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Douxie looked up from absentmindedly strumming his guitar as the front door slammed. He poked his head over the top of the couch to see one very disgruntled pink-haired witch stomping around the entryway.
“I take it the coven meeting didn’t go too well?” he asked, as she stomped over to the living room.
“No,” Zoe growled, dropping down into the nearest armchair and quickly folding her legs up under herself.
As she leaned forward on her knees to fume, Archie leapt up to perch before her on the coffee table.
“I assume you were not granted the title of Coven Matriarch?” he asked.
Zoe growled, clenching her fists.
“And I can thank Merlin for that, the crafty bastard.”
At this, Douxie moved to sit up straight, moving his guitar off of his lap as his brow furrowed.
“What’s Merlin got to do with any of this?”
Zoe’s gaze flicked to him out of the corner of her eye, then back towards the windows.
“Forget about it,” she mumbled.
He sat up straighter, leaning towards her.
“No, I’d really like to know,” he said, tone shifting from purely curious to something more interrogative.
With a displeased grunt and a roll of her eyes, Zoe turned in her chair to face him fully, hard gaze locking with his.
“The only reason I lost to Myrtle is because she has actually been practicing magic for over 900 years,” she said, “If Merlin hadn’t been such an arrogant coward, then I would have been too.”
Douxie sat back as his mouth fell open and his brow furrowed deeper.
“You can’t be serious,” he said, “Merlin was a hero! He protected all of us magic users from King Arthur’s magic ban. He saved me-”
“Exactly,” Zoe bit back, “He saved you and Morgana from ‘King’ Arthur’s magic ban because he ‘saw something’ in you two. But the rest of us magic users? The ones he ‘took under his wing?’ We were hidden away and forbidden from practicing magic…”
She leaned forward further, knuckles white where they gripped the armrests.
“...because he would rather be on Arthur’s good side than defend his own kind.”
Douxie’s fingernails dug into the fabric of his jeans as his other hand gripped the arm of the sofa, fighting to stay sitting. His hard gaze flicked to the coffee table in an attempt to garner some support from Archie, but the familiar was gone.
“You know that’s not true,” he said, voice low, “You know he did all he could to protect us. You know he died defending all of humanity-”
“And yet he was the same man who started a war to settle a personal grudge,” she spat, “He was a self-righteous, arrogant, privileged bastard. He didn’t care- ”
Douxie stood up so hard he pushed the couch back. Zoe leaned back in her chair, struck silent, eyes shooting up to his. He held her gaze firmly for a moment, eyes cold, before turning and heading for the door.
Zoe stood up.
“Where are you going?” she called.
Without even turning around, he called back, “I can tell when I’m not wanted.”
“Doux!” she yelled after him, “Doux, it’s raining-!”
Zoe flinched as the door slammed, frozen to the spot.
“DOUXIE!”
Zoe let her shoulders slump as her breathing slowed down.
When her heart rate was calm, she turned in a harsh circle, raking a hand through her hair with a groan. She dropped down into a chair, one hand coming to her forehead, as Archie padded back into the room. He hopped up into her lap and turned in a circle, rubbing against her chest.
“I fucked up,” she mumbled, stroking down his back.
He purred, nestling further into her.
“He just needs some time to cool down,” the familiar offered, letting out a low rumble as she scritched behind his ears, “He’ll come back when he’s ready.”
---
Zoe paced back and forth in the living room as Archie watched from his spot on the couch, neck craning to follow her as she moved before him.
“It’s been over an hour,” she said, knuckle between her teeth.
“Be patient,” Archie advised, “Your argument did get quite heated.”
Zoe did not stop her pacing.
“I know, but it’s raining. And he only has his hoodie. And it’s not like he’s going to be around other people right now so he won’t be inside …”
Archie calmly licked a paw as she rambled, waiting for the inevitable.
Zoe stopped her pacing.
“That’s it! I’m going to look for him.”
Archie gave one more nonchalant lick to his paw as she disappeared from his line of sight.
“Don’t forget to bring your-”
He winced as a door slammed.
“-coat.”
He turned towards the entryway to see one solitary coat, still on its hook.
---
Zoe hoped she was right as she pelted through the downpour. Holding one arm above her eyes to ward off some of the stringing drops, she darted into a familiar alleyway. The close walls and fire escapes blocked out some of the rain as she made her way down the alley, eyes raking across the stone and concrete for one thoroughly soaked wizard.
She spotted him pressed up against one stone wall with his knees pulled tight to his chest, his dark hood pulled up over his head. His eyes shifted to her as she approached and sat down tentatively beside him.
“I thought I might find you here,” she said, as his gaze returned to the wall opposite him.
He huffed a breath, still not looking at her.
“Really? Why’s that?”
She, too, stared straight ahead.
“This is where you always used to come whenever you were frustrated with Merlin for not giving you a staff, even after all these centuries.”
Her eyes flicked to the side and their gazes met. Zoe took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “I know Merlin was a… complicated person. He had his flaws, his many flaws, but he had his good parts too. He could be an arrogant asshole, but he was also brave and selfless.”
She turned to face him fully.
“And I know how important he was to you.”
“ Is to me.”
Zoe nodded.
“Is to you,” she corrected, standing, “I understand if you’re not ready to forgive me, but please come home.”
She held out her hand.
“It’s freezing and you’re soaking wet.”
He turned his face up towards her, eyes raking over her drenched form.
“So are you.”
He fumbled with his jacket as he stood up, wrangling the garment from his own body and pulling it around her, fingertips brushing against her cheek as he pulled the hood up over her hair.
“I know that King Arthur’s magic ban was hard for you,” he said, hands trailing down her now-clothed arms to her own hands, holding them in his, “And I understand that you have a right to be angry.”
He lifted his gaze to look her in the eye, expression solemn as he lifted their intertwined hands to press a kiss to her knuckles.
“Though I don’t agree with who you choose to target your anger at, I understand you have a right to that anger.”
Zoe let out a soft sigh as he drew her other hand up to kiss it as well.
“Doux, I really am sorry…”
“I know you are,” he said, voice barely above a whisper as he lifted her hands to pin them on either side of her head.
She hadn’t even realized he’d backed her up against the wall.
“And I forgive you.”
Zoe’s eyes fluttered shut as he leaned into her space, tilting his head forward to capture her lips with his. They were slick and sweet with rain as they moved against hers, languid and sweet in their dance. If 900 years had granted the two anything, it was the understanding that they had time to be slow and sweet, time to be gentle.
When they broke apart, Douxie moved to lean his forehead against hers, rain dripping from his bangs down the tip of his nose and onto her cheek.
“Shall we go home?” he whispered.
Zoe leaned up on her tiptoes to peck him one more time on the lips.
“We shall.”