Chapter 1
Stephen awoke to the sound of a familiar snuffling at the end of the bed slowly creeping towards him, cracking his eyes against the faint sunlight seeping in through the curtains he groaned and reached a shaking and scarred hand towards the Bassett Hound on the other side of the mattress. Bats patiently waited for his human to take his morning medication from his bedside table before flopping onto his chest with a huff expecting sleepy head scratches. Stephen chuckled deeply and let himself relax all while scritching Bats in that one spot on his head that he loves.
“Yes I know, I’m such a cruel man going to sleep and not giving you the affection you deserve. I’m sure people would make a charity for you, how dare I not feed you for a whole-” He glanced over at the beaten alarm clock ticking away on his dresser. “A whole 5 hours! I truly am sorry your majesty, how will I ever make it up to you?!”
This last question was punctuated with a dramatic arm over his face and he could feel Bats’ ears brush the skin on his forearm as he shuffled over to lick at the hand covering Stephen’s face. Batting the affectionate canine and his breath away from his face he swung his feet over the edge of the bed to settle on the freezing cold floor of his apartment.
With his loyal companion excitedly leading the way Stephen padded over to his kitchen, refilled Bats’ water and food bowls and started watering the plants crammed on every available surface that wasn’t already taken up with stacks of books while the kettle boiled in the background.
Showered, tea in hand, and serenaded by the sweet tones of Nina Simone crooning from the battered record player in the corner of his living room, the witch sat crosslegged on the small balcony outside of his window and began his morning ritual. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, he grounded himself before starting his daily meditation surrounded by the ambient sounds of New York and the smell of Jasmine incense wafting from his altar on his left.
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The bell above the door jangled far too cheerily for 10am as Stephen and Bats strode into Kamar-Taj, the dim light shining through the windows to the garden outlined the interior as well as Stephen’s only source of income and his pride and joy. Inhaling deeply he could smell the mingled scents of magical herbs and books that filled the shelves of his shop as well as an underlying scent of...subway? Ah, Wong gave up on that no-carb diet then. The man himself rounded the corner from the kitchen munching on a sandwich with one hand and clutching a stack of books in the other, he looked at his boss with a raised eyebrow and then turned pointedly to the grandfather clock at the back of the shop that read 10:05. Stephen smirked and said as dryly as he could
“Yes, yes, thank you dad I’m well aware of the time. You’ve been swamped in here i’m sure.”
Wong’s mouth curved upwards very slightly, if you didn’t know him well he would look as though his expression was stony but Stephen knew that Wong just wasn’t very good with either people or what his face was doing, in that they are one and the same.
The atmosphere was quickly cut through when Bats -noticing edible food left mostly unguarded- excitedly barked and ran full pelt towards the sandwich in Wong’s hand, his ears flapping in his mad dash. Wong’s face instantly turned to panic as he held his sub over his head and leapt spryly onto the ratty deskchair next the to register,
“No way, not again! Stephen? Stephen!”
Shredded lettuce rained down on them both from the half-eaten sandwich as Wong’s balance was tested to try and keep Bats away from his beloved carbs. Used to the shenanigans of his two employees, Stephen hid the small smile on his face at their competition by turning around to light a few candles and herb burners around the store and ignoring the cries of mild distress and excited barks in response from behind him.
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Kamar-Taj -though non-descript with no signs on the door or building- attracted those who practised the ancient art of witchcraft through it’s unmarked door located in an out-of-the-way alley, almost like a magical speakeasy. Stephen and Wong had their fair share of regular customers and friends trickle in throughout the day to share tea and discuss the best techniques and recommendations for their spellwork. It was around 3pm, just as Stephen was sorting the herbs that had finally finished drying into their respective jars on the shelves, that they had some new customers timidly creep into his shop. While a few of the gothed up teens seemed wary of the 30 year old man in black skinny jeans and long black cardigan, most unconsciously tucked their hair behind their ears or quickly adjusted clothing that they perceived to be out of place. Ugh. He could see their heart eyes from here. They must have found the instagram page he slaved over in the evenings and are jumping at the chance to meet ‘a real life gay witch’, he was unfortunately becoming quite the icon in the witch instagram community even though he only wanted to promote his shop to those who would harness his materials properly. One of the teens however with black hair tucked into a beanie and big black boots was set up upon by Bats who tried to drown her in drool, Stephen decided he could trust her at least, Bats was a good judge of character.
He set the dried chamomile jar he was holding on it’s labelled place on the shelf and used the opportunity to draw in a deep breath through his nose as he heard the teens disperse to the various shelves that caught their interest, apart from the girl still being lavished with Bats’ aggressive affection he noted over his shoulder. She looked up and noticed him glancing at her, brushing Bats hair off of herself she straightened from where she had been playing with him.
“What’s his name? Does that star on his collar mean that he’s a demon dog?”
Stephen chuckled and gestured to Bats to leave her alone, he wandered off out of sight, no doubt to pester Wong some more as that seemed to be his favourite pasttime.
“His name is Bats, a bit stereotypical I know but I couldn’t help myself. That star is called a pentagram and is a charm of protection, he does always seem to get himself mixed up in everyone’s business though.” Stephen smiled as right on cue he could hear Wong’s muffled noises of indignation as Bats presumably got right in the way of whatever his assistant was doing. The girl hid a chuckle behind her hand. She looked at him and seemed to be debating something in her head, it was a good few moments of silence before she finally spoke.
“Do you have any spells for beginners? Or like starter kits? That’s probably not a thing. What about ‘Witchcraft for dummy’ books? Umm”She turned slightly pink and looked abashedly at her feet in embarassment. When she looked up however Stephen was gone, busy a few feet away looking through a large bookcase, she looked around lost for a little while before he returned, his arms laden with heavy tomes. He thrust two towards her while staggering slightly, scarred hands shaking under the weight of the sheer amount of paper he was clutching,
“Okay so these two are basics of the history of witchcraft and magic, where it came from, how it developed, a bit on the different types of people that practised it.” Three slightly newer books shakily joined the two she was already holding, she glanced at the very visible scars on his hands before looking away quickly and clearing her throat slightly, luckily he was used to people being shocked by his damaged hands and continued as though he hadn’t seen anything. “These are basic primers on magic itself and the bones of spellwork as well as the various paths and options some people live by.” He added another three to the stack that was reaching her chin at this point, “These are basic spells and recipes that you could modify or use for your own work-” He paused noting her struggling to hold all of the knowledge that he was placing on her frail arms.He took the stack from her and walked over to the front desk where he set them down with a heavy thump.
“Okay new plan. How about I don’t sell these to you. How about you choose two, read them, and bring them back, take two more, and so on and so forth.” He lowered his voice, “Although if Wong asks, you’re buying these, he gets on my ass about using this place like a library.”
“That’s very...trusting, how do you know I’ll bring them back?”
“My dog likes you, that good enough for me” Stephen simply said. He smiled warmly at her and left her to the colossal stack of books on the front desk to choose from. “Oh I’m Stephen by the way, come back whenever you need something new to read or have any questions.”
“Zelma”
Wong’s husky voice piped up from the other end of the shop near the crystal skulls warning someone to put something down, that can’t be good.
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“Please darling you must, you can’t stagnate here any longer, it’s been so long since we went out together, I’m afraid I have to insist.”
The woman in front of Stephen sipped her blood red wine delicately from the plush armchair that she made look like a throne, the worn purple suede of the armchair matching the deep red dress she was wearing as she looked on at the man in front of her with his entire torso inside of a massive cauldron scrubbing it down. Pausing in his scrubbing to wipe the sweat from his brow Stephen straightened to look at her with an eyebrow raised sardonically. “You must insist Wanda? As if you don’t have other friends and men laying themselves at your feet to accompany you rather than one very poor lonely queer man. What aren’t you telling me?”
She sighed heavily and put her wine glass down on the table in order to tent her fingers to gaze at him with only a slight hint of pleading on her face, though she’d deny it if you asked. “Okay so maybe Vision is going to be there.”
“You’re still going after this guy? Gods Wanda you don’t even know his name, just that -quite frankly- fucking awful moniker you gave him, what if he’s a serial killer? Or some sort of crime lord?”
Ignoring that he had even said anything she continued in an excited tone. “Thor and his brother will be there too! You like those guys right? I think Loki is even performing tonight!” Stephen groaned and roughly scrubbed at his face, sending his goatee spiking up in places.
“You’re going to go anyway aren’t you.”
Wanda smiled brightly. “Yep! And what would a poor woman like myself do if I were attacked in the streets.” She melodramatically swept her arm over her head like some swooning maiden from a fairytale, while Stephen snorted harshly and held up two fingers, ticking them off as he listed,
“Okay okay. One, I’ve seen you take down men twice your size for groping you on the dancefloor, and two, what the fuck am I supposed to do, if i punch someone i’m more likely to come away injured than they are.”
Wanda kept the act up, dramatically laying across the armchair letting her long dark hair hang over her face. That is until a balled up sock comes flying from Stephen’s corner of the room and lands directly over her face, his deep laughter echoing around the empty shop as she shrieks and splutters.
“Fine fine you foul temptress just stop with the act, Wong is dramatic enough around here without you tainting the place with your so-called innocence. I assume you’re going to criticise what I’m wearing no matter what I choose until you’re happy so shall we just cut to the chase and go through my wardrobe together?”
“You would be correct darling” The dark beauty in her classic red dress enthusiastically jumped up and grabbed Stephen’s forearm, dragging him -one bare foot and all- out of the shop and towards his apartment, only pausing to let him lock up and call Bats over. He’s going to regret this, he knows he is.