Young Writers Society

That definitely left some things up to interpretation, but Magic could roll with that. They just had to figure out someone to do. There were so many choices. Each had their drawbacks - whether it was outfit, actual history or something else - but they all had good reasons, too. Whoever they ended up doing, they just knew it wasn't going to be a woman from a time period with corsets. That definitely hadn't been a fun time to look remotely feminine, that was for sure.

They ran through a list of people in their head, finally settled on one.

The world glitched out around them again, but when the particles faded away, a very different person was standing in their place. The clothes the man was wearing were certainly old-fashioned, and smelled distinctively of seawater. His beard - which Magic knew was going to be a dead giveaway - was long, wild and black, and he had on a hat that looked distinctively pirate-esque.

Magic grinned from behind the beard, then realized they didn't like not being clean-shaven. Having a beard felt weird. They couldn't remember the last time they used one, or at least one of this length.

"Argh, ye matey," they said, resting a hand on one hip and winking.

Landon let out a surprised little bark of a laugh, and clapped his hands together once. He wasted no time in carefully walking around Magic and surveying the very pirate-y figure they had chosen, delighted at the small details he caught in the clothing.

"Wow." he whistled softly and looked up from where he had been kneeling to look closer at the embroidery at the hem of Magic's coat. "Do you have to think of every little piece of a form, or does it just happen?"

He stood back up, and then his gaze drifted to the heavy beard. He didn't wait for his question to be answered before he asked another.

"Can I feel your beard?" he smiled and looked back up at their face, his fingers barely twitching.

"It depends," Magic admitted. "Sometimes I just tap into the memories of the multiverse, if I'm doing a person who already existed. Then the form just kind of...creates itself. Like with this one, I just thought I wanted to be Blackbeard, and with the last one, I just thought I wanted to be you. But when I'm just doing a form I've thought of myself, I need to go through all the little details."

They hadn't realized how much they had been ranting until they remembered that another question had been asked nearly a minute before. They normally wouldn't have a problem with Landon's request, but something about it made butterflies fly in their stomach. But they wanted to make Landon happy, so they nodded and gave him a smile. "And, sure. Go ahead!"

"Oh, that makes sense!" He beamed, pausing for a moment to take in their little rant, which he had followed excitedly. "So since you are connected to the universe that way, you have access to forms that already exist in some way!"

He registered the permission they had given then, and with another wide little smile, he reached out with both hands and gently stroked the long beard.

"That's interesting." He murmured, mostly to himself. "It's soft and scratchy at the same time.."

Absentmindedly, he started playing with their beard and humming, more comfortable than he probably should have been while forming a small little braid in the middle.

While they had expected Landon to touch the beard, they hadn't expected the stroking or the braiding. The sensation made heat rush to their cheeks. Landon was so close right now, and the humming was almost cute. Everything about this situation - even though they were standing in a magical tavern and Magic currently looked like Blackbeard - was serene. They could even smell him; he smelled pretty nice. If they had to put a word to the scent, it was like spices. And not bad ones, either. The smell wasn't too strong and wasn't too weak.

It was just right.

It seemed to match him. Magic never thought they would think that about someone, but they also never thought their face would feel so warm or the butterflies would be flying so frantically around in their stomach-

Their eyes widened.

No, no, no! They had to be evaluating the signs all wrong. Yeah, that had to be it. The cheeks were because the room was warm, the butterflies were because they didn't like this unfamiliar form, and they had only noticed the smell because Landon was so nearby.

It definitely wasn't because they had a crush on him!

If they did, that would be awkward. They barely knew each other, and saw each other as friends at most. And Landon had plenty of problems to worry about. He didn't need to worry about the personification of all things magical having a crush on him - if they really had a crush, which they didn't.

...They definitely didn't.

As they were thinking this, their face had grown increasingly red. It was only now that they were beginning to realize just how bad this whole situation looked. And they couldn't pull away - that would worry Landon, and probably make him feel bad.

So they just continued to stand there, face bright red, palms sweaty and eyes wide.

Landon finished up the tiny braid and lifted his hands, though he didn't step back any further.

"All done!" he called cheerfully, and looked up, only to be taken aback.

Magic's face was bright red, and they looked very, very uncomfortable. His eyes widened briefly as he tried to read their expression. Maybe they didn't like the braid?

"Are you okay?" He asked softly. "Did I do anything wrong?"

Ever so gently, he started to undo the braid, just in case that was what was making Magic uncomfortable.

Magic had felt a surge of relief when Landon stepped away, only to feel the same conflicted and flustered feeling return when he started to undo the braid. Their heart raced; they needed to come up with something that made sense - or, at least, something that didn't betray the conclusion they were starting to come to.

"No," they said, giving a strained smile from behind the beard. "You, er, uh, just...Well, it's not you that's the problem. It's the beard. I usually use clean-shaven forms. It's a personal preference of mine, so the beard's throwing me off, and you touching the beard is reminding me that it's there."

Landon dropped his hands almost comically as Magic explained, and took a big step back, his eyes round.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I had no idea it was making you uncomfortable." He brought a hand up nervously to rest at the back of his neck and gave them a little smile. "It was really, really cool, but you don't have to keep this form for me anymore. The beard can go."

"It's okay," Magic hurriedly reassured him, their cheeks still red even after they changed their form to the one they had been using when they entered the building. "Is there, uh, anything else you want me to take the form of?"

Landon smiled widely again, for no other reason than that he was both still extremely excited about all the demonstrations and grateful that Magic was willing to perform them for his simple entertainment.

"Hmm..." he thought a moment, rubbing his chin almost cartoonishly, and then his eyes lit up in amusement. "Okay, I got it! Chose someone we both know and do an impression of them! Please, I mean. And thank you." he winked at the end of this, having way too much fun.

That they could do. They thought for a moment, thinking of someone they had both met - which would mean someone from the incident with the wooden bodies. There were a lot of people to choose from, but they knew just who to go with.

A second later, a young man with blond hair and black highlights was standing before Landon. He looked around casually, only to stiffen and pale when he stared off into the distance. "Is that a g-ghost?" he stammered.

"IM NOT A DAMN GHOST OK?" silver yells to Magic

"IM A HYBRID!" landon looks at silver and looks horrified by the silhouette he is seeing