Owner Pose
Jonathan Sims     Jon and Phoebe have both been over the ruins of Laughing Magician several times now, making sure all the magical bits and bobs are removed and none of the really good alcohol got left behind. They've both double-checked on the wards, and met angels in the then snow-soaked bar. Phoebe might have gone over the Curio; Jon has not. But with new leadership in the Justice League Dark, and preparations to truly make the Velvet Room their new base, a few member of the JLD have gathered to give things a last once-over before declaring it well and truly condemned. Well, the Laughing Magician, at least. The Curio's still livable, even if they're talking about taking down the wards.

    The bar and the loft above still gape open to the sky, which has been that cloudy gray with streaks of bright blue that only seems to happen in spring. Chilly enough for a jacket, but not so cold that it needs to be a heavy jacket. Jonathan Sims has shaved off his beard and re-dyed his hair to be shades of blue and teal and bleached blonde, which all rather stands out aside from his relatively normal outfit of jacket and jeans and sneakers. He's standing in the middle of the room, looking up at the hole in the ceiling, squinting, with his hands on his hips. One of those hands is shimmery emerald green, clearly magical.

    "I wish we could get the buildings back to Liverpool," he grumbles. "But I suppose we'd have to find out what's been done with the ones that got swapped over. Maybe best left alone, hmm?"
Lydia Dietrich     Lydia had volunteered to help out tonight. It's been a while since she'd been to the place. She never had the kind of emotional attachment to it like some of the other members of the JLD has, but still... it was a magical oddity. A twist in the fabric of the universe while it still stood whole. Now it's just.... rubble.

    She's dressed for the occasion to pick through the wreckage. Hiking boots with her jeans tucked in, white t-shirt with a red button up flannel shirt tossed over it, left unbuttoned and her brown curly hair has been tied back into a bun to keep it out of the way. As always the golden dots of ectoplasm float about her, twinkling in and out of existence.

    "I don't know if they'd suddenly want a wrecked pub appearing out of nowhere," she tells Jon. "They've probably repurposed them by now like we've done these. Who knows what would happen if we tried to switch them back."
Rien D'Arqueness "So... there's just a couple of New York high rises that are randomly in the middle of Liverpool? That seems like it should have made the news... and probably something we should correct if we can," Rien seems far from appalled, more amused, as she looks over the building with eyes that glow a light blue (apart from her usual deep blue eyes), trying to make sure nothing magical, mystical, otherworldly, etc. still remains.

She's dressed like she stepped off a cover of a fashion magazine, an ombre poncho-style jacket over a charcoal grey turtleneck tucked into slimfit jeans that are likewise tucked into knee-high black boots with a low heel. Hands tucked into her pockets, Rien glances around, "The damage can be fixed fairly easily. It's the swapping of the buildings themselves that would be a pain in the ass."
Dex Alruin     Didn't... Didn't Dex have a job?

    How long has it been since he's heard from the Laughing Magician, or the group that he had joined? It's been... months? Had he really lost that much time to his tinkering? And without much improvement to his Proto Shot, he saw it as potentially wasted time. But... then the question nagged at him. WHY hadn't he been called recently? He takes the pendant he had been given, having forgotten how it works in his repair work, and slings his Proto Shot onto his back in case something is wrong.

    He makes his way to Hell's Kitchen, then glances at the bar he had been working in. Only to see it... destroyed. He stands there for a long, long moment, then walks down the stairs and into what was the building. What had happened? He spots others milling through the rubble, and not spotting the leader he expected, approaches the man with the strange hand.

    "Excuse me... I... work here, or used to... what happened to this place? And is everyone okay?" He stares up through the roof, wondering just what he had missed... and how long he had truly been away. This definitely just didn't happen overnight.
Jonathan Sims     Jon sighs and rubs at his face, nodding to Lydia. "You've got a point, I suppose. It just... it /bothers/ me. It did from the start. But at some point you do kind of go, well... the building's there now, what are you going to do?" He frowns and turns to say something else when Dex comes in.

    "You worked here? I didn't know Chas had anyone but Phoebe..." He frowns, and looks the man over. Nothing obviously magical, so he relaxes just a little and says, "Well, things were a bit hectic at the end. Ahh, yes, everyone's okay... now. I'm Jonathan Sims, the Archivist." If Dex paid any attention to the news over the past few months that /might/ be vaguely familiar. Maybe. "Were you recruited into the Night Brigade?"
Lydia Dietrich     "I know," Lydia replies. "It sent unConstantine into a hissy fit that you insinuated that his actions was gentrification." She starts to wander about the place and pick apart the rubble, using her ectoplasm to pull up the heavy parts so she can peer beneath. Most of what was wrecked was above the dining room, so there really isn't too much to see.

    "Like I said, Rien, I guess it all depends on what they're doing with them. It's been...." she does some mental math, and when she comes up with a figure she rubs her face with her hands, "God. At least nine months since they were swapped out. They may not even /want/ the buildings back."

    She considers Dex a moment, trying to place the face. "Yeah. Chas had a couple of people working for him. People who could /legally/ serve drinks. "I think I recognize you. Darrell? Damon? Something beginning with D."
Rien D'Arqueness "I don't know that what the individuals want is what matter, Lydia. Those buildings don't -belong- there. The angels aren't the only extradimensional authorities, and most of them pay closer attention than the Heavenly Host seems to do. Besides, I think it would behoove us to put back the things that unConstantine fucked up. It's still under our purview." Rien lifts a shrug towards Lydia before looking over to Dex. She blinks and her eyes return to a very normal blue, a smile crossing her lips. She glances sidelong to Jon, then to Lydia, then back to Dex. "Not sure if we've met before but I'm sorry it isn't under better circumstances. There was an attack on the city, and the Laughing Magician was caught up in it."
Dex Alruin     Dex seems... shocked, to say the least. Everyone is treating this as though it was a distant event, and here he is, thinking it was odd he hadn't been called to work. As he looks at the assembled group, he puts his hands in his pokcets, kicking at a piece of debris. "I should've been here, damnit. Isn't this part of my job too?" he asks. "I was a handyman officially, but yes, I was in the Night Brigade." He pulls a hand out his pocket, producing the pendant that John had given him, holding it out for all of them to inspect. "I don't... I forgot how to use this. But given the state of this place... maybe it's best I wasn't here." He seems a bit dejected at that. He had not had the best combat record, having fled from the Joker and destroyed a Stark computer in all his active time as a 'hero'. He kicks at the rocks again, then shakes his head.

    "I'm not going to let this happen again. If you know about the Night Brigade, does that mean you're members as well?" he asks, turning to them each in turn. "Please, I failed this time, but give me another chance. I'll make myself useful, I promise." He holds out the pendant to Jon, in case he is being kicked out, but seems a bit protective of it. "I need to remember how to use this... And figure out what all I missed. I can't let my hobbies get in the way of higher duties again..." He glances back up at the hole, processing words such as angel with a slump in the shoulders. "My name is Dex, by the way. Dexter Alruin," he says, addressing Lydia, "Close enough. I'm surprised someone remembered the D. Some people guess Mark for some reason." He shrugs again, then looks around the wreckage. "Guess I should get to cleaning this place up... What a disaster."
Gabby Kinney The last time Gabby had been to the Laughing Magician it was in much better shape. Granted, most of the city itself was still rebuilding from the whole alien/angel/comet situation. Depending on whom you talked to about what the cause of the destruction was it was different all around after all. But she had a reason to be here--Even if she finds the place unexpectedly worse for wear.

Carefully picking her way down into the remnants of the standing structure with a hand on the wall where it felt sort-of-stable. It'd stood so far after all. A little crunch of something beneath her boot was as much a warning as any as she comes upon the grouping talking inside.

"Someone should probably throw up a tarp or something at least," she suggests pragmatically to no one in particular while tipping her head back to squint up at the open 'skylight' above. "You know, I know a few people..." Ah, but it wasn't really HER call was it? Instead she looks to those around, familiar and unfamiliar faces alike as she finally takes in the apparent situation here among those gathered. Dex's tension was quite notable. Quickly looking back and forth a few times she awkwardly clears her throat. "Ah, shoot, bad timing? Sorry."
Jonathan Sims     Jon frowns and sticks his hands in his pockets, chewing on his lip for a moment. "Well," he says slowly, "for one it... isn't the Night Brigade anymore. We've re-constituted as the Justice League Dark. An offshoot of the Justice League proper, as the name implies. I'm one of the leaders," he nods over at Rien, "and she's another. Rien d'Arqueness. Sara Pezzini's the third, and this is Lydia Dietrich. John Constantine... isn't a member anymore." There's irritation there, but he sort of... moves on past that.

    "For two... we don't use the pendants anymore. We can get your name and number and contact you in the, ahh, relatively mundane fashion." He smiles. "The pendants were meant for letting people in past the wards, but the man you met let rather anyone in past those wards, to the point they hardly mattered. At any rate, if you want full membership in the JLD we have a new base, and it's a matter of going there and telling the place you're part of things, so that's no trouble."

    He coughs. "Which brings me to three... ahh... the bar's closed, really. I wouldn't worry too much about... cleaning. We still need to figure out if we're even keeping the building in New York, it seems. If you need a job I'm sure we can ask around and find you work. If you're just looking to... higher duties, you said?" He raises a brow. "If you're looking to fight supernatural threats, well..." He looks around at Lydia and Rien for a moment.

    Then Gabby pokes her head in and they brighten, smiling. "Oh, hello! Long time no see." Is she Gabby or Honey Badger right now? These secret identities get so confusing.
Lydia Dietrich     Lydia turns her strange golden eyes to Rein. "What the individuals want /does/ matter. We may find ourselves with our hands tied, true, but we should /always/ take in consideration how our actions effect the people we work with. The little people /matter/. We should /never/ forget that."

    Her eyes soften as Dex produces. "There wouldn't have been much you could have done," she says, not unkindly. "The Archangel Michael did this and we had some of the top sorcerers and magicians in the room that day and we weren't able to lay a finger on him. If you want to lend us a hand I wouldn't say no. Right now we're looking for anything valuable that might have been left behind or buried. Jon and Phoebe got most of them, but there's some stuff that was left here that's... best stayed out of mundane hands."

    She gestures to the Pendant that unConstantine gave Dex. "We'll probably want to dispose of that. We're pretty sure they were harmless but with unConstantine you never could tell." She closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose when she realizes that Dex probably doesn't know about the imposter. "John... the John you know... the one that brought the Curio and the Laughing Magician in from Liverpool and brought the Night Brigade together wasn't the real John. It was a demon using a stitched together body of dead parts magicked to look like him." She gives Jon a sidelong glance, "We're /still/ not sure as for some of his motivations. Some were seemingly benign. Others... less so."

    She shakes her head at Gabby. "Don't worry about it. We're just vultures picking through the bones of an old magic pub." She carelessly picks her way through the rubble, seeming to have a supernatural balance and grace to carry her through, towards Gabby. "I'm Lydia," she says, extending a pale hand.
Dex Alruin     Dex blinks as he takes in the information he had just been given, his body stopping as he moved to pick up some rocks. His hand trembles, then drops the stone he had in his hand before also releasing the pendant in his other hand as though it suddenly burned him. He picks it back up, tossing it toward Jon or Rien, or whoever would want it, his throat closing slightly. "You're telling me... such a disgusting thing is possible?" he asks quietly, "How..." He shakes his head, instead reaching for his weapon. He grips the metal bow as though it's a lifeline, gritting his teeth. "Can you take me with you to this new base when you leave? I don't have a lot to offer in terms of fighting, not yet, but I will." He straightens up, letting his arms drop to his sides. "Recruited by a demon..." he chuckles, running a hand through his hair, "Must've realized I was useless, trying to weaken your forces." He grins, then stretches a bit, trying to keep his face placid.

    "Whatever I can offer, I give it. There are things I don't know, but I'll learn. If there's one thing I can do, it's put my mind to a problem." He looks at the others assembled, reaching back to briefly tag his weapon again. "Hardlight tech has to be good for something. Maybe I can build some things to help. Depending on resources, of course." He smiles, then turns to look around. "What sorts of objects should I be looking for?"
Gabby Kinney Gabby Kinney only hesitates a moment longer as things seem to at least be coming to some sort of a conclusion in regards to what she was only picking up part of the story on. She'd heard things about the 'wrong John Constantine' before, if not the explanation that Lydia gives. "Ew," is her response along with a crinkle of her nose at the very thought. Jon's greeting toward her earns a flash of a smile in response. "Hi! Yeah, haven't seen you since the last time I died I think. Doing good since then though," she assures quickly in case anyone were to wonder about such a remark.

When Lydia steps forward she reaches out to accept the offered hand to shake. "Nice to meet you! I'm Gabby. Rien's sister." Her grip remains on the woman a lingering moment as she focuses... "You're dead, aren't you. Not that it's bad. I know a few dead people. Just." Maybe she shouldn't go there. "Nice to meet you," she mumbles again instead.

Even if she's distracted by Lydia the conversation is still easily picked up. Enough so that she frowns glancing past the woman toward where Dex is. "Hey. Um, sorry to eavesdrop, but you're looking at it the wrong way. If the fake-Constantine demon guy picked you, it's because you probably could have been a threat if he didn't look over you and apparently wreck the hell out of your self-esteem. They like to sow chaos and discontent and undermine things from the inside out yeah, but that goes for people too. Not everyone has to be an awesome fighter to be a threat."
Jonathan Sims     Jon deliberately turns away as Lydia starts to explain the unConstantine, shoulders hunching. "Its motives were complicated," he manages to explain. "It... shared John's personality, to a great degree, but mostly the worst parts. It cared, in its... twisted way. That's what makes everything so... complicated." He sighs, and stares up at the roof again.

    He turns back in time to catch the pendant with the emerald hand, blinking rapidly. "Gabby's right," he says. "We were /all/ recruited by the demon. Well, except Gabby here, who hasn't been recruited yet." A brief grin, at 'yet.' "Which puts you in company with people who recently saved the universe, so that's no small thing. I wouldn't look too hard into its motivations, really. That way lies madness, trust me."

    They frown at Dex for a long moment, then ask in a more chipper tone, "So what is it you do? Hardlight technology? And you have a bow, I see."
Lydia Dietrich     Lydia's laughter is light and airy at Gabby's accusation. "Yes, I'm a vampire. Don't worry. I only bite people who ask nicely." Well. There's a few exceptions to that, but she won't go into them. "I didn't know you had a sister, Rien. It's good to have family."

    Dex gets a dismissive wave of a hand. "You won't be the first muggle to join our team," she says. "We need all the help we can get. I have no idea what hardlight tech actually /is/ but I'm sure we can find a use for it." She looks speculatively out at the rubble. "Honestly? Anything that gives you the willies when you touch it. Anything that looks old, or odd."

    She shakes her head. "I wish we had an inventory on what was here. Then we could check that with what we've recovered, and put feelers out for what's missing." Her odd eyes peer out into the night. "I'd be surprised if people haven't walked off with some stuff."
Dex Alruin     Dex nods slowly, allowing a smile to blossom on his face. "I... no, the demon didn't do that. Despite what could be considered great strides, I'm not where I want to be yet, and I seem to be stuck. It's a long time frustration I hope one day to overcome." His smile falters, then he shrugs. "If it's gone, then I suppose I have nothing more to worry about there. I need to focus on what comes next. And that would appear to be defending the world from the supernatural. Like I said, it'll take me some time to catch up and know what all I need to look for, but I will learn it. Trust me." He taps his head, smiling softly.

    His attention turns back to Jon, glancing at his glowing hand and immediately the gears begin to turn. As he states that they saved the universe, Dex recoils, blinking and clearly off-guard. "You... you guys did that, huh? Yeah, I guess to be tied to the Justice League you would have to be a magnificent bunch. I hope to be able to contribue." He grins, then nods, drawing his bow from his back and flicking on the battery pack sitting on the small of his back. The device hums to life, the dull red metal glowing a brighter red as he holds it out.

    "This is my Proto Shot," he says, "It's the furthest I've managed to get on my journey to mastering hardlight. It's nothing like some tech giants have, but it's my own." He turns, moving his fingers to where the bowstring should be. As he does, a brilliant red string appears for him to grip. As he does, an arrow, shining like the string, nocks itself, and he draws back, firing the arrow into a pile of rubble and kicking up dust as the projectile speeds into it. He drops the bow to his side, the string vanishing before the hum dies down when he kills the battery. "Right now, I'm tethered to this battery pack and can manage seven shots. Most of the time." He grimaces slightly at the admission, but slings the weapon onto his back. "I'm an accomplished archer besides, as well as a repairman and pretty decent techie."

    As Lydia speaks up, he catches the word vampire and whirls on his heel, nearly falling as he recoils at the same time. "Vampire?!" he says, before calming down. She was clearly on their side if she was here and not under siege. "That's... man, this is going to take some getting used to..." he says, pushing a hand through his hair and messing it up a bit. She does give him a bead on what to look for, however, and he nods vigorously. "Right, that seems like a good place to start. I can do that! Probably."
Gabby Kinney Yet? Gabby blinks over at Jon's remark with a little surprise, yet she grins as well at the possibility. Her attention shifts back toward Lydia who confirms exactly what she is to give a simple shrug as if this were really nothing too surprising to her. "One of my old friends became a vampire, too. It was... it was interesting when she came back. Took awhile to figure out what was going on. Point is," she adds with a grin, "I'm familiar-ish with the situation. And I'm effectively immortal to some extent so I've got like a surplus of blood if needed, but hopefully it won't be needed. Just saying. In emergency."

Ever alert her gaze snaps back to Dex when he pulls the hard light bow out only to whistle. "I know what hard light is! They use it to make holograms and stuff, too!" While he demonstrates the bow, explaining the technology behind it, she gushes, "That is SO COOL."
Jonathan Sims     Jon watches the bow, light and shot and all, fascinated. "That's... pretty amazing," he says, sounding impressed. "I'm always fascinated by what technology can do. That you can get /light/ to do something like that." He seems a little bemused by the idea that they're a 'magnificent bunch.' He's still adjusting to being a hero himself.

    "I think Phoebe has most of what was in here," he notes to Lydia, "but we can get with Phoebe and Chas, get a list, check it over. There might be some things that went missing during all the turmoil before Michael blew the roof off, or things we missed in the aftermath. We'll see."

    He walks over toward the stage, peering down at it with a frown, leaning over to wipe dust off a particular spot at the edge and then sit down. "So are you... new to the hero business, Dex? Or been doing it a while and reached a plateau?" He smiles. "Either way... why is it you want to help out? Not that I doubt your ability or anything, it's more... mmm. Curiosity? I used to be a therapist to superheroes, and I'm new-ish myself. I'm always curious, why people do this sort of thing. 'Muggles' in particular. My girlfriend's one of the normal sorts who joined the team, and she's... more than capable in the face of most things." He smiles, though there's a hint of pain in his tone.
Lydia Dietrich     "I don't know about magnificent," Lydia says humbly. "Clever, definitely. Resourceful, absolutely. Desperate, most of the time. We're a merry band of magical misfits. We could probably use a techie. None of us are all technologically aligned, and having a gadgeteer on the team would be most helpful. Plus, I know who to call when The Toaster fails to start. Hmm. That reminds me, now that the snow is gone I need to bring it out of storage."

    Dex's reaction to her state of undeath elicits a grin from the vampire. "Don't worry. I don't bite, unless you ask nicely. It's really quite a pleasurable experience. You aught to try it."

    She nods at Gabby. "Thank you for the offer. I'd only need it in emergencies, otherwise I've got a stable of people up on the asteroid on rotation to donate every night to keep me fed. Most days I'm taken care of." She looks thoughtful as a frown pulls down the corners of her mouth. "I might be able to go a day without but the hungrier I get the less.... control I have."

    "Yeah I'm... having to come to terms with being a 'superhero' myself," she says agreeing with Jon. "I swore that I'd never do anything like it, but I just kept finding myself in situations where I could use my powers to help, and I kept on helping, and ... well ..." she shrugs helplessly, "Here we are."
Dex Alruin     Dex shifts the Proto Shot onto his shoulder more comfortably, smiling as the others seem impressed. "It has a multitude of uses, and it's a fascinating subject to study. To turn light particles into something more tangible... It's an amazing field, and I hope one day to be able to help more than just myself with it." He grins, then blinks at Jon. There's the question. He knew it would come up eventually, and he supposed it was good that he showed a bit of his capability before answering.

    "I want my life to mean something," he says, looking toward the ground. "How many people die without being remembered? It's selfish, I know, but I want to have left a mark on this world when I leave it, and this... this is the way I've chosen to pursue it. I'm not a superprodigy, so there's only so far I can go in the tech industry and my work would no doubt fall into larger names' accomplishments. I just want to know I did some good, and that someone knew I did it."

    He takes a breath, then exhales. "The desire to help, though, that's the most important part. I want to see the results of my actions, and in this sort of work, you see it almost immediately. Probably not the best reasons, but hey. They're mine."

    Dex blinks, turning his attention to Lydia. "I take it that is not actually a toaster?" he asks, smirking as he does. "I have repaired my fair share of toasters. People really like toast, I guess." He ponders, then blinks and... doesn't immediately shake his head. "Well, I did just stay out of the sun for... man, months?" He is pale, though not as much as she, "I'll keep that under advisement." He grins again, then listens as she continues, noting that he does not want to cross her hungry. Loss of control sounds bad. "It's definitely a diverse group, but you all must be something indeed to have saved the universe and all."
Gabby Kinney "Being hangry is bad no matter what type of hangry you are," Gabby agrees with a solemn nod. There were things being mentioned around her that had caught her interest even if she couldn't immediately react to them. Her gaze snaps around to all here, considering, before she raises a hand to point toward Jon.

"I need to catch up with you soon, Jon," she points out glancing down at his hands. "Over a lot of things. And a lot of things I've been through and might go through aaaand anyway." Her attention shifts back to Lydia. "Asteroid. You're with Mystique's bunch then? I know a few. Clarice is good people." Then finally over to Dex whom she gives a thumbs-up to. "You'll do great! Sorry to just pop in and run but I really should go catch up with Rien about some stuff we're working on. If you need another hand, Jon knows how to get in touch with me." With that she turns and throws her hand over her head to wave before clambering back out of the rubble that was the old pub.
Jonathan Sims     Jon focuses on the pendant in his hand for a moment, considering it. Then he says, "Mind if I keep this? I got rid of mine a long while back." He's summoning up energy anyway, encasing the thing in teal quartz summoned from the Astral Plane.

    He's clearly been listening to Dex, though, because he says, "I understand the desire to be remembered. My ancestors believed, and I do too, that so long as one's name is spoken one's soul still lives on. I can tell you, though, that in the moment of action most people..." He chews on his lip. "Most people don't feel like 'something.' Even in the aftermath, a lot of superheroes don't feel 'super.' They will tell you, as I will tell you, that it happened to fall to them, and they stepped up and did what was right. Or just tried to survive, or tried to save someone they loved." He smiles. "It's a perfectly reasonable reason to want to do this, however. Better than some I've heard."

    They stretch a bit, watching the pendant being encased in teal quartz, bit by bit. "Myself... I view it as a job, in a way. Everyone in a community contributes, you know? I used to be a psychiatrist. That was how I contributed. Now that I'm Archivist, and avatar of Ma'at... this is how I best contribute. Fighting supernatural threats. Saving the universe came as a... I don't know, it just sort of... happened. Like Lydia said." A shrug. "You may yet find yourself doing something fantastic... but saving a single life can mean as much as the universe. Every life is precious." They smile. "I think you'll do just fine, yes."

    A thumbs-up to Gabby, with the not-glowy hand. "I'll see you later!"
Lydia Dietrich     Lydia watches Dex demonstrate the hard light bow with fascination. "That's really neat. I'm sure you can be like Green Arrow and configure a bunch of trick arrows with that. I bet you could do all sorts of things with it." She grins at Dex, "I cant wait to see what else you come up with."

    "The toaster is my silver Vespa," she says. "The little side thingies that cover the back wheel look like the kind of toasters you see back in the '50s. Even though I can fly, I like riding around on it. Bought it when I went to college and it's been with me ever since."

    She nods to Gabby. "Yes. I'm with the Brotherhood too. I'm actually engaged to Mystique, if you can believe it." When Gabby moves to leave, she raises a hand in parting. "Have a good evening."
Dex Alruin     As Gabby turns to leave, Dex offers a small wave. However, his attention is called back to Jon as he speaks to Dex's motives and explains his own. "I understand that. I'm sure that things might change as I walk this path, but I intend to see it through. If nothing else, I'm a bit stubborn in the weirdest ways." As Jon elaborates on his own path, he listens carefully, though some of the terms elude him. He makes a mental note to look into them when he gets to base. He nods, however, at the message. A single life can be the most important. "Well said. I have this feeling I can trust you. Don't turn out to be a cobbled together demon pupper, okay?" He grins, then glances at Lydia.

    "Those are in the experimentation phase. Unfortunately, trick arrows, even those simple in thought, drain more power than my pack can provide. I think the code needs tweaking to lower the drain. I'll get it one of these days, I hope." He smiles again, then glances at the sky through the hole in the roof. "Bring it to the base and I'll take a look, but I just remembered I have a couple of small jobs I need to have finished for the morning." He looks around, then pulls a scrap of paper and pen from his pocket, jotting down his information. "Let me know where I need to go, but I need to head out. I'll see you guys again soon!" He offers a wave, then heads for the door, eager to get the last bit of his work done so he can investigate his next step.
Jonathan Sims     Jon... snorts. To American ears his accent might actually sound something like Constantine's, though he'd be appalled if anyone said so aloud. /He/ sounds so English he's been accused of faking the accent. "I swear I am not a cobbled-together demon puppet... but I /did/ die and come back to life, and this isn't my original body. It's all on the up-and-up, though, presuming you believe the Egyptian gods are on the up-and-up."

    A glance to Lydia. "I like driving around myself, even though I can fly and portal now. Not that I ever learned to drive, but... now I'm learning motorbikes. Rather thrilling, really." He pockets the now-quartz-encased pendant, glances at the paper with Dex's information once, then hands it off to Rien.

    "Be seeing you around," he says to Dex, and pushes up off the stage. "Hmm. Think there's much of anything, or shall we call it a day?"
Lydia Dietrich     Lydia nods at Dex and waves a hand in parting, "Have a good evening, Dex. Looking forward to seeing you in the Velvet Room. I think you'll get a kick out of it."

    Turning to Jon she grins, "I've never learned to ride a motorcycle. I bet it's quite different than my scooter. It's good for getting around town, though, and it was a lifesaver back when I was in college before I taught myself to fly."

    She turns back to the rubble, and reaching out with her ectoplasm lifts up a beam to peer underneath. She sighs, "I think by now this place has been picked clean. Anything that Phoebe hasn't picked up has probably been stolen by looters."

    Letting the beam unceremoniously drop she turns to Jon. "Rein did bring up a good point though. What /are/ we going to do with this and the Curio? I think one of us should go to Liverpool and find the buildings that were here and get a sense of what the locals want to do with them." She gazes out to the remains of the Laughing Magician, "God, I hope nobody was in those buildings when they swapped places."
Jonathan Sims     "Supposedly they were all condemned. I don't know." Jon sighs. "It's something to look into, for sure." They run a hand through their hair, re-settling the multi-colored curls. "I think we should talk to Chas about it. And he can maybe talk to Constantine." Irritation again. He's upset with the guy. "And then we'll see from there, I suppose."

    A groan. "Gods, I hope nothing was stolen by looters, that's the /last/ bloody thing we need. But I'm about ready to be done with it all, and move forward. I wonder how many more people will turn up with pendants, though...?"
Lydia Dietrich     "Yeah. Sounds like a plan." Lydia deftly hops over a bit of debris to stand by Jon. "Too bad we couldn't burn the place in the ritual the other day, and just collectively move on."

    "Who knows how many pendants there are out there," she says with a shrug. "I'm sure if you wanted to you could use the one Dex gave you to hunt down any others. I don't think they're going to harm anyone. Zee went over them with a fine toothed comb. If anybody could have found anything, it would have been her."

    She's silent for a moment as she considers the wreckage. "Want to go out and do some karaoke?" she asks out of the blue. "This is just depressing. I'm tired of being depressed."
Jonathan Sims     "That was part of my thought, with this one," Jon taps at it. "I'm going to look it over myself, largely because I'm curious as to how they worked, and maybe we can use it as sympathetic resonance to find any others and gather them up. A lot of my magic actually revolves around amulets and the like; that's basically how magic worked, back in Kemet. Nearly everyone had protective amulets of some kind. Not that I really think I'd find anything Zatanna didn't, but it's a decent example of something I could possibly learn to do myself."

    He grins, then. "Karaoke sounds great, sure. I could use the distraction."
Lydia Dietrich     Lydia dips her head in agreement. "Sometimes the best way to learn how things work is to take them apart. I've found that I'm more adept and crafting items than the spontaneous spells you and Phoebe are able to sling around. I picked apart the pendant when I got it and reset it into a bracelet. I've got.... too many pendants as it is." Subconsciously her hand goes to her chest to grasp the ankh that binds her to her coven, and the tiet that Jon gave her for her birthday.

    She grins when Jon agrees to Karaoke. "Come on. I know just the place." With that golden wings spread from her back and she rises into the air, taking it slow so Jon can follow her.