Discovery [Lloyd]

Lloyd usually stayed out of the woods. The woods were where witch hunters searched for stereotypical fairy tale witches that lured children in and did... whatever they did to them. Did people really think witches fed children and then cooked them up? He was pretty sure he had the Grimm Brothers to thank for that. Now he'd heard a rumor of a witch being murdered a couple months back. He'd heard about it from his familiar. That was what caused him to think a witch hunter was in town. And yet, despite this he was in the woods.

Not the smartest move on his part. In his defense, he was here with his familiar. Jasper was in his raccoon form, curled up like a scarf draped across his witch's shoulders. They were collecting plants - Lloyd was under the impression that he could create some modern hexes without having to look for specific herbs. There were so many hexes, so many ways to hurt people, why couldn't he be able to make ones that actually helped people? Why couldn't he use his magic to try to end world hunger or cure an incurable disease? He had this gift, why couldn't he use it to help people?

Jasper was quiet the entire time, but feeling the warmth of his furry body around his neck was a constant reminded to Lloyd that he wasn't alone. Earlier he'd met Xavier's brother. After that he'd gone straight home, grabbed a messenger bag and his best friend, and headed to the woods. It was dark now but his eyes had adjusted. With a possible witch hunter out stalking through the woods, he didn't want to use a flashlight. He absent-mindedly rubbed his arm as he walked, shivering from the cold.

Jasper eventually jumped down from his shoulders, snatching a twig as he landed on it. The next thing Lloyd knew, there was a thump and he was stuck to the trunk of a tree, a startled yelp escaping his mouth. His eyes widened when he saw that a knife held the fabric of the shoulder of his shirt to the tree. His mind whirled and it took him a couple of seconds to figure out what to do. Before Jasper could shift, he piped up.

"No," he whispered to his familiar, "Hide." Jasper jumped up onto his shoulder then jumped into the tree, though he doubted his familiar was happy about that. With one hand, he rummaged through his bag and grasped what he wanted. However every bone in his body froze when he heard the voice of the knife-thrower.

It took him a second - though it felt like minutes - to react. Why would Xavier be out in the woods? Well, no that wasn't a good question. Why would Xavier be out in the woods with throwing knives? Panic rose up in his throat and grasped at his heart. He threw was was in his hand down between him and Xavier. The glass vile shattered as it struck the ground, releasing the potion that acted like a smoke bomb, obscuring even his own vision. He grabbed the knife and pulled. With a grunt, he managed to get it out and shoved it in his breath - it had his fingerprints on it now, after all, he couldn't just leave it. Jasper jumped down and curled up onto his shoulders. Running would create more noise though, but what else was he supposed to do?

The situation was sinking in all too soon for him. He was sure he'd heard Xavier's voice. Jasper was looking at him as if wondering why he wasn't running already. But his feet wouldn't move. He felt frozen with fear. He'd heard horror stories of witch hunters. He desperately wanted this to be a coincidence. He didn't want to think he'd just ran into a hunter and that that hunter was Xavier.


WORDS:; 648
TAG:; Xavier Rivers
OUTFIT:; link
MUSE:; A Drop in the Ocean by Ron Pope
NOTES:; I was too lazy to copy the template code xP And I'm thinking I might app Jasper 'cause he's adorbs uwu

Lloyd's mind was whirling, trying to make sense of it all. But it was slowly coming together. Xavier's family had shown up around the time of the witch murder. Had Xavier known all along that he was a witch? How did witch hunters find witches? Had Xavier only pretended to like him? Hurt at all the possibilities flared up within him along with anger and the need to protect himself. He reached into his bag and was soon holding his wand, the crystal at the end glowing blue with magic, the light showing through the smoke.

"Stay away from me!" Lloyd snapped as the smoke faded out. The light of the wand allowed him to see Xavier's face and he stumbled back - the witch hunter was closer than he'd expected. He tripped over one of the tree's roots and fell back against the ground, Jasper getting knocked off his shoulder. He managed to keep a grip on his wand as he scrambled to his feet, keeping it pointed at Xavier, scooping Jasper up in his free arm as he got up.

If Xavier had thrown that first knife without seeing him, though, he didn't think he had much hope of getting away unscathed. And if his knives were laced with poison... Lloyd swallowed hard, his voice shook as he spoke, his eyes on Xavier, "Pl-please, I don't hurt people. Xavier..." His voice cracked. He wasn't sure if his eyes watering was because of the fear he felt or the fact that it was Xavier. A tear slid down his cheek as he said, "Please don't kill me."


WORDS:; 267
TAG:; Xavier Rivers
OUTFIT:; link
MUSE:; n/a
NOTES:; Sorry it's so short ><;; This is what Lloyd's wand looks like btws uwu

Lloyd blinked, confused. How was he supposed to prove he was himself? Why did he have to prove he was himself? Jasper hung in his arm, probably itching to shift and attack the witch hunter, but Lloyd kept a firm grip on him. He didn't know what type of weapons Xavier had.

"How am I supposed to prove that?!" the witch demanded, growing angry now. He was angry at himself, at Xavier, and at the entire situation. "Wouldn't you know if you're hunting me?! God, I-I trusted you! I invited you to my house! I went to your house! I-I..." He blushed at the memory of kissing Xavier and his voice cracked again. The hand that held his want shook. It was the only weapon he had unless he wanted to let Jasper loose, but the thought of his familiar getting hurt was terrifying. He couldn't live without Jasper.

"I liked you, a lot," he muttered, more to himself than to Xavier. The look he was giving Xavier clearly said did you ever really like me. After a moment's hesitation, he put his wand back into his bag. He stuffed Jasper into the bag too, the raccoon protesting until he was allowed to pop his head out of the bag. "I'm not going to hurt you... I honestly don't know even if I tried, that I could." He wasn't the best at magic. He had to train himself. He only had Jasper to help.

Jasper was watching him, hoping he had a plan. He didn't. He just hoped that everything he'd come to know about Xavier wasn't a lie. "I'm not going to fight you."


WORDS:; 275
TAG:; Xavier Rivers
OUTFIT:; link
MUSE:; n/a
NOTES:; Enjoy!

Lloyd wasn't sure what was happening now. Xavier had made himself bleed and was now sitting on the ground. His heart clenched in his chest. Before he fully knew what he was doing, his feet moved him and he was soon kneeling wordlessly in front of Xavier. He took his bag off and set it on the ground, taking Jasper out and plopping the raccoon on the forest floor. Jasper looked at him like he was crazy and then went back to suspiciously eyeing Xavier. Lloyd rummaged through his bag before he found and pulled out a salve he'd put together from herbs.

He grabbed Xavier's wrist, holding it tightly enough that the witch hunter wouldn't be able to easily get out of his grasp. With his other hand, he gently took Xavier's glove off. He tossed the glove to the ground and then gently applied the salve. It took him a while before he could find his voice.

"You shouldn't punch a tree, dummy," he muttered mostly under his breath, "Don't know what you thought that'd accomplish." The entire time - from grabbing Xavier's wrist to removing the glove to applying the solve - his own hands shook. He was admittedly afraid of Xavier, even if he hadn't yet attacked him since he'd found out it was him. He tried to distract himself by studying his work.

"That should take away the pain," he said almost numbly, "Should help with the bleeding too, but I'd still apply actual medicine when you get home and bandage it up." He found himself sitting down in front of Xavier, breathing slightly heavy as he tried to calm his pounding heart. He didn't have the strength to get up and run. Jasper had sat down in between the witch and witch hunter, glaring up defiantly at Xavier.

Lloyd looked up at Xavier with sad eyes. "I'm not in a coven. My dad's not a witch. Please... please don't hurt my dad. He's normal, he's not a freak." He just wanted to make sure his dad wasn't killed because of him.


WORDS:; 345
TAG:; Xavier Rivers
OUTFIT:; link
MUSE:; I Wish You Were by Taylor Swift
NOTES:; D'awww

Lloyd managed to roll his eyes. "Then you're bound to break your hand, if you haven't already," he couldn't help adding, though he pulled his gaze away from Xavier, unable to look at him. Witch hunters were murderers. He even managed an exasperated sigh when Xavier pulled his glove back on and probably smudged the salve. He was trying to be a good witch, after all. He wanted to demand that Xavier talk to him, that he say more than "Eh". He wanted to demand answers. But witch hunters were murderers. He didn't want to risk upsetting him too much.

When Xavier did talk, more clearly than his earlier muttering, the witch's eyes snapped onto him, watching him carefully. It was probably clear from his expression that while he wanted to believe that Xavier wouldn't hurt him or his dad, he didn't. He looked to Jasper when his familiar was brought up, the raccoon's fur bristling with irritation. His eyes went back to Xavier and he actually flinched as if he'd been punched - and he looked like he had - when he suggested that he would experiment on Jasper.

He snatched the familiar up in his arms and quickly stood up, glaring down at Xavier. "Jasper is my best friend. I don't experiment on anything! I may be a witch, but at least I'm not a murderer!" He said the last word like venom, very much implying that Xavier was. Even if a witch hunter killed a bad witch, it was still murder in Lloyd's eyes.

"How do I know you won't hurt me? You won't take me, torture me, and kill me?! How do I know you won't kill my dad or my familiar?!" he demanded, fed up with being afraid, though he still shook with fear; his voice still shook with it. "Your kind already took my mom!!" He screamed the last part, his voice laced all over with utter terror and emotional agony. "She was a good woman! She used her magic to heal people! Yet she was dragged out of her home and butchered! My dad, Jasper, and I barely got out of there without being murdered too!" His words choked at the end as he'd started to cry. He clung to Jasper; just feeling the raccoon breathing was comforting.


WORDS:; 383
TAG:; Xavier Rivers
OUTFIT:; link
MUSE:; Breakeven by The Script
NOTES:; Lloyd snapped uwu he's finally crying

Lloyd flinched each time Xavier snapped at him, taking a step back. "How do I know you're not lying?" he sobbed out, unable to look at Xavier. "We knew the ones who killed my mom. They were family friends. I don't want you to be a murderer, but I don't know. I don't know, Xavier and I'm scared." He looked at Xavier, desperately searching for something, anything. "I want to believe you, I want to trust you, but... I can't put my family in danger. I can't."

He choked back a sob, covering his mouth with a hand. He just stood there, crying. He wished he didn't feel so afraid. He wished he could go to Xavier and curl up in his boyfriend's arms and just cry. All he had was Jasper, softly curled in his own arms, quietly glaring at the witch hunter. It took him several minutes to stop grossly sobbing. He'd only felt this scared when his mom had been murdered.

"There are bad witches, and good witches," he managed to get out, his throat sore, his voice a bit hoarse. His stomach felt sick, like he'd throw up if he cried anymore. "But no one deserves to be hunted down and slaughtered like an animal." He wasn't implying that Xavier did that, not anymore. He was too tired now to be angry anymore. His shoulders were slumped. He was emotionally and mentally drained.

"I like you," he muttered, just loud enough for it to be heard. "I like dating you. I don't want to lose anyone... including you."


WORDS:; 262
TAG:; Xavier Rivers
OUTFIT:; link
MUSE:; If I Die Young by The Band Perry
NOTES:; Feeeeeeeeeels