8394/You Can Do it Yourself.

You Can Do it Yourself.
Date of Scene:	24 October 2021
Location:	The Curio
Synopsis:	Mairin comes to John for more advice. He gives it... until he remembers he shouldn't.
Cast of Characters:	John Constantine, Mairin Moran

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John Constantine has posed:
    Unless there's been something that needs handled, John's been avoiding everyone. He's not been in the bar *all day*, in of itself, that's an alert that something isn't right. He hit a minor brick wall on the stuff he's really been working on, a way to summon and kill the demon that's powering the necromancer after his daughter, so he had to find something to do or go even more batshit than he already was.

    The Curio's been an idea for awhile and that idea is finally taking shape. Everything's moved in, in its place but the final touches still need to be handled.

    That is to make this place a fortress of magical safety for all who stay in it.

    To that end, John is currently walking the building. Of course he's started in the lobby. What he's doing isn't anything brilliant or spectacular, no... he's just running his left hand, palm flat, across the walls from end to end, eyes closed, senses open.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin wanders into the Curio, her little moth friend fluttering around her head and her wand out, it's tip a stady glow outside that she turns off once she's in the lobby. She honestly doesn't know why she's here. She had John spit her out at the university but she wasn't quite ready to go home. Or, maybe she was just avoiding being reminded of the night before.

    Whatever the reason, she found herself outside the Laughing Magician, but not wanding to go in. So, she walked over to The Curio. She'd heard about it, obviously. But hadn't asked for a room. She likes her appartment by the university. But still... It's worth a look.

    She spots John immediatly, that's probably even why she came in, but she doesn't say anything to him. Just watches what he's doing from the doorway.

John Constantine has posed:
    From time to time, John stops and presses an ear to the wall, then goes back about the running of the hand thing. Here and there he stops, pulls a pencil from a pocket and places a mark on the wall. All in all, there are about thirty of those marks in the lobby so far, each of them a different shape, some of them sigils of different Gods or faiths, some of them ancient letters.

    He looks over, finally, toward the doorway and asks, "What is it? Just going to stand there all day?" This time? Well his bluster seems genuine, he's not in a good mood. He looks tired... and sad. The man just looks sad. Bluster's easier than sad, innit so?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "I didn't want to interupt," Mairin answers softly, then walks further in to sit on the edge of the couch cushion. She folds her hands in her lap, wand underneath, and the moth lands lightly on her fingers.

    "I know what you're doing," she says suddenly. "You're working to avoid pain. You do it a lot. I know because I do the same thing." She says it casually. It's not an accusation. If anything, she's sympathetic. "Part of me wants nothing more than to be surrounded by work right now. To just dive into it and let it surround me." She sighs, showing her sadness where John covers his in bluster.

John Constantine has posed:
    "No, luv, I *drink* to avoid the pain. I work because there's bloody well work to be done," John shoots back. But that's about all he has to say about that. He continues moving down the wall, stops and raps the knuckle of his index finger against a spot and when he does, a line of light travels that spot from floor to ceiling. Red light. He frowns a little and walks across the room to the same spot on the other side - if Mairin were to have some way to tell, it's an EXACT across from. Another red light shoots from floor to ceiling.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin shrugs slightly, though John likely doesn't see it. She knows better than to argue. Her clever eyes are watching everything he's doing though. Learning, even when she isn't being taught. Always learning.

    "You'll be happy to know that Nettie turned me down." She just lays it out. There's never any sense in beating around the bush with John. "I'm too young, and too..." she shrugs again. "I have too much ahead of me. Or some such. Regardless, she was very certain."

John Constantine has posed:
    "Nettie turned you down for a shag?" John asks as he goes about marking an X on the spot where the red line ran. He crosses to the other side of the room and does the same. Hard to say if that's an X marks the spot or a Roman numeral ten with all the other marks he has going.

    "Well, I mean of course she would if you haven't fixed the 'can't touch her' issue." Really John? But yes, really, shagging is about as far as his mind went into it the other day. "Maybe try wearing something a little more low cut. She likes boobs."

    Oh John.

    From the X he marked, he walks off four feet, *exactly* four feet, just by eyeballing it and does that knuckle rapping again. This time it's with a word whispered, in Enochian, lower Enochian.

    This time the line that runs from floor to ceiling is a bright, near blinding light. He marks that spot with some sort a squiggle that has to be some sort of sigil or letter or something.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Theres an audible sigh. "No. She did not turn me down for a shagging. She turned me down for a date. Contrary to what you might think, the two are not one in the same." She pauses though, watching the writing, the pacing, and the light.

    "You're warding the Curio aren't you?" It's a rhetorical question. She looks down at her lap, rubbing one finger against the back of her right hand. There's a long pause of her thinking, brow furrowed as the wheels of her mind turn about.

    "John, could you help me ward a pair of gloves? So that I could touch her? Not... permanently. She doesn't want that." Or at least that's definitly the feeling Mairin got last night. "But just for one night. I just... want to do something for her. As a friend."

    She doesn't expect John to understand. She doesn't know why she's trying to explain it. She just feels like she needs to say the words out loud. For herself.

John Constantine has posed:
    "Gloves don't give you the proper feel now, do they, luv?" Four more feet measured to the other side of the X, another knuckle knock, upper Enochian this time and a black line, another scribble and a counterpart on the opposite wall.

    "Just laying the groundwork," he offers in regards to the rhetorical.

    "I could ward *you*, with a sharpie marker if she doesn't want you tattooed," he suggests. A *sharpie* marker.

    "Nettie's not really the datin' sort. Many in this business aren't. Who has time to go sit down and eat a meal where you have to remember which fork you're allowed to scratch your arse with and then sit through a bullshite movie after?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "I'm not trying to 'feel' anything with them," Mairin counters, only a little exasperated. He's talking at least. Without being a total jerk about it. So she's not going to complain.

    "So I suppose you generally prefer to just roll right from 'Hi my name is' to a good tumble in the sack and leave with the dawn. Well, Nettie deserves better than that."

    She watches him in silence for a few minutes. "So, could you help me do it? I already have the gloves."

John Constantine has posed:
    "Nettie deserves whatever it is Nettie wants," John points out before he moves to the exact center of the room and turns in a slow circle to view the marks he's made with his sight wide open.

    "If she wants a shag and gone by the morn, that's up to her. I never forced such on her." He'd have been hard pressed to even with his level of power. ...and she's his friend so he wouldn't have.

    "I can do it," he offers before he turns to face Mairin directly. "But why should I when you can do it yourself?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin is actually taken aback when he looks up. Not at the suggestion that she could cast the ward herself. She's honestly quite certain now that she could. BUt she's still trying to process the actual wisdom that came out of JOhn's mouth.

    "I mean... I wasn't trying to say there was anything wrong with it..." she says eventually. "Obviously she deserves whatever it is that she wants. I just meant..." She furrows her brow, then tries to file that line of reasoning away for future reference.

    Instead, she sits up a little straighter. "I don't know the circle. I need you to show me, and verify that it's correct before I cast it."

John Constantine has posed:
    "Warding isn't always *circles*, luv," John replies before he hurries his way across the room to scribble another mark as if hit with a sudden insight. "Common misconception, that. "But for gloves, might be easier to just go with that, a circle around the cuff."

    Now to a corner of the room, East corner. He runs his index finger down from where he can reach on his tiptoes to the floor. "Research things that protect against death and nightmares," he murmurs, tone distracted. "Things that resonate with you."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "I don't understand," Mairin says as she leans forward a bit. "During my first lesson with Nettie, she drew a ward on my hand so that she could place mine on top of hers. Why couldn't we just use that one?"

John Constantine has posed:
    "Suppose you could, but why would you want to use someone else's work instead of your own?" John asks, his tone almost incredulous. Sure, every witch, warlock, wizard, mage, whatever out there uses the work of others from time to time, particularly when it's the *only* way to get it done but...

    "Which do you think would impress her more, you copycatting her work or doing your own?"

    He lifts his index finger to his mouth to put a little puncture in the skin with his teeth and draw a little line about four inches up that corner. It vanishes from view with a whisper.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She considers this a moment. "All right. So I should research things that protect against death and nightmares that resonate with me. Then... use those to create my own circle? I've... never done that. Not even close." Her tone isn't one of defeat. She's simply stating facts. "Can you help me create the circle once I've done the research?"

John Constantine has posed:
    "I'll check it when you're done," John offers, which is more than he might for most.

    But then... something in his expression changes.

    'What are we doing to do with the team John? It's fractured John, because they're afraid to come to you because they don't think you can handle any more.' It may not be exact but Chas' words echo in his mind in that moment of change.

    "I'm busy, Mairin. I've told you what you need to do, so do it. Find someone else to grade your homework. I'm not a teacher, I'm not a leader. I'm just a fuckin' bloke from Liverpool that knows a thing about a few things."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin's expression darkens a bit, bit it passes quickly. She watches him a momnet longer, then stands. "I know you're busy, John. I appreciate you taking some time to talk to me." She starts to walk out, but pauses in the doorway to turn around. "But you *are* a leader. Whether you like it or not. A lot of us look to you to know what to do, and how to do it. You're also an excellent teacher. And I know that you like to push people, to give them a swift kick to get them moving in the right direction, give them some confidence. But look at tonight. You left... And the entire operation almost failed. If Paul had come through the portal with me..." She sighs. "You *are* the leader. At least for now. And I don't envy you that at all. I really *really* don't."

    She flicks her wand up and it lights up again as she walks out the door. "Good night, John. And thank you for the help."

John Constantine has posed:
    John watches Mairin walk toward the door, brow furrowed slightly. The pain in his expression is so clear, but only because her back's to him. So she can't see it. After a moment just standing there after she's gone, he shakes his head as if to clear it and gets back to work.