It was different from what Will knew to do—push his magic into herb concoctions and then use those.
“That’s more hedgewitch workings, and it’s effective on a small scale, just like non-verbal magic,” Sage explained one morning when Will asked him about it.“It won’t get you very far, because witchcraft works with spells or talismans, which focus the power.A real witch binds their desired outcome into the words they speak or sing.”
Will found that easier and easier to do as the days went on.Sage had him clean the windows with magic (“Dirt and stains, you are a blight, wash yourself for clearest sight”), the floors too (“Swish and swipe, broomstick wipe”), but they kept doing the dishes together, alternating who made the dishes wash themselves and who told the towel to do the drying.
Will especially enjoyed those moments, and the easy company Sage offered.They stood on either side of the sink with plenty of space between them, but with magic crossing back and forth when the plates passed from the soapy water to the soft cotton towel.
Still, as often as Will did something right, he also made mistakes, the most spectacular of which was shattering three glass “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil” monkey figurines into tiny, sharp pieces on Sage’s living room floor.They had been sitting on the mantel, and Will had meant to dust them, not send them crashing to the floor.
“Oh no, oh no.”
Will lost his concentration, along with his control over the ancient feather duster he’d magicked into dancing around the room to clean.He wanted to curl into a ball and whimper.He nearly did.
Then, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and he felt himself deflate.Sage was going to hate him for this.Sage was going to be mad.Or worse, he’ll be…disappointed.
Sage, before he did anything else, walked up to Will and looked at him.
“Did you cut yourself on any of the glass?”
Will shook his head.The lack of anger Sage showed at the damage took Will by surprise.It was just as new as working magic, and he watched astounded as Sage kneeled, looked at the shards, and said, “Come together glass art rended, may all your cracks be truly mended.”
Then he picked up the three figurines and held them up for Will to see.
“They’re…whole.”Will’s voice broke on the last word.
Sage nodded.“Yup.Magic can do that.”He looked at the floor.“Do you want to try?”
Before Sage could drop the glass monkeys again, Will reached out to wrap his hands around Sage’s.That surprised him more than anything, and he wanted to flinch away, except Sage hadmendedthem.He’d made them whole again.
“P-please don’t.”
Sage hesitated, looking at Will with those gorgeous blue eyes.Is he going to ask me now?About what happened?Is he going to make me tell him?
“Okay,” Sage said.“Hey, how d’you feel about pancakes for an afternoon snack?”
“Is there jam?”
Sage chuckled.“You bet, Will.You bet.”
Truly mended.That stuck with Will.He still woke up several times a night, and he usually ended up wandering around the house when he did, checking locks as he went.When he felt daring, he’d sneak a few steps up the attic staircase, the door to which Sage never bothered closing.Will would sit there and listen to Sage’s slow breaths as he slept.It made Will feel calmer, and he didn’t know why.
Truly mended.Will wished Sage would turn to him like he had to the shards and spell him whole again, untainted.In his dreams, Will still heard Ed, felt the hands and fists, felt all the rest of what the dead loup-garou had done to him.
Will had been with Sage for about two weeks when he woke up yet again in the middle of the night.He’d had a bad dream, a bad memory, and after the initial panic, Will relaxed.He was in his rose room where half the floor was covered with cushions.The yellow one was hiding under the bed now and trying to cozy up to Will’s feet in the mornings.So far, it had evaded all his attempts at catching and expelling it from the bedroom.Will had named the cushion Lemon.
After a few moments, Will’s breathing calmed down, and he threw the sweat-damp sheets back and got up.It was raining, the low and steady pitter-patter beating against the roof and windows.
As had become his custom, Will went downstairs and checked the windows there.Once he’d done that, he snuck back upstairs and to Sage’s staircase.He could see the rafters of the house from here, reaching in toward the center like the canopy of a circus tent.
The rain was loud, and Will couldn’t hear Sage’s breathing, so he dared another step, then another.The third one from the top creaked under Will’s weight, and he froze.
Shit!What did I do?!
“Will, that you?”Sage asked, his voice thick with sleep.
Will stood frozen, heart beating in his ears and sweat gathering along his spine.
“Will?”
