[Life had not been kind to Baz recently. In fact, it most decidedly had been very unkind. Most notably, Snow had broken up with him. I hate the sight of you, he'd said. Baz had threatened to snap his own wand if Snow left him, to prove they didn't need magic to be together. He had known Snow had a complicated relationship with magic since losing his own but thinking he didn't belong in the world of mages anymore- thinking Baz wouldn't want him- or maybe more importantly it was that Snow couldn't look at him without being reminded of everything he'd lost-... It would have been easier if Baz hated him. Easier if he could just wash his hands of Snow and be done with things. But nothing was ever that easy. Especially not for him.
He leaped at the chance for a distraction when he'd become aware of something happening in America. A lot of magic, something different. Not the sort of things the Humdrum had caused but- something similar to it, on a power level? It was enough to get Baz off the couch and onto a plane, though he was well aware this wasn't his problem. The American mages could handle it, whatever it was. And yet that knowledge didn't stop him.
Hours after being crammed into a plane and then hours more on the highway, he found himself in Virginia. Henrietta, specifically, a little town he'd never heard of and was sure a lot of people hadn't. At least it wasn't Kansas though or Illinois. There were at least mountains instead of nothing but flat land and fields. And he declined to rent a convertable this time so he didn't end up sunburned or with windblown hair. His hair, sleek and dark, was long enough to curl around his collar instead.
Henrietta didn't look like it should be a place capable of holding as much magic as Baz had felt- as he could smell, now that he was here. It was subtle but it was everywhere, in a different way than magic normally was. He couldn't explain why it was different, just that it was. It seemed to concentrate in one place, so he followed his nose. Out of Henrietta proper, out into the countryside and forests beyond, until he reached the source. Or well, until he reached as far as he could go by car. Then he parked along the side of the road and started walking.
He was more or less mostly dressed for a brief excursion into the woods, at least; dark, snug jeans, boots, and an admittedly expensive navy floral shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His wand was tucked into his back pocket, in case there was trouble ahead. He had no idea what he would be facing at the actual source of the magic. There were any number of American creatures that could be responsible for this, both ones he was familiar with and ones he wasn't.
The forest grew deeper and more- not menacing, exactly, but more present, like it was almost aware of him- as he continued forward. He'd faced things much worse than uneasy feelings in a forest though; he wasn't about to let that stop him. He was expecting much worse inside of it though, but that wasn't what he got. What he got was- a young man? Baz couldn't tell if he was older or younger but it really didn't matter, he didn't think.
He noted, more than briefly, that the young man was strikingly handsome. But that didn't really matter, either. Not if he was a threat. Baz wouldn't be swayed by good looks when there was potential danger here. Clearing his throat, he lifted an eyebrow and said-]
Between TRC and the Dreamer Trilogy
He leaped at the chance for a distraction when he'd become aware of something happening in America. A lot of magic, something different. Not the sort of things the Humdrum had caused but- something similar to it, on a power level? It was enough to get Baz off the couch and onto a plane, though he was well aware this wasn't his problem. The American mages could handle it, whatever it was. And yet that knowledge didn't stop him.
Hours after being crammed into a plane and then hours more on the highway, he found himself in Virginia. Henrietta, specifically, a little town he'd never heard of and was sure a lot of people hadn't. At least it wasn't Kansas though or Illinois. There were at least mountains instead of nothing but flat land and fields. And he declined to rent a convertable this time so he didn't end up sunburned or with windblown hair. His hair, sleek and dark, was long enough to curl around his collar instead.
Henrietta didn't look like it should be a place capable of holding as much magic as Baz had felt- as he could smell, now that he was here. It was subtle but it was everywhere, in a different way than magic normally was. He couldn't explain why it was different, just that it was. It seemed to concentrate in one place, so he followed his nose. Out of Henrietta proper, out into the countryside and forests beyond, until he reached the source. Or well, until he reached as far as he could go by car. Then he parked along the side of the road and started walking.
He was more or less mostly dressed for a brief excursion into the woods, at least; dark, snug jeans, boots, and an admittedly expensive navy floral shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His wand was tucked into his back pocket, in case there was trouble ahead. He had no idea what he would be facing at the actual source of the magic. There were any number of American creatures that could be responsible for this, both ones he was familiar with and ones he wasn't.
The forest grew deeper and more- not menacing, exactly, but more present, like it was almost aware of him- as he continued forward. He'd faced things much worse than uneasy feelings in a forest though; he wasn't about to let that stop him. He was expecting much worse inside of it though, but that wasn't what he got. What he got was- a young man? Baz couldn't tell if he was older or younger but it really didn't matter, he didn't think.
He noted, more than briefly, that the young man was strikingly handsome. But that didn't really matter, either. Not if he was a threat. Baz wouldn't be swayed by good looks when there was potential danger here. Clearing his throat, he lifted an eyebrow and said-]
You wouldn't be plotting now, would you?