"And if I had never learned magic, if I had no natural skill... you never would have come." He wasn't looking for an answer, he knew the answer. He was useless unless he was a witch. He had memories of his mother before she left, he remembered the sort of things she complained about. Lack of skill, in the way, holding her back, not a girl - he was no idiot. He knew she wanted something from him and that was all that mattered.
But even broken, evil people could play pretend and act like they cared. And he could enjoy that, couldn't he? What spoke against a little false love?
He brushed his mother off and then shook his head. "I want to learn more than tricks. I want to learn the good stuff." He wanted to know how to really hurt people, to commune with demons, to levitate - he didn't want to be a notice any more. "That's why I'm here. Not because of you."
"Of course that's why you are here, dearie. That's what you have to focus on. Be strong. Look out for yourself. Survive. At all costs and always, survive. Then you can thrive. And don't worry about the enemies that you've made along the way, once you thrive all they can do is envy." It was a pretty solid philosophy, Rowena felt. "I will teach you all you're capable of learning. You have potential, that much is true. What you make of it depends on your will and your drive."
She was hoping that the way she had raised him would have equipped him with plenty of both. "Oh, and I've enrolled you in the local high school. I've got a brochure for it somewhere here..."
Rummaging through her purse, she finally produced the brochure and handed it to him. "Do you want to take part in any after school activity? I don't really see you as an athlete... Theatre, perhaps?"
"What? Are you fucking joking? I'm 16. Why the sodding hell would I go back to school?" In England, sixteen was enough to finally be rid of all that nonsense. He had planned to enrol in long distance A-Levels and go to a good university, all while working and living in the group home, but now it seemed he was sliding back. Goodbye A-levels, hello school all over again. And American school too. With all of those stupid electives and social order. "I'm not taking any school activities. Can't I just do all of this from home?"
Homeschooling was a thing? He could do that. He had a good work ethic. "I hardly want to go to pep rallies and hang out of at the soda pop shop or whatever they do here!"
Most of his knowledge was, admittedly, from Grease and various sitcoms.
"Socialising is important, dearie. You'll need to learn that skill if you want to make it in the world. It takes a lot more power than you're going to have for at least another century or three to be as independent as I am." Rowena patted his cheek and then walked past him toward the sofa that had just been put town. She sat down and took her shoes off, making herself at home while the movers were doing all the actual work. "Just make a few little friends. It's always good to have a few spare ones. You want people to practice your spellwork on, don't you?"
"I have excellent social skills, that's not a problem for me. It's tolerating the tediousness of my peers." He was good at socialising, he had a lot of charm when he needed to and could talk himself out of trouble. Hell, he always did. It was just that he had little time for American jockery. "I suppose I can find myself some puppets."
Aleister sat himself down on the arm chair they had set down earlier and looked across at his mom, just studying her. He had read up on her, knew a fair bit about her on reputation alone. He was on edge, he couldn't deny it. He wanted to believe she cared but what if she didn't? What if it was a trap? "The better have decent tea here. And I want to see the basement once it's done."
"Oh, my dearest boy. If all goes well and you are what I need you to be, then you'll help me set up everything in the basement. We'll draw the circles together, you and I. Mother and boy. There is power in that." More than she would have expected. She never wanted to have any kind of attachment to a child, but now that there was some, it would be a shame if she didn't make use of it.
"I've brought some teabags from Scotland, don't you fret." She waved his concerns off. "Now, I've made sure to have some books of interest on the shelves in your room. Make sure to read them thoroughly, won't you? Be a good boy for your mommy."
"You're so strange, can't you just not talk about yourself like that? I'm not five." Rolling his eyes, Aleister leaned back and his mind raced excitedly over the idea of drawing the circles, setting up the basement and reading every book. Before, he had to search high and low to get his hands on anything remotely magical. Now, it was all at his finger tips.
The excitement was hard to push down. "I will be what you need me to be." He didn't have any other choice. "You watch."
"Make me proud, my dear Aleister." There, she was using his chosen name. If he was even half the witch she was hoping he'd be, he had earned that much at least. "I know you won't disappoint me."
She trusted her own judgement, if nothing else. "Now, stop bothering me, will you? I've got some maintenance to do."
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But even broken, evil people could play pretend and act like they cared. And he could enjoy that, couldn't he? What spoke against a little false love?
He brushed his mother off and then shook his head. "I want to learn more than tricks. I want to learn the good stuff." He wanted to know how to really hurt people, to commune with demons, to levitate - he didn't want to be a notice any more. "That's why I'm here. Not because of you."
no subject
She was hoping that the way she had raised him would have equipped him with plenty of both. "Oh, and I've enrolled you in the local high school. I've got a brochure for it somewhere here..."
Rummaging through her purse, she finally produced the brochure and handed it to him. "Do you want to take part in any after school activity? I don't really see you as an athlete... Theatre, perhaps?"
no subject
Homeschooling was a thing? He could do that. He had a good work ethic. "I hardly want to go to pep rallies and hang out of at the soda pop shop or whatever they do here!"
Most of his knowledge was, admittedly, from Grease and various sitcoms.
no subject
no subject
Aleister sat himself down on the arm chair they had set down earlier and looked across at his mom, just studying her. He had read up on her, knew a fair bit about her on reputation alone. He was on edge, he couldn't deny it. He wanted to believe she cared but what if she didn't? What if it was a trap? "The better have decent tea here. And I want to see the basement once it's done."
no subject
"I've brought some teabags from Scotland, don't you fret." She waved his concerns off. "Now, I've made sure to have some books of interest on the shelves in your room. Make sure to read them thoroughly, won't you? Be a good boy for your mommy."
no subject
The excitement was hard to push down. "I will be what you need me to be." He didn't have any other choice. "You watch."
no subject
She trusted her own judgement, if nothing else. "Now, stop bothering me, will you? I've got some maintenance to do."