lysaanderrr-blog

[lysaanderrr-blog]

Lys didn’t even try to fight the grin spreading across their face at Lucerna’s outburst, it was adorable, and they completely agreed. It felt so good to have a real connection! Lys made a mental note to thank the universe when they got home.

“No, don’t apologise! I haven’t related to something so much in ages, I, too, have been known to go fully fledged nerd mode whenever anyone expresses the tiny amount of interest into something I like!”

It was true; Lys had scared of a metric shit ton of people this way, asking about politics or philosophy or controversial opinions when apparently it wasn’t appropriate and had since tried to talk about things they didn’t have explosive opinions about. Not that there was very much of that.

“I completely agree, by the way. I think that all morality is relative, and everything you think is right or wrong is an opinion based on feelings of fear or empathy or the desire to conform to what society has deemed acceptable. It’s the only real explanation for all the changes, right?”

After they had finished, Lys wondered whether they should bring up the ‘new to society’ part of Lucerna’s speech. They were curious as all hell, but they were often prone to getting excited and becoming too personal too quickly and they didn’t want to risk the still very new relationship they hoped they were building. Lucerna would tell them if they chose, if they got closer...

lysaanderrr

As the waitress sat down on the chair Lys felt a swelling of hope in their chest, maybe they hadn’t blown it! Maybe they could actually start a friendship! They knew they were escalating things in their head, (it was quite a common occurrence) but they couldn’t help it! Lys knew that it was only a conversation in a coffee shop and nothing more, no promises or commitments, but they also knew that this was the farthest they had gotten in ages.  Lys wanted to talk more about gender, but it wasn’t exactly the world’s most popular topic, especially with someone one had just met. Instead, Lys reached around in their brain for something, anything else to say to make sure Lucerna didn’t run away as ast as she could.

“Well, the world we live in really does love to put things into binaries! Society is pretty set on duality.”

Nice job, Lys. Instead of gender, let’s compare philosophical views about society! They should have mentioned the weather or the traffic or anything else that might be appropriate to say to a pretty waitress in a sleepy cafe on a Saturday night!

“Oh, don’t even get me started on society!” Lucerna heard herself say before thinking about what she was doing.

She couldn’t help herself, her thoughts on society were, well, defined. See, finding oneself in a new world as an adult makes you analyze your surroundings with a more critical eye, as some of the nonsensical norms society has would not be yet inculcated in said person.

Lucerna attempted, with little success, to quiet her fleeting thoughts and internal screams about the fact that she was sitting in front of Lysander, the witch she had been so keen on following for months. Certainly a debate would calm her down… relatively. She hadn’t had a debate since that time a customer started praising mushrooms. She was not going to let a civilian fall under the brainwash of the fungi, she knew their plan. 

“It is like things have to be one way or another. Good or bad. Black or white. They fail to realize that the world is a giant grey area with so many shades. Badness, for example, is relative, right? Saving people is usually considered as good, but what if that person is a murderer or something? Many shades. I guess the same could be said for gender? You said there was a spectrum, and yet society continues to say that there are only two… Yeah, sorry, I get in dork mode at debates… I am a bit… new to society”

[lysaanderrr-blog]

They hadn’t even notice they were walking in time with the blonde woman in front of them; in fact Lys had barely noticed there was someone around at all! They had been started out of their daydreams by the her voice and was only now understanding how just creepy they must have looked! It was nothing unusual, if they were honest; the amount of times had forgotten about their surroundings and flipped on the autopilot without think must number in the thousands by now!

“Oh hello! It is really is a lovely day, um, sorry about the weird walking thing, I just sort of accidentally do that if I’m not paying attention! I promise I’m not plotting anything sinister!”

Luna was walking back to her apartment. A small canvas bag was tossed over her shoulder, it carried a few things the young woman needed through out the week. But it was nothing unusual, she had learned what she needed and what was important to keep in mind to make sure ends were met and she never went above her limits. 

The fair haired young woman walked at an even tempo, she listened to the music playing from her head phones, as she often did. This was until she noticed someone walking, matching her tempo but perhaps a few steps behind. She didn’t instantly go on the offense. That was alway a dumb tactic. Instead she removed one of her ear phone and angled her head slight. Offering a warm and friendly smile.��

“Nice day isn’t it?” She attempted to make small talk. That was the best way to continue. 

[lysaanderrr-blog]

Lys smiled again, they couldn’t believe someone would be interested in some strange witch’s affinity, but it felt nice and Lucy had a friendly face, and it wasn’t like the story was extremely personal anyway.

“Well it first happened when my fifth grade teacher was showing us that science experiment where you rub a plastic wand with a cloth and play around with static electricity, you know the one? He told us that is we rubbed it for long enough, we would be able to make the water from the tap bend away from plastic and my ten year old brain then decided that if I rubbed my finger with the same cloth, the same thing would happen. So I did, and the water shot up into the ceiling, spraying everyone, it was pretty funny now that I think back on it! The teacher didn’t believe me, of course, and said I must have put my finger on the tap or something but I just knew I didn’t. He gave me detention and I messed around with the water in my bottle making waves and stuff, but not really understanding what was going on til I was bit older. What about you, any interesting origin story? If you don’t mind sharing, of course.”

lysaanderrr:

After following the cashier through corridors of varying lengths and twistiness, Lys watched her stretch towards the right volume and wondered what to do next. They really didn’t have the money for a book they assumed would cost more than their entire apartment, let alone three! Deciding that that was a problem for future Lys, they smiled and took all three from the ever-helpful cashier.

“Oh, right, yes, I am! Thank you so much for these books, it really is about time I learned to actually use my affinity properly. I’m Lysander by the way.”

After too many years of hiding it, Lys really couldn’t help the smile that spread across their face at being known as a witch.

Lucy beamed at the person and extended her hand as she responded “Hi. I’m Lucy. It’s nice to meet you.” Realising their hands were now full she foolishly laughed at herself and retreated her hand. “Never mind. But I’m glad I could maybe help with that somewhat. Even if it is handing you a few books. I’m a shifter myself in case you were wondering. Unfortunately I won’t have any personal experience to help you there.” Pausing, she gave a nervous question, as if uncertain she should say anything at all “Can I pry into your life some more? I just… wondered when you first discovered your affinity?” 

[lysaanderrr-blog]

After following the cashier through corridors of varying lengths and twistiness, Lys watched her stretch towards the right volume and wondered what to do next. They really didn’t have the money for a book they assumed would cost more than their entire apartment, let alone three! Deciding that that was a problem for future Lys, they smiled and took all three from the ever-helpful cashier.

 “Oh, right, yes, I am! Thank you so much for these books, it really is about time I learned to actually use my affinity properly. I’m Lysander by the way.”

After too many years of hiding it, Lys really couldn’t help the smile that spread across their face at being known as a witch.

lysaanderrr:

EEnked was one of Lys’s favourite places in the world, not that they often had enough spare money to actually buy any of the books they so regularly visited. They were honestly surprised they hadn’t been kicked out months ago, all they ever did was wander and read the books without even paying for them! When Lys saw the cashier walking towards them, they thought for sure they’d seen those dusty shelves for the last time, but the girl only laughed and offered assistance. Once they’d recovered themselves enough to respond, they thought quickly for a reason for them to be here, and remembered a recent ‘incident’ in The Sweet Oak.

Lys had been wanting to learn some serious ways to control their affinity for a while now, but there were only so many times one could peer down the dingy alleys of EEnked without getting overwhelmed by the sheer volumes of books the place had, even on something as specific as a witch’s ability. Though, they supposed, they weren’t the first water witch, and certainly wouldn’t be the last. Maybe they should write a book…

Remembering that they should probably answer the nice cashier, Lys smiled. 

“Um, hello! Do you have any books about water manipulation? The internet isn’t really doing it for me recently, and this place seems to have everything!”

“Certainly!” That was a question she was at least certain in. This place did seem to supply everything, but magic such as elemental manipulation was seemingly a very popular request; in fact it seemed most customers were more interested in magic than fiction books. “It’s amazing the books you can find in here. Kind of the reason for wanting to work here despite, well, the snake for starters.”

“This way,” she gestured toward a section of the library containing information on elemental magic. There was at least a couple books that contained entire chapters on the subject, and one book focused specifically at water manipulation. Reaching out on her tip toes she plucked them into her hands and handed them over. Lucy wondered if she was a witch. Was it rude of her to pry into this one’s personal life? “Can I ask… are you a witch?” she questioned cautiously. 

[lysaanderrr-blog]

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As the waitress sat down on the chair Lys felt a swelling of hope in their chest, maybe they hadn’t blown it! Maybe they could actually start a friendship! They knew they were escalating things in their head, (it was quite a common occurrence) but they couldn’t help it! Lys knew that it was only a conversation in a coffee shop and nothing more, no promises or commitments, but they also knew that this was the farthest they had gotten in ages.  Lys wanted to talk more about gender, but it wasn’t exactly the world’s most popular topic, especially with someone one had just met. Instead, Lys reached around in their brain for something, anything else to say to make sure Lucerna didn’t run away as ast as she could.

“Well, the world we live in really does love to put things into binaries! Society is pretty set on duality.”

Nice job, Lys. Instead of gender, let’s compare philosophical views about society! They should have mentioned the weather or the traffic or anything else that might be appropriate to say to a pretty waitress in a sleepy cafe on a Saturday night!

lysaanderrr

Oh great. Now Lys had really done it, there was nothing quite so welcoming to a stranger than Gender Theory 101. Although they guessed that’s the price one paid for being upfront about these things, they didn’t want the rest of their life to be like high school! Taking a deep breath, Lys tried to calm their heartbeat; even after leaving their home in Nefaria behind, it still made them so anxious to have this conversation, especially when they cared about the outcome. They had decided to tell all new people about their pronouns from the beginning, to avoid nasty surprises later down the road, and Lucerna was going to be no exception. So Lys sat up straighter, turned the old tea to ice, and looked right up the waitress, trying to squash the quaver in their voice.

“Um, yeah! It can come as quite a surprise for most people, but there’s a full spectrum of gender and more pronouns than you can count! I use they/them because, uh, I’m not actually a girl. I’m genderfluid and happy to answer all your questions as long as they’re nice but equally happy to never mention it again. I know it’s weird but it’s just how I am and, sorry now I’m doing the rambling!”

“Fluid… like water… fitting” Lucerna said, mostly to herself, but loud enough that the witch, Lysander, also heard.

She instinctively sat down on the other chair at the table, wrapped in her own thoughts so much so that she did not really noticing her own actions,

Lucerna already knew Lysander used they/them pronouns, it is not like they hid it, correcting every costumer that got them wrong (of course, they didn’t know she knew, as she was always in cat form) but had never even questioned it. She figured it was something completely in the norm.

Gender, however, had had its “rules” more clearly established in her brain. Boys and girls, that was the natural thought. But now Lucerna had living proof right in front of her that this was not true. And honestly, the idea of a full spectrum of genders fascinated her.

Maybe she was somewhere in that spectrum…

Still dazed, she continued the conversation.

“Weird how people go on with their lives without knowing, huh?”

[lysaanderrr-blog]

Oh great. Now Lys had really done it, there was nothing quite so welcoming to a stranger than Gender Theory 101. Although they guessed that’s the price one paid for being upfront about these things, they didn’t want the rest of their life to be like high school! Taking a deep breath, Lys tried to calm their heartbeat; even after leaving their home in Nefaria behind, it still made them so anxious to have this conversation, especially when they cared about the outcome. They had decided to tell all new people about their pronouns from the beginning, to avoid nasty surprises later down the road, and Lucerna was going to be no exception. So Lys sat up straighter, turned the old tea to ice, and looked right up the waitress, trying to squash the quaver in their voice.

 “Um, yeah! It can come as quite a surprise for most people, but there’s a full spectrum of gender and more pronouns than you can count! I use they/them because, uh, I’m not actually a girl. I’m genderfluid and happy to answer all your questions as long as they’re nice but equally happy to never mention it again. I know it’s weird but it’s just how I am and, sorry now I’m doing the rambling!”

lysaanderrr

Just as Lys had started to worry about the awkward silence between them reaching unbearable levels, the waitress started to talk, and even if it was as random as an old legend surrounding a tea cup, Lys had never been so grateful! There was something about her, something familiar. They had seen her around their usual haunts in the city and though they had wanted to speak, the task felt so insurmountable that it had stayed their hand every time. Lys was not a people person, and although they desired connection and intimacy, they never seemed to be able to maintain it for longer than a year or so at a time. Despite this, the universe had a habit of nudging Lys in the direction of the people they wanted, or maybe needed, to know, and now it seemed that it was pointing them in the direction of Lucerna. They wondered where this path was going to take them.

Of course, now they had to respond! They had to think of something to say or this moment would be just another lost “what if” they’d replay in their mind before they went to sleep. Lys struggled to pull something out of their brain to show that they’d loved the waitress’s story, because they had! And they wanted to hear more, about whatever Lucerna wanted to tell, about herself, about the Sweet Oak, Lys just missed hearing someone talk!

“I’ll try not to worry too much about the ‘not often’ part of that sentence then, shall I? I’m Lysander, by the way Lysander Bay. And you are Lucerna, right? I mean, oh, of course, it’s on the tag! She/her?”

Ah, now they felt self conscious! They weren’t going to bring that up! What if it scared her off? Oh well, it was said now, they thought, and crossed their fingers under the table as they waited for a reaction.

“Is there other options?” said Lucerna with a nervous smile.

The question was genuine, she had never thought about her pronouns until that moment, they did not seem of importance, but now she was starting to wonder…

Was she a girl? Maybe… Lucerna did not know for sure. She had had most of her life stolen away from her, she literally had no idea who she was.

Her mild freak out over gender almost distracted her from how nervous she felt at the moment.

Almost.

Lysander. Their name was Lysander. It suited them.

[lysaanderrr-blog]

Just as Lys had started to worry about the awkward silence between them reaching unbearable levels, the waitress started to talk, and even if it was as random as an old legend surrounding a tea cup, Lys had never been so grateful! There was something about her, something familiar. They had seen her around their usual haunts in the city and though they had wanted to speak, the task felt so insurmountable that it had stayed their hand every time. Lys was not a people person, and although they desired connection and intimacy, they never seemed to be able to maintain it for longer than a year or so at a time. Despite this, the universe had a habit of nudging Lys in the direction of the people they wanted, or maybe needed, to know, and now it seemed that it was pointing them in the direction of Lucerna. They wondered where this path was going to take them.

 Of course, now they had to respond! They had to think of something to say or this moment would be just another lost “what if” they’d replay in their mind before they went to sleep. Lys struggled to pull something out of their brain to show that they’d loved the waitress’s story, because they had! And they wanted to hear more, about whatever Lucerna wanted to tell, about herself, about the Sweet Oak, Lys just missed hearing someone talk!

 “I’ll try not to worry too much about the ‘not often’ part of that sentence then, shall I? I’m Lysander, by the way Lysander Bay. And you are Lucerna, right? I mean, oh, of course, it’s on the tag! She/her?”

 Ah, now they felt self conscious! They weren’t going to bring that up! What if it scared her off? Oh well, it was said now, they thought, and crossed their fingers under the table as they waited for a reaction.

lysaanderrr

Lys had been finding it a bit difficult to concentrate. The waitress (Lucerna, they remembered) had seemed so nervous! Usually Lys was the one to be nervous and awkward when talking to people, but it seemed they had met their match! Ugh. They decided they didn’t want to think about that interaction any longer, composing interesting or funny one liners that they could have said to make the waitress remember them was certainly not going to help now. Best to just focus on what they could control, which was, at this moment, a stranger’s abandoned cup of cold tea. They just had to be careful not to keep looking up to the kitchens after the waitress or they were going to get caught!

At the sound of Lucerna’s voice, Lys started and the tea, which had been floating in a wavering mobius strip, unceremoniously splooshed back down into the cup, narrowly missing the lenses of their glasses again.

“Oh! Uh, thank you, it’s, um, not that hard. It’s on the internet,” they admitted sheepishly, tilting their phone towards the waitress, inwardly cringing at the equally clickbaity title that declared the page to be “14 Nerdy Water Tricks You Simply Must Try”. Lys silently berated themselves. Lucerna didn’t care about that! She was only being polite and making sure she didn’t have to wait until Lys noticed their tea so she wouldn’t be at work until sunrise waiting for some witch to remember she was in a restaurant!

“That’s, um, a really beautiful cup! Thank you Lucerna!”

Why did they keep saying thank you? Why did they say her name? That was weird! It would be a miracle if the waitress ever came back to her table at this rate…

“Oh um it’s nothing special”.

Lucerna felt her heart skip a beat when the witch said her name, and it also made her feel even guiltier for not knowing theirs.

Other thoughts in her head were those of how adorable it was that they were taking magic tricks from silly websites. It did not diminish her awe towards their talent however.

She really wanted to start some sort of connection with this person; other than that of being one of the stray cats they fed of course. As far as she knew, social interactions were not her forte, but she really wanted a person like the one in front of her in her life.

Lucerna had no friends, not even cat friends, it was survival of the fittest for them. She did not remember the sensation of someone caring for her. She craved that feeling much more than the need to find out the truth about her being.

She had to talk. She had to start a conversation.

Anything, Luz. Anything.

“Well, actually, that teacup may be a bit special? See, this place had many owners, and one of them was this Human. Extremely rich guy, mind you. But he was obsessed with immortality. Cliche, I know. So once a super sketchy Siren told him that he could “brew immortality” or something and sold him this teacup for like a really high price. They said that immortality could only be achieved by drinking a certain substance from this exact teacup. Of course the guy believed them, they were a siren after all, but it turned out that it was all a lie and he died while he was asleep? The story says he overdosed from the substance. Witches have tested the teacup and haven’t found anything out of the ordinary, just that it’s a work of art, so don’t worry about getting poisoned haha. That doesn’t happen here. At least not often. And now I am rambling, I’m sorry!”

[lysaanderrr-blog]

It was raining, grey clouds billowing forward to replace what had been the faintest of sunrises over the market stalls, the owners of whom had been setting up for hours before dawn. Lys smiled as the first few raindrops hit their face, as so often happened during rainstorms, before the sudden recollection that while they may be waterproof, their stall most certainly was not burst onto the foreground. Their eyes shot open as the scrambled to weave a shield out of the incoming raindrops before all their wares went directly down the drainpipe and it was another week of street performance if they wanted to eat. Lys sighed in relief once all the charms and crystals were confirmed unharmed and then raised their eyes to study the misshapen igloo type dome that now surrounded them. This would not do at all, and showing off a bit never hurt business. With a grin, Lys theatrically flung their hands around in a circle, moulding the dome into a perfectly round slowly rotating globe, catching the eye of the couple wandering a few stalls down. With a flick of both outstretched hands, the curves of the dome spun into edges and a cube emerged, and with one final flourish, the waters making up the front face parted and a door came into view through which Lys appeared, with a bow. Their efforts were rewarded with a smattering of soggy applause and a renewed interest in their stall and so, Lys thought, all’s well that ends well.

The one downside of the slightly showy watery haven, Lys mused about an hour and a half later, was that for until the rain stopped they could really only focus about half a brain on what the violently plum-haired customer currently in front of them was saying; something about knocking on walls and disturbed sleep? Lys honestly wasn’t the best with things like this, but but the kid looked genuinely frightened, so they struggled to bring their focus forward.

“I’m sorry, you were saying?”

After a second hurried explanation, Lys somewhat distantly threw together a potion they half remembered, half improvised, and sent the kid with the purple hair on their way. Once they had receded into a vibrant smudge in the distance, Lys felt the rain begin to slow and gratefully dropped the shield they’d been holding since dawn with a few curls of steam and scattered snowflake embellishments for good measure. They stifled a yawn, rolled their shoulders, and settled in the sunshine to wait for someone else in need of magical assistance to wander by, lazily twirling the water on the still dissipating puddles around them.

After one particularly impressive replica of Stonehenge, Lys heard a noise and looked up, letting the water slip back into place. The person in front of them looked slightly nervous and kept sending furtive glances behind them. Lys, instantly more alert, sat upright.

“Are-- are you alright?”

[lysaanderrr-blog]

EEnked was one of Lys’s favourite places in the world, not that they often had enough spare money to actually buy any of the books they so regularly visited. They were honestly surprised they hadn’t been kicked out months ago, all they ever did was wander and read the books without even paying for them! When Lys saw the cashier walking towards them, they thought for sure they’d seen those dusty shelves for the last time, but the girl only laughed and offered assistance. Once they’d recovered themselves enough to respond, they thought quickly for a reason for them to be here, and remembered a recent ‘incident’ in The Sweet Oak.

 Lys had been wanting to learn some serious ways to control their affinity for a while now, but there were only so many times one could peer down the dingy alleys of EEnked without getting overwhelmed by the sheer volumes of books the place had, even on something as specific as a witch’s ability. Though, they supposed, they weren’t the first water witch, and certainly wouldn’t be the last. Maybe they should write a book…

Remembering that they should probably answer the nice cashier, Lys smiled. 

“Um, hello! Do you have any books about water manipulation? The internet isn’t really doing it for me recently, and this place seems to have everything!”

The weather must have been too sunny to bring in customers, if they were anything like her, she preferred to read on rainy days, cuddled up with her cat with a hot cocoa. On days like this, she mostly wanted to venture into the woods and shift into her animal form; Ivig Groove that is. Direfield always gave her a rush of dread and anxiety, and the place was often too triggering for her to even venture near the place. 

However, the clock read twenty three minutes past two; the day grudgingly wanting to move forward. The only customer they currently had was one that seemed lost amongst a labyrinth of books, and after ten minutes of watching them struggle to find the ideal story to delve their nose in, she decided to leave the counter and ask if they needed assistance. After all, she loved books and poetry herself and if any of her bookworm knowledge could become of use, she hoped the other could benefit from it. Though she was not an expert by any means, she had yet to read the most of the bookstore as the place could seem endless, and could even seem overwhelming to those unfamiliar with the place. However, she knew her way around the bookstore as well as a librarian.

“You look so lost,” she laughed lightly, “Can I help you?”

[lysaanderrr-blog]

Lys had been finding it a bit difficult to concentrate. The waitress (Lucerna, they remembered) had seemed so nervous! Usually Lys was the one to be nervous and awkward when talking to people, but it seemed they had met their match! Ugh. They decided they didn’t want to think about that interaction any longer, composing interesting or funny one liners that they could have said to make the waitress remember them was certainly not going to help now. Best to just focus on what they could control, which was, at this moment, a stranger’s abandoned cup of cold tea. They just had to be careful not to keep looking up to the kitchens after the waitress or they were going to get caught!

At the sound of Lucerna’s voice, Lys started and the tea, which had been floating in a wavering mobius strip, unceremoniously splooshed back down into the cup, narrowly missing the lenses of their glasses again.

“Oh! Uh, thank you, it’s, um, not that hard. It’s on the internet,” they admitted sheepishly, tilting their phone towards the waitress, inwardly cringing at the equally clickbaity title that declared the page to be “14 Nerdy Water Tricks You Simply Must Try”. Lys silently berated themselves. Lucerna didn’t care about that! She was only being polite and making sure she didn’t have to wait until Lys noticed their tea so she wouldn’t be at work until sunrise waiting for some witch to remember she was in a restaurant!

“That’s, um, a really beautiful cup! Thank you Lucerna!”

Why did they keep saying thank you? Why did they say her name? That was weird! It would be a miracle if the waitress ever came back to her table at this rate...

candless

She recognized this person and she was pretty sure they recognized her too. Of course they did! She had made a fool of herself in front of them for goodness sake!

The cake incident had been something she had tried to forget (although she did quite like to remember the reassuring smile the witch had given her) but to no avail. She had trouble remembering already, did she really need to have trouble forgetting too?

She decided to put all her anxious thoughts in the back of her mind in favor of actually doing her job.

“Um sure! Do you want any dessert with that?”

Lys glanced over the cake menu briefly, before deciding that they’d rather forgo sweets than give the poor waitress any more cause to remember the incident that had her looking so anxious.

“No, I don’t think so,”

They smiled again, hoping to put the waitress at ease and murmured their thanks as she retrieved the menu and started back towards the kitchens. Lys watched her for a while before refocusing on their phone, thinking they could get a few more tries at the cold tea maneuver before Lucerna came back. The site promised “Badass Water Manipulation To Stun Your Friends” but was so far hideously underperforming, all it had taught Lys so far was how to embarrass themselves in front of a cute waitress. Oh well, they thought, it’s not like they would have the confidence to talk to her anyway. With a resigned sigh, Lys yanked their attention back on track and tapped off, looking for something a little less click-baity while they waited for their tea.

[lysaanderrr-blog]

candless

She recognized this person and she was pretty sure they recognized her too. Of course they did! She had made a fool of herself in front of them for goodness sake!

The cake incident had been something she had tried to forget (although she did quite like to remember the reassuring smile the witch had given her) but to no avail. She had trouble remembering already, did she really need to have trouble forgetting too?

She decided to put all her anxious thoughts in the back of her mind in favor of actually doing her job.

“Um sure! Do you want any dessert with that?”

Lys glanced over the cake menu briefly, before deciding that they’d rather forgo sweets than give the poor waitress any more cause to remember the incident that had her looking so anxious.

“No, I don’t think so,”

They smiled again, hoping to put the waitress at ease and murmured their thanks as she retrieved the menu and started back towards the kitchens. Lys watched her for a while before refocusing on their phone, thinking they could get a few more tries at the cold tea maneuver before Lucerna came back. The site promised “Badass Water Manipulation To Stun Your Friends” but was so far hideously underperforming, all it had taught Lys so far was how to embarrass themselves in front of a cute waitress. Oh well, they thought, it’s not like they would have the confidence to talk to her anyway. With a resigned sigh, Lys yanked their attention back on track and tapped off, looking for something a little less click-baity while they waited for their tea.

[lysaanderrr-blog]

It was Saturday night, and instead of preparing for their actual job at the market the next day, Lys was trying to teach themselves a complex new water trick in someone’s leftover tea, from a book of admittedly dubious origins they’d found in the library. Squinting at the cup, they adjusted their hands a little, but only succeeded in launching the blob of brown liquid right onto the lenses of their glasses. With a yelp, Lys did their best to clean it off before suddenly remembering they were in a place with people and was supposed to be paying attention, and looked up to meet the eyes of the waitress, the same waitress who had dropped a cake in front of them a week or so ago. It seemed that the waitress, Lucerna according to her nametag, remembered this too, as a slow blush started to spread across her cheeks.

 With no desire to increase the awkwardness, Lys wiped the lost drops off their glasses with as much dignity as they could muster and smiled.

“Can I have an earl grey tea, please? No sugar, thank you.”

The Sweet Oak was almost empty, quite weird for a Saturday night.

Lucerna did not know the reason of this phenomenon, but she thanked whatever entity lived up above for it. She despised it when the place got crowded; the amount of fake smiles she had to give people was stupefying; and she thought she deserved time to rest after the frenzy that had been that week.

In the silence of the building she discovered a new-found love for her job… A love that immediately left when the odor of coffee filled the whole place.

God, she hated coffee.

Her eyes followed as the other waiter took a tray with three espressos to one of the few filled table. In it there were four teenagers talking friendly to one another. Lucerna wondered if she ever had friends.

Bits and pieces of the past were coming back to her but it was still too little to figure out what is was like back then. She closed her eyes and tried to grasp at least one memory in the bottomless pit that was her brain.

Her attempts were stopped when her coworker tapped on her shoulder, signaling to go attend the table that had just been taken by a single figure.

She resisted the urge to groan; she really wanted to just go to sleep already; and put on again that empty smile, walking towards the table.

It was only when she was standing right in front of the table that she realized who that person was.

Hiding well her surprise she continued with her calm demeanor.

“Welcome to the Sweet Oak, can I take your order?”

[lysaanderrr-blog]

[lysaanderrr-blog]

[lysaanderrr-blog]

Name: Lysander “Lys” Bay || Age: 20 || Species: Witch (Water Manipulation) || SO: Pansexual and polyamorous || Occupation: Market Shop Owner

Quote:

“I shall go on shining as a brilliantly meaningless figure in a meaningless world.“ - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Personality:

+: Highly empathetic, open minded, quite clever

-: Afraid of conflict, indecisive, a bit of a Saviour complex

Backstory:

For as long as Lys could remember, she was wishing. She’d read stories all her life about duelling warlocks, cunning shifters, and and witches with green eyes and magic. When she was 5, she decided that being a regular human just wouldn’t do and that she was going to be a witch! So little Lys trotted off to her parents, eyes glowing with the news, only to be told that it wasn’t so, could never be so, that they were only human like her, only human and nothing more. Lys thought this was exceedingly unfair and decided that she was going to be the exception. She dug around in her old storybooks until she found a spell to make her eyes go green and that, she thought, logically, would make her a witch. So at exactly sunset, Lys plopped down on the green grass of her backyard and whispered a magic spell to herself:

"Eyes of green

shall be seen

by all around

and all who are found

By the stroke of nine

Green eyes shall be mine”

She tucked the sun-soaked moment close to her chest, where no one could ever take it from her. At exactly sunrise the next morning, she bounced excitedly over to the mirror, opening her eyes as wide as they could go, and sure enough, her once brown eyes had turned a forest green while she slept! Lys ran to her parents’ room and jumped on the bed, smiling widely as they sleepily blinked at up her and assured her it was a coincidence, that children’s eyes simply change sometimes. This excuse did nothing to sway her or deflate her buoyant mood, as she ran out into the sunlight to see the world with new eyes.

When Lys was 10, the water started behaving strangely. Her science teacher taught her how to rub a plastic wand with a cloth to make the stream from the silver tap bend away from her, magically. If this was true, Lys thought, couldn’t she rub her finger and produce the same effect? So she did, and the water shot up into the ceiling, spraying everyone and everything around her. She turned to her stunned teacher with pride in her eyes at was sure to be a brand new scientific discovery, only to be told that lying was wrong and go to the principal’s office. The principal didn’t believe her, and neither did her parents, but Lys knew, she just knew, that she didn’t put her finger on the tap, the water flown to the ceiling on it’s own! Of course, it didn’t matter what she thought, but she played with the water in her bottle during detention, swearing she could see waves.

When Lys was 15 she decided that being girl simply wouldn’t do anymore, that she was going to become they. They approached their parents, eyes wary with the news, only to be told that it wasn’t right, couldn’t be right. They were a girl, and this was just a phase, nothing more. Her father told them not to upset their mother but tried his best when they were alone together. Lys knows they think it’s just like the “witch thing” when she was little, just another part of their identity that will go unrecognised. They sighed as they mixed an experimental potion,and considered the long-lost grandmother that made it all possible. It’d become customary for Lys to think of her as they used any of their powers, silently thanking her for existing as they practised magic by candlelight or cautiously lifted wobbly balls of water into the air.

Now, Lys is 20. They live alone. Their hair is shorter now, messy as ever, they wear glasses over their green eyes, and they’ve splashed more than one person who refused to use their pronouns properly. Lys is happy now, on average; and definitely more confident, they’d even managed to smile at the pretty waitress in the Sweet Oak without dissolving into a blushing puddle on the floor. They live in a shabby apartment with dingy golden light right next to an impossibly loud train junction, a far cry from their parents’ marble and white house by the sea in Nefaria. Lys was a child of the salt and sea, growing up under the unfiltered sun and falling asleep to waves and getting seashells caught between their toes. Now the beach kid lives in a different kind of sea, one of smoke and neon lights and wifi. Different, yes, but, Lys thought as they lay back on the rumpled, mismatched sheets and tried not to kick over a stack of books, not entirely unwelcome.

[lysaanderrr-blog]