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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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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?? ]

— 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. ]

--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"?

[ 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.

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?

[ 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. ]

[ Well, hey, score one for her! She didn't even know she was winning. ]

Are you serious? I was trying to think of something out there. So they're horse people? Wait, have the Pegasi got proper wings?

[ are you not gonna ask if the bird people have wings johanna no okay whatever you weirdo ]

Ah, no, they haven't, although I'm fairly certain that the line used to... These days, it's just the ears and the tails, like most humans of animal descent. Lovely people, very ancient bloodline. A family of knights. A bit uptight, except Miss Whislash... and I suppose Miss Blemishine too, but she's the upbeat sort.

[ Well, it's a very fair question, seeing as how Terran angels have wings, yet demons, apparently, do not! ]

Oh, just tails, of course.

[ The writer is briefly forced to consider how familiar Johanna Constantine is with the concept of furries, and concludes the answer is probably "yes" given that the writer has also established she's encountered a tulpa version of Ogtha before. ]

Are they like royalty, or what? With all these different types of humans running around, people must have developed some bloody complicated class politics.

Royalty? I suppose, although I'm not terribly acquainted with the history of Kazimierz. Now, if you asked me about the shukun shogunates of the Warring States era or the Bloodpeak Campaign of 1072, I'd know a bit more about that, class politics and all. Learned it in school. When it comes to the rest of the world... Higashi's historically been a bit of a hermit nation. What I've learned about other nations came from books or speaking to people on the landship.

[ Midnight shrugs. He does like history and social politics, but when it comes to anywhere but Higashi, he's had to do some catching up. ]

I don't think I'm qualified to ask you about any of those, frankly. Barely qualified to ask people where I'm from about all our wars and kings. I learned about them in school but I didn't enjoy most of it.

It was best when I thought about it all as a nice story, but...

[ Midnight shakes his head. He wasn't the best at school, honestly. ]

What did you like at school? Were you a troublemaker?

[ Johanna snorts, grinning up at him. ]

What do you think?

It was all "doesn't apply herself" until I was old enough to get into real trouble, and then it was demerits for wearing my skirt too short and smoking behind the school and "practicing kissing" with girls.

[ Midnight laughs. ]

Lovely. I wouldn't imagine any less out of you. I do wish I had your nerve, back at that age... I was quite shy, you know.

It had its drawbacks. I got in with a bad crowd. Or was the bad crowd, depending on who you asked.

When did you get over being shy? I can't really imagine it.

That sort, huh... Yes, I would have been in great fear and admiration of you, but mostly the fear.

[ Midnight grins ]

Well, I had to grow out of it, didn't I? Wouldn't have attracted a single customer if I couldn't look them in the eye. Had to be a bit more like you, in fact: an aggressive lack of interest in what others thought of me got me very far, in the end.

[ She grins back, squeezing his arm. ]

I'd probably have found you very mysterious and intimidating, if it's any consolation. The pretty shy boy in the back row? Catnip.

[ This may or may not be entirely true; it's equally likely that she just wouldn't have noticed him. But the flirtation now is more the point. ]

It's a useful skill, not giving a shit.

It is. Which is why I can promise you, without a doubt, that I would never have caught your eye.

[ Midnight gets in very close, his voice conspiratorial. ]

Although it's very kind of you to say that. Perhaps a bit too kind. It makes me very glad I caught your eye, you know. Now that I'm a bit more grown.

[ Johanna chuckles, tipping her face up towards him. ]

God, you are incredibly charming.

[ She says it softly, and it does sound like a sincere compliment. Uh-oh. They may be entering drastic territory. ]

[ Midnight grins back. He's about to get a kiss or a bite on the nose, and he cannot wait to find out which it is. ]

Well, sure. So are you. What are we to do about such revelations? Two incredibly charming people on a lovely evening walk... Surely there must be something.

[ Amused, Johanna stops them in their walk, tugging him to turn and face her. Around them, the oddly empty fair attractions whizz and whistle. ]

One or both of us are probably pretty stupid, too, to be honest.

[ Reaching up, she catches his chin in her head, and then goes up on her tiptoes to give him a soft kiss on the lips. There's a certain inevitability to some things, and she may recognize it, but she's not immune to it. Sometimes you just need to kiss someone to find out what it's like. ]

[ Oh, that is nice. Midnight closes his eyes, accepts the kiss, returns it with a second, just a light bit of pressure on top of the first. He doesn't look to deepen it right away, just leans back when he's done, looking down at Johanna and her cute little nose. Enjoying the smile on her face. ]

Wait, I blinked. Missed it. Silly me. Can you do it again?

[ A grin. What? He did. ]

Oh, see, stupid, like I said.

[ She moves her hand from his chin up into his hair, pulling him down for another kiss, this one a little longer. Not truly heated, not yet, just experimenting, trying out how they fit together. ]

[ A light growl as he's pulled down, pleased and anticipatory. He does like it when his hair is touched. A hand comes up to touch her on the jaw, his head tilting as he returns the second kiss with his own, his eyes fluttering half shut. When his next breath comes in, it shakes a little. He really, really likes kissing, and he likes kissing in good company.

He'll go in for another if she's willing. And another, and another... He's very eager, but he's polite enough to give them both breaks to breathe, at least. ]

[ Naturally, they drift closer together, until they're chest to chest -- or close enough with the difference in their heights. One of Jo's hands ends up cupping the back of Midnight's neck, while her other arm loops around his waist.

He's a very good kisser. That's to be expected given his background, she supposed, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. For a little bit, she can just let herself get lost in that, in the physical pleasure of lips and hands and shared warmth.

And yet -- for a second, when they break apart to catch their respective breathes, Johanna looks uncertain. Not like she's about to run away or anything, but like she's second-guessing herself. ]

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