Nightshade

luka - the new normal

Luka sat at the table, listening to some metal while he studied some magical runes and their verbal and herbal equivalents. He hummed along and smiled. This last year had changed his life. Given him new hope. He'd spent the first few months in quiet study with breaks of talking to his new companions and, of course, his bimonthly meetings with Shavronne, who was occasionally accompanied by Cody. But more recently, in the last few months, he'd been able to open up more and more, his stutter was nearly gone, he'd picked up singing and had started writing again. He tapped his finger to the music, biting his lip. Ah, he needed a break from the study. Benji pushed him hard to learn, but had been understanding when he needed breaks, especially in those first few months. He had learned Benji was a nonbinary faerie from some long forgotten country in Eastern Europe, which explained the odd accent that sometimes came out. They tended to be rather quiet, but they had a fun sense of humor, and was very open to learning new forms of art and languages. They had lost their family hundreds of years ago, to a monster hunter who was looking for an easy mark. He had a very rough time for a while, still a teenager, lost in a world that was hunting him. They tended to practice sigil magic and rune magic, a form of magic that focuses mostly on visual symbols that evoke raw energy from leylines and the inherent life energy around them. In contrast, hera was a talkative trans woman who loved going out and meeting new people, and practiced a mixture of herbal and verbal magic. She'd lost everything when she came out, but had worked hard to find herself and her personal peace. Lastly was Richie, a young cis woman who was very naive, but at the same time, incredibly intelligent and caring. She tended to work with herbs and verbal as well. When her family found out about her religion and magic, they had thrown her to the hunters, who eventually took her in and taught her to control her magic and draw it from the right sources. She tended to stay home, often in the kitchen, trying out a new recipe, but she spoke her mind freely and was a good person to come to when you were having trouble making your mind up about something. Shavronne had been going through a lot of growth as well, starting to talk on a more frank basis about his past sins with Cody, who was helping him move forward while not erasing the past. Luka had found himself more and more enraptured, fascinated by the older man. For the first time in his life, Luka could say that he truly was doing well. He still worried every day about Shavronne, who had been pushing himself increasingly hard to hunt the real monsters out there. Today, he was actually scheduled to visit... as if on queue, the doorbell Rang, and Richie ran to get it. There was no need to worry about intruders, there were heavy wards outside that would only permit Luka, Benji, hera, Richie, and anyone they expressly wished to visit. Luka heard shavronnes deep voice, talking to Richie. He brushed himself off and adjusted his short shorts and crop top. That was another big change. Hera had really helped him become more positive about his body, even the scar he once found so ugly on his abdomen. He ran to the front door, nearly tripping on the untied laces of his converses. He grinned, his heart stopping at the handsome man who had helped him change his life, and who now had an arm in a sling. Luka hurried over. "shav, let me fix that for you! I've been working on healing!" Shavronne smiled and chucked "why do you think I came?" Luka couldn't help it, he deflated a little, had he forgotten about their meeting today? "I was only joking, Libelle. Of course I'm here to see you" Luka blushed happily "I was about to say, jerk!" Shavronne laughed, a real, genuine laugh. Luka grinned wider. "You know, that's the first time I've heard you laugh like that..." Shavronne blushed as well, faintly. "Ah, I apologize, I didn't mean to-" "I wasn't complaining shav... I'm happy you feel good enough to laugh like that. You deserve happiness." Shavronne smiled and offered his uninjured arm, leading Luka and himself outside, to the bench they usually talked at. "So... no Cody?" Shavronne made a little face. "I'm afraid not, he is being stubborn about at least one of us being at the manor with the thing we're hunting lately. "Do I even want to know what it is?" Shavronne shook his head "no, you don't. But how have you been, your music?" Luka smiled "well, I still think I'm a long way from truly calling myself a musician, but I'm making progress. What else can we do?" Shavronne nodded and hesitated a moment. "Is anyone around right now Luka?" Luka shook his head "nooo, but why?" Shavronne blushed. "The truth is... I find myself daydreaming... near every day, of you... of us. I know you don't feel-" Luka interrupted, his heart beating quickly "who said I don't?" Shavronne stopped talking, his visible icy blue eye frozen on luka's pale green ones. "You..." Luka thought a moment before acting. Fuck it, he'd been thinking about it too! He leaned in, kissing Shavronne softly. Shavronne grunted in surprise, but slowly kissed back, blush coloring his cheeks. He pulled away after a moment "Luka... i..." Luka smiled, his own cheeks red "I know. I do too. Let's keep this our little secret for now, kay? I dunno if Benji would approve" Shavronne nodded "of course..." Luka reached out, squeezing his hand. "Actually, there's something I need to talk to Benji about." "What is it?" "I... want to move back with you soon... and help you." Shavronne perked up, but as Luka finished his sentence, he frowned "absolutely not. You know you're welcome to come home anytime but... I cannot let you come to harm, Libelle. You've finally found peace, after so long." Luka sighed "I'm not some breakable thing to be protected. I am a growing oak. And nothing that's happened yet has broken me." Shavronne almost said something, then thought better. "I know what you're thinking. You think I don't think about what they did to me every day? What you go up against every night? These monsters need to learn they can't just do as they please!" Shavronne folded his arms, then winced as he put weight on the still injured arm. "Look... how about... I send you out, to talk with the ones we know aren't threats, but are... alone. Like you were. In need of guidance." Luka frowned a moment, but... it was better than nothing. For now. "Fine, but I want you to promise you'll let me out on my own to do that. Your spook type guards will only make that job harder." Shavronne clenched his jaw, it was clear he didn't want to agree to it but... he nodded. Just then, Benji walked up.