Tevin had never been so excited in his life, coincidentally he’d also never shown his spells to anyone outside of the coven before. He’d never had anyone to show. Mesa approached from inside the restaurant followed by a taller man holding a glass.

“Tevin.” She addressed him coldly. His heart rate spiked for an instant but he quieted it. 

“Who's this?”

“Your worst nightmare” Hector spoke up, wiggling his fingers spookily and then sipping the drink in one hand. A drink he solidly spat out when Mesa elbowed him in the ribs.

“This is Hector, He’s with me.” She said simply. Tevin looked between them for a minute. This was ok, right? It was normal she didn’t want to meet with him alone and he should probably be meeting friends of friends and stuff. This was how networking worked he was pretty sure. Clearing his throat and standing up straighter he tried to put confidence in his voice.

“Ok so I’ve placed some tokens representing the four cardinal directions, this is called a circle." He explained. Mesa glanced briefly to the edges of the empty parking lot where he'd been pacing before.

"Big circle." She commented. Tevin shifted on his feet nervously.

"I guess I didn't want us to be cramped." He excused sheepishly. He dropped to the pavement, sitting cross-legged and opening his backpack. "We're gonna make a luck talisman, that's pretty neat right?" He fished. He got no response, just cautious sitting from the two onlookers.

"Do we have to sit on the ground?" Hector asked, wrinkling his nose. "I gotta be at work in like an hour…"

"You don't have to do anything except die," Tevin answered absently as he pulled many objects from his backpack and placed them in front of himself. "Oh and say thank you." He remarked looking up again. "Thank you spirits of the directions, spirits of earth, spirits of the sky, for joining us today and aiding in our spell. So mote it be." He thanked the open air briefly before gesturing to his audience.

"Thanks," Mesa spoke quietly. 

"That's hilarious," Hector remarked without laughing. Tevin waited patiently. "I'm not thanking the spirits." He rolled his eyes, but Tevin just smiled wider.

"Then how will they know you're grateful?" He asked. 

"What?" He received no response, just more patient waiting. "Thank you spirits?" Hector relented, out of boredom more than anything. Tevin nodded at them in approval. He placed a few nondescript quartzes from his pocket onto the ground to his right.

"These are just some quartz I'd charged to temporarily repel bad weather. I'm hoping they'll keep the winds down while we work." He explained, turning back to the objects he'd pulled from his bag. Mesa and Hector exchanged a look of doubt, it wasn't super windy to begin with but they didn't know how rocks would help with that.

In front of them where they sat across from Tevin, there was a tiny yellow candle, a few small gems, a little bottle, and other assorted witchy nonsense. Mesa took a deep breath. She knew this was going to be weird but it's different watching it unfold. Tevin lit the tea light with a lighter and the flame ignited almost larger than the candle itself.

"This is mostly for light but anything can be integrated into a spell if you're creative." He said. 

"Wait, so you're just making this up?" Hector laughed. Tevin smiled brightly, as if not hearing the condescending tone.

"Yes! Making your own spells can make them more powerful if you understand the magick behind it." The air itself seemed energized with his excitement as he explained. "Ok now as we do this I want you to think about the luckiest things that have happened to you." He said, spreading a square of green and white felt in front of himself. Clearly on a roll now. "Meditate, if you know how, on what led to this luckiest chain of events. What small things in life were aligned to help you get ahead."

He used the tea light to light a bundle of dried plants, blowing it lightly until it glowed red and hot, smoke billowing off the burning end. He waved it in clockwise motions over the items they were using and the surrounding area. He put it out on the pavement and picked up three gems one by one.

"Tigers eye is used to encourage lucky actions," Tevin explained, plucking a reddish-orange stone from the pavement. He set it carefully on top of the felt square. "It will help your physical wellbeing so long as it is near. Not to mention its affinity for felines may come in handy." 

He wiggles his eyebrows playfully but his audience doesn't respond.

"Heh...uh Labradorite." He picks up a lovely, blue-streaked crystal. "To invoke lucky decisions." He places the crystal down on the square as well. "Only through our choices can we truly manipulate the world around us."

He picks up the last stone from the ground.

"This is Citrine, a stone for those seeking to manifest change." He explains, holding a small, lemon yellow gem. Mesa raises an eyebrow, eyes glued to the little stone. "Its purpose here is to keep bad luck at bay." He finishes, setting the stone gently beside the others. Next, he unwrapped a bundle of wax paper to reveal even more dried herbs.

"You've probably seen a few kinds of clover in your life, but I just picked some of the ones that grow around here. They're associated with luck for a reason." He raised his eyebrows as he looked at them, hoping for a reaction. Neither spoke up but both seemed to be paying close attention.

Until both heads turned sharply at the sound of a car pulling into the parking lot.

"Ah, we gotta move," Hector started to stand. 

"It'll pass," Tevin stopped him, not looking up from where he carefully placed the clovers beside the gems on the felt. Hector hesitated but ultimately settled back down, both him and Mesa watching the car as it approached. Sure enough, it reached near the edge of the large circle Tevin had placed and casually turned away into a different section of the lot. Tevin snapped his fingers twice to draw their attention back.

"Don't snap at me," Mesa growled, but Tevin didn't flinch at her tone this time. Pinching the edges of the felt square together to make a pouch, holding all the ingredients inside.

"Witchcraft takes concentration, remember what you were thinking about." He wrapped a yellow ribbon around the top of the pouch to tie it shut. "Luck." He said, punctuating it with a knot in the ribbon. Mesa didn't say anything, her mind drifting back to the lucky things she'd been granted in life. Her ambition, her focus, her wireless headphones she found on the street that somehow worked when she tried them. 

"We knot the ribbon three times, speaking these words for each knot." He said. 

"My luck carries me as I carry this talisman."

They watched him for a minute, and nothing happened.

"Well?" He raised an eyebrow. They mumbled as they repeated his sentence.

"My luck carries me as I carry this talisman" 

He knotted the ribbon again.

"One more." He said with a smile and they spoke the sentence a third time.

"My luck carries me as I carry this talisman."

He knotted the yellow ribbon the third and final time. 

"Very good." He spoke approvingly. He took the small glass bottle from the ground and dabbed some of its fragrant contents onto four points on the outside of the bag.

"This is Bergamot, I like the citrus oils." He remarked lightly. "It attracts wealth and success." 

"It smells good," Hector remarked, watching Tevin's hands as he re-lit the bundle of herbs on the candle. 

"A little sage to charge it." He explained, holding the pouch in the smoke. "And there it is." He smiled brightly, holding the bag by the ribbon still tied to it and looking at his audience expectantly. 

"So...what happens now?" Mesa asked. Tevin was confused as he looked between their expectant faces.

"It...you take it with you."  He explained slowly. She humphed in disappointment, taking the talisman from Tevin and turning it over in her hand. "It will bring you luck, the more you believe it the better it will work." 

"Like the tooth fairy?" Hector chuckled.

"No!" Tevin shouted in sudden irritation. "I...no...I'm sorry for yelling." He took a deep breath. Mesa elbowed Hector again.

"Uhph...dude, you gotta stop that" he wheezed

"Classless pig," Mesa muttered under her breath. Hector rolled his eyes.

"You're buying this?" He scoffed. Mesa shrugged, eyeing the talisman again. The tea light quietly flickered out, leaving the group in the dark.

"I'm interested." She replied simply, the almost full moon cast the only light to see by as it bounced off her hair. Tevin smiled brightly at her admission. "Listen, Rowan, you've got my attention." She addressed him and he quickly hid his excitement. "That doesn't mean I trust you and that doesn't mean I'm joining." She listed. Tevin nodded in acceptance, he was getting to her and it was only a matter of time.

"Welp I'm gonna bounce." Hector stood and brushed the dirt off his pants. Tevin and Mesa rose slowly after him. 

"I should leave too, I've got a prior engagement to...re-engage with." She lamely dismissed herself, dropping the talisman into her laptop bag. Tevin shook her hand before she left, yet she found herself turning back around. "I'll tell Tera about this, she'd love it." She said quietly. Tevin grinned harder and she almost wanted to take it back.

"It's Hector right?" Tevin called after the guy already halfway back inside.

"Legally." He yelled back, walking backward so he was still making progress away from them.

"Thanks," Tevin said, only at speaking volume, just loud enough to be heard so far away. Hector stopped walking in confusion.

"For what?" 

"Doing this?" Tevin shrugged. "You don't have an interest and you didn't have to stick it out, so thanks." He elaborated. 

"Uh yeah, no prob." Hector didn't know how to respond to a genuine sentiment, so he just turned back around and awkwardly kept walking. Tevin proudly packed up his supplies as he watched the two disappear back into the restaurant.

###

Hector lived with his brother, Hunter. He had for a few years following a falling out with their father. He worked at the movie theater in the G.E.M and he took classes on the weekend to earn his electrician apprenticeship. Hector tried his best and Hunter could appreciate that. 

Hunter, on the other hand, didn't go to school. He was surprised they let him graduate high school, and he certainly wasn't smart enough for electrical work. He got a job at Denny's where he eventually became Manager. He had insurance, at least to some degree, and he made enough money to have a savings account he added to every week. It was Hunter's own opinion that he was doing pretty ok all things considered.

Hunter woke up to his alarm at 5:40 as he did most mornings and rolled out of bed to unlock the front door and make himself some coffee. It was Monday so he dumped the coffee from last week and started over again with just water and grounds.

He played Tetris on his phone with zombie-eyes as he waited. Just as his coffee finished brewing and he started to actually be alive for the day, Hector kicked the door open.

"How was your day?" Hunter asked in a flat tone, too asleep to muster more.

"Uhhhg" Hector didn't even pretend to give a real answer as he kicked off his shoes and trudged past, taking the coffee that was offered to him. 

"Going to sleep?" Hunter asked, watching his brother finish his coffee in two chugs and fall face first into the couch.

"One of us has to, you vampire." Hector's reply was muffled but Hunter still smiled. Hunter slept for maybe three hours a night, if at all.

"Alright, I'm off." He announced, grabbing his coat and his keys.

"Hat," Hector muttered again into the cushions. Hunter stopped halfway out the door.

"Right! Right..." He tossed some stuff off of the 'stuff chair' in the kitchen and grabbed his hat. "Thanks, bye." He called as he left, the door not quite closing on the first try.

"Bye," Hector said to the empty house before falling asleep.