There truly is no rest for the wicked. The day after Maguire finished his trial and officially joined the Society of Jacks, a friend of mine decided to call in a favor to deal with an infestation of pests causing havoc in her garden. By the time we had that taken care of, word had gotten out about Maguire’s admittance, so naturally, everyone wanted to meet him.
January passed in the blink of an eye and February caught me by surprise halfway through fixing breakfast on the first. Maguire and I had settled into taking turns with the different chores around the safehouse, though he would probably do all of them all the time if I let him. Mrs. Claus was big on cleanliness and manners, and that focus was infectious.
“Morning Maguire,” I said as he slid into his usual spot at the counter.
“Morning, Claudia.”
“How does it feel to be a one month old Jack?”
“Either I've lost track of time or you have, because it hasn’t been a month since I passed the test.”
“Ehhh, we’ve never been big on those kinds of details. It’s been a month since you took the plunge and made the commitment to join. I think that’s worth celebrating.”
“I'm not going to protest too much. Whatever you’re fixing smells delicious. What are you fixing by the way?”
He stood up and leaned over the counter, so I tilted the griddle slightly to show him what I was fixing. His eyes widened and I chuckled to myself, pulling some more candy from one of the assorted bowls to sprinkle onto the pancakes. Maguire quickly hopped up and fixed himself a cup of coffee, before going to grab some plates from the cabinet. Minutes later, we were seated across the bar with plates piled high.
“I've got some friends who are coming into town tonight. They’re scholars who travel the world studying different innovations in the practicing of magic, but don’t let that intimidate you. They’re some of the biggest nerds you will ever meet.”
“Sounds fun. Where are we meeting them?”
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“There’s a sports bar downtown. There’s a trivia night every Thursday that they like to clean house in, followed by a performance from a local musician. It’s always a good time.”
“Well, I look forward to it.”
“It’ll be a nice break. In the meantime, you have work to do.”
“And what is today's lesson?”
“That is for me to know and you to find out.”
He slowly set his fork down on his almost clean plate and stared at me for a moment as if trying to read my mind. I looked back at him, stoic as can be, until finally he backed down. He wouldn’t be getting any hints from me. not this time.
When I went to check on his progress a few hours later, I found him deconstructing the trap I left on the basement door.
“So you have been keeping up on your reading. Good. And it looks like you broke out in record time,” I said, examining the pieces arrayed around him. “You spent some time in puzzles, didn't you?”
“Guilty as charged, though most of my experience was in tinkering before I got promoted into a personnel role.” Tinkering was considered part of quality control, which included testing the enjoyment and solvability of all puzzles before they were packaged as gifts. While Maguire had been working in personnel when we met, I wasn’t overly surprised to learn he had worked in other departments. That kind of role shifting happened often in the North Pole/
“That makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it. And it's good to know you have a knack for traps like that. Definitely something to explore further, though I’ll probably be shifting your training to other topics. It’s important for Jacks to have multiple talents. Now, if you are in a spot where you can pause your tinkering, it's time to test your trivia skills. Come on, let's go.”
Maguire and I played our share of trivia games over his first month away from the Pole, and he was familiar in theory with how trivia nights worked. This would be his first time attending a proper trivia night, though, and I could tell he was excited. He took longer to get ready than he normally did and came out wearing a pair of nice jeans and a purple polo shirt, his hair neatly brushed back and shoes shining. He took to fashion about as quickly as he took to most things, and I found it amusing to watch his continued growth.
Before we left he did the phone-wallet-keys pat and then held the door open for me.
“Would you like me to drive?” he asked.
“I will drive tonight. We aren’t sure yet how well you will handle alcohol and I want you to have the chance to enjoy yourself. Plus, it's tricky getting to the good parking spots.”
“Fair enough. I will pay for dinner then.”
“Deal.”
Most of our money came from the same account, connected to the Society’s vault, but the gesture was still appreciated. Plus, it made him happy to do it.