18818/Where Everybody Knows Your Name.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name.
Date of Scene:	12 August 2024
Location:	The Laughing Magician
Synopsis:	Jubilation Lee stops by The Laughing Magician and unexpectedly finds John. They catch-up, he proves that he really does know her actual name and she says she'll think about it.
Cast of Characters:	John Constantine, Jubilation Lee

---

John Constantine has posed:
Dinner time. It's not an overly busy time at The Laughing Magician. Would anyone really ever want to eat anything cooked here? It just so happens that the owner of the establishment is present though. Rumor has it that that he's been around a whole lot more lately. The why of it, well that's up for debate depending on which of the bar staff one speaks with.

Reason doesn't matter though, does it? John's here, sitting on his pauper's stool, with a bottle of scotch - look there, it's almost full - and that ever present pack of Silks and an ashtray.

People aren't supposed to smoke inside these days and that's why he hung a 'no smoking' sign on the bar right in front of his stole. He's a rebel like that and, perhaps, a little childish in his refusal to respect authority. The old jukebox in the corner is actually playing an old Mucous Membrane tune - ah, the good old days.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
The unique combination of boredom, curiosity, and nostalgia can make a person, even an undead one, do unusual things. It can make them stuff a bunch of diapers, wipes and a couple bottles of formula into a purple JanSport backpack for the babysitter. It can make them navigate the byzantine tangle of public transit routes that spread from New York City and connect with Westchester. It can make them pay a visit to an old haunt.

The first half hour of the trip was a little dicey as dappled sunlight still peeked through the trees, but evening is in full swing by the time Jubilation Lee emerges from the New York City subway.

Jubilation rolls her eyes and shakes her head, smiling to herself as she hears the familiar lyrics of Venus of the Hardsell through the heavy door that keeps the city safe from the Laughing Magician. There must be a new owner who hasn't figured out how to reprogram the jukebox yet. Jubes over her shoulder for a second before she gives in to her curiosity and heads inside.

As soon as Jubilee enters the Laughing Magician, she laughs out loud to herself. "It hasn't changed at all!" she exclaims as she heads inside, barely able to contain her fangy smile in between each of her cheeks. Jubilation drags her fingertips along the surface of each table she passes as she heads further inside, head on a swivel as she takes it all in! "I guess that smell's never going to come out," she adds, still talking to herself, as the smell of Silks fills her nose.

Jubilation stops in the dead center of the Laughing Magician as she spots the man seated on the Pauper's Throne. It was always off-limits to everyone but John Constantine. Does that even matter anymore? Her smile fades.

John Constantine has posed:
John doesn't turn around, he doesn't have to. That stool faces the door. A subtle twirl of the finger of his left hand and a few whispered words are followed by the sounds of the jukebox changing up its tune mid song.

The crackling of needle to vinyl fills the air for just a breath or two before Mucous Membrane is replaced by the most unlikely of tunes for this place - Elvira by The Oakridge Boys. His sense of humor is just as stubborn as his insistence upon smoking where ever he damned well pleases. Her smile fades, his grows. Not much can make John Constantine smile like that - really not anything other than the vices sitting on the bar in front of him.

"Heard you're trying out the domestic life?" It's a question that really isn't? How does he know? Well, he /is/ John Constantine and he actually does care enough to keep tabs on her life. "All grown up now, funny how time flies, innit?"

At least he hasn't outright /called/ her Elvira - yet.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
Jubilation stares at the man seated on the Pauper's Throne, both hands lingering on each of her hips.

He sounds like John Constantine...He looks like John Constantine...

Jubilation looks around as the music changes and the first lyric of the new song reaches her ears: Elvira.

He acts like John Constantine, too. Jubilee rolls her eyes silently and, without thinking, approaches the man who looks, sounds, and acts like John Constantine. She remains quiet -- a betrayal of her own character -- as a thin line of blood forms across each of her lower eyelids. The lines break and a thin trickle of blood traces a path down her cheeks, first one and then the other. She reaches up and wipes the trails away, leaving behind a faint hint of red across her skin.

"...Maybe for you," she manages. Time may fly but none of it has reached her face. Jubilation Lee will look eighteen years old for eternity, but the last couple of years have been long ones. She stares at John like he's a ghost, a vague impression of a distant past.

John Constantine has posed:
Truth be told, time hasn't much touched John's face either. Not that anyone would notice - yet. Maybe in ten or so years, people might start asking questions. He's silent through her processing the information of /him/. He watches her wipe the blood tears from her eyes and still says nothing. Give the girl a minute to gather her wits or something like that.

Finally - "C'mon now, luv, didn't think I could stay way from all of this?" He makes a broad, sweeping gesture to indicate the entirety of the pub. But something in his voice lends itself to meaning more than just the pub.

"Wot, we need to hug it out now, Buffy?" He offers a wink, tendrils of smoke dancing about from the end of the lit Silk Cut dangling from his lips. He plucks it out before he adds, "I'm proud of ya Jubilee. Seems you've handled the lot life gave ya with grace."

He can't say the same. He handles his lot by barreling through it like a bull in a China shop. But it works for him.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
Jubilation blinks her eyes a couple of times to fight back any chance that another pair of blood tears might form, staring down at floor as the emotions threaten her better judgement. Jubilation forces her chest to rise and fall, sending a noisy breath of oxygen-rich air to exit through her nose. She has no use for it, but a heavy exhale is still useful for expressing herself. There's a micro-moment where her arms extend outward at the mention of a hug, but it's over before it has a chance to become awkward. She knows better, even after all these years.

John saying he's proud of her is just about as much as Jubilation can take. She finds something else to focus on.

"Is there still...?" Jubilee's words fade as she's suddenly behind the bar, bending down to check for one of the Red Cross pouches of blood they used to hide back there.

John Constantine has posed:
"Made sure of it." And it's not even old and expired. People think that John Constantine doesn't care because it's what he lets most of them think. I love you aren't words he says, hugging isn't something he does, sarcastic insults and ridiculous nicknames abound. But to those that do know him? If he's calling you something outside your name that isn't 'wanker or twat', it means he cares enough to go that extra mile.

It's the ones he calls nothing at all that need to watch their backs.

"So, tell me about this wee one?" He finally pours a few fingers of that scotch into his glass and finishes it off quickly. He doesn't refill it immediately though - odd? Maybe he's grown up a little himself? Or maybe there's something happening or something about to happen that has sparked his need to remain clear headed.

It's there, that little sparkle in his blue eyes, that flicker of life that brightens them when there's a puzzle to solve, something to do, potential Bad Thing to put down.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
And there it is, right where it always was. After nudging the miniature fridge shut with her foot, Jubilation spends a few moments preparing a drink for herself. Sure, she could jam a plastic straw into it like it's a Capri Sun, but that doesn't feel right for this moment. The pouch is emptied into a rocks glass that spends exactly twenty seconds in the microwave. Two drops of Tabasco complete the 'cocktail' before it's placed on a napkin. A lot has changed in the last couple years.

Jubilation slides her glass forward and clinks it against John's empty one before she brings it up to her mouth. She takes it fast, leaving both of her eyes closed so she can focus on that oh-so-lovely feeling of the world getting easier. After a couple of seconds, Jubilation opens her eyes and sets her glass down. The blood makes everything easier, clearer, safer. It even improves Jubilee's ability to keep her emotions under control, which is very fortunate and necessary in this moment.

"What's to tell?" Jubilee asks. Most mothers would give anything for someone to ask them about their baby, but this one is a little guarded about it for some reason, at least at first. "His first parents died," Jubilation answers before immediately elaborating before John can interrupt. "I didn't do it!" she adds, her tone suggesting that she's had to address that more than once before. The path of a vampire trying to be 'good' is one still paved by prejudice, unfortunately.

Jubilation hesitates before speaking again. Perhaps she might ask John how he knows about her baby. It's a fair question. It's not the one that comes, though. "...Why did you leave m--?" she asks, swallowing the extra word before it can get out. Why did you leave me?

John Constantine has posed:
Through the preparation of her special cocktail, he watches. His brow furrows a little as he continues to watch. He watches right up until she puts drink to lips before he looks away. He has to wipe the guilt from his expression, y'know.

Glasses klink and he pours himself another, still just a few fingers worth, not an entire glass. John isn't one to jump to conclusions. He also wouldn't be one to judge if she had done it. "Adoption finalized yet?" he asks even after she's halfway asked her own question. "I could probably help with that." Doesn't take a whole lot of effort for John Constantine to get a few people to sign the right documents or even make up the documents and spell them so that everyone that looks at them remembers them as if it really happened.

Then there's /her/ question and John looks down to his drink. He swirls it around a bit before tossing it back and picking up his Silk Cut, left to smolder out in the ashtray, and relights it.

Why does he ever leave anyone?

"Safer innit? Not havin' me around all the time?"

He's not /wrong/.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
John's question about the adoption is like a punch to the gut. It's a question that's hung in the air ever since she brought the baby home with her. At any moment, the hammer could come down. Her eyes dart upward at John's suggestion that he might be able to make that problem go away. Now isn't the time for her to be proud or stubborn. Not about this. Still, she doesn't jump at the offer.

"Uh, I'll let you know," she lies.

Jubilation hesitates before speaking again, but the words eventually come as she decides to just level with him. "I rescued him while on a mission for the X-Men," she confesses, eyeing John carefully. She's never told him about her affiliation with the mysterious, possibly fictional group, but somehow John already knows about her baby, so, is this really the moment to be keeping secrets?

"I'm waiting to see that there's no trail back to us," Jubilation explains softly. "I might need to handle this one in-house..."

John answering her question with a question of his own captures Jubilee's attention. On one hand, danger absolutely, positively follows John Constantine. If not for John, Jubilation would not have gotten herself turned into a vampire in the first place. However, she's managed to accumulate her own catalog of danger since his disappearance. Much of it could have been handled a lot easier /with/ John in her life. It's kind of a wash. But, that's not what troubles her.

"I get it," Jubilation admits. And she does. After all, Jubilation insisted the same about herself.

"I'm gonna have to owe Nori a /huge/ apology," she groans as she reaches for that little fridge tucked behind the bar. Tonight's a 'two pouches' kind of night. "I pulled that 'I put you in danger' B.S. with her, too. It sucks." She looks up at John, watching his reaction to those last two words. It sucks.

But, the moment passes as soon as Jubilee jams a plastic straw into that second Red Cross pouch. No glass this time. "I'm not gonna lie, I was /not/ expecting to see you in here, tonight," Jubilation mutters, talking with that plastic straw sticking out of her mouth. She's perfectly happy to continue this conversation while sucking blood right in plain view. "How /are/ you? Like, really?"

John Constantine has posed:
There really wasn't much left of that relit cigarette. He's finished with it by now and it gets stubbed out in the ashtray with at least a dozen others that met their demise just since he sat down here. Jubilee's X-Men confession has him snorting back a laugh. "Went and joined up with the tighties, aye?" It's not as if he didn't figure she would eventually. In fact, he would have put good money on it.

With mention of the tot, John reminds, "Well, this is still 'in-house' to ya, luv. You know that, with or without me here, you got a place." To run to. "Offer stands for as long as you need it to."

Actually the 'it sucks' has him snorting back another laugh. It simply wouldn't do if someone saw him /really/ laugh. "I find that most things do, luv. Sometimes it's even fun." Sucking.

Another few fingers of scotch gone, yet another Silk Cut lit and a whole lot of weighted pause mingling in with the fresh tendrils of smoke. "It's different with me, Jubilee. It's my bloodline's legacy. Seems we're always the last one standing amid the rubble. Us Laughing Magicians, we ride the waves of fate, always managing to stay just this side of the undertow. It's the ones around us that get sucked under in the wake." So that's how the bar got its name. "It's just different." Just different - the best way he can possibly explain Synchronicity.

"I figured ya were comin', luv. Didn't know when, but figured ya were. Figured maybe someone might walk through that door tonight." Because he had a really powerful urge to come keep his throne warm.

"So, these tighties you're running with, they heard anything about this Galactus mess?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
"I always was," Jubilation answers, lips curling upwards as a smile returns. It's rare to be able to reveal something to John Constantine. It's fun. She bites down on the straw and expands her smile to be really toothy -- fangy -- as though she's trying to rub it in. It /seems/ like John didn't know she was affiliated with the X-Men even before they met. The moment doesn't last, though, before John forces her to be serious again.

"I mean, like, in-house like... I might have put the X-Men in danger because of what I did," Jubilation explains, her smile fading a little as she continues. That feeling lingers only for a moment before she shrugs it off and slurps some more blood through the straw.

"Oh, believe me, I know," Jubilation riffs back, smirking a little at John's point about how sucking can be fun. She's one of /those/ kinds of vampires.

The moment doesn't last. It was fun for a second there, but then Jubilation finds herself slipping into that mental autopilot that happens when John used to describe supernatural concepts. It never seemed useful to pay close attention, as each new word would make her understand him less. She would usually only absorb the jist of it, if anything at all. John always seemed tapped in to the pulse of reality in a way that she could never hope to understand, so why try?

Galactus. Another one of John Constantine's nonsense words. "What's that?" she answers, shaking her head to signal that no one's told her anything about a Galactus. "No one tells me anything." Or she doesn't listen. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Wait.

"...What did you call me?" Jubilee jokes, circling back to something John said earlier. He called her Jubilee. It might actually be the first time. Not Buffy. Not Elvira. Jubilee.

John Constantine has posed:
"Sorry if I don't see the problem with a bunch of tight wearing superheroes being 'put at risk' over the welfare of a lil' babe." Just like her with his supernatural tap-in, the whole X-Crew thing is a little beyond him. Sure, there's the Justice League Dark and they're a team - but they're an entirely different beasts truth be told. A bunch of ragtag misfits that come together every once in a blue moon to fight the darkness.

His blue eyes widen a bit and it's his turn to grin. "Y'mean to tell me that those tighties don't know about a giant planet devouring wanker that might be heading this way to suck on Earth like she's a giant Gobstopper? Well, /Jubliee/," he emphasizes her name to prove a point - or something, "...if you want to find out what's what as far as what people know already, we're all meeting here Friday night."

A beat.

"There's always a spot for you, a place with me and mine." With the Justice League Dark. "I get that these X-Blokes might have an edge when it comes to mundane threats, maybe even space cadet threats. But you /know/, I know you know, that when it comes to the things other people don't want to think about, the things people want to rationalize away - there's no safer place to be."

Offer on the table, he fills his glass to full this time and slams it back. "I gotta be across town in twenty. Little old lady thinks her dead husband is trying to kill her dog or sommat like that. Crazy old bird, be my guess. But an exorcist has to make a livin', innit right?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
Jubilation nods a couple of times. She's had to stand tall about her decision to bring the baby back with her and has faced significant scrutiny for it. John may be preaching to the choir in some ways. "Yeah, I know," Jubilation admits. "But, like, it's not just /them/..." She doesn't elaborate. The connection between Xavier's and the X-Men isn't something she's going to disclose here and now.

John's apparent delight over her ignorance to the planet devouring wanker draws out a non-plussed shrug. "I don't know, maybe? It's not like they run everything by me...." she tries. "I'm sort of in 'time out' or whatever..." Jubilation fails to contain a mischievous grin, as though she assumes that John would appreciate knowing that she's in trouble with the X-Men for some misbehavior.

"John..." she protests, almost whining. "...I..." Many excuses come to mind, each of them nearly reaching Jubilee's lips.

I can't.
It's too dangerous.
I have a baby now.
I'm busy.
I have responsibilities.

"...I'll think about it," Jubilation eventually answers.

Finally, Jubilation comes out from behind the bar she wasn't supposed to be behind in the first place. She stops next to John, frowns a little -- pouts, perhaps -- and reaches up to straighten out his collar. "You look terrible," she tells him, leaving it at that, before stepping back so he can stand up to leave.