It was night.
Jace had just returned to his apartment and was currently slumped onto the couch in the living room.
After acting in the streets of the North Borough, Jace decided that this method was effective, but he still needed to 'perform' for supernatural entities like Beyonders—basically, he needed to fight them with the flair of a Magician.
If every job from Catherine's side was going to be like today's, then it wasn't going to work.
Jace needed something more active and extreme.
He was quite eager to digest the potion and advance; that was the only thing that gave him joy in his life, at least for now.
For the moment, he decided he would stick to acting like he had today while looking into more difficult missions.
'Mm?' He turned his head toward the door.
'Knock, knock.'
Jace got up, walked to the door, and opened it.
To his surprise—well, there was no surprise; he had known she would likely be back from work by now—it was Jane.
Still, that didn't change the fact that Jace was not yet ready for their confrontation.
Jane, meanwhile, was wearing a simple white gown she usually wore to sleep.
Her hair was tied low on her back, with a few strands framing her face.
She was looking at Jace intently, without any expression.
Jace gave a small smile and moved aside without a word to invite her in.
Jane walked into the living room without a word and made herself comfortable on the couch.
Jace closed the door and walked in. "Tea?" he asked, looking at her.
Jane looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. "It's time to sleep. What do you think?" she asked flatly.
Jace averted his eyes and chuckled wryly at her reply. "Oh! I have something for you," he said, hurriedly walking into his bedroom.
When he returned, he had two boxes in his hand. He handed them to Jane and said, "For you," with an awkward smile.
Jane took the boxes and started opening them.
Jace, meanwhile, sat beside her, looking intently at her reaction.
Jane opened the first box and found a fine silver lady's watch with a detachable silver chain; it had a simple but elegant design.
In the second box was a perfume with a light, pleasant floral scent.
If Jane hadn't been angry at Jace, she would have smiled widely with joy, as in her heart she was still a girl, but she didn't show much reaction this time.
These things looked expensive; she wondered where Jace got the money for them, but for now, she decided to wait before asking.
"Do you like them?" asked Jace, who was sitting beside her.
Jane replied lightly, "Yes, these are really good gifts." She had the watch in her hand and was fiddling with it.
Minutes went by as they sat in silence. Then, it was Jace who finally broke the silence.
"Do you have anything to ask me?" he said in a soft, low voice.
Jane, who had been looking down, turned her head and looked at him.
"Are you sure you want me to ask? I know you don't like confrontations," she said with a firm voice that revealed a bit of her anger.
Jace straightened up and took a heavy breath. "Ask away," he said.
Jane didn't wait a beat.
"The day you left, in the morning when you came home, your clothes smelled like women's perfume," she said as she looked at him.
'Why does she know how my clothes smelled?' he thought.
He tilted his head and asked, "I don't suppose you'll believe me if I said, 'I just used a woman's perfume'?"
Jane scoffed lightly. "You had bite marks on your neck!" she said as she looked away from him.
Jace kept quiet for a moment and then said, "It's as you think. I was intimate with a woman."
Jane turned to look at him with an expression that showed anger and disbelief. "Why and who!??" she asked, her voice higher than before.
Jace shook his head and said, "That's not your business."
Jane's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped.
After a few moments of calming down, she asked again, "Where were you for the past two months?"
Jace replied after thinking about it for a moment, "East Borough."
"Why?" Jane asked again, looking at him, waiting for an answer, but it never came. Jace stayed silent.
Jane turned her head and looked down at the gifts in her lap. "Where did you get the money to buy this?"
Jace looked at her. "It's my money. I didn't do anything bad to earn it," he said firmly.
'I don't think killing drug dealers and stealing from them can be considered bad,' he thought.
Jane waited for a minute or two before looking at Jace again. "So you won't tell me anything at all? Nothing?"
Before she could say anything else she was cut off.
Jace moved in an instant. He held her face in his hands and pressed his lips onto hers.
Jane felt the soft sensation of her lips being kissed. It took a moment for her to process it; when she did, her eyes widened, and with her hand, she pushed Jace away!
After pushing him away, she hid her lips with her hand and asked, with anger visible in her eyes, "What are you doing—"
"Since when did you know that I had feelings for you, Jane?" he asked seriously.
'Time to end this,' he thought as he looked at her.
Her face was obviously flushed, but it was hard to know whether it was due to her anger or being kissed by him; he figured it was the anger.
Hearing his question, Jane fell into silence, unable to answer.
Jace looked away from her. "A long time, then, I suppose," he said.
Jane looked at him with softness in her eyes; her anger faded slightly. "Jace, you should know that's not how things work," she said softly, but with a firm hint in her voice.
"I know exactly how things work," he said firmly. "But your response to my feelings is obvious. So... we are done," he said, looking at her seriously.
Confusion was visible on Jane's face as she stared at Jace, so he elaborated, "Being near you will only hurt my heart, as I know you won't accept me. So we should stay away from each other."
He then looked at her accusingly and continued, "In fact, knowing my feelings for you, you should have distanced yourself from me earlier on! Aren't you the older and more mature one here?"
"So we are done." With that, he got up and walked toward his bedroom and opened the door.
But before entering, he turned around and said, "Ah, keep the gifts; they are sincere tokens of my affection and appreciation for you... At least don't deny them."
He entered and closed the door behind him, leaving Jane alone.