Alex.

Since the whole Ren Faire nightmare from hell situation, Reese hadn't been able to use her ability to control fire. Not even a little spark from her fingertips, a party trick she'd been pulling out since she was a preteen. One of the other witches in the coven said something about meditation and clearing her head and something about alignment, but by the time they'd gotten past the suggestion, her eyes had already glazed over. But after not being able to use her favorite freaking thing she decided it was worth a shot.

That's how she found herself on a borrowed mat next to the second biggest troublemaker she knew (the first being herself, of course) doing a doggy position or something. Plenty of people around town could testify to just how flexible Reese was, but she was still having a bit of trouble getting all the poses right. Just when she thought she had a handle on things, a not so silent toot sounded from the back of the room and Reese was on the ground laughing in a second. "Damn Alex, I thought I told you to skip the breakfast burrito today," she joked as she tried to contort herself into the pretzel their instructor was trying to put them into. "I don't know how they were even relaxed enough to let that out. I'm over here sweating more than that time I tried soul cycle." That ended with her soul cycling out of her body. "When does this start being relaxing?"

"Well shit Reeses pieces, you're the one who made it for me." If they were getting kicked out of this class he'd presume have his part in it, too. "Did you forget I have a lactose allergy? Pft." Alex rolled his eyes as he easily rolled into the next yoga position. "Some friend." Sarcasm always seemed to be their usual. Where fuck you meant I like you alright, but also sometimes fuck you.

"For you?" Alex bellowed a laugh, the last disruption their instructor seemed keen to take as they were asked to leave with a cut of the teacher's eyes to the door. "I don't think it will. But I know a place doing bottomless brunch and that might."

She stepped closer, her gaze never leaving his for more than a second to drift her attention to the art. She was sure there was something to say about her lingering gaze that always returned to him. Aiyla raised her flute, a breath of disbelief passing her lips, "We sold something-" Excitement wove its way through her tone, and Aiyla forwent the clink of a glass and threw slender arms around his neck.

"I never doubted you." She whispered her words against his skin as she pulled back, her cheeks flushed with excitement. It had been years since Aiyla had felt so seen by another. Perhaps it had to do with the walls she built around herself, the fear of loss that kept her guarded, but Alex had the ability to see people. Whether they wanted or not. It had never been such a question for Aiyla; the moment she met him, it was like she had known him in some other lifetime, just out of reach to her- like coming up for a breath of air, Alex inspired her. Become her muse, and by the fluttering of her heart, she considered that if she was honest with herself, he'd meant much more.

Aiyla clinked her glass against his, "Do you want to walk with me, search for inspiration for our next piece?" She asked her eyes drawing a map over his face, "It's beautiful out tonight." She said her wings unfurling at her back as if to stretch towards the possibility of escaping the crowded room.

"I appreciate your confidence." He was sure his words would come out choked, but Alex's voice never faltered in tune.

It felt like an eternity before their glasses clinked. Lifetimes passed between their eyes, like two corners of space ogling at each other across galaxies. With more stars in his eyes than all the heavens, Alex followed Aiyla's lead on her suggested walk. Would they leave a gallery where they were being celebrated? He didn't want to know all the placed he would go, following behind women he'd never quite deserve.

"It's a blue moon." He commented like Aiyla wouldn't know. "Second full moon this month." As if there hadn't been enough chaos in Lunar Cove that summer, there had to be two full months before the season drew to a close. "I haven't been creating much lately. What we made together.. it was the last time I felt right, artistically speaking. I've hit a bit of a block.." The art hadn't stopped entirely, he just didn't like what he'd been painting lately. A heaviness had overtaken him, and that darkness showed up in his work. No longer what relieved him, but what reminded him of how fucked up everything was.

"..and you?" Alex peeked through dark lashes, stealing a look at Aiyla's eyes but not for too long. He'd get stuck looking, like gravity took on a new, prevailing force, and he was likely to walk into a pole or worse with that sort of diverted attention. "Have you been.. working?"

Alexander Wright is a witch that currently resides in Downtown and has been a Lunar Cove resident for on and off his entire life happy to lurk in the Supreme's shadow.

DON’T THEY KNOW IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD?

GENDER/PRONOUNS: Cis Male, He/Him

AGE: 35

PLACE OF BIRTH: Lunar Cove

OCCUPATION: Film Director

FACECLAIM: Casey Deidrick

IT ENDED WHEN YOU SAID GOODBYE

SPECIES: Witch

COVEN POSITION: Member

ABILITIES: Aura Reading, Healing, Teleportation, Telekinesis

WELCOME TO LUNAR COVE, ALEX WRIGHT

Trigger Warnings: Divorce, Drugs, Alcohol, Infidelity, Overdose, Death, Cancer

As Aphrodite announced her return from the underworld with the promising green of Spring, a baby boy was born in Lunar Cove, Rhode Island; Alexander Harvey Wright. When he was only three years old his parents divorced. Later in life, this would come as no surprise to Alex as his father had been married before and after his mother. He was an absentee parent at his best. Now, a grown man, he doesn't hate his father, but he certainly doesn't see much good in him aside from the checks he cuts. 

After his parents' divorce, Alex's mother and father both remarried and had more children. He was raised in Lunar Cove with his mother, step father, and three sisters. Alex saw his father and other half siblings on occasion, as they would visit Lunar Cove from time to time. Except for a brother who was human.

From a young age, he was a gifted witch and found the confines of the magically protected town reassuring as he stepped into his power.  Aura reading came first. A gift that served him well over the years, allowing him to see others in such a real and vulnerable way. Then came healing, an important skill for a boy who sometimes acted first and thought second. In a fight with one of his sisters, Alex discovered he was a telekinetic, too. His fourth and final gift came when he joined the town's coven. Ironically, it was the one that would later make him leave it. In a meditative state, a practice he had adapted in his early teens to learn to control his emotions (read: magic), Alex teleported. A gush of wind made him aware of his change in scenery, and when his eyes opened he no longer sat in his bedroom but atop Lunar Cove's water tower.  

With highschool and his hometown in the rear view, Alex studied film at a university in New York. It was just a few town hops from where he grew up, but a whole new world of discoveries. During his sophomore year he wrote a screenplay that, the following summer, he directed. For his work on the film, he was nominated for an oscar but lost. It didn't shake Alex's determination to keep creating, rather it inspired him to try again. His second nomination came shortly after he finished undergrad. It was an unexpected win. Alex never imagined, especially at a mere twenty-two, that he'd win an oscar. His elation somewhat short lived as his father's praise lasted all of one  second before he had to mention one of Alex's siblings who'd accomplished something else even more spectacular. 

Eventually, Alex stopped trying to prove himself to anyone but himself, and suddenly everything about his life seemed to get a whole lot easier. He gave into hedonism like never before, indulging his every whim and desire and allowing it to inspire him to create however and whatever he wished. It was the launching point for his career, and for many years Alex never stopped to rest. When he wasn't working as a director he was creating via some other medium, be that painting a new lover, or forging the curves of an old one from memory into clay. His productivity stopped only for darker debauchery; illicit drugs, alcohol, and potions fueled many a days on end benders. Experiences he used to keep his creative fuse lit.

During that time in his life, Alex did a lot of things he later would come to regret. His heart even less loyal than the body he put in bed next to a different body nearly every night. Not the kind of son any mother would be proud of, yet alone one like his with three daughters. His illicit affairs weren't his only shame, though no one knew the latter. During what he now just calls 'the lost years', a friend overdosed in front of him, and he couldn't just watch him die. So, Alex healed him; a human man. Unaware of his friend's gifts, even after he saved his life. 

The accident scared him enough to sober up some, and for a moment he considered returning home to Lunar Cove. It was never his intention to be away for so long, he was close to his family there, but it was hard to resist the lure of adventure. Eventually, Alex took up a semi-permanent residence in New York when he started dating an actress from one of his films. Their life was good there. He enjoyed himself just enough not to be his family's shame, but something was calling him home, and it refused to stop until he listened. 

It certainly wasn't the homecoming he'd imagined. His sisters and their mother gathered around the kitchen table of his childhood home. She was sick. The matriarch of their family; the glue. A wise woman with all the worlds answer who could sooth any care or worry with just a look. She had cancer, and the prognosis was terminal. A reality Alex struggled with for many reasons. A talented healer and absolutely useless to save his own mother. He despised himself for awhile. Loathed the limits of his magic, and the greediness of his wandering soul that kept him away for many years he could've had with his mom. Alex threw himself into his practice, focusing on magic to distract him from the inevitable. 

Before she passed he proposed to his girlfriend. His mother gave him her ring from her marriage to his father, but Alex chose to buy something instead. Even then, deep down, he knew she wasn't the one. After his mom died, Alex broke off the engagement. He didn't love her like he should. The dream of marriage, of a family, weren't dreams he had with her. She was devastated, and in his villainy he felt relieved.

The return of Poppy Reed to Lunar Cove occurred some months before the engagement formally ended. She haunted him like a petulant ghost until the moment his conscience relieved him of the guilt of infidelity. A reunion that did not sooth the ache of grief within him. Though, nothing would. He'd carry it with him every day until, in time, he grew used to its weight.

Art and magic, arguably a medium that was one in the same, had always been a welcome distraction. Alexander leaned into both as he stared into the future with no direction but an openness for what fate would allow. 

In downtown Lunar Cove, close to the coven headquarters, Alexander purchased a space where he could live and work. A studio for his passions downstairs, and a two bedroom apartment upstairs. The extra room for guests, siblings, or whoever needed it. He did what he could to support his community, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise to him when he was nominated to complete the trials for supreme. It was a title, a responsibility, a weight on his head that Alex didn't want. Yet, he accepted the challenge and gave his all. Only to be forgone at the end by the ancestors when they chose Poppy. A choice he supported from the very start, and not just because it meant he didn't have to be the supreme.

Ruby. A shiver shook the broad spans of Alex's shoulders. Ruby had been after him since his first day in class, and he'd done his best to kindly elude her. The cruel joke would make that impossible, so Alex did as Alex does when things got too complicated. He disappeared. In a blink, gone form the yoga studio to the sidewalk outside; awaiting Meena.

"That was cruel. Even for you, Meena. That girl has been stalking me for months. Sits behind me in classes and just... STARES! I thought I'd shook her when she started to think I was seeing someone... now I'll just have to tell her I am, and that it's you. Convince her my girlfriend was just making a BAD joke." That wasn't really what Alex was going to do. He didn't have the balls for that and would just find a new yoga class.

Poppy kept one of her hands on either side of his face as she deepened the kiss between them. While her out her had her half full wine glass still in it. Even though things were getting hazy the more they drank the more fun she seemed to be having tonight. Finding a soft hmm on her lips as his hands explored the warm skin under her shirt, she didn’t stop him in the least instead she encouraged it more grinding her hips into his roughly as she sat on top of him with legs on either side of him. 

Giving a soft moan when pressed his fingers against her, but just as quickly as they’d been there they were gone. Pulling back from the kiss with a pout, she took another sip of her wine before putting the glass to his mouth for him to drink.

Leaning her forehead against his as she hair fell around the like a curtain. She was going in for another kiss until she noticed him crying, she pulled back slightly. “Alex?” Saying his name as she questioned him. Reaching over and she put her glass of wine on the end table before turning her attention back to him. Putting both hands on his face as she wiped away his tears. Giving him a what’s wrong look as she tried to give him a moment to speak. 

“Yes?” Answering to her name as she continued to hold his face between her hands. Letting her blue eyes wash over him as she looked for any reason as to what might be causing him stress. Staring back at him for god knows how long only for him to finally speak and it was the last thing she expected. Tilting her head slightly as she looked at him still, she finally gave a soft laugh. “What are you even talking about Alex?” She asked confused. “Are you wine drunk?” Asking with another laugh before she leaned in and kissed away his tears. “I’m cutting us both off.” She informed him as she leaned her head against his and pressed her lips against his once more. 

Laughter shattered the silence. The soft and slow haze of the room splintered, as sharp as glass hitting the floor around him. It hurt to hear humor as a response to his vulnerability. Regret was palpable on his tongue before Poppy even finished. He should’ve kept his mouth shut.

He should’ve kept his mouth shut.

He should’ve kept his mouth shut.

He’d keep his mouth shut.

“Yeah..” Gruffly, his voice still thick with emotion that felt like shards in his throat, Alex answered honestly. “..I’m drunk.”

Which was the truth, albeit only part of it. He reasoned, the only part that Poppy needed to know.

It felt uncomfortable to continue to be affectionate in the face of what he perceived as rejection. He hadn’t confessed so plainly, but she had to know. Alex couldn’t understand how she couldn’t, unless Poppy didn’t reciprocate his feelings. Which was a possibility he had feared for as long as he’d held his silence.

He should’ve kept his mouth shut.

It hurt so much worse than he could’ve imagined. The wine was a contributing factor, but the weeks since her resurrection are what drove the knife deep. Sex wasn’t new to them, but whatever this was was. They felt different to Alex. Dark eyes closed, shedding the remaining salt water that shored up their rims. Heavy breath blew from his lips, about the same time as Poppy tried to kiss him. His head turned, not meaning to reject her, but to expel the heaviness in his chest. The hard exhale did little for the tightness in his lungs.

“I need some air.” He choked a little on his words before standing. Alex was gentle as he untangled their bodies, careful not to send the wrong message with his recoil. He felt dizzy, hot, and confused. Maybe he was just drunk, but on more than the wine.

In a blink he disappeared from the dining room to appear on the balcony, visible through the glass door at the back of the house, overlooking the backyard. He knew Poppy hated that. How he moved from place to place in a mere moment without her. It was just that he needed a moment before she inevitably joined him to make sense of his jumbled thoughts.

Kyle. All she could see was his dark blue eyes and dark blonde hair looking at her in every stranger that passed by. Waiting for another shot to kill her once more, to strip everything that had once made Poppy her. Poppy had been so full of life before Kyle, now she couldn’t even force a duplicate out to pretend to be the happy cheery Poppy; everything inside just felt dark. Constantly she was wondering if she should have just stayed gone and listed to her better judgement when they asked if she wanted brought back. Now she was this and a shell of what she use to be. As the people passed her and her anxiety sat in everything around her started to disappear and she was welcomed into a black room with Alex holding her up. Taking in the silence and the scenery change helped her relax some, but as she closed her eyes she still saw Kyle. Standing across from her before everything went black and she was on the other side. Trying to blink away the memories as she leaned her head into Alex’s chest, tried to focus in on her breathing to stop her anxiety attack from worsening. Ten, Nine, Eight….counting down repeatedly until she got to zero, then she started one more until she was able to pull herself together.

Pulling back from his chest to find his dark eyes on her still and she gave him an I’m okay look to let him know that she was fine. It was then when she realized what was desperate to come out, she held her breath hoping that this didn’t turn into the confession he was clearly dying to get out. Right now she couldn’t take anyone else’s feelings in the least, she barely could handle her own anymore. Everyones feelings were why she was back in the first place and right now, well she couldn’t take anymore on. Staring back at him as she went to say his name and shake her head but Aurora interrupted them thankfully.

“Thanks for getting me out of there.” Poppy thanked as her feet hit the familiar wood floor, she got use to her legs once more. “Hey Aurora.” She greeted happily with a slight smile forming on her face as she bent down to the level of the husky. Letting them lick her in the face with a slight giggle while she put her hands in Aurora’s fur. Giving the dog a squeeze as a silent thank you for interrupting them, before she stood up to look at Alex once more. “So I kinda fucked up dinner tonight, sorry.” She apologized and looked down at her hands. Playing with the rings on her hands nervously, while she twisted and pulled at them. “Can I make you dinner instead?” Offering even though they both knew damn well she couldn’t cook to save her life. “Or well order us delivery on my card.” Looking up at him with a slight smirk. “I mean I have great fingers that know how to dial every delivery place in Lunar Cove.”

The pantry door opened about the same time Poppy offered to cook, and Alex couldn’t stop the incredulous look he gave her. He didn’t want to be an ass when she was like this, so he bit his tongue and gently assured her, “No.. that’s okay.” Ingredients and supplies flew from the cabinets with a few twists and turns of his fingers. It’d been awhile since he’d been to the grocery store, but Alex still had a few staples. Enough to make pancakes, which he thought Poppy would like. He recalled a time or two, after a night out, making breakfast for his friends. Simpler times with simpler labels when everything just was what it was, and Alex didn’t think too much.

“Why don’t I just cook for us?” Batter was already on the griddle by the time he asked. Cooking felt too easy as a telepath, and yet…

A soft grin formed on his face as he recalled the few times he’d let Poppy cook, and he’d been brave enough to eat it. It was almost comical how someone so powerful could be so awful at something so ordinary. Then again potions and charms weren’t her thing either, and they seemed similar to cooking. Which reminded Alex he needed to remake the charms he’d fashioned for Poppy, protection charms and the like that he made for all his loved ones, because he couldn’t be sure that her death and subsequent resurrection didn’t render them moot. Pancake after pancake piled onto plates set out on a bar that separated the kitchen and the living room. A smell that almost made Alex feel normal filled his home; Poppy in the mix making it just right. “Food’s ready!” Two words Aurora knew well, and he fed the dog to keep her busy while they ate.

Yoga was one of those strategies, and after the events in town, she was sure she needed it now more than ever. Anyone that could see her aura would see that she was a mess--though most other people could probably see that too, as she had not yet found a waterproof mascara that truly hid just how much she'd been crying lately. She had, however, managed to keep it together for the last half hour, and when the person next to her--someone she recognized as part of the coven--made a joke, she laughed maybe a bit more than was warranted. But it was nice to laugh, nice to feel any spark of joy when she was so deep in her own head and her grief. "Alex, right?" she asked. She had still not joined the coven, but she had spoken to the advisor not long after she'd gotten to town.

Their conversation seemed to draw a few side eyes from other yogis preferring a quiet class, so he leaned a little closer to the young witch and lowered his voice. "How's it been going? You adjusting to town?" She couldn't have moved to town at a worse time. Summer had brought chaos and tragedy to Lunar Cove, unlike any Alex had ever known. "I know emotions are high right now, but you have friends. If you want them." A pitch as casual as he could make it.

There wasn't any need to push—he knew that Alex wouldn't have asked to come up here if it wasn't for this. The tower was a place he deeply associated with talking about things you couldn't talk about. They were a long way from the pain of parental expectations and first relationships gone wrong, though. Nico toyed with his beer bottle more than drinking it, torso propped up on his elbows with his legs hanging off the edge of the water tower. He'd already counted the windows that were liting up across the town, and now was flipping the bottle cap up into the air and catching it, leisurely. When Alex finally spoke, Nico snorted half a laugh. "It sure is," he agreed, with a slow nod. He glanced at the witch beside him, and hesitated. This was going to hurt, but he might as well shatter any semblance of small talk before Alex had to take the plunge himself. "You know," he said, too casually, "I always figured it'd be me first. Or you. Had this recurring nightmare that you'd end up in a wall, like in that story Ms. Francis made us read. Casket Armadillo."

"I never read that book." He admitted to bring something else into the conversation. Any excuse not to elaborate on where his head or his heart was. "I paid for the test results. Which... I would've given to you, but I thought it'd be suspicious if we both passed."

He did not need to sleep, and so, most often, he did not. But that reality meant there was no reprieve of unconsciousness from the lingering nightmare in which he had been trapped. Ralph's thoughts turned to it often, to the insatiable thirst for magic, for power, to his own unquenchable hunger. He did not actually want to be defenseless to his own whims, and maybe, with some practice, he could learn to will them away. But he was not actually feeling optimistic about that.

His energy was still as frantic and buzzing as ever as he tried to follow the instructor's motions. He too seemed to snicker at the noise, though, but cut it back very seriously. "Aye, everybody fuckin' poops," he chided at the others, maybe to win some sycophant points. "There are literally folks in this room who I saw eat rats a few weeks ago. Whatta we all got to be so precious about?"