Argent Eye IV

37

I woke up late the next morning, feeling very cosy and warm under my thick duvet. I'd slept better than I had in a long time, having not stirred once. I didn't remember what I'd dreamt about, and my body seemed to have fixed itself from the exhaustion of last night. I didn't want to get out of the snug bedding, so stayed under the covers for just a while longer, before finally deciding I could no longer hold from needing to pee.

I wrapped myself in my dressing gown, and set about getting some breakfast and a cup of tea, before Ronan text me to ask if I was awake. Of course, after I replied, he appeared in the apartment.

"Hey." He said. "How are you?"

I smiled. "Good, thanks." I said. "And you?"

He nodded. "I'm all good."

"Sorry I called you quick last night." I said. "I just needed to get home to bed."

Ronan waved a hand. "Don't be silly." He said, and paused. "So, are you gonna tell me what happened?"

With that, Jake came into the kitchen looking sleepy. "Good morning." He said, and yawned, before opening his eyes properly. "What did I miss? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." I chuckled. "Some shit went down last night."

"Oh yeah?" Jake asked, pouring himself some cereal. "I'm all ears."

"Well." I began. "There was this witch practicing dark magic."

"A witch?" Jake stopped and looked at me. "Are you telling me that witches are real?"

I laughed. "Yeah, there are a lot of supernaturals you're gonna be shocked about."

Jake didn't know what to say, so I just continued.

"Anyway, as you may have guessed, dark magic draws its energies from the darkness." I said. "It's like filtered dark magic that mixes with their own magic, apparently. So when she tried to kill me, it didn't work. It only seemed to fuel the darkness inside me."

Both Ronan and Jake raised their eyebrows.

"It was very strange." I continued. "I could feel her magic trying to pull me apart, but because it was mixed in with the darkness, I could also feel my own strength grow. I think my darkness stole her darkness." I chuckled.

Jake laughed. "Good job, really."

I nodded. "For once, I actually think I need to thank the darkness." I said. "But, of course, Stark and the others were there. They saw what happened, and obviously Stark wanted answers. I told him about what happened with Haydn and that I knew he was back. Stark said he would fill me in on everything they know so far about Haydn when I go back tomorrow."

"That's good." Ronan said. "So they were hiding something from you?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I said. "But I guess he didn't really think there was any need for me to know."

"Bullshit." Jake said. "They knew it was Haydn, and they knew you had a past with him."

I shrugged. "I guess. Maybe that's the reason they didn't want me involved. It was too personal."

"Seems likely." Ronan agreed.

"But now they have to tell you." Jake chuckled.

"Yeah." I laughed. "So I guess I'll see what's going down tomorrow."

"Good stuff." Jake said. "Then you can update us." He winked at me.

"Absolutely." Ronan said, smiling.

I nodded.

"Anyway, I best be off." Ronan said. "Let me know if you need me for anything."

Ronan bent down and kissed me on the lips.

"Okay, thanks." I said. "See ya."

"Bye." He said, and vanished.

"You have a bruise on your cheek, by the way." Jake pointed out, his mouth full of cereal. He was standing there, bowl in hand and spoon in the other, leaning on the kitchen counter.

I reached up and rubbed the tender spot on my cheek. "Yeah, I landed on it yesterday."

Jake continued to look at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Aren't you gonna, like, do your thing?" He asked. "You know, to heal it?"

I chuckled. "I'm not gonna fuse just to sort out a bruised cheek."

Jake looked disappointed. "Not even for me?"

I smiled. "Well, I guess I could." I said, before summoning the ice. I could feel it pricking beneath my skin, and so I led it through my body and up towards my face. I'd learned how to not fuse my entire body to heal myself- it wasn't necessarily easier, but it used way less energy. The reason it was particularly tricky was because I had to really control where the ice fused to a specific point. It was easier to just let the ice burst out and fuse with my entire body- it involved less control. Usually, if I were fusing, my hands would be first, so they were easy. I could also focus it in my legs. However, the face was particularly difficult. So, in a situation such as this, I ended up fusing one hand and letting the ice snake its way up my arm, neck, and then over one half of my face. As soon as it had fused, I let it un-fuse, and sighed out a cool breath of fog.

"That was fucking cool." Jake exclaimed. "I thought you were gonna, like, do your whole body. It actually looks way cooler if you just do half."

I laughed. "Okay- I'll remember that." I said. "Anyway, how was your first day yesterday?"

Jake's eyes widened, as if he'd just remembered how good it was. "Oh my, it was amazing." He said, still eating his cereal. "It was just an induction day really, so I could get an idea of what I'd be doing. They showed me round the studio, and let me try out some of their photography equipment. But then they let me see the project I could potentially be involved in, and it looks sick."

I smiled. "That sounds awesome." I said. "What's the project?"

"It's for Ferrari." He said. "Just some advertising stuff, but it's a major project for the company. I was super chuffed they wanted me to be part of it, especially for my first time."

I'd seen Jake's photography, and it was really good- I certainly wasn't surprised that they wanted him to work on some of the big stuff straight away. "Wow, that's amazing!" I exclaimed. "Am I gonna see your photography up and around London?"

"Maybe." Jake giggled quietly.

I smiled again. "I'm super happy for you- you definitely deserve this."

Jake put a hand over his heart. "Oh, stop it." He said.

I then set about getting myself some breakfast, chatting with Jake as I did, and chilled for the rest of the day. I also thought about going back home next weekend, just to see the family and take a break from work. Also, the fact that Haydn was back on the scene worried me. I knew that it would benefit me mentally to go and see my family, just in case something should happen. Besides, it had been a while since I'd seen Stella, and it would be nice to catch up with her.

But until then, I just had to hope that the situation with Haydn wasn't as bad as I feared.

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