Elemental

Part 8

It's near midnight when the front door opens. Startled, you pull from your reverie and lower your paintbrush.

The canvas is darker than before. Colors and feelings entwine, creating a contrast against the light background. Exhaling, you sit back on the stool to examine. Pride fills your lungs despite the half-finished state. It's good, but not great and that's okay.

Only a few days prior, you would have been too scared to start. Afraid of the worst, you couldn't release the barest hint of magic. You feared that, once begun, it would be hard to pull back. Now, you consider the opposite. Maybe by containing yourself, you exacerbated the problem.

A throat clears from the hallway, a mirror to a prior memory.

Whirling around, you nearly knock over the canvas. Seokjin's eyes widen, though you steady the painting fast. Glancing over your shoulder, you notice Seokjin seems tired. Heavy shadows line the skin beneath his eyes.

"Painting again?" he muses.

Slowly, you nod. "Starting to."

Pushing himself off the door, Seokjin comes closer. "I like it," he declares. "You've always been great, but this... this feels more honest."

Following his gaze, you attempt to see the work from his perspective. You suppose that he's right, but don't have time to dissect why that would be.

"What's up?" you ask, turning back again. "You were out late."

Seokjin pauses, considering. "Yeah. Decided to answer a call myself. Laundromat over on 8th – you know it?"

Immediately, you stiffen. That was your laundromat from earlier; the one you flooded and now, you're entirely too conscious of having left your hamper at the front door.

Seokjin lifts an eyebrow.

Last year, his parents retired, bequeathing to him a magical consulting business. He employs mainly Elementals, contracting them to clean up situations. Sometimes said situations are caused by Elementals and other times, they're natural. For example, a fire Elemental could be called to heat a building without power in a snowstorm.

Or possibly, one might request an air Elemental to dry out a flood.

"I know that place," you say at last. "What happened?"

"Couple of pipes burst. Flooded the lower level. Most of the water had drained by the time I got there, but they needed help drying equipment."

You deflate a little. "Oh. Glad you could help."

"Mhm." Seokjin tilts his head. "Your ex-boyfriend was there."

"Oh?" you manage to squeak.

"Yup." He pops the p. "Until I saw him, I assumed it was an accident. But then your ex-boyfriend was there, and I came here and saw your laundry by our door. Is there something you wanted to tell me, Y/N?"