Nearly Witches //Ryden // DISCONTINUED

Floorboards for lunch

Brendon had passed out. It was a symptom of a panic attack for him, although he wasn't panicking this time. That, of course, didn't mean that he didn't make Ryan panic. They didn't understand this at all, and they didn't quite know what was wrong. So they tried everything in their arsenal from warming wax to essential oils to physically shaking Brendon. But nothing worked, and Brendon stayed unconscious. They refused to leave his side, though. And, to be honest, they thought that would've been an easier feat than it turned out to be. They waited, and waited, and waited. Ten minutes turned into a half an hour, which turned into four. And Ryan didn't have any technology, or anything to do to pass the time, really, which explained why when Brendon finally woke up, it was to singing.

"Dès le premier jour, ton parfum enivra mon amour

Et dans ces instants

J'aimerais être comme toi par moments

Mais depuis ce jour

Je n'ai qu'un seul et unique regret."

"What are you singing?" Brendon asked quietly, his voice hoarse from just waking. Ryan was tempted to spring up and celebrate, to scream 'FINALLY! YOU'RE AWAKE!!!'. But that wouldn't be, well, Ryan-ish. They held pride in how cool, calm and collected they always seemed, even though that may not be how they always were on the inside. Smiling gently, they let their gaze drift away from Brendon, just for a moment, as they spoke.

"Just a little something my parents used to sing to me. They wrote it for each other, and then sang it to me when I couldn't sleep growing up. It's still my favorite song."

"That's so sweet." Brendon rubbed his eyes for a moment, yawning before querying "How long was I out?"

Ryan's eyes flickered back to Brendon. "Four hours."

"Really?"

"Really."

"So that whole witch thing was a dream? Huh."

"No, no it wasn't."

"No?"

"No."

"No??"

"I am very much a witch, Brendon."

"I thought only girls could be witches."

"Well, no. That's just a sexist tale men made up to villainize women."

"Oh."

"My father was a witch, my mother was a witch... It's more of a family thing, really. Witchcraft is complicated. You see, anyone can practice witchcraft, but specifically witches are different than everyone else. Humans can become witches, and witches can become human, but they are not the same thing. For-" Ryan paused, realizing they were rambling, falling silent.

"No, go on," Brendon started, sitting up a bit to prop himself up on his elbow. "I wanna hear about it. Tell me everything."

Ryan's eyes lit up and they smiled, just a tiny bit. No one ever wanted to hear about this sort of thing, not from Ryan at least. It was new and exciting to have someone actually care about what they have to say.

"Well, no one really knows where witches come from. Some people think we're just humans blessed by angels, others think we made deals with angels. Anyway," They took a deep breath, Brendon realizing he was definitely in for a long rambling session. "We have something in our bodies that's different, almost like magic, but real. It's more scientific than the usual description of magic. We can harness it, but not all choose to. It's what separates us from humans, and we can use it up if we're not careful. That's why I choose to use mostly the traditional witchcraft practices, more along the lines of Wicca and Paganism. I am a witch who practices witchcraft. Those don't always correspond, and more often than not, they don't."