The request for strawberries had brought to mind a variety of other things I could acquire, and just what I could do with them. Whip cream, for example although the substance was probably far more impressive had it been handmade with heavy cream. Under the guise of dessert I could have procured the cream, created some kind of dessert (was that all) and offered the other opportunities as a secondary thought. Instead, I had left the whirlwind of ideas in aisle seven and returned quickly. I would have greatly appreciated recreating the scenery that had occurred in the backroom of Serafina's potion shop, indulging in the way her lips had slowly covered my skin but instead, it felt more prudent to remain the tactful gentleman I had wanted to show her rather than the deviant demon that had raised it's defiant, irritable head in the first moments that I had been acquainted with her. Contemplation of the polarity of my sides disregarded, I had returned to the townhouse I was beginning to become familiar with to be greeted with a welcoming committee far more frigid than the playful woman I had left. Had my teasing actually caused this much of a change in her demeanor? If I had known that she was more sensitive than she had initially let on, I would have toned down the manner in which I treated her and I would have not let the scale of my own mercurial moods show. The latter of the two was revealed quickly though, regardless of whether or not I had wanted to her to understand that the scales of my moods and emotions were as flippant as the weather of mountainous regions: one minute clear, solid blue skies and the next? Avalanche warnings in freezing temperatures. While snow might have been a possibility, I wasn't ready for the blizzard that had befallen the room I entered upon return.

Serafina's words broke the frost, and before I was able to turn around I found myself turning the skillet a little too quickly. The oil spit, landing on my hand with a foreboding hiss that resulted in a curse slipping unbidden from my lips. I focused on finishing the dish quickly and turning the heat off and while the actions were certainly rehearsed and skilled, my jaw was grit tightly. Since when was cooking a woman dinner cause for venom? It was only when I turned around that her words registered as confusing. I don't what? The answer was not to a single statement I had made; had she heard me wrong? I crossed my arms, mirroring her action almost perfectly but without intention, my brow furrowing into an expression that would be reminiscent of the irritation that had written itself there the moment I had met her.

"I don't what?"

The young woman would have stepped away from Davante as if giving him space to look to the pretty witch that the home belonged to. With a soft smile, she would have shaken her head when he began to speak, her eyes rolling at the obvious irritation flirting with his features. The familiar way his eyebrows knit together and his eyes narrowed as if he was trying to see into Serafina in order to understand her was painstakingly familiar. A gesture she had witnessed hundreds of times. With a distinctly resigned sigh, Serena slid back into a chair opposite Serafina with her eyes trained on the man they were both questioning. After a long moment, she would have shaken her head, gently tapping the table for Serafina's attention. I didn't expect him to leave the continent, let alone grow past afflictions you evidently aren't aware of. The words were void of any emotion, as if she were explaining a fact to a child. Quickly, though, did her expression soften as Davante's eyes would have surveyed the room, his crystalline eyes passing right over her to land on Serafina. I know those eyes... She would have said softly, before a melodic and sympathetic laugh would have left her lips. Sweet girl, he doesn't know I'm here. Don't blame him; he's too enthralled with you to have noticed.. The words could have been misconstrued as Davante's ignorance of the existence of the woman, or merely that he had missed the body that had come back with him like he was ignoring the presence of a younger sibling.

The sound of a baby's soft hiccupping drew the blonde's attention, her eyes narrowing gently as if she were contemplating just what to do about said cry, her figure tensing.

Any prior feelings of ease I had had in the presence of the witch before me slipped from my grasp. Her annoyance was obvious, laced in every visible movement. It wouldn't have taken much effort to gain any kind of insight into her thoughts, the cauldron of her mind boiling with thoughts rife of my affliction of being like every other man. Deceitful and ridden with half-truths. There had been absolutely nothing I had performed in her presence to make her think those things, disregarding the first evening that we had endured together. Despite that, I had only showed her the side of me that wanted to show her the world that she had unfortunately never had the opportunity to partake in. Until her accusatory words of bringing another woman back with me. The accusation elicited a confused cloudiness in my eyes, only to spread like wildfire to the rest of my expression.

"Hang on a second â€" excuse me?" The words were dumbfounded. .. Did she do some kind of illicit drugs that I hadn't been aware of? LSD could do it, right?

The temperature of the room would have dropped further, accompanied by a gentle breeze. The blonde woman slipped back into Serafina's peripheral, a very, very small baby in her arms. Lovingly, she would have looked to him with her long fingers running through his thin, dark hair. With a sigh and another longing and tortured look, she would have wrenched her green eyes from his finger and back to the witch with a sympathetic, but briefly amused look. I think the more prudent question is what is it to you? How well do you think you know him? The second time she repeated the words, the humor began to slip from her eyes. With a gentle rap at the door, Serena fervently stood and quickly moved towards it, her fingers shakily leaving the child's body to lock the door and look between the two humans in the room.

There is something calling us to you, Serafina. I came to warn you that they're coming for him... And for you. I want to help you... Her words were soft and spoken with an urgency that matched the general concern surfacing in her expression as the child seemed to wake up with the rap at the door, his eyes an unmistakable blue. Only you can see us, Serafina. You must believe me, for your sake. For his. The woman looked to the windows before stepping back into the shadows. I need your help. I ... I want to be gone from this place more than you want me to be, more than you understand. But they won't leave until they're satisfied.

Had the confusion that was fogging the room dissipated, I might have debated on whether or not I should leave. The part of me that often existed as a hurricane â€" no, an earthquake that often rumbled on all of my fault lines, was voting on the motion to drop a handful of exasperated lines before leaving her to herself. I swallowed the irritable words, stiffly reaching a hand to pinch the bridge of my nose. There was no woman in the room with me. Who the fuck would do that? Especially when I had all but said to Serafina that I was more than merely interested in her, and my presence in her home would have solidified my interest in her, my affection. Just because I wouldn't touch her in the way that might prove it, didn't mean I didn't...

"Sera, hallucinations are normal if you're into those sorts of...things or substances," I had started to say, my voice clipped and cross. As the hurt rose in her voice though, I sighed and decided that it was far more... respectful of me to give her space and slip into a seat at the table by the window so I could move my gaze from her if I began to feel like I would enjoy clanging her or myself over the head with an anvil. The worry and uncertainty wound remain unbidden in my gaze, though, as it returned to her and I found my fingers drumming softly on the corner of the table as they so often did in my inability to sit still. And the only other unbidden action was the way my words fell from my lips, laced with a softness that was generally reserved for her. "Please, help me understand what's going on..."

"They're coming, Serafina." Her words were heavy with worry and an urgency matched by the restlessness of the baby. "Please move away from the windows... They're coming.