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Jack sat cross-legged in the centre of his bed, eyes closed and concentrating on his central core. Like most warlocks, his magic centred around a bright coil of energy, and his core sat behind his belly button, but that wasn’t the same for everyone. He often spoke about his magic having a personality of its own, and he had best described it of late as cranky, but as he took several breaths to focus his mind, he could tell there was a change. For him, the physical manifestation of his base magic was a blue light, with a hint of sea green, and since his injury, it had been like the sea at high tide, choppy and temperamental, with unchartable areas and changing on a whim. Now it was calmer, not back completely to normal, but sensing it like this gave Jack more hope than he’d dare believe. There’d been moments when he’d thought he’d never recover, dark hours where he’d contemplated what he could do without his magic and the belief he could not thrive if it never returned, debating whether he would even want to.

As a young child, he was taught how to harness his power, and he thought to use similar ways to test what he could do. Back then whispers about his heritage had started early, his gifts and the talent to use them had silenced his critics, but his mother had been worried, and he’d been sent away to live with relatives further inland by the time he reached his teens. Most people assumed he was English, he’d perfected the accent with centuries of practise, but he was from Stavangeroriginally, a small coastal city, and he still remembered his first trip on the waves and arriving in Whitby. He’d heard a few months later, that his mother had died, succumbing to what nowadays would be diagnosed as influenza.

He pushed away those thoughts and put them back in the box along with others that he wouldn’t allow to take hold or they would at best disrupt his sleep, at worst shepherd him into madness. Today was about a new start and recovery, not for dwelling on the past.

Jack was confident he now had a good handle on the state of his magic and wanted to see what he could do. He decided on a summoning spell, close and not taxing. Jack spotted an empty plastic beaker on the table by the window and decided that was an ideal first target. He’d been trying to test his magic on and off for a while, so was delighted when the cup floated over to him with no resistance. He spent a moment re-examining his inner core and found there was no disruption to the calm he’d experienced earlier. It was too premature to do a victory dance, but he was pleased with his small improvements.

He decided to try something heavier, and a large leather-bound book glided into his hands. It was hard to describe how something so simple could make him feel so happy, as if he were finally turning the corner and the light at the end of the tunnel was now an open space and not a train. His next attempt was to banish the beaker, and it disappeared with ease, but he decided against doing the same for the book, as Alex wouldn’t be impressed if he couldn’t return it. Instead, he focused on a pillow with the intent to have it rematerialize on the chair. The effort involved was greater and he would be lying if he didn’t feel the effects.

Chris drifted through the wall unannounced, Jack was getting used to it. “Oh, what are you up to?” Chris asked.

“Giving my magic a bit of a poke. Nothing too exciting, just trying to see how things are progressing.”

“Can I stay and watch?”

He hadn’t intended to have an audience, but he didn’t mind, and Chris might be available for a top-up cuddle afterwards.

“Sure, I’m doing a few basic spells. I might charge you an entrance fee to watch though.”

“If a hug is legal tender then I’m down for that. Do you do wordless magic?” Chris asked.

“Mostly, I do sometimes mutter for certain complicated enchantments but not often.” At least he never used to need to do so, and he hoped that would be the case in the future.

“You must be very powerful. Most of the magic users I remember needed to speak to cast.”

“Have you met a lot of magic users?” He thought Ben might have the odd visitor at the hall, but maybe Chris had been exposed to others in his previous situations.

Chris blinked as if he were processing a thought. “Now you come to say it, not a huge number. But I don’t think I’m wrong about the wordless magic.”

“No, you’re not, or at least my experience is the same. What made you so certain?”

“I don’t know, it was if it was a fact I just knew to be the case.” Chris wrinkled his nose. “I’ve several things like that happen of late, maybe they are well-buried memories or things that happened around my jar when I slept. I did hear that you can learn things in your sleep.”

Jack had been told some humans listened to audiobooks to undergo passive learning, so he supposed it was possible. “I’ve been summoning and banishing mostly, so far. I thought I might try some simple transfiguration.”

Chris hovered over the end of the bed. His gaze more intent than usual and he even seemed a bit less see-through than previously, but Jack wasn’t sure if it was something to do with the light in the room or a true change.

He picked up the beaker and turned it into a bowl, which was a relatively easy alteration.

Chris made a soft cooing noise. “Your magic is so pretty.”

Jack stared at him. “You can see my magic?”

“Yes, it’s a lovely greeny-blue colour.”

“Can you see the magic Alex and Karl do?”

Chris shrugged. “I wasn’t looking for it. I can tell when they’re doing things or if they’ve wards up.”

“Ashley will probably have a monitoring charm of some sort on me, nothing intrusive, more a flare if my vitals plummet, can you see that?”

Chris narrowed his eyes and peered at him. “You’ve got a red circle around your right wrist. Tastes a bit different.”

Ashley’s magic tended to manifest red, so Chris’s observation seemed to be on point. “Had you seen it before?”

“No,” Chris said, then bit his lip. “Or I didn’t notice. We’ve been getting closer, perhaps it’s linked to the healing hugs.”

Chris had some of his own magic, the echoes he used to find food in the main, but maybe it wasn’t all he could do. Who knew what he might have been capable of before he found himself a thing in a jar? Or he could be a watcher, someone capable of seeing magical energy but they didn’t usually have a lot of their own. He’d always thought it to be the shit end of the deal, but it fitted with what Chris was saying.

“There are people who can see magic, they often don’t have a lot of their own but act as guides for others.”

“That could be me. I do bits, but they’re around getting my dinner like my echo.” Chris bobbed up and down, Jack thought he was excited at the idea they might have discovered something new. “Do you know where I can learn more?”

A couple of the books Ashley had dropped off might have something, although the humans had put their whole existence online, the paranormal community didn’t tend to, mostly out of fear of ending up a sub-thread of a Reddit forum somewhere.

He summoned a book and checked the index of Magical Phenomenal: A Historical Treatise into Forgotten Arts . Sure enough, there was a reference, but not an awful lot. Jack lay the book open in front of Chris, there were a few pages, nothing new to Jack but a nice introduction for Chris. He waited for Chris to finish reading the page and was about to offer to turn it over when Chris did it himself.

“I didn’t know you could do that.”

Chris looked up. “Do what?”

“Move things—you turned the page.”

Chris stared at the book. “Did I?”

“Yes.”

Chris stared at his finger and the book and then turned another page over. He giggled. “Oh my god, did you see that?”

He spent the next several minutes flipping the book’s pages and squeaking with delight.

“I wonder what else I can move?” Chris said, staring around the room.

Jack was thinking the same, although another part of him wanted to know how Chris was doing it, and if it was in any way linked to Chris’s ability to help him recover. Was he in some way leaching a little of Jack’s magic at the same time? Jack didn’t think he’d be able to test the theory now given he was already flagging, but they would try in a day or so and try to conserve his energy to do so. “Something to add to the list to test.”

Chris bit his lip. “Or we could see if I can touch you?”

He been able to sense Chris’s presence when he’d curled around him, but it wasn’t like being touched in the standard way.

“I’d have no objection.”

Chris moved so his face was mere inches away from Jack’s. He reached up and Jack felt a featherlight touch to his cheek. “Can you feel that?”

“Yes,” he croaked. “Want to see if you can kiss me?”

“I’ve never kissed anyone before.”

“Well, now’s as good a time as any to have your first.”

Jack’s love life was best described as sporadic, he got laid occasionally. He couldn’t believe he was trying to convince a semi-corporeal being who lived in a jar to snog him. He liked Chris. If he were honest, it was more than just like, and he’d been a lot more intimate than a mere kiss with people he thought a lot less of.

Chris’s eyes were wide and there was a hint of colour to them, which was also new. Blue like his magic, and this pale blue was his new favourite shade. He would let Chris lead, he could only imagine how overwhelming being able to touch someone for the first time must be.

Chris leant in and brushed his lips against Jack’s, and while he heard an audible sigh, he didn’t feel it, although there was a gentle pressure when their lips met. It was as if he was being caressed by a feather, an almost innocent exchange but from Chris’s look of desire that was because he couldn’t do more.

Chris pulled back and licked his lips. “Did you feel something?”

Jack nodded and smiled. “Yeah.”

“Me too. But I don’t understand how this is happening now.” Chris wrinkled his nose and then frowned. “I need to go.”

He shot away from the bed, his fingers tapping his lips.

“Wait! Why?” Jack called.

“I’ll be back. I just need to think.”

Chris flew through the wood panelling, back towards his room, leaving Jack on his own. Why did his life have to be so complicated? Why couldn’t he find a normal bloke to fall for? Why for once could he not have to fight for something good that could come his way without a load of bullshit?

He settled back onto his pillows. He was tired, testing his magic had been an expected drain, but the kiss with Chris had been a whole different matter and he was now tired, body and soul.