Adrian Blackwood

Adrian dipped the towel into a basin full of cool water, heavily scented with herbs, wrung it just dry enough that it wouldn't drip, and placed it on her lower abdomen. There was a folded washcloth on her forehead, another tucked under her neck and behind her knees, and draped over her side, held in place by her arms. Normally, he'd wipe her body down with cooling infusions, but he was trying to disturb her body's lamia as little as possible, and so had to settle for placing cool towels against what his mother called 'hot spots' and hope that helped bring her fever down instead. The remains of a mug of nourishing broth rested on the nightstand; he was careful to not to feed her too much at a time, so she wouldn't choke. His own bowl rested beside it, still steaming, a small enchantments on the bowl itself to keep the contents warm while it waited for him to finish up with her.


"You know, Pam, any time you wanted to wake up would be okay by me," he said, voice low and calm and conversational. "I'm trying to give you time to work through this on your own, but if you're still comatose on Monday, I'm going to have to start using actual magic, and I'm not sure I'm ready to pull the scales off these women's eyes and have them declare my Grove should be the next holistic retreat." Dip. Wring. Place. "I know you can do this, Pam. You're one of the strongest people I know. And I know, I know. Everything in its own time. I'm trying to be patient, but you've got me worried." Dip. Wring. Place.

Eventually, he ran out of towels and retreated back to the chair, sinking into it with a soft groan. He reached for his soup by rote; he didn't feel hungry, but he knew he had to replenish the energy he was spending on her, and food was easier than sleep. He held the bowl for a few minutes, letting the warmth of it sink into his hands. "Come on, Pam," he murmured. "Don't make me start with threats. I've got some single-user plastic packaging right here and I'm not afraid to use it."

[For the unconscious one and SP! NFB for distance]

Adrian had been positively enchanted with everything the island had been doing thus far for the holidays - yesterday had been a bit of a trial, but he had appreciated having mulled wine and hot cocoa literally on tap.

Today he was sitting on his couch, sewing together squares for a Christmas quilt, and watching the cats interact with the balls of sugar. Boston, of course, had declared himself far too dignified and mature for such shenanigans, but Adrian could see how his tail was lashing about. Lydia was...nowhere near as dignified and mature.

"Kitty will be very proud of you," he informed her as he sewed. "And if they persist through the rest of the day, I might even be able to get the rest of my knitting done."

Lydia had not been dignified or mature about yarn balls, either.

[Primarily for one, but open!]

Tonight was Supper Club and Adrian had absolutely intended to go, but he'd made the mistake of laying down on his bed after work. He'd been making sure he could reach every part of his Grove without having to be in physical contact with it. Next he'd test whether he could reach every part of it while not being in his Grove at all, but baby steps. So he'd lain down and sent his consciousness out to examine every corner of of the land.

And when he'd come back to himself, he realized he had suddenly gathered every animal in the house. Boston was in his preferred spot on Adrian's chest, Fanny was sprawled out half on his legs, and Yelena was somehow taking up more of the bed than should be possible and yet. But her head was rested on his arm and her paws were pressed against his ribs.

"You're the worst to share a bed with," he informed her, amused. "Even as a cat."

But there was no way he could move now, not with three different animals using him as a cushion. He wasn't a monster. And he, fool he was, had set his phone on his solar charger, which was out of reach for his bed.

"Well, I guess I'm here for awhile," he sighed. "...Damn, and I'm really hungry."

Adrian was humming to himself as he bustled about his kitchen, finishing up some chores and making a second cup of coffee. Boston was taking a nap in a sunbeam, and Bran was moving himself around the kitchen, though there wasn't much to sweep. At least that was what was happening until he felt that familiar jolt of magic that meant that someone had crossed into his grove from somewhere else. For a moment the additional effects that came from it being his grove nearly drowned out the fact that it was a group of Blackwoods who had stepped onto his land. Traveling from Blackwood grove to Blackwood grove was a common trick, and one that Pam would approve of, considering how much it saved on fossil fuels and carbon emissions.

It must be some family bringing his extra orders, to make sure the shop didn't run short of inventory. "Thanks I'll take it from here," he began, opening his door to greet his delivery cousins or whatnot. And then he saw who was truly waiting for him.

"Aunt Muriel!" he said, quickly running down the stairs to embrace her slight frame with his. "What are you doing--"

"Oh, you can hug your Aunt Muriel, but as soon as it comes to--" His Aunt Lydia didn't get a chance to finish that sentence before Adrian was hugging her in return. "Look at you two!" he said, stepping back as if to examine them. "I can't believe you're both here. Is this a drop in, or are you here for the weekend or...?"

Lydia and Muriel exchanged glances with one another and then looked back to him. "You got it wrong, sweetheart," Lydia said.

"Oh," Adrian said, his shoulders slumping a bit. He would have loved a longer visit. "I understand, of course," he assured them. "You're the Old Wives, the forest needs you--"

"No," Muriel said, with a warm and wistful smile, though her eyes were tracking some moth or another winging on its way into the sky." We're not both staying over tonight. The three of us are."

"What?" Adrian asked, and then from behind Adrian's heart tree came the most beautiful woman in the world.

Adrian needed a second to take a deep breath. The woman in front of him never left the Blackwood. Ever. For any reason. It was impossible, yet there she was, smiling at him the same way she had a months ago when she walked him to the forest's edge and sent him off to catch his plane.

"Hi, Mom," he said, before wrapping his arms around her for the tightest hug yet.

Last week, Adrian had invited Yelena and Lydia both to watch him bury his heart and properly claim the land. Lydia, because he thought that a fellow practitioner would appreciate watching a ritual of this size, Yelena because...well, if nothing else, he figured that she'd enjoy having something else to tease him about.

He'd brought out a nice picnic blanket and some refreshments, including several bottles of his homemade fruit beers that he'd shared with Logan, water, fruit juices, a light herbal tea, sandwiches on a thick, hearty bread (made fancy because he'd cut them into quarters), and a nice, freshly-baked cake that he'd cooked because he'd wanted to, not because he was nervous.

"You're fretting," Boston noted, sunning himself in a tree while Adrian made sure that all the utensils and plates were just so for his guests.

"I'm new to hosting," Adrian said. "I want to make sure that everything is nice for them."

"Uh-huh," Boston said. "...You're going to do fine." He wasn't talking about hosting. "We've practiced a hundred times back home."

"I know," his witch replied. "I just kinda wish it had been a hundred and one." Or maybe a hundred ten.

***
Once his guests had arrived and seated themselves, Adrian pulled out his trunk, went over to the black steamer trunk that he'd flown in with and, after rooting around amongst various things (he really needed to unpack this), he pulled out a beautifully carved wooden box and clutched it reverently to his chest. "Would you care to hold it while I finish preparing?" he asked, offering the box to Lydia. Boston made a grumpy sound, but forewent commentary as Adrian knelt down in front of the oak tree, plunged his bare hands into the acorn-covered ground, and began to dig. He moved handfuls of soil with surprising efficiency. "This has to be done by hand," he explained, figuring Yelena, at least, might be wondering why he wasn't using a shovel. "I'm a good digger, though. It won't take me long."

He wasn't kidding. Adrian Blackwood dug a three-foot-deep hole through hardpacked, rocky soil using nothing but his hands. He worked calmly, methodically, but fast, and didn't so much as rip a nail. There had to be some magic behind that, but he didn't say a word the entire time. He just kept going until he had a neat, knee-deep, root-filled pit wide enough to sit in, finished. A hole that size should have taken hours, even with a shovel; Adrian had finished in maybe twenty minutes. "There," he said, brushing the earth off his fingers as he stood up. "Now we're ready."

( Snipped for mention of a human heart )

"Well done!" Boston called from the branches he'd climbed up into. "That went even better than it did in practice."

Adrian was panting too hard to answer. He'd been perfectly calm the whole time he was filling in the hole. Now that he was finished, he collapsed onto the needle-strewn ground with a gasp, sprawling under the trees with a triumphant smile on his face.

[Text taken and adapted from Hell For Hire by Rachel Aaron, because you know how I love me some perfectly normal canons. While the two ladies mentioned were invited, post is open for other folks, either before or after the ritual.]

Okay, so after that fiasco last week (Bran was still sulking), Adrian was making sure that the next place he found was devoid of anyone who might possibly be living in whatever area he decided to stake out for his own. That did put him a little closer to the onsen and the creepy mansion than he would have preferred, but he could cope with that if it didn't mean unhousing anyone who might live there. And having the grove in a long oval rather than a perfectly symmetric square or circle wasn't what he'd anticipated, but that was why he was doing this, right? Nothing ever went exactly the way you expected when you were dealing with nature, and the more surprises he figured out how to deal with now, the better he'd be equipped to handle them later, when it really mattered.

He didn't find another Douglas fir, but he did find a white oak, definitely over fifty years old considering the acorns he'd spotted. It was a grand stately dame, her canopy stretching out over much of the surrounding area.

( Boston, of course, had opinions )

"Good," Boston said, swishing his tail. "Now can we get to work?"

"I was thinking of spending some time sitting on the porch and drinking some tea, and giving you a nice fish to celebrate, but if you'd rather we jump right to it..." Adrian teased.

"Now, now, let's not be too hasty," Boston backpedaled. "It's important for your magic that you take time and appreciate life's little comforts."

"Making excellent points as usual, Boston," Adrian said with a grin, taking a moment to look over the land and smile.

[Open!]

Yesterday, Adrian had handwavily explored the town before dropping into the bar. Tomorrow, he had a meeting with his...contact? Boss? Something?...to discuss the addition of Blackwood products at her store. Which meant that today was time for him to get started on his own projects.

"Come on, Boston," he said, "it's time for us to figure out where we're settling down."

( A man, a cat, and a broom walk into the preserve )

"Now that we've agreed that this place is unsuitable to be another Blackwood, shall we turn around and keep searching? That was that other spot of woodland on the other side of the island."

"We could," Adrian said. "But I think I'd like to keep walking through here a bit longer, if you don't mind. It feels a bit like home, while being absolutely nothing like home."

"I'd like that," Boston said, settling down on Bran a bit more. "It's a nice walk. But we explore that other patch tomorrow," he added in his most stern keeping my witch in check voice.

"Tomorrow," the witch agreed, and continued their wandering through the great forest they were lucky enough to share an island with.