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Z poured herself a cup of coffee. Her tail twitched behind her. She drummed her fingers on the counter of her kitchen idly, then retrieved another mug and poured coffee into it. She sipped her coffee, looking out at her living room. Elliot was gone. She had left her blankets folded neatly on the couch, which was a first, and her dirty clothes had found their way into a small laundry basket.
This was a change. Z wondered idly about it as she considered her front door, and set a bottle of creamer down on the counter.
A moment later, Elliot opened the front door and slinked into the apartment. She met Z’s gaze and jumped just a little.
“Look at you, all up and about this early.” Z smiled, and pushed the extra cup of coffee across the counter to Elliot.
Elliot blinked at the cup of coffee, and then carefully took it in her hands. “Ha ha, yeah…” She took a drink and looked at the front door. She blinked, and looked back to Z. “Did you know I was coming?”
“Intuition,” Z said. “I had a feeling you were coming back. As you’re becoming a witch, you’ll learn to listen to your intuition more.”
“I’m really bad at it now,” Elliot said.
“You’ll get better.” Z put her coffee down. “So where’d you run off to?”
Elliot dropped her eyes. “Uhm, so… Yesterday, Gimble showed me all of these slaps? Like, people were putting spells on them. And I wanted to try.” She dug into the pockets of her hoodie and pulled out a stack of postal service labels, and a sturdy-looking permanent marker.
“So, you’re going to make slaps,” Z said.
“Meryl said I needed a purpose.” Elliot looked down at the stack of labels. “I can do this. I can put up slap spells and change a neighborhood, or a block, or even that part of the street.”
Z tilted her head. “Yeah, that’s a good start. If you want, we can make a few and go put them up.”
“You know how to write them?”
“I’ve made a few,” Z said, picking up the marker and popping the cap off. “I like to keep a few anti-legatus up in the neighborhood.”
Elliot’s ears twitched, and she started to open her mouth.
“That’s magic-y bullshit talk for anti-cops,” Z said. She pulled a sticker off the stack and in a quick motion wrote out a collection of lines, thick and dark. She handed it to Elliot. “Put that in sunlight and keep the 12 away.”
Elliot studied the sticker. “I could use like eight more of these.”
Z handed her the marker. “Get writing.”
Elliot held the marker in her hand, staring down at the blank stickers. She knew what she had to write. In a quick motion, she wrote ‘E+’ on the sticker.
“What kind is that one?” Z asked.
“It’s a… anti-legume?”
“No peanuts allowed?”
“No, no, no, the cop thing. I figured it really didn’t matter what I wrote, just as long as I intended it to mean something.”
Z smiled. “You’ve been listening.”
Elliot looked away. “Heh…”
“So, what’s the E+ about?”
“Oh. So, I’ve noticed a lot of the slaps were from the same people. Like, they have signatures and everything. I wanted to have one too.”
“People will love them. When should we go put them up?”
Elliot examined her work. She wrote out another one. “I’m actually kind of embarrassed to put them up? Like, who am I?”
“You’re Elliot,” Z said. She took a drink of her coffee.
“Yeah, so, I really shouldn’t put them up.”
“No, you should put them up because you’re Elliot. You’re a witch. Putting those slaps up will help people. Also, ninety percent of those slaps were put up by mediocre men. The least you could do for yourself is to have that kind of confidence.”
Elliot’s ears twitched. She looked away. Z rounded the counter between them and patted Elliot on the shoulder. “This will all get easi-”
Elliot hugged Z, pulling her close. Z held her arms up in surprise, then carefully hugged Elliot.
“What is happening?” Z asked.
“What?” Elliot stepped back, her eyes flicking back and forth, watching Z closely.
“You just HUGGED me. Like, on purpose. And you haven’t been mean or snarky to me once.”
“I-” Elliot hugged herself. “I feel, like… good? It’s confusing to me too.”
“Things starting to make sense, huh?”
“Yeah,” Elliot said. “Things feel clearer now. I can see the ways that I can help, even if they’re really small.”
Z beamed at Elliot.
Elliot’s ears pressed themselves against her head. “What?”
“I like seeing you like this. You feel like a different person than when we met.”
“Okay, so we need to talk about that.” Elliot grabbed her coffee. “Why are we even friends? Why did you even put the effort in? I’m kind of a piece of shit sometimes.”
Z rolled her eyes. “Oh, I knew you were one of us the minute I saw you.”
“Okay, but HOW?”
“The same way you know The Nerd is a wizard. And that Gimble was a witch when you first saw her.”
Elliot raised her hand. “She flew in on a broom and scared a monster away with a jar of pennies.”
“Magic!” Z said. “You stood out. Magic sees magic. Also, you have this whole spooky tomboy thing going on, and that pushes a lot of buttons for me.”
“Ugh.”
“I also know what it’s like to feel completely alone, and I didn’t want you to feel that.”
Elliot dropped her eyes to the floor and bit her lip in thought. “Well, thanks… for putting up with me.”
“Nonsense. You are worth the effort. Don’t forget that.”
“Heh…” Elliot rubbed the back of her neck. “You keep this up I might just be obliged to that make out sesh you want.”
“Hey,” Z said. “I flirt because I like you, but I never, ever want you to feel pressured into anything. I fully know you’re not interested. I push your buttons because I like you, and sometimes I’m kind of shitty about the way I show affection.” She held Elliot by her shoulders. “I am saying nice things about you because you should hear them. There’s no price tag attached to that, and this conversation is not transactional.”
“Thanks,” Elliot said, giving Z an embarrassed smile. “It’s been a weird adjustment for me, but I appreciate the way you all have been kind to me.”
Z patted Elliot’s shoulder again. “Man, that makes me feel really crappy for what I’m about to say.”
“Uhm?”
“I’m kicking you out.”
“What??” Elliot took a step back.
“Oops, finished that sentence too early. I’m kicking you out for the evening.”
Elliot’s ears twitched. “Okay, but…?”
“I have a date tonight and I fully expect to come back here with him.”
“Ohh,” Elliot said. “Yeah, I see why that might be an issue.”
“I know it’s short notice, and I’m sorry. Gimble has plenty of room and she’d totally be happy to take you in.”
Elliot froze. “With the…” She looked around, like she was being heard beyond the walls of the apartment. “With the ghosts?”
“They’re so nice!” Z said. “You have to give them a chance.”
“No, I’m good.”
“Okay, well…” She drummed her fingers on the counter again. “Ty and Meryl will be there tonight. Maybe you could come along and ask them if you can couch surf for the night?”
Elliot stayed still.
“There’s no ghosts there,” Z said.
“Yeah, but…” Elliot fidgeted. “Like, Ty’s really intimidating?”
“Whaaat? Ty? She’s like my best friend. She’s also super loyal.”
“I feel like she’d punch me in the throat if I looked at Meryl weird.”
“Hmm…” Z said. “Maybe not you, but she would punch a bitch in the throat if they looked at Meryl weird. Yeah, that checks out. We’re starting to run out of options. I guess just chill at Cassie’s?”
Elliot’s eyes widened. She pulled out her phone and started typing. “I just got an idea.”
“Was it Cassie’s?”
“I’m going to see if Ardy wants to hang out.”
Z brightened. “Oh! That’s a good idea! So does that mean things are going well?”
“I think we went on a date a few days ago?” Elliot said sheepishly.
“WHAT. You weren’t even going to tell me?”
“I’m processing a lot right now,” Elliot said. “And it just kind of happened?”
“So are you, like, officially dating?” Z took Elliot by the hand.
“I don’t know? I guess I should ask.”
“You could go get coffee and then go back to her place and snuggle!”
Elliot could feel herself blushing. “I regret saying anything.”
“I’m just excited for you,” Z said.
Elliot nodded. She looked down at her phone, at the text message that just came in. “She said yes. We’re going to meet on Capitol Hill at 10:30 by Vivaci.”
“Oh!” Z said. “You should come to happy hour with all of us then. Meet Dan, he’s really nice. And have Ardy come in and say hi. I want to meet her. And smell her.”
“Okay, she is for sure not going to come in to meet you.” Elliot went over to her bag on the couch and took out a change of clothes. “I’m going to take a shower and figure out my day.”
“I appreciate you being flexible about the apartment,” Z said.
Elliot nodded and started towards the bathroom.
“And who knows? If Ardy doesn’t work out, maybe you could come back here and join us…”
Elliot raised her hand above her head and flipped Z the bird.
Z cackled as Elliot slammed the door behind her.