"Never get involved with mortals."
Audrey had heard the phrase many times as she grew up.
"They may find you intriguing for a time." Her mother would say. "But sooner or later, they'll get tired of the hocus-pocus and run off to someone normal."
It had been repeated often enough and bitterly enough that Audrey was almost certain the father who left when she was still a baby must have been an ordinary human. But she couldn't know for certain, seeing as her mother had always firmly refused to answer any questions about that particular subject.
Her mother would have approved of the fact that her latest and so far longest-lasting boyfriend came from a long line of wizards and warlocks. He also proudly bragged of having some vampire ancestry, though Audrey strongly suspected he had made that up just to scare people.
Orin, it seemed, rarely liked to use magic in his dental office. According to him, spells just didn't compare to good old-fashioned tools. But outside of the office was a different story. He quite enjoyed showing up in alleyways and threatening to place gruesome curses on people who didn't floss often enough, and the children of Skid Row had come to view him as some sort of cross between a boogeyman and a maniacal tooth fairy.
Audrey had always believed that her mother had her best interests at heart. But recently, she'd been starting to think that maybe it had been wrong to say that getting attached to mortals could only end badly. She'd known Seymour for awhile now, and she vastly preferred his company to any of the mages she'd met. Even including her boyfriend. Especially including her boyfriend.
She occasionally found herself wondering what her mother might have thought of Seymour, had she still been around. And since her imagination ran away with her sometimes, she'd even considered what her mother would have thought if she'd brought Seymour home as a boyfriend.
Even in her imagination, the conversation... didn't exactly go over well. Her daydreams still had to have some grounding in reality, after all. Maybe it would have helped if she tried to convince her mother that Seymour wasn't entirely human. And besides, with no one knowing where exactly he came from, it might even be the truth. With his small frame, deep connection to plants, and almost complete inability to tell a convincing lie, Audrey thought that it wouldn't surprise her if Seymour had a little of the fair folk in his blood.
It probably wouldn't have worked anyway. Regardless of what ancestry he might or might not have, Seymour would undoubtedly fall under her mother's definition of "mortal".
But if it was given enough time, Audrey still liked to believe that her mother would eventually have come around and understood why they had formed such a close bond. Surely anyone who took the time to get to know Seymour would see that he was kind, and patient, and understanding, a combination that seemed to be even rarer than magic was on Skid Row.
Still, it was difficult at times to get all of her mother's warnings out of her head. Would a day come when Seymour decided he would prefer the company of someone normal? He hadn't given any sign of it so far, which made it easy to keep dreaming about the two of them having a future where they could spend the rest of their lives together. But her fantasies weren't reality, no matter how much she might wish they were. Out of all the spells she'd mastered, the ability to escape from a nitrous oxide-loving warlock and whisk up a whole new life still eluded her.
When Audrey's birthday came around, Seymour arrived with a bag of candy and a clumsily-wrapped package that had obviously involved some mishaps with the roll of tape. It was the most delighted she'd ever been to receive a present.
Orin, thankfully, had no idea when her birthday was, nor did he seem to have any cares about finding out. She was sure that spending the day with her friend would be a million times better.
Once they had settled in, eaten half of the candy, and spent some time catching up, it came time for Seymour to anxiously wonder if he'd done a good enough job selecting a present while Audrey pulled the paper off.
"The guy in the store said it was enchanted." Seymour told her as she pulled a hand-mirror out of the box. "I'm not sure what it does, though."
Audrey was touched enough that she didn't have to fake a smile, even while she examined the ornate but cheaply-made object without feeling any trace of a spell.
Seymour, however, had learned that magical objects seemed to have a way of responding to Audrey's touch. So when the mirror did nothing but stay quiet and still, he looked at it with a worried frown. "It's not really enchanted, is it?"
"It's still lovely." Audrey replied, setting the mirror down so she could place a comforting hand on top of his.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to get you something magic." He said, staring down at the table rather than meeting her eyes. "I think they know I'm not sure what I'm looking at when I go into the mystic stores."
Audrey shook her head and gave a disapproving huff. Most of the mages she'd met would turn their nose up at mortals, but she simply couldn't understand the impulse to take advantage of someone just because they were human. "I don't know why any of them do that. If you ask me, there's just no call for tricking people."
Still looking downward, Seymour shrugged. "I don't really mind. I just feel bad about your present."
"It was very thoughtful. I promise, I still love it."
He didn't look quite reassured, and as she tried to think of a way to brighten his mood, Audrey found an idea forming.
After releasing his hand, she stood up and walked over to pull open a cabinet drawer. A few moments of consideration later, she selected a pendant with a small, colorless stone. Closing her eyes to concentrate, she whispered a spell and reached out to touch the stone, which promptly turned her signature green and began to give off a soft glow.
When she returned to the table, she draped the chain around Seymour's neck, took a step back to examine her handiwork, then nodded in satisfaction.
"There. That'll show that you have the favor of a sorceress." She explained. "Mages will much be less likely to brush you aside when you wear it."
Seymour looked down in awe at the gleaming stone, and cautiously reached a hand up to see how it felt. Magic pulsed lightly into his fingertips, and he felt as if he was touching the moment in spring when flowers started to bloom.
"This is amazing... you're sure it's alright for me to have this?"
"Of course it is."
Her mother probably wouldn't have thrown an absolute fit about it, Audrey decided. After all, Seymour was useful for providing potion ingredients, and it only made sense to defend one's resources. She could have kept it to herself that she'd actually wanted to give the pendant to him because Seymour was the most important person in the world to her. And truth be told, there were mages out there who would do much worse than sell phony enchantments. Since Seymour had only been pulled deeper into the world of magic because of her, giving him some additional protection seemed like the least she could do.