━━ ( 旋風 ; ☁️ ) ━━

"𝕳ONESTLY, yeah - there are a few more cassians around. but i get what you mean," natrix stated, the three walking closer to the bookshop in the afternoon's streets. "this guy's the only one who you recall knowing."

"i grew up with some cassian in my home village. we were about the same age - a few years older than you, at least. i'm surprised i even remember him; it was so long ago, it's pretty insignificant compared to all the other things i've lived through," stellan sighed. "he was my closest friend as a child; i can't remember how, but it all crashed down, soon enough. haven't seen him since."

"i guess we're about to find out," the shapeshifter said.

all sorts of ideas rushed into the wizard's head. whoever this person was, they could be here for his head, if anything. he never had a specific bounty... or one he could remember gaining through the years. he pulled down his jean jacket's hood as he and natrix arrived at gdt arcane books' door, awaiting to see what today's late afternoon brought them. aether followed not far behind.

lina unlocked the door, the chime giving a little jingle in turn for opening. the fire witch wore a mere red top and house shorts, yet a few bruises and cuts were found around the asian woman. her hair wasn't evenly cut, obviously — part of it was drastically hacked off.

natrix arched an eyebrow. "sooo... is this for some deadly sleepover thing, or?"

she rolled her eyes. "just come in."

"are you sure you're alright?" stellan asked. "what happened to-"

"sky wizard."

stepping in, stellan heard a haunting voice, a familiar voice. ingrid fortuna, master sorceress was found in the main room. the reconstruction witch wasn't in her purest form, her dark hair less wild and lively, some falling to her knees, along with wearing a black pantsuit. her expression was stern, a familiar seriousness. stellan's mother was this woman's close confidant before being lost to a spell of illness, fading only a year after stellan was born.

"fortuna." stellan raised an eyebrow, placing his hands behind his back. "i thought a... 'cassian' was here, as well."

"ah, this young one's under my protection." she gestured over toward a young man, nonchalantly propping his legs up on the coffee table as he sat on the large armchair by the fireplace. he held a mug of hot chocolate in hand as he merely watched the scene, with an uninterested sort of air lingering around him. he, too, had a few cuts and bruises on his face.

cassian looked a lot like lina. as lina sat on the staircase, tiredly, stellan could see their ticked off expressions mirror each other, along with their easily comparable traits.

so this was 'cassian.'

"i found the sky wizard, just how you asked," cassian shrugged, addressing ingrid. "he doesn't look as impressive as i thought you said he was."

"i was preparing to find him for myself, cassian."

"you're bratty, aren't you?" natrix rolled their eyes. they turned to ingrid. "what're you doing here? you've already disregarded alucia. what's next? blaming ris for morgana's fallout? siding with the spirit of sands?"

"that's what lina said..." cassian's voice was almost in singsong. he seemed entertained by this, watching ingrid's brows furrow, in bittersweet anger. she tensed in response to natrix's words. stellan watched lina's expression harden.

ingrid retorted, strained. "you too? you know i tried. you know i tried everything i could to save her."

"stop, please." stellan held his hands out, walking between the two. "we're not here for conflict." his glare towards natrix shut the shifter up. "cassian wanted the sky wizard over for you, he got the sky wizard over for you. what do you need?"

the master witch sighed. "your past readings of the quakes. your mother's records on the heartstone. morgana's been sighted."

stellan's eyes widened. by fairweather's fury, this was already escalating. of course morgana le fay, of all people, would try to return. stellan recalled how the eldritch queen tried to sway his morals, have him at her side as a pawn in her game of vengeance.

she even slaughtered his father and sister just to try to take him.

the woman was beyond mental.

"i'll... i'll find what i can," stellan said. "i just hope it's enough."

during this whole conversation, stellan hadn't noticed aether's curiosity rise.

the blue spirit's dog form had him acceptable to most - approaching this... man in a red jacket wouldn't be too difficult. along with that, aether was fascinated by the figure's familiarity.

aether slinked by the legs of many. the black dog crept closer and closer to the man, its yellow eyes trying to capture the details of what he saw. the man was dark-haired, fair-skinned, with a brooding expression along with those familiar blue eyes. familiar! it was the perfect word.

the dog walked up to the man, taking a seat by his legs, which were propped up on the coffee table in front of him. he appeared confused as he held his mug. he set his feet down and looked at the dog.

the man raised an eyebrow.

aether tilted his head in curiosity.

the dog slinked by and rubbed its back against the man's shins sweetly, as if he were a cat instead. he sat by the tall figure, still keeping an eye on him.

the man's eyes had a change of thought, aether noticed, a sort of wistfulness, maybe? hesitantly, he held his hand out to pet the dog. aether bunted his head softly into the presented hand, fingers brushing through his fur.

he wagged his tail, satisfied.

looking at stellan, the man's expression was stern, almost in thought and almost woebegone.

maybe today's encounter wasn't all to boring.

"i just hope it's enough." stellan crossed his arms, in subtle worry. "i need to plan soon. who knows if morgana will try to escape her imprisonment?"

"thank you, stellan," ingrid sighed, relieved as she finally addressed him by his name. "and natrix, lina - i need to talk to you two for a moment," she both gave them glances, stern in her words, intending something only the two must've known of, "privately."

the two witches nodded and followed her in silence, leaving stellan and cassian behind - along with aether, of course...

and even more silence. the awkward kind.

aether waited for at least one to say something to another.

"alright, um..." cassian trailed off, as he rose from his seat, "you're stellan, right?"

stellan stilled. "yes," he finally said. "yes, i am—"

"meet me outside when the store closes."

before stellan could respond, cassian was already out the door, the chime still ringing until the door shut itself. he wasn't even visible through the glass - he was gone.

hands in his pockets, stellan raised an eyebrow. "a bit terse, isn't he?" he turned to ask the fascinated aether. "...what's with the face?"

aether had such a glint in his eye... a fascinated one, an excited one. for all one could know, aether was elated. thankfully or not, stellan knew what his old friend was on about.

he stifled a laugh.

"you're joking."

this moody, sarcastic - albeit, awkward(?) - man couldn't be that specific cassian stellan could recall from his childhood. he's someone different. and even if he was, stellan thought, who was to say that they would get along? they were just children, after all. they didn't have to be friends - they had a choice.

a broken pot of orchids and pink camelias was found by the counter, knocked down onto the floor with bits of dirt, petals, and shards of terracotta, varying in size and shape, spread out on the ground. the poor flowers were sprawled onto the ground, helplessly. the place was a mess, and stellan felt too polite to even stare before everyone had exited. but, now, he took everything in more properly.

he assumed cassian started a possible rampage that could have ruined the store.

he couldn't jump to conclusions, though.

BAI'S NOTES:
╱ zaaaaamn first date already ?!
╱ HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE - especially to kanna ! this is one of her real presents :] AND beex TOO
╱ hope your holidays are going great ! if you celebrate wintry holidays , anyway. if you don't , hopefully , you're still doing well !! <3
╱ i was gonna publish this waaaaay earlier this week but i got sick :'] full of headache-y wonder , unfortunately. i'm a little better now , at least.
╱ loveu all ! ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶