Wizards and potions and drugs, oh my!

[Estember Calderon]

"That's all that matters..."

Nobody else had to like him. Even the family he'd been trying so hard to impress. At this point, he hated them and wanted them to pay for making him feel like nothing for most of his life. They didn't need to like him; he'd settle for them fearing him or being in awe of his newfound power. But like? Love? He didn't need that from them.

Oh, Scy. He was actually maneuvering them further into the apartment. Interesting. And it seemed like he knew where he was going to, despite not having a magical bone in his body. Of course, it was a fairly generic apartment with a generic layout. Still, he smiled after another kiss and he slid his hand into one of Scy's hands.

"You sure you haven't been here before?" he asked as he led the rest of the way into his bedroom.

[Scyon Kan]

"I've been inside apartments before, if that's what you're asking," Scy replied with a laugh, holding tightly onto Ember's hand as they slipped down the hall. In an apartment this size, it wasn't difficult to guess that the lone hallway leading out of the living room connected to a bedroom!

It did cement their fate, however, to be headed there. Scy spared one last thought for Ams—a silent apology. The magnitude of his crime, in this moment, and that of Ams' deception may or may not have been on the same level, but it was too late to change his mind now. If he didn't hang on to Ember, Ember might slip away again.

Scy didn't think he could live through another year of not knowing.

So he let Ember take him to the bedroom and he closed the door behind them, sealing them in. "I love you, Ember."

[Estember Calderon]

"I love you, too."

How fortunate their fates to bring them together by chance. Ember wondered if it was partly the Forgotten's doing. The thought was a sour one; he didn't want interference from the Forgotten. He preferred the romanticism of chance, that of all the numbers he called, it was Scy's that he caught.

Pulling him closer to the bed, Ember kissed Scy again. He slipped his hands beneath his shirt, making quick work of discarding the clothing. He silently said goodbye to the rest in succession until they were both in a state of undress. It had been too long since he saw the art that made Scy's body. Not just the literal art in regards to his tattoos, but the unique lines of muscles and limbs.

He crashed into the bed with Scy's hand in his, rolling over to straddle him and pepper him with kisses and dextrous caresses. It had been far too long. It felt like it really had been a full lifetime between the last time he saw Scy and this. This moment. If he could stop time, he thought this was the moment he would have done it, to preserve that look in Scy's eyes forever.

[Scyon Kan]

Something might have happened to Ember's soul in his attempt to gain power, but nothing had happened to Scy's. He could make up for what Ember lacked, in the same way that Ember always made up for what he lacked. This was no different. They complemented one another in the most wonderful way and it was only highlighted by the way that their bodies moved together, as one.

This was what they meant by growing together—that their individual changes, the ways that their thoughts and opinions shifted, were because they influenced one another as they evolved. Scy liked to think that they made each other better. Not always—not all the time, that was impossible—but on the whole, they made each other whole.

There was nothing but trust in Scy's gaze. Trust and love, returning the two greatest lessons that Ember taught him. Scy had no idea where this would lead them, but he hoped for better for the both of them. Things could finally return to normal. He smiled into the kisses, the sighs, the loving and eager touches. Even when the sensations reached a fevered pitch, when breath was short and hands reached in desperation, he still smiled.

Everything was better when Ember was with him; that hadn't changed in the least. Love wasn't something so easily forgotten, and God willing, they would never have to be apart again.

[Amory Nova]

Odd. No Scy when he came home. Nothing but vague responses on his phone when asked where he was. At first, Amory didn't think much of it but there was an odd sort of feeling, a gut feeling that something was off. Looking around the apartment, Amory checked under the floorboards for the prystal he kept there. It appeared untouched and the spell on the floorboard was intact. Scy hadn't found anything he wasn't supposed to. Amory made sure to change dangerous items into innocent ones so he could hide things in plain sight. So far, so good.

"Kingsley..." Amory reached out to allow the rat to jump onto his hand and up his arm. With his other hand, he gently stroked the soft fur of his familiar. Then he exerted a scrying spell on him. Amory had learned how to scry early on and it was as simple as walking, talking, eating. Natural. A natural skill learned in childhood. Then he told Kingsley to find Scy. Kingsley knew exactly what Scy's scent was so Amory had little doubt that his familiar would find him.

In the meantime, Amory picked up his phone. Sitting down, he tried him again, all the while watching Kingsley zipping through the town, on a clear path somewhere.

[Scyon Kan]

He had to go home some time.

As much as Scy tried to avoid taking the bus back home and as much as he loitered around Ember's apartment, the sad truth was that if he didn't go home, he would only be prolonging his own suffering. The sometimes-stilted exchanges with Ams, coupled with his vague and evasive responses about where he was, was a far cry from Scy's usual messages.

Dragging his feet off the bus and into the building, Scy tried to remember what he'd been rehearsing on the way home. Things about secrets. Things about living a double life. About not knowing his own lover. About... the cheating. Yes, he had to go ahead and admit to that, even if it would have been so much easier to gloss over it. Well, Scy was no hypocrite, much to his own chagrin.

The thing was, though, that he didn't hate Ams. He did still love him. Just... not as much as he loved Ember. And as easy as it was to envision himself slotting perfectly back into Ember's life, it was equally easy to leave Ams'. That pretty much said it all, he supposed. Where his feelings were concerned, Scy had no doubts about what—and whom—he wanted.

He hesitated again at the door but forced himself to open it, confronted with the entryway that he knew so well. The little stand for their keys. The pairs of shoes, neatly aligned. Scy's heart felt heavy as he toed off his shoes and slipped his keys onto the stand, and then made his way inside.

"Ams?" He set down his coat over the back of the couch. "I'm back!"

[Amory Nova]

Something happened. Something big. Something that changed Scy's mind about him.

Kinglsey wasn't much help in this department because by the time he found Scy, he was already heading toward their apartment--but where was he coming from? The area was somewhat familiar--not a great part of town. He had clients there. Had Scy met one of them? Had they said something? How would they even know? The Amory that Scy knew was nothing like the one that hid deep inside. Even when he was selling, he acted as a dealer, not a manufacturer. He acted like he knew nothing. And he thought he'd been good at it, too.

Now he wondered.

Who said something? Scy wouldn't just believe anybody. He must have seen something. A video, perhaps? Another magic user might have shown him something. The not knowing killed Amory because he could sense what was coming and he knew it wasn't something good.

Scyon Kan was coming over to break up with him. Why? Was it the way he behaved in the bedroom? Had it scared him away too far? Amory's hands formed into fists and he stared out the window and down the street. Waiting. Waiting too long. Where was he now? Kingsley had followed him but he was already back, having passed him up at some point. The rat was already safely tucked away in his cage, innocently sleeping like "pet" rats did.

He can't leave me. It was one thing for Amory to drop Scy but it was another for him to be the one dropped. He had his pride, after all. But he also had his cover and he didn't know how to handle this. He'd never been placed in this position before. In the past, he'd only had hard lovers and he assumed before he really got to know Scy that he was one of those people. Somehow, he'd become genuinely attached to him. It was all so... so...

He narrowed his eyes because his heart skipped a beat at the sound of Scy's voice and then it plunged down to his toes. He left the bedroom window and peeked out, down the hall. Take him out now, while you have the element of surprise. All he had to do was kill him from the dark hallway. Instead, he was Amory the dopey potato as he entered the living room and regarded Scy with fingers twisting around one another.

While Scy looked normal, his text messages had not sounded a bit normal. So Amory watched him for clues while smiling as if he knew nothing, even coming over to embrace him and kiss his throat.

"Baby, are you okay?" he asked. "You've been acting weird today."

[Scyon Kan]

Scy's heart skipped a beat too, when he heard Ams' voice, but it wasn't a joyful beat. It wasn't the kind of tumbling, turning sensation that he once felt—back when they first began to date. The feelings had dampened over time but learning about Ams' past—and present activities—threw ice all over him.

He honestly didn't know how to reconcile the two Amory Novas. The one loving, caring and mild-mannered and the other, a ruthless drug dealer and manufacturer. If anyone but Ember had told Scy, he would have laughed. Not the Amory Nova that he knew. Not the sweet man who came towards him now, smiling like an angel, lips soft against his throat.

Scy swallowed; his throat was so tight with emotion and dread and apprehension and most of all, disappointment. He was disappointed in himself as much as he was in Ams at that moment. This wasn't him. But Ams also wasn't Ams, either.

"Hi..." He smiled, a subdued smile. His hand caressed the curve of Ams' elbow absently but his upper body eased back and away—conflicting signals, surely. "I'm okay. I just... I need to tell you something."

Where did he begin, though? Scy looked around—all around them at the innocent apartment. Ember told him that things could be hiding in plain sight. Witches, they had that power to conceal. What was real, then? Were they ever real? The feelings and the affection and the love, was any of that ever true?

"...I know about the-about prystal."

[Amory Nova]

"Oh?" He waited, his gaze remaining fixed on Scy while he surveyed their apartment. What was he looking for? It didn't matter; there was nothing incriminating within sight. Amory had nothing to feel guilty about. All he had to feel right now was worried about what was going through Scy's mind. Carefully, he scrutinized him, his gaze still on him when the word prystal passed Scy's lips.

Shit.

The small, gentle smile on Amory's face remained as he tilted his head slightly. Yes, he was going to play dumb for as long as possible because he needed to know how the hell Scy found out.

"Where did you hear a word like that?" he asked, almost as if amused by such a silly thing.

[Scyon Kan]

"That doesn't matter." Scy pulled away completely and sought a place to escape to. He settled on the couch and took a seat on the arm rest, facing Ams. While Ams smiled like nothing happened, looking blameless and harmless, Scy couldn't keep the doubt from showing on his face.

"I know it's a drug. And that you make it."

Crafted through magic and made specifically to target humans, it was an epidemic sweeping through Hazleton. Scy heard vague reports on the news but no one had evidence pointing to any one group. Gangsters? There were a few of those drifting in and out. Vagrants? They had more than their fair share.

Witches, though, were difficult to pin down. Vampires—no one could prove that without sounding like they were insane. But Scy's eyes were opened now to the truth and with Ember's explanations, everything just made sense.

[Amory Nova]

Somebody must have tried to buy it from him, Amory decided. Then when Scy inevitably asked about it, that person then told him all about what Amory did. The question was why Scy believed them. Or did he? Amory was sure he saw a flicker of doubt in Scy's gaze. As long as Amory didn't do something stupid and break character, he could probably convince Scy that what he'd heard was only hearsay and slander.

"Do you really believe I make drugs?" Amory asked with a hopeful little smile. "Me? I can't even cook properly half the time. I know you didn't forget about that."

He drew closer to Scy and he reached out to trace the line of his brow with his fingertips. His voice grew even softer. "I wouldn't even know where to hide something like that from you."

Scy had been looking around. Surely he noticed the absence of anything that looked even vaguely like drugs.

[Scyon Kan]

"I know. I know you can't cook," Scy said sadly, recalling the disastrous attempts at cooking. There was a lot of laughter involved—before Scy's eyebrows were singed. Even then, he didn't really hold it against Ams, despite the fuss he made afterwards. Ams couldn't be blamed when he was so helpless, so innocent.

Except. He wasn't. Sometimes, rarely, Scy caught glimpses of a different person. He always dismissed it as his own imagination. He was misconstruing that hard look as anger. It was a trick of the light. Ams wouldn't have that look in his eyes. Not sweet, docile, well-mannered Amory Nova.

Who could be that sweet, that docile and that well-mannered all the time, though? He was almost too good to be true. Their life together was almost too perfect and Scy understood better than anyone that there was no such thing as perfection.

"It's okay, if you don't want to admit it, Ams. I can't claim to understand why you do what you do, but... I'm sure you have your reasons."

Why would Amory need to do something like this? For money? Or for... power? Scy looked down. Would Amory do it for power, the same way that Ember disappeared? Was that why he felt the need to harm so many people with this prystal drug?

[Amory Nova]

Why was Scy so adamant that what he'd heard was true? Amory had to weigh his options, whether to continue to play innocent or to give into the truth. The problem was that Amory didn't want to let go of his current persona. It worked so well for him, especially with Scy. Why wasn't it working now? Amory dropped his hands and used them to hug himself instead. Slowly, he turned away from Scy. No, he wasn't ready to let go of the persona and he wouldn't, not unless Scy had real and actual proof. Irrefutable proof.

"I really don't understand why you think I'd do something like that."

His mind still reeled, searching for every last move he made, any mistake he made that Scy caught onto. There was that strangeness in their neighbors' place. Was that where he'd learned of it? From another witch in the building? Amory still remembered the ingredients. He knew a witch's cabinet when he saw one. Scy didn't, though. And even if he did, Amory still made sure to cover his tracks. So where was this information coming from? Without coming across too aggressive, he wanted more information.

"What kind of drug is it, even?"

[Scyon Kan]

Well that made two of them, who didn't understand why Ams needed to do a thing like this. Scy didn't feel good about confronting him or making these kinds of accusations, but it was already all out there. He didn't know how he felt about the fact that Ams was continuing to play dumb, though. True, Scy had no solid proof—no video tapes of Ams handing over drugs to some junkie on a street corner. But he had Ember's word, and he trusted that.

"It's like any drug," he sighed heavily. "It makes people addicted. It offers them an escape from their current reality." Just like any drug, no matter what the name was, Prystal took away the sadness, the pain, the loneliness. But it was temporary; its effects wore off. It wasn't a real solution for any of the problems that people sought an escape from.

Scy looked up at Ams, at his posture and his sweet face. His lips twitched. Trembled slightly with the words at the tip of his tongue. He swallowed. "I'm... leaving you." Drugs or no drugs, Scy's mind was made up. His destiny led down another path and whether or not his star was a doomed one, he was bound to follow it.

[Amory Nova]

Where was this coming from? Amory had little doubt that Scy had come across something damning because he was so sure of himself. He might not have pulled out text lists or the actual drug but whatever source he had must have been awfully reliable to him. Had he witnessed it? One didn't have to record it to see it with their own two eyes. But to know what it was called and that it was magic... Scy must have done some investigating to get that information. How? Was he hanging around other witches? Amory's competition?

The other shoe fell but Amory had been expecting it since he received those strange texts from Scy. He was leaving him. Just like that. He was leaving him over the drugs? Or the magic? Which was it? Scy couldn't handle the criminal activity while looking just like one himself? Or he couldn't handle the supernatural? Or maybe it was Amory himself, although Amory had done such a good job of disguising his true self from him.

Amory's gaze moved over Scy, meeting his gaze in a much more steady way than usual, eyes dark, mouth a thin line.

"And I have no say?"