[Disclaimer: Slight mentioning of toxic/abusive relationships.]
"MOM!...STOP HUGGING ME!" Jade spoke annoyed while pushing Ned away from her, "I can't fuckin hug you now? wanna get your Ass whooped instead?!" Ned responded displeased at his daughter pushing him away, he hasn't seen or heard from Jade in two months, and he finally came to visit her at the academy but she's pushing him away.
"C'mon Jade! Mom hasn't been feeling well ever since you left, you won't die from a hug!" Jasper said rolling his eyes.
"I'm not ten years old anymore, he can pick up the phone and call me!"
"But you'll always be my little Shit even if you're older now...plus I hate making phone calls you know that, and you left me on read when I texted you!" Ned replied.
"For a reason mom."
"If you're angry about your punishment, you deserve it for punching an innocent man in the face.
And Despite you being such a naughty kid, I still love you like you were born yesterday, here look! I brought you gifts!" Ned said handing her few shopping bags.
"Eh? what's that? my family having a peaceful domestic moment? when will it be ruined?" Jade whispered sarcastically to herself while inspecting the gifts, she knew jealousy was about to attack her twin.
"So many gifts...And you dare to say you don't have favorites Mom!" Jasper spoke up unamused at the amount of gifts his sister received, "I don't! I love you both equally!" Ned said smiling.
"Aha! there it is, the moment is ruined." Jade said chuckling, "You know mom, Jasper is talking about how you always pay more attention to me, and give me a lotta stuff." she added.
"But that's because and without offense, you're Broke on your own Jade, and you're literally the family's troublemaker! if I don't keep you in check, who the fuck will?" Ned replied pouting, he then quickly pulled both of the twins into a big hug, Jade didn't push him away this time.
"Listen you two unnecessary tall idiots, you're my pride and joy, both of you! no matter how different you are, in my eyes you're equal...and as long as you don't turn to be Karens, criminals or corrupt politicians, I'm always gonna be proud of you and I'll always be supportive of you, even if there's things I don't agree with about you.
Because in the end I'm the one who brought you to life...the least I can do, is provide you with enough love And support." Ned said.
"Thanks mom." The twins replied in union.
Breaking the hug, " Now, I gotta ask...what's it like being here at the academy?" Ned asked enthusiastically.
"Are you asking cuz you worry about me? or you wanna know more about your sneaky link?" Jade replied smirking, Ned's face instantly flushed, " Shut up! it was my fault for asking, I can't believe I worry about you, you little shit!" Ned replied looking away.
Taking absolute joy in teasing the blushing Ned, " Awwe! look at you all red! I know you're texting him cuz Garrick told me.
Matter of fact, Mom, I know what you did with Garrick before he came here...good to know that my bad behavior got you a boyfriend." Jade said winking, her smirk grew bigger.
Feeling betrayed, Ned instantly turned to Jasper, " You other sneaky little shit! can you stop updating her on my miserable life behind my back!"
Shrugging, " Not my problem, she'll know one way or another, it's Jade we talking about." Jasper quietly said, " Besides, I needed to vent my traumatic experience to someone anyways! after I had to watch you and Garrick nearly stripping each other in the parking lot through the cameras." he added shivering at the memory.
"Speaking of Garrick, I'm surprisingly finding him cool to hang out with, like I'm actually having fun around him... Although something is off about him." Jade spoke suddenly frowning.
"What's off sis? did you hear his thoughts?"
"His thoughts were mostly innocent and funny and about mom, but one thought I kept hearing was 'i need to hide this...no, I have to hide this' or that's how I heard it from inside his head." Jade explained.
Both Ned and Jasper stared at each other for a second, "Hide? does he have something he gotta hide? what else Jade?"
"I think it's related to this...Garrick's been wearing this big ass band-aid on his face ever since I met him here, I'm not sure what happened and I couldn't hear his thoughts much since I had to wear my amulet or I'll go crazy.
You have no idea how many thoughts I had to hear, everyone were wishing in their heads that they were never born from the extensive training at the academy." Jade replied frowning a little, she thought the training wasn't that hard to get through.
"You mean, he's been wearing a band-aid for two months...the same bandaid on his face?" Jasper questioned.
Jade nodded, "Yeah! I thought it's weird how he kept it on...idk, I asked if he got like injured or something, but he avoided talking about it for some reason.
However from his thoughts I got to know that he ended up getting some sort of an unwanted tattoo on his face before coming here and he couldn't get rid of it, so he covered it up.
And since his glamour was an ordinary one, it doesn't cover up stuff like tattoos." she explained, Jade wasn't the type to let things like this go, she was determined to know what the bandaging was for.
"Girl you got played or something, what face tattoo are you talking about?" Jasper spoke snickering, "WTF do you mean I got played?" she asked
"No, Jasper is right, you might not remember Garrick well before the academy, but Jasper and I do.
It's true that ordinary glamours can't hide things like tattoos, so using a normal method like bandaging would suffice.
But there shouldn't be a tattoo there at all, at least not when considering the timeline of events, especially the last time I saw him, Garrick literally left the next morning, just like you.
If it was a new tattoo that he somehow got during that very short time, then professionally speaking, you shouldn't cover up a new tattoos, it's discouraged because it's unhygienic." Ned replied explaining his theory, he knew there wasn't such a thing as a tattoo on Garrick's face, he was sure of it.
Glancingly at his sister, " Mom said it all...since you used spells in order to heal from your new tattoos real quick, you probably didn't know the ordinary way normal humans do...most people don't use magic like you do.
What's under that bandaid is something else, something Garrick doesn't want to expose, and if I know you right Jade, you'll do your best to find out what it is." Jasper spoke slightly grinning, he already knew what that meant, he just needed Jade to catch up with him.
"Wait, you guys aren't planning to give Garrick a hard time on purpose, are you?" Ned asked glaring at them.
"Chill beautiful, we're not... although we're supposed to, it's been a long while since I've seen you this happy, I won't allow him to hurt you." Jade replied, "She's right, we've already came across the idea that he might be your mate...if that turns out to be true, we'll promise to behave." Jasper spoke after her.
...Few days later...
"Muriel!" Ned hurried to his side as Muriel collapsed sitting on the floor, "I am fine! worry not!" Muriel spoke waving at Ned to not worry.
Socorro who just came in, found herself running to her boss's side as well.
Together with Ned, they picked up Muriel from the floor, helping him to balance himself again on his feet.
"Young master! I swear to God if you don't go back to taking your medication, I'm going to place my resignation letter by tomorrow's morning." Socorro nearly shouted, threatening to leave.
"But COCO! it tastes like a horse's Arse!"
"Muriel are you three years old?! medicine isn't supposed to taste good all the time besides, you have been taking the same medication way before you met me or Socorro.
Now that Socorro is the one in charge of making the potion, it's actually more effective, judging from how your health gets worse every time you refuse to drink it." Ned spoke placing the bottle on the desk, he quickly poured a glass of the sparkling blue liquid for Muriel.
Accidentally meeting Muriel way earlier than the time Socorro was even hired as Muriel's assistant, Ned came to realize that Jihi was right about something, that those reincarnated might end-up making the same choices again.
One choice Muriel made that Ned disapproved of, was this guy, Mister Leonard Green.
When Ned met Mr.Green for the first time, he realized he was a demonic creature, or more the commonly used term, a demon.
Although most people are weary of them, not all demons Ned met were bad people, since lots of them were half human or born and raised by humans and lead Normal lives, But even so, Leonard was a different case.
From the get go, he could tell that Leonard was controlling and toxic, always finding ways to degrade Muriel or separate him from the crowd, the confident Muriel he always knew crumbled slowly but surely before Ned's eyes.
Leonard went on to take advantage of Muriel physically and emotionally, his greedy hand made it to his wealth as well.
Ned even suspected that Muriel was under a love spell by how severe the abuse he was enduring, since he would blindly trust Leonard with everything, often dismissing Ned's clear worries.
Leonard on the other hand, was also in charge of Muriel's medication, the pharmaceutical ones and the magical ones, it took Ned a few secret testings to realize that Mister green wasn't making the potion by the book.
Thankfully, before anything serious happens that Could tie them together even more, like a child.
Ned exposed and finally got rid of Leonard entirely, after gathering enough evidence to convince Muriel who finally realized what the hell was going on.
It was strike of luck, since Leonard had a strong grip around Muriel's mind.
However since that day, when he realized his medication was tampered with, Muriel grew distrusting of the potion he had to drink, even when Ned took charge of making it briefly before Socorro came into the picture.
These were the only two people Muriel trusted after Leonard, but his Trauma from past event caused him to doubt even the closest people to his heart.
Muriel instantly shivered at the sight of the glass, he tried to stare at Socorro's eyes helplessly, hoping the puppy-eyes technique might work on her and he wouldn't have to drink it.
But it was impossible to hold eye contact with Socorro, she dodged every attempt easily, "No matter how persuasive you are, your charms won't work on me." Socorro said grabbing the glass of medicine, she handed it over to Muriel who hesitantly accepted it.
"I am being bullied by my own friends, how awful!"
"No one is bullying you, you dramatic diva! i promised I'll be sparring with you today, but I won't do it if your health is declined." Ned said.
Knowing he'd lose a chance to fight Ned in the ring, Muriel finally gave up resisting, he slowly drank the whole glass which did actually tasted really awful, "Ewww...I need to eat something after this!" he said although he instantly felt the aftermath of the potion, the dizziness Muriel felt earlier was vanishing quickly.
And when he put down the glass, Socorro's face relaxed, "I'll try to find a way to fix the taste, but you have to promise me not to skip it again."