Basic Witches

"Say they could have a chance to get their voices heard," she offers. "Elemental witches usually want to benefit the environment in which they work, but they're rarely taken seriously. However, you could work it into your products to benefit things like the forest or the sea, things like that. Sponsor eco-friendly charities. It boosts your popularity amongst your consumers, too, cause they think you care about the planet that way. People tend to like companies that sponsor charities that do stuff like forest conservation or ocean cleanup. That sorta thing. It'd give them a voice, and they'd want that."
 
Johner snapped out of her reverie the moment a waitress moved to set their plates down on the table. The idea of sponsoring a eco-friendly cause was pretty rich. She considered the sheer amount of non-recyclable plastic LunaLove corporations produced yearly for their custom packaging, the toxic pollutants in LunaLove's "All Natural" Beauty products that went down the drain in so many households. She poured herself a cup of breakfast tea, trying to judge Luna's response based on her neutral facial expression.

"Yes. Yes! It'll be cute to sponsor some little tree-hugger cause. We could call the campaign, "LunaLove'sThe Planet"! I might even rebrand myself as some kind hippy. Get my followers to adopt endangered species' and sign petitions." Luna clapped her hands.
"I do want those witches on my side, so I suppose project clean the oceans and save the forests is a go. Even if it is a just a tiny bit superficial."
Johner chuckled. "You think?"
 
Mako flagged down a confused waitress who was carrying a jug of orange juice.
"Sorry, that's me. I'm over here." The waitress placed it on a table nearby.
Mako turned back to Liavetta. "So, this coven. What did you have in mind for it?"
 
Nera nods, a smirk on her face that practically screams 'this couldn't be more ironic if you tried.'
"It sounds like a good plan."

Liavetta shrugs. "Truthfully I'm not sure where the coven leader is. But I guess- for us to meet up and cast rituals together? Bonding more as friends, exchanging techniques in the ways we do our work, fun things we find...something like that, maybe?"
 
The floor of the Old Boathouse was uneven, boards and planks uprooted or warping slightly. Most people navigated their way to tables and out of the main doors just fine, but the floors would invariably make sure the odd accident would happen once or twice with those who were not used to them.
Holly Bergstrom, newly hired as a waitress at the Old Boathouse, hadn't made the adjustment of walking on the floors with her high heels. She passed a table, foccusing on carrying two overfilled jugs of pink lemonade on a tray, and not on where she stepped.
The red heel of her shoe snagged against a dip in the wood, causing her to lurch forwards, accidentally dumping a jug onto a young, finely dressed girl. The pink liquid spilt down the back of her seat, pouring onto her expensive looking coat and white blouse. Holly Bergstrom was mortified.
"Shit!" Luna stood up immediately. Johner grabbed a fistful of napkins, immediately giving them to Luna so she could dab at her front.
"I- I'm so sorry." The skin on Holly Bergman's cheeks glowed a blushed red. She stood around awkwardly, unsure if she should help the girl with her blouse and coat, or clean up the now slippery, hazardous floor.
"You better be," Luna fumed, suddenly poisonous. "That coat probably cost more than your yearly salary."
Johner made an effort of coughing over her comment, sending sympathising looks to the waitress and hoping she didn't pick up on Luna's hissed remark.
 
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Nera takes the coat and shakes it out, removing what she can of the stains. "Johner," she mumbles, pointing to the coat. "Cleaner lady."
The woman has been hired specifically because she is able to remove stains on specific fabrics. Nera's halfway convinced the woman's a witch as well. She knows there's a chance the lady can save Luna's coat. For the time being, she offers her own.

"Oh my gosh," Liavetta mumbles, elbowing Mako repeatedly as she looks over at Luna. The Luna. "Isn't that Luna? From LunaLove?"
"And that waitress just spilt liquid all over her," Aiyana says with a smirk, watching the waitress stutter and stumble with judgemental eyes. "That coat's expensive, too."
"W-We have to go talk to her! Maybe we can help, or something?" Liavetta's clearly excited, seeing the idol whose vlogs she watches religiously, whose performances she attends every time no matter where they are across the country, and whose light blue eyeshadow palette was just to die for.
 
Mako blinked. A celebrity in their midst? In the Old Boathouse?
"LunaLove." Mako frowned. The name was faintly familiar. She accompanied Liavetta to her table, seeing how excited her the witch was at the prospect of meeting her idol.

Luna dons Nera's jacket without much grace, hardly deigning to thank the girl for her gesture.
Johner takes her phone out, fully prepared to call the woman they'd hired who specialised in clearing mess from certain stubborn fabrics. She lowered her phone when she saw the girls.
"We have your flock of witches coming our way, Luna."
Luna looked up. She put on a forced smile, trying to look less pissed off and more like a celebrity the public adored. The waitress, seeing her chance to disappear, gathered the fallen jug and her tray, slipping away.
 
Aiyana watched from behind Liavetta as the girl tried to contain her excitement at "the Luna!" Her arms were folded over her chest, and she was watching the girl with a critical eye.
She knew Luna, sure. She loved the fashion line the girl did, but hated the way she treated animals. Still, her products were undeniably good and gave that sharp edge to her eyes. Luna's products couldn't really be beat.

Liavetta noticed the coat Nera was holding, and blinked. "I could get that out, if you wanted," she blurted before she could stop herself.
 
Luna said nothing, still surveying the girl carefully. She took pains to smile, but behind her friendly mask, dark, calculating eyes darted from face to face.
"You could?" Johner looked hopeful, knowing the pink stain on Luna's yak coat would be a bastard to get out.

"And who are you girls?" Luna said finally with a warm tone. She knew who they were, of course, but she had to maintain her obliviousness. Fate had pushed them into her hands, and she would make a strong pitch to them once she got to know each girl. Her eye twitched as Johner roughly handled her coat, moving to show Liavetta where the main stain was.
 
Liavetta took the fabric and examined the stain.
Aiyana tutted. "No, you need to hold it like this." She fixed the coat's fabric to lay it gently in Liavetta's arms, where the stain was clearly visible. "This fabric's delicate and damaged enough as it is. If you handle it so roughly you'll only spread the stain."
Liavetta's eyes were wide and mouth in a small 'o' shape as she looked at the fabric, now folded properly in her arms. She ran her fingers tentatively over the cloth, and finally registered what Johner had said.
"Oh! Um, well, I can...uh, you see..."

Nera glanced at the necklace. River water. Clear. Gathered this morning, by the looks of it.
Her gaze flicked up to Liavetta's bright blue eyes, staring at her like a deer in the headlights. Cute, she thought. Innocent.
"What's your name?"

"Liavetta!" she chimes.
 
Johner folded her arms across her chest, screwing her face up at the correction from Aiyana. "Alright. Listen, I think we can all appreciate the hand of help extended here, but I gotta to ask, what do you want from us? You want autographs?" She knew privately they were the witches Luna wanted, but it didn't hurt to see how they reacted to a loud, ruffled member of Luna's security in their face. After all, this was a celebrity they were in the presence of. Not just some local community member they didn't have to respect under a social hierarchy.
Luna watched Aiyana handle her coat. It was a grievance when Johner touched it, but enough to send her into a fit when a stranger handled her coat, albeit more gently than her subordinate. She placed a hand on Johner's back to reign her in, not wanting the girl to scare the two off so easily.
"Liavetta, hm? That's a nice name." She tuned into Nera's conversation, keeping her tone steady.

Mako looked at her boots, frowning at the obnoxious friend Luna kept in her company. "Liavetta? Maybe we oughta get along." She said, quiet enough to be ignored in the buzzing conversation.
 
Liavetta smiled, but looked at Mako. "Mako, this is Luna! It's a chance that doesn't come along every day to speak to her!" she whispered excitedly, before turning back to Luna. "Yeah! And uh, I-I just wanted to come say hi. But I mean, your coat here, the stain, I think I can remove it. It would take a little while but I'm pretty sure I can do it just fine." The security member scared her somewhat, but the weird alternatively-styled girl sitting across from Luna made her feel a little more comfortable. Something about her.
 
Luna smiled, a pearly white, I-had-dental-insurance-as-a-kid grin.
"Be my guest, Liavetta." She said mildly. Her voice was soft and low. There had to be more this girl had to offer other than stain removal, and she was keen to see what else she would give away about herself during their conversation. She shared a glance with Nera. This one will be useful.
Johner folded her arms across her chest, eyeing the girls in silence. Usually it took a while for Luna to make her decisions. She mentally prepared herself, expecting to spend another hour at the Old Boathouse doing absolutely nothing other than offering the odd obnoxious remark when it was due.
 
Liavetta smiled and picked up the coat, delicately, like how Aiyana had showed her. She knew the area around the Old Boathouse, and knew there were a couple of rivers nearby.
"I'll be back soon with it. Like, an hour, maybe? It'll be good as new! Promise!"
Before anyone could object or she could think about what, exactly, she was doing, she dashed out with the coat and off to the nice river.
 
"How much you wanna bet she's not coming back and that coat's gonna turn up on eBay under "Luna Worn Coat"?" Johner looked nonplussed at Liavetta's disappearance. She'd seen it all before. Fans, usually the obsessive teenage variety, would do anything to get their hands on Luna's possessions. She'd never seen a con pulled off so obviously, though. Normally Luna would intervene at some stage, or go shrill and pitch a fit at the idea of having something of hers blatantly stolen. But Luna only looked pleased, as if it had all gone as expected.
Johner looked to the other two girls. "Count yourselves lucky. Normally Luna doesn't interact with her fans in such close proximity." She warned, reasserting the exclusivity of their encounter, even though she'd just let openly let a member of the public run off with Luna's coat.
 
Aiyana nodded, chuckling. "Oh, I'm sure she'll be back. But nah, didn't really expect her to be running off quite so fast."

Liavetta quickly dashed to the woods. Down the path to the river, stumbling over the stones, being so very careful not to trip and damage the material. She kicked off her shoes before plunging into the ankle-high water, sinking to her knees and placing the coat in front of her.
Must be careful, she thought as she wove her spell. Summoning the water to her, feeling it weave through every fibre of the coat, wrapping around the stain and lifting it free of the fabric. Washing it away in the river. This was the kind of spell that could only work when the stain was this fresh.
As her voice filled the small river, calling the waters and encouraging it to work with her, she felt a sense of satisfaction knowing that she was helping someone. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at her work- the stain was gone. It looked like nothing had ever been there in the first place.
The hour she'd asked for, she thought as she rose from the water, graciously thanking the river with a couple of drops of water from the vial around her neck and a pretty pebble she'd picked up, was going to be in order to let it dry. What she wouldn't give to know a wind witch.
 
Johner waited for Luna to say something, but she said nothing. She decided she would chose this fresh brood of witches carefully, partly on their level of compliance, and partly on how much Johner could be deployed to intimidate them. The only exceptions to this rule in her employmeant were Moose, her blood witch, who could only be scared by the threat of docking her pay, and Nera, someone she had yet to find a weakness in. Not that she had to excercise much power over Nera. The girl was self-directed. She had yet to screw a spell, a glamour, or a charm up. But this new gang she foresaw, they had to be directed so she could utilize their powers to run her fine business. These nature witches were more free spirited, and that meant their spirit had to be broken for them to work more efficiently for her. She already saw promise in Liavetta, and the meek little sea witch who stood in her shadow most of the time.
 
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Aiyana was silently analysing the girls in front of her. At the same time, Nera was looking them over. She looked to Aiyana.
"So, what do you get up to for your job?"
"Assistant," the taller girl responds. "But with the way my job works, I might as well be a personal fashion advisor." She grins, and Nera grins back. She decides that she quite likes this girl. Aiyana was sassy, and confident- she'd fit well. If Luna could find a use for her, that is.
She turns to the one who stood in Liavetta's shadow, now uncertain of her footing. "And you?"
 
Surprised at her own acknowledgment, Mako put her hands behind her back and had to think for a moment.
"I'm a tour guide. Take folks around the beach and show 'em the wildlife from the safety of my boat." She shrugs. "It's fun in the summer, but not a good gig to have in the winter."
 
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