Why is it, when you're hungry, everything suddenly has some kind of food connection to it? I'd be tempted to say it's a psychological issue but we can't rule out the obvious answer that it's all just magic of course! Events unfold including but not limited to: Eris enjoying the fall in a glass box. John gains a personal assistant (minus the mini-skirt and free coffee delivery) and Hannah has more cat troubles!

 

“Oh don’t you both look adorable.”

“Urk!”
Definitely not the response I was looking for!

Eris seems delighted by her ‘Gran’s response though.
Her little arms swung around fluffing up the airy little sundress she had on in a flurry of light material and giggles.

I’d intended to go for something simple but kind of got a bit too into it.
By the time Eris got back from the bathroom I was practically in one of my usually rune-based ‘creating hazes’ and she happened to throw in a suggestion or two until.. well.. here we are I guess?

Naturally the outfits are matching.
I couldn’t decide between trousers or skirts in the end so I went for a bit of both.

We’re wearing black leggings that go down to about mid-calf under these light sundresses, always a classic look for beating the summer heat.

Originally I was going to change our colors around a bit but Eris was rather insistent that we should match perfectly.
Now what was going to be my nice mature looking sea-green or possibly burnt-orange, I hadn’t quite decided at the time, sundress is.. a pastel shade of pink.
It doesn’t look BAD per-say but the dresses definitely looks a lot more ‘childish’ then I’d like in my opinion, just from the coloring alone..

Eris got busy fiddling with my hair while I added the finishing touches to our outfits including the slight ruffle at the bust and the wider double straps to hide my bra straps a bit better.

I didn’t really pay attention to what she was doing, ‘creating haze’ being in effect and all, but when she’d finished my hair was off of my neck at least.
She moved around and offered me her hair with instructions on how to do the same thing for her.

I’m pretty impressed honestly.
Who knew she was so talented with hair?

It turns out she’d taken my pretty much butt-length hair and managed to twist it up into a bun of sorts.

I managed to replicate the look on her from instruction alone, there wasn’t a mirror in the guest room sadly, but essentially it’s just a bun.
A really fancy bun with a ponytail sticking out of it to hang slightly away from her neck at about shoulder length, but still a bun.

One thing I DID learn from it all is that you can use magic to make your hair just ‘stick’ in place.
It took me a few tries to get a hang of it but basically you have to vent some magic into your palm so it’s outside your skin, then ‘rub’ it onto two parts of hair you want stuck together and like magnets they just ‘ZOOM’ stick together tight!

Eris said I taught her how to do it ages ago but I can’t remember if I did, obviously.

Apparently I got fed up with her loosing bobby-pins and other hair ornaments so I came up with this simple little trick as a work around.
Even without accessing her lines she can do it wandlessly, it’s not exactly HARD to vent your magic after all, controlling it when you finish venting is the hard part usually.. unless your me with more magic then sense, in which case the opposite is true..

We’re both wearing thin little sequined slip-on shoes in matching shades of black.
I’m tempted to call them ‘ballet pumps’ but that sounds weird and we aren’t dancing anywhere so they’re slip-on’s, simple as that!

“I wish I had a camera; matching mother-daughter outfits are so fun! One time when John was little I.. uh..”
Mrs Jones suddenly paused mid-sentence as if realising what she was about to say.

Oh no Mrs J.. don’t be shy.. PLEASE, continue?!..
I think you were just about to confess that you dressed John up in matching mother-daughter outfits when he was little?.. PLEASE let that be true, that would be HILARIOUS!

Just WAIT until the next time John mocks my outfit choices!
I can see it now, little John with his sharp little chin walking around the store with his grinning Mummy as woman coo over how cute he is!

HA!

I wonder if she kept it up for a while?
Maybe I wasn’t the only one wearing skirts on a semi-regular basis back when we met in pre-school?!

“You girls ready? We need to get off if we want to make reasonable time getting back to Klamath after the Bazaar.”
My grin hurt my cheeks slightly and Mrs Jones blushed bright red as John came in shooting us all curious looks.
“What? Something on my face?”

Even Eris seemed to pick up on the amusement.. well MY amusement.. judging but the happy little giggle she gave while swishing her sundress with her free hand.

When did she manage to slip her other hand into mine?
I didn’t even notice!

“Ready as we’ll ever be John.”
It was a fight to hold down the urge to outright laugh this time.
I turned and shot Mrs J a knowing look which made her blush even brighter somehow.
Instead of dropping her in it or being mean I just stepped up and offered her a one-armed hug which she happily took with a relieved sigh.
“We’ll see you in a few days then Natasha.”
It still feels weird to call her by her name..

Eris giggled and shot forward for a tight hug from her ‘Gran’.

She’s a bad influence on me, when she got finished hugging John’s poor Mum I bent down slightly and ended up with an armful of content little girl which I think I honestly wouldn’t change for the world.. as weird as that feels to admit..
Carrying her around so much is awkward at times and it can get a bit warm having her tucked up against me too but deep down I don’t really feel comfortable if she’s not within reach at this point?

I know it’s probably bad and definitely related to the dreaded ‘Mother Arista’ problem that keeps rearing its annoying head lately but on the other hand it feels good to have her little ear pressed into my breast as she listens to my heartbeat and I refuse to deny myself that pleasure no matter how weird and ‘not me’ enjoying it may be!

“Bye Mum.”
John leaned in and gave Mrs Jones a warm hug that she returned happily.

I’m glad I ended up inviting her to visit us back at home.
She really was starting to look almost depressed as conversation turned to us going home, but now she’s full of smiles and I can practically FEEL the joy coming from her.

“Lady’s first..”
John waved me through like the true aristocrat he once was.

I was SO tempted to wave him through and make some kind of smart-assed comment about his apparent ‘mother-daughter’ time as a kid in return but I held it back with some effort and restrained myself to a smile for him with an internal giggle for me.

Something like that.. you don’t just waste it on a little jab?..

Thanks to Mrs J’s little slip-up I just hit pay dirt!
A new trump card to hold onto in case he picks another fight when I’m REALLY not in the mood for it, just like the ‘peeing himself in kindergarden after his awakening’ one I used on him back at the farm.

I’ve said it before, rule one when dealing with John is to always have some kind of plan to fall back on!

It’s not just a saying it’s a way of life!
Without another word I lead the march out towards the truck.

Shopping and then home.
This time I can actually SLEEP through most of the journey too, thank the powers for small mercies!

======

“I spy with my little eye something beginning withhhh...”

“We’re almost there.”
I glared at John for interrupting.
Who knew ‘I-Spy’ could be such a hard game when you get through a few rounds and run out of the obvious stuff?

“I spy with my little eye something beginning with Y.D.B.G.”
Eris’s eyes went wide in shock.

I don’t think it ever occurred to her that you could use more than single initial before, I don’t think you CAN without cheating honestly but I can’t resist this one.

“Give up? I spy Your-Dad-Being-Grumpy!”
Eris cracked up laughing.
The light glare John shot at me didn’t help matters, if anything he set her off again in another peel of giggles that I joined her on.

“Oh come on John, lighten up. As you said we’re almost there now.”

To be honest the journey’s been surprisingly quick.
I always thought Seattle would be one of those mega-cities like New York where it’s practically faster to walk then drive anywhere but we’ve made good time, barely an hour’s drive and no real traffic.

To be fair we started in the practically deserted ‘suburb’ area of DuPont.
A few turns and we pulled a right past an athletics field that had a rough football field surrounded by a bright red running track and possibly a baseball diamond on the far side all built into one facility.
A long curving road brought us past some kind of forest area then seemingly straight through DuPont’s shopping district.

It was mostly food places from what I could see as we pulled past it?
On one hand I was kind of disappointed to not have something more interesting to look at but on the other hand they have a ‘Jack in the box’ restaurant!

I’ve not had Jack in a box in AGES, we have one back in Klamath Falls but it’s right on the far side of town from Mum’s place, nearer to the Walmart in Altamont honestly.

The signs for their ‘Brunchfast’ meals and ‘Panko onion rings’ had me watching as we cruised past, almost whimpering in regret when they disappeared.
I know I only just had breakfast but.. but food?!..

As if taunting me the next corner lead to a run of shops including a Starbucks coffee, Domino’s Pizza and a Subway!

Luckily we went past pretty fast but I still felt a little cheated and mildly hungry because of it all.
The final round of food trauma was a surprisingly large McDonalds on our left as we pulled onto the I-5 heading to Tacoma.

Once on the I-5 it was a pretty boring ride at least, hence the little games to keep Eris entertained.
Aside from a bit of awed staring from her when we drove past the McChord air force base and a surprisingly large, worryingly low jet took that moment to land practically right in front of us, we had few other distractions.

The ones that got the most fun reactions from Eris included the point when we passed the ‘Wild Waves’ theme park with all its colorful water flumes looming high into the sky and the few times we were overtaken by a big-rig or two, making her gape in awe as they moved by.

Aside from that she seemed to need the games to keep her from getting fidgety honestly?
I could tell after about twenty minutes when she started fiddling with my hair that she was growing bored quickly and no-one likes a bored child on a journey, even if it IS a pretty short one.. the journey that is, not Eris.. although she IS short AND pretty too, but then I’m her mother so I would say tha-
DAMN IT!

We just past a sign for ‘Glendale’ when John had his little grump-fest and a few minutes later we went past our second airport of the day, this one being ‘King County’ International Airport apparently?
Eris plastered herself to the window looking for planes again and just as we moved past it she got lucky as, what I assume was, a Boeing jet came in for landing near level with our side window.

She squealed and stared at it with childish wonder that made me feel oddly warm for some reason.
I know she’s not really used to a lot of things about the ‘modern’ world yet but it’s still fun to see her acting her age and being so cute about it in the process!

As we came to the messy junction where the I-90 crosses over and partly merges with the I-5 we hit our first major run of traffic.
It took a while to clear but eventually the somewhat recognisable skyline of towering buildings that is Seattle hove into view.
Yet again Eris was up and looking around eagerly.

She seemed to be amazed by every tall structure we went past.
To be fair, I doubt she’s seen anything this tall before, let alone things that are man-made.
The housing in New Avalon could be kindly described as ‘rustic’ and in my opinion best described as ‘a step up from mud-huts’ sadly.

The truck rolled on underneath a long overpass throwing us momentarily into darkness until it opened up slightly with a tree lined area which even caught me by surprise before plunging us back into the darkness.
I’ve never driven through here before, me and cars in general don’t mix of course, but I really didn’t expect to see much greenery at all in such a built up area honestly?

When we came out the other side of the short tunnel area John pulled us over to the off-ramp labelled ‘Exit 166’, after a bit of dodging and weaving we were making our slow way through the surprisingly heavy traffic of ‘Denny Way’.

On the right there was some kind of construction project going on and yet again I lost Eris’s attention as she stared up at all the heavy building equipment in a funny mix of confusion, fear and awe.

Just before a large cream colored building with ‘The Seattle Times’ slapped on top of it John pulled us onto a side street and into a pretty jam-packed parking lot area that I THINK is meant to be for residents and staff or something, but if it is then John didn’t seem to care either way.

It took almost five minutes of us driving around in circles before a space opened up, even magic can’t improve parking in the city apparently?

I suppose we could have just shrunk someone’s car and taken their space or something but that would just be mean.. although if we hadn’t found a space when we did I wouldn’t have put it past John to do exactly that out of frustration if nothing else.
He always HAS been impatient about pretty much everything.. silly bastard..

“I’ll go get us a ticket, you want to come Eris?”
I winced a little at how quickly she hopped off my lap, barely even waiting for the seatbelt to come loose in the process.
Her eyes keep shooting from side to side at the ‘strange’ mix of cars around us.

If she wants to go with him I don’t mind, it’ll give me a second to get myself sorted and move my expanded bag from the back to the cab of the truck so it doesn’t get stolen or something.

======

They took a few minutes to come back, Eris skipping along with wide eyes and John smiling lightly at her side.

I think I’ve roughly got my bearings at this point.
I may have cheated and brought up a map on my phone after rescuing my ‘not a handbag’ black little shoulder strap bag from its expanded cousin but I’m a mage, we cheat at everything, it’s practically in the rule book..

Actually it IS in the rulebook now that I think about it?
Page twenty-three under ‘rules of engagement for newly awakened mages in times of crisis’.. say what you want about the Hub’s but whoever they get to write their guidebooks is wise beyond their years in SO many ways!

“I take it we’re heading a few blocks over to the Needle?”
We can’t see it from here with all the tall buildings around but according to my map the Seattle Space Needle, the big pointy tower thing with a doughnut of glass on top that everyone recognises about this city, is a few blocks west of us apparently.

You’d be surprised how many people don’t believe it when they’re told there’s a whole magical shopping district under the Needle.
It’s a pretty smart spot to put it, no-one ever seems to question that one ‘staff’ elevator which doesn’t seem to go up the tower very often despite being in near constant use and looking like the two main glass fronted ones in pretty much every other way.

‘Who cares about a ‘freight’ elevator that goes so slowly compared to the other two anyway?’..
right?

Just for appearances sake every once in a while they open it up to the public of course but luckily there’s a reserve exit to the Bazaar in one of the nearby buildings to let people out if they don’t want to just warp out like a normal person.

Despite having been to the Bazaar a fair few times this is the first time I’ve come to it from ground level.
I’ve never actually seen the Space Needle before, most of the information I have comes from an information board they have at the far end of the Bazaar so this is just as much of a new experience for me as it is for Eris.

If I remember right there’s a whole ‘cloak and dagger’ password system to get a pass for the third elevator and a special trick to gain access to the buttons for it too.
From there we travel through thirty feet of solid concrete foundation and another twenty or so of mixed stone and rebar before popping out above the Bazaar.
I’m kind of excited to see the view honestly?

Like most mage ‘towns’ that don’t hide inside the fae realm the Bazaar is deep underground in a protective little cocoon of reinforcements and charms.

On the plus side whoever designed the place, back when the ‘Space Needle’ was first being built, worked with the Carlson guy who designed it and did an amazing job of enchanting the Bazaars ‘roof’ to look like open sky.
It’s so good you can barely tell your underground when your down there!

Unlike New Avalon, the Bazaar isn’t an ‘enclave’ but more of a trading district, so people from all walks of magical life meet up there.
It’s about as metropolitan and modern as you’re likely to get with mages sadly.

As far as I know the story goes that the Architect ‘John Graham’ struggled at first to provide a way to keep the tower secure despite only having a hundred-and-twenty foot square space to build it in.

There’s magic involved obviously, a bribe for letting the mages build underneath, although it’s apparently all just for safety sake because the tower is SO well designed that it would stand up on its own anyway somehow?!
Engineers.. they do a magic all of their own sometimes I swear!

The land itself used to be a long forgotten mage home, a bit like one of my bolt-holes, and when the team designing the needle for the nineteen-sixty-two World’s Fair couldn’t find anywhere to build it ‘someone’ just so happened to ‘find’ a seventy-five-thousand dollar plot of land in the middle of downtown Seattle that was just perfect for the groups needs in every way possible..

Personally I think the magical congress had a hand in it all.
The idea of such a large space to work with inside the heart of such an under-represented city for the magical world would just be too tempting an offer to pass up!

I’d assume some memory charms were cast and some in-the-know normal’s were bribed to help the strangely ‘appearing’ land seem like more of a clerical fluke then the actual reappearing landmass that it really was for everyone involved.

Either way that’s all not exactly relevant to us today but I can’t be blamed if my mind wanders, the walk from our parking lot to the Needle is a lot further then it looks on the map!

We’ve already gone five blocks up and all I’ve got to keep me entertained is Eris’s funny little reactions to ordinary things like stop signs and fire hydrants or the tiny boring display windows in stores like the Walgreens we just walked past..

Okay, I’ll admit I don’t mind the ‘Walgreens’ displays as much as most chain stores I guess?

The symbol in their window has a mortar and pestle on it with stars sprinkled inside!
That’s like an outright STATEMENT that they are magical in some way?!

I’m pretty sure that, until recently at least, a lot of their ‘medication’ would be termed as ‘potions’ or ‘alchemic concoctions’ if looked at by someone who isn’t in on the conspiracy.

There aren’t many people or groups who bother with potions anymore let alone alchemy.
It’s nice to know the old skills are still around somewhere AND that they are being used to help normal people, even if it IS for a tidy profit.

That’s about as good as we can get as mages these days in all honesty?
This isn’t the old days where you could just roll up claiming to be a witchdoctor or medicine-man and people would believe you.
If you want to help people with magic nowadays you have to be sneaky at best and outright lie about it at worst!

One more block up and the buildings suddenly flattened off giving us our first real glimpse of the Space Needle.

It really IS impressive.
I paused slightly and gaped up at it slightly and John took that as an invitation to scoop Eris up onto his shoulders so she could see as well.

“Wow.. did mages do that?”

I flinched and shot a nervous look around us but it doesn’t seem like anyone heard her?
No-one’s looking at us unusually at least, although a few people are giving me second glances.

It probably says a lot about where I am in this whole ‘gender change’ thing that I’m barely registering those looks anymore, they’re still annoying obviously but on the whole you tend to just forget about them after a while.
Men are going to be men sadly and I can hardly blame them for staring.
Like it or not, with this body, I’m a hottie..

A short, puffy cheeked and worryingly young looking ‘a hottie’.. but still a hottie?..

John doesn’t stare at me anymore so that’s something I guess?
Just goes to show that if you desensitize them to you, men CAN act civil about things!

..I sound like a feminist..
ACK! You know what I mean!!

I’m not saying men are pigs or anything because until recently I was one of them and I wasn’t a pig but just.. well.. maybe sometimes they are a little bit?
Not intentionally, not harmfully or even offensively either but just.. it’s a social thing I guess?..

I never even used to notice when I watched women as I walked past really?
It’s just something you grow up DOING as a guy, ya know?

It’s not an excuse or anything and I’m sure there ARE some guys who are intentionally assholes about it but it’s not like women are saints either!

I’ve been in women’s bathrooms before and even the locker room at school once or twice.
Women are just as obsessed with men as men are about women sometimes.. they’re just better at hiding it.. maybe?..

Either that or men are just bad at noticing when they’re being checked out?
I guess it’s easier to stare at someone’s crotch ‘subtly’ then their cleavage considering said cleavage is a lot closer to the face and more likely to catch someone’s attention?

I’m pretty sure John didn’t notice me checking out his Jeans when he- GAH!
Um.. change of topic time.. quickly!

“What’s the time?”
John shot a curious glance over at me and shrugged which made Eris giggle from her apparent new favorite position on his shoulders.

It’s rather cute to see honestly?
Despite his usual demeanor John really is a softy when he gets the chance to be.
Eris is enjoying herself being up so high all of a sudden and I’m pretty sure that there’s just a hint of a smile I can see on John’s face too.

Rather than prod again I reached into my bag and snagged my phone up to check instead.
Nearly noon.. damn.. too late for second-breakfast and too early for lunch!..

Oh well, if we wait until we get to the Bazaar before eating we can get some ‘Wizard Burger’ instead of just normal junk I guess?
I’m sure Eris will find that fun if nothing else.

I’ve got to admit I’m rather partial to ‘Wizard Burger’ myself, it’s like the magical equivalent of McDonalds, only more fun.

Want a burger that will turn your hair purple and your nails blue?
There’s a burger for that.
Want a hotdog that can make you grow horns for half-hour?
They got you covered!

It’s not a joke to say that mages like ‘playing’ with their food because we tend to PLAY with it at every chance we get sadly.

I’m pretty sure the ‘every flavor beans’ idea from Harry Potter are totally just an off-brand rip-off of ‘Dan Boons dynamite doubloons’, a brand of chocolate coins with random timed hexes on them that your meant to eat in a dare game with a group of friends.

I’ve never had them before obviously.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I kind of lack the sort of friends I can spend a night messing about eating charmed chocolate with sadly?.. they look nice and fun though!

I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate or magic?!
Put them together and you’ve got a masterpiece!

“..you’re drooling..”
Eris giggled from John’s muttered statement.
It was her giggle more than his words that really jolted me back into reality as we turned the corner onto Fourth Avenue with a clean line of sight all the way along to the towers base.

I KNOW I wasn’t drooling but I still wiped my chin just in case which seemed to amuse the pair of them even more sadly.

A sign strung up next to the old Seven-Eleven store on the corner advertising their ‘Big Gulp’ drinks made me kind of want to ‘drool’ again though.. I don’t know why I’m so hungry all of a sudden but it’s REALLY irritating!

“If you’re both done giggling at me? We really should get to the Bazaar before the lunchtime rush.”
The faster we get there, the faster I get food!

Also crowds and me don’t tend to mix too well..
As weird as it is to say, I’m kind of glad for the whole ‘light blue hair’ thing at the moment?
Hopefully it will cut down on the amount of people who recognise me as ‘Arista’ while we shop if nothing else.

“Lady’s first..”
John waved me on with an awkward bow that set Eris off giggling in enjoyment as he leaned her forward slightly.

With a huff at his cheeky attitude I folded my arms and paced ahead as offered.
If he’s going to be like that then so be it!

Maybe I can get in the elevator before him and leave him waiting on the ground floor for a few minutes, it would serve him right for laughing at me if nothing else!

======

“Sir you have to go the other way around, this elevator is for staff only at the mo-”
John fished around in his pocket for a second and flashed her some kind of badge inside his wallet.
I didn’t get too good a look at it before he’d flipped it shut and stored it away again annoyingly!
“OH! Mr Jones sir, I didn’t know we were due for a surprise inspection today?.. although I guess that would defeat the purpose of the ‘surprise’ now, wouldn’t it.. heh?..heh..uh..”

The woman seemed to practically fall apart the moment the badge got flashed.
She went from a stern, professional business woman to a giggly little school girl fawning over John in the blink of an eye.

Either magic’s involved here or she’s got some kind of fetish for ‘power’ as she apparently thinks John’s some kind of ‘higher up’?

Eris shifted uncomfortably on John shoulders for a second attracting more than just my attention.
I almost felt sorry for the woman when she got a full blast of Eris’s adorable ‘I don’t like you but I’m so sweet and innocent looking that it’s still cute’ look.

“This must be your daughter? She’s a real cutie.”
She tried to cover her discomfort from the look she was getting with chatter but it apparently didn’t impress Eris in the slightest.
In a probably wise move she shifted her attention over to me and blinked for a moment in surprise as she obviously registered my odd hair color.

“-and you are?”
She stuck her hand out to shake mine despite the confusion in her voice.

John opened his mouth to say something, probably something either rude or embarrassing.
Luckily I beat him to it for once.

“I’m Mr Jones’s Personal Assistant.”
I took her hand and shook it casually.

She seemed even more surprised now and possibly a little impressed by me.
..I probably shouldn’t enjoy that mix of emotions on her face as much as I do..

“um.. right, so uh.. the elevators all yours. Have a good day.”
Without another word the woman turned and practically fled the area leaving us to make our way to the currently dormant elevator doors.

“Personal Assistant huh?.. this mean you’re getting my coffee and wearing a mini-skirt from now on?”
I tried to ignore him for a few seconds as I leaned out and hit the call button on the elevator but it was no good.
I could practically FEEL his amused grin burning into the back of my head.

“..shut up John-boy..”

“That will be shut up MR John-boy.. SIR.. from now on little PA of mine.”
It took everything I had not to react, if he didn’t have Eris on his shoulders I SWEAR I’d swing around and clock him one RIGHT in the nose!

I was starting to stew over the indignity of it all when Eris let off her first audible giggle.
The sound seemed to practically drain all the anger out of me in seconds.
..I can’t stay mad if it’s making her laugh so much..

I guess it IS kind of funny and I DID set myself up for it?
That doesn’t mean I’m getting the smug bastard a coffee though OR that I’m wearing a powers damned MINI-SKIRT either!!

The elevator finally slid open after quite possibly the most painfully long ten seconds of my life so far.

I didn’t need prompting to shoot inside quickly.
Anything to get us out of the public eye so I can glare at John openly without someone seeing us at this point!

======

“How much longer is this gonna take?”
My eyes cut down to Eris as she stood between us kicking her little slip-on shoes against the floor out of boredom.

I’ve got to admit I wasn’t expecting it to take this long just to travel fifty feet downwards but I guess there’s a reason this is the ‘freight’ elevator and not a public use one?
Capacity in exchange for speed.

..things are always slower without magic too..
At least I don’t get travel sick in slow elevators though!

Come to think of it, I haven’t gotten sick from John’s truck yet either?
Maybe it’s because he’s not a violent maniac driver like Sarah.. forget that, it’s PROBABLY because he’s not a violent maniac driver like Sarah actually!

The sound of the elevators decent changed slightly around us for a moment as it has at what I guess would be every ten feet or so that we travelled downwards.
Moments later the poorly lit elevator suddenly slid out into bright light and we were left moving swiftly down out of the ‘sky’ above a large assortment of buildings in practically a mini-city.

Eris squealed in delight and moved forward to stare closely out of the glass front windows while John kept a strong hold on her hand but smiled happily as well.
I staggered back until I hit the ‘wall’ behind us, as far away from the glass on all sides as I could manage.

A single peek over the edge was enough for me!
I’m not exactly afraid of heights.. when magic is involved.. but practically ‘falling’ from the sky in a little glass box powered by electricity and wires is on the same level as travelling by airplane for that primal ‘fear’ part of my brain apparently?!

When we were about half way down to the ‘ground’ again the elevator jolted slightly.

Realistically I know it was nothing, just some kind of break kicking in to slow our decent in some way.
In reality I freaked out and with a lurch managed to plant myself into John’s side with my face buried in his back so I didn’t have to see anymore.

Why did I EVER think seeing the view from the elevator was a good idea?!

I should have bloody WARPED down to the Bazaar!
It would have been nasty but not ‘falling in a glass box’ nasty!!

John’s arms moved and he shifted me around slightly, cupping me into his chest so he could hold me better.
My breath kept coming out in slightly panicked pants and I’m not sure I can take my hands out of the tight fists they’ve formed in his shirt even if I tried!

With one final ‘bump’ that made me let off a frightened yelp into his chest we finally came to a stop.
The doors opened and John started slowly moving us forward, me on slightly unsteady legs.

“Is everything okay sir?”

I could feel John’s magic roll in amusement for a second but I just couldn’t bring myself to care at this point.
Not until I know we’re safely back on solid ground at least!

“It’s okay, my Personal Assistant Hannah, it turns out she doesn’t like heights after all..”
Har-Dee BLOODY Har John-boy!!

Laugh it up!
I’ll get you back for this somehow?!

“Not to worry, we get that reaction sometimes, usually from earth mages generally.”
They both shared a laugh as John guided me forward a few more steps.

“You can look now, it’s safe.”
I didn’t expect the gentle tone that came from him but it was welcome to say the least.

Slowly I pulled my face away from his chest and glanced around us carefully.
When it became obvious that we were both on solid ground again AND causing a bit of a scene I blushed bright red, practically shoving him away to save at least a little face from it all.

I can’t believe I fell apart like that?!
How embarrassing.. some ‘badass’ mage I am!

“Sorry.”
John’s light smirk made me blush harder for a second before I managed to duck my eyes away from him.

“No big deal, it’s pretty cute honestly, when did you start fearing heights that badly?”

I couldn’t look at him again but I managed to huff an annoyed breath out through my teeth at least.
I don’t like being called ‘cute’ thank-you-very-much!

“It’s not the height, I just don’t travel well with technology.. motion sickness, ya know?”
My downright panic attack had nothing to do with my usual motion sickness but hopefully he’s in a good enough mood to let it go at that.

After a painfully long moment of consideration John snorted his acceptance with just a hint of amusement obvious to my ears.
“What’s the plan then?”

..Good question?..

I need some more pure nightshade powder for a start, it’s useful with blood magic and I used the last of mine months ago while banishing a Voraxis demon from a run-down apartment complex in the Philippines..
A few casters trinkets for Eris would probably be a good idea too, just until I can get her using her lines properly I guess?

It feels like there’s something I’m missing?
AH! I was going to look for a set of voodoo dolls too!

Not for the obvious reasons, I may be a blood mage but I’m not evil OR twisted enough to use the bad ‘voodoo’ techniques of all things!

Voodoo dolls are little human shaped objects that ironically have nothing to do with either the ‘Voodoo’ or ‘Vodou’ religions and despite what most people believe actually originate from England of all places.

They were used a lot as a way to track and ‘punish’ mages by witch hunters back in the dark ages but their existence go’s WAY further back than that.
Even I’m not really sure who first came up with them honestly but they were used for protection by the druids for a while and the pagans practically loved the little things until they decided they were too ‘grown up’ to play with dolls anymore and moved on to praising food before eating it.. weirdo’s..

Anyway, Voodoo dolls can be made of a few things, cloth and clay being the most popular ones for some reason.
Personally I prefer having ones made from hemp, even if they CAN be awkward to explain away if you get a bit too close to a police sniffer dog.

The power and flexibility inherent in the ‘weed of dreams’ when cultivated in an appropriately magical environment is just silly in comparison to anything else!
As casting mediums go cultured hemp is up there with blessed wool when it comes to materials that work well with sympathetic magic.

The symbology involved, both the old fashioned ‘dreams’ connection and the more modern ‘repression’ connection from it being illegal for so long work pretty well for anything I would want to use the dolls for too.

In all honesty it’s either hemp voodoo dolls I need or I probably won’t even bother getting them?
There’s a tricky little sympathetic magic trick that I can hopefully use to my advantage with the hemp ones.
It’s kind of similar to the bonding I did with Sarah when she was in her coma back when we thought we would be fighting some kind of ‘el diablo’ level demon in the jungle but with a lot less drawbacks and side-effects involved.

They can be used both offensively and defensively by either ‘confusing’ your magical signature, making you harder to charm and manipulate with magic, or enhancing the sympathetic response in any spell you cast by a surprisingly large margin just by creating a basic feedback loop of sorts.

It all goes back to that old tragic fact of life sadly, Magic is complicated.

Complicated magic is even worse and you don’t get much more complicated than sympathetic magic!
There’s a REASON barely anyone uses it after all..

======

A slight movement by Eris didn’t exactly ‘bring me back’ to the real world but it certainly reminded me that I still hadn’t answered John yet.
At least I didn’t get lost in my own head for long this time, it looks like the whole ‘blocking the seer talent’ thing has worked as hoped to some degree if nothing else.

I opened my mouth to tell him my shopping agenda for the day but my stomach beat me to the punch with a low grumble.

“Food first?”
He grinned at me but nodded in agreement at least.

Eris seemed pretty excited at the idea of more food too.
I guess Mum was right, like mother like daught-
DAMN IT!

Those insidious little thoughts are getting REALLY annoying!

“..Mau?..”
A surprisingly loud plaintive little mew coming from the floor made me jump in surprise before we could make good on our food hunting plans.

We all turned our eyes down to see an adorable little kitten sitting patiently at my feet.

I’m amazed it managed to get so close without us noticing?
Usually my situational awareness is better than a kitten could ever hope to beat, even when I’m a bit distracted!

I squinted down at the little longhaired fuzz-ball and it’s unusually large ears as it stared back up at me with wide little blue eyes full of hope and cuteness.
My traitorous new female brain decided to join my heart in melting a little despite my best efforts to resist the silly pests allure.

It’s fur was a little odd, white almost to the point of being called ‘silver’ with little black dot’s all along it’s back ending in black rings around it’s legs and long tail.

For some reason it looks familiar?
It took me a few seconds to work through my jumbled memories to pick out why.
The coloration, ears and tail are the big giveaways.

It’s some kind of ‘Egyptian Mau’ cat?
The kind that the normal’s used to treat like royalty back in the days of Pharaohs and the pyramids..

Something’s a bit off though, Mau’s don’t tend to have long fur as far as I know and this little one is fluffy beyond belief?.. then again I’m not normally much of a ‘cat person’.. if you ignore the whole ‘acting like a cat’ thing this morning at least.

Either way it’s not like I’m an expert on the breeds or anything I guess?

I’m not really an animal fan in general really.
Pet’s always seemed like too much hassle for me, I had Sarah to keep an eye on and she’s enough of a handful without adding a brain-dead little beast into the mix as well.

“..Mau..”
The kitten cautiously stepped forward slightly and when I didn’t move it seemed to take that as an invitation because it quickly slid up to my feet and started running circles around my ankles with its strange little off key meows and purrs.

“She’s so pretty! Can we keep her Mom?”
Eris practically squealed her words as she knelt down and offered the curious little beast her hand to sniff which it did with surprising gusto before turning its attention back to running around my legs for some reason.

“THERE you are! Mau, come here!”

We all glanced up from the happily pacing kitten to an overweight man in his forties who seemed to be struggling to catch his breath as he stared down at the fur-ball with no small amount of annoyance on his face.
The kitten apparently couldn’t care less for his annoyance though.
Instead, it opted to finally stop pacing and plopping itself belly-first on my left shoe like a particularly fluffy throw rug.

“Mau.. Mau come here boy!”
The kitten didn’t even twitch at the man’s voice.
All of a sudden the man seemed to realise that we were there as well because his eyes trailed up my leg to finally land on my face.

“Uh.. hi?.. this your cat?”

Please let it be his so he can take it away!
I have enough problems with Eris being clingy without adding an animal into the equation too!

“OH! Sorry Miss, yes.. well, no.. he’s.. uh, I run a pet store down the road.”
He vaguely waved his hand towards a row of three-story buildings in the middle-distance.
“This little fellow has been driving me a bit crazy honestly, ever since I got him off a breeder last week. He’s part-Russian Blue Nebelung, part-Egyptian Mau but a full on pain-in-my-ass so far!”
He clenched his hands slightly but eventually let them loosen with a sigh.
“The crafty little sod is an escape artist, don’t let the angelic little eyes and goofy proportions fool you, he’s quick as all hell when he wants to be.”

The man slowly moved towards my new foot-warmer and crouched down in preparation to make a grab for the kitten.

“The breeder said he should have all the best traits of his kin, healing and fair fortune from the Russian Blue with whatever Nebelung traits come from being a ‘creature of the mist’ and the agility you’d expect from a purebred Mau.. apparently he clocked the little guy going over sixty miles-an-hour on the ranch but I’m not sure how much I’d believe that even if the little guy IS magical by nature..”

He inched forward ever so carefully while the kitten obliviously lay spread out on my foot, completely ignorant to his robust hunter getting ever closer.

“This is first time the little sod’s left the store or bothered someone though, he mostly seems to like jumping up into the rafters and hiding there until food gets put out so far but for some reason he shot right out the door a minute ago. I’m just glad he stopped when he did or who knows WHERE he could have gotten off to!”

I made a humming sound of agreement as I watched the shop owner creep ever closer to my foot.
I can feel John’s magic bubbling around slightly in amusement and it’s even easier to hear Eris trying to hide her giggles about the whole situation.

With one last surge the pet store owner ‘leapt’ forward and tried to grab the kitten.
In a movement that I can only attribute to its magical heritage the fuzz-ball went from carpet to missile, flying up a good fifteen feet above us and almost floating back down to land comfortably on the store owner’s back as he leaned heavily against my leg in surprise.

The man’s hands ‘covertly’ moved around to his back so he could attempt another grab but it was pretty obvious that the kitten knew what was coming even if it did seem more interested in staring up at me with those almost luminous blue eyes of its.

My stomach grumbled again from my hunger and I sighed heavily.
Rather than wait out this little byplay through to it’s inevitable conclusion of a little kitten defeating a grown man repeatedly I reached down and picked the beast up by the scruff of its neck, lifting it high enough into the air that the store owner could straighten up and get off my bloody leg at last!

When the kitten reached eye level with me its little head moved forward slightly as if reaching for me in some way and it let out a pathetic, almost pleading version of the strange ‘Mau’ sound it seems to favor.

The man finally got himself sorted and offered me an embarrassed but still bright smile.

“Thanks Miss. Sorry for all the trouble.”
He reached out and took the kitten’s scruff from me without too much effort.

I swear the little fuzz-ball seemed to practically sigh in defeat when the trade of hands took place?
It’s eyes settled on me one last time and it let off a slightly more pitiful ‘Mau’ which hit my brain like a sledgehammer of cuteness for a few seconds before I managed to regain control and wrestle the urge to coo over it back where it came from!

“Now Mau, we’ll have none more of this, huh? Be a good cat and don’t go running off bothering people anymore from now on.. thanks again!”

The store owner offered me one more grateful smile and turned to walk back up the street, presumably back towards his shop.

My stomach grumbled, with a sigh I turned away from the odd sight and smiled at the others.
“Okay, food time!”

John grinned but Eris pouted a little and watched the man wander off, fuzz-ball in tow, as we walked in the opposite direction towards what I THINK is the right street to reach the nearest Wizard Burger.

I practically lead the way for a few minutes, trying desperately to remember the route from memory but struggling; mostly because I usually come through the Bazaar from the opposite side where the warp areas are.

It didn’t help that there were a few rather interesting displays along the way and I almost bought a little animated snow-globe full of tiny dancing ‘people’ at some kind of festival?
In my defence the enchantments looked interesting!.. and it was kind of cute too..
..stupid girl brain..

“Do you actually know where you’re going Hannah?”
We came to a stop at an intersection and I whipped my head around hopefully in search of SOMETHING I could use to at least pretend I wasn’t as lost as I really am.

“..Mau..”

I locked up for a moment at the little sound from my feet.
The feeling of soft fur brushing against my bare ankles confirmed my fears a moment later.

The bloody kitten’s followed us somehow!
Eris squealed happily and quickly bent down to pet the thing but I just glared at it as it turned its head up to fix me with an equally intense stare of its own.

“Mau”
Despite being the exact same sound it keeps producing so far, this time it felt like there was some weight, some judgement, reprisal and almost petulance to the little beasts ‘tone of voice’ as it stared up at me with those wide blue eyes.

“Shoo.. go away..”

Eris twisted and stared up at me with wide begging eyes, her mouth open in shock and horror that I would try to get rid of the little fuzz-ball.
Her look stalled me even more than the kittens ‘judgemental’ one had before.

I really don’t like making Eris look like that but I also REALLY don’t like pets!

“It’s not ours Eris sweetie, we can’t keep it.. okay?”
My hand reached out and landed on her now brown head of hair in commiseration.
She nodded in understanding but it was pretty obvious to see that she wasn’t happy about it in the slightest.

Suddenly her eyes lit up with some determination and joy.

“If we buy her then she can be ours, right?”
I flinched hard.. why does she have to know how ‘money’ works?..
“Pleaseeee Mommy? I’ll look after her and play with her and everything I promise!”

My hand came up to the bridge of my nose in frustration.
..I REALLY don’t need this right now..

“Your Mom’s right Eris.. I mean, this kitten’s magical after all?.. It could be a familiar for someone just waiting for them to turn up and take it home, right?”

Wow?.. a surprisingly well thought out point there John-boy?
Much better than the ‘I don’t like pets!’ angle I was going to go with at least?!

Eris sniffed unhappily but after glancing over at John she nodded in agreement at his logic.

A familiar bond is an important thing with most awakened mages.
The bonds are so deep and long lasting that most people just aren’t magically ready for the commitment and connection involved.
Over time familiars practically become a part of you and they live on past their natural life-spans until the day that their ‘owners’ current incarnation dies.

Many people who DO manage to form such a close bond end up swearing off ever trying it again after their first bond, due mostly to the pain and grief involved in losing the being which is practically a vital part of them by the end of it all.

Eris may be a bit childish and naive at times but even she can see the importance of letting a magical animal chose its own bonded owner.

“How about this sweetie, we’ll come back in a few weeks and if it still hasn’t bonded with someone by then we’ll consider getting it properly.. how’s that sound?”
Eris brightened at the idea she could still have a chance at getting the kitten.

It’s a pretty under-handed offer from me honestly.
Not that Eris would know but nothing lasts long at the Bazaar, most things in stock barely stay in stock for a few hours at a time before they run out due to high demand on pretty much everything on offer.

A few weeks should practically guarantee the fuzz-ball has gone on to a new home.. far away from us..

“Mau?”
The kitten blinked its wide blue eyes in surprise when John scooped down and picked it up by the scruff of its neck like I did the first time.
It turned its head from me to John for a moment before shifting back to me again with an almost pleading look of hope in its eyes.

“Mau”

I sighed and offered it an apologetic look.
The cat’s obviously smarter than most of its kin, the least I can do is show that I’m sorry in some way before it gets marched back off to the pet store again.

“..mau..”
Oh that’s just not fair!

The little thing sounds almost heartbroken to my stupid delusional ears this time!
How can an animal be so expressive when all it does is make that one sound?!

I moved over to John’s side and petted the little fuzz-balls head making it purr happily for a second before it fixed me with those wide eyes again with what felt like bright hope shining in them.

“Sorry little one. I honestly don’t know what to say? I’m not good with pets and you’d probably hate life with me, especially at the moment.. I’m sure you’ll find your owner soon and be really happy okay?”
I swear its head sank sadly when I finished speaking.

With one final ‘Mau’ of defeat it let its tail go limp and hung from John’s fingers like a puppet with its strings cut.

“You see if you can find a food place Hannah, I’ll take this little guy back to the store.”
I glanced up at John for a moment with a weak smile but my eyes ended up drifting back down to the depressed looking little kitten eventually.

Some small part of me really didn’t want to let it go?
It really is adorable!

Eris likes it too and honestly it seems to be a pretty impressive conversationalist?!
Much better then Sarah was at its age at least!

..maybe I could potty-train it faster than we managed with Sarah?..

That thought made me snort slightly in amusement but it was tinged with regret.
My hand stroked its little head again getting a purr from it which really wasn’t helping things.

In the end I had to turn away and sigh heavily to get my center back a little.
Stupid new girl body’s messing with my head, I KNEW it would happen eventually!

First Eris and now kittens, next thing you know I’ll be puttering around in an apron making dinner while waiting for my husband to come home like a regular Susie-Q homemaker..

An image of John coming in through the back door of our house wearing a suit and putting a hat on a hat-stand we definitely don’t own while undoing his tie came to mind.
Just for a brief moment I could see myself in one of Mum’s more ‘motherly’ dresses and an apron going over to him with a smile too but the moment the imaginary me went up on her toes to greet the imaginary John with a kiss the whole thing shattered leaving me back in the street feeling suddenly chilled.

For one wild moment my stomach dropped out at the thought that I’d just had some kind of horrifying ‘seer’ vision of the future to come but sanity reinstated itself a moment later with a reminder that I’d had that problem fixed already.
THAT was just a daydream.. nightmare.. daymare!..

Whatever it was it wasn’t real in the slightest and I’m quite happy to pretend it never happened, while NEVER speaking of it to anyone.. EVER!

I shot a glance around in surprise when it finally clocked in my head that I was standing on the street corner alone.
A glance back up the way we came showed the unmistakable shape of John walking along a fair way off, Eris at his side and leaning in as if she was playing with something out of view.. most likely the kitten..

A huff escaped my lips at the fact that they’d left me alone without saying anything but that was quickly followed by a blush at the idea that I’d just been too gone in ‘fantasy’ for them to reach me if they did.

With one last shudder as the image of me in Mum’s green cooking dress and ruffled apron leaning up on my tip-toes to reach a suit wearing John’s warm smiling lips flashed quickly past my eyes again I managed to finally shake the whole thing off as the stupidity that it is in favor of much more important things.. like food hunting!

My stomach grumbled and gurgled its agreement at the idea.

As if commanding me to get a move on, my gut tightened up sharply for a moment before relaxing back to normal.
The experience left me a little winded and surprised but at least it was over quickly?

I let off one last sigh and made my way down the street in search of a landmark I could recognise to get my bearings and move on from there.