[closed]

[keepgodwaiting]

WHO: Johanna Constantine (keepgodwaiting) & a variety of appointments
WHAT: Autumnal and spooky hijinks
WHERE: Around!
WHEN: End of September, into October
WARNINGS: Probably demon shit in the Peter thread; probably social awkwardness in the Steven thread; more if they come up

I swear to God I saw her howlin' at the sky
She ain't out to get you but she's better on your side
And she don't wanna be anybody else
She's a woman in total control of herself
It's such a wonder to be under her spell
What a woman in total control of herself

Comments

[unrequite]

[ He makes a few clicking sounds, pulls an imaginary polaroid, and admires it before ending the charade. ]

Even if they don't do much, huh... Well, I have to admit they're quite lovely to look at. Not that you need help in that department, of course, but it is nice to dress up every now and then.

[ ... He is laying it on thick, but he's always like this! ]

[keepgodwaiting]

Mate, if you keep talking like that, you'll have me thinking you like me for some reason, and then I might have to do something drastic.

[unrequite]

[ A beat. Midnight taps at the plushie thoughtfully. ]

Suppose I do. What drastic measures would you take?

[keepgodwaiting]

God, the possibilities are endless. Kiss you, kick you in the shins, pull your hair like we're on the playground. Maybe something really outrageous like compliment you back.

[ She reaches up to tap him on the nose, smiling. ]

Just something so you know what you're getting into.

[unrequite]

A compliment? Be still, my beating heart.

[ The tap comes and goes. Midnight looks down at her through his eyelashes. How fearless. He can't help but catch his bottom lip with his teeth for a moment. ]

Well, as they say: one must hope for the kiss, but prepare for the kick.

[ Another pause. He laughs. ]

And perhaps solicit a promise for the hairpulling, hmm?

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Johanna chuckles in turn, shaking her head. ]

I can't tell if you're that thirsty or that unflappable, do you know that? 'S quite a talent.

[ She'd been a little surprised, in retrospect, that Midnight hadn't been one of the several vampires that responded to her anonymous personal ad, given his general tendency towards flirtation. But some people do just put out that energy without any desire to follow up on it -- and she still hasn't figured out which box Midnight fits into.

Hypocritical of her, no doubt, given how little she likes being put in a box herself. So it goes. ]

[unrequite]

Depending on who you ask, it's both. I've more talents where that one came from, you see.

[ The answer to that is actually pretty simple: he was busy, and by the time he noticed the personal ad, it had more than enough takers to keep a particularly horny stranger busy for weeks at least. Bon voyage to all involved, though! ]

[keepgodwaiting]

Well, and who am I going to ask besides you? I know you've got a knack for being unreadable, and a talent for conversation, and more patience for blathering on about the esoteric than some magicians I've met. What else?

[unrequite]

Unreadable... Huh. Well, I do play the guitar.

[ Followed by another laugh. It's the least of his talents, he feels. ]

I'm also a good judge of character, although that came with time. It's why I do enjoy your company. I feel as though you're always saying exactly what's on your mind. I like that.

[keepgodwaiting]

Ah, a good judge of character, but not good taste. Got it.

Of course you play the guitar, look at you. Lead or bass?

[unrequite]

[ A soft snort in response to the joke. ] Oh, come now.

[ To answer the question, though... ] Lead, though I hesitate to say that I led anything. I learned it in response to a client request for someone to fill for a missing lead guitarist for their band. I kept up with the practice after that, but I wouldn't say music is my main pursuit at all. I simply enjoy it.

[keepgodwaiting]

You're not a musician, but you had clientele that asked you to play in their band?

[ Johanna is still not entirely clear on what Midnight does, or did, given that their first in-depth conversation was mostly about vampires and Catholic history she kiiiind of remembered rather than personal details. ]

It's probably all for the best you didn't pursue it. It's a hell of a business.

[unrequite]

[ Midnight laughs, pulling at his little bat's wing again. He's getting used to the eyelessness. ]

Worse than escorting? Well... I can't say I'd be terribly surprised. Disappointed, yes, but most entertainment industries have their underbellies.

[ Surprise? Not that he's treating it like one. He's just tickled to think of music and his past as a callboy in the same terms. ]

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Oh, well. Johanna blinks at the casual reveal, and then laughs a little. You know what, that does explain the talent for unflappable flirting. ]

I wouldn't know from worse. Suppose some people would say they're both just renting yourself out for other people's pleasure, but that's having a job, isn't it.

[unrequite]

Quite apt. In that sense, what I used to do was free of pretense... Or had the potential to be, anyway.

[ He grins. ]

I like to think people left me happy. That was always the goal, you know. Still is, if I'm going to be honest.

[keepgodwaiting]

Is that what you're doing, back home? If it's all right to ask. Tell me to piss off if it's not.

[unrequite]

Manners? From Miss Johanna Constantine? Do mine ears betray me?

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Loftily: ] Excuse you, my gran raised me right. Be respectful of the oldest profession, say hello to ravens, and tell cops where they can shove it.

[unrequite]

The ravens, specifically?

[ Puzzling... But the rest is a good sentiment. Midnight laughs. ]

Your gran sounds like a marvel. I'd love to meet her someday. No, I'm no longer an escort. Ended up becoming a soldier, actually. Citizen reserve, paramilitary.

[keepgodwaiting]

Yeah, they remember people's faces. Everyone knows that.

[ She raises her eyebrows, a little incredulous. ] Go on, now. You're a soldier?

[ With that hair?? ]

[unrequite]

— Oh, they're fowlbeasts where you're from, aren't they? Right.

[ He grins. ]

Bit more likely than one would expect. Long story short, I was living in a medical facility funded by a pharmeceuticals company. Said company funds a paramilitary unit as well. I looked into it, liked the ethos, and decided to enlist. Went through basic, passed the examination battery, and, well.

[ He shrugs. The rest is history. ]

[keepgodwaiting]

--Ah.

[ "Living in a medical facility" might be just what he said. Johanna's own mind goes to "Ravenscar Secure Hospital." And, well, if someone had offered her a chance to get out of there, a year into what looked at the time like a life sentence, she might have enlisted, too.

Maybe she's got the wrong of it, if he liked the ethos of whatever this unit was. Maybe that's more than is her business, just yet. Hounding Midnight with questions about his past, no matter how casually he discusses it, seems -- well, ill-mannered. ]

Long story very short.

Now, I have to ask, what's a raven to you, and what's a "fowlbeast"?

[unrequite]

[ There's a bit of nuance to it, yes, but Midnight's not all that caught up in explaining the finer details of his life. Why would he? The night is young, and Miss Constantine is hot. ]

Well, a fowlbeast is a small creature of an avian nature that flies, usually. A raven is a subspecies of Liberi, and a Liberi is a species of human with avian ancestry.

[ Midnight hums. ]

How's that? Been working on the explanation for a while now.

[keepgodwaiting]

Christ, you can't just say "bird"?

[ Amused, she steps closer to loop her arm through his and tug him towards the more food-centric area of the fair. ]

Let's go see if they've got fried fowlbeast at any of these stalls, then.

All right, you've got angels that aren't angels, vampires that are vampires, sort of, birds that are fowlbeasts, and people that are ravens. Have you got-- [ She tries to think of more human-animal hybrids. ] Centaurs?

[unrequite]

[ He opens his mouth for a playful retort — he can say birds, but birds are humans, which runs into the same problem — but then that phrase drops so smoothly out of her mouth that he's taken aback for a second. He's been so used to adjusting to what the people here consider normal vernacular. This is the first time, out of occasional conversations with Broca, that someone's spoken in his own.

So he stays like that, mouth open in both the arrested reply and no little surprise, before he laughs softly and shakes his head. ]

Er — well, I wouldn't know much about that. I believe centaurs share ancestry with the Pegasi of Kazimierz, but out of the Pegasi I know... Well, Miss Whislash and I have conversations of another kind, you understand.

[ ... Listen, she's very pretty. ]