Who is Magpie?

It had been well over an hour since Jessamine had crawled into bed after closing every curtain and all the doors for complete darkness and silence. She didn’t even bother changing out of Bronx’s shirt after setting up the room, just grabbed a hair tie and crawled into bed to fix it there. She kept drifting off but each time she did she’d jerk away thinking she had missed the whole day when it had only been a few minutes.

It wasn’t like she could set an alarm without a clock that could do that, and the only other clock in the room had been a wall clock. After the first hour of it clicking away she had thrown the first thing she could reach at it. She was pretty sure it had been a small decorative pillow but the thud it struck with sounded like it had been a stuffed paper weight or a door stopper.

By this point she was pretty hungry but her head still thrummed miserably. She’d do it again though. She could shift now, and it had been so easy when she wasn’t thinking about it. She could never thank Bronx enough for helping her, but the more she thought about it she figured they were probably even.

She had chugged enough water from the faucet to make her have to pee again before deciding she would get her own food and brave the bright and sounds outside her room. First she hopped in the shower, just enough to make her feel refreshed to wear some of her new clothes. She chose one of her new dresses, a sleeveless one with an empire waist and a light material that landed below her knees in the middle of her calves. She finished it off with a blanket scarf over her shoulders and a pair of flats, her first step into shoes that weren’t sneakers.

She walked down the hall slowly, trying to look normal despite her hangover. She heard the sound of clacking shoes and looked up to see the unfortunate Athena walking towards her.

“Oh it’s you,” she sneered. “I’m looking for Ezekiel.”

Jessamine looked at her, but she knew she was squinting with the bright light. “That’s nice. I’m looking for breakfast, care to join me?”

Athena gave an unfortunate scrunch of her face at the idea. “Not even under duress,” she muttered.

Jessamine shrugged. “Fair, I’ll be going then.”

“So you’re really just going to come and take all the eligible men Jessamine?” Athena called after her.

She barely stopped and looked at her, but she couldn’t stop the laugh. “Nice try, really an honourable effort to ruin my good day, but you’ll have to dig a little deeper into the trauma department for that.”

“Oh, so I should ask you about what happened in two rivers then?” The other woman laughed.

Jessamine did freeze in that moment, but only for a second. “The rogue’s that attack the campers?” She asked. “I’m sure that information is public now that it’s over. You are welcome to borrow a pack house paper.”

She turned swiftly, continuing on her walk at a measured pace, trying to match how she walked before. She could feel the dread in her chest returning, but this time there was a bed for the thought to land on. She remembered more things all the time, and with each uncovered bit of dread she realized why they were buried so deeply.

“You don’t belong here, cousin.” Athena scoffed the word, like the blood of the womb was poison.

“That’s nice.” Jessamine waved half hazardly and went toward the kitchen.

She prayed the woman didn’t follow her, but she heard the click of the shoes and a knock around where Ezekiel’s room My phone you’re cool you was. She didn’t turn to check if he answered, knowing that even if she waited an hour to go into either of those rooms that she would still be able to smell her outrageous perfume.

Jessamine knocked gently on the kitchen door before opening it, just like how she used to. Her head was sore, and her mind wasn’t at its best, but the mistake made her face run pale. The kitchen staff looked at her when she walked in, and she was sure they thought she was gravely ill.

“I’m sorry to bother you, I was just hungry. If you’re busy I can come back later to make something.” The blank faces had her backing up out of the room, sure she had offended someone.

“Does my food displease you Luna?” A man, Victor, asked, standing behind the counter.

Jessamine laughed slightly. “Of course not! Everything I’ve ever had here has been beyond compare to anything I’ve ever had before. My hips may not thank you but I know Ezekiel does. I just know you have a cut off for meal orders, and I’m sure I’m long passed it for breakfast.”

“You don’t look well Luna, are you sick?” Victor asked instead, looking no less concerned than when he thought she hated his food.

She began to lie, but stopped herself. “I…. I’m hungover,” she admitted shyly. “… It was my first time really drinking, but I pushed too far.”

Victor nodded understandingly. “What do you usually have when you don’t feel well?”

“Whatever is made?” The question confused Jessamine in a way only things she filed in the ‘home’ folder did. “I.. umm, I’ve never chosen what I ate,” she said more quietly, hoping not many would overhear.

“You’ve never wh-?..” Victor began, but as he said the words his disbelief ended. “What would you like for dinner?”

“Oh no I couldn’t, I don’t know what everyone likes.” Jessamine insisted, waving her hands.

“I insist, it’s your first full moon as a wolven. If you could see one thing on your plate tonight, what would it be?”

“Shepard’s pie,” she said suddenly, just picturing it covered in gravy on a pasta plate with gold filigree.

Victor smiled warmly. “Done, and what about for breakfast?”

“What is your favourite to cook?” She asked slyly.

He flipped his spatula over at her. “Ha ha, good turn. Alright, toast and eggs has always been my favourite hangover basic, what do you think?”

She smiled, and she hoped it was friendly as she sat down at the counter and laid her head on her arms. “That sounds perfect, two things, nothing for my stomach to get confused about.”

“Oh Luna, you don’t have to wait here. I can have someone bring it to your room so you can go rest,” Victor insisted.

Her eyes drifted closed, enjoying the absence of light even above the anxiety of being in a room full of essentially strangers in a weakened state. “It is very far right now. I promise I’m not judging or anything, I’ve never cooked or seen food prepared…”

“You what?” Victor startled, unable to stifle his surprise this time, and she sat up suddenly.

She spoke confused when she spoke again, knowing what she was saying but somehow still making it a question. “I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen except to serve myself and wash my dishes. I ate last, so the food was already made when I got there and I’d have to usually guess what it was.”

Victor shook his head, as if to say of all the things he had heard, that this was the Fae’s most disappointing action. “Stay as long as you like, and I can teach you if you ever want to learn. I believe no one should lack the necessary skills for keeping their bodies alive.”

“Thank you, I’d like that.” She giggled into her arm, “that’s how I feel about first-aid.”

While she waited at least two people asked if she wanted some pills for her headache. She was both somewhat paranoid about accepting, and surprised that so many had them available among their own things. She had considered going to the medical bay to ask, but despite all of the help Doctor Pon had provided, she really hadn’t seen him since he stabbed a needle into her ass and knocked her out.

She supposed it had been for the best. She had been about to be very violent, but she still wondered if she would have been able to shift then. She hadn’t been thinking about it for sure.

“Has the alpha and beta eaten yet today?” She asked suddenly, wondering where they had disappeared off to, and feeling slightly forgotten.

“I’m not sure Luna, their plates were brought to their rooms this morning and placed on the table between the doors.” Victor replied.

She nodded thoughtfully but said, “Please just call me Jessamine. I’ve hardly done anything to earn such a title.”

“It’s not the title that you earn, but the respect, and I believe you’re well on your way to having both. But you honour me Jessamine.” His smile was warm as he handed her the plate of sunny side up eggs and buttered toast. “Would you like peanut butter?”

“No thank you. My stomach isn’t ready for anything new.” She was smiling happily at the food but she realized when he didn’t reply that she had done it again. “That’s… weird right? To have never had peanut butter on my toast.”

He moved like he meant to pat her hand, hesitated, and then did it anyway. “Nothing you must have gone through was right.”

She decided against leaving the kitchen and ate at the counter. She was feeling a little better, the fresh air that came in through the window was nice, and the smell of baking bread gave her a feeling of nostalgia she didn’t understand. Aside from that, she didn’t want to run into Athena again and hoped she found Ezekiel to deal with her.

A small marble of worry sat behind her eye with her headache at that thought. Wanting Ezekiel and his fiancé, or ex-fiancé, to meet up without her. Trust had to go both ways, and he already had so much for her.

She went outside instead of back to her room, going back to that bench in the garden. The peace was only broken up by the occasional car far off in the distance or someone walking by along the path behind where she was hidden away. Glad to be off the path and out of the way she let herself become absorbed in the zen that was the freedom to not do anything, and fell asleep.