12912/Merry Meet, Sadly Part, yet Merry Meet Again

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Merry Meet, Sadly Part, yet Merry Meet Again
Date of Scene: 28 September 2022
Location: The Curio
Synopsis: Lydia finds herself wandering into the Curio in curiosity after the building has moved from New York to Gotham City, and in lieu of the normal apartment lobby there is now a bar. She comes across Phoebe, and the two exchange the dumbs. Phoebe encourages Lydia to seek out Gabby, one of the new leaders of the JLD who can see the good in anyone, and they agree to be there for one another through recovery.
Cast of Characters: Phoebe Beacon, Lydia Dietrich




Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It's a pretty good night for a Tuesday as the regular crowd's quite a din. There's man dressed up as Destiny, sucking down on a tonic and gin. There's aman in the corner who could have been a double for one Robert Smith, complete with the eyeshadow and lipstick though he smells a bit like a Sith.

    But the curious thing is the bar below, where two bartenders working in time make up all the drinks with no spills in the sinks including a sprite with extra lime.

    And now that Piano Man is stuck in everyone's mind (and the guyw ho looks like the lead singer of the cure probably stops in every night to discuss magic with a guy who looks more than a little like Rasputin), off to the side there is a young lady, tucked in a corner, with a large anatomy and physiology book in front of her. She's created an arrow over one of the skeletons pointing to KNEEBAP, and is quietly nursing that aforementioned sprite with extra limes in it as music plays, thrumming along with the heartbeats of the not-really crowded bar

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    It's been a while since Lydia has been in the Curio. Last time she was here it was a dilapidated brownstone in the middle of Hells Kitchen, right next to the Laughing Magician, and through rumor and gossip she found out that it's now here, in Gotham.

    She doesn't get out to Gotham all that much, but there /is/ a jeweler that she frequents for when she needs a ring or other adornments cast for her, so tonight she decides to go on in and check it out. To her surprise she found out that it had been turned into a bar.

    Walking in, she notes the eclectic clientele and orders herself a Manhattan, making sure to leave the bartenders a nice tip, since this will probably be the only drink she'll have tonight. Spying Phoebe, she makes her way over to her table and asks, "Is this seat taken?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Nah, ma'am. You're new here. All new folks get one freebie. Boss's orders." the bartender with the bright red hair gives a smile, and he looks over Lydia with a grin before going back to tend to some of the other customers.

    Phoebe had been studying. She smelled like lavender and her hair was in a pink wrap, with some dampness to it.

    She pauses, hearing a familiar voice, and she looks up at Lydia, straghtens, nearly knocks herself out of her chair, catches against a railing and then pushes herself back up, gives a sheepish grin and motions to the other chair at the table.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia grins, and sits, setting her drink on the table. Her odd golden eyes glance at the anatomy books and she quickly hides a measure of discomfort at the sight of it. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," she says.

    "So how've you been? It's been a while. I bet a lot has happened since we last saw each other."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe opens her mouth, and then closes it. She points to her throat, and then makes a cutting motion, and a wince as she shrugs.

    Closing her college books, she pulls out her phone. She looks at the lock photo a moment, before she clears it and pulls up a text program.

    >Larynx experiencing technical difficulties. I was hoping we'd bump into one another again. I know friendship w/ some in JLD is/was dicey atm.

    And she turns the glowing screen over to Lydia.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Leaning over she reads Phoebe's message and nods in understanding. "Sorry to hear about your voice," she says. "That must be rough. I take it something is keeping your normal healing from fixing it? I hope you figure out how to get it back."

    "I've been taking a break from the JLD," she says. "I had made some bad personal choices that had some dire consequences." Her eyes flick back to the anatomy book, but this time can't help but let her regret show. "So I'm giving us all some space."

    "I've spent time since finishing up the Book of Lydia and really working out my own shit, you know?" she says with a slight smile. "Do some real soul-searching."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    >That's good, gotta sort shit out every three months or so.> Phoebe types, and she gives a shrug about foxing it.

    >It's been...> she pauses, and then she writes >About six months. I use ASL in college. Luckily most of my latest family can understand it>

    Phoebe sucks on her teeth a moment, and then breathes out.

    >I'm actually really glad to see you> she types.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Six months? That's quite a time to be without a voice," Lydia says, her brows pulling down in concern. "Do you know what caused it? Maybe I can help. I've... ah... had some experience with magical body alteration." She can't help but let the shame sound in her voice.

    She's silent as she watches Phoebe type out another message and when shown that, her face lights up in a smile. "Oh, yeah? I'm glad to have run into you too."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe just flat-lips and looks at Lydia. She knows exactly what caused it. She was kinda there for it.

    So Phoebe reaches up to the thick collar she was wearing, and slowly pulls it down. Across her throat, there are three claw marks that have opened the airway. There is a distinct lack of larynxical tissue there.

    Yep. That would be about what caused it.

    She bows her head a moment, wrapping everything back up, and she shakes her head.

    >Cursed. I have a mental broadcast trick. Might be easier than typing?> she types, and she turns the phone back around to look at Lydia with a mild face of amusement..

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    A soft whistle escapes her lips when Phoebe shows off her wounds. "That'd do it. What kind of curse are we talking about? Must be some strong magic to be able to keep you from breaking it."

    She nods to Phoebe's request. "Go for it. Typing on a phone for a conversation is kind of awkward."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a nod, and she brings her middle and index finger of her left hand to her temple, then sweeps outwards.

    <I have the rest of the night off, so the headache will be easy to deal with. You'll have to keep talking though. IT's a one-way connection.> Phoebe adds, and she takes a deep brea and rolls her left shoulder.

    <Yeah. I Did A Dumb. Demon that owned my cousin ripped my vocal chords out. I hid in Kansas for a month playing barback with a fake ID. So, magical body alteration, sounds a bit more intense than me making Gabby's hair pink.> Phoebe reflects a moment, and she does her best Tim Drake imitation of steeping her fingers and leaning forward.

    Except it's more Gendo Ikari because she is wearing glasses and it catches some of the light from the lamps above.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia lets out a low, humorless chuckle. "There's a lot of that going around," she says. "I Did a Dumb myself, which led to an even bigger Dumb." She presses her lips together into a line. "It nearly cost me everything."

    She sits back after a moment of silence while regarding Phoebe's situation. "I think trying to overwhelm it with your own body modification to fix it is the wrong angle. We need to identify the magic that's keeping you from healing properly and break *that* first. Have you been able to nail that down?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <I'm pretty sure the magic stopping me from healing properly is the demon who has my cousin's physical body and soul captured in Hell is willing it to not close properly.> Phoebe replies, stirring her sprite with extra lemons.

    <It's... only recently that I've admitted that I can't take the demon on my own. It very nearly cost me everything. If Idu hadn't shown up to distract her, she would have killed me.> Phoebe explains.

    <And I know the steps. Identify the magic. Cut it from the source. I have the Name. Cast protection spells, Wards. Traps. None of mine were strong enough to hold her long enough to finish it.>

    She looks at Lydia, and offers the cocktail menu over to her <What was your Dumb?>

    Her Manhattan arrives. It has a sword with a little gummy Batsignal on it.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia nods sympathetically. "I can imagine with a demon of that caliber you'll need some help taking it down. You can count me in on that."

    Phoebe's question causes her to frown. It takes a while for her to gather up the courage to explain. "Instead of facing my fears, I gave myself a psychic lobotomy and let The Predator take over. /That/ left me vulnerable to an Old One getting into my head and tempting me with power. Eventually it took over and I ended up doing some pretty evil things."

    She lets out a heavy sigh. "The JLD managed to stop me. Chas burned away The Predator in the process, though. Since then I've been working to make amends and just working on myself."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <I can empathize with that. Instead of fear, mine was sorrow. I couldn't function as anything of use while I was so angry. Sandalphon perfected it, which enabled me to take some pretty big risks. Once I got my full emotions back, though...> Phoebe finds suddenly, hot pretzel bites have been delivered. She did not order them, she motions at them, and the waitress gives her a Thumbs Up.

    There is a look of *perfect exasperation*, and then she resigns to dipping a pretzel in beercheese.

    <Jon said he wasn't able to help me after I tried to re-adjust. Chas told me he would kill me if I tried to remove his biological daughter's memories, and that my magic was little more than demonic pieacemeal. So I left. Batman was right. The JLD at that time wasn't going to help an emotionally traumatized teenager. They couldn't even help their emotionally traumatized selves.>

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia listens and nods, following along until she gets to one part. "Why would you try to remove his daughter's memory?" she asks in confusion. "That doesn't sound like something you'd do."

    She lets out a little sigh and nods. "Yeah. We all had issues that we weren't really dealing with. I kind of burnt my bridges with most of them before they left so I have a lot of unresolved problems that are just kind of hanging there." She runs a thoughtful finger along the edge of her still untouched Manhattan. "I'm a little afraid to go back and see what's left of the place."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <The working I was using to take the memories of other people, to make them forget who I was to destroy myself in a very, very real fashion...> Phoebe replies, and she taps her fingers a moment.

    <It wouldn't have differentiated. Geraldine and I were sisters. I treated her like my actual little sister. I sent her pictures of Idu. I sent her pictures of New York and made a promise to get Chas over to the UK for Easter since we missed Christmas. It was supposed to be my first Christmas with my family, and I spent it with Red Robin, eating hot soup on top of Grand Central.> Phoebe gives a snort.

    <Gabby took it over. One of the old witches who was living in NYC came out of retirement to help. I heard Zatanna and Constantine determined the castle was too dangerous. That's closed up. So there's this place called The Candle in NYC, and then there's here, the Curio.> Phoebe gives a small smile, and she rubs the back of her neck.

    <You should talk to Gabby. If anyone can see a light in anyone else, it's her. I got most of the news from here. That's how I knew Chas left.> Phoebe states, and picks up another pretzel, and looks at it.

    <Well. You're working on your shit. If you need me, I'm a text away. Provided I can not end up in a duck pond upon transfer. Maybe I can bust through a wall like the Kool-Aid man. I'd accept that. That'd be kinda cool.>

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia scowls at Phoebe's plan. "That could have had some disastrous consequences," she says. "Messing with people's memories on a global scale like that..." she shakes her head. "I hate to think what would have happened if you'd been successful."

    "Hunh," she says. "I'm not entirely surprised about the castle. There was a /lot/ that we didn't know about it and it's caretakers were /very/ secretive about its true function. When I left we had /just/ learned about it's prison. There are some very nasty entities entrapped in that place."

    She nods at the mention of the Candle. "I know the place. I know the old witch, too. Nettie. She makes good tea, and knows a thing or two about a thing or two."

    "Same thing goes for you. I might not be able to teleport to you, but I can fly pretty fast." She shakes her head, "I'm not really up to anything that needs assistance, but sooner or later I'm going to need Beta readers for the Book of Lydia."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <Yeah. It ... it... nearly ended my friendship with Tim.> Phoebe replies, and it was plain to see for just about everyone who had ever seen the duo work together how much she loved and respected her brother-in-arms-and-geekery.

    <Luckily, we'll never know. I'm not a good enough mage to pull it off. Zee, maybe Constantine could, but me? I'm just a band-aid. A glow-in-the-dark band-aid.> she gives a wry smile, and monches down on another pretzel... but she listens to the descriptions Lydia gives, and Phoebe gives a small nod before she pauses, and she raises her eyebrows.

    <I am unavailable for beta reading until I get out of med school. Right now between-->

    She straightens, and just flails her arms around

    <-- all I read are my text books. My eyes are burning. And everyone assumes I'm deaf and they yell at me and it's HORRIBLE and I hate it.>

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Yeah. My Dumb cost me most of my friends, my fiancee, and the trust of every JLD member," Lydia admits. "I'm lucky that they were willing to give me a chance to rectify my mistakes instead of outright killing me, though to be sure, some of them wanted to do that."

    "As a result of that I have too much... intimate knowledge about anatomy." She closes her eyes to fight back her bubbling shame and guilt and says, "The one thing Viscera left when I finally got rid of it was how everything inside people works. I can't just... /purge/ myself of that knowledge as much as I want to."

    Her eyes pop open and she gives Phoebe a crooked smile. "I guess what I'm saying is that if I'm going to have that knowledge I should put it to good use. Let me know if you need any help with your anatomy lessons."

    She finally takes a sip of her Manhattan and nods appreciatively. "It's good," she declares. Standing up she says, "I should leave you to your studies. I remember being in university and how it was. Got to be worse for a med student. I'll see you around, all right? Don't be a stranger."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <... I feel every injury I heal. I know how things stitch.> Phoebe replies quizically to Lydia, but she gives a smile, and she sets her hadnds down, looking up to the older woman with a plaintive look on her face.

    <Thank you for not running out on me too.> she addsand she bows her head. <Thanks... just... for everything. We'll get through this.>