coveted magics, 19
It was time to recruit the final coven member, and Harry was absolutely dreading this. Although he had originally been intending to bring Wanda with him for protection, a little more thought on the matter elucidated the fact that this would only be likely to provoke the person he intended to recruit. As dangerous as it was, it was safer if he went alone. At the very least, Harry had sent Gwen his location and instructions to rush right over if he didn’t text them back by a given time. With someone like Rio Vidal, one had to be prepared.
Rio Vidal was an expert in a more earthen kind of witchcraft, bending plants and soil and dirt and dust to her will. She was as old Harry’s mother, or perhaps even older, Harry didn’t know. She was one of the few witches who was known to have survived extended encounters with Agatha Harkness. There were… rumours about what stood between them, some of which Harry shuddered to think about. He did not need to think about his evil absentee mother in the throes, thank you very much.
What Harry was banking on was the fact that Rio hated Agatha, and therefore he might be able to convince her to join the coven on the basis of preparing to take her down. He almost wanted to set up control runes wherever he found her, just so that she had no magic to kill him with - but knew that even that would just provoke her. If she was cunning and skilled enough to survive Agatha at the peak of her power, she would have a way around a control hex rune formation set up by a witch not even into his third decade of life.
Harry’s search - in which it had taken two whole days just to track this woman down - had brought him to a dingy old pub in a town right near Westview. His gut told him that Rio being here meant she was looking for Agatha too. The pub was mostly empty, aside from the bartender, a few people playing pool over in one corner, and an unhooded cloaked woman who had to be Rio - judging by an appearance matching the descriptions he’d ready about; dark hair and an inexplicable aura of death - sitting at the bar.
Keeping his own cloak and hood drawn up - because nobody needed to know that the OsCorp heir was here - Harry approached the bar and sat down next to Rio. He could feel his heart pounding and a few beads of sweat forming on his head, but he ignored them. There was honestly a decent chance that someone like Rio could smell fear, so he needed to show as little of it as possible.
“Rio Vidal, you’re a hard witch to find,” Harry said as firmly as he could. Even if it had taken only two days to track her down, those two days were incredibly laboured. “I should have known to look around Westview, though.”
“Oh? And who might you be?” Rio asked, a hungry sort of venom in her voice. “Young, by the feel of your magic. What, have you come here to die? Or to get me to kill someone who broke your heart? Whatever it is, I’m not interested. Now scurry along back to mommy before I kill you.”
Harry quietly inhaled, and then exhaled. “Actually, I want your help to kill my mother. From what I’ve heard, that should be exactly within your interests.”
Rio snorted, and dug her nails into the wooden bar table. Her nails cleaved right through the wood, as though it was butter. “Interesting. So, who do you claim this mother of yours to be? I must say, the obvious mommy issues has my interest piqued.”
“Well, she’d be the witch you’re quite obviously looking for right now,” Harry declared, fighting to keep the firmness and authority present in his tone.
“Hah, a likely story,” Rio spat out. Her nails dug even deeper. “You expect me to believe that my Agatha screwed some man out there?”
“Yes,” Harry stated. “I can lead you right to her. In exchange, you join my coven on the Road.”
Then, Rio burst out into full laughter. “Oh, that’s priceless. A kid like you taking on the Road? Well, this ought to be good for a laugh. And hey, if you’re lying about leading me to my heart? Well, I’ll just kill you and everybody you care about. Deal?”
Harry shuddered. “Deal.”
“Want me to come with you?” Peter asked, holding Harley’s hand gently as they walked together up to the front door of Temple Beth Shalom. At those words alone, Harley squeezed Peter’s hand a little tighter.
It was a few hours after classes on a Monday afternoon, and Harley was on his way to meet with Rabbi Isaacs to discuss his interest in joining the shul’s conversion classes - a meeting that Peter had enthusiastically set up for him a couple days after Tommy arrived in Boston, once things had truly calmed down enough for the breathing room required. Harley was glad to be supported so fully by his boyfriend in exploring this path, but he was also nervous as all hell. His religious trauma from Rose Hill Catholicism was no small thing, and even though on a logical level he knew that this shul was a safe place, his body was throwing up some strong alarm bells.
“Please,” Harley asked near-desperately. He knew Peter well enough to know that Peter was bringing his presence alone and wouldn’t be saying much at all during the meeting proper, but just having him there was enough that Harley felt like he could really do this. Harley honestly didn’t know what he was doing with all this - he’d done some research about Judaism on his own, and gleaned quite a bit more from Peter, but there was so much more to know. He definitely wasn’t even close to ready to commit, but he really wanted to learn more.
Peter’s thumb traced an arc across the back of Harley’s hand, sending a pleasant wave reverberating across Harley’s body and calming his nervous system down. With that little boost, Harley was the one to push the front door open. The shul wasn’t big enough to have anything resembling a reception, which was another reason Harley was glad Peter was here - he could lead the way to the Rabbi’s office, since last time Harley had only been to the… he didn’t even know the word for the room where prayer services happened.
“Just remember,” Peter said as they made their way up the stairs to where the Rabbi’s office was located, “you’re welcome here.”
Harley nodded. He knew that he’d be welcome. He understood the way Judaism operated as a semi-closed religion and culture. Guests were welcome as long as they were respectful, and as much as proselytizing was forbidden in Judaism, converts were welcomed and considered just as Jewish as those born into it. Together, they walked the rest of the way to the office, and Harley stepped forward to knock on the door.
“Come in!” came the Rabbi’s voice from inside. Harley recognised the voice from a few times when Peter would speak with him on the phone, with the phone on speaker mode. In person, the guy sounded even more warm and comforting. That, unfortunately, did remind him of the pastor back in Rose Hill, who sounded far more gentle than he actually was.
Heart pounding, Harley pushed the door open and stepped inside, Peter following with their hands still joined together. “Uh… hi.”
“Harley, it’s nice to see you again,” the Rabbi said with a smile. “I know we didn’t get a chance to speak much on Saturday. Peter’s had a lot of good things to say about you over the time I’ve known him. Why don’t you both come and have a seat. Peter, how are you holding up?”
Peter smiled, and shrugged. “Alright, but things are a little stressful now. Someone very powerful is after Billy and another kid we’re all looking after.”
The Rabbi frowned at that. “Do let me know if there’s any support I can give without getting in the line of fire.”
“I’m not sure how observant Tommy is, but I will ask him if he wants to come to a service or two to say Kaddish during shloshim,” Peter responded. “But otherwise, I think we’ve got this under control. Anyway, don’t mind me. I’m here as emotional support for Harley, but this is his time.”
“Of course,” the Rabbi agreed, turning to face Harley. “So, Harley, what can I do for you today?”
Harley was well aware that the Rabbi knew he was here to ask about conversion classes and such things, which made it… interesting that he opened the conversation like that. He vaguely remembered seeing it written somewhere that often Rabbis would turn converts away three times, and wondered if this was a part of the same thing. “Well… I’ve been learnin’ a bit about Judaism, and I’ve been wantin’ to find out more. Even if I was real confused on Saturday, it was definitely a nice experience bein’ there.”
“Are you interested in converting, then?” the Rabbi then asked.
“I might be, yeah,” Harley answered.
And then came a startlingly simple question in response. “Why?”
Harley hummed, thoughtful. In theory, he was prepared for this question. In practice, however, it suddenly felt hard to put into words. “I grew up Catholic, and… well, it filled me to the brim with good ol’ Catholic guilt and a hell of a lot of frustration. I hated bein’ told that askin’ so many questions was a problem, and the idea that I was born with sin was awful. Plus, it wasn’t an acceptin’ church, which wasn’t great for young me who knew I was gay since before I was even a teenager.”
The Rabbi nodded along with everything he said. “Us Jews do love asking questions.”
“Yeah,” Harley said, and then chuckled as a memory came back to him. “I think one of the first things that ever properly caught my attention about Judaism was Peter joking about fightin’ god in a Denny’s parkin’ lot. That kind of thing… wouldn’t fly where I grew up. Not that that’s all there is to it for me, though.”
That earned a loud, hearty laugh from the Rabbi. “In a Denny’s- internet memes are truly a wonderful thing. Alright, I think I’m starting to see where you’re coming from, Harley. Now, as you may have learned in your reading, there is a tradition of turning away prospective converts three times, just to ensure that they’re serious. I don’t personally believe in continuing that tradition, but I do want to lay some things out for you before we discuss this some more. Perhaps, consider it my own way of confirming that you know what you’re getting into. Sound good?”
Harley focused on his breathing for a moment, just to keep his cool under circumstances where his nervous system just continued to want to feel unsafe. “Sure, fire away.”
“Alright,” the Rabbi nodded. “First things first, I want you to understand that you are stepping into more than just a religion, and more than just a small community here at Beth Shalom. You’re joining an entire people with a long history of joy and suffering, of persecution and painfully earned liberations. By becoming a Jew, you’d be taking that on. You’d be acknowledging that you’re shouldering this burden with the rest of us, becoming a part of the tribe. Is that something you’ve thought about yet?”
A quick exhale helped Harley keep his composure yet again. “A little, I think? I guess I’ve come across it when readin’, and like I’ve seen all the bullshit antisemitism - moreso after gettin’ to know Peter and hearin’ about it from him. It’s easier to see. And I guess I have a lot more to learn about Jewish history. I wanna do that anyway, conversion or no. And… I’ve definitely seen the good. Peter always comes home from services lookin’ better than he did before.”
Glancing over to Peter, Harley had just enough emotional bandwidth to be amused at Peter’s surprised reaction - perhaps he hadn’t truly realised that himself yet. It was truly one of the things that made Harley take this curiosity about Judaism of his more seriously.
“I have to ask that question because I’ve had some college students come to me asking about conversion and then outright dismissing our cultural and ethnic history,” the Rabbi explained calmly. “But I’d ask it anyway, even if not for them. I really find that especially Christian notions of religion don’t give people the framework needed to understand the expansiveness of what Judaism truly is. I’ve had some good conversations about that with my friend Abdullah, the Shiekh of a Masjid over in Roxbury.”
“Yeah, honestly, learnin’ about all this from Peter was like puttin’ on glasses and bein’ able to see all the impacts of cultural Christianity everywhere. It’s… I don’t know, thinkin’ about Judaism has felt a little liberatin’ to me. I guess what I’ve learned so far has just clicked with me, and I want to see if it keeps bein’ like that,” Harley explained, finally starting to feel his walls coming down. “I remember learnin’ about Yom Kippur, and how the whole atonement and reflection process works, and it feels… healthier to me than the whole Catholic sin thing, you know?”
The Rabbi leaned back and smiled. “Well, Harley, I would very much like to invite you to join a conversion class I run every Wednesday evening at five thirty. It’s pretty small at the moment, especially since we’re a small shul. Oh, and Peter, you’re more than welcome to come as well. One more thing to know, Harley, is that conversion is a process that takes a few years. If you decide to stick with it the whole way through, you’ll probably find yourself more knowledgeable about Judaism than a lot of people who were born Jewish. There are a few formal rituals to complete at the very end, one of which I’m sure you won’t like, but then you’ll be just as much a Jew as me and Peter. How’s that sound?”
Harley glanced warily over at Peter when the Rabbi said what he had about a ritual that he wouldn’t like.
“Someone’s gonna have to stab your dick with a needle, Harls,” Peter explained, looking like he was holding back a snort. “Traditionally you’d be required to get a whole circumcision, but Reform Judaism doesn’t tend to require that. Judging by what Danny said, I figured that this shul goes with the ritual blood drawing as a replacement. Am I on the right track here?”
“You certainly are,” the Rabbi said seriously. “Though if you want to ensure that Orthodox communities also recognise your conversion, we would have to discuss a full circumcision.”
Imagining it, Harley winced.
Scrabble.
That was the in that Wanda had given Billy to start forming a new bond with his twin brother. Billy had just gotten back from a date with Teddy, having been able to spend a lot of the day together since the school term was now over - they’d gone bowling again, and then just wandered around the city holding hands and exploring together. Suffice it to say that it had left Billy in an excellent mood, which was the one thing that made him feel confident enough to give this all a go.
Honestly, Billy still felt nervous around Tommy; the memories Wanda had shared with him hadn’t helped the situation, either. That vibe he’d gotten from the memories of Tommy not really liking him that much was downright disheartening. But… both of them had a whole set of new life experiences now, which meant the dynamic was truly up in the air. Billy was feeling at least a little bit hopeful, and he was going to try and make the most of all this.
So, Scrabble. Still riding a bit of the high from his date, Billy marched over to Apartment 5 and knocked before walking in to find Tommy sitting at the dining table at the end of the hall with a laptop. He seemed pretty immersed in what he was doing, and Billy didn’t want to just interrupt. Instead, he made a beeline for the kitchen, turned on the kettle and started preparing a cup of tea for himself. Billy had started to develop a liking for fruity teas - and he was well aware there was a gay joke in there somewhere - so he grabbed a bag of forest berry tea and scooped a spoon of sugar into a mug while waiting for the kettle.
“Hey, you’re gay, right?” Tommy asked all of a sudden while Billy was facing away.
Startled, Billy turned around slowly enough for it to be awkward. “Um… yeah?”
There was a brief pause, in which Billy couldn’t help but wonder if his twin brother was going to turn out homophobic and ruin any chance of the two of them actually getting along.
“What’s it like?”
Wow, I genuinely can’t tell which way this is going to go, Billy thought to himself apprehensively. “Uhhh… fine, I guess?”
“Cool,” Tommy responded, and returned his attention to his laptop. Even from here, Billy could tell that he was playing some kind of game, and was mildly curious what game it was to see if the two of them had a shared interest there. “What’s that boyfriend of yours like?”
And then the realisation struck. Tommy was just as unsure of how to talk to Billy as he was, and was making an effort to get to know him. Smiling to himself, Billy turned back around to pour some freshly boiled water into his mug, and started stirring the sugar through. “Well he’s not my boyfriend yet, we haven’t really put a label on things. But he’s… I don’t know if it’s weird for me to say this to you, but he’s pretty hot. And surprisingly nerdy for such a buff guy.”
“Makes sense, I guess,” said Tommy, his attention still clearly split between Billy and the video game. “I mean, it’s cool that I have a brother who’s got rizz and stuff. From those Westview memories I kinda got the impression you were a bit awkward.”
“Oh,” Billy chuckled nervously. This was kind of what he was worried about, but maybe he just needed to get used to what Tommy was like. He was clearly making an effort, at least. “So, what are you playing?”
“Call of Duty,” Tommy answered. “Ever played?”
Billy shook his head. “Nah, I’m more into fantasy games. Been playing Tears of the Kingdom a bunch lately.”
Tommy hummed. “That’s really nerdy. Uh… I don’t mean that in a bad way. I guess I’m a little bit of a nerd too. I used to play a bunch of Minecraft, but I never told my friends because they would have made so much fun of me for it.”
Hearing that, Billy lit up. There was something they had in common. “Wanna start a survival world together sometime?”
“Sure,” Tommy shrugged. “Sounds like fun. So… you can do magic stuff, right?”
Billy nodded, and brought his tea to sit down next to Tommy where he could watch his brother play. “Yeah, I’ve started practicing a little with Wanda the other day. And you have the same speed from Westview, don’t you?”
Tommy started clicking frantically as he got swarmed by a bunch of enemies, and then groaned when his character was shot dead. “Yup. Gwen’s been going on runs with me and they’ve also been teaching me how to use my speed better. And… I’m gonna need that training to kill that bitch who murdered my parents.”
Hearing how dark Tommy sounded, Billy couldn’t help but shudder. He was in no position to tell Tommy to leave Agatha to the others, especially when he hadn’t been through anything like what Tommy had last week. “Oh. Uh… I guess. I dunno, I kind of want to leave the fighting to everyone else. It feels too dangerous.”
“Whatever, do what you want,” said Tommy a little impatiently, and then exited out of his game. “Wanna play some Minecraft or something now?”
“Sure,” Billy agreed. “I’ll just go get my laptop.”