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[matermali]

USERNAME: HIDDEN MISS IVES "Take care with what you say. Our enemies may be listening." TEXT • AUDIO • VIDEO • ACTION • OVERFLOW

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text; un: Constantine; early November

[keepgodwaiting]

Hope it isn't too weird that it's so late, but I think I owe you a thank you.

[ Please note that she has very deliberately sent this in the middle of the day, in the hopes that they can have one conversation where neither of them are violently awoken by creepy shit. She considered sending a picture of a kitten or something to really seal the deal on "I am attempting to have a pleasant conversation." ]

And possibly a sorry.

[ Possibly several, if you count attempting to haze her with the roof-walker bit. Constantine maintains that had potential, though. ]

[matermali]

[ Enough has happened since then that Vanessa has turned quite a distant mood with most, but curiosity keeps her from outright ignoring the message. So lost in her own angst, she can't even remember what the other woman is talking about. ]

For what?

[keepgodwaiting]

The mall

A thank you for trying to help and a sorry for leaving you alone

And for never getting your name

I can't just keep thinking of you as "the girl who digs up graves and has great jewelry"

[matermali]

I can also cook a passable rabbit stew.

[ If only there were rabbits to catch. ]

My name is Vanessa Ives, and you owe me no gratitude or apology.

[keepgodwaiting]

hell of a skill set

Johanna Constantine

All right, then. I would like to thank you for trying to help. I know I was a bit shirty afterwards.

[ And sort of ... abandoned her to the horrors. Just because there didn't seem to be any immediate danger when Constantine left doesn't mean there wasn't something just around the corner. ]

[matermali]

I know your name, Miss Constantine, but the attempt is appreciated.

[ She had publically shared her first name with at least one other where Vanessa had noticed. ]

Everyone was under duress while trapped in that building. I wouldn't begrudge you the desire to be alone after such an experience. Have you kept well since?

[keepgodwaiting]

As well as I can, better than some I think. Made it through that haunted house shit with less trauma than I expected.

Have you been all right? I've been thinking about what you were saying about this place wanting to rewrite our stories.

[matermali]

Have you? And did you arrive at any satisfying conclusions?

[ She'll just ignore everything else prior to that. ]

[keepgodwaiting]

Hardly. Mostly more questions.

Can I pour you a drink and compare notes with you somewhere that isn't badly lit and full of ghosts?

[matermali]

[ Several minutes before another response. ]

Where did you have in mind?

[keepgodwaiting]

There's something that looks like a bar and grill near the station in the new district.

[ She sends a map with a pinned location. ]

Hopefully it'll still have enough booze to be worthwhile. If not, I can be mother and make tea

[matermali]

Very well.

Is eleven o'clock an acceptable time for you?

[keepgodwaiting]

If you don't mind drinking before noon, I certainly don't

[matermali]

While I've nothing to say against when a person drinks, I did in fact intend to mean eleven o'clock at night.

-> action

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Oh. That tracks. Jesus, she should just switch her sleep schedule officially, if she's going to keep hanging out with vampires and the King of Dreams and an old-timey goth. ]

Deal. Watch out for roof-walkers

[ Eleven o'clock will find Constantine exiting the station in District 4, turning the collar of her coat up as she exits to the street. Wherever they are, the weather is certainly turning dreary as the autumn progresses. The cloud cover hides the stars and a chilly breeze plucks at her hair.

She keeps an eye out for Vanessa, and pauses when she reaches the restaurant, peering in through the windows.

A heavy, resigned sigh, and a mutter: ] God damn it, this place looks haunted as fuck.

[matermali]

[ While Vanessa might normally have gotten there early for the upper hand, she's hardly in the mood to entertain this meeting, let alone hurt herself hoping it will lead anywhere. Pessimism has weighed heavy of late.

Her steps are no less silent than normal as she strolls up behind the woman, assuming she'll notice her reflection. ]

Miss Constantine.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Constantine jumps and turns, pressing a hand to her heart, because three times makes a running gag and I'm helpless to resist the rules of comedy. ]

Jesus! Hi. Have you ever considered wearing a bell?

[matermali]

[ But then she wouldn't get to hear that funny sound people make when startled. ]

It has been suggested.

[ After glancing at the establishment inside—disappointing—and then finding the door, she murmurs with a subtle nod. ]

After you, Miss Constantine.

[keepgodwaiting]

Somehow I'm not surprised.

[ Shaking her head, more at herself for getting got than anything, Johanna pulls open the door and precedes Vanessa in. ]

Johanna's fine, if you like. Or just Constantine. "Miss" makes me feel like a schoolteacher.

[matermali]

[ The attempt to hold the door receives a slight smile as she steps in to have another look around. Alternate exits are always the first thing to look for in any new establishment. ]

I should hope not. Do I seem like a schoolteacher?

[keepgodwaiting]

Not one who teaches any subjects I've heard of. What about me?

[ She beelines for the bar to examine the stores and exclaims softly in triumph. ] What's your poison? We've got the basics. No absinthe.

[ Is she making assumptions about what goth Victorians drink? Yes. Yes she is. Is she wrong though. ]

[matermali]

I suppose that would depend on your passions. [ A mild head tilt as she finally strolls to the bar once through looking at a painting. ] Have you not heard of taxidermy?

[ There's plenty else she could teach, but that seems the most normal offer.

Yep. ]

Whisky or brandy will do.

[ Port would be fine, as well. Socializing while on absinthe can remain Dorian's purvue. ]

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Johanna gives her a quizzical look as she pulls down a bottle of whisky and a couple glasses. ]

Well -- yes, I have. All right, I stand corrected, one subject I've heard of. D'you take your whisky neat or with ice?

[ Apparently she's going to play bartender. She did say she'd pour drinks, since "buying" them for each other is not really a useful concept in a place with no money. ]

Not an easy hobby to practice around here, I'd imagine.

[matermali]

Neat.

[ The last remark garners a quiet huff of amusement as she settles onto a stool and pulls her bag into her lap to rifle through. ]

I haven't practiced in some years, at any rate. More of a hobby in youth, though impossible to forget once you know. Like skinning a rabbit, or shooting a firearm.

[ A small velvet box is settled onto the counter between them. ]

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Johanna pours and slides the glass across the bar, still considering her curiously. ]

I wouldn't have clocked you as someone who grew up shooting and skinning game. Not rabbits, anyway, maybe foxes.

[ She glances down at the box as she pours her own glass. ] What's this?