Considering Genevieve had prompted Ren to think of Aaliyah as her right hand, she found the witch a pleasant surprise. There were no flowers in the woman’s words but no daggers either. She’d always been one to appreciate candor and the straight forward nature suited her just fine, even if the witch was the closest of the coven to Gen’s loyal follower. Ren had welcomed conversation before practice, guiding the witch towards the lounge chairs and coals of a dead fire. Now she dusted a bundle of burning sage around them while listening - “To clear the air,” she explained, her smirk slow.
“Know is strong. I’ve met her before, on multiple occasions, but we’re not really friends. My family has always been big on magic; voodoo, hooodoo, the occult. Anything you can sell in the Quarter, honestly. Gen was someone who bought into that. She’d speak with my Mémè - my grandmother- on a few occasions. Wish I knew more about what those going ons were but -” she shrugged, regret in the line of her brow. She put the sage carefully at the edge of the fire and sighed into a chair.
“Didn’t come here sooner cause I wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Pardon me sayin’ but I haven’t found her the most trusting and I value my freedom.” She gestured to the skoolie with a small smile. “Wasn’t ready to give that up just to have Ceoi call my shots.”
Most of Aaliyah’s verbal support of Genevieve had been so strong to mask some of the less favorable feelings festering just beneath the surface. Jealousy, distrust, curiosity, and the worse yet more recently... abandonment. Something akin to betrayal, not that Liyah was a stranger to that feeling. Each of these feelings, barring the latter, could also be well suited for this new arrival of Ren to the ‘coven’ - if Aaliyah could even call them that. Another one of Gen’s secrets, another one of her girls.... but, oh wrong she seemed to be.
Already, Aaliyah was smiling more openly. “Well, that all makes a lot of sense, actually, “ She nodded, knowingly. Genevieve had once drove to Canada, on a whim, just because of something she’d seen online promising roots in witchcraft. Her haunting voodoo joints was right on par. “New Orleans, huh?” She commented, realizing that the two of them had been brought up on opposite sides of the country, yet somehow had eerily surprising connections. The coven, their magic, Genevieve... Aaliyah tucked it away for later.
“Honestly? I get that,” The electric witch nodded, opening up easily with the newest confession from the older witch. She could easily share a similar opinion. Then, her head cocked sideways, as if considering some new development, a new puzzle piece. “So, you knew? Did you have one of the books, too? Have you... been, like, practicing? By yourself?” She had to bite her tongue to hold back a third onslaught of questions. What can you do? Can you teach me?
