21. Cuteness Appreciation

Foxx jumped out of the car. Slamming the door behind him, he bounced where he stood as he stared at Sephira's home. "Ahh, it's adorable!!"

He eyed the cute two-story cottage. From its thatched roof to the brick fa?ade, to the roses and other vines growing up the building before branching out to form a beautiful garden out front that parted in the center, leaving a path to the door. The grass that wasn't covered had various mushroom statues and cute frog ones having tea parties, and…there was so much adorableness, he could scream!

Really, anyone who loved cottage core would just die for all of what was going on here. Which…Foxx wasn't going to lie, he did love it, as it was all so cute—even if he didn't want to style his own home that way.

"It's…something," Harlow grunted on exiting the driver's side and walking around to stand beside him.

"Hush, it's adorable!"

The human rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's get this over with."

"You are acting like I forced you to come with me, old man," Foxx huffed.

Harlow didn't respond to that, and instead just walked ahead across the stone path that led right up to the door.

Foxx stuck his tongue out at the human's back. The man was such a fucking weirdo! Why ask to come and then act like he was being tortured?!

Though…really, Harlow was acting weirder than normal.

Nope…nope, he wasn't going to think about Iggy, Harlow's odd reactions, that bizarre conversation in the car earlier, about whatever Harlow had intended to say, or really anything else that was previously traumatizing. He didn't want to think, he wanted to bake. Because he didn't want or need to know what was running through Harlow's head.

And he figured, if he chanted that last bullshit part enough, it would surely become true!

Fuck, I want to know, he thought with a soft growl.

"You coming?!" Harlow snapped. The man was at the door now, looking back.

"I'm coming!" Huffing, he stomped over to the man and lightly shoved him out of the way. Foxx let out a delighted laugh on realizing the door bell was shaped like a bee. He pressed it, smile brightening further at the pleasant sound of chimes that played.

The door opened moments later, Sephira standing there smiling brightly. Looking up at her, he found her just as beautiful as he had the first time he'd seen her, with her medium brown skin with reddish undertones, her long black curly hair, button nose, and stunning deep brown eyes.

Not hidden by a cloak this time, Foxx could actually see the rest of her. Wearing a fuzzy red jumper, black jeans, and matching red slippers, Sephira was a full-figured woman.

"AHH, my cutie vampire," she said with a happy laugh as she pulled him into a hug. "How are you feeling, sweetie?"

"Hello!" Foxx giggled, hugging her back. He soaked up her warmth, the weather was way too cold to be standing out here. Her voice was honestly as warm as her hug. Harlow grunted beside him, but he ignored him. "I'm feeling much better, thank you for asking. Sorry for being late!"

"Good to hear. And no worries. While everyone is here, we haven't started yet. We"ve just been drinking wine and discussing what to make." She released him and stepped back, her gaze flicking to the left to Harlow. "I see you've brought a friend."

As the woman stared at Harlow, for just a moment, her smile stiffened as her gaze went distant… But after that moment passed, she returned to her normal warmth. While Foxx wasn't all knowing about witches…he could recognize that something had just happened. The question was…what had she seen?

"This is Harlow, my partner." He quickly added, "For work, that is."

"Ah, yes, Harlow Blackmore. We've spoken before. Nice to have a face to go with your voice," Sephira drawled.

"You've…spoken?" Foxx asked.

"Yes, dear, when you were kidnapped. I called after you didn't show up."

Right! He'd given her Harlow's number…mainly because he seemed to keep losing his phone on cases, so…

"Well, come inside out of this cold, both of you are more than welcome."

Foxx looked around as they followed her inside. He could hear talking and giggling going on deeper into the house.

There was a small entryway that opened up into a living room with brown leather chairs, dark teal couches, and a round wood coffee table. Across from the entrance there was a fireplace, with a TV and a bunch of knick-knacks and plants sitting on top, and around it were bookshelves.

To the right there were windows, and to the left was an opening. On one side of that opening was a cabinet full of even more cute ceramic knick-knacks, while on the other side was a bunch of plants.

Foxx found, as he followed the witch into that doorway and down a hallway, that there were plants and knick-knacks of various sizes pretty much everywhere. The walls were also covered in some interesting artwork that were all very wiccan core, he supposed. Though she was a witch, so more…herself core?

Following her down the hallway, before finally making it to the kitchen, they passed a cute but rather large dining room with a white wooden table and chairs, along with some light teal green cabinets that were full of dishes and more plants.

The kitchen was even larger than the dining room. The upper and lower cabinets, and her two ovens, were the same light washed-out teal he'd seen in the other room, while the counter tops were wooden, and her two-door fridge was white.

As pretty as the rest of it was, the stand out piece in the room was the giant centered rectangular wooden island surrounded by at least thirty chairs. Ten of the chairs were filled, and every one of those people had gone silent as they'd walked in.

Foxx gave a small smile and said, "Hello."

"Hello!" they all chimed at once.

"Aww, he's so cute!" a blonde-haired woman squealed.

"Foxx, Harlow, the loud one is Tabitha," Sephira drawled with a laugh.

"Rude," Tabitha huffed with fake indignation before giggling.

"Let's see, not everyone is here today," Sephira tsked. "To be honest, while we always have a full house, rarely does all my coven come for these things. But then, there are a total of thirty of us, and not all of them like baking." She sighed. "Tonight, we have, as I said, Tabitha, who always comes, but next to her is Daya. Then there's Cortney, Abby?—"

Foxx's eyes crinkled as she listed more and more names, having a feeling, unless they came more frequently to these things in the future…he'd never remember most of them.

"Don't worry about remembering names, Foxx, you'll get them eventually. As for the rest, you'll probably meet them at one point or another. Ah." She laughed and added, "Also, there are male members in my coven, and a few non-binary, but none came tonight. Anyway, everybody, this short cutie of a vampire is Foxx, and the tall, broody, and possibly dangerous human is Harlow."

Harlow snorted, only to squawk as the crowd descended on them.

Foxx suddenly found himself surrounded by gawking, smiling women, petting his head and calling him cute… He was…in pure bliss.

Harlow, on the other hand…looked like he was about to stab someone when one of the women, he thought her name was maybe Cortney, groped his arm, while another woman poked at him.

"Look at those muscles," laughed a beautiful woman with umber skin, who he was pretty sure was named Daya…maybe…

"I feel I should warn you that he does bite." Foxx snickered, still all smiles as Tabitha, the one woman whose name he was sure of, continued to pat his curls like he was the cutest thing—which…he was, so like, about damn time his cuteness was appreciated.

Harlow glared over the top of their heads at him.