allishaw

[allishaw]

maxdennisonn​:

Max could feel the smile spread upon his face as she picked up on what he had implied. “Well, Dani told me I shouldn’t do this big reveal and make a decision by myself, so I decided to just tell you like this. You know, wine and dine you the way Allison Shaw deserves to be treated,” he said with a smile. He felt a wave of relief pass over himself as she seemed to at least consider the option of moving in together. “I mean, I don’t know I’ll ever be sure, but it’s worth a shot, right? I’m sure Pizza Planet would have me if I wanted to come back.

~

     He was such a natural charmer that sometimes Allison couldn’t believe it had taken them as long as it did to get together. Really, his refusal to acknowledge magic was the only holdout, but now he was working as diligently as either she or Dani to figure out their situation, completing their dream team; with him, everything felt possible. She squeezed his hand that still held hers, smiling, and replied, “I’m really proud of you. I think you’ll do really well working with Phillip—you might surprise yourself. But even if it doesn’t turn out to be your thing, I’ll still be here.”

[allishaw]

binxinthenight​:

Binx wouldn’t have been surprised if Allison had been suspicious of them — Max certainly had been the first time he confronted him. But Binx could only hope that Allison could take their word for it, hoping that maybe explaining from the very beginning would put her in their shoes and get her to understand. It couldn’t be that hard, right?

Allison’s question only brought up more for Binx to have to explain. After all, telling her their name wasn’t as simple as that, considering they had technically met before, as himself. “That’s okay, I haven’t been so eager to tell you my name, anyway,” the black cat admitted honestly. “We’ve actually met before, just not like this. I’m .. Thackery Binx.”

     The last thing Allison was expecting when she asked the cat for their name was for him to give her one she already knew. Thackery Binx. What? She couldn’t even pretend to have misheard or misunderstood; that was probably the most unique name she knew. But who would have ever guessed that Thackery was...a cat? This knowledge was more of a surprise than the fact that there was a talking animal in the first place. Alli already knew about magic—that was one thing, but somebody she knew to be a human being that talking cat was something she had never even considered.

     “Sorry, you’re gonna have to give me a minute,” she replied, trying to process the shock. Fluffy Wigglebottom the Third would have been easier to deal with. Then, questions started coming. “Why are you...? How long have you...? Have you always been a cat?” Where were the warning signs?

[allishaw]

     Seeing the younger woman brought Allison back to the last two years of high school, even if that felt like a world away now—despite being younger, Mina had automatically fit in with the popular crowd, even among the upperclassmen. It was around the same time Alli had met Max, and about a decade before she finally decided to go out with him. She understood the other girl’s evident surprise to have heard about them dating, but in reality, she had never not liked Max. It was only their difference of priorities that kept her from letting him in as anything more than a friend.

    “Hi! It’s great to see you again, too,” she said with an amused smirk, subtly chastising Mina for not leading with a greeting. Then she answered the questioning, softening, “It’s pretty serious. We’re talking about moving in together. How about you? Are you seeing anyone lately?”

@allishaw

“So you and Max?” Mina blurted out instead of a greeting when she saw the blonde approaching. She couldn’t help it! She knew Allison in high school and she never ever thought that she would end up with a guy like Max. She knew love crept up on people but still. She wanted to hear it from the girls lips herself. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I just never expected the two of you to ever y’know? He’s kind of a dork but like….nice?” She wasn’t sure if she was getting her point across but she was trying to be as nice as she was capable of being. “How serious is it?”

[allishaw]

lydiaxdurst​:

Lydia couldn’t help but laugh. Bound with human skin. Was that really what people thought of magic? That would be some pretty dark shit by any standards. But hey, there were always extremists in everything, right? “You know, I should look for a book on magical serial killers. If you think real serial killers can be brutal, just imagine adding more power into the equation.” Lydia shivered, but couldn’t help the intrigue she felt. Anything dark always did easily draw her in. 

Shrugging her shoulders, she attempted to play more casual than she felt for a moment. “Oh, you know. It’s easy.” It wasn’t. It was actually stupid, and dangerous, but she trusted Allison. She had to, to get this far in a friendship with her. “Let’s just say I have my own version of magic. I’m really good at finding things.” And it was sort of true - none of Lydia’s things stayed lost for very long, and she always had a knack for finding misplaced items for others. Something odd and small but fun to boast about when it came of use. 

Still, the implication someone like Lydia would need defending against… was it true? Sure, Lydia was powerful, and getting stronger every day thanks to her dedication to her studies. But would she ever actually use her magic to hurt someone? No. Of course not. Someone else, however… “If you want to defend against witches, you need a lot more than that book.” A prayer, maybe. “I’m pretty sure the only thing that can beat magic is… magic.”

~

     When Lydia posited the concept of magical serial killers and how much more dangerous they could be than regular murderers, Allison almost shuddered. Because didn’t have to imagine. From what she knew about the Sanderson sisters, they were the worst of the worst: witches who literally sucked the souls out of countless children to maintain their youth and beauty. To think that she, Max and Dani had only narrowly escaped such a fate on that Halloween night so long ago still haunted her dreams.

     She wasn’t sure yet whether that experience was something she should share with Lydia; they were friends, sure, but most people would think she was either making up a story or on something if she described an encounter with some dark magical beings in a forest. That was, until Lydia claimed that she had her own version of magic. Alli couldn’t tell whether that was a real confession or just the woman being clever about her unusual skill for locating things, but it did give her pause. Lydia seemed to know a lot about magic for someone entirely unconnected to it. But it wasn’t nearly enough for Allison to just assume she was some kind of a witch herself.

    As she declared that one would need a lot more than this book to defend against witches, Alli’s shoulders dropped. Beating magic with magic sounded a lot like fighting fire with fire—messy at best. And it was far from encouraging information, considering she and the Dennisons had no access to magic themselves, nor probably any desire to dabble in such dark arts. “If you happen to know anywhere I could get my hands on some protective magic without selling my soul, that would be a big help,” she commented.

[allishaw]

maxdennisonn​:

Max felt his eyes widen as Allison’s filled with concern, and he shook his head as he squeezed her hand back. “Oh, it’s nothing bad. Nothing wrong,” he assured her, tucking a fallen piece of hair behind her ear. He braced himself before speaking again, sucking in a deep breath. “I’m thinking of leaving Pizza Planet,” he blurted, taking a sip of his wine before continuing, gaging her reaction as he sipped. “Phillip approached me again about taking a job at his company, and … I don’t know. I think I could do well there. I also thought that the bigger paycheck would be a help if, I don’t know … we ever wanted to think about a, uh, bigger place. For the two of us.” It was a lot at once, this much he knew, and Max leaned forward to place a peck on her lips before sitting back. “What do you think?”

~

    Allison allowed herself a breath of relief as Max assured her that there was nothing wrong, relaxing at his touch when he brushed some stray strands of her hair back. She wasn’t prepared for the news he did reveal, saying that he might be leaving his job and then pausing for a drink before continuing. She kept her expression neutral as he spoke, but by the time he reached the end of his explanation, Alli couldn’t help the huge smile that spread across her face. “Max Dennison...Are you asking me to move in with you?” she replied playfully before getting more serious. “If you’re really sure about the job—I mean, that sounds like a great opportunity.”

[allishaw]

     She should have known something was up the moment she stepped into the apartment and it looked spotless—not that Max was ever a total slob, but there was a noticeable difference in the state of his living quarters tonight. The dinner and drinks were another sign, but less concerning on their own seeing as it wasn’t the first time Max had gone for the romantic option. When he started to speak in a serious, deliberate tone, the smile faded from her cheeks and she reached across the table to grab his hand. “What’s wrong?" Allison didn’t want to freak out before even finding out what it was that had Max wanted to talk about, but she couldn’t help the way her mind raced to concern about Dani, the sisters, everything that could possibly be an important matter to discuss.

closed starter for @allishaw​

Though he’d told his younger sister about his thoughts of changing careers, Max hadn’t told the person who mattered most yet: Allison. If she was adamant on him staying at Pizza Planet, he’d forget the whole moving on and up thing, just for her. If she was all for it, though, he’d be signing the papers tomorrow. It was with a bottle of wine and a homemade dinner that he decided to present the idea, fixing his apartment up to the cleanest it could be so she could see how it might look in the future, should they decide to move in together. “So, I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said slowly, “something that’s not commenting on how bad my pasta is. I know, I should’ve left it longer. I don’t know if you’re in the serious conversation kind of mood, but we can put it off if you’re not.”

[allishaw]

31 / ∞ virginia gardner being gorgeous: salvatore ferragamo event (2018)

[allishaw]

[allishaw]

binxinthenight​:

Binx knew Allison would be eager to see them again, and they had been eager to talk to the blonde again, as well. Though they weren’t exactly reliable when it came to finding her at the right moment — their cat self had been more sporadic and unpredictable, unsure where they even were for entire days. That was why it was so important to get close to Allison, Max and Dani; in a way, they were Binx’s last hope.

Finally running into Allison with no one else around, they walked up to the blonde and rubbed up against her leg, reminding her that they meant no harm. “What gives?” They repeated, slightly amused. “Okay, cutting the small talk, I see. I guess there really is no time to waste,” the black cat replied, sitting down and looking up at her. “Lots of reasons, if you have the time to listen. I said this to Max, but I’ll say it to you too: I don’t have any physical proof, so I just ask that you trust me. But,” they continued amusingly, “you’ve already proven to be easier to convince than your boyfriend, so I’m not too worried.”

     She tilted her head as the cat spoke, requesting her trust despite not having proof to back up his claims. As a matter of fact, there were probably reasons to be suspicious of the animal—Alli had done enough research on witches to know about familiars and the possibility that this black cat was a servant or spy for the Sanderson sisters, maybe even sent to lead her, Max and Dani off the true scent onto some wild goose chase—but considering that without its help, they had no lead at all to follow...She was going to take her chances and hope that even if her trust in the cat was misplaced, it might still bring them closer to learning about the witches than they would be otherwise.

     “I’m sorry,” she said, no less eager to hear what else they were going to reveal, but having realized that the cat knew their names, yet she was still referring to it as ‘the talking cat.’ “Do you have a name? I guess I’ve been rude, but in my defense, I’ve never formally introduced myself to a talking animal before.” Alli hoped she wouldn’t regret asking; she was going to have a hard time taking this conversation seriously if she had to start referring to them as Fluffy Wigglebottom the Third or something worse.

[allishaw]

Catch those children!

[allishaw]

32 / ∞ virginia gardner being gorgeous: whoWatWear ‘girl on the rise’ (2017)

[allishaw]

👐 - Lydia

@lydiaxdurst

     Allison hadn’t assumed Lydia to be a very touchy person—maybe it was just because of her sarcastic attitude and brooding, gothic style...Either way, she hadn’t expected the hug and she smiled in surprising, returning the embrace before letting the other go with a slightly bemused remark. “You’re affectionate today. Did that love spell I tried from the book you showed me work?” she joked.

[allishaw]

💧- max

@maxdennisonn

     “Max!” Surprised, but not at all unpleasantly so, by her boyfriend’s unexpected intrusion on her shower time as he pushed the curtain aside and stepped in, Alli couldn’t help an appreciative once-over of his body. Of course they had done plenty more than just seeing each other naked before, but for some reason sharing a shower seemed almost more intimate in another way. What was sexy about soap? Perhaps it was just because it was new—new is always exciting.

[allishaw]

[allishaw]

64 / ∞ virginia gardner being gorgeous: instagram 

[allishaw]

     The book she was presented with was already intriguing judging by the cover—which, yeah, you weren’t supposed to do if the old adage was true, but Allison felt like there was some leeway in this particular situation. She was liable to be fascinated with any text on magic, and she trusted her friend’s judgement above all; if Lydia considered this book an interesting read, it was sure to have something that would catch Alli’s attention within its many pages. It was quite an old-looking thing to be in Walt Grove’s library, but that was a good sign if it was authentic. Magic had been banned from this town for ages, so the older a source was, the more likely it was to contain some information about genuine magic.

     “As long as it’s not bound with human skin, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it,” she replied with a hint of humor in her voice as she picked up the book and briefly flipped through its pages before looking back up at the other woman with a smile. She was grateful to have another friend outside of Dani who had an interest in witchcraft, let alone someone so knowledgeable. Even when she was sure she’d read every book about the occult in town, Lydia managed to come through with some hidden gems.

     “Thanks for the help, by the way. I don’t know how you do it.” Allison shook her head at the idea that she herself might follow through with any of the instructions in the spell-book and be mistaken for a witch. “I think I’ll pass; unless it’ll somehow help me defend against real witches.”

@allishaw​

Allison was a girl that Lydia never really saw herself becoming friends with. She was blonde and wealthy and looked like she could probably be a real bitch, to be honest. But the thing was that she actually wasn’t. Upon getting to know Allison, Lydia had found that the girl was sort of nerdily smart, and kind of sweet. It was why she didn’t mind doing things like, say, helping her find the super rare books on magic that lay forgotten about in the back of the library.

Lydia knew there was a certain risk involved with being Allison’s friend. After all, the girl was practically obsessed with magic, and Lydia had spent a lifetime hiding hers. Still, maybe that was part of Allison’s allure. Maybe a part of Lydia hoped she’d be able to share her magic - one day.

For now, she set a book down in front of her with an arched brow. “Now this was a difficult find, but I think you’ll like it.” It was a book on Witchcraft, one that Lydia had already read forward and backwards and memorized most of. Some of the spells were even in her very own grimoire. She knew that Allison would like the book, and that she could trust only her with it. Besides, it wasn’t like it was dangerous in a non-magic person’s hands. “Super interesting read. Even has directions on how to set up your own altar, if you want to be mistaken for a Witch. But I didn’t give it to you, got it?”

[allishaw]

Hocus Pocus (1993)