[Open - Irish Coffee]

[irishcoffee]

Maggie finished the chalk easel for the front of the cafe, embellishing the announcements of specials with sunny wildflowers and scrolled ivy leaves. As she walked it out to put on the sidewalk in front of the store, she stopped to let the sun warm her face.

It had rained in Faelan's Folly for a week - starting with storms full of thunder and ear-splitting lightning strikes until tapering off to yesterday's lighter clouds and soft soaking rain to last night's light drizzle.

She'd spent most of her off time during the week near the monument, the flat stone just off the park grounds that was, for all intents, the heart of the Folly. There were rumors about it, of course, some of them right on the mark. Not that she'd ever confirm it.

The monument was also where she rechared, reset her magic and reconnected with the elements that bowed to her. At midnight last night, she knew it was time to get back to business, back to herself, and move herself forward.

Maggie pulled water from a nearby puddle, rinsed the chalk from her fingers, and settled in to help her morning regulars get the caffeine they needed to start their day.

Comments

[irishcoffee]

"He's young, Levi. And it's for the best, really. It's not his fault, he just got wise and I got a reminder. Getting involved isn't for me. I guess I got carried away, or brief possession by my former self." Maggie leveled a look at Levi. "And you're not to give him a hard time about anything, got it? We're not in high school anymore and you can't go around beating up the bullies for me. Or threatening to, anyway."

She reached over and touched his hand. "I'm fine. I just needed to reset a little and now I have."

[detectivecontrary]

"For the record, I mostly got my ass kicked by the bullies, if you'll remember," Levi pointed out. He'd been glad to do it and it had actually taught him how to fight dirty, but sometimes there are just too many of them and he didn't have a lot of friends to defend him.

"But the point is, and I will stand by this point until I am old and gray and remember nothing else but this... anyone would be lucky to be involved with you. Especially in a long term relationship. And at best, you're maybe on the road to eventually being fine. Right now you're at the point where you can fake it to most people."

[irishcoffee]

"And I know better than to try faking it with you," Maggie finished. She picked up her mug and blew warmth back into the coffee. "The point wasn't ever that you took the bullies down, Levi, it was that you tried at all."

He'd been the only one to do so against the kids that blamed her for their parents disappearing, for them being pulled here, for everything she was, and everything she wasn't. Levi'd been the only one to stand by her side when her mother left, when her father's grief consumed him, when she'd found escape from the torment in her mind through her body.

She shook that off and sipped at her coffee, touching his hand with her free one. "I'll be okay. I promise."

[detectivecontrary]

"Okay, I can accept that you will be okay but aren't completely okay right now," he said, taking another bite of Danish. He wasn't sure if it was the kid or the situation that had hurt Maggie, although he was going to blame the kid because he was an easy target. Also, he hadn't promised to not give the guy a hard time.

"And who the hell would he pick instead of you anyway?"

[irishcoffee]

"I'm not sure if you know her. On the young side, cute and blonde, Coraline Jones." Maggie smiled, remembering the last time she ran into her in front of the sex shop. "She's a sweet thing, and probably has no idea any of this was even an issue. And she probably doesn't have a store full of baggage trailing behind her."

[detectivecontrary]

"Ohhhh," Levi said, realizing that he knew exactly who she was talking about. He wasn't sure if 'sweet young thing' was quite the description he would have used to describe her. Apparently she was very good at disguising her wild side, although he supposed that she was very sweet and she wasn't old.

[irishcoffee]

Maggie's eyes narrowed. "So you do know her."

She decided it was probably best to leave that comment right where it was. "And now that we've spent a bit of time on Maggie's self esteem, is it time to talk about why Levi's walking funny?"

[detectivecontrary]

"I may have had sex with her in the changing room of an adult store?" he said, trying not to look terribly guilty about it. He wasn't sure why he would, it's not like he hooked up with her while she was dating the guy.

"And sure, if you're wanting to get into the specifics of sex between a human and certain types of vampires. Spoiler alert, it's amazing."

[irishcoffee]

Yeah, she really, really didn't want to know that. But, at least the girl could probably keep up with him. Maggie sighed internally and wished them both well.

Then her jaw dropped. "Back up. You had sex with Bella? I honestly didn't think she could, or wanted to. She's been here, what, two years? I've rarely seen her even out of the forest." Maggie's eyes focused on what she could see of his face and hands. "She didn't hurt you?"

[detectivecontrary]

Levi was glad that Maggie was going to leave that alone, because it was weird to think that Maggie had slept with Sam and he had slept with Coraline. That was way too few degrees of separation for him.

"Oh, she can. And wants to, trust me. At least she does now. There seems to be something different about me. And she didn't hurt me, she's very careful. Just imagine, as I'm sure you do often, having vigorous sex with me only you're basically a marble statue wrapped in silk."

[irishcoffee]

"Oh yeah," Maggie sighed and rolled her eyes. "I do nothing but think about having sex with you. It's a wonder I can function at all for the fantasies." She stirred the air around him to thump the back of his head. "Do I really need to ask the follow on question about why, if she's so careful, you limped in here? I know you, Levi, you have a protective streak a mile wide, and you'd fudge your way around the truth to protect her and keep me from worrying at the same time."

[detectivecontrary]

"I didn't say I was really careful," he said, grinning at her. He didn't mind the thump all that much, Levi was pretty sure that on some level he deserved it. Probably on several levels, actually. Besides, she seemed amused, which was a good thing.

"Trust me, she feels miserable about it but it's my choice. I don't usually go at it quite as hard as I did last night though."

[irishcoffee]

Maggie reached up and put her hands over her ears. "No, no, no. I don't want to hear about you going at it." She opened her eyes and looked over at him, eyeing him speculatively. "You look happy, Levi, in a way I haven't seen you look in a very long time. Is that Bella's doing, or just the post-sex high?"

[detectivecontrary]

"Oh, so now my sexcapades aren't interesting to you?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. "Me thinks the lady doth protest too much."

But, if she really didn't want to hear about with Bella then Levi wasn't going to bring it up. He knew that Maggie already wasn't a big fan of Bella, so he figured that she was willing to talk about the vampire without getting upset was good.

"But it's Bella. I mean, definitely post good morning-blow job high, but more than that too."

[irishcoffee]

Maggie rubbed at her temple. "I think I need to go hit the bars tonight or something. Maybe if I get a little more physical distance between the situation, I'll stop being so fucking twitchy about sex all of the sudden." Mug in hand, Maggie sipped, then swallowed. "Tell me about the more than that part. You're not...not getting serious?"

[detectivecontrary]

Levi frowned at that statement. That was not a good thing to hear from Maggie but he was worried that if he pushed her she'd do it just to prove that he didn't dictate what she did. He was definitely going to keep an eye on her though.

"What do you consider serious? We laugh a lot, does that mean we're not getting serious?"

[irishcoffee]

She shot him a look that said, clearly, that wasn't what she was asking. "What I mean by it is am I going to find you wandering through town with nothing but your boxers and tentacle scars all over your ass anytime soon? Or are you exclusive?"

Neither of them had ever had, for their own reasons, any sort of long-term exclusive relationships apart from the platonic one they had with each other. If he was heading that way with the freaky vampire, she'd have to go have a chat with her. Soon.

[detectivecontrary]

"I haven't... wow, I haven't slept with anyone else since Coraline," he said, running a hand through his hair. He hadn't really thought about it until now. He hadn't asked Bella if she was going to be exclusive but he didn't think that was an issue. Maybe he should tell her that he wasn't going to be with anyone else or did she already know that?

"And I gave her a key to my place."

[irishcoffee]

She couldn't stop her eyes from widening and to be honest, she didn't really try. "That's quite a giant leap forward," Maggie said at last. "Or are you going on the hope she's not the jealous sort if she comes in while you're with a hookup?"

She knew the answer, but playing devil's advocate was sometimes the only way to get past the blush of infatuation to find out what really mattered.

[detectivecontrary]

Levi didn't say anything about her reaction. It was surprising, he knew, he'd never made secret that he liked various partners and while he didn't have a 'no repeats' rule like Maggie did, he had never had a serious relationship before this. He wasn't even sure how to have one. Thankfully everything with Bella felt natural.

"No plans on hooking up anytime soon," he said with a shake of his head.

[irishcoffee]

Maggie's lips twitched. "I'll alert the bars they'll be overrun with women mourning the loss."

[detectivecontrary]

"Right, sure," he said, rolling his eyes. He doubted anyone would mourn the loss of anything. It was a sweet sentiment though.

"I'm pretty sure the first time Bella and I go some place to hang out people will get the idea."

[irishcoffee]

Maggie just laughed softly; it was kind of adorable the way he had no idea about his appeal to others. "I'm sure they will. Can you let me know when you do? I have a feeling this might be fun to watch."

[detectivecontrary]

"Right, I'm sure you'll love seeing her get all protective of me," he said. Levi wondered if she wanted to be there in case anyone got hurt or Bella got out of control. Levi was positive that wasn't going to happen, but he knew that he was the only one that saw Bella the way that he did.

[irishcoffee]

"Something like that," Maggie smiled and leaned back. "All teasing aside, it's good to see you so happy. It's like being under a cloud during the spring. You don't realize how cold you are until the cloud moves and you're standing in the sun again."