callmeles | Of Wishes and New Friends (for Zayne)

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Of Wishes and New Friends (for Zayne)

Piper liked Seattle. It was a place they'd never come to and so most of her memories were of her childhood with her Mom, Dad, and sister. Those memories in of themselves were a bit mixed up but they were easier to deal with than places she'd otherwise escape to. A ton had changed (cost of living and the growth of the city) and at the same time, a lot hadn't changed (the weather and the people).

She had heard through a radio advertisement that a magician was coming to town for a few nights. They had warned that his show was so popular that it sold out very quickly in other cities and you should act quick if you wanted to catch one.

Any other night and she'd have rolled her eyes and not bothered. Something that she wasn't going to put a name to urged her to look him up and read what he was about. His name was Zayne and apparently, his act was unique. Unique enough where there were YouTube videos upon YouTube videos attempting to debunk his performance or somehow recreate it. She had to admit, the man was very attractive and seemed very charming.

Huh.

Well, this she had to see. And, if there was something magical about him, perhaps ask him a couple of questions if it was even possible.

Over the last year or year and a half, since then, she had searched for any possible way of bringing Jordan back. She'd always tell Jordan that if she somehow died on her, she'd find some way of bringing her scrawny ass back.

So far, she hadn't had any luck.

Deep down, she knew it was a worthless task but she had to try everything she could think of.

So she bought a ticket, somewhere close to the stage for a stupid exorbitant amount of money (because it was Seattle and everything is stupidly inflated). When the evening arrived, she got dressed in a nice outfit (a little black number) and made her way to the theater. Since being in town, she hadn't really gone to shows but this was an exception.

She found her seat and settled in. Piper listened to the chattering, to the squealing of teenage girls (and women) around her and others who were determined to find some way of debunking him.

Well, this was going to be an entertaining evening. Even if she came away no closer to an answer, she'd was sure the show would be worth it.

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It's his first time in Seattle and Zayne is excited for it. It's an all new show he's premiering tonight, just because he loves taunting those trying to break the secret of his magic.

Not that they ever can, and just so long as they never do he can keep running the show. Not that the Whip's haven't tried for a long time to shut him down but it's an honest living. At least among the Arcanics.

And it starts with a tiger that stalks the edge of the stage, snarling and growling. An assistant in sequins feeds it steaks, showing it's live and able to eat, alive and dangerous. Then, as it leaps for the audience, a tall man in flowing white linen pants and an open brocade vest puts himself between the audience and the tiger. A snap of his fingers and it dissolves into black smoke and reforms as a raven on his arm.

By the time the lights go down and the show starts, Piper is thankful. She wouldn’t have to hear about “how HOT and totally tappable” Zayne was or “we are going to figure it out this time - it has to be a trick”. Now, she could see for herself.

All she could do after that first... trick..illusion? Was to blink and slowly grin. The man was indeed very attractive and he also had literal magic. She could feel it and it was different somehow. She clapped along with everyone else and watched the raven for a long minute before returning her attention to Zayne.

This was already proving to be worth the money.

The raven set off into flight almost instantly, swooping over the audience. Slowly it dissolved into glitter that fell over the people watching. He though was watching the woman in the front row that looked beautiful and elegant and practically radiated magic.

Interesting.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to the show. I am Zayne."

It came with fanfare and pyrotechnics as he danced and swirled in the mist and lights. He comes to a stop before Piper, holding out his hand to her.

"My assistant for the next trick," he announces, not asking for volunteers or giving her a choice as spotlights come up and someone rushes forward with a rolling staircase to get up on the stage.

When Piper's attention returned to him, she swore she saw him watching her. But then he went into his introduction and seriously, Piper had to give it to him. He knew how to start a show.

The glitter was especially a nice touch. It was going to be everywhere by the end of the night. The moment he stopped in front of her though and held out a hand, her eyebrows rose. She hesitated for only a second before standing from her seat. When the staircase was set in front of her, she stepped onto it then walked up and took his hand. There was a small part of her that thought she should refuse and have him choose someone else but she'd come here for a reason.

She could hear the clapping from the audience. Keeping a low profile indeed, Allison. Although she'd gone by Alessandra De Luca now for at least a year and a half, that was a hard one to break.

Taking her hand, there is definitely a charge there. Interesting. She isn't the first magically inclined person he's had in his audience but she's definitely a little bit above and beyond many. She positively glows, he thinks though he's not sure. Maybe it's just the already high energy from his performance and how good he feels when he's on stage.

"I am so lucky that the one that called to me tonight is such a beautiful and elegant woman, aren't I? May I ask your name?"

Even as he asks, he guides her towards a raised platform his assistants have brought out, two steps up to it and guiding her to the base of them, not guiding her up onto it yet though.

Piper glanced down at their hands as she felt that charge. Well, that was a new one for her. She lifted her gaze up to his.

Oh, she was not going to become like those fangirls sitting behind her.

"You really are," she answered with an amused smile. "Alessandra." Though whether he picked up that it was true or not was up for interpretation. For now, in a situation like this, she was not giving her real name out.

She stood at the base of the steps and looked at the platform before returning her gaze to him. Piper had not expected this tonight but she can't say she was disappointed.

"Alessandra," he announces, his voice projecting to the back of the hall as he holds up their joined hands for everyone to applaud her. And they do, the applause thunderous.

"This is a new trick and I'm excited to share it with you all. First though I'm going to need some information from you all. Someone tell me what your favorite animal is."

There is yelling and shouting. Everything from tigers and elephants to gorillas and puppies. One lady in the front keeps saying wolf. He looks to Alessandra.

"Which do you think? I mean, since I'm going to turn you into one of them. Which would you prefer?"

The audience quiets down as he asks her that.

She had to admit, if only to herself, that she liked the way the name sounded out of his mouth. Piper grinned at the applause then raised her eyebrows when he asked the crowd their favorite animal. What was he... oh. When he asked her her preference, she tilted her head.

Piper had always liked large cats but she was leaning toward something else today. "I'm feeling the wolf vibe," she said, projecting her voice a bit so she could be heard. She'd heard the lady in the front saying wolf and hell, why not.

She was curious how this would go. If anything, it's a nice change of pace.

Now he knows what the audience is expecting. Sleight of hand, some tricks with mirrors, a well trained tiger drugged so it isn't a risk to himself and others. Or, in this case, a wolf.

That he lets them choose is part of the fun. That he lets her choose and he loves that they'll think she works for him. Except she'll know. Not just that she's not but what he's going to do.

He moves to walk her up onto the platform, letting go of her hand then as he steps back.

"A wolf it will be then. Whatever the lady wants, after all."

Stepping away, the assistant's draw up a metal cage. For the audience it would look like it suddenly happened from one moment to the next. For Alessandra it's a sudden, magical shift and she's suddenly in the cage a wolf.

Not any sleight of hand, just turning her into a wolf. The audience cheers and laughs.

"Now. One of you," he says, gesturing at the audience. "Something that we can ask her to do for us to prove it's her. Something obviously a wolf can do but that I couldn't have known to train her for."

They all start yelling out things and he finally picks one that couldn't really have been thought of to train them for.

"Ms Alessandra," he says, coming to start into her eyes, smiling widely. "Would you please lay down, put your face on the ground and thump your tail three times?"

Her mouth curled up just a little at the edges. When the metal cage came up around her, she truly had to take a moment to breathe and not react. She's allowed this to happen after all. She could have refused or chosen a less dangerous animal.

One moment she's human and the next... she's on all fours as a wolf. If she thought her senses were heightened as a witch, it was nothing compared to that of the wolf. She stretched out slowly, testing out the strength that she felt, and cocked her head.

Piper would say that she was not completely expecting this but considering what she'd felt from him during that first trick, she's not that surprised. It intrigued her, truthfully, that someone like him was operating on that very thin line between a normal magician and a true magician in all sense of the word.

She growled low, almost playful when he looked into her eyes with that wide smile. You're just lucky you're kind of cute, she thought to herself. Scratch that. More than kind of cute. He was also lucky that his magic didn't feel wrong otherwise, well she would not have been here otherwise. As requested, Piper laid down, after an awkward moment of uncertainty, and then thumped her tail three times.

I'm only a little jealous I don't have a shifter power now.

Though, she was well aware shifters had their own issues that they dealt with.

Edited 2020-12-04 01:46 (UTC)

It was too much and he knows it. Not just in shifting her, but in asking her to do those things to prove that it's not a trained wolf. Though he knows they'll believe that and will argue that it's all mirrors and smoke, and he loves that. It's why he's allowed to keep doing this, because no one can prove he's truly using magic.

Except he had just revealed himself to someone, and so there's a chance the Whip could be after him. His luck is it with be Madoc. Bastard's wanted to nail his ass to the wall for years.

"Isn't she still lovely?"

Grinning as he steps back, gesturing towards her as the audience cheers.

"Though I think I liked her much better as she was before."

The music soars, the lights flicker and spotlights roll over the crowd.

He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a handful of glitter. He tosses it into the air and as he does, she shifts back to herself.

"Isn't she much more lovely like this?!"

Piper watches him and cocks her head a little before turning to face the crowd and growls, though it was a playful growl all the same. She found the man absolutely fascinating and was looking forward to the rest of his show if this was any indication of what to expect.

Just like before, one minute she was a wolf and in the next, she was herself again, standing and grateful for the bars to be put down. She gave the crowd a smile. "I have to say, I enjoy being myself as well," she said. Though, there was something to be said about being a wolf for a minute or two.

There was also a part of her that would really want to speak to him one on one but she wasn't sure how to go about that or if it was even a possibility.

He laughs at her reaction, a loud and booming sound of appreciation as he moves to offer her his hand as the others open the cage.

"Thank you for being such a beautiful and elegant sport about this. I know it's asking so much."

Many will think she's a plant, that they staged this. Usually he does use others who knew what he was. Now though he wants her to look to him and want to try and learn more. Since he wants to know more about her as well.

"And because you were such good sport, your evening is on me," he says. "Try and not drink too much of that champagne at your table."

And suddenly there is a stand and bucket with an expensive champagne in the ice, cooling.

Piper laughed and takes the offered hand, stepping down from the stage. "You should be so lucky, usually I ask for dinner before I let anyone turn me into an animal," she said, perhaps before she thought better of it.

But then he mentions that the champagne was on him and well, that did make up for it. "But champagne will do just as well," she said with a grin. Truth be told, she did want to learn more about him. She found him absolutely fascinating in a way she didn't really expect that evening.

She heard the audience laugh at her response and gave a somewhat elegant and perhaps slightly awkward bow. Everyone would probably think she was somehow in on his magic trick but she knew that what she'd just experienced was anything but smoke and mirrors.

Her words get that laugh from the audience and he can't help but smile. They would definitely think she was a plant now and he loves it. It keeps the Whips from thinking they can make him stop. So long as no one believes the truth, there's nothing they can do. Not by their own rules.

He takes her hand, leading her to the stairs. The lights swirl and flicker as the next trick is prepared for. He leans in close to her.

"Stay around after the show. Someone will come bring you to me," he says in a low, soft voice as he escorts her to her table. "And enjoy the show."

Piper gave his hand a little squeeze before releasing it in acknowledgment of his words. There was no doubt about it, she'd definitely have to stay now and see what he had to say. "I have no doubt that I will enjoy the rest of the show." She took her seat and reached over to pour herself a bit of the champagne he'd given her.

She had no doubt that everyone in the audience would think she was part of the show and while they both knew she wasn't, she wasn't opposed to pretending she was. Piper could see why, aside from his looks, that his show was so popular. It truly blurred that line between magic and trickery. It was fascinating.

The rest of the show was a spectacle of lights and glitter and animals and mystery. Tricks that were nothing like anyone had ever seen, that they couldn't replicate, and much as they tried no one of them could manage to figure out.

Then the stage went dark and the lights came on and one of the sequin clad gentlemen came to her table. "If you'll come with me, Miss," he says with a wide smile and turns to head for backstage. "Can we get you a drink?"

"Only a water, please," she said, her bag over her shoulder as she follows the man backstage. She saw a few fangirls trying to get his attention so that they too can be lead backstage.

Piper shook her head with an amused grin, already knowing the skeptics in the crowd would be talking about it on their YouTube channels in the upcoming day(s). It had been an amazing show. Normally, she didn't find shows like this interesting in the least and she knew why. Most of those were tricks of illusion and this one toed the line very well.

The gentleman nods at that, smiling brightly at her as he stops by a fridge just outside a dressing room and pulling out a bottle that he hands to her. He ignores them, his attention on Piper and her alone.

"Zayne will be here in a moment. He always takes a moment to meditate just after a performance. For his health," he says, which is the truth. Just not in the way it seems to many when they're told that. Most think it's setting up the tricks and dismantling his secrets.

In truth he's recovering from the magic that he's done.

The assistant leads her to a room with candles and candies on a table, with comfortable couches and everything set up for company and it shows.

"He'll be right in, Ma'am."

"Thank you," she said then took the bottle of water from him. She nodded in understanding and let him lead her into the room. "That makes sense," she agreed, thinking of how long it had been since she's meditated. Far too long, no doubt.

"Thank you again and I hope you have a good rest of your evening." She knew it was undoubtedly part of his job, she still appreciated it all the same. Piper could imagine just how late their nights went but as far as jobs went, it seemed exciting and always changing.

Once she was alone in the room, Piper took a moment to survey her surroundings. It was comfortable and charming. It was also set up for company and that thought made her grin. It could be taken for a romantic atmosphere but she also got the feeling it was supposed to make the person comfortable. Whether this was set up for every show he had or if it was a spur of the moment thing, she didn't know. It didn't really matter one way or the other, honestly.

Throughout the show, she'd found herself more and more intrigued by him and that thin line he skirted with absolute ease. It was... inspiring, actually.

It isn't all that long before there's a polite knock on the door. It might be his room but that doesn't change that he'll be polite and let her know he's entering.

Opening the door he comes in wearing loose fitting black pants that flow with his step and a white singlet that shows off his muscles and the naturally rich tones of his skin.

"Well well. I wasn't expecting to have prestigious company tonight. You should have let us know. You would have had VIP treatment." He steps forward, offering his hand to her. "I'm Zayne, and the pleasure is all mine. Thank you for playing along."

Piper sat down the bottle of water when she heard the knock and turned to look at the door. She took a moment to look the man over, now that he was out of his flashy outfit. There was no denying that the man was very attractive.

Her mouth curled up as she shook her head. "Prestigious is one way of putting it, I suppose," she said and stepped forward, taking his hand in hers and shaking it. "Piper and no, thank you. That was the most fun that I've had in a while." She knew she was admitting to the fact that she'd given him a false name earlier but she got the feeling that he knew (or suspected) who she was.

"You put on one hell of a show. It's inspiring."

"How else would you put it? Come now. I get magic workers from time to time, but you are off the charts," he says, looking her over. "In every single way"

Taking a moment, shaking her hand and smiling at that. "I'm so glad," he says, accepting that she had given an alias. It's what he would have done in her place as well. "Please, please. Sit down. I mean, unless you were sent to shut me down. In which case, I'll be greatly disappointed."

She wouldn't be the first one sent to prove he was revealing himself, after all.

"I bet you say that to everyone," Piper couldn't help but tease him before taking the offered seat with a shake of her head.

Settling in, she watched him for a moment, crossing her legs. "No, I'm not here to shut you down. Honestly, I didn't know about your show until recently. I had to come and see it for myself." Piper debated for a moment. "So, how private is this place?" The last thing she wanted was for any information about her to get out because of some passerby overhearing their conversation.

"Maybe," he says with a grin and a wink. "But with you I mean it."

And he does. She is definitely on another plane when it comes to her energy and he is finding that he really likes that from her.

When she says she's not there for that, he can't help but smile. Moving to sit down across from her, waving a hand. A chilled bottle of wine appeared before them, two glasses with it. He leans forward to pour them both a glass.

A wave of his hand and there's a shimmer. "It's just you and me," he says with a smile. "No cameras, no recording devices. I am, basically, at your mercy."

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