Owner Pose
Jonathan Sims     Two rooms have been discovered off the main "sitting" area, a place where the Justice League Dark can train and a library that Jon is oddly reticent about poking around in without a group. Evidently he's genuinely worried about 'evil books.' There's a long hall full of doros that won't open, and of course the castle exterior, but mostly if anyone comes to the place they're in the room with the piano and bar and chairs and couches. So that's where Jon is, waiting for Rien, because he promised he'd check in and see how she's doing after her encounter with Michael.

    The piano in the Velvet Room has a much wider variety of music than it once did, and Jon has discovered, from idly asking, that the piano will now take requests. If Nameless has been taught a song--and played it the requisite 22 times--it can be requested. So it's Satie's "Gymnopedie No. 1" playing on loop at the moment, while Jon sits at the bar with a lit cigarette, pondering whether to actually drink anything. He's dressed for the weather in New York, a sweater and jeans and sneakers, violet hair fading and pulled back into a ponytail that falls to a little past his shoulders by now.
Rien D'Arqueness It's time.

Rien has put off talking about it long enough. Or rather, she's attempted to talk about it to the wrong person and is now admitting that she needs to speak to the right one. Still, she knows that Jon is no longer practicing, and she doesn't feel comfotable in coming empty-handed. So it is that when the door opens and she steps through, she's carrying a small covered tray. The scent of baked goods and chocolate is present for anyone with the nose to sense it.

Her own hair is left loose, as it often is, and she's dressed in subtle yet stylish outfit. "Jon. Thanks for agreeing to talk." Approaching the bar, she sets the tray down and smiles faintly, "Fresh croissants and some nice dark chocolate. Baked them myself."
Jonathan Sims     Jon peers around at the smell, and raises an eyebrow. "You really didn't have to bring anything. Not that I'm not grateful, it smells delicious. But I don't mind listening. Part of the job, you might say." Still, he reaches out to peek under the cover of the tray. Look, he's not going to turn /down/ freshly-baked crossaints and chocolate. That would be silly. He glances up with a smile, and adds, "Thank you."

    Taking out a croissant, he says, "You know, I had dreams about this when I was in the desert, starving. Croissants and chocolate. There's just nothing like a good croissant, and I know that's probably /terrible/ to hear in an English accent." He grins, and gestures to a seat at the bar. "How've you been? Want a drink?"
Rien D'Arqueness Rien clucks her tongue, "Your job is to take down statements. Which, yes, is listening. But not this kind of listening. You already have Michael's statement, this one would be.. superfluous." She smiles faintly, "Which means you're doing this as a favor, and favors get repaid. However inadequately." Chuckling softly, she dips a nod, "You're welcome."

She looks to the treat and smiles, "I would say that my mother would make these whenever I was feeling poorly as a child.. but that would be a lie. My mother never baked anything, and certainly never for me." She motions to the tray, "I actually got this recipe while in the French Foreign Legion. My capitaine gave me the recipe... shortly before he died." She frowns faintly, then shakes her head, "Apologies."

Taking the offered seat, she chuckles softly, "Mmm, if I'm voluntarily coming to talk to you about something, then I've probably been better. And thank you no. The quantity I would have to drink to get anything from it would preclude actual speech." She motions, a bottle of water appearing in front of her, "This will do. But please, don't withhold on my account."

Looking back to Jon, she lifts a brow, "I should be asking how -you- are. This.. all of this, it was strange, there were points that were painful. But it was largely impersonal for me. Or rather, it was more about making sure that you all survived to the best of my ability. It was deeply personal for you." She smiles softly, "So. How are -you- feeling?"
Jonathan Sims     "By 'my job' I meant as one of the leaders of the Justice League Dark," Jon replies quite seriously. "You were hurt in the course of a mission that we went on, that I was at least nominally leading. Part of the responsibility I took on when I offered to lead the group was seeing to the well-being of our members. To be quite frank--/not/ checking in on people is precisely what led to the whole angel business in the first place. So." He smiles. "It's my job. But thank you all the same. I'm grateful you've shared the recipe from an old friend."

    He eyes the bar for a moment and then reaches over for a bottle of scotch and pours himself a glass. "I am..." He hesitates. "I am angry," he admits. "Not at you, or anyone else that's... around, really. At the situation. At... people who left, people who didn't help. And there's other things. A couple of close friends have gone missing, and there's only so much I can do to help. In one case, almost nothing at all." He shrugs. "I'm not good at being angry. Honestly not certain what to do with it, beyond trying to burn gouges in the training room floor."

    A pause, as he swirls the liquid around in his glass. "But that's part of why I agreed to talk to you. Helping someone else, listening, well... it keeps me busy. Lets me help, and forget what I'm angry about for a little while. It's better than wallowing."
Rien D'Arqueness Chuckling softly, Rien leans in towards him, "I get hurt quite a lot, Jon. But I always come through. It's.. what I was made to do. Survive." She straightens and smiles at him, "But I do appreciate you talking with me. This one was... a bit rougher than the usual physical injury." She looks to the croissants and smiles, "I like making them. It brings back good memories of times well-spent in various wartorn shitholes around the world." There's the Logan talking.

She settles in, watching him as he speaks. She smiles faintly when he admits to being angry, then leans in again and lifts her brows, "If you don't mind my asking... why are you mad at other people and not at me? I left, too. Granted, I came back at the end, but there was a significant portion of the.. everything... that I missed out on." Her brows lift gently, "So why are you mad at others and not me?" The mention of missing friends that he can't help, she reaches over and pats lightly at his hand, "There's only so much that you can do on your own, Jon. You need to let others help, too. It isn't that you're doing 'nothing', you're taking care of yourself and trusting your friends and associates to handle business while you're away." There's a faint smile for him as she straightens.

Pausing, she murmurs, "Take it from someone with deep, personal experience, Jon. Anger doesn't just... go away. You have to deal with the source of it or it's just going to stay and fester and turn you bitter and hateful." Drawing in a deep breath and letting it out, she looks at him, "We're all of us deeply troubled people, or we wouldn't be in this business. It seems to be a pre-requisite, really. We get through it because we all have each others' backs. That means we need to have yours too, it isn't just a one-way street."
Jonathan Sims     Jon blinks at Rien. "/Because/ you came back. Because you're here /now/. I'm usually fairly quick to forgive--probably too quick, really. But you, well... you were dealing with demons, yes? Something important, making sure a flank was held up. I can't fault you for that. I'm not mad at everyone who didn't help, it's... more targeted than that. For all I know some of the people who didn't show up were making sure some key portion of the universe didn't fall apart while we were fixing things. The people I'm mad at for that, it's more... personal."

    He sighs, and peers at the croissant for a moment. "Some of it's just... everything that happened finally hitting me. The angels gave Chas ten thousand dollars and a pat on the back, while how many people died? Not that I want them meddling, but they could... I don't know, give us a couple million to give to the families." Another sigh. "People I care about are hurting and I don't know what to do, and the people who are at fault are... dead, or /left/."

    A shrug, and they smile at Rien, a little wryly. "I used to pretend I wasn't angry, is part of it. I used to tell myself things were my fault so I wouldn't be angry at people. Can't do that anymore, I can't /consciously/ lie to myself. Came with the merging with Ma'at. So who knows but that some of it isn't just three decades of repressed anger bubbling up now that I can't repress it anymore?" He glowers. "I /know/ the bit where I'm pissed at John bloody Constantine is /years/ in coming, but that's... well. That's probably something I'll just have to let go of, in time. Not like the blighter's gonna show up and actually try to /fix/ any of the things he broke. But I think I need to let myself be angry for a bit before I can get to 'fuck it I don't care about him anymore.'"

    He smirks at Rien. "But... /you/ are neatly avoiding talking about what you need to talk about. You saw Michael's history, yes? All fourteen billion years of it? Hell of a thing, isn't it?" He takes a bite of the croissant, maybe deliberately filling his mouth so he has to listen for a bit.
Rien D'Arqueness "I came back because others stepped up to help take care of the demons. It's all a very large give and take. We all come back when we're able... even that one." Rien lifts a small shrug, and offers a wry smile. "We both know that he will -always- march to his own drum, no matter how much it fucks over everyone else. The best we can do is work around him and use him when we can." She eyes the bar for a moment as if reconsidering having a drink, but then sighs and lifts her water for a sip.

Looking back to Jon, she smiles faintly, "The list of people angru at John Constantine is neverending. You could start with Hell and go up from there and the universe would experience heat death before you got through the list." Shaking her head, Rien looks off to the distance, "I've discovered that there's no point in being angry at him. It's like being made at the sky for being blue. But... I recognize that you'll have to come to that point on your own. If you ever just need an outlet and want to yell, or spar, to get it out? Let me know."

The mention that she's deflecting has her chuckling, "Noticed, hm? I've gotten good at it across the decades. But.. yes. The entirety of creation is in my head and it's... a trip. To say the least. I'm still trying to sort through it all, and frankly, I don't know how long it will take to truly parse everything. But.. it's definitely a lot. It rendered me fully catatonic for the better part of two days. That's never happened before."
Jonathan Sims     "Like I said... I'm only /just/ letting myself feel the anger at John. And I'm angry for Chas' sake more than my own. I just..." Jon shakes his head. "It'll pass. It's just, like you said, a matter of not being bitter in the meantime."

    Then he's quiet, eating the croissant while Rien talks. "I'm not sure the Archive will /ever/ be done sorting through Michael's statement, and I'm /meant/ to have that in my head," he notes softly. The anger's drained away, replaced with sympathy and understanding. He really isn't good at being angry; this is much more familiar territory. "It's a wonder you or Robbie are sane and coherent at all. Michael did that to me as /torture/. Part of paying back what I did to his wing." He shudders, briefly, and takes a sip of the scotch.

    They eye Rien for a moment. "Who was it you tried to talk to before? Robbie, or someone else?"
Rien D'Arqueness Nodding, Rien smiles softly, "Time is the one thing we just can't rush. But I have every confidence that you'll come through it just fine. You have an excellent support system in your husband and girlfriend, you have your daughter who loves you... seem pretty well set up for successful resolution to your feelings." She pauses, then clears her throat, "Not that I'm a therapist at all."

As they talk, she chuckles softly, "Healing factor. My brain isn't allowed to break. Now, that said, it took me down for two days just to get to a point of being able to sift through it without causing MASSIVE neurologic breakdown. So that's a thing." Rien lifts a small shrug and smiles, "Now it's... going through sections that are small enough to actually process without breaking my mind. As small sections complete, I can start sifting through individual memories. Takes time and effort for both, though, and right now I'm content just getting through the 'sections' part of it."

Pausing, she chuckles, "Robbie. I was hoping, since he saw it too, that he would have insight. He's... being a guy."
Jonathan Sims     "I keep... seeing it in my dreams. The beginning of everything. The sheer magnitude of..." Jon stops, and shudders, and shakes his head. "It's a lot. I'm not certain it didn't break me. I certainly... changed, a lot, since I took it in."

    They smirk. "I /am/ a therapist, but I'm not certain how to even go about... 'how does seeing the entire history of the universe make you feel'?" They snort. "I suppose I would ask... you didn't ask for it, quite. Robbie and I both... judge souls, and part of judgement is taking in that information. When I gave myself up to Michael I knew he'd probably give me his statement; I was counting on it. I wanted that information, to help us defeat him... and it /did/ help. As much as it was, at least I was expecting it. You... got caught up in the backlash, right?"

    He picks up a piece of chocolate and raises a brow. "'Being a guy'? In what sort of way?" A pause. "I... would not discuss the contents of most statements, admittedly. I consider them privileged information. This instance is somewhat different, given we have the same information and the way Michael gave it to me. But is it possible he's trying for some kind of... professional discretion? Or is he refusing to admit anything's wrong at all?"
Rien D'Arqueness "I don't remember my dreams, or even if I dream. But I will freely admit to being something of an odd duck out even amongst the odd ducks. It seems to be processing much more smoothly now that my brain and mutation have figured out how to work together on it. And I'm certain that I could enchant myself to speed up the process... but frankly at this moment, I don't see a need to. I'm immortal. Barring death of the multiverse, I have all the time in the world." Rien lifts a shrug and smiles faintly.

Laughing lightly, she gives a nod, "Yeah, something about that is a little strange, to say the least." She cants her head, brows drawing together before offering, "I'm used to seeing the worst the universe has to offer... it's sort of my job. So seeing... pure creation? That was... different. Difficult, in a way. I think at the beginning, I broke myself just trying to reject the beauty of it all." Letting out a breath as a small laugh, Rien smiles faintly, "But I'm learning to live with it. And honestly, I'm not quite sure WHAT it was that I got caught up in. I know that the Rider was trying to Penance Stare Michael, and instead... all of Michael's memories flooded through. Maybe because I was physically touching him at the time?"

Rien lets out a real laugh and grins at Jon, "You know exactly what that means. He's pulling the 'everything is fine I'm fine stop asking it's fine' bit. He refuses to talk about any of it, so I just try to help him deal with it by making other parts of his life less difficult."
Jonathan Sims     "The Ghost Riders, I have found, are cocky assholes," Jon says bluntly. "Not the mortals involved, but their... companions? Allies? Whatever they are. I was /intended/ to judge angels and immortals, beings with eons of memory to consider in weighing their souls. The Ghost Riders, to my knowledge, mostly deal with mortals. I offload a /lot/ of the memory and actual /judgement/ to the Archive and my gods. Literal /gods/, not... demons. And even with all of that, even with being literally /created/ to judge immortals like Michael specifically, that statement was /hard/."

    He sighs. "I suppose I'm saying... what happened is /precisely/ what I would have expected to hear happened when a Ghost Rider tried to Penance Stare the being that created the universe. How else do you judge that soul? Make him feel his sins? You have to understand the /entirety/ of him, and that's... huge. And I doubt the Rider thought that through, because they don't seem to. If that one is anything like Johnny's, then it thinks that it has sole authority to judge whatever target it's got in its sights, and never mind whether that's a good idea, let alone whether anyone else was already involved."

    They shake their head. "Sorry, ahh... I've had some issues. But not with Robbie, specifically, so I'm trying not to pre-judge him. He's been a great help thus far. But yes, you're probably right--the Rider did its Penance Stare, it was more than he could handle, you were touching him, you got caught up in the business."

    He swirls the scotch around in his glass and takes a sip, then says, "I presume he's /not/ fine, by the way you say that. How bad?"
Rien D'Arqueness "I would have to agree with that assessment, if only because I've come across Spirits of Vengeance before. Technically I -should- be hunting them as demons but... they also hunt demons, human or otherwise. So... it feels almost like trying to arrest a fellow cop?" Rien shakes her head lightly and lifts a shrug, "So I tend to give the Riders a pretty wide berth. Less so with Robbie, but he's.. a special circumstance." She clears her throat, "That said, I have an advantage, an innate one, that I think is what saved me. Being an odd amalgamation of mutant and magi gives me a leg up on most when it comes to.. surprises. The magi part means I've studied extensively regarding immortal beings, and being one myself gives me a potentially greater capacity overall. Where my father deals with it by locking things away and 'forgetting' them.. I've been trained in how to deal with eternal life and the excessive amount of information I can expect to deal with."

She chuckles softly and gives a nod, "I didn't think of it in the moment, I just wanted to make sure that Robbie wasn't too badly injured. Michael is one of the few beings capable of permanently injuring or ending him." Her fingertips play lightly along the bartop in a brief melody before she's looking back to Jon and chuckling. "I keep meaning to have a talk with Johnny. That's a confrontation that needs to happen."

Nodding, she grins, "I know the feeling. Robbie's Spirit is.. different. It isn't the usual sort of melding of man and demon." Rien glances down at the bar, then murmurs, "I don't think so. But I think it's more than just the Michael thing. That certainly didn't help but there's... he acts suicidal at times, deathproof at others. He's started warming up to me, which is nice, I really like him. But.. this will not be a -smooth- relationship by any means."
Jonathan Sims     Jon ponders that for a long moment. "Obviously full membership isn't just my decision; it's on Phoebe, too, and whomever we add as the third member of the trinity. I would say dying 58 times, 'real' or no, to help us get our base, qualifies him for that. But I'm going to have to at least figure out..." He 'tsks.' "Suicidal and deathproof are /both/ liabilities in the field, but this is an irregular group. I'll have to figure out how bad it is, and plan accordingly."

    Rien never knew Jon all that well or all that long, but there's a /marked/ difference between the man she'd met back in December and the one sitting here now in late April. More confident, sure, somehow both more angry and less tense, but sometimes, when he's talking about these leadership things, he slips into a quasi-military mode. It might just be the SHIELD training, but it /is/ different. Four months ago, Jonathan Sims would have been more directly concerned that the man was suicidal at /all/, not that it would be a potential liability. The sad part is, he probably doesn't even realize what's gone.

    He chews on his lip a moment, then says, "Well... I'll be talking to Robbie anyway, just to get to know him. I'll see... well... if it's something deep-seated a single talk won't fix it." A smirk. "A smooth relationship, in the Justice League Dark? Perish the thought. You looked good together, the other night. I hope it works out."

    He regards Rien curiously for a moment. "You seem very well-adjusted for someone who needed to talk. Not that I'm complaining, though I'm glad to listen if you've had any thoughts of harming yourself or anything. I have no obligation to run off and tell anyone. Maybe you really were well-prepared, aside from... the beauty. It... /was/ beautiful, wasn't it?"
Rien D'Arqueness "I would be happy to offer endorsement of him for membership. Obviously, it isn't as though the Ghost Riders aren't already in the JLD. But we have the opportunity to have the full set just now, and having -three- of them, potentially working together? That would be a fearsome force." Rien remarks on it with no small amount of amusement. She reaches out to pat lightly at the back of his hand again, "I have every faith that the two of you will find an excellent 'third'."

To the matter of his suicidal tendencies, she shakes her head, "It's not Robbie, though. It's the Rider. He doesn't overtly want to die, he just... doesn't care. He's there for the fight, for the thrill. Robbie is the one focusing that towards good ends." Rien lifts a small shrug, "I'm trying work with him on ways to keep the Rider more.. in check. But I expect that to be an uphill battle."

Looking to Jon, Rien just watches him for a few long moments before offering a faintly sad smile towards the man for what he hasn't realized he's lost. She's not going to start that spiral, however, so she simply gives a nod, "Good. Robbie could certainly stand to talk to someone. He won't speak about it to me, but.. I don't know that you'll have an easy time of it with him either. He is -very- stubborn." There's a cluck of her tongue for the comment about smooth relaitonships before grinning briefly, "Thank you. We... fit well together."

Clearing her throat, she takes a moment to sip at her water before murmuring, "Talking about it helps. Even just talking around it. It's like... you know how you can get a song stuck in your head and it's just.. always there? And there's periods where you aren't thinking about it because you're busy but as soon as you settle down it's there again? It's sort of like that. It's always -there-, in the back of my head. Miracles. Atrocities. Eons of growth, death, change, decay..."
Jonathan Sims     "Mmmm, okay. /That's/ a different story. The Archivist can be like that, or it... could, before I got control over things. After all, if I died the Archive would just pop off to someone else, maybe someone less likely to die so quickly, so why worry about little things like danger?" Jon snorts.

    "I don't know if I can get through to him at all, but I've hardly talked to him. We'll see. Some men don't want to admit weakness in front of a woman they're interested in, and some don't want to admit it at all." He rolls his eyes. "Here's hoping he's the former, hmm, and willing to talk to... well. Nominally male. Or at least willing to talk /around/ the subject."

    He goes back to the croissant, picking out a bit of it and stuffing a bit of chocolate in the resulting hole. "I know what you mean. The Archive's like that... pretty much all the time. Michael's statement itself is... a little more walled off from my everyday consciousness because of that, thankfully, but I get flashes, glimpses. Especially at night. Looking up at the sky, sometimes I'll... remember how it all began, and it hits me all over again."
Rien D'Arqueness Nodding, Rien smiles, "Apologies. I didn't mean to make it sound as if Robbie himself is suicidal. He's not. He's actually pretty well grounded, if in dire need of a good laugh." She lifts a small shrug, "The Rider is... interesting. I both want and don't want to talk to it. Eventually I will I'm sure." She isn't sure how to feel about that.

Chuckling, she murmurs, "At all. He's -extremely- private. He didn't even really want me meeting his brother but... that happened. So, he's adaptable, and has seemed okay with his brother and I getting along well. Good kid." Rien looks to Jon and smiles, "It will be like pulling teeth that are actively nipping at you. Watch your fingers."

"Yes! Precisely. I can go hours, even a day or so, not thinking about it. And then I'll look up at the sky or see a flash of light and BAM. It's there all over again." She lets out a huff. "I don't mind things processing or working but.. ugh."
Jonathan Sims     "He may have meant it to torment me, but I see it as a gift, in a lot of ways. And... well, the way I look at it, now that the original Michael's dead, even with the new one... the new version doesn't have the same emotions about everything. Wouldn't have had the same experiences. So the memories of the being that created the universe, that caused all that beauty to come into being, are in the Archive, so long as it exists." Jon smiles. "I find it helps, thinking about it that way. If you're likely to live forever... well... perhaps it's a stoke of good fortune that you can also bear those memories, as heavy as they may be. And if you're lucky... maybe in a very long, it will still be just as beautiful. Make the long existence... worthwhile. Michael certainly seemed to think his life was still worth living, as old as he was."

    A heavy sigh. "As for Robbie... I've cracked tougher nuts, but it's always a matter of their /wanting/ to be cracked. They have to peck the shell from the inside, as it were. So we'll see. I know it's likely to require some work, some time, building trust. It usually does." He pops the croissant into his mouth, chocolate in the center, and smiles as he chews. Look, chocolate inside a croissant is /delicious/.
Rien D'Arqueness "It wasn't meant for me at all, but I still consider it a gift. It's an extremely rare opportunity to be privy to the creation of the universe." Rien gives a small smile and brushes her thumb across the bottle of water looking down at the bottle. When she looks back to Jon, the smile bightens, "There is a lot of beauty in Michael's memories. The world before people, before even many animals... was beautiful. Even as people began to populate it... there was beauty to be seen. But it's... like a time lapse of the life of a flower. Watching it go from seed in the ground to sprout, blooming in full, then slowly dying and decaying until what's left is... unpalatable. You can see his perspective change..."

She chuckles softly and murmurs, "I don't envy you this nut to crack, Jon. But.. probably best to wait for him to approach. Otherwise he tends to feel cornered, and acts like it."
Jonathan Sims     "Well I have to at least talk to him /generally/," Jon notes, having swallowed the croissant. "But I'll do my best not to push. Keep it business-like, hmm?"

    He takes a swig of whiskey, and says, "So... you're doing alright, day to day? I don't need to recommend a therapist that won't scoff at the idea that you got the entire history of the universe shoved into your head?" He says that entirely seriously. Maybe he knows such therapists? "I mean, naturally, I suggest everyone see a therapist, but I know for a lot of people in our line of work that's a difficult proposition. Either way, you can feel free to talk to me about it whenever you need to."
Rien D'Arqueness "Well, yes, I'm not suggesting you -not- talk to him at all... just... yes. Try not to push him until he's ready to hear what you have to say," Rien gives a nod towards Jon, smiling faintly.

She sips from her water and gives a nod, "Overall, yes. There are difficult moments or days. But today has been a good one. Having Robbie helps, even if he doesn't want to talk. He listens. And.. he distracts very, very well." She chuckles softly, then blinks, then laughs. "Oh please no. Don't inflict me on anyone you respect or like. They would have to unpack the whole... everything? ANd that's a bit much for anyone to handle. It's a lot for ME to handle and I lived it."
Jonathan Sims     "That is, quite literally, their job," Jon replies with a smirk. "I'm happy to make recommendations, but if not, I won't push. The offer's open, however. As it is... well... probably best to give me a call if it all gets overwhelming."

    He settles into more of a genuine smile. "I /am/ glad you came back, by the way. It's good to have someone... level headed around. Relatively level-headed anyway. So many of our people are either unwilling to admit there's anything wrong or overly dramatic or both." A pause. "I'm the latter, by the by. Never said /I/ was level-headed."
Rien D'Arqueness Chuckling, Rien nods, "I know, but... for the most part, I've taken the time to make peace with my past. Or, as much as I'm ever going to, anyways. Some hurts even time can't heal. But I can accept that they are what they are, and just be grateful that my present is better than my past." She smiles faintly, "That said, I will gladly call you up when I somehow manage to get super drunk so I can ugly cry at you about my horrible childhood."

Nodding, her smiles warm a few degrees, "As I told Robbie, barring death, I will always return. I felt comfortable in stepping away to deal with the rising demon issues because I knew there were good people in place to carry through. But once that was under control, there was no way I was letting you finish it on your own." Winking at him, she chuckles, "My father is Logan Howlett. How odd is it that -I'm- the level-headed one?"
Jonathan Sims     "I'd say horrible childhoods are a prerequisite for this business, but Lydia claims she actually had a /good/ childhood." Jon smirks. "I keep expecting her to admit she's lying... but then she's a vampire, now. Perhaps that balances it out, hmm?"

    Jon chuckles. "Perhaps that's precisely why. Your family is... a /lot/, so how bad can the rest of us possibly be? It was good to know people were out there making sure we didn't get blindsided by demons or anything else taking advantage. I'm grateful, really."

    His scotch glass is empty; he eyes the bottle, then puts the glass down; somehow, the room cleans things up and provides fresh glassware. "Was there anything you needed that you haven't brought up yet? I really don't mind a call or a text whenever you need, but it's getting late."
Rien D'Arqueness "I would like to think that my early life did a lot for my current forbearance and ability to maintain, yes." Rien flashes a quick grin and chuckles, then motions to herself, "I mean, really, my name says everything about how my family was. And I really only got that name in my -second- trip through the sixties. Prior to that I had no name at all." She glances to the piano, "Which is perhaps why I insist on calling him anything BUT Nameless."

She lets out a sigh, then shakes her head, "Nothing as of now. I actually meant to pick up some takeout and check on Robbie and Gabe, see if they were down for a movie night."
Jonathan Sims     "If he claims Nameless as his name... I'm not going to argue with him." Jon smiles at Rien, a bit sadly. "But... I understand. I'd like to hear that story, sometime..." His eyes flash oddly for a moment, teal overlaying brown, and then he blinks and shakes his head.

    He sighs. "Damn, I need a live statement. But not now. I need to go see my husband before he implodes, and convince him to move back to Chelsea. Between the Velvet Room and portals, no real need to worry about commute, you know?"
Rien D'Arqueness "I know but... he doesn't know any better, and that makes me sad for him," Rien glances to the piano before looking back to Jon with a faint smile. "And definitely. We'll schedule a time, AFTER your vacation, and I will sit down and give you my statement. Sans the 14 billion years of memories. Since you have that already." She gives a quick grin and nudges the tray towards him, "Take the croissants and chocolate, tell him I said hello and the treats are my apology for keeping you later than you'd intended."
Jonathan Sims     "He'll understand. He used to be the one coming home late all the time." Jon smiles, but there's a vague underlying tightness there. Nonetheless he gathers up the croissants and the chocolates and says, "Thank you. Really. Be well, alright?"

    He stands, then, starting to munch on another croissant as he heads out. They're good!