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Since joining the Haus, Chris had mostly been able to reign in the emotions he had been bombarded with during first half of his freshman year. Shitty had been helping him with meditation and other tricks he had picked up over the years. He didn’t often go to the library to study anymore; it could be a little too much at times. He was only there this time to work on a group project for class. Things were going well until he felt it. Waves of anger and frustration drifted through the stacks. He tried to push it to the back of his mind but they just kept coming. Whoever it was was feeling so strongly that he couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Chris excused himself from the group so he could investigate where the energy was coming from. He walked almost the length of Founders before he found him.
A young man sat on the floor, his brow furrowed, face covered in freckles. He was clutching his laptop, and maybe whispering to it. Chris couldn’t tell for sure. He approached slowly, sitting on the ground across from the other. It took the man a moment to realize someone was there, and he jumped when he did.
“Can I help you?” he asked, confused as to why a random stranger decided to sit across from him.
“You just seemed awfully stressed. I’m not sure about what but I could feel it from the other end of the library. I’m Chris.” he stuck out his hand.
“Will.” He reached out. “Weren’t you that kid that dove into the pond with all your clothes on a couple weeks ago?”
“Yep. That was me! So what are you trying to do? It’s just that you were...” He paused. “Well, you weren’t working on your laptop, you were just holding it.”
Will sighed. “I’m trying to fix it. It crashed and now it won’t turn back on.”
“Okay. Well, do you want to come back to the Haus? They helped me out when I needed it. I'm sure they can help you too.”
“Uh. Sure, I guess. You’re not going to try and murder me are you?”
“Nope! Cool! You’ll love it. They’re the best, really.”
Chris went back to his group to tell them that he would meet up with them later and the pair went off towards the haus.
From the outside the haus looked to be in a state of disrepair. The only well maintained thing Will could see was the box of plants hanging off a window. He followed Chris up the steps and into the haus. It was equally as run down as the outside, but it felt homey, as if he could feel that the people who lived there really cared for each other.
“Kitchen’s this way.” Chris pointed.
Chris offered Will a seat at the table. Eric was at the counter working on something, audibly whispering. He knew better than to interrupt in the middle of one of Eric’s charms.
“Tea will be ready in just a minute, y'all just hang tight.”
Chris could tell that Will was confused. Who wouldn’t be? He had somehow convinced a total stranger to come back to his haus and was now offering tea. It wasn’t the strangest thing he had done that week but he knew that it was still weird.
“Oh, that’s Eric.” Chris offered. “This is his kitchen. The tea will help you feel better. I promise. It’s the best.”
“Uh, thank you?” He took the mug, still wondering what exactly was going on.
Eric sat at the table and crossed his legs. “By the way, Christopher, where are your manners? You haven’t introduced us.”
“Well, I introduced you, but you looked like you were in the middle of something.”
“True.” Eric cradled his mug in both hands. He took a quick sip and waited.
“I’m Will. Thanks for the tea.” He fiddled with the cup but didn’t drink anything. “I don’t really know what I’m doing here. My laptop crashed in the middle of a paper. Chris said you might be able to help?”
“Oh I don’t do that kind of magic, honey. You should drink the tea. Pie will be out soon, too.”
Chris had already finished his tea, a warm smile spread across his face. He could feel that Will was still uneasy, but he trusted his friend to help him.
After a minute or so of staring between Eric and Chris, Will caved and took a sip. He felt warm. His stress was less apparent and was beginning to drift away.
Chris looked over at Eric and nodded.
“Now try whatever it was you were doing in the library, sugar.”
Will’s face went red. “What do you mean?”
“Well, there’s no need to be so secretive of it, Will dear, unless you prefer to be alone. Everyone in the haus is a witch. Chris texted me on your way over.” Eric smiled affectionately.
Will sighed. “How’d you figure it out?”
“Well, I could kind of feel it, I guess. I have my own practice but I’m an empath too. So your feelings in the library were very distracting.”
“That explains a lot.” He took another sip of the tea. It was starting to grow on him and he was also realizing that it was probably magic, too. “So um, I’ve never really...” He trailed off.
“Worked your craft with others around? Oh sweetpea, it’s okay. We’re not going to judge you.”
Will took a shaky breath followed by a deep one. He put his hands on his laptop, pausing trying to decide if it was a good idea to trust these people he just met. But he felt so relaxed. He picked up his laptop and held it to his chest. “Okay, focus. Feel it. Listen.” After almost ten minutes in silence the laptop began to whir and turn on. “I can’t believe that worked!” Will said, grinning.
“You just have to have a little faith in yourself,” Eric said getting up from the table. “You want some pie?”