Feathers & a Dash of Magic

Chapter 22: Darrell the Magical Fox

"Are you sure you're okay?" Roman asked for the second time in the last ten minutes since they met up. They met up at his house, and were sitting on his couch. Roman had made some tea for the both of them as they sat and talked, though the witch couldn't drink it himself since Darrell was on his lap and was begging for belly pets.

"I'm fine," the fairy yawned, forcing his eyes to stay open as he threatened to fall asleep. He really wanted to meet up with the witch since they seemed to be meeting up somewhere almost every day, even though he was exhausted.

"You look like you're going to pass out."

"Didn't sleep well, it's fine."

"Did something happen?" Roman took his hand away from Darrell only for a moment before the fox practically started screaming for attention again.

Virgil laughed at the overdramatic fox as he shrugged. "Nah, I just couldn't fall asleep. Then I had some nightmares and kept waking up. At some point I decided it wasn't worth the trouble to go back to sleep."

"I can learn how to make sleeping potions! I'm pretty sure I've made them once, they're in one of my potion books. You have no idea what I had to go through to get that book."

"I'll be fine." The fairy set his chin on his knees, watching Darrell play around with Roman. "He seems to be more attached to you than usual."

"Oh, right! How could I forget!" The witch brightened up. "Guess who's finally got a familiar?!"

"Woah no way!" Virgil sat up straighter. He remembered reading about witches' familiars in Roman's book, they had a whole chapter, albeit a small one. Apparently each familiar is given a gift, though it won't always be obvious what that gift is at first. "Has he been able to do anything?"

"Not yet, I do wonder what he'll be able to do." Roman set his mug down before attacking Darrell with scratches, who barked loudly in excitement. The fox scrambled up and jumped to the other side of the couch next to Virgil, getting down in a defensive position.

Virgil laughed and set his own mug down before trapping Darrell in one of his wings, pressing him down against the couch. "Forgot about me, little one."

Darrell yipped loudly before squeezing out, falling off of the couch. He barked at Virgil as he crawled under the coffee table, peaking out to glare at them. Roman couldn't help but laugh loudly, barely able to breathe. Virgil smiled at the immense joy that was coming off of the witch.

"He-" Roman tried to calm himself down, wiping away some tears. "He called you a traitor."

"Wow, okay, somebody isn't getting any berries the next time I come over." The fairy crossed his arms.

Darrell dashed out from under the coffee table and back onto the couch, pushing his way onto Virgil's lap and attacking him with kisses. Roman laughed even more as Virgil tried to defend himself, but the fox continued his attack.

"Fine, fine! I'll bring some for you next time!" The fairy pushed him away from his face. "I'm going to come home covered in fox slobber."

"Maybe his saliva has magical properties," Roman joked through his giggles. "Hopefully it'll put you to sleep."

Virgil pet Darrell who quietly chirped in joy. "Well I'm not feeling any more tired than I already was, so cross that one off of the list."

"It's going to drive me crazy trying to figure out what his powers are, I'm probably going to run some tests."

"Well... that book says whatever power a witch's familiar gets reflects some part of the witch. You mostly deal with potions, right? So maybe he does have magical saliva, or will suddenly know how to make certain potions."

Roman's eyes lit up. "Oh that would be so cool! My mother told me about a famous witch who had a familiar like that, except the familiar taught her potions never made before! It was hundreds of years ago, and today witches still use the potions she wrote down!"

"Yeah! Or maybe his power will reflect your nature magic somehow. Like, he'll be able to control plants. Or maybe even your personality! The book said that a familiar's powers can reflect more than just the witch's magic."

"Whatever power he gets, I'm sure I'll love it." Roman reached over and scratched the top of Darrell's head, the fox leaning in.

Virgil yawned, leaning back against the couch. "He's going to be the best familiar. Why didn't you have one before?"

Roman shrugged. "Never really thought of it. I mean, when I was younger I did. You know what I wanted as a familiar the most? A dragon! Stars, I was ambitious, do you know how hard it would be to get a dragon as a familiar?"

"Dragon's are smart, I doubt many would like to be seen as a companion. I mean, the word companion makes it seem like you aren't equals, and dragons would take offense to that."

"Yeah..." Roman got lost in thought for a moment, his smile becoming sad. "When I left home though I didn't even think about getting a familiar. All I thought about was surviving. Find a home, get food, stay hidden. I hadn't thought about it in years."

Virgil laid his head against the couch, looking over at Roman. Darrell had curled up in his lap as he scratched behind his ear. "What made you decide to make Darrell your familiar?"

"I don't know. When you returned my book, I read it again and thought about it. Ever since you saved him, Darrell has been living with me. He's extremely loyal and we ended up close. Plus he's super energetic just like me, though he's sometimes troublesome."

"So are you, getting into fights just to save me."

"Technically I didn't fight the first time. I know you don't remember but I scared them away by moving the trees, making it look like they came alive and tried to attack them. The second time was a fight, I'll admit that."

Virgil hummed in response, his eyes falling close. "Yeah, you got a scar because of me."

"Doesn't it make me hot though?" Roman laughed, putting his hand under his chin.

Virgil snorted in amusement. "Sure."

The witch watched him for a moment before sighing. "Okay, maybe you should head home early so you can sleep."

"No, I'm-I'm awake." He opened his eyes, lifting his head from the couch.

"Seriously, you need some sleep. I can make a quick sleep potion if you need one for when you get home, but you're literally about to pass out on my couch. I don't think Patton would like it if he saw me carrying you home, he'd probably think something happened again."

"Aw, but I won't be able to come over for a while. We're going to harvest our crops tomorrow and then sell them the next two days, I can't bind my wings longer than that. The next time I'll be able to meet up with you would probably be Friday, oh hey that's the thirteenth! Friday the thirteenth, guess we'll have to be careful..." The fairy trailed off as he felt both guilt and grief come from Roman. "Oh... bad date?"

Roman nodded. "You can say that. I guess I didn't realize it was that time of year again."

Virgil sighed, "Okay. I'll be sure to come over, is that okay with you?"

The witch hugged himself. "I mean... I don't know. It'll be eight years since I last spent that day with someone else. I-I just..."

"I get it. How about I'll come over, and if you want to be alone I'll leave? Is that better?"

"Probably best, but you don't have to come. I'll just be depressed all day and..."

"Good thing I have practice with this sort of thing then. We don't even have to do anything, if all you want to do is sit with me on the couch, then that's what we'll do."

Roman gave him a smile, albeit it was a sad one. "You're the best Virgil, guess you're softer than you look."

"You tell anyone that then I'll cut your tongue out."