a single dad x kindergarten teacher plot where his kid is in love with the teacher, always talking about them when they get home, making them pictures and always raising their hand in class being the best student they can be. the father finds this adorable because the kid is so whipped by this teacher he’s never met due to work and the fact his mother is always picking them up. so, parent teacher night finally comes and it’s time for them to meet. and the dad realizes the reasons why his kid is so whipped in the first place. 

Her lips quirk upward in an immediate smile. A cynic. Yes, she’s just that, but hearing it acknowledge is a joke somewhere deep inside her gut. She isn’t really one, but thick skin, after all. “You have a voice that would suit for it very well, I think. You speak gently.” She does as well, but there’s a hard, authoritative edge to her voice that’s overconfident. Or just enough, maybe. “I hope you get exactly what it is you want. –That’s honestly up to how well I continue to do,” She pauses– her medical records might as well be public forum by now. She’s always grimacing at that alone, “Nerve damage, chronic injury. Unfortunately there’s no recovering, just managing.” Fuck her, honestly.

   "I - thank you,” Cordelia replied with the slightest of smiles, only now aware after Alana had pointed it out of the softness in her voice. “That’s very kind of you to say.” 

   She paused for a moment, unsure of exactly how to respond to the answer she was given. The other woman was straight forward, that much was at least true. Cordelia had never been one for bluntness like that, for complete honesty no matter how speechless it may render someone. 

   “I’m - sorry,” she decided upon, offering Alana a sympathetic smile. “I hope you’re at least managing well.” 

                                      ❛  I’D RATHER BURN THAN BOIL.  ❜

[ ♔ ] meet the puppeteer

  Alcohol was alcohol, and it was ordinarily something Cordelia didn’t opt for. The younger sibling had always been a bad influence, and her particular sort of persuasion was not lost on the moral headmistress. “Mh, I know you won’t.” You know I’ll leave if you do. Nonetheless, Margot sat down at the edge of the bed and took a long sip of her drink. “Where’s Darwin?”

   “Who knows?” Cordelia scoffed, trying to hide the twisting in her expression as she took another long sip of her drink. “Pennsylvania, I think? Bidding on some project, supposedly. Probably fucking a college student.” With a shake of her head, Cordelia leaned back against the pillows and pulling the sheet up to cover her chest.

;;o p e n

     “ You have TEN seconds to get the hell away from me. ”

          “And if I don’t, dear sister?” 

“Yes, a few weeks’ ago, but I was out of town for a few gatherings. Family, the longer you live, the more grandchildren start to pop up.” Grandchildren or allies, it did not matter when she now had the means and the desire to settle down in New Orleans. This one held a vibrating scent, but she was rutted. “Please to meet someone who isn’t the elderly man in the house. He gave me a fright,” she said, wondering if the crone finally dropped dead of a heart attack.

“You garden much?”

   “Oh, yes, Spalding...” Cordelia trailed off, well aware of they way many guests of the Coven were off-put by his silent presence.  “He - doesn’t speak. But don’t let it bother you, he’s really wonderful at what he does. He’s been with us since before I was a student.” Graceful hands came to clasp, as they so often did, below her chest as she subtly surveyed the woman before her. Cautious was a word that came now to the forefront of how one would describe the Supreme - she had to be. Witches were known now - their existence, their powers, their address. Even the most innocent seeming people could very well be dangerous to her and her girls.

   “I do, yes. It’s one of my favorite passtimes. I teach herbology and p-” she stopped herself before the word potions left her lips. “I teach herbology here.”

The child was beyond hesitant to leave the warm, soft cocoon that was Cordelia’s arms. She was still trembling something awful and out of the corner of her eye, she could somewhat see where her mother laid unmoving on the dirty carpet. Part of her was petrified, but the bigger, logical part of her knew that if she didn’t move and leave soon, Renee would wake up with the fury of a thousand angry hornets all aimed directly at her. Swallowing hard, little Ray nodded as best as she could with her face still caught in Cordelia’s gentle but firm grasp. “Okay,” she whispered before allowing the blonde to grab hold of her hand and lead her down the hall. That is, until she felt bony fingers wrap themselves tightly around her tiny ankle, sharp, claw-like fingernails digging painfully into her delicate skin, forcing a shriek the likes of which no one has ever heard to come tumbling from the little girl’s lips and halting the pair immediately. Looking over her shoulder, Ray could see her mother’s livid face, a large gash bleeding heavily on her forehead from where it collided with the wall. No matter how hard the child tried to shake her off, the woman’s hold was unyielding and the girl was panicking now.

“Let go!” she cried desperately. “LET ME GO!” There was a light. A huge, blinding ball of light that seemed to appear out of nowhere. It shot at the angry, injured woman like a bullet from a gun, hitting her square in the chest. The impact was so powerful, knocking her back into the wall and even cracking the foundation in the process. If she wasn’t knocked out before, she certainly was now. Ray was breathing heavily, nearly hyperventilating. She knew exactly what happened, where that light came from. She knew because it had come from her. And it was for that very reason that her eyes were once again wide with pure terror. Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. I did it again. Delia’s gonna hate me now, just like Mama does. I’m nothing but a freak. Turning around, she looked up desperately at Cordelia, tears filling her green orbs and threatening to spill down porcelain cheeks. 

“I’m sorry,” she all but pleaded, voice trembling despairingly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it. Please don’t hurt me. I won’t do that again. Promise!”

   When it was all over, when the light was gone and the woman was lying nearly lifeless on the floor, Rhiannon was looking up at her with the biggest, most frightened, tear filled eyes, pleading with Cordelia not to hurt her and promising she wouldn’t do it again. Cordelia’s heart splintered and cracked as she bent down and pulled the tiny girl fiercely into her arms, afraid for a moment that she’d frightened her until Rhiannon’s arms wrapped around her neck.

   “It’s okay,” she whispered into her brown hair, her own body trembling as she fought desperately to provide some semblance of an anchor to the girl in her arms. “It’s okay, Rhiannon, you don’t have to be afraid of your powers. You never have to be afraid, sweet girl.” 

   Mama’s got you.

   The words stalled at the tip of her tongue and she swallowed them as best she could, instead pressing a tender kiss to the little girl’s forehead before she pulled back just enough to look her in the eyes. Tears had begun slipping down her red cheeks and Cordelia wiped at them gently with her thumbs, blinking back those that lingered in her own eyes.