“William, why do you look like someone just told you neither the Easter Bunny nor Santa are real?Did Peter glower at you for messing up his tie collection or something?”
William shook his head.“I was just… It was a long night, is all.And Will’s fine.”His gaze drifted to Sage’s chest before he looked away again.
Sage didn’t do embarrassed, but he didn’t want to make Will uncomfortable either.
“Well, I get that.Listen, I’ll just grab a sweater, and then I’ll give you a super quick tour of the place, and you can fall into bed and sleep for a week.Sound good?”
Will nodded, and Sage headed back upstairs.He found a semi-clean hoodie on the banister of the attic stairs.He had no recollection of having left it there, but he appreciated the accidental forethought.He also found a piece of the third or so rubber glove he’d used earlier, wiggling its way down the stairs in search of someone to please.He snatched it up, but before he could unmagic it and throw it in the trash, William’s scream brought Sage racing back downstairs, the hoodie forgotten.
Will was red-faced, staring at the couch, and holding his butt.
Sage relaxed.“I take it you met Elsbet.”
“What?Who’s Elsbet?”Will’s golden eyes were wide when he glanced at Sage before looking away again.
Sage walked over to the coach and picked up the pale blue cushion with the white embroidery.Elsbet wiggled in his hold, ready to massage anything, from tense shoulders to…well, anything that was hard and tense and needed some relief.
“Will, Elsbet.She’s a massage cushion.”
Will’s jaw dropped.He looked kind of cute like that.His eyes wandered to Sage’s other hand.“What…is that?”
“Oh.”Sage was still holding the remaining piece of Glovy the third.“Well.That’s a…side project.It’s still sort of in beta.It’s just rubber.”
Will’s eyes went wide.“A rubber?”
“Uhm…oh.Well, no.Made out of rubber.A rubber glove, you know.”Sage plucked Glovy off his finger and clenched the little squiggly bit in his fist.
Will’s eyes were still big as saucers.“I never realized magic was this weird.”
Sage grinned like all the cats who’d fled his home.“Welcome to Vert magic.I mean, Vert’s my family name.I thought it would make a cool brand name, except no one really wants massage cushions.But the lube sells okay-ish.”
“Huh.Is that why you have so many cushions?”Sage followed Will’s line of sight.
There were a good three or four dozen cushions in the living room.Each was different, unique, and all of them had their own personalities.They were not the only cushions in the house.
“My granny made these.I kept them.Only some of them are enchanted.You don’t like cushions?”Sage wasn’t sure why that mattered, but all of a sudden, he was feeling very self-conscious.About cushions.Fuck.Had to be the early mornings.He needed to get back to sleep.Glovy’s remains had partially wiggled out of his hold and were now clinging to his thumb soothingly, offering stimulating pressure.
“Just…took me by surprise, is all.They’re so…unusual.”
Sage relaxed.“Oh, good.That’s good.”He cleared his throat.“Let me show you to your room.It’s—you’ll see.Come on.”
6
Will
Willtookinthebedroom.It was cushion central in there.
“So this is all you,” Sage said.“Used to be Granny’s room, but don’t freak out.The mattress is new, and I pretty much cleaned out all her stuff.”
Will sniffed the air.A powdery rose scent saturated the room.It wasn’t bad or too overpowering, just a reminder that someone here had really loved roses.
And of course, there were the cushions.Piles and piles of them, on the floor, on the bed, on the two armchairs flanking the bay window.Will could see the bed frame and a pale pink comforter with a floral pattern, but they were mostly hidden under cushions stacked upon more cushions; red ones, blue ones, fringed ones, rectangular ones, and round ones.Some had lace or buttons, some other embroidery.Will wasn’t quite sure what to make of all that, but he wasn’t sleeping on those cushions, not after what had happened with…Elsbet.
That cushion didn’t try to massage me.She groped me, plain and simple.
“Are the, erm, cushions enchanted?”
Will glanced up at the witch.He wasn’t sure what to make of Sage yet either.
