Hex and the City

by Kate Johnson

Wands and staffs are not much use, unless you feel the need to wield a phallic symbol.

‘I, er, might be bisexual though.’ ‘All the best people are,’ Iris said.

Chaos is necessary and healthy for growth, it brings creativity and breathes new life into stale order.

Poppy, who tried to be a good person but couldn’t bloody help being a human being, personally always thought his ears stuck out too much and his laugh was annoying.

They were so ordinary it was actually weird. If Alex had ever needed to describe them for a police line-up, he’d have said, ‘They were white people,’ and then been unable to think of absolutely anything else.

‘Now, ladies, gentlemen, and those of you who choose not to define, there are a couple of important questions here.’

‘Consent is sexy,’ said Alex, grinning at her, and right then consent really wasn’t the only thing that was sexy.

He wanted to take her in his arms here, right in front of her boring family, and show them that even if they didn’t think Poppy was good enough, he thought she was magnificent.

‘Anyway, the City isn’t in the City any more,’ Poppy said. ‘It’s in Canary Wharf now.’ ‘What’s really bad is I actually understood what you meant there.’

He was looking down at Poppy’s lovely face, flushed and glowing, her lips swollen from his kisses. My kisses. I did that.