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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"Change of plans: I won't make it for a while. We're all going to the aquarium," Avalon wrote from the car. "With some of Neymar's teammates and their families."
It didn't take long for her phone to vibrate. "Oh, great! You go enjoy your day while we worry about the crazy chick from hell. Cool." Gil had added a smiley laughing tears after that. Good, Avalon thought, he's taking it in stride.
Another vibration. "Nah, no problem," Gil went on. "I did manage with her before in a way. Didn't know she had the power to turn me into a frog but what the hell, man. But do me a favour? Check out the best place in terms of B&E. Might come in handy to have a shark tank if we ever need to make a body disappear..."
Avalon scoffed at the absurd idea. But then she stopped and actually gave it a thought. Some animals were indeed known to avoid magical beings like witches while some others were known to attack them immediately; predators thinking themselves superior, usually. What category would sharks be in?
She shook her head, quickly getting rid of that line of thinking. She typed back, "I need to believe we're not gonna be THAT desperate, Gil!"
"Right. Zelo just rolled his eyes. Looks really freaky when a cat does that, by the way."
"You'll get used to it. We also need to get a friend of mine on board. Have Zelo call Lars, okay? Thanks!"
"'Kay. We'll let you know if we get problems entering the lioness' den without your superpowers helping us."
"Gee, thanks! That's what the protection runes and charms from Fidelia are for!" I hope, Avalon added in her mind and wisely refrained from typing that.
"Hey hey, don't kill the messenger! Just be glad I didn't finish with #endofsarcasm because that's what Zelo wanted me to add!"
"Tell him THANKS for the confidence boost. I feel so much better now. #endofsarcasm my ass! Later."
Avalon sighed deeply as she put her phone away once more. Like she'd needed a reminder she was outmatched. So much for that.
The drive to the aquarium was longer than expected because of heavy traffic as soon as they reached Barcelona. Davi used the time for a seemingly endless monologue. Clearly, he enjoyed the fact that his dad was right there, spending time with him again. After a while, though, Neymar and Avalon reduced their replies to the odd "Really?", "That's great" and "Cool" here and there. You could only digest so much about sharks and that kid's TV show featuring - what else? - sharks. If Davi noticed the adult's inattention, he didn't show it.
When they drove into the dimly lit parking garage at the aquarium, Avalon could tell that something was bothering Neymar. Mostly because he'd been looking around the car's interior. Davi had grown silent as soon as they'd entered the garage; anticipation, was Avalon's guess.
