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[addie-leroux-blog]

nova-chen‌:

“No judgment here!” Nova replied, smiling. While he couldn’t personally relate, he assumed that the some people’s need for caffeine were similar to those of his plants that needed an extra glucose kick. “Whatever you need to get through the day, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, right?” That was one of the beauties of every unique individual, he supposed. “This is just a Moroccan mint tea. Nothing special. Literally just mint leaves in hot water. But it certainly gives me a jolt of energy!” And it was a simple joy to hear the faint whispers from the distant land the tea leaves came from; a foreign language he couldn’t understand, but a sentiment he still felt with every sip. He flagged down a waiter and relayed an order for a refill of his cup and an added order for the girl. Afterwards, he turned to her again. “So…” He started and briefly looked to the dying poinsettia again before dropped his voice even quieter. “You’re a witch too? The flower told me.”

He was the richest sort of blue she had seen in some time. There was a genuine piece to him that so many in the city were just missing for one reason or another. But he seemed so happy to just talk to her and offer his input. “Ah, simple is sometimes best. The tea shops that cram so much into one little tea bag sometimes kill the tea.” She had been in a loose tea shop a few weeks back that had six different types of dried berries and a handful of other ingredients for a tea that was called “hexaberry explosion” and it had been a hot mess, not in a good way, either. When he referenced the plant, she glanced down to the poinsettia and quirked an eyebrow. “The flower told you...” The tone wasn’t that of disbelief though, it was almost jealousy. “What a talent. I just...well, I can feel what others feel? It’s not nearly as useful as you might think it would be.” 

[addie-leroux-blog]

alex--anders‌:

There wasn’t much left to do. Alex should have left as soon as he finished in the barn, but he found himself puttering instead. He found unnecessary things to do, rearranging one of the stacks, walking the near grounds and picking up any scattered trash, pulling weeds from the small garden. He knew he should leave before Addie got back, but the weaker part of him wanted to see her one more time while he had the opportunity. After all, he told himself every time that it would be the last time he saw her, so he wanted to prolong it. 

He kept an eye on the time, too. He knew the time it took to run each trail, he had spent enough time there to seeing the coming and going of enough people. He had learned how much time each one took, without really even trying to. Which meant he knew when the time dragged too long and his eyes stayed on the empty exit of the trail. Every second that passed, he told himself that she could have stopped somewhere. She could be taking it slow. She might have decided to sit down for a while and avoid coming back. There were a thousand logical conclusions to how long it was taking, but it did not stop the string attached to his rib-cage from tugging at him, telling him something was wrong. 

He shut his eyes. Clairvoyance was not a gift he often used; the one thing that was not out of his control since the accident. It came and went, occasional images, flashes of future or possible futures on his eyelids. He rarely sought it out, because the future was a dangerous thing to know. But now he found himself seeking out one person in particular with it, mind falling along the well known trail he had taken. He flew along it finding nothing, nothing, then. A riderless horse. He recognized it as the one that Addie had taken. It took only a glimpse of dark hair before his eyes were open again and he walking. No, he was running. He couldn’t remember the last time he had truly ran, but he stretched his legs to their limit, racing towards the exit of the trail. 

It was a solid five minutes of dead sprint later that he came to a skidding, panting halt at Addie’s side. Black spots danced in his vision. She was dead. Blood spilled everywhere and the world around him dimmed to black and white. He was burning, everything was burning hot and he couldn’t breathe for the stench of blood. He was gasping at desperate intakes of breath, but none of them seemed to be drawing oxygen to his blood. There was too much death in the air, screaming and gunshots in his head. 

No. It was a breathing body in front of him. A breathing, bleeding body. He reached for his medical bag but his hand came up empty. His hand came up bloody. No, no. There was no blood there, not yet. There was blood on Addie’s head, and he tore off the flannel shirt he was wearing to press against her hair, trying to remind himself that a head injury did not have to be fatal. They bled so much, but that did not mean the same thing as dead. A familiar twisting sensation coiled in his gut and he bit down on his lip until he tasted blood because he could not throw up here. She wasn’t dead yet. He had to keep repeating that to himself, he would not allow himself to fall into the past, not now. 

Somewhere inside of him, the doctor clicked into place. He couldn’t be Alex at the moment, he had to be something else. “Addie, Addie, I need you to wake up.” He couldn’t see any other injuries, and he hoped there was nothing hidden. He didn’t dare to move her until she was awake. He laid a hand against her face, eyes shutting and grimacing at what he had to do. He delved into her mind, reaching out to drag her back into the waking world. 

The air was cold and she was shivering, standing in the freshly fallen snow in nothing but a sweatshirt. The entire meadow was covered in a thick coat of ice and snow. She couldn’t even see the stables from where she was. Nothing around her looked familiar and she was without a horse. How had she ended up here? The last thing she remembered was trying to focus her eyes after that fall. Now, she wasn’t even sure she was still -- for half a second, she was hit with the terrifying reality that she wasn’t alive anymore. She had cracked her skull open on the rocks and bled out on the path. The thought that Cass would be the one to find her was making her wobbly slightly.

Then she saw it: streams of yellow drifting toward her and a murmur she couldn’t quite make out. She knew, without hesitation, that those yellow wisps belonged to Alex. I need you to wake up. The wisps reached for her and she wasn’t scared; they enveloped her and she let them. And then, her eyes fluttered open and he came into view. 

His flannel was missing, though she soon realized it was pressed to her head, most likely stopping whatever sort of blood loss she was suffering from. She reached for it immediately and tried to pull it away. “No...I liked...I liked that flannel...” Clearly, even though she had pieced together what he was using the shirt for, she wasn’t in a clear enough state of mind to let him continue what he was doing. 

“I’m...” she started to try to support herself on her bad arm and it immediately gave out from under her, causing her to whimper as she looked up to Alex. “I’ll be okay.” She had to be okay. There was no other option. She wasn’t the kind of woman who got hurt like this; she never had been. While stubborn and occasionally reckless, she had never gotten hurt as a child. Climbing trees, balancing on rock outcroppings as she crossed a stream, jumping from tree stump to tree stump -- she had never ended up in the E.R.. Perhaps she had just been a lucky child.

Addie reached forward, her fingers gripping his forearm tightly. “Tell me I’ll be okay.” She sounded pathetic and broken, but hearing another human being tell her that she wasn’t going to suffer serious problems because the horse had spooked was what she needed. “Oh, God, get the...horse...” She exhaled heavily through a ragged breath and that was when the tears started falling. Her chest was taking in as much air as it could but it simply wasn’t enough. Her face was stained with tears that fell quicker than she could keep up with despite the fact that her free hand was trying. All the while, she hadn’t let go of Alex. She couldn’t let go of him; she was terrified that she’d go back to the place he had pulled her from - the brink of whatever she had been standing on. No, she needed to stay here. She needed to keep breathing. 

[addie-leroux-blog]

alex--anders‌:

Thoughts were pouring off of her in loud, vivid colors. They mixed and twisted, and Alex caught in the confusing mess of it, trying to pretend that he didn’t hear it all. He didn’t think he was doing a very good job of it, considering. It was just so…unexpected. People did not look at him like this. There had been moments in college, of course. Even a few dates. But at that point he had still be sane, still kept up at least a little with appearance. He’d always been clean shaven and kept his hair neat, his clothes pressed and clean. Nothing like the way he had let himself go now. 

It was clear that Addie liked broken things. She had to. He still didn’t think she realized just how broken he was, but she knew that he was at least not entirely whole, and yet here she was, seeking him out yet again. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her, even when the thought came up in her mind. He couldn’t, just yet. He hadn’t sorted out his thoughts on the matter yet, which meant he wasn’t sure how to look at her. Looking felt dangerous at the moment, because he might see a girl instead of just another person, and he had spent the past several years of his life seeing humans in nothing but a medical context. 

He did look up with a hitch in his breath when he realized that she was picking up more than just emotions from him. They were not touching. There was quite a bit of space between them, in fact. He did not understand this connection they had, and it was beginning to worry him. Something had started out stringing them together like a spiderweb, all thing and fragile and breakable. But now it had turned into a thread. Still breakable, still nothing that would hurt too badly should it be broken, but he feared if it was left, it would only grow more and more. Then, if it were to be broken, he thought they both might feel the effect of it very strongly. And maybe this was it. Maybe the truth wasn’t that all of his resistance had been for her sake, to protect her. Maybe it was because he knew that eventually she would grow bored of the shiny new toy and move on, just as he allowed himself to believe he had someone in his life once more. He was tired of hurting. He did not want to invite more of it into his life. Everything good he thought he got turned rotten in his hands, so maybe it was him, but it was consistent. He did not want her to rot, both for his sake and for hers. He swallowed, and shook his head. 

Again, he swallowed. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. He let her walk away. She was colored in truth, so he couldn’t say that she was lying for some reason, not when he could see inside of her mind. His skin felt electric. She wanted him to follow, he knew, she almost expected him to. He was left standing in place, no movement to follow or go back to work for several minutes as his already scrambled brain attempted to sift through what had just happened. 

When he finally turned back to the task at hand, he had so much jittery energy that he finished in half the time it had taken him to start. It was curiosity that drove him out of the barn, though his brain told his feet not to go, they did not listen. He scanned the area, catching sight of only Addie’s back as she steered her horse in the direction of one of the trails that looped around and through the property surrounding the stables. She was close enough he could have called out to her, but he couldn’t think of what he wanted to say, so he merely leaned against the barn door and watched. Now that the thought was in his head, he didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed her before. She was far enough away that he could allow himself to think about how her hair fell like waves down her back, without fear of her overhearing. She was beautiful. He didn’t have to think hard to bring up a mental image of her, re-examining it with different eyes. This was dangerous, it was not allowed. But now that she had set him on the path, he could not stop his mind from wandering further down it. 

Addie needed this ride; she had known that when she woke up this morning. The sun had peeked through her curtains and her first thought had been that she needed to get to the stables. Fate had been on her mind over the last few days, especially with her last run in with Alex. It was impossible to ignore the coincidence again today. Her first thought, before even knowing that the weather was going to be this nice, had been to go to the stables and when she showed up, Alex had been there. That wasn’t coincidence. Something was pushing her toward him and likewise, something was pushing him toward her. There was no denying it.  

The air was crisp but warmer than she had expected being up on a cantering horse. She wasn’t technically supposed to gallop the trail horses but she was pushing the horse as fast as she could without breaking the trail rules. It was a safely concern, especially during the winter. There wasn’t snow on the ground but the ice was a concern. When the thought of ice popped into her head, she slowed the pace even more, knowing that if the horse slipped, she could be hurt, too. The mare she had dressed for the ride was responsive and probably would’ve slowed down on her own accord fairly soon anyway; they were coming around a curve that usually took them into a trot. 

A half an hour later and she was nearly finished with the route. Another ten minutes and she’d be back at the stables. As the thought of seeing Alex again didn’t have her stutter this time; she would be fine. Why she had gotten so worked up to begin with was beyond her. Sure, he had heard the thoughts in her head but plenty of people had to have had those exact same thoughts about him. While telling herself she was overthinking, again, she didn’t notice the fox that ran across the dirt path but her mare certainly did. The horse reared up and Addie tried her best to hold on. She wasn’t able to keep her hands from slipping off the reigns. When the horse reared again, she fell in a very gangly fashion, landing on the ground on the right side of the oath but not before her arm crashed into a pile of rocks on the ground, her forehead hitting the same patch of rocks. The horse skittered forward and pounded at the dirt as she tried to reorient herself.

She was dizzy, beyond anything she could remember, and she couldn’t move her left arm. She managed to shift enough to move her uninjured arm to her fore head. When her fingers found her forehead, the stinging was unbearable and she immediately pulled her fingers from it. Taking a deep breath, her line of vision shrunk. Tunnel vision. She knew what was about to happen and she managed to avoid the small outcropping of rocks as she fell, slipping out of consciousness. 

Her eyes flickered open, just barely, and she saw the backend of the horse. She was nibbling on grass along the pathway. How long had she been out? Had she even been out? Before she could even push herself up, she was out again, her hair falling into her face as she slipped away again.

[addie-leroux-blog]

ulysseswoodland‌: 

Uly sighed softly. In truth, money was completely and utterly inconsequential to her. The store was more something to occupy her time her thoughts so that she didn’t drift into infinite boredom while working on her charms. This woman was like many of her customers, and thus Uly suspected she would have no trouble finding a text the girl would enjoy. Hell, she doubted she’d even need to dip into her personal collection.

“That should be fine.” Uly said honestly, absently making her way back towards the staircase before ascending past the second floor and up to the third. Above, the skylight cast dull light onto the floor space that was less dominated by bookshelves than the rest of the store. Here there were chairs and lounges for people to sit and read… most of which Uly had fallen asleep on at one time or another.

Making her way over towards the back right corner, Uly deftly plucked three different books from the shelves. The first was a tightly bound red leather tome with frayed leather edges indicating thorough use. A witch’s Grimoire from the early eleventh century, Uly had known the writer. She had focused on creative magic for most of her life, only filling the grimoires final pages with aggressive spells as her life became more troublesome. The second was a more ornate cloth-bound book on druidic lore. Uly had a few copies of that one as it was a personal favorite. The spells it contained were entirely focused on nature, elementals and creation. One might struggle to utilize it without the proper druidic markings, but it was a good read none the less. The third and final book was more of a bundle of pages bound with leather string and carefully wrapped in plastic; sheet music from one of the first group performances by bards in medieval Europe. The pages practically oozed romantic undertones. Such was the time, back then.

“See if any of these tickle your fancy. You might struggle with the druidic spells as elementals tend to get a bit picky around witches, but I’m sure one of the local base-elementals would be willing to chat.” Uly had regular conversations with the wind elemental of New York… he was a temperamental sort, but loved her stories. She made a point to maintain these relationships; you never know when you might need the aid of an elemental.

The honey amber had faded to a dull green: bored. The thought of boredom after Addie had asked for a recommendation wasn’t sitting right with her. The women in front of her was prickly and they hadn’t even had a full conversation yet. Some people were just like that and there wasn’t much you could do about it. And while Addie was most certainly the kind of person to push someone who wasn’t in the mood, the color falling from her told her that wasn’t a smart idea for some reason. While she couldn’t quite place her finger on why she knew it just wasn’t a good idea. Being able to feel that it wasn’t a good idea but not know why would always be frustrating but she would have to deal with it.

The woman pulled three beautiful books from the shelves and Addie knew they were good selections without even opening them. She nodded in appreciation and stepped forward. “I definitely will...are the prices on the books somewhere or is this more of a learn the price when you decide sort of a read?” Regardless, she was going to look through them. 

She reached for the red leather bound tome first but almost immediately realized it was a little too dark for her liking. The dark magic had never shimmered with the allure for her like it did some. But it would certainly be an interesting read. Keeping the text in her home, though, might not be the best idea. Even just having the darkness in print was disconcerting to her. The second one was definitely something she was interested in and barely opened the cover before she took it into her arms like she was purchasing it. The third was unique and certainly something she was interested in. This one, too, she took into her arm, stacking it on top of the druidic elemental book. Glancing up toward the woman again, she nodded. “These two? For now, I think?” 

“I have about an hour before work. Is there a space I could sit inside and read? Or?” While she had been into the shop before, she had never gone through the entirely of it. It was a large shop with tall, windy isles and lost of secret places to sit and read, most likely. She was just after a few minutes of solace before being dragged back to the reality of her job.

[addie-leroux-blog]

unwrttxn‌:

addie-leroux‌:

He was orange in the best way. Typically, orange was over powering and spastic. The man in front of her seemed excited, though, just by existing. That was something Addie envied; she was always searching for something or someone or trying to get to the next benchmark. “I suppose you’re right. It could’ve been much worse…I’m usually much worse off on the ice.” When she asked what he was doing for the rest of the day, she noticed the red start to bleed into the orange. It was subtle and he was good at covering whatever it was. She envied that about some people. She was never able to hide anything, even from strangers. She was an open book. “Ah, so you’re a teacher?” She loved learning but hadn’t ever ended up doing anything with her undergrad degree: Human Development and Family Studies. Maybe one day…

“i don’t think too many people would fair well on the ice,” mickey admitted with a laugh, “i’m adequate in ice skating but without caution, i’m certain that even i would have taken a tumble.”  the city has been having its fair share of tumbles and turbulence lately.  there was no use in thinking about how he should have gotten here earlier;  the results would have been the same regardless.  the warlock sighed and nodded at the question.  "yes, over at altimira,“ he nodded toward the direction of the school, "less on regular academia, more on magical studies and its practical usages.”  mickey had never believed that magic should only be kept to a certain people, unlike the rest of the elders on the council.  he peered over to the woman and smiled, “sorry, it’s probably not what you had expected.”

“I never got into ice skating as a kid, either. Most of my friends were big into the skating rink but I always preferred the roller rink myself.” She wasn’t overly clumsy but she had never taken to the ice skating bit. When he offered his position at Altimira, she nodded, a smile crossing her face. “No, not, that’s actually rather useful. I’m a practicing witch myself...mostly elemental magic, but I’ve actually been looking at more practical and domestic uses for my skills.” It sounded silly to describe her desire to use her magic domestically but she wasn’t out saving the world with her magic. She was working a regular customer service position and she lived in an apartment with her cat. She was about as domestic as you got having magical powers. 

[addie-leroux-blog]

alex--anders‌:

Alex started coughing. She’d caught him so by surprise, that he had sucked in air wrong, somehow. Attractive. The word rattled loosely around his brain, like he was trying to discover the meaning of it. Maybe he was. Because it could not be what she was thinking now, though the thoughts rolled off of her in heavy, reluctant red waves. He knew she wanted to erase them, block them away from him, and he didn’t know if it was because she didn’t want to feel that way, or just because she didn’t want him to know she felt that way. Did it matter? 

He finished tugging his sleeves back down. It was still chilly enough that even having been working, it was not uncomfortable to have them back down. A little sticky, sure, but he had dealt with worse. He did not want to hear her thoughts as she considered what she wanted from him. He’d thought he wanted to know, but not like this. He was not suited to wading through these things. He hadn’t even thought to consider Addie in that way; he had hardly acknowledged the fact in his mind that she was a woman. He didn’t think he was going to stop thinking about it now, and now she was not the only one avoiding eye contact. He couldn’t stop asking himself what she saw about him. He was messy and unkempt, and currently, dirty. He did not deserve the way she was thinking about him. 

He was getting warm around the neck. He would give anything to move away from this line of thoughts, but he had a bad feeling they had fixed themselves into a circle of it and something would have to be done in order to break out. He tugged lightly at his sleeves once more, glancing over the red and while flannel shirt he had chosen for the day. He was never going to view it the same. “Thank you.” It was more of a mumble than anything, eyes turned to the ground rather than her. Now it did feel too warm to have the shirt sleeves pulled down, but there was no chance he would push them back up. 

He was shaking his head before she ever finished asking the question. If he hadn’t already been thinking that was a bad idea, this situation only made it worse. “Heavy lifting is…” he trailed off. A response had been queued up about how he like the process of manual labor, but now he was feeling the red creep again and his words scurried away as he reached from them. He didn’t dare to steal from her mind, for fear of what might leak out. “Work to be done, two hands to do it and…will not leave when he does.” He was making even less sense, without the concentration to spare for making sure everything came out clear. 

The coughing from Alex told her that he had most definitely heard her. It hadn’t been a cough just from inhaling hay bits, which she had suffered from before; it had been that caught off guard, choking on your own saliva sort of cough. And it had been in direct response to the fact that her brain had been kicked into overdrive the second she had laid eyes on him. Not a single person could blame her, honestly. Any person in their right mind would’ve found this scene at least somewhat attractive. 

Through her peripheral vision, she saw him rolling down his sleeves which had to be another reaction to the fact that she had zeroed in on his forearms when she caught sight of him. While she had only been in his company two times before this, not a single moment of those two encounters had been this uncomfortable. He wasn’t looking at her despite the fact that she was now at least trying to redirect their conversation to a more usual route for the two of them.

The longer she stood there in front of him, the more she was getting from Alex. Not just how he was feeling, but what he was thinking. It was very general and mostly a continuation of the colors she saw coming off of him, but it was there. Woman. Undeserving. Sleeves. She wanted to step toward him, to apologize for throwing this wrench into their getting to know each other. On the other side of things, she didn’t want to change the way she had felt when she saw him. She had felt it so there was no use trying to deny that; that would only make things more complicated and that was unnecessary. She had never been the kind of woman to make things unnecessarily complicated and she wasn’t about to start now. Nodding at his statement, she offered her understanding, “so, no ride?”

They were both over thinking at this point and it was showing. She took a deep breath and exhaled, shrugging. “I know you...heard all that. So, just to...clear the confusion, I meant it.” And with that, she turned toward the stables to get one of the horses ready for the trail, all the while, the hope of him joining her on the trail floating through the air toward Alex.

The stables were a barn over from where she had walked in on Alex moving the hay bales so she could still feel him despite no longer being able to see him. Stepping inside the second barn, she was greeting with a few snorts and one whiney. They had gotten fed but it was creeping up to the early afternoon; they’d be getting a second round of hay in a few hours. She nodded and offered a simple “hello” to the farm hand who looked like he was cleaning saddles off to the side. 

After a solid ten minutes, she had managed to get one of the trail horses saddled up and ready to go. She had done this dozens of times, both on her own and with Cass. She was familiar enough to know how to properly get a horse ready for riding and she knew the pieces of the saddle to check before she climbed on. Walking the horse to the outside, she glanced to the left to the other barn and she felt those thoughts creep back in. With a shake of her head, she put her left foot into the stirrup and swung her right leg over. The horse shook her own head as she started toward the trail; the horses knew the drill by this point and for that, Addie was grateful. With everything occupying her headspace right now, she wasn’t ready to have to make choices about which trail to take; the horse would do that for them. 

[addie-leroux-blog]

alex--anders‌:

She had come seeking him. Not to the stables themselves, persay, but once she had felt him there, she had sought him out. He kept forgetting that when it came to Addie, he was not alone in his powers. She could feel his presence just as surely as he could sense hers. Maybe it was because he spent enough time with Cass, who was quiet about her powers, who kept them to herself and rarely opened the borders of her mind.  He caught himself thinking that all other empaths were able to shut things out and did so regularly. He did believe that Addie was capable of doing so, but she had never been taught. Or she had never tried. Even he had been able to, before. 

He might have offered to teach her, if that wouldn’t encourage….whatever it was she wanted from him. That was another thing he couldn’t grasp. She kept pushing, kept seeking him out, texting him, but why. What was it she could want from someone like him? She said that she wanted to help, but nobody really did something without wanting something in return. Even subconsciously, there was always an other desire. There were plenty of ideas. Ranging from her not being liked to be told no, to her thinking that she could learn something from him. She could learn what not to do, that was for sure. He didn’t think he had anything else that he could coherently give her. 

It was hard to think about, with her standing there. She was colored orange with surprise, though it was and wasn’t from seeing him. She had known he was here, it was how he looked. He was piecing through her thoughts now, working on making sense of them. His appearance spiraled through his head, and he glanced down at himself. He needed a haircut and he needed a shower, and clearly she felt the same way. He finished carrying the bale in his hands to the opposite side of the barn, tossing it up on top of one of the stacks. He started rolling down the sleeves of his shirt, finding himself strangely self-conscious of his appearance. 

She was spiraling again. She was nervous, and seemed to have something to do with looking at him, and the pieces were not connecting in his mind. He shoved his hands into his pockets, thumbs hooking through belt loops. He nodded. He didn’t know what she wanted from him, here in this moment. “Help necessary, or is it best to remain in work?” He questioned, mostly to get past whatever moment this was. 

Addie had tried, on numerous occasions, to learn to shield herself but somehow, she had never managed to, even with Cass’ instruction. She typically had trouble focusing and that seemed to be the root of the problem. Her mind was always in ten different places when she tried to focus. When it wasn’t necessary, she was able to focus on tasks, like laundry. Just what everyone wanted to be productive on: laundry. To be fair, it was often useful to be able to knock out a few loads of dirty clothes in one go but it would have been much more productive for her if she could have had even one session with Cass where she had been able to block out the damn colors.

Now, though, her back still facing Alex, she could feel his confusion with her thoughts. She didn’t know how to erase the ones that had entered her head. He was going to see them; there was no way around that. She could only hope he just continued to be confused by the fact that she found him attractive. Hell, she certainly confused as to how he had gone from one to the other. She had only really taken into consideration that he would be a friend, another empath that she could talk to when the colors got too strong or too bright. But now, she wasn’t so sure that was the case. 

She pivoted back toward him when he asked if she needed help or if he should keep working. She half shrugged as she tried to keep her eyes on his but she was struggling. His forearms were distracting and she was desperate for anything to keep herself from looking like even more of an idiot than she already was. “Nice flannel.” Nice flannel. NICE FLANNEL. She was smacking herself mentally for that comment now. 

“I, ah, was just going to go for a ride. So, if you wanted to join me, I could saddle up on of the other trail horses for you? You look like you’ve been on a horse before...am I right? A break from the...heavy lifting might be nice.” The words she spoke come out a bit more fluid this time despite the fact that she was still trying to keep her line of sight at eye level with him. It was so unlike her to get to the point of being flustered that she lost her words but it had just happened a moment ago and her foundation was crumbling. Thankfully, she was able to pull herself back together and actually attempt a normal conversation. Well, as close to normal as these two got.

[addie-leroux-blog]

ulysseswoodland‌:

Uly watched the girl approach with some skepticism, though she kept an open mind… metaphorically speaking. The ring on her middle finger vibrated gently the closer the woman got before Uly twisted and deactivated it in an unconscious gesture. The ring was one of her most used charms and warned her when there was a mind reader, empath or psychic nearby. A charm hanging on her necklace at the back worked in tandem, warning when someone was reading her mind and preventing such a thing from occurring. Uly hated mind-readers beyond words, but she could often bear to be around empaths, as long as they didn’t try to read her emotions.

At the girl’s mention of a nearby bookstore, Uly had to think for a moment. Mentally projecting the nearby street corners in her mind before it clicked. River Styx. Ah, so that’s where I’ve seen her before. Grimoires and witch magic, then. As a general rule of thumb, Uly did condone the use of magic that hurt other people… though that didn’t stop her from collecting texts relating to that. Of course, not all grimoire magic was of that nature, but most of it certainly leaned that way.

“I might have a thing or two, depending on your price range.” She said honestly, not one to lightly step around the obvious. “Are you after grimoires or just standard spellbooks?” She inquired, standing slowly with a delicate stretch of her legs. While she waited for the girl’s response she studied her form more closely, noting the small features others might have missed. A horsehair here, a scent of music there… of course, her charm-boosted senses definitely helped in this analysis, but by the time the woman had begun talking, Uly felt she had a reasonable gauge for her character. “I also have some old music books, if you’d prefer.”

Addie could feel the woman’s energy shifting from that warm honey auburn to a more electric blue, as if she had something to hide. But she had clearly been reading or doing something behind the desk. That would be enough to get Addie frustrated, even if she was at work. Potential customers would often come in and ask inane questions to her while she was behind the counter. Sure, she was at work and being paid to help customers, but the questions some of them asked, honestly.

“Price range isn’t very large?” She said with a light laugh, “but depending on what it was, I might be able to pull enough together...grimoires are mostly for the history bit for me and not so much the spell casting...any spell books that deal with nature-based magic would be useful, too.” She wasn’t in the market for anything in particular. She had never been fond of non-elemental magic but sometimes you had to cast a locator spell. Spells that helped plants grow or hexes that kept certain animals from crossing into your garden, that sort of thing was much more up her alley. The spells seemed domestic, but honestly? That was what she wanted. She wasn’t the kind of witch who wanted to kill people or take over the world with her; she had made that much clear to Jack the other night when she had gotten wasted at The Crusty Lemon.

Music books, though. Addie’s face lit up. “It’s like you know exactly who I am to the core. Music books are great, too.” Her parents owned a record shop in town. It was mostly crooners and smooth jazz but there was a little bit of everything there. They had asked her a few times to pick up random shifts for them if they really needed it but Addie had made it clear a long time ago that she didn’t want a pity job. She had needed to find work on her own, which is how she had ended up at The River Styx. 

[addie-leroux-blog]

ulysseswoodland‌:

The bookstore was a maze to the uninitiated. A winding collection of corridors and towering shelves that gave the constant impression that they were teetering on the brink of collapse. They never would, of course. Nearly a dozen assorted runes prevented theft, ill-intent and - thankfully - collapsing bookshelves. 

The three-story building wedged discreetly between a coffee house and a four-story law firm in central Ceres Centropolis would seem cluttered and disorganized to any not familiar with the intricate and very carefully planned layout. In truth, it was arranged to keep the mundane inquiries on the ground floor, while those here with more… supernatural tastes would find themselves drawn skyward. This was no ordinary bookstore. It was a safe haven for any seeking knowledge and information, no matter how eclectic or forgotten. Fighting would not be tolerated within the store, nor would any form of discrimination. “No mind-reading. Ever.” The worn out neon yellow sign near the counter heralded the one exception to the discrimination rule.

The day had been a quiet one, not that Uly was drawn to counting pennies come tax time. As the sun began to fall, Uly was tempted to close up briefly in favor of retrieving a coffee but decided against it. Instead, she remained sat at the front desk by the door, head bent over a small pearl-like stone inscribed with a patchwork of runes. It was nowhere near done, but she was making progress on the wish stone. They were in high demand with her clients and it would sell for a fortune.

A brief warmth from the bracelet on her wrist - one of five - drew Uly’s attention away from her work, signaling the presence of someone nearby. Listening for a moment, she heard the familiar tapping of feet on the second floor heading towards the spiral stairs. With a yawn, Uly tucked away her stone and twisted the ring on her index finger twice to shift her eyes back to a natural almond brown. The icey blue hue that came with her working on charms often made people uncomfortable.

As the figure approached, Uly leaned forward on the counter, an eyebrow lifting. “Need something?”

Addie often spent time in the bookstore. It wasn’t too far from the occult shop and she often found herself needing to occupy a few spare minutes before her shift. Some days, she just couldn’t go in early. Recently, she needed more help than usual. She was trying to find something to keep her mind occupied and the bookshop was the perfect place. She didn’t have to be at work for an hour; that was plenty of time to really find a good read. The occult shop had some tomes and grimoires but she pushed the door to the bookshop open hoping that there would be something a little heavier inside these four walls.

The smell hit her nose first. It was the smell she had always sought as a child: paper and old leather bound books. This store was always a comfort, even if she didn’t know she was feeling down. The warm honey auburn tickled her ears as she made her way down the spiral staircase into the main part of the store. As she approached the counter, the woman behind it offered assistance, which Addie nodded to thankfully.

“Actually, yes? I’m hoping, at least.” She closed the remainder of the gap between them in a few short strides and shrugged lightly, “I’m just looking for new spell books? Well, old spell books. The shop I work at down the street has plenty but I just wanted to maybe browse, unless you had any suggestions?” Suggestions of books and music were two things Addie never took lightly. If someone recommended a book or music, they were giving you a little bit of who they were. That was a beautiful exchange to her.

[addie-leroux-blog]

alex--anders‌:

Alex’s mind was a war zone, more than ever. There was a constant push and pull relationship with his phone, wanting to check it, wanting to break it, wanting to pick it up and call the number that had been popping up on it all week. He felt that if he could just hear Addie’s voice, he might feel a little calmer. He was unable to stay still, working late nearly every night. With spring coming, there was plenty of work to be done and Alex claimed all that he could for himself. He did his best to sweat out his thoughts and earn tranquility that way, but even physical exhaustion could not stop his mind from running. 

As hard as he tried, he could not stop thinking of Addie. Nobody in his life had ever stuck like this, and he didn’t know if it was him or her, or if there really was some odd connection between the two of them. He did know that the purple still lingered in his apartment, and every time he touched the counter where she had set her things down, he caught a glimpse of a memory of her standing there. Every time he rubbed his hands together, he couldn’t forget the feel of her fingers between his. It was easy to tell himself that he just wanted the silence that she was able to give. Someone living a life as loud as his searched for any form of peace. 

But it was more than that. There was something specific about her that he was yet to understand. So instead, he worked. He kept working, pushing himself a little harder every day, like the physical could eventually bleed into the mental and make him stop. For once, he did not look forward to going to the stables. Without the thoughts of others to fill up his mind and take up the empty space, he was left with only himself and the dim murmurs that occasionally drifted across the fields. He had taken his time, raking, mowing, carrying sacks of feed from a truck to the stables themselves. 

The last project of the day came down to hauling hay bales from one side of the over-sized barn to the other, making room for something. He rarely asked for the purpose of anything, only grateful for the work. Then he felt her. It wasn’t a physical thing, when he straightened and looked around, there was no sign of her. But Alex knew that Addie had arrived at the stables. He considered leaving. There was still work to do, though, and it was rare that anyone came into this barn. He kept working, nearly halfway through when the fresh scent of leaves and wind and incense swept across the barn. Purple filtered on around him and he stood with the square bale he was holding still suspended in his arms. He could feel sweat dripping down his back, thinking that maybe this was for the best. Let her see him in honest truth, nothing glamorous. 

She was standing in open double doors and Alex allowed himself a moment of eye contact. He tried and failed to find good words, and instead nodded in greeting. “Your friend is absent.” He could assume that she was here to see Cass, hope that she would leave it at that. 

@addie-leroux

Addie had spent an entire week meticulously picking out the right photos of her cat to send to Alex. She had gone to work, the tea shop, the grocery store, but every where she went, she felt him in the back of her mind. There was a small whisper that pulled at her memory each time she let herself listen to it. He had left some sort of mark on her despite pushing her away at every available opportunity. She was sure he would hate to hear that, but it was how she felt. She hadn’t been able to shake him for going on two weeks. There was something to be said about that. 

Even now, her hands clenching the steering wheel of her small battered civic, she was thinking about whether or not a photo of a barn cat and her kittens or a newer horse would be best to send when she arrived. She had considered, on more than on occasion, that she was pushing it. She was crossing a line with texting so often without a response. And yet, every time she convinced herself that she was being a bit too pushy, she somehow ended up sending a photo any way. Oscar needed to be appreciated. That was what she was telling herself, anyway, but even that was getting old.

Addie saw the yellow before she had even stopped her car. She slid the car to a halt and reached for her jacket, all the while, keeping her eye on the barn door that the soft waves were pulsing from. Alex was here? There was a slight shift as the yellow started to bleed into a teal blue. Flight? Fear? Whatever it was, Alex knew she was here, now, too. Sighing, at herself mostly, she pushed her door open and climbed out. It was warmer than it had been the past few days, pushing fifty. Fifty in January was remarkable and it was the perfect excuse to get out of the apartment and out of the heart of the city. And now, she had another opportunity to talk to him. She just wanted to be his friend, to spend time with him. 

She walked toward the teal, hoping it would dissipate. And while the teal faded slightly, it was replaced by cerise, a color Alex had put in her head a while back. But cerise clearly meant something different to Alex. Now, it seemed matter-of-fact. When she rounded the side of the bar, coming to stop in front of the open double doors, she had nearly opened her mouth to say something about Alex following her around but she was stopped her in tracks. Long hair falling into his face, sweat dripping down the side of his face, forearms bare under sleeves that had been rolled up. Shit. She immediately tried to focus on anything but those thoughts; thankfully, Alex offered the fact that Cass wasn’t around.

Addie nodded, throwing her thumb over her shoulder. “I...uh, yeah...she’s, she’ll be back later. I was just...going to go for a ride. It’s nice out.” She turned, looking toward Cass’ house because she knew she wasn’t doing any sort of job keeping her fact straight. Oh my God. Eloquent Addie, eloquent.

[addie-leroux-blog]

jackconnolley‌:

Jack sighed, looking down at the pathetic picture in front of him. Really, he wasn’t sure why he allowed himself to be sucked into these things. He should have just ignored her right from the beginning, but instead, here he was. “You know perfectly well that I will.” Still, he gave her time to stand on her own, waiting to see if she could manage it without his help. “Thirty seconds.” He would see if she would actually hold to that. He knew how this was going to end, and it was not with Addie walking herself safely home. He didn’t think she would even be able to walk in a straight line, yet. He could make her stay and keep drinking water, but chances were that would turn into drinking more liquor, instead. Still, he waited patiently, since he really did have all the time in the world. 

“Alright.” She was going to topple over if she took more than one step, he was certain of that. Even for a human, she was a lightweight when it came to drinking, apparently. In one swift, smooth moment, he bent and wrapped an arm around her legs, lifting her up and letting her fall over his shoulder. “You’re going to make a bigger mess if you attempt to walk yourself.” He informed her, striding towards the door of the bar. 

“Yes, you’re a real saint.” He was about done trying to make any argument with her while she was still intoxicated. Even if there were good points made on either side, they would all be blurry come morning, thus making the entire conversation pointless. “I assure you, I’m just being mean, no need to confuse yourself.”

Jack had given her the time she asked for. He hadn’t pulled her from the stool. He hadn’t talked her ear off for the thirty seconds she sat there He had let her have her thirty seconds. As soon as she stood up, though, she knew he wasn’t going to let her walk on her own. What she hadn’t expected, was for him to actually throw her over his shoulder. “Woah, woah woah, Pirate Jack...easy...” She didn’t fight him much as he adjusted her on his shoulder but she did pat him on his back a few times with flat palms. He was remarkably strong; something else she hadn’t really expected from him. Not that he was weak looking but then again, she was also very petite. She was almost positive that anyone could lift her, Cass included.

“I never said I was a saint. I know I’m not a saint. I’m making someone carry me home because I can’t handle my liquor. That’s not saintly...that’s stupid.” She groaned and dropped her hands to dangle behind him. “You don’t even know where you’re going. What if I live a half an hour away, hmm? And yes, you are more than one color. And one of the colors is not mean, it’s nice. You’re radiating nice colors right now...like a...a muddled coral.”

[addie-leroux-blog]

alex--anders‌:

Alex had expected to get a flurry of demanding texts after the photo he sent, but the phone stayed silent. Maybe all it took was replying to one of them. He thought it was possible (though not likely) that Addie had just wanted to prove she could get to him. It didn’t line up with her thoughts or feelings, but he would come up with reasons and excuses, anyway. He told himself that this was a good thing and he went to bed. After about another hour of sleeplessly staring at the ceiling, he fell asleep. He was up in the morning before the sun, walking to work as it was rising with a fresh cup of coffee. His day to keep things up at the stables, meaning that he could be more relaxed, though he was doing his best not to think about the fact that he had been stupid enough to reply to Addie’s text. 

His phone buzzed again. He told himself not to check it. He did anyway, eyes narrowed in the early morning like to catch the words off the glaring screen. With a short roll of his eyes, he shoved it back into his pocket and smiled. 

It was beginning to be a sort of routine with Alex in regards to texting him. She would come up with something short and cute and send it over, always hoping to get a reply but never expecting one. That afternoon, when she had gotten back to her apartment, Oscar walked right up and wove himself through her feet, screaming up at her as he did it. Addie nodded. “I know. I know. I shouldn’t text him again...but look at how cute you’re being.” She pointed her phone toward him and Oscar immediately sat down, staring up at her. She exhaled in frustration. “Really?” 

And then, Oscar was gone, poof, into thin air. Suddenly from behind her, there was a sharp meow and she turned slowly, her arms now crossed in front of her. “Real mature.” He had started doing that when he came back in the gray tabby form; apparently, even familiars could get powers if they served their witches well. She opted, this time, to send a photo as apparently, a video was too much to ask for.

[Text message to Alex; Thursday, 8:38 p.m.] I tried to take a video of Oscar when I got home because he was being particularly cute but he wasn’t having it. So, you’ll have to settle for this still life of my asshole cat who doesn’t really fit in this part of his cat tower but still tries to make himself fit. (Photo.)

Text message to Alex; Thursday, 8:38 p.m.] I hope you had a good day at work if you were out. It was a little chilly. 

[addie-leroux-blog]

jackconnolley‌:

“You need to go home.” He was certain that if she did not leave soon, this was going to end with her crying on him, an idea he didn’t care for. Of course, the longer she was here, the more he was thinking that he was going to have to be the one to drag her out. She was in one of her moods, likely meaning that she’d found another stray to attempt to mother and make her feel bad about herself. If someone didn’t cut her off, there was no telling what trouble she would get herself into. So rather than wait for it to get worse, Jack pushed off the bar with a sigh and stood. He held out a hand to Addie. “Come on then, don’t make me toss you over my shoulder.” 

Pirate Jack. He rolled his eyes. There was a bad feeling in his stomach that the nickname would not be disappearing anytime soon. Chances were, she would get the entire bar calling him that before the week was up. “I can’t say the desire has ever struck me, but I suppose there are plenty of people in this world always wanting more. Though I will warn, getting caught up in such desires never ends well.” He’d seen too many people swept up in the need to have more and more power, and it was never enough. Truth be told, he would hate to see that happen to Addie. 

When he said she needed to go home, she knew where this was heading. Soon after, he stood and she started to pout but then leaned forward and rested her head onto her arms, which were crossed in front of her. This is stupid. You’re pathetic, Addie. Being escorted out of a fucking bar. She inhaled and shook her head, still buried in her arms. “Nope. You’ll have to carry me out.” She was being obstinate. She would get up. “Just give me 30 seconds, okay?” Getting up right now was not on her short list of fun ideas. 25. Other things she would rather do: sit here and continue to whine, text Cass and whine, text Alex photos of her cat and have him respond, eat some solid food that wouldn’t make her sick later, eat some solid food that might make her sick later, watch Tarzan or Fox and the Hound, or any other animated Disney movie. 10. But not move. Certainly not move. 5. She sighed, lifting her head off of the counter. 0.

His hand was extended toward her and she reached for it, sliding off the chair in a remarkably sober fashion despite her lack of sobriety. Then, she took a step. Just a single step. But she stopped. “Nope. Don’t like it.” She wanted to shake her head but the idea of moving herself more was not sitting well with her. 

“Oh, God...I don’t want to take over the world. I want to do the opposite. Or...no, I just...I want to help?” It barely made sense when she tried to think about it sober so it probably wasn’t making much sense disjoined and jumbled right now. “You’re just...you’re being nice and mean at the same time and it’s really confusing. You’re like twelve different colors right now.”

[addie-leroux-blog]

alex--anders‌:

Through a great force of will, Alex did not look at the first text. He told himself that he was going to stop looking at any of them, that they would do nothing but make him want things that he couldn’t have. His phone felt heavier most of the day for it, his work distracted as he did everything he could to not think about the notification that had popped up on his screen that morning. He worked late and went to bed early, but he did not sleep. Half an hour after lying down, he got up again and went to his kitchen instead, rustling around until he found an old box of tea that he didn’t remember buying. By the time he had water beginning to steam in a pot, his phone buzzed again. This time, he did not have the will to ignore it, and his phone flicked open, glancing over both of the photos and struggling against a smile. In a moment of weakness, he poured his tea and snapped a picture. 

[Text message to Addie; Wednesday, 10:32 p.m.]  (Photo.)

Addie had tossed her phone onto her bed, forgotten, after sending her last text message to Alex. It wasn’t until well after 11 p.m. that she even noticed that a notification was sitting on the main screen. Alex ☕ . She entered her passcode in wrong after the rush adrenaline hit her system. Cursing under her breath, she managed to enter the code in correctly the next time. She was met with a photo and no text. She couldn’t say she was surprised. But gosh, did she smile. Not only was it very obviously tea in his mug; the mug was yellow. She wanted, so badly, to respond but it was late and she knew he wouldn’t respond again if she texted back right away. Instead, she plugged her phone into its charger and climbed into bed, snuggling up with Oscar, who seemed oddly cuddly tonight. Perhaps he was just happy Alex had responded, too.

--

Brushing her hair from her face, she shoved the change into her pocket with her free hand. Then, she accepted her tea from the barista at the counter who handed it to her with a smile. Mornings were not Addie’s time of day, at least not recently. She had, at one time, loved mornings. But that had been before she moved to the city. The hustle and bustle wasn’t really for her. She knew, someday, she’d be living closer to the outskirts of town, like Cass. She liked the wide open spaces, the cleaner air, the clouds in the sky that you could really see for miles. As she stirred the sugar into her tea, she slipped her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and snapped a photo.

[Text message to Alex; Thursday, 08:04 a.m.] I’m not a morning person recently but your tea photo (in a yellow mug, I might add) from last night has inspired me to give it a go again. Alright, World, I’m ready for the good stuff ~ (Photo.)

[addie-leroux-blog]

jackconnolley‌:

“You are quite a mess, aren’t you?” Jack asked her, an eyebrow arched. She wasn’t even making much sense anymore, not that he often expected her to. He assumed it was some sort of gun, though how that was connected to a conversation about driving, he couldn’t say. It was befitting of her though, always jumping from one thing to the next too quickly for most people to keep up. “I think we both know that I will.” He thought that maybe what she meant to say was that he would not kick her out and then just leave her there. “There are laws about such things, you know?” 

“Pirates did exist, yes. But that was a quip, love.” It being a quip did not necessarily mean that it was untrue. Somehow, everyone did always get stuck on the pirate bit. It seemed this modern world had romanticized the filthy life, for some reason. “That does not make it any better, I’ve no desire to be seen as a father figure.” He paused a moment to think. “Is it always a better thing to know what’s going on?” 

“I kind of feel like a mess.” She wasn’t paying much attention to what was coming out of her mouth, which was why she was jumping from amused and entertained to sort of melancholy. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, in particular, or any one thing. She was just struggling to keep herself from falling into the daily routine rut. It seemed that the last few weeks had been monotonous and that wasn’t something she enjoyed. On the other end of things, she didn’t want to be constantly surprised. She needed a healthy amount of energy in her life and she just wasn’t getting it. At least, not until Alex had showed up. Alex wasn’t bringing energy, per say, but he brought something different to the table. She liked different. 

“Please don’t throw my out, Pirate Jack.” She saluted him weakly, her hand falling back into her lap. His comment about not wanting to be seen as father figure had her hand raise again, waving him off. She knew he was just trying to make conversation but she hadn’t meant anything mean by it. Sighing, she shook her head, “probably not...but, you know, it’s hard not to imagine being able to when you know the ability exists?” It sounded pretty silly when it came out of her mouth, but that was how she felt. Knowing that she could do more, be more, made it difficult to focus on the abilities that she had.

[addie-leroux-blog]

alex--anders‌: 

And just like that, they were back where they had been before the day in his apartment. Two days and four texts, a photo with each. He liked the photos, best. Each one took a turn as his phone’s background, a fact he would be hard-pressed to ever admit to Addie. He went on wishing that he could be someone who could reply to her. Someone who could meet her cat. Just…anyone different from himself. 

Addie was at the point where she was putting together intricate set-ups for Oscar to stumble upon in the hopes that he would stay there long enough for her to take photos. Somehow, though, she always managed to just miss him in the cute poses. She opted for the more natural looking photos in the end, hoping that Alex wouldn’t be able to ignore the cuteness of the cat for much longer. She was well aware of his affinity for ignoring her, but Oscar? You could only ignore the feline for so long before he’d start taking it personally. Addie was just hoping that each photo would push him that much closer to just responding. Even just once. She wasn’t expecting anything close to a conversation over text. But just something.

[Text message to Alex; Wednesday, 9:43 a.m.] He’s starting to take this personally, which should honestly scare you. (Photo.)

[Text message to Alex; Wednesday, 10:21 p.m.] Honestly, just tell him he’s cute before he has an aneurism. Kthankshaveagoodnightbye. <3 (Photo.)

[addie-leroux-blog]

cassxwilson‌:

Addie was acting a little strange at this point, and even if Cass hadn’t been an empath she might have felt the frustration radiating off of her friend. “Sitting weird… in a not bad way…” she repeated slowly, trying to wrap her mind around what Addie was getting at. Cass kept quiet for the next several paces, her thoughts rolling around in her mind. Her friend wasn’t the type to get upset about mundane things and it didn’t seem like a random meeting would have her acting this out of sorts. “Okay, so tell me more about this other empath. What about them are you having a hard time letting go of? Did they use their powers against you somehow? Did you read something strange off of them?”

Addie could see the confusion on her friend’s face as they walked; she had expected it. She tilted her head back and forth, gesturing toward the car as it came into view. “I know, I’m not making a lot of sense.” She took a deep breath. “It’s just complicated? You know I see emotions in colors, yeah? Well, so does he? And...no, he didn’t use any powers against me or anything. If anything, I used my calming abilities on him a little bit?” The whole first interaction came rushing back to her and she had to bite her tongue from going into anymore details right off the bat. “Plus, he’s just a soft yellow. I’m weak for the pastel.” It sounded ridiculous but it was true. She couldn’t shake that soft, warm yellow from her head. It had been days and she hadn’t spent nearly as much time on anything else as she had in trying to get Alex to text her back.