The Night Out
“Hey, Ags?”
Agatha swivelled her head from the wall-mounted chalkboard. Her eyes were tired and her head was becoming fuzzy. She was only able to think in numbers and symbols after staring at this magical problem for too long. “Mmm?”
Rio walked over cautiously and knelt next to her, “I think you've been staring at this for too long, my darling,” she said gently, putting her chin on her wife’s knees.
Agatha’s face didn't change expression but she did turn back to the board to assess the extent of her work. Every inch of the top half of the board had chalk covering it in an incessant ramble of squiggles. At one point, as if by habit, Ebony had pushed a chair so that Agatha could sit and write further down with ease. She hadn't realised how much she had written until now but she was starting to feel it, “How long have I been-”
“Four hours.”
“Shit,” she muttered quietly under her breath. She still wasn't fully with it, so her expression didn't change, but she slowly put down the chalk and sat back in the chair. She looked down at her wife, “Sorry, gorgeous, I didn't-”
“I don't mind. I think it's sexy watching you work,” Rio said seductively. But then her face contorted, “But there is a limit, and I think your back is at it.”
Agatha straightened her back and felt it click several times. She moaned in relief and used her right hand to massage the lower part. She turned and saw Rio’s slightly reddened cheeks and a wide smile. Agatha frowned jokingly and Rio jumped up and helped her off the chair and over to the sofa. With a surrender, Agatha collapsed face first onto it, her shins resting against the armrest. Rio rounded the furniture and swung her right leg over her wife, straddling her lower half.
She slowly massaged Agatha’s back, using techniques she had learnt throughout the year. Agatha over-exerting herself was a very common habit and Rio learnt everything she could about the art of the masseuse to relieve that exhaustion. And Agatha needed it now more than ever.
Agatha moaned into the cushions with each press of her wife's thumbs in her muscles, every time her bones clicked and tendons settled. With this and Wanda’s curse, she never feels painless anymore. Sure, she knows she's older than most but she preferred being stuck at 50, since she despised being young, even if it meant her muscles and bones weren't as fresh as they would be.
“Is this good darling?” Rio said on top of Agatha. All she got in response was an exasperated and muffled groan. Yeah, it was good. Personally, Rio never understood Agatha’s fascination with all this experimenting and theory on magic, she just prefers to use it. Potions and stuff, she understood the curiosity, but Agatha’s enjoyment of learning every inch of magic and unravelling the fundamentals baffled her. Even listening to her rambles over dinner left her mind feeling like soup. Now all of them were centring on chaos, even the board had the word scribbled over and over. Rio couldn't care less, but she loved her enigmatic and intellectual mind. And helping her wife relax even more so.
She smiled fondly at her wife's body, her loose t-shirt that she threw on before throwing herself into theories pulled up and curled under her breasts. Rio felt the muscles and, more importantly, the skin covering her bones. The damage Wanda had done to Agatha’s healing was slowly being reversed. Gently and as inconspicuous as possible, her hands drifted to her lover's hips and pressed them, feeling the flesh on them. The far cry from the bones she had come back to. Agatha’s body felt healthier, better.
Happier.
At least she hoped so. She understood the curse must put her under immeasurable pain but she prayed to Gaea that she was helping. Agatha’s body has at least returned to how it was when she was truly happy, Rio just had to always make sure she catches any small thing that may change that. She can't access her lover's mind often, so she will use everything to make sure all the signs of regression are caught. Agatha insisted that she would never hold anything back but Rio knew that sometimes she just wanted to be seen. So Rio was looking very hard.
Very hard.
“Rio, I'm too tired my love,” Agatha moaned into the sofa.
Rio trailed kisses across her back to reach her ear, “Not even a little pamper? You wouldn't even have to move,” she said seductively into Agatha’s ear.
Agatha placed her hand on Rio’s thigh. Neither knew whether Agatha was pushing her away or becoming her closer. Rio pulled back slightly and Agatha turned so she was laying on her back, face centimetres away from her wife’s.
“Won't have to move?”
Rio smirked and nodded. She ran her hands over her lover’s gorgeous body, smoothing over all the hard work they had put into making her healthy again. Her eyes trailed down and up admiringly and Agatha could only roll her eyes.
“Well, go on then tiger, give it your best shot.”
_____________________________
A few hours later, as the winter sun was setting, the couple were curled up on the sofa, watching just a crappy sitcom to ease their minds. Rio was leaning on Agatha’s shoulder, who was stroking her arm gently. Ebony was curled up on her Master's lap, purring away with contentment.
That was the word, after finally settling after the chaos of finding one another again, after both apologising profusely and both (quite easily in the end) accepting it. They had slowly settled back into their routine: a peaceful but crazy life. One full of love and pain, and one where chaos has tinted the two beings who kept order.
That was not to say these two weren’t full of utter chaos, but their lives had been crushed by the scarlet angel's hand and neither were better off for it. But they were back together and happy again. Sure, Agatha was always in crippling pain and her magic, the only thing that brought her any happiness other than the two resting with her, was always on the fritz and she didn’t feel alive… but Rio was there. Her heart has returned and she couldn’t be happier.
Well, she could, but she instead focused back on the cringy jokes and slapstick characters that littered the large screen hanging on the wall. Rio protested having new technology in their homes, but Agatha liked keeping up to date. And when the ‘Dick Van Dyke Show’ came out, she slowly changed her mind. And there was something sexy watching Agatha play about with circuit boards and computer parts in a grease-covered tank top and baggy pants with her glasses on the bridge of her nose.
“What are you doing, my love? I really am too tired now,” Agatha chuckled slightly. The hand that Rio was slowly snaking up her long skirt paused in fright and retracted, settling back on her lap, carefully stroking the sleeping feline's cheek.
“Nothing,” she sang, snuggling Agatha’s warm body and tucking her head into her shoulder. She inhaled deeply, smelling the coconut shampoo and lavender perfume. A moan was let out against her neck and Rio felt a slap on her arm.
“Behave, you.”
“I am, I am,” Rio conceded, settling back. She glanced back at the giant chalkboards behind her, seeing the determination of the writing increase as Agatha had moved down the board. ‘Chaos’ and ‘Cthton’ scribbled on almost every line. Rio’s neck twinged and a frown shadowed her face. How dare Wanda intrude on their lives, when she wasn’t even here-
“Sorry, have I upset you?” She heard quietly from her side. She quickly swivelled her head and saw her wife’s concerned face. Agatha very rarely talked like this, but given they had fixed their problems, she was always deathly afraid one wrong move would push Rio away again.
Rio’s heart broke and she quickly corrected herself, “No, no, no not at all. I was just… I was just looking at the board. You really are putting a lot of time into this.”
Agatha’s face lit up from worry to exhausted peacefulness. She turned too and smiled slightly at her work. “I know it is all scribbles now, but I feel like I’m onto something. I mean, the Scarlet Witch finally appears at the same time Chthon has not attacked the universe for a while. It cannot be a coincidence. So I’m just trying to use the magical radiation readings of Wundagore to see… sorry, rambling,” Agatha said sheepishly, blushing ever so slightly when seeing Rio’s blank face. She knew that everyone thought she was slightly insane, but it was mainly because no one knew what she was talking about until she was finished. ‘A magical genius’ she is called. Her IQ wasn’t extraordinarily high compared to others (still significantly above average), but her experience and knowledge of every single thing that has happened and why pushes her up the list.
“It’s ok. I just thought… what if we have a fun evening instead of hunching over a board?” Rio asked slowly, receiving a face of contempt. Before the older witch could rebuttal, Rio placed her hand over her mouth, causing a very confused look to scatter across Agatha’s face. “Just listen, nothing is happening, no one needs help, and theory-making can be put on hold. That random child doesn’t need help,” she half groaned when mentioning Billy, which caused a mumble of disapproval behind her hand, “Let’s get the coven together and do something fun!”
Agatha rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. Rio slowly removed her hand, hoping for a smile. She was gravely mistaken. “But I need to-OOF”
“No, no more. You’re thinking yourself silly. Just turn off your brain and have fun,” Rio said firmly. Once more, she slowly removed her hand and Agatha’s face was only blank annoyance.
“Well,” she huffed, “What do you have in mind? Because I am quite enjoying our sitcom marathon-“
“A bar crawl.”
Now that really did receive a look of annoyance. No, just pure confusion. “We only have one pub and one bar in New Salem. Not much of a crawl if you ask me,” Agatha muttered.
“No you idiot, we do it out there, in the human world. Yeah, it will be more annoying BUT you can drink as much as you want and complain when they can’t do the martinis you like,” Rio posed. She waited as Agatha thought through the suggestion. She seemed to mull it over, and her face spread into one of content.
“And we will bring the coven because last time-“
“Yes, I know. We woke up in our bins. HOWEVER, we did have the best tequila shots in a while.”
“True, the 30’s were fantastic. Until 39, but we just stayed home,” Agatha rambled to herself, tucking her chin down to stroke her familiar. Ebony, feeling the conflicting thoughts, jumped up onto the back of the sofa as Agatha collapsed her head onto the cushion.
Meow
“You’ll really enjoy it.”
“Oh, not you too,” she groaned, letting Ebony lightly tap her head with her tail. She brushed her head against her master’s and curled around it.
Mrow, mr.
“You need to relax and have fun.”
“I am having fun! I like drinking wine and watching TV!” Agatha said defensively.
“Yeah but you can drink worse wine in a dingy hole which is too loud and has way too many people,” Rio said, rubbing Agatha’s arm.
Agatha chuckled, “You’re really selling it, Vidal,” she said sarcastically. She let Ebony stroke her hair with her tail and sat in silence for a minute. Rio was terrified that she had missed something, had said something wrong that should have been obvious, had made Agatha feel awkward. So when a slight smile appeared on her wife’s face, her heart fluttered. “Yeah, alright.”
“Really?” Rio said in disbelief.
Agatha sighed and leaned onto Rio’s shoulder. “Yeah, why not. I know you’ll take care of me if anything happens,” she said quietly, as if she didn’t even need to say it. “When would you like to go?”
“I told everyone in 20 minutes.”
“Rioooo.”
Rio shrugged, jumping off the sofa and reaching an arm down, “I knew you would say yes! Now come on and get dressed out of that dingy t-shirt.”
Agatha gasped, “And what is wrong with my T-shirt, young lady?” she said jokingly, accepting the hand and slowly stood up.
Rio pulled it up and tossed it onto the floor, “It’s fine,” she drawled out, looking at the design, “I like Bowie too, but I much prefer seeing this,” she said, running her hands up and down Agatha’s torso, making her wife laugh that beautiful, melodic laugh.
“Well, the chances of me wearing something skin tight is very low and the chance of me wearing a crop top is absolute zero. So no chance there, gorgeous.” She murmured, planting a kiss on her love’s lips and flicking her chin up, before sauntering off to their room. Rio quickly followed like a dog chasing its owner and Ebony rolled her eyes from the top of the sofa.
_____________________________
After slightly longer than 20 minutes, they slowly made their way outside. Lilia, Jen and Alice were all leaning against their porch in slightly formal party wear. Jen was wearing a tight, gold dress and black stilettos, Alice was wearing baggy trousers and a black t-shirt with a bomber jacket over the top. Lilia was slightly more conservative in a long cardigan, a large skirt and heeled boots.
Ebony hopped along the railing and Jen lit up and scratched her behind her ears, “Hey, is your Mistress almost ready?” she cooed.
Ebony tilted towards the door, which Lilia was already stepping out of the way of. As it opened, everyone smiled at the figures who walked through.
Rio emerged, wearing a tight, black cocktail dress with a square neckline that revealed just enough, along with a chunky silver bracelet (that Agatha got her in the 90s at a Christmas market), matching earrings and black heels. Agatha, on the other hand, was wearing smooth, black trousers with a large belt synching her waist, a beautifully embroidered black shirt with purple and green stitching (a shirt she played around with when Rio was trying to match her new bracelet with something during a Christmas), that had most of the top buttons undone and was tucked in. Underneath, Rio had convinced her to wear a skin-tight turtleneck t-shirt, which she intended to be uncovered by the end of the night.
They walked out holding hands, and Rio flicked her finger and locked up the house, “So, who's ready to party!” she said excitedly, trying to lighten the atmosphere to get her still suspicious wife in the mood. It seemed to slowly work as a smirk appeared on her lips.
“Alright, alright I get the point,” she waved at Rio before grasping her elbow and walking down the stairs, “Come on ladies, I need to get pissed,” she said loudly to the group and they all smiled and walked toward the New Salem Tavern to start their little adventure, conversations starting and flowing easily between the family.
They entered the old building, with a thatched roof and Victorian infrastructure on the outside. However, the inside was an up-to-date bar, complete with coloured lights, round tables and booths, a dance floor and pool tables. 80’s music was blasting from the overhead speakers (music that most of the residents would still consider modern) and the bar was very lively. Rio pulled Agatha over to the bar, where the bartender immediately dropped her current customer upon seeing the coven leader at her institution. “Hello Mrs Harkness, and Mrs Vidal,” she added quickly so as to not offend the most famous magical duo in history, “What can I get both of you?”
Before they could respond, the man she was originally serving stood up sloppily, “Hey lady, wait your-” he began, before recognising the pair. He immediately sat down, slurring apologies into his empty glass.
Rio huffed at him and turned back to the bartender, with Agatha hiding a smirk by her side. “A French and a vodka martinis, please,” she said quickly.
“Oh fancy, nothing less for either of you,” the bartender said happily, “anything else for now?”
Before Agatha could politely say, Rio turned to the other three, “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” She shouted across the small space, making everyone’s heads turn. Agatha just pinched the bridge of her nose and apologised to the bartender who waved it off.
The rest of the coven ordered and grabbed a booth in the corner. Whilst the couple were waiting by the bar, laughing and whispering to each other, Lilia leaned toward the other two, “She seems a bit better, does she not?” They all turned once more and saw Rio make a sly comment, pointing to the man who almost caused a scene and Agatha tilted her head back and laughed joyfully. None of them have seen her this happy in a while.
“Maybe she isn't in as much pain,” Alice suggested. But Jennifer shook her head lightly.
“It can't be. The curse is always there in the background, always hurting her. I don't think even she can acclimatise to it,” she said quietly, receiving a nod from Lilia. “I think she is just happy to be home. After being stuck in fucking New Jersey for that long, I think being here has helped a lot.”
“And being back with Rio,” Alice piped up.
Lilia hummed. “Yes, I think being here has helped, but I agree with Alice. I think it is a combination of both. And not to toot our own horns but never underestimate the power of being with your coven. She spent so long without one that I think knowing people are here again really eases some of the tension.”
Jen smiled and Alice frowned, “I’m still getting used to this whole thing. Like, my mum talked about it but I never thought it would be that important. I guess I'm still too new to understand.”
Jen placed a hand on her shoulder, “That’s understandable, and never worry. The whole point is to be a family, and sometimes families fight, sometimes they love, sometimes they have group dinners once a week and sometimes they do random bar crawls for the sake of it! They mean so much to witches that you won't truly understand until you've been with one for a while. It will click and if it doesn't, we won't force you to stay. Again, you can choose your family and this is ours,” she gestured to the table and bar, “you don't need to choose us if you don't want to.”
Alice smiled sheepishly, “Don't worry, it’s not that. I was just brought up in a very human world so everything recently has been way too new. Just need time, y’know?”
They both nodded and turned to the couple wandering over, a tray engulfed in green hovering by the side of them. Rio slipped into the booth first and dragged Agatha down next to her. “Here are our martinis. Jen, your vodka cranberry,” Agatha said, with Rio floating the drinks over.
“Thank you!”
“Alice, your gin and passionfruit tonic.”
“Lovely, thanks.”
“And the most obnoxious order ever for the most pretentious witch, a Guinness.”
“Thank you, honey,” Lilia said slyly, throwing back the sarcasm.
For around an hour, they talked, laughed, gasped and gossiped, all words flowing effortlessly. Agatha led many conversations, with the coven hanging onto her every word. Lilia would often link another story in and Jen would piggyback off of that.
Alice learnt that this seemed to be the hierarchy within a conversation but Rio mainly sat. She often said small little lines to emphasise a point, pointing out how stupid or wonderful it was. But she mainly sat there, sipping her several martinis, hanging off of Agatha's arm. She never moved from her side, wrapped around Agatha’s left arm and head on her shoulder. She would stroke her lover's arm, or kiss her shoulder, but even when they went to order another round, their touch would never break. Alice found it both odd and very endearing.
After their tenth round, and the laughter got louder, they decided to try another bar. The four told Alice that they watched it be built at the time. They were the first customers in and got kicked out when Rio punched a man square in the nose for touching Agatha. Alice nodded, completely believing the tale.
Once again, they ordered their drinks and settled in a booth. Most had ordered roughly the same as the last, but Agatha decided to have a tequila shot as well as a glass of whiskey. Alice frowned as she downed the shot in one and didn't make a face, before taking a sip of her whiskey.
Agatha caught her eye and smiled, “You alright, darling?”
Alice blushed slightly at the nickname, not yet used to Agatha's natural flirt, and smiled. “Yeah… no I'm fine. Just… you're having a lot of hard liquor there. Are you sure you're alright?”
Rio huffed and turned her head into Agatha’s hair. The rest could just about her a whisper behind the wild mane before Agatha smirked ferociously. She chuckled very shortly into a fist and turned back to Alice, “Of course gorgeous. Back when I was born, people drank beer instead of water because it was more hygienic. Practically lived off of it in my early years,” she smiled into her drink
“But couldn't you just unpollute water with magic?”
Agatha froze mid-sip. “Well yes, honey. But where would the fun be in that?” This caused a frankly overly loud laugh from the other women at the table. Alice didn't fully get the joke but enjoyed being a part of a very fun (and slightly tipsy) group. Agatha sighed, “And, to be frank dear, if you lived in the 1700s as a gay witch, there wasn't much you wanted to remember by the morning. Moonshine was all of our best friends.”
“Yes, but you can down it like water,” Rio added.
“Damn right,” Agatha said proudly, lifting her drink and the rest did the same, cheering and laughing.
And that's what they kept doing, drinking lots, sharing stories and gossip and moving on to the next bar. For each building, either the older ones in the group could tell a story or Alice would know it from researching the area in her police work. Either way, it always started a new conversation.
And surprisingly everyone was doing well: Lilia had started to slur her speech slightly, Alice’s mind had become a little foggy and Jen couldn't walk in a straight line. But they were all sound of mind and happily enjoying the adventure.
Well,
Almost everyone.
Because almost everyone had magic, which dulled the effects of liquor.
Rio had promised that she would take care of the situation, so she had a lot of drinks, but not nearly as much as the rest. But what she did do was keep an eye on her wife and…
“Oops, sssorry there~” Agatha sang to the table she stumbled into. Rio clasped her arm and helped her into the booth. The others were chatting away vigorously but Rio was only looking at her slightly intoxicated lover. Whereas the rest of the group was experiencing one symptom of ‘becoming drunk’, Agatha seemed to be getting all of them. So Rio was staring up at those slightly cloudy blue eyes as Agatha was looking at… nothing, Rio would guess. “Ags, you alright?” Rio asked quietly, stroking her arm to get her attention.
Agatha whipped her head around with slightly wider eyes than Rio would have liked and smiled. “What? Oh yeahhhh, I’m great. Just looking at the pool table. I like pool.”
“I know you do sweetheart, you beat my ass every time-”
“I want to play pool.”
Before Rio could argue, she was yanked to her feet by a slightly shaky witch and led over to an empty table. Rio thanked the Goddess that it was the one nearest the wall so fewer people surrounded them. “Aggie, you sure you're alright?”
“Yeah, yeah,” she waved Rio off as she haphazardly collected all the balls into the centre, “I’m just enjoying myself. You know, Agnes only drinks white wine. I couldn't think of a worse stereotype to follow. WHITE WINE!” she shouts, flailing her hands in the air. A few people around turned slightly but Rio had never been one to care about others. But she did care about her wife, who was definitely not fully there. “It truly was a travesty. And I have not yet made up for it. So I'm doing it now, hard liquor will purge all that sin from me,” she rambled, bending over to grab the last ball. Rio had to make sure her mind didn't drift as she saw Agatha positioned over the side of the table.
She shook her head from the view and slowly walked over, “I know. And that does sound like hell-”
“No no, I know hell inside and out. This was worse than hell. STORE BOUGHT white wine whilst watching Grey's Anatomy, for the fifth time! Do you know how many fucking episodes there are of that show for her to have watched it five times!” she practically shouted, shoving an open palm at Rio’s face. When Rio didn't react, she pointed to her hand, “You see, five.”
Rio giggled and grasped Agatha’s open hand in hers. “I know, five times. Truly terrible. I'm just a little worried that you may have had too much-”
“Nahhh she's fiiinnneee,” Rio heard from behind. Suddenly a pair of slender arms grasped around her collar and it took everything not to disintegrate whoever just touched her. Agatha smiled warmly at her as Jen whispered into Rio’s ear, “Let her have this. She needs a night off.”
‘Yeah, a night off. That's what I'm having!” Agatha declared loudly before storming off around the table. “Now where the hell are the pool stabby thingys?” she asked with her hands on her hips.
Rio pierced her lips and raised her arm, “Here, my darling.”
“RIGHT! They are there, just saw them. See I'm fineee sweety. I just have no bad thoughts going through my head, which is a good thing,” she said confidently, taking one of the sticks from Rio’s desperate hand, before spinning on her heel and readying her position.
“I would have stopped at no thoughts,” Rio muttered before joining her wife. The coven sat at a closer table and watched whilst chatting about incoherent drabble.
The game started fine, Agatha was beating Rio's ass like normal. But Lilia kept on giving drinks after drinks and by the second game, she was getting… sloppy. At first, it was small little slides, her accuracy faulting. She would giggle at the mishap and shake it off. But now, “Oopsies, sorry there. Come back here!” she whispered aggressively to the floor, chasing after a ball that she popped right off of the table. After a few seconds of chasing, Rio engulfed the ball in green and slid it into her hands. Agatha turned around triumphantly, holding up the little ball like a trophy, “Got it!”
Rio smiled sheepishly, “Yes you do my love. Maybe we should-”
“Maybe I'm gonna kick your ass again,” Agatha slurred, stumbling back to the table. They were receiving a few looks but Rio just went to stand right next to Agatha and made sure she didn't A: Throw up, B: Fall over, or C: Pass out.
Rio has never seen her so wasted. Agatha could drink sailors under the tables, could go through their entire wine collection and would not even be phased. To see her slightly collapse forward onto the table to reach the next ball, with none of her usual control or poise was a sight to see. It was, Rio had to admit, absolutely adorable.
But after she knocked the ball off for the tenth time, and was struggling to speak in coherent sentences, Rio was very worried. Agatha was about to bend over to hit the next ball when her centre of mass tilted too far and she slowly fell forward. Rio was able to get behind her just in time and grabbed her waist to pull her up. “Honey, I really think we need to go home now.”
Agatha snorted and leant back into Rio’s embrace, “Maybe I don't *hick* want to go home?” she said lazily, sipping another swig from her Guinness that Rio didn't even notice was there. She turned to glare at Lilia, who just held up her hands defensively.
“She asked for it! I can't say no to our Supreme,” she said jovially, waiting for the usual lecture on how the term was ridiculous and egotistical. But instead, Agatha just fluttered her eyes and stared off into the distance. Rio tapped her on the shoulder and Agatha whipped her head around and smiled doppily when her eyes landed on her wife.
“You're beautiful.”
Rio smiled widely and wrapped her hands tighter around her waist, “Thank you Ags.”
“Why is she drinking Guinness anyway? Doesn't it offend your acquired pallet?” Jennifer shouted mockingly.
“She drinks it when we watch sports. Likes the full experience,” Rio muttered with Agatha nodding her head lazily.
“I didn't think you watched sports?” Alice perked up.
Agatha laid her arms around Rio's hips and pulled them even closer, “I love women’s volleyball, those chicks are,” she bit her lip and did an ‘ok’ sign with her left hand, before putting her head on Rio’s shoulder.
They were about to question before they saw Rio's eye twitch. Lilia giggled, and whispered just loud enough, “And that’s why they don't watch a lot of sports.” They began to giggle consipirtally before a pool ball was flung between their heads, which sent them into fits of laughter.
Rio growled from the table until she felt Agatha shuffle on her front. Rio curled around her further. She just kept wondering how in the nine hells did her wife get this drunk? She has never seen her this out of it, because even when she was on those very rare occasions, Rio would be even more out of her mind. But now… had she been spiked? No, her body rejects drugs easily. Says it was one of the bonuses of being poisoned so many times. Her magic has always helped dull the feel of alcohol in her-
Her magic.
“Oh shit, sorry Ags, I didn't realise,” she whispered onto Agatha’s scalp.
Agatha snorted and tilted her head up, “S’okay. The Red Angel is just muffling my senses. Means I can forget it all a bit easier,” she said absentmindedly.
The rage that bloomed in Rio’s heart was unfathomable. Even in their time, even after that Scarlet bitch had fucked off to wherever after dying, she's still hurting her. Still torturing her, never allowing for a break. Tonight was meant to be them two, not the three of them constantly intertwined. This was meant to be their night to relax and forget about everything and yet she was still-
“Please don't be mad at me,” she heard ever so quietly from her chest. She quickly turned to Agatha's face and saw the guilt plastered upon it. Rio’s face softened, relaxing her grip on Agaths’s shirt and looked down apologetically.
“I'm not mad at you, I'm sorry,” she whispered, kissing Agatha on the nose and receiving a fuzzy smile, “I just can’t stand seeing you in this much pain. I hoped this would help but-”
“It has helped, I can't really think of anything right now, it's kinda nice. But…”
“But what?”
Agatha looked sheepishly away from the coven and stood up straight so that she could whisper closer to her lover’s ear, “It’s really loud,” she murmured. Without barely finishing her sentence, Rio grabbed her hand and walked towards the door. The coven all jumped up and followed behind quickly, asking what was happening. But as soon as they saw Agatha’s slightly curled-up form against her wife’s, they knew something was wrong.
Lilia and Jen have only seen her like this a few times, with one mainly being when Nick left. But Alice was completely taken aback. Agatha was the leader, the confidence, the pizazz. So to see her so small against Rio’s arm was truly shocking.
Lilia jogged up towards Rio and leaned in, “Too loud?”
Rio just nodded and Lilia smiled sympathetically. “She does seem a bit out of it, it would make sense for it to be affecting her more, especially since humans are so goddamn annoying.”
At that exclamation, a drink was shattered in the background everyone cheered, making Agatha flinch against her side. Rio wrapped her arm further around her form and kissed her head, soothing the stumbling witch.
They exited the bar and immediately Agatha seemed to feel better. She straightened her spine and seemed to get back her sparkle, even with a slight stumble in her step. She looked apologetically to the group as they all walked beside one another, “I’m sss- *hick* sorry I ruined such a wonderful evening,” she slurred. Everyone else, who weren't fairing much better, all mumbled their own thanks and apologies. The only sober one wrapped her arm around the Supreme’s waist and tucked her head into her neck, kissing the flushed skin.
Agatha swung their hands that were clasped and kissed the top of her wife’s head as they all chatted on the way back. They all did make sure to keep checking in on Agatha, knowing a bit of fresh air before settling down would benefit her. None have ever seen her this wasted and, frankly, it was slightly frightening.
Their leader was a woman of poise, elegance, and power. And they all found it cute how she gets easily embarrassed whenever something small goes wrong, but they felt her ego couldn't take another hit. So they made a secret pact: they would never bring up this night again.
_____________________________
Once they had all said their goodbyes after hitting the New Salem perimeter, they all carefully walked back to their houses. Each woman turned back as they walked to make sure Agatha was safe, but they all knew she was. Rio had a firm grasp around her floundering form and was listening adamantly to every mumble out of Agatha’s mouth. Rio always had her in the very rare moments Agatha needed a shoulder to lean on.
The couple ascended the stairs carefully and both heard a small meow from the other side of the door. Rio unlocked it with a whisk of her hand and saw Ebony sitting there patiently.
“Hello, my gorgeous!” Agatha beamed. She went to reach down but almost fell face-first.
Rio swiftly grabbed her waist and pulled her upright, “I don't think we should tilt our centre of mass for now, honey,” Rio joked slightly, guiding them both into their home.
Agatha leaned against the wall and beckoned Ebony over. Rio quickly grabbed an ice-cold glass of water for her wife but frowned when Ebony didn't go to Agatha.
“Ebs, what’s wrong?” Agatha questioned, slightly hurt by the lack of movement. Until Ebony slowly stood up and wobbled. She waddled and shook as she slowly made her way over to her Mistress. Agatha awed loudly and spread her arms open to welcome her familiar with Rio laughing by the side of her.
“Has Agatha’s partying affected your movement too?” Rio cooed, kissing her lover's cheek.
“Hey, I haven't partied in decades! Not since we went to Elton John’s after-the-tour party. Jesus, that party was so stupidly over the top. Too much glitter. It gets everywhere,” she groaned.
“It really did,” Rio grimaced, remembering how many showers it took to get it all out of her vagi-
“Well, I had a lot of fun. Now we have the after-party to do,” Agatha said flirtatiously. Or she thought she was, but the words blended together so much that Rio just thought of how cute she was right now, eyes unfocused and hands sloppy. Ebony curled around Agatha’s neck to free her hands as they travelled up and down her gorgeous wife’s body, smoothing over her figure that was synched in the gorgeous black dress.
Rio chuckled and grabbed those hands, leading them slowly upstairs. There is one thing Rio has learnt about Agatha being tipsy over the years, and it was that she gets very, very horny.
“Come on darling let’s get you out of those clothes and into bed,” Rio said kindly, trying to hide how Agatha’s hands drifting over her body was also driving her nuts, her skin flushing with arousal.
Agatha chuckled, “Couldn’t have said it better myself, gorgeous girl.”
Uh oh.
Rio felt a throbbing in a place that really can't throb right now. Agatha was out of her mind, it wasn't fair. She wouldn't do it with Agnes, she wouldn't do it now. She could barely speak, never mind make a conscious decision. So when Agatha’s hand trailed down, closer to the throbbing place between her thighs, breath wetting her neck and body pressed against her back, Rio had to rip herself from the moment.
Against all instinct and desire, she spun in her lover’s hands and grabbed them in hers, glass floating by their heads. “Honey, you are out of your mind-”
“Yeah for you,” she mumbled, tracing a finger across Rio’s cleavage that was showing above the neckline. Rio specifically wore the dress to drive Agatha crazy, but now that decision was coming back to kick her. She leads them towards their bedroom again, carefully pulling her up the stairs.
Agatha looked at her through her eyelashes, giggling and reaching out to grab at her wife constantly. Rio sighed, desperately wanting to connect the action, but she promised Agatha she would be responsible. At least it made Agatha walk faster.
They went through the doorway and Agatha went to tackle Rio onto the mattress. Whenever Rio got pissed, Agatha would carry her into the room and tuck her into bed. Rio swore this was karma for every time Agatha has had to care for her after a night of Rio swearing ‘I can drink just as much as you, love’. So when she dived down, Rio swished to the side and Agatha landed safely with a muffled ‘oof’, causing Rio to laugh.
Agatha turned and Ebony jumped up next to her to lay on the pillows. She pouted at Rio and spread her arms with a grabbing motion. Her wife just rolled her eyes and plodded over. She let Agatha wrap her in one of her bear hugs and cringed when she couldn't smell the familiar lavender smell due to how strong the alcohol was. Agatha sighed in contentment and they stayed like this for a few minutes, with Ebony purring at her side.
After what felt like an eternity in her arms, Rio felt a shuffle and a groan, “Okay times up. Take off our clothes.”
“Agatha, no-”
“Nooo take off your clothes. I want to eat something delicious and I’m not talking about melted ice.”
“You drink water, Aggie,” Rio hummed, amused by her antics.
She slowly stood up and Agatha clawed after her. “Don’t nitpick. Now take off this gorgeous dress and show me what I want,” she grinned, pulling up the bottom of her cocktail dress.
Rio laughed hysterically, “No Ags! You’re not in your right mind-”
“I see my beautiful wife, I want to fuck my beautiful wife. What's so ridi- ridiculous about that?” Rio wouldn't have argued if Agatha’s speech wasn't so slurred and her actions didn’t look like her limbs were alien to her mind.
“My love,” she said gently, grabbing her arms and holding them close to her chest, “You have had too much. And that isn't your fault, but your magic hasn't been able to take the brunt of it so it has really messed with your mind. We can have sex in the morning but I’m trying to take care of you right now.”
“But-”
“No but’s missy. Now stand up so I can take your clothes off- DON’T,” Rio warned when a grin slipped onto Agatha’s sleepy face. The sober witch yanked up the very not sober one and carefully took off each item. She kept her pants on but took her bra off. Rio’s thumb accidentally brushed her nipple and she groaned in pleasure. Rio smirked but shook herself out of it.
“Sorry, I didn't mean-”
“You did you pervert. Now do it again,” Agatha said teasingly, pressing her front against Rio’s.
Rio was really proving that she was one of the most powerful beings in the universe with how much she was restraining herself from just grabbing Agatha’s gorgeous breasts that were pressing against her own.
No, no. She promised sober Agatha she would take care of her. This is what that meant. Tomorrow morning they can do everything and anything all day and Rio was already unable to wait. But she has to, so she will.
“Shirt of dress?” Rio asked, in reference to what Agatha wanted for bed.
“Nothing, just you.”
“Think about it like this: tomorrow morning, we can both fuck each other senseless as soon as we wake up. Would you rather pull a dress over my head or slowly unbutton a shirt.”
“Shirt.”
“Well there we go, easy decision,” Rio giggled, summoning two nightshirts for each of them. Rio wasn't going to risk Agatha seeing her naked because it would be over (for both of them) so she flicked her wrist and swapped the outfits. To say Agatha was a little disappointed was an understatement.
Before any more complaining, Rio gently pushed Agatha onto the bed and jumped over her to her side. Ebony repositioned herself in between their bodies to enjoy the warmth and anchor Agatha to the bed. Rio faced her wife and held her hip down.
Agatha jokingly struggled underneath the covers but eventually conceded, looking lovingly at her wife. “I’m being so needy.”
“You're not needy my love. This is the first time in a while you have let yourself go. Never punish yourself for having fun. And I'll never punish you for wanting to have sex, in fact, it's the highest compliment.”
“Mmm I know I just,” Agatha mumbled into the pillow, turning slightly away from her wife to hide her face, “I’m sorry. I felt myself get more and more… loopy but I just-” she paused. Rio heard a sniffle into the pillow and smiled, placing a hand on Agatha’s back and pulling her closer, “I’m always in control of everything. Which I love. But it's just so tiring having to deal with eevverrrryyy problem in the world. With that AND being tortured for maybe eternity, which I feel some people are forgetting, I just wanted to not think. Like, at all. Have an excuse to not have to deal with everyone’s shit, y’know.”
Rio smiled solemnly. “Yes, I know. And I'm sorry that you've had to do that. I'll make sure to take more-”
“No no,” Agatha waved lazily in front of Rio’s face. She smiled at those tired blue eyes scrunched up, trying to think of how to phrase what she wanted to say. “The problem is you shouldn't have to. Like, people should just go ‘Oh she's suffering the greatest pain a witch can feel and would make them kill themselves within minutes? Maybe we'll leave her alone!’ Like how hard is it!” she groaned, curling into Rio’s chest. “I just needed to forget about everything, just for one night. Which I seemed to have succeeded in, so thank you.”
Rio giggled, “You’re very welcome. And I understand. You've been saying it for centuries. I'll make sure to pick up more small jobs but I get why you needed this and I'm so sorry,” she cooed, rubbing circles into Agatha’s back. She seemed to relax against her front and hum into her chest, just like Ebony does to her.
“Thank you for taking care of me, my love.”
“Never thank me for that. It is my honour to be able to because it means you trust me enough to lean on me. And that is the greatest gift you can give.”
“Yeah it is,” Agatha murmured cheekily into her chest, kissing her neck softly. She felt fingertips press against her chest, “I know, I know. Those were ‘thank you’ kisses.”
“Of course they were.”
They snuggled close and held each other tight, with Rio soothing Agatha’s very drunk body. The tired witch’s breathing settled and Rio finally sunk into the mattress, exhausted. She can't even imagine how Agatha does this, being the ‘parent’ in every situation. It has definitely given her a new and fresh perspective.
She stroked her curly hair, twirling some of the grey streaks around her fingers. Finally, after a few minutes, she leaned towards her ear and whispered, “Goodnight, my love.”
Agatha was already fast asleep. Rio just smiled and snuggled together, Ebony lightly snoring between them.