19041/That Girl is in - for trouble.

That Girl is in - for trouble.
Date of Scene:	09 September 2024
Location:	The Laughing Magician
Synopsis:	Eve finally catches up to John. She's in, but does she truly know what she's signed up for? And his name probably isn't Burt.
Cast of Characters:	John Constantine, Eve Horror

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John Constantine has posed:
It's been a little while since John Constantine left a business card wedged between the door and frame of Eve's dorm room. He's had a *lot* going on since then, but he hasn't forgotten. He checks in daily at the Laughing Magician and always remembers to ask if she's been there.

Except today. Having the Devil crash your demon interrogation and then invite you to an afterparty, well it takes a toll even on the likes of him.

He's currently seated at that one stool at the corner of the bar that faces the door. At his right elbow is a bottle of scotch and a glass - little hair of the dog. At his left is a pack of Silk Cuts, that old gold lighter and an ashtray.

Everything a man needs right there.

Today he has the jukebox set to something not quite so headbanging as the punk he loves so much - it's something a little softer than that. Blues - the man likes the blues.

He lifts a hand and calls out to the college kid that tends bar at The Laughing Magician on his off days, "Burt! Make sure you bleed the taps, ey?" The kid's name likely isn't Burt but he gives a thumbs-up and a cheerful, "Sure thing, boss," in reply.

Eve Horror has posed:
Eve had discovered the card, of course. She is a painfully curious girl, often to her detriment, but being a college freshman is harrowing. So, she'd found herself caught-up in classes and homework. The girl had tried to schedule evening classes as much as possible, due to her nocturnal nature, but she still found that one of her classes was around mid-day. The kid was suffering, for real.

Finally, however, Eve found time to go and follow-up on the card. The door to the bar opens, and the girl slips on in. She's dressed in a pair of tight black jeans with sewn-on patches that look like they were taken from some old, kitschy Halloween catalogue in the 70's or 80's. Little ghosts and black cats and the like. Along with that are black boots with orange laces, and a witchy blouse-top with those arms that droop like a classic witch outfit. The same Jack-o-Lantern with the odd toys stuffed inside is carried in one hand.

"Uh, hello?," she calls into the place as she closes the door behind her. "I got a card to come visit this place."

John Constantine has posed:
"Oy, hey there!" John calls back and immediately regrets the loudness of his own voice. Slightly lower he adds, "Right then, look there Burt, it's Trick-or-Treat." He gestures to the stool that's sort of next to his, but not really. It's around the corner from the small space where his stool sits. His stool with the ironically placed 'No Smoking' sign. The sign is taped to the bar itself, right about where his knees would it.

John shakes a Silkie out of the pack and lights up, leaving the cigarette there to dangle from his lips.

He's a rebel, he is.

The bar's not overly crowded yet, but John waits until Eve's closer to say any more. While she's approaching she might notice the little circular motion he's making with one hand and the fact that he's chanting softly under his breath.

By the time she makes it to the bar, it's as if she stepped into a bubble. All the sounds - the music, the few people inside, the clinking of Burt cleaning glasses - it's all muted to next to nothing inside John's little bubble.

He likes his privacy, he does.

Eve Horror has posed:
She offers a smile to the man as she crosses the bar towards him. It puts those sharp canine teeth on display. Amid the chaos at the park it was hard to make out a lot of details on the girl, but here it is easy. For one, the teeth. For another, her ears are long and pointed. "Yooooooou must be John Constantine, right? Y'know, my dad mentioned you in passing. I don't think he -knew- you, but he definatly knew -of- you..."

The girl trails off and hauls herself up onto the stool before setting the Jack-o-Lantern on the floor beside herself. "Can I get a soda, please?," she asks. "Or is it too late not what you have this...whatever it is?," she asks, gesturing to the bubble thing.

She smells like cinnamon and brisk autumn air. It doesn't seem like it's a perfume, either.

John Constantine has posed:
"Well, luv, don't believe everything you hear," he replies before acknowledging, "Yes, I'm John Constantine. But please, just call me John - no Mister Constantine - he was a nasty piece of work."

As far as the request of a soda, he rises to his feet himself and heads behind the bar. There might have been a groan of protest when he stood - like maybe *something* hurts from even moving. Truth be told, it's likely *everything* that hurts.

No bother though, he has a bottle of soda - he saves the bottles for special guests - along with a glass of ice settled in front of Eve in no time.

And that cigarette is *still* between his lips.

When he settles back onto his pauper's throne, he asks bluntly, "So, some normie college, bet that's rough, innit? Bit boring if you ask me, luv." Not that she did ask - not that he needed her to in order to voice his opinion.

"That whole mess at the library, that was somethin' wannit? Think they were all there to renew their library cards or what?"

Eve Horror has posed:
She takes the soda with a thankful smile. It's not a twist-cap, but the girl twists the metal tab off, anyways, showing strength a bit surpassing her slender size. "Gotham, yeah. And...it's a lot," she replies with a chuckle. "But I think it'll be worth it in the end." She pours the soda into the ice-filled cup, pausing now and again for the foam to recede before she pours more.

"I got a bit of info out about what was going on, but only a little. I'm Evening Horror, by the way. Only fair since I know your name and all. I usually just go by Eve, though. Or Halloween Girl."

She takes her sofa and sips it, letting out a happy little 'mmmmn!' at the sugary fizziness before she glances back up at the man with those orange-flecked eyes.

"The people had objects. Each of them. They'd found them. And these objects...could'a been a necklace, or a ring or whatever...summoned them there. The second they entered that portal they died. Instantly. I managed to save one of the ghosts and she's safe and sound now, but...that's what I managed to get out of her. Dying can cause a lot of trauma and it takes them a bit to...really remember properly. I'll try to figure out more once she has her head on a bit straighter."

John Constantine has posed:
"Been down the death route myself, luv. It just never stuck." How many times has John Constantine actually died, gone to hell and been sent back topside? Even he's lost track.

"Eve it is then, all that other is just a mouthful now, innit?" He finally plucks the Silkie from between his lips so he can down the double shot at his right elbow.

He taps his nose once and then points at Eve, "Right-o, luv, right-o. Demon's what it was, of the glutenous variety. And your little ghost friend was right on the money. So, tell me again why your slummin' it at some college dorm when you could be out here - where the real shite happens? Using what you got to help stop people from rushin' a public library in hopes of gold and riches - or new husbands, or a trip to Cancun. See, that's what that demon's offerin', what people want. It's still out there y'know? Oh, we took care of one if its little stooges, but the Big Bad..." He even manages to make those capital Bs come alive. "...it's still out there."

Eve Horror has posed:
She furrows her brow a bit as she idly sips her soda, clearly considering her answer for a long moment. "Mn." She tucks dark hair behind a pointed, pierced ear. "I grew up fighting monsters, mobsters and evil corporations with literal robot minions. And I loved it, don't get me wrong. And I -still- wanna do that stuff. But I also want to get to know...mundane people. The people we're usually fighting that shit for. We live among 'em, right? So I'd rather get to kinow them then pretend they don't exist. Dad doesn't agree, of course, and he expects me to scurry home at some point, all dejected and broken. But it's not gonna happen.

"Thing is, back home I had a family. A team. The Nocturnals. We handled all that stuff together. But out here it's just been me. Well, me and my friends." She pats the Jack-o-Lantern of weird toys. "But it's definatly not the same. It's lonely.Plus, I moved out here to finally try and find a damn girlfriend, and it is a -lot- harder to do that in college then those 80's movies make you think!," she pouts.

John Constantine has posed:
"You're just not lookin' in the right places, luv," John offers - vaguely - in regards to that last bit. He refills his class and just takes a sip from it before swirling it a bit. His gaze stays focused on the scotch in the glass for a moment or, Hell, twelve.

It happens every single time, this war inside him when he runs across 'new talent', especially when they're so young.

'She's just a kid, John.' - 'But everyone has to start somewhere, ey?' - 'But not with *you*.' - 'Well it won't just be *me* now will it?'

When he rips his attention from the glass and the dialogue in his head, he turns his red-rimmed blues back to Eve. Those a red rim brought about by a night of debauchery now, not tears.

"Suppose you've heard all about the likes of The Avengers and The Justice League of America - what with their faces all over wrappin' paper and on lil' one's t-shirts?" It's a rhetorical question because he continues. "But you don't see mine, ey? That's because the group I help lead? We're the ones that fight from the shadows - the misfits that stand as the last line between the darkness and mankind, ey? Way I see it, you'd make a good fit, luv. Might even find a girl? I mean, everyone loves a hero, right?"

Just a beat before, "You could tell your dad to sod right on off then, ey?" A devilish grin and a wink tosses the ball into Eve's court.

Eve Horror has posed:
The girl has no idea what the man is thinking, of course. "Oh? Wrong place to find a girlfriend?," she asks, cocking her head. She sips her soda as she listens to him.

"You mean like the Justice League Dark?," she asks, perking up a bit. "One of my ghost buddies told me about them once. Not a ton of info, but still. It was enough to make me curious. And...hm." She wiggles a bit on the stool, the girl lost in thought as she peers down into the soda. She then turns and reaches into the Jack-o-Lantern, withdrawing a weird toy. It looks like a patched-together doll. A doggy, for starters, with mismatched limbs sewn on, and a detective's badge and fedora. A fake cigarette dangles from his lips.

"What do you think, Hardesty?," she asks. Suddenly the doll moves. It glances from Eve to John and climbs up onto stubby, fluffy limbs as it walks across the table towards him, peering up. When it talks it has a gravelly man's voice, sounding like a forty-year smoker with a thick Brooklyn accent.

"This guy's as shady as they come," he growls. "But a team'd be good for you, kid. I say you go for it. If he gives you any guff, we'll set him straight."

She nods slowly, chewing her lip. "Okay. I want in. What's the deets?"

John Constantine has posed:
John seems completely non-plussed by the talking patchwork pup. If that's the craziest thing he's ever seen - then well, his life would have been a whole lot better than it has been. But he does stoop in his stool just a little bit to stare the thing straight in the eyes. "Can't fight the things in the dark if you're standin' in the sun, ey? Mine line of work, there's got to be shade." Shades, of gray, it can't be black and white.

He returns his attention to Eve. "Once again, right-o. Seems your little friends are a wealth of information."

The deets. Well he figures it might be too soon to rush the poor girl into *all* of the deets.

"First thing, we'll get you all set up in our communication loop, ey?." John nearly stares a hole into poor Eve's soul for a few moments, there might even be a touch of Hellfire behind the blue in his eyes. "Second, and this is bloody fuckin' important - until you know you're way around what we do? You *listen*, you follow direction, you accept advice given and you *do not* go rogue when we're out there." The shadows deepen just a little bit around them both - that little flicker of Hellfire more visible. John's lanky bordering on thin, but he can still be intimidating when the need arises.

The need arises when it comes to making *certain* Eve understands - because not understanding could easily get her dead.

"Right then!" He gets up from his stool, groaning once more, and disappears behind the bar. From a safe recessed in the floor, he retrieves and ornate box carved from purple ash and inlaid with some sort of gleaming bone. The sigils carved into the box are intricate and delicate, but there's a power radiating from it that isn't so delicate. Anyone trying to get into that box without the proper 'key' might just find themselves in a spot of trouble.

He waves hand over the box, muttering something under his breath - lower Enochian should she understand such - and the lid pops open. He pulls two bags from the box, one holds a small crystal orb etched to look like a closed eye while the other has a fountain pen - carved from bone and a mithril tip - along with an old leather bound notebook. Oddly enough, both bags have 'Trick-or-Treat' them, as if he had no doubt. He offers an in depth crash course in how they work and how she'll need to rub a spot of her own blood on them to bind them to her specifically.

"Think on it a minute, luv, really think." He snaps the lid of the box closed again. "You want in, you're in - just make sure in is where you want to be, ey?"

Eve Horror has posed:
She straightens her back a bit, and the girl nods solemnly as the patchwork pup grumbles at John and wanders over to peer forelornely at the ashtray, as if missing his days as a smoking human. "I'll follow instructions. I won't go rogue. I get it. This isn't my first time dealing with the spooky, so I know how important that kind of thing can be." She brushes her fingers back through her dark hair as she turns to watch him leave.

While he's gone she glances at the doll and picks him up. "No nicotine for you, old man," she says with a teasing grin. He lets out a doglike bark of annoyance, and ends up back in the Jack-o-Lantern. She returns her gaze to John as he returns.

The girl watches avidly as he does his magic and opens the box, leaning up on her stool to watch as items are presented and instructions are given. Only a few seconds after he gives the very important 'be certain' speech, she's reaching out to snag the items in question. She then brings her thumb to her teeth and snags it on a fang. She smears the blood.

"Dad always said I was too impulsive," she replies with a lopsided grin, curling her tongue to catch the hint of blood on her sharp tooth to wipe it away.

John Constantine has posed:
John rather thinks he's going to like this one - more the pity for her.

The blood she applies to the items, they just absorb it. Eve might feel a little bit of a niggle, a tingle at the back of her neck as the magic that bonds the items to her and, therefore, her to the rest of the group settles in.

Being the very first to ever activate those things in John's presence, she's also the very first to see him squeeze his eyes shut and fail slightly at stifling a pained sound. It passes quickly, but it might make a person wonder just what he did to make all of those pieces come together and work. The magic behind them is complicated to say the least - given everything they're capable of.

Just to be sure he chases that away, he downs that second glass of scotch. "Right, impulsive..." Just like he was when he was her age - just like he can still sometimes be. "In the back room of the bar here, the one marked 'private', there's a portal to my Home. The House of Mystery is a place where you can seek refuge should you need it. You'll be safe there. It functions as sort of a safehouse and meeting place for when listening ears have no business hearing our business. The Candle, Booke and Belle is our more public meeting place. That's where you'd go if you feel the need to just hang out with fellow misfits, ey? We hold general meetings there. They do sell a mean hooded cloak that'd probably suit your tastes." He pours a third drink, tosses that one back and adds, "Right then, welcome aboard, poppet."

Eve Horror has posed:
She watches the magic happen with wide eyes, feeling a tingle run down her back as her instictive, spooky self senses it going off. She takes the items and looks them over as she slowly nods. She takes all that info in.

"Got it. So, uh...I can talk into one of these or something and just...communicate with other people on the team?," she asks, glancing up at him. As if to test it, she brings the one up to her face.

"Testing, testing. Halloween Girl clocking in for work. Newly minted and ready to mingle! Watch out spooky world!" She lowers it then, arching an eyebrow at John.

John Constantine has posed:
They're so cute when they're all wide-eyed and amazed.

Hopefully this one stays that way a little longer than most. John fishes around in a pocket and comes up with his own orb. He gives it a light toss into the air and watches it hover there. The closed eyelid opens, then the closed eyelid on hers does the same. Should she look at it, she'll get a full scale visual of John sitting at the bar. He waggles his fingers in a wave toward his floating eyeball and says, "That's right. You can choose to send something to specific people or the entire team."

He snatches his Silkies and his lighter up from the table and shoves them in a pocket. "You play 'round with it, Poppet. I have to run - got a little thing that needs tended."

Hellfire Club parties, they make for good things that need tended.

"You know where to find me if you need me - if I'm not here, just give me a shout on that." He plucks his own crystal from the air - it deactivates and it goes into a pocket along with those cigarettes.

Eve Horror has posed:
She nods and gathers the things, tucking them into the Jack-o-Lantern. "Sounds good. I have to study for Trig, anyways." She groans at that information and climbs up off of the stool.

"As soon as you guys need me for something, let me know! Also, I wanna meet other people as soon as I can, got it?," she asks.

With that Eve is offering a wave and turning to make her way on out of the bar. Just like that, the girl is in.