Hakeem goes to place a caring hand on Jackson’s shoulder, but snaps his hand back and holds it close to his mothers necklace when he sees the man before him up close. Face twisted into a wicked snarl, fangs on full display as he swipes his tongue over their pointed tips. Hands strained into the shape of claws and crimson eyes staring at Hakeem. Jackson can tell, he looks like a mon-
No.
Hakeem isn’t looking at him like that. He doesn’t look scared, just worried. The same concern is apparent on Eddie’s face who has come up behind Hakeem. They promised they would never see him as a monster, even when he looked like something pulled from a child’s nightmare.
Jackson relaxes his stance, forcing his heart beat to calm. He doesn’t want this. He doesn’t want these men to waste their time worrying over him, to panic over him. He wants to make new memories with them, not repeat the same mistakes. “I’m sorry,” Jackson whispers between short breaths, “I-I-I got mad and frustrated and just,” He gestures to the cracked glass and darkness that fills the room, “lost control. Again.”
Hakeem and Eddie make their way over, embracing him in a soft hug. “Thank you for sharing, I know it’s frustrating not having control. But you are getting better I promise you. Even if you can’t see the results for yourself, I can and will always be there to let you know.” Hakeem’s words are a balm on Jackson’s wounded pride.
“Maybe my magic isn’t meant to be controlled unless it’s for vengeance, maybe it’s meant to run wild and crazy.”
Hakeem looks up at Jackson, a couple inches still enough of a difference that they aren’t at eye level this close. “Your magic is mine, and I have told you once and I will tell you a thousand times more, it can be controlled and made to do amazing things.” Jackson wants to believe him, but his heart threatens to close itself off to avoid acknowledging the possibility. “But maybe telling you isn’t enough anymore. Perhaps it’s time I show you how amazing I know you can be.”
Confused, Jackson can’t help his eyebrow shooting up in question. “What did you have in mind?” Hakeem simply grins, a devilish thing Jackson didn’tknow could come from such a sweet man. Though, he thought the same thing about Eddie and was proven very wrong.
“Just trust me, okay?”
Trust me. The same words Hakeem had said to him that fateful day when they first met, when they discovered the bond between their magics. Jackson can only chuckle softly and nod, “Of course I trust you.”
Eddie goes to check on the food while Hakeem heads up to his room to retrieve some grimoires. “Uh oh. Guys, we have a problem. I think more than the lights got hit.”
Jackson thuds his head against the terrace doors, which is where Hakeem asked him to wait. “What, did my temper tantrum ruin dinner and cut the power to the building?” Jackson looks up and gazes past the glass doors trembling under the force of the storm, rolling his eyes in exasperation. “Or the entire city?”
The entirety of Solomon City is covered in a blanket of darkness, all lights seemingly snuffed out.
Eddie checks his phone as it vibrates with the arrival of an emergency notification. “Well, good news is it wasn’t you. The storm took out some power lines across the city. The city sent people to fix the issue but the storm is violent, so it may be a while.”
“Is it bad that’s a relief?” Asks Jackson as he checks his own phone. At least he didn’t cause a citywide black out. “Anything we can do to save the chicken?”
Eddie shakes his head and is about to reply when a warm, scarlet glow begins to emanate from the closed oven door. Both men look up to Hakeem who is brandishing his wand and a proud smirk, a grimoire floating above his hand. “Nothing a good old fashion hearth spell can’t fix, boys.”
Jackson’s face lights up as Eddie buckles over in laughter, “Do you truly have a spell for everything, Hakeem?”
Hakeem winks. “Just you wait and see. I’ve only just begun.”
Hakeem makes his way to Jackson by the terrace doors. “Leave the oven door closed for another thirty or so minutes and come enjoy the show, Eddie.”
Eddie can’t hide his curiosity as he makes way over to the two men by the terrace doors, “If you’re this confident then I cannot miss this.”
Hakeem takes Jackson’s hand in his free one, already shaking a little from the earlier spell. “I’ll have to use a lot of magic for this to work as planned, is that okay?”
Jackson gives Hakeem’s hand a gentle squeeze, repeating the words Eddie said to him earlier this week. “Take what you need from me. What’s mine is yours and I give it freely. Will you be okay? It won’t put too much strain on you?”
Hakeem gives a shy shrug and a crooked smile. “I’ll be okay, maybe a little loopy by the end of it.”
Eddie takes a look outside to the raging storm, the mana well’s reserves were depleted so it offers no protection from the rain. “You aren’t going out there, are you? It looks like the sky is at war with itself.”
Hakeem draws a teardrop with his wand, drawing on his bond with Jackson. He flicks the wand upwards and slashes it across the air. The terrace doors stop trembling and the sound of the rain pounding grows distant. He turns to open the terrace doors with a burning confidence in his silver eyes. “Just leave everything to me.”
As Hakeem opens the doors, Eddie and Jackson are amazed at the sight before them. The rain and wind is being kept at bay by a barrier that encompasses the entire terrace. They can still hear the wind howl and rain drop against the barrier, but remain safe within its area of effect.
Eddie lets out an impressed whistle as he leans in close to whisper in Jackson’s ear, “Maybe he truly does have a spell for everything.”
Jackson stares at the man in front of them in awe, “Yeah, He really is amazing.”
Jackson recalls the last time he saw a spell to shield him from the rain. Ravi would conjure a barrier just like this so they could stroll under the sound of the falling rain, arm in arm, without getting drenched. Now Hakeem, who saw the beauty in Jackson’s magic he had long dismissed as falsehood, was about to use the magic they shared to do something extraordinary. He could feel it in his soul.
“Jackson, I need space for this so I can’t hold onto you. So,” Hakeem turns on his heel from where he stood at the front of the terrace, “As much mana as you can spare, or as much as the mana well can hold. Meanwhile, I’ll finish preparations.” Hakeem has a dangerous look in his eyes, fiercer than when he went full teacher mode. This was to prove to himself he could do this as much as it was to prove to Jackson, once and for all, that his magic could be beautiful.
