9668/What Do You Do With A Drunken Vampire

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What Do You Do With A Drunken Vampire
Date of Scene: 15 January 2022
Location: Grand Central Station
Synopsis: After the battle for Battery Park, Jon and Lydia return to Grand Central Station, where Cael and Martin help them both deal with their reactions to the fight. Lydia's magic is back, and Jon's /glowing/ now. It's all a little weird.
Cast of Characters: Jonathan Sims, Cael Becker, Lydia Dietrich, Martin Blackwood
Tinyplot: Path of Glory


Jonathan Sims has posed:
    There are no body bags this time, because the dead were reduced to ash--but there are also fewer dead, both in terms of raw numbers and in terms of percentages. There are only ten dead this time, three SHIELD agents and seven civilians, as opposed to the forty-eight from the last battle. They managed, somehow, to defeat a greater force with fewer people and fewer casualties.

    It's amazing what a change in tactics and an actual plan can do.

    They don't need to directly hold Battery Park anymore--his spell will do that for them--so there's equipment to return and a hole in the ground to cordon off. The wounded come through first, even the most dire of wounds stabilized. There are murmurs about snow that healed wounds as it fell, and a girl who glowed--the girl who /fought Michael/ and survived--who could heal them just as she moved by. Awed murmurs, about the way their side summoned holes in the air and burned with glowing holy fire, about the demonic biker and the angel that fought /for them/. About the way the Field Commander survived a blast that should have incinerated him.

    Said Field Commander doesn't come back with the first wave of those who return through the portals, nor the second. He lingers back, checking things over, making sure everything is handled. He ignores the way he's starting to shiver, the cold from standing in the fountain seeping into his bones. Finally Agent Singh, a long-time veteran, puts his hand on the younger agent's shoulder. "Commander Sims," he says, "we can handle the rest. Go warm up." He smiles. "Besides, I'm sure the people back at base are waiting to hear what happened."

    Jon sighs, and nods, pinches the bridge of his nose. Then he goes back through the last portal; the rest of the team at Battery Park will be making their way up through checkpoints, bringing in any casualties from the angels' intial charge down Broadway. He's literally the last one through, and he... /glows/ faintly with greenish light as the portal closes behind him.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael has been helping to 'direct traffic' as people and supplies flow back through the portal - making sure the injured as sent towards the makeshift hospital they've built into one of the platforms, and that returning supplies are all directed to the same room to be catalogued and returned to the appropriate location for redistribution - and that anything damaged or spent can be disposed of appropriately. She'd already inquired after 'Field Commander Sims,' and had already been reassured by the news that he seemed unharmed. It allows her to focus on the work until a final portal appears, and Jon steps through after another wave of personnel moving more supplies.
    Of course what she'd //like// to do is go check on him directly, and start pestering him about how things went. Instead, she catches his eyes, offering a brief smile, before turning her attention to directing a few more cases of supplies.
    She does grab the attention of a 'kid' who //swears// he's 19, and has insisted on staying to help with the defense. Rather than letting him go out into battles, she'd put him to work managing supplies of food, clothes, blankets, and other mundane (non-explosive) items. "Go fetch me a blanket and a large, warm coat out of the supplies. And run by the cafeteria for a cup of something hot - don't want in the line. Tell them it's for Sims. Got it?"
    The kid runs off with a nod, without bothering to ask a single question.
    Honestly, Cael kind of likes the kid.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia still isn't quite her right mind, being drunk off the power of a Seraph. Instead of contacting Raven, she decides to sneak down to Grand Central Station to show off... er... help out. Gates was on duty and he was helping move supplies back and forth and somehow, despite glowing like a lightbulb, she managed to sneak on down.

She gets some wary looks from the SHIELD agents and refugees since she's /glowing/ like an angel but doesn't look or dress like one. Some of them do recognize her, though so nobody moves to intercept her.

It doesn't take long to find Jon, though. She walks up to him grinning like a madwoman, before schooling her expression, into something peaceful and beatific. "Be not afraid," she tells him, and then starts giggling like it was the funniest thing she's ever said.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon catches Cael's eye and smiles back. He's soaked from knees to feet and elbows to hands, and the rest of him is getting wet from the snow melting in his hair. He really needs to sit and warm up--he's not past the point of shivering yet but that's mostly because Singh sent him back to somewhere warm before he could get that far. But he's ignoring that, leaning on his staff while he starts to move to check on the wounded.

    But then Lydia's there, glowing like one of the angels, in contrast to the green light Jon himself is putting off. He frowns at her, expression melting into concern.

    "Lydia... are you quite well? I... didn't see what happened, I just remember..." A pause. "It felt like you were burning. Did... something happen?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    With the portal closed, and the last of the personnel and supplies through, Cael has a little time before she has to start going through what came back, and reorganizing it all. She could spend a few minutes check in with Jon, surely. And beside - his vampire friend looks... off. Why was she glowing like that?
    She makes her way towards the pair, Bear at her heels - though he lets out a quiet, confused whimper as they approach the vampiress, followed by a quiet growl that Cael silences with a stern, "Bear, hush."
    He takes refuge behind Cael (the big coward) as she greets the pair with a nod. "I sent my helper off to fetch you a tea. Or coffee. Or... something,' she remarks to Jon, as she takes a moment to study Lydia.
    "I heard we were successful." But she didn't hear any death tolls - so she offers no congratulations. There's every chance Jon doesn't want to hear that word.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"I'm fiiiiine," Lydia says. "I'm fine! Totally fine! Better than fine!" She giggles some more and rushes in and gives Jon a big ole hug. "You were /wonderful/," she says. When she breaks she starts miming fighting with her fists, "We beat them back! Pow! Bam! It was /awesome/." She blinks, and sobers as much as she can. "Except for the people who died. That wasn't awesome."

Then she squints, trying to remember something. Oh yes! Jon asked her a question. "I was on fire! It hurt a lot." She breaks out into a huge grin, "I ate a Seraph! Best meal I've ever had."

And like a ferret with ADD, her focus changes to the brilliant motes of white gold light that her ectoplasm has turned into. "I have fireflies!" She starts giggling again, and runs her hand through the motes, causing them to eddy and whorl in her wake.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon's jaw is chattering now, and after Lydia pulls back from the hug he reflexively wraps his arms around himself, hunches a little, still gripping his staff for balance. "Tea w-would be... lovely, yes. We, ahh... yes. We won." He manages a smile past the chattering teeth. "Ought to break out the bubbly, really. We, ahh... we lost people, yes, but those who survived deserve to celebrate. We /routed/ them."

    He can't quite... /grin/, though, because he keeps eyeing Lydia worriedly. "You... ate a Seraph. Oh. Oh, good lord." He very deliberately opens his Sight and starts /staring/ at Lydia. "Are you alright? How did it not /kill/ you?! That Seraph the other day did a number on the Witchblade. What happened to your /ectoplasm/?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    As Jon starts to chatter, Cael steps in next to him, putting an arm around his waist to support him, and to hold him close to her own warmth. "You should go back to your quarters and change," she chastizes him quietly, her eyes flicking towards his features briefly, then back towards the Vampiress he calls his friend.
    "A vampire ate a Seraphim," she repeats simply. "I mean. ...I don't know a lot about the supernatural, but... was that a good idea? ...what do you give vampires to sober them up?" she asks uncertainly - unsure if she likes the idea of a //drunken vampire// wandering around their base.
    That's about when Amit returns with a thermos filled with tea (Lipton, tragically), as well as a thick blanket and a coat. Cael takes charge of the thermos and blanket while she orders Jon simply, "Put the coat on, Sims, before you get hypothermia."
    Looking down at his feet she adds, "I should have sent Amit for woolen socks and-"
    "On it!" the kid says promptly, running off again.
    "...I didn't tell him the size," she mutters under her breath.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia tilts her head in confusion. Why is Jon cold? It's so pleasantly /warm/ in here. Oh right! Mortals feel cold and Jon was wet. She lets out a little chuckle at her own silliness. "Here, Jon, let me help warm you up /real/ good." She reaches out a hand and places it on Jon's chest, and the motes of angel fueled ectoplasm gather around her hand to form a casting circle. With a bit of intent and a bit of power, Jon's clothes are instantly dry with a *puff* of steam, and he feels a pleasant warmth fill him from within. It ... may or may not have the side effect of getting him slightly tipsy.

She screws her face up as she tries to seriously think about the question of whether or not drinking the Seraphim was a good idea. Thoughts are so slippery. "Probably not," she concludes. "But it was either do that or die my final death." Phew! That was hard.

"Oh!" she says, breaking out into a grin. "I forgot to give you a hug, Cael!" Before the poor woman could protest Lydia wraps her arms around her and actually says, "Huuuuuuuug!" Her embrace is warm, almost feverish, and not entirely unpleasant.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon rocks back a step as Lydia puts a hand on his chest and... dries him off, warms him up. He has to grip his staff to stay on his feet, his body not /entirely/ liking the sudden change in temperature when it had been in the beginning stages of hypothermia. If anything, he suddenly looks more exhausted than he did. There's a /price/ to pay for the sort of magic he did earlier, and that price is going to be exacted one way or another.

    He blinks at her slowly, frowns for a long moment. "You did magic. You have your magic back. Is this... permanent?" That's the reason for the frown, as opposed to a grin.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Whoa, hey, maybe the drunken vampire shouldn't be casting spells on- the Field Commander." No, that wasn't how Cael'd been planning on finishing that sentence - but it was better that way.
    And then abruptly Lydia goes in for a hug, and she barely has time to pull up her arms and the thermos between herself and Lydia before the vampire her her arms around Cael. "Let. Me. Go," she grits out - as Bear adds his own sentiments to this interaction. He growls, and lets out a single bark, before his jaw clamps uncomfortably around Lydia's leg with another growl - the points of his teeth pressing into her skin.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia obligingly lets go, and leans down to pat Bear on the head, who is still ravaging her shins. "Good dog." She doesn't seem particularly bothered by Bear's attentions, though.

She giggles at Cael. "No, it's okay. I know what I'm doing. Mostly. But see? He's fine! It's fine. We're fine."

Wait. Jon asked her another question. What was it? Oh yes! Her magic! "Yes! It's back! I think for good, isn't that great? Seraph blood burned the block away!" Along with just about everything else.

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin comes out of the small cordoned off triage and medical station, pulling off a pair of blue medical gloves and tossing them in a bin. They were covered in blood. The white gloves underneath are still pristine. He looks down at the disposable surgical apron he was wearing (also smeared with the stuff) and peels it off in disgust as well before tossing it too.

    He makes his way towards Cael, Jon, and Lydia and stops midstep frowning at the two glowing individuals with their respective colors. "I... I thought I was the only one who could glow?" he says. He looks fairly tired, but not as haunted. He's been using his magic (still working on accepting that word for what he does) almost nonstop since they returned with some of the Archival stash. It's tiring work, but the numbers have died down considerably since they understood the capacity for destruction and damage that the angels were capable of.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Lydia," Jon says, his voice maybe unexpectedly firm, "Let go of Cael. You need to take a moment and sit down. Something happened to you when you drank that Seraph's blood. Let us look you over, okay?"

    He glances over at Martin. He doesn't seem aware of the fact that he's /glowing/. "Hey," he says softly. "Umm... Martin, you met Lydia, right? I think?" There's so much going on he... can't actually remember clearly. That's... odd.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Bear - drop it," Cael orders the pup as soon as she's released and adds, "Sit," on the heels of the first command. The dog obliges - but still has a quiet growl in his throat as Lydia pets him - and Cael drops down to a crouch to soothe him with a worried frown. "I'm okay, Bear. Just not a fan of hugs, yeah?"
    She's still stroking the pup when she looks up at Martin's arrival - greeting him with a small smile. "The wounded must be doing well if you're out here already," she remarks. After a last scritch at the pup, she stands back up to press the thermos of Lipton into Jon's hand.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia turns when Martin arrives and her smile brightens, "Oh, hi Martin! Yes! I glow again! I mean, I /used/ to glow green before I got turned, and I really missed it but now I'm glowing again!" She looks thoughtful for a moment, "I /think/ I can turn it off..." She squinches her eyes in concentration and the little fireflies blink out and become the motes of black stars again. Opening her eyes she grins. "Yup!"

When she stops thinking about it, the fireflies blink back on, which catches her by surprise. "Oh!" she says giggling. "On!" Then they blink out. "Off!" Then they blink back on. "On!"

She nods enthusiastically at Jon, "Yup! Something sure did happen to me! Did you see my veins? They /glow/." Still, she sits down as instructed.

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin looks at Lydia and then back at Jon. "Umm... you're also glowing Jon. Green this time... did... did something else happen at the battle?" he asks. "Neither of them seem too terribly hurt so he isn't in the area of panic yet, but he's hesitant to declare anything a positive after some of the burns he tended.

    He nods to Cael. "The angelic plasma from those guns aren't to severe but they singe down to the bone level... burns usually don't do that. So I have to go deeper than I'm used to when healing them and nerve damage is hard to undo without a full understanding of the nervous system." He looks back to the two glowing individuals for understanding their conditions.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon blinks down at the thermos and opens it, sniffs. Sighs. "Bloody hell," he grumbles. He takes a swig and then makes a face, though he tries to hide that from Amit. The kid means well. He bites back his irritation at the /awful/ Lipton and takes another drink.

    "I'm... glowing?" He peers at Martin and then down at himself. Yes, indeed, he's faintly glowing, a green aura that just seems to... be there. "Oh good lord," he mutters, and reaches up to rub at his face. "I think... it's the excess energy, from the spell. I haven't grounded myself to the bracer yet. Everything's just been..." He gestures at Lydia, vaguely.

    "Can you... look her over, Martin? Make sure she's okay? Magically, I mean. Well... she's a vampire, so maybe you wouldn't..." He swallows. "I'm... having trouble seeing past the glow, myself, you sense things differently."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Sounds pretty bad," Cael answers Martin solemnly. "I hope they all recover alright. This is all so fuckin' ridiculous..." That anyone needed to die, or be maimed in this fight... That more people have to pay the price of Michael's arrogance... She lets out a frustrated sigh, looking askance at Lydia as she plays with her ectoplasm.
    "...seriously. What can we give to a vampire to sober them up? Can she drink coffee?" And if she could - would it to anything?
    "You should probably have a seat too, Jon. Or maybe we should all go to your office. You could start getting down some of your thoughts after the battle. Or recording them, if you'd rather." She's seen the damned casette recorders in there. Who even still manufactures casettes?

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia is sitting there, waiting to be examined, and is giggling as she plays with her little motes of ectoplasm. Soon she gets to the point to where she's making patterns out of the lights. First it's simple patterns, but then they become more complex, and then she starts doing words, and crosswalk signs and other various things.

Then she starts snickering uncontrollably. "Jon, look! Look, Jon look! Penis!"

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin gives a sidelong look at Jon and then shakes his head at Lydia before approaching her. "Stop that" he says sternly. "I need to focus if I'm going to get an adequate read and you throwing glowing penises in my face isn't going to help matters." He concentrates for a moment, a turquoise glow surrounding his hands. He then puts his hands on either side of the glowing vampire's head, fingers touching her temples.

    The golden glow pushes against the turquoise for a moment, the angelic energy seeming to suspect and assess the danger in Martin's own energy. Then it relents and strands of Martin's power flows uninhibited into the vampire. He opens his eyes and frowns. "That's... highly bizarre. You're dead or well... you should be. But this energy that's flowing in you. It's... supllanting that. For everything I can tell you should be alive. But your heart isn't beating. Your lungs aren't expanding and your metabolism is all but gone..."

    He removes his hands and takes a step back. "I don't know what you did but it's sort of... interceded everything that makes you a vampire and said 'no' to that at least physically." He puts a hand to his own head and rubs a bit. "It's also interacting with your mutant genes and bonding with them in a way that makes my head hurt a bit. I suspect that's why all..." he gestures to the glowing motes around her, "this is happening."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon nods slowly at Cael. "Perhaps that's best. I really do need to... unload things. I'll just..."

    He stares at Lydia. /Stares/ at her, and shakes his head. "I can't... I don't... lord, I don't know. I give up. Martin, please just... just /handle/ this." There's strain in his voice, some kind of underlying exhaustion or lament. Of course, Cael and Martin don't know what /happened/ out there.

    He turns away, collapsing his staff as he starts for his office. He hasn't gone more than two steps, though, before he stumbles and then falls to the marble floor with a loud /thump/. Woven green light appears around him as the shield Gaea put on him keeps him from injury, but the staff goes rolling one way and the open thermos the other, spilling tea across the marble.

    Evidently the Field Commander just... /fainted/.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael lets out a groan at what Lydia creates with her motes, covering her face with her hand, and starting to head towards Jon's office with the man. She'd get him settled in, perhaps go and grab him something to ea-
    And then he's quite abruptly on the floor. "Jon?" she asks with a hint of alarm coloring her voice. Sure, he'd looked beat, but- She crouches on the floor next to him, Bear circling around them to sniff at the man's still form. Cael's first instinct is to try to turn him over, to wake him- but just before she does so, she recalls that sometimes it's best //not// to move someone, lest you aggrevate an injury.
    "Martin, is he okay? Should we get a stretcher to take him to medical?" she asks, as her fingers find his pulse. "His pulse is alright - he's breathing."
    Was it from the cold? From overexertion? ...both?

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia starts giggling again, "Heeheehee... penis in face." She does, however, manage to stop playing around with her ectoplasm long enough for Martin to get a good read on her. She watches in fascination and can kind of feel what it is that Martin is doing to her, since her mystic senses have opened back up. "Woooah..."

She knows Martin is trying to say something important to her so her eyes squint as she tries to concentrate. It's rough doing so, but she manages to get a few coherent thoughts in. "What..." she starts, before giggling in frustration, "Oh my God I'm so high." She shakes her head to try to knock some things into place. "What does that mean when the blood runs out?" She should be worried about this, but she feels too good to care. "Will the vampiric stuff come back or will I just be a corpse?"

It takes Jon faceplanting to get her to sober up, at least for a little bit. "Jon!" she rushes over to be at his side. "Please don't die on me! It's not time for that yet!" But then, Cael mentions his pulse and she lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    A number of workers from the SHIELD logistics operation look over at the sight of Jon on the ground and the number of people around himm in worry. There's a few worried looks they have as well before Cael's words seem to filter through the onlookers.

    Martin is at his side almost as quickly as Cael and he puts a hand to his neck then his forehead. "He's probably exhausted..." he says, looking around. "There's too many eyes out here." Then louder. "I'm pretty sure most of you would be just as tired if you just beat the shit out of our enemy! As you were!"

    He frowns at Jon as the SHIELD agents start to mill back to their various tasks. Then he looks at Lydia. "I don't think you'll be gone... or that anything will change besides the glowing going away... I think your..." he searches for a word, "state should stick regardless.Vampires aren't my specialty or anything, but there's more to it than just using blood to stay alive if I understand it right."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon groans a bit and reflexively tries to curl up as people poke at him, flinching away from their touch. Martin, at least, is probably used to this; for all that Jon's a huggy person, he can be weird about being touched when he's not expecting it. He blinks down at the marble floor for a moment and those closes his eyes again. His head's spinning too much to try to make sense of where he is or why.

    Martin shouting makes him curl up even more, and put his arms over his head. "S'fine," he mumbles. "S'fine. Just... just... gimmie a mo' and I'll be out of the way, sorry."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Jon, all your men are watching," Cael says to him softly, with concern lacing her voice. "Let Martin and me help you to your office. You can take a breather, and then come back out later to show them you're fine. Alright?" She waits for a reply for him - for some sort of permission before she'll help him up. In the meantime, she reaches for his shoulder, then stops, a little unsure what to do, from the way he was pulling away from her touch at the moment.
    Bear, meanwhile, is still sniffing at Jon, letting out a quiet whine of concern, until Cael finally addresses him a bit distractedly. "Bear, sit."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"I've got him," Lydia says and moves to pick up the prone man, but when he curls even tighter into a protective ball she backs away. "Or maybe not," she says sounding confused. "I don't know. It's hard to think. I don't think I should pick somebody up like this." A grin suddenly breaks out as she giggles, "Did I tell you how high I am right now? I think I did. I want to be serious, you know," she says. "I'm /trying/ to be serious. I'm ready for this trip to end."

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    As Lydia goes to move Jon, Martin shakes his head "Just... give him a moment. Let him come to realize that we're not threats trying to hurt him. Just..." he shakes his head and repeats, "give him a moment."

    He kneels down next to Jon and says softly. "Jon. You're safe here. Everyone just wants to try and help... you fainted and we need to get you to your office. So you can rest properly instead of being passed out on the floor of the main entrance." He makes a deliberate effort of not touching Jon while he says this despite every fiber wanting to help comfort him.

    Then he glances at the woman. "Would more food help you flush it out of your system or does it not work like that?" Again, he said he was no vampire expert so the process of where the blood goes in a vampire is absolutely foreign to him in her case.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon keeps his eyes closed for a moment longer, feeling his head pound against the marble. Marble floor, not wood or concrete or soil, and he's in his tac gear, and the minds around are familiar. He fainted. He was going to his office. He rememebers now, his sluggish mind finally catching up.

    "Dizzy," he murmurs, and reaches up to grab at people for support. "Help... help me to the office."

    Between Martin and Cael and maybe some Lydia-tentacles, they'll get there. The 'office' has a large table and several chairs, half the table taken up by a map of Manhattan, with a vial of soil on Battery Park and Jon's bracer sitting on Grand Central. Jon stumbles over to the bracer and reaches out his left hand to touch it, almost desperately. There's a soft green spark and then the glow around him fades, and he slumps into one of the chairs, looking exhausted.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Bear - fetch," Cael commands, pointing at the blanket she'd dropped. The pup is more than happy to scoop up the blanket and bring it with him, tail wagging slowly with self-satisfaction. "Lydia - can you grab the thermos of tea?" she adds, as she helps Jon up to his feet, and supports him as he struggles with his balance. Her features are a stern mask, as she frowns at anyone who looks towards them as they assist Jon. That melts away to one of tender concern once they get Jon settled into his seat. She even takes the blanket from Bear and attempts to tuck it into Jon's lap.
    "Should I have Amit grab you a plate of something?" she offers. "Maybe having a bite to eat will help things."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"I don't know," Lydia admits, working her way through her haze of ecstasy. "Normally, I would say that it would help dilute it, but the angel blood...." She closes her eyes as she makes her way into the office. "It burns. It burns so /good/," she breathes and sways a little bit. Opening her burning eyes she brings herself back down enough to add, "I don't know if the blood I drink now will burn away before it does anything."

She nods to Cael and turns on her heels to fetch the tea. When she picks it up her nose twitches, and she brings it up to smell. With an air of distain she brings the canister in and deposits it on the desk. "Here's your 'tea'," she says disdainfully. Then snickers, "If you can call it that."

She, then, spins gracefully and plops herself down into a chair in one smooth motion. Her head lolls back so she's staring at the lights. After a moment of silence she pipes up. "So what's the deal with you guys? Are you a poly... whassit. Triangle? Are you a poly triangle now?"

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin looks at the map and the canister and feels the surge of power pour into it at Jon's touch. He shudders a bit and then Lydia's words hit him. "Hm? Oh.. oh not a triangle. A Vee." He holds up two fingers to give a display of the image. "Me and Cael aren't... we're just friends." He smiles at the woman as she tends to Jon.

    He eyes Jon. "Do you need to record anything just yet? I mean, I know you have perfect recall but..." he shrugs. He's trying to help as much as he can but everytime Jon goes out there his stomach sinks in worry.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon gives Cael a rather ridiculously tender smile as she starts fussing over him. Then his eyes shift to Martin, worrying about recordings. "Good lord," he murmurs, still half-dazed. "I've got /two/ of them now." He doesn't sound entirely unhappy about that.

    He turns to peer at Lydia. "Hmm? Oh. Yes. What Martin said. Do I just... invite fussing over? It's fine. I'm fine." He's clearly not fine. "We need to handle this, umm... this." He gestures at Lydia, vaguely.

    "...But I wouldn't say no to a proper cuppa and a plate of something hot."

Cael Becker has posed:
    For a moment, Cael freezes in place at Lydia's question - a hint of red rising in her cheeks, before she tries to cover for her embarrassment by responding to Jon instead. She lets out a quiet snort as she remarks, "So 'fine' you decided to take a marble-nap." She pulls out her phone, sending out a text to Amit - asking him to bring a plate of whatever looked warm and decent from the mess. "Do you want to handle the 'proper cuppa' part, Martin?" she asks, her tone still a bit dry.
    Bear, meanwhile, takes up a position beside Cael - but within reach of Jon - thumping his tail a few times on the floor.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Ah," Lydia says, rocking back in the chair. She tips it back until it's just balancing on it's back two legs and keeps it there, her vampire grace keeping it from falling backward or forward. "'Slike what me and Raven got. I think." she says. "But I'm not friends with Azazel. Buuuuuut I can't stop her from loving him so whacha gonna do."

She snorts at Jon so loudly that she starts cackling at the noise. "No, okay, no. See. You're my friend Jon. 'fcourse I'm going to fuss all over you. Faceplanting the ground is reason to fuss." She shakes her head. "Not like me. I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. It'll wear off eventually."

"That," she says gesticulating at the thermos while still maintaining impeccable balance, "is not a proper cuppa anything. It's brown water is what it is."

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin goes over to a kettle conviniently placed in the office. "I'll handle the tea" he says, staring the electric water warmer up. "You deal with the food." He looks at Lydia and then goes over to a small duffle in the office. His stuff. He opens it and gets out a blue flecked teapot with has two cups attached to it. It's the teapot that Cael got them. He smiles. "Knew it was a good idea to pack a few extra." He withdraws two more regular white cups from the pack as well.

    Setting the pot and the extra things next to the kettle he looks at Lydia. "I have a few theories on how to fix you but I... don't like using my... ability on people who aren't willing to have it on them and for all I know it won't work." He makes a face. "I've never really used it on a vampire before... well a few minutes ago, to be honest."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I'm /fine/. Just... tired." Jon sighs and leans back in the chair. "That was a /lot/ of spellwork I did out there, and then I think one of the angels got a shot through the barrier I put up? I don't know, I didn't see, I was focused on what I was doing. It's... a lot."

    He peers at Lydia. "That reminds me... how's your side of things going? Finding the Sepirot and all of that? I hope I'll distract the angels from you enough for you to get it done."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I don't think this qualifies as a 'just,' Jon," Cael counters - a smile flicking across her features as she recognizes the teapot Martin pulls out. Rather than taking a seat in any of the chair, she perches herself on the edge of Jon's table, rubbing idly at Bear's head, before she glances over towards Lydia.
    "How's your leg - where Bear got you?" she asks. Her tone is relatively even and calm - the question itself the only real sign of 'concern' she expresses.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
The appearance of a coffee pot causes her to bring the chair back down to ground. "/Real/ tea? Oooh!" Lydia's face lights up at the prospect of real tea. Well, figuratively it does. It's still lit from within from her glowing veins. "The Lady Grey would be perfect. Kinda thing is nice after a stressful day." She starts snickering again, "It's weird right? That I still like tea? It's weird."

"It's fine, Martin," Lydia insists. "I just need a bit of time for it to wear off. I'll be rrrrrrrright as rain by this time tomorrow." She waves a hand dismissively, "'Sides, you don't eat an angel and then try to walk away like you did nothing. There should be comsequences."

She looks grateful at the change in subject that Jon offers. "I, uh, haven't had a lot of time," she says. "I've gone and scouted two of the ... uh .... locations." Trying to hold onto a single thread of thought is more difficult right now than she expected. "I have the, uh, whachamacallit laid out. The thing that's inside the house before anything else gets put on." She screws her eyes shut trying to think of the word. "Framework! Framework. I've got the framework laid out. Zee and Phoebe are helpin' me with the details. Hope I stop glowing by tomorrow so I can go back to scoutin'."

"Leg's fine," Lydia says, kicking her leg up and pulling up the hem of her pants, showing off pristine alabaster skin backlit with glowing veins. "Didn't even break the skin."

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin smiles at Lydia and nods. "That was my thought too..." he says to the woman. "Can you... can you still -taste- food and drink?" he asks. "I mean... I get that it does nothing for you but... taste is still a thing?"

    He blinks as what they're talking about dawns on him. "Wait... what about the Sephirot?" he asks, peering between Jon and Lydia on expressive eyebrow arched nearly to his hairline.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Lydia got a vision," Jon explains. Just the fact that the kettle's on the boil seems to be helping him relax. "She saw the points of the Star that I'm going after... and she /also/ saw another set of points, which are meant to seal off the Star for good. What I'm doing..." He waves a hand. "It's temporary. It's a holding action. I wouldn't be surprised if my role as 'Champion' is to just be a distraction while other people do the real work." That's not even said bitterly, really. He just seems to figure that's what he'd be best at.

    "Anyway... I'm making it as big and flashy as I can so that Lydia can get her bit done, because /that's/ what's important. That's what will really defend Gaea. My seals will work for a month at best. Lydia's Seal should... well, maybe not let us win. I imagine Michael has a Plan B. But at least it gives us a fighting chance."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Well. I'm glad you're alright," Cael says - allowing a faint frown to show for a moment. "He shouldn't have- well. I suppose he thought he was defending me in some way. But still, if he does something like that again..." It could lead to a lot of trouble. Service dogs were supposed to have good temperments. Was it because she was a vampire...?
    She could only hope.
    She listens to Jon's talk about the plan, giving a brief nod of understanding - as much as she ever understood magic things, anyways. "Well. I- hopefully it works," she agrees - giving Jon a brief, tight smile. She hates the thought of him out there, time and again, flashing his ass at Michael and just waiting to get swatted down. But what other choice was there...?
    Just then there's a knock at the door, and she pushes herself to her feet, opening it to take a plate. "Thanks, Amit," she murmurs. "Look - go take it easy for the rest of the night, okay?" she suggests - before she brings the tray over towards Jon. It has a big, steaming serving of lasagna on it with a meat sauce, in addition to some broccoli - which appears slightly overcooked - and a baked potato with some butter and sourcream beside it.
    "...hopefully they can't get a baked potato wrong, if nothing else," she remarks dryly as she sets the food on the table.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Oh yeah!" Lydia says, grinning like a doofus at Martin. "I taste things better now. You give me soup and I can tell you all the spices and ingredients! Could probably tell you if your chickens were free range or not." She starts giggling again, "All my food is free range." The giggles start turning into snickers, "Locally sourced."

She scowls as Jon answers Martin about the plan. "I don't think it's a...." She holds her hands up. "Don't take this the wrong way. I'm super high and I barely know what I'm saying, but I don't think it's a good idea to talk about that here." She looks at Martin and shakes her head, "It's not you, it's just..." She shakes her head again, trying to clear it. "Look. We got inside people. They /must/ have inside people too. There are /so many/ people here, who knows what kinds of powers and abilities they might have. I Jus'... I jus' don't wanna talk about this at ground zero of the invasion."

She shuts up as soon as she hears the knock on the door. She watches Amit come in with the foot with intense burning eyes, never leaving him until he closes the door. "Like that," she says. "How long had he been standing there? What did he overhear? Who will he talk to about it?" Nevermind the fact that she knows /exactly/ how long the kid was standing there. She could hear his heartbeat through the door. Still, she has a point to make. "I'm just sayin' be careful when you talk about it."

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin waits until the young man has left before he shakes his head. "Grand Central's been warded from angelic energy. Anyone touched by them coming in here should've been thrown out immediately by the ward." He frowns at the woman pursing his lips. "I suspect your physical shell was a buffer against it. Given what it took for that to get through I think we can rule out that method of infiltration for the future."

    "As for any other listeners... defecting? I have a bit more faith in SHIELD's vetting ability when it comes to those they put in position here and from what I hear the... beings... aren't big on taking hostages." He shrugs. Small favors, right? "What I mean is... if we can't talk about plans for you. For Jon. For anyone... here? Where are you supposed to talk about it? The JLD had it's base blown up last I heard and a new one hasn't been found." He pauses. "Unless that was done -while- setting up for island wide invasion..." He glances to the pair of members of the group in question. "Which if so, then you guys are more efficient than even we are... which is... kind of depressing when I think about it too much."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon sighs. "I /live/ here, Lydia. There's nowhere else to talk about most of our plans. And... I can sense minds nearby. There's nobody near the office just now." He shrugs easily. "But it's fine... so long as it's getting done. I trust you."

    He leans forward to pick up the fork and say, "I've had some /very/ dry baked potatoes." He sighs, and then goes ahead and gets started eating. "Anyway, it's working so far. Michael's focused on this, so far as I can tell. Hopefully he'll remain so."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Amit we can trust. I mean - he's not //ninteen,//" Cael rolls her eyes widely at this notion. "But it's a good kid, and he wants to help." And she's keeping him close enough to hand to be sure to get him out safely if the worst happens.
    "I still with there was more I could do," Cael adds in a wry tone, reaching out to rest her hand briefly on Jon's arm - as he leans in to start eating. She gives him a smile, then pulls her hand back so she can go back to petting the dog again.
    "How bad was it out there, Jon? There's more of them now... yeah? Wasn't that the deal?" Her gaze darts towards Lydia as well - including her in the question. She'd been out there as well.
    Even if she was still high as the proverbial kite.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia shakes her head. "We've only just started talking about it," she explains. "They came to me on the Asteroid when they learned that I might know something more." She holds up a hand to forestall any complaint, "I know, I know. Brotherhood bad. I get it. We're just /waiting/ to stab all the flatlines in the back so we can reign supreme after then angels leave, I know. They came to /me/."

"Anyway."

"We're still figuring stuff out. It's been a busy past couple of days, and I can only be in so many places at once," she says. Turning her eyes heavenward she says louder, "Unlike /some/ guys who can be in /two/ places at once!" Lowering her gaze she mumbles, "Stupid Michael and his co location bullshit. But yeah. I'm just saying we have to be careful. The less people who know about it the less chance something can go horribly wrong, and there's /enough/ about this plan that can go horribly wrong anyway."

She turns her burning eyes to Cael. "It's bad," she says soberly. Or, at least, as soberly as she can get in her condition. "We're lucky that they have specific objectives that they're after that /isn't/ 'scourge the city'. We're lucky that this /is/ a game 'cause otherwise we'd be fucked." She giggles a little bit, "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuucked."

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin methodically fixes the tea strainer and shuts off the kettle as the water starts to boil. He pours the water over the strainer in the pot and lets it steep as he looks to Jon with a frown. Lydia's words make a chill run through him. "At least we have a general idea of the board, right?" he says. "And what... you're going to try and mark the 11 points out on his board?" he asks. "Is that... can you do that?" he adds.

    "I mean, I get that you're hyped up on angel blood right now... but the amount of power to fuel 11 separate circles... is that even possible?" He actually understands circle work rather well, after all his mother did it all the time before she died. He was her reluctant helper in the set up of a lot of her workings. "Or are you going to have 11 different people synchronize?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Yes," Jon says softly. "That's rather the point. This has happened before. This happens in other universes. Most of the time it just... happens. We're lucky that we get a chance to stop it. To prove ourselves."

    He looks over at Cael and sighs. "It's... yes. The army destroyed two buildings. We were dealing with whole /battalions/. The bulk of their forces haven't even manifested physically... magically, astrally, the sky is /blanketed/ with angelic energy. It's..."

    He frowns at the woman, and says softly, "Just... just stay in here, please? Where you're safe." A glance to Martin. "Both of you. Please. I can't..." He grips his fork for a moment and then focuses on eating again.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael listens to Lydia and Jon's words about the fight, her attention focusing down on her dog, as she scratches at Bear's head, and seeks comfort in his unrelenting good cheer. What a good boy.
    She can't help but hear that pain in Jon's voice, though, and she lifts her gaze to look towards him with a faint frown. "I'm safe, Jon," she promises him, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "I just wish- I hate not being able to be there for you. I'm sure it eats at Martin, too. You be careful - and we'll stay safe."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"It's gonna be /massive/," Lydia says, throwing her arms out wide to the side to show how massive it'll be. "Huge! You'll be able to see it from Mars when it goes off. We're gonna have to either drain the leyline that runs under Manhattan, or sap the entire electrical grid of Manhattan. Maybe the neighboring Burroughs, too. But I think the leyline is the better option 'cause it /comes/ from Gaea so we're just using her power to seal herself. Be easier that way."

She shakes her head at Martin. "Only going to need three. One to summon the raw energy, one to turn that energy into action, and one to apply /intent/ so the action knows what to do. Then, blip blip blip blip blip!" She says making little ladder motions with her fingers, "The other seven circles carry out their orders in turn which once all ten are going, the eleventh is the seal itself."

"Guess where that one is gonna be? /Just guess/." She gets a huge shit eating grin. "Right smack dab in the middle of the Great Lawn in Central Park. It's got a natural circle built in! Well. More of an oval. But it'll work! For centuries people are going to wonder why playing baseball there is so relaxing."

She nods to herself seeming to have come to a resolution. "Right," she says standing up. "I'm horny as fuck. I'm going back to the asteroid have I'm going to have mind blowing sex with my girlfriend." With that, she gracefully turns around and makes her way out the office, presumably to hunt down Clarice and have her send her to the Asteroid. Again.

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin blinks as the woman leaves the room. "I... I guess that's that then..." he says swallowing down an uncomfortable urge to giggle himself. High people are funny. High vampries are funnier. High vampires juiced with angelic blood are the best. Noted. "I think one of us is going to need to have two cups" he says looking at the tea.

    He nods to Cael and Jon. "It does. But we will and you will to... I think... whatever happened to you out there... when you fell you should've hit harder than you did. Something flared to intercede when you hit the ground. A shield? Can you do that unconciously now?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon raises his hand. "Me. I just tried to wrest a wellspring to my will directly, which... was foolish, in retrospect. Much easier with the water. I'll have to remember that, for next time. But. That means I get two cups of tea." So there.

    "Gaea's protecting me. I have a kind of... well. I have a shield, to keep me from harm, until it's time for me to... not be kept from harm." He sighs. "It's part of this... power-up that Gaea's giving me in response to Fairchild."

    He watches Lydia go with narrowed eyes. "Cael, did someone get the bodycam from Terry like I asked? I think I need to go over the footage of the battle. I was so distracted, I missed a /lot/."

Cael Becker has posed:
    As Lydia traipses off, Cael talks a moment to give Jon a very dry 'She's //your// crazy vampire friend' look.
    The conversation stays on serious topics, however, including a not-terribly-veiled illusion to Jon's fated demise. She struggles to keep her expression calm and unchanged, when all she wants to do is scream, and upend the damned table she's sitting on.
    "Umm... Yeah. I kept it myself, actually," she remarks. Had she been considering watching it on her own? Surely not. Reaching into her pocket she pulls out the body game - and sets it on the table beside Jon's meal without another word.

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin sighs as Jon speaks of his end. He can't ignore it forever. He'll have to acknowledge it sometime. But right now wasn't that time. "You think watching it will give you some advantage in the next meeting?" he asks curiously. "Are they really that predictable..." He pauses and considers.

    "I guess they might be... always with the 'Fear Not' and the same general manifestations over the course of... thousands of years..." He shakes his head, still uncomfortable with the concept. Another thing he'll acknowledge later. Now focus. Help Jon. Stabilize Jon. Keep Jon alive. And not to forget the most important thing: Get Jon tea. He turns to start serving the tea for the three of them.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Perhaps. Perhaps not. But it's worth taking a look, trying to see if there's anything that help us in the future. It's the only way we keep casualty numbers down."

    Jon sighs and looks to Cael. "Were you planning to watch this...?" A pause, and then, softly, "I... was going to say it might be a good idea. Exposure therapy, watching them somewhere safe, with someone safe, where they can't hurt you. Get used to seeing them." He reaches out to place a hand on Cael's, looking up at her with concern. "That's up to you, and Caldwell, now, but I'm... willing, if you want to watch it with me?" He glances at Martin. "I... know you won't." And that's okay, he's trying to say.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I, uhh... I was going to see if I could," Cael admits quietly, looking down at Jon's hand over hers, then briefly towards Jon, then back down to their hands once more. Did she want to see it with Jon? She didn't want to presume to ask. But if he was offering...
    She gives a small, jerky nod of her head before saying brusquely, "You should finish your food first, though. Drink your tea... and maybe get a nap. Okay? We can watch it later."
    She pushes herself up to her feet as she adds, "In the meantime, Agent Bear and I should get some returning supplies re-organized."

Martin Blackwood has posed:
    Martin nodded. "I'll see that he gets a nap after the tea" he says to Cael as she rises. "And that he eats..." he says. Moving in to sit next to Jon in her stead. "You be careful to not overwork yourself either got it?" he says sternly.

    He may not be in a romantic relationship with Cael, but he also felt that her safety and sanity was a part of his responsibility as the other member of their V formation. "I mean it. You get tired... take a break. What do you think I'm doing now?" He nods to her though with a soft smile as she goes to her task.