I'm Coming Home

NAME: Mason Ottavio Sykes AGE: 21 MAGICK STATUS: Mundus OCCUPATION: Ugh - attending a community college and working side jobs on the side.  CURRENT LOCATION: New York City  RELATIONSHIP STATUS (IF APPLICABLE): In a relationship - ...kinda.  BIOGRAPHY: 

Mason barely remembered Swynlake. He knew they lived there until he was like eight, but it felt like a distant memory. Like everything there had been so out-shined by moving back to New York. It felt like home the second they’d gotten there, Mason had never been more interested in all of the sights and sounds of the city. Everything was cool - everything was an adventure to be explored. There was trouble to be had around every corner. 

Growing up, he had no problems finding it. Between Uncle Tito and Uncle Dodge, Zio Desi and even his father, Mason truly had no boundaries in what he could get up to. 

So when his mama told him they were packing up and heading back to Swynlake for a little visit, Mason couldn’t help but object. He didn’t need to go back there for some dumb stuff event! He could stay home with Fagin and the guys! But Rita insisted. Said it would be..... fun for him and Vivi to go back to where they grew up. 

But Mason didn’t care about that. 

NAME: Roscoe Vittore Sykes AGE: 49 MAGICK STATUS: Mundus OCCUPATION: Running the Streets of NYC (Mafia Prince w/DeSoto)  CURRENT LOCATION: New York City  RELATIONSHIP STATUS (IF APPLICABLE): Married - Rita-Saluki-Sykes CHILDREN (IF APPLICABLE): Oliver Sykes, Mason Saluki-Sykes (21), Vivianna Saluki-Sykes (18)  BIOGRAPHY: 

Roscoe never thought he’d step back in Swynlake a day in his life. He’d spent too many years there hiding out from his father - and the second the coast was clear, his entire family had moved back to their true home. The Court of Miracles had been left in capable hands - Jess taking over the business when Rita and Roscoe ventured back home, and all was well. The kids were growing up (being brats), New York was safe again (....like..for them), and Roscoe was where he felt like he belonged;

DeSoto and himself running what their father had tried to destroy, and a beautiful family that he loved back home. 

But... there was some huge landmark historical event happening in Swynlake. Rita insisted they go. To visit old friends and see how the town was doing. It would be like a mini-vacation. 

Roscoe... wasn’t sure that was the case when they could literally hop a flight a few hours over and go to Italy but... Rita was always right. 

It’s Time || Rosca

As he handed her her own set of keys and called her family, the last of her self control broke and this time she did begin to cry. “Damn it Roscoe, you knew that would get to me.”

After all, family had always been a slightly complicated concept for Jess. Her mother had been her whole world, she’d sacrificed so much to take care of her mother, and she didn’t regret any of it. But her grandparents had disowned her for her decision to be a singer in the way they had disowned their daughter before her. Now she knew her father was some nameless demon who had probably enjoyed rock music enough to be at the concert but hadn’t cared enough to follow up on it in the decades since. 

But the Court had been there for her. Roscoe and Rita had taken a chance on hiring her, and she had repaid that with loyalty. Rita had initially been the one to open their home to her after the two had bonded backstage, but she knew that if Roscoe had really wanted that door closed, it would have been. 

Instead, this was a chance for a new direction in her life right when she’d been wondering what options she potentially had. 

Wiping away her eyes (and already mentally calculating the time she would need in order to redo her makeup since she obviously hadn’t planned for tears when she’d gotten ready tonight), she looked up at Roscoe with a smile.

“I’ll take care of it, I promise. And I’m fully expecting you to come in and scare me whenever the mood strikes you.”

“...I know you will.” Roscoe said, looking Jess over as his smile turned more genuine. He knew the Court would be in good hands. He certainly wasn’t worried about that in the slightest. There was really no better person that Roscoe could have had to do this for them - and he knew down the line, when things fell into place and New York was back on the table; he knew he’d be talking to Rita about offering the entire business to her as a whole as well. He knew Rita would agree, too. 

But for now - this is what worked. 

Reaching out, Roscoe gently pulled Jessica into a quick hug, something he didn’t do often - but what he’d said was true. Jess was family too - and while he did know that was what would get her, he still didn’t want to see her in tears. Giving her a gentle squeeze, Roscoe pulled back a bit. “And don’t worry. I’ll be checking in... but - for now, I think I’m just going to focus on the kids..” Because they were the most important; and time was an incredibly valuable thing that Roscoe wasn’t going to mess up this time. 

How many days had he lost in jail when Mason was an infant? How many years had he lost listening to his father? How many nights with Rita had left him because of his stupidity? He’d only just started repairing things with Oliver, and he’d lost everything with his first daughter, and that was something he was never going to get back. All of that was behind him now... Roscoe was going to do better - he was going to be there for his family. Raise his kids the way they deserved to be. 

It had only taken him thirty odd years to figure it out - but.. that was what made Roscoe the happiest. 

To him - family was everything. 

So it was about damn time he started acting like it. 

“...C’mon. I think you have a set to get ready for no?” He smiled, pulling away fully and nudging her gently towards the door. “We’ll talk later to fully settle things.” And it was only when Jessica was nearly out of his office that Roscoe returned behind his desk - his gaze slipping back down to the pictures he had in the corner. Of Rita, Mason and Vivianna. Of Oliver. DeSoto. “...and Jess?” He called out, glancing back up with a raise of his brow before a smile slowly spread onto his lips. 

It’s Time || Rosca

Jessica was so braced for bad news that when it didn’t come, it almost didn’t make sense. For a moment, she simply stared at Roscoe as she tried to take in the words before mechanically reaching for the folder and flipping it open. 

General Manager. The words seemed to jump off the page as she stared at them, clear in black text on the white page. There were more words, that she made the pretense of glancing through as if she was really going to read them. As if the content mattered. All she was doing was trying to buy herself time as she brought her whirling thoughts back into some semblance of order, and even that she knew was a feeble attempt. 

This meant he wanted her to stay. After everything he’d learned, after the tension that had arisen with her newfound truths, he still trusted her enough to take care of this place they both loved and to see it continue to thrive. She would get to sing when she wanted to, but she would also have a say in the kinds of acts that were here, the scheduling, all the details that functioned to keep this place alive for everyone who walked through the doors. It was beyond anything she could have ever imagined. 

When she looked back up at him, she could feel the tears beginning to press at her eyes although she tried to hold them back. She was supposed to be a professional after all, damn it. But her breath was noticeably shaky as she looked at hm. “Of course I want this. Roscoe, this is - I mean, it’s -” she could feel her voice fail as the tears threatened to fall and she took in a shaky breath. 

Roscoe watched Jessica, his smile turning warmer still as he shrugged his shoulders gently. “...it’s well deserved.” He finished - even if that’s not at all what Jessica was going to say. But in his mind, it was. It was an easy choice. Out of all his employees. She’d been there for a long while. He trusted her the most. She was the closest with himself, Rita and even the kids. 

Obviously if Roscoe was going to put the business in someone else’s hands it was going to be hers. Especially if she wanted it. He never wanted to force that on someone either but... that was why he’d agreed to let her help when he stepped away for those months. As a way to... gauge how it went and also because it showed him that was something she was interested in doing. 

Something she could handle. 

Now that she’d proved those things, it made the next choices incredibly easy to make. 

“...Rita and I agree - there’s no one else we’d rather have in that position. So - we’re happy for you to take it.” He stood then, pulling something out of his pocket before he stepped around his desk and offered his hand out towards Jessica. 

Sitting in his palm were a copy of all the main keys for the business, all connected by a custom keychain with her name on it. 

It’s Time || Rosca

Jessica sat down at his suggestion, laying her hands lightly in her lap to try and hide the way they were tempted to tremble. She had set herself up for this. She would abide by whatever decision he made. It was his right as a friend and business owner to decide who he worked with, and she wanted the decision to be entirely his own. Like a mantra, she kept repeating her reasoning to try and ground herself as she waited for what was to come. 

But despite how much she thought she’d prepared herself for this possibility, the reality of it stole the breath from her lungs. Clearly, Rita had tried to coach him on how to be gentle with the news (because there was no way Rita hadn’t known this was coming - the two were a team), but it was obvious what he was about to say. She was being let go to protect the Court and their clients. She wouldn’t ever get to sing here again. 

Struggling to hold onto any kind of composure, she nodded at his words. She wouldn’t cry. She’d leave with dignity. That was what she had left. “Of course I understand.”

Roscoe nodded - a small sympathetic smile pressing onto his lips as he sighed and opened up the bottom drawer of his desk, pulling out a folder and placing it in front of him. “Very well. I suppose there’s no point in delaying then, is there?” The man spoke, grabbing a pen from and pressing it atop the folder before he pressed the folder forward towards Jessica - sitting back in his chair and running a hand over his chin. 

“...Inside the folder you’ll find the paperwork detailing the responsibilities of general manager. I want you to read over them carefully - though you’ll find they include the same responsibilities in which you performed while I was on leave.” Roscoe continued, watching Jess carefully as he dropped his hand from his jaw and clasped them lightly in his lap. 

“...I want you to be fully aware of the job and what you’d be doing before I tell you that... I’m stepping back from the Court. There’s a lot going on and Rita will be returning to the Court soon enough for performances and I want her to be able to do that. My involvement here specifically is not important. There’s no reason I can’t be with my kids. Especially when I have such capable hands to leave the business in.” Roscoe finally said, his smile growing a fair bit more genuine as he leaned forward then to rest his elbows on the desk. 

It’s Time || Rosca​

Ever since her conversation with Roscoe about her personal revelation, Jessica had felt like she’d been walking something of a knife’s edge. 

On the one hand, there was a sense of relief. Many of the others at the Court had been kind, or at least tolerant, so she had been able to continue singing. Tony had very sweetly approached her and said he was proud of her for coming out. Rita when she’d been told had dismissed it as a concern entirely and made sure to invite her over to see the kids again a short time later. Jessica knew her reception could have been worse and she was grateful. 

On the other hand, she couldn’t ignore Roscoe’s considering gaze following her around the Court. Even without her magic, she was familiar with the sensation of eyes following her and what that kind of attention could mean. Roscoe’s was different but it was no less noticeable. She knew he held her future in his hands, and he hadn’t finished making his mind up about it. 

Until today it seemed. At his request, she nodded and followed him into his office, trying to ignore the way her stomach began to sink. 

.

Roscoe waited until Jessica was in his office to shut the door behind them, gesturing lightly back to that chair she’d sat in weeks earlier when he’d first returned to the Court as he settled into his own across the way. 

“...I’ve made a decision regarding what you told me.” He started, eyeing Jessica carefully as a soft sigh left his lips. After a moment his gaze dropped down to his desk, the personalization he’d left upon it was few and far between. It was often how he kept much of what he owned. It was safer that way. No way to tie him to any certain spot or position. They’d grown up that way and it’d... never really changed. It was good though. It made other things easier in hindsight. Like adjusting to big changes like this. 

Roscoe had been thinking about the whole situation since Jessica informed him that she was a Magick. It was something that stayed on the back of his mind each night, something that randomly had him lost in thought in the middle of the day, and something he’d spent many nights discussing at length with Rita over. 

Of course there were disagreements - there were worries, concerns and personal beliefs that came with learning this information, but Jessica was... a friend. 

Unfortunately - Roscoe was still stubborn, and most certainly set in his ways. There was nothing that was going to change his mind once he made it and... Ever since he’d come back and had that discussion with Jessica in his office about all of this, his mind had been made. 

Now he just... had to go through with it. Even if it spelled a small sense of uncertainty for the future of the business. He knew there could be backlash but in the end... Roscoe was sure that this would be the right choice. For him. For his business, and for Jessica too. Even if she might not agree. 

“Jessica.” Roscoe greeted, approaching the woman as he assumed she was getting ready for a practice run through her performance for the night. “...A moment with you in my office, if you would.” 

Stormy Monday || Rosca

How could she answer that? She didn’t fully understand it herself. She knew there was a version of the future where she behaved more like Susan, living her life and keeping her secrets and hoping it didn’t harm too many. But in the end, she couldn’t. She needed the trust of the people who mattered to her, and that meant she needed to be trustworthy. 

So she came at the question from the side. “I love the Court. I love the community we’ve built here, I love all the other people who work here, and I love getting to perform here.”

“But, if there’s a chance that this magic I have influenced our customers, or my co-workers, or you…I want to give people the chance to decide for themselves how they feel. And you in particular, its only fair that you know. I’d never do anything to hurt Rita or your children, but it would have felt wrong lying to you all just to keep something that I wanted.”

She took a deep breath. “I’m not expecting you to make a decision right now. Whatever time you need to think about this and decide how you feel, I understand. All I’ll ask is that you let me keep performing for at least a little while. Evaluate how I do when I don’t have the magic helping me, and if it comes back, give me a chance to see if I can control it. And I’d like to be able to tell the others who work here so they can make their own choices. If after a few weeks, I make you or too many of the others uncomfortable, I can find a job elsewhere.”

Roscoe nodded his head softly because... in a way he appreciated that.

In a way, he also thought it was... unadvised. Stupid, perhaps - that she would have risked it all to tell him this when it meant that he could have turned around and kicked her out on her ass in a second but... She would have been fine if he did, right? She had friends. She had talents. Evidently she had a fun party trick.

Things would have been okay.

But Jessica was a ‘friend’. Or at least the closest thing to a friend that Roscoe was ever going to get these days. She was a friend to Rita - to his children. To the others here at the Court. She was someone they could all trust and depend on.

So...did any of this information really change that?

Maybe... Maybe it did.

He couldn’t be too sure - and he supposed he wouldn’t be too sure until all of this passed over and he got the comparison between magical-drain her and the real her. So... he’d just have to wait it out. He’d just have to see.

“...Okay.” Roscoe said then, shifting off of the desk and moving back to shuffle some paperwork back into its spot absently before he turned to glance at Jessica. “...I don’t suspect you’ll have a problem with anyone else. - But.. We can see.” Since he doubted very seriously that any of the other girls would care. Not with how close they all were.

Stormy Monday || Rosca

“I…think my control is fairly good. At least, it felt like it was something I could turn on when I performed and I typically turned it off after. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but I could feel something.”

Of course, Susan had warned her that it might be different now. It could be stronger now that she was aware of it or she might have to relearn control since she would be thinking about it differently. She didn’t know. With the magic drain still creeping over the town, she hadn’t been able to test it before they spoke again, but she hadn’t wanted to wait that long either. 

“But obviously it hasn’t been working for the last few weeks. With the magic drain in town getting stronger, I haven’t felt it at all. So I haven’t really been able to test it either.”

What she’d felt instead was hungry. Her grocery bill had gone up and she’d needed to keep more snacks around as her body shifted to needing more traditional nutrients than she had eaten since she was a child. She’d always liked food, but had always seemed to eat less of it than her friends did. Now she knew why. 

But that wasn’t the point right now. It wasn’t what she needed to focus on with Roscoe weighing her future in the balance. 

She could only hope that the way she’d chosen to approach him mattered. She’d come to him, telling him the truth, when she didn’t have any of the magic to help her. When he could still see her perform and judge it and know it was just her. She didn’t know if it would be enough, but she hoped it was enough for a chance. 

As far as Roscoe could tell... it wasn’t dangerous magick. At least... not on the surface. It wasn’t a vampire, werewolf or even like Tito’s fucked up electricity shit. It was just... some weird kind of attention thing that craved and fed off of other people’s... desires? or whatever. Not great! Definitely not great. 

But... in this town? Also certainly not the worst. 

Jessica was...a friend. Perhaps not directly to Roscoe but.. To Rita. To this business. She was someone that Roscoe put trust in and had yet to see reason why that trust was misplaced. Even with this.. she had every reason not to say shit. To keep whatever knowledge of this to herself and take it with her to the grave. Especially because Roscoe knew she wasn’t stupid. He knew that she knew his thoughts. Even if they were not often voiced out loud these days. It was still pretty clear he fell on a very different side of the fence then say, Rita. 

roscoesykes·:

Stormy Monday || Rosca

Jessica thought she’d been ready for the shift. What could be worse than seeing Tiana afraid of her after all? But seeing the distance and the hints of distrust enter Roscoe’s eyes hit like a punch to her gut. It was all she could do keep her own expression even.

After all, he had a right to his own emotions. That was the whole point. 

“As a half succubus, I am nourished by, well, attention. Which all performers are to a certain degree, with me it’s just a little bit more literal. As part of this, I have this ability to increase or decrease how much attention people are giving me or how attracted they are to me.” Even now, looking at Roscoe with his no nonsense expression she couldn’t say ‘aura’. She was having a hard enough time adjusting to some facets of this, ability felt like a much more neutral term. 

“I’ve always sort of known I could do this, but I just thought it was my ability as a performer and I thought it was something everyone could do. Which retroactively I should have maybe known wasn’t the case exactly, but - that’s not the point. The point is, that part of the reason I could hold an audience as well as I could and that certain audience members were more likely to cause problems afterward was because I was using this ability, and I only noticed because that began to fade into the way people behave when every other performer is on stage.”

“As far as I know, the effect fades quickly when I’m not actively using it.” But there could be something she didn’t know. there was so little information, so little research that she could trust, and only so much Susan knew. 

So - yes. 

In a way, Jessica had been able to ‘brainwash’ the audience. Not to an incredibly dramatic degree, and nothing like a vampire’s ability to lure people in and make them forget, but.. In a way it was all the same, wasn’t it? Influencing people’s actions and feelings with magic seemed like an incredibly intrusive thing. 

Especially when it came to a business like this. Where they were quite reliant on their ability to draw a crowd. To hold people’s attention. It made Roscoe wonder how much of Jessica’s talent was real. How much of it was fabricated under some kind of false magical pretense. 

Though he supposed that wasn’t a fair thought, was it? Jessica was...a family friend. A trust employee. Had that changed just because he figured out she was... more than he originally thought. Could he truly not trust her now because of a little magical...influence..?

Part of him said yes. That it was safer that way. Better to stick to his guns and make sure people weren’t being taken advantage of. Part of him also said that was dramatic - ridiculous and inconsiderate. Not to mention the scandal... 

Stormy Monday || Rosca

It was only a moment in between when she spoke and he was looking back at her, a moment that felt like eternity and nothing at all. She almost didn’t know why she was doing this. Susan had clearly effectively hidden being a Magick for years, Jess could have just said that she’d gone through a break up, and that would be the end of it. She could lie, life would go on, and no matter what else fell apart she could have this job that she loved. 

And yet, she couldn’t do that either. Maybe it was growing up as the child of a failing rockstar where all problems were public until time washed them away in the public mind again. Maybe it was the trust and the closeness she felt to Roscoe, Rita, and their children, and the way they felt like family when she had none left. Maybe it was simply that this knowledge felt so world shattering, she needed the tangible evidence of her life in pieces. She didn’t know. But whatever it was, she didn’t want to hide it from him after all, consequences be damned. 

“These past few months with the magic drain affecting the town, I was… surprised to discover that I myself was affected. It seemed like my performances were getting less attention, and I was feeling differently, and I couldn’t explain it. Until someone I trusted told me that i was feeling the effects because I’m a Magick myself. A succubus. Or rather, a half succubus I think.”

Even now, she wouldn’t out Susan, not even to Roscoe. That would be Susan’s choice to make. But she hoped the wording helped him understand that this was serious and real. 

“Before you ask, I haven’t been able to find anyone else who could possibly confirm this in town considering they are also affected by the magic drain. But the reading I’ve done does match up with some of my own experiences and things like my, well, unusual effect on an audience. Which is why i felt it was only fair that you knew.”

Magick. 

Now...if this were Rita, it would be immediately brushed off. It wouldn’t matter. She didn’t care who was a magick and who wasn’t. Roscoe however still did hold a bit of prejudice when it came to things like that. Yes - burn him at the stake, but Roscoe did consider himself a bit of an anit-magick. They weren’t safe. They’d proved that time and time again in their community that the lot of them were nothing but trouble. 

Magical disasters. Magical beings causing issue. Causing terror. Causing town wide panic or damage. This was a yearly issue, if not more, and yet the people of Swynlake so easily like to brush it under the rug. Then the people who complained about it rightfully suffered the most. People like Jun who had their stole vandalized and their person defamed over taking the right steps to protect people. 

Roscoe did not like it. And while no, he could not be openly against Magicks, especially as a business owner, he did do his best to keep his distance. 

So Jessica being one was.... a shock. 

“....and what exactly does... a succubus entail.” Roscoe said then, eyeing Jessica careful - almost... distrustfully. He wasn’t familiar with that magic though. Was it like a demon? Was it like a vampire? Was it something harmless? She mentioned the ‘effect on an audience’ did that mean she was brainwashing people? He needed to know.