#tw stealing

Like across two separate dates she took 50, then 100 $ respectively

then claimed she thought it was her savings account.

I'm trying out a different characterization for Cicero.

This is actually a rewrite of an AU I made but never finished, where Praline suspected that there was something off about the dough.

——————---

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Rule One: Never trust anyone, ever. No matter how friendly they were. Anyone who knew wouldn’t believe her at best. No one would ever choose Cicero over Cheeser. Even Octavia. Cicero couldn’t afford to forget that. Rule Two: Do not get attached. Cicero’s task was simple. Steal the dough. Save Octavia. Leave. It didn’t matter if Cicero met someone she sort of liked. She’d end up parting from them after all of this, anyway. Especially if she got caught. Cicero doesn’t think she could handle it, losing her chance to save Octavia and having someone she cared about turn against her, again. 

———

Step One: Arrive in Pizza City.

Cicero really wasn’t excited about it, but she was back in Pizza City. Flash had told her a few days ago that a building was glowing in Pizza City, at the same place Alicante’s restaurant used to be, and Cicero could recognize Cheeser’s magic. 

Cicero had known for months now that Cheeser would eventually try to convince someone to eat the dough, but she’d hoped…she’d hoped that she could find the tablet pieces before then. But she still had no progress, except for the tiny piece she’d stolen from her parents. 

And now she barely had time. If she didn’t act, someone else would be possessed, the same way Octavia was possessed. But how was she supposed to steal the dough and find the tablet pieces before someone ate it?

Focus. 

No point in wondering what-ifs. 

Just do it. ———

Study the Za Arena, Step 2.5, meet a competitor. 

Cicero pauses when she sees the Za Arena. It’s a beautiful, majestic building, radiating of a magic that screamed danger, danger, danger. Cicero feels her own magic, preparing to destroy the Za Arena itself. 

Cicero quickly stifles her powers. But the moment she forgets, they rise again. So she keeps a deliberate focus on keeping her powers stifled. 

It scares her, how quickly she reacted to Cheeser’s magic. How much effort it takes to not immediately destroy the whole thing. Cicero had spent years practicing, making sure that she doesn’t accidentally undo the magic around her when she was upset, and all that effort…had Marinar really felt that threatened by Cheeser? Or was Cicero still bad at controlling her powers? Both, probably. 

Cicero needs a distraction. Fortunately, she’d already decided to visit the shop right next to the Za Arena. Partially as an excuse to study the Za Arena without causing suspicion. Partially because she actually was hungry. 

Cicero places an order for a pizza, then sits down to study the new building. 

One minute later (how had she made the pizza so fast?) the Ovenist arrives again, and deposits a pizza with a surprisingly detailed design on it. Cicero wonders if she’s gotten warmer pizza, or if she’s gotten those rumoured super-quick pizzas. She’s heard stories about an Ovenist who only gives super quick pizzas to those she likes, but no one could prove anything. 

Not that it matters. Cicero thanks the Ovenist, and then takes a bite. 

And her blood runs cold.

The pizza was good. Too good. The type of good Cicero had only tasted once, when Octavia had brought her to Ambrosia as a treat for her birthday. 

This Ovenist would be in the competition. Guaranteed. 

And the Ovenist who made this pizza is, horrifyingly, a child. Maybe she was older than she looked, the same way Cicero looked younger than she was, but she was certainly no older than 16 at most. 

Cicero hadn’t meant to meet another competitor. Not yet, not yet. She’s already seen the Za Arena, but seeing a real competitor-that was different, somehow. A person who could potentially meet the same fate as Octavia. And Cicero-she hadn’t prepared for this. 

The Ovenist is staring at her, head tilted. “Do you not like it? I can get another pizza, if you want.”

Cicero doesn't want that, and she doesn't know what to say. So Cicero says “You have skill, that’s for sure. I hope we can get along!” Which was true, since she’d probably be interacting with her a lot. But it was NOT a non-suspicious thing to say. Why’d she say that?

The Ovenist doesn’t seem to mind, though. “I hope we can get along too, beautiful lady!” 

Then she skips away. 

At least she hadn’t thought anything was weird.

———

Set Up Shop. Step 4. Find Meet Octavia. 

After finishing her pizza, Cicero goes back to Burratta’s Pizzeria to prepare. She knows she’s probably not going to be in the best state after seeing Octavia, so she wants to set up things early. Then she’ll find Octavia, somehow. Surely it wouldn’t be hard, but it’d probably be painful. Pizza City’s gossip was extensive, but they’d probably already be gossiping about her family. Again. And then she’d have to parse through all that…

Enough. She’d get to it when she needed to. Right now, she had to clean. 

— 

Cicero is nearly finished when Octavia walks into her shop. 

And Cicero ends up staring. She doesn’t mean to, but seeing Octavia after all this time, in person…it’d been months. 

Octavia was drop dead gorgeous, as usual, which was probably the wrong thing to think right now. But she was. The Romano hairstyle and white dress really did look good on her. 

But then Cicero sees Octavia’s expression, and she remembers that this is NOT her friend. Octavia’s expression would rarely change, whether she was furious or happy. But Cheeser clearly did emote, and it looks strange to see any expression at all on Octavia’s face. Wrong. 

It doesn’t help that the expression Cheeser is wearing is somewhat disguised hatred. Cicero knows it’s not her friend, she knows it’s not, but it’s still…awful. Especially considering everything that happened before Octavia ate the dough.

Cicero feels the sharp, burning hot feel of Cheeser’s Romano powers. Fortunately, her own powers protect her, but it’s still jarring. 

Fuck. Cicero had expected Cheeser to eject her from the city, but she really hadn’t expected him to start with the curses this early. Before she even started talking! Before even he started talking. Wasn’t he supposed to at least tell her that it was very obvious what she was doing? 

Cheeser’s expression changes to something else, for a brief second. Anger. Then he switches tactics, and two gold bracelets appear around Cicero’s arms, and start pulling her out of the room. 

Was she going to be dragged out of Pizza City like this? Probably. Unless Cicero did something. 

Honestly, she really should’ve started talking a while ago. She had a script planned, but she can’t remember it now.

Well. She remembers part of it. The part she really didn’t want to say. 

“Wait! I came here to apologize.” No change, and Cicero is nearly out of the door. “For Marinar’s mistakes.” 

Cicero had hoped to never have to say this specific lie again, but she knows she will get nowhere if she doesn’t establish that she’s very sorry for her ancestor defending himself from a dictator. 

At least it caught Cheeser’s attention. 

The bracelets on Cicero’s hands stop in the air for a second, before they drag her to the nearest table and slam down. Cicero is very aware that it looks like she is handcuffed to the table. 

Cicero ignores the feeling of trapped, trapped, caught and guilty, and starts speaking. 

“I know that Marinar did a lot of…” the lie burns on Cicero’s tongue, but she has to continue. “He should not have committed treason against Cheeser. And I came to apologize for his mistakes.” 

Cheeser studies her, with an oddly contemplative look. Cicero wonders if she’ll have to say more to convince him.

The handcuffs on Cicero’s wrists tightens.

Then Cheeser glares at her, and asks if she thinks that he is a fool. Cicero had only come back for the competition, and to sabotage it. 

Cicero keeps calm (she is not, but she cannot afford to let the facade drop), and says that it took a while for her to find out the real truth about what happened. But by then, she wasn’t able to find Octavia. It was only now that she did.

Cicero had chosen this specific lie because it was actually true (it had taken her a while to find out the truth about Marinar), but still sounded like she was cozying up to Cheeser. 

It still hurt. 

She hopes that he won’t demand more lies from her. She would do it, because the reason she was even here in this awful city was right in front of her, but she really did not favor the idea of apologizing to the man who had ruined her life and her family’s life. 

Cheeser doesn’t demand that, though. He demands something worse. That she get down on her knees, and kiss his hand, and beg. 

Cicero pauses, trying to hide her horror at the idea. She knows Cheeser just wants her to grovel, but she…the idea is just awful. Kneel and beg for forgiveness. To Cheeser.

Cheeser studies her with a cold, disdainful look. He says that anyone can just say anything, but they still have to prove it. And she’ll have to prove it by begging. 

Oh. So that’s how it is.

But she’d actually have to do it, or Cheeser would know that she was lying. And she’d have to do it while acting like she was grateful. 

Cicero doesn’t know if she can fake it. Kneel and thank him for ruining her life, and beg him to fix it. Which he wouldn’t. 

But then Cheeser’s face changes, to the blank, calculating look Octavia used to wear. Almost an exact replica. And suddenly Cicero thinks she could do it. If she pretended that it was Octavia. It probably was a sign that something wrong with her, but she could actually do that. For her former best friend. 

Cicero gets down on her knees, looks down at Cheeser’s-no, Octavia’s shoes, she was trying out a new outfit for her acting job and Cicero was helping her rehearse-and says sorry.

To Cheeser Octavia. 

Keeping this repentant air is exhausting.

It’s for Octavia. 

It’s for Octavia. 

Cicero remembers how scared Octavia had been when she was first possessed. How she’d begged Cicero for help, and Cicero couldn’t even do anything to comfort her because she didn’t even know about the tablet pieces existence. 

She hates Cheeser. 

But she has to keep this up. Octavia had always been there to defend Cicero from the worst of the bullies at Norte Dough, and never complained even after being injured. They may not be friends anymore, but Cicero could at least sacrifice her pride in exchange for something like that. 

Keep a repentant air. 

Seem genuinely sorry. 

Beg.

Cicero doesn’t look up when Cheeser starts speaking. “I will not give you the dough, even if you win the competition.”

He was willing to let her into the competition? Much more than Cicero expected. 

“I understand completely. If I was you, I wouldn’t give me the dough either.” Cicero says. Hopefully that will be enough.

Pause. Cicero is tempted to look up, but she can’t risk breaking the illusion. She doesn’t trust her face not to change into the anger and disgust she currently feels. 

“The competition starts at noon. Do not dare try anything, or I will have you expelled like Marinar. Your powers will not save you.”

Cicero had got in.

She’d got in! 

She’d done it! She still had work to do, but she’d done it! 

“But if you do behave, I may consider…elevating your family’s reputation.”

And with that, Cheeser leaves.

Removing her family’s reputation? As if. He’d just keep it over her head, always. 

But at least she’d gotten in. That was what mattered.

———

Step 5. See the inside of the Za Arena. 

Cicero hadn’t expected to actually be let into the competition. She still didn’t understand why Cheeser had let her in the first place, when he’d already said that she wouldn’t get the dough. She suspects it’s some kind of trap. Cheeser clearly was smart enough to trick people, and he probably had something in store for her. Something completely horrible and most likely humiliating. 

But at least it gave her the excuse to see the inside of the Za Arena, and pinpoint the weak spots in Cheeser’s magic.

———

Something is wrong. Cicero can’t tell what, but something is off. All the competitors are here. Alicante, Dr. Keh, Praline (everyone keeps on calling her Marjan, and Cicero doesn’t understand why. Maybe it was a nickname?). But Cheeser hasn’t even started the competition yet, even though it’s been a solid hour. But Octavia/Cheeser is clearly impatient, and waiting for something. 

Cicero wants to ask what, but she fears that whatever it is concerns her.

And it seems it does. Eventually, Cheeser gets up right in her face, and starts near-yelling at her for intentionally stalling one of the competitors. What in the world was she talking about? All the competitors were right here. Right? Praline was currently going by another name, but she was here. It wasn’t like someone would try to take Praline’s place, right? But then Alicante says that it has nothing to do with Cicero, Praline just has a tendency to be late. And then Dr. Keh says “If she even shows up at all.”

And Cicero realizes that the small Ovenist may actually NOT be Praline. 

Oh, this wasn’t good. Especially since Cicero didn’t even know what the actual Praline looked like, or where to find her, or how to fix this. 

“She’s not late, she just said that she’s not coming! However, I am perfectly willing to take my sister’s place.” Marjan says. 

Octavia/Cheeser glares at her, but Marjan doesn’t seem daunted. “And I have quite the history! I withstood against Angelica, successfully marketed our business, and I have the power to tell what the customers want! Something my sister can’t do.”

“Go get your sister.” Octavia/Cheeser says. 

“Oh, come on! Me and Praline work as a team. And I-“ “And you-you are a teenager. A teenager with unimpressive talents. Now go get your sister, unless you want to forfeit her chance to compete in the competition.” 

Marjan stares at Octavia/Cheeser, wide eyed. Then her expression sours. “Oh, so that’s how it is! Okay then!” She pulls out her phone, and presses a button on it. Nothing happens, visually, but Cicero suspects that something actually is happening that she isn’t aware of. Marjan looks a little too satisfied. Then Marjan straight up disappears. One second she’s there, another she’s gone. 

Before Cicero can even process that, or even worry, Marjan appears again. With a very tall woman with long black hair.

Judging by the look that Dr. Keh gives her (Cicero had heard the gossip, that Praline had actually beat him. She’d thought that Dr. Keh was just good at hiding his feelings, but no. He really was bothered by this woman just existing in his presence), this is the real Praline. 

Praline takes one look at the situation, and says “I already said no! I’m not competing. Goodbye.” She turns around.

Cicero is about to say something (Cheeser definately would yell at her for this, and blame her, and she really didn’t want some edgy woman sabotaging her chances…). But Dr. Keh beats her to it. He grabs Praline’s hands, and forces her to look at him. “What, you think you’re better than us? You beat me once and now you feel that you’re so much better that you don’t even need to do anything to advance yourself?” 

Praline’s hands clench, and Cicero thinks she may witness a fistfight. 

And Cicero freezes. She knows that it’ll sabotage her chances, but she really does not want to get into a fight with two people both stronger and taller than her. She was somewhat proficient in fighting, but not enough to stop both of them. Or even one. Dr. Keh did look like he knew how to beat up someone…and Praline certainly was tall. 

But Praline doesn’t do anything, not even try to get her hands out of Dr. Keh’s grip. “Shouldn’t you be trying to stop me from competing? Since I already beat you once.”

“That was just a fluke, Ovenist. You somehow managed to change the laws of the universe, but next time you won’t be that lucky.” 

“You’re copying lines from Angelica too? Or do you two just have the same playbook?”

Cicero, frustrated, watches as they argue. She can’t say anything (she hates being a coward, but she is too afraid of retaliation), so she silently seethes. Her chances of keeping things calm, ruined by a woman who wanted to pretend that she was too edgy and talented enough to actually compete. 

Midway through, Marjan starts arguing as well, for her sister to join. And that’s when Praline finally caves. “Enough! Fine, I’ll join!” 

Cicero feels hands at the back of her shoulders, and realizes that Octavia/Cheeser is trying to push her towards the Za Arena. Octavia/Cheeser says that they need to go start, in a tone that is calm but also terrifying. 

Thankfully, everyone actually listens this time. ———

The Za Arena doesn’t have any tablet pieces. At least, any Cicero could see. Cicero hadn’t really been paying attention, because she was focusing on the dough. But she’s glad there was no visible tablet pieces. They weren’t in Cheeser’s hands, yet.

————

After the competition, Praline immediately leaves. It’s technically the designated time, and Cicero was leaving ASAP herself, but Cicero still feels bitter. She couldn’t even stay and chat? Whatever. Cheeser didn’t really seem upset about Praline’s leaving, or like he wanted to blame Cicero anymore. So. Whatever. 

————

Rule Three: Actually research what is going on in Pizza City. No matter how painful it was. She couldn’t afford to miss something as big as the wrong competitor showing up again. 

Researching Dr. Keh is easy. There’s plenty of information, and he was famous enough that Cicero was able to find out information just by mentioning his name. 

Researching Marjan was relatively simple, especially since Marjan promoted herself almost as aggrressively as Dr. Keh did. Marjan had powers (which explained Praline suddenly appearing), and had been the only store to stay open during Angelica Bechamel’s reign. Which genuinely was impressive. She also had advertised their shop, and her animations were very pleasant to look at. But other than that her news stopped there. A good start, and if Marjan kept it up she could become one of those brand name competitors, if she wasn’t already. Or maybe become a movie maker. She had a lot more talent than even some of the students at Norte Dough who studied animation did.

Praline, though…the news talked about her in glowing terms, from the moment she got to Pizza City. She was bold, and talented, and had challenged Dr. Keh and won. Which Cicero already knew-it was news so big it reached Cicero from Pomperonii. 

However, once it got before those six months…the news became surprisingly negative, and oddly critical. Article after article of things that didn’t really matter, like her lack of interest in sweets, or marriage. It almost reminds her of how Norte Dough used to report about her, and Cicero ends up quitting part way through for reasons she doesn’t want to acknowledge. 

Cicero hopes there isn’t knowledge there that she needs. She cannot read through that again. She cannot.

———

Step 6: Steal the dough

It takes Cicero a while to steal the dough. Even with Flash’s very detailed reports of Octavia/Cheeser’s schedule. 

Not necessarily because of resources, or anything similar. She’d been prepared for a while. But just because she needs the courage. Cheeser will know it was her, because there was no way Cicero could feasibly compete against all these other competitors and there was her reputation besides, and Cicero…she’s afraid. She’s never even been able to get away with basic rule-breaking, and now she was about to do something that would permanently ruin her reputation forever. Steal. From Julius Cheeser himself. 

To prepare herself, she switches Alicante’s fig seeds with zucchini sees. Cicero feels guilty about it, since it was active sabotage, and he’d hate her if he knew, but if things went wrong she wanted to ensure he’d never be possessed. Cicero was done letting her fear of being disliked stop her from protecting people. She’d done it with Octavia, and look at how things were going now.

————

In the meantime, she does competitor stuff. She tries visiting Dr. Keh (who spends hours just ranting about the audacity of Praline to avoid the competition. Cicero never says anything, but she privately agrees.). She tries visiting Praline, just as an expression of friendliness, but her shop is too busy. Which explained how she already was at twenty fig pizzas. Cicero can’t help but feel resentful at how Praline was winning, even though she’d already tried to get out. 

When she’s not doing that, she hangs out with Alicante. And Marjan, who was always there whenever Cicero visited. 

Cicero wouldn’t have expected it, considering they were rivals a few months ago and were still now, but Alicante was clearly very fond of Marjan. 

Cicero quietly listens as Alicante discusses Praline and Marjan being siblings. He’d been under the impression that Praline was Marjan’s mother, not older sister.

Cicero privately wonders how Alicante had known them for six months without figuring that out. But maybe she wasn’t being charitable. From what Cicero had found out, Praline had custody of her younger sister, and probably acted in a parental role. 

Marjan first starts with the answer it was funny (so Marjan wasn’t always truthful. Noted.) But when pressed, she reveals that she genuinely thought that Praline was her mom at the time, because she thought that was how custody worked.

——-

Each time Cicero visits, Marjan gives her a decorated knife. Cicero isn’t entirely sure what she did to indicate that she likes knives, but she thanks Marjan nonetheless. She’s not entirely sure what would happen if she refused someone who liked giving knives as gifts. 

Then she listens as Marjan vents about Octavia docking points every time she serves a pizza. Which is unfortunate, but Praline is still in the lead, by twice as many pizzas as Cicero, so Cicero doesn’t feel too bad.  

——-

The competition is not that bad, for the moment. People have taken her participation in the contest as proof that she’s no longer against Cheeser, so Cicero is able to cook without people giving her judging looks or sneering at her or talking as much about her family. Something Cicero has desperately wanted since she was a child, and the knowledge that it’ll be gone soon is bittersweet. 

But she’s okay, for now. She should enjoy it for now.

——

And then Praline nearly ruins it all. Again. 

Cicero had been looking for the tablet pieces when she saw them arguing. Usually, she would’ve avoided them-she really didn’t care too much for drama-but then she hears her name mentioned. 

The rest of the context is equally awful. It seems that Praline had tried to get out of the competition, and Cheeser blamed Cicero for that. 

Praline rejects the claim, saying that she’s simply busy, and shoving a piece of paper into Cheeser’s face. Cicero feels a shred of hope-maybe Cheeser would believe it?-but but Octavia/Cheeser doesn’t even bother reading it. 

And then the convincing starts. Apparently Praline was valuable enough to Cheeser’s plans that he actually was willing to convince her that Cicero was unreliable, trying to sabotage her for the sake of the competition, and-

Cicero freezes. This was very bad, and Cicero hadn’t even gotten the dough yet. Cicero can’t even muster enough anger to overpower how frozen she was, because if Cheeser told PNN that Cicero wanted to sabotage the competition….the harassment program would be ugly. Cicero would survive, she’d handled worse, but she really didn’t want to go through that again ever. 

At the word sabotage, Praline’s face goes completely blank. 

“Stop. I haven’t even talked to Cicero, and I-“ Praline pauses, then pulls her sleeve back to reveal bandages. “And I am clearly too injured to compete at the moment.” She starts peeling the bandages off, revealing dark purple, glowing gashes on her arms. 

Oh, those look awful. Cicero forgets about her irritation a bit, long enough to wonder if this is the real reason Praline seemed uninterested earlier. Cicero wouldn’t want to compete if she was injured either…

Cheeser studies the gashes, then his eyes start glowing. Within a few seconds, the gashes are gone. Then Cheeser studies Praline. “How did you get these injuries?” 

“Curse-breaking. As I said.”

Cheeser tells Praline that she will have to stop, before walking away. 

Cicero hopes that it’ll be the last she hears about this, but she knows she won’t. ———————

Step Six, revised: Convince Praline to take the competition seriously. 

Cicero ends up visiting Praline. Partially because she wants to prove to Cheeser that she really wasn’t responsible for this (she wasn’t! She really wasn’t!) and partially because she wants to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Cicero still was sure that Praline was pretending to leave for the sake of publicity, but there was a genuine possibility that she was too busy to deal with the competition. Or too injured. Cicero’s research indicated that Praline had been fired from her cursebreaking job months ago, but maybe she’d been re-hired again. Cicero still couldn’t find the willpower to re-read the news enough to find out. 

And besides, she conveniently happened to have the ability to de-curse items. Cicero doesn’t really want to admit it to herself, but she really is thrilled to have the opportunity to use Marinar’s abilities in a way that someone actually liked. Hopefully. It was naive to think that it’d work well, but Cicero still is hopeful. 

——

When Cicero visits BestZas, she notices fig decorations on the walls and advertising posters-clearly handmade. Cicero feels a flash of frustration-she knows that they weren’t there before Praline’s argument with Cheeser-but she stifles it. It was a sign that Praline might actually be taking the competition seriously now. 

Cicero opens the door to BestZas. It doesn’t work, the door feels stuck, so she tries again. She feels her powers surge (why did they keep doing that? She wasn’t upset. She wasn’t!) but thankfully nothing around her changes. 

This time, the door opens easily. Much easier than Cicero had expected.

When she looks inside BestZas feels the need to immediately close it. The look on Praline’s face indicates that she really doesn’t want Cicero here right now.

Cicero pushes past the feeling, and says that she’s here to help Praline.

Praline freezes, and her expression goes blank. However, Cicero can still tell that Praline is unhappy. Angry at her, perhaps?

Then Praline starts apologizing. Cicero genuinely doesn’t believe it at first, but it really is an apology. “Wait, you overheard us? No, it doesn’t matter. I’m so sorry for dragging you into this. Genuinely. I won’t try to get out of the competition again, I promise, I even hung up decorations and everything.” 

Praline continues talking, trying to convince Cicero to leave. 

 Cicero is too stunned to say anything. In its own way, it seems too easy. That Praline had pinpointed the exact reason Cicero was here, and suddenly chose to fulfill Cicero’s desires. Just like that.

Was this a trick? Was Praline just here to test Cicero’s loyalties, then?

 Now that she thought about it, that made more sense than someone deliberately leaving the competition. Cheeser didn’t trust her, so he set up an obvious trick-someone who seemed uninterested in the dough. Someone Cicero might talk to in order to get help sabotaging Cheeser. And once Cicero did that, Praline would tell Cheeser. 

And Cheeser’s earlier frustration with Praline? Just a farce to convince Cicero that they weren’t allied. 

Well, Cicero wasn’t going to fall for that. But she still had to play along, right? Cheeser would know about what she was doing. 

Maybe if Cicero played this right, she could convince Cheeser that she genuinely was unaware of the Dough’s power, and just was here to help the other competitors.

 So Cicero ignores what Praline had said earlier, locates the cursed objects that were on the tabletop (Cicero thinks she recognizes them. A dark purple and blue glass cup, that made every plant nearby die), and uses her abilities. 

Better to show her abilities, not tell. Or ask for permission. 

The glasses change color, becoming a bright red.

Praline runs towards the glasses, and picks one of them up. She runs her fingers over the rim, then looks at Cicero. “That’s quite an impressive ability.”

Even though Cicero knows that Praline’s reactions were just fake, she still feels pleased. She’d at least hoped to get a thank you, and she’d gotten a compliment for her powers! And Praline genuinely did seem impressed. Maybe it still was a trick, but Cheeser had no way of knowing Cicero’s true feelings about her powers. He probably assumed that she flaunted them boldly, like everyone else did. 

Now that she’d demonstrated her abilities, Cicero asks Praline again if she can help.

And Praline, infuriatingly, still says no. And starts guiding Cicero to the door. “I genuinely do appreciate it, and I’ll make sure to pay you later-“ 

Pay? Cicero hadn’t come here for payment. What did she mean, pay? Unless it was a bad type of payment, and Cicero had upset Praline without realizing and completely misread the situation. Either way, not good.

Cicero tries to protest, but Praline overrides her. “But you really have to go now. I’m expecting a few more items and there’s no guarantee that your powers will work on them” 

No guarantee that your powers will work on them. Cicero thinks of the dough. Cursed with a power that was just above Cicero’s own, specifically spelled so she couldn’t do anything to it.

“and besides some items react really negatively to being de-cursed, and I wouldn’t want you to get hurt, especially since-“

There’s a loud sound behind them, like metal falling. But it’s more like the sound of a xylophone or flute than metal.

When Cicero looks behind her, she sees an intricately designed, very thin gold bowl. So thin that it probably should be broken by now.

Praline’s face drains of color. “Where the fuck did he get one of those?” 

Cicero Is about to de-curse it, but Praline decides to pick her up and starts moving her towards the door. Which startles Cicero enough that she loses her focus. Praline is strong enough to carry Cicero as if she weighs nothing, and now Cicero is at least a few feet off the floor.

“Do not. The glasses-that curse is easy to undo. This one-the cure is nearly impossible to find, and the curse is much more painful.”

Praline’s cold, very serious tone should’ve stopped Cicero in her tracks. And the warning. But all Cicero can think about is there’s no guarantee your powers will work on it and think of the dough and its curse being just powerful enough that Cicero couldn’t undo it and what if Praline got cursed just like Octavia-

Cicero uses her powers again, directing it at that horrible golden bowl. 

The gold bowl doesn’t change at all. 

And then Cicero feels it. Pain on her arms, her legs, her heart. Screaming. She can hear it just fine, but she cannot make out the words. And then her strength leaves, and she goes completely limp. And Cicero would feel humiliated at something like this happening in front of someone she was trying to impress, but then she blacks out.

———

When Cicero wakes up, she is in a bedroom. She’s not entirely sure why, nor does she recognize it. Her body feels sore, and her head feels liquid-y. Like she had a fever. 

Was anyone in the room? Cicero really doesn’t want anyone to see her like this. 

But there is someone in the room. Praline. 

Cicero suddenly remembers the events that had happened beforehand-her ignoring Praline’s warnings, being cursed, and…Cicero really does not know what was worse. That she’d humiliated herself in front of a competitor, or that it was guaranteed that her powers don’t work on everything. A terrifying weakness that Cheeser could use against her.

And now Praline was going to yell at her. Which she probably deserved, for ignoring her warning like that. 

“Are you feeling okay?” Praline asks. 

Cicero is entirely sure that she must’ve heard that wrong. But she nods anyway, because she isn’t entirely sure what else to do. 

Praline looks relieved. Then she hands Cicero a cup of tea. “It’s…it’s tea. To help with the pain.”

Cicero takes it, but doesn’t drink it. She really doesn’t understand why Praline is trying to take care of her, considering that she worked with Cheeser. 

But perhaps even Cheeser’s ally didn’t want her dead. Allying with Cheeser was one thing, but wanting Cicero actually dead was another. 

Or maybe Cicero was just thinking that way because she was sick. And trying to rationalize away the very likely possibility that Praline was mad at her for messing up her job and nearly dying in her restaurant. 

Praline starts speaking again. “You should probably take a break. Or at least take it easy. I know it’s the middle of the competition.” Praline starts speaking very slowly. “I…I’m sorry. It took a while to find a cure that actually worked. We had to…what’s the term in English? Give you another life, basically. A heart points upgrade.”

A heart points upgrade? Why was she talking like it was a video game? “But it…sometimes applying things from the digital realm to ours…and a hearts points upgrade…it can cause significant strain on the body. Try to rest, okay?” Cicero tries to speak, to say anything, but her throat hurts. So she nods again. 

Praline gets up from her seat, then tells Cicero “Your Mom will be here to pick you up soon. In the meantime you can watch tv. Or read. Or play video games. As long as you rest, okay?” 

Cicero nods again. 

Praline turns on the radio, and passes Cicero a few books. 

——-

After a speech like that, Cicero had expected to be left alone for a bit. But Praline was there the whole entire thirty minutes it took for Cicero’s mom to come. She never said anything to Cicero, and spent most of it doing something on her phone, but it is awkward just sitting there. Praline’s taste in books is not a genre Cicero is interested in. And Cicero didn’t really feel comfortable asking for other books or tea or anything after all that. And her voice still is gone, so all she can do is just rest. 

And think. And drink the tea (it does help with the pain, somewhat). 

She’d at least made some form of meaningful progress-she’d finally managed to talk to Praline, not Marjan. She’d learned that Praline was allied with Cheeser. 

But she still didn’t know if she’d helped Praline, or if Praline would even report to Cheeser favorably. 

Well, she’d learn later. 

In the meantime, Cicero could talk to Praline. With a phone, maybe. Or a notebook. Find out what Praline would say about the competition. 

But then Praline scowls at something on her phone, and Cicero decides it isn’t worth it.

So she sits. And waits. 

———

Twenty minutes in, Praline starts talking to her. Surprisingly, there still is no yelling or insults. Praline doesn’t look angry, just awkward.

“Listen. Um. Y’know the curse from this?” Praline holds up a picture of the golden bowl. The sight of her touching it gives Cicero a sense of dread. Which is ridiculous, considering that it’s just a photo.

Praline, thankfully, puts it down to the side. Cicero feels a bit better.   “I’m afraid that it’s still there. The curse.”  It was still what? Was she saying that Cicero was still cursed? Cicero remembers how painful it’d been before she passed out. Was she going to go through that again? Praline continues speaking. “You should be fine, don’t worry. I just…changed it to a more harmless version. Instead of being sucked into objects, you’ll be able to sense other people’s emotions instead.” 

Cicero really does not get the correlation. At all. 

“It may be a bit uncomfortable. Disorientating…” Cicero believes that. 

“Oh, and you may have an increased sensitivity to the cold. Thankfully it doesn’t snow here a lot, but you should be careful.” Cicero doesn’t even like going outside when it’s snowing, so she’s not worried.

—

Praline doesn’t try talking to Cicero after that.

——-

Cicero is feeling somewhat better when her Mom picks her up, but she still needs some help getting home. And Cicero feels for the first time what Praline is talking about. She’s distinctly aware of another presence, another feeling. Worry and fear.  

Cicero doesn’t know what to think about it.

Cicero’s Father says he’ll run the shop, while Cicero’s Mother talks to her. 

Cicero isn’t looking forward to it, especially with her voice gone, but she doesn’t feel energetic enough to protest. 

——

The awareness of her Mother’s emotions goes away once her Mother is further away. But Cicero still can see her Mother’s worry.

“Did Cheeser-did he hurt you?” 

Cicero sits on the bed, notebook in hand, trying to stay awake. She shakes her head. 

Pause. “Then what happened?” 

Cicero takes out a notebook, and quickly writes an explanation. 

Cicero’s Mother stares at the paper. “That was pretty reckless.” Then she stares at Cicero. “It’s not like you.”

Cicero doesn’t have anything to say. Because it really wasn’t like her. 

Then Cicero’s Mother continues. “But then again, you have been doing reckless things since Octavia got possessed.”

This again? 

Cicero’s Mother sees Cicero’s expression. “I won’t talk about it much. Just…be careful. The competition hasn’t even started, and you can’t help Octavia if you’re seriously hurt.”

Had her near-death freaked out her Mom that badly, that she switched from ‘don’t try to save Octavia’ to ‘keep yourself alive so you can help Octavia?’ Probably. 

Cicero’s Mother doesn’t say anything else, so Cicero ends up falling asleep. 

——-

When Cicero wakes up, she feels better. Physically, at least. Her throat is sore, and she still has brain fog, but she can speak and she’s not as sore. She will be able to do work for the day, hopefully, but she will have to forgo searching for tablet pieces. 

Hopefully Cheeser won’t find any in the meantime. Cicero always had that risk, but she also had it when she was working. Or sleeping. 

Enough. Thinking about the possibilities would do nothing but cause her worry, and distract her from doing what she needs to do.

——-

Cheeser has counted the Pizzas that Cicero’s Father made yesterday. Cicero wouldn’t believe it, but the number clearly is higher. 

But Marjan had also tried to make pizzas, and got points docked. Was she lying, or was Cicero a special exception, or did Cheeser not want to give Marjan points?

Cicero doesn’t know. But she cannot rely on this, and hope that Cheeser will continue to add points even though Cicero wasn’t the one who made the fig pizzas. So she gets started on working.

——-

Cicero manages to make it through the day, and get at least ten more fig pizzas, with her Mother’s help. Still not enough to beat Praline, but she was at least doing better than Dr. Keh. 

Beating Dr. Keh in a competition. The Dr. Keh. Cicero isn’t really that competitive, and Dr. Keh probably had a trick or two up his sleeve, but the thought is pleasing nonetheless. 

——-

Cicero doesn’t feel any of her customer’s emotions, which is good. She didn’t want to know how any of them felt about her. Though she does wonder how the curse even worked. Was there specific conditions to make it work? It had worked for her Mother, so why not the customers? 

Maybe Cicero could ask Praline later. It’d be an excuse to talk to her again, and Cicero did want to understand how it worked.

——

At the end of the day, Praline visits. Which Cicero should’ve expected, but she’d thought that she’d want to wash her hands clean of Cicero, or designate Cheeser to talk to her instead. 

Speaking of which, why hadn’t Cheeser come to yell at Cicero for ‘sabotaging the competition?’

Maybe he’d asked Praline to do it instead? Or was this another test?

Either way, Cicero smiles and says she’s feeling fine when Praline asks how she is. It’s not really a lie, but it’s not true either, and Praline looks at her funny. 

(Cicero suddenly becomes aware of Praline’s emotions, just for a second. It doesn’t last long, but it’s surprising. Praline isn’t even mad or upset, just worried. Why wasn’t she mad? Or maybe Cicero was reading it wrong. It had been just a second. Cicero doesn’t really know.) 

Praline then gives Cicero a bag of Pizza Gems. “Here’s your payment.”

Payment? For what? 

Praline explains that it’s the cost of the objects she de-cursed earlier.

Oh. Cicero vaguely remembers Praline mentioning that. 

Cicero starts protesting, saying that she’d only come to help. She didn’t want payment (a lie, that much money would help a lot, but she didn’t want to give the impression that she’d done this for money). 

Praline frowns at that. “Do you want more?”

Oh, definitely not. “No. I just came to help, not-I don’t want money.” 

Praline doesn’t move, though. “I know that you didn’t come for money. I also know it would be wrong to not pay you for de-cursing them. It usually takes a few hours, so I really appreciate it.”

There’s a strong firmness in her tone at ‘that would be wrong’. 

Cicero opens her mouth to protest again, but Praline holds up a hand. “I was paid every time I decursed an item, whether or not I had a job. And I refuse to do wage theft, unlike-.” 

Her tone is nearly spitting, and there’s an ugly look on her face. But then Praline’s face quickly changes to a neutral expression. 

Unlike who? Had Praline experienced wage theft before? 

“Yeah. I just-“

Praline doesn’t get to say anything else. Because someone else comes into the restaurant. Cicero doesn’t recognize him, but he seems familiar. He had blond hair and a muscular figure-the exact type of person Cicero would see on movie adverts for some kind of exclusive topping. 

Praline clearly recognized him, because her expression goes completely blank. However, Cicero quickly feels complete, all consuming rage that isn’t her own. 

Was Cicero going to witness part of a rivalry? going to put in between two rivals?

But the man doesn’t do anything, just watch. But Cicero doesn’t like how he watches her, so she focuses on Praline. “Are you done with de-cursing objects already?”

She already knew the answer to that, and it wasn’t important anyway. Cicero only said it because she was nervous. But Praline does nothing but play along. She must be a really good actor, for Cheeser to enlist her.

Praline shrugs. “Kind of. I took a break, so I could pay you.”

“Pay me for what?” Cicero isn’t entirely sure why she’s going along with it. She already knows. She considers breaking up the conversation, then looks as Florian and decides she’ll repeat it. 

“De-cursing those gems. Those are rather tedious and time consuming to de-curse…plus, a cursebreaker would be paid 5 pizza gems for each de-cursed object. And, unlike some people, I actually bother to pay people…. unlike someone named Florian….who still owes me a few paychecks…”

Cicero thinks that last part was directed towards the man watching them. He glares at Praline, but she ignores him.

“Anyway. Here’s your money.” Praline deposits a huge bag of Pizza Gems on the table. Another bag. A much larger bag. 

Cicero stares at the bag. It was huge. “Wait. I think you…may have overpaid me. There’s no way the objects I decorated were this much.” True. 

Praline frowns. “But the exchange rate is one dollar for many pizza gems.” 

Oh. Conversion rates. “But the items I decried aren’t worth that much. Right?” 

“1500 Pizza funds is not a lot.” Florian says (Cicero had forgotten he was there). “It would have been more, but you actively disregarded an order to leave. And I can tell you from experience, Marinar’s abilities do not work on everything. Do you understand me?”

Cicero stiffens. “Marinar’s abilities?” It never was good when someone brought that up. Never. 

Praline walks towards one of the chairs, and sits down. She watches the interaction, with an oddly intent look.

“I knew him before he was banished.” Florian says. “He also had the ability to de-curse objects, which you seem to have inherited. But your powers are  stronger, which is why I am here.”

Before Cicero can even process that, Florian continues speaking. “I’m offering you a job. Starting rate is 10 dollars an hour-“

"Which he won't pay you!" Praline says. "He still owes me one hundred and twenty-four paychecks!" 

Cicero isn't going to take the job, so she ignores Praline's statement.

“You knew Marinar?” Cicero asks. This is actually important information, because if he knew Marinar…maybe he knew the truth about Cheeser and would help her.

Florian glares at Cicero. “Octavia told me that you didn’t even like to break the most basic of rules. Were you only that way around her, or did you suddenly start a rebellious phase? Either way, you’ll have to learn to not interrupt when you’re working.”

Octavia had talked about Cicero? Cicero feels oddly cheered by that, but she ignores the feeling. It wasn't important, compared to what Cicero had just learned. Maybe if Florian knew Marinar, he’d know the truth about the dough, and Cicero could ask him for help. 

It was a risky plan, but Cicero thinks she could try it. “Did you also know Julius Cheeser?” 

Florian stiffens. "That's not important. Anyway, will you take the job?"

"I really appreciate the offer, but I can't take another job right now-"

"Then why did you waste my time?" Florian asks.

"You offered her the job. She didn't come to you. You chose to do that on her own." Praline says. Cicero agrees with her, but she has the sense not to say it out loud.

"I'm not talking about that! I'm talking about her useless questions about Marinar and Cheeser!" Florian says. 

"They're not useless. We're both competing for Cheeser's dough, so it's useful to know as much as you can about the guy." Praline says.

Odd words for someone who actively derided the competition. Cicero thinks that she should just accept that she'll never understand Praline.

"Oh, so you fell for that scam? You're such an idiot! Listen, the dough is hidden away in Pomperonii, protected by very powerful spells. My sister herself made them, and unlike you, she's actually good at her job!" Florian says.

Spells that Cicero had broken in order to help Octavia not die. But she gets the feeling that saying that would be a very bad idea. 

"There's no way that anyone could even gain the dough without dying. So you should just shut up about it, and let-" Florian continues ranting.

“Wait, you were lying about all that? Are you serious? You tried to convince me to leave here for that?” Praline says, standing up.

Wait, what? 

Florian glares at Praline, then snaps his fingers. Praline just…disappears. Just like that. 

And while Cicero didn’t really feel comfortable around Praline, she feels very disturbed by how this guy had gotten rid of her. 

Just then, the door opens again, to reveal Octavia. 

Cicero isn’t sure whether this is better or worse. 

Florian immediately sees Octavia, and starts berating her about pretending that she had the dough when she didn’t even have it, and how she could never even dream of reaching Cheeser’s level, and trying to trick Marjan and Praline. The way he talks to Octavia is obviously condescending, and Cicero decides she hates this guy. 

Cicero tries saying something, but then feels a sharp pressure on her lips. It doesn’t do anything, but she knows what a secret-keeping spell feels like. Cheeser wants her to stay quiet.

Cicero isn’t sure if she wants to, especially since Florian was demeaning Octavia’s honor and being rude. But then she sees Cheeser’s face, and she decides to be quiet. 

Octavia doesn’t seem as bothered as Cicero by Florian’s reprimands. She’s just staring at him, calculating, like he’s a minor annoyance. But Cicero just feels danger, danger, danger. 

Then there’s a flash of blue, and the dough appears in Octavia’s hands. “You really should know better than to spout unfounded claims, cursebreaker.” Octavia snaps her fingers, and the dough goes away. The glow of her eyes and fingernails doesn’t. 

There's an odd look of satisfaction in her eyes, that reminds Cicero of Octavia when she found the dough and flaunted it to anyone who was around. 

Florian immediately goes still, and completely stops talking. All he does is stare at the dough. 

So he does recognize it! And he was afraid. Cicero isn’t sure if it’s a good idea, but she might have some luck asking him for help. He was a superhero, right?!

“However, I suppose that it’d be too much to ask from a man who coasts on the effort of his wife and ex sister in law. Yes, I do stay informed of recent events. On that note, you are too much of a distraction to my prized competitor. You may divorce her, and leave Pizza City permanently.”  Cheeser says.

Florian nods, looking like he wishes he'd never even visited.

Octavia/Cheeser turns away, then focuses on Florian again. “Cicero is also included in my prized competitors, and I will be just as upset if you bother her as I would be if you bothered Jamilah.” 

Then Cheese turns away. 

Interestingly, Cheeser doesn’t berate Cicero this time. Instead, he leaves without speaking to Cicero. 

——-

Cicero is sure that the plan was that Florian teleports away. He seemed scared enough to flee. However, he doesn’t really seem interested in that. Instead, he goes up to her and hands her a knife. 

And while Cicero had gotten used to getting knives, she knows that this one isn’t meant to be as benign as the ones Marjan gave. This…this was the knife Brutus used to kill Cheeser, ages ago. Cicero knew it, because people kept asking if she wanted to murder Cheeser. 

That month at Norte Dough had been awful.

Cicero tries to give the knife back. She has no plans of killing Cheeser, and she wouldn’t want to hurt Octavia besides. And if she was caught with in her hands…

But then Florian’s words make her freeze. “I want you to use this to kill her.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Cicero really hopes she’d heard wrong. 

“Do you need someone to repeat orders as well? It’s a wonder why you even chose to apply to our workplace-“

“I didn’t apply! And I’m not killing Octavia! She’s my friend!”

“Then give me the knife!” Florian says. Then he tries to grab it from her. 

Cicero is used to having to react fast, and manages to avoid it. “No.” And just in case, she uses her powers on the knife. It starts melting in her hand. 

Florian starts screaming. And Cicero isn’t able to stop the freeze response, which was terrifying, especially since he looked like he would actually hit her.

In these situations someone had always been there, whether it was Alicante or Octavia or Flash or Cicero’s mom. But now Cicero was alone, and there was nothing Cicero could do. Why wouldn’t her body move? It was literally more dangerous to stay!

But then Florian calms down, and puts on a smile. Cicero doesn’t feel comforted at all. Some of the students at Norte Dough would regain control, then try to beat Cicero up. 

“Hmph. If you’re willing to stay, then you should face the consequences. Especially after destroying my knife. I’m no longer willing to be the nice guy. And don’t ask Praline to remove it, she won’t.”

Cicero doesn’t say anything. She’s not sure what to even do. 

Then she feels a strong, spell like sensation. And this time, she can feel it in her skin, her bones, her breath. It was entirely possibly that she had been cursed. She really wished her powers protected her from everything, now.

“There. You could’ve avoided this, but you were too stubborn. So now you have to do this the hard way. If you leave the city, you lose your chance. If you don’t find the tablet within two months, you lose your chance. If you don’t freeze the dough, you lose your chance.” 

Freeze the dough? What in the world did that mean? Cicero doesn’t ask that, though, because her mouth is still frozen and she strongly gets the feeling talking will make it worse. 

Florian waits for a response, but then there’s a flash of blue light. Cheeser’s magic. Cicero isn’t able to stop her powers this time, from removing the spell. 

However, it seems that it scared Florian. Within an instant, he’s gone, as if he teleported. 

Cheeser comes in a second later, and Cicero never would’ve thought she’d be grateful to see Cheeser.

——

Cicero isn’t sure what it means, or if she actually had a spell on her. But she knows she’s in deeper trouble. 

—-

Cheeser doesn’t leave Cicero alone, this time. And Cicero isn’t alone for long, because Praline has decided to literally kick the door down. 

Cicero can’t help but feel annoyed. Praline probably won’t even fix it. 

“What are you doing here?"

"Convincing Cicero not to take Florian's job." Praline says.

"Job? What kind of job?” 

“Cursebreaking.” Praline says.

“Ah. Did you accept?” Cheeser asks. There's an edge to his tone, that indicates that she better not have said yes. 

Cicero shakes her head. 

Cheeser seems satisfied, for now. Then he tells Praline to inform him if Florian comes back, or refuses to give her a divorce. 

Praline just looks confused. “Okay. But why don’t you want me to be married to him? I don’t think it matters in the competition.”

But it does. Cheeser doesn’t want his prized Ovenist to be tied to that man. 

——— 

Praline does end up fixing the door within a few seconds, due to some unknown power. One second it's broken, then it's fixed. She even offers Cicero more money and an apology.

What a strange woman.

____

Praline and Cheeser leave, after confirming that Florian is out of town. Cheeser even puts up barriers preventing him from entering, so Cicero doubts he’ll return. 

Cicero isn’t entirely sure what to think about what happened, and she feels that she’s gotten into the middle of something that she really shouldn’t have. But she thinks she may be safe for a while. The deadline Florian had established was two months, and Cicero couldn’t even guarantee that she’d be allowed in Pizza City within one month.

Cicero thinks she may be fooling herself, but it’s not like she has any clue how to undo whatever happened and she seems okay for now.

Cicero really hopes so.

—-

In the meantime, she visits Alicante again. Alicante seems embarrassed about his current status of pretty much zero (Cicero stifles the guilt. She knows it’s necessary, she knows that if things go badly it’ll be better if Alicante wasn’t one of the poor Ovenists Cheeser focused on. But. She still feels horrible for essentially setting him up to fail, especially since he was too prideful to find other sources of figs.)

So they talk about the competitors instead (well, Cicero mostly listened. You could learn a lot if you didn’t talk). Plus Marjan. Cicero isn’t going to win the dough anyway, but the knowledge Alicante has is surprisingly useful. 

Dr. Keh had the ability to hear when you were talking about him, even if you were extremely far (Cicero would have to watch out for that. Good thing she hadn’t talked about him yet…). Marjan allegedly had the ability to know what other customers wanted, but Alicante suspected that the kid was just smart enough to know what they wanted anyway and passed it off as a magical ability. 

Getting information about Praline was much harder. Probably because Praline was in first and Alicante still was embarrassed about that. Probably because Cicero had asked about why Praline refused to stay in the competition. Whatever the reason, Alicante gives her a look that indicates he knows-or at least suspects-why Praline refused, and won’t tell her. Instead, he says that he doesn’t know.

Cicero doesn’t push the issue. It’s very blatantly obvious when Alicante cares about a specific topic, and this doesn’t look like a happy one. 

—————

After half an hour, Dr. Keh visits Alicante’s Pizzeria. Marjan teleports in a minute later, and gives Cicero a knife as gift. 

Seriously, what had Cicero done to indicate she likes knives? 

———

For a while, everything is mostly fine. Alicante and Dr. Keh are talking about some kind of event, and Marjan has shown Cicero her extremely large knife collection, including themed, and knives that Praline would freak out about if she knew Marjan had them (Cicero has a lot of questions she doesn’t want answered). Midway through, Alicante gets busy with other customers, and Dr. Keh and Marjan start trash-talking with each other. Which makes Cicero feel uneasy, especially since she really does not want that to happen to her. 

And then, to add to Cicero’s uneasiness, she sees him. Andy. One of the reasons she’d been less than enthusiastic about coming back-one of the nastiest students at Norte Dough. One of the few who would get physical, who’d only stopped trying to beat Cicero up once Octavia became her friend. Cicero still isn’t entirely sure what Octavia had done to him, to make him avoid her that throughly. 

At least, she thinks it’s him. 

Either way, Cicero needs to go. Or talk to Alicante. She starts packing up her stuff. 

Marjan suddenly goes quiet, then stares at Andy, then back at Cicero. Her expression changes from a mischievous smile to something very, very cold. “Y’know, I have a few powers that I didn’t really disclose. Like slapstick.” Dr. Keh laughs (so mocking. What a nasty sound). “Please. Anyone could do that, it’s not a power. And besides, it’s not even useful in the science of pizza-making.” 

“It doesn’t have to be.” Marjan says.

Cicero stands up, and is about to turn around. But then she hears a loud scream. 

When she turns around, she sees that Andy had fallen to the floor. 

Cicero tells herself that she should feel bad. Someone had just fallen on the floor, and he could be hurt. But she cannot summon any emotion that’s even slightly sympathetic. 

“Hmph. If you really wanted to commit, you would’ve done something less cliche than having someone slip on a banana.” Dr. Keh says, from behind Cicero. Cicero turns around, to see Dr. Keh trying to smother laughter and look serious. 

Then Cicero looks to see that there is, in fact, a banana right next to Andy.

Had he really slipped on a banana? Cicero thinks she may feel bad, but then she remembers how he’d stolen her computer and gotten away with it. Because who would believe the Burrata girl over someone influential like him? The teachers had laughed at her when she tried to report it, and blamed her for wasting their time. And then she feels less bad about it. 

Cicero watches as Andy gets up. He seemed to be fine. Cicero knows she should be relieved, but all she feels is completely numb. 

“I was just getting started.” Marjan says. 

Right, Cicero had forgotten about her. 

Marjan snaps her fingers, and a bunch of giant pizzas suddenly appear. A lot of people start screaming, about the pizzas showing up out of season. Cicero ignores them, in order to focus on how the Giant Pizzas clearly follow Marjan’s command, and the very powerful thrum of Marjan’s powers in the air. It’s been a while since Cicero has been in the presence of magic this powerful. The closest she’s gotten was Cheeser’s power, and the magic of the pink haired eggplant lady who sometimes hung out with Alicante. And this…this was even more powerful. Powerful enough that Cicero could genuinely feel it in her bones.

Cicero wonders if Marjan’s powers could overcome even Cheeser's. But then she banished the thought. The idea of Marjan fighting against Cheeser…Cicero knows firsthand how awful Cheeser’s magic was, at full power. Cicero had nearly fallen ill with the effort it took to protect herself and Octavia under the Pomperonii ruins, and  even then…

The idea of a child against all that. Even if she was more powerful, the thought was too awful to contemplate. 

———

The giant pizzas don’t end up doing much, this time. Nothing that leaves Cicero with that emptiness and guilt. Just blocking Andy from entering Alicante’s restaurant, and following him whenever he got too close. At a much quicker speed than the giant pizzas usually moved at. Eventually, Andy decides to leave, the giant pizza follow him. 

Cicero cannot help but feel grateful. She didn’t have to interact with Andy, and she could stay. Was this deliberate on Marjan’s part, or had she just happened to chose to bother Andy out of the blue? 

Cicero doubts she’ll get the answer, and she doesn’t want to ask either. If it was the latter, then Cicero would be airing her issues for nothing.

Well, Dr. Keh at least had chosen to contribute because he thought it was funny to mess with people. He looked like he was trying to look professional, but Cicero can see the mirth in his eyes. 

Cicero realizes that she’s not around people who will judge her for having complicated feelings about this. And she shouldn’t feel relieved, considering one half of it was just because it was Dr. Keh, but she is. She can just keep her feelings to herself without having to justify it.

Cicero sits down, and listens as Dr. Keh and Marjan discuss the competition. 

Weirdly enough, they don’t seem interested in including her in their trash-talking. Well, Dr. Keh had tried, but Marjan had distracted him quickly and didn’t bother talking to Cicero otherwise. 

Maybe she should feel excluded, but she doesn’t think she wants to deal with that. Nor is she interested in actually insulting a competitor. 

So she simply listens. 

———

Praline decides to visit partway through, and both Marjan and Dr. Keh give up their argument to talk to her. Leaving Cicero alone. Which was fine, because Cicero didn’t want Dr. Keh’s attention anyway. No doubt she could regain it easily, if she brought up specific topics. And he was a jerk, anyway. 

No, Cicero didn’t want that type of attention. But Alicante still was working, and Octavia was still possessed, and Cicero really…just didn’t have anyone else to talk to. 

She wonders what it’d be like to have more friends. 

———

Cicero doesn’t get to be alone for long, but she thinks she’d rather be.

Mostly because PNN of all things comes to visit. And wants interviews. 

Cicero really would rather not, because she knows what questions they’d ask. The same questions PNN always asked whenever anything happened involving her family. But even Marjan was willing to give interviews, even though she wasn’t even a competitor, so it’d look strange if Cicero refused. 

So Cicero watches. And stifles her irritation as she prepares her answers. 

Alicante doesn’t give the true reason he wants the dough. Cicero knows when he’s putting up a front, and she doesn’t really blame him. She wouldn’t want to talk about bear problems if she had them either. 

Dr. Keh is also lying. Or telling the truth. Cicero legitimately cannot tell, because he talks with the same passion when he’s clearly embellishing himself and when he’s telling the truth about his achievements. Either way, it’s strange to see him outright say that he’s winning. Even Cicero was doing better!

Praline goes next. 

“What are you planning to do with the dough?”

Praline doesn’t react, but the light dies in her eyes. And Cicero suddenly feels a strong sense of fear. She thinks it must be her own, even though it feels like an outside presence and Cicero isn’t really afraid. She’s not irritated, not at all! But she definately wasn’t afraid. She’d dealt with PNN before. She wasn’t afraid. She can’t be. 

“I’d give it to Marjan.” Praline says. 

The PNN agent (and everyone else. Why were they surprised, when Praline clearly had established she doesn’t care about this competition) looks surprised. “You shouldn’t joke, Mrs. Bakir.”

“Miss. I got a divorce.” Praline says. 

She’d gotten a what? Had Florian really been that scared of Cheeser? That was quick.

“Okay, Miss Bakir. You shouldn’t joke. Getting the dough is an opportunity that everyone would dream about. And you’re saying you’d give it away?” “I can’t eat it. I’ll throw up.” Praline says. “And besides, me and Marjan-“

There’s a loud cutting sound. Praline had hit the limit in how much anti-Cheeser sentiment she had. Someone not wanting to desperately eat the dough didn’t make a story. 

Praline doesn’t look bothered by PNN passing her on. 

Then the PNN agent starts interviewing Marjan instead. “What would you do with the dough?”

“I’d gift it to a beautiful woman.” Marjan says. “Girls like smelly objects of unknown power, right?” Cicero thinks she sees the PNN reporter’s eye twitch.

“Is this a joke to you two?” 

Praline’s fingers twitch, and her expression goes completely blank. “No.” “Joking? You’re seriously accusing me of joking about giving magic object to a beautiful woman? Is that why your marriage-“ Praline puts a hand over Marjan’s mouth. 

Cicero thinks that Dr. Keh is trying to hold back laughter. She doesn’t really get why it’s funny, especially since Marjan and Praline both were messing up the interview by messing around and it didn’t look great for either. But maybe that was why Dr. Keh was laughing?

It didn’t matter. Because the PNN reporter starts focusing on Cicero instead. “So, when are you going to sabotage the competition?” Cicero pauses. She’d expected  questions, but the mention of sabotage still makes her nervous after everything that happened with Cheeser earlier. She cannot afford to have Cheeser suspect that again. 

Cicero hears talking from behind her. From both Alicante, Marjan, and Praline. Cicero had at least expected Alicante to get mad, since he’d defended her family in the past. But both Marjan and Praline? That genuinely wasn’t something Cicero expected, especially not from someone who’d only known her for a while. 

She’d expected at least some form of shallow support from Praline, just for the sake of showing herself as a ‘safe, anti-Cheeser’ person or something. Showing up late to a meeting was easy, especially as a performance. Cheeser wouldn’t actually penalize Praline for that. 

But standing up to a PNN agent is something that could backfire against her. 

Cicero wonders if this is just part of the plan, since she never took the bait. 

Praline is actually kind of scary when she yells, Cicero thinks. Even Dr. Keh looks startled at this. 

Praline actually does manage to infuriate the PNN agent enough that he leaves, but not before warning her that she should be careful about who she defends. 

Cicero watches Praline, looking for any crack in the facade. Surely there’d be doubt or uncertainty or some signal that this wasn’t even real. That Praline didn’t really care. But all Praline does is roll her eyes, and glare at the PNN agent. Then she turns to Cicero, and asks if she’s okay. Cicero isn’t, not at all. She hates this stupid town. But she keeps a smile on, and nods. 

——————

Cicero is about to go home. She’s not really comfortable around Praline, and she’s still rattled about Andy and the PNN agent showing up. She doesn’t want to risk anyone else coming over. 

But then Octavia/Cheeser shows up. There’s something off about her-her hair is too nice and literally shines, and her eyes are near glowing. Her bracelets also look different, sharp and jagged like the knives Marjan had showed Cicero earlier. 

What was up with this? Was this an intimidation tactic, or something else? Octavia/Cheeser briefly takes a look around, like she’s taking account of the place. Then she tells everyone that since Praline had won the competition, she wants to see them later today. 

Then she turns around. 

The mood changes significantly. It hadn’t been exactly great, but now Alicante was warily watching Praline, Marjan was clearly gloating, and Dr. Keh just glares at Praline before he covers it up with an arrogant smile that just looks strained.

Then Marjan asks a question. But not one related to the case. ‘Octavia? Cicero? Are you two exes?’ 

There’s other sounds, most of which are asking Marjan what in the world was she thinking, did she enjoy asking very personal questions, those two wouldn’t have even dated anyway, but Cicero can’t parse through them. All she does is watch as Octavia-no, Cheeser-clenches his fists, as if the concept was unpleasant. 

Or maybe because Marjan was much closer to the truth than she knew. 

Cicero isn’t exactly bothered by the implication that she could’ve dated Octavia in the past. It was something she’d desired, but Octavia never seemed interested and Cicero never had the courage to do anything, anyway. She was happy with being Octavia’s friend, anyway. 

What creeped her out was more the fact that Marjan had correctly intuited that she and Octavia used to be close within a few days. Cicero wasn’t entirely sure how, especially since all her interactions with Octavia were strained at best. 

Was Cicero just that obvious? 

Maybe. 

The thought chills her. She hadn’t even stolen the dough, and she was that transparent?

Cicero looks to Octavia to see how she’s handling it, and immediately wishes she hadn’t. Octavia just looks offended by the very idea. 

(Was this a it’s Cheeser, not Octavia situation? Or something else?) 

But she doesn’t target Cicero. Instead, she starts lecturing Marjan about having a shipping obsession. 

Cicero hopes it’s the end of it. 

—- 

It’s not the end. When Cicero gets back to her restaurant, Octavia is there looking infuriated. 

Octavia doesn’t even bother to ask if she can come in. And then she asks Cicero what she’s trying to do, having Marjan ask that. 

Cicero stares at her. ‘I didn’t do anything. Do you think I enjoy being asked about my love life?’

Her nonexistent love life. ‘Besides, we never even dated. I don’t know why she’d get the idea.’ 

Octavia studies Cicero, and she hates the way it feels. Like she’d just handed her/Cheeser ammo. Maybe she had, and Cicero hates the idea. 

Octavia leaves after that, with a warning that there will be severe consequences if something happens during the second challenge.

——

Cicero makes sure to show up early. Which might’ve been a mistake, since the only people there are Dr. Keh, Marjan, and Octavia. Alicante is unfortunately not here. Cicero isn’t really in the mood to be around Marjan after her comment earlier, and Dr. Keh…was Dr. Keh. 

And worst of all, Praline wasn’t here. Which definitely would end badly if Praline tried to bail again. 

Ciceri debates if it would even be worth it to find Praline. She didn’t know where Praline is, so maybe not. 

Would Alicante’s absence also reflect on her? 

——

Alicante eventually arrives, looking like he’d really rather not be there. Fortunately five minutes before the event starts. Praline shows up a bit later. And this time, she’s all dolled up. Make-up, jewelry, a fancy dress-everything. 

Octavia takes one look at Praline’s outfit, and seems pleased. Cicero tries not to show it visibly, but she’s relieved. 

The rest of the event goes relatively well.  Cheeser’s in a good enough mood to even let Marjan in. Cicero still isn’t sure how Cheeser feels about Marjan, but Cheeser docking points from Marjan for making pizzas probably indicated something. Especially since he’d still counted pizzas Cicero’s parents made. 

——

If Cicero was actually here for the competition, she’d be worried. The next competition would be nearly impossible, especially with Cicero’s lack of gems. Cheeser had at least given them zuchinni seeds, which was great, but that wouldn’t be enough unless Cicero could get her hands on some fertilizer. 

Cheeser explains that the next event is to make a good zuchinni pizza combo, and they only have one day. Nobody looks happy about it (except for Praline, who seems to be distracted). Both Marjan and Dr. Keh try to protest, but go quiet when Cheeser tells them that only a proper champion would be able to figure it out within a day. 

———

The only person who seems happy is Praline. Which Cicero really doesn’t understand, but she doesn’t care as long as it means that Praline isn’t trying to back out anymore. 

But then, to her surprise, Praline starts setting up zuchinni themed decorations. Distinctly zuchinni themed, unmistakably zuchinni themed. Which somehow gets Cicero in trouble, again.

Because Cheeser thinks that Cicero told Praline what the next competition is. Because Cicero cannot get a break, whether Praline is actively participating or trying to get out! Yes, it was strange that Praline had zuchinni plants ready, but there’s other reasons she could have it. 

“Hey, leave her alone!” Marjan says. “We were planning to release zuchinni for ages! The only reason she didn’t is because Praline’s” Marjan says a curse word so foul that it manages to get everyone else in the street’s attention “ex husband poured bleach on  the plants!” Praline immediately freezes, and her calm expression changes to something more troubled. Then she walks over and studies Cheeser, quiet. There’s something about the way she watches that makes Cicero feel afraid, and grateful that it’s not directed at her. Which Cicero doesn’t understand, because Praline isn’t showing any emotion ever, but she strongly feels like Praline is ready to kill. 

Cicero really hopes that a fight won’t happen. Praline looked very muscular, and Octavia may actually have a hard time fighting against her. And Cicero really doesn’t want Octavia to be hurt. 

Cheeser doesn’t seem to notice Praline’s reaction, and glares at Marjan. The type of look that Cicero is familiar with, a look of complete utter hatred. A look that Cicero knew meant violence would happen soon. 

Fuck. No. Cicero braces herself. She knows that she isn’t strong enough to overpower Octavia, even without Cheeser’s powers, but she won’t let Marjan get hurt either. 

But then Cheeser recovers himself, and puts on a smile, and decides to leave the conversation. 

Cicero doesn’t understand it, but she’s glad. No fighting. No one got hurt.

————

Once Cicero has confirmed that Praline and Marjan are in their restaurant, and Cheeser in the Za Arena, she goes to her restaurant. 

She needs to think. She has less time than she anticipated, with Praline completing the first context. And while Cicero still dislikes Praline, she doesn’t think anyone deserves to be possessed by Cheeser. And at this rate, Cicero would only have a week! Fortunately, she’d finally got a letter with Cheeser’s schedule from Flash, and Cheeser would most likely be gone this night. And Flash too, which meant he’d be safe if the lockpick was found. 

But Cicero isn’t ready. For the lack of glares to go away. For the scrutiny she’ll get if she steals the dough. For the likely consequences if she gets caught. 

But.

For Octavia. 

She needs to save Octavia. 

Cicero isn’t entirely sure what makes Octavia different from the rest of her friends. Maybe it was that Octavia was the only person who’d chosen Cicero. Everyone else, Cicero had befriended, but Octavia had made an effort to befriend her. 

 If anyone else had shown interest in the dough, Cicero would’ve left them. She knows what happens when someone becomes interested in Cheeser. They start believing the lies about Cicero’s family, and become hostile to her. But when Octavia asked for Cicero’s help…Cicero couldn’t do it. She couldn’t say no. Octavia’s friendship had been too valuable, and Octavia had been so understanding about Cicero being reluctant to find it. Cicero had hated herself for being repeatedly swayed, but she’d done it. Stayed and held off the curses surrounding the Pomperonii ruins and taken care of Octavia when she was hurt by the various traps. Forgiven Octavia again and again, even when she became snappy and eventually stole credit for the dough. Because Octavia had understood, and…Cicero had been sure it was a trap, because it always was a trap whenever someone seemed wiling to listen about Cheeser. But she’d been desperate. She couldn’t lose Octavia. She couldn’t let Octavia be hurt.

And now Cicero was willing to stake her whole entire reputation just to save Octavia. Risk everything.

Cicero hears her Mother’s words. Never break the rules, you won’t be able to get away with it. It sucks, but it’s what life is and there’s no point in denying it.

No. Cicero couldn’t do it yet. 

————

To Cicero’s surprise, Alicante comes in and gives Cicero a huge amount of zuchinnis, fully grown. She’s not entirely sure how he got it, but she thinks that zuchinni may be one of those special plants where everyone is prepared to use them.

————

Cicero isn’t ready to steal the dough.

She’ll have to do it.

Cicero is about to enact her plan, but then she chickens out and starts creating zuchinnii pizzas. Which is harder than Cicero expected.

————

Cicero eventually ends up doing it. Not impulsively, she’d never had the ability to suddenly take the leap. She’s not a risk taker, because she didn’t have the privilege.

No. It was because her lava lamp had broken. 

Just the bulb, something Cicero can replace, but it fills Cicero with such a feeling of loss that it overpowers her fear.

Octavia had given Cicero that lava lamp. 

And she’d never give Cicero a lava lamp again. Never chose a truly bizarre color combination that still hurt Cicero’s head when she looked at it. Never. 

Unless Cicero changed it. Saved her.

———

Stealing the dough is easier than expected. Everyone is obsessed with the new zuchinni toppings at BestZas, and no one even looks at Cicero. 

Finally, Praline was helping. Without even realizing.

Cicero enters the Za Arena, and manages to sneak inside. 

And then she’s not able to be anxious. Because her power starts rising again, trying to destroy the building she was in. Cicero barely manages to tap it down.

She considers pausing, to gather herself. But she knows that she won’t come back again, and won’t get another chance again to do this. She’s lucky enough as it is to be in the building.

She’ll have to hold powers back and steal the dough. 

———

The Za Arena has tracking spells. However, Cicero is familiar with how to sneak through. How to find the weak spots. How much power she could use before something was noticeable. How to use her powers to seem almost unnoticeable. A skill she’d learned at Norte Dough, to avoid being spotted by Andy. He’d been really good at spotting Cicero, as if her very presence was loud. So Cicero had learned how to hide, to turn herself the closest thing to invisible. 

Cicero quickly unlocks the Za Arena with the lock pick (Flash really did have good taste in lockpicks, it’s easier than she expected). Then she tosses it aside, near the curtain, where it will be seen.

She quickly sneaks to the dough, and cuts the glass. She has to be faster. Her powers felt like they may explode, and then Cicero definitely would be found. She drops the pizza cutter to grab the dough, puts it in a bag, and sneaks out. 

Praline still is working, and she somehow has even more customers. So no one notices Cicero leaving. She manages to pass through the crowd without being seen, or treated differently.

Cicero even manages to put the dough in its hiding spot without people noticing. A consequence of having nearly no customers and a restaurant even her Mother wasn’t interested in-her restaurant was completely empty. 

And then Cicero hears the metallic click and loud grinding sound of the fireplace turning on, hiding the dough from view. And it hits her. She’d done it.

yeah im sorry Ú_Ù ill confess right here,,,

a few years ago, i was on a vacation with my family