Shawn came to consciousness slowly, feeling like he was crawling through molasses to get the energy just to open his eyes. He groaned, squinting around the room. He was still at his own place, settled on the couch. His desk was somehow all in one piece, the bit of the table in the kitchen he could see looking good as new. He could've pretended that nothing happened, if it wasn't for the bone-deep ache in his entire body, and Natalia wandering out of the kitchen, carrying a strong-smelling tea in a coffee mug.

 

“Drink this, it'll help with your muscle pain.” She settled on her heels beside him, humming. “I'll be honest, sugar, I wasn't sure if my assumption about you was correct.”

 

Shawn shifted up enough to sip the tea without spilling it all over himself. He grimaced as he first tasted the tea, it wasn't bad, per se, just an extremely strong licorice taste to it. “What, erm, what assumption is that?”

 

“That you could use magic.” She sighed, shifting about. “Most other magic users can tell, you feel an aura or a pull of sorts off other magic users. Of course, I wasn't sure if I'd interpreted it right... the fact that you hadn't awakened to the pull of your magic yet, you had no aura about you, even after the touch that transferred our energy between us.” She gestured to the desk, frowning. “The fact that you were able to completely destroy something of that size... is impressive to say the least, especially for someone just coming into their power.”

 

“You see, most magic users come into their powers along with adolescence. The power comes on gradually, as well, most just barely able to lift a pen, let alone destroy a desk, even with the most emotional outburst.” She frowned, tipping the tea back toward him, making Shawn sputter.

 

“What are you saying, then?” Shawn asked when he'd finally downed the tea. “How am I able to do this? Why now?”

 

Natalia took the mug from him, setting it on the coffee table. “I'm not sure, but I believe someone sealed your magic, which hopefully is not the case. Someone knowingly sealing another's magic is very illegal, so I won't jump to conclusions...” She tapped her chin, looking over him from head to toe, then reached out to run her fingers along his arm. “I'd say the aura from my magic probably brought it out, but with as much power as you had, for that to be fully sealed, more than just my aura would have to bring it out.” She looked over him. “What exactly happened, right before your magic overtook you?”

 

What was he doing? Shawn strained his tired brain, then flushed. Right, he was beating himself up because of his silly crush on Miles.

 

“I was, erm... Talking with my friend.” No way in hell could he tell anyone about this issue.

 

She hummed. “The same one that was bitten, correct?” Shawn nodded, then opened his mouth to ask how the hell she knew Miles was bitten in the first place when she cut him off. “Little Miss Alpha filled me in when she contracted the protection charms for you. She did not tell me about your magic, though with how heavily your magic was sealed even an Alpha as powerful as her may not have been able to sense it...”

 

“What it may be... if you had any sort of argument or anything to make your emotions run high, it triggered your magic to come out. The seal around your power was more than likely broken slightly when you were around the werewolves, as your power recognized something as a major danger nearby, along with another Supernatural being. Then it was completely broken when our powers connected. With the seal being gone, and with no proper training, your magic will come out with any great emotional charge.”

 

Shawn frowned, imagining that type of thing happening every time he got upset or frustrated or... anything, really...

 

“Can I learn to control it?” Shawn muttered, shifting so he was sitting up on the couch. “And... can I learn to repair things like you did with the desk?”

 

Natalia nodded, grinning. “Of course, child. It may take a little to get the hang of it, but I could help you.” She grabbed the mug from the coffee table and stood up. “First, you'll need to recover, though. Attempting to control your magic in a weakened state is asking for trouble.”

 

Shawn sighed, hearing the Shaman grinding herbs and tea leaves, the barely audible patter of the tea hitting the bottom of the rinsed-out mug. He opened his hands, staring down at his palms, wiggling his fingers with a frown. Who would've sealed his magic? Why? What reason would anyone have to do that?

 

“Careful.” Natalia warned, setting the mug on the table in front of him. “It's seeping out again.”

 

Shawn blinked, glancing back to his hands to see the first wisps of blue, electric light curling around his fingertips. Shawn cursed and copied the deep, even breaths Natalia had him do earlier. Slowly, with each breath, the magic shrunk until the only remnant of the magic was left as a slight tingling in his digits.

 

“Dammit...” Shawn brushed his hands over his jeans, trying to rub away the tingles. “Is that going to happen all the time?” That'll make going to conventions a lot harder...

 

Natalia sighed, picking up the mug and handing it to him. “Drink. I'll try to help with your passive control when you finish.”

 

Shawn huffed, taking the mug and downing the bitter tea. He wondered if he should tell Naomi and Miles... Would Natalia report this to Naomi anyway? Would he have to get registered like Miles did?

 

“And keep calm.” Natalia scolded when the tingles filled his extremities again and blue light flashed right in front of his face. Shawn quickly set the mug down and breathed, shaking out his hands after the energy sucked back into his skin. This was going to be difficult... He now knew how Miles felt with training his control...

 

 

“In... Out... In... Out... Now feel it concentrate in your chest, latch on to the warmth radiating from within...” Shawn huffed, shaking his head as sweat dripped off his brow into his eye. They'd spent the last three hours trying to get him to be able to shift the magic as he wanted. It was a lot harder than he'd thought it would be, just getting it to collect at his center as Natalia instructed took absolutely all of his concentration. “Imagine a container there, imagine that energy filling the container.”

 

Shawn shuddered, warmth collecting in his chest, pulsing with a need to get out, beating at the walls of his ribs for a few seconds before the feeling settled, the energy calming and settling quietly in his core. He blew out a breath and shook out his hands, stretching out finally for the first time in three hours.

 

“Impressive...” Natalia hummed, looking over him. “Not many mages could reign in such power in such a short amount of time.” She grinned. “I'll be sure to keep an eye on you, you'd be a great asset to the Council fully trained.” She reached into her shawl, drawing out a satchel of herbs and leaves that smelled strongly of licorice. “Continue practicing with your control, your magic may still seep out when you're distressed, at least until you get used to holding it in. If you feel that ache like before just brew some of this tea, a pinch of tea leaves and of the herbs ground together and brewed normally.”

 

“When you've mastered controlling your power come back to the shop, it'll appear to you if you have a need for it. I'll have some tomes that you could use to further your training.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, I don't know much of the intricacies of mage's magic; Shaman's are more able in charms and remedies rather than the explosive magic that your kind use.” Natalia paused a moment then, shrugging. “Perhaps Little Miss Alpha could find someone better fit to help you, but in the meantime, I can do what I can to help.” She grinned. “We all have to stick together, after all.”

 

With that, Natalia was gone, leaving Shawn alone in his realization he wasn't really human. He chewed on his lip and picked up his phone, flipping over to his messages and opening his conversation with Miles. But... it wasn't really something he should say in a text... Hell, it didn't feel like something he should say over video chat even. It only felt right telling Miles in person, though with how easy it was to let that magic slip out he was definitely not comfortable traveling.

 

That convention is in thirteen days... all he had to do was wait until then, it wasn't too long. That'd give him the time to try to get a handle on his magic, maybe learn some tricks, and then he could simply show Miles. Besides, he wasn't sure if Miles would really believe just being told Shawn was magic. A mage? He guessed that's what he was.

 

Shawn stared at his fingers, willing the energy to collect in his palm. It was shaky, feeling spikes of power surge through his arm, right on the edge of painful. But... he was still able to materialize the silvery-blue energy into his palm, collecting until it was roughly the size of a baseball. He rolled it in his hand, amazed as it pulsed in his hand, but kept its shape. This was... pretty cool.

 

His phone buzzed in his other hand and Shawn jumped, the magic losing its form and puddling into his palm for a second before he absorbed it, drawing it back into his chest. He checked his phone and frowned, Naomi was calling him. Did Natalia already tell her?

 

“Hello?” Shawn answered, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice. He knew he shouldn't be nervous but... Miles did mention that Naomi was working with the Council a little. Would he get in trouble for having his powers sealed even if it wasn't his doing?

 

“Hey.” Naomi started, papers rustling in the background as she spoke. “I just wanted to check in with you, see if Miles filled you in with the Rogue.”

 

Shawn relaxed. Good, he wasn't sure he was really ready to tell anyone else about this, especially someone connected to the Council. Though he didn't think Naomi would run to the Council to tell on him... “Yeah, he did. I haven't seen him at all, though.”

 

Naomi sighed. “Good. Just, make sure you're careful when you leave your place. You're safe there with all the wards, but we already know he doesn't care about attacking anyone in public.” She shuffled around some more paperwork then clucked her tongue. “Listen, I have some things I have to do so I'll let you go but, just make sure you keep in contact, okay?”

 

Shawn agreed, and Naomi hung up. He sunk into the couch with a heavy breath, dropping his head back into the cushion. He'd have to check with Natalia about the registration thing... Especially before seeing Naomi again.