8160/Peace Offering From Beyonnddddddd

Peace Offering From Beyonnddddddd
Date of Scene:	07 October 2021
Location:	The Laughing Magician
Synopsis:	Phoebe, John, and Jubilation talk things out at the Laughing Magician. John magics an amulet that will make animal blood just as effective as human blood for Jubilee. A peace is established.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, John Constantine, Phoebe Beacon

---

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    It's been a few nights since John Constantine and Phoebe Beacon put an end to Gideon The Vile's little vampire rave. Jubilation Lee departed on unmistakably bad terms with the pair, but it's an evening that has lingered in her thoughts. Her feelings were mixed, as those vampires she was trying to meet and find kinship with were acting like... well, monsters. She couldn't help feel conflicted as John had been crowded by them, attacked by them. Some part of her knew she should have come to his aid, but another part of her was unsure. She's a vampire and he's a vampire slayer. If she had been anyone else, that would be that, but Jubilation continued to look for answers. She found some. And she found some perspective. And so, wrongs needed to be righted.

    John Constantine had given her his card, his name, and thanks to the Internet, he inadvertently gave her the name of his bar: The Laughing Magician. Too young to be served herself, Jubilation still needed to go there, to see him, and to make sure some things are said. So, that's what she's doing on this night. Another night spent away from school, away from Nori, but another night in her new life.

    And so, Jubilation Lee walks down those six uneven steps, past the sign that declares this to be neutral territory, and undoubtedly sets off a string of magic that alerts others to her presence. Into the lion's den, so to speak. Noriko would kill her for this if she wasn't already dead. Jubilation walks slowly from the door, gliding as she moves with supernatural grace, and lowers herself into a seat at an empty table. And waits...

John Constantine has posed:
    Same as just about any other night that John isn't out cleaning vampire nests or hunting down necromancers, or saving the bloody world from Death Gods battling it out, John Constantine is on his Pauper's Throne at the bar; that stool that no one else ever wants to sit upon. He's surrounded by all of his usual 'supplies', an ashtray, a pack of Silk Cuts, a Zippo lighter, a bottle of scotch and a glass.

    The little niggle in the back of his brain from the wards firing has him turning his attention toward the door. "Huh," quiet, very much to himself. "Decided to use that number, aye, luv?" Louder and about as pleasant as John's voice *ever* gets.

    Behind the bar, the best mate and cabbie in Heaven and Hell and all the realms between is serving up drinks to the few patrons about on a Thursday evening. He didn't miss that 'huh', so Chas's eyes are drawn to the new arrival as well.

    That jukebox in the corner is pitched low tonight, just loud enough to barely reach the far ends of the place.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "You're an asshole," Jubilee says simply, sliding into the seat next to Constantine. She says it without emotion, dry and clinical, which indicates that she means it. "You're the meanest boy I've ever met." Being able to move from one location to another with relatively little attention paid to her is a vampire's bread and butter. John no doubt saw her, but others in the bar might be confused how that girl moved from the table to the bar with no in-between. She's dressed for vampire socializing, which means skin-tight jeans and a low-cut black tanktop, a far cry from the bright colors she's known for.

    "Can you try not to be for a couple minutes?" Jubilation requests, her brown eyes going all puppy-dog at him. "I came to talk."

John Constantine has posed:
    "Not a boy, luv, haven't been since I was ... five," John replies before he plucks a cigarette from that pack and lights up. He also pours a double and a half into that empty glass and tosses it back, scotch and smoke, that's the aroma of the evening. "Well, talk then, I'm listening."

    It's Chas that pipes up with, "You're asking pretty much the impossible, kid, but the only thing he means by it is that he's a miserable shite that doesn't know how to not be miserable." Him? He's all gentle tone and open, warm smiles. "You want a soda or something?" He also has no clue what Jubilee is, the wards don't alert him the way they do John.

    As far as the patrons, most week nights, the crowd consists almost entirely of those 'in the know', so surprise my register, but not shock at least.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Is Phoebe here?" Jubilee asks, turning her head to look around. No. Her lips curl over her teeth as her disappointment becomes obvious. Looks like she'll have to do this a second time. Oh well. She gives Chas a little bit of a finger wave, now recognizing that it was he who drove her home on that fateful night and not John himself. "No thanks," is her answer to the offer of soda. "I don't drink soda anymore." It's true, she doesn't! "I don't believe that," Jubes adds, shaking her head at Chas' evaluation of John. Even in death, Jubilation Lee is nothing but cheerful.

    She turns towards Constantine and moistens her lips. "I came to say I'm sorry for some of the things I said the other night. I lost my temper and, you know, said some stuff. I don't know what's going on, but... I didn't have to take it out on you guys," Jubilee admits, nodding her head as if to approve of her own apology. "But, you gotta understand... You said some fucked up stuff to me. Both of you did. And I didn't deserve it."

    "I'm going to tell you something. I'm not ashamed of it or whatever, but it's not like I open with it. I'm a mutant. Well, I /was/..." She shrugs her shoulders and studies John's reaction to that detail. For some reason, in a world with superpowers as a matter of course, mutants remain feared and hated arbitrarily. A sub class of non-people. "So, you know, when you and Phoebe are going off about how I'm this and that, telling me about how I'm going to do horrible things just because of what I /am/... Yeah, it sucks. I thought I'd stop hearing that after I died." She didn't.

John Constantine has posed:
    "No, it's true, I'm a bloody miserable shite," John concurs with Chas's assessment of him. He takes another drag from that Silk, letting it just sort of float out of his slightly parted lips rather than exhaling it properly. He doesn't look directly at Jubilation, instead his visual attention is fixed somewhere off in the distance passed Chas.

    "...and that's what I am because, like you, I was young and eyeballs deep in shite I didn't fully understand. I made mistakes that I can't go back and undo." If only she knew exactly what he was putting out, putting himself through to even speak of it out loud? Even vaguely. "I was just trying to keep the same from happening to you."

    Chas, well he just goes back to polishing glasses and serving the few customers that wander up, but part of his attention is on John, always on John, especially with that line of conversation happening.

    "...and Phoebe," John continues, "She's just a kid up to her eyeballs too that's not used to people dying around her and people died that night."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, I've met you like a hundred times," Jubilee says. "All my friends have gone through what you're talking about. But we don't act like you." Jubilation lowers her eyes and wrinkles her nose again. "Sorry," she adds. Why does John need her piling it on? He knows he's an asshole, right?

    "I understand what it's like to be me," Jubilation points out, her eyebrows rising, eyes widening. "You don't. You don't know anything about me, neither of you do, but you're telling me how I'm going to do horrible things. You don't know what I've been going through, John..." She takes a long, deep breath. Anyone familiar with vampires would know it's just for show. "...I would've told you if you asked. Don't you think I /know/ what I am? The feelings I'm having? If you /asked/, I'd tell you that when I've been feeling... You know... Urges... I run off into the woods. Deer. Squirrels. Gross, but... they're not people."

    "I didn't go to that rave because I knew it was going to be like that. I didn't know," she repeats quietly, eyes lowering. "But you both were acting like I was happy about it or something. Phoebe said I ordered that guy's death! What a horrible thing to say." She brings her hand up and rakes her fingers through her hair.

    "So, that's it. I came to say sorry, I said it. But, you know, you could..."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Right about then, Phoebe does make an appearance, as if summoned by her name being spoken three times like a certain Ghost with the Most, voice ringing out.

    "Sorry I'm late! Angelo wanted to check in on me and said that he made too much lamb, but I figured Chas might be sick of /chickpeas/ -- but had to stop and get--" she pauses, seeing who's sitting with John. Her eyebrows rise up. Her lips purse, and she takes a breath, and then lets it out, and gives a little, side-cocked smile.

    "I'm glad to see you, Jubilation." she states, channeling as much inner cool as she can, setting a tuppeware that's still warm, along with a couple bags of pita and yogurt on the counter, passing behind Chas with a 'Behind you' as she does so, busying herself a little before she ducks back into the kitchen.

John Constantine has posed:
    "We tried to get you *out*," John points out. "Without drawing a bloody fuck load of attention in your direction because, you see, *I* knew what it was, luv." He finally turns those faded denim blues, red rimmed and blood shot as they almost always are, in Jubilation's direction. "It isn't your not knowing that mattered, it was the not *listening*. Had I thought you were a monster already, like the rest of them? Do you think I would have put Phoebe in harm's way to try to get you *out*?"

    ...and in walks Phoebe.

    But he continues anyway, "I don't make it a habit to try and save *monsters*." He refills his scotch, downs about half of it before he waves a hand in a vague gesture of dismissal, not of Jubilation, but that line of conversation. "It's done. If you still need help, I can likely come up with something to help curb the cravings."

    Chas steps a half step forward to allow Phoebe to pass before snatches one of the containers and opens it, eyes a little wide and a big old smile. He's a big dude, stocky, muscled... he's friends with food unlike his scrawny best mate at the end of the bar. As far as the interaction between Jubilation and John, he just gives Phoebe a helpless, 'Iunno', shrug.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, but, you just expect me to listen to you?" Jubilation starts. "I'm a vampire. You're a vampire /hunter/. Excuse /me/ for not springing to my feet when you tell me to leave and not say /why/." Jubilee frowns, huffing a little as the two of them continue the sparring from the other night. Maybe this was a bad idea. She turns her head to address the other patrons who undoubtedly heard her outburst and instead sees Phoebe Beacon.

    Jubilation winces. Why couldn't Phoebe have gotten here just a few moments earlier? Now Jubes is going to have to do this twice. Things would be simpler if she just immediately said to Phoebe what she said to John, but instead, Jubilation Lee is a teenage girl dealing with another teenage girl.

    "Yeah?" Jubilee begins, head turning. "I guess you thought of more shit to say, then." Despite her words, they're not said with any anger. It's as though she's testing the waters. She closes her eyes. How is this helping, Jubilee, how is it helping?

    "Sorry," she mutters at Phoebe.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "The pita's fresh. Gimmie a moment and I can cut up some cucumbers. John -- want a lamb sandwich?" Phoebe asks, as if Jubilee was not making a ruckus, and she leaaans out of the kitchen.

    "... actually, I wanted to apologize for not being able to explain better that you and I were both kinda screwed if John got found out and say 'sorry' for letting my anger get the better of me, but if you want I could think of other stuff to say? Like one -- we're not vampire hunters. I'm technically a barback with a really sunny disposition. Two, yeah, I was kind of hoping that after we talked in the cafe that you'd go 'oh hey, this girl has like three notebooks covered in tiaras and Lisa Frank stickers, maybe she's kinda cool and wants to help me'. I mean, I dunno --" she states, ducking back into the kitchen, but she calls out "Last time someone showed up out of the blue and said they wanted to help me, he kinda saved my life." ker-THUNK. HISSSSSSSSSSSSSS. She's using a deep fryer.

    "Four times, so far."

John Constantine has posed:
    "First, I'm *not* a vampire hunter, I'm an exorcist and nothing but a petty dabbler in the rest of it." But Phoebe has all that covered. He lifts his glass and gives it a little jiggle. "Got my dinner right here, luv," he tells Phoebe before his attention turns back to Jubilation.

    "What she said. Not to mention that I'm at least twice your age. I could have easily killed you under the pier that night and I did not. ...and I gave you my number and my name and specifically told you to call me if you needed help." He rolls one shoulder in a shrug. "All of that certainly adds up to me having nefarious intent in trying to get you out of a vampire rave, dunnit? So sorry."

    He's such an *asshole*, but still he sits, not turning the girl away, still offering help. Some heroes wear actual armor, John just wears his asshole snark.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, I'm sorry too, Phoebe. That's why I came here. It's what I came ot say," Jubilation explains, eyes lowering. "I said some stuff, too, because I was angry. You guys were just telling me how I'm going to become a monster without your help. I haven't had it so far and I've been doing okay... And I really did not want that guy to die." O-Negative. "...I didn't know, Phoebe. I didn't know."

    "Say you believe me, please..." Jubilation has turned in her seat to face Phoebe but makes a point not to look at her. She wouldn't risk an accidental glamouring right now. It seems that Phoebe's opinion of her is much more important than John's.

    "No, that's not what I thought when I saw the Lisa Frank stickers," Jubilation admits quietly. "That you could help me, I mean. I, I dunno, thought you were cool. I thought we'd end up friends. Not, you know, screaming at each other outside of a vampire rave."

    It would be a good moment. If not for John.

    "This is what I'm talking about!" Jubilation shrieks, turning back to Constantine. "You're so bad at this! Don't you know what this is like? You /don't/. Do you know how hard it is to fight the urge to not lunge at you right now? For saying that to me? It's the hardest thing in the world and I'm doing it! I'm resisting it. Give me some fucking credit here, Mister Constantine!" Jubilee is FUMING. "There's this thing inside me that's... it's really fucking...uh... /compelling/... And, it's like... survival at all costs!" she adds. "So, yeah, I'm suspicious of you. And, yeah, it doesn't make sense and I admit it!" She seems like she's going to start crying.

    "This is why I said you don't know what you're talking about," Jubilee adds, head hanging low. "You've never done this."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Hey -- hey--" Phoebe comes out, setting the plastic basket with some fries and what look suspiciously like some sort of croquet or crab cake on the side, on some paper towels to drown, and she reaches out her hands, offering them palm up.

    "Jubilation Lee. Look at me." she states, gently.

    "I know you didn't know that would happen. I got a brief before we went in, and John told me to not leave his side. He disguised us so that we wouldn't be recognized," she breathes out, "But I want you to listen to me, I want you to concentrate on my voice and ignore everything else." she states. Phoebe is trying so very hard to not channel any light, because it would probably not do any good. She takes a deep breath.

    "John is an ass. We all want to lunge at him sometimes, and trust me, probably no one knows it better than him. You're feeling the absolute extremes of emotions -- you told me so. You're feeling super-duper highs, super-duper lows, and everything is pushed to the absolute brink, because this is a mixture of growing pains and PMS from *Hell*."

    She looks to Jubilee.

    "I can't speak from John's experience, but I can speak to mine, growing up in Gotham with supernatural powers. ALone. I had no guidance. I had to figure things out for myself, and try to balance everything I could garner from websites and library books written by people like David Avocado Wolf to try and figure things out. And. It. Sucks. That pun was fully intended. But if there is one thing John does know..." she looks to Jubilee's eyes. Her own are dark, dark cocoa brown. "... it's the occult. And helping people with it. So. If you want to be friends? I have a peace offering."

John Constantine has posed:
    John's eyes flash with Hellfire at the tirade. "You think *I* don't know what it's like to resist something inside you compelling you to do things that maybe you shouldn't?" His voice is low, even... but those things are forced. Rather than agitate the situation further, he stands from his stool and snatches up the rest of the bottle, the cigarettes and the Zippo.

    "I'll be in the backroom where there's no room to be 'bad at this'. Because I *am* bad at this. I don't *care* about your hurt feelings. I *care* about making sure you don't fuck up in ways you'll regret forever and you're just so intent on the fact that you *won't* because you *haven't yet*. The two things are not the same."

    His gaze shifts to Phoebe, "Deal with this, because I can't," he mutters under his breath. Jubilation is not wrong, he's not good at this, never has been and likely never will be.

    "John," Chas says, the 'be nice' implied.
    "I've been about as nice as I fuckin' get, mate," John retorts before heading... well, to the backroom.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "No!" Jubes insists, looking away from Phoebe. "I...I'm listening, but...I'm not looking at you." This is a girl who knows her gaze can influence people now and, to her credit, does not want that. Would it kill John to give her an 'attagirl? She's trying! "But you /said/ it! You said I ordered his death...You...You said that," Jubilee reminds quietly, doing everything she can to avoid looking at Phoebe. "But, I didn't know. I... I don't want to hurt people. I just know that some part of me does. I'm fighting it!" To that end, she's resisting every one of Phoebe's attempts to look at her eyes, squirming, turning her head, all of it.

    John's storm off is enough to send Jubilation over the edge. Her face falls into her palms so her blood tears can be caught and accumulate. "Why does he have to do that!?" Jubilee squeals into her hands. "Come back..."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Trust me. I'm probably immune, because I am literally a ball of sunshine in a human shape. Figuratively speaking. I'm hard to influence." Unless, of course, you are a shirtless Romanian who bleeds ectoplasm. Then she kinda walks into walls.

    Phoebe still has her hands out as she speaks gently.

    "You ordered his blood. You didn't know it would be his death." she corrects. And she opens up a little more.

    "Seriously, though. I'm a supernatural healer who, if it wasn't for John, would be just... probably not pleasant for you to be around. He's gifted me something that blocks me from literally bleeding out light and holy magic to the surrounding area. Go ahead -- put your hands on my hands. You might even feel them buzz because it's still there." she states. Palms up. Leather strap with a variety of rabies tags from the last couple of years merrily clicking and tinkling on it.

    "And John's got the right of it. That night was the first time I'd lost so many people I could have helped at once. At the same time, we're also working through... some..." she trails off.. and she purses her lips a moment, then reaches down beneath the bar, and pulls out a clean dishrag.

    "Hey. If you need to cry -- you go right on and do it. Okay." she murmurs gently, and then she reaches for her backpack and pulls out the peace offering.

    It's a pair of knee socks. They're neon purple, and they have bats on them -- but the bats have sunglasses and mohawks in rainbow colors, along with little gravestones.

    "Here. Distraction!"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation's chest fills and empties. She doesn't need the breath, it serves no purpose to her personally, but it's a nice way to indicate a reset. She looks up, red streaks of dried blood tracing paths down her cheeks. She wipes her hands on her jeans and then does as Phoebe instructs -- she places her hands on top of hers. Jubilation's are cold. She could warm them, it turns out, but that would require her to expel some of her strength. Blood.

    "Look, look, I'm sorry I ruined your plan and all that..." she explains. "But, I was just there...I'm... I was trying to find others like me. I thought they'd be there but they weren't." Jubilee lifts one of her hands and gestures to the room John escaped into. "Just you and him."

    Jubes looks down at the purple socks. The bats. The neon mohawks. "For me?" she confirms, looking up at Phoebe. "...But why?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a little smile, and she gives just a little shrug of her shoulders, and she ducks down, and grabs a couple wetnaps too.

    "Yeah, you kinda threw off the plan, but we handled it okay. You didn't really know what was going to happen. You don't have someone who I can rely on like I do. I am--" she looks back to Chas, who is probably wiping glasses (or eating a lamb sandwich), "-- *so* stupidly fortunate."

    She takes a breath, and looks back to Juilation.

    "... well. They're spooky vampire bats with rainbow mohawks -- you still get to choose who you want to be. You can still be a spooky vampire who likes ridiculous rainbow things. And, if it comes up..." she states, and leans forward.

    ".... we stock your vintage." she whispers, conspiritally. "Just have to ask."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation blinks her eyes a couple of times, glancing briefly at the door. "...Yes I do," she says. She does. Phoebe's point about how she still gets to decide what she wants to be earns a huff from Jubilation. "There it is again..." Previously, Jubilee would've sounded more annoyed, but Phoebe's kindness has gotten below the surface.

    "Phoebe," Jubilee replies gently. "I /don't/ have a choice. I am what I am already. I'm just working at it. It's not easy." Jubilation turning into a monster was never in the cards. She reaches out to take the socks and looks down at them. "Thanks..." It draws out the wrong emotion, though.

    "Oh, Phoebe," Jubes drones. "I wish you didn't throw those boots. I wish you had them still."

John Constantine has posed:
    John makes his way back out from that backroom, but it's been way too quiet for him to have been back there the entire time. More like than not, he hopped a portal to the House of Mystery and back again.

    He heads straight for his Pauper's Throne and motions for Chas to pull out another bottle. He must have finished the little that was left in the one he took with him? His left hand, that's curled into a fist, ends up on the table with a rather loud 'bang'. He opens his hand and pulls it away to reveal...

    The most God Awful pendant. It's a large bird claw, obviously a bird of prey, cast in copper (of all things). It's holding a large red stone. "I don't do feelings, I don't do comforting bullshite like hugs and back pats. *This*... is what I do," he mutters. "This will allow you to get the same sustenance from animal blood as you would from human until we find a better solution. It'll glow when you feed, don't be alarmed."

    Chas side-eyes his best mate and just shakes his head a little before delivering that bottle.

    John looks tired, a little pale, there's chalk smeared on his left cheek and an old rag tied around his left hand. "Best I could come up with on the quick and dirty," he adds before he refills his glass and tosses it back like it's water.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Take a moment, Jubilation. Right now, in the next room, is a guy who's burning the candle at any end he can cut. If you want a way to break the curse? He'll work for it and try to find it. Just have to be patient. If you want to keep on and enjoy the... uh..." she blinks a moment "... nightlife," she euphemizes, "John's got c--" she cuts out, drawing back a moment as John storms in like a hurricaine, and she straightens up. Her eyes narrow as she looks him up and down, and she catches that most God Awful pendant -- but there's a little tick in the back of her mind, and she looks to Jubilee a moment, and gives a motion with her arm.

    "Like I said." she states, and she draws her hands back and settles them on her hips a moment.

    "... you're more important than the boots, Jubilation. I'd rather have you around than a pair of Doc Martens."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I know, Phoebe, I know, but..." She closes her eyes. "This isn't going to make sense, but, it's like I don't want the curse broken. But..." She opens them. "I do. And I don't. I... It's like I need to fight this every single waking moment. It's....everything. All the time." Perhaps that's the way she needs to explain it. It's not that she has split personalities. It's that, unlike others in her situation, her sense of right and wrong were not replaced by new ones. She's still in there.

    When John comes barreling in, Jubilee sits up a little straighter and turns her head so he can't see the red smears pulled from the skin around her eyes. The sudden BANG! causes her to look without even thinking, her gaze lowering to the red stone in Constantine's hand. She hops off her stool and looks like she's going in for the kill: A hug. What will happen!? What will he DO??

John Constantine has posed:
    What *will* he do?? John will hold his hands up, the left one all wrapped in that dirty rag that's stained on his palm with fresh blood. "No." Firm. It almost sounds like it should be followed by 'down girl'. "No..." he repeats.

    Johns do not do hugs.

    If she actually steps closer, he'll go as far as to stumble his way off the stool. No.

    It's almost like he's *afraid* of that sort of casual, affectionate contact. Chas is quick to pipe up with, "Kiddo, don't... might catch something," meant to sound like a joke, but it's really a 'please don't' all wrapped up in a jab at John.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Nope -- consent to touch, you don't have his consent." Phoebe states to Jubilee, but she's practically half way over the counter to try and grab at the other girl's shirt to pull her back! "Besides! You'd stain in that state! Let's get you to the bathroom and clean you up a bit, right? You need mascara or eyeshadow? I think I have a similar color upstairs!"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation does, indeed, stop. She can read the room. John, Chas, Phoebe, all of them telling her it's a bad idea, uniting so strongly on this issue. "Alright..." she says simply, nodding a little to each of them as she aborts the mission. "I was... I just thought, you know, if you say you don't do hugs, it's probably been a while." She shrugs and plops right back onto the stool.

    "Thanks," she says instead. For the amulet. For the socks. For not staking her, maybe. Jubilation shakes her head quickly at Phoebe. "No, no, I... I better go. I've spent so much time, uh, gone, these past few nights. I want to do something not vampirey." She means not be out. "But before I do..."

    "I met someone like me," Jubilee explains. "She's like me, you know, and not like the ones from the other night. And, she said..." Jubilee tilts her head in John's direction. "...She said it was a good thing, you know, what the two of you did. She said it's good for vampire society." Jubilation slides off of her stool.

    "So, like, I get it... Now," Jubilation explains, her gaze lifting to watch their reaction to that. "...I get why you were there. I'm not like them. I'll never be like them. You don't need to worry about me turning out like that. So..." Jubilation shrugs her shoulders. "Keep doing it."

    As someone who took it so /personally/ to be compared to them, it benefits Jubilee greatly to not have those monsters out and about.

John Constantine has posed:
    "There's more than just the other kind of vampire out there," John murmurs, but he doesn't drop his hands until he's *sure* she's abandoned the hug idea. Only then does he settle in and light a cigarette.

    "Best way to keep the darkness that's nipping at your heels at bay is to fight it, literally. Get in on the war, keep what you don't want to ever become in your face by taking it down." He definitely sounds as if he speaks from experience on that one. How easy would it be for him to turn the other direction? Use the things he can do for his own gain, to hurt people undeserving?

    "If you ever want to fight that fight, luv, let me know."

    And that's that... the rest of it? Water and bridges and all that. It's done, it's over.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a smile, the crisis moment over, and everyone seems to be on good terms.

    "I'm glad you found a mentor. I hope she's as smart as mine are." Phoebe comments to Jubilee with a big of a grin. "And if you ever need help, let us know, okay? Also --" Phoebe leans closer "I have sheets of colorful stickers, if you want some, let me know."

    It's her one childlike activity. So many sheets of stickers.

    Satisfied that Jubilee is now taken care of, she looks to the cloth around John's hand, opens her mouth, and then closes it, and lets it go.

    "I have clean gauze if you want instead." is all she offers. Doesn't offer to heal it for him. "Want some lamb to bring home? Otherwise I think Chas is going to eat it all."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee nods her head in John's direction. "Yeah, I'll, uh, keep that in mind," she says quietly. How many times did she say she never wants to hurt anyone? She reacted so badly when she found out her mutant powers were dangerous. But for this? I'll keep that in mind, she says.

    "Oh, not a /mentor/..." Jubilee says to Phoebe, her mouth extending in an 'oops' kind of face. "Just, someone I can count on." The offer of stickers earns a big grin. "Yeah, well, I might just have some of my own."

    Jubilee gives Chas a mock salute and then heads towards the door. Lingering there for a moment, Jubes turns back to watch Phoebe and John. "Thanks," she says, before slipping out into the night.

John Constantine has posed:
    "It's fine, luv," John replies to Phoebe before polishing off his ... what? Fifth glass of scotch just since Jubilation showed up? Fourth maybe? That's a lot in a short amount of time, even for him. So much so that Chas snatches the bottle to put it away.

    "Fuck off, Chas."
    "Screw you, John."

    So much hostility! Isn't it wrong to fight in front of the children?

    John pushes himself up from the stool and, without another word, heads for the backroom.

    "Damnit..." Chas mutters under his breath. He watches John's retreat with a brow furrowed by concern and irritation, it's possible to feel both, right?