The Mires Of Attraction
"…Oh, and you'll be getting a new intern today."
Alador looked up from his work and removed his goggles to look at his wife with surprise. "Another one?"
"It's part of the new Hexside program," Odalia said primly, flicking through paperwork on a clipboard and handing Alador a file. "She came very highly recommended by Amity."
"She?" Gavin asked from a small desk set aside for him. He couldn't help a small frown at the mention of Hexside, but he was curious.
"Yes, she," Odalia said without looking, tapping her brooch to summon a tablet of Oracle magic for recording and storing information, checking whatever was written against her paper notes and making alterations.
Gavin turned his head away, but kept Mrs. Blight in the corner of his eye, his cheeks turning just a bit pink. She may be standoffish, self-centered, and demanding, but she was undeniably a striking woman. Gavin was not too proud to admit that he'd caught a bit of a teen crush when he'd first started interning, though it had quickly faded to simple appreciation for the woman's looks.
Appreciation that had, as it turned out, had him thinking about the future. And the fact that the Blights had a daughter about his age that was single. He knew about Amity — the Amethyst Artisan — and her romance with Luz the Human, but Emira was reportedly available. At least, according to Alador.
"Thank you, Alador," Odalia said as she straightened her papers, the words stilted but clearly genuine. She looked uncomfortable for a moment before walking up, wide hips swinging, and placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Remember to take lunch, dear," she added with a much more natural smile before glancing at Gavin with a tiny nod and taking her leave.
"How are those reports coming, Gavin?" Alador asked.
"Almost finished, Mr. Blight," Gavin said, shaking his head and getting a grip on himself. He was at work.
"Good. When you're done, we can start putting together the automated sticky launcher."
"That should be it on my end," Alador said three hours later, as he stepped back from the device, wiping his hands with a shop rag. "Gavin?"
"Almost done, sir," Gavin replied, tightening some bolts. "Just a few more twists, and …" He put down his wrench and lifted his goggles to admire his work. "I think it's done, sir."
Alador nodded in understanding and lifted the large device with a grunt to haul it over to a large plate set in the wall. He settled a brace stand that would secure the device to a wall or the ground and nodded. Gavin quickly bolted the frames down and stepped back, signaling Alador to let it go.
"Okay, let's give it a shot," Alador mused. "The device is keyed into our presences, so we need our test subject." He pressed a button. "Send her in."
"This is ridiculous," snarled a high-pitched, childish voice, and both of them turned to find Kikimora entering the lab. Dressed in a Blight Enterprises — as the company had been renamed after the Day of Unity, with mandates from King and the Council of Nine to focus on security rather than weaponry — smock and her hand-hair tied back in a bandana, she grumbled as she entered, an ankle brace flashing above her foot. As part of her sentence for willingly aiding Belos's Day of Unity, she was court-ordered to act as an "intern" at the company, which amounted to being an unpaid grunt.
"What is it this time?" she grumbled, arms tightly crossed.
"Just to stand there, really," Alador said dispassionately. Kikimora tilted her head in confusion before the bolted sticky launcher flickered to life and pointed at her. Intruder alert, it droned and fired off blasts of Abomination clay that slammed into her and stuck her to the opposing wall.
Intruder detained. Alerting authorities.
Security guards came rushing in, tracing circles and leveling them at Kikimora. They looked at Alador, who flicked his hand at Kikimora and turned back to one of the work benches. The guards pried Kikimora off the wall and took her away to clean up before her shift was over and watchmen would escort her back to the Conformatorium.
"It looks like it worked," Gavin said brightly.
"Indeed, it did," Alador noted, scribbling in a notebook. "If you would unbolt it and store it away, please?"
"Yes, sir."
Gavin began to do just that, so intent on his work that he missed the sound of heeled shoes click-clacking down the hall toward the lab.
"Did I miss something?" came a feminine voice. Gavin straightened and looked up from his work to see Emira Blight standing in the doorway, glancing between the sludge stains on the wall and the device Gavin was unbolting with an amused smile and a large paper bag in her hand.
"Emira," Alador said with a small, warm smile. "What a surprise."
"Surprise?" Emira asked, though she sounded far from surprised herself. "Dad, I messaged you twenty minutes ago."
Alador blinked and summoned his scroll, looking through his messages and wincing. "Ah. So you did."
"I figured you were distracted," Emira explained, and lifted the paper bag with the logo for Burger Titan on it. "I also assume you forgot to take lunch?"
Alador's stomach growled and he blushed in embarrassment.
"Here," Emira said with fond exasperation, handing him the bag. "Eat, Dad. Honestly, I can't tell if you or Ed are worse."
"Me, almost certainly," Alador noted without a hint of teasing. "At least your brother can take care of himself most of the time."
"Meh," Emira shrugged.
"Hi, Emira," Gavin piped up as he finished unbolting the sticky launcher, grunting under the weight as he hauled it to a workbench.
"Hey, Gavin," Emira smiled at him, and it made his heart flutter. His dumb crush on Mrs. Blight may have faded, and rightly so … but it had been replaced by attraction to Emira. She was chill where Odalia was exacting, mischievous where her mother was strict. She was just as lovely, in a more youthful way, and promised to only grow more so over time. "I hear you're getting a friend in the company."
"A what?" Gavin asked. Then he recalled Odalia's announcement earlier. "Oh, right. Any idea who it is?"
"More than that, I know exactly who," Emira said with a smug smile. "And that she should be arriving any second now."
"Hello?" came a high voice. One that sounded vaguely familiar to Gavin. "Is this the right lab?"
"This is the place," Emira called. "Come on in, Mary."
Gavin searched his memory for that name … and grimaced when it came to the front of his mind, just as a caramel-skinned girl with gold eyes, fluffy, purple curls held back by a headband, and large horns on the sides of her head entered, wearing a fresh Blight Enterprises smock and carrying a satchel over one shoulder.
Mary Lambert.
Ah, thorns.
"Welcome to Blight Indus-" Alador cleared his throat and started again. "Sorry about that. Welcome to Blight Enterprises, Ms. Lambert." He held out his hand to shake, which Mary did with a smile full of sharp teeth.
"It's an honor to be here, Mr. Blight," she said breathlessly. "My grandfather speaks highly of your work."
"You're grandfather …" Alador said, holding his chin in thought. "Uh, that wouldn't happen to be Magnus Lambert?"
"The very same," Mary said with a nervous edge to her smile. "Is that, uh, is that a problem?"
"Not at all," Alador said. "I just never got the idea that he liked my work at all."
"He respects money, sir," Mary admitted sheepishly.
"Aha," Alador replied. "Well, why don't you meet my other intern?" He gestured at Gavin. "This is Gavin Pilos."
"Oh," Mary said, her tone flat and her eyes narrowed. "I … wasn't aware you had another intern."
"I do," Alador said. "Now, as for your general duties-"
"I don't think she likes you," Emira whispered into Gavin's ear as Mary focused on Alador. She whispered from out of nowhere.
Gavin yelped and cleared his throat, his cheeks feeling like they were burning under his dark skin. "Uh, yeah. We've met in a few Abomination track competitions. Plus, she's from Hexside, I'm from Glandus — it kind of devolved into a rivalry of sorts."
"And now you're working together," Emira grinned. "That's kind of twisted, huh?"
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Gavin said as he glanced at Mary listening intently to her new boss, though his heart wasn't in the words.
"That's the spirit," Emira giggled. Gavin took a deep breath and turned to face Emira.
"Hey, would you-?" But she was gone, nothing but fading wisps of smoke to show that she had been there at all. "-Want to go out sometime?" he finished lamely. His ears twitched and he looked over to find Mary looking at him with a mocking smile and kissy face, fluttering her eyelashes.
Gavin offered her a rude gesture behind Alador's back and got back to work.
"It's not weird that I like my boss's daughter, right?" Gavin asked, nursing a box of witchling apple blood.
"Are you kidding?" Matt asked with a grin and a nudge of his elbow. "I've seen Emira, dude. You're not weird at all."
"Maybe not appropriate," Gus interjected with a pointed look at Matt, "but yeah, Emira's objectively an attractive girl."
Ever since the Day of Unity and everything that had gone down right before it, Gavin had begun to make amends with Mattholomule and Augustus. Fighting coven heads and then an ancient being on par with an Archtitan tended to put things in perspective, and the Looking-Glass Graveyard was slowly settling in the past where it belonged.
Today they were hanging in Grimgrub's Pub.
"Do you think I'm wasting my time?" Gavin asked glumly.
"I think you should try for real," Gus said, taking a sip of his smilk-shiver. "Whatever happened, it's gotta be better than not knowing, right?"
"And how would you know, Mr. Single?" Matt asked in a deadpan tone.
"Observation," Gus said loftily. "I've got two, count 'em," he held up two fingers, "two prime examples of relationships among my best friends. You pick up stuff watching all of that grow."
"Thanks for the advice, Gus," Gavin said with a small, genuine smile. One that grew into a teasing one. "So, have any witches, demons, or humans caught the eye of our resident illusion master?"
Gus blushed and looked away, and Gavin and Matt shared a look.
"Oh-ho! Do tell!" Matt crowed.
"You guys don't know her," Gus said firmly. "And I'm gonna handle that on my own."
"Suit yourself," Matt shrugged, and Gavin nodded in agreement. After all, he had his own matters of the heart to deal with.
The hardest part about working up the nerve to ask Emira out was that she never visited predictably. She came in on random days to check in on her father, often dropping off takeout to make sure he was eating. Sometimes she would stick around for a bit to inquire about Alador's latest project, but she usually gave him a quick "I love you," kissed his cheek, and left with friendly waves for Gavin and Mary.
The second hardest part was Mary's running commentary on the subject. Every time Emira came to visit, her departure would cue Mary to approach him with whatever work she had in her arms to needle him about his "painfully obvious thing" for her.
"Seriously, I've seen Shukgurt puppies that weren't so pathetic," she said snidely, spell circles in-hand to mold Abomination clay into a canister that would expand it into mobile security fencing for campers.
"Shut up, Lambert," Gavin growled as he filled out some paperwork, his cheeks red to compliment his faint scowl.
"You shut up, Pilos," Mary snapped, her seemingly good mood turned on its head. "Either ask her out and get it over with or shut up and deal with it. I'm tired of watching you moon over her."
"It's not that easy," Gavin growled.
"Sure it is," Mary said easily. "All you have to say is, 'Hey, Emira. Wanna go out sometime?' Seven words." She focused back on her work. "Should be easy even for a Glandus jerk."
"I'm working whenever she comes by," Gavin pointed out crossly.
"You know where she lives," Mary countered. "Plus there's freaking Penstagram!"
"Oh yeah, go and look like a stalker. That'll solve everything," Gavin sneered. "Great advice. It's a wonder you're single, too."
"Oh, you did not just say that!" Mary seethed, the sludge in her spell forming into something suspiciously resembling a boxing glove.
"Children, children," Odalia chided as she sauntered into the room with an armful of documents. "I do hope I didn't hear arguing from my husband's interns. Especially over something unrelated to work."
"No ma'am," both witchlings said, standing up with their backs straight.
"Wonderful," Odalia said with a winning, false smile. She put down the documents on Alador's desk and moved to leave before pausing and looking at Gavin. "And Mr. Pilos?"
"Yes ma'am?" he asked, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.
"Firstly, if you are going to try and ask out my daughter, just get it over with. It really is painful to watch you stare after her like a wounded animal." She turned and walked away, her hips swinging. "Secondly, do lift your jaw from the floor. I'm a married woman."
Gavin swallowed and looked away, stomach rolling.
Mary snickered and he pointedly ignored her.
His chance came the following day at the most glorious of worktimes: the lunch break.
"Dad?" Emira called, appearing in the doorway with no warning as she always did.
Gavin choked on his harmburger and had to clear his throat, Mary smiling maliciously at him.
"Hey Gavin, hi Mary," Emira said, lifting a paper bag from an Illtalian place. "Do you guys know where my dad is? Or if he's eaten today?"
"He and Mrs. Odalia went out for lunch to some fancy place," Mary answered.
"Oh, well good," Emira smiled. She looked pensively at the takeout. "Though, I'm not sure what to do with this." She glanced down at the cafeteria harmburgers on the interns' plates before setting the bag down. "Why don't you two have it? It's really good." She winked and turned to leave, waving over her shoulder. "See ya, cuties."
Gavin stared at Emira's retreating back, then at the food, and then decided there was no better sign to act now. He leapt to his feet and ran after her. "Emira!"
Emira turned in surprise. "Gavin? Is everything okay?"
"Will you go out with me?" Gavin blurted out, his hands curled into talons with nerves. "I know it's weird because I work for your dad and we go to rival schools and you barely know me, but you're beautiful, Emira, and funny and charming and I would love the chance to get to know you better." He took a deep breath and fiddled with his hands, worrying his lip between his teeth as his cheeks burned.
On her part, Emira seemed surprised, but not shocked. She blinked and slowly closed her eyes, sighing through her nose. "Gavin," she said in a calm and level tone, "I appreciate you asking." She opened her eyes with an apologetic smile. "I was honestly wondering if you would have the nerve, and I'm proud of you for it." Her smile grew more strained. "But I'm already seeing someone."
"You-?" Gavin swallowed, his stomach sinking. "You are?"
"His name is Derwin," she said, summoning her scroll and flicking through pictures to settle on an admittedly handsome, dark-skinned witch with shaggy hair and a pair of pince-nez perched on his nose. He was dressed in bard attire and had a palisman patterned after an orca perched on his shoulder, smiling brightly at the camera. "We met at the Owl House and just … clicked, you know?"
"That's great," Gavin said, smiling despite the sudden pain in his chest. "I'm … glad you seem happy."
"Thanks," Emira replied. "I'm sorry, Gavin. Really."
"It's fine," he replied tightly. "It was a longshot, anyway." He hooked his thumb over his shoulder and began to back away. "I gotta, uh, get back to work. I'll see you around, Emira."
"See you around," Emira replied, tracing a spell that had her disappear in a flash of smoke.
Gavin made it back to the lab and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He bit down on the anger that was rising from the pain. It was unreasonable and dumb. Emira owed him nothing, had let him down gently, and even proven that she wasn't lying. Any moron could tell she liked this Derwin guy a lot from the fondness in her tone. Being mature about it was the noble thing to do.
"Damn it," he allowed himself.
"Wow," Mary drawled, her cheek perched on her palm. "That must sting after so many weeks pining after her, huh?"
You know what? Screw nobility.
"Why don't you keep your damn opinions to yourself, Ramsey?!" he snapped, reveling in the convenient outlet for his pain.
"I'm just saying," she said, standing from her stool and putting her hands on her hips. "Trying to commiserate or whatever."
"Yeah, great job with that," Gavin snarled. "I feel so much better. Oh, wait. No, I don't!"
"Guess I shouldn't have wasted my breath!" Mary fired back, pointed teeth bared as she stomped closer to prod a finger into his chest. "Not on a jerk from Glandus!"
"Bite me, you prissy Hexsider," Gavin retaliated, stepping into her space until their fronts were almost touching. "You wouldn't know how to soothe a broken heart if it bit you!"
"You look like a girl!"
"More than you, Sheepsquatch!"
"Meathead!" Mary shrieked.
"Brat!" Gavin snapped.
"Papa's boy!" Mary raged.
"Are you as turned on as I am?" Gavin asked angrily.
"More!" she shouted.
They stared at each other for a long moment, eyes furious and breathing heavy … Then they crossed the last half inch between them, lips meeting in a searing kiss. Gavin grabbed Mary by the hips and hauled her closer while she held the sides of his neck to do the same, both of them kissing fiercely as if it were just another competition.
So distracted, they didn't notice Alador wander into the lab with a sigh, only to freeze in place at the sight of his interns furiously kissing like the teens they were. He processed this for just a split second before glancing away and holding up his hands palm-out, slowly backing away from the lab.
There was no way he was getting involved with this.
"You can't be serious," Emira laughed.
"Dead serious," Mary replied, blushing furiously with a small smile on her lips.
They were in the Hexside cafeteria the following school day and Emira had asked Mary how Gavin was doing after she'd let him down. Mary had blushed furiously and looked away, which had spurred Emira to grill her for details. Mary had wanted to refuse, but she needed someone to vent to about it.
"We're going to dinner this Cryday," Mary admitted.
"Good on you, girl!" Emira laughed. "Mind if I ask you one more question?"
"Why not?" Mary sighed.
"How long have you had a crush on him?"
Mary's blush intensified to nearly Mittens-levels. She looked at Emira with a panicked look. "W-What? I never- I didn't-!"
"Mary, sweetie," Emira said with exaggerated patience. "Anyone with a drop of sense could tell you wanted him bad. Teasing him about a crush was the most obvious sign, plus the faint air of jealousy, wanting to one-up him to impress him, those long looks you sent when you were sure he was staring at me." Emira shrugged. "I'll admit, I didn't expect you to capitalize on it, but I'm proud of you all the same."
Mary stared at Emira helplessly before sighing. "Thanks …" she muttered.
"You're welcome," Emira smiled.
"So, are you really dating that bard guy, or was that just a convenient out for Gavin?" Mary asked.
"It's real," Emira said. "It took a little time as everything settled from the Day of Unity, but his mentor is dating the Owl Lady, so we had an excuse to see each other frequently." Mischief sparkled in her eyes. "How about a double date after you two get a little more serious?"
Mary paled at the thought. "Uh, I dunno."
"Well, sleep on it," Emira said, picking up her tray to leave. "And if you ever want advice, just let me know."
"Thanks," Mary smiled.
As she returned to her lunch, she couldn't help but muse that a shouting match may not be the most orthodox way to start a relationship … but they'd see where it went.
Another tale to tell! This was motivated to tie up the loose end of Gavin's implied crush on Emira in "Strength" and then snowballed into including Mary and a heaping helping of teen angst, awkwardness, vitrolic romance, some Derwin/Emira hints, and a nod to Gus. I actually really enjoyed writing this, more than expected.
*In the Ash & Ebony 'verse, Alador and Odalia have been going to marriage counseling after the Day of Unity alongside Odalia getting the usual kind. She's been working on herself to try and become a more pleasant person.
*Based on the canon epilogue, many Belos supporters that have been sentenced to the Conformatorium have also been serving as labor to "pay their debt to society." Kikimora often serves at Blight Enterprises.
*Magnus is a Latin-derived name meaning "greatest." Mary's grandfather certainly thinks he is that, much to her own chagrin.
*I like to think Gavin has calmed down a lot in the jerk department since starting his internship, and he's tried to forge real friendships. With Angmar locked up after serving Kikimora and Bria not talking to him, he's doing his best.
*A smilk-shiver is a Boiling Isles milkshake. Get it?
*Sheepsquatch is not my own term, but I couldn't think of a better comparison for Mary's hair. If you made it up, kudos on creativity!
*Gus's prospective love interest will be coming soon - though some of you may be able to guess! And if anyone wants a segment on Emira and Derwin, leave a comment!
As always, I hope it was a fun read! Leave a review if you like! And may your works be fun to read and to write!