Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It fills the void."

Dоcтоя Slêêp (doctoring) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2020-02-16 17:42:00

Entry tags:

dan torrance, john constantine (vertigo)

WHO: Constantine & Dan
WHAT: Dan owes Constantine dinner, because he was magicked and kissed him at that weird party
WHERE: House with the blue door (Dan's abode)
WHEN: Tonight

Everything had happened so quickly, Dan just needed a moment. One moment or two, or five, something so that he could calm the whole circus of acrobats doing flips in his stomach. First he went to a party just expecting to nurse a fucking soda and make sure Richie's head didn't explode, and then he'd gotten yanked out of the corner where wallflowers roamed and into a kissing booth with a guy that pushed the right buttons to remind Dan that he actually had a sex drive, somewhere, then after that incident with Bill it was like he’d been hit across the face with a hot iron and he had even more questions. About what the fuck he was even doing.

Okay, fine. He simply needed a moment to process, and he got to do just that while making dinner in his nearly bare-bones kitchen (he'd managed to find fresh ingredients though - and a dining room table, plus chairs, he had that). Cooking was therapeutic, in its own way, and he at the very least didn't slice a finger off while beginning to prepare the stir fry for dinner - cutting the beef, cutting the vegetables, gathering the right spices. He was currently letting the beef sizzle in oil in the frying pan and listening for a knock at the door.

Though he didn't need the knock, necessarily. It was difficult to get the jump on a psychic - his mind reading capabilities expanded like a mushroom cloud, pushing outward, and he listened for the approach of his specific dinner guest.

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doctoring
2020-02-20 12:14 am UTC (link)

"I think so," Dan replied, settling at the table - he assessed to make sure they had everything first though. Food, check. Non-alcoholic beverage, check. Actual utensils so they didn't have to eat with their hands and napkins so they didn't have to be barbaric when wiping mouths, also check. "There's - well, there's what I have. It's called the Shining. I think it's a little magical though."

He sipped his delicious sparkling grape juice. Mm, fruity. "But either way I'm not...unfamiliar with it. Is that what you are? Magic?"

No wonder he felt something whenever he touched John, or - kissed him so deeply he could taste the marrow in his bones, either one.

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_constantine_
2020-02-20 12:37 am UTC (link)

"The Shining," John repeated, like he was testing the word out, turning it over in his head. The word alone didn't describe a whole lot, except for how it kind of did at the same time. But he gathered it was psychic stuff, considering. Not so much a magic as an inherent thing.

Not that magic wasn't occasionally inherent too, with some people. John had been doing little acts of accidental magic since before he knew how to stop himself. Dan wasn't the only one with ghosts. John's hadn't been in a hotel, though.

He took his hands back, so that he could pick up his fork and see just how impressive Dan's cooking really was. "Some people have magic," he explained, considering. "And some people simply are. Any sorcerer, magician -- whatever fuck dumb name you pick for it -- worth his salt is a little bit of both." And John didn't care to brag, not exactly, because he tended to call what he did dabbling in most (sarcastic) cases. But there really wasn't anyone much better.

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doctoring
2020-02-20 12:59 am UTC (link)

"So I assume you're more than worth your salt," Dan surmised, lips twitching to hide a smirk. Or a smile. Maybe both. "It must be strange, having all of that magic and not really - doing the same things you usually do?" But then again, maybe John appreciated the break.

There was never any break from the Shining. It was always with Dan - always building, always creating. Building walls and knocking them down. Adding and subtracting. Sometimes he had moments which he could quantify as peaceful, but those were far and few in between. "I can read minds," he said. "And...other things."

He extended his hand, and the bottle of grape juice zipped right to him, so he topped off his glass. "Basically it encompasses lots of psychic powers. Can talk to spirits too. Ghosts are talkative, don't you think?"

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_constantine_
2020-02-20 01:24 am UTC (link)

"I do alright," John said in a way that very much implied exactly what he wasn't saying. He was worth his salt. He considered it though, whether or not it was strange to have potential that wasn't being used but -- for the most part it wasn't. Even in sometimes the worst situations back home, John had deferred to skills other than magic to save his own ass. Mostly by talking instead. Sure, he made his own luck and that wasn't just some parlor trick, but he liked to think he was just clever, most days. "Less people dead lately," he admitted instead, in a moment of hard truth. "Can't say it's a tragedy to go without, some days."

He nodded thoughtfully, picking up his juice for a drink -- very fruity, indeed. "Figured as much," he said, because it'd been pretty obvious, when Dan had gone poking. "I know a bit about those things. Maybe not as much as you." Psychic stuff was a gamble and not usually somewhere he liked to go, certainly it was harder than telekinetics and the rest -- but it was also pretty easy to ward off. Not that he was bothering just now. Dan wasn't prying.

He was show off, though. Which John liked quite a lot. So he did the same -- drawing a little symbol on the table with the condensation from the glass and then moving the bottle to cover it. From there, his cup simply filled itself. "The dead feel like they're entitled to every last word they were never given," he said carefully. Sometimes, John tended to agree, even if he didn't want to. Then again, sometimes it was his fault.

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doctoring
2020-02-20 01:22 pm UTC (link)

The trick with the refilling glass was kind of amazing - or at least to Dan it was and he grinned, a flash of sharp teeth. "Do you always use symbols?" he asked, since some magic required the use of tools. A wand, for example. A spellbook. He just wanted to learn more - without the use of prying. That was just rude.

"And do you - what I mean is..." He artfully arranged some rice on his plate with his fork, trying to think of how to word it. "Have you ever encountered someone who has ghosts...locked away in their head?"

Not that Dan was...talking about himself. (Of course he was - they both knew it too, surely). Maybe it was even the source of that call to attention, that skittering of electricity that crawled beneath Dan's skin, whenever he put his hand on John's - it wasn't bad. Not at all. But he definitely didn't understand it.

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_constantine_
2020-02-20 03:47 pm UTC (link)

"No. It always depends, with magic. Sometimes it's symbols, sometimes words, sometimes just -- knowing how to do it is enough, if that makes sense. Do it once, you can do it again?" He poked a vegetable onto his fork and then chewed thoughtfully for a moment. Dan was -- well. Different than most. As someone with shine he was already magically inclined, in a way. For the briefest of moments, John thought, maybe this was someone who could stand to be taught some of the tricks of the trade.

Magic cost though, and even though any idiot could learn it if they really wanted, it wasn't always a smart or good choice. He'd have to think on it.

He gave John a look, searching for a moment, before he leaned his arms on the table, leaned in a little, like he might just find those locked boxes behind his green-blue eyes. "Is that how you get rid of them?" He asked, after a beat. "Heavy burden, innit? To just carry them around with you like that." Locked away or not, they were still there and always would be, never quite forgotten.

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doctoring
2020-02-20 05:24 pm UTC (link)

"They followed me to Florida," Dan explained, leaning in too, dark blonde lashes nearly getting tangled when he blinked, when he looked down through them. He spoke in a hushed tone, like if he was too loud they would burst free from those boxes, or the rattling would bang against his skull too loudly. "My - friend. My mentor. I saw his spirit. He showed me how to lock them away so they couldn't consume me."

They had tried. And they grew hungry in the meantime - he only let them out so they could consume Rose instead, left with little choice and they had; feeding on sinew and bones and whatever dark sludge remained of her soul. Sometimes, he felt her there too. With them.

"But I don't...actually know how to get rid of them."

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_constantine_
2020-02-20 07:24 pm UTC (link)

"That's Florida for you," John said dryly, picking up his glass again for another drink. It was kind of cute, that it was some kind of sparkling brand, like an attempt at romance when literally any other beverage might have done. But he was listening, considering the weight of it. Dan's ghosts weren't just the haunting sort, the kind that hung around to make him feel poorly for deeds done in the past. They were the kind that got ugly and out of control unless put in some box. Neither kind were great, of course, both equally damaging, but in different ways.

"It's a good trick," he decided after a moment, scooting his mostly empty plate a little further onto the table so he could take up the space instead. It was something he might have wished he could have learned at a younger age. Now though? "There're ways. Total banishment isn't impossible. Better Hell than your own space."

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doctoring
2020-02-20 07:57 pm UTC (link)

When he died, when he rigged the Overlook to blow, the ghosts died with him - Dan knew that. But the problem was, that now? He wasn't actually dead. The ghosts of the Overlook were back in their cramped homes, on a dusty shelf and starved for food - they couldn't hunt, they couldn't feed, they could only continue to exist and be this itch at the back of his skull.

"What would total banishment entail?" he asked, resting his hand on John's knee. Maybe he just liked touching because for Dan, the ghosts were quieter around him - less of a heavy presence, anyway. Perhaps they were afraid of John. Dan could see why.

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_constantine_
2020-02-20 08:18 pm UTC (link)

John traced a line across the bumps of Dan's knuckles and still couldn't quite pin down what it was about the both of them that had them practically in each other's laps on only a second meeting. Careless sex was one thing, but actually giving a shit and having a conversation was something else entirely. It wasn't difficult to get people to like him if that was what he wanted; John made his own luck and turning on the charm to make a friend (or personal shield) wasn't even something he had to try at most the time. But he knew when he was doing it, and now wasn't one of those times.

So it was something else.

"Ghosts are already dead," John explained, turning Dan's palm so it was upward, brushing his thumb across it. "So you just send it to where dead things belong. It's magic, and it's not the pretty kind. Takes some effort to learn it because it's a fuck of bad time if that sort of thing gets botched."

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doctoring
2020-02-20 08:53 pm UTC (link)

"Is that something you could do, since you already know the magic?" Dan asked, fingers twitching a bit - they curled inward, as if responding to the touch of John's thumb along his palm. "I mean. There are a lot of ghosts."

Mrs. Massey. Those twin girls. Party revelers with their bleeding scalps, dearly departed bartenders, that one guy in the bear suit and can we not. Letting them out to kill Rose had been bad enough - he'd barely reined them back in. Or actually, he hadn't. They'd driven Dan mad too, just like his father, and he almost killed Abra - though luckily, he'd managed to push past it the way Jack never did.

He winced, eyes tightening. "I don't know if I can let them out, even to banish them," he murmured. "They're strong."

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_constantine_
2020-02-20 09:22 pm UTC (link)

Could John do it? Well, yeah. He had no real doubt about that. It wasn't a slight against Dan and his troubles, obviously, but John had taken out bigger and badder stuff in the past. The question wasn't if he could do it but if he would do it.

Which was sort of a dickish thought, but no one have ever accused Constantine of not being an asshole at one point or another.

Well. Probably he would do it. It wasn't like he was always out for personal gain, particularly not these days, but for a moment there he thought maybe it'd be smarter to teach Dan himself. One never knew when you'd be out a helpful Scouse sorcerer and have to fend for yourself, after all. Still, he offered a vague nod in reply.

"They're not stronger than you," John pointed out like it was obvious. Which he sort of thought it was, considering Dan was carting all of them around in his head and not catatonic or crazy. "You could do it. One at a time."

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doctoring
2020-02-21 12:10 am UTC (link)

One at a time. Maybe so. Dan wasn't so sure, but he thought that he ought to try something - because keeping his mind weighed down with the lockboxes, gathering dust and forever a looming presence, wasn't an appealing option at all. Dick had showed him the trick when he was a kid, freshly scarred from the events at the Overlook, but he was an adult now. He needed a more permanent solution.

"Will you show me how?" he asked, since he had absolutely zero experience with banishing things - creatures, ghosts, anything else - to Hell. He didn't even know if he had that capability at all, to be honest. "Not right now - " Because they'd just eaten and there was a very real chance that stirfry goodness would come back up if Dan even attempted to mentally go near those boxes. "But...soon?"

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_constantine_
2020-02-21 01:05 am UTC (link)

John considered it -- although he didn't really fucking know why, because he knew that he'd do it anyway. Even if this -- whatever this was -- didn't turn out to be anything, John still wouldn't leave a new mate in a lurch if he could do something about it. And anyway, Dan sort of asked with a pretty sort of desperation. He probably didn't even mean to. It just was.

Constantine was getting soft here, he decided before huffing out a little sigh. "Not now, no. We pick somewhere safer. Behind the doors, most like. We build wards. Proper ones. And then I show you how it's done. It's not an easy learn, mate. I don't -- I can do it. But maybe I teach you the ropes. In case."

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doctoring
2020-02-21 02:07 pm UTC (link)

"Behind the doors," Dan agreed. Wards. Proper ones. He supposed that it really was better if John showed him, rather than just taking the reins and doing it all on his own - that way if something happened, Dan would have the knowledge too.

Not that he expected anything to happen. But, again, just in case.

Touched that John would even be willing to go behind the doors (to avoid unleashing some sort of beastie into the town, Dan imagined) to help him, he leaned in and kissed the other man gently. "Thank you," he smiled a bit, glad that magic rose petals had sort of nudged John his way - even if the ripple and shimmer of season magic had a rather embarrassing (but fun) unconventional method of doing so.

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_constantine_
2020-02-21 05:49 pm UTC (link)

Exactly -- it was safest to not bring ghosts to their own home front. Dan was likely aware of that, and could take some comfort in the fact that no one else he'd adopted here in this little town would be in any kind of danger while they did what needed done.

People here, they weren't helpless, obviously, but most if not all of them weren't equipped with the sorts of skills necessary to deal with things like these. Super heroes and ghosts didn't go hand in hand, and John rather thought that those other wizards, while talented, didn't have the same kind of skills or taint about them that he had. It was neither here nor there though, that point. This was a problem for none of them.

Maybe it felt a little good, though. To have a problem to solve again. Maybe Dan had been a little too close to home when he'd asked if it felt strange, not doing what he normally did. It was hard, getting himself to try not to crave the adrenaline rush that came with a shitstorm of a mess.

The kiss was - almost cute, and John smiled crookedly over it, leaning in slightly closer. "Might be worth it."

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