as pie. Tess passed Wren the roach, and lighter.

"You're gonna cough like a bitch, but don't worry everyone does at first."

They smoke the whole thing, and then she thought she should take him to a bar. It was going to be a fun night.

[Trillian]

Wren took the thing off her after seeing Tess' demonstrate the smoking technique. He thought he might surprise her; he'd breathed in smoke from fires, using them to meditate.

Copying what she'd done, Wren sucked in from the joint as much as he was able and held it in. It tasted strange, like grass or weeds. He supposed that was how it had earnt its nicknames. His lungs protested what he was doing though his willpower was far greater than the spasming they wanted to do. When he went to blow it out through his nose though, he lost the fight and began coughing and choking. The potency of his coughs made his head spin. Or was it the smoke? How fast did it act? She'd said it was strong.

He handed it back, still making small coughs.

[Black Philip]

She was surprised, he lasted that long. If he'd blown the smoke out of his mouth she guessed he may not have coughed at all. She took back the Mary J, hitting it again for a much longer time. Wren already looked a bit loopy, and she had to remember this was his first time. She thought about putting the joint out. They could finish it later, but who was she to deny him if he wanted more? Wren was a big boy, in more ways the one. She chuckled at the thought. She rose though and plotted a course through the beach that led back to the boardwalk area.

"Come on," she said, holding out her hand for him to take. "Let's finish this on the way and find a bar. I promise not to get you too fucked up. Her free hand crossed her fingers.

[Trillian]

One toke was enough. He didn't think he was so greatly affected by it but he could feel enough of its influence to deduce it was very different from regular smoke inhalation. Campfire smoke just made him lightheaded. This one gave him a strange kind of calm as well. The coughs had subsided and he stood with Tess, taking her hand.

He forgot his decision not to have more and took the spliff when she passed it back to him. He puffed and blew out smoke like an expert on his second try, then offered it to her in return. As he followed her he thought she was like that movie star, the one whose dress flipped up. Marilyn Manson or something like that. He pictured her with differently-coloured eyes and holding a guitar. Unexpected.

The vantage point as he followed her was like that internet thing with all the photos of fantastic scenery with the guy trailing along behind and the girl reaching back (and sometimes looking back). Tess was one of those. Movie star. Model. Witch. How could someone so angelic-looking be so very dark? Dark angels. They were a thing. He was pretty sure Tess wasn't one of those.

"How did you and Goaty even meet?" he asked as they made their way across the sand.

[Black Philip]

She began to feel the mellowness from the joint, and the familiar relief, from the whispering madness of the void, elevated her mood. Smoking was one of the only things that helped. Sometimes Black Philip would silence them for her, if he needed her to concentrate. She was glad for the burning herb that danced betwixt her fingers with a practiced hand. She passed it back, happy to see him not take one and be done. Wren was definitely high. He had a semi vacant stare that she recognized from others, and she laughed a bit, not at him, but at how cute he was.

She wasn't expecting his question, and it was strangely grounding. She put out the joint with a quick bit of magic, and placed the remaining half behind her earlobe. She didn't know where to start. It was kind of a long story, and Tess was bad at remembering things. The weed wasn't helping with her cognition, but Wren was probably so high he didn't notice the pause. The sun was fully set now. The wind had given way, and it was actually a pretty night. She reached for Wren's hand, hoping he'd hold her's as they walked.

"He came on my eighteenth birthday," she explained. "He was a goat at first but then he was a man. He asked me for my service, and I told him no thank you."

She looked at him like she'd pulled the rug out from under him. She'd said no at first. In fact, she said no twice. It was on the third visit from Black Philip that Tess agreed to do his bidding. She decided she couldn't wait to know any longer.

"Why were you banished," she asked, her tone full of curiosity. There was not judgment. There was only kindness.

[Trillian]

Wren gave a slow blink at Tess saying no to Goaty. He knew what his next question would be, but then it drifted away when she asked him about his banishment.

"I stole another Druid's powers," he said. "He wasn't very nice."

Wren paused for what he thought was a second but it was a full minute and a half.

"Do you have sex with Goaty?" he asked, forgetting that he was going to ask when and why she decided to say yes to being his servant.

[Black Philip]

Tess was too stoned to realize the usefulness of what she'd just learned. Wren had stolen power! That was no small matter. She found it strangely hot. They reached a little beach bum bar, which Wren accidently looked perfect for. It had an outside section that was empty now due to the cold, and she would move them inside. It was empty save for a bartender in a Hawaiian shirt.

"Two Baybreeze," she requested, waving her hand over the mortal to convinced him she'd paid. There was a booth near the back, and she moved them towards it, sitting next to Wren as opposed to across from him. His next question offended her, although she was stoned enough not to lash out.

"No," she said after a while. "I think he watches sometimes when I have sex with other people, but that's normally a work thing. He's more of a father figure than anything."

It was a candid profession but a true one. Black Philip had done more for her than her mortal father.

[Trillian]

He liked the look of the bar. Wren watched Tess' gesture and thought that was an interesting trick. The drink in his hand was a pretty colour and he admired it on the way to the table. When Tess sat beside him it was only natural to wrap his arm around her.

Father figure. It took him a long time to respond. "Witchy Daddy issues?" Wren asked, then giggled at his own clever hilarity.

[Black Philip]

She was fairly disarmed, and Wren had shown himself to be open to her before. She kept this in mind when he dared suggest she had daddy issues. She had gained power and glory, and served the great goat because he was wise and powerful. She looked at him just a little cruelly, also remembering in the second before she replied she'd gotten him high. Fine. He could slide on this one.

"How did you steal another Druid's power," she asked, turning the conversation back on Wren. She still looked flirty and fun, but there was some part of her that had awoken. She reached out to feel her patron, and found him not around. It felt so empty. She laid her head down on Wren.

"Try your drink," she said, ignoring her own for the moment. Wren's chest was more important than booze.

[Trillian]

Even through his haze he could tell he'd upset her with his inappropriate comment and some of his sensibility seeped through. He blinked at her cool stare and licked his lips, preparing an apology which took longer than it should in his addled brain. Before he could spit it out, she spoke again.

"Ritual," he said, seeing the shift inside of her but unable to identify what it was. When his attention was diverted to his drink, he obeyed, taking a sip of it. It was yummy so he took a longer sip before setting the glass down again, liking the weight of her head on his shoulder. "You're a bad influence," he said, not sounding particularly upset about it.

Damn, he'd meant to keep that thought to himself.

[Black Philip]

Tess felt warm, and safe here, and she didn't even mind being called a bad influence. After all, she was a servant of the devil.  She smiled at that, and both felt more connected to Wren on a personal level, but also to Black Philip. She didn't need to sense him every moment to know he was there. Wren had somehow made it all better. She picked her head up and kissed him, playfully at first, but with more intensity as it went on. She pulled away and giggled.

"I'm not the only one," she teased, trying her drink. She got about two thirds of it down before placing it on the table within Wren's reaching distance. A ritual? She had heard of grand ascension rituals, where minor demons became major ones, where commoners become gods, but she hadn't seen anything on as small a scale as he deserved. There was a certain annoying little witch bitch named Cinnabon, or whatever. Perhaps this was useful knowledge.

"I can take power through necromancy," she shared. "I did it to the cat."

She hung her head with guilt.

[Trillian]

The kiss had him licking his lips to recapture the sensation of it. He made a soft sound when she pulled away and again when she hung her head. Wren tutted her, waggling a finger between her and her glass, as though it was her drinking he disapproved of. It was neither her drinking nor what she'd done to the cat.

"No, no, your cat gave you a singular energy. Dark magic, death magic, rotting underground magic. Souls and all that demon stuff," Wren made a flapping dismissive gesture. "What I took was..." he made a bundle with his hands, as if shaping something grapefruit sized before spreading his fingers wider and wider. "That... I've never seen anything so beautiful."

His circle had called him corrupted but he remembered his initial reasoning, the thing that had urged him on. A powerful druid who was going to be killed anyway... what a waste of powers and discovery. It made more sense to remove it from him. Okay, Wren's actions had caused him to die but he'd been about to die anyway. He grabbed his drink and took a few gulps, finishing most of it before setting it down and wiping his lips with the back of his hand before he reached out to take one of hers.

"It's big, and it compounds, and it's inside of me but I haven't unlocked it. I'm twice as powerful. I thought you knew. I thought that... you targeted me for that... not for, you know... I'm not so sexy. I'm like... nature man. Boringest ssssuperhero."

[Black Philip]

Tess was intrigued as Wren explained his power. She had never heard of magic like that before, and she wished she could see that great power. He was right that all she could do was take a single life force, and while it powered her magic for a time, it faded away as the soul died within her. It was sad. What he had done, that sounded beautiful. She found him so adorable, and he also suffered from blindness it seemed. He was literally sex on a stick, and she didn't understand how he didn't know that. Most of the men she met were half as attractive, kind and sweet, yet she was more attracted to Wren because he didn't think he was those things. What had her mother called it? She was so young at the time it was hard to remember. Humbleness. Wren was humble.

"Nature man," she teased, raising an eyebrow and giggling. "I saw conflict in you, and power, but I really just felt connected to you. I visited your dream, true because I needed something, but mostly because I wanted to see you again. I liked the way you felt in the back of the van. It made me curious about you. Do you feel that connection?"

She leaned in, and could smell the alcohol on his breath. They both smelt like weed, and if anyone else was in the bar they would likely look with judgement. Tess didn't care. She was used to being judged by lesser people. Wren was the opposite of lesser.