Which trials and triblulations? [rp for lapsedsaint]

[aesthetic_mojo]

The Salem tourist witch culture was cloying, laying over everything, making it impossible to avoid even when trying to enjoy the historical sites. Below that were the modern Neo-Pagans who got so much right but were afraid to take the last step. The combination made Charlotte more inclined to shield John than tease.

Right up until they discovered a little store on a back street run by someone who knew what she was doing. Like a kid in a candy store, Charlotte filled two baskets with ‘necessities’ before she realized she’d done it. Only when she put a cauldron on the counter and saw John’s face did she edit her purchases. She still spent a fortune, even after carefully removing those things that simply couldn’t be in the home of a Catholic or the frivolous things like the cauldron.

Charlotte was quiet on the trip back to Boston, carefully cataloguing everything she’d seen that day, filing it away with her memories of childhood. In much the same way she’d been physically sensitized to John in his home, she was mentally overwhelmed by the freedom to explore the things she’d given up so long ago.

When they got back to John’s house, she gathered her things, carrying them in clutched tightly against her chest.