#I swear the Kai thing is important ta the plot

[screamsindepression]

Is there going to be any smut in the seaflame au?

Uh no this au is sfw stuff the most yall will get is hints and a naked Kai at some point but nothing is planned ta be show

[dayfoxx-fic]

Ch. 18 - always in this twilight

Story: I’ll Unfold Before You Chapter: 18 Word Count: 2046 Summary:  Misty thinks on how to reveal the truth to Cordelia. Cordelia, well, she's being as patient as one could possibly be given the circumstances. Notes:  Chapter title from "Cosmic Love" by Florence + the Machine. Sorry I've changed voice throughout writing this. Whoops. Might switch back, but it's just less Cordelia-centric right now, and so it's easier to write in third person. Even though I miss my second person voice. It might come back, we'll see. 

Misty slid an insanely soft, black cashmere sweater dress over her shoulders, figuring she could use the extra sensory comfort as she mentally tried to establish the best means of explaining the truth to Cordelia. Would she even understand? After being reborn from the afterlife, would Cordelia remember the life she had chosen to leave behind, all for Misty? It was something still unfathomable to Misty. "Oh, Cordelia, you sacrificed everything, including the Coven, just to try and save me. And, fuck, you saved me alright, and I saved you. But it wasn't enough. His magic has limitations. I could bring you all back, but under his terms. And you'd forget me. And I've been damned with eternal life, by the way, isn't that cool? And I..." Misty trailed off, out of breath, to herself. "That all sounds freakin' crazy, or wouldn't make any sense, right? So, where do I even begin with this shit?" Her crinkled forehead thudded against the closet door once, twice... three times. It was like she was trying to knock their story into order inside her head, but the words just rattled across her skull.

"Mist...y?" Cordelia called out, hesitantly. The concern was lacquered in her voice. 

"Yeah... I'm coming. Just... give me a sec." 

"Take your time."

Tugging a damp, blonde curl, the young woman flexed her arms up and behind her head, squeezing the moisture from her hair into the towel she had grabbed from the shelf, then doing a graceful, but taut, swan dive, ricocheting the towel out in front of her. She was so tense, the towel snapped slightly in the air. She sighed. It was time. 

Clutching the blanket to her chest, with the towel grasped in her other hand, she deposited the towel at the hamper in the corner and quietly exited the closed, shutting the door softly behind her. She couldn't look Cordelia in the eye for the moment, but flickered her gaze towards the other blonde, at Nan, back at Delia, trying a small smile, before quickly dropping her gaze. 

"Hey." Misty uttered the word so gently, Cordelia nearly didn't hear her in the resounding quiet of her room.

"Hi, Misty." The warmth with which the darker blonde spoke her name made Misty blush, inadvertently. She was glad the candlelight obscured the reddish tint in her cheeks, at least until she got closer to the now abundantly lit collection of flames. 

"So... would you suspend your disbelief for a sec and just listen to me?"

"I-"

"Wait, and, and Nan can back me up. Right, you can, can't you?"

"Well, indirectly." the brunette girl cracked a sly smile, but was still not unkind. 

"What the heck does indirectly mean, so you can't like, verbally agree with me?"

"I'm just the eyes, but when what's said is done, by you, I can reveal my truth, too." Misty groaned lowly. 

"I don't even know what the means, exactly, but I trust that you of all people wouldn't try and screw me over. You never did before." 

"You're a pure soul, Misty, and besides the times when you sing way too loudly in your head, you know how to guard your thoughts. So, you were pretty much one of my favourite people." the taller woman chuckled at this, reminiscing on listening to her 8-track at Miss. Robichaux's, before turning thoughtfully to Cordelia. 

"Ya know, you were the only person to ever really see or hear or experience what I've been thinking? But I don't know that Second Sight really counts." 

"Second Sight? What, like being psychic or something? I'm not psychic, though, Mist..." 

"Yeah, and you won't be again. But, you could have other things back." Misty had gotten lost in thought, simply verbalizing out loud. 

"What things back?"

"You used to like to garden, didn't ya?"

"I- yeah, how did you know that?"

"You used ta have your own greenhouse."

"No, I didn't. I landscaped our house when I was in middle school, but I-"

"You did, before. You did. I guess you'll just have to take my word until I explain more." she smiled, out of her reverie, and calmer. Misty felt certain that if the other woman simply understood what their past was, that things would be set back to the way they were supposed to be. But she had to believe it, and how could Misty make sure of that? The only thing she knew how to do was tell the truth. Maybe the truth will set us free, Misty thought wryly. 

"Well, are you gonna explain more?" All Cordelia understood at the moment was that she was supposed to remember something, and didn't. She supposed she could attribute a lot of memory loss to her depression, but Misty was speaking about things that just didn't make any sense and that she had no reason to know about. Sure, I had a green thumb as a child, before depression took ahold of my every thought and action. But then there was that un-ending emptiness that came while tending my garden that I couldn't explain... So, I simply stopped. Because the feeling of loss was unshakable, and my once respite no longer felt as such. Nothing else made me feel so alive and connected... to something, someone... everything, as caring for my plants did. Oh! It used to make the palms of my hands tingle, and not because I touched something I wasn't supposed to; they had tingled in a way as if my hands were being held by someone else's warm touch. A feeling I was sorely unfamiliar with, living with Fiona and the wait staff. 

"De-lia?" 

"W-what?" she flushed with embarrassment, asking Misty a question and then drifting off into a reverie of her own. "I'm sorry. I don't know where my head is. I was just thinking about what it was like when I used to garden, and stuff, and... I don't know."

Misty's eyes were ablaze with excited light. 

"What was it like, Cordelia?"

"No, no, you tell me your thing first. My thing is silly. It can wait."

"No, it's not silly, it's how you felt and that's the most important thing in the world, Delia." the darker blonde continued to blush, even more profusely that both the others smiled softly to themselves. 

"I just... I don't know, like I said, it's silly! I was just thinking about how when I used to garden, it'd make my palms tingle. I can't really explain it, I wasn't touching anything dangerous or something like that, but it... it felt like someone was holding my hand, but without the obstruction, I guess. I know that makes no sense at all, but that's just what it felt like, until, you know, I got depressed and stuff and then..." 

"When was that exactly?"

"I don't know, I guess I always felt sort of, strangely empty inside. But gardening used to soothe that ache, and then, I guess come freshman year, the end of it? The feeling, it stopped happening. It just went away. And it made me feel so... desperately empty. Emptier than if I didn't do it at all. Like, I don't know, like I'd lost the connection. The warmth went away."

"It'll come back." Misty spoke determinedly. Her jaw was set tight at the thought of Cordelia losing something so dear to her, of losing their connection, the feeling of their hands coming together joyously at even the simplest of spells cast on the tiniest of plants, simply because Misty had come back into her life. Just another twisted plot to push them further apart. 

"Wh-how would you possibly know that?"

"Garden with me. I started helping out at the botanical gardens when you stopped talkin' to me because it made me feel... uh, connected, too." Misty didn't want to emphasize inexplicably that it had made her feel connected to Cordelia again. "You can come with me, and garden with me." 

"Okay, I-I think I would maybe really enjoy that." she smiled shyly at Misty, her heart warm and fluttery in her chest. The idea of holding Misty's hands and watering plants together was probably simultaneously the gayest, and also the most mundane daydream she could possibly imagine. It sounded like perfection. 

"Perfect." Misty grinned, toothy and feeling like she was moving in the right direction. Now, she had to consider, how much to reveal right now? And how much would reveal itself? 

"Are you gonna tell me your thing now?"

"Uh, yeah. Well, I'm gonna tell you as much as you need to know right now." 

"O-kay?" 

"Um, okay, here goes. So, you know what a Coven is, right?"

"Like, of witches?"

"Right."

"Well, yeah, I guess I understand the general term. I don't really get what it's for or anything..."

"It's a collective for protection. Because people have historically liked to execute witches."

"You're saying all of this as if witches are a real thing. Which, I guess they are, like there are practicing witches and stuff, but like, they don't do real magic?"

"Well, you're right to some extent. There are very few real witches left in the world, for a while there were none, but that was... dealt with. The witches you might be thinking of, you're right, they don't perform any real magic. But there are real witches performing real magic. Only one, right now, but I'm pretty sure that'll change."

"Misty, how can you be so sure that whomever this person is, is performing real magic?"

"Because, Delia, that person is me." Cordelia doesn't exactly scoff, it's more of a confused noise turned small cough to clear her throat. 

"What in the sweet hell are you talking about."

"I swear, I can prove it. Uh, what's a fun trick..." Misty stops to herself, tongue poking out in thought, making Cordelia giggle. 

"A fun trick, Mist, is different from..."

"I know, I promise I'm just callin' it that cause I can do more, I can do so much better, but I'll just do somethin' small for now, 'cause it works, for now, okay?" 

Cordelia keeps herself from rolling her eyes playfully, or in disbelief, she's not sure. 

"Sorry, haven't done this in like almost eighteen years, so really gotta remember what it feels like."

"Oh, I'll wait for a moment and a half to see whatever it is you're about to show me."

"Blow out all your candles, then, Cordelia." 

"But you don't even like the dark, Misty, you always reminded me to turn on that Tiffany's turtle nightlight when you've been awake enough."

"Won't be dark for long, Delia." 

Moonlight trickled into the room, the candles were extinguished into nothing but smoke and darkness, and Misty felt the sweet vibrations of lunar magical energy stirring inside of her. Cordelia could see hints of Misty's face, but mostly her silhouette, outlined by the full moon continuing to brighten outside, rain forgotten. Misty had her eyes closed and she lifted her hand slowly into the air. Her hand was just visible, moving in an intricate twisting motion repeatedly. 

"Delia, why in the heck do you have so many damn candles?"

"What? I like candles..."

"Lucky Thirteen." Misty snickers, and Nan laughs also. Cordelia turns to raise her brow at the brunette who merely shrugs with the same coy smile. 

"What, and witches worship the Devil, too?"

"Nah, but we got something sure as hell like him. And worship? More like avoid dark magic. It's just never a good idea."

"But Misty-" Nan interjects, "Your power..."

"I've taken it from the dark and you know it, Nan." Misty's eyes flare open, fire inside of them. "Dang, now I gotta restart. Thanks for nothing, tryin' to put on a good show here." Cordelia is mystified by the agelessness of Misty's intensity contrasted with the immediate cheek she deals to nearly everything. Mystified. Captivated. Same difference. 

Misty closes her eyes again and repeats the same movement thirteen times, Cordelia counts, and as she is finishing her count, trying to follow the beginning-to-end of the gesture, Misty flicks her wrist rapidly upwards and all thirteen candles burst into tall blue flames before the wicks singe down to a normal glow. 

"How'd ya like that?" Misty smiles in the bright again room.