11373/Time For A Drink

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Time For A Drink
Date of Scene: 28 May 2022
Location: The Velvet Room - Sitting Room
Synopsis: Jon and Cael head to the Velvet Room from their SHIELD work, and run into Chas returning from a talk with Phoebe. Cael and Chas drink together. And Cael laughs at Chas! Things are going to be okay, whatever life throws at them.
Cast of Characters: Jonathan Sims, Cael Becker, Chas Chandler




Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Once SHIELD's got the students from Washington Square Park sorted and settled, and data's being sorted and processed, and there's a chance to get away, Jon pulls out his key to the Velvet Room and sticks it in a door in the Triskelion. He's already told Agnes they'll be home late and apologized by text, and he needs a drink. Many, many drinks.

    He walks right down the stairs and to the bar, pulling down the 'Judgement' bottle. The one that has Spirytus in it. "That was... that was a /lot/," he says, shuddering. "Thirteen people, body-swapped, and some of the damage..." He pours himself a shot, downs it with a wince, and then pours another. Oh dear.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael entered with Jon. It hadn't been easy for her to see how thrown they really wear, and that was enough to prompt her to stay near to them out of concern. She pulls down the bottlee labeled High Priestess for herself- pouring a generous amount before she takes a sip.
    "What did you see what threw you this badly?" she asks worriedly. "Or should I leave well enough alone?"

Chas Chandler has posed:
    The top door opens and permits Chas to wander in. He looks like he's been through a lot recently. There are the tracks of tears on his cheeks and in his beard and his usually well cared for hair is in a mess of sorts. He wipes at his eyes and cheeks before he makes his way down and then stops. "Oh..." he says stopping at he sees Jon and, more importantly for his apprehension, Cael.

    "I... can leave you guys alone if you'd rather. I just..." he eyes the line of bottles as well as the pair before Cael and Jon. "Seems like we're all needing a drink today, huh?" He doesn't care that he can't get drunk or even fully taste the alcohol; there is a psychological element to 'having a drink' that he needs access to at this moment.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I mean... they were /body swapped/, Cael. Imagine... you had your skin ripped off and someone else's put on over your frame. Not pleasant, right?" Jon downs the second shot, closing his eyes against the burn. He doesn't normally take alcohol /this/ strong, and despite his enhanced metabolism it's hitting already.

    "Naaaah honestly I'd be glad to have the excuse not to talk about SHIELD business," he says, waving at Chas. But he looks at Cael. "Unless you can't handle it, love? S'just, you know. People to drink with is nice."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Ugh," Cael says in response to that visual - moving closer to Jon, to wrap one aroumd around them and put her other hand on their near arm. "I'll add that to the list of 'things I don't want to do. Along with folk dancing and Calculus." She gives Jon a gentle squeeze, but then her gaze goes to Chas, her posture tensing for a moment. She considers him in silence for a long moment, then looks away again.
    "No. He can... join us. It's fine," she offers more softly.
    You're fine, Cael. You're fine. You've got this. ... right?

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas waits another beat before approaching the pair. He moves behind the bar... he's comfortable there and grabs a snifter and the bottle marked Heirophant. He needs something comforting and familiar right now. He pours an ample amount into his glass and sets the bottle down beside him. "Rough day all around" he says. "To rough days" he offers in a half-hearted toast before drinking a long slow drink of the Scotch. It's a really, -really- good scotch and he is -wasting- it on his dulled senses and inability to get drunk. He doesn't care.

    "I just got through talking with Phoebe..." he says, softly after his toast. "She's... well, things aren't better, let's say that. But I think I convinced her that the memory spell is best kept in the bin. So... that much is done. The rest..." He shakes his head and downs -the rest- of the snifter before filling it (literally) again.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Still determined to run off and get herself killed, huh?" Jon shakes his head and leans into Cael. "S'my fault, in a way. Well. Not /entirely/ my fault. But letting her lead the JLD... too much pressure for someone her age. Should never have let it happen." He shakes his head, and pours /yet another/ shot of the Spirytus. Maybe someone better swap it for the Scotch before he goes entirely senseless, huh?

    "To rough days," he says, and downs the whole thing. Yeah, that's a lot of alcohol.

    He smiles at Cael and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, love. You're perfect, d'you know that?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "She was broken a long time before that, Jon - same way I was." Am? "She's been through shit. People have who've carried far less... have given up their fight."
    She frowns as she adds, "I found happiness on the otherside of my pain, but... Maybe not all pain can be...transformed."
    As Jon calls her 'perfect,' though, she lets out a snort and elbows him hard. "You take that shit back. Fuck you, Jonathan Maxwell Sims." As she talks, her eyes never quite look towrds Chas - as if //that// will make things better.
    Right.

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas seems to notice what Jon is drinking and swaps his bottle for Jon's. He sets the Judgement back on the shelf. "I think that's enough of that for you tonight, Jon. Stick with what you know" he says. Just for good measure he sets a clean tumbler beside the bottle as well. "She's very determined to be alone for now... I told her my door is open for her, but it's up to her to walk through it. But I also told her she has to accept the consequences for her actions... whatever they may be."

    He sips his scotch this time, savoring the taste if not the burn. At Caels' remark he blinks at Jon. "Your middle name is Maxwell? I didn't know you even had a middle name" he says with a grin. "I mean, it's not terrible as far as names go... but...." He figured he might've known that if Jon had a middle name.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon gives Cael a /look/ and then gives Chas a /look/. "It is not. I do not /have/ a middle name. Cael Melody Becker over here keeps making up new ones." That can't be Cael's middle name, right? He's teasing. He has to be.

    He sighs. "I'm supposed to be able to help. Even if I can't do it /professionaly/... I'm supposed to be able to help. It's what I'm trained for. It's what I'm good at. She makes me feel like... well... the same way the unConstantine did." He shakes his head. "An'... I don't get it, y'know? I just don't get it. Why is she so /determined/ to go it alone? Why's she want to wallow? Is it a Gotham thing? A John thing? Gods, Chas, we should track down John and you can hold his arms while I punch him a lot. Or vice versa. We can switch off. Twat."

    He takes the time to pour the Scotch and takes a sip before saying to Cael, "And also, nope, you're perfect. For me, at least. Just... perfect." He reaches over to ruffle her hair.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Some of the tension lingering in Cael eases as Chas takes her joke far too seriously - and she begins to laugh. The laughter fades out, though, as Jon calls her 'Melody.' That hits a little too close to home for her - and shifts in her seat, opening up a little space between her and Jon, as her hands go from holding to him - to picking up her glass for a drink instead.
    "Sometimes, when you're in pain - being alone feels safe. You can't be hurt when you're alone - not as badly. I spent years alone, myself," she remarks, her gaze directed down towards her own tumbler.

Chas Chandler has posed:
    "It's not John... or well, not entirely him" Chas replies. "Part of it was the homunculus, but part of it is her own thoughts and the fear of growing up I think." He sighs and sips his drink slowly. "Whatever her reasons... we can't... we can't hold her hand anymore. She's old enough to make these decisions... poor as they may be. She's looking for something that isn't real and maybe... our talk will sink in and it'll be a wake up call. Maybe not."

    He shrugs. "Our job is to stay vigilant and keep an eye out for threats. If she becomes one of them... then we stop her... whatever it takes, right?" he says, looking up at the pair of them. His gaze is unerring and determined. He's come to grips with the fact that killing Phoebe might be the only salvation with the path she's set on.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon frowns as Cael pulls away from him. "Sorry," he murmurs. He's not sure what he said that upset her, but he won't push.

    Instead, he sighs, and peers down into his Scotch. "I don't like that. 'Whatever it takes.' That's not..." He shakes his head. "She's on the /team/. We shouldn't think of it like that. I mean, if she won't let us help then she won't but..."

    They shake their head and take a long drink. "Looking for something that isn't real? What d'you mean?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "If I was harming others... I'd want the team to do what it had to - to stop me," Cael offers quietly. "I mean - not you, Jon. That woul just be cruel. But I would want to be stopped. I guess we what and see what she does - what she becomes. If she stays alive." Which very much is an if, living this lifestyle, with that sort of attitude.
    After another sip of whiskey she adds in a quiet aside to Jon, "Harmony. Shelley Harmony Mason." Afte a sigh she adds, "So... not your fault, love."

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas nods to Cael's first statement and adds. "That's essentially what I told her. If she goes bad... we'll stop her. Because I'd rather do that than make her suffer through hurting others." He takes another sip. Cael's other comment gets a look of confusion for a moment before a flash of 'memory' floats into his brain. He shakes his head and tries to clear it. He doesn't need to experience what Michael did to the woman as a memory.

    Instead he focuses on Jon's questions. "She's looking for the happy ending. I told her no one just gets handed a happy ending. It's something that is strived for and earned after a lot of work and a lot of life. The only teenagers who get happy endings are cartoons. Not real people."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "There's no such thing as a happy ending while you're still alive," Jon says bluntly. "I mean... life is difficult. Life is suffering. We think we're disconnected from the universe even though we're not. There's a /reason/ I wanted to stay down in Duat. I was happy. Peaceful. I didn't miss the people I'd left behind. I almost didn't come back. But Cael reminded me why the suffering and pain is worthwhile."

    He looks at Cael, smiling in a way only /really/ drunk people tend to. "The suffering is because of attachment. Because of the terror of losing the people we love. But not just that... squabbles over the right way to pronounce scone, and the pain in your legs from a long hike to a great view. It puts everything in context. It makes it worthwhile." He shakes his head. "Buddhists thing the attachment is a problem, and they're right to say this world is an illusion. But I think they're wrong to say that makes the world something to be escaped. The world is... wonderful."

    He frowns. "But also terrible. I mean... I don't think I'd say I'm /happy/. I've got Cael, and Agnes, and we're moving in together... but my husband's left the dimension, and I have to drink to handle my job, and I..." He looks at Cael and then away. He doesn't want to talk about her death, and all the rest. Not right now. "Gods, I don't know. Happiness is an illusion, and a fleeting one."

    A moment's pause and then he leans over to kiss Cael's cheek again. "Sorry," he repeats. "Won't happen again. You are now and forevermore Cael Oroguita Becker."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "There's happiness in life - of course there is - but it isn't an ending, it's a process. It comes and it goes, and it isn't binary. It's... a spectrum. And it has to be worked for, and welcomed, and accepted. I don't know if I really understood that when I was her age. Probably not - I was filled with a lot of pain and rage, then."
    Leaning towards Jon, she gives him a kiss as well as she adds, "You're happy - it's just- it's not the only thing you are. You can be happy //and// sad. But I know you're happy..."
    Being called 'Oruguita' brings an amused smirk to her lips before she adds, "Ay, Mariposa..."

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas focuses on his glass, pointedly not paying direct attention to the PDA being put on before him. He's a private sort of guy, after all. "It's basically what I told her. But..." he shakes his head. "We can't force her to change her opinion. Not now. She's got to come around to it on her own. Otherwise, nothing will stop this from happening again in a few weeks or a few days."

    He tips back the last of the glass and sets it down behind the bar. "Lessons. It' s all about lessons" he says. "I'm going to go for a walk in the garden. You two... have fun. If you need me... that's where I'll be." He smiles and moves back around the bar to head for the hallway that leads to other places in the castle.

    After a moment he pops his head back in. "Umm... Jon. Another one of those strange doors is in the hall. Predictably it's The Magician. Thought you should know." Then he's gone again off for his garden walk.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon peers after Chas for a long moment as he leaves, then sighs. "I need to talk to him. Not right away, but... I need to..." He rubs at his face. "Maybe when I'm a /liiiiitle/ less drunk, hmm?"

    He sighs and looks to Cael. "Sorry if I worried you, earlier. Didn't mean to. It's just... I dunno. It was a lot. And it just always kind of... hits me, you know? When it's normal people going about their lives and then /poof/ something happens."

    They ponder the Scotch glass. "But I think I'm happy, yeah. We're building something good here, y'know? And I got to do the job I got paid for, which was nice. And... mmm, I dunno. I think it's just this Phoebe shit tearing me up. She was around from the start, and now it's like... is she gonna go villain on us? Die on us?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael isn't looking after Chas. In fact - she isn't looking at Chas at all. She's barely glanced at him for the entire conversation, keeping her attention instead on Jon, or on her drink.
    It's safer that way.
    "I //know// you're happy," Cael says firmly, turning towards Jon, and pulling them gently towards her, so she can wrap her arms around them once more. "I'm certain of it. But... you're also in pain. That's alright - and I'm here. We'll figure out how to help those people. And no matter what becomes of Phoebe - we all tried. We all cared for her, and that's more than a lot of people get. And we'll get through the fallout together."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon leans in to Cael's embrace and then suddenly starts to sob. "I don't know what to do, Cael. I told them we'll fix it, but I don't know what to do. Gods, I hope Foster or Fitz or Simmons have /something/. They're /counting/ on us, you know?"

    Well, that explains the real reason he's drinking so much.

    He keeps sobbing. "Phoebe needs help, and I can't help, and... and... I can't... if she goes and off and gets herself killed we can't help that but if she turns... if Chas thinks she's gonna..."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Then you will have me right here, with you. Every step of the way. No matter how bright or how dark the things we face- we face it together. Yeah?" She tightens har arms around Jon for a moment, then simply continues to hold them close to her, letting her fingers wander up into Jo's hair to rub at their scalp gently.
    "And we can both be pretty stubborn. We don't give up - will we?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon sniffs. "Is it really not my fault? Really? I... I feel like I should've done more for her. Been around more. I mean it's literally... I'm supposed to help with this stuff, with the Gotham kids." Another sniffle, and then he buries his face in Cael's shoulder and wraps his arms around her.

    "She looked just like him. The meat puppet. She looked /just like him/. Is she corrupted? Is she..." They squeeze their eyes shut. "Tell me it's not my fault. Please." They cling to Cael for a moment, sobbing. Trying to let go of the feeling of responsibility.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "You didn't not cause her pain, Jon," Cael reassures him in a gentle tone. "And she needs to want your help... to recieve it properly. This isn't your fault. This isn't your fault. It's-" Her voice breaks before she forces herself to continue. "It's not more your fault, then... it's my fault Alis is gone again. It's no more your fault than the death of my mother is mine. We can't fix everything. We can't save everyone."
    With her fingers still rubbing at Jon's scalp she adds, "I know we'll face dark times ahead. We'll be there to help each other through it. Won't we?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "We will." Long, deep breaths. "We will. Last time, I... I was alone. I'm not alone. Martin's alive, and you're here, and... and it's okay." Jon laughs, shakily. "Last time I was losing my mind, barely sleeping or eating, with conspiracy corkboards up in the second bedroom. Not that drinking this much is any better, but I'm not... I'm not going to do that."

    They keep breathing, slowly. "It's not my fault. This isn't... it's not the same as last time. I'm not... I can help people. I helped you."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "We're neither of us alone," Cael agrees reassuringly. "And if it gets bad? Bear'll knock you down and sit on you. Hrm?"
    She tighten her grip around Jon at his words, a few tears sneaking out of her eyes. "You helped me," she echoes back. "And I am so grateful for that. For you. I- I don't know if I've ever been happier in my life, than I am in the life we've made for ourselves - and that's because of you."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon laughs. "That's because of /you/. Whatever I've done... you had to let me in. And let everyone else in, too. Martin, Agnes, Sara, the JLD... you've been letting people in, and being okay with that. You've been working /so hard/ to get better, and I'm so sorry I gave you shit about Chas so often. I guided you, helped you, I'm here for you, but you had to do the work."

    He takes in a deep, shuddering breath. "And that's why I can't help Phoebe. Because she doesn't /want/ my help. Or anyone's help, really, except for someone who never existed." He sighs. "I think I'm afraid she'll go to the demon that controlled the puppet and ask it for that John back. That's what she wants. The thing that hurt me."

    A pause. A frown. "I think I'm angry at her, for that. I never do like admitting I'm angry at people."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "It's hard work... But it's been worth it. I would have been lost, though... if you hadn't come back to me." Cael tightens her grip with hungry possessiveness. She didn't want to ever be alone again - to go back to the way she was. Going through life, trying to be dead inside.
    "It's okay to be angry with her." She's silent for a moment before admitting softly, "I've been angry with my mom for a long time, so- ...I know how it is. And I know how much it can... hurt, but it's okay to be angry. It is."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon laughs softly. "Trying to remind myself of that. All emotional reactions are valid. Maybe not logical, or reasonable, and it's not always acceptable to /act/ from those emotional reactions. But it's okay to /have/ them." He sighs, and just... sits there for another moment.

    Then they pull back, far enough to look Cael in the eyes. "I think I need to talk to Chas. About... the things I've been struggling with, and this anger at Phoebe. Let him express whatever he's feeling, that maybe he'd hold back in front of you. D'you want me to send you home first? If you call the Chinese place around the corner for dinner they should have our order ready by the time I'm done."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I, uhh... The door should take me home," Cael replies. She relectant to let Jon pull away from her, and her fingers linger on their arms, as she studies their eyes. "You're going to be okay, Jon, because I am too stubborn to allow anything else. I love you, Jonathan Mariposa Sims. Yeah?"
    She leans forward to give them a lingering, tender kiss - then as she's pulls away she muses, "I could actually go for a steak tonight but- yeah, sure. I'll order us in something."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon's eyes light up. "Oh, really? I could go for steak, I was just... well. Noodles." He really needs to stop just going with what Cael would want /every/ time. Though he does like Chinese.

    Then he regards her with a smirk. "You are /also/ going to be okay, Cael Oroguita Becker, because while I may not be a terribly brave person I am /also/ very stubborn. And I love you too. More than words can express." He leans in to give her a kiss in return, and then pulls away entirely, turning to head out to the hallway and thus the garden.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael's gaze lingers on Jon, watching them go with love, and concern - and maybe a little pride that they can always pick themselves up int he end - and go on. Once they're gone, she down the rest of her whiskey - before rising to her feet to return to the apartment.
    "Yes, Bear, I'm ba- What did you and Lady do with all the packing peanuts?! What a me-"