Wrote this a while ago after I reread the books so uh Morridence truthers + Jack fans here you go ↓
Cadence liked Morrigan. Anyone could see that. Jack didn't need his knack as a Witness to notice the (incredibly obvious) longing glances she often cast at the back of Morrigan's head.
Anyone could see the various crumpled love notes she left in bins every time she came to the Deucalion. (Jack fished one out once, it was somehow simultaneously cold and straight-forward, and awfully sappy).
It's also not out of the question for a knackless person to notice how she always pretended not to see Hawthorne stealing Morrigan's cake, right up until the last second, so she could swoop in and save the day.
She even made fun of her patron with Morrigan, something he knew was a big WunSoc no-no. Although, that may have been more of a testament to Baz Charlton's character, rather than any good-will for Morrigan.
All of this was to say, Cadence was obvious. Jack had never thought to look at her with full vision, because he knew what he would see. The pink-ish wafts of almost butterfly-shaped fog indicative of a crush.
Besides, Jack knew messing with people's love lives was not okay. Jupiter had told him enough cupid gone-wrong horror stories to put him off playing matchmaker indefinitely.
So, the day Jack finally read Cadence, he wasn't even doing it on purpose.
It was at one of Frank's infamous parties. Floating above the Hotel Deucalion lobby (the theme was Hot Air Balloons & Hairspray), Jack and Morrigan were playing their usual party game of getting Jack to briefly remove his eye patch to give the gossip on random party-goers.
They’d had all their usual stuff: affairs, arguments, guilt at eating too much buffet food, all the classics.
Jack had just finished telling Morrigan about one man’s secret feelings harboured for his assistant, despite that assistant having a wife of three ages.
Morrigan laughed, sounding slightly scandalised, “How can you tell?!? Do they have… love hearts coming out of their head?”
“No, no. There are lots of different types of love. The pink smoke of a schoolboy crush, the yellow vapour of a deep platonic connection, the crimson ripples of… intimate desire,”
He coughed before saying “intimate”, which Morrigan elbowed him for, grinning.
Jack could tell he was blushing in embarrassment, and quickly turned away, scouring for someone to prove his point.
Luckily, Morrigan stepped in with a recommendation.
“Try Charlie or Martha, they've been pining after each other for ages,”
Jack spotted Martha and removed his patch, and, sure enough, a large cloud of smoke, comprised of pink, red and purple (romantic love, usually about the level of people dating for a year or so) hung above her head, growing more pronounced when she caught Charlie's eye.
He was about to put his eye patch back into place when something stopped him. The doors of the Deucalion swung open, and two teens came running in (well, one running, one walking so slowly it had to be in protest).
Morrigan shook her head in embarrassment as everyone turned to look at Hawthorne, with varying levels of distaste.
Jack grinned and shouted back, “Just an hour, Swift,”
Hawthorne looked up at the hot air balloon, face going from confusion (not knowing where Jack's voice was coming from), to delight (hot air balloons), to disgust (there was a dress code), to joy (upon seeing Morrigan).
Cadence just gave a neutral nod, to indicate she recognised Morrigan and Jack’s presence, while also attempting to pretend she had fully expected the balloons.
It wasn't the physical reaction from Cadence that was interesting, though, it was what happened to the gossamer around her when she locked eyes with Morrigan.
Hawthorne had the exact reaction Jack expected. A mustard yellow cloud of platonic love, with the semi-permenant fizzles of amazement that always seemed to accompany him. Plus, he seemed to have recently stolen some sort of pastry? Maybe a pie?
But, no, it was Cadence who shocked him.
He glanced down at her briefly, before doing an immediate double take in shock.
Around Cadence hovered not a pink vapour, or even purple smoke, but a thick black cloud.
Black love was representative of a love so deep even the most talented Witnesses couldn't distinguish between platonic, romantic… intimate, or any mix of the three.
Jack gasped, loudly and dramatically, and wrenched his eye patch down over his eye.
Morrigan immediately looked eager at the thought of gossip (he could see her properly past the blinding Wunder gathering to her, now).
Jack thought, very briefly, about telling her what he'd seen, but the second after the thought entered his brain, it was obscured by the memory of a particularly vivid story Jupiter told him about a Witness who was imprisoned after informing the Prime Minister that his wife was cheating on him.
Jupiter had taken great care to explain how long and drawn-out the trial was, and how no one listened to the loud pleadings of the Witness as they were dragged from the court, now baring six life sentences (a large amount of time even for a tortoisewun).
Jack barely avoided shivering.
So, instead of risking Morrigan sueing him (or, more likely, making her and Cadence's relationship very awkward and probably getting murdered by the latter), Jack pointed at a random party attendee (a catwun minor) and stage-whispered, “He's living a double life, one family in Nevermoor, one in Wildeband, one wife, one husband, three kids overall,”
Morrigan seemingly didn't notice the fact that Wildeband was not a real place, and that this comment was far too specific for Jack’s current skill level, and just ooh-ed in awe.
Ignoring the fact that he had just accused this poor catwun of leading a double-life, Jack glanced back down at where Hawthorne and Cadence had been standing. They were gone, presumably making their way up to Morrigan and Jack's level in a hot air balloon of their own.
Jack swallowed and adjusted his eye patch, trying to ensure it wouldn't slip loose. He'd had enough meddling for one night.
stormborns
vaporwave
