Chapter 5
September 3, 2019
Tony stopped in to grab his mail. Which meant he pretty much ignored his actual mailbox and went straight for the milk crate sitting in the corner, squatting to flip through it. "Weather Witch Weekly, Wired, Science and Technology, Bitch'n Stitch Witch, Kitchen Witchin', Better Homes and Gardens, Cosmo, Séance. Oh, hey, they included my article in Times Ahead, cool. And where is it… Ah. Here it is." He kissed the cover of All Things Magic. "They're all here!"
"You've got a lot of magazines there."
"Ah!" Tony jumped, causing him to lose his balance and topple off his heels, smacking his head into the bottom of the mail boxes. "God and Goddess, Small, Pale, and Terrifying. Give a guy a warning or I'll have a heart attack."
The guy smiled. "Sorry. I guess you didn't see me come in." He held out his hand to help him up. "I'm Peter, apartment 33."
Tony used his help to stand, then rubbed his head. "Tony, fourth floor."
"The entire fourth floor?"
"Yeah." Tony looked at him. Thirty three, thirty three. That was… Potions..
Peter smiled at him. "I've been here a few months now, and I don't remember ever meeting you. Of course. I've forgotten a lot of things since moving in here. Sometimes I think I should go to see a doctor about it."
***
January 5, 2014
Tony had worked for months to achieve his goals. And now, Andrei in 32 was talking about moving. There was no telling how long he'd stay, so Tony had to get this figured out. There was a selection of random knick-knacks in front of him, most of them absolutely horrendous to look at. But he needed a way to keep them separate from his own lovely knick-knacks, so ugly they were.
There was a monkey music box, a vulgar statue, a crocheted titty frog, a taxidermied squirrel, as well as a ton of other things. Each of them had already been spelled with a general 'Ignore Me', ready to be tuned to the person he needed to ignore it and the door they needed to never touch. Now, he was working on the boxes. They needed to have an 'Attention, please!' on them, strong enough that, working with the 'No One Special' he'd be wearing, would guarantee no one remembered who had even given them the box. Once they were spelled, he loaded them. A bottle of wine, a tin of cookies carefully spelled to keep fresh, and a random knick-knack. He was ready.
***
Tony blinked. "Nah, I'm sure you're fine. Sometimes it just takes a while to adjust to a new place, you know." He smiled and patted Peter on the shoulder. "You don't need to see a doctor."
Peter nodded. "You're probably right." He smiled and then waved a bit. "Well, I'll see you around, Tony." He left the mail room, heading for the stairs.
"More than you know, kid." Tony ran his fingers over his eyes before grabbing his hefty box and following.