SIMONE DIDN’T DO THIS VERY OFTEN : make new friends. she didn’t have very much room for important people in her life, already having her cousins, her coven, and a few other stragglers. she didn’t have TIME to give most people, honestly—it’s why she kept that list so short. but looking at delia now, it’s hard to admit to herself that she wants to see where the night takes her with this woman. admitting it’s for the sake of her coven, however, makes it a lot easier.
getting to know any new witch in brooklyn is just that : research for her coven. a potential new coven member. a potential threat. it’s typically one or the other. personally, simone’s hoping it’s the former.
nose wrinkles lightly at the thought of the woman helping ANYONE give birth, despite knowing that’s her occupation already. simone’s mother would’ve said that childbirth is magic in its own right, but simone would say it’s flat out disgusting. “ good call, ” she says, her tone taking an air of teasing, brown eyes with a glint of mischief. she waits to see if they’ll be an invitation upstairs — part of her isn’t expecting one, but with how cold it was already getting, she hoped there would be one — a smile flickering onto her lips when it’s given. “ sure. ” simone will play it casual, but she knows that inviting another witch into their safe space isn’t a small feat.
“Well then. Follow me,” she invited.
Delia took those same stone steps two by two like every other day. Only this time, there were feet carrying another witch behind them who’s intention was also to occupy space in their home. That was very new to them, but it wasn’t too far off from what they’d predicted. Upon moving here, Delia made a point to suss out the covens. Simone made the Noctis coven seem most appealing, and it was amongst them that Delia felt most comfortable. It was only a matter of time before personal aspects of the two collided. Good thing Delia knew more about magic than how to go night-night. Just in case they needed to prove themselves--or protect themselves.
“Fair warning... my place is actually really nice,” they half-joked, half-confessed before unlocking the door to their apartment. Delia’s space was like a living breathing twin of their essence. Along with being well decorated, it sensed energy just like they themselves did and would likely chew and spit anyone out who disturbed it’s peace. So naturally, Delia led the way in, slipping off her coat and rolling her shoulders as she integrated with her space and reconnected with it’s source of power. She channeled the energy of everything in the room from the life energy of her plants to the intuition coursing through the thistle-colored walls to the way it all interacted with Simone’s presence. So far so good. No alarm sounding off.
That is until she saw her ancient relic of a sand-timer sitting on her kitchen counter.
Delia didn’t dare freeze, but her expression did sharpen abruptly. It was the oldest of her physical creations, one she’d crafted with her grandmother as an integral part of her nightly spell-work. Delia knew exactly how many pieces of sand constituted six, eight, ten, and twelve hours of sleep because of it after often linking them to her physical form before bed each night. She swooped it from it’s obvious place on the way to her closet without looking back to see if Simone had noticed. Panic was not her style... but neither was stealth. If Simone had’ve seen it, Delia hoped it wasn’t so much more eclectic than any other witchy object to cause inquiry. Until such a thing occurred, she’d play it cool. And probably still after that.
“Take a seat anywhere, I’ll be out in a sec.” Delia entered her closet and tucked the hourglass to the back of her shelf. What else did I leave out? The next best thing was to cut Simone’s time alone short and maybe monopolize her attention for as long as possible. Again, all while staying calm. As precautions as she liked to be, the truth was she had been reprogrammed long ago by her grandmother to never function from fear. Only from clarity. Only from knowing.
“You know, Saundi, the new mom, had me beat today,” she pulled her shirt over her head, “but then you show up and I’m suddenly revived?” A quick change of pants. “Did you put a spell on me?” Delia poked her head from around the wall. She wasn’t done yet, but she wanted to check in on the woman, search of the place for anything else revealing, and gain some of that clarity from earlier about how to engage with her now.
