Charlie was walking through the center of town, happy to be on her way home from a tiring day at work. But her visions of curling up alone on her couch were shattered when she suddenly remembered it was her uncle Miles' birthday and she really should go hang out with him. Just as she remembered that, she also realized she hadn't bought him a birthday present. She cursed internally and glanced up and down the familiar street, hoping quick inspiration for a gift for Miles would strike. Out of the corner of her eye, Charlie spotted something that wasn't so familiar and walked over for a better view.
Tucked down a side street near one of the town's bars, a small peddler's wagon sat. It had large wooden wheels supporting a complicated mass of cabinets and shelving, and it was draped in faded red velvet. A row of bells across the bottom tinkled in the slight breeze, somehow sounding ominous. As Charlie got closer, she saw a banner on the back: Marvelous Marvin's Magical Miscellany. She snorted. Was this for real?
When Charlie was just a few feet away, and about to call out to see if anyone was there, a short man popped out from behind the cart. She gasped slightly in surprise, and the man gave her a winning smile.
"Good evening," he intoned. "Welcome. I hope I didn't startle you?"
Frankly, the man would have startled anyone. He was dressed in absurd formal wear: a black coat with long tails and slightly mismatched pants, with a bold red tie. His black hair was combed low over his forehead, and his neatly-trimmed black beard raced up to meet it on both sides of his face. But it was his eyes that were particularly unsettling-so pale gray they were almost white, glittering as they looked at her eagerly.
"Um… I take it you're Marvin?" Charlie asked.
The man nodded, "The very one. And who might I say that you are, lovely creature?"
"Charlie," she introduced herself. Looking at the bizarre assortment of bottles, pouches, papers, and jars cluttered on the shelves of his cart, she asked, "What is all this?"
Marvin widened his eyes. "Why, my dear," he said. "This cart contains any magical item your heart could desire. Potions, powders, amulets, wards… I have it all. Is there something in particular you were looking for today?"
Charlie shrugged. "I need a present for my uncle's birthday."
Marvin quickly started grabbing things off the cluttered shelves, "Maybe an anti-aging potion?" he suggested, holding up a small gray bottle. "Or a balm for aches and pains?" He pointed to a squat glass jar. Then, he looked excited, "No, I have just the thing! A virility elixir? To bring the aging gentleman back to the days of his youth?"
Charlie grimaced with horror at the thought of Miles' virility, present or past. "Uh, no. No, definitely not. Do you have anything like, just a nice liquor or something?"
Marvin stared at her in mild disappointment for a beat or two, then nodded gravely. "I will admit that I do deal also in the mundane, items of no magical value. Simply good business. Let me see what I have here." He pulled out a selection of several bottles, all of which bore fancy handwritten labels. Charlie unscrewed the tops and sniffed them: definitely alcoholic. She selected one that smelled the least like turpentine and paid Marvin his money, shoving the booze into her pack. It had been a pretty expensive bottle, but she figured Miles' birthday only came once per year.
"Well, thanks," Charlie said, turning to go, but Marvin stopped her.
"Wait," he urged. "Surely you'd like something for yourself, as well? Perhaps a beauty enhancer?" He immediately shook his head, "No, no, not necessary in your case, of course… but perhaps an energy potion? Or a hangover cure to go with..." he gestured at her bag.
"I'm really fine," Charlie insisted, but Marvin gasped in triumph.
"I've got it!" he declared. He pulled a tiny vial out of a drawer in his cart. It was no more than 2 inches long, about the diameter of a pencil. The end was capped with a tiny piece of cork. Inside, a red liquid moved thickly around a small round bubble in the end of the tube. Charlie felt a shiver of apprehension looking at it, though she couldn't say why.
"A love potion," Marvin explained in a low voice. "Is there anyone special in your life who you could use this for?"
Charlie tried to keep her face neutral, but her mind flashed to the one person she absolutely should not be thinking about. Yes, she knew, there was someone.
Apparently, Marvin saw something in her expression, as his face broke into a wide smile. "There is!" He pressed the vial into her palm, closing her fingers around it. "Take it," he said. She opened her mouth to refuse, and he cut her off, "No charge, no charge. Consider it a promotion-if you're satisfied, you come back and see me again."
Not in the mood to argue further, Charlie shrugged and shoved the vial down into the pocket of her jeans, figuring she could throw it out later. "Thanks," she said, still a bit taken aback by the exchange. Marvin nodded and turned to fuss with the items on his cart. Charlie felt as if she'd been dismissed.
Charlie walked to Miles' place, battling back the unwelcome thoughts that the peddler's simple question had sent swirling in her mind. Was there someone she would use a love potion on? She'd immediately thought of Bass, of course. Infuriating, inscrutable, sexy Bass Monroe. She'd wanted him since the minute she saw him, but lately that want had morphed into something deeper. She spent plenty of time with him, between hanging out at Miles' house and seeing him at work. They'd fought together, bled together, hell, hiked halfway across the damn map together. And somewhere along the way, Charlie had fallen for him, hard.
But she did everything she could to avoid acknowledging her feelings, for a lot of reasons. Partly because Bass was her uncle's best friend, and therefore not only far too old for her, but someone her uncle would never consent to her being with. That aside, though, Charlie was fairly sure Bass didn't take her seriously at all. Maybe he thought she was pretty, she guessed a lot of men did, but he didn't see her as a woman, as someone he would be genuinely interested in. And that killed her because she had no idea what to do about it, to change his mind. So she did nothing.
As she walked up the steps to Miles' place, her stomach tightened in anticipation. There was a good chance Bass would be there. Sure enough, when she pushed through the door without bothering to knock, she heard two male voices talking loudly. She followed the sound back into the kitchen, where Miles and Bass were sitting at the kitchen table.
"Charlie!" Miles exclaimed. The half-empty bottle of whiskey on the table in front of him let her know that they'd gotten the celebration started without her.
"Hey, Miles," she said with a smirk. "Happy birthday." She pulled the liquor bottle out of her bag and set it down in front of him, knowing he wouldn't care that it wasn't wrapped.
"Hi, Charlie," Bass said pointedly, his tone implying he was put out that she'd forgotten to greet him.
"Bass," she said coolly, then turned back to Miles, gesturing toward the bottle. "I got that from some creepy sales guy next to the bar. Have you seen him? Has this whole cart full of weird potions and stuff."
Miles and Bass laughed at her. "Potions?" Bass asked skeptically. "Come on, you can't be serious. Did he also have magic wands and horcruxes?" Miles snorted and nodded appreciatively. Charlie felt that familiar fish out of water feeling that she got whenever Miles and Bass made pre-Blackout cultural references. She hated that feeling.
"No, he did not, whatever the hell those are," she said. "But when I said I was looking for a gift for my uncle, the guy suggested I might want to buy a virility potion. You know, help you out in that department since you must be getting so old," she added with fake sweetness.
Miles' face dropped. "Where is this guy? I'll kill him," he declared.
Bass kicked Miles in the leg. "Later," he said. "Right now, we need to be focusing on the important things." He pointed at the bottle Charlie had gifted him. "Namely, trying your new booze before we get too drunk on the other stuff to taste it."
Miles nodded in agreement. Bass plucked the bottle off the table and handed it out to Charlie. "You mind?" he asked. At her incredulous look, he said, "You're already standing up."
Charlie rolled her eyes and sighed, taking the bottle over to the other end of the kitchen to pull fresh glasses out of the cupboard.
"Fuck that potion guy," Miles continued, apparently not ready to let go the slight to his age. "I'm not old. Hell, I'm better now than I was twenty years ago."
"You said it, brother," Bass agreed. "Back then we were just kids. Didn't know shit about shit. I'll take experience over youth any day."
Charlie felt hot blood rush to her face at Bass' words. She knew rationally that they probably weren't targeted at her. If anything, Bass was probably just trying to make Miles-and himself-feel better about being past their prime (though to Charlie's eye, Bass looked just right). Still, she couldn't help but take offense. And she hated being dismissed as a kid who didn't know anything.
Suddenly, Charlie remembered the love potion in her pocket. Without thinking twice, she glanced over at Bass and Miles. They were focused on each other, not watching her. Quickly, Charlie pulled the bottle out of her pocket, angling her body slightly away from the two men, and dumped it into one of the glasses. There. That would teach Bass to be so dismissive toward her. See how he liked it once the love potion had done its thing.
Almost immediately, Charlie felt ridiculous. Then she panicked slightly. She didn't even know what the hell was in the so-called potion - what if it was poison? What if it made Bass sick? She thought about pouring out the liquor, but realized she'd have to explain why, which was out of the question. Moreover, she couldn't bring herself to waste perfectly good (and expensive) liquor. Charlie talked herself down. The love potion bit was total bullshit, she decided. It wasn't going to do anything to Bass. It was probably just colored water, for goodness' sake.
Decision made, she brought the three glasses back to the table, still being careful to set the one with the love potion in front of Bass, not Miles. She watched him as he took his first sip, but he didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, just commenting that it was a hell of a lot better than their usual booze. Miles agreed, socking Charlie on the shoulder in another thanks.
The three of them sat and talked for awhile. Charlie thought she felt Bass' gaze on her more heavily than usual, which was saying something. As long as she'd known Bass, it wasn't at all unusual for her to look up and see his eyes trained on her with a raw expression that she always tried to stop herself from analyzing too deeply. But this was different. This was that, but more obvious, and more frequent. Charlie told herself to stop being ridiculous, that it was all in her head because using the stupid potion had made her paranoid.
Finally, Bass and Miles told her they had to go meet Blanchard, who was taking them out for a celebratory dinner with a bunch of guys from work. Charlie was glad that Miles' friends were taking care of him; ever since her mom had up and left several months before, Miles spent a lot of time alone, but no one should be alone on their birthday.
Miles and Bass got up, and Miles strode out toward the front door. Bass paused, lingering at the table, looking like he wanted to say something. Charlie looked up at him, the air thick with anticipation. But all Bass said was, "Thanks for the drink." His tone was no longer mocking, just his usual low rasp that sent shivers down Charlie's spine.
"Sure," she said. "Have fun at dinner."
Bass grinned slightly. "Be more fun if you were there," he replied. Charlie's heart leapt, and before she could answer, he added, "See ya later, Charlie," and walked out of the kitchen.
Charlie was left slightly dazed. She was pretty sure Bass had just flirted with her, and that had never happened between her and him. Not the way it did with other guys, where the expression of interest was so obvious. Yes, she and Bass joked around together, and sometimes she thought their intense stares would melt her bones, but he'd never made a comment like that to her before. Charlie found herself grinning stupidly, the glow of Bass' attention making her tense with excitement.
Charlie took another deep sip of her drink. As she did, she noticed that Bass' glass was completely empty. He'd drank all of the liquor, and therefore, all of the love potion.
Just a coincidence, she told herself. Nothing to be worried about.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next morning, Charlie wandered through the town market. The cool, damp Texas morning air felt good on her skin, but she was exhausted and slightly hungover. She wasn't so rude as to drink Miles' liquor without him there, but she had a healthy supply at her own place and had indulged herself when she'd gotten home the night before. She'd woken up dehydrated and ravenous and was irritated to realize she'd put off food shopping for too long, and her cupboards were literally bare.
Worse yet, all she had money for was a single apple, since she'd spent an unreasonable amount of money on maple candy. Halloween was in two days, and she wanted to have something to give the kids in town when they came by her house for trick or treating. At the time, she'd told herself if it meant skipping a few meals, she was fine with that. Now she was questioning her decision.
Normally, Charlie loved the market. There wasn't much to it, just about a dozen booths lined up on both sides of the street, for merchants that didn't have enough product or staff to merit holding an entire building. Most of them were farmers, of course, selling either produce or animal products like meat and cheese. Some were craftsmen selling specialty items like knives, cookware, or clothes. And a few were simply traders and resellers, stacking up a random assortment of items every day, seeking advantageous barter. Charlie got a thrill out of seeing what was available on any given day, and often was able to trade game she'd hunted, or things she found in the woods or on her travels, for things she needed.
That morning, Charlie went to one of the farmers' carts and picked out the biggest apple she could find in the pile. As she paid for it, a small tray of jewelry next to the proprietor caught her eye. The man explained that his daughter made it as a hobby. Charlie fingered through the items with one hand while using the other to munch on her apple. She picked up one bracelet in particular, a delicate one with tan beads and a silver clasp. She asked how much it was, knowing it was pointless since she was literally penniless until her next payday at the end of the month. Besides, it wasn't like her to buy something just because it was pretty. Too indulgent and impractical. Still, she quirked her mouth regretfully when the vendor quoted her a price way out of her budget.
Charlie turned to go and gasped when she saw Bass just behind her. "Shit, you scared me," she exclaimed.
Bass quirked an eyebrow, "Sorry," he said. Charlie noticed in annoyance that while she felt like she'd been run over by a truck, he somehow looked his usual attractively polished yet brutal self in his work military uniform. You'd never know he'd probably been out half the night drinking with Miles and the guys. "Rough morning?" he asked.
Charlie rolled her eyes. "That obvious?" she asked. "I ran out of food, and money, so yea, I guess you could say that." She raised the apple in her hand sarcastically. "Breakfast of champions." She didn't exactly understand where the phrase came from, but she'd picked it up from Miles and Bass, who often used it to describe particularly pathetic camp breakfasts, like a single piece of jerky or, as here, an apple.
Bass snorted. "An apple? And you're not even on the road chasing after Patriots?" He shook his head. "Not okay. Let me buy you breakfast."
"What?" Charlie struggled to process the completely unexpected offer.
"Breakfast," Bass explained, raising his eyebrows like she was being slow. "Actual food. At Maybe's. Come on, I know you have time before work." He gestured her toward the small restaurant situated just off the side of the market. Charlie glanced over at it, trying to think of a reason she should refuse. Then the scent of cooking bacon reached her nose, her stomach growled, and she gave in. With a nod, she stepped forward to follow Bass.
Maybe's was a tiny operation, set up what had once been someone's home. Now the front living room and adjacent dining room were crowded with a mismatched assortment of small tables, about ten total, where breakfast and lunch were served every day. Charlie and Bass sat down at a round table near the side window. A small glass with some greenery was set perkily in the middle of it. A few other diners sat around the room, their low conversations and sounds of silverware clinking making for pleasant background noise. The smell of coffee in the air mingled with the scent of bacon, and suddenly Charlie was extremely grateful to Bass for suggesting this.
The owner of the restaurant, and its namesake, Maybe Johnson, came over to take their orders. Charlie and Bass both emphatically requested coffee. On the menu that day were eggs any style, bacon, or fried potatoes, or a breakfast scramble with all three. Bass ordered the scramble for both of them, glancing to Charlie for confirmation, and she nodded. Maybe ducked away to get started cooking. Bass suddenly slapped the table.
"Damn, I meant to put in my grocery order for next week while I was out there," he explained. "Got distracted by your food issues. Mind if I run back and do that?"
"Sure," Charlie said. Bass slid out of his seat. Charlie couldn't help admiring the picture he made as he loped toward the front door of the restaurant. He always moved with such grace and raw power. One of her earliest images of him was of him in the fighting ring in New Vegas. There, his movements had been lethal and efficient, and she'd been absolutely in awe of him. It hadn't taken her long to discover that he always moved that way. It drove her absolutely crazy.
The delivery of coffee by Maybe interrupted her thoughts, and Charlie gratefully picked up the mug of steaming brew. She sipped it and stared out the window as she waited for Bass to return. Within a few minutes, he did, arriving just as their food did. Maybe set down the plates and silverware, paused a second to make sure they had no further requests, then left them to their meal.
"Good timing," Bass commented, digging into his plate immediately. Charlie did the same. For awhile, they ate in companionable silence. To Charlie, the hot, hearty food was heavenly. She almost never started her day with such rich fare, and it felt good, the grease and starch sitting heavy in her stomach.
Once the worst of her hunger had been satisfied, she asked Bass how Miles' birthday dinner had been. He regaled her with tales of some of the more interesting parts of the night, including Blanchard's bawdy toast and one of the men nearly getting into a bar fight. Charlie laughed throughout, part of her sorry to have missed the fun, but mostly glad that it sounded like Miles' birthday was a success. Briefly, she considered how unusual it was for her and Bass to be sitting at a table in a restaurant, sober, just talking, without Miles present.
When they'd nearly finished their plates, and their coffees had been refreshed for the third or fourth time, Bass leaned back in his chair and said to Charlie, "Don't kill me."
Charlie smiled, figuring he had another ridiculous story to tell her about something he'd done the night before. "Why am I killing you?" she asked playfully.
"I mean, just don't freak out, but... Here." Bass pulled something out of his pocket and set it on the table next to her coffee mug. Charlie's eyes widened as she recognized the bracelet she'd been admiring at the produce stand. She stared at it like it was a scorpion, ready to attack her.
"What's this?" she asked.
Bass looked annoyed. "It's the bracelet you were looking at. Right? That's the right one?"
Charlie nodded. "Yeah." Bass looked relieved. "But… why are you giving it to me?" Her heart was racing, and she struggled to keep her voice even.
Bass smirked at her. "Could be I just want to apologize for being kind of a dick to you last night. You seemed upset."
"Hell of an apology," Charlie said.
He shrugged, then his face turned somewhat serious. "Is it so wrong if I want to do something nice for you?"
She thought about it. "Wrong, no. More like weird."
Bass seemed to like that answer. "If me being nice to you is so weird, we're going to have to work on that," he said.
"We are?" Charlie repeated, still not sure what to make of all this.
"Yes, we are," Bass said decisively, then stood up. "But for now, I gotta get to work."
"Okay," Charlie said, still a bit dazed. "Thank you," she added. "Don't think I've said that yet. The bracelet is beautiful."
"Then it's perfect for you," he said mildly. He gestured at her still-mostly-full coffee cup. "Feel free to hang out and finish up. I'll take care of this." Like he had in the kitchen the night before, Bass paused as if he wanted to say or do something more, but instead he just nodded and walked off. Charlie saw him pay Maybe on his way out, then followed him with her eyes as he left the restaurant.
After the door swung shut behind him, she refocused on the delicate bracelet, still laying on the table where Bass had placed it. Charlie picked it up gingerly. The beads were still warm from where they'd been sitting in Bass' pocket. Charlie stared at it for a few seconds, lost in thought, unable to stop a wide grin from spreading over her face. Bass had bought her a present. A piece of jewelry. Yes, he said it was just to apologize for being a jerk, but last night had hardly even rated in the top ten episodes of jerkiness he'd shown toward her. The apology thing felt like an excuse. So what was the real reason?
Charlie thought about the potion, and her stomach dropped. The breakfast date. The bracelet. Was it all because of that ridiculous love potion? Charlie pushed the thought out of her mind and quickly clasped the bracelet onto her wrist. Admiring the way it looked, loving the way it reminded her of Bass, she tried to ignore the nagging thought of red liquid in a vial.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That evening, Charlie heard a knock on the door of her home. She wasn't expecting any visitors, so she grabbed her hunting knife from where it was sitting next to her on the side table and made her way to the front door. She peeked through the side light, and relaxed when she saw Bass standing on her front porch.
She opened the door and was taken aback to see that not only was Bass visiting her unannounced, but he had two large, orange pumpkins, one in each hand. She couldn't help admiring how his arm muscles tensed and bulged as he made small adjustments to balance the heavy load he was holding. Charlie thrilled with excitement just at the sight of him.
"Hey," she greeted him, then gestured at the pumpkins. "What's all this?"
"So Jacob Anderson came to the office today with a wagonful of these things that he'd grown, and he guilted us all into buying them for Halloween," Bass explained in a short speech that seemed somewhat rehearsed. "I figured rather than just let it go to waste, I'd see if you felt like carving jack o'lanterns." He looked unsure. "Feel free to tell me it's stupid."
Charlie shrugged, "Can't do that, since I don't know what you're talking about. What's a jack o'lantern?" She repeated back the unfamiliar phrase hesitantly.
Bass looked appalled. "You've never made a jack o'lantern for Halloween? My god, what were Ben and Rachel teaching you kids?"
Charlie rolled her eyes. "We didn't have pumpkins growing up, that I remember. Didn't exactly have a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, since it was all we could do to grow enough to pay the Republic's taxes." She glared at him pointedly.
Bass looked abashed for a moment, then brushed it off. "Are we going to stand here and debate about my agricultural policies, or can I come in? These are getting heavy."
Charlie stepped aside to let him in, and he strode into the kitchen and set the pumpkins on the table with a thud. Charlie still had her hunting knife in her hand, and he took it from her. Charlie saw Bass glance at the bracelet he'd given her as he did, and she was glad she was still wearing it from earlier. Not that she planned to take it off.
She watched skeptically as Bass demonstrated how to cut the little cap off the top of the pumpkin, then scoop the guts out. At his request, Charlie got a bowl and two spoons for them to use. Bass explained that once the pumpkins were cleared out, they would make faces on the fronts by carving holes for the mouth, eyes, and nose. Charlie thought the whole thing sounded pretty bizarre, but Bass seemed excited about it, so she decided to play along. Besides, it wasn't like she'd had anything else planned for her evening. And she was happy to have any excuse to spend time with Bass.
Bass handed the knife back over to Charlie, and he got to work scooping out his pumpkin. She carved a little lid out of hers, like he'd shown her, and popped it off. She plunged her hand into the center and squeaked a little at the cold mushiness of the pumpkin. Bass looked up at her and grinned mischievously. Gamely, she pulled out handfuls of seeds and pulp, plopping it into the bowl that she'd set between them.
After a minute or two, her hands were absolutely coated with pumpkin residue, but that didn't stop her from reaching up unthinkingly to push her hair off her face, depositing a chunk of pumpkin guts on her cheek. She tried to wipe it off but only succeeded in smearing more gunk on her face and in her hair.
"Shoot," she said, then noticed that Bass' hands were clean, since he'd been expertly using the spoon to scoop out his pumpkin. "Can you hand me that towel over there?" she asked, gesturing with her messy hands.
Bass looked up and saw her predicament. He grabbed the towel, and she went to take it from him, but he stopped her. Gesturing that she should get her hands out of the way, he gently wiped her cheek himself, slowly and deliberately. As he did, he cupped her jaw with his other hand, holding her steady so that he could get every bit of pumpkin. Charlie's breath caught in her throat at the intimacy of it, the warmth of his strong hand on her face, his body near enough that if she leaned forward slightly, she'd be pressed against him. Then she looked up and met his eyes.
Bass was staring down at her, his eyes blazing with intensity. She breathed in and out softly, not moving, waiting to see what he would do. He set the towel down on the table but left his other hand on her cheek. Then he pulled her against him and kissed her. Bass' lips were firm against her mouth, his tongue insistent as it sought hers. Charlie kissed him back eagerly, her body turning to liquid, responding to him. She wrapped her arms around him and clung to him tightly, uncaring of the mess her hands were making on his shirt.
They broke apart briefly then kissed again, the second time more needy, more frantic. As if neither of them wanted to let the other change their mind, as if they wanted to push this forward before either of them realized it was a mistake. Charlie felt desire rising inside her, crushed her body against Bass', needing him closer. He responded with a growl, his hands finding her ass and pulling her close to him, his arousal as apparent as her own.
Charlie was elated. She'd never thought that this would actually happen between Bass and her. She'd always figured it would take a miracle.
Suddenly, icy realization gripped her. A miracle… or magic. She pulled away from Bass, resting her sticky hands on his forearms where they were still wrapped around her waist. He looked at her cautiously. "We have to stop," she said apologetically. She couldn't bring herself to explain more than that. What could she say? I drugged you with a love potion, and I'm afraid it might actually have worked? But just in case it didn't, and you really do want me, I don't want to sound insane? So instead she let him draw his own conclusions.
Bass hesitated only a fraction of a second, then let her go. Smiling ruefully, he turned back to his pumpkin. Glancing at her from under hooded lids, he picked up the hunting knife and went back to carving a face into his pumpkin as if nothing had happened. Charlie picked up a spoon with shaking hands and continued scooping. She needed her pulse and breathing rate to go back to normal before she would risk handling the knife herself.
It was dusk by the time they finished carving the pumpkins, the light in the kitchen having faded to hardly anything. Charlie was amused by the cartoonish jack o'lantern "faces" made up of triangles and half-circles. Bass selected two squat candles out of her vast collection and handed them to her to carry out to the porch, while he followed with the pumpkins. He set the candles inside them and lit them, gently putting the tops of the pumpkins in place. He and Charlie stood back and admired their handiwork. Charlie had to admit that the flickering candle inside the carved pumpkin made for an eerie, festive decoration.
"They're even better when it's really dark," Bass commented, looking out to where the sun had already sunk below the horizon. "Want to wait out here a few minutes to get the full effect?"
"Sure," Charlie said, trying not to show how eager she was for an excuse to prolong her evening with Bass. They sat down side by side on her porch swing. Bass pushed it with his legs so it swayed slightly under them. They talked a bit, but for the most part, they listened to the quiet evening sounds around them - the distant shouts of people on the main drag a few blocks over in town, the scurry of wildlife either heading to dens or waking up for nighttime prowling, the rustle of the wind in the leaves.
As the sky grew darker, the temperature dropped, and Charlie scooted closer to Bass, telling herself she needed his warmth. Eventually, they were pressed basically hip to hip. Charlie felt practically boneless with relaxation and contentment, Bass' strong body next to hers. Bass finally lifted his arm up and put it around her shoulders, allowing her room to lean into his side, which she did, tucking her feet up on the swing next to them. Charlie focused on enjoying the moment, refusing to consider how out of character this was for both of them, or to consider when and how this spell-whatever its cause-would be broken.
Full darkness finally fell, the pinpoint lights of the stars brilliantly visible above them. And the orange jack o'lanterns grinned their spooky grins across the porch, the flames inside them dancing and glowing impressively, having no sunlight to compete with.
"They're awesome," Charlie pronounced after a few minutes. "That was definitely worth waiting for."
Bass squeezed her shoulder approvingly. "Glad you think so," she felt more than heard the rumble of his voice, her ear laid against his chest.
"Thanks for doing this," Charlie said. "It ended up being really fun."
She felt him nod. "There's a lot I've been wanting to do. For awhile now." She could hear in his voice that he was thinking of their kiss - as was she. "Somehow it felt like the right time tonight."
Charlie bit her lip guiltily. Could Bass' realization have been because of the potion? Or had he been feeling the same things she had all along? His arm around her shoulders suddenly felt as heavy as her remorse, and she had to get away. Charlie stood up, pretending to stretch nonchalantly, but she saw Bass' surprised and disappointed eyes following her movements. "I should probably head in," she said. "It's getting late."
"Yeah," Bass said. "Me too." Charlie nodded matter-of-factly and went to turn back inside, when Bass spoke again, "Hey, Charlie…" She turned around. "You're going to the thing at the church tomorrow, right?"
Charlie nodded. Practically everyone in town was planning to go to the Halloween costume party that was being thrown at the church hall the following night, the night before Halloween proper. There would be music, booze, dancing, and it was an excuse to dress up. What else was there to do in a sleepy post-Blackout, post-war town? "I'll be there."
"Can I plan to meet you?" He didn't explain further, but Charlie immediately realized he was talking about her going as his date.
Despite her reservations and confusion about the potion, she was still thrilled he would ask her, so she said, "Yeah, that sounds great. If you can figure out which costume is me."
Bass grinned. "I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding you, Charlie. I've told you, you're not as hard to track as you think." With that, he raised his hand in farewell and turned to walk down the steps. Charlie bent down to blow out the candles in the jack o'lanterns and headed inside.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next morning, before she went to work, Charlie hurried over to the street behind the bar. She was determined to find the man who had given her the love potion that was causing her so much grief. She found his wagon in the same place, its bells tinkling even more loudly in the strong wind blowing through the gray fall air. Marvelous Marvin seemed to be waiting for someone, standing out in front of his wagon, watching the main road, staring at her as she approached.
"Well, hello," he greeted her as she hurried up to him. "Come back to see me have you? Changed your mind about that energy potion?"
"No," Charlie said. "No potions. That's what I came to talk to you about. That love potion you gave me - does it really work? I mean, it doesn't, does it?"
Marvin laughed unnervingly. "But of course it works, dear," he said. "I'm not a snake oil salesman." It made no sense, but somehow the guy seemed convincing. The potion was real.
Charlie shook her head in frustration, "Come on, be serious, this is crazy."
"Is it? Why?" the vendor asked, peering at her with interest. "Did you not think it would work?"
"Of course I didn't!" she exclaimed. "You have to give me the cure. The antidote. Whatever. I need it to un-work."
Marvin laughed his odd laugh again. "My dear, there is no antidote."
Charlie glared at him. "What do you mean there is none? You can't just give someone a potion that you can't cure. What if they…" She paused, not sure how to explain herself. "What if someone drank it on accident? Or didn't know they drank it?" she demanded, beginning to panic.
Marvin saw right through her. He grinned, wide and mocking. "Oh, no. Having regrets? Second thoughts? Don't worry, precious, I'm sure whoever this young man is who you gave your potion to, you'll make him very happy."
Charlie's eyes welled up with tears at his words. "I'm pretty sure I WON'T," she yelled. "And anyway, it's not fair to him, did you ever think of that? Maybe he doesn't want to be with me? People that you're just giving away these potions to, it's actual lives you're messing with."
The man suddenly looked deadly serious. "Ah, but I wasn't the one doing the messing, was I? It was you, little girl. Maybe you've invoked a power that you were not in fact prepared to wield. Maybe it's time you realized there are forces in this universe greater than what you understand."
Charlie felt fear clawing at her throat at his words. Maybe she really had messed up Bass for good. If there was no way to take it back, what the hell was she supposed to do? Scared and angry, she couldn't look at Marvin. Keeping her eyes on the ground, she turned and hurried down the street, away from him. She could hear his haunting laughter behind her as she went.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Charlie had always liked Halloween. It was true what she'd told Bass about her family never having carved pumpkins, but they'd always put on costumes and shared some kind of tricks and treats, even after the Blackout. Lots of times, she and Danny would dress up as the same thing, or coordinate their costumes somehow. For Charlie, who always dreamed of what lay beyond the walls of their sleepy Wisconsin town, Halloween had been a welcome chance to indulge her fantasies of adventure, dressing as a pilot or a pirate. She even remembered one year as a teenager, she'd dressed up as a member of the Monroe Militia, a move that had felt quite rebellious at the time. Glancing down at the militia brand on her wrist, she smirked at the irony.
This year's costume was different from ones she'd worn previously. She had to admit to herself that she'd chosen it with Bass in mind. The "witch" dress was cut into a daringly low V-neck in front, and the shredded hem at the bottom came up high in places. Beneath it, she had on black fishnet stockings. They were tattered with holes, but she reasoned that it only added to the witchy effect. To top it off, literally, she wore a black witch's hat, somehow preserved through the years as part of the town's cache of costumes that people borrowed from year after year. It was slightly too big for her head, but it worked well enough.
Charlie dressed in her costume, preparing to go to the town Halloween party. Even after her disturbing conversation with Marvin, she still planned to meet Bass there. It wouldn't be fair to stand him up without explanation - after all, it wasn't his fault that she'd warped his brain with some magical concoction. Charlie decided she would show up to meet him, but she had no idea what she was going to do from there.
When Charlie arrived at the party, it was well after dark, and the lamps inside the hall were turned up only to a fraction of their usual strength, creating a dark, mysterious atmosphere. People milled around in costumes, most of which were some combination of ordinary clothes and actual costume pieces. The room was decorated with dead branches, stripped of their leaves, along with paper cutouts of ghosts and haunted houses, creating the effect of a haunted forest. Tables piled with food ran along one wall. Charlie was grateful to see a full bar across the wall opposite.
Charlie declined the bartender's offer of the "special" Halloween pumpkin punch and instead requested a whiskey. While he was pouring, she felt a presence behind her. Bass. She shivered and turned quickly. Sure enough, he was there, looking devastatingly gorgeous in his Halloween costume. Given the way he was looking at her, he seemingly thought the same about her.
Charlie furrowed her brow and tried to figure out what Bass was supposed to be. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt, no tie, open wide at the collar. The shirt was covered with fake blood, and Bass' neck was likewise smeared with it. Given that Charlie had many times seen Bass covered in real blood, his own and other people's, the garishly red fake blood looked particularly unsettling against his skin.
"What are you?" she asked.
"Newly-made vampire," Bass responded readily, pointing at two black marks on his neck that Charlie hadn't noticed before, which she guessed were meant to be bite marks. Charlie rolled her eyes. Of course Bass would figure out a costume that would make him look devastatingly sexy and masculine, yet somehow would be totally in the Halloween spirit. Unlike Miles, for example, who would probably just avoid the sun for two days, wear a white undershirt, and call it a ghost costume. Which reminded her…
"Miles come with you?" she asked. Whatever was going to happen between her and Bass tonight, it made a difference whether Miles would be there to witness it.
Bass shook his head. "Nah. Said he was going to skip it. Didn't want to deal with, quote, 'a bunch of morons in disguise hopped up on candy and punch.'"
Charlie laughed. "His loss," she commented, as the band in the corner started up playing their first song. Somehow they were producing music that sounded both spooky and lively, a combination that fairly demanded to be danced to.
Bass apparently felt the same way. He picked up Charlie's drink and drained it, and before she could protest, he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the dance floor. Charlie couldn't think of a reason to pull away, so instead she let Bass take her in his arms.
No surprise, Bass was an incredible dancer, and he and Charlie had fought side by side often enough that they moved easily together. When it's a matter of life or death, you figure out how to not get your legs and arms tangled up in your partner's pretty quickly. Keeping time to the music at a church dance was a breeze by comparison.
Charlie wanted to lose herself in the feeling of being in Bass' arms like this, to ignore the real reason he wanted to dance with her. She'd wanted him, wanted this, for so long. It was heartbreaking that now that she'd finally gotten it, it wasn't real. So she allowed herself to pretend, just a little bit. She reasoned that there was no harm in dancing, even if Bass' strong hand on her lower back was noticeably possessive, and the look in his eyes even more so.
"I always loved Halloween," he murmured in her ear as the music slowed down and they did, as well. "The one day a year you can pretend to be anything you want."
"Hmm, like what?" Charlie said, not really paying attention, focused on the way his hips were occasionally pressing into hers as they moved together.
"Like pretending I'm someone who deserves to be here with you," he said.
That got her attention, and she started to interrupt him, "You're— "
Bass cut her off, "After everything I've done, all we've been through… the fact that you'd allow me as much as you already have – that kiss, this dance… it's more than I hoped for." Charlie was overcome with emotion and just looked up at Bass helplessly. He squeezed her and continued, "But I'm glad. Damn glad."
It was too much. Bass was standing here pouring his heart out to her, and he deserved to know the truth. Charlie shook her head, pushing away from Bass slightly. "No. I can't." Taking a deep breath, steeling herself, she pulled him off the dance floor. He followed, looking concerned.
Charlie found a dark corner where they would have relative privacy. She hardly knew where to begin. "I have to tell you something."
"Okay," he said, looking at her seriously.
"This… this isn't real," she confessed at last. "None of this, what you're feeling. It's all-" she broke off, not knowing how to explain.
"It's real," Bass insisted, taking her hand. "Believe me, it has been for a long time. For me. And I think for you, too."
"It's NOT," Charlie yelled, frustrated. The rest came out in a burst. "It's because of a stupid love potion, okay? That creepy peddler guy gave me a free love potion, and I put it in your drink as a joke, but now it's not a joke because I guess it worked and I don't know how to take it back, and I'm so, so sorry." She looked at Bass imploringly, hoping she could see how sincerely she meant it. "I absolutely did not mean for this to happen, I never really thought it would work. I'd take it back if I could. I asked the guy for a cure, but he said there isn't one."
She looked up at Bass, expecting him to look confused or disgusted. Instead, he looked hurt. "Take it back? You don't want me to feel this way?" he asked.
Charlie couldn't believe it. "No, that's not what I meant, I mean, I would. Want you to. If it were different—but not like this." She was struggling to process the question. Why wasn't he mad about the potion? Didn't Bass understand what she was telling him? Because he wasn't mad. In fact, he was actually smiling.
"Charlie," Bass said tenderly. "I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. I have a feeling you're about to be really pissed off at me."
A cold knot of dread formed in her stomach. "What. Why?"
"I saw you put the stuff in my drink. The love potion," he rolled his eyes. "Mister Macabre had offered me the same red vial when I'd visited him earlier that morning. So when I saw you use it I thought I'd just… go along with it."
"Go along with it?" Charlie repeated, horrified. If he'd seen her put the love potion in his drink, that meant… everything that had happened since then… it had all been fake. Bass had known exactly what he was doing.
"Yeah," Bass went on. "You gave me a love potion, so I thought, what if I acted like it worked? What would you do? Where would it lead us?"
Charlie felt a hot blush stealing over her face as she felt sick with humiliation. "So this whole time, you've just been messing with me? And here I was feeling terrible for giving you the stupid potion that I never thought would work in the first place – you've been screwing with my head on purpose!"
"No, that's not what I'm saying," Bass tried to explain, but Charlie cut him off.
"Fuck off, Bass," she growled, twisting away from him as he tried to put a hand on her arm to stop her. Seething with rage, she turned and pushed through the people on the dance floor and ran out of the party.
Charlie raced home, feeling like nothing would feel as good as crawling under her heavy comforter and never coming out. When she got to her house, she saw the jack o'lanterns she'd carved with Bass shining through the night with the candles she'd lit earlier. She thought about kicking them over into the bushes, but reasoned that she didn't want to start a forest fire. Instead, she glared at them miserably as she hurried past them and ran inside, slamming the door behind her.
Charlie ran into her bedroom. She flung her witch hat on the floor, kicked off her boots, and crawled into her bed. She didn't know whether to cry or scream. The worst part was, she knew she had no one to blame but herself. She'd badly wanted Bass, and had for a long time. She wished he'd wanted her too, but now everything had gotten all screwed up, and he thought the entire thing was just a ridiculous joke. It was her greatest fear, always, that Bass just thought she was a dumb kid, not to be taken seriously. She'd proven him right with this stupid stunt.
Just a few minutes later, she heard a knock. "Charlie," she heard Bass faintly as he called through the front door. "I'm sorry."
Charlie yelled, "Go away," but without conviction, pulling her covers up over her head. She heard the door open and cursed herself for forgetting to lock it. She didn't bother to get up as she heard Bass come into her house, pause in the living room, then enter her bedroom.
"Shit," he muttered softly upon seeing her huddled up in her bed. "Hey," he said, sounding helpless. "Don't be upset."
Fury coursed through her veins, and she sat straight up, throwing the covers off of her dramatically. "I AM upset," she yelled. "You think it's a joke, pretending to like me? Ha ha, stupid Charlie, did she really think the amazing General Monroe would ever want her?"
Bass sat down on the bed beside her. "I was a coward," he confessed. Charlie looked at him, hurt and skeptical, but listening now. Bass took a deep breath before continuing, "I've wanted… you. Wanted this. Us. For a long time. I never knew how to do anything about it. Or even if I should. And then I saw you pull out that love potion, and I thought, we'll let's just see."
"See what?" Charlie said sarcastically. "How big a fool you could make of me?"
"No. Of course not," he answered. "See how you would respond if I did all the things I've been wanting to do. Showed you how I feel. Figured if you hated it, I could use the potion as an excuse, and we could have a laugh about it. Like I said, I was a coward."
Charlie let that sink in for a few seconds. "So it was real? Everything you were doing?"
"More than you know. I just used the stupid potion as an excuse." Bass laced his fingers gently in hers. "I'm really sorry. Can you forgive me for being such a jackass?"
Charlie's heart bloomed with the knowledge of what this meant. Bass wasn't under some freaky potion-peddler's spell. He had actually wanted to do the things he had done, and he had kept doing them because she seemed to want it, too. Her joy at realizing that Bass wanted her just as much as she wanted him wiped out whatever lingering embarrassment or frustration she was feeling toward him. But still…
"I should kick your ass," she scolded half-heartedly. "I thought I'd brainwashed you permanently or something."
"Believe me, you have," he confirmed. "I'm okay with it, though," he added in a low voice, pulling her close to him. Charlie tilted her head up toward his and allowed him to kiss her, slow and soft at first, then more intensely. Her body rioted with the knowledge that they were in her bed, no more lies or barriers between them. Charlie knew what she wanted to happen, and she was certain Bass wanted the same thing. She rubbed her hand deliberately up his leg, over his crotch, and felt him groan into her mouth. Very certain.
The kiss went on, and Bass shrugged out of his jacket, tossing it into her floor. Charlie ran her hands up his warm, firm chest, clinging to his shoulders. Bass pulled back the covers and pulled her halfway into his lap, running his hands up her stocking-clad thighs and ass. His fingers brushed gently between her legs, seeking permission, and Charlie spread her thighs in response. Bass increased the pressure, and Charlie gasped and arched into him as he rubbed her clit through the skimpy fabric. She was ridiculously wet for him and suddenly felt the need to take control.
Charlie swung one leg over Bass' lap, feeling his hardness pressing into her core as she straddled him. Bass' lips were parted, his eyes clouded with arousal as he watched her astride him. Quickly, Charlie pulled her black, stretchy dress over her head, leaving her in just a black lacy bra and panties, and the fishnets. Bass moaned in appreciation, his hands immediately moving up to cover her breasts. He ran his thumbs over her hardened nipples, the thin lace hardly dulling the sensation of his touch. He plumped and squeezed her breasts inside the bra, and Charlie's hips grinded into him eagerly as he did. Then he reached behind her and flicked open the clasp of her bra, reverently pulling it forward off her shoulders and arms, tossing it aside with his jacket.
Now Charlie was bared to him completely, and Bass skated his fingers gently over the sensitive skin of her breasts. She whimpered slightly at the teasing contact, desperate for more, but not wanting to ask for it. But Bass read what she needed and lowered his head to relieve her aching nipples with teeth and tongue, pinching and palming where his mouth was not. Charlie was gasping for breath, her head thrown back, thinking she'd never been so turned on in her life. She needed Bass inside of her.
Rolling off of Bass' lap, Charlie laid back against her pillows beside him. Shamelessly, she hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her stockings and panties and pulled them down to her knees, then curled up her legs to pull them off her feet. She let them fall to the side and laid before Bass, completely naked, waiting.
Bass stared at her, his chest heaving with breath, his lips shiny with his saliva where he'd been licking and sucking her. As if in a trance, he continued to rake his eyes over her body as his fingers moved to flick open the buttons of his shirt. One, two… all the way down in slow, deliberate movements. Charlie watched him with breathless anticipation, each movement of his hands driving her need for him higher.
When the last button was undone, Bass moved quickly, pulling his shirt off his shoulders, then removing his pants and shoes, as well. The only remnant of his costume was the swath of fake blood still painting the side of his neck. As he crawled over to Charlie and moved over her, between her legs, she raised her hand to touch where it covered. Bass shivered slightly.
"It's different seeing you covered with fake blood instead of the real stuff," she commented.
She could see Bass' half-grin in the moonlight coming through the window. "That's what you're thinking about right now?" he asked her. "We're going to have to do something about that." Suddenly, he was crawling down the bed, lowering his head between her legs, and before Charlie could respond, she felt the firm pressure of his hot tongue parting her folds. She cried out, the pleasure was so intense, so sudden. Bass lashed his tongue over her clit, parting her with his fingers, filling her with one, then two fingers as he ate her out.
Charlie felt her orgasm building, under Bass' expert touch. She pushed her hips into him as he touched and licked her, chasing her climax, so very close. Finally, with a last stroke of tongue and finger, she peaked, her back arching off the bed, her hard nipples jutting toward the ceiling as she writhed in ecstasy. Her muscles shook and tensed as her orgasm ripped through her, and all the while Bass never let up, stimulating her through the last pulses of her climax, until she couldn't take it anymore.
He raised himself up and braced himself on his arms, planted on either side of her waist. "Still thinking about my Halloween costume?" he asked smugly.
"No," Charlie admitted with a satisfied sigh. "Not at all."
"Good," Bass replied, coming up to kiss her again. Charlie opened her mouth to him eagerly. She felt his hard cock between her thighs, brushing against her soaked, aroused pussy. She lifted her hips to rub against him, then reached down to position him at her entrance. She tilted her hips to try to take him inside, but he didn't move with her, instead kissing her idly as if they had all the time in the world. As far as she was concerned, they didn't.
"Bass," she whispered against his lips. He ignored her. "Bass," she said again, louder. It came out in a needy whine, like begging.
"God, baby," he breathed at last, pushing inside her slightly. "Tell me."
"Need you," Charlie gasped, desperate for more. "Yes," she moaned as he sank into her a little more and held. "Please, Bass, fuck me."
He pushed his cock the rest of the way inside her, bottoming out hard, then pulled out and thrust back in in one long stroke. Charlie cried out desperately, rocking her hips up to meet him, feeling the ache inside her being satisfied by Bass, by his hard, thick cock. She rocked her hips up to meet his, pushing him further inside, and he filled her over and over, fucking her steadily, almost brutally.
"Charlie," he moaned, dropping his face into her shoulder, holding her tightly against him. Charlie spread her legs wider beneath him, his weight nearly crushing her, loving the feeling of him completely surrounding her, on top of her, inside of her. She could feel that she was close to coming again, and Bass' cock hitting her g-spot deep inside was pushing her there even faster.
Just as she felt her body begin to quake with her second orgasm, she felt Bass' thrusts speed up and his breaths grow ragged. She knew he was close, too, and she pulled him tight against her, wanting to feel him inside her at that moment, not caring about practicality. He understood and fucked her harder, finally grunting with his release as he spilled his cum inside her. Bass covered her mouth with a messy kiss, his tongue plunging between her lips in an echo of what they'd just done. Then he rolled to the side, pulling Charlie into his chest. They lay quietly for several minutes, Charlie feeling close to dozing off.
Just as she felt herself slipping off to sleep, she remembered. "Oh no, the jack o'lanterns! I need to go blow them out." She dreaded the thought of getting out of Bass' warm, safe embrace and trekking through the cold air of the house naked, but she knew they couldn't leave them burning overnight.
"It's fine, I did it before I came in," Bass said lazily. "Didn't want you to have to worry about it."
Charlie couldn't help but smile. "Sounds like you were hoping maybe you wouldn't be coming back out."
She felt Bass shrug beneath her. "The thought did cross my mind. You know I like to plan for contingencies."
Charlie couldn't exactly argue his point, since there they were about to fall asleep in her bed. So instead, she just said, "Happy Halloween, Bass."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next evening, Charlie and Bass had plans to meet at her place after work to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. But first, Charlie made a quick detour to find Marvin and give him a piece of her mind. His love potion hadn't worked after all, and she wanted him to know that she was onto his little scheme.
Charlie turned onto the side street where the wagon had been the previous day, and she found it deserted. No wagon, no Marvin. Not even any tracks in the dirt showing evidence that something had driven through there recently. Confused, Charlie frowned and re-checked the street sign. This was definitely the place she'd last seen him.
Determined to find him, Charlie went into the bar on the main drag that was closest. She found the owner sweeping in the far corner of the room.
"Hey, sorry to bother you," she started, and the woman looked up at her curiously. "Did Marvelous Marvin leave town? Or did he just find another location? Is he still around?"
The owner looked at Charlie like she was crazy. "Marvelous who?"
Charlie was getting impatient. "Marvelous Marvin? The guy who had the wagon of all the weird potions and stuff set up on the street by your bar for the last few days? Short guy, sort of creepy?"
Looking outright concerned, now, the woman shook her head and answered, "Girlie, I'm at this bar twenty-four hours a day – I work here, I live here, I sleep here, and ain't no damn wagon with no damn potions been sitting on that street for any part of it. Are you feeling alright?" She sounded so utterly convicted, Charlie decided to drop it. She muttered an excuse that she must have been thinking of somewhere else and got out of the bar as quickly as she could.
Charlie turned and walked back toward the street where the wagon had been, in the direction of her home, looking forward to seeing Bass there. A strong, cool wind gusted, and she shivered involuntarily. As she passed by the now-empty side street where Marvelous Marvin had been, Charlie swore she heard, carried on the breeze, the sound of tinkling bells.