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The shop – Adua et Astra, something Latin Alexei’s tongue would stumble over if he tried to say it out loud - is unassuming, almost forgettable. On any other day, Alexei would have passed by without a second glance.
He tosses his empty Starbuck cup into the nearest trashcan, checks the address on his sticky note once more, then pockets it and enters.
The inside is crammed with stuff, walls covered in sagging wooden shelves in which books of every age and size have been stacked, some piles tilting dangerously to the side. Alexei is a bit worried to breathe into their direction. Climbing the sides of the sagging shelves are several golden branches with hooks from which dangle little baskets filled with all kinds of stones and crystals, nestled between glowing lights. A tiny fairy flits from one into the open space between two of the books and vanishes.
Set back a bit further in the shop is a massive wooden counter, laden with heaps and heaps of ingredients in colourful little ceramic bowl and bottled up oils, two happily blubbering iron kettles on metal stilts sitting off to one side. There’s no spell book visible anywhere but Alexei wouldn’t be surprised if it had been swallowed by the chaos.
Inscribed into the massive slate of wood, barely detectable with the gold lettering peeling away in many places, Alexei can read Per Adua Ad Astra.
From the ceiling hangs what looks like more bundled up dried herbs, a dense pack in front of the milky window to the side cutting off the sunlight from entering the store.
The windowsill is bending under the combined weight of several plants, their leaves and branches curling down towards the wooden flooring and reaching into the room like arms.
Dust dances in the few stray rays that make it into the room. Yet, the air is light, filled with barely a hint of lavender and earth and filling out his lungs in a wonderfully welcoming way.
Except for him the shop appears empty.
Alexei is amazed.
“Hello?”
He squeezes himself through what little space is left, mindful of the tower of books ready to topple over from the lightest breeze to stand in front of the counter.
From here Alexei can spy a half opened door, a bit further back. Behind it, he can see movement and hear the faint sound of humming.
“Hello? Jack sent me? He say to get ingredients here?”
“I’ll be out in a-… shit. I’ll be there in like, a sec!” The shout is followed by the sound of a short scuffle, then the slamming of a window and something being moved by force over stone.
Seconds after, a blond head peeks out of the door without opening it further, then the rest of a surprisingly young and lean body. The man is surprisingly-
“Cute... Uh. Am looking for little witch called Kent?”
The man behind the counter dusts off his hands on his pants and perks up sharply. His eyes, an odd greyish green, focus somewhere over Alexei’s right shoulder. The fear of accidentally tripping over something decreases his desire to follow his gaze.
“I’m Kent, I’m the witch. Fucking Jack, I’m not little!”
Alexei leans forward, peeking over the counter and the kettles down the witch’s body.
“Unless you kneeling right now I say you are-…”
“Chamomile, lavender and a purple fluorite, am I right?”
Alexei, who can’t quite follow the sudden change in conversation, makes an inquiring sound but the witch – Kent – has already turned towards the bowls on his counter, deftly grabbing dried up lavender blossoms and leaves between his fingertips to toss into a small metal tin sitting prepared on the counter.
“He’s been getting the same ingredients for almost five years. I mean, it works, but personally I would grow so sick of drinking the same tea for five years? Like, there are other methods. But has he ever listened to me? Of course not.”
Alexei nods slightly distracted by tipping forward on his toes to watch those clever fingers quickly pick apart several chamomiles and add them into the tin.
“How’d he rope you into doing his grocery shopping?”
Kent’s gaze remains bowed over his working hands while he speaks and Alexei gets a wonderful look at a mess of cowlicks wagging from side to side with every movement.
“Oh, I’m work with Jack. Is very stressed today, many people have complaints. So I volunteer, help him do his chores,”
Alexei says, curiously brushing the tips of his fingers over a patch of fur lying next to the closest cauldron to stop himself from staring at the man.
Distracted by the discovery of the pure softness of the fur, Alexei has to take a quick step to the side when Kent comes out from behind the counter to avoid being run into, sure feet carrying him into the front of the shops and to the crystals.
He picks out two purple ones, rolls them between his fingers and puts one back.
In his peripheral vision, Alexei can see a pitch black cat jump silently onto the counter, eyes trained unblinkingly onto the blond witch. It meanders over the counter, side stepping the kettles and bowls with the same grace as its owner.
“That’s nice of you, uh…”
“Name is Alexei. Alexei Mashkov. You can call me Alexei?”
“Is that… a question?”
“No! Name is Alexei. Call me Alexei.”
Alright, so maybe being in Kent’s presence is making him a bit nervous. Alexei discreetly wipes his hands on his pants legs.
“…Alright. Okay, Jack knows how to do this, but you know, protocol and stuff.
“So, this can stay in the tin with the lid off, but if you’re one of those aesthetic witches, a mason jar will also do nicely. All of this into the light of the waning moon for at least three nights – don’t touch the cat if you want to keep your hand -”
Alexei snaps back his fingers,
“after that you can keep it in a cupboard. If the stress hits, one scoop of this in boiling water, keep it for a couple minutes then it’s done.”
Kent returns to the counter with a preciseness to his steps that would make the cat on the counter envious. Passing by, he runs his fingers down the black fur to the tail and the cat erupts into loud purrs, flopping on its side. Alexei is a bit envious. Of who, he’s not sure.
“Here.”
Alexei’s eyes snap up to the hand holding out the tin wrapped into a brown paper bag, reaching over the counter to carefully accept it. He decidedly does not notice just how soft Kent’s fingers are. Or how warm. Or how small.
He really doesn’t.
With his free hand Alexei snags his wallet from his pocket, handing over the coins Jack earlier had pressed into his hands together with the sticky note.
“How much is that?”
“Is not usually question buyer ask?”
“No, man. You have to tell me how much you’re giving me here. So I know how much to give you back. Since, you know, I can’t see shit,” Kent said, leaning his elbows on the counter and tilting his head upwards towards Alexei.
The grey of his eyes appears blue in this light, pupils big and unfocused under raised brows, trained on the region somewhere around Alexei’s collarbone.
Alexei’s stuttering silence has a slow smirk rise in the corner of Kent’s lips.
“You-… oh. Oh. Ah, am sorry. Is, uh, is two gold pieces and two silver?” Embarrassment is creeping hot and red up Alexei’s cheeks, curling into the tips of his ears and down his chest.
Kent laughs, bright and mischievous, his body straightening itself as his fingers vanish beneath the counter while his eyes remain on Alexei’s chest. He feels hot all of a sudden.
“Is very nice shop. Uh, very impressive.”
Alexei has to close his eyes for a second. What kind of remark is that, really? Can he be any more transparent?
“Yeah, my life and blood is in this. You know how long it takes for the municipality to hand out a shop allowance for an independent shop to a blind witch? Fucking forever, that’s how long.”
What’s Alexei supposed to say to that? He’s still embarrassed about his mishap from before and would prefer not have his other foot join the one already in his mouth.
Instead he focuses on the way Kent flicks the tips of his fingers over the nickel coins he holds, then places them on the counter for Alexei to take.
But Alexei has always been a great eater and there’s nothing he hasn’t at least tried to put into his mouth once.
Also, he’s a bit of an idiot.
He’s especially an idiot for cute little blond witches.
So he opens his big mouth, maybe to distract himself from grabbing at Kent’s small, small fingers to compare the size of their hands and also maybe to hold his and lets the first thing tumble out that comes to mind.
“So if you are blind, how come you know I try touch cat?”
Yeah he’s maybe a bit more of an idiot than he first excepted. At least Kent can’t see him wince.
To Alexei’s surprise, Kent throws back his head and laughs, a light tinkering sound that punches the air right out of his stomach and leaves it crawling with butterflies trying to bat their way up his lungs and into his mouth.
“I am blind, not stupid. Kit’s a fucking magnet, everybody tries to cuddle her as they should, she’s the fucking best.” As if to underline Kent’s words, the black cat mews and climbs her way up the sleeve of his shirt to settle comfortably across Kent’s shoulders. This time Alexei knows who he’s jealous of. The life a cat of Kent must have…
“I also didn’t trip over her on my way to the shelf so she must have been on the counter – her second favourite stop besides this one right here.” Kent wiggles his shoulders and gives Kit a light bounce.
Alexei buries his hands into his pockets to refrain from reaching out and petting either the owner or the cat.
He’s got a feeling both would end up with a possible injury.
“Trip over cat often?”
“Hell Yeah, she’s pretty sneaky and always around. I keep treats in my pocket for when I step on her. I’m just worried, you know, if she understands how damn sorry I am and how much I love her when I step on her, so I try to bribe my way back into her heart. This far it’s worked.”
Alexei doesn’t have to restrain the big grin growing on his face as he watches how Kent turns his face to mush it into the soft looking fur of Kit’s body, pressing a little kiss onto her head.
Here lies Alexei Mashkov, brother, son, died in the service of his co-worker due to severe cuteness.
Get a grip, Mashkov!
“Yeah, can imagine! Must be tricky, she is also black like everything you see, so…”
Why is he like this?
Forget it, here lies Alexei Mashkov, brother, son, idiot, died due to shame and embarrassment.
“Finally someone gets it! It’s really fucking annoying, not my best idea to get a black cat,” Kent winks, the lid of his other eye fluttering adorably in a half wink as well that would have looked stupid on anybody else.
Instead, Alexei is just smitten. He grins even wider, tips forward on his toes and sinks his teeth into his lower lip to get a grip.
He’s sure it’s the least attractive he’s ever been, his hands flailing inside his pockets because his body can’t contain the burst of energy he’s experiencing.
“But then I thought, hey, let’s stick to the theme, black view, black lifestyle, black cat. You know, keep it nice and together.”
And this is not good. Because not only is Kent really pretty, he is also really funny and Alexei is a weak, weak man.
He makes the decision right then and there that he needs to come back, needs to get to know this adorable, funny little witch.
They chat a bit more, but Alexei is running out of time and needs to get back before his break is over.
“Let me bring you to the door.” Kent squeezes out behind the counter, Kit hopping down from his shoulder to the floor and strutting ahead of them.
“Warn me if she gets between my legs.”
Alexei tries to make space, but his mama fed him well and he’s a big boy and there’s barely enough space for one person in front of the counter so Kent just kind of grabby-squeezes his way past Alexei, making a thoughtful humming sound once he’s past.
Alexei is kind of busy no melting already. His back is kind of burning. It’s the good burning though, like a good shot of vodka, or snow on sauna fresh skin.
Kent’s face turns considerate. Alexei really wants to push his thumb against the wrinkle between his brows and flatten it out. Maybe brush it against his lips next, find out if they are as plush as they look.
“Ah, it makes sense now. That Jack would send you.”
“Huh?” Adequate.
“It’s the butt. It’s nice.”
Alexei just kind of stumbles over his own feet into the swaying pile of books.
Sitting on a herbology book, another herbology book opened up to the picture of a half rotten rat in his lap and several books digging into his – nice, he said it is nice – butt, Alexei decides that, yes, he is definitely coming back.
(Jack is later going to regret sending Alexei to do his ingredients shopping.
Alexei sits down in the cubicle next to him, the paper bag tin clutched to his chest.
“Will not believe, Jack! I’m meet cutest little witch, Kent. Is so sweet?”
“Sweet? Kent? Did we… did you meet the same Kent as me?”
“Is small, blond, fall over cat a lot? Also swear and think I’m have nice butt?”
“Yes, that’s Kent.”
“Is most adorable, Jack! Is so cute, I’m go back there. Did I tell you, I-…”
Yes, Jack is going to regret it very much.
Though he isn’t. Not really. )
Alexei manages to return to Adua et Astra several times over the next month.
He doesn’t think the shop is unassuming anymore. Instead it gradually seems to brim with life and laughter.
It starts with Alexei coming back half a week after running the errand for Jack. He doesn’t really have a plan, just meanders in after a long day of work and ambles up to the counter with a cheerful greeting.
“I need seeds. For plant, is not growing? Even though I’m water right, I think?”
He kind of dressed nicely in the morning for this. Standing in front of Kent, who’s wearing jeans and a fuzzy black sweater with little dots of colour and a hole near the collar, smears of ink on his cheek and above his eyebrow with a snapback thrown over his cowlicks, he feels like an idiot. Again.
Kent is blind.
Kent can’t see him.
Duh.
“Well hello there, you know I’m not owning a gardening shop here, right, Alexei?” The tiny smile playing around Kent’s lips betrays the scolding for a good natured quip. Alexei wants to kiss it off his lips.
Instead he digs his nails into his thighs to relax before he does something embarrassing. But Kent remembers his name!
“Yes, yes, you see, is magical plant. So I’m hope, maybe you have seeds, to fertilise soil?”
It shouldn’t be allowed for someone furrowing their brows to be this adorable.
“What kind of plant are we speaking of here?”
“Uh… is green?” Alexei says.
He stares at Kent.
Kent stares at the region of Alexei’s breast pocket.
“Are you… are you fucking with me?”
I wish.
“No, is green! Has little yellow fruit, make poison?” Alexei reels in his hand gestures that form some shape supposed to be a plant when he remembers that Kent can't see them.
"I have… absolutely no fucking idea what you are talking about." Kent reaches up and twists the cap of his snapback backwards. That's how Alexei knows it's on.
They spent until after closing time huddled together over books, Kent directing and Alexei reading out loud, looking for the plant Alexei described to find a fertilizer.
In the end, they have to give up because Alexei can’t read anymore through his yawns and Kent just… kind of fell asleep two times already and looks dangerously close to a third time and Alexei’s heart is just going to give out at some point if he doesn’t leave.
Alexei closes the last book and carefully sets it atop the towering pile tilted 'thanks, but no thanks', regarding Kent who's sitting opposite of him, a pillow hugged to his chest and head nodding off dangerously to the side.
"Guess plant will have to die. Is okay, I'm not like much anyway. Is always so smelly in summer."
"'f you say so."
Kent is a man of many sides, Alexei noticed. He makes raunchy jokes, smirks, winks and wears his snapback backwards, but he also pulls the sleeves of his sweater over his hands to over his yawns and owns unicorn slippers.
Some time ago he had put on tinted glasses because the light had hurt his eyes. They're slipping down his nose now, close to falling off.
Alexei shoves his hands under his thighs and sits on them.
"Yeah," he says. "Will be fine. Is old plant, can buy new one if not find seeds in time. I'm just have to come back and get new plant from you, yes?"
"'kay."
Go to sleep, Alexei does not say, you are adorable like this, because he knows there are lines and he wants to move them, expand them, not cross them.
Instead he stands, stomping his left foot which had fallen asleep. Kent jerks upwards, glasses tumbling from his nose to the ground.
"Ah shit." Their fingers bump together, reaching for the glasses at the same time. Alexei doesn't know if he's starting to hallucinate or if Kent really is blushing the tiniest bit.
"Sorry that I couldn't help you with your plant, man," Kent says, pushing his glasses back up his nose. They slip back down a little bit almost immediately.
Alexei feels a tiny bit guilty because Kent sounds really apologetic and Alexei is kind of bullshitting here.
Alexei has never in his life owned a plant.
Not a magical one, not a non-magical one.
"Is okay. You did best, was my fault, I'm not know what plant is. There is so many, was shot in dark," he soothes, lifting his shoulders in a half shrug.
"Okay. Hey, if, uh, if I can help you with anything else, come back, yeah?" Kent is definitely blushing this time, face hid under his snapback and glasses.
"Yeah," Alexei says, "will do. Thank you."
He goes home, brimming and grinning and happy and tucks the image of a sleep soft and yawning Kent into the deep corners of his heart to coo over later.
A week later Alexei’s got a good reason to return.
His upstairs neighbours decided to, for whatever reason, drill a hole into their floor. Sadly, they hit one of the water pipes running through Alexei’s ceiling.
It’s been steadily dripping in his living room since 7:30.
He’s able to describe the situation in way more detail to Kent this time, who hums and smirks with his face over a cauldron, carefully weighing quartz on a scale before dropping the splinters into the bubbling mess.
He's got his shirt on backwards this time and his cowlicks hang free, but the glasses are back.
"And yeah, am not biggest fan of shower in living room? So I'm need spellbook," Alexei finishes, leaning back on his heels on the other side of the counter.
“And you don’t think you should let a, I don’t know, professional look at that? Like, who knows what they’re doing?”
“I can do on own! Am.. oh, how do say? Am strong independent witch who don’t need no… plumber.”
Kent makes a choking sound, coughing a bit on air behind his laughter, Alexei's chest burns with pride.
"I also have cute little witch to help me, right?" Kent blinks up at him for a second, surprise on his face before he makes a big show out of sighing loudly and rolling his eyes.
"Haha, no. You're not blaming this on me if it goes wrong," he says, bowing back down to continue working. The liquid in the cauldron turns a lovely pink.
Alexei wonders if Kent knows what colours looks like or if he is creating all these beautiful things, these charms and spells and potions and the way he says Alexei, without ever seeing the beauty in them.
"No, no, would never! I'm know how to do spells, just need book." Alexei leans over the counter, elbows occupying the only available surface space. "And I'm know just right little witch who can lend me spellbook."
“If you say so. If this doesn’t work and makes it worse, don’t come fucking crying to me!”
“I'm Won’t, I'm won’t.”
Alexei is an absolute mess at spells, and the drying spell goes predictably wrong.
It’s still worth it to hear the schadenfreude laughter from Kent, later when he brings back the book and tells him the story of how the plumber found the top part of the pipe dried up with the lower half still happily sprinkling Alexei’s living room. The water smelled kind of like cotton candy.
It's worth it to watch Kent stop in the middle of running his fingers down a page of braille, turning a considerate face towards Alexei.
"You know, if you just wanna come over some time to chat, you're welcome. You don't need to, like, wait for something to happen."
Alexei perks up like a starved dog at the mention of food, fingers skittering over the leather bound book he's still holding.
"Yeah?", he asks.
"Yeah." A slow smirk spread across Kent's face. "I think Kit's growing to like you."
Kit, who's been dosing off on the other side of the counter, perks up at her name. She shows Alexei her little needle sharp fangs and curls back up.
"I'm... doubt that."
After that he just starts to wander over during his breaks from work. The minutes pass by with Alexei curled into the tiny little armchair under one of the sagging shelves, leafing through the thick books or watching the nest of small fairies expand from one of the crystal baskets to the next.
If he is not busy, Kent and Alexei spend hours arguing back and forth, from the appropriate use of quartz in word written spells, over the procession of wolfsbane – nobody does it better than Mama Mashkov, Kent disagrees – to the quality of Russian and American lava stone.
"I'm just saying that that is completely wrong!" Kent crosses his arms in front of his chest and leans back against the shelf, brows pulled down low.
"Excuse me? Mama has been doing since she was little girl and Babushka teach her since she was little, who was doing it all her life, too and-..."
"Well that sounds like generations of bullshit to me, then."
"Excuse you?"
"Come and face the truth Alexei, you don't cook the wolfsbane, it wastes all the resources-"
"Sets them free, you mean!"
"-and then you could just as well use grass!"
They haven't come to an agreement yet.
Alexei is going to bring one of his mama's cold potions if-... when he returns to Russia and Kent is going to beg for his forgiveness!
One time he brings Kent a little bell to put on Kit’s collar so he can hear her come and won’t fall over her anymore all the time.
Now, every time Alexei enters the shop, he gets a soft ting ting ting as warning before sharp razor like claws bury themselves into his ankles.
He learns the system of the book piles, which ones to touch and sort through without having to fear being smacked by falling books and which ones will tremble if he so much as looks at them, learns that the plants in the windowsill will stretch out their branches into the direction of Kent if he stands nearby.
He learns that Kent’s full name is Kent Parson, and that Kit’s name is Kit Purrson and that she will hiss and scratch at everything that isn’t Kent. Kent is convinced she is the purest of angels somehow. Alexei isn’t going to ruin his fantasy.
"I didn't even adopt her, she just appeared at my shop some morning ages ago and wouldn't leave again. And I wasn't going to let such a sweet baby stray the streets without something to eat."
Alexei can sympathise. He kind of did that same, didn't he? Strayed into Kent's shop some merry morning and refused to really leave after.
It worked just fine.
He eyes the assortment of herbs by the window and plugs two strands of dried up hibiscus to drop into Kent's tea.
"Hm, Kit really is a... something."
"Oh come on, you know you love her." Kent stirs his tea, takes a sip and hums appreciatively.
Kit, who's curled into the hollow of his neck and stretched out over his shoulders purrs louder. She knocked off Kent's snapback a while ago to groom the fine hairs at the back of his neck.
"Eh, is fine cat." The bandages on his ankles are blue with little sheep today.
He learns that Kent moves around the shop as gracefully as he does, not because he knows the shop by heart but because it is an extension of him into which he pours all his love and sweat.
He learns that Kent lives above the shop, and lives in bed even more so, that he’s not a fan of waking up early and that he won’t stop short of throwing a broom at Alexei should he ring the doorbell at six in the morning for an impromptu breakfast before work.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Kent asks, glaring at him through the slit in the door. He apparently sleeps in pyjamas covered in kittens. Alexei... is not as surprised as he should be.
"I'm bring breakfast?", he says, holding up the brown bag from the bakery two streets down from Kent's shop.
"Let me rephrase that. What the hell are you doing here at 6 am?"
"Is… early breakfast? I'm have to go to work, thought maybe little Kent wanted to share food?"
"Little... You know what, gimme that and then fuck off, you come to my home, at 6 am, to insult me and-... Am I smelling cinnamon."
"Yeah, I'm bring cinnamon waffles for little-... for Kent." Alexei grins innocently and gently shoves his way past Kent into the apartment.
"Thin ice, fucking thin ice." Kent grumbles all the way through making coffee while Alexei bumbles around setting the table, humming to himself.
"Could you stop being so damn awake?"
"What? Here I think, Alexei wake up little Kent, Alexei is nice and will set the table. Also because little Kent can probably not reach top of shelf on his own, so..."
That's it!"
Alexei doesn't see the broom before it connects with the back of his body.
They stand in silence for a couple of seconds, Alexei twisted around staring at Kent, Kent with his hands hanging by his side on the other side of the kitchen, drowning in his pyjamas, the broom on the floor between them.
"Did I... did I hit?"
It takes a while for Alexei to stop laughing after that.
And for everything that he learns and every second he spends with Kent, flirting and laughing and arguing, he feels himself fall.
Learning is a slow process sometimes, too. He learns very slowly that if he sits still for long enough, Kent will wander into his part of the shop. He learns that Kent expresses emotion not through words but through posture, but that he has his own system of gestures and mannerisms. He learns that a blushing Kent is not always a happy Kent and that booping his nose is not a good idea because Kent can’t see his finger coming.
"It's just that I can't see it coming, okay?" Kent is pacing, a trembling hand holding an ice pack against the back of his head where he hit it against the shelf in surprise at the touch.
"I know. Am so sorry."
"My world just doesn't work like yours for me, okay? I just, I need to know that you are there, I need to know these things."
"Yes. Am really, really sorry Kenny."
Kent stops so abruptly in his pacing Alexei is scared he messed up again, reaching out a hand towards the witch before quickly dropping it again.
A range of emotions plays over Kent's face for a second before it goes soft.
"Yeah, just... Don't do that again. Or, like, warn me next time."
Next time. The words ring out between them and Alexei manages to gather them against his chest and keep them with all his other Kent related fawning in the depths of his chest.
Alexei also learns, and painfully so, not to touch the second lamp on the fourth bookshelf to the right because it houses a butterfly dragon that doesn’t appreciate being woken by a giant Russian.
“He gets really cranky if you wake him up during the day,” Kent says, carefully reapplying the ice filled dish towel to the three burn marks along Alexei’s lower arm.
To their side, a spoon merrily stirs a suspiciously bubbling green substance. The bubbles just kind of… dissolve.
Alexei discretely inches further away from that and closer to Kent.
His eyes are grey-brown today, rating second favourite on Alexei’s What-colour-are-Kent’s-eyes-today-scale. His favourite is grey-green.
“I’m notice. Why you keep there, is not very dangerous with all the books?”
“Well we have a deal, he kills the mice, I don’t toss him out.”
“Why Kit not kill mice?”
Kent turns to him with such an expression of pure offence on his face that Alexei barely bites back on a giggle.
“Excuse you? My princess would never, she is a sweetheart, a pure spirit. She couldn’t do that, wouldn’t ever! That you… That you even propose that! I don’t think you realise what you just said to me, what you just made me listen to, with my own two ears. Does this angel look like it could kill?”
Kent gestures into the direction of the windowsill, where Kit had been holding court half an hour ago.
She’s since relocated.
It’s so adorable, the butterflies take off once more to bat wildly against his ribcage, ready to break out and scream at Kent how much he likes him.
They’re not giving up, not even when Kent smacks Alexei into the jaw with his broad gestures.
In the corner of the room, perched atop a neatly lined shelf, Kit gnaws on what looks like a bone twice the size of her.
When Alexei and she make eye contact, she hisses.
“Yes. Nice cat. Sorry.”
In the backroom, the one Kent had emerged from on their first fateful day of meeting, Kent keeps the things he loves the most.
He shows Alexei one day, over a month into their tentative Not-Really-Friendship-Maybe-Something-Else.
It’s late, Alexei worked all day and talked about Kent to Jack all day and now he wants nothing more than to spend the rest of his day talking to Kent.
Kent, who usually is brash and loud and smirking is strangely subdued when he enters the shop from the backdoor, dark circles under his eyes carving valleys into the paleness of his skin.
Alexei immediately aches for him, wants to bundle him up into soft blankets and keep him away from the world for a while.
“Hey… Can leave if is bad time?”
“No, no. I’m fine, all’s good in Kenny land. All’s good.”
It never is as obvious that Kent is blind than when he forces a grimacing smile, something he would never have tried to pass as a grin had he seen it in a mirror before.
Often, with how nimble Kent moves and how freely he acts, Alexei forgets.
Today, Kent’s steps to the front of the shop are careful, fingers stretched out and skimming over the edges of obstacles in his way. He turns the sign in the front to closed and moves his way back behind the counter.
“Are you… Do you want to come in?” It’s the hesitation in Kent’s posture that does it for Alexei, the way he curls inwards a bit as if expecting a blow, when it already looks like the lightest brush might bring him to break.
“Yes, yes, always.”
Alexei makes sure he’s loud, to make his steps heavy and brush against the counter with a rustle so Kent knows where he is as he approaches, giving the sleeve of his sweater the lightest touch.
They enter the backroom together. The door falls shut with a soft click.
The sight takes Alexei’s breath away.
The walls, the ceiling, even parts of the floor are covered in twinkling little stars, some red, some white, some blue with streaks of milky white in between, some brighter, some less so, leaving no space untouched and creating swirling patterns of light. To his left, one star flashes brightly before dimming again. The air is humming with energy, filling up his body into the last and tiniest crook and leaving his heart trilling like a singing bird.
He feels weightless, free in a sense he hadn’t ever experienced before. Empowered, yet so small in comparison to the universe crammed into the small room.
It seems to expand with every breath, lights dancing through the room and how could Alexei have though they were fixed to the walls before. Instead they float freely, slowly moving, dancing through the room, always a bit out of grasp.
Slowly Alexei steps deeper into the room. It feels like stepping directly into the night sky.
High on the farthest wall sits a window, big enough to capture the light of the rising moon, under it several telescopes. A loveseat and a small table are the only furniture visible in the room, every available surface covered in books about astrology and maps of stars.
And the brightest of them sits curled up in the loveseat, bundled into the cushion, eyes closed, with the light of a thousand stars brushing against his cheeks, caressing over his hair and down his arms, and dancing around him, singing praise.
It doesn’t feel right to speak.
Instead Alexei slowly sinks into the space left next to the beautiful miracle and can’t remember how the sight of the stars took away his breath when Kent – Kent – is so much more breathtaking.
“I love reading about them, imagining them.” His voice is soft, hesitant. In Kent’s lap Alexei can see balled up fists.
He slowly reaches out, covers one of them with his own hand, presses down into the tense muscles of his knuckles until they relent and make space for his fingers. His heart hitches every so slightly in his chest.
“Most people think it’s stupid. A blind witch with a telescope? Hah.”
Kent’s voice is so soft, Alexei can barely hear it but the small fingers in his squeeze and he squeezes back.
“I’m not think is stupid. Lots of people interested in thinks they can’t see. Jack interested in discipline, cannot see that. Or little neighbour, he love pirates, but never see one. I…, Alexei loves family very much, but cannot see. And Kenny love stars. Can’t see stars, but still can love. Is okay. Is not stupid.”
He knows it’s not the same, that Jack can see his discipline in the order of his workspace, that his little neighbour can watch movies about pirates, that Alexei can Skype his family.
By Kent’s soft expression and half shrugged shoulder he guesses that the blond witch knows that too.
But Kent tilts his head up and smiles, shy and gentle and leans slightly closer against his shoulder.
“Thanks,” Kent says. "I know it's-... That you don't really get it, but you try. Thanks."
They sit in silence after that, Kent with his eyes closed and Alexei watching the twinkling stars and feeling so soft for this boy at this side.
“I burned myself, today.” Alexei turns his head, puts his focus on Kent leaning against his side. He looks… tired, the circles under his eyes illuminated by a little sun passing by.
“It’s stupid, really, I mean everyone burns themselves someday. But it was because I forgot where I had put my cauldron and I can’t just, you know, look for it. And it was just so fucking frustrating and I put my hand directly into the flames because I couldn’t see it and…”
Kent breaks off, runs the fingers of his free hand through his hair and messes up his cowlicks even worse.
Alexei carefully pulls him in closer.
“Fuck, sorry. You didn’t come here to listen to me whine. I’m fine, it’s fine. Sometimes, it just sucks, it sucks so fucking much!”
“Is okay, little Kenny. Can always whine and complain to Alexei. Today you are sad, is okay to be sad,” Alexei murmurs into the fragile air between them, hesitating for a second before lifting his hand and smoothing his fingers through the mess on Kent’s head. “Can't fix if world is being stupid, can't fix Kent but I’m here, can let you be sad.”
Kent sags more heavily against his side, leaning his head into the simple touch and squeezing his hand. The fingers of his other hand curl around Alexei’s wrist, as if to refrain him from removing his hand.
Alexei often wonders how touch starved Kent has to be, how he’s never seen Kent with anyone but a customer before.
He presses his hand down more heavily, scratching his nails across his scalp.
“They make me feel small. Insignificant.” Kent loosens his fingers from around Alexei’s wrist, then seems to think better of it and holds on stronger, instead making a slight jerking motion with his chin around the room.
“Stars don’t care that I can’t see them. They get looked at so much, people disassemble them into their smallest pieces and atoms, they get worshiped and cursed and blamed for things outside of their power, when really, what do they care? They don’t. They hold no expectations for me to fail because I can’t do this, can’t do that, they just sit there and don’t care about me.”
Alexei would disagree, with the way the stars around them press forward towards Kent, bumping and knocking into him without leaving more than a light glimmer behind that dies on Kent’s skin without a last gasping breath.
“I’m think that maybe stars like that Kent Parson not judge them by look. Maybe is because Kent does not have expectations for stars.”
On Alexei’s shoulder Kent turns his head and presses it into the collar of his shirt.
“What are we doing here, Alexei?”
“Am holding little witch’s hand. Is okay?”
“Alexei… I mean… You know what I mean.”
“I’m come into shop, find little treasure. Find man that not judge Alexei, not have expectations for Alexei either. So Alexei come back, again and again and again, because Kent is funny and cute and clever.” Alexei bumps his nose against Kent’s head where the witch has hidden a grin into Alexei’s sleeve.
“I’m find that Kent has very tiny little body, very small, really, can't reach high shelves” Kent squacks and Alexei smothers a laugh into the crown of his head. “But has very big heart. Would rather bandage a hand than toss out butterfly dragon and gets up early to have breakfast with Alexei, even if Alexei is mean, and he loves murder cat a lot and hold no expectations for stars.”
“And Alexei hopes… Well, that maybe there is little space in big heart for him. Because sometimes Alexei is very sad, missing family, missing home, but he maybe find home again in little shop with little witch.”
Alexei can’t see Kent’s face because it’s entirely hidden in his shoulder, but the grip of their hands has tightened and he knows Kent can feel the violent race of his pulse in his wrist.
“You’re sad?”
“Sometimes,” he confirms, brushing his thumb over Kent's knuckles. Kent turns his hand, slots their fingers together perfectly.
“I could… you know, maybe, give you a charm against that sometime.”
How could Alexei ever have thought Kent’s eyes to be one colour, when really they are shimmering in every colour, swirling and bright and staring up at him and over his shoulder with so much confidence and uncertainty written on his face at the same time and Alexei feels so much.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
"Am going to kiss you… is okay?"
"Yeah."
Alexei leans down and Kent leans up and it’s horrible because Kent’s lips hit the side of his chin first and they both have to laugh but it's also perfect because it's Kent.
But then Alexei get’s a hand on the side of his face and tilts it upwards the slightest bit to brush their lips together and it’s more than perfect.
It’s so perfect and so good and the stars around them vanish and the butterflies join them in the swirl of colour around them, batting their wings butterfly-soft against their hearts.
They break apart way too soon, breathless and panting and their foreheads knocking together.
“Did it work?”
“I’m hear you have to reapply charm many time for best result.”
“Yeah?”
“But maybe I stay around, reapply sometime. If Kenny will have me?”
"Depends. Will you wake me at 6am again?"
"Have to, who else will set table for little Kenny who can't reach high shelves."
"...I can't believe I like you."