The Apothecary Apprentices

The apothecary store door opened and a ghoul let out a groan. Lucien glanced up from behind a thick book entitled "Alchemical Kitchens and You." A charming young man with wavy blonde hair bounced in, a tweed waistcoat and green tie.

"Alonzo. I'm looking for Mr. Whittaker?" He stuck his hand out.

Lucien saw a black and white tattoo of a skull adorned with roses. He greeted the young man with a measured tone. "Lucien Genovese. I, too, am waiting for him myself. I imagine Master Whittaker will be back...,”

He trailed off as Alonzo disengaged and began walking and admiring the store. "Amazing...I've heard Mr. Whittaker has an excellent reputation for procuring the rarest of items." He studied a glass display case. "Dragon heart? I wonder how he preserves it so minutely."

Lucien set his book aside and let out a silent huff. He untied the hair tie that held his inky black hair in a dignified ponytail, fluffed it, before re-tying it. "That's a display. The heart of a dragon emits an aura that is dangerous," he cleaned his glasses, "...for the weak willed."

Alonzo turned back and grinned. "Good thing I have you here to rescue me if I faint."

Lucien felt a prickle of annoyance and something else. Before he could retort, Alonzo unceremoniously cleared an active cauldron from a stool and sat down. "So—Lu. I bet you're here for the apprentice job."

Lucien stared at him. "Whatever gave you that idea...?" He retorted mockingly.

"Because you don't look like a customer."

"I'd prefer it if you don't become familiar with my name," Lucien remarked sourly. He adjusted his white oxford shirt and dark tie. "I've grown rather fond of it."

Alonzo tucked a blonde wave behind his ear, a nervous habit. "I'm not. You can call me Al," Alonzo said with a shrug.

Lucien was about to tell Al what he really wished to call him when the door opened and the ghoul let out a loud moan. Mr. Whittaker stepped through, smelling of brimstone.

Both young men stood up. "Mr. Whittaker!" They both announced in stereo. Lucien found Al's proximity to him irritating.

"Boys!" Whittaker bustled and shook smoldering embers from his duster. "There's been a mistake! I just saw my calendar and realized I booked both of you for an apprentice interview!"

Al inclined his head. "You should hire Lucien here, Mr. Whittaker."

Lucien's eyes bulged as he turned. Whittaker stuttered, "My dear boy...what do you mean—?"

Alonzo shrugged. "He knows much more about the products here already—you'd only lose more time and money training me up."

Lucien's cheeks flushed with pride. The post would be his.

Whittaker nodded understandingly. "I understand your point, young man, uh...,"

“Alonzo Valmont."

Whittaker's eyes nearly fell out. "Alonzo Valmont...of the Hygard Valmonts!!?"

Lucien looked in bewilderment.

Al sheepishly replied. "My mother is Nymphadora Valmont."

"The son of the most celebrated Enchantress walks into my shop and bows out??" Whittaker wiped a deeply sweating brow with a red kerchief. "My boy...you give your family much credit but allow none for yourself!"

Lucien felt his stomach turn and his hands go clammy. "Unbelievable..." he whispered to himself.

"It just so happens that my journey from the Outrealm was fortuitous. An excellent opportunity if I may say so...and such opportunities to learn!"

Lucien's gaze felt faint. Al's hand brushed against his arm and Lucien whipped his head back up. Whittaker ignored it. "Why—I have the ability to hire BOTH of you! A more excellent learning environment there never was!"

The elderly shopkeeper babbled on as the ghoul took his coat and hat, following him up the stairs of the shop while the two young men watched each other.

Lucien's world tilted. He screamed internally.

Al shrugged. "Guess that makes us co-workers?"

Lucien gritted his teeth but forced a smile. "So fate would have it."

....

Alonzo glanced around the empty road that the apothecary sat along. "The cocks first crow," had been Whittaker's time the two apprentices should arrive for their first day. He didn't see Lucien.

Good. He wiped the sleep from his face but his hangover was still throbbing. "Witches brew...," he staggered forward.

He tapped the lock of the apothecary twice in a circular pattern and muttered Whittaker's password. The front door opened and the ghoul, Neelan tried to take his coat.

“No—! No thank you!” Alonzo fought the ghoul off and stumbled through the dark apothecary.

Lucien looked up from behind the counter and instantly felt his morning breakfast curdle at the sight of the blond boy wonder in shop smock already slightly smudged. "You're late. The cock crowed thrice already."

Alonzo groaned and said, "I thought I had beat it."

Lucien held up a scribbled piece of parchment. The paper unfolded and Mr. Whittaker's booming voice sounded in the store. "Boys! Congratulations on your newfound apprenticeships. Please find in the cellar your first assignments. Alonzo—those strong arms of yours are undoubtedly suited for scouring the very cauldrons that once discovered the Volantian Elixir! Purchased secondhand of course."

Alonzo's weak constitution from last night skipped a beat as he could already smell the old cauldron.

Lucien snickered. "Glad that's not me."

Mr. Whittaker continued, "Lucien? I noticed you reading a book on botany the other day. You are no doubt the best man for a job that requires a deft touch."

Lucien beamed.

“The Chimerian Mushrooms are ripening. Sort the caps from the stems but be careful and wear gloves: they've been known to induce a deadly rash known in some parts of the Amazon as 'pepperoni skin'."

The letter snapped shut, leaving the two to stare. Lucien nearly choked.

Al muttered. "Glad that's not me." Then he threw up in the cauldron.

…

"It's getting worse," Lucien remarked shakenly. The pair glanced at the inch of exposed skin that had grazed a mushroom. A small semicircle of red skin was beginning to become more visible.

And the day had been going so well, Lucien thought desperately.

Alonzo's own hands were stained in black scum and soot. Amazingly, he had only thrown up twice. He examined Lucien's hand. The nails were perfectly manicured, not a millimeter of unnecessary growth but polished to a high sheen. The fingers more closely resembled a pianist than the rough work of a botanical apprentice.

On his right hand, a pronounced red circle grew.

“Not good, Lu,” Alonzo remarked carefully.

Lucien wailed. "But it has to be reversible! There must be an antidote!"

Al studied the mushroom caps and then carefully used a pair of tongs to lift one into a nearby petrie dish. "Let's take a look. Grab that," he pointed to a worn leather manual.

Lucien followed, holding his hand as if it had been smashed. Al frantically cleared a portion of the junky countertop and pulled up some stools. Lucien sat next to him as Al pored over the book.

Al read, "It says here that for the antidote, all we need is ground stag horn, moss from the Lake of Tears and," he looked up glumly, "and the venom of a red widow."

"Oh no problem, just the rarest items in the world!" Lucien's breath came unevenly now.

Al placed a firm hand on Lucien's arm and ordered, "Lu. Calm down. Let's just get you to St. Oglethorpe's—they patch this kind of stuff up all the time."

Lucien groaned at the curly blonde locks and dark eyebrows of Al. "You think I have insurance? I'll have to take out a whole restoration tithe!" The red mark grew to the size of a post it note. Lucien began exhaling rapidly .

Al paused uncomfortably, then whipped through more pages. "Let me see if there's a homebrew recipe..."

"Homebrew!? I need medicine! Transmutational steroids! Something!"

Al held up a pointed finger. "Interesting. It says here in the Amazon, native tribespeople who have found themselves victim to the mushroom's effects have been known to forestall any further spread by...," He stopped reading and squinted.

“What?" Lucien pleaded as the red mark grew again, this time to the size of a golf ball. "Oh no!"

Al shook his head. "Well this can't possibly be right but given the circumstances...," he glanced back to Lucien's worsening condition. "It can't possibly make things worse."

Lucien scarcely had a moment to reflect on what qualified as "worse". The mark grew purple and swelled up again. "Do something!"

Al lunged forward and kissed him. Lucien's hands shot out and Al caught them. Their fingers fought, then Lucien's eyes rolled back a little. Then they closed. Their warm embrace filled him with all manner of thoughts. Is this heaven? Was Al kissing me the last moment of coherence before the Chimerian Mushroom killed me, he wondered.

Then the world came sharply back into focus and Lucien hummed in appreciation. Then his eyes snapped open. The room swam back into focus. "Oh. I'm not dead."

He could hear Al's laugh and then he looked and nearly squealed.

A puffy face covered in pepperoni sized welts stared back at him. From the blonde locks he could tell it was Al.

Or what was left of him. Suddenly he remembered the warmth of Alonzo's lips and the corresponding fury in his body at the intrusion. A rising tone in his voice filled the room. "You...! You had no right to kiss me! What the hell was that?"

Alonzo coughed and shrugged. "It's in the book." He pointed to an open page where the sentence read, "A direct skin contact is most effective but the side effects could be...transferable."

Lucien paused, then glanced at his own hand. Pristine. Clean. And most importantly, no longer bearing the remark of pepperoni skin. "You...you took the curse away?"

Alonzo nodded thickly. "Yeah...I can just go home—Mom will have one of the mages sort me out. Can you grab my phone?"

Lucien choked back astonishment. "I don't—I can't even...", he blushed as picked up the phone.

Oh.

The lock screen was Alonzo and a laughing young man slow dancing.

He bit his lip and helped Alonzo onto the street. "Bye, Lu. Hope you feel better." With a whirl, the young apprentice vanished in a cloud of raven feathers.

Lucien watched as one floated in front of him. Then he caught and held it. "Thank you."

...

The dream was too vivid and too real. Lucien could wake up at any moment; he knew that. But he didn't.

Alonzo standing next to a bubbling cauldron. Naked. "Hey."

The blonde boy looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Hey yourself. You having magical dreams now too?"

Lucien shivered and realized he was nude as well. He stepped toward the Valmont heir, close enough that the peach fuzz of his leg touched Al's. "Shut up. This is MY dream."

"Right," Alonzo poured a vial of green liquid into the cauldron and Lucien smelled black licorice. "And I'm not completely aware of that."

Lucien brushed his hip against Al's and a thrill went through his body. His body twitched. He added a crushed beetle. "What are you making?"

Alonzo focused. "Is that really the question you want to ask me right now?"

Lucien's eyes blinked nervously. Then slowly, they lowered and looked down. Alonzo was growing, a shock of blond hair sticking up as he lengthened. Lucien bit his lip.

Alonzo raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

Lucien looked up in shock. "What?"

Alonzo grabbed Lucien's hand and guided him downward. Lucien gripped it and instantly melted inside. Alonzo swelled in his hand. "Fuck...."

Alonzo hummed. "Yup. Or at least that's how you imagine it."

Lucien woke up to the crowing of the cock. With a raging erection. "Ugh!!!"

...

Alonzo was there when Lucien arrived. Prompt and punctual, standing by a lit cauldron. Lucien swept a hand over his raven hair and adjusted his glasses. "Hey. You alright?"

Alonzo glanced up from his phone and for the first time, Lucien saw that cool attitude disappear from his face. "Oh! Lucien. Hey. Yeah...," he tucked his phone back into his jeans and nodded. "Sorry, I was just texting someone. Yeah," he remarked solidly. "Archimedes set me straight."

"Was it painful?" Lucien strode up to the countertop.

Al hesitated. "A little. To be honest, he was more interested in extracting a sample of pus for further study. Apparently Chimerian Mushroom curses are hard to come by."

“Ah." Lucien remarked sarcastically. "Always in search of the next big breakthrough in curses, the Valmonts." Maybe a shade too sarcastic.

His phone buzzed again. He took it out and Lucien saw the same smiling boyfriend from yesterday. A name was attached: "Seb."

Al groaned under his breath. He answered the phone quickly. "Yes, Seb? What? No. No, I'm just busy right now..."

Lucien kept his eyes forward as he listened discreetly.

Al was losing his patience. "...Because it's short notice and I need a night off—,"

The Valmont heir grew quiet. "...Shut the fuck up." Al suddenly shot back. Then he hung up.

Lucien immediately looked up, stunned. "Are you...?"

Alonzo sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I—I'm sorry Lucien. I'm just really tired and the curse still has me seeing red pepperonis and last night—,"

He trailed off and Lucien saw he didnt want to continue so instead he grabbed the days assignment log.

“We’re in luck, some fresh air this morning on the roof.”

…

They worked on the rooftop garden, sifting the graveyard dirt planter.

"I never said thank you yesterday," Lucien pulled his hand away as a decaying hand emerged from the soil and tried to grab him.

"You're welcome," Al finally spoke. He sprayed the hand with a bottle of deterrent. The hand withered and fell back. He tilled the soil carefully around the area.

Lucien brought the Death Lily shoots that had been growing. "Were you able to get it healed quickly?"

Al hesitated. "The...purification was relatively painless. It's just...," he shrugged and measured a cup of Draught of Damnation concentrate and added it to their watering can. "What's the incantation for this one?"

Lucien wiped a waterfall of sweat from his forehead, pulling his gardening hat tighter. "Grow grow, by the power of Ka and the breath of death."

The apprentice added the water formula and poured. The Death Lily shuddered and shot out several lengths, sprouting purple flowers that stank worse than rotting flesh.

Alonzo measured the largest flower and cut it, letting it fall into a woven basket. The flower let out a small gasp but then fell silent. Alonzo said nothing for a moment, and another gnarled hand exploded from the ground and grabbed his spade.

"Here." Lucien said, and Al held the hand out. Using his spade, Lucien smashed the cadaver's wrist and the hand shriveled back into the bed.

Al finished his thought. "Some people in my family are...judgmental of the choices I make."

He pointed to where the Chimerian mushroom had been removed, a dry patch of skin near his cheek. "As you can imagine, showing up with a curse like that causes a select set of questions that get brought up."

“Such as...?" Lucien tried to not sound too interested lest Al find it irritating. He busied himself with wrenching a ruby ring from a finger.

“You heard Whittaker. My mother has a low opinion of apothecaries...she thinks they're woefully behind the times."

Lucien objected immediately. "But that's absurd—apothecaries are the only ones licensed and trained to handle these materials."

"Oh she doesn't doubt that," Al admitted. "I think she just assumes that all the shit in her cupboards grows on a tree and gets delivered by Amazon on the same day."

They both laughed and Lucien painfully realized how much he liked that laugh.

"Anyway," Alonzo watered the bed with blood meal, "She's not the only one. My partner Sebastian, also had objections."

They stepped into a small lunahouse. A chilling layer of fog crept near their feet as a near pitch black. Above them, a pale LED light simulated the sensation of a full moon. They donned plague doctor masks designed to resist the Call of the Moon, regardless.

The pair started at the first bed, filled with deadened plants that turned as they approached. Their gloves were too clumsy, and so they pulled them off. Lucien consulted with the label affixed to the bed.

“Be careful, Al." Lucien said. "These Dreamroots will show you anything to avoid harvest."

Alonzo grunted. "I know. They showed me a world where Whittaker washes his hands. Paradise."

They laughed and a Venus Flytrap barked angrily. "Oops. I guess they don't appreciate jokes."

A cool woman's voice emanated from the vines. "You boys make sure not to tire yourselves out in here."

"Ignore it," Alonzo advised. "It's just Rosemary. She's always trying to make you listen to her."

Lucien carefully plunged his hand into the soft bog soil. Immediately he found the roots of their harvest. His mind blanked.

Alonzo. Emerging from a steaming shower after his curse removal. His teeth bit into his lip. Steam. A soft exhale of relief. Drying off with a white towel.

"Umm...Lucien?"

Lucien blinked. He had turned entirely facing Al, his plague doctor nose poking Al in the side. He screamed again internally.

"Sorry," he panicked, "the Root...it uh...showed me visions of the apocalypse...?"

Al's mask stared at him for a moment before nodding slowly. "Uh...okay. You know that shouldn't be something you're worried about...I've got it on good authority from my mom."

Lucien quickly whipped back to his task and they were done in an hour. A silent hour, Lucien thanked the gods.

They walked down the fire escape back downstairs. "You're dating? How's that?"

Al looked at him as if he had spoken Abyssal. "It's about as good as you can imagine. Seb thinks I'm wasting my time down here. Says I can be an apprentice for whoever I want, instead of..."

Lucien opened the door. "Working for Whittaker?"

Alonzo tucked another lock of blond hair behind his ear and turned the Closed sign to Open. "Working for Whittaker feels like the first time in awhile where I can actually do what I want to do."

His phone rang. From his look, Lucien could tell who it was.

"Good luck," he sang as he walked to the back.

...

The dream was different and the same. For better or worse. They weren't in an apothecary.

"A massage parlor?" Alonzo remarked as he laid down on his back, a modesty towel covering what Lucien knew was hiding.

"Shut up." Lucien had learned to drown out Dream Al. He wouldn't shut up no matter what so he might as well continue. He squirted a bit of oil onto his hands and began working the Valmont's tanned skin. "Let me enjoy this."

"Why don't you just say what you want and see if you AND I can enjoy this?" Dream Alonzo hummed as Lucien pushed the modesty towel aside.

Lucien shook his head. "Because you have a boyfriend." His fingers found the inside of Alonzo's hips and his mouth unconsciously began watering. Alonzo twitched, then began to respond to his touch. "And also because I'm not sure how many more dreams like this I will get."

Lucien stroked Alonzo and for the first time Al shut up. His body shivered and goose pimples appeared along his thighs. Lucien used both hands, switching and squeezing, feeling the oil begin to warm up from friction.

Alonzo groaned as Lucien began using his thumb to work it. "Who's enjoying themselves now?"

"Mmmm," Dream Alonzo vibrated and his fingers began to grip the sides of the table. His hips slowly began to lift, a beckoning gesture. Lucien found the tip's underside and began massaging it gently.

"Oh. Fuck, Lu." Alonzo whispered with a hiss.

Lucien's face burned as the object of his desire writhed on the table. He wanted more. "Pace yourself Al." His hands tugged his own briefs down and his slender manhood bounced with anticipation. Climbing onto the massage table, he straddled Alonzo.

The moment their skin met both young men moaned softly. Lucien poured more oil on his body, while Al gripped his bare hips. "Easy...I'm right here."

Al whispered back, "I want you so bad, Lu."

A thrill shot through Lucien. "Lu," he thought gloriously. "My name is Lu."

He pressed his warmth to Alonzo's. Stretching his fingers, he squeezed them tightly. "Fuck." And began to stroke them both together.

"Just like that...," Lucien purred as their bodies strained against one another. He could feel the BUM-BUM of Al's pulse, thrumming through their skin contact. His hips tingled as Al's fingers dug into him, gripping and pulling him close.

Closer...

Closer...

WAGHHHH!

Lucien's eyes snapped open. His crow-larm clock was cawing wildly.

"6:00 AM, Lucien! 6:00 AM!

Lucien sank back into his bed with a shudder at a ruined opportunity.