Brand New Key

Zahi wasn’t exactly the carnival type, but he supposed the fair was fun enough. Or at least it was until his walk was interrupted by a man literally grabbing his arm. Zahi tried to wretch it away, but the man held firm. “This’ll be fun!” he murmured, but it sounded as much like a threat as anything else. Not sure what else to do short of hexing the man, Zahi complied. Hexing probably was best done without an audience.

As he and the woman next to him with thrust onto a stage where two more people waited, Zahi took a deep breath. This was going to be terrible. He could tell. The man who’d brought them up immediately launched into an audience shtick before explaining the rules of the trivia game they were playing. Zahi thought it sounded remarkably simple, especially when he heard there was a galleon prize involved. Perhaps playing along wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Edith really didn’t want to be up there, but now that she was, she had no idea how to get out of it. Perhaps she should work on her rejection skills and this wouldn’t be as much of a problem. She looked over at the other participants hesitantly, leaning forward and looking down the line. Two of them seemed eager, which must have meant they volunteered, and the man beside her looked quite simply, un-amused. While the man who initially dragged her on stage explained what they would be doing, Edith waited slightly impatiently, wanting this to be over with. By the sounds of it, they would each be asked a question individually. If they got it right, great, but if they were wrong, they were out of the game. 

“Yes and no. There’s definitely a softer side, yes, and it’s a large part. But I’ve got a feisty part as well.”

“Haven’t I, already?”

Nate was always stunning in the mornings, and by stunning he meant sleep deprived and looking it. His hair was ruffled in all sorts of directions and he hadn’t bothered to fix it while he was hoping to get some coffee. Nic was on his case lately, so sometimes he just got up at weird times to not deal with everything all at once. 

Still he didn’t think he looked that bad when suddenly he saw a girl starting to trip forward. He didn’t think about it as he went infront of her to block the things from falling and to steady her. After all she wasn’t going to knock him down unless she was trying too. 

“Oh -” Nate managed to say before reaching out to keep her as steady and trying not to drop her things. Suddenly startled and not as sleepy he went “ Shit - did you drop anything? Are you okay?” 

If the other person hadn’t acted so quickly, it would have been very likely that the new pot she had just purchased would have shattered. The items fell between them awkwardly as they were pushed between each of their bodies. “Oh, er... no, I don’t think so, I think we’re alright,” she nodded, thankfully. Once she got a handle of everything, she started to set them down quickly, positioning them so that she would have a better handle next time she went to pick them up. “I’m alright, yes. Sorry about that... what a rather awkward way to meet a stranger,” she chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. 

“Oh, I got some fertilizer on your shirt... sorry, let me just...” Reaching forward to brush it off for him, Edith sighed. “There. Thank you, by the way, for being a human cushion. Most people would have just let everything just tumble to the ground.”

“Uh, yeah. Obviously.” It was a topic that Zara didn’t want to discuss, and she guessed Edith wasn’t itching to talk about it either. Although maybe she was. Soft people did like to talk about their emotions, and between not meaning to be rude and ‘a home I share with someone I care about’ Edith seemed softer than the people Zara usually dealt with.

“And I didn’t expect anyone to be here. I came by to make sure everything was okay, but clearly you have things under control.” Zara looked around the apartment. Zara wanted to ask questions, or rather she wanted Edith to share information, which she knew wasn’t going to happen without prompting. “So… how are you?” It was a terrible prompt and Zara knew it, but her mind was drawing a blank. “Other than, you know, the obvious.”

It was a confusing situation. Did Zara not know that she and Valerija lived together? Vanja had, although in his defense he had just shown up one day like Zara had and figured it out. But still, she would think that after this long people would have known. “Clearly,” she nodded, still a bit uncomfortable after the awkward introduction. 

Raising a brow, she was unsure of how to answer that. Her girlfriend was in jail, they were in the middle of a war, and a stranger had just appeared in her home and started yelling at her. How was she supposed to be? “Fine, I suppose... You?” Normally Edith was great at small talk, but today wasn’t her day. 

As the other woman said the word ‘girlfriend’ the pieces began to shift and fall into place in Zara’s mind. So this was her, the pretty little blonde that Valerija had gone on and on about. By most people’s standards, Valerija hadn’t overshared, but by Ivanova-Novak standards, Valerija hadn’t shut up about the girl.

Zara gave a sweet smile and let her head tilt slightly to the right. The home she shared with someone she cared about, that was so soft. Any animosity she felt and any that the girl returned had vanished by the time Zara responded.

“Of course, you’re Edith. I should’ve connected the dots immediately. Pretty blonde in Valerija’s apartment,” Zara gave a self-directed eye roll. “I mean, duh.”

Edith was left staring blankly at the woman, wondering if she had just imagined the other’s rash outburst. It seemed all too quick for her to switch from angry and accusatory to relaxed and nice. Blinking slowly, Edith shifted her weight off to one side, arms still tucked neatly into one another across her chest. What the hell just happened? 

It would make sense that she already knew Edith’s name, as Valerija had talked about Zara before too. It also made sense now how she had been able to get into the apartment without any trouble. That didn’t make it any less awkward though, to have this be their first encounter. She hardly had much of an idea what Zara did for a living, but the fact that they had yet to meet until now already felt rather strange. In attempt to break herself from the awkward tension she felt manipulating her body, she stooped down and scooped Lionel up from the floor, cradling him close to her. 

“That would be me,” she confirmed, still staring at the girl, oddly. Was she really going to pretend that didn’t just happened. “Valerija isn’t here... obviously. I didn’t expect anyone to come by.”

“Don’t be a baby,” she laughed at the huff, shoving Edith’s shoulder lightly.  “I forgot how tenderheaded you were.”  She tugged an elastic off her wrist and tied it around the end of Edith’s braid.  “It does look really cute.  Here, turn around.”  Once she turned around Miriam carefully pulled out a few strands to frame her face.  “Cute.”  She passed her a small pocket mirror so she could see her reflection.

“I uh –” she hesitated, running a hand through her hair.  Was this a good idea?  Walden had told her that it wasn’t a good idea to be seen with Edith right now, but she wasn’t necessarily being seen if they stayed in her apartment.  “If that’s okay?  And are you sure that you want me kicking your ass at Scrabble again?”

Edith rolled her eyes and decided not to comment back on her sister’s sibling insult as she would say. Something that they could say to one another but if anyone else said it, it would be highly insulting. Taking the mirror with grace, she looked over the braid and hummed softly. It did look nice, and it had been a long while since she wore it in a braid, that she had almost forgotten what it could look like. “It’s nice. Thank you,” she smiled slightly, closing the mirror and handing it back. 

“You were the one to suggest it,” Edith reminded her, as that had been pretty much the first thing she said when Edith opened the door. “We have some other games, if Scrabble isn’t working out.” Standing up, she headed to the kitchen where they left the sangria, pulling two glasses down from the cabinets so that they could each have some. “We have a spare room, so I don’t mind,” she clarified. Since Valerija wouldn’t be back, it was just Edith anyway.

          What do you want to do about it? That was the question. She used to be so self confident and sure of the right answer. Now, she felt conflicted about everything. It wasn’t fair. Maybe barreling through decisions wasn’t right, but then neither was second guessing everything. Felicity didn’t know what to do anymore and every time she thought about it, she wondered if she was ever going to get out of this stalemate. “Um… I don’t know.” Because that was the best if not only answer she could give. She didn’t want to make a mistake and break things off with Griffin, but she also wasn’t happy. 

          “That’s good.” Of course that was the answer. Everyone who was anyone knew what was going on in the Wizarding World. Felicity just read the papers and looked at everything wishing she knew what to do about everything. Right now, she was doing everything in her power not to think about what was going on. It was another thing she added to the overthinking pile in her brain. “That’s great that things are getting better between you two.” Felicity didn’t have any siblings. “Oh! When that’s done I’d love to come over to visit and see it. I keep buying more books, so soon I’m just going to end up making a whole house made entirely out of books instead of bricks.” 

Edith had to bite her tongue on this one. As much as she disliked Griffin, she wasn’t going to be the sole reason that Felicity broke up with him. If she liked him, and found some sort of redeeming quality about the male, than Edith would have to accept that. It had to be her choice, whether or not they continued seeing one another. Still, one look at Felicity’s face told Edith that this was going to be a long and painful discussion the girl would have to have with herself. Letting out a soft sigh, she gave a tight lipped smile. “Well, no sense in making rash decisions. Give it time,” she offered as advice, the best she could give. 

Was it great? Sometimes it didn’t feel all that so, if she was being honest. While Edith had missed the times before either of them knew of each other’s decisions, it felt like sometimes as soon as they started to get close again, something else would happen to tear them apart. If only one of them had just chosen to be bloody neutral in this war... Well... if only Miriam had decided to, let is. Edith could have never chosen to be neutral. “We’d love to have you!” Laughing at the thought of a house made of books, she sipped her drink. “That would be a dream. Unfortunately I don’t know how sturdy those would be. Though I suppose with a bit of magic... What sort have you been buying recently? Anything good?”

“I haven’t changed,” Bailey said, knee-jerk and a little confused because Edith’s explanation honestly wasn’t intuitive at all for her. But maybe it was to other people? And this was just one of the things that Bailey didn’t have in common with the masses? “You still seem like you, so I guess it isn’t bad.”

When Edith gasped, Bailey just rolled her eyes. “Relax, there’s no-one near us,” she extended an arm to prove that they were indeed in their own little bubble, and none of the other sparse people there were close or looked even remotely interested in them. “Plus if I do get caught, I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of it.” She wouldn’t say Zahi’s name, because she wasn’t that clueless, but he’d gotten her out of that scrape with the bitterroot and she was pretty sure he’d also vouch for her if for some reason the contents of her lab were discovered. She didn’t think she was being wishful when she told herself that she too useful and smart for Zahi to just let her get arrested. 

And then Bailey was thrown entirely away from the subject, because she’d- had she heard Edith right? Girlfriend? Like- a romantic partner, not just a friend who was a girl? If they’d been back at school, Bailey wouldn’t have cared even a whit about Edith dating anyone unless it began to impact their friendship. Now was a different story, however, and her mind leapt as it pulled up the disorganized little file on interpersonal relations she’d been slowly trying to puzzle through. 

“When did you get a girlfriend?” she demanded, brows furrowed slightly. “You’re living together already? Tell me everything.”

Originally posted by zenddayas

Edith had always been a little confused by Bailey at times, especially with things like this. Maybe Bailey saw something that Edith didn’t, and that was fine, of course, but it was a bit peculiar. Thinking it best to not comment on it further, the topic was dropped and they moved on. “I was only teasing, anyhow. But really, you should be a smidge more careful when you talk about those things. You never know how people might be listening!” Not bothering to ask her to elaborate on just how she planned on talking her way out of getting arrested, Edith preferred to leave that to her imagination.

From the absolutely bewildered expression on Bailey’s face, it dawned on her that perhaps she really hadn’t mentioned Valerija as her girlfriend before. At the very least, not in detail. Shit. “A while ago... Honestly I’m really surprised that I haven’t mentioned her before... Are you positive I haven’t?” It did take the two of them a bit to establish just exactly what their relationship was, per say, so it is heavily possible that she might have only referred to her before as a friend or roommate.

“Well, to be fair, we lived together before we were dating.” Edith’s brows shot up, surprised at the forwardness and intensity that Bailey was now speaking with. “What exactly does that mean?” she asked with an awkward chuckle. “What do you want to know, specifically? She’s very sweet, about this tall,” Edith gestured, shorter than herself, “erm... I don’t know, I need questions, I guess.” Edith loved talking about Valerija, and could have gone on for hours, but Bailey had flustered her a bit, and she needed redirecting. 

Leona firmly believed people couldn’t change, until her work at the train station turned her into a punctuality freak. Constantly checking her pocket watch and keeping an agenda seemed like things Leona wouldn’t be a fan of, but the years had made it easier. But though it wasn’t a huge effort anymore, she’d grown so used to planning her every minute that she was an enemy of waiting. Especially when the order was concerned, mostly because of how its members were obvious targets. But just when she was about to let her dreadful thoughts seem reasonable, Edith showed up. 

“Good.” Leona said a bit dryly, before going on her poorly-practiced lecture. “Sorry- cigarette voice. Anyway, I was thinking today we’ll try something new. You have to beat me in a duel without using DADA spells. Charms and transfiguration could do the trick, and generally, counter-spells are less generic than defense spells. You remember Halloween? We never know when something like that might happen and stuff. So… uh-  ready?” 

Edith had been pushing herself lately with training for both magical encounters and physical encounters. She would train with Zephyr in non-magical self defense, and Leona for the Order. Between the two and keeping her job as well as making time for repairing her relationship with her sister -she was trying, anyway- and saving time for her relationship with Valerija, Edith suddenly found herself busier than ever. But, as she had stated upon arriving, she was ready and willing to put in the work if it meant keeping herself and the people she cared about safe. 

When Leona explained what they would be doing today, it was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. She had already started thinking about other ways to possibly defend yourself in a situation like that, and planned to use her skills in non-magical self defense to her advantage as well. “Sounds good, I think I can manage. Oh boy...” she sighed as Halloween was mentioned, rubbing her temples. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Shaking out her nerves, Edith took a breath and drew her wand, waiting for the first strike.

Exhibit A: 

Exhibit B:

A wave of relief washed over Hilda. If the woman had said no, she would’ve had no idea where to turn next.

Carefully, Hilda lifted the cloth bag she had brought with her onto the counter. Rather than take the object out of the bag, Hilda gently lowered the sides of the bag to reveal an incredibly well-loved brown teddy bear. Presently, the bear had a dull brown coat with several mismatched fur patches. The problem was that some of the stitching on one of the patches had come undone and some stuffing had been lost due to the injury.

While it was something Hilda could easily fix herself with a bit of magic, she couldn’t bring herself to do it that way. Buttons wasn’t just another one of Seamus’s toys. Buttons was the teddy bear that Patrick’s mother had given Seamus on the day he was born. From the beginning, Buttons was one of Seamus’s favourites, so it was often that he’d love the bear, almost to the point of no return. And Patrick’s mother was always the one to fix him, restuffing him and hand-sewing him back together. Though she couldn’t take the bear back to Patrick’s mother, Hilda didn’t want to stray so far as to use magic to repair the bear.

“This is my son’s teddy bear, Buttons.” It felt a little too open, sharing the name of the bear, but then it also would’ve felt off if she hadn’t of introduced him properly. “The lost stuffing is here, in the bottom of the bag.” Hilda pointed to the dense fluff around Buttons’s feet. “I need you to put the stuffing back in and sew him back up.”

Hilda didn’t notice it, but in moments like this, her mother’s voice emerged from her. It was the same one that had demanded only the best for Hilda when she was little.

“I don’t care what it costs, but I need you not to use magic when you do it.”

Edith was curious but did not interrupt the woman’s ritual as she placed a bag on the counter and revealed the item she needed repaired. It felt like she was being let in on a top secret assignment, one that only the two of them were to know about. When Edith saw what was inside the bag, her heart broke for the child that it belonged to. No one should have to go through life with their most treasured possessions being broken. “Oh, I see... hello there, Buttons,” she greeted the bear, politely, with a soft smile. Her attitude toward the request changed suddenly from being willing to try, to feeling a need to succeed. Patching up clothing was one thing, but a teddy bear? Well, that would require a bit more patience and skill, though she was determined. 

There didn’t seem to be too much damage, on the bright side, and seeing as how the woman still obtained the missing stuffing, putting it back in shouldn’t be a problem at all. “How old is your son?” Edith asked, curiously, as she looked up at the woman. 

The tone of her voice didn’t bother Edith in the slightest, as she could tell that the woman was just a concerned mother who wanted her child’s toy fixed. There was no need to question why it couldn’t be done with magic, as it didn’t matter. Edith could fix it. Looking around the store, she furrowed her brows for a moment. “Alright... I never do this, but...” She walked out from behind the counter to the door, momentarily locking the store and putting up the closed until further notice sign. “Come with me. We’ll need to preform an emergency surgery.” 

Edith ushered the woman to follow her into the back. While it was likely against store policy, it had been slow all day, and she was the only one working at the time. Out back, she cleared off her work bench that normally housed other magical objects, and draped a cloth over it. She was aware that the mother did not want her to use magic on the bear, but she would need to transfigure a few objects in order to make a needle and thread. “Lay him down. Gently, of course,” she instructed, whipping up the correct materials.