De La Rosa

“You’re a witch.” His face lights up, it doesn’t matter if he’s taking a quick jump in logic forward. It feels like the natural conclusion from every word past the man’s lips, because if he can manipulate them, use them, see the power in that, then he doesn’t have another definition for it. Even if he barely understands it. And a short laugh escapes him when he questions it, a finger pointed back at himself. “Same here, my man. I just run in different circles.” 

Explaining his own circles isn’t anything he’s ever so anxious to jump into, but he has enough questions that it isn’t silent for long. “How does that work? What kind of magic do you work with that? Just how far does it reach?”

They’re rattled off swiftly, nothing but genuine interest painted on his face. at least until Alejandro answers him, and the smile fades, mouth quirking to the side. 

It’s with some quiet disappointment that he goes to hand the book back. He told a man he’d try and find him better music, and he can’t help the pressing curiosity whether Justin would like any of the bands tucked away so carefully, so he wants it. No matter what he says about material possessions, his fingers still itch, even if it’s not wholly for himself.

He just can’t agree to those terms, and it doesn’t matter that they sound like understandable, practical things. It was a short list of rules binding him to his coven, but loyalty to them came first. And he couldn’t help but think that a deal like that wasn’t one Castor would approve of, a single string that might divide his loyalty when he didn’t know what was on the other end. 

“You need those things, you can ask.” And he means those words sincerely, because if anything he was always too eager to help. “But I can’t make open ended deals. Sorry.” 

Alejandro laughs, because the words don’t sound like a revelation more than an accusation. He smiles back widely when Niko tells him that he’s a witch too and he wonders what kind of circles this man runs in. What exactly his own powers are. He hadn’t been known for conspiring with other witches, or even enjoying the company of them. But there was always some curiosity when it came to those that practiced in the arcane arts, simply because his own magic was so much different than those he’d come across. 

There were people who could do divination, some of the things he could do, though those were his expertise. Finding things. But he’d yet to come across another person who could manipulate a pathway the way he could. Or the types of things he could do at a crossroad, how far he could see, how far he could reach, where he could project himself. 

The questions pour from Niko in a torrent and Alejandro holds up his hands. “Whoa, whoa, my friend,” he says kindly, chuckling a little at the man’s excitement. “I know I am fascinating, but it takes time to explain what I can do,” he says and while it’s boasting, he just stands there with a dopey smile on his face because he’s glad to find someone that’s excited about what it is he can do. Someone who seems so curious at it. 

“Path magic,” he explains with a certain confidence. “I can find things along the road, I can sense them. If I sleep at a crossroads, I can dream of other crossroads, far and distant. The other side of the country, hell, maybe the other side of the world. Depends on how far the path goes. And in some cases...” he tips his head side to side. “If there is not a path, I can make one. Or I can shorten it or lengthen it.” He pauses to see if he’s lost the other man or not. 

Niko hands back the book and Alejandro gives him a wan smile. “I understand, my friend,” he tells him. “If you find something you want to trade, something tangible, you are always welcome to try again.” 

The man agrees easily and without argument, gun at the ready as he falls in beside her. There was no assumption what he’d do either way, but the fact that he’s next to her might provide better insight into who else has joined their less than merry band. 

The fact is that she still has only vague impression of most of the people here, because it’s easier to be on the outskirts with gun in hand.

Her brow lifts at the compliments he throws out so easily along with that question, but it’s nothing she’ll comment on. If anything she thinks it says more about him, that charming confidence he carries himself with a good illustration of what kind of man she might be dealing with.

“Zoe Bishop. Who are you?” First and last names are always given, it’s not a habit she’s tried to shake herself of. Too much pride still placed in that family line she comes from, the last piece of them she has left. At this point it’s closer to sentimentality than it is any real thought that the man next to her might know who the Bishops are.

She introduces herself and Alejandro grins. Zoe Bishop. A name to remember, he thinks. And when she asks for his, he gives her a slight bow as he introduces himself in turn. “Alejandro Cristobel Lopez De La Rosa,” he gives her in rapid speed. He turns and points to the car that he’s usually seen soliciting sales by. “Y Yolanda,” he names the car to her. 

There’s a casual and confident smile on his face as he walks beside her, like he hasn’t a care in the world and for the most part, he doesn’t. There’d been little danger on the roads ahead of them or behind them and that was almost as reassuring as walking with a beautiful woman to go and clear some of the buildings of their potential enemies hidden within. 

They make their way closer to the building and Alejandro has no fear of what’s inside, either. He’s capable enough with a gun that unless it was a whole horde of the shamblers or something far more sinister, which he got no impression of when he’d sat in the crossroads a few blocks down, then this was going to be an easy clearing of the building. 

“I am only passing by,” he tells her, to be clear that he’s not a part of whatever group she belongs to. “Selling my goods. So if you are in desperate need of something out of the ordinary...I am your man.” 

“That’s a shame,” Niko says, and he means it, even if he doesn’t know if it’s his place to start inviting people to come along with them. There didn’t seem to be any definitive rules on it, but he smiles all the same, because it does’t take much for a person to endear themselves to him. And he thinks Alice would like the man in front of him. “Just ‘cause I don’t dance doesn’t mean it’s not nice to have around.” 

He keeps that smile on his face when Alejandro tells him those things he wants are nothing he can get him. He didn’t really expect it. Some part of him doesn’t expect he’ll ever have any of those things, at least not the way he wants them. Maybe pieces are the best he can hope for, but he’ll take those all the same. “That’s alright. Thanks anyway.” 

His fingers keep flicking through the book, but he’s barely catching CD titles at this point, more distracted by the man in front of him. 

“Yeah, but magical and mystical is a big part of it.” There’s a quickly flashed grin before he nods his head at him. “You can see them? Or… feel them?” He’s not entirely sure how to ask what he wants to know, short of bluntness, but there’s an unbridled curiosity simply because the man knows about them. Some aspect of magic that sits on the outskirts of Niko’s knowledge base, but that only drives that sense of intrigue, because there’s no part of magic that he doesn’t want to get his fingers on..

The smile drops off at the offer, hands stilling with his fingers still resting against the CD book. The words sound too ominous, gaze fixated on the other man like studying him closely enough can help divine his intentions. That urge to make himself useful conflicting with the thought that this time he doesn’t know what that might entail. It’s no comfort now that he might not stick around, because he doesn’t like the idea of that hanging over his head.

“What kind of favor?”

Alejandro gives a chuckle, but let’s it drop there. He can’t tell if the man means it or not. There weren’t many people who wanted him around for any real length of time. People out there who wanted him for his goods and services, but beyond that, not a single person he could think of that actually wanted him for him. He was okay with it. It had been that way for a long time now. 

It isn’t until the man in front of him asks him if he can see or feel the ley lines of the world that he pauses to look over at him, giving him a good study. He can’t tell whether there’s just idle curiosity there for the mystical or if there’s some in the know reasoning he’s asking about it. Alejandro had met fellow witches before, but none that could do the things he did. At least some of them. 

“Of course,” he answers, like that part was only natural. He gives a wave of his hand and looks back down at the goods in his trunk. “See them, feel them, tap into them, use them, manipulate them...” he gives a shrug like it’s no big deal. He takes a step back, bouncing a little on the street that he’s parked next to. “There’s power in paths.” 

It’s so much more than that, but trying to explain his magic to someone had always been a difficult thing for Alejandro. He did things with a key understanding of ley lines and how they worked, of powerful paths and the significance they held in the universe. Traversed walkways and the paths less traveled. He grins at Niko before tilting his head to the side. “There’s a reason you’re asking,” he phrases it as a statement, instead of a question. 

What kind of favor? He can feel the anxiety there. It scared a lot of people and Alejandro just smiled warmly because that was never the intention. He’d never make anyone do anything they truly didn’t want to do. “The ‘I scratch your back, you scratch mine’ sort of favor,” he starts. “You take those CDs, maybe one day I come to you needing food or shelter or protection,” he says, then gives another quick dance move. “Or a dance partner.” 

For Patty, magic was nothing but a source of glee, still to this day. Though her mother, in all her cynicism, would probably have considered it ungodly or sinister, she considered herself a child of fantasy and was too busy still marveling over the fact that it was real to bother being scared or distrustful of it. Especially in the hands of someone so charming, who pledged to use it for good, like an actual movie hero or something. Patty grinned at Alejandro’s flair and showmanship, affected by it all, and watched him work with a mixture of patience and excitement as though she were an audience member to a circus.

When he says she’s found a family in this group, it actually stalls and distracts  her a bit, because even after all this time, that was a word she had never conscious associated with them. But hearing it now, thinking it might be true, it…was an emotional little revelation. They’d never replace the real deal but the thought that those she traveled with, the dysfunctional ones and the serious ones alike, could become her family in time filled her with hope and happiness. She beamed a bit, raising her shoulders and shimmying them playfully.

“Jeez, you’re gonna make me cry.” Talk of the Hell and Heaven gates were so small in comparison to her. So she just shrugged, as she hadn’t really eavesdropped enough to be a reliable source on them anyway. “Uh, all I know is they’re important. Zoe should know more. She can be kind of mean, but…don’t take it too personally. She works really hard around here.”

Patty’s delighted when he finally stands and declared her items found, like it’s some kind of giant game still. Part of her still doubts it but only so far as to hold her excitement until he actually turns up with them. Still, she bounces on her heels a bit more and grins appreciatively before taking the hand he’s offered her and nodding furiously.

“Cool! But…you’re gonna go alone?” She hated watching it, every time. Like they were never coming back, even when they did. Patty clasped the outside of his hand with her other one, squeezing it tightly between both and pulling it towards her a bit. “Be careful, cousin. If it takes longer just to be safe, I don’t mind…’cause I got a shit ton of more stuff I want, okey?” 

He smiles when she says he’s going to make her cry. He’s glad she’s found people she can count on. Even if he’s just met her, there’s a truth to the world that people can’t, or shouldn’t, try to make it on their own. There was a common need in all of them to surround themselves with people they cared about and while Alejandro went against that grain, distanced himself from people, he still got the human contact he needed when he was doing his bargaining. For instance now, even if she was held at arm’s length, even if this was their first meeting, he didn’t miss that she’d called him cousin. Didn’t miss that he’d thrown his own terms of endearment back at her. 

Making a mental note of this Zoe individual, he shakes his head. “I will take nothing personally,” he tells her, hand coming up to put to his chest as if to say he’ll hide his emotions so that no one can get at them. That’s mostly true, too. People rarely bothered him and that was by design. He never let people get under his skin and whether that was because he never stuck around long enough for people to do so or because he really did have thick skin, he couldn’t begin to tell.

Standing up and wiping off his pants, he looks over at her question. “What I do, I must do alone,” he tells her dramatically. It’s not true, but it’s how he prefers it. Not wanting anyone to slow him down or risk themselves for the things he’s going to get. He has ways to ensure his own safety, but he didn’t want to be responsible for the safety of someone else while they were out there. His magic hadn’t failed him yet, but the less he gave it a chance to, the less it was bound to do so. 

“I will remember you want more items, fear not,” he told her, again dramatically. He gave a slight bow and then walked over to his trunk, closing it with ease. If he was going to get the items she wanted, he was going to have to get to work soon. “Farewell then,” he tells her. “I will see you within twenty four hours.” 

He isn’t someone Zoe recognizes, but she saw that car trailing after them on the long road out of New Jersey. Another day, another life, and she might have something to say about the lack of subtlety, but there’s no point anymore. There’s nothing subtle about a convoy moving across state lines, not when the rest of the world is dead, and the roar of engines isn’t so frequent a thing anymore. If they draw attention, that’ll be enough reason for it.

She gives a nod at his answer before she turns back towards the building across the street, a few steps forward, dried grass crunching beneath her boots as she heads towards the road.

“Then come on.”

It isn’t much of a suggestion, but he’s welcome to take it or leave it as he chooses. In some ways it’s some test of character to ask a stranger with her, just how ready he is to use that gun, but if he chooses to stay behind it wont’ matter either way.

“Of course, el capitán,” he says, delighted that she’d ask him to come along. There was a good chance he could get his hands one some supplies while he was at it, add to the collection he has growing in the back of his Mustang. He’s not sure if she really is the one in charge, or if she just struts like she is, but he can recognize that sort of leadership in her. 

Falling in beside her, he pulls his gun and holds it up, almost like the thing was a toy, but there’s a certain air to it as well. He knows how to use a gun, almost as well as he knows how to use magic. One couldn’t solely rely on magic to save their lives, he’d come to learn. 

It feels almost uncomfortably obvious, the sides of the building painted a bright blue, with an obnoxious yellow sign hung on the side. Like it’s own kind of signal flare set up in the midst of a swiftly crumbling landscape, the buildings around them already starting to fall into decay.

Including the one across the street, the squat brown building that holds Zoe’s attention now. Gun always at her side, four lanes of abandoned highway and broken down cars separating them from the medical center. It seemed worth a look at least, even if she has little optimism what might be found inside at this point.

The sound of footsteps behind her draws her attention, a glance back at the approaching figure before she nods her head at the building.

“Got a gun?”

He didn’t know what had made him follow the group when they left. Maybe it was because he’d had such a good time getting to know them, maybe it was because he was sure that people were going to still want to trade items with him that he went out and found on his own. Maybe it was because some of them owed him favors. 

Either way, he had followed them and when they stopped at the IKEA, Alejandro was satisfied that at least he’d be sleeping on something comfortable tonight. 

A quick glance at a woman who was heading in had him trailing behind a little bit, hands in his pockets as he bobbed his head to music that was only playing in his head. The store was off the road a little bit and while he hadn’t sensed danger upon the road, it didn’t mean there wasn’t any danger inside a building that sat back from it. 

Surprised when she asked him if he had a gun, he grinned devilishly at her. “Why yes, I do.” 

Niko laughs again, bright and honest because the man’s got an easy, playful manner about him that’s just as simple to appreciate. “Maybe one of these days. If I’m drunk enough.” Another thought occurs to him almost as quickly. “And if you stick around I guess.” 

It’s tempting. It’s too tempting to say it, that his heart’s desire is still a boy in Los Angeles, because he gave too many pieces away without thinking how he’d get them back. It seems too easy to say because there’s no real thought in his mind that it isn’t anything but a joke. If he thought otherwise it wouldn’t even be a consideration. It’s why he hasn’t asked Alice if any of those people he used to know are still alive, because some quiet, well buried part of himself is terrified of the answer. 

Regardless, it’s not what he settles on. His own answer said like just as much of a joke, even if he means every word of it. He had bits and pieces back in California. Maybe it’ll be enough to get back there. “Love, acceptance, inner peace? Know where I can find those things?” 

“Well. Maybe I’ll have to swing by St. Louis.” Part of him wants to argue the words altogether, but he doesn’t have enough investment in the closest thing he’s got to a religion. What’s more interesting to him is how he qualifies it, drawing Niko’s gaze up from the CDs he’s flipping idly through to focus on the man in front of him. “What do you know about ley lines?”

His curiosity’s an abrupt and obvious thing, any trace of magic enough to snag his attention. Enough that he half forgets what they’re bartering over before he just twists his hand, showing off bracelets and rings. “Any of these strike your fancy?”

“Alas, I’m afraid I’m a free spirit,” Alejandro told the man, meaning that he probably wouldn’t be sticking around for very long. “Bound to the open road,” he waves his hand towards the road he’s parked his car next to and there was more love for it than any one person in his life. If it was supposed to be sad, he didn’t find it so. He trusted the roads more than he trusted the people. 

When Niko asks for things for him to find, a somber look crosses Alejandro’s face and he genuinely gives the man a heartfelt apology in his facial expressions. “Ah, I work in the tangible, I’m afraid. Those are things I cannot give you.” He’s sorry those are what the man is looking for more than something tangible that could be achieved. “I truly hope you find them,” he gives earnestly. 

A chuckle escapes him and he turns to the goods he has in his car, looking for something else the man may want. But it’s not until he asks him what he knows of ley lines that he looks back up at him. “Everything,” he tells him simply at first. “They’re more than just the magical and mystical,” he waggles his fingers in the air for show. “They’re the soul, the veins, the spiritual highways that link the world together.” 

There’s so much more to it. There’s so much more than just spiritual highways and magic underground lines of energy. It’s where his magic comes from, it’s where his powers manifest and the greatest ley line he’d ever come across was in St. Louis, where he’d never felt closer to their energy. 

He takes a look at the bracelets on the man’s wrists and for once, he draws up a smile at the man. “You could just owe me a favor,” he tells him. “I would hate for you to part with something you adore.” 

Alejandro holds up a hand, and Wes watches genuinely excited for whatever he’s gonna pull out. It takes a moment. A pile of things that’d look like hoarding in any other circumstance just looks like fucken treasure.

It could be a stupid deal in the end but he doesn’t actually care. The man’s decent, probably someone Wes would actually want to be friends with. The favor could be something he’d have done for him anyway. 

Trading favors is a weird idea in Wes’ mind – cause some people are just helpful. Or in need of anything to do like Wes. Boredom would make him helpful more often than not. Especially when he’s getting a fresh pack of cards. Still in the damn plastic! Wes takes Alejandro’s hand with a firm shake and a cheek splitting grin, “Thanks, man.”

He tucks the domino packet under his arm whilst he gets straight to peeling open the plastic packaging. “How’s this whole favor business working out for you?” he asks, only wanting to make conversation as he rips into plastic, then tips out the fresh, clean cards. He’s like a kid on christmas day, “Guessin’ you come across a lot of other people?”

Wes fans out the cards. White and pristine. A far cry from the yellowed, trashy pinup cards he’s been using and ruining for years now. “Shit, I’m too fuckin’ happy these, man.” He laughs at himself, unable to hide his childish joy, “Small things amuse small minds, ‘ey?”

The man looks so god damned pleased with his trade that Alejandro grins for him. While he was in it for the business and, really, that was all he was in it for -- there were some times when he knew he’d made someone’s day with what he traded them that made him feel just a little bit better about what he did. Gave him a little bit of a purpose other than, this is what I’ve always done. 

“You are very welcome,” he says politely, bowing slightly at the man before he leans against his car. Wes asks another question and Alejandro tips his head side to side. “I don’t think a lot of people expect for me to come calling for their favor,” he answers the man genuinely. “I think most just think they’re getting something for free and that I won’t be able to track them down again when I, Alejandro, need something in return.” He’s flamboyant in his description, putting a hand to his chest to illustrate his point. 

Truth was, he did track people down. Could do it rather easily, though it took a little more effort than just finding the items they wanted to trade for. He hadn’t had to use it a whole lot, though. Very little things he’d needed the help of someone else for lately and to Alejandro’s point, he hadn’t had to call in a lot of favors these days. Sometimes he had, when he needed some place safe to sleep or if he needed to stock up on something that was already owned by someone else. Food was a big ordeal for him and while he didn’t mind canned meals anymore, fresh meals were always better. 

But lately, people hadn’t been so kind. They hadn’t wanted to play nice and sometimes it took two or three favors from different people to get what was owed of him. Someone tough looking, like Wes, to come with him to intimidate someone else to pay up what they owed. 

“Surprisingly, yes,” Alejandro said. “A lot of pockets of people all over the state and beyond.” Though he was starting to head West to get away from some of them. 

A laugh escaped him when Wes said he was too happy with the cards and Alejandro clapped his hands together, clucking his tongue. “I am happy to hear that, my friend. You’ll tell people about me, won’t you? That I have the goods they’re looking for?”

Charlie stopped short, blinked and lowered the crossbow. If this guy was an actual threat odds were that he wouldn’t have squealed like a kid just at somebody coming around the corner. 

He didn’t recognize him, but that wasn’t strange. He’d kept his distance since they’d hit the road, and the way this group picked ups trays one more face wasn’t anything worth much notice. 

“Crossbow is down.” He sucked at his teeth. “Any reason you’re skulking around in the dark, or nah?” 

He might have put down his weapon, ut that didn’t mean he trusted this guy. If he was hiding in the shadows trying to get away with something, it wasn’t going to go well for him. 

The man put the crossbow down and Alejandro felt a much needed relief at the fact it wasn’t pointed at his face anymore. He didn’t feel like getting one of the crossbow bolts to the chest today and he also didn’t feel like fighting for his life in the moment, either. 

A noise of offense leaves his throat before he’s telling the man, “I do not skulk,” aghast that the man would even think that’s what he was doing. He held up a few items in his hands, as if they should explain everything the man needed to know. “I am delivering goods that were promised. As always, or my name is not Alejandro Cristobel Lopez De La Rosa.” 

It was as simple as that. Someone had entrusted him to find them some items, he was bringing those items back to the people who had requested them. 

“Then I already failed step one.” A short laugh follows, even if it’s true enough. He can never seem to turn it off. Even if no one really is watching, there’s still that constant urge to keep up appearances. It’s nothing he’s especially proud of, but it’s harder than he likes to strip himself of that quiet, anxious voice in the back of his mind. Easier to pretend he doesn’t hear it, but it leaves him with an easier appreciation for people like the man in front of him. The ones who really didn’t care, who were unapologetically themselves, and he thinks Alejandro falls easily under that category.  

“Bueno mi amigo. How are you?” He bobs his head at the question, stepping closer to the trunk as the man digs something out of it’s depths. 

Anything his heart desires, and his smile becomes a tighter thing. It’ll never be things, nothing that can be sold out of the back of a trunk. Concepts, love, devotion, understanding, or people, and there’s a wistful ache that accompanies that thought. Because he misses his coven, he misses Cas, and even with that, the first person that pops into his head is still a boy that never loved him. One who’d run the second those words had passed Niko’s lips.

“Guarantee you can’t get me that.” He says it cheerfully anyway, because those are aches he’s used to carrying around with him. It costs him nothing to plaster a grin on his lips, attention dropping to the book of CDs pressed into his hands. Flipping idly through the pages for something good, even if his first thought isn’t to keep half of them for himself.

“Besides, how am I supposed to walk the true path of enlightenment if I’m bound by earthly possessions?” He glances up at the man, grin widening, because he’s only half joking. It only sits there a moment before he holds the book up. “How much you want for this?“

“Oh,” Alejandro laughs, putting his hands over his eyes dramatically before he drops them again. “I will not look, I promise.” It’s a fun conversation to be having with the man, one that he’s not sure the motivation behind because the man seems to be talking in riddles, something Alejandro can’t place the true meaning of. He doesn’t mind though, especially when he’s looking inside the trunk. Words were one thing, but maybe someone didn’t know what they wanted until they saw it. That’s usually how it worked with Alejandro’s wares. 

“Muy bien, muy bien,” he nods his head. He was alright. There were hardly times these days where Alejandro wasn’t alright. He kept the look out for danger along the roads and very seldom had something gotten close enough to him to be of true danger to him or his goods. He was very careful these days and it lead him to travel and traverse this world with ease. 

Guarantee you can’t get me that, he says and Alejandro doesn’t challenge it. He simply tips his head to the side, “Within reason, most anything is possible,” he tells him and even if the words are contrary to themselves, he doesn’t care. He doesn’t know what this kid’s true heart’s desires are, doesn’t need to know. If it’s a thing, he can find it. If it’s a person, it’s trickier but he can find that too. If it’s something that’s not tangible, that’s there Alejandro’s abilities start to falter and fail. 

“Bah, the true path of enlightenment is in St. Louis. Earthly possessions have nothing to do with it. It’s all in the ley lines,” he says, wiggling his fingers like it were some flashy thing. The truth was, that hiking path in St. Louis had been some of the most powerful magical paths he’d ever walked. 

“And for those?” he nods to the CDs in the man’s hands. “What have you got to trade?”

Jeez, he really was taking this seriously. Patty would be lying if she said it didn’t delight her a bit, beyond all the reasons she stated before. He was just so interesting, so oddly dedicated, even if she was lying to herself believing it was because he thought she deserved special treatment. She’d take it anyway because it felt good, it always had, being surprised by men who put everything else by the wayside in a moment’s notice just to make her happy. “Oo,” she murmured quietly, watching Alejandro slip past her and head into the road.

Patty followed, tugging absently at the hem of her shorts as she did so, and offering just a small glance back at the her group. She looks back when he speaks again, grinning slyly at his compliments and once again rewarding him with a little cheeky twisting, more of a game to be played than an honest, innocent reaction. And then he says it–arcane–and Patty doesn’t know too many words like it but she knows that one. Instantly, her face lights up, interest compounding. 

“You mean magic? You’re magic?” She exclaims happily, smiling, wide-eyed, as he bent and got to work. Everything made sense now. If possible, it made his gift more special in her eyes, and Patty walked a little closer just to get a better look at his ritual, something the other witches hadn’t let her in on before. She watches like a hawk, like an infant watching a mobile, taking some time to answer his question as though she didn’t want to sacrifice a single brain cell to that while this interesting display was in front of her.

“I don’t have a clue,” she said honestly. “Good weather. I think some ‘gate’ or something? The others have their reasons. I’m just going ‘cause…” She shrugged. No real dilemma here. Just honest indifference. “‘Cause I like it here and I want to stay with them. We have a lot of fun. ‘N take care of each other.” Patty takes a deep inward breath to pick up some of that incense. “I like that, too…”

Alejandro’s seated in the middle of the road, incense burning and he looks up at her when she calls him magic. A sly grin crosses his features as he holds up his fingers, waggling them and confirming her assumption with an, “I’m magic.” He’s not shy about it. In fact, he’s very proud of it and isn’t afraid to let people see it if they show some interest in it. He thinks her interest comes from a more innocent place than others. Others who may not enjoy it so much, who may think him some kind of monster for even possessing the abilities that he does. He’d run into plenty of those types of people along the way as well. 

He goes through the motions, closing his eyes and letting that magic flow through him. Part of it is the runes he’s carved around him, part of it is inherent magic in his blood. Most of it is for show, some type of performance he likes to put on, sometimes even when no one is watching. Somewhere along the way he might be worried that he could forget what was necessary and what was just for show, but he thinks he’s a lot way off from that point. He knows what he’s doing. He’s good at what he does. 

And just like that, he’s got her items. Or at least, he knows where they are. Not too far, but it’s going to take a little hike on his part to pick them up. Nothing too dangerous standing in the way and he’s glad, because he really wanted to stick to his turn around time for these items. It was how he got customers, but more importantly, it was how he kept them. 

Once it’s done, he focuses on the conversation at hand. What’s in California. He opens one eye to look up at her, to see if she’s still watching and she is, something childlike in the way she’s eyeing him, something innocent there. He grins over at her and opens both eyes. “Ah, you’ve found a family,” he says, like he knows what that feels like. “That’s a hard thing to find in these days. I wouldn’t want to leave them, either.” He tilts his head to the side, though. “And what of this...gate?” 

Standing up, he brushes himself off and steps out of the runic circle he’s drawing on the asphalt. He holds out his hand to her, as if to shake hers in some sort of deal and says, “I have found your items. I shall have them to you tomorrow, within 24 hours, as promised.” 

The music alone is a brief hit of nostalgia, something that reminded him too much of home the second it reaches his ears. For a second Niko can blink and picture the west coast, beaches and palm trees, a city close enough to the Mexican border that he could hear the same kind of music playing from a car passing by his window every night. 

That quick taste is all he’s really after, but his steps slow as he gets closer to the man responsible. Taking in the brightly painted car, the open trunk that his gaze skims over and can’t quite hold his attention when there’s someone dancing the salsa right in front of him. Both well and shamelessly, and there’s that familiar and consistent sense of awe just from watching, because he’s always too quickly captivated by people like that. This stranger in front of him, Alice, Justin, people who knew who they were, who could put it on display without a thought or care who might be watching. 

The question helps focus him, an almost childlike amusement in the man bowing to him. A short laugh in response to the question he tosses out, aware how awkward a skeleton would look trying to dance next to him. “No one wants that, bud. I’m a shit dancer.” 

“Niko King,” introduces himself in kind, before a question of his own slips out. Accent not nearly as natural or comfortable a thing, but it’s his best attempt at clinging to that nostalgia summoned up in him. “Qué tienes?”

Alejandro gives a laugh when he says he’s a shit dancer. “The key is to dance as if no one is watching,” he tells him, like that’s the solution to everything. He flares up the dancing for a moment before suddenly stopping, posing with his final move before he grins over at the man and returns to something that is more of a semblance of something normal. 

“How do you do, Niko King?” he asked, bowing his head again to the man before he grins even brighter as he asks what he has in Spanish. There’s always something nice about speaking his native tongue, always something nice when other people can or at least try to bring it out for him as well and he appreciates the man for it. 

“For you, Mi corazón, anything your little corazón desires,” he schmoozes him, turning to the trunk and starting to dig through all the material he has. He looks Niko over, like he can figure out what it is someone like him would like just from first glance. He’s hard to read, but eventually he pulls out a collection of CDs, handing them over before he starts digging around for something else that the man may like. 

“And if there’s nothing here you like, but there’s something you want, then I’m your man. I will get it for you, guaranteed...within reason,” he tips his head to the side at the last part. It’s always his fear that someone may ask for something he simply can’t find or something that would take forever to get to. 

He has a look on his face and Rachel doesn’t consider it a win so much as an opening but it’s one she’ll take. “Isn’t it?” Everyone needed something and he seemed to be certain he had the answers. Or a way to get them. And that was more interesting to Rachel than any supplies he might offer in a bargain. “How.” A single word, not even a question but that’s what she wants. An answer to what he claims he can do.“You say you can get me what I want but how?” She shifts her hip, head tipped to the side, wondering if he’ll share a secret that probably got him most of his business. His ability to get anyone anything anytime. 

Maybe some would focus on the what–– the things he could get for them but Rachel’s always had her eyes open: he’d leave and they’d be back to scavenging for supplies whenever they can. He knows a way. He knows where. And she wants to know how. 

Alejandro grins, because he’s not shy about his magic. He’ll perform it in front of someone, but it’s just that: a performance. There’s a lot of bells and whistles he puts into it, but most of it is for the sake of show. The act of simple divination comes easily to him, it’s the show he likes to put on. Just like when she asks a simple question of, How?, he already knows that the answer isn’t going to be a simple one. She might glean from it that he’s a witch, that he has some sort of power find things like that, but that’s not going to be his answer. 

“Ah,” he says, tipping his head back and starting to walk backwards. He leaves his trunk and his car and steps out onto the highway, out into the road, arms splayed out like that’s the answer she’s look for. “It’s the road, precioso,” he starts. “She speaks to me. Whispering even now.” He closes his eyes like he can hear some melodic voice whispering sweet nothings into his ear. “She tells me of things.” 

“I once did work for a witch coven finding old tomes and spellbooks across the country. If finding these texts wasn’t enough, it was what was done with them when I got back that turned out to be the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced. Have you ever witnessed a ritual sacrifice? It isn’t pleasant. Villains, the lot of them.” 

“None. I do not feel guilty for my pleasures. But if I must choose: Mojitos, a campy Romance novel, and Hawaiian shirts.” 

A lawn chair parked next to his cherry red Mustang currently housed Alejandro. Sunglasses on and a stereo next to him playing some upbeat Latin music, he was practically bouncing in his seat, wanting to dance. But his trunk was up and the “For Sale” sign was still in place, welcoming customers to his makeshift shop in any way he possibly could. 

Having had enough of sitting down, he stood suddenly as the music picked up, froze in place, and then started dancing along with the music. A typical salsa dance with an invisible partner, he even gave the occasional, “Bah da bah,” along with the beat. He was a good dancer, something his grandmother had taught him before she’d passed, God rest her soul. And it was during the dance that he realized he’d caught someone’s eye. Someone who was currently walking towards him. It didn’t make him slow or stop, but as the man got close enough, he turned to face him, arms moving with the rhythm as he kept his his footwork. 

“Bailamos,” he told the man before he spun and when he stopped again, he grinned widely at the newcomer, giving a slight bow. “Alejandro De La Rosa,” he gave the shortened version of his name. “Have you come for the shop or the dancing?” 

It was a serious promise. Patty liked that. She watched him check his watch and pursed her lips for a tight, borderline-thrilled smile, as if standing in line to watch the start of a tour de force. Impress me, she thought.

Alejandro’s declaration of freedom made her expression calm a bit, but not in disappointment. He was right, after all. She kept mute about it but it resonated with things she’d told herself back when she’d made her decision to risk it all to escape tightening chains. Patty nods thoughtfully. “True…if it’s wild now, it’ll be wild forever. But even that has its perks.”

Everything get derailed a bit, or rather feels like it comes to its natural end, as Patty watched Alejandro take out a group of items she doesn’t recognize. For a second, she opens her mouth to protest, then realizes maybe it’s not for her. Her eyes flicker between his face and that bowl as she walks around to get a better view, placing deliberate space between them but eyes still bright with curiosity like she already knows she’s going to get to see something awesome.

“…no, not long,” she answers a bit delayed, looking over each of his little ingredients with heavy focus. “We move all the time. Everyone wants to go to California.” Patty smiles wide. “I guess the road’s our home, too, for now. What are you doing?” Finally she stops and asks.

Alejandro nods and nods as Patty explains that they’re not going to stay here for long. California, she says and that piques an interest because he’s been to California before. Enjoyed the state and everything it had to offer. Lots of crossroads. 

What are you doing? she asks in the same breath and he turns to look at her, eyes narrowed like he’s trying to decide whether or not she’s to be trusted. He turns his watch to show her the face and says, “I have 23 hours and 57 minutes to get you your items. That was my guarantee.” He pulls his things into his arms and traipses into the middle of the street, looking both ways before settling on the road headed West. 

Setting down his ingredients, he stands there for a moment to look at her again. “Beauty, brains -- please tell me you also possess the ability to see reason and value in a bit of the arcane.” He waggles his fingers for show before rolling up both sleeves and taking a seat right in the middle of the road, on the asphalt, with his items sprawled out in front of him. 

There’s a piece of chalk he has that gets picked up first, drawing a circle around him and them inscribing it with arcane runes that he’s known since he was young. Something he had to teach himself, but like any good diviner, this was the easiest of the spells. Once the intricate pattern is drawn around him, he takes the bowl and burns the incense inside of it, letting it waft up in front of him for a moment. Taking a deep breath of the smoke, he closes his eyes and rubs his hands together in front of him, holding them in a prayer stance before forming a triangle between thumbs and forefingers. 

A lot of it is for show. The incense and some of the runs simply because he knows someone is watching, but damn if he hasn’t practiced in making it a good show. And the magic starts to flow almost immediately, reaching out into the asphalt, into the path, he was sitting on. 

“Tell me, what is in California,” he makes small talk as he searches.