you want it darker | michael langdon

epilogue; the garden.

My dearest friend,
If you don't mind
I'd like to join you by your side...

-

Primrose giggled softly, running through the meadow as fast as her feet would carry her in order to evade capture by her pursuer. The soil was soft beneath her feet, the long grass tickling her arms as she swiftly passed on by. Her skin was radiant under the hazy exposure of the late afternoon sun.

When they died, the world above was restored once more; over eighteen years of suffering now nothing but a bad dream that only a few would remember. The cracks in the wall of the universe healed over, and the clocks turned back for good measure. The world just keeps on turning, and in the most stubborn fashion, life always seems to prevail. 

With his death, Michael's father decided to reassign his purpose. Michael's main calling in (after)life now was guiding souls through the various levels of hell, his being now completely tied to the underworld. This job, however, came with less burden and more benefits, such as the meadow, which was one of their favorite realms to play in.

*pop!*

Sensing her would-be captor hot on her heels, she transmuted several paces ahead further into the glade.

"The thrill is in the chase, Michael!" She laughed over her shoulder, not paying attention to where she was going.

*crack!*

She yelped as she ran directly into Michael, unaware he had transmuted before her.

"I think you'll find that the thrill is, in fact, in the capture." He smugly replied, using her moment of vulnerability as an opportunity to gather her small form in his strong arms.

She playfully struggled against his hold as he carried her away in the direction of a nearby lake.

"Let me go, you beast!" She yelled in mock protest.

"You want me to let you go?" He teased her as he reached the edge of the water.

Sensing where he was going with this, her protests soon became very serious.

"Michael, don't you dare." She warned him, but it was too late.

He unceremoniously released her from his grip, her body falling directly into the water below her with a substantial splash. Michael's laughter was barely audible over the sound of rushing water within her ears, her arms flailing about as her head resurfaced.

"You brute!" She gasped in indignation.

His head fell back with laughter, his hand clutching his stomach. With his eyes screwed shut, he did not notice her hand emerging from the lake.

"Hey!" He shrieked as she grabbed him by the ankle, pulling him into the water with her.

He struggled in the water momentarily before resurfacing, spluttering and choking on the water as he tried to regain his breath.

He eventually calmed down and turned to fix her with a glare; his clothes drenched and his once perfect hair now wet and slightly matter against his forehead.

She took in his disheveled state and merely laughed.

"Oh, this is funny to you?"

Prim rolled her eyes and pulled him closer to press wet kisses along the side of his neck. He felt her nipples hard against his chest through the wet, thin material of her dress. A shiver ran through his body; partly from arousal, partly from the temperature of the water.

"I'll show you funny!" He smirked, splashing her with water.

Michael laughed as she shrieked and retaliated, the pair of them soon thrashing about in the water playfully and laughing, completely without a care in the world.

"Well, this ain't too bad." A voice cuts through their moment of frivolity, and they both jump at the unexpected intrusion. "Not so different from being back home in Louisiana."

Primrose whips her head round to see who it is, and is greeted with the sight of Misty Day.

"Misty!" Primrose exclaimed, standing up in the water.

"Little Miss Prim." Misty warmly replied with a smile.

Primrose climbed out of the water and ran to greet her.

"How are you here? And why?" Primrose mumbled into the older witch's hair as she enveloped her in a hug.

"It's about your mom." Misty replied.

Primrose faltered slightly at the mention of her mother; she preferred not to think about her too much these days, the matter usually just left her quite melancholy.

Primrose frowned. "Is she okay?"

"No, she's not." Misty shook her head, sadly. "She's too depressed to eat, to sleep... she can't perform any of her duties as supreme without you."

"I wasn't even sure she'd remember me..." Primrose trailed off, sadly. 

"No one could ever forget you." Primrose felt Michael's hand resting on her shoulder and leaned into his comforting touch.

"She misses you terribly." Misty added.

"I miss her too." Prim quietly replied.

"Is that why you're here?" Michael coolly inquired.

Misty nodded solemnly and took Primrose's hands within her own. "I'm here to take your place."

Primrose gasped. "Y-you're what...?"

"You can't!" Michael exclaimed, subconsciously tightening his grip on his lover's shoulder.

Misty fixed him with a defiant stare. "I've already negotiated it with Papa Legba, and your daddy too. Primrose can go home to her mom for the entirety of spring, so long as I'm around to serve in her place in the meantime."

"So... I get to spend spring with my mother and the rest of the year with Michael?" Primrose asked, the hope and excitement evident in her voice.

"You would do that for me?"

"I'd do it for your mother." Misty replied.

Primrose hesitated as she realized that seeing her mother would mean leaving Michael, even if it was only for the spring. Now that they were dead, so was their bond, but she didn't need magic to tell her that Michael was upset at the prospect of being alone for months at a time.

"I can't." Primrose hung her head, sadly.

"Go." Michael spoke quietly from behind her.

Primrose turned to face him to make sure she'd heard him correctly.

"I don't have to." Primrose said.

"Yes, you do. You miss the sunlight on your face, the real sun, and you miss your mother, I know you do. I never really had that much of a life on Earth, but I know that you did."

Coming from the man who once destroyed an entire plane of existence to avoid letting her go, Primrose felt immeasurably touched at Michael's gesture.

"Michael..." Primrose tearfully embraced him.

"Besides," Michael said. "Who am I to deny a goddess what she wants?"

"I'll come back, I promise."

"I know you will."

-

Where we could gaze into the stars
And sit together now and forever
For it is plain as anyone could see...

We're simply meant to be.

THE END.