let it glow, girl!

Well. 

That was rather unexpected. 

Though, upon reflection, it very well should not have been considering where he was. He knew very well that Magicks roamed the streets of this town, it only made sense that they lived within the buildings, too. It did make him blink, eyes wide and all consuming at the mystifying sight in front of him. 

Words hung in the air like strung up Christmas lights, and it took him more than the given moment to actually think to read them instead of admiring the spectacle. 

Eric blinked again, removing the stars from his eyes as he caught sight of the girl once more. The one that was producing the light. The Magick. Her magic didn’t seem dangerous is this was all it could do, and she seemed rather unassuming. There was something inside of him, something that had been shoved in there and nailed in to ensure its stay, that said he would need to decline. 

But he had come here, to Swynlake, for opportunities like this. To see how the other half lived. She was only a gifted Magick, but sometimes they could be dangerous. This could be a chance to see the truth. 

(And, on top of all that, he really needed a place to live.) 

“The um-” Eric pointed at the air, where the words appeared, then to her. “Is that…you?”

Well.

That had gone better than expected.

Watching with a small smile as the boy's eyes glazed over, dazled at the sight of the lights hanging in the air, Mirium fixed a strand of hair behind her ear and cocked her head to the side. He didn't seem like a bad sort, didn't seem to want to tuck tail and run. Her Magick had never done anything but help her speak, so wasn't something she felt people needed to fear.

And, yet, people did.

The girl raised her hand and it made him pause. Like a car sitting at a stop light, idle, and waiting for the changing of color as permission to move again so as not to cause a collision. But when nothing followed he couldn’t help but to think he was misunderstanding what it had meant. If not stop, then what? 

He began to raise his hand then, too, repeating the phrase from the foreign language, but by the time he had even moved she was already gone. Nothing more than a soft breeze and muted footsteps. 

Eric remained in place, as he had been instructed, but that didn’t keep his eyes from wandering. The bigger parts he had already taken in, the immediate floor plan, the amount of space provided and already filled, ceiling height, how many windows, but the second round of observation he was granted more license for the details. 

She returned soon, a paper in her hands that he took between his own. Before he even read it he asked, “I’m sorry, what is this? Exactly?”

Oh!! Right, the list. He didn't know what it was, and why would he? Sparking up her magick this time, because clearly he didn't understand BSL, Mirium allowed him a moment to process the words that sparked up between them.

Alice blinked, then took another step back. 

The other girl look apologetic, but…what was she doing with her hands? Was she…signing? Alice had heard about it but knew nothing when it came to understanding her. Was the girl mute? Deaf? Both?

It didn’t matter though. Alice had snapped - again - without any real reason. She was finding that happened a lot these days. She pursed her lips, looking away for a moment, then back again, her brows knitted together.

“Sorry…” She muttered, then looked to the fallen haul. She should….help? The thought really shouldn’t have been a question, but it was. Still, she knelt down quietly to start picking things up.

Mirium frowned a bit at the girl stepping away from her, the crease in her brow deepening when she realized that she was just staring blankly. Right then, didn't know BSL. Good to check off, box ticked all that. But...the brunette also didn't really want to speak up for her, nor use her magick. Call it mean but she would rather just get out of the girl's hair at this point.

She smelled so sweet. That was the first thing Mirium recognized when she saw the smaller darker haired girl. Granted, so was she. Mirium had her hands full with baking with her mum, sending little care packages around town, working at the Deer, and running around otherwise.

Wrapped up in a hug as she was, the brunette giggled loudly, wrapping her own arms around the girl and pressing her face into the top of her hair. She hugged Vee for a long moment before drawing back and grabbing her hands. As always, they were freezing. Mirium funneled some of her magic into her hands, hoping it helped. A wide, bright smile lit up her entire face.

“Happy Christmas, Vee!! How’s the holiday been? You look like you’ve been run around a bit. How’re your parents, the B&B?”

Vee smiled warmly, squeezing her friend’s hands in return, noting just how warm they were—hot, actually, compared to Vee’s usual icy temperature. If the other girl noticed, she sure didn’t show it.

“Happy Christmas Mirium!” Vee chirped in response to the sparkly words scrolling above Mirium’s head, bouncing on her toes happily. “Oh, you know, same as always. We’re super busy with the holiday rush of travelers. Apparently quaint small town English B&B’s are a major holiday destination,” she laughed, shrugging. 

And, just maybe, Mirium could have a place of her own.

On the other side of the door Eric could hear the slight fumbling, the sounds of feet against the floor that did not sound like the normal cadence of a person stepping made him lean a tad closer to listen, more out of concern than anything else. Then the door handle had jiggled, allowing him the notice to stand back for the door to open.

To a girl. 

An unexpected detail that was most likely on the listing that he had glossed over. (Reading comprehension had never been one of his strong suits.) But it was one that didn’t matter to him. He had bunked with people who were practically strangers in tiny rooms with smaller beds, and on a boat there was no where else to go but into the open water all around them. It wasn’t a problem for him and he could only hope that it wouldn’t be for her either. As she looked him over he stood still, awaiting her pending approval. When granted access to cross the threshold Eric gave a polite smile and ducked his head. 

“I saw your ad. About wanting a roommate,” he said by way of explanation as his feet carried him inside the door being held for him. His eyes wandered around the opening scene, at what could potentially be half his. That was, if the room was even still available. And if it would be available to him. 

He did not progress far, only a few steps and to the side to be out of the way of the door should she want to shut it. “Were you still looking for someone to fill the room?” 

The polite smile earned him brownie points, she had to admit. There was something rather lovely about that, even if she had to crane her head back nearly horizontal to look him in the face.

Note to self, Mirium: specify that roommates cannot be gargantuan

Her neck would be saved that way.

Even still, he seemed like a nice enough sort, even if he looked a bit clueless. He was also a bit scraggly, and a hint of concern furrowed her brow. She raised her hand, making sure she had his attention, to sign when he started speaking and she had to concentrate to figure out what he was saying.

Oh! The add! He was asking about the add!! She could have jumped for joy then, but she refrained, vibrating in place instead feeling like a more appropriate response. The brunette nodded enthusiastically, motioning for him to wait a moment before dashing off into the recesses of the flat. The things she'd written down as a checklist, upon her mum's request would be needed.

@theglowiest-worm

If living on boats had given him one thing, it was the ability to sleep just about anywhere. When the winds picked up and took a ship with it across the water and the people inside were left to hear the waves crashing and the wood creaking without any pause of noise or motion those people learned how to ignore their surroundings in favor of rest. It was why he could sleep on the trains that had gotten him to this town or on the station benches as he waited for those trains. 

The catch was, it had all been inside. Winters were harsh and without the help of the sun to warm the ground or his skin in the night Eric knew he needed to find somewhere to stay if he wasn’t going to fold to the prospects of returning home where he had a bed and blankets, and Max to crush him under his warmth and fur. 

As if answering his pleas, a flyer whipped at him in the wind from where it was attached to a posting board. A request for a flatmate was written in bold, drawing him closer to read the information written in a smaller print. With a touch of frantic, Eric gathered a pen from his bag and wrote down the address on his palm along. 

Mirium fluffed the pillows on her couch with a critical eye, head cocked to the side as she gazed at then critically. The lighting in this place at Benbow was wonderful, fresh and beautiful and new, but the pillows looked bloody awful in it. Like truly, ridiculously, awful.

And she couldn't tell her mum that. She was the one who'd made them.

The rest of the flat was pretty much finished, having been moved in for about a week now. The bed was in place, the kitchen (large and filled with all her baking stuff) was in order. But the two extra rooms felt too big, like she was missing something. So she'd posted a notice at townhall. She wanted a roommate.

It had only been a little while but Mirium hoped someone answered--

A knocking on the door, which was outfitted so she could feel the vibrations through a neat little doohickey in the wall and the floor, made her glance up and the room brightened even lore in her excitement. The brunette skidded across the wood floors, thick wool socks sending her every which way.

Edward - Hatter, he’d quickly corrected - had given Alice some money to go out. Well, as much as you can ‘go out’ with fifteen pounds. He’d hesitantly offered it to her when she said she wanted to see the town a bit. But she thinks they were both thankful for the space.

He’d said not to go far, so she looked around and turned to head down Main Street. Which soon brought her to the store front of the Comic Barn.

She wasn’t actually a comic fan, but she felt like exploring a little further down into the town than just going across the street for reading material. She entered the store, immediately greeted by a colorful yet welcoming world. She heard a greeting from the back somewhere, but continued on in without returning it.

“Where do I even start…?” She muttered, looking at the boxes full of back issues before turning and having someone slam right into her - their haul for the week flying.

“Watch it!” She snipped, jerking back instinctively. 

Mirium had a blessedly early day to herself.

She was out of the flat easily, early with a mug of tea and Rascal's leash in hand. She meandered through the trails by Enchantra, popping over to visit her parents for breakfast before making the trek into town. It was a lovely walk, early morning fog lifting and roiling around the ground, dancing around her feet like ghosts.

The chime above the door rang her arrival in the comic shop, Mirium nearly bouncing with excitement. Her order had been placed and she'd come to grab it before heading off to Hatter's for the rest of the morning to read.

Holiday season meant busy times for the Hauntley Manor B&B—more guests meant more exciting people to meet from all over the world and more people to meet meant more mouths to feed. And the holidays meant that Vee was extra busy in the kitchen baking sweet treats for the guests and her friends, which was what had brought her out that morning.

She had two large shopping bags full of festively wrapped sugar cookies and sweet breads. She also had a list of everyone she needed to find—Mei, Roo, Reese, Jake…and lots of others! 

Checking her list again, Vee had just decided to stop by the fire station when a door swung open and she quite literally bumped into someone else. Oof! Looking up, she started to apologize when she saw the glowing letters over the young woman’s head. Grinning from ear to ear, she squealed a little, bouncing on her toes in excitement. “Oh my gosh! Mirium! It’s so good to see you! I’m as good as ever! It’s been so long! How are you?”

Dropping her bags, she lunged forward to hug her friend. 

She smelled so sweet. That was the first thing Mirium recognized when she saw the smaller darker haired girl. Granted, so was she. Mirium had her hands full with baking with her mum, sending little care packages around town, working at the Deer, and running around otherwise.

Wrapped up in a hug as she was, the brunette giggled loudly, wrapping her own arms around the girl and pressing her face into the top of her hair. She hugged Vee for a long moment before drawing back and grabbing her hands. As always, they were freezing. Mirium funneled some of her magic into her hands, hoping it helped. A wide, bright smile lit up her entire face.

Open Tab || Open

See, Mirium had been at the Deer for a few months now. Sure it was busy some nights, slow others. The pub had been vandalized and people didn’t seem to like Gaston all that much, but she wasn’t about to complain. The work was good and he hadn’t said anything about her magick. Hadn’t kicked her out the moment she’d said something to him about it, shown up with Rascal and said that, some nights, she might need him.

Tonight wasn’t one of those nights, but she was prepared to fight off the random anxiety that clung to her like a second skin, even if she wasn’t going to outwardly acknowledge it. The dreams had started up again, memories, whatever you’d like to call them. 

She was a bit frayed at the edges these days, but the smile she shot to her next table was genuine. Gesturing with her pen in hand, had cocked to the side, the message was clear. 

I’m not okay, but how may I help you? 

For the first time in Doctor Delbert’s teaching career, his bell curve was off. The ratio of students failing to passing his last test was a 4:1 and those odds… He just couldn’t accept them. — Even some of his most brilliant students, the ones who even managed to grasp QUANTAM MECHANICS with very little difficulty, has barely gotten a passing grade. 

Now, some teachers would chalk it up to an oddly written question and simply curve the grade ( Delbert was, in fact, going to remove numbers 4 and 9 and bump their grades up accordingly ) but he just couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d done wrong by his students. It was his job to teach the material and test accordingly and he just… hadn’t done that. And now they were probably in their dorms, stressing over a bad grade and it was all. his. fault.

Fingers in his mess of curls, staring down at one of the scrawled up tests, he almost didn’t even notice the waitress coming up to take his order. — ❝ I- uh, hello !! I’m sorry I didn’t, uh- excuse me.  ❞ He scrambled a bit, pushing the test aside. He’d been so caught up in his own head, reading and rereading the same questions over that he hadn’t even taken a moment to look at the menu. ❝ Can I get some coffee ?? ❞ Never mind the fact that it was late afternoon, ❝ And um- What do you recommend ?? Something warm. soup maybe.  ❞

One word stood out though. 

Coffee. Now, that she could do. 

Scribbling it down on her paper, the brunette nodded her head to herself and made to turn back around, to leave, but she paused. He was still talking, still asking her something...what was it...

Are you alright?

That made her stop. It made her stare. She didn’t know how to respond. And he’d...he had asked something else hadn’t he? What she would recommend...

Reaching over to move the menu to the edge of the table he’d sat himself at, Mirium perused it for a moment before tapping the tip of her index finger against the page. Their seasonal soup was always good, if he liked squash.