PART ONE
Skywalker's Shoppe of Magic and Mysteries could only be described as New Agey, at least from its storefront. A bundle of herbs hung outside the door, a black cat sitting in a pentacle was painted on the window, and Rey was fairly certain the i's of the store name were dotted with embedded amethysts. It simply oozed witchy aesthetic, and it wasn't that Rey had a problem with that, she just wasn't really sure what to expect.
"Come on Rey," Rose gave her a light shove, "I just need to pick up some candles, come on."
"You can get candles anywhere, why here?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "Skywalker's has the best selection of colors and sizes. Come on, I'll be quick, and it's just a store, it's not going to bite." Rose took Rey's hand and pulled her inside. Rey grumbled, but allowed herself to be dragged in.
The inside was small, and it seemed even smaller with the large shelves filling up the space. Each shelf was crammed with all sorts of things – dried herbs, books, crystals, candles, pretty much anything the modern pagan or witch could need.
Rose dropped her hand and immediately ran to a table covered in candles. Rey whistled. Skywalker's did have pretty much every color and size candle you could imagine. "What color are you looking for?"
"Red." She said as she examined a long, thin red candle that appeared to have rose petals in the wax. She set it aside and continued sifting through the candles, occasionally putting one to the side.
Rey took in the shop – or shoppe – as Rose went through the candles. At first glance, the store seemed like chaos, but it slowly became apparent that it was actually organized, albeit not very neatly. The candles, for instance, were organized by color and size, but were haphazardly placed in small piles on the table.
"Alright, I'm done." Rose triumphantly held up a small bundle of candles. "To the register!" Rose immediately dashed toward the back of the store. Rey raised a brow, but silently followed after her friend.
When they got to the register, Rose's face fell. "Oh. Um, excuse me?"
Rey furrowed her brow. Why the disappointment? She shifted her gaze to the man behind the register. The first thing that Rey noticed was how tall he seemed despite the fact that he was sitting, but it was his face that she was particularly struck by, though she couldn't really explain why. Perhaps it was the sharp angles of his face split by the scar carving his face. Or maybe the softness of his eyes that –
"Can I help you?"
Shit. She was staring at him and hadn't even realized it. Rey coughed, "Um..."
"Just this please," Rose swooped in to rescue her – thank the lord – and dropped the candles in front of the cashier. "And how much will that be?"
As the cashier rung Rose up, Rey noticed that his cheeks were tinged slightly red.
"Thanks! Have a good day," Rose said as he handed her the receipt.
"You too."
When they had left the store, Rose laughed. "Oh my God, Rey."
"What?"
"You were so obviously checking out the cashier."
"What? No I wasn't."
Rose scoffed, "Please. It wasn't like you were being subtle."
"I'm serious, I wasn't checking him out," Rey folded her arms across her chest.
"Oh really? Then why were you staring at him?"
Rey opened her mouth and then closed it a few times. "Um, well… I don't know."
"Mhmm. You're totally into him."
"You know what, I have a better question. Why were you – "
" – Now, you're just deflecting –"
" – so disappointed when you saw who was behind the register?"
Rose blinked a few times. "What?"
"I saw your face, you looked upset when you saw that guy, like you were expecting someone else."
Rose's face became beet red. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Mhmm."
The two continued their lighthearted bickering as they walked back to their apartment, but the image of soft eyes against a sharp face lingered in her mind the entire way home.
A few days later…
Rey shifted her weight from side to side, a bag of groceries in one hand. This is stupid, she thought for the fifteenth time. You know what's stupid? Standing out here like a lost dog. Rey sighed. The supermarket had been out of dried rosemary, and it occurred to her as she was walking home that she could probably get it from Skywalker's. Now that she was here, however, she felt hesitant. Rose's words kept ringing in her head. Had she really been checking him out?
Of course not. This is ridiculous. Just go in and get that rosemary. Steeling her resolve, Rey marched into the store. She intended to just run in and out, but she had trouble finding the herbs. She remembered them being by the candles, but now she couldn't even find that table. Ugh. Did they move everything?
Rey went into the next row of shelves. Crystals, books, incense, essential oils, tarot… She paused. They had a large selection of different tarot decks, some she had never seen before. Her eye caught on a deck with two people embracing against a starry backdrop on the box. She reached up with her free hand to trace the artwork. Beautiful.
"I wouldn't have pegged you as a tarot reader."
Rey jumped in surprise. Her bag of groceries flew out of her hand and spilled all over the floor. "Damn it."
"I'm so sorry." Rey looked up. The cashier from before hovered over her, a book tucked under one arm. "I didn't mean to startle you, I'm sorry." He tugged at a lock of his hair, clearly embarrassed.
Rey shrugged, "It's, uh, it's okay." She dropped to her knees and picked up the various food items littering the floor. There goes dinner.
"Let me help you," he joined her on the floor.
"Oh, you don't have to."
"I insist, it's my fault anyhow," he gave her a half grin, "if indirectly."
Her face felt a bit warm. Am I getting a fever? "Well, alright. Thank you."
As she tossed a few bruised tomatoes back into the bag, he suddenly said, "Are you?"
"Am I what?"
"A tarot reader."
"Oh," she paused. "I guess."
He quirked an eyebrow, "You guess?"
"I use it mostly for getting story ideas, a professor suggested it to me, but I do give people readings once in a while."
"Oh, are you studying creative writing right now?
She glanced up at him. He seemed genuinely interested, but she didn't understand why. "I actually major in Math at NYU, but I'm also a creative writing minor."
He laughed. "No kidding, I go there too. I'm an English major."
"What a small world," she looked over at the book on the floor. Pride and Prejudice. "Is that for a class?"
He nodded. "Though I have read it before. Have you?"
"Yeah, back in High school. I wasn't a fan," she admitted.
"Don't like love stories?"
"No, I just never understood why she married Mr. Darcy."
He gave her a look of mock shock. "Why wouldn't she?"
"He was such an asshole to her at the beginning of the book."
"But he changes as the book continues," he argued, "Besides, he clearly cares about her, he saved her family from a scandal."
"That doesn't make him entitled to her," Rey pointed out.
"Of course not, but – "
"Ben! I don't pay you to flirt with customers. Come help me with something in the storeroom."
Ben's face became bright red. "I, uh, um, I – One second, Uncle Luke." He shot her a sheepish smile, "I better get back to work," He stood up and offered her hand.
"Thanks." As she pulled herself up, she noticed that his hands were a bit rough to the touch, but warm.
"No problem," he ran a hand through his hair. "I know this is sudden, but could I get you dinner tonight? As an apology for ruining your groceries."
She unsuccessfully fought against the smile pulling at her lips, "I would love to."
His face lit up. "Great! I get off at 5:30, does that work for you?"
"Yeah, I'll see you then."
She left the store feeling warm, like she had just swallowed a glass of champagne, and it wasn't until she was back at her apartment that she realized she had forgotten to buy the rosemary.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was based off of the following prompt sent to me by an anon on tumblr: maybe occult shop au...one of them comes in to the other's shop for supplies the other falls in love, love spells occur, etc etc.
I hope you enjoyed it! Part 2 will come soonish. In the meantime, feel free to send me prompts on tumblr at first-train-to-hell.