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Nathaniel Wesninski could shift his shape since he was three years old. His father hadn't been pleased, not that anything the boy did pleased his father. By the age of four he had learned to control it. Sharp knives were great motivators. When he was five he was enrolled into exy little league. Nathaniel fell instantly in love with the sport. Couldn't wait to go to practices or games. When he turned eight he asked his mother what the tugging in his belly button meant. She told him he was a familiar to a witch, then told him to never mention it again. At ten his mother ran with him in the night and told him he had to be someone else; and to forget about exy.Becoming someone else was a lot easier than forgetting about exy. The ten year old boy that ran with his mother hated Nathaniel Wesninski and everything that went with that name. But exy? That was impossible to forget. It was everywhere. It was still a new game but had gained rapid popularity in America. It now rivaled football as the most watched sport.No matter what name he went by he'd always felt the pull of his witch. Ever since he found out what his shapeshifting abilities meant he has known in what general direction he could find his witch. He never knew more than that, his abilities were as forbidden as exy had become.So the night Millport High’s exy team played its last game of the season Neil Josten would have thought and wondered, looking back later, that he should have felt his witch there, so close by. He hadn't.Not when the game began. Not with the adrenaline rushing through his veins. Not when he was being slammed against the Plexiglas walls of the makeshift exy court by the opposing team's backliners. Maybe he didn't feel that his witch was there because he had learned to ignore the tug years ago. Besides, it had only ever given him a sense of direction, not distance.But then he ran from David Wymack and his offer to join the Foxes and straight into a racquet.It was so much more than a racquet that hit him. What had only been a tug before - Neil had always imagine a rope around his wrist and someone far away tugging on it - now it felt like he had been shot, along with that racquet to the gut. Both sensations he was familiar with. This though felt so much different than the time the bullet missed the kevlar and buried itself near his collarbone. This felt like it was burying itself into his heart and was so much more overwhelming than being shot with a bullet, or whacked in the stomack with a exy racquet. It took a split second for Neil to realize that the constant tug was gone. That he had met his witch. That the bond to his witch was forming.Neil's eyes, briefly, met those of his witch, who still held the racquet, and fainted. The bond that was solidifying between witch and familiar was simply too much for Neil's overwhelmed mind and body. Someone swore, “What the hell?!” Which went ignored.Andrew Minyard was too busy staring down at his familiar. Until that moment he had no idea that somewhere in all the world that he might have a familiar. Witches didn't get any convenient signs to tell them that they were connected to another human being, not until the bond began to form. No, Andrew got to find out he had a familiar how he found out that he was a witch. How he found out that he had a twin. By accident.The connection forming between him and the high school striker on the floor was real. Andrew could feel it; even through the court ordered high. And wasn’t that a feat in of itself? The medication he was on dulled everything . But the bond forming between him and the dark haired boy unconscious on the locker room floor? That Andrew could feel.Andrew had to look at his wrists to make sure that he truly wasn’t actually cuffed or restrained. It only felt like he was. There was a part of him that was trying to point out that he should be freaking out about that, but the bond...it didn’t feel...bad, aweful, terrible, and a thousand other negative synonyms...like every other time in his life that Andrew had been restrained.This...this felt like the opposite of that. The bond he felt forming...it felt good. And nothing in Andrew’s life was what he could call good.What was he supposed to do with a bond to another human being? It wasn’t like Andrew could even access his magic. Andrew didn’t want anyone tied to him, not without a fully conscious decision on both parties. By the way the kid had come running into the locker room, away from the court and Coach Wymack, it was pretty obvious, at least to Andrew, that Neil Josten didn’t want what they were offering. So a bond would have been out of the question. Not that either of them got a choice in the matter; when a witch and their familiar met for the first time the bond formed. Just like this one was doing, it was forming whether either of them wanted it or not.But the bond was there and there was nothing him or his new familiar could do about it.So it was new instincts that had him standing protectively over his familiar as the bond solidified enough so that his familiar might regain consciousness.“Stay back, Coach,” Andrew told Wymack when the older man tried to come near to see if the boy was alright. The goalie still had the borrowed racquet in hand; held like he was going to defend the goal from an opposing team. As if he hadn't just used it to stop the striker from running.Wymack did the smart thing. He put his hands up about shoulder height and took a step back.It was Kevin that asked, “What happened, Andrew? A hit to the stomach doesn't knock anyone out.”“No, it doesn't,” Andrew readily agreed with a grin. “But he wasn't only hit with a racquet.” Wymack narrowed his eyes at his goalie. “What was he hit with?”Andrew's grin grew wider. What he wanted to do was frown. “A witch's bond.”“He's a familiar,” Wymack said it like he was putting pieces of a puzzle together. “Your familiar.”It wasn't a question, but Andrew answered anyway. “Yep. And he's coming with us back to the hotel.” He put down the racquet and began reaching for the unconscious familiar.“Now wait just a moment -” The high school exy coach started to protest.Andrew bared his teeth. “He's my familiar and the bond's not done forming. Do you really want to risk damaging it? It'll hurt him more than it does me.” He bent and lifted Josten off the locker room floor. The boy didn't weigh nearly enough to give him trouble; even if he didn't bench press nearly double the boy's weight. In fact Josten didn't weigh nearly enough at all. When he had the familiar comfortable in his arms, for once not feeling the need to shudder inwardly at unfamiliar contact, Andrew told the room, “I, for one, rather not finish the bond here. Kevin, be a dear, and grab his bag.” As Kevin Day followed Andrew Minyard out of the locker room Coach Hernandez told Coach Wymack, “Neil still has to graduate high school.” “About that...” David Wymack eyed his goalie as he effortlessly carried the unconscious striker. “Is there any chance that he can finish online?”David, himself, was never going to be strong enough in magic to have a familiar. But he knew enough about bonds with familiars that he wasn't going to be able to separate a witch from his newly bonded. At all. And there was no way on this side of Hell was David going to let Andrew Minyard, and thus Kevin Day, stay in Millport, Arizona unsupervised. And David couldn't stay here to watch them. So that meant one thing. Four people would be flying back to Palmetto, South Carolina, instead of three.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
To say that Neil had fainted in the locker room wasn't entirely true. To faint is to lose consciousness. Neil hadn't lost consciousness so much as become disconnected with his surroundings. The familiar had collapsed due to the overwhelming nature of the bond that was forming. His awareness was then forced inward. Where his mind was, figuratively, exploding.
It should have hurt, or he thought it should. Neil felt like he was being torn apart. Like someone was taking his soul and stretching and pulling and folding it like taffy. That
sounded
like it should hurt. But it didn't. His soul was being stretched and stretched, and folded around Andrew’s, until their souls were one long rope; one that to look at at a distance you couldn’t tell one strand from the other, but up close the two souls were an intricate braid.
Andrew Minyard, his soul told him. As soon as their souls were intertwined together Neil felt that Andrew was meant to be there. Almost as if Andrew was designed to be there. Like the two of them should have always been woven together instead of seperated, like they had been until now.
Neil didn’t know anything about the bond shared between a familiar and a their witch, or about being a familiar for that matter -
even though he was one
- but he thought he would feel different if he ever bonded with his witch. He thought he would
be
different somehow. For the most part Neil was exactly as he was before he ran into the locker room and straight into the exy racquet. Other than the bruise across his stomach he was sure as there now, of course.
But there was that bond between him and Andrew, an invisible rope that tied the familiar to the witch. With the curiosity of any cat Neil just had to prod at it.
He didn’t much like what he found though. It was a cocktail of chemicals, like a slimy force field. Every negative emotion slid right off before it could reach the proper destination. Sadly, the positive ones were the same way.
Neil reached out to it with his senses, he slid along the barrier like grease or oil on skin. It felt just as bad too. Before he could explore further he was being pushed away.
“None of that, little kitten. That's not for you.”
Just like that Neil was pulled back to awareness. With Andrew's mental voice echoing softly in his mind. He opened his eyes and Neil would have sworn if he could have. He was curled in a lap. As a cat. At some point he had shifted into his animal form. Neil hadn't done a shapeshift outside of his own control since he was a small child. For some reason other than the initial reaction he couldn't find it in himself to be angry. It felt soooo
good
to be next to his witch. Neil was even purring! He’d
never
purred before! He wanted to stop, but couldn't.
A sigh came from above Neil and a hand landed softly on his back. Neil froze. Someone tsk'd and the hand began to move gently. Neil was being petted. He didn't know how to handle that. Of course, his feline side did. Neil's back arched into the touch and he began purring. Again!
“Of course, I would get a cat that doesn't know how to cat.” The owner of the voice giggled.
Someone else snorted.
Neil froze for a fraction of a second before whipping his head in the direction of the new voice. Only to find Kevin freaking Day drinking vodka from his seat on a bed across from Neil. And Andrew. Because Neil was in Andrew's lap. It was Andrew that was petting him. And it was a hotel room that Neil was in.
What does a runner do when in they find themselves in a situation they rather not be in? They run.
Neil tried. But Andrew's reflexes were simply faster.
Before Neil could make it completely off the goalie's lap Andrew had the familiar in a gentle, but firm, grip. “Nuh-uh, furball. You're stuck with me now, like a magnet.” Andrew snickered, then sighed and said, “I suppose that means I need to get used to having fur on everything.”
Kevin groaned. “Wonderful.”
Neil hissed, but quieted down when Andrew began petting him. It was
not
a reaction he liked.
Andrew eyed the cat in his lap. A slim, dark gray cat with blue eyes. An errant thought decided the color of the fur was suitable to someone trying to hide in the shadows.
The effect he was having on his familiar was… interesting… The cat liked the attention, but didn't like liking the attention, or rather the way he was reacting to it. The cat hadn't liked that he had purred. Or, now, that he was relaxing into Andrew's touch. Andrew thought it was more than that though. More like the familiar, Neil, didn't know how to handle the reactions. The emotions. The
safety
that Andrew's lap had brought Neil when he regained consciousness.
Neil
didn't know what to do with the soft touches or good feelings. It was the
cat
that was reacting positively to Andrew.
Huh
. Andrew wanted to think on that more, but right then wasn’t the time to figure it out. He was actually tired and wanted to sleep. But first he had to have a certain conversation with his familiar, who had a habit of running. Fun.
“Neil,” Andrew poked the cat in a rib. Not hard, but not gently. The cat looked up at him. Andrew could feel some of Neil’s irritation through the bond. Which Andrew ignored. “We need to talk.” One of Neil’s ears twitched and Andrew flicked it with a finger. “Human to human.”
The cat shrugged and moved slowly off Andrew's lap. In such a way that it was obvious that he was moving at that speed on purpose. Andrew rolled his eyes.
Andrew had no idea what happened to Neil’s clothes when he shapeshifted, but he was wearing them when he turned back into a human. They hadn't fallen off Neil's body when he randomly turned into a cat either. Whatever familiar brand of magic it was it was convenient to say the least. Neil didn't have to get undressed or redressed to shapeshift.
Once Neil was back to being a real boy again -
there was an amusing thought
- he looked around for a place to sit.
Andrew sat on one bed and Kevin on the other. There was an uncomfortable looking chair nearby. Neil sat there. There was discomfort in the bond, but not because of the chair. There was something about the way he sat, and something in the bond that Andrew would have called fidgety, but Neil didn’t so much as twitch. If Andrew had to put words to it, it was as if Neil was about to leap from the chair to an exit at any minute. Andrew idly wondered if Neil in human form even knew how to relax. Not that it was any of his concern.
When Andrew was certain that Neil wasn’t going to bolt out the door, but actually sit and listen Andrew said, “Coach Wymack has made arrangements for you to come with us to South Carolina.”
Neil opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again, there was no point in arguing. Neil
had
to go to South Carolina with Andrew, didn’t he? He truly knew nothing about a bond between a familiar and their witch but he didn’t think the bond would let them be
that
far apart.
Neil slumped in the chair. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
Andrew shook his head. “No. The bond is too new.”
“Not that you two will ever be that far away from each other,” Kevin put in.
Both Neil and Andrew turned to look at Kevin. Kevin shrugged at their unvoiced question. “I know something about the bond works.” As if that explained it all. For Andrew it was enough. But Neil could read Kevin well enough that there was more to it than that.
Then Neil remembered something he had nearly forgotten, partially because it wasn’t public knowledge, Kevin was a witch.
In fact, there was quite a bit of speculation that Kevin was a familiar.
Riko’s
familiar. An easy assumption to make one was never seen without the other. Not that Kevin ever confirmed or denied any of it. When the topic came up he would deflect neatly by saying it had nothing to do with exy, and wasn’t that what they were supposed to be talking about?
But Neil remembered. He remembered when he had been ten years old and Kevin and Riko had been twelve, and how Kevin made his skin tingle one way, and how Riko made it tingle another. Without really knowing how Neil had realized that Kevin could do magic and that Riko was somehow like Neil. Even though, the whole time Neil had spent with the two older boys Kevin never once used that magic nor had Riko shapeshifted. Nor had either of the boys had ever spoken of it, not in Neil’s hearing. Not that Neil had revealed himself either; his mother had forbidden the moment Neil had learned to control the shift.
Come to think of it,
Neil was struck by a sudden thought,
Riko should have also known that Neil was also a familiar.
Though he had not once called Neil out on it. In fact all that Riko had ever done was sneer and point out what Neil was doing wrong. Neil hadn’t taken it to heart at the time. Maybe Neil had been full of himself, but back then he had been the best backliner on his little league team, according to his coach at least.
Neil, neither now or then, had never been sure if that tattle-tale tingle extended to witches, if they had the ability to discern witches and familiars from everyone else like Neil could. If witches could at least Kevin couldn’t recognize Neil in his animal form.
“Guess you’re not going anywhere, huh, kitten?” Andrew told Neil with a manic grin.
Neil’s heart sped up as the thought finally sank in. He
couldn’t run
even if wanted to. He no longer had a reason not to sign Wymack’s contract.
Then, another thought struck Neil. It hit him like a bolt of lightning; Neil flinched at the thought. Andrew’s fate was now tied to his. What would happen to the witch when their familiar died? What would happen to Neil when his father’s men caught up with him?
Neil’s mother would be furious for letting himself get distracted with exy and wanting to finish high school! If she had still been alive his mother would have had a good reason to beat him senseless. It was only a matter of time before his father’s people caught up to him. They almost had him back in Seattle, his mother’s death was proof of that. Even if all that he had read about Andrew Minyard was true Neil wouldn’t wish him at his father’s mercy. Nathan Wesninski had none.
If
Neil hadn’t been bound to anyone, no, more than that, if he had
never had that tug
telling him that he had a witch somewhere
maybe
he could have allowed himself to go to Palmetto and play for the Foxes, no matter how briefly.
Only his own life
would have been at risk. He
could have
lived with that. His life was worth nothing. He was nothing and no one. If Neil disappeared no one would have mourned him, there was no one left to mourn him. But to have Andrew,
anyone,
bound soul to soul as they were...it was an invitation to his father, the Butcher of Baltimore, to kill an innocent. Neil simply couldn’t risk that.
Without giving it any thought Neil did the only thing he knew how.
He ran.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Neil made it out the door before either Andrew or Kevin could even call after him.
It wasn’t until he reached the door that lead to the stairwell that Neil heard running footsteps and felt confusion through the bond, it was faint but there. Then the confusion slid away under the oil that coated everything from Andrew. Neil threw the door open and bolted down the stairs at a pace that might’ve had anyone else tripping and falling down them instead.
When he got to the bottom Neil pushed open the exit. Once he was on flatter ground Neil truly took off. He gave it all the speed he had, he had to if he was going to put any kind of distance between himself and Andrew.
Putting space between him and the witch was the only way he could come up with that had any chance of breaking the newly formed bond between them.
Neil had to break the bond because
he already cared about Andrew
. It was all the bond’s fault, it made him care for someone else besides himself. He couldn’t afford to care about anyone. His mother had taught him that, painfully. You shouldn’t get attached. Attachments made you weak, they got you killed. Neil didn’t know how much longer he had to live, and he
would
die sooner, rather than later, but Andrew’s life would certainly be cut short if the two of them stayed bonded.
So Neil ran.
And ran.
And ran.
Neil didn’t think. He simply ran.
He didn’t think about the duffle bag he left behind, and the contents of it. Not the contacts lenses that made his blue eyes brown. Or the encrypted list of contacts he’d inherited from his mother. And he certainly did not think about the large sum of cash that was hidden in a binder.
Neil ran until he simply could not any longer.
He ended up on the edge of town outside of a gas station. His breathing was heavy, and he had to brace himself with his hands on knees that were barely keeping him upright. It was then that Neil realized that simply running, wasn't going to get him far enough and fast enough from the witch. He was fast, but he was going to need a quicker way than his own two feet.
He could feel Andrew getting angrier by the moment, and it wasn’t sliding away like the other emotions were. It didn't feel like a raging fire, hot and furious, like Neil’s father’s temper; or a quick spark like his mother, there and gone again.
No, Andrew’s was like a burner set on low, barely warm if you hovered a hand over it, but soon as you touched the burner you still got burnt.
“What the fuck are you doing?!”
Andrew blurted in anger and frustration via the bond. If Neil could’ve figured out how to reply he might’ve. He was doing this for Andrew’s sake after all.
Oddly, after he thought that Neil felt the heat of Andrew’s anger ramp up.
Not that it mattered. Right about then some poor schmuck pulled into a parking space, got out of his car, and left it running. Neil straightened up and began walking over to it slowly.
He was so focused on his task. Not wanting to drawing attention to himself as he walked over to the car. He didn’t pay any attention to the second vehicle that drove over the curb and came to a screeching halt.
Andrew blinked slowly as he tried to understand what just happened. It was late and his meds were wearing off, but it still took far too long for him to register that Neil was doing a runner. It helped, just a little, that Kevin was swearing from the other bed. The familiar had taken him by surprise too.
By the time the two exy players made it out of the hotel room Neil had already reached the end of the hall and had pushed the stairwell door open. By the time they made it to the same door and pushed it open they could hear that the one at the bottom had slammed shut.
“Fuck! He’s fast,” Kevin muttered.
Andrew gave the striker a dull stare, cocked his head and said, “It
is
why you wanted him on the team.”
Before Kevin could do more than turn a glare Andrew’s way the door to Wymack’s room opened. Coach stuck his head out and asked, “What the fuck are you assholes doing?”
Kevin told the older man, “Neil...he suddenly just took off.”
At the same time Andrew shook his head. “There was panic and anxiety. Now there is desperation.” Then it occurred to him lightning quick. “Neil’s running from the bond,” Andrew grit out, anger beginning to rise and beginning to burn away some of the residual fog in his mind.
He wasn’t sure if he was mad at himself for not seeing this coming, a runner was always going to run - or at Neil. However, it wasn’t logical to be mad at anyone. Especially not an intangible being for the predicament they were in; not that Andrew believed in Fate or gods. Andrew certainly hadn’t
asked
for any of this; and it was clear that Neil wasn’t happy with the circumstances either.
Kevin and Wymack turned towards Andrew. Kevin’s face was pale and he was looking at Andrew with wide eyes.
Wymack simply said, “Well, then why are we standing around for?” The coach pulled the door closed behind him as he stepped into the hallway.
…
When they reached the bottom of the stairs and out into the parking lot Andrew glanced around as if Neil was hiding behind one of the dusty cars.
Wymack and Kevin looked at him expectantly.
Andrew had no answer for their unvoiced question. He had never been bonded to anyone before and only knew the basics from what little he had read about it. Witches and Familiars were common, but very few of them talked about what it was like to be bonded to another being. Very little was actually known other than it was an intimate connection between witch and familiar. All Andrew could do so far was send his familiar a single solid thought and read a handful of emotions. They hadn’t even being bonded to each other more than a few hours.
He was brought back to reality when Wymack gave him an impatient, “Well?” When Andrew did nothing more than blink at the older man Wymack rolled his eyes and asked, “Which way did he go?”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “Does it look like I know?”
Wymack raised a brow and pointed at Andrew and then Kevin. “You two figure out where we should look while I go get us a car.”
Before either of the younger men could ask what he meant by ‘get them a car’ their coach had already walked off to the other side of the parking lot. It was about midnight and up until then they had, by necessity, had to rely on the Millport coach for transportation. The way Wymack was casually eyeing each car made Andrew think they wouldn’t be borrowing one legally.
Andrew could only conjure up a huff of amusement at the idea of Wymack hotwiring a car.
“C’mon, Andrew, you need to focus,” Kevin snapped.
Andrew sighed. “On what?”
It was clearly Kevin’s turn to sigh. “On the bond. On your sense of Neil. Remember, we need to locate him.”
“As if I could forget,” Andrew snarked as the bond tugged at him harder the further away Neil got from him. It wasn’t painful, simply annoying. It was like someone tugging on his clothing, but when he looked no one was there.
“It’s not working,” Andrew did not complain to Kevin as Wymack pulled up beside them in an unremarkable light blue pickup truck. By unremarkable Andrew meant that it was a hunk of junk and blended in with everything else he had seen of Millport. Dusty, forgotten, and in need of repair. The back window was replaced by a piece of plywood and the vent windows were open. As Wymack came to a stop Andrew saw that the keys were in the ignition.
When Kevin pulled the passenger door open it gave a squealing protest before he got it open enough to slide across the cracked leather seats. Andrew got in beside him and pulled the door closed with a slam.
Before Wymack could ask again Andrew shook his head and told him, “Your guess is better than mine.”
…
While Wymack drove a meandering pattern Andrew tried to follow Kevin’s directions to locating Neil via the bond. During the four months that Kevin had spent with the Foxes Andrew had spent most of it ignoring the ex-Raven’s commands and nagging words. If it was about exy or about Andrew playing exy then it was unheard. Now though? Andrew actually
wanted
to follow the striker’s instructions, but couldn’t. Not for the lack of trying.
No matter how much he tried he couldn't pin the familiar down. Andrew didn’t know if his failure was due to the bond still forming, not knowing how to use it, or a combination of the two.
But between the continued failures to located Neil and Kevin’s voice, Andrew's frustration built until he gave into it.
To Kevin he snapped a, “Shut up!” Towards the bond he sent,
“What the fuck are you doing?!”
“...for your sake….”
Was all that he got back.
Andrew blinked. Oh, that pissed him right off!
Who the fuck was Neil to do something for Andrew’s sake?!
There was nothing he could do with it though, no where to aim it. Except to tell Wymack to turn, and speed up when something on the bond gave him a sudden sense of urgency.
Wymack turned into the gas station, driving up over the curb. It appeared they were just in time. Neil was about to add car thief to whatever else made him such a great candidate for joining the Foxes.
Andrew threw open the truck door before it could come to a complete halt. He moved fast. Like he was on the court and Neil was trying to score on him. Like Andrew actually had a reason to stop this asshole from doing something stupid.
Andrew made it to Neil, grabbed a fistful of oversized shirt before Neil could take one more step towards the car; then he yanked the idiot back, spun him around, and slammed him into the closest available surface.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Neil barely noticed his back being slammed against the car. All there was was the anger on Andrew’s face and the anger burning along the bond. He could feel it clearly. There were no drugs in the way now. No drugs making the bond slick and hard to grasp, to hold, to read.
Andrew was
angry
. Pissed.
Neil couldn't understand it and found himself asking, “Why?”
“I should be asking you that.” Andrew’s words were flat.
Neil wanted to lie, but when he opened his mouth he found himself saying, “I was doing it for you.” He should have stopped there. He didn’t. He couldn’t. “I shouldn’t be bonded to anyone. It’s too dangerous.”
Andrew narrowed his eyes and felt his expression go flat. Before he could say anything he watched Neil’s brown eyes dart over his shoulder. Apprehension entered the bond along with reluctance and acceptance.
It was Wymack and Kevin approaching, but this was clearly not a conversation to have in front of them.
Andrew leaned in and said, voice low, “This conversation isn’t over, but it’ll have to wait until next time.” Neil’s brows pinched in confusion, which was echoed in the bond. It wasn’t Andrew’s problem if he didn’t understand.
“Andrew, calm down.” Wymack’s voice was firm but soft. It was the softness that had Andrew looking to his coach at all. David Wymack was many things, soft he was not. It was enough to get the younger man’s attention, and that was all that really mattered.
The meager lights that lit up the gas pumps and the small parking area were flickering. It could have been nothing. Maybe it was just shit wiring. That wasn’t where Wymack and Kevin were looking though. When Andrew followed their gaze he saw the lights in the convenience store were flickering, too, and the clerk and the few customers inside were looking around in obvious confusion.
It was Andrew’s doing. He was sober enough that he could connect to his magic. He was upset enough that it was reacting to his emotions. Without input from him. That’s what the drugs did to him. They messed with his control. According to the court ordered doctor the drugs were to control his “psychotic impulses”. According to Bee the drugs dampened his emotions. What no one, except Bee, cared about was that the drugs interfered with Andrew's magic and dampened his control over it...at least when he could actually
feel
it.
“You’re sober.” The two words come out as a soft realization. Just like that Neil had Andrew’s attention again.
“Can you get it under control?” Coach Wymack asked, making a small gesture towards the still flickering lights. His last statement hadn’t gotten a response, but his question held the same tone.
“No,” Andrew replied succinctly, not taking his eyes off of Neil.
“Don’t suppose you have your pills?” Coach Wymack asked. When Andrew mutely shook his head at the coach the older man cursed under his breath and strode off towards the convenience store.
“Well, kitten? Isn’t this your specialty?” Andrew’s words were flat and sharp. Neil didn’t follow at first, not until he felt a prod at their bond.
“I don’t actually know anything about magic,” Neil said, having decided to ignore the ‘kitten’ part.
Kevin spoke up with, “A familiar helps their witch with control and focus.” His words were full of scorn for Neil’s obvious lack of knowledge.
“Oh.” Neil actually hadn’t known that. “What do I do?”
Kevin squinted at him, then, his eyes widened. “You mean that, don’t you. You actually don’t know?”
Neil replied, “Obviously.”
Andrew looked towards the store. “Never mind. Here comes the cavalry.”
Coach Wymack appeared right after that, a bottle of whiskey in hand. Andrew took the bottle of Jack without a word. He twisted off the cap, took a swig, and recapped the bottle. Almost immediately the lights above and in the store stop flickering.
The anger was still there. On the bond. Neil could feel it. And...now that it was dulled again...Neil could feel the absence of... something. He supposed that it had been Andrew’s magic that was missing. Not that he got time to think about it.
“Let’s go,” Coach Wymack ordered and walked away. Kevin and Andrew followed, with Neil not far behind. He didn’t have much choice.
Of course, Neil
could
try running later. When he had a better chance. Once he had some kind of a plan, at least.
But Neil did not
want
to run. He
wanted
Coach Wymack’s offer. He wanted to play exy.
When the group stopped at a beat up pickup truck with a missing back window Coach Wymack climbed into the driver’s seat. Kevin got in from the passenger side and scooted to the middle. When Andrew went to get into the cab Neil went for the bed of the truck, there was no way he could fit in the cab with the other three. Neil was preparing to get into the bed when Andrew called out halting him.
“Nu-uh, kitten.” Andrew beckoned him with a crook of a finger.
“I’m not going to fit in there.” It wasn’t a protest, just a statement of fact.
Andrew made a gesture with a finger at Neil’s body. “Not like that you won’t.”
Neil had two choices. Ride in the back anyways, or do what Andrew wanted. On one hand, Andrew was his witch, soul bonded to one another. On the other hand, Neil’s mother had heavily reinforced the lesson that he should never trust anyone; it was one of the promises she had him repeat before she died. It was, so far, one of the ones he had managed not to break.
Andrew shrugged, like it was no skin off his back, and began to climb up into the cab of the truck. Neil had hesitated longer than Andrew was willing to wait. That Neil had hesitated at all told him that he had already made a decision. His mother would have punished him for the hesitation; hesitation at any point in the last eight years could’ve gotten him or his mother killed. Fortunately, this wasn’t a life or death situation.
Neil sighed softly, at himself. “Wait,” he called as Andrew reached to shut the door. Andrew paused, but didn’t look back at Neil. That was fine. Neil wasn’t sure how he felt about anyone watching him shapeshift. Not that it was a painful process, just that Neil wasn’t used to anyone
seeing
that much of
him
.
Between one step and the next Neil transformed. With a leap and a bound Neil landed easily in Andrew’s lap.