ladiesandwitches

[ladiesandwitches]

Working steadily through all my drafts on here and putting replies in my queue as I find myself with a little bit more time. For those who follow me on my single muse Lilia blog, you'll know that a stray we took in had kittens in March and it's been absolute exhausting chaos between them, the mother, and my two cats.

But three of the kittens are in their forever homes now, the mother is slowly moving in with our lovely neighbours, and we've, erm, ended up with the remaining three kittens, meaning our cat total is now five!

[ladiesandwitches]

THE X-FILES | 1.16

[ladiesandwitches]

"A Super Soaker?" Scully repeated, not sure why she was even surprised. Of course Mulder would want a water gun that once claimed its pressure had injured a child's eye. "Then you can explain that one to Skinner when we put it on our expenses," she told him with a smirk.

Checking her watch, she had to admit her partner was right and even the most city-centred library would probably be closed by now. The odds of one in a small town like this being open were slim to none. Scully sighed, accepting that any answers she might find would have to wait until tomorrow, and returned her attention to the business card from the local motel. Correction; B&B. At least that's what the little tagline on the back of the card claimed.

"Well, we know it's active in the day. Or at least near sundown," Scully agreed, as they'd been attacked by whatever was while the sun was definitely still int he sky. "And I'd like to actually be able to see what's attacking us when we shoot it with a Super Soaker," she added, only half-joking.

She grabbed the last few of her fries. "Come on, let's see if there are any rooms at the inn."

Trying to find more information on the history of the maze was not a bad idea. While Scully inquired about potential resources, Mulder listened in to the brief conversation, but also took the chance to steal a few more of her fries. What could he say? He was peckish, but his pride was too stubborn to allow him to admit that he should have ordered something too!

"I've always wanted a Super Soaker." Mulder's response to the suggestion of water guns came in his typical dry manner, but there was an honesty concealed behind the tone. If they were going to be truthful, he did want a Super Soaker, or any other brand of cool water gun. Why wouldn't he? They looked fun! And if water was going to work better than bullets when it came to taking down a scarecrow ghost/totem/other unnatural phenomenon, then he sure as hell wanted to look good while he deployed they secret weapon.

"The library's probably closed by now," Mulder then pointed out. "Let's get somewhere to sleep for the night, then tomorrow we can have a look at the historical records. That'll give us time to do our research, then we can head back to the maze before the sun goes down. Something is telling me we probably don't want to provoke that scarecrow while it's dark outside."

[ladiesandwitches]

Scully raised her eyebrows in mild surprise at the suggestion; as erratic and worrisome as Mulder was being, it was clear he wasn't completely mad. It was a solid suggestion and one that would allow for Scully to make comparisons, but only if they were clever about it. If the pizza place was responsible, rather than someone being opportunistic in the delivery, then they needed to make sure they didn't know that this pizza was for Mulder.

"That's a good idea, Mulder," she told him. "But I'll make the call," she added, already reaching for her cell phone, eyes on the road. "And I'll collect it rather than have it delivered. If they have done something to your pizza, Mulder, we don't want them to know that we're on to them."

And even when her partner wasn't currently drugged or whatever it was that was going on, he could be impulsive; she didn't want to think what he might do right now, the danger he might put himself in. Or the heads up he could give the people who'd done this.

"Do you know the number of the place?"

It was tempting for Mulder to instantly attempt to deny the possibility that he had eaten something he shouldn't have, but he did suppose that he had felt a bit funny since he had bought that pizza. That, and it wouldn't be the first time something he'd consumed had caused negative effects - not that it was usually his fault! Despite Mulder's occasional lack of forethought when it came to things he decided to put in his mouth, his luck was surprisingly good and he had yet to make himself ill because of it.

Well... If he had ingested some kind of toxin, then Scully was the best person to deal with it. After all, she was a medical doctor.

"If you think it was in the pizza, maybe we should buy another one?" Mulder suggested after a small, apathetic hum to show he'd understood what his partner had told him. "I could call them up, order myself something for dinner."

And then, if Scully's tests revealed that there was something in the leftovers in Mulder's fridge, when the delivery boy turned up with the pizza, they could pounce and interrogate him. That was a brilliant idea! Or, at least, he certainly thought so.

[ladiesandwitches]

"Good point," Sabrina agreed. Although cat form had an advantage in that most people assumed Salem was just a furry little kitty, and even the normal kind of kitty tended to get what they wanted.

"Wait," she said with a frown. "What's wrong with my unicorn sweater? It's cute. And it was 50% off," she added in further defence of the garment. "You realise that discount designer is something even witches can't create, right?"

Salem gave her a slow blink. "Sabrina, if I could project authority while stuck in this furry little bodysuit, you can absolutely work your magic in whatever you're wearing." He paused and tilted his head. "Though, if it's that neon pink sweater with the unicorn on it, maybe reconsider."

[ladiesandwitches]

"Nothing has happened to the microwave, Aunt Zee," Sabrina attempted to reassure, forcing a laugh through her words in an effort to try and sound completely unconcerned. "Don't be ridiculous. Why would there be anything wrong with the microwave? That's....I mean that's absurd." She cleared her throat awkwardly, hoping she was convincing but suspecting she wasn't.

In her mind's eye, she could see Ambrose with that potion. It's meant to be boiled, he'd told her, but as they didn't really have that kind of time, he'd decided that heating it up in the microwave was the same thing. After all these potion books only said boiled because they were written before the wonders of the modern kitchen.

How were either she or Ambrose to know that it would explode?

Zelda gave a playful little roll of her eyes. Yes, yes, she had heard it a million times, how very much the kitchen was not her place. Frequently she would take an odd sort of pride in it, but the way they all acted as if she couldn't do a singular thing could easily play on her nerves as well. "I was merely trying to lend a hand. But no, you're right. I believe she is using the stove."

She paused and narrowed her eyes, instantly suspicious. "I didn't get the chance to check. Why? What's happened to the microwave? And am I going to regret asking that," she added with an already weary sigh. There was no telling what Sabrina or Ambrose could have gotten up to without she or her sister's knowledge. However she did know Hilda would lose her sunny disposition should either child have done something to her precious domain.

[ladiesandwitches]

DANA SCULLY | 5.10

[ladiesandwitches]

Sabrina believed there were few things in this world as comforting as one of her Aunt Hilda's pancake breakfasts. The warm, fresh pancakes as well as the open jar of homemade cherry jam, and the whipped cream ready to be devoured in a bowl on the side, was not just the smell of home, it was the smell of actual heaven. And the taste too. She had a forkful of Swedish style pancakes, topped with jam and cream, already shoved in her mouth when Agatha came in.

"Something to ask?" Hilda repeated. "That sound a bit serious, doesn't it?" She turned to Sabrina who just nodded, mouth full. "Is everything alright, my love?"

Agatha had let Zelda sleep in this morning. The High priestess disserved it after all. She made her wat down stairs and into the kitchen were she knew the other two witches she was looking for would be, Nicholas would soon follow more than likely. "I've got something I want to ask the two of you." She says as she takes one of the empty chairs at the the table.

@ladiesandwitches

[ladiesandwitches]

Sabrina smiled, pleased she'd won the argument with minimal actual arguing. Her favourite kind of argument.

"Thank you." She took the ointment and opened the top, giving it a sniff. "Ugh," she grimaced. "I think I've smelt things more pleasant in the embalming room at home." Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration, but this ointment stuff did not smell good.

"You know there is...another way I could help with this" She suggested innocently. "And you'd be healed like that!" Sabrina snapped her fingers in visual aid.

@ladiesandwitches asked: "Here, let me help. I've had my fair share of battle wounds." (from Sabrina)

"Oh, it's not that bad!" Billy started to protest, but he didn't need much more than the look in her eye to make him settle. He held out the ointment to her, silently surrendering that she could probably reach the back of his shoulder a little better than he could. "Thanks. Maybe you'll have an easier time. But I do mean it, it's nothing I can't handle. My own 'battle wounds,' you know."

[ladiesandwitches]

Sorry for the radio silence here, or rather the radio slow; it isn't due to lack of muse at all, it's just due to the fact my life is pure chaos right now. And it's exhausting and it's emotionally draining and stressful and I barely have time to write one reply on one single blog each night.

But, after this Friday some semblance of normal should be coming back so then I should slowly be getting back to normal pace on here

[ladiesandwitches]

Sometimes I think about the fact that, canonically, Scully has psychic gifts. She sees ghosts, she has a dream connection with her son, she had that freaking vision of a possible future etc. Like it's not as overt as Monica's gifts (but maybe that's more to do with the fact Scully denies it, while Monica embraces it), but it's undeniably there and it's repeated enough to be deliberate.

And not only does it amuse me that a full-blown sceptic is actually one of the things she's sceptic about, but whenever I have threads with muses from supernatural backgrounds so many of them are like 'Girl, you're psychic' while she's just 'It's nothing more than coincidences, don't be ridiculous'.

Denial, thy name is Scully.

[ladiesandwitches]

Scully frowned a little, feeling a pang of sympathy; she knew what it was to be on the outside, to be treated differently, but for reasons unlike Vivienne's own. She couldn't imagine what it was like to be judged and attacked simply for the things you were born with.

"I'm sorry if people have treated you badly because of who you are," Scully said, her words filled with sincerity. "But you won't find that here, not from myself or from Mulder," she promised. She couldn't promise, however, that Mulder wouldn't jump into a thousand questions in the morning and make an endless amount of over-enthusiastic assumptions and theories that had no basis beyond a collection of books he'd read over the years and websites he'd visited.

"And what about you?" Scully asked. "Don't you ever need help? What if the reason you've been put on this path, that we've met, is because you need our help. You don't have to save everyone you meet, Vivienne," she told her. "Sometimes you can let them save you." And Scully was convinced the girl needed to be saved from something; those people who had attacked at the hospital didn't seem the sort of people who wouldn't try again. She had come across their types before, and while this place had bought them some time and some distance, Scully wasn't confident it would be enough in the long term. "This is what we do; Agent Mulder and I help people. And we've faced worse than what happened in the hospital yesterday." And, though she wouldn't admit this out loud to Mulder, Scully knew they'd faced weirder.

At the mention of William, something shifted in Scully's expression, a flicker of emotional pain crossing her features. She and Mulder might have begun to reconcile their broken relationship, remembering what kept them together more than what kept them apart, but they didn't have their son. Perhaps if they had, Mulder wouldn't have spiralled so often into the darkness, or perhaps she would have been strong enough to step into it with him. Or maybe they would have just been a family and that would have been enough.

Over fifteen years and Scully still didn't know if she'd made the right decision.

She opened her mouth to explain to Vivienne that their son wasn't with them, when the talk of the dream stopped her.

"It's a home, without many lights, as if people have forgotten to turn them on before it's gotten dark," Scully described, not understanding what was happening but also knowing in her heart that she was right. A lump caught in her throat and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. "You're the girl with my son," she realised, her voice breaking a little as she spoke. She forced herself to continue, even as her voice struggled through the threatening tears. "I'm the one who interrupts you. I'm calling William." She swallowed the lump in her throat, vision blurring. "You're holding hands with my son."

Listening to Scully, Vivi paid close attention to her choice of words. By now she was sure that they weren't ordinary federal agents, they've already seen more than everyday mortals. For a second there, she caught herself wondering how much she could tell them.. if her and Scully really were connected.. “ Different.. that's a nice pick. ” Vivi tilted her head. “ You know, for a non magical person, that's the least judgmental and unbiased description I've heard. ”

One thing there was no argument about was that there was a higher power that brought them together. Vivi just wasn't sure if God had anything to do with it.

“ Usually when someone's being put on my path, it's because they need help, which I can give. ” She just assumed the agents needed magical help and she was just the strongest witch in this part of the States at the time. In Vivi's eyes, this always worked one way and she herself didn't have a need that could be helped. Even more, the company of government law officials was rather an obstacle than help.

“ I really hope you're wrong, because I can't stay around. You saw what happened at the hospital. ” Her gaze switched between Scully's eyes, honest concern shining through. “ They're hunting me and won't let it go… seems like we're safe here, but I'll have to go back to Washington. Knowing the risks, it wouldn't be wise or sane on my part to bring any company — she took a breath, letting it sink as if to legitimate her own words — not to mention how reckless it would be on your part to push yourselves in danger for a stranger when you clearly have other things to worry about. ”

Rhode Island?? That's.. that's a whole day of hitchhiking to get back to Washington!

Just like that, her plan to quietly slip away once she's gonna be well enough to walk, collapsed like a house of cards. Disappointed probably written all over her face. There was a need for a new plan.

“ He's not alone, he's got you. And the son you two share. ” Vivi gave her a warm smile. She still didn't know if they were a couple, but there was something about these two, the way they looked at each other. No one would buy they were just work partners. But it was none of Vivi's business.

“ Uh.. true. ” Scully was right, it was way too late, or too early, most people sleep at this time. “ If you need me, I'll be out on the porch. Laying in bed drives me nuts. And I can't sleep anyway. ” She shrugged. “ If I do, it's always the same dream, over and over.. ” Vivi felt a chill of night air filling her lungs as she watched how the ocean reflected moonlight. Only other sound than the waves, was the insufferably loud clicking of cicadas.

“ I'm with some boy, he feels familiar even though I'm sure I haven't met him before. We're holding each other's hands. Then someone calls out, we turn back.. but before I can see who it is, I wake up.. it's incredibly frustrating. Back then I thought it meant something, but now it's just one more reason to stay awake. ”

She paused and turned just her head to look at Scully, wondering whether the woman would assume she went nuts already. Small smile and awkward blush flooded her face. “ This got unintentionally personal, forgive me. ”

[ladiesandwitches]

how to say "I love you" in x-files [124/?] ⤷ 11.09 — “Nothing Lasts Forever”

You've always said that you want to believe. But believe in what, Mulder?

[ladiesandwitches]

"Oh, I'm sorry, my love," Hilda sympathised, reaching out to put a hand on Billy's arm, her expression filled with warm understanding. "It's hard when we lose someone, even if they've lived a nice, long life." Of course, for the Spellmans a nice, long life was living to, at the very least, a thousand, but old age was relative. A mouse was quite old when it got to three!

"Well, my spiders do help keep my plants nice and healthy. And you don't want to be using leaves from an infested plant when you're brew---er, baking," Hilda corrected just in time, flashing a smile. She had a feeling this one was a witch himself, but you could never take too many chances. Don't want to go around starting an angry mob or a witch hunt over a little slip of the tongue.

The thought gave Hilda an idea.

"How would you like a nice slice of cake? Family recipe."

"I think so. I couldn't imagine him being all alone," Billy agreed. His parents hadn't exactly approved of the rabbit randomly showing up in their household, and he'd imagine they'd appreciate it far less when they realized technically, technically, he had broken into a dead woman's house (for a third time) and stolen her rabbit. Or if they realized he wasn't entirely sure it was a rabbit in the first place.

Honestly, sometimes he got a little sick of the Lone Witch Routine.

"She did, yeah," He looked up at her, the words quiet and sincere, under his breath in a way he hadn't planned. Just one of those things that happened when a mentor died, he supposed. He smiled. "Old age."

Billy couldn't figure another way to describe what had happened to Agatha. Hair turning white, body turned to flowers in a blink of an eye. Rapid decay, a death of old age, what really was the difference? He didn't think he could count it as a murder. Or the other thing...

He shrugged, leaning back as he listened. "That's really cool. And a cool way to end up with a ton of spiders, I guess. You must never have a bug problem."

[ladiesandwitches]

Scully felt herself wincing a little, already regretting what she was engaging in here. But what other choice did she have? There was something in that maze, undeniably; that was a fact. It was also a fact, however, that they didn't know what it was and, currently, the best theory they had was one of Mulder's more outlandish ones.

"A failed ritual to commune with the dead?" she repeated, unable to hide her scepticism. Now they were just adding bizarre things on to a situation that was already strange. "Mulder, I think we should start with finding out who first started the maze, and if they're the same person who first owned the crops," she suggested calmly. "Motive might be a little be clearer once we know who started the whole thing."

Not willing to engage with any more bar patrons who would likely share nothing more than urban legend and town rumour, Scully knew there was only one other solid option they could turn to.

"Excuse me," she called to the bartender and the man came over, eyebrows raised in expectancy of a request. "Do you have historical archives here? Land ownership papers, old newspaper articles?"

"Yeah, it's all at the library, just a five minute drive from here. It's pretty small though," he added. "Not sure how much they'll have."

"Thank you," Scully said before returning her attention back to Mulder, briefly looking at what was left of her loaded fries and wondering if he had taken any. "It looks like the library is probably a good place to start," she told him. "But we'll maybe pick up some water guns on the way."

A soggy scarecrow... Hm. That actually wasn't a bad idea! They'd look like guest stars in a Scooby Doo episode running around a corn maze with buckets of water, but it could work. Well, assuming the scarecrow wasn't immune to the elements, anyway. Mulder was starting to feel as though they were crossing into uncharted waters, and he wasn't about to rule anything out.

But then, when wasn't that the case? Accepting the seemingly impossible was his modus operandi.

"Well, first we have to work out exactly what kind of totem it is. If it's been created to protect, that's different from a curse. It could be a mistake, too. Sometimes these things go wrong - we could be dealing with the aftermath of a failed ritual to commune with the dead, or bless the harvest. Once we know what we're dealing with, it's a matter of neutralising the ritual - or destroying it."

There were still a lot of variables, but it seemed like they were on the right track.

"The fact it appears every year suggests to me that it's a totem of protection. Usually, this means we need to convince it that its purpose has been fulfilled. To do that, we'll need to find out what it was protecting in the first place - other than, you know, the corn."

[ladiesandwitches]

"Well, my Aunt Zelda mostly just licks the bowl," Sabrina admitted. "But my Aunt Hilda? You should see the house at Winter Solstice; one year we had seven plates of homemade gingerbread cookies, and about a hundred mince pies. They're this British thing-- Aunt Hilda spent a super long time over there raising my cousin, Ambrose-- and it's this little pastry pie filled with fruits and all these spices. Trust me, it's a lot nicer than it sounds." Although Sabrina felt like she wasn't explaining it right. But then if cooking was Billy's dad's thing, then maybe he already knew what they were.

"Teachers can be friends," Sabrina agreed. "But definitely not boyfriends," she added with a laugh, a twinkle in her eye as she thought about the plans she had already made to help Billy with this particular problem. "You know I wouldn't be surprised if you meet someone new pretty soon. Just as a totally, unrelated question; you're not allergic to rosemary are you?"

"A sous-vide," He said with a smile. He knew it was a bit weird - even Agatha, someone who had centuries to explore, didn't know what one was, and Lilia, even older, didn't know either. "My dad has his interests, but it's cool that you guys do it as a family. That's awesome."

He chuckled a bit. Yeah, he wasn't exactly hard to pin down. "I had a boyfriend - Eddie. But we broke up shortly before we moved down here. But no, not many friends. I was the guy who ate in the library. I guess the librarian was my friend, since she let me do that."

[ladiesandwitches]

"Oh, well I think animals deserve a bit of spoiling, don't you?" Hilda said, smiling through her words. "The little darlings. What happened to his last uh 'caretaker'?" She asked, using Billy's choice of words. "They didn't die, did they?"

Hilda remembered her spiders being her primary comfort as a child, when she was mocked by both Zelda and Edward for not being, well, 'satanic' enough really. Satanic witches don't make friends with mortals. Satanic witches don't like baking. Satanic witches aren't vegetarians. Always bloody telling her what to do and saying that everything she chose to do was wrong.

But her spiders supported and understood her. She loved those late night talks with her familiars. And she remembered being laughed at when she tried to take them to school.

"Oh, they're all kinds. They've just sort of grown over time, like a little family. My first though, she's, uh...well she's a very rare breed." Non-existent, in fact, she thought to herself silently. Her familiar had chosen an entirely fabricated and supernatural eight-legged form. The rest had just come along for the ride.

"I think his caretaker before me spoiled him a bit," He smiled in jest. He was almost sure of it—at least comparatively. Agatha was around enough to make sure he wasn't getting anything massively wrong when it came to Senor Scratchy, but she had other ghostly interests than a teenager she found 48 hours before passing. She wasn't always there and at first, taking care of a rabbit-shaped familiar had used up a whole lot of guesswork.

"That is a lot of pet spiders," he nodded. "I've heard of people having a pet spider, or maybe as many as three in their own tanks and enclosures. But that's pretty special. Are they a specific breed?"