9049/Path of Glory: A Time for Peace

Path of Glory: A Time for Peace
Date of Scene:	11 December 2021
Location:	The Laughing Magician
Synopsis:	A number of the Justice League Dark members discuss the ramifications and motivations of what has been done and how they should go about fixing the matter... if it can be fixed.
Cast of Characters:	Chas Chandler, Sara Pezzini, Phoebe Beacon, Cael Becker, Lydia Dietrich, Asariel, Jonathan Sims, Rien D'Arqueness
Tinyplot:	Path of Glory

---

Chas Chandler has posed:
    The Laughing Magician has seen better days. A number of bottles have fallen off the shelves in the back, there are a few tables and greater number of stools and chairs overturned from the veritable war that occured outside its doors.

    Leading the party inside is the statuesque form of Lady Death looking grim, aloof, and vaguely irritated at having the keep the source of her ire alive. She drags the slumbering form of Chas to the door of the back room before tossing him unceremoniously inside.

    She eyes the rest of them with her white eyes devoid of emotion before disappearing in a flash of Energy Arcarne.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Despite the fact that the healing was thorough, Sara still picks Cael up to carry inside the Laughing Magician herself. The over protectiveness remains, both in the woman and the Witchblade, so if Cael complains about it, tough shit, there are only so many mental battles to wage against Witchblade and Sara was done with those for the night.

Once inside, Cael is set into a booth and then Sara just stand there, still completely armored up, at a loss for a moment as to what to say or do. Finally, after a few ticks of the clock...

"I'm going to need something to wear," she states quietly, as if that is the most important thing that could have come up at the moment. "And alcohol."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe is worn and worried. After making sure John Constantine wasn't about to explode with null energy and his body wasn't going to collapse in on itself, she followed the ragtag group in, and knowing that Chas was going directly to the back room, she tagged in and shot the pale lady a grumpy look at the unceremoneous throwing into the back room, before she ducks back into the back room to at least arrange some blankets for Chas.

    "What's your size?" she calls back to Sara. "I have some spare stuff next door that might fit, if you don't mind pajama or yoga pants."

Cael Becker has posed:
    It's a sign of Cael's mental state, more than anything else, that she doesn't voice a protest as she's picked up, and carried towards the Laughing Magician - nor does she try to push Sara away. She's passive, and silent, her eyes closed now and her mind a whirling mess of confusion, and pain, and guilt. Once she's settled into a booth, she scoots herself into the corner of the bench, and simply remains there, arms hugging across her middle, head loweed, and eyes closed - and faintly shivering, after having just been brought in from the cold.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia had worked until the wee hours of the morning to get the circle done and passed off to Jon. It was daylight by the time she was done and she had looked positively *ghastly*. Quite literally. Sunken in cheeks, ash grey skin, even those ruby lips had paled and lost their luster. Once handed off she headed immediately back to the Asteroid to get some semblance of slumber.

She slept like the dead throughout the day. Which isn't unusual, really since she /was/ technically dead after all. When awakened she was especially hungry and it had taken two feedings for her to replenish what she had lost burning the midday oil.

She arrives in a flash of purple just outside the pub. Dressed more like a vampire that she usually is, she's wearing black dress slacks, black heels, a white button down silk shirt over which a charcoal grey woolen trenchcoat with a high collar is worn.

Looking at the destruction outside she can only surmise that the battle had already been fought. Making her way inside she notes those who have gathered and nods to those she knows. Her cheeks are flushed, but not in the way that they get when she warms herself to appear more human. Rather they're flushed from recent feeding and stand out against her vampire pale skin. As always black motes of ectoplasm float about her, the physical manifestation of her mutant power that she can't turn off.

"Did it work?" She asks the assembled group. "Did the circle bind him? Is it holding? I wish I could have been there, but I would have been a danger to you all in the state that I was in."

Asariel has posed:
Giovanni was not the happiest of people right now, but he was wanting to make sure that Chas...or whatever was wearing Chas was not getting back out to wreak havoc or to try to come after his charge. He'd carried Lasariel in after the group had gotten the man inside and settled her into a booth long reluctantly and heads to see where they put the bartender. "It's a shame really. I was starting to like him." the Italian states with a frown. "Does anyone need any assistance before I leave? I've got medical training, but nothing like...what some of you can do." he offers apologetically.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon makes his way across the street and into the Laughing Magician with the others. Some of them disperse--John and Meggan and Zatanna go to do other things, possibly to try to research further exorcism options, or just to recharge. He has questions for his old friend, but he doesn't know if he could possibly coherently do anything but scream at the man just now.

    So he focuses on what he can do--help people. The water healing his shoulder does its work, leaving his suit torn and bloody. "I'm a doctor," he says to Giovanni. It's a simple statement. He's a doctor, and Phoebe can heal almost any wound--and evidently Witchblade can, too. They'll be fine. "Can you grab an extra blanket for Becker, please?" he calls to Phoebe. "And... I need to check her over, just to be certain there won't be any lasting damage. So if you could bring... well, a stethoscope is all I'll really need, I think."

    He looks over to Lydia. "It worked," he says, voice drained. Tired. "The plan fell apart completely, but we pulled it through in the end. I knew we would." There's a quiet pride in his tone. They came together, the Justice League Dark, to bind this foe, and everyone survived.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
    Stepping into the Laughing Magician, Rien heads over to the bar and starts picking up fallen bottles. Hearing Sara's need, she calls out "What kind of alcohol do you prefer? I can play bartender since the normal one has... problems at the moment."

    She's already pulled a bottle of red wine off the rack and poured herself a glass, but looks ready to accommodate any other requests while she's behind the bar. She returns the wine to it's rack and takes a sip while waiting for any further requests. Honestly, she's probably in the best shape of all of them since all she did was draw the circle and power it. Granted, her stores of magical energy are just about empty at the moment, but that's a bit different than the physical exertion and wounds the others are dealing with.

    At Jon's statement, she nods and says, "That we did, though we certainly seem to have jumped into the deep end of the pool. Couldn't we have started with some troublemaking pixies or something?"

Asariel has posed:
Giovanni listens to Jon and gives him a nod, "I hope that everyone heals well." he states. He didn't really know what else he could offer for the moment. He'd already called a car to pick him and Lasariel home. "I'll leave you to it so I'm not in the way." he offers before he heads back to where he left the unconscious artist. He bends to gather her back up, "Alright you, back home to sleep...or whatever you need. Just don't die on me." he mutters to her as he heads for the door. Maybe the cold New York air would help things.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Again there is a pause before Sara looks over to Phoebe, "Clothing is clothing, and I'm a..." she looks at herself, the tendrils of metal starting to slowly unwrap. "Well shit.... " She calls out her clothing size and waits for the inevitable. When Witchblade was done, he was done. She wasn't a modest person, thank all the gods, but others might have issues with her nakedness. It was going to happen, any minute now.

"Whiskey works," she then calls to Rien, settled into her fate of momentary nakedness. "Cael, do you want something to drink?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    So far everyone survived.
    Phoebe does her best to make Chas comfortable (BECAUSE IT IS HARD when you are a teenage girl moving this big-ass dude anywhere), but he's moved to a cot in the back room. "It makes a difference in what you're comfortable with!" she protests from the backroom.

    Phoebe comes out with a pair of extra, military surplus green wool blankets, and one she hands it over to Sara (while covering her eyes), and one goes over to Becker. She leans behind the bar and pulls out a cloth bag that has the same symbol her body armor does; and this gets given over to Jon.

    "There's alcohol swabs to wipe the earpieces with." she states, crossing her arms.

    "Made him as comfortable as I could." she shrugs her right shoulder up, and rubs at her chest, beneath the hem of her T-shirt as she goes to plug the electric kettle in for hot water, setting a few bottles back in place and giving a nod to Rien before she turns to hop over to the Curio to grab clothes for Sara and slippers for Cael.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia doesn't look entirely surprised that the plan went south, though she's pleased that her circle worked. "What happened?" she asks, her hazel eyes glancing at the state Cael is in. "Is she okay? She was the bait, wasn't she." A statement, not a question. "It looks like she'd been mostly crucified."

She walks smoothly over to one of the stools at the bar and takes a seat. When offered a drink, she just holds up a hand and shakes her head. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    There's a pause before Cael answers - probably just enough of one to make Sara wonder if Cael would respond at all. When does, it's a one-word response in a quiet voice. "Whiskey." It was her usual poison, after all.
    It hadn't been her fault - had it? She'd held out for as long as she could. No one had been able to withstand the angel - she'd never had a chance. And they all made it back alive. It hadn't been her fault.
    Had it?
    The blanket is recieved with the same delayed response, but eventually, she manages to clumsily pull it around herself - turning and tugging the edge of the blanket up until her features are hidden from view.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    It's not Lydia's fault, really, but the words about Cael being the 'bait' touch a raw nerve with Jon and he snaps, "Yes, she was--for /us/. Bloody angel decided to come after her because I pissed it off." He... has to stop. To get control of himself, so he doesn't fly apart. Because it's not Cael's fault. It really, /really/ isn't.

    It's his.

    If he hadn't tried to protect Cael, the angel never would have gone after her. Or so it had hammered into his mind. And he can't /deal/ with that yet. He can't. Because there are people to help, including Cael. He can fall apart later. Right now... he needs to be a doctor.

    He takes the cloth bag and nods to Phoebe, then walks over to Cael's booth. He hesitates a moment, about to pull out his phone to use the light to check Cael's vision, then abruptly leans down to wrap his arms around her. "It's not your fault," he says, tone firm.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
    Collecting a glass, Rien pours Sara a good sized drink then picks it up along with her wine and brings the glass over to Sara, handing it to her before finding a seat and taking a sip of her wine. Looking over to Cael, she adds her voice to those reassuring the woman. "They're right, you know. Once that thing got into your mind, there really wasn't anything you could do. It's strong, whatever it is. Try not to blame yourself, hard as that may seem right now."

    She takes a drink from her wineglass and relaxes back into her chair. "I haven't had to make that kind of magical effort in a long time."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Accepting the blanket, Sara wraps it around herself for now then takes the glass from Rien when it's offered. She's not sure what more she can offer really, words that she knows will likely fall on Cael's deaf ears, at least they are right now. Taking a drink from the glass, she watches Jon a moment wondering if he will get it, realize that Cael's not going to hear logic right now.

About to say something, try to add to the others informing Cael it wasn't her fault, Sara finds herself suddenly looking at the back of Alis' head as the ghost girl steps out of her and materialize. Jon might be hugging Cael, but that just means he gets hugged when Ali pounces Cael to hug her.

"Cael!" She shrieks as she quite literally pounces. "Listen to them... this isn't your fault, not at all, and..." she looks at Jon. "It's not your fault either. It's no ones fault, well maybe Chas' fault but we don't know yet, but no one in this room should blame themselves and WOW can you all kick ass."

Sara steps forward at that moment to lay her hand on Alis' shoulder, which shuts the teenaged ghost from rambling. "It's no ones fault," she reiterates.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    When Phoebe returns, it's clear that she's used to dealing with post-fight adreniline drops, and she's gone into recovery mode -- as evidenced by the laundry basket she brings in on her hip. That aura of hers is still on and very active, trailing feelings of light, hope, and healing tingles in her wake as she busies herself around the bar. Sara gets a pair of red and black plaid pajama pants, thick socks and cheap sneakers, a T-shirt announcing Star Wars day at the Gotham Knight's stadium in gray and yellow and a 2xl sweatshirt in black.

    She gently comes up behind Sims, to the other side of the Ghost Girl (who she gives a little bit of distance to, because who knows what her physical touch does anymore to ghosts!), and with a tap on his shoulder she leaves another extra large sweatshirt (this one is bright yellow and has a duck bill on the hood) and a pair of the brightest pink and purple sparkly furry monster feet slippers with bright blue toe-nail claws. You know the ones. They are insanely comfy and good for warming up feet. Those are for Cael.

     She brings a freezer tub of cookies, this gets opened and put on the counter. They're very colorful sugar cookies, a variety of pink/yellow and pink/blue and orange/purple swirls. She clicks the coffee maker on with an elbow as she passes, taking a moment to reach into the cooler and pull out blue gatorades, and by now the electric kettle is probably whistling, so that goes on the counter, with a couple of mugs and a ceramic platypus with teabags.

    And then she sits on the back of the bar, and gets that thousand yard stare.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Whatever Cael's been expecting - it wasn't that hug, and while she tenses for just a moment, she soon melts into it, tears starting to streak down her cheeks again. Her breathing becomes increasingly more ragid, until she's almost gasps for breath, and the only words she manages to get out are an apology - of sorts. "I hurt you..." She remembers it - that certainty that it was right, and just, and her only choice. That //they// had to be made to see the truth. How could she have ever felt that way?
    "Alis..." How could she explain, or make sense of any of this? The sobs continue, until she suddenly finds herself wretching, and she leans over so what little she has in her stomach ends up on the floor - rather than on herself, and Jon, and the blanket. Oh God... "Sorry," she mumbles.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "It's OK. This is a bar. We specifically have a bucket for that." Phoebe calls out, and then hops off the counter to go get the bucket.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
It doesn't take an empath to see that Jon is blaming himself for what happened. Lydia slides off of her stool and silently walks over to where the man is standing and wraps her arms around him, holding him. "It's not your fault, either," she says, quietly, gently in his ear. "You didn't set out to put her in danger, so don't blame yourself for the actions of a rogue Angel."

She lets go of him and heads back to her stool. "I take it it's unconscious," she says, eyeing the back door. "I want to talk to it when it's awake." There's something steely in her voice, a kind of grim determination of some sort. "I have... questions. I don't think it'll answer in any meaningful way but..." she grunts, not bothering to finish her sentence.

She nods at Rien, guessing that she's the one who powered up the circle. It /would/ be a tiring affair. "I tried to keep the power requirements down to a manageable level, but there's a delicate balance between energy needed, time and materials." She shakes her head, "I did what I could.... Did my notebook survive? I'd like to have it back."

She doesn't look at all surprised when Alis shows up. She'd sense the ghost before, when she had met Cael for the first time. It's not at all uncommon for a ghost to hang around a person, so she didn't pay it any mind. Now that she's manifested, she can /feel/ the ectoplasm used to materialize the spirit.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon gasps as Alis hugs Cael /through/ him, and then relaxes when Phoebe's aura trails by. It helps, even if only temporarily. A boost, to keep one going. He pulls back from hugging Cael in time to get away from her wretching all over the floor. That's when Lydia hugs him, and he sighs.

    "You don't understand," he says softly. "It was going to come for me, until I cast that spell on her. It's my fault she got taken. It should've been /me/." It's the superhero dilemma, the reason they have secret identities. So their enemies don't know who their friends are. And he's done a right good job of mucking that up.

    "I'm fine, Cael," he says, tone still soft. "We'll work through this, okay? It'll take time, but we'll work through it. For now... you need some food. Something light, I think, and some of that Gatorade. And to not be alone for a while, but I suspect Pezzini has you covered. I'll make sure you get a doctor's note so you don't have to be in to work by 7am." By which he means he'll explain to Falcon.

    He pauses, and then abruptly comes to a decision. "And I expect you in my office on Monday, same as usual, alright?" The office in the Triskelion, he means. He huffs out a breath. "I'll double-check your vitals then, I think." He goes to dig in the cloth bag Phoebe gave him for the alcohol swabs. "Let's get that blood off of you, though. Pezzini, could you help...?"

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
    Taking another sip of wine, she watches the people consoling Cael, but doesn't intrude at the moment as there's enough people doing the job right now. She takes a moment to process the question when Lydia asks about the notebook, then blinks and says, "You know what? I'm not entirely sure. Give me a sec."

    Rising from her chair, she puts the wine down and walks outside, taking a moment to look around the cratered area. When she returns a few minutes later, she's got her backpack over one shoulder and Lydia's notebook in one hand. She walks over and offers it to the woman. "Here you are, and may I add, you do good work. That was one hell of a complex circle."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Stepping back, Sara drops the blanket to dress herself in the offered clothing. Phoebe could have brought her a pink tutu and she would have put it on, she'd of hated it, but she still would have put it on. She has to have clothing to walk outside again, though right now she has no intentions of going anywhere.

Since Cael's blanket ended up... soiled, she picks the one she had up and exchanges it, wrapping the new one around Cael's shoulder then slides into the booth to sit on the other side of the woman. For a moment she hesitates there, then finally wraps her friend up in a hug. Once she's got that hug, she looks to Jon and nods.

"Of course I can help," she states plainly, but before she can move Alis is completely solid and already helping clean Cael up.

"Apparently no, I can't help," she then comments with a smirk.

Alis looks up at Jon, "I'll help... I couldn't do anything else, so I'll help."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe returns with the bucket, and waits for Jon to be done with Cael -- and maybe move to a different booth -- poor Cael's crowded enough, so she retreats back and looks to Lydia and Rien, and then looks down.

    Phoebe reaches into the laundry basket and pulls out a blue care bears blanket with a soft sound of dismay.

    "... it's in Chas." she states quietly, looking to Lydia. She reaches back and rubs the back of her head, beneath her braids. Gods, she was tired. She looked at the glum face of grumpy bear on the soft fleece blanket, and then she looks over to Lydia. Her dark eyes just seem lost for a moment. "Constantine and Zee bound it from our side with Lady Death and Meggan doing the heavy lifting with the fighting." she raises her hand to her chest, and scratches at her sternum.

    "THey'll figure something out."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Whiskey," Cael repeats after Jon's suggestion that she have some Gatorade. God, she wants a drink - possibly more than she has any other day of her life. She makes a face as she wipes the back of her hand across her mouth, and wipes it on the blanket just before Sara removes it. She hasn't made any moves to put on the sweater or the slippers yet, but she does pull the new blanket around herself, even as she accepts another hug, leaning into the contact. The truth was, she had no desire to be alone. She'd been alone when she'd been grabbed.
    "You came," finally offers to her two friends in a quiet voice. "I'd hoped- I'd tried to-" She swallows hard. "I tried to get away, but I couldn't, and I couldn't hold it off once it'd... broken the bag. I didn't want you to have to-" She can't finish the thought, in fact she has to swallow hard against another wave of nausea at the thought. They'd been to enough of the crime scenes together, that doubtlessly they knew what she'd feared they would have to do.
    "Thank you," she tells them both.
    Her gaze goes to Alis next, as the other girl starts helping her into the slipped, and sweater, and she lets out a huff of air. "Alis I'm- I'll be alright." Eventually.
    ...with enough whiskey in her.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia grins brilliantly at Rien's compliment. "Thanks! I didn't sleep for two days to get it done," she says, taking the notebook and flipping through to it review her notes. "I was... dangerous to be around when I finally handed it over. I would have come to help but I was too busy recovering." She nods in satisfaction, stowing it away in a pocket of her trench coat.

She looks up to where Jon and Cael are, frowning. She wishes she could do more for them. This whole case had been something of an ordeal for them and she feels helpless in being unable to lighten their load. "Okay," she says, letting out a breath. "Time to look at the results of my work."

Phoebe gets a sharp look, her words stopping her in her tracks. "Chas?!?" she asks incredulous. "What the fuck?" She looks back in the back room in disbelief. "There had /better/ be a good explanation for this," she grumbles to herself.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon hesitates a moment, staring down at Cael. He suddenly knows /exactly/ how Tim Drake felt, after rescuing him from Arkham. It's his fault. It is. And his friend might sit there and say it's okay, but...

    He sighs, and reaches out to clasp both of Cael's shoulders. "It's terrifying," he says. "I know. Trust me, I know." Something dark and haunted flashes through his vision, but he forces the thought away. "It's okay to be scared. But we will /always/ come for you, alright? Always." He tightens his grip on her shoulders for a moment, then steps back to give her and the ghost space.

    He leaves Alis to help clean up the blood on Cael's arms and legs, and moves away, to grab two Gatorades from the ones Phoebe set out. He tosses both to Sara, says, "Hand the other to Cael." Evidently he means the NYPD detective to drink the Gatorade. "Magical healing or no, we're all worn out. You need electrolytes and fluids. Phoebe knows what she's doing. Whiskey or not... drink up." Then he grabs another for himself.

    He turns to look at the others as he twists the Gatorade open. He sighs. "He fits the profile. Faith, access to the books, a reason to hate demons... I don't know why I didn't see it before." He shakes his head. "It's... I doubt he meant..." Anger flares up again, and he tamps it down. "We'll have to talk to him." He takes a long drink of Gatorade.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
    "I haven't gotten too familiar with him, but I will say that it's very easy to screw up a summoning and end up in a world of trouble. I mostly see it with people summoning demons and ending up possessed, but it could go the other way too. Might even be easier because the person doing the summoning isn't trying to deal with a hostile entity, he's summoning a being he believes in and trusts to do the right thing."

    She shakes her head then takes a sip of her wine. "Calling up anything not native to this world is almost always a mistake, and it's usually the innocent who suffer for it. Which is why I do what I do, when it comes down to it. I'm just glad that in this case we got to her in time to save her."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Another hug, Sara just needs to remind Cael she's there and remind herself that Cael is safe.

"I told you before Cael," she says quietly while hugging her. "I will /always/ be there, and I will always come. You should know something else... /he/ will always come. No matter what, no matter where... we will come."

Catching the Gatorades as she sits back up, but keeping herself close to Cael, she twists the lid off one to offer over to the woman, then opens the other for herself. "Drink some of that," she then comments, before also passing the whiskey Rien got her toward Cael. "With a little of this."

Alis finishes getting Cael cleaned up, looking much like she does doesn't believe Cael's words and with good reason. "No sister," she states. "You aren't alright, but you will be."

Sara glances over toward Jon, then takes a moment to look around the room at each person present. "We're a team," she finally says. "We'll go through hell fire to help each other, right? That's what the Justice League Dark is about. We don't know what Chas was thinking, or what happened, but we'll find out together and we'll make it right."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Cael should /especially/ be drinking gatorade and not whiskey. And have a cookie. They're imbued with all the goodness you can get from buying the expensive flavorings and making your own lavender extract." Phoebe pipes up, and she holds the carebear blanket close a moment, and goes to follow Lydia towards the backroom, where she tries to slip by, stepping up to Chas to wrap the blanket around him, very carefully, her fingers moving as if the big man were made of glass -- or thorns, and then, not heeding her own reccomendation on 'drink something', she just sits at the wall, near the door. "Are we going to take turns keeping an eye on him in case he breaks through?" she calls out, and tilts her head back, looking up to Lydia. She gives a wan smile, and wraps her arms around her knees. "I can take the first shift."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "You'll always try," Cael says more quietly, answering both Sara and Jon. She's not a child. She knows they can't promise they'll always arrive in time.
    She knocks back the whiskey first, before she starts obediently sipping at the Gatorade, pulling the blanket more tightly around herself again. It had been such a near thing - only one more nail needed, and then- Her breath catches in her throat, and she forces another sip of the Gatorade.
    It was strange. She has the memory of how it felt - the ecstacy of the pain, the delight and relief and anticipation of her release. But that was with the angel's influence imposing some sort of filter over all of it. Beside that was a second copy of the same memory, that was all agony, horrified disbelief at he own words and thoughts. Both memories were true.
    "I just want the whiskey," she insists in a quiet tone - but even as she says it, she manages another small sip of the Gatorade.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia makes her way to the back room to see her handiwork. Indeed it's Chas, bound by chains of /nothingness/ that she had helped bring about. "Oh, Chas," she says softly, squatting down to get a closer look at him. "What did you do?" She eyes their handiwork for a bit before getting back to her feet.

She nods at Phoebe when she comes in. "That seems like a solid plan." When the girl volunteers, Lydia shakes her head. "No, you've already had a long night. I pretty much just got up and am refreshed. I was..." she lets out a breath and gives a helpless shrug, "Sleeping while you all were fighting."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I'm... going to need to go home," Jon says. "At least for the night. But I think we should keep an eye on Chas, yes, and you shouldn't be alone, Lydia. I'll call around, make sure we've got two people on each shift until we can figure out how to get rid of the thing." He sighs. "Which is evidently a more difficult prospect than we thought it would be. You're right, though, Rien. Summoning is a bad idea, all 'round."

    He turns to Phoebe with a frown. His gaze moves, briefly, to the area on her sternum that she keeps scratching, the hole in her aura that he can see there. Then he focuses back on her face. "Hey," he says in a low voice, tone concerned, brow furrowed. "You... are you alright?" He means it for now, of course--for Chas' being bound in the back, but for the rest, too. He hadn't really /noticed/ before, too wrapped up in his own pain and frustration to pay attention. Just like with Chas.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
    "Not to worry, I'll stay here. I can easily go three or four days without sleep, and I'm not encumbered by a job to worry about. My family makes sure I have enough to do my work. And it will give me some time to go through a few books I was looking into. I'm thinking we need to hang a closed sign on the door though, just to be safe."

    She finishes off the wine, stands and takes the glass behind the bar to wash it. "Anyone else who wants to take a turn is fine by me, company is always nice. Better we don't leave anyone here alone, just in case."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Now that Cael is cooperating, Sara takes a few sips of her own Gatorade. She can booze herself up later, right now it was more important that Cael get what she wanted.

"I'm afraid I can't offer up my assistance on this one," she admits to those present. "I'll be avoiding calls from work and staying with Cael."

Alis cleans up the things she used to clean up Cael, trying to busy herself really before she sits in the booth by Cael and just listens. She'd like to help, but unless Cael or Sara are close by, she's stuck where they are... and honestly, that angel-Chas-thing scared the every living (no pun intended) shit out of her. The sensation of being shoved away from Cael, of losing that connection was one she never, EVER wants to feel again, even if that means living /inside/ Cael for a while.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "No, it's all right, I don't think I could sleep after seeing Meggan turn into Geraldine turn into... whatever it was at the end. Otherwise I'll probably just night terror and end up coming down and cleaning the dishwasher or reseating the lightbulbs through the Curio." Phoebe points out. "I have a list of numbers in case anyone wants to drop by." Phoebe points out, and she then just sticks her chin on her knees, and looks stubbornly ahead.

    "... Meggan turned into my adopted sister, and then turned into another... thing. My remaining parent is possessed by an angel." she scratches at her chest with her thumbnail idly, not even aware she was doing it. "Who knows if we'll get him back or if someone's going to have to give a call to Renee if this thing ends up taking the remaining one-ups, my intrapersonal relationships are kinda shakey and I've been running on like a three-outta-ten panic ranking for about seven weeks now so yeah, yeah actually, I feel moderately calm."

    Scratching continues. "So if it's okay... I'll just sort of..." she trails off a moment.

    "I won't leave him in the dark alone."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "You don't need to-" Cael starts, but she doesn't finish the thought. She could feel a panic rising in her at the mere thought of being alone, right now, and she has to swallow it down hard. In fact, she tries to wash it down with some of the Gatorade.
    Rather than participating in any of the conversation about Chas, she stares into space, falling silent again, as she leans into the figure of the teenage girl beside her.
    She'd rather not talk right now. Or- well. Or think, really.