7647/Welfare Checkin The Dead

From Heroes Assemble MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Welfare Checkin The Dead
Date of Scene: 01 September 2021
Location: The Laughing Magician
Synopsis: Charlie goes to check on the Laughing Magician back from the dead. He is definitely not a ghost but hell seems to have taken all the laughter. Charlie is a ray of bloody sunshine though it isn't enough this time.
Cast of Characters: John Constantine, Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe




John Constantine has posed:
    The crowd at the Laughing Magician is a thin thing tonight, not even the usual regulars are in sight, just a brave soul or two sitting quietly at a few tables. It could be that Johnny Rotten has pelted out 'My Way' from the jukebox about a hundred times since the bar opened this morning, but it's more likely due to ...

    The proprietor sitting over there in his usual spot, with his usual Silk Cuts, ashtray, scotch and glass nearby. Nothing unusual about that, right? It takes but one look, however, at that tired face, the red-rimmed blue eyes, the dark circles around them, the way his leg bounces up and down in frustration, anxiety... just a bundle of negative and the expression on that face to realize what's run them all off.

    John his in a Very Dark Place and it's no longer the Underworld.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    There is a thrum, like a slide of chaos magic across the wards of the establishment as Charlie ends her trip from Gotham to Hell's Kitchen in an alley near the bar. "Well.. this alley would totes give Gotham a run for it's money and thne some." she mutters looking around thoughtfully. At least the kid isn't in her gear kit though, instead it is the sneakers, beat up jeans, a dark red wonder woman hoodie zipped up.

    Stuffing her hands in the pockets she meanders out of the alley and down the block a stretch before turning down the steps to the Laughing Magician pushing open the door and slinking inside before looking around. One thing for certain there is zero chance she is old enough to drink, at least in New York.

    When she spots John she perks up despite the sheer level of negative energy and ambience he is just oozing with. "John!" she chirps and heads that way with a grin. That probably isn't infectious because well he has been innoculated against that sort of thing by horrrible traumas and various life experiences and all that stuff.

John Constantine has posed:
    John polishes off the contents of his glass in one smooth bend of his elbow and refills it. "Fuckin' Hell," he mutters under his breath. Not Bloody Hell, Fucking Hell. Little more of a hint to his current state. "Rumors are false, luv, nothing more than a figment," he says in a voice more audible over Rotten's My Way.

    He doesn't even look at Charlie. He's just staring straight ahead, at a spot somewhere on the other side of Chas, who's behind the bar polishing glasses.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Her meander over to John stops by his usual spot and slowly gives him a look down, then back up, then down, and back up again. "Well.... I mean I suppose you could be haunting the place." then she realizes what she just said and gets this wide eyed expression for a moment.

    "Crackers.. you aren't are you.. I mean.." she pitches her voice lower. "I am.... about ninety percent sure you turned to ash and got all over my armor John..." her head is cocked to the side and she circles him studying him with that up down once over from the other side.

    Then she looks long and hard at Chas.

    Then is is back to John. "You look like crap." not shit, that is a bit extreme for the muppet.

John Constantine has posed:
    "S'right, luv, just a ghost," John deadpans in agreement before he sips from his refilled glass. It earns him a low, "John..." from Chas - be nice and that's not funny, it's all bundled into that one word, in the way the cabbie says John's name.

    John rolls his eyes and finally looks at Charlie. "Did you need somethin'? Other than to stand there and gawk and state the obvious? Because if you did, you can bugger right on off. I'm off duty, indefinitely."

    Seems the Blue Collar Wizard for the People is to the point of telling all it and everyone to sod the fuck off. Dark place indeed. He's never flat out refused to offer help where it's needed, even before it's requested.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie's eyes flick to Chas when he says John like that and then she just hops herself up on a stool next to John. She honestly ignores his rawr sod off business for the moment. "Can I get a Roy Rodgers or something that won't lose this place it's liquer license.. " a glance around. "IF it even has one...." she says that part thoughtfully not mean.

    That out of the way the teen studies John again, glancing back and even having the nerve to make eye contact. "Also.. geeze John. No I didn't come sprinting to see you the moment I heard you were alive because I had an emergency. I came because you..." her voice pitches lower again almost a hisss "Exploded all over me...." then back up a note "I was worried about you."

    There is a puzzled look around then back. "You can't tell me I'm the only person who was worried?"

John Constantine has posed:
    "What the hell's a Roy Rodger's?" Chas asks, but his tone's gentle rather than what the words themselves might indicate. He also shoots the poor kid a 'sorry about him' look and a helpless shrug of his shoulders. Even the Mighty Chas Chandler is lost on it all this time, on what to *do* for John.

    "Nettie's been natterin' about," John offers vaguely. Could the kid's heard of the little shop owner witch, maybe not. ...of course Chas has been here the entire time since John returned. "I'm fine..." No greater lie ever told. Typically he can sell it, but not this time. There's no way he's fine. "You should... go do kid things or something."

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie pivots away from examing John and looks at Chas. "Really... I mean.. they order them on old TV shows all the time..." she trails off just shaking her head "Basically grenadine and cola.. old fashioned cherry coke but tricks kids into thinking they are drinking like the grownups." she doesn't seem at all put out or spirits deflated by needing to explain it. Just happily doing so. Hell she doesn't even seem to need the sorry about him look.

    Damn she just is full of optimistic energy.

    "Who is Nettie?" she asks John curious, not one of the names she has run into since she started poking her head into things. You know after the whole demon body swap incident. Honestly she was surprisingly chipper through that whole ordeal too.

    There is a snort of a laugh, though not unkind honestly, as John says he is fine. "Uh.. usually you are better at lying Constantine...." she shakes her head and glances at Chas then back to John. "Also you know my kid things involve round house kicking sociopaths and punching monsters in the snoot."

    Yup Snoots.

    "So.....how did you manage to pull yourself out of that mess and do you need any of us to help get you back on your feet?"

John Constantine has posed:
    "I didn't," John snarls. He's still not sure how the hell he ended up out and it's not sitting well with him, obviously. However it happened, it caused him to leave someone he cares about behind.

    "Okay then, one Roy Rodgers coming up," Chas announces and it doesn't take him long to make it happen. Might be a little too much on the sweet side. He's a simple kind of bartender, really.

    "Nettie's a friend, just another person to wind up hurt 'cause of it." That thought, it brings back all the faces of all the shades of all the friends he's lost that he saw down there, pointing accusingly at him. Murderin' Bastard. He downs the rest of his most recent glass and pours another.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Well Charlie has no idea that John left someone behind. Honestly as far as she saw he got vaporized and the D&D Wizard got transported somewhere on that black rainbow bridge. "You didn't pull yourself out... I mean I am ninety some percent sure you aren't a ghost John."

    She shoots a sunny smile to Chas at the drink coming up business. Then her attention drifts back to John and his going on about how he brings hurt to his friends and the stiff drinking as a result.

    "Oh." she blinks and sighs a little exaspherated there. "John... your friends know this is all dangerous... I mean some of us throw bat shaped razers and flail at evil. No one is going into all of this blind or getting hurt just because you are you or anything like that you goof. All of them are adults and can make adult decisions.. hell even me I turned eighteen since the Incident." not that she wasn't punching demons before she turned eighteen.

    Honestly batman and the whole minors fighting crime what is with that.

    "You really don't get to take responsbility for other people trying to help or do the right thing... that way lays some real drama and madness or soemthing." she grins when Chas gets her the drink "Thanks!" still damned chipper.

John Constantine has posed:
    Half the newly poured drink goes down, he almost settles the glass down after but instead finishes off the rest. It's a lot, the drinking he's doing, even for John. "Everyone, *everyone* around me dies, luv." It's true of even Chas, his oldest and longest lived friend. Man would be gone too if not for a drunken protection spell cast in a bar; he's died a few more times since, ten at least.

    He lights another Silk Cut, takes a drag from it, long one, then another. He refills his glass, another drink that's somewhere between a sip and a swig.

    Johnny Rotten still pelts out My Way.

    It might start to become clear that these issues go way way back and he's lost *a lot* of people, his people. "Better off doin' it alone, if I do it at all, then no one else gets caught in the undertow of it."

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie tucks a foot under herself and leans against the bar as she sips her cherry syrupy cola drink. Sugar and caffiene. The stuff of late night patrols in Gotham. Not like she has to worry about burning off the calories the way she exerts herself every day.

    "I mean yeah people die and get hurt all the time. Good people. Every day. All over the world." she sips the drink. "Some people, their bodies move before they have a chance to think. Towards the danger. To save people. Maybe they are wired that way. Maybe they just are driven because of things that happened in their lives. Regardless of the John Constantine factor in their life those people are still going to be heroes." she smiles a fairly sweet optimistic smile.

    "The only thing your doing it alone will net out anyone is increasing the likelihood that you die and when they go off to be a hero without you around they die. Strength in numbers Constantine."

    She is sitting on a stool next to John as he BROODs at the Bar with his Booze and Smokes. Like a God Damned Ray of Sunshine.

John Constantine has posed:
    John lets out a laugh, there's nothing humorous about it. "You need to go," he states once the laugh is over, dark as the thing was. "...because you don't *get it*, you think you do, but you don't. There are powers at play in my life that you cannot *begin* to understand. And it *is* my fault they're all gone. It's in my blood, it's my *legacy*."

    Doomed by Fate, by Synchronicity to die alone, to always be the last one standing, so why not just walk it alone to begin with? Hurts less.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie finishes off her drink, giving her lips a lick. She sets the empty glass down. "Mhm, all that melodrama and a bag of chips John." still she hops down from the stool and gives a slow stretch.

    "You really need to get over yourself a bit and stop trying to shoulder everyone else's choices onto your own back." she waves with a smile to Chas "Thanks for the drink, put it on his tab."

    She starts to meander to the door. "Glad you are alive again. I doubt people will stay away though Constantine. You need them and they are bound to need you at some point. I doubt you will turn them away if they have true need... no matter what you think of yourself." the door handle out is grabbed.

John Constantine has posed:
    As soon as Charlie moves away, John's back to nursing his drink and staring at some space on the wall beyond the other side of the bar. He doesn't even seem as if he's registered the poor girl's words. Maybe he heard them, maybe not. None of it seems to matter whichever way it falls.

    "Sorry, kid, but thanks for tryin'," Chas murmurs, looking up from his polishing of the glass in his hand. He's probably polished that same one for an hour or better now. Man just looks lost, he really does. It's been a LONG time since this Constantine's been out and about. Last time it was this bad, the Laughing Magician wound up in Ravenscar for a three year stint.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    She pauses at the door nodding to Chas and then looking back at Constantine. "Eh. Haven't given up on him but thing about this sort of stuff.... either he figures it out in his own head.. or a crisis will force him to cope with it all."

    There is this little shrug and another smile to Chas "Make sure he doesn't try to actually get alchohol poisoning tho or something right.... cya later" a little wave and she is out.

    A little bit later there is another ripple of chaos magic along the wards as she bounces back to Gotham. The way she slides along reality like that, just convincing it she is somewhere else, without even a blink. There is something very not right with that teenager.