Page 12 of Homesick, Lovesick
"Nah, not if you use the ashes of the previous spell.Which, granted, I didn't have this time as this is the first one I'm making, but using the leavings abandoned on the table by other protection spells is a good start.When I don't have even that, there's usually something around that will make do as a booster.Burning is purifying, so even if it's not ideal, reducing it to ash will usually cleanse the impurities and make it suitable."
At the head of the table, even the hippie woman had taken notice."In all my years, I've never heard of doing it that way.May I see?"
Match handed off his spell, which got passed around the table, everyone examining the damn thing like they might find diamonds or something inside.
Ronan felt kind of stupid he hadn't known Match's way of doing things was unique.Surely he should have known that about his own boyfriend.
"What compelled you to try doing it this way?"Hippie asked, and beside her, Minerva was examining the spell intently.Forget diamonds, she seemed to be looking for the meaning of life.What in the world?
Match shrugged."No one thing, really.I've always liked fire.It answers to my magic.Also, I grew up really poor.A lot of magic components can get expensive fast when bought in the quantities we need.So I learned to make do with what I had, and herbs, flowers, and other plants are plentiful and cheap when you can forage and grow them.Our entire yard growing up was given over to gardens.You can get pretty far with a pile of herbs and a box of 300 matches that cost a dollar."He picked up a piece of blue quartz that had rolled into his station, turning it over and over in his fingers before setting it down."I find stone cold.It doesn't work for me."
He smiled faintly and looked up."My mom always used bones instead of stone.Her cats hunted the rodents that tried to decimate the gardens, brought her the ones they didn't eat.She'd keep the bones, break up the bigger ones into small pieces, and used them in place of stone in her workings.She thought stone was cold too.She said bone was earthy and warm, full of the life it had lived.She also brushed her cats and used their fur.
"My grandmother always used rose petals, no matter what she did.She had fifty different rose bushes by the end, every color, shape, and size you can imagine.Every single one died the same day she did.
"It's just what my family has always done.Gems and all clearly work fine for other witches, but they never called to my family."
"I see," Minerva said softly, and the hippie woman beside her seemed equally…quiet and almost reverent."Most impressive, Match.I knew you were good, obviously, but still I missedhowgood."
Even Diamond seemed to experience humbling for the first time in her life.Ronan should probably figure out her actual name, even if he didn't particularly want to.
The bag was returned to Match, finally, and then they went about exchanging bags.Of course,of courseit was Diamond who got his.Ronan hated everything.Any lesson the woman hadalmostlearned just five minutes ago was quickly forgotten as she preened over being the recipient of Match's protection.
After that, they decided to go into the woods to commune with nature or whatever.Ronan loved Match, but he wasnotgoing to sit on the ground meditating and becoming one with nature.He'd had to do that shit during training.Sit beneath a dumbass fake waterfall in somebody's backyard and everything.He'd practically heard the training montage music playing in the background.One of the best days of his life was the day he'd completed his training and never had to do any of that dumbass shit every again.
One of the ways he and Benny had first connected was by commiserating over the ridiculousness of their training regimens, vowing ardently to not inflict it on their own kids should they ever have them.Benny of course was up to three kids.Ronan was hoping maybe that future was not so distant anymore, though he and Match hadn't talked much about it past agreeing they did want kids.
If only somebody would actually just fucking propose already with the ring he'd had for two months now and stop being a chickenshit.Maybe heshouldgo meditate under a waterfall.
Someone tapped him firmly on the shoulder, and Ronan turned to see he was not quite surrounded by Lynwood and two other paladins, another guy and a woman who looked like she could bench press all of them at the same time and find it too easy.
She smiled in greeting."I'm Agatha, this is my cousin George.You wanna spar with us while the witches hug trees?"
"I would pay an injudicious sum of money to see them actually, literally hugging trees," Ronan replied."Yes, I'd love to spar."Not with Lynwood, but he could play nice."Ronan."
"Heard a lot about you," Agatha said as they walked off toward presumably a sparring ring or field or whatever this place provided.She glanced at his arm, but the tattoo was currently covered by his sleeve.
George said, "Surprised you'd do all this."
Ronan's brow furrowed."Why wouldn't I?"
Lynwood sneered."Given what your parents say—"
Oh, Ronan saw what this was about now."You mean the parents I'm damn near no-contact with?The ones I stopped living with right before I started high school?The last time I talked to them was several months ago, like last year, I don't even remember exactly when.So I have no idea what shitty thing they're doing now.My family is my uncles, Match, and my teammates."
"That sucks, must be rough," Agatha said."I told them you weren't like your family."
Ronan gave a terse nod."Thanks."
They came to a stop in an area that looked like it was meant for volleyball and such when the camp was open, but the nets had been taken down and stored somewhere, leaving only a large dirt square.Perfect for sparring.
"Four corners?"Lynwood asked.
Ronan grinned."My favorite.One minute?"
"Sounds good," Agatha said.
They dispersed to what was called the 'cardinal points,' even though they rarely if ever actually aligned with them, forming a diamond.Lynwood had set up a fancy timer, exactly the brand and style his parents had favored, meant for this sort of thing.After it started, it would chime every minute, then ring differently when the total time was up.Base Four Corners was twelve minutes, but as they were all pretty veteran, they'd likely go twenty-four minutes.After he'd started living with his uncles, Ronan had bought himself a far less fancy but much more practical timer for his training exercises.Benny had one that damn near took a degree to use, but only because that was just Benny.The man had six cast iron pans and a set of French cookware that Ronan couldn't pronounce.
