Roman (touchofsilver) wrote in evaluation, @ 2020-03-11 22:13:00 |
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Roman Ka'uhane & John Constantine
After this
Firepit
Rating/Warnings: Low | Swearing-
Log | Complete |
Roman had thought it really fucking weird that he’d found the small figurine near the weight machine in the gym and that feeling had only been cemented by the fact that somebody else had found another one in the scuba tunnels. Clearly something was going on and whatever that something was he definitely wanted to get a read on whether or not it was anything to worry about. That’s where John came in, he was after all the one who had a wealth of knowledge and experience in this department and Roman would be an idiot to not defer to him. Plus he was fun and Roman enjoyed his company so it was a bonus either way. And if he was cursed then he knew to steer clear of Luke as the last thing he wanted to do was drag his kid down with him. Literally anything but that. For a dragon Roman formed strong connections to people and loved like he didn’t know what it was like to lose people regardless of the amount of times he’d done exactly that. Still, life was too short, and he wasn’t about to let the centuries stretching in front of him deter him from giving a shit. Figurine in pocket Roman made short work of getting to the fire pit where he quite quickly and rather promptly made himself at home though he did take the thing out and placed it on the edge of the firepit. It looked an awful lot like a monkey but from what Waverley had been saying she’d found a hippo or a rhino which was completely different from a monkey. He scrubbed his fingers through his hair and eyeballed the monkey. “You’d better not be cursed.” “Talking to it isn’t likely to help,” John remarked, catching Roman’s wary muttering as he strolled up, cigarette in hand and faintly smoldering. He’d been keeping an eye on mentions of mystery figurines, but this was his first look at one. Experience told him that anything that appeared out of nowhere was trouble already. A matched set was more trouble. Artifacts that came in sets were the worst sort of mess. Though, he would allow, it was always possible he was assuming the worst for no reason. But, honestly. John’s experience leaned toward the worst, so it was an easy habit to fall into and it saved his skin to be paranoid. He jammed the cigarette between his lips, freeing both hands, and moved close enough to get a feel for the air around the thing. Like hell he was going to touch it right off. Roman glanced up as he felt and then heard John approached with lit cigarette in hand before the other edged closer to the figurine in question though did nothing to touch it. Probably wise if it was in fact cursed, no point in infecting everybody else with it. “Made me feel better,” he offered with a wry smile as he watched John closely, gaze intense. “Getting anything?” Smoke curled, slow and lazy, around John’s face as he hummed. He squatted, getting on eye-level with the little figurine, and considered it. Something about it made his skin crawl, setting him on edge, but he couldn’t quite pin it down. “Getting the heebie-bloody-jeebies,” he muttered, plucking the cigarette from between his lips and dropping it to the side. He ground it under a heel, muttering softly under his breath. His eyes flashed gold, but faded a beat later with a disappointed grunt. Nothing. But… something. How fucking irritating. Roman watched as John interacted with the figurine and rose to his feet to get a better look, arms folding across his chest and large hands wrapping his biceps, head tilted and eyes fixed. “Anything other than heebie-bloody-jeebies?” Because that did not surprise Roman in the slightest but at the same time he was definitely curious to know if it was giving off any murdery type vibes or possessed feels. Those he could definitely do without. He chewed on the edge of his lower lip. “Just super weird that a couple of these just turned up out of nowhere.” Hands hovered, fingers splayed wide, a few inches to either side of the figurine as John poked again. He still didn’t want to touch it, but he needed to get a better grip on what it felt like… other than wrong. There was definitely something off about it, but damned if he could pin it down with any more certainty than that. After a long minute of muttering and glaring at the little thing, John sighed and pulled his hands back. “Something’s wrong with it, but it’s not clear to me what that is. I’d still keep it away from the others, just to be on the safe side.” Disgruntled that he couldn’t figure it out, John rocked back on his heels and stood up again only to take a couple of steps back to sit on the nearest chair. “Sorry, mate. Can’t do you better than that.” Roman eyed the figurine again before he reached out to clasp John’s shoulder with his hand providing a firm yet reassuring grip. “Don’t worry about it, man. It’s more than I knew a few hours ago when I first found it.” He figured better to put the thing away less he tempt fate by letting it sit out and did just that, tucking it up into his hand and putting it into the pocket of his jacket which was hung up on the back of the chair he’d claimed. “Least I found it and not somebody else.” Roman was pretty sturdy in all sorts of ways so whatever it had to throw at least he’d be able to take it. Restless, John immediately delved out another cigarette, slotted it between his lips, and rummaged out his lighter to spark it up again. “Mm. Be my guess that the Powers That Be are gearin’ up for another round of fuckery, but hell if I know what little carved figures have to do with anything.” Not that he’d seen any of their previous troubles coming, either. Even with a little warning on the whole toy workshop, he couldn’t have anticipated the rest of that mess. Inhaling a lungful of smoke, John exhaled again on a sigh. “Better you than some. You’ll want to keep an eye out on the others, though. Things seem to go better for us when we share information.” “No arguments from me.” Information sharing was important especially given how changeable this place was. The more they knew the better prepared they could be for whatever was going to be thrown at them. He tipped his head to look over at John. “Waverley and Steve have the other ones.” He had no idea if there were any more out there but he hoped if there was then somebody would call it out. Roman pushed a hand through his hair before sitting back into his chair and tipping his head to look over at John. “Didn’t interrupt anything important, did I?” “Steve’s a sturdy bloke,” John observed, shrugging one shoulder. There were worse people who could’ve found these weird little totems. “Don’t know that I’ve met Waverley, but fingers crossed they’re prepared for these things to be more than cute.” He said the word cute like it tasted unpleasant, lips curling back at the corners. He glanced to Roman, sardonic amusement crinkling the corners of dark eyes. “What, like there’s so many things to do here.” It was like a boring vacation; nice for a moment, after the whole near-miss with a hurricane, but the quiet was beginning to wear on everyone. Or, at least on John and he just assumed the rest. Roman would take John’s word on that as he hadn’t met Steve yet but hopefully he would in time. “Well,” he drawled as he fired back a smirk at John. “You could’ve been doing anything for all I knew. Anything covers a wide range of activities.” He folded his arms across his chest and stretched his long denim clad legs out in front of him. “Though I have to admit I’m getting itchy feet,” he shared. “Which I know I shouldn’t considering the crap this place has thrown at us in the past, but this feels like one really long painful wait until the next explosion.” “Like there’s a wide range of options here,” John scoffed, drawing on his cigarette again. “Eat, sleep, wander about. Go for a soak or stay in the gym.” There was an art room, or so he’d heard, and someone mentioned a workspace that John presumed was for the handy among them. Which was not him, so it held no particular interest, thanks. He tilted his head, measuring. “Mm. Break this long, they’re definitely going to fuck us up when we get moving again. Probably chuck everyone into that volcano people were worrying about.” John hadn’t worried about that one in particular; not because it was far-fetched, but because it was beyond his ability to do a damned thing about, so why bother getting worked up? “Well there’s also enjoying the company of others, friends or otherwise,” Roman pointed out. Not that he’d been doing that because as he’d gotten older he had found that meaningless trysts didn’t hold the same appeal. Not that he’d say no to one but at the same time he didn’t actively go looking. Ugh, did that mean he wanted a relationship?. Fuck. Thankfully all these thoughts rolled around in his head unspoken and not voiced to the masses so no chance of embarrassment or rejection for that matter. “Even if they tried I’d transform and freeze the lava.” John’s expression flickered, doing something complicated- a quick half-dozen emotions there and gone again because he held those things close, tucked back and hidden. “There’s that,” he agreed, guarded and a little hoarse. He coughed, flicking the remainder of his cigarette into the fire pit, and leaned back on his hands. Right. Solid distraction, and he snorted out a quiet, if slightly flat chuckle at the reminder of Roman’s nature. “Remind me to stay close to you, then. Dunno if any of the rest of us stand a chance against a volcano.” John tended to be better at starting fires than putting them out, which was the sort of statement that applied on so many levels it would be depressing if he thought about it too long. Roman frowned as he watched the mixture of emotions race across John’s face only to vanish in an instant. The dragon shifted, slowly but surprisingly agile given the distance between them until a large hand came to rest on John’s shoulder. Firm, present and warm despite Roman’s elemental skill. “Sorry, didn’t mean to hit a nerve. Everything okay?” The contact came as something of a surprise, though John didn’t shy back from it. He’d gotten a little too accustomed to letting people get close lately. It was a bad habit that he probably ought to work on sooner rather than later. On the off chance he did get back to where and when he belonged, letting people get all touchy-feely was a good way to get dead. Or to get smothered by Ray. He was like an overgrown puppy, that one. “Yeah, s’fine,” he dismissed, mouth curving into a rueful smile. “The whole… thing. Company, friends, whatever. Taken a bit of a turn for me, which I guess is what happens when you go thinkin’ any of this makes for a good time to connect with anybody.” He gestured, vaguely and not exactly helpful, but. Elaborating wasn’t really John’s thing anyway. Cryptic bullshit, yeah. All day. “Kinda hard not to,” Roman shared with an understanding lift of his lips. “I mean, no man is an island, right?” He was definitely sorry to hear that things had taken a sour turn for the other man and he wasn’t about to push for details, he was more than capable of reading between the lines. “Nothing wrong with wanting a little more than just a passing connection.” He lifted his hand briefly and squeezed the side of John’s neck before he withdrew from the other’s personal space. John snorted a quiet breath through his nose. “Heard that one before,” he allowed, “Never really understood it. Never met anyone who fancied themselves an island.” Maybe he was choosing to be deliberately obtuse now, but might as well. To do otherwise would involve wallowing, and John didn’t go in for all that. He’d made a bad choice or two, per usual, and he’d deal with the outcome sooner or later. Probably later. With a bottle of something to wash the taste out. “Remind me to introduce you to a friend of mine one of these days,” Roman returned with a smirk. “If we ever get out of here that is.” He truly hoped that things back home were okay, Koa in particular. He loved that boy as if he were his own flesh and blood the same way he did Luke. He tipped his head to look over at John. “If you need anything and I do mean anything then don’t hesitate, alright?” “We ever get out of here, the first thing we’re doing is throwing the biggest bloody party anyone’s ever seen,” John informed, pointing a nicotine-stained forefinger in Roman’s direction. “And when we wake up, about a week-odd later, then I’ll meet anybody you like.” Within reason, anyway. John wasn’t exactly a people-person, and not everyone cared for his company either. So it all worked out, most of the time. Arching a brow, he gave Roman a long, assessing look, and finally nodded. “Yeah, got it. Same, mate. Assuming I haven’t cocked it all up and that thing’s cursed enough to lose you a hand. Then I understand if you hold a grudge.” He smirked, gaze sliding to the little figurine and away again. Roman met that long, assessing look, and grinned slowly to bare his teeth. “Oh, you don’t want to say that to a dragon, John.” His species were known to hold grudges for centuries. “Dangerous business.” He was kidding though because he liked John so couldn’t imagine a situation where he would feel that way towards the other man. “At least I’m not the only one holding a figurine.” “You’d have to queue up behind a dozen demons,” John pointed out, unconcerned with that flash of teeth, “Because dangerous business is sort of the story of my life. Might get bored, waiting.” He snickered quietly, even if it was a morbid sort of joke. If it weren’t for gallows humor, John wouldn’t have much left. He hummed again, then shrugged. “Suppose we’ll see what they’re for, if anything. Might be a way to get everyone riled up and they’ll surprise us with something different entirely.” That seemed to be the way of things, but he wouldn’t lay odds on either option yet. Now, if their phones started up with the puzzles or instructions again, maybe. But until then, they were left to wonder. |