Witch AU
Inktober Day 2: Mindless
OnKey; ~650 words Rated m for magic mention
Cleaning day had always been Ki’s least favorite part of potion making. Sure, it was always nice to significantly lower the chance of accidentally killing someone but at what cost? Much to Minho’s chagrin, they had mastered the art of leaving all their cleaning to Saturdays, the one day they closed the shop.
It’s not early by any means when Ki wakes. They can’t exactly see the hands on the clock across the room but it’s clear enough that they’ve abandoned the fourth quadrant. Though it’s enticing to stay in bed, to stay wrapped up in blankets and Minho’s outstretched arms, they begrudgingly shuffle out of bed to their workstation. Basket in hand, they gather all their tools that need washing: mortars and pestles and knives and scoops and ladles. They bring everything up to the shop level, first the basket of tools and then the three cauldrons, then head out the back door to the washing basin. They’re surprised to find Jinki out as well, washing up what appears to be laundry.
“Good afternoon,” he says without looking up. “I was wondering if you were going to clean today.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Jinki chuckles and scoots over so that Ki has room to sit. They both set about working on scrubbing their respective projects, abandoning conversation in an attempt to quickly finish. As time goes on, Jinki starts mindlessly humming and Ki finds the dried on potion easier to scrub off the ladles. The caked on plant pulp also comes out of the mortars easier. Beside them, Jinki seems to be flying through his laundry pile quicker than before.
“Did you add something to the water?” Ki asks, pouring some water into the cauldron.
“Not to the main basin, no. I am using soap on my laundry, if you’re smelling something.”
“I figured you were, I recognized that smell. I was just wondering because it seems like everything is cleaning faster. Or at least, it was...this cauldron is taking its time to get clean as usual. Maybe I was imagining it.”
“It’s probably my laundry song that was helping.”
Ki meets Jinki’s cheerful smile with a puzzled look. Jinki doesn’t clarify, instead going back to his laundry and humming. They turn back to the cauldron; to their surprise, the grimy film that was clinging before wipes away with ease.
“When you say laundry song...what do you mean?”
“It’s not a proper spell or anything but its a little tune my mother taught me that makes cleaning go easier.”
“Oh.”
“They didn’t use anything like that? At...when you were younger?”
“I mean, I assume they did. We were all kept separate. They said it was easier to keep track of our needs that way.”
“You didn’t get to try out anything else?”
“No. We had a fortune teller that as part of your initiation would read into your abilities and pick where you went to maximize output; after that, you didn’t see anyone from other groups besides the leaders.”
“I see. Well, I know that potions is comfortable for you and obviously your talent if that’s where you were placed, but if you’re ever curious about charms and stuff you’re more than welcome to come sit up with Jonghyun and I.”
“Thank you. I might take you up on that soon.”
Jinki smiles and once again goes back to his work. The door to the house opens and Minho comes out with his biggest cauldron in his arms, covered in soot. He empties the cauldron into the ash pit behind them and Ki grabs a clean mortar to hand him some water.
“How do you even put new firewood in your hearth with all that ash in it?” he chides.
Ki glances over at Jinki. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spell for that, would you?”
Jinki chuckles. “Yeah, it’s called c-l-e-a-n-i-n-g. I think you could really get the hang of it if you tried.”