(Untitled)

[thehellblazer]

Who: John, Lucifer, Open
When: Day 67
Where: In and around Bell Pointe
What: John and Lucifer arrive in Bell Pointe on a mission. Unfortunately for them, their mission isn't going to go as smoothly as they planned.

OOC Note: If you'd like to encounter one or the other specifically, just note in the subject of the comment which one you'd like your

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[thehellblazer]

It was the muted scrape of shoes against the pavement that alerted him to the presence of something coming toward him in the fog. Whatever it was lacked the accompanying hoots and hollers and roaring, groaning growls of the misty shite’s other occupants, but that didn’t tell him anything. Could be a silent kind of death, prowling closer with every step. Could be something without vocal cords. Or something that just knew the meaning of silly buggers.

No, just because he couldn’t hear talons or claws or the hissing spit of fangy overbites didn’t mean it was a person. And even if it was a person, that didn’t mean it was friendly. But John’d been in worse scrapes than this B movie matinee gone wonky, and he wasn’t afraid of the bogeyman.

Taking a long, leisurely drag of his cigarette, he stopped in the middle of the road, blue eyes straight ahead as he drew himself up to his full height. Let the bastards see him in all his glory. Least before he brought screaming hell down upon them.

“Step lively, eh?” he said finally, speaking loudly enough to be heard through the fog. “Haven’t got all bloody day, do I? We’re about to make our debut in Bat Shite Monsters Take Harbor Town, let’s get on with it before me smoke’s all gone.”

[willowtenbrook]

The footsteps stopped abruptly, hesitated before they resumed, more cautious and uncertain. Their direction shifted to follow John's voice, even if the fog made her a little off. But it never occurred to Willow that this might be some monster's trick, just that she might have invented that voice in her mind. Just that she couldn't see him and god, she needed to.

"John?"

When the fog parted to reveal even the rough-round-the-edges shape of John Constantine, however, all hesitation fell out of her. The aluminum bat clattered as it fell forgotten on the pavement, the duffel bag hitting more quietly.

Heedless of anything but who stood before her, Willow ran to the magician and threw her arms around him. She buried eyes that stung and a nose that tickled into the worn fabric of his trench coat and held on for dear life.

[thehellblazer]

Well, that was easy, wasn't it? Twenty minutes out from the Morningstar and already he'd found their quarry. Pity the old devil didn't have a mobile on him with interdimensional reception. John would've called him then and there, told him to break out the wings and get his arse down to the corner of Foggy and Foggier so they could get the bloody hell out of there.

Once he got a bit of a hug in and sorted out which arms were his.

"There, love, it's all right, yeah?" John said, simultaneously giving her shoulders a squeeze and rubbing soothingly at her back. "Didn't think we'd just let you go on holiday without us, did you?"

Snorting, he shook his head. "Answer's no, case you're wondering. Three musketeers, right? All for one and one for all?" Rambling attempt at comforting her coming to an end, he sobered up. "You all right, Willow?"

[willowtenbrook]

Willow's grip on him seemed almost at the limits of the strength a girl her age and size was capable. For all that it helped to have his arms around her, for all the solid weight of reassurance that swept aside uncertain nerves, there was something still desperate about the way she clung to him.

Because she had. She had and they had.

But she sniffed and shook her head against him. "Yeah. I'm fine, I'm just... Wondered when is all."

[thehellblazer]

That sniff spoke louder than words ever could, and it belied those she spoke. She wasn’t all right, though what the cause of her ailment was, John didn’t know. Fear of the unknown? Fear of the known? Had something terrible happened to her since she’d been there? If there was a right way to ask those questions, he didn’t know that, either.

So he held her instead, patted her back and made soothing noises. He hoped they were soothing noises. Sometimes it was hard to tell.

“You know how the Morningstar is, darling. Has to fix his hair and make sure his trousers are perfectly pressed before he can get his arse in gear. Took almost an hour in the shower, can you believe it? Right tosser that one is.”

A critical glance took in the top of her head. Not enough to see her face. Certainly not enough to try to puzzle out her well-being from her expression. "How's long's it been, love? You know?"

[willowtenbrook]

"Just a day this time." It was quick and more composed, and she dragged the heel of her palm, balled up in the cuff of her sleeve, across her eyes and sniffed. "Thought I was done with this place t-twice."

It prompts a nervous laugh. "Guess my luck is pretty much shit, huh?" Though no longer quit so intent on clinging to him, Willow remains leaned there against John, refusing to look up at him if only because she's content to hide bleary eyes and cheeks flushed by restrained emotion in his trench coat.

"Where's Lucifer, anyway?" She supposed this meant he'd remember her, if they went to the trouble to get her. She supposed this should be a relief, that she should as if the storm had passed. But there was something tight still in her chest, something that made all of it seem just a little odd.

[thehellblazer]

"This time?" he couldn't catch himself before he echoed her. "You put in a revolving door or something?"

Twice, she'd said. Twice, she'd been there. Twice and he hadn't the first bleeding clue. Doubted the Morningstar had either. So something was going on. All right, when wasn't it? They'd deal with it. They were good at that. It'd be fine, whatever it was.

"Don't know, darling," he added a second later. "Out there in the fog, somewhere. Split up, we did. Figure we'd cover more ground that way."

He glanced down at the top of her head, mustered up what he hoped was an encouraging smile even if she couldn't see it. A bloke never knew. Women always seemed to have eyes in the back of their heads. "You wanna go track him down? You can play tour guide along the way, me about this place and how you came to be here."

[willowtenbrook]

Willow's eyes roved the fog while John spoke, and she shifted uneasily on her feet. But when he suggested they look for Lucifer, Willow shook her head decisively as her arms loosed, reached out and snatched up his hand as she let go. She turned to drag him off in the way she'd been going, toward the S Mart, and her pace was quick, though still walking. And her grip on his hand was tight.

She'd forgotten about the fog momentarily, while she'd been hugging him, but the reality of the situation was less than safe, and much as she was certain they'd be safe once they found Lucifer, her faith in the devil complete, she wasn't certain they'd find him without incident. So getting inside was the best idea.

"No, we need to get inside before something else finds us." She glanced back at John momentarily, but then turned her eyes ahead. And despite his presence she was already sliding back toward skittish and jumpy. She was certainly walking too fast.

"Lucifer will find us and then we can all leave, but first we need to get inside so that there's something for Lucifer to find."

[thehellblazer]

There were a lot of responses John was expecting. Willow taking off and dragging him along with her wasn’t one of them. Not that he put up much of a fuss. Far from it. She was obviously in a hurry, something had spooked her from the look of things; he wasn’t going to dig in and be the stubborn bastard who got them both killed with his nattering questions. But he was still going to ask them. Just a bit breathlessly as they all but ran down the road, instead of poncy and controlled like the aforementioned Morningstar would’ve done.

“Oi, love, take it easy, yeah?” John began, fishing in his jacket pocket for his pack of smokes. After all, if he was going to run hellbent for shelter, he was going to do it with a lit cigarette in his mouth and the energizing weight of smoke in his lungs. Best way to travel, in his humble opinion. “Some great monstrosity tries to take a bite out of us, we’ll just bite back.”

Granted, he hadn’t seen what lovely visions the fog had to offer, but he’d gotten a sneak preview about five minutes after the Morningstar had disappeared and he had a feeling it was only the tip of the iceberg of horrors. Didn’t mean he was afraid, though. Didn’t mean he couldn’t handle it.

“Trust me. He’ll find us. Alive and well and half-pissed if they’ve got a decent bottle of Scotch wherever you’re high-tailing us off to.” Glancing away from her, he eyed the fog, weighed possibilities against actualities, and his voice dropped the bravado, became sober and matter-of-fact. “We run into trouble, Willow, I can handle it.”

[willowtenbrook]

"Yeah, that's what everyone says and then they still get killed. I've seen horror movies John, and this one kind of takes the cake. So if you could move your ass and forget the stupid cigarettes I would really, really appreciate it." Her grip on his hand was maybe a little too tight. And she was walking too fast. Panic fast.

"Lucifer can swagger in when we're nicely behind closed doors and not surrounded by monsters we can't see because of this stupid fog and maybe then I'll calm down and be rational old Willow -- shut up, I know you were thinking it -- but until then I'd like more walking from you and less bullshit."

[thehellblazer]

"You hearing any creepy background music, love? Some heavy breathing?" Despite her hurry and the not going to put up with your bullshit today tone, John wasn't inclined to be serious for any longer than he absolutely had to be. He'd encountered more dangerous things than fog in his lifetime. Ran into worse things than B movie horror rejects and the cast-off horrors of an addict's nightmares. "Can't say I am."

But he didn't dawdle either. Didn't run. Didn't lose his cool and panic, but he didn't hang back and hold her up.

"You wanna tell me what's going on with this shite? Something to keep time to while we do the long march?"