Charming the heart of a man is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Especially when it's already bewitched by somebody else - literally!
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All that former witch-in-training Avalon wanted was a simple job to get her life back on track and forget abo...
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"What just happened?" Avalon repeated, incredulous, as she tried to make sense of the past few minutes and failed miserably at it.
Gil scratched his neck. "You're asking me? I don't have a clue as to why the hell she's so nice all of a sudden."
"Nice?" Avalon huffed loudly before remembering they weren't alone in the house. Sound carried upwards, after all. She glanced at the staircase, pondering. "It doesn't fit with what you told me about her. You sure she's bad news?"
Gil eyed her dubiously. "You serious? You saw her reaction toward me at least, didn't you? I can't believe Neymar wouldn't want to go and pick up Davi right this second!" Then his eyes widened. "No, wait. It's the spell, isn't it? She told him to show her their room and he's doing it!"
At her depressing nod, he put his hands on his head, pulling the short strands of his black hair through his fingers.
"Daaaaamn," he said, elongating the word. Then he lowered his hands, another thought having caught his attention. He looked around. "On a different note, where's Poker? I heard him bark inside the house earlier and I didn't see him follow Ney upstairs."
Of course! Avalon looked around as well. Usually, Poker couldn't get enough human attention by way of petting, so he tended to fawn around everyone until he got it. Neymar wouldn't have just locked him outside after having coming home, would he? Poker was allowed inside the house, especially with him at home. But there was no sign of him now. Had he gone after Zelo without anyone noticing? Goddesses knew that dog had a thing for that cat.
Gil called him by name several times, leaving for the kitchen and living room to go look for the animal.
Meanwhile, Avalon – following her inner intuition – slowly stepped toward the far corner on the other side of the entrance door. There, a wide, comfy-looking armchair with cream cushioning stood facing the room. It's where she usually discarded her jacket, bag, and whatever else she carried when she got home through the main door.
Feeling uneasy at once, she swallowed the lump in her throat and squatted down next to it. Then she peeked behind.
Her heart sank.
There, pressing himself in the corner like there was no tomorrow, was Poker, and for a horrifying second Avalon believed the animal to be dead – if it weren't for the shaking of his body.
Poker was terrified. So terrified that he didn't even dare to whimper, a typical reaction from dogs when in pain or fear.
And now her heart broke.
"Hey, buddy," she said in a soothing voice and with a smile. Slowly, she reached out a open hand, palm up. At the same time, she did her best to call forth positive and calming energy from within herself; dogs were very sensible to energies, otherwise known as auras. "Don't worry. She's upstairs. But you can feel that, can't you? You're a smart boy, aren't you?"
