Potential
Selena was expected home any time now. Not that Ali has said a word on the subject. She hasn't had to. The fridge is full of Sel's favorite treats, and her room has been set to rights (fresh sheets, clean laundry, and a vase of flowers are waiting). A serviceable and inconspicuous, if aging, car sits in the garage, a potential gift. It is all very domestic, the veil wrapped around their lives. The little rituals and gestures draw a line in the sand, telling the magic and power and war and worry it may intrude this far, and no further into their lives.
But no rituals, not even the great and powerful ones hidden away, could remove the magic and power and war and worry, nor the love and hope and glory and majesty. It was a part of who they were, and who they would have to be, as much as their blood. Behind the line awaited these things and others, restrained and almost tame, until their times come; untapped potential, some might say.
First, though, must come Sel, and Ali was certain she'd be home any minute. The fact she wasn't there might, potentially, trouble some people; but Ali had faith in her, the way some people have faith in air and gravity.
But no rituals, not even the great and powerful ones hidden away, could remove the magic and power and war and worry, nor the love and hope and glory and majesty. It was a part of who they were, and who they would have to be, as much as their blood. Behind the line awaited these things and others, restrained and almost tame, until their times come; untapped potential, some might say.
First, though, must come Sel, and Ali was certain she'd be home any minute. The fact she wasn't there might, potentially, trouble some people; but Ali had faith in her, the way some people have faith in air and gravity.