when you're the best of friends [open to all!]

[davin]

Davin is so glad that all that weird weather is over. The cold was making his hand ache in ways that he'd rather not think about. Sometimes when he's sleeping over at James' he'll wake up in the middle of the night and have to look down at his hand to make sure that his fingers aren't mangled, flexing them over and over just so he's fully convinced that they've healed.

He isn't sure what he'll do come winter when it's freezing cold all the time. Hopefully it's something that he'll get used to, and the aching of his hand won't make him vividly remember how he sustained the original injuries in the first place.

But now, the storm is over and the weather is warm again, so Davin heads out to take full advantage of the last lingering days of summer. He's out in the woods, deeper than he usually goes on his runs, but something made him want to push himself. He's moving along barely worn trails and hopping over fallen logs, glistening with sweat and panting.

A sudden squeak and a rustling coming from a nearby bush make him stumble to a stop, and he looks over at the shrubbery with a wary expression. But what pops out of the bush isn't something set on attacking him. It's a little baby fox, and Davin blinks as it fearlessly trots over to sit at his feet.

"Hello," Davin says, and he finds himself unable to look away. He slowly drops to his knees in the grass and the fox approaches with a happy chitter, rubbing itself all over Davin's hand. His fingers sort of spark at the first touch to the fox's downy soft fur, and his magic buzzes delightfully through his entire body. "Oh."

He smooths his hand down the fox's back and then stands up, still blinking in confusion as he takes a few steps back towards the city. The fox yips and chases after him, loping along dutifully beside him. Davin lets out an awed little laugh and pulls out his phone, snapping a photo of the fox.

I'm going to need you to send me everything you have on familiars, he types out, and then sends the text to his grandma, along with the photo. She has a familiar, this grumpy old orange tabby named Flannery, and it never really occurred to Davin that he would find one too. Not every witch has one; not even a lot of witches have one.

But the longer Davin looks down at this happy looking kit, and the more it follows alongside him like it is meant to be there, he just knows. He knows.

This is his familiar, and it's a fox. Hell yes.

They get back to the city and Davin kneels down, scooping up the fox who crawls up to perch on his shoulder, fluffy tail wrapping around his neck. He chuckles and looks over at it, stuck in a sense of wonder as he heads for his apartment. People are watching him as they pass, but Davin doesn't even care. This is his familiar. The fox is exactly where it's supposed to be.

"So, I guess we're bros now," Davin says, and the fox gnaws on his hair in agreement, probably. "What does a fox even eat? Maybe we should go see Coop. D'ya wanna go let a hot vet feel ya up?"

The fox lets out another chittering sound and Davin nods, smoothing his hand down the fox's tail. "I guess ya need a name."

He hums and then lifts the fox up, looking it over before depositing it back onto his shoulder. "A boy name. Yeah, I'll think o' somethin' great. Don't ya worry."


[Spot Davin walking through town with his new familiar, a baby red fox! Or, for people who don't know that Davin is a witch, wonder why this dumbass is wandering around with a wild animal. This is set after the storm has completely passed.]

Comments

[milodumas]

He realises immediately that he's done something really stupid. Two really stupid things actually, drawing attention to himself and yelling at strangers. He's surprised that the guy turns to him with a smile, in all honesty. Maybe he has a jaded view of Siren Cove, but if he was yelled at by some random guy on the street he's not sure he could offer such a bright grin.

"Hey," he says again, because he doesn't know how to just ask if it's a familiar. What if Davin isn't even a witch? For all Milo knows he's just like... fucking Snow White, or something. He quickly decides that's not the case, however. The remnants of magic lingering around the town after the storm still have Milo's nerves a little on edge, and being around this guy is setting them off all over again. It's kind of like how it was with Sarah, like he's standing on top of a well that hasn't been properly tapped, and is about to explode. "Well, it's not." The words come out blunter than he intended, story of Milo's life. "I mean. Is that what I think it is?" This is a good enough way, he figures. If he's got this wrong (he definitely hasn't got this wrong) and the guy isn't a witch, he can just say it's a fox. If he picks up on what Milo is laying down, maybe he'll get some real answers.

[davin]

The guy's question has this sort of overly curious, almost knowing tone and Davin raises an eyebrow. He's obviously a witch, given the way that Davin's magic is buzzing under his skin. The fox is eyeing in warily, pressing in close against Davin's neck.

"I think it is what ya think it is, yeah," Davin answers, reaching up to stroke his hand down the fox's back. He raises his other hand in a wave, wiggling his fingers a little and letting a few blue sparks wind their way around then, confirming to the guy that he too is a witch. "I'm Davin."

[milodumas]

It's not like Milo hadn't been sure, but when the sparks fly he relaxes a little. Milo's not afraid of magical persecution so much as he is of being around people who don't get it. He knows they're not supposed to use magic publicly in this town, but he also knows that it's the least enforced law ever, and it's not something he worries about. He does worry about people fearing his magic, about people lumping him into the same mould as his parents.

"Milo," he answers. It's only polite. "Sorry for being so abrupt," he starts, even though he's not, really. "I've never seen one in person before."

[davin]

"It's okay. I woulda been curious too," Davin assures him, happy that Milo seems to understand what's going on. He's always attracted to other witches, because they just seem to get it. It's easy to be around people who know what he's going through.

"I've only ever seen one. My gran back in Ireland has one," Davin tells him. It makes sense that his grandmother would have a familiar. She's the leader of one of the oldest, most powerful covens in Europe. But Davin? He wasn't expecting this. "An' I guess I do too. I'm still tryin' t'wrap my head around it, honestly."

The fox lets out a happy hip and leans away from Davin to sniff at Milo, tilting his head as he looks him up and down. Vetting him, Davin assumes.

God, he has a tiny magical baby fox bodyguard.

[milodumas]

Milo doesn't think a familiar is something that's on the cards for him. There's gotten be something there about fate deciding he doesn't deserve one, after everything, but he's 28 and he's pretty sure that if he was meant to find one, he would have, by now. Not that New York had been the kind of place to find foxes and the like, but still.

The fox leans over to sniff him, and Milo knows there's more than animal curiosity going on. He can feel the magic, knows immediately that this really isn't a normal fox. Almost instinctively he knows the fox will be able to feel it; the dark ball of fury curled tight in his stomach, the way it tests the walls, desperately trying to break through. Milo clamps down harder. He's never felt a witch with this kind of power before, and he wants to get to know him, talk to him. The last thing he needs is the guy's familiar deciding he's dangerous.

"He's already looking out for you," Milo notes.

[davin]

"Seems so," Davin says delightedly. The fox leans out further, causing Davin to have to out a hand under his chest. His whiskers twitch, yellow eyes fixed on Milo as he finally pulls back to wrap himself around the back of Davin's neck, watching Milo as he rests his chin on Davin's shoulder.

"Sorry, I'm jus' blown away," he says with a laugh, looking over at Milo with a smile. Davin's magic is buzzing under his skin and he feels powerful, and so alive. Part of it is the fox, but it's also feedback from Milo. He's a strong with, and Davin finds himself curious. "Have you been in town long?"

[milodumas]

He has been back a little while now, in truth, but Milo is used to keeping mainly to himself, and that's even more important, here. The fiasco with Sarah on the boardwalk had been one thing, the magic storm another, and he's beginning to think he was better off away from this much of a magic-centric town. At least in New York he only had to worry about his own, and it wasn't so overwhelming all the time.

"A few months," he says, shrugging. "I grew up here, but I've been away."

[davin]

"Aye, is that right? I've been since here I was twelve," Davin tells him, admittedly a little distracted by his fox. He scratches him behind the ears and then turns back to Milo with a happy grin. "Ships in the night, we musta been. Where'd ya come from?"

[milodumas]

Milo can at least be relieved that there's someone in Siren Cove who apparently has no idea who or what he is, which is nice. It's the kind of thing that doesn't tend to stay a secret very long, and it's not like he's desperately trying to keep it all that way, it's just easier if it doesn't come up. He's not all that used to having friends - Sarah and Les are just about the closest thing he has and he hadn't seen either of them in ten years - but he is curious to learn more about Davin.

"I was in New York," he answers with a shrug. "Studying, working, you know. But this place drew me back, I guess."

[davin]

"I can see how this place would have that sorta effect on ya," Davin says with a nod, shrugging one shoulder. "Probably why I've never tried t'leave it."

Even with all the bad parts of Siren Cove, and the pain it's brought him, he doesn't think he could ever really bring himself to leave it. His friends are here. There's magic here. It's his home.

"Can't be nearly as excitin' as New York, though," he says with a chuckle. "That place is on my bucket list. I've never been."