8640/=Curios, Tomes and Family

=Curios, Tomes and Family
Date of Scene:	11 November 2021
Location:	The Lending Library
Synopsis:	Zatanna and Jon Sims talk to Phoebe about concerns regarding John's recent behavior.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Zatanna Zatara, Jonathan Sims

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The Lending Library in the Curio is an amalgation of collected and reference books, less the 'how' and more the 'it works because'. The lights in here were all on, the mismatched lamps casting a cheery glow about the room and its contents of old leather, wood and the scent of vanilla that tends to cling around the older books.

    Inside the lending library, Phoebe was curled up in one of the overstuffed chairs, her hair pulled back into her blue headwrap with the silvery moons and stars. Her dark eyes were scanning the pages of the largish tome she had open on her lap, some book on familiars and guardian spirits, world-wide research. The knuckles of her left hand dig into her cheek, showing the leather strap that she uses to hide the white tattoo at her wrist. She has earbuds in, plugged into her phone with the cracked screen.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
By far one of her favorite places in the building besides her small studio, Zatanna huffs a small sigh of relief at finding Phoebe curled into a chair. One fine boned hand wraps the amulet at her neck and she sends a pulse of greeting to the young woman through it, hoping not to startle her. Easily startled herself when reading - she cuts off everything, she is careful around others.

"Phoebe?" she tests.

Zee wears no stage clothes today, a new habit. Instead, a boxy jacket, loose and comfortable over stove pipe pants and blocky lace-up boot. All practical in the field when circumstances in recent months have proven to be fraught with nasty surprises.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon came along with Zatanna, wearing a jacket over his normal green cardigan. It's been cold, if clear, not quite heavy coat wearing yet but enough to pull out the fall jackets. He looks like he's been sleeping better than the last time he was around the Curio. He hovers behind Zatanna, not literally, but standing there with an anxious air about him.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe feels the pulse from one of the many necklaces she's wearing at the moment, and she gives a soft 'Hmm?' out loud, closing her eyes a moment, and then looks up to Zatanna, and she gives a smile. "Hey, Zee-eed. Zed. Zan." she tries out different partial and nick names, and she takes a deep breath, her eyebrows rising up. "Hey, Jon!" she greets the archivist cheerily, slipping a dried leaf in the book to mark her place in it and closing it to give the two her full attention. "Do you need the library circle for something? I can come back and pick this up later." she explains, tapping the 'pause' button on her phone and rolling her left shoulder a bit as she looks at the two of them.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The various nicknames bring a brief smile to the magician's solemn face. "No, thank you for that. I was hoping to find you. We have some serious things that I...," she looks a question at Jon,"...we would like to talk with you about. I need your thoughts on some serious matters, dear, concerning your father." She shifts uncomfortably and pulls one of the heavy chairs over to face her.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "John," Jon-without-an-h notes, "not Chas. Although... Chas is aware of..." He sighs, and settles in one of the chairs off to one side a bit. He smiles and adds, "I say 'Zed' because those are her initials. 'Zed Zed.' I suppose Americans would say 'Zee.'"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe blinks a moment, and her ears turn a little darker, and hot. Her hand reaches up and brushes against the silver locket as she looks to the two. She takes a deep breath, and she sets aside the book "Is... he injured? Is it his heart? I thought... I thought that was getting better --" Phoebe begins, drawing up to a stand, and tapping her pockets before she reaches for her phone. "I didn't even get a message."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "No, he's not injured, Phoebe," Jon says softly. "Or at least... I don't... /think/ he is. It's..." He looks to Zatanna and sighs. He may as well go ahead and explain this.

    He shifts in his chair. "I think something's... wrong with John. Zatanna and I have both looked at him on the astral plane and he's... he looks nearly /dead/. I brought it up to Chas and Zatanna and Lydia last night and..." He doesn't want to say it outright. What he's been worried about. But, well, he /did/ bring this up, so...

    "We think... maybe he's been replaced, or possessed." He bites his lip, frowning. Worried.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... what?" Phoebe blinks, and then she just stares a moment. "... you've got to be kidding. He's an exorcist. He's been warded six ways to sunday, he can't be..." she trails off, and she just sits back down. She takes a breath, and she reaches up, scratching at her left shoulder where that ugly, discolored scar is.

    "What's the time frame? Maine? Upstate?" she asks quietly. "Do we know?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna's hands tighten on the arms of the wing back chair, her mouth set into a straight line masking the pain she feels at the affect of the words on Phoebe. Swallowing, she affirms his words with a nod.

"Do you remember how he looked when we were in Africa? Sometime before that, I haven't been able to sleep trying to trace it back to when I began to feel that things were not right. I tried to talk with him about it. But it has been...you know how it's been. And yet...he... there's you. The love he has for you and that made me think that it was panic over taking care of you that explained it all."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Some of the things he's been doing, the shortcuts he's been taking... I don't know, maybe it was a push too far or maybe it's /why/ he's been pushing so far. I... don't know." Jon shakes his head. "I thought the same as Zed, that it was just... there's been /so much/ going on, you know?"

    He runs a hand through his hair. "I've had this... feeling I couldn't shake either. I've been terrified he'd make the wrong choice and go down some path where we'd have to... well." He huffs out a breath. "That's not going to happen. Whatever's going on, we're going to help him." He's not going to voice 'I've been worried I'll have to judge him' in front of /Phoebe/ of all people.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    If there was ever a time when Phoebe relied on her ability to be clinical (And thank you, Tim, for instilling that as a skill), Phoebe leans on that now. All the way back to Set?

    Or earlier?

    She takes a shuddering breath, and lets it out slowly. She swallows the lump in her throat. she steeples her fingers, drawing her legs into a lotus position on the chair she's sitting in. She bites the inside of her lip, and she looks down to the floor.

    "I know the two of you will do the best you can. And Chas too." she replies stiffly. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"If it weren't for you, I considered warding him so that he couldn't leave here for the same reasons. Phoebe, this is terrible, the worst news but we haven't lost him, yet. We haven't yet, we never have. He...I thought, he was..." she takes a long pained breath as watches Phoebe steel herself.

"Not long ago, John did something that made no sense to me. He nearly fell to his death off the 59th Street Bridge. It...made no sense because he would have left us all. You remember what we saw when we were warding this house. How a part of him never left hell. None makes perfect sense to me, so far. I'm not here saying I have all the answers because I don't. We want the best for you as well. Phoebe, we love you and cherish you. Of course, you can help." Hand massaging her throat, Zee looks away, unwilling to cry in front of Phoebes's stoicism.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon sighs, shoulders slumping a bit. He's thinking much the same as Phoebe, and for similar reasons. How far back? What does it mean going forward? He looks to Phoebe with sympathy and concern, swallows. "I... lord, Phoebe, I'm so sorry. I hope we're wrong, and he just needs... I don't know, a week's sleep and someone to force him to eat better." But Zatanna... well, Zatanna would know, wouldn't she?

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That doesn't make any sense. If he died, he'd go right to Hell. A war would begin, and they'd probably send him back. Or Sync--" she cuts herself off sharply, and looks to Zee.

    "... and there's a chance that whatever John pulled me out of the Afterlife had a hitchhiker or was incomplete, so that's... four months? Five?" she thinks back, her nails bite into the chair she's sitting on. Her dark eyes drop down, and she unlatches her hands from the poor, defenseless chair and she stretches them a moment, and then folds them over her knees.

    "It's fine, Jon. At this point, I suppose I should be used to losing parents. No use making a fuss about it, is there?" Phoebe asks, suddenly sounding very tired.

    "Thank you both for letting me know. I appreciate the gesture."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"John in Hell would definitely start a war." She smiles sadly, "All hell would break loose."She leans forward to touch the back of Phoebe's hands, examining her face. She recognizes the deep grief behind her composure.

"I will make a promise to you Phoebe. But, first let me tell you something I've wanted to say for much too long. If I were ever to have a daughter in this life I would want her to be you. I promise we will save him. I swear that on my life."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I think perhaps Synchronicity is making sure things get fixed," Jon says quietly. "We've all come together like this, now, for a reason... and I think that reason has yet to be seen."

    After a moment, he says, "I wish Lyra could have met you, and Tim. My daughter. You're strong, and brave, and you deserve..." He sighs, and rubs at his face. "It's okay to be upset. Even if you have to wait, for later, it... you /deserve/ to be upset, Phoebe. And to be cared for, and supported."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    There is so much grief in Phoebe's dark eyes. They're burning, and red around the rims, but she is not about to cry. She's keeping her poker face, but she looks to Zatanna, and gives a small, sad smile. "You don't have to make promises to me, Zatanna. In the end, I'm just the girl who asked for help. I'm afraid I'm kind of bad luck for anyone who wants to be my parent, aren't I?" she states. and she breathes out, and then goes to a stand.

    "What's there to be upset about? It's out of the realm of my control. I can only control how I react to it." she states, and she takes another breath. "Well. I'm sure you have better things to do than edit my story or console a teenager, and I've got research I need to finish up for--" she stops herself. She looks down, and she then gives a breath out. Her shoulders sag, and she goes to scratch at her left shoulder again.

    "I should probably turn in."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"I don't have to make promises. I don't make them lightly either. In the end, you are just the girl that we wanted to help and you sound like John now. No one, least of all you, is bad luck in that regard." Eyes closed, Zatanna takes a deep breath, as she tries to wend her way through this painful maze.

"You are wise beyond your years, Phoebe. I didn't nor do I think, Jon had better things to do than talk to you about this. When I realized that we were all concerned about John's behavior my first impulse was to find you and discuss it. Thank you. You're so brave."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "This isn't your fault, Phoebe," Jon says, frowning. "And Zatanna's right--I have nothing better to do than help, because helping each other is important. But if you need time, space..." He sighs, and shakes his head.

    "If you need to talk... when you're ready to talk... I'll be here. I'm sure Zatanna will, too. And Chas... don't forget about Chas? He cares about you, a lot."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... I'm not brave. I just do what needs to be done. It's been that way since before Tim found me." Phoebe answers to Zatanna, and she rolls her shoulder.

    "Nothing to talk about until we know for sure, and then we clean up, and go on. And I won't forget about Chas." she looks back over her shoulder at Jon.

    "He let me call him Dad before John did." she states, and then she puts her earbuds back in, and exits the library, going to trun up the stairs and jog up the two lights of stairs to 3A.