there are so many colors i still try to hide

We have been waiting for a while, but AVA FINCH was finally spotted in the village today. People heard whispers that she is a PSYCHIC that is hellbent on [ avoiding ] the veils. Will she succeed? Only time can tell. Until then we will keep a close eye on her as she listens to “EMPATHY” by ALANIS MORISSETTE.

16. A helpful text

[text] You've been off lately. Why don't you take tomorrow off?

“No.” Helena shook her head. “Elijah and I have never gotten along. We clash. I respect his position as a Coven leader but I kinda want to punch him every time I see his stupid face.” She sighed and ran a hand over her hair. “Look. Regardless of what you did, he needs to understand the situation you’re in. If he doesn’t understand that and take it seriously then he’s not worth it. You don’t need to apologise to him. He might be your mentor but he does not own you and doesn’t seem to have accepted you as part of his coven. You are allowed to go for others for help. He needs to put his big boy pants on and grow the fuck up. Maybe he should look at himself and question why you didn’t talk to him rather than act like a brat and have a tantrum.”

~

“Well . . . maybe,” Ava said, rubbing her forehead as she fought a headache. She didn’t want to argue about it, even if she thought Helena’s view of Elijah was a little harsh. She agreed with her, somewhat, but she didn’t want to cause any more problems than she already had. “Can we just hang out and not talk about Elijah anymore?” she asked hopefully. “My boyfriend has left town and I’m incredibly lonely. I could use some girl time, if you’re up for it.”

“Have you asked him why he was hurt by it?” August asked, years of therapy had taught him to try and listen to the other person’s side, especially if you’d hurt them in some way. There was also the whole ‘people are allowed to be upset’ thing, but August didn’t believe that to be a hard and fast rule. It was like saying the customer is always right. No, sometimes the customer is just an entitled dick. “What kind of asshole wouldn’t like you?” he asked with a grin and nudged her a little. “Oh well, it’s just some stuff with my ex. I think I confuse her…maybe. I know she’s gotten better, but I still don’t think she fully understands the way I feel. The way things work for me.”

~

Ava allowed a tiny smile at his question, thinking there were probably plenty of people who didn’t like her, but she tried not to dwell on it. She listened to him talk about his ex, frowning faintly. “Confuse her how?” she asked curiously, before adding quickly, “you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Elijah sighed then opened the door again. “I was trying to show you how to not tear your body apart.” he told her. “You didn’t even give me a chance to show you the proper technique.” he just gave her a look now. “You think I’m okay with the headaches and the lack of sleep? No, but I manage them and I know that not everything I do works on other psychics, we just have to try then adjust it accordingly or try something new all together.”

~

Ava was glad he was talking to her, at least. She glanced down at the ground between them, reaching up to rub her forehead with a soft sigh. “I’m sorry. I just . . . I couldn’t take the pain anymore. I’ve been self-medicating for a long time, Elijah. Being off the pills and feeling everything . . . it was too much. When I went to Helena originally, I was looking for pain pills. She offered me an alternative that seemed good at the time. It was better than completely numbing myself. But I should’ve talked to you about it first. I’m sorry.”

“Moscow mule” Todd said, it wasn’t a drink he got every time he went out for a drink, but it just felt like the right kind of drink tonight. “maybe I should order two now since you’re short-staffed.” 

~

Ava nodded, going about making the drink after taking a moment to remember how to do it. She’d had to learn a lot of stuff on the fly after inheriting this business, but she was slowly starting to get to the point where she felt she could actually call herself a business owner. “You don’t have to order two unless you want two,” she told him with a brief smile. “No use wasting good alcohol.”

A over-exaggerated groan left Kadin’s lips when Ava said she still hadn’t gotten her powers back, head lolling back as her eyes rolled. “Fine.” The kelpie had been hoping that Ava would be better by now, but apparently not. Shame. “Honestly, you should know me well enough to know what I’m thinking without your abilities.” Kadin mused, but shrugged regardless. “Okay, fine. Then what do you want to do?”

~

“Well, it’s pretty warm out today . . . you want to go cliff diving?” Ava asked with a smile, always enjoying the exhilarating feeling of flying through the air before she hit the water. She had a feeling Kadin would enjoy it, or at least the water part.

“Sorry to hear about that.” he said as she mentioned her boyfriend having to leave town, and the stuff with her mentor. “What happened with your mentor?” he asked, fully prepared for her to not want to talk about it, but putting the question out there anyways incase she did. “Things are..okay, I think. I’m not entirely sure, actually.” he still wasn’t sure exactly where he and Gabi stood on things. 

~

“I got help from someone else behind his back, and I think that hurt him,” Ava admitted. “I’m not entirely sure how to fix things, but I want to. It’s . . . hard to read him. Since he’s a psychic too, he knows how to shut himself off from me, so I didn’t think he’d care that much. Honestly, half the time I don’t know if he even likes me that much.” Ava sighed softly. “Do you want to talk about your thing?” she offered after a moment.