SouffleGirl123

Family Matters (A Hedgehawk & SouffleGirl123 1x1)

Lola watched from her spot on the couch as Aloysius rearranged her boxes for her, a gentle small playing on her lips. He did have a point, someone had to keep their mum somewhat in check and Aloysius had much more bargaining power with her than Lola did. Besides, he was her older brother, it was his job to protect her, right? That's what their dad would always say at least. That was when Al snapped Lola out of her thoughts when the mention of the hydromage exercises the guild gave her.

Although she wasn't as powerful as Salem and Aloysius was next in the Leighton line thanks to both age and power rating she was still a Leighton, great things were expected from her. She didn't feel like a Leighton though, she wasn't strategic or cunning. Although Aloysius was relatively decent there were moments where cracks would show and the potential of a ruthless and pompous person would show, Lola didn't seem to have that. Not to mention she didn't feel powerful, seeming to be somewhat on par with the higher rankers from normal magi families. Honestly Lola wasn't sure if she even wanted to be a magi, part of her wanted to run from it all.

She gives an exasperated sigh. ”Not really. School's been a lot and the SATs are coming up." Only a half lie. Registering to do her SATs in Junior year was an almost tactical affair for the young woman, knowing it could be an excuse to get out of bulk training as she figured out where she stood with her powers.

Family Matters (A Hedgehawk & SouffleGirl123 1x1)

Lola gave her brother a small smile, watching him survey the house. ”And what about you? Are you gonna get out soon?" she asks, throwing herself onto the couch against the living room wall. In all honesty she was a little worried with her brother staying behind. She knew he'd be getting some flack for helping Lola move out and likely more now that their mother's human punching bag was no longer in reach. She'd be lying if she said Aloysius didn't get special treatment that came with being the favourite child but that didn't spare him completely from their mother's antics.

Family Matters (A Hedgehawk & SouffleGirl123 1x1)

Like 3 months later or something

”You can just put that over there," Lola directs Aloysius softly, nodding at a collection of boxes in the corner of the living room of her new place. Getting emancipation was easier than she had thought it'd be, at least it was was easier for her mum to just give her up than she thought it'd be. With no one actively working against her and with a good some of money to her name it was an oddly quick process. She wasn't sure if the speed her mother agreed to sign the papers made Lola feel good or smaller than ever. After she starting accessing the funds, with her brother's help, whatever dregs of a relationship there was between Lola and her mother was bust.

Since Al was also a signatory she got him to sign off on her first big purchase, a little two bedroom town house with a large garage. While she technically could have afford something grander with the money her father had left behind she didn't want to go too overboard and drop all her money into a house alone, she didn't need anything impressive at the moment. She placed the box in her own arms next to Aloysius'. ”Thanks for your help, Al. Couldn't have done all this without you."

The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

_{A Catherine Hierich post featuring Zachery Carter
A collab between @Soufflegirl123 and @Hedgehawk}

”You look lovely, my sweet,”

Catherine, mascara wand in hand, turned her attention from the bathroom mirror before her to the figure of her mother in the doorway. ”Thanks, mum.” she replies with a small smile before turning back to the mirror. She couldn’t help but notice the shaking of her hands. She’d been a member of the coven for a month now, joining occasional outings and scouting missions, and all had been fine but this brought all the generations of coven members. This included the generation who fought against her father. She could only hope none recognised who she was descended from but considering her uncle was handing over to her she wasn’t hopeful.

”Are you sure you don’t want to come?” she asks her mother, eyes still fixated on her visage in the mirror as she dragged the mascara wand over her eyelashes. ”Your name was on the invitation too.”

Cat couldn’t help but notice the small sigh that escaped the older woman’s lips. ”It’s not my world. I think I’m better off staying as far from it as possible, especially with that Aston woman there. You and I both know my name was only on the invitation in the name of diplomacy.”

Catherine gave a somewhat solemn nod. She wished her mother would come along regardless but she had a good point. Ever since she found out about her magical heritage there seemed to be a weird distance between Catherine and her mother. Not that they had grown apart but there was that mutual understanding there was this whole world Catherine was a part of that Melanie Heirich could never truly understand. Her mother seemed to almost avoid magic all together. Cat didn’t blame her, until she started training her magic her mother’s last run in with it was escaping the destruction being caused by her ex.

After admiring the finishing touches of her make-up Catherine turns back to her mother. ”I should go but I’ll see you later tonight,” she says with a small smile before placing a kiss on her mother’s cheek. She starts heading toward the front door.

”Have fun. And say hi to your uncle for me,” her mother calls after her.

”I will! Love you,” Cat calls back.

---

Catherine made her way to the coven house, even after a month it was so impressive in her eyes. As she walked to the entrance she couldn’t help but notice Miles’ mother was at the door with Carlisle rather than his own mother. Catherine’s mum had mentioned she used to work in the diner with Mary Price back in the day, long before she knew of the magical community or that her colleague was part of it. She handed them her invitation and shared some quick pleasantries before entering the house.

She wandered through the open rooms of the house exchanging short pleasantries with her generation of coven members until Carlisle gave his speech. After the man had returned back to the crowd, Catherine turned to continue her conversation hoping to find herself face to face with Zachery Carter.

Zach had no idea why he was here in all honesty. He could have easily stayed at home. This was all some kind of pompous bullshit that he could do without. So yeah. They are going to crown a new leader. Whoop de doo. Carlisle was a spineless little shit either way. Zach had taken him down a couple of times. In fact the only reasons Miles and Zach had ever fought, was over Carlisle. He stood there with a whisky in hand as Cat turned around to see him. With a small smirk on his face he raised his glass.

"Wanna take a picture? Might last a bit longer"

Catherine didn’t know Zach all that well. She didn’t need to, his reputation preceded him and that reputation was enough to know she wanted to be as far away as possible. She scoffed at his comment, rolling her eyes slightly. ”Why? Do you need one that bad?”

”Well, It would be nice to look at myself for a bit. Be the only interesting thing in this hellscape of a party” Zach uttered with a small sigh. He really didn’t know why he was even bothering. With a small swig of his whiskey he let out a small sigh. ”I have never seen you around here. You new? Or have you been so plain that you blended into the background my whole life?”

”Bit of both,” the young woman shrugs. ”I also have better things to do with my time than jumping house party to house party.” Catherine didn’t give the man any of her information, she wasn’t sure if she really wanted him knowing who she was. Part of her called to just move on and find someone more agreeable to talk to but she pushed it away.

”Nothing wrong with house parties so long as Carlisle isn’t there to waste your time” Zach said with a grumble, bringing back memories of college and all the house parties that had been ruined. ”Sides, Tanner is a boring old place, Not exactly many parties going on, and having only a couple of bars really limits your options you know? So here I am, standing in a gaggle of pompous wasters, having some whiskey”

”What would Carlisle being there have to do with anything?” Catherine asks, cocking her head. Carlisle was another character she barely knew, the man seemed to distance himself from her somewhat, but he didn’t seem like a particularly bad person.

Zach gave off a deeper sigh ”Because Carlisle and Miles would always be together. People seem to forget that me and Miles are friends too. Miles would spend the whole party trying to get Carlisle come out of his awkward little shell and that was just boring as hell. And once Miles had finally got drunk enough to have some real fun, Carlisle would try to whisk him home like some kind overzealous mother. He was such a kiljoy” Zach had started to grip the whiskey glass in his hand a little tighter only realising when he looked down at the white skin of his fingers.

Cat became relatively still in place. The last thing she had planned was to become part of an impromptu therapy session. She seemed to be good at getting herself into those. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of the man acting almost like a jealous girlfriend and he hardly seemed the type to take good advice. ”Maybe Miles is just closer to Carlisle,” the woman muses gently with a sigh.

”Yeah, but who would want to be friends with that loser. Miles stands up for him as well, that is the sad thing. He can’t see what a dead weight that guy is. Still. Maybe I am just defensive because I don’t have any other guys to hang out with in Tanner. Me and Kolby don’t get along, and Rowan is always in his own little state of mind.” Zach began to fidget, he didn’t quite like the fact that he basically admitted weakness in front of someone, yet alone someone who he hardly knew.

”Right,” Cat replies, her voice trailing off. Honestly she never took Zach as a vulnerable type. It was nearly uncomfortable, not so much the vulnerability itself but that in contrast to how she perceived that man. Her eyes fixated on the glass in the man’s hands for a moment as he spoke. ”I mean, Tanner’s small but it’s not that small. I’m sure there’s someone at these house parties you’d get along with,”

”There is that. Last time I was at one of these parties I ended up getting a whiskey bottle in the side of the head. I had a concussion for three days afterwards. I have too much history with Tanner, everyone knows me and my business. It's not like college where the campus is so big, and there are so many people that you just blend in.” Leaning his head back he necked the rest of his glass in one, feeling the burning liquid light up his chest, causing Zach to cough lightly for a second. ”Thing is, many people just assume I am this hyper flirt that will sleep with anything with a pulse. And to a degree they aren’t wrong. But no one ever asks how I am, or what I am doing. It is always ‘Stay away from him’ or ‘urgh’ I do actually have complexities, but no one wants to listen or stay close enough to find out”

Catherine choked down the temptation to reply to his comment about what people think about him with an ‘aren’t you?’ but instead remained silent as he ranted. ”And how are you?” she echoes cautiously, not quite sure how those words came out of her mouth. She was quite visibly taken aback by the sudden 180 this conversation had taken, even if she was trying not to show it.

Zach was expecting some kind of brush off response. Something along the lines of ‘oh well, you are a whore aren't you? So what's the point in talking?’ But to his surprise, Catherine came up with something entirely different. Zach didn’t answer for a moment, trying to think of the right sentence to say. Normally he would deflect the question, become aggressive or hyper flirty. ”Honestly? Lonely” He muttered out, he kept his voice low, so that no one who was passing by could overhear him. ”I always knew adjusting back to Tanner would be hard, but not this hard. Living on my own, trying to work and get some money, and then trying to be sociable in a small town where everyone knows everyone's business. It’s hard” Zach looked down in shame, his eyes fixated on the now empty whiskey glass.

Cat knew how it felt to have others know your business and be judging you off of it. Sure, their specific situations were vastly different but she knew the feeling of everyone in a room thinking they knew exactly who you are. ”Yeah, I get that,” she responds with a sigh. ”People just acting like you’re one thing you’re not, or at least not completely.” The young woman fidgets with her rings as she talks before looking up at the man. ”So prove them wrong. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

”It's a bit hard when most people won’t give me the time of day anymore. It wouldn’t shock me if after this conversation, someone leans in and warns you to stay away from me, because they are trying to be helpful.” Zach noticed by looking upwards that Cat seemed to be just as uncomfortable at the moment. Raising his head back up he tried to give off a weak smile. ”I suppose I ought to go get a drink and get out of here, before the dance starts.”

At his first statement Cat couldn’t help but chuckle. ”Honestly? Someone will probably say the same thing to you about me,” she replies, her eyes floating around the room. Were those weary looks real? Were they pointed and her or Zach? Or were they all figments of her imagination and insecurity. ”You like parties, this is a party. Not gonna show ‘em too great if you run away now, Especially before the actual handover.”

”I don’t really think that Dancing is my thing. Well. Not the dancing they have in mind. Side’s I don’t have anyone to dance with. I wasn’t planning on leaving, just standing on the outskirts and hiding as many drink bottles as I can find incase I bump back into Erin” He said with a slight chuckle, trying to deflect his insecurities.

”Neither do I,” the woman replies with a shrug. ”What’d you do so bad to get everyone whispering anyway?”

”Be aggressive, push people away, and try to sleep with anyone who would be near me. Worked for a while, but now my reputation is so infamous that most people who live in Tanner give me a wide berth. How about you?”

”Less of what I did and more of what I come from,” Catherine sighs, tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear. It seemed odd that she was finding camaraderie and empathy in Zach Carter but here she was. ”Very long story short my dad sought out Tanner for refuge then a couple of years later betrayed the coven by leading an attack against them. Obviously they didn’t succeed but judging by what people have said they were very close.”

”And by association you must be bad too. I see. Well people suck.” Zach said with a soft laugh as he rolled her shoulders. ”Well, I am going to get some more drinks. You are more than welcome to come and hang around while everyone makes fools of themselves dancing” He asked softly, running a hand through his hair to make sure his fringe was nice and messy.

”I’ll think about it,” Cat replies with a gentle smile. ”I’ll see you around, Zach,”

Zach turned around and began to walk off ”Offer is always there, Just look for the sulking guy in the corner” He laughed as he went towards the drinks table.

The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

Starring Miles Prices and Mary Price

---

Fresh off the heels of her conversation with Lilith, Mary beelined back to the main hall for her next target. She made sure to give her best friend at the drinks table a nod of recognition before gesturing to tell her she'd be there in a bit. She then looked around the room to see Miles not too far from the drinks table, himself engaged in conversation with Kolby. She walked across the room to her son and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Milo," she calls out, placing a hand on his shoulder. This causes the man to whip around in response, becoming face to face with his mother. "Can I steal you for a moment. Please?"

Miles goes to tell her to give him a moment to finish his conversation but meeting her eyes he could only see the panic and urgency behind them. Miles wasn't used to seeing those emotions their. His mother seemed to always be calm and collected, even in times she shouldn't be so seeing the worry behind those eyes almost scared the man. He gave a simple nod before turning to Kolby.

”The Matriarch calls. I'll see you later, man," He says, sharing a fist bump with the man before allowing his mother to take him away with a huff at his nickname for her.

Mary leads him back up the stairs and to the room she had just talked to Lilith in. With every step her stomach seemed to sink deeper as she thought about everything she needed to tell the boy. She could only hope he could forgive her for all of it. Miles, on the other hand, seemed to feel less nervous about what was about to transpire but more curious. Did he do something wrong? Did something happen to Carlisle? Was Lilith ok? All questions he pondered as his mother ushered him into an empty room and closed the door.

Miles enters far enough into the room to allow her to close the door but keeping his eyes fixated on her. Her slow movements, the wringing of hands and almost unnerving silence she commanded over the room. Was his mother scared? Mary Price was never scared. Well, in his age Miles recognised that wasn't true, that even his pillar of strength that was his mother had tasted fear itself. Likely more times than he could count but she never showed it, not as apparent as this. ”Ma?" he utters quizzically.

At her son's voice Mary was snapped back to Earth. She gave him a forced smile before taking a seat on the edge of bed. "Come sit down, Hurricane. You're gonna need a seat for this one,"

Miles raises his pierced brow but followed through with his mother's commands, sitting at her left also on the edge of the bed. ”Did I do something wrong?'

"Not you, not this time, Hurricane," Mary replies looking at her son. Since when did he get so old? She could still clearly remember the days she'd have to chase his little toddler body around the house to wrestle a nappy onto him after he pulled his off or how he'd shove all his favourite toys into a suitcase and drag it into whatever room Mary was in to announce he was going to "go back to visit LiLi" days after they returned from their trips with the Montgomerys. Since when did time go so fast? It almost brought a tear to her eyes thinking about how her little boy had become a man, possibly a father even. "No, Miles, this one's on me," she responds with a sigh.

"I, uh, learnt some things about your father today." She couldn't help but feel the temptation to lie to him, tell him she always thought his dad was a warlock, she never noticed the black dot on his back that became a full mark later in life, that she was fully was fully convinced that he did get that 'tattoo' the way she claimed but she owed her boy the truth. "But we should probably start with this things I know." She glances back up at her son, awaiting his reaction.

Miles' eyes remained on his mother's face as he struggled to shake the uneasiness she was making him feel. At her words he cocked his head in curiosity, tapping his fingers on the side of his legs.

"Miles, your father was a magi. And it turns out you probably are as well," Mary says, looking into her son's eyes.

Miles' brow furrows as he shakes his head. The magi world was something Miles knew very little of, only gleaning some information from Ty when he decided to talk about it but he knew one piece of information about them for sure. ”Don't magi have a birthmark?" he asks.

Mary took a shaky breath, this was the question she was dreading most, the only part of this conversation that may make her son mad at her. Her eyes struggled to meet his but she didn't let up her gaze. "I always expected that mole you were born with may have actually been a magi related mark but it wasn't a proper mark. I figured it may have just been an indictor of magi heritage or somethin'. When your powers started showin' they were more warlock like in nature. That was a relief, Miles. I know warlocks, I can train warlocks so I just raised you as a warlock. Woulda caused issue in the coven havin' a magi next in line for coven member, especially with Amanda at the forefront. Didn't want that woman makin' your life any harder than she was. Then you came home that day and asked about the mark on your back-"

”I got the mole tattooed over, remember? That was my first one. We had a fight about it and everything!" Miles argues, unsure what to make of his mothers words. In return she flashes him an apologetic smile.

"When you came home askin' 'bout that mark I was scared Miles, I didn't know what to do. I don't know how to train magi. We already had you down to take my spot in the coven and you and Lilith were together, Junie and Ty got enough flack when it was revealed Ty was a magi and I didn't want you kids sufferin' through somethin' like that. So I did the only thing I could think of." Mary took another shaky breath as she swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "I convinced you it was the result of one of your drunken benders and enchanted you to believe it... I'm sorry, Miles,"

Miles didn't know what to think. Hell, he didn't know what to feel. He and his mother didn't keep secrets. He knew she told little lies for him not to worry; she wasn't struggling, she wasn't tired, he wasn't getting on her nerves; but this? This was far different. Miles didn't know whether to be mad or indifferent. Mary reaches for his hand to give it a squeeze and he withdraws it.

"Yeah, I deserve that," Mary mutters in response. She looks back at her son, recognising the hurt in his eyes. "I'm sorry, kid. I know I hurt you but I was just trying to protect you. I was never certain myself until tonight..."

”Couldn't you have just asked your divination if I was magi? It's not that hard," he snaps, recoiling slightly a his words. He didn't mean for them to come out so harsh.

"Why would I? If the answer was yes what was I to do? Raise you know I'll never know how to properly train you for who you are or protect you from what the magi face? Live day to day knowing a diviner would pick it up? It's not like we go around asking people or our divination if they're magi and powers like Lil's are only gonna pick up on an issue if you know, or at least think, you're magi. If you're convinced you're a warlock no one's just gonna pick up on it unless they pry."

Miles looks back at his mother with a sigh. This was too much for a conversation that could have happened at home but he couldn't help but soften at the pain and worry painted on her face. He was mad that she lied to him with magic, sure, but he understood that was her trying her best. She always was when it came to him. ”Is that all?" he asks, his voice gentle.

At the gentling of his voice and the softening of his gaze Mary couldn't help but give a small smile. She knew he wasn't pleased but knowing he wasn't completely enraged was comforting. "That's all I knew but there's something more I found out today. I was talking to Salem and she's very convinced that your father may actually be Aloysius Leighton."

Miles' brow furrows once more. ”That name means nothing to me, ma," he replies, picking at a loose thread on his pants.

"Aloysius Leighton tried to head up the downfall of the guild back in the day, say 2 or 3 years before you were born? I don't know too much about it myself but I know he tried to take down the guild- and failed. I recently learnt he hid here for a while after. I also know he’s the eldest son of a great magi family.”

At her words Miles sucks in a breath. ”Well, no wonder Salem seemed uneasy around me…” he comments with a sigh. ”What do I do with this, ma?”

"Look, kid, you're big enough for this to be your responsibility. If you want to keep being a ‘warlock’ then do it, if you want to try and learn to be a magi so be it. I just thought you’d want to hear all this before Salem comes at you.” She purses her lips as she watches as Miles gives a solemn nod. "You need to know, Miles, being a descendant of the Leightons is gonna pit a lot of people against your relationship with Lilith. Two major bloodlines, especially witch and magi, shouldn’t really be mixin’.”

Miles bites his lower lip at his mother’s final statement. Him and Lilith were finally together again. It was good, very good. And here she was saying it was about to be harder, maybe damn near impossible, to keep them together? He finally had her and he didn’t want to lose her again but was it worth it for Salem to put the whole coven on the line?

”So, we just need to not have kids, right? No merging of the bloodlines if there no kids merging it,” Miles concludes, wringing his hands. He doesn’t notice as his mother tenses slightly at his words. She doesn’t say anything, it’s not her news to share.

"We should get back out there, if anyone asks I was telling you off for whatever your latest hijinx was,” she jokes with a light chuckle, making her way to the door. "Take as long as you need to process. And Miles, honey.” She turns back to her son, a small warm smile painted on her face. "I’m proud of you, kid.”

Family Matters (A Hedgehawk & SouffleGirl123 1x1)

At Al's words Lola huffed. She should have expected this honestly. She didn't like the soujd of her mother still having some control as custodian but she couldn’t blanme her father, how was he to know she would switch her tune so fast? At Al's response her face softened. ”You didn't have to do that," she says softly

Family Matters (A Hedgehawk & SouffleGirl123 1x1)

At his words Lola shrugged. ”This isn't England anymore. I have the account but all I can really do is put money in and look at it until I'm 18," she replies, taking her last slice of pizza. ”I think part of me is waiting for mum to figure out some excuse to get her hands on it."

Family Matters (A Hedgehawk & SouffleGirl123 1x1)

Lola shrugs. ”You do what you want, just be careful of mum, she knows her way around people. If we run away what's the chances she'll get you caught for kidnapping? Just to drag you back into her clutches?" Lola muses, mainly thinking out loud to herself. ”I still have school, and technically no money to myself until I'm 18. Running away is a lot harder for me than you,"

Family Matters (A Hedgehawk & SouffleGirl123 1x1)

Lola could help but chuckle at his closing sentence. ”You and me both brother. I don't know what I'm achieving with all this studying, or what I want to achieve," Lola responds softly. ”I guess I accepted whatever mum had for me until I was 13 and now I'm just... I don't know, stuck?"