Author's Note: Fantasy elements, homosexuality, a light touch on addiction, and... a decent appetite.
This one is a two-parter.
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Before history, before time, and space, long before there was anything at all. Before light and dark, came the will... To create.
The will burst forth, flowing down in slow and dripping motion. Running outwards and foaming into the voids before what was, became what is. The many, unseen, shaken loose and into creeks, streams and rivers. Into eight.
As the universe became, and each fibre began the lengthy process into seperation, some of it began to dream. To picture a tomorrow that was not a today. Of those, a handful raised their voices, determined to use everything in their power to dictate.
From the light and dark, came a force of will... It was Fate.
The order, still half-forming demanded a balance for this, something to negate.
The first of what formed were the endless ones, those ethereal and unknown creatures. Sometimes called gods, sometimes demons. The immortal creatures whose motivations seem so inconsistent, so unknowable to us.
We were formed to be the balance. To be finite, to their infinity. To be mortal, to live and die, whilst they remain, unchanging. We become a sum of our experiences, whilst they remain ever infantile in their understanding of the worlds that have sprung up around us.
Yet, the two of us were not in true balance, a third was required.
The never-changing, and the ever-changing, together forged by instinct and need. The third was forged with sweat, and hatred. A creation of both sides, in a war that nearly destroyed all of what was.
The Fey, the magical, was created to be a weapon by both sides. Sent out by gods to turn the finite environment against mortal kind. Floods, earthquakes, and broken skies to tear away the ever-changing and remove them from existence.
Yet, with time, some of mortal kind proved to be resistant. An adaptability that allowed them to grow and triumph when so many of their predecessors were wiped from the temporal memories of those who had an end.
From these, arose warriors that could forge their own Fae, and these they plagued upon the gods. Stripping their powers from them, their meaning from them, until the eternals fled in terror and left reality unbalanced in their wake.
With reality teetering on the edge of destruction, a desperate pact was formed.
The Fey would use their stolen power to try and guide the world onwards, and the magical warriors of mortalkind would act as advisors, maintainers, and ambassadors to the rest of their kind.
Thus, came the witches into being.
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"Whatcha doin'?"
Adja pressed the fork down into the bowl and spun it around with a practiced flick, "Mashing two avocados."
Two arms slipped around her waist from behind, and she shivered as she felt a couple tiny kisses along her neck. "I can see that."
"Can you add a couple twists of salt?" She pretended to ignore the warm breaths plucking her skin with goosebumps, raising her chin towards the grinder.
Her date, from the night before, gave a very long sigh, and reached out. Still positioned behind her. They did as she'd said, before going back to cuddling into her.
"And now those." She waved her head at the red and chopped up ingredient waiting nearby. "Don't get 'em on your hands. Not if you want those hands to go anywhere near me, again."
Her date gave a small laugh, "Jalepenos? Don't want those in the kitty?"
"Kitty will bite if they do." She gave a rough glare, before joining in the laugh.
Iniya planted a soft kiss on her lips, whilst blindly pushing the remains of the single jalepeno into the bowl. Tongue reaching out playfully and teasing at Adja's teeth. Which did more than warm her a little, downstairs.
Unfortunately, they didn't exactly have time to fool around. The mayor had called some kind of emergency town meeting, and that meant that the both of them were expected to turn up.
Which also probably meant a little bit of awkwardness, as Adja had been noticed by the tavern owner, Paul, leaving with Iniya. That would be the first time that anyone had seen her with anyone, let alone a woman, in about five years.
She still hadn't tracked down the leak in her main field, either.
She needed this sweet, indulgent, breakfast. Because the rest of her day was likely going to be a steaming pile of shit.
Adja pulled away a little hesitantly, "After breakfast. If we have time."
"Adi!"
"No. One of us has to be a responsible adult." She put her foot down, and then pushed aside the bowl. "Now, that's the guac. What do you say to my famous corn fritters, for breakfast?"
"I am the most spoiled woman upon the island." Iniya grinned at her, and let go, heading over and starting to set the table for them. "Any ideas what this meeting is about, this time?"
"One cup flour, half cup milk..." She said distractedly as she started to put together the batter, "No idea! How can he find anything to complain about when there's so few of us on this god-forsaken tiny spit of land? Your weather station and my farm are the only landmarks!"
Iniya scratched her head, looking at the table like it was missing something, "Speaking of... How long has your farm been here? I built the weather station on top of the old campsite from the military. That was eighties. But your house seems... Older?"
"Three eggs." She said to herself, cracking them all expertly in one hand and adding them as she began to stir the mix together with a whisk. "It's forties. You've never been here, before, have you? Guess that's why my home was so boring. You never came over to say hello to your only neighbour."
The woman opened a cupboard, and pulled out two tall glasses, "Yes, yes. I get distracted, okay? Not good with social customs. There's a reason that being holed up in a freezing cabin with hot chocolate and blanket, halfway up a mountain, is my dream job."
"I make a decent hot chocolate." Adja smirked.
