#pixie your battles

Kaden wasn’t sure what else there was to find at Coffee Plus Plus, the night after there was hardly anything weirder than a broken umbrella and the server he talked to was hardly helpful. But he was out of leads and going a little out of his mind. He was glad he wasn’t going to be here alone though. Seeing Bea walking and talking was something fucking surreal. Even more so than the current predicaments they were dealing with in regards to their respective partners. “Hey,” he said as she walked up to the coffee shop. “Glad you could come.” Really glad she was breathing, too. He wasn’t over it. Not sure when he would be. If that ever happened. She had mentioned that she felt different, changed. Which made sense, she had died after all. But he thought he could almost see it. He couldn’t say what it was. By all accounts, save for the fact she was covering her neck, she looked the same. There was no denying she wasn’t, though. “Is Felix doing alright?” He wanted to ask about her, too, if she was alright. But he still didn’t really know how to talk to har about… that. The not being dead thing. Not yet.

Bea knew she shouldn’t have expected a quiet week, there was no such thing in White Crest, but she had hoped for it. She wanted a quiet month. Time to refocus herself and figure out how she fit back in the world. Instead, she got a message from her boyfriend telling her that he was a giant, naked and wandering the forest. She could roll with it, she had to. It was, in a way, a relief that Kaden was dealing with this and Regan, though at least Regan was tiny and able to stay inside. Slowly, the exhaustion that she felt when she first came back was easing off her. Thank god for that. She wasn’t sure if she would have been able to meet up with Kaden if it was still as bad as it was before. She paused before Kaden, taking him in for a moment. A memory tugged at the back of her brain, hazy enough to know that it was from when she had been a ghost. It seemed like she had decided to go on a walk with Kaden and Abel, though that was unknown to them at the time. “It’s good to see you,” She told him as she considered whether or not he would want a hug from her. Touch was something that she had given out easily before, but now it was far more intimate. She used it to remind herself that she was alive. She felt wooden now, just as she had with the others she saw recently. They all expected something from her. They all waited with bated breath to see if she was different. “Well, he’s scared a few bears out of a cave and is hanging out in there until we find a solution. He’s doing as well as he can considering he’s naked in a cave and can’t go outside .” She sighed, this was not how she imagined her first couple of weeks being with Felix like. Hanging out with him, naked, in a cave when he’s three times her height was just not in the plan. Her hand flexed,“It’s the first time I’ve had to sleep alone since I came back, so it’s been a learning curve.” She hadn’t imagined that she would be so codependent on her relationship so soon, but she supposed getting beheaded could do that to a person. “How’s Regan? And you?”

It was strange seeing Bea and not feeling her warmth, her pulling him into a hug whether he wanted it or not. Kaden was too unsure to push it. Talking about what was happening now was so much easier than touching on anything that had come before. “It’s a little better to see you,” he said with a small smile. Strange to think this was the second friend he’d seen walking and talking post-mortem now. “He scared bears out of a cave?” It was so absurd, he had to laugh. The whole thing was crazy. It was draining and exhausting but, putain, it was funny in its own way. In that way that if he didn’t laugh, they both might cry a little. “What a fucking crash course to get on dating in White Crest right out of the gate.” His heart sunk watching her. She had enough to deal with right now. This was unfair. Come back from the fucking dead, let the woman have a normal week. As much as he wanted that normal, no supernatural, no nonsense of any sort moment for him and Regan, the kind they hadn’t had in so long now, he’d give it to Bea and Felix in a heartbeat. “You’ve been staying with him this whole time, huh? You know after the-- And before...” He found himself offering her a bit of a sly smile and gave her a small nudge with his elbow. Sure, it sucked knowing she was hurting now, but it was nice to know his friend had found something good in all this shit. This town was a tough place to find it. “I’ve been better. Can’t sleep much. I mean I don’t think they’ll stay like-- But what if--” He shook it off and led them over to the table where he’d found Regan’s clothes the other day. There was nothing damaged or even dented or scratched. The umbrella that was a little worse for wear last time he’d been there was perfectly in place. It was off-putting. He wanted to find a scene. Fucking anyting helpful. “Regan’s screaming. A lot. Thankfully it’s not too bad at her current size. And she’s insisting she should go back to work.” He could feel the stress of all this creeping back in, weighing on him again. “So you know, she’s her.”

Five weeks without her had to have been jarring for those who had seen her constantly before this. Bea couldn’t imagine how strange it must have been for all of them. She was sure it was terrible for them all leading up to the ritual. She shrugged slightly, unsure of how to reply now. Her mouth was dry, this was strange. She had never really struggled to be around Kaden, at least not like this, but here she was unsure of what to say or do. “He can’t be out in the daylight and the only caves that are big enough for him right now were one’s bears like. It was really the only option.” She offered him a small smile, dating in White Crest was always a ride, but she had never dealt with this with her last boyfriend. Felix was worth the effort though, even if it was one of the stranger things she was doing. Kaden’s elbow got a snort out of her,“Yeah, well, when I got out of the hospital I went to his first thing. I might have admitted I was in love with him when I was a ghost. Thought he needed to hear it in person.” She looked at him for a long moment, before smirking a bit,“I didn’t expect the first time I got to see him naked being when he’s fifteen-foot tall, but that’s how it is in White Crest huh?” She understood Kaden’s concern, she had thought of what would happen if they were stuck like this forever, but she was certain they’d find a solution. She figured if she could come back from the dead, she could find a way to bring her boyfriend back to a normal height. She considered attempting to make things normal and offer him some calming words, but it felt weird to now. It didn’t come naturally to her anymore. Her eyebrows furrowed,”This is where it happened? Why does it look normal?” It didn’t make sense. She let out a frustrated huff of air. Couldn’t White Crest be normal for once and let a scene be a scene. “What’s she going to do at work? Crawl in the bodies? Seems a little stupid to go back to work.”

Kaden wasn’t really sure who had it worse, Regan or Felix. He was also really fucking sure it didn't matter right now. “Well hopefully we can find something today and then no more caves and no more tissue boxes for either of them.” Kaden had been leaned over the table, looking for anything remotely helpful when she mentioned “love.” His head shot up to look at her, eyes wide. “You told him you loved him as a ghost?” He was definitely shocked but a small smile was present on his face. “I don’t know if that counts as moving fast or slow considering you were kind of dead. But uh, yeah, that’s one of the more White Crest ways to first see someone naked.” Shit, he knew this was probably hard on her but if she cared about Felix that much, had to be even worse. At least a little of the rhythm of their friendship was back, rocky and unsteady as it felt so far. It was still hard to remove himself from all the grief he’d felt in that month every time he looked at her and to not just worry how she was doing.  

“Looks like we’re not going to find anything here,” he said with a sigh and waved her inside with him. Maybe they’d have better luck there. As soon as Kaden stepped through the door, he saw her. The face from the carnival. “You!” He said as he charged right towards her. “You want to explain yourself?” Her laugh came out like chirps. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, hon. But take a seat and I can take your order. Let me guess, a large for him and a small for her.” Kaden narrowed his eyes at her and decided they should play ball and take a seat at one of the tables. Worth a shot.

“Apparently death put things in perspective for me.” Bea did wish that it had been different for them. Felix should have gotten more than a dead almost lover telling him she loved him over a make shirt ouija board. “The kind of dead part makes me think that even if it was fast, it’s okay.” This was easy for her, chatting about things that simply just happened instead of trying to talk about how she had been a corpse only two weeks ago. As she followed Kaden in, she simply watched him charge the woman with a dull expression. She wasn’t going to get involved in Kaden’s fight with the waitress, she thought as she adjusted the collar of her white turtleneck, he could handle himself. She really needed to go shopping soon, all she had now was red and the thought of the color made her stomach roll. She raised an eyebrow at the woman,“No. I’ll take a large coffee with a splash of milk, please.” Looking towards Kaden, she tapped her fingers against the table idly, disappointed by the lack of anything helpful. “What did she do to you?”

Kaden had always believed life should end with death. But he also had never been faced with a real opportunity for anyone he cared about to come back from the dead. Not really. Having her back... it was complicated. More than he imagined. He was happy to see her but the shift in her and everything else, it just set a pit in his stomach. He tried not to let the worry settle in, not while they were here. “You’ve got a point. I think you may have out done me and Regan on the melodrama for first I love you’s, though. Which really I’m all for. Morgan was about to submit ours for a made for tv movie or something I’m sure.” Had he even gotten to tell her about everything with his mother? Fuck. He didn’t. It felt stupid to bring up now or even fill her in. It was-- It hardly compared.

It was odd to see Bea sit on the sidelines. By no means did he need her to step in to help him, but she usually did. Butting in was sort of what she did. Whether he liked it or not. And usually he hadn’t but now he was really missing it. His brow creased as he looked at her, almost hoping he could spot a glimpse of his friend before she had been changed forever. She was still there. She had to be. It was still Bea. “Not much. She ran the carnival game that I played when I went with Regan. I won and she gave me a mime plush. With wings.” The thought alone made him roll his eyes. “She said some bullshit about how Regan shouldn’t be dating a human. Crap like that.” Kaden bit the inside of his lip. He hated thinking about that shit. What if she had a point? There was no way they had a long term future, right? Why bother? Before he could even shake it away himself, the waitress came back. “Here’s your coffee,” the fae said with a wink. He noticed she had a set of glasses resting on her head. They were Broken. Before he could ask any questions, she was walking away. “What the fuck, did you see those?” he asked Bea.

“Well, I’ve always had a flare for the dramatic. Just ask my sisters. It was good for work.” Bea said lightly, though she fitted Kaden with a critical look,“You didn’t tell me the story of your’s.” She had to wonder if it had come up while she had been a ghost. It would make sense that she didn’t get to hear about it because of that, but it still left her with a sour taste in her mouth. She had missed so much when she had died. She had no idea how much more she would find out she missed, but she wasn’t looking forward to seeing how much things had changed since she had been gone.

“The mimes strike against you once again. Have you considered maybe that in a past life you were cursed by the first mime? It would make sense.” Her delivery was rather deadpan, but her eyes sparkled with the joke. It was getting easier to talk to her friend now. It was getting easier to be the new version of herself now. Her expression soured then. So she was one of those types. “Sounds like a bitch.” She wrapped her hand around her cup with a quick thank you, before she followed Kaden’s eyes to the woman again. Those were Felix’s. She was standing and moving to cut in front of the woman without replying. A sharp look had taken over her face now. “Excuse me, did you happen to find those glasses here? My boyfriend recently lost a pair exactly like that and we’d like them back.”

“Yeah, can’t deny that.” Kaden hadn’t wanted to dwell on just how much had happened that he didn’t get to talk with his friend about. As much as he desperately wanted to while she was gone, it felt so hollow and shallow to him to dump all his shit on her. After everything. He took a deep breath. She asked, though. “So my mother came back as a poltergeist. Which was a great time. She tried to kill Regan then tried to kill me. It all sort of spilled out after that. A little during. It was also right after she screamed for--” For you. For Bea’s death. He wondered if he had connected the pieces sooner if maybe-- That was stupid. There was no changing fate. There was no going back. And either way she was back. It was all fine in the end.

“Very funny. Yes. The Langley legacy in fact has nothing to do with hunting and all to do with mime curses.” Joking with her was nice, simple. It felt right. Even if she wasn’t quite the same Bea from before. She was still her. And maybe now she wouldn’t blush at curse words. Why did that make him feel a ping of sadness? Before he knew what was happening, she had stood and followed the waitress. Guess those glasses were important after all. “Oh did he? How weird,” the waitress said, pulling them off her head to examine them. They were cracked and a little bent but she shrugged like they were still perfectly usable. “Your boyfriend, hmm? Do you mean that one over there?” the waitress said looking back at Kaden. “I don’t think so. He’s into mimes, you know. And seems to move on fast. You’d better be careful, sweetie.” Kaden rolled his eyes and stood up. “She’s not talking about me,” he said, growing more and more annoyed with this fae by the minute. “But I’m pretty fucking sure those aren’t your glasses. So hand them over. And tell us what you did.” Her chirping laughter made his skin crawl. “Are you sure? They’re in my possession. I think that makes them mine. And I haven’t done anything. Other than bring you coffee. Does it taste alright? I can always remake it if I need to. The ratios might not be right, you know. I could have sworn you preferred a small,” she told him with a smirk. If he could get away with it, he would have leapt at her and torn into her. Instead he settled for digging his nails into his palm as his hand balled into a fist, knuckles growing white.

A laugh nearly bubbled out of Bea as she listened to Kaden. Of course it happened like that because how else would anything happen in White Crest. Her face screwed up a bit as she tried to keep a bitter smile off her face. God, none of them could catch a break. Maybe they should all have a vacation after this is done. They deserved to be away from the bullshit. They earned the peace, even if it was just for a day. “Wow. Your’s is pretty close to being as messed up as mine is. I guess that comes with the territory of dating fae, huh?” She was sure that all those in the supernatural had some strange dating experiences, but she was also very positive that it would compare to the stories that her and Kaden had with this all.

Her eyes narrowed at the waitress and she stepped closer, glaring down at the woman. This was one reason she enjoyed wearing heels constantly, it gave her even more of a presence. She stood at six foot most of the time when she wore her heels and she understood how that changed her interactions. “I don’t think I’m the person who should be careful right now, sweetie,” She replied as her fists clenched. Without realizing it, her magic was flaring and shadows began to pool at her feet. Even if she had noticed, she wouldn’t have understood what was happening. Her magic had never done this before. “I’m going to suggest that you remove them from your possession willingly. I’m not feeling very patient right now and if you aren’t careful, I’m going to take them myself.” Whoever this woman was, Bea was sure that she knew something and she intended on finding out what that was.

“Yeah it certainly wasn’t ideal, that’s for sure. But why expect anything normal in this town?” Kaden replied. Especially not when dating someone who was supernatural. It was amazing to him how often he forgot he was dating a fae, Regan hardly acted like one, bone collecting aside. Still had to wonder if he invited the weird by dating a non-human or just dating in this town. Both. Likely both. “I feel like we should start a fae partner support group at this point. Granted, pretty sure it wouldn’t be anything more than this. Getting coffee, swapping weird stories.” What more could they really do about it, anyway? Sort of had to just live with it. Or leave it, he supposed.

Then again, guess Bea could do something about it if her anger here was any indication. Kaden noticed some movement at her feet and when he looked down, there were dark swirls and shadows flooding in. Alright, then. “No need to blow this out of proportion now,” the waitress said with another chirping squeaky laugh , handing the glasses over to Bea. “Here you go, all yours. I hope they help lift your spirits a little. Toodles.” Kaden thought about flipping her the middle finger as she turned to leave, but it felt almost comically childish. Might have made him feel better, though. Especially right now when he felt so powerless to help at all. “You want to finish coffee or fuck off and get something stronger?” he asked his friend.

Nothing was normal in this town, but Bea had known that to some degree. The past few months had just hammered that point in. “It’ll be me, you, and Morgan at this point, but I think we all might need that sometimes.” Morgan probably was the most adjusted out of them all with this. Still, the witch was sure that Morgan had her fair share of strange things that happened in their relationship. As Bea’s hand curled around the glasses, disappointment pulsed through her. She had wanted a fight. She wanted to get to yell at this bitchy woman and let out all of the building frustration she had. It would have been even better if she had gotten to hit her. Placing the glass on her own head, she nodded at Kaden with a scowl on her face. “I think I need a few shots at this point,” She said, clenching her fist. If she didn’t find some outlet for her anger, she was rather sure she was going to explode. She ripped her purse from the table they were at and swiftly made her way out of the cafe.

“Right. Morgan.” Kaden hadn’t talked to her since the whole thing with that hungry zombie. He wondered if he even mattered to her anymore. So much for having shit in common. “I don’t know that she’ll agree to that anytime soon. Not with me, at least.” Not so long as some monster was more important to her than his well-being. Once the glasses were safely in Bea’s hands, Kaden threw some cash on the table; figured that covered it for the two coffees. “Let’s go, then,” he said as he led the out of the place, one last look at the fucking fae who gave a little wave as they left. “Definitely agree on the shots.” Once they were outside, he couldn’t shake the thought of the shadows and darkness around her. Magic around her wasn’t strange, but it was usually flames and fire. He knew she said it was out, different, whatever, but he hadn’t expected that. “What the hell was that back there?” he asked.

Bea eyed her friend then, she had no idea what happened between him and Morgan, but she was sure it was messy. Things in this town were always messy. There was never anything simple when the supernatural was mixed in. “She’s a forgiving person. Whatever happened will work out,” She told him, voice missing the warmth a sentence like that used to garner. Bea had to hold herself back from baring her teeth at the fae as she left. The rolling anger she had felt before hadn’t lifted yet. Heels clicked against the pavement as she strode quickly away from the coffee shop. “What was what back there?” She knew that Kaden hadn’t seen her quite so angry before, but she didn’t think her actions were so shocking. She got the glasses back and that had been the goal.

Kaden couldn’t hold back a laugh at her statement. “Yeah, sure. Guess we’ll see.” Forgiving. Right. The woman who reduce to fucking apologize for nearly getting him killed was real forgiving. He had to pick up his pace a little to keep up with her. It felt wrong to say she was heated given, uh, everything, but it was clear she was far angrier than he was. Likely only because he was too tired to fully process that he should in fact be quite that angry at the fae back there. “Really?” he asked again. “How about the shadow shit that happened. You know,” he said as he gestured around his knees like swirling cloud shadow magic. Or he tried to at least. He had to wonder if it was something to do with her coming back from the dead. Probably. He sighed and let it go. Likely she didn’t have a real explanation anyway. “Whatever, doesn’t matter. You can tell me over drinks. Or not. We can talk about whatever you want. Let’s go.”