Tamales Fix Everything

Thera shifted her head back and forth, “I wouldn’t say that…I could crack your thread open and have a look but I don’t think either of us want that,” it was an offhanded joke, “I more just know that you brought something with you.” Before the boy could go searching his pockets Thera stuck a hand out, “and no I don’t think it’s physical, I think you’ve brought me something more…arcane than that.”

Lump on his thread? He thought to himself, this was more like a lump on his soul. He hadn't really wanted to think about the vision he had when he touched Jude, heck he didn't want to think about Jude at all. He might not have known Jude all to well but there was something between them, definitely, But there was no way of exploring that. His heart hurt.

Mara noticed the boy tailing her, and altered her path slightly, heading to Obsidian rather than home. He didn't carry himself like a hunter, too obvious, but it was always better not to confront someone in unknown territory. Besides, if she led him home Eris would probably eat him, and she was curious why he was interested in her and if Eris ate him that would take all the fun of mystery away.

"Ay, Dios mio!" Diego lets out, slipping into Spanish while his heart rate calms down. The woman seemed to materialize out of nowhere. He knew she was in the building, he had followed her in, stupidly, but he hadn't thought about if the building was hexed or charmed to protect the people inside. He knew he shouldn't run into things without thinking but the prospect of getting the grimoire seemed too enticing.

Standing and staring, her eyes darting from his wriggling hands to his concentrating expression and then back again while he makes lights dance out of his hands. She thinks back to the woods in Macleay, when Summer had shown her their family's magic; a warm glow coming out of a dead sprig as it blossomed back to life in her hand.

Diego wasn't surprised that Autumn told him about her sister, he knew the other Phial witches and knew that there were other witches in town, other covens, but he didn't think that Autumn was going to be able to one up him with a secret of his own.

She picks up a sudden sour note in the air as he continues, like he's unsure, and Autumn wonders if she's been a bit too forward with singing Jude's praises - Diego suddenly seems a little timid, more quiet than usual, and like he feels like maybe he's overstepped. Then he follows up.

"I tried..." Diego started but the words fell apart in his mouth. She was looking at him like she already knew what he was going to say but there was no way she could guess this, was there?

Thera looked up from the inventory she was taking which seemed suspiciously sparce on cinnamon. “Oh you’re here, don’t worry most people are entirely about how they come through those doors.” The corners of her mouth kicked up at her joke, if she had a nickel for every time someone wandered into her presence with entirely no idea how they had come to be there she’d be a, well, an even richer woman than she already was…..she wondered if she’d get a bonus for if an animal showed up.

"Uhm," Diego stammered, "Sure?" The woman was warm, warmer than Diego thought she would be but he should have expected things wouldn't be as they seemed. Everything inside the store seemed to try to make him relax and he really wanted to let all the stress out but between the visions and the magic failure, he still had things gnawing at the back of his head.

Autumn nods. "Soon enough, they can never take the cold when it gets here," she snags another CD with a name she recognizes on account of Morgan, looking at the back before Diego's voice pulls her attention back. "Jude?"

Diego really didn't know where to go with this conversation. there was no way for him to talk to Autumn about why he needs to talk to Jude without revealing what happened at Polly's the other night. He continued pushing a cassette around absentmindedly. He knew that he could trust her, she's gotten him back to his apartment more times than he could count when he got drunk but telling Autumn that he had magic seemed world-shattering.

"CDs?" She thumbs through the rows. "There's usually some older stuff here, and a couple other stalls have a lot of vinyls. I can show you those too. She eyes the tape in his hand. "Oh wow, tapes." She smiles. "I like old stuff like that, too - feels more real than a bunch of mp3s - n-not that like, I don't do digital because you kind of have to for some stuff now, but it, I don't know, feels bad, haha."

"Oh, you know," Diego says as he runs his hands over some more vinyls, "I'm waiting for the tourist season to fall off." It has been so busy recently, Polly has had him split between the food truck and the main store with all the activities at the beach. She had told him that once the busy season is over, he can finally have his vacation but that was still a few weeks away. Moments like this keep him sane, he loved the restaurant but he needed to find some time away before he accidentally blew the place up with nervous magic.

@therediegogoes Portside Flea Market

Diego had almost completely retreated inside his head as he thumbed through the old Mexican vinyl collection. He flipped through the few albums and remembered all the nights he'd spent with his abuela at the hacienda. The simpler times when he was first learning who he was and what he could do in the world.

The taco Diego's set down goes untouched - but so does the rest of the food there. He's not hungry. He's miserable. When was the last time he didn't want to scarf down literally everything in sight? Pre-bite? Not even then, he doesn't think. Frowning, he starts to look up to the guy to apologize and reach into his pocket for a tip to give a little extra for the trouble - but he sees him nearly eat it.

Diego has pressure behind his eyes. the kind that usually precedes a migraine but this came on too quickly. He feels drained from whatever just happened. He has no way to control the magic that flows out of him and for the first time during his shift, he's glad with how slow the night has been.

Jude stares at his food like it's some sort of foreign object, and when Diego sets down the free taco - he almost laughs at himself. Any other time, any other night, he'd scarf it down and pay for two more helpings himself. Hell, he'd challenge other patrons to a contest just to make a kid laugh.

As he moves to return to the counter, Diego trips over his feet. to keep himself from falling, he reaches for the sad man to steady himself and as he places his hand on his shoulder, Diego is instantly transported to a secluded, wooded clearing.

Don't worry about it, he says. Jude doesn't scoff in the guys face, but he quietly thinks to himself about how he's, like, literally made of worry now. Instead of trying to push it further, he just turns and goes to find a seat to slump into while he waited for Tressa.

Diego really didn't know what to say. The guy looked absolutely devasted sitting there, crying into his tortillas. Diego really wasn't the best at comforting but he knew he had something in his jacket pocket that could relieve some of the dude's pain but he would have to find a way to sneak it into his food.

She nods in return to his thanks and continues leaning on the counter. "Serendipity!" Briar remarks next! "My ears were burning, or whatever it is they say." Fun to have a green thumb still, and something to pass the hours when she wasn't due to dance.

Diego got a kick out of how this much of his food this woman is able to put away with her small stature but seeing how much she genuinely loved his food, kind of filled his heart with pride. Assuming assistant manager of Polly's wasn't an easy task, he knew it was going to be a hard fight to get actual good food on the menu, but if a woman born in the 1600s could enjoy his food, anyone else would.

She slides an extra bill out of the roll when he passes it back - extra, for him, like the men and women who slip this paper tat beneath the strings of her stringy little knickers at the Cabaret. Everyone deserves some of their own, she reckons, for the magic they make, whether it be honest truthful magic or something like a taco, its own kind of wonder.

Diego regards the little satchel of seeds, he had been running low on cumin since he used some crushed cumin in a potion to help ease a woman's grief. His cumin still had a few weeks before it was ready for him to use but he had enough now to use a little bit of his green magic to force grow a healthy plant. They made a beautiful flower and he looked forward to getting back in his kitchen and mixing up some more potions.

Jude barely looks up, but when he does - he sees something akin to annoyance on the guy's face. Does he remember his name? Fuck, he has no idea. Thinking is hard. He wants a drink, or a blunt. Man, where's Tressa? She might have something.

"Dude," Diego sighed out, "don't worry about it," he really didn't want to seem short-tempered with a customer but he can actively hear the sound of the rice timer going off and with his help MIA, he needed to get back there and stir the rice before it burned.