36 [voice]

[i_see_death]

[Joshua is sitting on the step of his cabin, going back and forth between idly watching the sky and eyeing the screen of his cell phone.]

You know, sometimes I do wonder what, if anything, he's actually hoping to accomplish here. [Yawns] Any bets on this one? It does bring to mind a number of astronomical questions, but our host has never struck

Comments

[constantfighter]

Honestly? I reckon our dear host's running a vendetta against all the ingredients of a good night out. He took the booze away, took the fags away, took the out away, and now he's taking the night away, as well.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be running a scientific fucking inquiry into how well a blanket over the head can simulate nighttime.

[i_see_death]

[Laughs] I'll admit that's a theory I hadn't considered. Well done.

[Peers at the crow's eye for a moment] ...Ah, and I don't think we've been introduced; you must have turned up while I was away. My name's Yoshiya, but call me Joshua if you like. And you are?

[constantfighter]

John Constantine.

Old hand before the mast, I take it?

[i_see_death]

Something like that. I was here about a year, give or take, and then our gracious host apparently decided to give me a few months off. [Drily] But, you know, I just couldn't bear to stay away too long.

[Pauses, and eyes Constantine critically for a moment]

Anyway -- so you're the one Mr. Dresden's so fond of, are you? Pleasure to meet you, sir.

[constantfighter]

...Why does everyone keep bringing that up? Don't even know the guy.

But... yeah. Apparently I'm his role model or some shite like that. Apparently he has really shitty taste in inspirations.

[i_see_death]

[Tsks disapprovingly.] Now, is that any way to talk about your devoted fan? He sounded terribly glad that you were here; it was practically the first thing he told me about when I got back.

...Personally, I don't know if I'd be happy to find out that my role model was dead, but to each their own, hm?

[constantfighter]

Well, that's all a matter of perspective, isn't it? There's being happy your role model's dead, and being happy your role model's here.

Take me, yeah? I'm not bloody happy to be dead, but I can certainly live with being here.

...you know, for a given value of "live".

[i_see_death]

Mm -- there are worse regions of the afterlife, certainly. [Faint smile.] As long as one can somehow bring oneself to cope with the total lack of a good night out, of course. And really, if you're Harry's hero, I expect you've dealt with worse, yes? Comic-book characters generally do.

[constantfighter]

Yeah. Like, you know, the Devil.

Three times.

[i_see_death]

[mildly] No kidding? Consider me suitably impressed.

[...Yawns.]

How'd that turn out for you?

[constantfighter]

Judging by how I'm not currently suffering the most profane tortures of a thousand millenia in the darkest pit of the deepest abyss of the innermost circle of Hell, I'd say pretty well, really.

[i_see_death]

Excellent point. Always nice to see someone who can keep things in perspective.

...I'd wonder why you ended up here, but there's probably not much point in inquiring, is there? Afterlives can be peculiar like that, sometimes.

[constantfighter]

Peculiar's not the right word. Fucking miracle might just about start to cover it.

Oh, the First must be shitting himself right now.

[i_see_death]

[Raises an eyebrow]

Attractive image, I'm sure.

Of course, I suppose there's always an outside chance that this is all an illusion, and you're only being allowed to think you've escaped him for a bit before having it all snatched away.

[constantfighter]

Nah. He hasn't got the patience for that.

He's been waiting, what, nearly twenty years? He'd want his gloating time in there.

[i_see_death]

Really? [Shrugs] I wouldn't think twenty years would be that long, to someone like him. Still, you'd know better than I would.

Might want to look out, nonetheless. People have been known to vanish from this place in the past, and to my knowledge there's never been a general consensus on where they went.