If you can't restrain yourself, then restrain yourself.. that makes grammatical sense I guess? Events unfold including but not limited to: John being the sensitive one (well.. as much as he can be at least) And Hannah works through breakfast.

 

A knock at the door made me pull my knees tighter to my chest.

“Go away!”
Go away! I don’t want to see anyone right now, I just.. I want Sarah..

The knock came again and then the door handle twisted.
John stuck his head in and peered at me thoughtfully.
Slowly he eased the rest of his body through and closed the door behind him.

“I didn’t get most of what she was saying but Sarah made noise about you wanting to see me..”
His voice sounded oddly serious as he shuffled a bit closer to the bed.
I pushed myself deeper into the headboard and pulled my knees in tightly again but listened intensely, that doesn’t sound so ba-
“..then she hit me and ran off crying..”

..oh..

“..what happened Hannah?”
I squeezed my knees a bit tighter and pushed my forehead onto my knees in shame.

“I messed up.”
He grunted but didn’t push me for more information.
I’m glad he didn’t, but I need to talk it out with someone anyway now that I’ve started.

“She told me about this cycle thing, I started thinking about it and realised that these cuffs have a flaw..I.. I panicked.”
He took a few more steps towards the bed and settled on the edge furthest from me.
“..I didn’t mean to yell at her..”

I hope she’s not too upset, the faster I get these cuffs fixed the faster I can go find her and apologise.

My head snapped up to stare at John at that thought.
He jumped a little when I thrust my arm with the cuffs on it towards him.

“Fix them.”
He stared at me for a moment looking completely lost.
“John, I’m dangerous. I could have seriously hurt Sarah in the dining room, what if I’d decided to cut her arms off with a mild severing charm instead of just numbing them?!”
He blinked and looked down at the cuffs thoughtfully.
“Fix them John.. please..”

Slowly his eyes moved back up to mine.
He didn’t look convinced this was a good idea but he moved forward to examine the cuffs for a second.
He fiddled with them a little and they popped loose.

The moment he had them in his hands I pulled back from him and huddled up in the corner of the bed again.
He still seemed to be undecided on what to do but he turned the cuffs over in his hands thoughtfully for a second.

“What do you want me to fix?”

I felt my breath hitching in my chest a little.
If you asked me at any other time, with any other situation I would never even think of asking for this.. but.. Sarah..

“Change the sensitivity on the cuffs, if I even touch my core I want them to go off and ground my magic into the floor.”
John’s jaw dropped a little.
It took him almost a full ten seconds to gather himself together again.

“You know what that would mean right?.. you’d basically be cutting off your magic completely.. no senses, no support, no internal magic.. just.. you’d be helpless?”
He really sounds worried now.

For a moment my lips twitched happily at that.
It’s nice to know he cares.

I’ve made up my mind though.
I’m dangerous enough normally with how little control I’ve had lately.
Throw in potentially homicidal or borderline sociopathic incarnations taking over randomly.. where even the nice ones like Dexi have no problem with freely using magic on someone as important as Sarah..

My magic is a small cost to pay to keep her safe.

I’ll be fine.
Sure I won’t have magic to defend myself with but I’m still me, I’ll just have to improvise and resort to physical violence if I have to.

“Just do it John..”
He looked like he wanted to protest at the very idea of it but couldn’t get the words out.
“..please..”

He stared at me with a completely lost look in his eyes for a moment but eventually he pulled himself together and looked back down at the cuffs.

It didn’t take him long to change how the cuffs work.
He must have left the enchantment open to editing, like having switch’s to control the volume and channel on a TV, he can tweak what the cuffs do in some way?

I’m not sure how he did it, he seemed to just stare at them hard and poke random points on them.
I’m tempted to think he’s actually used some kind of invisible runes on them but that’s honestly not John’s style.

Finally he seemed to finish with the changes he was making and looked back up at me with a sigh.

“You’re sure about this?.. I can take them off if you need me too, just say when okay?”
He’s really not sure about this is he?
I’m not THAT convinced myself.

The longer I wait, the more I’m second guessing myself honestly.
I’m not sure how I’m going to handle not having magic at my beck and call.
There must be another way.. right?

NO!
Think of Sarah.
Think of what I could DO to Sarah if I have another ‘episode’ and it’s one of the girls held back by Ellie instead of one of my relatively nice ones.

Before I could lose my nerve I thrust my arm out for him to put the cuffs on.

John stared at me with obvious worry on his face but slowly moved the cuffs over and clipped them onto my wrist.
For one last moment he stared up into my eyes as if testing my resolve before finally clipping them closed.

It felt like the world exploded.

I think I DID explode actually.
My eye’s flinched closed in pain and for just a moment I could see my lines with my inner-eye before even that faded into nothing.

My magic, all of it that had built up in my body and the tendrils slithering out of my core.. it all just YANKED harshly down to my feet.
It almost physically hurt to have it all just disappear like that, it vented out so harshly that a mist of golden light formed up at my feet and seemed to almost drip onto the bed in its haste to reach the ground.

When I finally got used to the feeling of my magic escaping me I opened my eyes and gasped.

The world looks almost grey!
There’s colors but.. they’re so DULL.. is.. is this what normal people see?

It’s been so long since I’ve not had magic subconsciously reinforcing my eyes.
Everything’s a bit blurred but so horribly grey!

It took more effort then I’m used to for me to bring my arm up and inspect the cuffs on my wrist.
Without my magic to subtly reinforce my muscles I feel so weak!
My new little hands with their nimble, delicate fingers have never felt so brittle.

I looked over at John and had to squint a little to make out the expression on his face.
He looked almost scared.
He wasn’t breathing, as if waiting for me to do something.

The world sounds so dull..
I can’t hear the birds outside.
I can’t hear John shift on the bed.
I can’t even hear my own heartbeat!

How do people LIVE like this!
It’s like I’ve been put in a box!

Even my sense of touch is wrong.
I can’t feel the texture on the bedding.
The cuffs on my wrist feel overly heavy and cold on my skin but I can’t feel the texture of the metal properly.

I.. I don’t think I can handle this..
This.. this is horrible?

It’s like the world just muted itself around me!

John said he could take them off if I needed, right?
It would only take a word and he would remove them.. then I could have my magic back an.. and..
No.. I can’t..

I need this, for Sarah’s sake if nothing else.

I’ll get used to it over time.
Billions of people live like this their whole lives!

It can’t be THAT bad, I’m just not used to it that’s all.

I opened my mouth to thank John but the bedroom door slamming open made me stall.
Sarah stood in the doorway, panting slightly as if she was out of breath.
Her hair was a mess and she had long tear stains going down her cheeks but her eyes were sharp and her face was scrunched up in worry.

She glanced between the two of us and stormed into the room, surprisingly her anger was aimed at John instead of me.

“What the HELL did you do to her?!”
She pulled her fist back to hit him.

I reached out to stop her and managed to hook my arms around her elbow.

She barely even seemed to notice.
Her arm continued moving and dragged me along as if I was made of paper.
It actually hurt to hold on to her.. as if my shoulders were straining just to keep a grip.

In the end my arms gave out and I flopped back onto the bed with a gasp, cradling them close to my chest.

How the.. I’m so WEAK!
Is this what it’s like for normal people?!

I know theoretically that my magic reinforces my body on a subconscious level.
I even tried to copy that ability when I used the excess magic in my system to reinforce my nails and body even more.. but this..
It feels like I couldn’t even hurt a fly!

“Calm down Sarah..please..”
The words came out of my mouth almost in a sob.
She flinched, her hand so close to John’s cheek I’m amazed she managed to stop at all.
“Please, I asked him to help. That’s why I wanted you to get him, I wasn’t safe.”

She slowly turned to look at me and I flinched back from the look in her eyes.

With my vision so blurry I can’t even read her face properly!
All the subtle little facial and body twitches we do regularly as part of our ‘twin speak’ are useless if my vision’s not clear enough to actually SEE them!

She moved far faster than I would have expected from her, my eyes struggled to keep up with her and she had her arms wrapped around me before I could fully register what was going on.
She squeezed me in a tight hug and I gasped out in pain.

Even a hug.. even a hug is too much!
I can feel my ribs protesting about it.
My arms feel compressed, my whole body is protesting!

This is horrible!

She let me go quickly and peered into my eyes at close range.
The blue in her eyes feels so dull now too?

Where’s the vibrant color I normally see?
Where’s the little sparkle of life that is so obvious normally?

“What happened Han?”
She went to hug me again but my flinch made her stop in confusion.

“Because of the cycle thing I asked John to fix the cuffs so I couldn’t accidentally use magic on you. It vented a lot of magic through my feet.. I’m guessing that’s what you noticed?”
She nodded and smiled a little.

“The plants in my room grew so much they broke the pot’s they were sitting in on the windowsill.”

Oh.. oops?..
I’ll go fix them in a min- no.. I won’t.. no magic..

Well I guess Mum will be happy at least.
Technically I’m still grounded, she DID say ‘no magic’ didn’t she?

A little laugh escaped me but when Sarah shot me what I think was a questioning look I stopped and shook my head, silently telling her that it wasn’t important.
I tried to twitch my eyebrow, to show that it was just me being silly, but couldn’t quite get the movement down right.

I think even my motor control on my muscles is worse now?
I didn’t even know that was a thing my magic could improve..

“Tell her the rest.”
I shot John an annoyed look but he just squinted back at me harshly.

He’s not happy, not happy at all.

“To ‘fix’ these cuffs I had to close a small but important loophole I left in their design.”
He stared at me hard.
I glared back.

He didn’t even give me a chance to say anything!

“Hannah can currently access less of her core magic then you’re common or garden dormouse would be able to, she’s cut herself off from it all so she can be ‘safe’ while around you and everyone else.”
He hissed out a breath through his teeth.
“I knew this was a bad idea but just watching her for the last few minutes is enough to make up my mind. She should take the cuffs off again.”

I glared at him even harder with my slightly squinted eyes.
I’m not taking the damn things off!

I’m finally safe!
I can go about life without worrying if I’ll hurt someone.
No more accidentally setting things on fire, no more almost killing nurses with ice spikes, no more attacking Sarah when I have a vicious bout of multiple-personality disorder!

I’m normal!
..I’m finally.. finally normal.. as terrifying as that feels right now..

Sure, it kind of sucks at the moment.
I feel as weak as a kitten, more breakable then fine china and I think I might actually need glasses if this semi-permanent squint is anything to go by.. but I’m safe?

John reached out for my wrist but I yanked it back and held it tightly to my chest, cupping my free hand over it defensively.

He’s not taking the damn cuffs back!
They suck but they WORK and that’s the important bit!

He moved slightly on the bed.

I can tell he’s going to come and take them anyway, despite any protests I can give.
I barely managed to glare at him before he was suddenly gone.

It felt like it took far too long for my body to turn.

He’d moved.
Not teleported or duplicated himself or anything fancy.
Just.. moved.

Are my senses so dull that I can’t even keep track of him when he runs?
Is this what normal people feel like when they face ME in hand to hand combat?
..it’s kind of scary honestly..

He reached out for my arm again and I flinched.
On pure instinct I reached for my core.

It felt like something shoved me back the moment I dived in.

I couldn’t even SEE my lines!
It’s like I hit some kind of mental barrier and just bounced off of it!

Something must have gotten through though.
With a slightly painful pull in my chest my magic surged downwards.
I couldn’t sense it directly but I could FEEL how my legs got suddenly cold as it progressed downward.

Finally after what felt like an eternity it burst out of my feet in a thick golden miasma.
When the magic haze faded I was left spread out on the bed breathing heavy, hungry breaths in.

It feels weird to look down from this awkward position and see my small boobs bobbing up and down as my chest heaves.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen them from this angle before.
..The shifting is kind of hypnotic..

“What the hell have you done?”
My eyes snapped up to Sarah.
She was busy glaring at John.

He wasn’t looking much better honestly.
He’d taken a step back from me when I triggered the cuffs but, if anything, he looks even more determined to get them off of me now.

When my breath evened out I sighed and propped myself up on the bed.

“Can you both just calm down?”
They shifted their eyes away from each other to look at me.

“Sarah, I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier. I didn’t mean it, I was scared that my magic could hurt you and John’s the only one who could easily fix the cuffs to prevent that.”
She frowned and her mouth opened to speak but she didn’t voice anything for once.

“John, I know you don’t like this. I get where you’re coming from and having my magic so suppressed is anything but nice but I NEED this and I DO appreciate that you helped, despite your misgivings.”
He doesn’t look any more reassured then Sarah does now but at least he isn’t reaching for the cuffs again.

“Now.. I’ve spent far too much time in bed over the last few days. It’s early, I’m hungry and we’re all awake. How about you both go get breakfast started or something and I’ll go have a shower?”

They both stared at me for a second, doubt obvious on their faces but eventually they turned and gave each other a look.
I kind of wish I could see their faces better.
It’s not often that John and Sarah see eye to eye on something, literally or metaphorically.
I’m probably missing a lot of subtext because they’re so blurry.

After a painfully long, silent stare off Sarah was the first to move.

She gave me a loose hug and made her way to the door.
John was a few steps behind her.
He shot one more doubtful look at me before stepping out and closing the door tight.

I strained my ears to hear them walk away but it was no use.
Without magic, my ears are just not good enough to pick up such faint sounds.
..I really underestimated just how much magic my body uses naturally..

Cutting my core off completely is probably a REALLY bad idea but I can’t think of a better alternative at the moment. If I do then I’ll be sure to change to it quickly, there’s no denying that this whole ‘normal’ thing sucks!

If nothing else, the constant minor flow of magic to my feet is going to drive me crazy!
While it’s not enough to be visible or tangible in any way, like the thick fog of gold that released when the cuffs went off properly, I can feel that the magic usually distributed around my body to enhance things like my eyes and ears is being pushed out of my feet at an almost constant rate.

It’s kind of unsettling that I can’t feel that with any kind of magic sense honestly.

My feet just feel a bit cold.
If I didn’t know what that theoretically meant and didn’t have experience with the way magic feels to mundane senses I’d probably not even be able to feel it?

The gains outweigh the losses though!
I can’t put a price on the ability to not hurt someone else by accident, especially Sarah.

It’s time to suck it up and just get on with things!

I’ve got a new shower monster to defeat after all.
This time without magic.. yay..

======

My shivers had nothing to do with the cold morning air in the bedroom as I stepped out wrapped in a towel.

I didn’t think it would affect me THAT badly.
It’s only been a few days since I worked out how to use my new diversion to clean myself instead of showering.
It feels almost like I’m back to square one with it now?

I could barely look down, let alone touch myself to wash!
It took far too long as well.

I had at least THREE moments of panicked madness where I ended up accidentally triggering the cuffs and venting a load of magic through my feet.

I guess.. on the plus side.. at least the drains should be nice and clean around here now?
Pretty sure I purified the water, wherever it comes from, too.
It certainly felt and smelt like I was suddenly showering in a load of bottled spring water instead of Oregon’s finest tap water at least.

With a grimace I dived headfirst into my expanded bag and pushed a load of books aside to dig out some clothes.
My still damp hair wouldn’t co-operate and more than one random object, including two different incense sticks, almost managed to poke my eye out.
It probably looked pretty funny from the outside to see my bare butt sticking out of the bag, legs kicking in the air for purchase.
Luckily I locked the door before I went to shower.. I’m not stupid after all.

Finally I managed to get a good bundle of random fabrics together and pushed myself back out of the bag by shifting my body weight.
It’s a lot harder to find things in an expanded bag when you can’t just summon them or use the inbuilt filter charms!

I get the feeling this is going to become a reoccurring problem honestly.
One of the most aggravating situations for a rune master.. mistress?.. whatever, one of the most aggravating situations I can think of for someone who uses runes a lot is to not be able to activate them.
I can draw them fine, I can probably even prime them if I use some of my blood.. although it would probably have to be blood drawn from my feet to actually get some concentrated magic out of the deal which REALLY isn’t a nice prospect, who wants to walk around on papercuts an-

..hold on!..

I quickly dumped the clothes bundle on the bed and dived back into the bag again head first.

I swear I just saw something in here somewhere?.. near the top.
I noticed the title mostly because it looked weird.
It’s not one of my books, I know that for sure.

The only place I can think of that it may have come from would be Edith?
She DID put a load of books and random stuff in the bag for me before I kind of took it over to be my suitcase after all..

AH!
There it is ‘Enchanting your toenails. A beginners guide to being armless but not harmless’.

Stupid title but what do you expect from a magical book?
It’s worth checking out at least!

Who knows, I might be able to turn my toenail clippings into magical storage devices or something?

After a little more struggling and a wince when my towel slipped making me try to grab it and graze one of my now free-hanging boobs on the rim of the rough bag, I was back out and ready to get dressed at last, with only my overly messy hair to show for all the hassle.

For a long moment I stared at the clothes pile on the bed and hesitated, but at just a glance I can tell my options are going to be a bit limited clothing wise.. I’m NOT diving back into that bloody bag AGAIN today!

Pushing the bundle apart I found some undies.
The silky, lacy pink things Sarah got me at the store.. naturally, that’s just how my luck works.
At least I managed to get one of my sports bras!
..I’ll take my victories where I can at this point..

The idea of wearing something so overly feminine and balancing it out with a utilitarian looking sports bra was kind of appealing actually?
I prefer sports bra’s anyway, less jiggle, less interested looks from guys.

I became almost comfortable with the idea that I was a bisexual male when I was Al, but I’m NOT quite ready to be a bisexual woman with this body yet!

Plus straight guys are kind of creepy..
There was one guy, older then my mum, who stared at me with interest from across the street the other day.
I had more important things on my mind at the time but his look was still creepy!

It doesn’t help that my body looks so obviously young either.
..maybe he has a thing for ‘little’ girls?.. or little girls?..

Without warning I gave a full body shudder that I’m pretty sure had NOTHING to do with the cold morning air OR my recent experiences in the shower.

Straight men are definitely in the ‘creepy’ section for now, that’s for certain.
I know it’s stereotyping and I’m tarring them all with the same brush because of a few minor bad experiences but I’m comfortable with what I’m comfortable with, and I’m NOT comfortable with them at the moment!

It’s not like I’m going to go ‘man-hating lesbian’ on every guy I see or anything..
Honestly, I’m not that comfortable with women either with me as a woman too, while we’re on the subject, but as long as they leave me alone I’ll leave them alone.
That’s fair, right?

It’s got to be, because that’s the best I feel up to offering at the moment.. not that I could do much to anyone who wanted to make a move on me at the moment.

My stupid little ‘dipping in at the sides’ girl belly actually hurts a little from where I had to rest it on the rim of the expanded bag a minute ago.

I’m getting physically hurt by an inanimate object!
What the hell kind of chance would I have against an actual person now?.. with all those impressive benefits of humanity behind them like ‘muscles’ and ‘the ability to move under their own power’?!

I sunk onto the bed with a huff.
These cuffs are a good temporary solution but I need to find something better.
I just CAN’T live like this.

If I go back to Klamath Falls while I’m THIS weak and with no magic available then the moment any of the number of people that seem to be coming for me on an almost daily basis since my second awakening find me again I’m screwed!

My eyes caught on the cuffs on my wrist for a moment and I tried to analyse them thoughtfully.
I don’t get how they work?
John will probably tell me if I ask.

It’s annoying that I can’t work it out though, annoying and weird.

It’s been a weird couple of days really, hasn’t it?
If you’d told me even last night that I would be the one convincing John to keep these cuffs on me like this I’d probably have laughed in your face.. life can be weird like that sometimes I guess?

“Enough thinking, clothes, book, food, and then you can think.”
Verbal command managed to jolt me back into action.

While it’s kind of cold at the moment it won’t last for long.
I’ve lived in Oregon long enough to know a hot day ahead when I see one.

Isn’t the barbecue thing on today too?
I swear Mum mentioned that at some point, should be good weather for it at least.

I’ll probably have to avoid the sun as much as possible sadly.
Another downside to the whole ‘no magic’ thing is that my skin’s not reinforced anymore.
Judging by the pale tone of my new baby-soft skin, I’m going to burn like a juicy pink sausage on the surface of the sun.

..did I just call myself a ‘juicy pink sausage’?..
That’s either the worst Freudian slip I’ve ever heard or I’m hungrier than I thought!

Hopefully Sarah has breakfast finished by now.

I shifted my hips a little and stared at the options laid out before me on the bed with a grimace.
My hand moved up to adjust my bra strap which really didn’t help me feel any better.

We have option one; a light flowing sundress in a shade of purple that I REALLY don’t think will suit me.
I think that was one of the ones Mum added to the cart without consulting me if I remember right?

Option two; the top half of a slightly padded red bathing suit, including thin straps in a darker shade of red.
THAT one I blame Sarah for buying!

At least it’s better than purple on the sundress though?

As chance would have it there’s a pair of my seemingly ever-present ‘Sarah style’ short-shorts in a pale denim color here too.
They could pair off with the bathing s.. you know what?.. it’s a bikini top.

What’s the point of censuring words in my own mind?
It’s a bikini top, THERE I said it.
Powers help me but it’s actually looking like the better option of the two at the moment.

Unhelpfully the rest of the cloths bundle seems to consist of some socks, another sports bra and one of my annoying pleated ‘school girl’ skirts.

I tossed the skirt back into the bag right away.
There’s no way in HELL I’m wearing that thing in front of John!

The underwear joined it a moment later because I’ve already got a bra and who needs socks when you have a pair of sandals at the end of your bed?

I’m kind of ashamed to admit that I spent almost thirty seconds trying to decide between the ugly sundress and the short-shorts, even though it wasn’t really much of a choice in the end.
I JUST spent two days in a stupid thin orange sundress hiding from everyone.
I’m NOT in the mood for another one.. especially an ugly one.

With a gusty sigh I tugged my sports bra over my head, wincing when it pulled on my boobs a little.
I’ve still not quite perfected getting them off easily.
I get that they need to be tight because.. ya know.. they’re sports bra’s!.. but it’s still hard to do without pulling on some body parts painfully.
Especially one of the two moderately small, sensitive ones they’re designed to contain.

The short-shorts fit fine, as expected.
I struggled to get the bikini top on for a little bit but eventually gave up doing it the proper way.
I stuck the halter neck loop over my head, turned it backwards like a particularly useless cape and tied the back bow before spinning it around awkwardly to shift it properly into place.
It took a bit of fiddling to get it tight enough for me to feel sure it would stay on properly but I’ll admit it felt kind of nice when I had it in place, supporting without being too compressive or tight.

I made my way back into the bathroom to check the mirror.

Short-shorts.. check.
Bikini top.. check.
Messy hair suffering from a failed attempt to control it in some way.. check.

Well, it’s official.
I’m the same as every other teenaged girl who’s tried to look mature at a family barbecue!

..lovely..

The girl in the mirror grimaced and shot me a ‘you’re not really wearing that are you?’ look.
I frowned at her for a moment, then I realised that it was my own face I was frowning at and quickly turned away feeling a bit silly.

I could spend another fifteen minutes diving down my bag for something better but I honestly can’t be bothered..
It’s not like I’m ugly or anything?..
If they’re going to be a part of our lives from now on then the ‘new family’ will have to get used to my and Sarah’s lack of modesty at some point, right?

Besides it’s hot and uncomfortable in that bag!
I had more than one book shift and smack me in the face when I went for the first load of clothes!

Scooping up the ‘magic toes’ book I made my way out of the room and down the hallway in what I think is the general direction of the dining room.. possibly..

======

“Took your time.”
I shot John a quick glare and threw myself into the seat opposite him, slamming the book down at my side.

It took longer than I’d expected to find the dining room.
I’m hungry and fed up of walking around this maze of a house!

He stabbed a sausage on his plate and spun the fork around in his hand lazily instead of eating it.
His eyes stayed on me throughout the whole motion.

“Going for the Jailbait ‘Daytona beach at spring break’ look I see?”
I piled some bacon off of the serving plate onto mine and speared a sausage of my own with my fork before bothering to glare at him again in an obvious demand for him to shut up.
“Suits you, I’m sure everyone will be really impressed by how mature and adult you look.”

..shut UP John..

Now’s not the time for you to do the whole mind-reading ‘I know you better then you know yourself’ thing.
It wasn’t cute when you were Max, it’s just plain annoying when you’re John!

Before I could yell at him Sarah came into the room.
I’m assuming she was in the kitchen or something, wherever THAT is, because she has more food!

..Have I mentioned how much I love my sister lately?..

“Gimmie!”
Sarah seemed highly amused as she passed over some french toast from the plate and put a little pot of syrup on the table.

My eyes cut from the bacon to the french toast and the syrup for a moment.
I’m so hungry and that looks SO good..

“Don’t even think about-”
John didn’t even manage to finish his sentence before I had the pot in my hand and was half way through pouring it over my bacon and toast.
“-that’s disgusting.”

I smirked at him and slowly stabbed a nice big sticky clump of bacon and toast.
He cringed when I shoved it in my mouth.

It made my cheeks puff out badly and it was hard to chew properly but the look on his face was SO worth it!

For all his asshole-ish-ness John can be SUCH a prude some times.
He’s probably offended that I’m not eating ‘like a Lady’ or something equally stupid and sexist.

“Nice to see you’re in a better mood, I like the outfit too.”
I smiled as wide as I could at Sarah with my mouthful and what feels like some Syrup on my chin.

She’s doing that thing she does when she’s unsure how to act about something; she’s pretending it didn’t happen until someone else makes her react one way or the other.
She doesn’t agree with me about keeping the cuffs but she’s not willing to go against me unless I’m likely to get hurt by it, especially if it would mean siding with John.

I don’t even have to see her face clearly to tell that much, I love her to death but my sister is pretty predictable.. except for the odd times when she’s not.. which tend to go badly wrong..

“I might have to get changed, can’t have my little sister looking better than me today can I?”
My smile slipped a little.

I know she’s joking, I can hear it in her voice but it’s hard to take it as a joke when I can’t really make out her facial expressions.
You can always tell more about what Sarah’s thinking from the look on her face then the words she’s saying.

I absentmindedly stabbed a bit more syrup covered bacon, tried to put it in my mouth but missed slightly and left another dab of syrup on my cheek.
..this eyesight thing is getting old fast!..

“Oh, for power’s sake..”

My eyes cut over to John.
From what I can see he’s angry.. maybe.. or frustrated.. or just annoyed.
He’s not got the most expressive of faces; it’s hard to make out from this distance.

He sighed to himself and searched around in his back pocket for something.
Before I could ask him what he was doing his hand came up victoriously holding a pair of glasses rimmed in thick black plastic frames.

Where DOES he keep all of that?
If I didn’t know any better I’d swear his back pocket was enchanted like my expanded bag!

A flick of his wrist later he sent them over to me.
Naturally I missed the catch, after three bounces in my hands they hit my chin and settled on the table.
..how pathetic..

“You’re the expert in runes, put a ‘lens clarity’ enchantment on them. I’ll put the power in to set it when you’re done drawing.”

My lips twitched a little despite my best efforts to hide it.
That’s.. kind of sweet of him?

It’s pretty obvious that he thinks me wearing the cuffs like this is a bad idea, like Sarah does.
He’s a lot less subtle in showing his annoyance and seems to have just settled for teasing me constantly instead of Sarah’s ‘ignoring things’ system, but he’s always been like that.

He’s helping though.
He didn’t have to give me these glasses.
I’m sure I can survive, I just need to get used to normal eye’s again that’s all.

A permanent ‘fine line’ marker rolled across the table until it nudged my hand.
I shot a look up at him and smirked.

He’s honestly trying to help.
It really is quite sweet if you can ignore the teasing and general asshole-ish-ness that comes with him being John in general..

One hand grabbed the marker, the other grabbed and flicked the glasses arms open.

My mind was running through the maths already.
It’s taking far too long though, my brain feels sluggish..
Normally I blister through these sorts of calculations.. but not today?

Why would it?.. oh yeah..
No magic.

You really don’t realise how much magic is involved in just LIFE for a mage until you experience having it taken away!

..Oh well, I’ll make it work.. somehow..
I still know what I’m doing after all.
I’m just a bit slower getting there for now..

I popped the lid off the marker and frowned at it a little.
He couldn’t have given me a black marker could he?!

Why does he even HAVE a metallic pink marker pen in his pocket?

“Thanks..”
It came out a little more half-hearted then I would have liked, considering he IS helping me.. but on the other hand he DID give me a metallic pink marker pen to do the runes with..

I focused on the glasses for a second instead of wallowing in that idea.

It’s a good thing the frames are so wide honestly.
The more space there is, the more runes I can fit on them.

Not that I need that many for the basic enchantment.
Lens clarity enchantments are pretty easy to make after all, people have been making them for centuries.

Just because magic gives mages beyond ‘twenty-twenty’ vision doesn’t mean they don’t have friends and family that need glasses sometimes.

I don’t even need to customize the design, there’s a standard template for this sort of thing..
I WILL customize it though.. obviously.
Why make a perfect pair of glasses when you can make a MASTERPIECE?!
..these glasses are still too small to write on clearly though..

“Can you give them a temporary expansion spell for me?”
It’s not hard to do, especially because it only needs to be temporary.

I don’t normally bother with temporary spells when I can use runes instead but.. yeah..
John’s better at spells then runes anyway.

I think he smirked a little, he reached out a hand and placed it on them though anyway.
With a mild flash of light he pulled his hand away leaving behind the pair of glasses, about four times their original size.

I REALLY wish I had my magic senses right now!
I bet he did the same strange rule-breaking magic he did before, when he turned my coffee can into an expanded storage space!

I don’t actually KNOW first-hand what spells being cast look like to normal people’s eyes so the flash might have been normal, but he managed to expand the glasses FAR too quickly for it to have been internal magic through his lines either way.

“..thanks..”

He may have responded but I kind of zoned out a little, focusing on the glasses instead.
Building a rune cluster to make the lenses on them change to correct my vision automatically shouldn’t be too hard.

Everything will have to be mirrored obviously.
I’ll basically need two of everything, one for my left eye and lens, one for the right side.

Start with the basics, a control cluster with a mind and ‘oculus’ rune pair on the inside edge of each arm to provide the input from what both of my eyes currently see.
Run the rune chain down the inside edge and tuck them over at the hinges to reach the outside of the frames themselves.

Add two feedback clusters with their own oculus runes, one on either side of the frame around the lenses.. to put it simply, they’ll act as ‘cameras’ of a sort.

When that input is mixed with the feedback clusters and the clarity runes I’m about to add they will make a filter system where the lenses correct themselves until my vision matches what the oculus runes are ‘seeing’ as much as possible.

Four clarity runes per lens, one in each corner, all ready to be connected to the feedback clusters.. annnnd I’m done!
I told you it would be easy!

..now for the fun part..

Let’s see..
A ‘Thermalis’ rune on each arm just.. here.
A ‘Strigiformes’ rune about where the temple would be when wearing them.. better add some light detecting clusters on the top of the frames while I’m at it.

Okay.. what else?..
..Color changing would be a waste.
I’ve got thermal vision and night vision covered already.

Mage sight?.. it would be SO useful but how could I do it?..

Well.. my night vision is being provided by some ‘Strigiformes’ runes, basically giving me ‘Owl Vision’.
That weird concept only works because of just a touch of sympathetic magic I factored into the calculations.

By adding an owl rune in parallel with the control cluster from my own eyes I should get a form of ‘night vision’ due to associative resonance.
Basically the feedback clusters will, for lack of a better word, ‘search’ for a way to make sense of the owl runes.
The mind rune in the control cluster will let it use my mind to work out what to do.

It’s a pretty standard shortcut honestly; magic’s kind of stupid at times.
It’s easier to make your brain the controlling factor in complicated comparative spells then trust a set of complex instructions embedded into the spell itself.

I kinda wish I knew less about owls now, weird as that sounds?
I know that they have this strange thing where they basically have no depth perception outside of a ninety degree arc in front of their faces, the enchantment will probably simulate that on the lenses when it activates the night vision effect as well.. that’s kind of annoying honestly..

Right, no use moping over imperfect rough build enchantments.
Where was I?.. AH!

Okay, so.. I already have the Strigi- the ‘owl’ runes triggering by my minds command.
They work using my knowledge of what my vision SHOULD look like with an owls mixed in.

There’s no reason why that shouldn’t work for magesight too.. I think?..
I just need a rune to represent what I know about mage sight.

That would be a.. um..
..well I could use ‘mage’ as a general rune.. maybe?..
Or.. no.. uh..
What simple concept rune could represent something with natural magesi-

IMPS!

He doesn’t even have to be here and Felix is still helping me!
Some adorable little red bundle of fur is getting a nice head scratch the next time I see him!

Imps have natural magesight, they're fae after all.
I’ve even had personal experience seeing an Imp using that vision from when Felix looked at the handcuffs that handy man’s Golem slapped on me.

It’s not much of a connection but mixed with my knowledge of Imps in general and my personal experience with actually USING magesight it should be JUST enough to get the job done.

I should be able to fit them in, just on the edge of the arm.. here!

‘Imp’ runes are a bit complicated to draw but they look pretty, kind of like little flowers.
..I think so at least?..
Edith would probably hit me for saying it but they DO!

Okay, all the main runes are done at last.
I don’t think I’d be able to fit any more on here and still have it all work honestly?
It’s a bit tight already.

I just need to link them all together now with switching clusters and add charging runes to the tips of each arm.

..annnddddd..DONE!..
Properly done and finished this time, promise!

I turned the glasses over a few times to inspect the runes and make sure they haven’t smudged as I worked.
Ink isn’t exactly the best medium to do runes with but I’m working with what I’ve got.

I can’t see any bits where I’ve messed up.. that’s good, or worrying, depends how you look at it really I guess?

Only a tiny bit more work to go then, I just need to make them look a bit more ‘normal’ before I get John to set and charge them for me.

At the moment they would end up looking like tiny flowing runes.. which is exactly what they ARE.
If you’re going to learn runes you have to learn how to hide them too, especially on something so publicly visible.

What style to use?.. I’m not going to put too much effort in, just something standard will do.

I guess.. with the ‘flower looking’ imp runes, the ‘vine like’ connecting rune trails.. and the girly pink coloring..
..it would make sense at least?..

I stuck my tongue into the side of my cheek and tensed my hand a little so I wouldn't mess up.
I’ve got a pretty steady hand to begin with, it comes with being a rune master, but I don’t want any of these useless little additions to cross over into the lines of the ACTUAL runes.. that would be bad..

A little leaf decal here.. and here.. blooming flower here.. another leaf just HERE.. some little vine detailing around the bottom edge of the frames to hide the rune trails on the other side.

Perfect!

They don’t look half bad, if I do say so myself.
Not a style I’d have chosen personally but they don’t look BAD as such AND they should be useful which is the actual.. ya know.. important bit!

======

I put the glasses on the table with a contented sigh and squeezed my eyes shut tight.
I stared a bit too hard while working on them there, my eyes hurt a little.

Slowly I picked up on the hushed conversations going on around me.
Despite the ache I popped my eyes open and shot a glance around the room.

John smirked at me knowingly.
Sarah was watching me with a slightly bug-eyed look of awe on her face.
Jessie’s boys were sitting on either side of me and seemed to be transfixed by the glasses.

Dotted around the room was the source of the hushed conversations, a lot more people then I’d anticipated?

The women I vaguely remember being in here last night for dinner are here.
They’re mixing about with a fair few men that all seem to fit into a general ‘muscle-bound hairy lumberjack’ stereotype quite nicely.
I can’t really make out their faces too clearly at the moment though, that’s kind of the whole point in making these glasses in the first place after all..

“They’re beautiful Ari..”
I flinched a little when Mum’s hands came down on my shoulders and she slipped them forward until she was hugging me from behind.

Quite a few of the new people in the room are watching us now, specifically watching me.

How long was I working on the glasses?
The tables got a load of dirty plates on it now and everything!

I tend to get a bit.. involved.. when I’m rune crafting.
It’s not normally THIS bad though.

I know it took a bit longer for me to do the maths but.. has blocking my magic really messed with my brain this much?
‘Thought speed’ I can see as being something the magic would enhance normally but I thought my ability to split my attention was something I had to learn, not some natural part of having magic in my brain?

The dining room door opened and I twitched again.
I really don’t like not being able to see properly!

I quickly picked up the glasses and passed them over to John.

“To set them you need to put two fingers on the mind and oculus runes either side, use a line per hand to set the enchantments, then can you dump about three lines worth of power into the charge runes on the end of each arm for me?.. oh, and cancel the size expansion obviously.”

For some reason John seemed to be handling the glasses like they were some kind of delicate priceless object?
I don’t see why, they were in his back-pocket for who knows HOW long before he gave them to me!

He placed them gently on the table, put his fingers in roughly the right places and squinted his eyes in concentration.

A slight red glow built up in his palms and then there was a blinding flash.
Most of the room flinched but the flash died down quickly.

I had to blink a few times to clear my vision.

If this really is what magic looks like to someone without magic in their eyes then I need to reconsider where I cast spells.. I never realised the reactions to even the most simple of spells could be so bright and eye catching!

John shifted his fingers and squeezed the tips of the glasses arms with his thumb and forefingers.
The slight glow built up again on his palms but this time they didn’t explode in a bright light at least.

He slowly let go of the glasses and shook his hands a little.
I winced along with him.

Pushing magic through your hands, without shaping it first, makes your fingers tingle a bit.
It’s not nasty but it’s a weird feeling anyway.

After a moment to shake the tingle away he swept his hand over the glasses and cupped his palms above them.
For some reason he seemed to be putting a lot of effort into cancelling the size expansion compared to how he cast it.. if I didn’t know any better I’d swear he was..

Oh.. that IS what he’s doing!

He’s pretending to cast the counter-spell wordlessly through his lines?
It wouldn’t be impossible to pull off I guess, although even I’d be stretched to manage it usually.
While something simple like my ‘hair care’ spell only takes three lines to cast wordlessly, countering a size expansion on a charged, enchanted item would take at least nine lines.. twelve wordlessly.. possibly fifteen to cut out the hand gestures usually involved too.

He’s showing off a little by doing it wordlessly obviously but.. I can’t shake the feeling he’s actually trying to hide the fact that he’s not casting from his lines at all?
I’ve not really seen him do any magic in the ‘normal way’ at all lately.

He seems determined to do everything he can to break the rules of magic for some reason!

Finally his hands came apart to reveal the now ‘human head’ sized glasses.
He scooped them up gently and offered them to me.

I couldn’t help smiling at him in thanks.
It’s nice of him to help set these up, even if I did most of the maths involved.

I grabbed them and gave them one more visual inspection before unfolding the arms and sliding them onto my nose.

The arms are a bit longer than necessary.
I’ll need to tweak the bridge a little so they sit on my nose a bit better too.

The lenses themselves are rather large.
It feels like they’re taking up most of my face honestly but I’ve never worn glasses before so maybe that’s normal?

I twisted my head in Sarah’s direction and posed with a hand cupped to my chin like those models you see showing off perfume in magazines.

“What do you think?”

Her face lit up and she nodded warmly.
That’s one vote at least.

I turned my head slightly and cocked an eyebrow at John.

His lip twitched a little but his gaze felt warm as he examined my newest additions.
It’s really nice to be able to see the actual emotions and reactions flicking across his face again.
After a long moment he nodded approvingly and smiled at me.

I twitched my mouth into a quick returning smile before moving on to the final voter.

Mum’s arms came loose from around me and she stepped back as I turned to her with a questioning look on my face.
She seemed to examine me from several angles in excruciating detail for a moment before nodding in approval.
Her whole face lit up and she moved over to hug me again.

I didn’t even try to stop her, as if I would want to?
I enjoy hugs now, especially when they’re from Mum!

“They look really pretty Ari. I didn’t realise you were so good at art!”
We shared a little smile together for a moment that made me feel warm inside.
“Why do you have glasses though? you’ve never needed them before?”

..Ah.. and like that the warm feeling is gone.

Should I tell her about the whole ‘for all practical purposes not having magic anymore’ thing?
She’s sure to work it out eventually anyway, right?
It’s not like it NEEDS to be a secret or anything honestly..

My right wrist came up and I rattled the pair of cuff’s on it to get her attention.

“These little trinkets are blocking my body’s direct access to my magic by venting it all out of my feet.. after last night I had John tweak the settings a little so I basically have no useable magic in my body anymore..”

At least four people around us gasped loudly.
I could feel Sarah’s eyes burning into the back of my neck too.

“As a side effect I’ve temporarily lost the natural enhancements my magic usually gives to my body in the background, while that can mean a lot of things, the real noticeable ones are that my ears, nose and skin are less sensitive.. my brain’s not quite working at full capacity speed-wise and I suddenly became short sighted.. hence the glasses.”

I crinkled my nose a little and it felt like said glasses were about to slip down my nose but when I pushed the bridge up a bit more they didn’t budge so it must have just been my imagination.

Mum didn’t seem to quite know what to say now.
A few of the women around the room, if I’m any judge they are probably the ones who gasped earlier, made their way over to us and started making a fuss over my glasses.
The tall one on the left with thick brown curls that could almost rival my now spell enhanced hair for body and shine gently asked if she could have a look at them.

I slid them off slightly reluctantly and squinted around, blinking furiously to try and clear my vision again.
If anything, everything looks MORE blurred now that I’ve seen things clearly again for a little bit first.

The glasses got passed between the woman around me and they seemed to huddle together slightly to mumble over the ‘flower patterns’ on them.
I couldn’t really make out what they were saying which is kind of frustrating because I KNOW that I’d normally be able to easily.

I never thought I’d say this but.. being ‘normal’ kinda sucks?
Normal with bad eyesight and useless ears at least..

Finally the glasses were passed back around to me.
I gratefully took them and slipped them back onto my nose with a little finger push to make sure they were on right.

The crowd of women around us smiled at me and seemed to want to give me some kind of hug each at a minimum.

I swear the one who's about Sarah’s height with short sandy brown hair in a tousled bob style muttered something about me being ‘brave’ but yet again my ears are useless now.
Despite how close she got when she said it, she spoke so quietly it just didn’t register as more than a mutter to me.

They finally disbursed back to their little groups of other ‘adults’.

Mum gave me one more fond smile and played with my hair a little before making her way over to the far side of the table where Jessie and a suspiciously hung-over looking Grace were on their forth coffee each, judging by the empty mug’s in front of them on the table.

The volume level crept back up as everyone sunk back into conversation.
I turned to face John and Sarah as well, with a little smile on my lips.

That didn’t go as bad as I thought it would, at least Mum didn’t freak out or anything?

A gentle tug on my arm made me look down to my left.
One of Jessie’s boys, the dark haired quiet one, smiled up at me and seemed fascinated by my face for a moment.
When he decided to finally speak his voice came out in a shy whisper that I had to strain to hear above the conversations around us.

“You’re glasses are really pretty.”

I smiled at him and had to hold back the urge to run a hand fondly through his hair.
Even in human form he’s like an adorable little puppy!

The lighter haired one on my other side huffed to himself loudly, obviously trying to make sure we all knew what he thought about things being ‘pretty’.

My smile twitched a little more in amusement.
It was just such a typical ‘little boy’ reaction!
I never went through that phase obviously but it still seems cute, when they’re this age at least.

“You fixed the wolf, Auntie Grace said you did, how did you do it?”

I thought I’d misheard him at first.
Another look down at the little dark haired one gave me nothing helpful as he stared back at me with wide expressive eyes, obviously curious to get an answer of some kind?

My head moved to glance over at Grace on the far side of the table.
She was huddled up with Mum and Jessie talking rather forcefully.
Jessie seemed to want to interrupt her a few times but didn’t seem to be able to find the right moment to do it because Grace just steamrolled on talking wildly with her hand’s moving about to emphasis what she was saying.

My stomach felt a bit weird all of a sudden.

I think my gut instinct is playing up again?
Something tells me this is going to lead to more headaches at somepoint.. whatever ‘this’ is.

Just as I was about to turn back to reassure the little dark haired one, Grace gave one more final dramatic wave and pointed over at me while baring her teeth.

There was a stunned moment when I made eye contact with the three of them.
They quickly realised that they’d been caught talking about me.

Mum and Jessie had the decency to blush but Grace didn’t.
She just gave me a strange, uncertain look before turning away and pretending nothing had happened.

“He’s so happy.”
My head swung down one more time to look at the little black haired one.
He smiled at me warmly and squinted his eyes slightly.
“The wolf is really happy now, thanks Auntie ‘rista”

Without any warning he buried his head in my side and gave me a hug.

I sat there slightly stunned, a blush on my cheeks.
I’ve never been called an ‘Auntie’ before.. didn’t particularly think that would be one of my life experiences to be honest.. unless Sarah decided to teach her kids how to annoy me in a decades time or something?.. which, let’s be clear.. is TOTALLY something she would do!..

The lighter haired one on my right shifted uncomfortably as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to join in with the hug or not but in the end he didn’t move from his chair.

..the wolf?.. he said ‘the wolf’ was happy..
I know their werewolves.. well.. were-puppy’s maybe..

As weird as it seems, I’m kind of over that part.. now that I know they’re not just going to eat me for the sake of it.
‘the wolf’ however.. that’s new?

I’ve heard a few rumor’s floating around the Hub about a ‘wolf’ over the years.

Some weird theory someone came up with that werewolves are infected with a ‘wild primal spirit’ which is why they can be so bloodthirsty one minute and then blend into society the next as if nothing happened.
From what I gather, it’s theoretically a bit like my past-incarnations but with a lot more fighting for dominance, growling and with either side getting significant home-field advantages depending on the lunar cycle or time of day?

Out of curiosity I brought a hand up and tapped the switching rune on the left lens of my new glasses.
While my right eye stayed normal, my left one suddenly shifted into a kaleidoscope of red, orange and yellow colors, with some blue mixed in.
..at least I know the thermal vision works now..

Another tap and I had to shut my eye when everything was whited out with a bright light.
..that would be the night vision, terrible idea to use that in daylight..

One last tap and the world muted out into an almost grey pallet of colors for my left eye.

It felt really weird to see in magesight without feeling the usual build-up and strain of activating it on my weak eyes.
Why didn’t I think of making something like these sooner?!
This is AWESOME!

I put my hand up so I could inspect it and felt slightly amazed to see the magic that seemed to generate from my skin itself trail slowly down my fingers and progress down my arm towards my heart.
I don’t need to check to know that from there it’s joining the rest of my excess magic at my feet and venting itself out constantly into the floor, I can FEEL that much just from the chill on my legs.

Finally getting to my original reason for activating magesight, I looked down at the little dark haired one and had to bite back a gasp of surprise.

His magic is.. weird..
I can see it flooding his body, if I’m not mistaken there’s even the tell-tale green-y purple color of wild magic mixed into hi-

..I know this?..
I know this look!
It would be pretty damn hard to forget it considering it’s painfully similar to my OWN magic!

The magic all over his body, not just isolated to a core!
The hints of wild magic in his system!

This is a werewolf’s magic?.. I.. I’m a werewolf?..

How is that even POSSIBLE!
I’m not a werewolf!

Sure, I like my meat a bit rare and I like the moon as much as the next person, but I don’t turn into a baby-eating beast on the full moon!
I don’t have some inner battle going on constantly in my m-

..holy crap..

‘The wolf’
The kid said that the wolf was happy.
The only way he could know THAT is if there was some kind of ‘meeting of the minds’ going on inside him.
A part of his head specifically set up so he could bond and communicate with the wolf on some primitive level.. something like a mindscape!

Is that why werewolves can’t be mages?
You’re either one or the other, you can’t be born both.
..well.. normal people can’t at least.. apparently I am?.. somehow..

I carefully glanced around the room to see if anyone had noticed what was going on but they all seemed to be busy talking to each other.
With the magesight active on my left lens still I could see the room lighting up in a kaleidoscope of colors.

From the looks of it, Sarah and Mum are pretty much the only people in the room that DON’T have a magical aura.
The women all have tightly controlled cores with obvious lines fanning out from just above their hearts.
The men all seem to be like the boys, no core to speak of but their whole bodies are just FLOODED with magic!

I.. is every man in this room a werewolf?..

The only person I can see that stands out, ignoring the obvious exception of John, is Grace.
That’s just because she’s like the men, no core but her body is flooded with magic, even though she’s female..

This is.. this is HUGE!
Wha.. what the hell AM I?!

My magic floods my body like the werewolves but I HAVE a core!
The flooded magic isn’t even an old thing!
I only got it when Storyteller put his brand on m-

..what did he do to me?..
What the HELL did he do to me?!

My breath is coming in short sharp gasps but I can’t stop it.

Sarah said something but all I can hear is ringing in my ears.
My heart’s hammering away in my chest!

Is.. is this what a panic attack feels like for a normal person?
It feels like I’m gonna die!

John was at my side so fast I didn’t even see him move.
His arms wrapped around me and I could feel the heat of his body, see the heat of his magic as it rolled over me and surrounded me in a cocoon of warmth.

He shouldn’t be able to do that!
My magic should be fighting him back.. I..

Of course my magic isn’t fighting back.
It’s suppressed!

I could already feel my body calming down.
My mind couldn’t seem to settle on one topic at a time but my breathing is evening out and my heart has slowed to a steady rhythm.

He’s doing the same thing Trudy tried to do for me in the training room.. but he’s succeeding!

He’s wrapped us up in his magic and is pushing his calm, caring thoughts through that connection into me.
Even without my ability to sense his magic directly I can see it through my glasses and I can feel its effects on my body.

..He’s pulling me back from the edge of panic with nothing but his own force of will!..

======

After what felt like the longest minute of my life his magic finally started peeling back from me.
The moment he fully pulled it back into himself I shivered.

The air feels cold, now that his magic’s gone.
Maybe this bikini top and short-shorts combo wasn’t such a good idea after all?..

A lot of people were talking at the same time but my head is a little foggy and I can’t seem to pick out any one individual voice to focus on.

Sarah made it over to us and hugged me from the side opposite John.
I let out a sigh and slid into her embrace.

I’m a werewolf.. mage.. hybrid.. cursed.. thingy?..

I’d say I’m not safe and push Sarah away but that would be wrong, I’m perfectly safe now.
I’m safer to be around than ever before because my magic is gone.

You can’t have a werewolf going all ‘bite and eat you’ if their body doesn’t have enough magic left to transform into something with the necessary teeth and muscles TO bite and eat you..

One voice came out from the mass of sound around us, clear as crystal.
“I go to the Ladies room for five minutes and you cause THIS much havoc.. I swear you’re just like your mother was at your age.”

Oh great.. Gran’s here..
At least she sounds amused, I guess?

Judging by the embarrassed yell of ‘Mother!’ that sounded like it came from MY Mum’s voice; I’ll take it that I’m not the only source of amusement on offer right now?

I snuggled into Sarah’s arms a little more and shut my eyes tight.
Family’s great and everything I’m sure, but at this point it’s starting to feel like more trouble than it’s worth.

..I just want to go home..