Proof #3
Last night when the homeless man came at us- the way he so effortlessly
knocked the weapon away without even breaking a sweat- It was
incredible. And terrifying.”
“Did it turn you on a little?”
“Of course it did! But that’s not the point right now!” Jacob responded.
“He’s actually…”
“Dangerous?” Teddy blurted.
“Yeah.” Jacob sank. “It’s weird to admit that but he is.”
“He is literally trained to be a witch hunter, and you’ve been throwing
out big thick ropey streams of magic all over the place.”
“You told me to!” Jacob roared.
“I didn’t think you’d be so enthusiastic about it!” Teddy responded.
“Look, there’s many things to consider here.” Teddy left the sentence
hanging.
“Tell me what all needs to be considered here.”
“Just- Lots. Lots of things.” He said knowingly.
“You’re so helpful.”
“I’m the seagull! You’re the human! Use your big stupid human brain
you’re all so proud about.”
“I’m trying and you’re not letting me!” Jacob exclaimed.
As Teddy said this, Joe emerged from the bathroom wearing only a
towel. Jacob lost his train of thought.
“You’re distracted now aren’t you?” Teddy responded.
“Oh yeah. Good talk. Let’s pick this up in the morning.”
20
Extra Frothy.
Much like Jacob, morning came too soon. After sending a quick message to Tic to check up on him, he walked into the kitchen to find Teddy standing on the counter looking expectant.
“What?” Jacob asked.
“I’m hungry.” Teddy said.
“Aren’t gulls supposed to be good at fending for themselves?” “I am. I’m great at it. But I’d rather eat what you feed me.” Teddy
shrugged as much as his wings would allow him. “This whole thing is becoming a bit of a routine isn’t it?”
“I guess so.” Jacob responded. “I just wish I had a better way to tell what exactly was going on.”
“Well, start with breakfast and then we can figure out your bigger problems.” Teddy responded with a gentle coo. “Trust me, everything is better with waffles.”
“Who said anything about waffles?” Jacob quizzed.
“Oh that’s so nice of you to offer.” Teddy squawked happily as Joe came out of the bedroom and gave Jacob a kiss on the cheek.
“You seem to be in a good mood.” Jacob asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Joe smiled. “Last night was good.”
“Last night we almost got mugged.” Jacob said. “And there was that whole Thomas situation.”
“Are you going to call him?” Joe interjected.
“I think I should. I think I should probably figure out what was going on there. Don’t really want to though.” Jacob sighed.
“That’s understandable- and I think we both know what was going on there.” Joe responded. “Look, it’s your weekend-”
“Which is just the weekend.” Jacob interrupted.
“When you work Sunday things are a little different.” Joe reminded him. “But apart from that, today is the day we both have to ourselves. What would you like to do?”
“Waffles! Waffles! Make fucking waffles!” Teddy exclaimed.
“I have no idea. I was thinking waffles but even that might be taxing for my brain right now.” Jacob looked over to see Joe sizing him up with a grin. “What did you have in mind?”
“I’m ready for just about anything, but I would love to have the chance to potentially explore the city a little bit.
Would you be up for that?” Joe slipped a hand around Jacob’s stomach and pressed into him from behind.
He gently bit at the back of his neck and Jacob moaned, grinding his back into Joe. “I think we could have some fun today.”
“I enjoy fun.” Jacob groaned.
“Good. Let’s make some waffles, have a coffee and then take your bird for a walk in the park.”
“Yay!” Teddy exclaimed as he flapped into the other room. “Fucking waffles!”
“Okay. Let’s do it.” Jacob responded. “And maybe something else first.”
“Boo!” Teddy cried from afar.
“I like both of those suggestions. I’ll just need to make one stop at the church on the way.”
“Double boo!” Teddy exclaimed from the other room.
“That’s fine. Here, let me get started and then we can head out and get things moving!” Jacob started, but before he could move to the stove, Joe stopped him and looked him deep in the eyes. “What? Something on my face?”
“I just wanted to drink you in a bit.” Joe smiled. “You’re beautiful.” Jacob felt that familiar snake feeling in his stomach- and this time it was doing cartwheels.
“I ain’t got nothing-” Joe held up his hand to stop him.
“It’s not a contest. You’re beautiful.” Joe responded. “I feel very lucky right now.”
“Barf!” Teddy exclaimed from the other room.
Then before he could stop himself he got lost in the moment and words erupted from his throat like the worst kind of Vesuvius.
“I love you.” Jacob blurted out, his eyes going wide as he said it. Fuck- now he’d said it first. Did that mean he meant it?
“I love you too.” Joe said before pulling Jacob in for a big kiss. As Joe walked away, and Jacob settled into making the waffles, Teddy fluttered back in.
“Don’t say anything.” Jacob ordered. Teddy ignored him as usual.
“You said it first.” Teddy mocked.
“I know.” Jacob said. “Fuck- what if I actually love him?”
“How can you? It’s been like… a week?”
“Not even.” Jacob said, shaking his head. Fuck. What was he supposed to do now?
“You can’t love anyone that quickly.” Teddy responded. “You might think you do, but you probably don’t.”
“You’re right- but then- I don’t know. I just can’t believe I said it first. That’s not me reflecting his feelings.
Those are mine. That’s me having those feelings.
I don’t care if it’s just an infatuation- but this…
” He paused halfway through cracking the eggs.
“What if I actually feel something more?”
“Try not to. At least not until you know what his feelings are.” Teddy responded.
“I know what his feelings are.” Jacob pondered.
“Not really. You know what his enchanted feelings are. His real feelings could be something much different.”
“I’m making his coffee. I can just… keep it going.” Jacob said as he eyed the drink.
“Is that what you want?” Teddy enquired.
“No. Of course not.” Jacob frowned. “But I- I don’t want to lose him.”
“Can you really lose something you never had?” Teddy said. “If you do this, you’ll never really know if you had him or not.”
“Well at least I’ll know that I’ve got him today. Maybe that’s enough.”
“This is a slippery slope, Jacob. I can’t recommend it.”
“Teddy, it’s one day. It’s just one day…” Jacob said, as he prepared to make Joe’s coffee. “ I can do it just one more time… This is fine. Things will be fine.”
“What happens if it’s too strong? Are you ready for obsession? What if it kills him?”
Jacob pondered for a moment. He could feel the energy floating in him. He could dose him for one more day. That would solve things for now.
He could feel the thought start in his brain, work it’s way down his arm and float in the palm of his hand. With a thought he could compel the thought into his coffee. Be mine. You love me. You need me. With one push, Joe could be his.
But he froze. No, he couldn’t keep doing this. The love spell had already lasted longer than he expected it to. Did he love Joe? Like for realsies? If he actually loved Joe, would he keep doing this?
Frustrated with himself, he restrained. As easy as it would be to continue this charade, he knew that the time had come to stop. Even if he couldn’t be sure about Joe’s feelings- he knew his own at this point- as much as he hated to admit it.
“You stopped.” Teddy whistled.
“I can’t do this to him again. If it’s real then… I need to stop. For both our sakes.”
“Probably for the best.” Teddy responded. “Now get in there and have your fun. You earned it.”
“I think I will.” Jacob responded. A giddy feeling washed over him. Did he do the right thing?
He was about to go into the room when Teddy stopped him. “But if you go in there without making me my waffles, I swear to god I will peck your fucking eyes out.”
21
Hot Chocolate.
With Teddy fed, and himself relaxed they set out into the day.
Today was windier than expected, but otherwise perfect.
The air smelled sweet and there was a romantic feeling that followed them.
Joe was sipping from his iced oat milk-accino which they had bought from a store- no spell infusions as far as Jacob knew- only the normal amount of mystical power that applies to coffee.
The wildlife even seemed out in full force.
So far, they’d encountered a few squirrels, too many bugs and a raccoon that may or may not have been the one from the bus stop.
Walking slowly, they made their way to the downtown core.
They made the occasional comment on how nice the day was and the dreams they had last night.
As they approached downtown, Jacob realised how close they were to a familiar apartment.
He looked up to see a tiny disco ball spinning on an elaborately decorated balcony and smiled.
He checked his phone quickly to see if Tic had responded yet, but still no word from him.
“Hey, you see that place up there?” Jacob asked.
“The one that looks like a pride parade?” Joe commented. “Exactly! That’s Tic’s place.”
“Oh yeah? Your strange friend from the bar?” Joe asked. Something
about the way he said ‘strange’ gave Jacob pause, but he didn’t dwell on it. “Yeah. I’ve had many a cocktail on that balcony.” Jacob chuckled..
“Mind if we stop by? I’d like to check on him after last night.” “Oh, that’s probably not a good idea.” Joe shrugged. “I don’t like
dropping by someone’s place without an invitation.”
“Oh don’t worry about that. Tic loves people. Especially me. Look, it
won’t be long. I’ll just drop by real quick, get the details about last night
and then we can head off. He hasn’t been answering his texts and I really want to ask him what he thinks I should be doing about this whole Thomas
situation.”
“Do you really want to bring this up with him today? Is there something