Jace Cicero

“Seriously?“ Judson grinned, looking over to Jace. “I honestly didn’t see you as a surfer. Being Geokinetic and all. Do you not fear being off land?“ Judson fired off, unable to hid his excitement. 

“You wanna go out again? With me… That’s unbelievable. I honestly thought I made a fool of myself.“ 

“Well... not for too long. I made strides in the 60s to combat those instinctive fears. I prefer calmer waves, though. And to be close to the beach.”

“No, I wouldn’t.” She sighed, “I’ll do more to keep everyone together the next time.”

“Everyone of my potions and products are mines or Roman’s unless stated otherwise. Which is less than 20% of my store. And I make sure that people know which products are cosigned,“ he shrugged. “It’s a full time job but it’s also a well loved hobby.“

“I’m going to hold you to that. What about surfing and beach hopping? Just last week, Patch, Ryan and I were surfing the waves in the Philippines.“

“I can see that.”

“Am I that predictable?” Judson was vibrating with joy and trying to to embarrass himself in front of Jace. “I do. Are you the constant adventuring type?”

“Maybe not predictable... But obvious about your interests.” He teased with a smile. “I don’t think anyone would call me adventurous, but I certainly like to roam.”

   “Amber bailed first, everything else fell apart after that.”

“If Amber jumped off a bridge, would you jump off too?”

   “I swear, I walked her to the exit.”

Jace stared at her. “I think generally bonding works better when everyone sticks with each other.”

Fallon looked up, “Belle and Flower went to go do something together, Amber had a test to study for and Skylar headed home.”

“Thanks. I don’t think you understand how much this all means to me. I really mean it. Thank you.“

“Thousands.“ Judson beamed. He loved talking about potions and magic in general. “Everything we know is either trail and error or purely something that was needed and someone having the courage to make it happen.“

“So that out of the question for future date night? Oh man, are we going to have to make a no show tunes rule?“

“Anyones that I wouldn’t suspect as yours?” Jace purchased his potions, and though he shopped at Judson’s store he didn’t actually know which potions were made in house and which were from other potioneers.

Skylar didn’t know what she was expecting but she was glad Jace returned the hug. His words usually didn’t hit her the way they were now but as she stared into his eyes, she knew she could trust him. “Everything about this life scares me. I’ve only been in it for a few months. There’s so much information and everything I’m reading has its own meaning and definition for the same thing. I’ve forgotten my key and crawled through windows before but it has never been like this. I’m not in control of myself for the first time since getting out of foster care and it’s terrifying. My head is constantly spinning.”

“I’m glad you’re not dead, Jace.“

“It gets less scary. I know that right now that feels impossible, but it truly does. There’s a lot to learn, but Skylar, you have centuries to do it. There are things I’m learning and I’ve been around for over a millennia. That’s the gift that comes with everything else that’s terrifying. We have so much time to grow and understand ourselves.” He squeezed her shoulders. “And sometimes losing control is the scariest thing in the world, but you have survived so much on your own. That isn’t going to to be the thing that takes you down, I know that. So does everyone around you.”

“My dad is a total council member. And I know.“ Judson smiled shyly. “Its more for a personal win. Knowing it can be done and possibly changing it into something help hopeful.“

“The railway cat?! Why haven’t we gotten together sooner. I have it on Blu-ray and I absolutely love it but nothing beats the original.“

“That’s very admirable.” Jace laughed and walked in a little farther to lean on one of the walls. “So how many potions have you discovered doing that exact thing?”

“Nothing bad it was pretty easy to make it look like a shitty street performance.” She chuckled “How is she holding up?

“I think she’s a little shaken up, but I think it’s always helpful to get the first slip up out of the way.”

“Only magic users. Which means after I perfected it I have to retest it and probably break it down to have zero side effects on non magic users. But honestly… I feel like a evil scientist. I forgot why I thought of creating it but now I just want to complete the challenge. What use can anyone have for this beside destruction? Can you imagine everyone running around with the ability to read minds or raise the dead?“ Judson rambled off like he usually did when he was overly excited. “Sorry… I did it again.“

“That would have been tolerable. Instead it was a sick and twisted remix of CATS, Chicago, Sweeney Todd, Grease and I think I may have thrown a few opera vocals in there too.“ He laughed from his own embarrassment.

“Not to be a total council member about this, but that is definitely illegal.” He gave him a smile. “I can’t imagine people having the powers without the side effects to reign them in. It’s incredible that you were able to make that, though.”

Kudzai pinched the bridge of her nose “So during the next meeting, I’ll vote. I don’t know what to tell Jace, I’m sorry.”

Jace wasn’t one to keep on beating a dead horse. “Ok, thanks. I also wanted to ask you about Skylar. I heard you ran into her when she got locked out and used her power.”

Skylar paused for a second. It was her first time seeing Jace since the accident. They texted and talked on the phone but she was worried that she got him in trouble. No matter how much Audo, Lyla and Eric tried to comfort her it wasn’t working. Seeing him there made it all too real that her actions and inability to control her powers could be catastrophic to herself, those around her and possibly people she care about. Moving slowly, Skylar walked up to Jace and gave him a hug. She needed it. 

Jace was momentarily stunned by the hug, but he returned it, squeezing her before pulling away to look at her face. “I know how scared you must have felt, but you’re ok. And everything is ok.” Emmett and Lyla both came up to mention how nervous she was for him. “And I hope the council’s rules don’t scare you too much. They aren’t written for people who made a mistake, they’re written for people who get bored in their 700s and want to cause trouble. I hope you weren’t worried for me either. It would take a lot more than a slip up to get anyone looking at me.”