Chapter Text
Evan looks up at the building, the imposing stone church looming over him. Rubbing his arms the brisk evening air cutting through him. Draped in a dark crimson leather jacket that was desperately trying to contain the heat the thin silk shirt he had on underneath it was not retaining.
“A church? I thought you guys said we were going to a club”
Jammer motions to the line pouring out the venue, “all those folks look dressed for a club and not a Sunday service.”
“A club in a church just feels a little on the nose, like I know this is my first time at a club but I can still feel like it’s overkill”
“K and Sam are already at the door let’s go man” Jammer heads their way with a slight jog. Evan doesn’t rush but it’s not a leisurely pace either. If anything it’s confused, he’s so excited to be hanging out together as a group but he really doesn’t want to go inside. The bouncer, happily chatting with Sam, takes stock of him slinking up the steps. Their face morphing like they’re preparing to toss him out before he even stepped in until a gentle hand redirects their attention. Sam pulling them back into conversation now gesturing wildly in his direction, the bouncer looks at him a little surprised tinged with a bit of respect.
“C’mon in man, it’s cold as shit out here” they bark in his direction and Evan blinks quickly rejoining the group, trying to block out the curious eyes of the crowd waiting to get in.
“They looked like they wanted to tell me to fuck off for a minute there, what did you say?”
Sam shrugs and holds out her hand to him “Nothing special.”
He stares at her hand for a beat too long, they were in public, he’d generally avoided the press’ lenses thus far because of Sam’s schedule.
“There’s no one here,” which was weirdly true, the lobby was eerily quiet save for a long svelte person dressed in dark colors, wild red curls cascading down their back stood between two doors.
Jammer gives Evan a look and whispers a little “is it just me or this scary as hell?”
Evan waves his hand mumbling “it’s a little off putting..” looking back over at Sam “and you said Ariana Grande is hosting this party?”
Sam, unphased, nods “for her music app.” Striding forward she waves to the figure at the door. Evan and the others follow close behind, staggering a bit when a wave of magic hits them.
“Did you guys feel that?”
Jammer is quick to reply, “Yeahhh there’s some major magic energy behind those doors”
K vibrates a bit the realization of their situation settling in “guys we’re going to a magic party with famous magic people…”
Evan starts to feel uneasy for another reason, his only encounters with other magic users in the namp world outside the pilot program, dr.boodle, and several unpleasant encounters that ended in a full body bag in his backpack.
The figure at the door doesn’t help either, gravitating closer to Sam when they speak. A gravely almost wraith like voice tumbling out,
“What interesting friends you have with you this evening, Ms.Britain, do have fun tonight…” gesturing to the door “This way”
Evan peers over at the other door “Can we go through that door instead?”
K whips their head around “Evan, relax”
“I’m just asking a question, they both presumably lead to the same place so why are we being ushered this way instead of just being allowed to choose how we want to enter.”
The ominous figure pipes up “You are free to enter through that door as well, this door just leads to a section for our more important guests…”
“Aka the VIP section…cause Sam is a VIP” K doesn’t end with a ‘duh’ but their eyes are screaming it. Evan dials back his paranoia, because he remembers he’s at an event with Sam as her guest and she wouldn't purposely bring them to a bad place. Tonight was about having fun and he was already trying to nope his way out.
She looks back at him as he goes quiet, “Are you okay? We can call it here and go somewhere else if you don’t like it. It’s really okay.” He knows she would probably be fine if they left, happy for them even getting this far outside of his comfort zone and it makes him feel like an asshole.
“I’m okay, it’s just really weird here” he smiles at her apologetically and finally takes her hand. She immediately interlocks their fingers, looking around with a nod “It’s definitely a bit different than other Ariana parties I’ve gone to.”
K nods, providing “It’s super witchy, we could’ve showed up on brooms and no one would’ve batted an eye”
The ‘VIP’ door opens to a long dark stairwell, velvet maroon steps bordered by dark twisting roots crawling along the wall. Golden balls of twinkling light hang precariously at the tips of outwardly growing roots.
“This is still sort of spooky as fuck, but kind of cool at the same time” Jammer speaks stepping carefully up the stairs, scanning the floor for any unruly roots waiting to trip him up.
K a couple steps ahead gasps excitedly “oh my god you guysss” they meet them standing in place and pointing excitedly at the rich ivy starting to form roses, of various different colors poking out between the vines and roots.
“Scientifically those colors wouldn’t grow together like that so definitely proves there’s magic afoot here” Evan surmises, keeping pace with Sam they notice the changes a little later than Jammer and K a bit ahead of them.
“The spooky door person, the spooky roots on the goddamn walls and getting hit with that wave of magic didn’t prove that to you?” Jammer chuckles, the sound of music starting to echo in their direction.
“Speaking of that spooky door person, they knew your name Sam—cause you famous, duh. Man this place just gives me St.Dotto’s vibes y’all and it’s making me forget my common fucking sense.”
Sam snorts “I mean celebrities are kind of st.dottos levels of melodramatic, so I see where you’re coming from.”
“A lot of horny theater kids with super egos boosted by parasocial relationships, oh my god you’re right .” Evan marvels at the thought.
Soon The four of them reach the top of the stairs, the doors made up of vines and roses unfurling before them revealing a sight they would’ve been a little more familiar with a few weeks ago. The maroon flooring pools toward a circular balcony overlooking the dance floor below. Fresh flora pouring out into the space, dark roots bordering the stained glass windows casting a blanket of assorted colors into the space.
“It kind of feels like we’re inside of a tree and then I can see the DJ spinning inside of a booth surrounded by kudzu and then I remember where I am” K half yells over the music “it’s so fucking cool!”
Jammer bounces a little to the music “this is definitely a vibe, I admit. I was kind of worried for a sec there Sam” Sam shoots him a bit of look, “Whitney Jammer I’m hurt, you thought I was gonna take you to a whackass party? Forreal? You can make it up by getting me a drink tho”
“You got it fam” Jammer heads forward, his hands in his pockets, looking around with wide eyes towards the bar.
Evan wiggles his body, swinging Sam’s hand a little, their hands still locked tightly together, and sighs “I should be good from now on, this place is pretty cool and feeling the magic around is kind of relaxing.”
Sam lights up, quite literally at that, her hair developing a slight glow when she smiles up towards him. “You’ve been a good boy all night, but I'm really happy that you’re comfortable” reaching up to cup his face.
Evan, feeling a bit cheeky, turns his head a little to playfully bite at her hand. She gasps a small smirk forming on her face “ ’in public… who is this Evan Kelmp?’, that’s what’ll say in The Sun with those ridiculously big bold letters”
A laugh is punched out of him, he leans down to kiss her pausing to speak his lips still pressed against hers, “You’re beautiful, smart and witty, full of surprises aren’t you Ms.Butler”
Sam just rolls her eyes and starts kissing him again for either being corny or because he was talking too long. Evan pulls away after a moment, almost apologetically “Let’s go sit down somewhere”
“Okayyy” letting him lead, Sam waves as faces he’s only seen on his tiktok feeds call out to her either waving back or attempting to wave her over. Gesturing to him only a few times to say “the one I told you about!” Smiling brightly each time she says it.
His name was being mentioned in circles he would’ve thought impossible before he even arrived.
The churning feeling in his stomach returns, knowing Sam she’s painted him a resplendent light in their minds. If Sam Britain can’t stop talking about him he must be the sweetest guy in the world. Sorry he was just Sam Britain’s socially awkward boyfriend, the haunted magic murderer.
Jammer’s voice cuts through his thoughts and the music, “Hey big man! Sam over here!”, K waving excitedly with their free hand sitting on the couch on their knees to get their attention.
Evan weirdly feels relieved and starts to rush over, the hurried clacking of Sam’s heels reminding him she was still holding onto his hand and he was pulling her into a pace she wasn’t expecting. She all but crashes into his chest, Evan coming to an abrupt stop when he realizes. “Shit—Sam I’m sorry, it’s hard to believe that I’m here so like the reality of it all and who I am is starting to weigh on me” he knew this would happen, he just can’t adjust, he can’t just be normal .
Sam touches his head to hers and everything goes silent.
‘Let’s just take a second, I’m right here with you and this little moment in time we’ll last as long as we need it to’
A lingering feeling of coexisting quite literally as one on the pissberg, they’d learned to grant one another entry into the others minds. Sam was a little more adept at it than he was.
Her voice melts over his brain like warm butter, a little relieved he’ll be able to catch himself before his legs give in reality.
‘You’re so good to me Sam Butler, I’m so fucking lucky to have you. I freaked out thinking about the bad things I’ve done and didn’t know how I was going to compose myself.’
‘Babe, these people are incredibly boring sometimes—a lot of times really. You’re smart, you’re skilled, and you’re the strongest and sexiest wizard I know. I’m so lucky to have you around and savor every moment I have with you.’
‘You think I’m the sexiest wizard you know?’
‘By a longshot’
Evan pulls away, breaking the connection, time speeding up, his legs wobbling but not fully giving. Looking over at Sam with a smile, pulling her into an embrace, his face finding purchase in her neck, playfully blowing a raspberry onto her flesh. A gasp and excited squeal is ripped from her, “Oh you little stinker!”
Evan grins mischievously “a little stinker you love”
“To the moon and back”, breaking his hold around her, she moves to settle in a seat next to K. Jammer examines Evan as he takes a seat, sinking back into the plush furniture.
“You good man, your face had me worried there for a second”
“I’m awesome, the greatest wizard in the world thinks I’m sexy ”
“Glad to hear it, I grabbed you a Sprite” holding out the glass to him, Evan sits up excitedly, “Sick, thanks man”
“It was crazy, they just gave K and me whatever we wanted. It’s kind of wild how famous people just get free shit just cause. Like y’all have all this money, better pay up for this shit”
Evan just nods “Billionaires are a scourge on our world and their time is ending soon”
K wobbles up digging out the last remnants of their drink (a grown up slushie with a crazy straw). “Sam we gotta go dance this liquor out, you think if I ask they’ll play something we can mosh a little to?” holding out a hand to her Sam detaches herself from Evan with effort and takes it. “Of course they will, I’ll make sure of it” standing over them a smidge, courtesy of the 7 inch stiletto her stylist managed to find from the depths of her closet.
K looks up at them, face rosy from the liquor and the environment drawing out that internal bank of amplification inside of them some. “You’re so grown up Sam, I can’t wait to get my shit together like you have” they walk to an open space along the balcony railing, the magic quickly responding to theirs as the stairs form much faster than had for previous passengers. “I don’t have my shit together K, I’m really good at pretending I have my shit together“
“That’s your self doubt fueled by whiskey sours speaking, you’ve made an impact in the magic world and in the regular world. It’s crazy, and you deserve it so much” K hugs her arm and sighs “my pink palllll”
Back on the balcony , Evan joins Jammer observing the crowd below, “water for you monsieur,” holding out the glass. Jammer snickers “man you look absolutely crazy for someone who's been drinking sprite all night.” Evan had the pleasure of learning how handsy Sam gets with a little alcohol in her system. The short new growth of hair on his head tousled every which way, his tongue flicks over swollen lips before sipping said sprite. “What do you mean? My normal crazy or like new crazy?”
Jammer reaches out to fix his hair a little, “New crazy, a month ago you and Sam would change the subject whenever you guys talked about your feelings and now y’all are making out openly in the club. What a night”
“I think I’m really drunk on her vibes”
“Whatever that means, I’m just glad y’all finally figured it out.” Jammer reaches back to set the glass of water down onto the table.
“What do you mean?”
“You have been in love with that girl for way longer than you think, and it was killing me inside waiting for y’all to realize it on your own terms, naturally.”
“There was no way I was gonna figure it out when I was 17, I was just happy to be there with you guys and be loved in general. Plus she already had that thing with Fergus or whatever.” Scanning the crowd, Jammer watches Evan’s face light up when he spots Sam. “You think she wouldn’t have picked you over him?” Evan looks over at Jammer, a slightly solemn expression falling over his face, “man I’m still surprised she chose me now, everyday.”
Pushing up his sleeve, Evan lifts up his arm to show Jammer a massive yellowing bruise, “The hell is that man?” Unblinking with a shrug, Evan simply replies “I pinch myself in the same place every morning so I know I’m not dreaming.”
Jammer sighs and then chuckles, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder,“I think you’ve made your point to yourself now big man, just enjoy your reality.”
Evan nods, looking back down at the crowd once more, Sam’s eyes falling onto his, bringing her fingers up to her eye in the shape of a heart. His heart twists and churns, resting his head on the cold steel of the railing to cool down.
I love her so much . He kind of wants to scream it from this Balcony, but Evan also doesn’t want the attention that’ll come in droves. “Face is hot, gonna go try to cool down and take a piss while I’m in the bathroom.”
“Alright man, I might go join Sam and K on the dance floor” he smirks, Evan looking at him as the dread forms on his face. “Can’t we stay up here forever?”
“Absolutely not the DJ is cranking out bangers dude.”
Evan groans and drags his fingers down his face.
“Go pee,” Jammer laughs as he waves him off.
Evan, his head pressed against the cold glass of the bathroom, counts backwards from 20. His social battery for the evening was hovering at 7% by that point. He could give up and grovel at Sam’s feet knowing she’d forgive him instantly. She wouldn’t feel anything but proud of him for making it as far as he did.
Just dance to one song. “You cannot be a murderer who’s afraid of dancing… ” A stifled laugh behind him makes his heart fall to his ass, whipping around at light speed because he has to deal with someone finding out he’s a fucking murderer. Falling onto his knees in front of Sam, he holds shirt and chews his lip embarrassed at how easily he’s shaking. Terrified that he messed things up for her in the worst way possible.
He stills as a gentle hand finds his back, letting out a ragged exhale. “Sam I’m so sorry…all I do is fucking let you down” looking up at her is a struggle, trying to keep the tears welling up inside for one goddamn time.
Simultaneously he watches his shadow rise up stretching to the ceiling as they frantically cross their arms in an ‘X’ formation. Evan’s breath catching in his throat, quickly rising to his feet, the figure in front of him glancing at his shadow in the mirror with a scoff. “Found out already huh? don’t love a tattle tale” the lights in the bathroom shatter before Evan even has a chance to react. A gust of force magic blows him through the brick, he lands with a shout, a sharp pain rocketing in his side.
Thankfully his bond with Tadeshercourt has lessened the impact of the magic, but it didn’t prevent him from being gored by a fucking broken pipe. Taking a quick breath he rises to his feet, the pipe exiting his flesh with ease.
“Oooh that doesn’t look good” a young woman with a sharply cut bob, stares down at him like he’s a piece of garbage. Evan just groans “Are you kidding me? I don’t have time for fucking wizard nazis right now..” holding onto his wound pressing a light healing spell onto it.
“ Wizard Nazi ?! Because I’m a fucking blonde?!” She whips her arm out at him, Evan moves to block her hand but coughs up blood as a tentacle wraps around his throat.
He smirks, speaking with his voice strained, “it doesn’t help…”, reaching up and slicing into the tentacle crushing his windpipe with the knife he was allowed to wear in his boot. In exchange for being forced to leave his backpack in the car. Oh shit his backpack was in the car… Evan makes an about turn when his feet hit the floor as the tentacle recoils with a blood curdling scream.
“Oh grow up!” He throws back into the girl's direction, his feet screaming at him with every step, desperately searching for the light to reconnect him to his shadow. A faint twinkling rushes toward him, a golden string stabbing him through the heart. Evan exhales and lets himself be caught and pulled forward as the string begins to recoil.
The golden light growing brighter, the music beginning to flood his ears instead of blood.
A voice in the wind blows by his ear ‘I don’t think so Mr. Kelmp’ Evan’s eyes go wide at the flash of metal as Sam comes into view, pivoting the trajectory of his feet he leaps.
