"Will you just come over, please? I need someone to talk to."
Reuben walked from the kitchen to the living room with a cup of hot tea in his hands and his cell phone wedged between his shoulder and his ear. With a heavy sigh, he set his tea down on the coffee table and brought the phone into eye's view. Clicking the "End" button, he set it down before picking up his tea to take a sip. He needed a good cup of tea after the troublesome month he'd had. Within the hour, Reuben heard his front door open up. There she stood. A tall 5'11" woman with chocolate skin, curled short dark brown hair and bright chestnut colored eyes. "I'm here. Now what're you needing to talk about, hmm?" she asked in an annoyed tone, turning to see Reuben with a bright, cheesy smile on his face sitting on one of his couches. She chuckled, crossed her arms and waltzed across the room with big strides, making her way to the other couch which sat across from him. She planted herself down and waved her hand, as if to give him permission to speak, all with a look of annoyance on her face. "I've missed you," Reuben stated with some sincerity as he leaned forward. "You haven't talked to me in over a month, bitch. Why call now?" she questioned, sitting herself back. "I'm sorry. I'm a terrible person, I know. But you can't stay mad at me." "Mhmm." A look of utter annoyance on the woman's face. "Calista, c'mon. We're grown adults and we need to talk out our problems. You're acting like I wronged you. I've had a rough month and I need someone to talk to...seriously." "You want to talk out our problems? Okay, fine. Lets start with the fact that you've ignored all my phone calls for the past month and-" Reuben cut her off, "Lets actually start with the fact that you hexed my ex-boyfriend, which you can't, for whatever reason, figure out how to undo. Now he won't talk to me." "Pfft. That boy deserved it. And you needed to wake up. He treated you like utter shit. And for the record, ignoring me wasn't very 'grown up' of you, either." "All I asked of you was to help me perform a love spell! You purposefully went behind my back and hexed him so that he has the worst nightmares about me every time he falls asleep. I feel like you owe me an apology." "I owe you an apology!? You should be thanking me for saving your dumb ass from that dickhead." Calista gave Reuben a death-filled glare, tightening her grip on her biceps with her crossed arms. Seeing as though she wouldn't budge, Reuben rolled his eyes and sighed. "All I want is to make amends with you and put this behind us. I'm over Clark. Now, can we just move on and catch up, please? I have much more pressing matters to discuss." Calista eyed Reuben up and down with a raised brow. She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. "Fine, we can move on. I guess I kinda missed you too," she said, looking away with a smile growing ever-so-slightly on her face. "You have to admit that my hex was funny as hell, though." Reuben chuckled. "Yeah, and I guess he kind of does deserve it," he said with a growing smile. The two stood and hugged. Calista had been Reuben's best friend since elementary school. She is a natural witch, born with the gift, but due to her family's strict rules, was never able to practice whilst living at home, even though she would dabble here and there without her parent's knowledge. Once she moved out, however, she had free reign on all things magical. She immersed herself in her studies, practicing day in and day out; oftentimes making bad choices and messing up her incantations, but it was all a learning curve for her. She dabbled in many branches until she finally found illusion magic. Oh, how she enjoyed her illusions. She could pull the wool over anyone's eyes with that. Thus, it became her main branch of study throughout her college days. "So, Cali, I have some news to tell you," Reuben began, grabbing his cup of tea from the table and taking a big swig and setting it back down. "I fucked up...big time." Calista sighed and rolled her eyes. He was always so dramatic when it came to things. She was certain of that. "Oh, Reu, of course you did. So, what STD did you bring home this time?" she questioned, raising a brow. "Ugh, it's not like that at all," he waved her words off with a disgusted look before continuing, "I was given the opportunity of a lifetime and I fucked it up. I was given this gift...a magical bottle and-" "You were given something magical!? Well, where is it!?" Calista interrupted. She was always extremely excitable by anything having to deal with magic. "I sent it back." "Why the hell would you do that!?" "Would you just shut up and listen a minute." The woman sat back in her seat a moment, simply glaring at Reuben with crossed arms and legs in an annoyed, yet attentive fashion. "As I was saying, earlier this month I was given this magical bottle that I had to fill with a 'soul' of some sort. It's for this experiment of sorts; they're like people, only not fully? Anyway, I figured I'd want it to be like a magical type of soul. Either a fae, vampire, dragon, or some sort of magical creature. But I messed up and wasn't paying attention. I was making a special tea for a client of mine and it required toadstools. So I brought them home and misplaced one of them. The next day, the bottle had sucked the life right out of that mushroom and was swirling with smoke. The only thing I could do was send it back. I haven't heard from the people at the lab since. I'm just pissed at myself for wasting the bottle and potentially fucking up the entire gift. So it's been bumming me out lately. Today was the first day that I've felt any sort of relief from it, and that was only due to my meditation this morning." Calista cocked her head a bit as she listened. What a story. Magical bottles with soul sucking abilities? This sounded like some Lab 305 shit. "That sounds...interesting. This 'lab' you are referring to...it doesn't happen to be called Lab 305, does it?" "Yes! That's it exactly! So you've heard of them? Do you-" "Oh my god! You fucking whore! How the hell did you even get a bottle!? You're a damn mundane! What the fuck is wrong with that place!?" Reuben's face fell into utter confusion. "Wh-what're you talking about?" "What am I talking about!? You have the opportunity of a lifetime! I'm a natural born witch and I can't even seem to get a fucking letter back. I've been trying to get my hands on a raevan for years. I've sent multiple requests in to become a guardian and I've never once heard back. Honestly, why on earth do you want a raevan anyway? What would that bring you? Do you even realize the kind of responsibility that comes with such a thing!? Magical creatures that contain all sorts of powers you can only imagine; but it's real. A raevan would be a witch's best friend! Ugh! But no, they have to give it to the damn mundane," she spewed, rolling her eyes and heaving a heavy sigh, throwing her arms about in a fit of - what could only be considered - a grown woman's tantrum. 'Maybe it's because of your attitude and temper,' Reuben thought to himself a moment, looking at his distraught friend with a puzzled stare. But, the question she asked in that bout of rage struck him. Why did he wish to become a guardian? At the time, looking back, it sounded like something he had really wanted to be apart of. He thought it'd be fun to take care of something other than himself for once. But, in reality, what the hell was he even doing? Calista was right. This was a huge responsibility. Much larger than caring for something like an animal. This was a magical being, who could get well out of hand; and with him not having any innate magical powers, why would they choose him to care for a creature over someone well versed in magic, a natural witch no less? He was both extremely upset, and yet, strangely relieved. Upset because he had messed up the soul capture and telling Calista hadn't helped his feelings on that; in fact, she made him feel worse. But he also felt a sense of relief knowing that there was a huge possibility that the lab wouldn't accept such a boring soul choice. Finally, after a few moments of contemplation, he spoke, "To be completely honest, I signed up because I wanted to take part in the endeavor. I met a raevan and she was intriguing. Magic or not, this was something that I was more than wiling to be apart of. But you're right, I guess I didn't consider all the consequences before sending back the soul glass, filled. What the hell do I do now?" Reuben brought his thumb to his mouth and chewed slightly on his nail. His eyes darted about the room in wonder and shock. What was he to do? He was in the dark completely about whether or not he'd even receive a call back from the Lab. Finally, his gaze rested down the hall towards the bedrooms. The most responsible thing would be to ready a room for the creature once it was born if, in fact, they did finally call him back. Better safe than sorry, right? Calista sighed and watched as Reuben's eyes darted down the hall in quiet contemplation. She knew exactly what he was thinking. She shook her head, rolled her eyes, and stood up. "Alright, lets go get this room ready for your future child," she said, walking towards the hallway, turning around to see Reuben stunned. "Well, c'mon. It ain't gonna ready itself!" Despite his best efforts to NOT go out this Halloween, Calista seems to have wormed her way into forcing him out onto the scene. Costume? Check. Swarms of kids and teenagers roaming around in search of candy? Check. Reuben being unhappy with his situation? ...Maybe? Regardless, Halloween is in full swing and for better or worse Reuben is a part of it this year. His hometown seems to be taking this year above and beyond with every street and public space being filled to the brim with holiday-appropriate fare and fairs. How does Reuben handle it all? Does the fact he's a soon-to-be Guardian change anything about his feelings in regards to Halloween? Does he end up having any fun?!? "Are you ready yet?" a voice rang out from the living room. It was piercing to the ears and filled to the brim with an undertone of utter annoyance. The woman was clad in witchy attire from head to toe. A large witch's hat adorned her head with dark lips and makeup, as well as a dark short dress with a broom. Your stereotypical witch costume. "Almost," he stated with a roll of his eyes. A sigh escaped the new guardian's piercing red lips as he flipped the cape over his shoulders and tied it around his neck to keep it in place. His face was decked out with pale cream makeup and darkened eye shadow with a small drip of fake blood flowing down the sides of his mouth. He wore two fangs and bright red prescription contacts. He was a vampire for the evening, that much was obvious. He actually recycled an old vest and suit pants for the occasion and wore a white collared shirt underneath with a red necklace medallion that Calista had let him borrow. This was her favorite holiday, and one that was only mediocre in his opinion. Reuben normally enjoyed a quiet evening at home on Halloween. If any children dared venture out past Barton Town to his cottage, he was armed with some candy to pass out. But tonight he'd have to turn out the porch light, because Calista forced his hand this year. They were apparently supposed to go to the Halloween bash in Durem, his home town. Calista, also being from Durem, always loved the people and the scene. Reuben, on the other hand, always avoided the place at all costs. Somehow, even unbeknownst to Calista herself, Reuben agreed to attend the festivities. Giving himself one last glance over in the mirror, he licked his teeth and went out into the living room to see Calista standing there on her phone scrolling through tumblr, no doubt. "Okay, lets go," he said, standing at the hallway's entrance. "Finally," Calista stated, looking up to see the entire costume put together. "Wow, Reu, you really clean up well. I'm impressed." "What is this? A compliment? Coming from you? It really must be an odd day of the year," he jested. "Oh shut it. Lets go," Calista stated with a cracking smile, taking Reuben by the hand and leading him out the front door to her truck. Crowds of people lined the streets of the halloween fair. The night was definitely upon the world and people from all over came to Durem for their annual Fairytale Fair. Orange jack-o-lanterns lined the streets with dim lights strung up from telephone pole to pole. Even the buildings were decorated with cobwebs and some terrifying cheer. Everyone was in a good mood...except Reuben. He rather regretted the decision to come out to Durem. The last thing he wanted to do was be seen by anyone he used to know growing up.
Calista, on the other hand, was drawn to the night and loved the festivities. She acted as though she was a child running from booth to booth, playing the little games and such and gathering candies for herself. Reuben sat on the sidelines at almost every station. Oh, how he had wished he stayed home and lit some candles, meditated, and read some tarot cards instead. Out of the corner of his eye, a couple walked past. They were both dressed in "Dia de los Muertos" attire. Half face skull painted on the man's face whilst hers was done up more intricately and entirely. The couple walked by them and the man glanced at Reuben as he sat on the bench and smirked with a quick nod. Reuben's heart skipped a beat a second. It wasn't that type of smirk you'd give a stranger. It was a "checking you out" sort of smirk and nod. Reuben shook it off, yet began to blush behind the makeup. He decided to distract himself and check out his phone instead. Finding that Tumblr was far more entertaining than just sitting there. Suddenly, a presence joined him on the bench. Out of the corner of his eye, it was just a large figure. Reuben quickly glanced up to see the same man from a few moments earlier sitting there, looking straight on at one of the games. Reuben quickly looked back at his phone and only acted busy to keep from becoming too awkward. "This is a little lame, isn't it?" the stranger asked, still looking forward. Reuben was caught off guard at the man's voice. "Y-yeah, a tad bit, heh. I'm waiting for my friend over there to finish her game," he said, looking over at Calista who was unashamedly bobbing for apples. "Same here," the man said, turning to look at Reuben straight on. "I'm Evan, by the way. I'm really diggin' your costume," he said with a smile, eyeing Reuben up and down. "Ah, yeah? Thanks, I appreciate it," Reuben began, a smile growing on his face. "I really like you and your girlfriend's costumes as well. They look really nice. And I'm Reuben; though you can call me Reu." The two shook hands quickly and Evan spoke up, "Thanks, it took her a few hours to paint them. Very nice to meet you, Reu. So, what brings you to the fair? Your girlfriend over there?" Reuben chuckled a bit. "Yeah, she's been hounding me to go out for a while now. I don't know why I agreed to come out; but I did." "Yeah, same here, man. Ah, looks like she's done. It was nice meeting you. Have a wonderful evening," he said with a smirk and a wink, patting Reuben on the back. As he stood, he looked over at his girlfriend who ran up to him with a stuffed jack-o-lantern she had won. The two hugged. Before leaving, however, Evan turned, winked once more and waved at Reuben as they walked into the crowd. Reuben smiled as the man patted his back and just nodded when he was told to have a good evening. Did that really just happen? Was he being slightly hit on by a random stranger...with a girlfriend no less? Stranger things could have happened. Reuben couldn't stop smiling a moment before he got up, waltzing over to an unhappy, soaked Calista who just couldn't seem to get an apple. "Goddamn these games. I can't stand this," she stated, looking at the obviously goofy smile on Reuben's face. "What's got you in such a good mood?" she asked. Reuben looked off in the direction Evan walked and shook his head with that same smile. "Nothing, just enjoying my time here," he said. The two spent the rest of the evening at the Durem Fairytale Fair laughing, playing the games and visiting the booths. All in all, coming out this halloween was a very good idea, Reuben decided. A very good idea indeed. Thanksgiving. A time for Americans to give thanks for all that they were given. Yes, it wasn't a Gaian holiday, and if it weren't for Calista (who was originally from America) Reuben probably wouldn't celebrate it either. But this day had become a good reminder to give thanks for all you have in life, regardless of location in the world. Since the two became good friends, Reuben would join Calista at her family's thanksgiving celebration except for the year or two they traveled back to the United States to spend the holiday with Calista's extended family. But since the two turned eighteen, they've been doing the celebrating separately due to the many familial issues that Calista has encountered with her family.
Every year, the night before Thanksgiving in America, Calista would come to Reuben's cottage and spend the entire evening preparing things for the next day. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and all the fixings of a true, traditional Thanksgiving meal. The two would discuss their favorite things which happened that year and what they were thankful for. But over all, the two would just use this day as an excuse to hang out, eat, and talk about life. The smell of baked pies filled the home for days to come, and everything just felt right. Especially since Yule was just around the corner and the two could go into December with high spirits. Thanksgiving, or Friendsgiving as they called it, was just their magical little night. Most years the two would read tarot together and Calista would practice her magic with the help of Reuben. Obviously, they would do this any day of the year, but this day was festive and always brought joy to both of the friends. Yule in Gaia was always such a huge deal. Snowmen with candy. Santa and his reindeer lurked on every street corner. Everywhere you looked, no matter where you were from, there was some sort of holiday cheer awaiting you. People bustling about getting gifts and wrappings. It was a ton of work for some shop keepers who presented the more high-tech gifts kids wanted.
Sadly, for Reuben, the Mystic Herb wasn't as bustling during this season. The regular clientele would come in, but not as many people as he had expected. People were getting sick, sure, but they weren't wanting the natural remedies. All they wanted were the quick and easy, the simply pill popping that true doctors gave. Reuben hadn't even seen a doctor in years due to his new lifestyle. He was always fairly healthy and even the slight colds and things he did get were easily taken care of by herbal tea and natural remedies he'd create himself. But, the time had come to close the shop and get ready for the Yule celebration with Calista and a few of her co-workers. He locked up the shop and put up his "Happy Holidays" sign on the front door before returning to his house to ready it for the party that evening. Within two hours, the entire living room and kitchen was decked out in winter decorations. Snowflake streamers drooped in the entrances to the kitchen. A large Yule tree stood tall in the corner of the living room. Garland was strung up across the entire house. The large chalkboard behind the bar in the kitchen even had a winter flair to it. The drinks and dessert platters were prepped and ready. There was even a fire started in the fireplace. The sound of wood crackling under the heat was so soothing to him. Then, the wait for the guests began. The large grandfather clock struck 8 o'clock and Reuben sat alone in his living room enjoying a mug of hot, fresh apple cider. Finally, a knock was heard. The first guest had finally arrived. He picked himself up, placed his mug on the coffee table and waltzed over to the front door. Opening it up, it was none other than Calista. "Hey, girl. About time you showed up. Where is everyone?" "Ugh, you'll never believe it, Reu," Calista stated as she walked into the room, taking off her large overcoat in the process. "What is it? Did something happen?" Reuben asked, closing the door, slight worry in his voice. "Everyone bailed, again. I invited my co-workers for friendsgiving, nobody showed up. I invite them for Yule, again, no-shows. Why do I even bother?" she said, plopping herself down on the couch. "Is this cider?" she asked, picking up Reuben's cup and taking in the aroma. A sigh of annoyance escaped the alchemists lips. Of course they'd cancel without actually cancelling. "Well, that's just wonderful. A waste of all the decorating I did, not to mention the baking," he mused quietly, more to himself than directing it at Calista. He took a seat on the opposite couch and watched as the witch brought the cup to her own lips. "Can't you just get your own?" he spat, eyes narrowing. Calista rolled her eyes and sipped the cider once more before putting it down. "Can you stop being a little bitch? I'm just as disappointed as you are." Reuben's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he leaned back in the seat, resting his head upon the cushion. Calista stood and made her way into the kitchen, picking at the desserts and grabbing a cup of cider for herself before returned to the couch. "Well, is tonight going to be a Netflix and chill kind of night?" Calista suggested, taking a bite of the delicate vegan cookie. Reuben looked over at the clock, then to the kitchen. A moment of silence passed and he finally spoke. "Yeah, might as well be."" Reuben went to the kitchen, filled his cup, and grabbed the plate of goodies before bringing them all back to the living room and setting them on the coffee table. He slipped off his shoes and propped his feet up on the large couch he was sitting on before grabbing the remote and turning on the Smart TV that hung on the wall above the fireplace. He flipped through the apps on the television until he found Netflix. Starting it up, he looked over at Calista who was gobbling down on some homemade carob covered pretzels he made. A smile grew upon his countenance as the realization of what the holiday season was really about sunk in. It was about spending it with people you care about, people you love, and enjoying their company. Parties don't matter, the perfect plate of desserts doesn't matter, and neither does the hot apple cider. All that truly matters is time spent with loved ones; and with that, Reuben truly did understand the meaning of Yuletide cheer. Valentine's Day. A holiday, according to Reuben, used to promote fake, over dramatic ideals of love, relationships, and a day to make the chocolate and floral businesses flourish for a time. At least until today... Reuben was out with Calista running some errands on a lunch break before returning to the shop. All he could see for a mile was people bustling to get their gifts for their loved ones. Pinks, reds, and whites lined every street. Items shaped as hearts, boxes of candy, balloons, and fluffy stuffed animals were in everyone's hands. The tarotist knew to keep his attention on his work, not rifle with affairs of love or affection. He had a business to run. Sure, he'd find people cute here or there, and even have a fun time with someone on rare occasion; but there was nothing worse for a career than establishing a "lifelong" or even long term bond with someone else. "You really need to download Tinder. I'm telling you, you could get a lot of dates if you just tried. You're an okay looking guy," Calista jested as she kept her eyes glued to her cell. "Swipe left, swipe left, swipe right. It's truly very simple," she concluded, sipping her coffee and following the motions she spoke as a new fellow's photograph popped up in place of the prior. "Cali, you know I have no time or patience for an actual relationship," Reuben stated coldly, pushing forward. "Not anymore at least." "Who said anything about a relationship?" she chuckled. Shaking her head, eyes still on her phone, she continued, "All I'm saying is that you should go out and have some fun. You've really delved into your work ever since you supposedly 'fucked up' the soul capture for Lab 305." "I'd really rather not talk about that," he replied, rolling his eyes as they continued their walk down the street. "Fine, we don't have to. But you really do need to do something else to get your mind off of your stresses. Shit, go get yourself a fuck buddy if nothing else." Another long sip, this time, with sound. Reuben sighed. "If it'll get you to shut up, I'll go download the app." Calista grinned, finally locking her phone screen and placing it in her pocket. "Good. But you have to know I'll never shut up." The evening came quickly and before Calista left back to Durem, she forced Reuben to download the popular dating app and quickly showed him how to use it.
It didn't take long for Reuben to get the hang of it, swiping left and right on people became second nature. It wasn't like him to judge someone so superficially to think someone was a "good match" for him, but this was like a game. Those whom he swiped left on would never know. He spent a good portion of the evening going through the local men that popped up, one after another, on his screen. As the night progressed, Reuben took a break, only to come back to a few matches and a couple messages. He dove into the messages quickly, probably too quickly and began to get a bit too personal early on and never received responses. Finally, a message popped up from a guy named Evan, 28.
Reuben couldn't help but snoop a bit. Something about this man felt familiar. He had remembered swiping right, but only because he was in a swiping fit and hadn't really taken a deeper look into their photos or about me's. Now that he got a message, he decided to look a bit deeper. The about me was very weak, in Reuben's opinion. A small blurb about him liking the outdoors, the fact that he's a bartender in Aekea, likes to dye his hair a multitude of colors constantly, and the fact that he owns a German Shepherd who he named Axel. His photos, however, proved a bit of insight into the man's life. A couple selfies, quite cute; one with bright green, acid-esque hair, shirtless (abs for days), and the other with a cute little outfit and titanium-gray hair. Another was a photo of him and Axel lying on a bed together. And finally, his fourth and fifth picture were of him and this woman. One of them was a cutesy couple-esque photo of them hugging and acting "adorable" to the camera, something he could see a multitude of his gay friends doing with their girlfriends. The other was a shoddy photo of, what seemed to be them at Halloween last year. Reuben's heart picked up pace as he glanced at that final photo. Both of their faces were done in Dia de los Muertos paint. The man's heart skipped a beat as he wished the photo was slightly less overexposed and a bit less dark overall to make it easier to make out. Obviously the photo was taken at night, and by the background lighting, it looked as though it was at the Durem Fairytale Fair. His heart sank into the pit of his stomach. Nerves overtook him and all he was doing was looking at his phone screen. This couldn't be the same man that sat with him on the bench that night, could it? Reuben couldn't remember what the man told him his name was, but this was promising. Finally, after about twenty minutes of figuring out what to write back, Reuben decided it was time to respond. He knew he didn't want to overshare like he had been doing all night, but keeping it kind and to the point.
It didn't take long before Evan responded.
Reuben's heart dropped, this time in sadness and disappointment. 'My girlfriend'. What kind of shit was this? Tinder was a place for dating, right? Not for someone to go to make friends. With a heavy, saddened heart, Reuben couldn't help but continue the conversation, even if it wasn't going anywhere.
The responses slowed down, and it took Evan a good hour to respond. It was getting late, but Reuben was determined to stay up and continue to text this guy.
Reuben laid in his bed, light cascading down onto his face from the phone screen alone. A saddened facial expression was all he could muster. With a sigh, he clicked the lock button and laid it beside him, staring up at the ceiling in the pitch black room. A good few minutes of thinking later, he couldn't help but respond. Strangely enough, however, the topic of the Fairytale Fair hadn't come up yet. Maybe that was something he should ask about in person. Coffee was innocent, right? With little friends in his own personal life, he decided to just go with it.
Even with a saddened heart, Evan's number was placed into his phone and a date officially set for February eighteenth in the morning. This would be a nice little distraction from Lab 305 and work, even though they were to be just friends. Reuben placed his phone to charge on his bedside table and rolled over, ready to sleep. The first week had come and gone in a blink of an eye. Ryder was alive, well, and living within the home. The two Rothmore men were still getting used to each other, how to integrate into each other's lives, and just over all getting to know one another. This was far different from growing with a baby, Reuben mused daily. Ryder seemed like he had a past, even if it was unknown. The fact that he was able to communicate so fluently, easily, and could now read, just after a few days of him and Alice reading the books together, was incredible. The fact that he could pick up on human concepts after a bit of explanation was fascinating to the tarotist. Ryder had become accustomed to his room, the home, what went where, and just little things over the course of that last week. He hadn't met anyone else, yet, but didn't necessarily care to. He had Alice, Reuben, and the books in his already growing collection. Reuben had gone out and bought him a few books on day two, and by day four, they were read completely. Ryder's mind just swallowed information and continued to flutter with thoughts and imaginings constantly. Reuben prepared a very quick meal in the kitchen for the two of them. Over the course of the week, he realized very quickly that all Ryder truly liked to eat was moldy and rotting foods. Once he got hungry, Ryder just took to the fridge on his own and found an old, rotting bag of spinach at the bottom of the bin. When Reuben told him not to eat it, Ryder didn't listen and felt much better for it. Thus, Reuben realized the fungus in his charge would crave the older food. That's what a fungus' job was, after all. To decompose rotten items. Well, in this case, Ryder would just scarf down anything he could. But it was never truly satisfying to the toadstool. Ryder kept to himself most of the week, even with Reuben's attempts to bring the toadstool out of his shell. All Ryder wanted to do was read. But, towards the end of the week, and when all the books that Reuben had bought him were complete, he did venture out a bit to explore the garden, the gazebo, the small lake next to the home. It was all so peaceful, and Ryder recognized it as such immediately. Through all of this, Reuben knew that he had one specific person to talk to, whom he hadn't yet told of Ryder's existence. One person he knew would be just as fascinated, if not more so, with the news of his charge's birth. Calista. With a quick text, Reuben got Calista's attention.
Within a minute, Reuben received a text back:
"Ryder, go to your room for a little while. There's someone I want you to meet, but I want it to be a surprise," Reuben stated with a grin on his face as he walked out of the kitchen with a towel over his shoulder and a knife in one hand. The toadstool glanced up from the couch and sighed. With a small flap of his wings he floated up into the air. "C'mon Alice, lets go," he said, looking straight ahead before floating off slowly down the hallway. "Fine. Why does he have to be so bossy? And why does it have to be a surprise?" she questioned as her long legs galloped behind the frei to the bedroom. She began to dissipate into the void before she was even able to enter the room. Reuben rolled his eyes with a quick chuckle at the girl's questioning. She was a strange one, that much was for sure. He still didn't completely understand his raevan's abilities; but he knew that she was just a figment of his imagination. After a few minutes of food prepping, he heard his front door open. With a smile on his face, he put down what he was doing and scurried into the living room. "Hey babe, got here as soon as I could. What's up?" she asked curiously, walking over to the couch and setting her purse down on it. "Like I said, I've got some news that I'm excited to share. Have a seat. I'll be right back with some tea." With a curious, unamused glare, Calista walked around and sat down on the couch to wait for her friend to return. "Who are you?" Alice's voice chimed from behind the couch. Calista jumped and spun around to see nobody there. "What the fuck..." she huffed under her breath. "Who are you?" the voice spoke again, this time it sounded ominous and echoing about the living room, followed by a high pitched, little girl giggling. Calista's fingertips flickered with magic as she stood up and moved towards the center of the room. "Don't you mess with me, Reuben Rothmore. I swear to the gods above and below that I will kill you." The giggling continued. "Don't you worry. No worries. No worries. No worries." Calista's eyes narrowed as she turned around the room. Nobody was there, but the ominous echoing of this girly laughter wouldn't leave her mind. Reuben re-entered with some tea only to see Calista looking crazed and hearing Alice's voice echoing throughout the room. "Alice, stop that!" Reuben called with annoyance in his voice. A heavy, ominous, high pitched sigh could be heard throughout the room. At that point, the giggling had completely stopped. "Reuben, what the fuck is going on?" "Alice, that's what. You'll see. Sit down. I'll be right back," he said as he set the tea set down on the coffee table and walked down the hallway towards the bedroom. Calista eyed her friend as he went down the hallway, but did as she was told. She could only hear muttering, but he was definitely talking to someone. She couldn't even imagine what was going on. Had he somehow enchanted his home or something? So many questions ran through her mind. Reuben finally appeared at the hallway's entrance. "Cali, this is Ryder," he stated with a smile, stepping out of the way to bring his frei into the light of the living room. Ryder floated in, a soft smile on his face. "Hello." Calista's jaw dropped. She instantaneously knew what Ryder was. "HOLY FUCKING SHIT REU-" "CALISTA! Language!" Reuben scolded. "Words are words, Reuben. Language is a wonderful thing. She should be able to express herself however she likes," Ryder said with a smile on his face, turning back to see the woman quite excited and giddy over seeing him. Reuben rolled his eyes at his charge. He seemed so smart for being so new to this world. What books had he been reading, anyway? "No, no, I'm sorry, Reuben is right. Umm, well shit. You're alive! Welcome home!" she exclaimed with a huge smile, walking over to inspect the frei. Grabbing him and giving him a hug, she caressed his soft skin ever-so-gently and squeezed. Ryder didn't do anything but accept the hug. Though, in all honesty, he wasn't enjoying the contact. Reuben hadn't even tried to hug him. Ryder just took that as how Reuben was. The physical contact lasted longer than Reuben had wished, and Calista pulled back a bit, slightly dizzy. "Whoa," she stated as she backed away. "Man, you are so fucking beautiful, hahahahahah!" Reuben's eyes narrowed. What on earth was going on. He had never seen Calista burst into laughter like that. At least not when she was sober. Turning her attention towards Reuben, she glanced back at Ryder a moment. Her body drooped a bit. "He's so colorful. So magical. Wow." "Cali, are you alright?" "No, yes, yeah, of course. Wow." Ryder just raised a brow at his guardian's friend. "Thank you for the compliment, I think." "Oh, baby, of course. Anytiiiiime." "Calista, sit down, drink some tea." "I'm fine, I don't need to sit," Calista insisted, waving a hand as she hunched over, acting almost annoyed. Reuben eyed her and looked at his charge. "Did you do something to her?" The mushroom raevan was taken aback by Reuben's questioning. He wouldn't have ever purposefully done anything to cause something like this. What was his guardian thinking? "Of course not. At least, not that I know of." Reuben watched as Calista wobbled her way towards the couch again to sit of her own free will. He was sure that something had overcome her the moment she had hugged his charge. "Here, Cali, drink this," the tarotist stated after pouring a cup of tea and shoving it into his friend's lips. Ryder hadn't moved, but instead just watched as his guardian took care of his friend. Behind the frei, Alice began to manifest slowly out of thin air. "What's wrong with her?" "I'm not entirely sure." "Shall we go read and leave them alone?" Ryder just continued to watch the scene in front of him and, with a shrug of his shoulders, Ryder couldn't think of anything he could do to help this situation. "Sure," he stated quietly. Alice smiled and turned around, hobbling off into the room. Ryder turned and began to follow, but before he made it down to hallway too far, he turned around to see Reuben still fussing with the tea cup and trying his best to get Calista comfortable. An hour later, a knock was heard at the raevan's door followed by a slow and steady creak of it opening.
"Hey Ryder," Reuben's voice called out. "Calista is feeling much better now, and if you'd like to join us in the living room, feel free." Ryder closed the book and set it beside the bed on the table. He then floated up and began to follow Reuben out into the living room. Alice continued to lay upon the bed still with an annoyed look on her face before dissolving away. As Ryder floated into the living room, Calista stayed seated on the couch. "Hello Ryder, I am so sorry for earlier. I don't really know what came over me. But I am so happy to finally meet you." Ryder nodded, a very slight smile creeping in the corners of his mouth. "I'm glad you're feeling better." The frei floated over and sat across from the woman on the opposite couch and she began to talk, pouring her heart out trying to get to know the quiet mushroom frei. It was that night of the week, the night that Calista and Reuben had their weekly wine or "Weekly Whine" as Reuben called it. Calista would come over and the two would get drunk on the couch while she whined and complained about her life, her work, or whatever else it was that bothered her. Ryder considered it to be her therapy sessions with Reuben. Reuben didn't disagree.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. There it was, the infamous three knock from aunt Cali. Ryder, at this point, would typically be frantically trying to lock himself in his room as to avoid the entire night, at least until Calista came into the room drunk off her ass trying to make conversation with the poor boy; but this time was different. Ryder knew that Calista, in her free time, was a real life illusionist and magician. She had powers from birth and was the only other person Ryder knew with magic. Thus, she had to be the one to talk to. As she entered the home and declared her day done, Ryder smiled and floated in the center of the living room. Reuben was in the kitchen opening the first bottle, but before she could get in there, Ryder called, "Hey aunt Cali?" Calista smiled and walked over to Ryder, setting her own bottle of wine on the coffee table before standing before the frei and picking lint off of his jacket. "Hey kid," she began with a smile, only to have her face fall into slight annoyance with each piece of lint picked off. "I don't get why you insist on wearing such heavy clothing in the summer. It's just too much." With a quick breath, Ryder ignored her comment. "I have a question for you." "Shoot." "Can you help me with my magic?" Calista's face lit up with excitement. "I thought you'd never ask! What's up, suga?" "My skin...you know how it's poisonous or whatever, right?" he said, folding his own hands together in front of him. Calista nodded. "Well, someone I met thought I may be able to actually change the potency of it's effect. But...I just don't know how. She said to will it to happen. But it didn't work." Calista's face fell into concern for her nephew a moment before a smile began to grow on her face. "Well, magic is just a mix of will and belief in oneself. She's probably right, though." "So...what can I do? Do you have any advice?" the frei asked curiously. "Well, I'm assuming you've tried to lessen it's affects, right?" "Yes, but as I said, it didn't work." "Well, what about making it more powerful?" Ryder's face scrunched. Why on earth would he want to make his skin more poisonous? Calista simply chuckled. "If you figure out how to make it more powerful, like you said, trying to will it to happen. At least then you'll know what it feels like to have that power and you can begin to lessen it's effects at that point. Then you'll be able to know what it feels like normally versus with additional power and then maybe you'll tap into something that will allow you to lessen it." Ryder's face turned to determination. It somewhat made sense. If he could power it up, then he'd potentially know what to do to turn up the power, enabling him to learn how to turn it down. "Thanks aunt Cali! I'll try that." With that, the mushroom frei quickly floated into his room, shut the door, and began to practice. Mondays had always been Reuben's busiest days. Every morning he'd be up at sunrise to open the shop and e had scheduled appointments for readings every Monday afternoon. Some days he wouldn't even come back into the house until after 8pm because of how busy he became during the day, even when the shop closes at 6pm. The cleanup was always worse on Mondays. Today, however, was different. Ryder noticed that Reuben had closed the shop an hour early and was back in the house and in his room with classical music playing as the shower in their shared bathroom ran. What was he doing off of work so early? Why did he decide to close the shop early? Ryder's imagination ran wild with scenarios of what could be. But he didn't let that distract him from practicing his magic. When the music stopped playing and Ryder heard the doors to the bathroom unlock, he instantly went into the bathroom only to smell the stench of strong cologne. "Oh, gods," a saying the frei picked up from his guardian over the last few months. "That's repulsive," the toadstool concluded, throwing his nose into his antecubital fossa. Ryder followed the musky scent into Reuben's bedroom, who had just finished putting on a pair of skinny jeans. "What's going on?" the frei questioned, his eyebrow raised and ribbon end twitching. Reuben spun around and smiled. "I'm going out," the guardian stated bluntly. "Your aunt Calista is coming to watch you." Ryder scrunched his face. He may have been young, but he wasn't a child. "I can take care of myself, you know. I do so every day you're in the shop." "I didn't say you couldn't, but the shop is literally right next door and I could be here in a matter of seconds if something was happening. So, to save me the trouble, Calista is coming over and is just going to be here in case you need anything." "Where are you going?" the frei questioned. Continuing to argue about being left alone at this point was futile. "Just to dinner. I'll be back in a few hours." Ryder's brows fell into dismay. So he was going to leave, and was getting all gussied up for a dinner? "With whom?" "My friend, Evan." Ryder nodded at the answer and decided to leave well enough alone. Why his guardian was getting so gussied up for a simple dinner was beyond the frei. And why he was missing out on potential clients and money was just confusing him further, especially when he knew how important Reuben's work was to him. Without further questioning, however, the frei let it be and went back to practicing his magic. A knock came at the frei's bedroom door. "Come in." The door swung open and there she stood, the babysitter as promised. "So, where'd Reu go to anyway?" Confused by the question, Ryder's brows furrowed. "He didn't tell you? He's out to dinner with a friend." "Which friend?" she inquired. Ryder's brows raised. Was she joking? As far as he knew, she was messing with him. Of course Reuben had told her, right? Why else was she here? "Uhh, Evan?" he stated in a questioning tone. "Why are you asking me?" "No reason." And with that, Calista shut the door. Ryder was too curious to leave that be, so he got up from his bed and followed her out into the living room. There she was, furiously going at her cell phone like a madwoman, cursing under her breath. "A-are you...alright?" the frei questioned curiously. Calista glanced up at the raevan and then back down at her phone. She then gently pat the seat next to her on the couch. Ryder floated over and perched himself next to her, where she proceeded to show him exactly what she was doing. "He's on a date. With him." Ryder glanced at his babysitter's face and then back at this photo of a man. "A date? What's that? And why are you mad about it?" Calista sighed. "A date is where you hang out with someone you like. I'm sure you've read a story or two where two people kiss, correct? Well, at the end of a date, oftentimes you get a kiss," she began, becoming more and more irritated as the sentence went on. "I knew he was going out on a date and not running errands. He should have just told me." Ryder was puzzled. Of course he had read many stories, but that still didn't explain why she was upset with him, or why he lied about it in the first place. "Okay...and you're upset because?" Calista rolled her eyes and a soft groan escaped her lips. "Look," she said, pointing to the man's social media relationship status. "He's in a relationship. And upon further inspection, it looks like it's with this girl...Valerie Cronk." Ryder's brow raised once more. He didn't understand all the importance of this, nor why it mattered. He understood that the lie was probably why she was upset, but aside from that, it didn't make much sense. "He just said he's going to dinner with a friend. Why do you believe it to be a date?" Calista could tell the frei didn't quite get it, and thus, she spoke up, "Reuben was dressed up far too fancy to run a few errands; and he wouldn't put that much effort into his appearance if it were really just a friend he was going to dinner with," she spoke, fully knowing that Ryder still didn't truly understand all of the surrounding components. "First of all, he lied to me. And he knows you never lie to Calista. She'll find that s**t out and ruin your life," she paused a moment with a sigh before continuing. "And secondly, he's on a date with a man who is in a relationship with a woman." she concluded, staring with disgust at a picture of the seemingly happy couple on her device. "What the hell is he doing?" she muttered under her breath. Ryder kept his glance between the phone and Calista's face. She never took her eyes off of the phone whilst speaking. She was fuming, and he could tell. With narrowing eyes, Calista clicked the sleep button on her cell before dropping it on her lap and rubbing her golden eyes with a sigh. Ryder felt as though this entire scenario could be found in many of the books he had read. A love triangle of sorts. It amused the mushroom frei to the point a crooked grin grew upon his face. Oh how he imagined these three fighting over one another like children over candy. It was fun to stir up drama, at least in his head. Calista sat her phone on the coffee table in front of them before turning her attention to Ryder. "So what all do you know about this Evan person?" Ryder just shrugged. "Reuben hasn't mentioned him to me. This is the first I've heard of him, honestly." Calista looked at the front door and tapped her fingers on the back of the couch. "Want to go for a drive?" Ryder winced. He hated going out, but when Calista said something, it wasn't like he had much of a choice. Before he could even answer, the woman was already walking towards the front door with her car keys in hand, ready to go. With a heavy sigh, the frei slowly floated behind his babysitter, not once even speaking. "Where are we going?" Ryder asked, staring out the window.
The illusionist was driving rather manically, and ignored the question for a good ten seconds while she passed a couple of cars in her over-sized pickup truck. "We're going to find your guardian." Ryder shook his head. Why did he allow this to happen? "How do you even know where he is?" Calista quickly glanced at Ryder with a mischievous smirk. "I have my ways." The two drove for a good twenty minutes deep into the heart of Durem. There was one restaurant there that Reuben had always loved to go to even though he hated the town and what it represented to him. If he was going on an actual date, this was where they were most likely to be. "Aha! There's Reuben's car," she chirped as she pulled into an open parking spot nearby. "That ******** thought he could be sly and s**t," she muttered quickly to herself, yet loud enough for Ryder to hear. Ryder just looked at the small restaurant and noticed the dim lighting. It sure didn't seem like much from the outside. "Now we just have to catch him in the act." "The act of wh-" the frei began before getting cut off. "SHH! There he is!" she screamed. Ryder jumped in slight shock. Why did she just tell him to 'shh' in such a loud tone? And even then, it wasn't as if Reuben could hear them when they were across the parking lot. But, nevertheless, she was right. Reuben was exiting the little restaurant with the same man that Calista had shown him earlier. Calista's eyes were like daggers, if only Reuben knew the two were there, he'd definitely feel the pain of those eyes digging deep into his very soul. Ryder was almost nervous, he had known Calista's personality to be rather sporadic and even a bit crazy, but wasn't this going just a tad too far? Maybe this is exactly why Reuben wanted to keep it all a secret from her in the first place. He knew she'd react this way. "Shouldn't we-" The erratic behavior of his aunt was almost sickening to the poor frei. He already felt bad enough for spilling the beans to her in the first place; but now she was basically in full rampage mode for literally no reason. It wasn't even any of her business why Reuben was with this man. It wasn't either of their businesses. So why did she care so much? Ryder sighed and just stayed silent while she continued to stare at the car. Once they pulled away from the parking lot, Calista spoke up, "Okay, now we have to follow them." "Or maybe we should just go home." Calista's eyes narrowed. That was not going to happen whatsoever. With that, she started up her car. Ryder couldn't take it, she was acting as though she was cheated or something. Finally, the frei had enough. There was only one thing he could do. He used what she had taught him the week before. He completely concentrated his thoughts on wanting his skin's poisonous potency to increase. With tensions high, his skin began to lubricate, looking wet and greasy. The frei looked down at the palms of his hands and they were swollen and glistened with a strange greasy clear slime it seemed. It was his chance. He grabbed the woman's bare arm and held on tight for a few moments. "Hey! What the hell are you doi-" was all she could get out before she instantly began to feel sick to her stomach. She yanked her arm away from the raevan's grasp and before she knew it, she was hanging her head out the truck's door, vomiting on the pavement. Ryder's eyes widened. It worked. His skin potency really worked. Albeit maybe a bit too strong. "I-I'm so sorry! I just want to go home!" As Calista brought up her head from staring down at her own bile, there stood the tall and lanky Alice, bent over staring her right in the face. "Lets go home," the figment stated in a firm tone, staring her right in the eyes. "I'm sorry, aunt Cali! I'm so, so sorry!" Ryder cried in the background. Calista had to take a moment to regain her composure before sitting straight back up in her chair with skin clamming up and chills setting in. "It's fine, Ryder. We're going home," she said, closing her truck's door and noticing Alice still staring at her in the driver window with the creepiest of smiles on her face. With that, the two headed back to the house. "We won't tell Reuben about tonight, okay? It'll be our little secret." Calista stated as she stared out the window at the street ahead, clearly still sick from the poisoning. All Ryder did was nod his head, staring out his passenger window. Tonight wouldn't be spoken of again, that much he agreed with. It was an afternoon unlike any other, Calista had come to pick up Ryder for the day and take him out to the bookstore. Normally Reuben would do it, but he had a full day of scheduled readings ahead and Ryder was getting rather antsy at home without any new books to read. Luckily for him, Calista had weekends off and was able to step in. The drive to Isle de Gambino was a quiet one. The two hadn't really spoken since their last meeting almost a month prior. Ryder stared out the window and watched as Calista weaved through traffic on the freeway. The drive was tense to say the least. As the two pulled into a parking space, Calista noticed someone familiar. "Is that.." she began, narrowing in on a couple walking into the same bookstore that Ryder and her were visiting. Ryder looked in the same direction, but didn't notice anyone or anything in particular. Calista quickly hopped out of the truck and began to waltz into the bookstore as if she was angered. Ryder's eyes widened as the scene unfolded in front of him. What on earth was she doing!? He quickly followed suit and rushed in after her. She wasn't about to embarrass him in his temple, was she!? As the frei entered the small bookstore, all he could hear was the voice of his aunt. "Excuse me!" she called ominously. Ryder's eyes widened as he heard her. He saw a couple spin around as they were being yelled at. The woman looked offended and the man just shook his head and shrugged. "Can we help you?" he asked, a brow raised. Calista instantly felt offended. Her face scrunched up, and all Ryder could do was shudder and hope for the best. He wasn't about to interfere with the wrath of Calista, even though as soon as the man spun around, he knew why she had called him. But before any more words could be shared, Ryder was spotted by the man. "Oh, wow, hey! You're Ryder, right!? What a coincidence!" the man called, walking straight past Calista and over to Ryder, grabbing his hand to shake it. "Reuben has told me so much about you! I've seen pictures, that's why I know who you are." The man kept a smile on his face the entire time. Ryder, first of all, was shocked that he had grabbed his hand without permission, didn't humans typically offer the hand and the frei could decline? Secondly, Reuben had been talking about him to his friend? Thirdly, why hadn't Ryder heard of this man before, aside from the one date they had and the snooping Calista had done. "Y-yes, I'm Ryder. And you are?" Ryder tried his best to throw off the trail that Calista had been so rude to create. Looking over, Calista was obviously fuming, and the girl, Valerie, seemed just happy as ever. Calista shook her head. "How do you know Reuben?" she inquired bluntly, with such a tone only Calista could muster. The attitude was quite apparent. Evan chuckled, and chuckled, and chuckled some more. "That's a funny question! It's Reuben. Everyone knows Reuben!" Ryder's eyes widened and his cheeks went blush. His poison. He looked down at his hands, they seemed swollen, uncontrollably, they were more potent (probably due to his stress level at Calista). Those few seconds of touching Ryder's hand had given Evan a fit. It was then that Reuben began to manifest. It was obvious that it wasn't Reuben, some details were very off, but it was based in Evan's mind; where Ryder could see the hallucination occurring. Calista's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?" Valerie walked over to Evan (right through holo-Reuben), rather concerned. "Are you okay, babe?" she questioned. Evan laughed, eyes puffy and cheeks flushed. "Yeah, babe! Everyone's okay. Reuben, man! How ya been!?" the man chuckled, swatting at holo-Reuben and laughing. "Who's Reuben, sweetie?" Valerie asked, both out of concern and curiosity. "Reuben is my best friend. My gay best friend," Calista said walking over. "Someone your little boy-toy here needs to leave the fuck alone," she finished, walking up to Evan and shoulder checking him slightly. Evan just chuckled as he spun around. Valerie grabbed Evan's arms and became angry. "Hey! What the hell is wrong with you, lady!? What are you talking about?" Evan just plopped down to the ground, only to look up and see Reuben smiling back down at him. "Hey good-lookin'!" he said with a smile. Valerie spun around to see Evan staring up at the ceiling. "What did you do to him!?" Valerie stated, turning to Calista. Ryder couldn't sit by and watch. Everything that Calista said to Valerie in that moment went by in a blur. He floated over to Evan and hovered down to Evan's level while the two women went at it. The frei looked up at the Reuben hallucination Evan was having and then turned back to the man. "It's alright. Reuben isn't here. He's at home." Evan chuckled and looked right up at Reuben, smiling. He then made kissy lips to him before turning to Ryder and smirking more. The hallucination bent down and when Evan turned back the two 'kissed'. Ryder shook his head. Calista had been right. Obviously Evan had some sort of feelings for Reuben, this concreted it in his mind. "Evan, Reuben isn't actually there. I'm sorry this is happening to you, but you'll be fine in a little bit." When Valerie noticed Ryder was crouched down to Evan's level, she came over and pushed the toadstool away, causing Ryder to fall to the ground. "Get away from him, you monster! You're probably the one who caused whatever is happening to him!" she shouted, trying to pick Evan up off the ground. "I-I didn't mean-" "Now you've gone and done it," Calista said, waltzing up to Valerie and throwing a right hook right into the poor girl's face, instantly breaking her glasses in half and causing her to fall into Evan and the two of them ended up right back onto the floor. "HEY! WHAT IS GOING ON OVER HERE!?" a disgruntled manager screamed as he ran over from the back. "GET OUT! ALL OF YOU! AND NEVER COME BACK! YOU ARE BANNED FROM TODAY'S BOOKS!" the man said, phone in hand. "I'm calling the police!" "No need, we were just leaving," Calista stated loudly, narrowing her eyes at Valerie and motioning for Ryder to follow as she began to leave. That, however, didn't stop the man from walking back over towards the registers on the phone angrily. Ryder's heart sank as deep in his chest as it could. Never come back? Was the manager serious? Was he really banned from the bookstore!? This wasn't something that Ryder could just take. He hadn't even gotten a new book yet! He quickly glanced at all the books around him and truly felt sad for the first time. In fact, he was sad enough to actually feel tears well up in his eyes as he floated quickly to catch up to Calista. Before he got too far, he turned back around to see Valerie trying to compose herself and pick up Evan once more. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "What the hell do you mean, banned!?"
Ryder could hear his guardian yelling at Calista from his bedroom. He'd never heard Reuben truly yell before, at least not like this. Ryder just wanted a new book and Calista had to go and be a hot-head. Even the frei was so mad at Calista for starting up everything. Why did she have to stir the pot? The two hadn't even done anything to her. In fact, Evan was being a nice guy! But now, because of what she had done, the frei was never allowed back into that bookstore again. He rolled over in his bed, tears falling from his face onto the pillow sheet. More yelling could be heard up until the front door slammed, shaking the whole house. It only took a few moments before Ryder heard a knocking at his bedroom door, only to ignore it. The door creaked open. "Want to tell me your side of the story now?" Ryder winced and sniffled a bit before rolling over to see Reuben standing there, arms crossed, angrily huffing. His tone wasn't mean or angry, but his entire body seemed to be stiff and just so. "Not really." Reuben's eyes narrowed a bit behind his glasses, and Ryder instinctually knew that he wasn't going to leave until he talked. "Calista fought Evan's girlfriend." Reuben shook his head in shock. "Evan who!?" "Your friend." "What? How do you even know Evan? How did she know Evan?" The frei sniffled, knowing the secret that was kept was about to run out of his mouth without another thought. He tried to keep it back, but his anger with Calista over the days events just made him want Reuben to be mad with her. "The night you went on your date, Cal-" "My date!? What the hell do you mean?" Reuben sliced Ryder's words in half. Ryder heaved a big breath before letting it out with a few more tears, trying to push the words from his mouth in between sobs, "Calista said you were on a date. So we followed you to Dur-" "You what!?" Reuben cut into the raevan's sentence again. Angry, and getting angrier and angrier by the second, Reuben couldn't help but storm out of the room, closing the door behind him softly as to not alarm the frei, but knowing it was best for his own sanity to calm down before discussing anything further. Ryder's thought process continued, only circling back around to the fact that he was never allowed into the bookstore again. He rolled over on his bed to face away from the door. He held onto the pillow tightly for comfort, sobbing and thinking into the night. Just over a week had passed since the bookstore fiasco. Reuben still hadn't spoken more to Ryder about what happened, and his birthday was just a couple days away. The two hadn't spoken much at all, actually. The Rothmore home was quiet, eerily so. The tension was high and anyone who visited could tell. Calista hadn't come back since their blowup and Ryder hadn't noticed any calls or texts between the two. Reuben stayed out in the shop most of the days just keeping to himself. Ryder stayed in the house doing the same. It was very unhealthy to say the least, neither party talking it out. It was before dawn and the guardian had been stressed out all morning, Evan had been getting shorter and shorter with him over the course of the week, and these two talked each and every day all day long. It was like they were best friends, but Reuben's heart sank each and every time a text message would come back with a short reply or no text would come back at all. With a heavy sigh, Reuben put down the bottle he was working on and just laid his head in his hands. He couldn't even express how he felt. Angry. Disappointed. Hurt. A whirlwind of emotions at every person involved. Angry at Calista for doing everything she did and lying to him. Ryder for telling Calista in the first place about Evan and then keeping what they did from him. Evan for being so back and forth, but mostly hurt that he'd started distancing himself. Reuben just couldn't sort out all of these emotions. He needed to get away. The guardian attempted to call his hiking buddy, Sam, to no avail. She was going to be too busy at the zoo today. He contemplated contacting another person from the lab. But a quick run down of all the names didn't really offer anyone particularly enticing at this very moment. Plus, it was rather early to be calling people. Setting the guardian's list back in his desk, he got up and paced around the workroom just thinking, fuming, and still not being able to get over what had happened. His reading in the morning even knew he was tense. Obviously, Reuben knew what he needed to do; and that was just go have a conversation about it with Ryder. But all the tarotist wanted to do was call Evan and profusely apologize like he had the day of the incident, find some sort of glimmer that the two could continue to flesh out what they had started, even if it was only friendship. Reuben ran back into the house and into his bedroom. He packed up a bag and left a note on the frei's door that said, "I'm going out. I'll be back later." Ryder awoke around ten that morning to the note on the door. Had Reuben really left him all alone? The whole reason Calista had to come watch him that first day was "in case something happened" or if he needed someone for anything. But now, Reuben was just off doing his own thing and the frei was left to fend for himself.
If the raevan were being honest with his feelings, he'd say that having the house to himself without fear of Reuben looming was actually rather nice, especially since the past week had been so tense for the poor frei. Since he was home alone, he decided to take this opportunity to write Reuben a birthday card. One thing he read from his storybooks that was during a birthday, typically humans would get each other gifts and cards. Some, however, were just a heartwarming gesture. Ryder didn't have anything he could really give him, so he decided that he'd create a nice card for the tarotist. Heading out to Reuben's workshop, he pulled out some paper from the desk and checked it to be sure it wasn't anything important. He then took a quick trip into the shop to make sure that Reuben wasn't around. He closed up shop for the day, obviously, and posted his typical "sorry for the inconvenience" sign before heading out. At least that was a bonus for Ryder, giving him more time to craft a beautiful card! This card was done to kill two birds with one stone. First it was to apologize, offering that olive branch to his guardian was much needed to lighten the mood around the house, and the second was to wish him a happy birthday like the characters in some of the books he had read did. At least Ryder realized that the intention behind the card was that it was heartfelt and not just a random card. Ryder picked up a pen and scribbled on the paper "Happy Birthday". It looked like a five year old had written it, but it was honestly the best he could do. He tried to imitate the letters he would read every day, but his hand just wasn't working with him the way he had expected it to. He tried holding it a different way, and swapping hands, and just began to get frustrated with the fact that he knew what he wanted to write, how to spell it, everything; but he just couldn't get it to look like he wanted. After almost twenty minutes, the frei set the pen down and looked at the card. It looked like utter shit; even he knew it. But, it was mostly legible, and it was worth a shot to try and get his guardian to ease up on the anger. Ryder folded it in half and floated it into the house, setting it on the little desk Reuben had in the living room so that the guardian would see it the moment he walked in the door. Ryder, still slightly miffed by his lack of knowledge on how to use a pen, decided that if Reuben was going out, so would he! The toadstool got dressed, grabbed his spell book, and headed out the front door towards the forest behind the house. |