Hazel - Post Chapter Seven (Patreon)

A/N: Post chapter seven, assuming you are in a Hazel romance, and you did not choose fade to black.

The water lapped around me, Hazel secure at my back.  Rose petals and small sachets of herbal tea, floated in the claw foot tub, tinting the water a soft pink.  Wash cloth in hand, Hazel brought it up, squeezing it out over my chest and watching as the water ran down in soft pink rivulets.  The lighting in the bathroom was dim, and I was almost convinced we were in a tree of some sort.  There was no ceiling to be seen. Only the leafy green of a dozen pathos plants, all trained to climb the wall and wind upwards to create a soft canopy of flora.

“It scares me to see your body this bruised,” she whispered. Her chin rested on my shoulder and her legs were tight around my waist.  “I should have gone with you.”

I shook my head firmly.  “The last place I want you to be is down in the Deep.  I’m lucky I even made it out of there.”

“Don’t say that,” she said fiercely. “I was ready to contact Gabriel and call in every favor I had to be able to come down and get you.”

I tilted my head back to her. “You have a lot of favors with the Velvet Guard?”

“Well, no,” she said with an angry huff. “But I– I wasn’t going to let you just sit down there. I would have done something.”

“Like hexing people?”  She froze behind me.  So Caliban was right.  That was something she was capable of doing.  “Your secret is safe,” I told her quietly.  “I mean, it does make sense.  You’ve told me a bit about your mother.  I think it would be a little more odd if you didn’t know how to do things like that.”

“I don’t curse people,” she said quickly.  “The magic I’ve obtained really is something that I use for good. It’s why the apothecary has become what it is.  I don’t sell curses to just anyone.  If someone comes in to buy a hex, they have to tell me what they are using it for.”  I didn’t point out to her that these people could have very easily lied. In fact, people using hexes were probably the exact sort of people who would lie about their intentions.

There was real fear in her voice. Magic was obviously something she had kept well hidden through the years.  Either for fear of backlash or for fear of becoming her mother.  That and it seemed like unless you were a Baron, you were not supposed to have magic obtained through anything other than the amulets controlled by the Velvet Guard.

Frowning, I twisted in her hold.  Her head was tilted down, and her brow was furrowed in worry.  Cheeks still high in color from our earlier activities, she looked raw and vulnerable.

“Hey,” I whispered. “I’m really not upset,” I tried to assure her.  She was running her fingers along my bruises from the Deep, paying special attention to the one I had at my side. I could feel warmth seep into my skin but assumed it was from the water. She had said this would be a healing bath.

“I’ve just been keeping so much from you,” she told me.  “You have to understand I never thought that you would be– that we would–” Tilting her head back she blinked up towards the ivy covered ceiling. Their vines tightened around each other, making sure to block out anyone who may be listening. Not that I had ever really seen anyone enter past her main gates. Other than a few familiar customers from time to time.

“Has this really upset you?” I asked.

She nodded her head and then shrugged, avoiding my eyes.

“Hazel,” I told her gently.  “Why would I be upset that you have the ability to curse people? Especially when all I’ve ever seen from you, is kindness.  You go out of your way to make people happy. You took me in when you didn’t even know me.  You put up with Milo daily.” That got a small smile out of her.  “So you have the ability to do something not so savory. Most people do. And, to top it off, you show a strength that others do not.” I ducked my head, locking eyes with her. “Restraint.”

She sighed a little, sinking down into the tub and pulling me close. There had been red and angry scratches all along my right arm.  Gravel and sand had been embedded in my skin when I had first walked into Renaissance Alley. Now, the wounds didn’t even exist.

“Wow,” I told her. “Hell of a bath.”

“You know it’s not the bath,” she whispered.

Taking her hand in mine, I brought it to my lips. “I know.”

The water never cooled. The tub was deep and held us both, soaking us up to our shoulders as we lounged within. I watched her hands as they sliced through the water gently.  A soft green light emanated from her fingertips, filling the copper tub with magic that left my body tingling.  I didn’t say a word though. I didn’t want to.

With Hazel, everything was a test of mental fortitude.  It was an odd thing to think but so very true.  So easily this life could have led to unhappiness.  From what I had experienced alone, I knew I could tip over into the edge of despair. Run, be afraid, rage at the world if I got up enough courage. But when I was with Hazel, it didn’t feel right.  I wanted to be better around her. For her. I wanted to be someone that could see the kindness in strangers like she could. Who wanted to help. I wanted to be someone that she was proud to hold hands with.

“Promise me something,” I told her softly, both of us lazy with the heat of the water and the events of the day.

“I can certainly try.”

“Promise me that if things ever get too much, you’ll come to me.”

She giggled a little against my shoulder, pressing soft kisses to the skin.  “I will gladly promise that.”

“I’m not sure what I can do that someone like you couldn’t, but I would like to try.”

Nuzzling against me, I felt as she coaxed my body to lean further back into her. I felt as if I were melting into the surrounding comfort. “I think that you are capable of a lot more than you realize yet.”

“Why do you say that?”

“A hunch, really. I look at you and see such potential locked away. As if you have magic swirling just beneath your skin, itching to get out.  But magic is finicky, and I don’t think the right time has presented itself yet.  But, I think when you truly need it, you will be capable of so much more.”

“It’ll be a surprise for everyone,” I joked.

I could feel her smile and the soft breathy way she whispered in my ear. “Surprise is what makes life worth living.  When you open yourself up for surprise, you open yourself up to an entirely new world of possibilities.”

“Will you teach me?”

Holding me close, she rested her hand flat on my belly. The wound at my side finally closing.  “I will teach you anything you want. Give you anything you want,” she said softly.  “You only have to ask.”