(A/N: So. Welcome to my first story. English isn't my native language, so there may be grammar or vocabulary mistakes. I believe that the characters are a bit –oh, who am I kidding, a lot- OOC. I also mentioned witchcraft and Imbolc. The information about wiccan beliefs may not be accurate. I sincerely apologize if I have offended anyone. Please do not judge me.)
"You," Alfred hissed, "are about to die, ya hear?" He had the creepiest look on his face he could afford to keep since Ivan, a literal psychopath, tended to get pissed off rather quickly. This didn't mean that he'd go easy on his -formal- friend, though.
No. He was going to slaughter him.
Of course, everyone had their limits, and Ivan looked as if he wouldn't tolerate any more scolding from Alfred. Oh, and believe me, he did manage to be scary when he wanted to be. Good thing Alfred was on Ivan's good side now- Alfred had decided to attend a wiccan ritual with Ivan and this meant that Ivan would be friendly to him as long as he didn't threaten the blonde man openly.
…Which Alfred was doing unintentionally at the moment.
So. Let me rewind a bit.
That day was the day of Imbolc, aka Groundhogs day, a wiccan Sabbath. February 1. Imbolc was the second Sabbath of the year and it represented the winter –finally- ending and life beginning to sprout once again within the arrival of spring.
It was easy to see why Ivan was so excited about Imbolc- after all, the winter had officially ended. The same thing couldn't be said for his misfortunate "friend"- though Ivan didn't believe in occult stuff, Alfred still suffered from Ivan's unnecessary adrenaline rush.
Ivan had just pretty much dragged the other into this mess. Alfred hadn't ever been to any pagan rituals before and he had no idea what to do. So, go with the flaw, he had said to himself. The point is, it was impossible to go with the flaw when that… that other guy was there.
At this point, even the presence of Ivan was enough to piss Alfred off. You see, Ivan had mentioned that Tony was supernatural just like the wiccan ceremony they'd attend, and considering the fact that he didn't give enough time for Alfred to argue back, Alfred had just accepted the whole thing as it was. However, he did not like the idea of his beloved Tony being in the same category as the pagans.
Ivan's argument was weak and he had no motives whatsoever to go to some kind of a wiccan ritual with Alfred. The two weren't even close! Alfred was positive that Ivan could always go with his family –they were as crazy as Ivan was- or… Or just someone else!
Why him of all people?
However, what drew Alfred really mad was different. Apparently, Ivan had decided that "decorating" his fellow with molten candlewax was a good idea. Since he had stained the other's coat, not his skin, Alfred wasn't burnt by the liquid; however, this didn't mean that he was happy with the result. He knew that candlewax could be easily erased when exposed to soap, but he was mad at Ivan for making fun of him nonetheless.
So, here the two were, in the middle of a satanic –fine, technically it wasn't satanic, but it sure did look "evil"- ritual they didn't even know how to perform. Good thing the pagans weren't mad at them at the moment- Alfred had enough reasons to believe that they'd happily plant a curse on the duo. He was pissed, a bit scared –but not enough to admit to himself- and, in general, unamused.
The fact that Ivan was unaware of all the trouble he was causing to his *ehem* friend didn't help, either. There were some pagans out there, trying to complete a complex ritual that Alfred didn't even know existed while the two oblivious –and one of them were annoyed- allies were trying to organize the black candles they were given.
Apparently, this ritual could be completed with any candles, no matter their size, color or shape; but no, the candles had to be black. Alfred didn't complain, though. Firstly, he was scared of the pagans and had no right to question them. Secondly, Ivan was totally fascinated by the candles they were trying to put into a straight line. Alfred didn't even know why.
…They were just candles, right?
"You're pissed off~" Ivan said happily. Alfred rolled his eyes. He knew that the tension kind of grew stronger between the two when he acted carefree or seditiously, but he couldn't help it. He was a cheerful and childish person himself, so it was only natural for him to sneer. However, he was aware of his surroundings enough to sense the dangerous vibes coming from Ivan.
Yes. Though Ivan didn't show it, Alfred knew he was displeased- he knew the other far too well. He needed to fix this. Why was it so easy to make him mad?
"A bit," he said. He needed a distraction since he was obviously failing at finding something to cam Ivan's nerves down. His eyes restlessly scanned the area surrounding the troublesome duo. His eye was caught on a pile of used candles. Right.
The candles were where Ivan had gotten the absolutely perfect idea of decorating Alfred with molten candlewax. He had seen Ivan eye the candle pile. Right after that the Russian man had decided to lite up one of the black ones he was holding just to melt the candlewax. So the candle pile was destined to get Alfred out of this mess as well.
"Hey, there are some used candles," he pointed out, looking at the massive pile of used candles resting at the other side of the "ritual area". He didn't even know what to call this place, but he was in some kind of a field where there was a circle with runes all over it.
Let me describe the field, then. They were in the middle of literally nowhere, no buildings or whatsoever near them. I guess it was a good place to perform a secret ritual, through Alfred was positive that he could find how to perform the ritual if he looked it up on internet. The pagans surrounding the circle on the ground, which by the way was drawn on the field with charcoal dust, were wearing traditional witch costumes though they appeared to be missing the famous "witch hat".
Guess there was no need to get extra attention, was there? They already had two nosy newbies. Plus, Alfred just simply knew that the traditional witch costume wasn't necessary to perform rituals. Yes, he didn't believe in witchcraft, but he had researched it a while ago. He at least knew the basics.
Oh. We're getting off-topic.
The duo were currently trying to draw a heptagram, aka septagram, on the field. The outlines were drawn with white dust, just like the black circle the pagans were surrounding at the moment. If Alfred were to guess, he'd probably say the dust was chalk, but he couldn't be sure. After all, it was nearly dusk and the area wasn't illuminated by any means of light. No torches, no flashlights, just the big, bright full-moon hanging on the indigo blue night sky.
That was a bit too poetic of me. Well, Alfred knew that wiccans celebrated full-moons, but this was a total coincidence. The night of Imbolc was also a night of full-moon and the moon was lovely. The darkness gave Alfred goosebumps and he was a bit cold, too, but he and his nosy friend Ivan had a task to accomplish.
Oh, and the whole thing was Ivan's fault. Alfred hated him for that.
Well, long story short, he was in a place where Arthur would –without a doubt- love.
Ivan gazed at the used candle pile. He already knew that Alfred was about to ask him to do something. Alfred's attitude kind of gave it away. "Don't we have a job to finish?" he asked rather casually afterwards. He was eyeing the group of pagans with a calm face. He didn't seem to realize how dangerous those people were, or rather, he just simply didn't care about what kind of a danger the duo were in.
"We'll finish it later, it'll hardly take a minute," Alfred muttered. His voice was loud enough for Ivan to hear, but any pagans near them wouldn't be able to understand the blonde. Alfred looked at Ivan in the eyes, trying to read the Russian's expression.,
Ivan was curious, nonetheless. "In that case, da…" he said, however, his sentence was discontinued. Alfred had begun walking towards the used candle pile energetically, dragging the taller man with him. Though it was clearly dark, Ivan could still make out the astonishingly happy smirk covering Alfred's face. He was a bit too happy-go-lucky all of a sudden. He couldn't help but suspect that something was up with him.
Well, truth to be told, Alfred had a great plan. At least the distraction worked, he told to himself. Iva didn't look angry anymore.
When the duo reached the pile of used candles, Ivan noticed that he was still holding onto the candle he had used to prank Alfred. He was about to threw the thing into the pile when Alfred stopped him, which earned Alfred Ivan's stare.
Yes. Something was definitely fishy about him.
"Can I have that, Ivan?" Alfred asked. Is voice was angelically smooth. Ivan thought about the request for a moment and wondered whether if it'd be convenient to decline, but then he decided against it. He needed to give the other a chance, didn't he? Plus, he was curious to see how it'd end up. If it ended up bad… He could use another punching bag.
"Sure," he said, passing the candle. The shorter male quickly took the candle and then stared at… Ivan's feet? Ivan had no idea what was up with Alfred, but he had to thrust the male that it wasn't something dangerous. Alfred appeared to be aware of his actions' consequences.
"Can you close your eyes, too?" asked the goofball, his voice a bit too happy to be normal. He looked so immature.
"Da," Ivan answered with the same cheerful voice. He could do that, right? So, Ivan took a deep breath and closed his eyelids. He was already regretting it.
He didn't know what Alfred was doing, but the other male wasn't making any noise. Ivan knew that it had something to do with those candles, but he didn't know what. Apparently, it also involved his… Feet? Shoes?
Ivan was clueless.
After a moment's silence, Alfred said "You can open your eyes now!" with his usual happy tone. The extra energy that was in his voice a moment ago was replaced with tension. This was the first thing Ivan noticed when he finally opened his eyes.
The next thing he noticed were the candles surrounding him, drawing the outlines of a hearth though it wasn't perfect. Also, the candles weren't lit and they had been used beforehand, but Ivan liked them anyways.
"Wanna help me lite them up?" Alfred asked. Since Ivan hadn't made a move to kill the other so far, Alfred had relaxed a bit. That was probably a good thing. Probably. He smiled at Ivan.
"Da." Ivan's voice was also happy. For some reason. He didn't know why.
Ivan took a look at the shorter male. He'd think about what that hearth was supposed to mean later. Right now, he wanted to lite some candles up.