Backdated to late Nov. 28 | text; un: Constantine

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Sometimes later in the day than Ethan's announcement, and shortly after getting yelled at for COMPLETELY REASONABLE ACTIONS, the network updates with: ]

I'm not dead just let me sleep it off

[ Then, grumpily, Constantine pulls the covers over her head and attempts to go back to sleep. ]

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[ ooc: Reactions welcome, threadjacking fine, Johanna's DMs open! ]

Comments

[lupusintus]

[ It's about to get even better! Of course, he was up all night worrying, so the reply back is prompt. ]

I never wanted you to see mine. Any of you.

Did I hurt you?

[keepgodwaiting]

Hey I don't know if you noticed but this place is going to show everyone our demons sooner or later but most of us don't have demons that'll eat OTHER people

What happened here

[lupusintus]

You saw it, I have no control over myself when I change. I've been restraining myself in one of the parking garages, it was the furthest I could get away from people.

Back in London, I didn't have to worry about running out of places to hide. Once I knew what I was, I could track the lunar cycle and plan accordingly, getting as far away as I could so I didn't kill anyone. I can't run away here, there are only so many places to lock myself away. Restraining myself has worked in the past and it worked here still until last night.

I can't recall what happened before Miss Ives showed up. Please, Miss Constantine. Did I hurt you?

[keepgodwaiting]

It didn't. I don't doubt it wanted to.

Ives had a real rapport with you. Why wasn't she helping you keep it in check?

[lupusintus]

Neither do I.

Miss Ives didn't know what I was until last night.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ What. ]

And she still snapped you out of it?

[ What is up with you, Vanessa? Safe bet Vanessa won't be forthcoming about it if asked directly. But there's clearly something going on there, something weird enough to stop a werewolf in his tracks. ]

[lupusintus]

[ It's complicated and he's going to be stingy with the information. ]

We come from the same place, seeing her must have awakened something in me. I don't know.

[ Not entirely untrue. ]

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Yeah, sure. ]

So what happens next month

[lupusintus]

Everyone knows what I am now.

A few have offered help, I plan to accept it. Anything to keep this from happening again.

[keepgodwaiting]

okay

Good. I'm glad you have help.

Do you know what can stop it if it does happen again?

[ Hope for the best. Plan for the worst. ]

[lupusintus]

Silver can kill a werewolf.

[ Not maim, he's going straight for the big guns. ]

[keepgodwaiting]

Would it cure you, do you think? Or does it not work like that?

[lupusintus]

There's no cure for what I am.

It would kill me. If it's between me or someone else, you know who I'll choose.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ There's a long delay before the next text. ]

Have you ever tried talking to it?

[lupusintus]

[ Pause, meet pause. ]

I wouldn't even begin to know how.

Even if I could, the wolf wouldn't be able to talk back. The best way to describe it would be saying when one is awake, the other one sleeps. We're two sides of the same coin, unable to look each other in the eye.

[keepgodwaiting]

Hypnosis, meditation, hallucinogenics, lucid dreaming

The wolf can't talk back in English but that doesn't mean it can't communicate. It wants things. They aren't necessarily different than what you want, not all of them.

[lupusintus]

If you told me that a year ago, I would have thought you were mad as a hatter.

Say it does talk back, what if it goes wrong? The only thing the wolf wants is blood, its whole existence is steeped in violence. A violence I'm not eager to push onto anyone else if things go south and they already have. Werewolves are feared for a reason, they can turn a man who has had his fill of violence into one who craves it.

[ There's a pause in his reply, as he considers something. ]

I've experienced dream walking before.

[keepgodwaiting]

We can agree on one thing, old son, it HAS already gone wrong

So since evidently whatever you've been trying thus far has a non-zero failure rate so why not try something new

I have a vested bloody interest in this not happening again and I should think you do to

You need a better reason than "what if"

[lupusintus]

[ Goddamnit, Constantine, now she uses logic. After spending the evening hunting a werewolf. He sighs on his end, scrubbing at his face with both hands. She's not wrong, that's for sure. ]

Trust me when I say it can get worse. People don't survive, Miss Constantine, this place is the one who saved them. Not luck, not some kind of miracle. If we were back in London there wouldn't be anyone here to tell the tale.

I never said I wouldn't try it, I'm just giving you the facts.

You think I enjoy this? I'll do whatever I need to do, no matter how outlandish the option, if it works. Sitting around hoping something doesn't go wrong isn't doing anything.

[ A beat. ] I don't suppose asking you not to chase werewolves in the future would do any good, would it?

[keepgodwaiting]

what on earth do you mean "this place saved them"

[ Genuinely, she does not follow him here. Does he credit the glass doors with saving her and Hob? Or the City's phones with getting Daan there in time to keep Nails alive? ]

tw: gore, death, cannibal..ism idek...

[lupusintus]

Back home they didn't find bodies after the full moon.

They found pieces of whatever the wolf decided not to eat. If it doesn't eat them, it leaves them in an unrecognizable state. Do you understand what I'm saying? No one should have survived last night.

The only thing that has changed is being in this place. The fact that ropes were able to hold it back means it's not as strong here. I don't know why or how but if they took away my guns, it's possible they did something to the wolf too.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ HOO BOY. Johanna reads this a couple of times, grimacing at the not-very-implied implications, and blows out a breath. ]

I get the picture

Reckon they did do something to you. They've weakened everyone else that could be dangerous. Not enough to keep us from being dangerous to each other, clearly, but enough to keep us from being dangerous to them.

But there's still people here who can do things you didn't have access to in London. You're on board for something outlandish. Let's find something outlandish.

or

maybe chains

[ Not that she has any idea where to find chains in this City. ]

or drugs

[lupusintus]

It's not pretty but those are the facts.

I'm on board, yes, but whatever happens I don't want you anywhere near me when I change. I felt its rage, Miss Constantine, and it knows your scent now. If something goes wrong and I hurt you-

I know you're no damsel in distress and I know better than to demand, so I'm asking you to stay back.

[ Drugs. On a werewolf. Constantine. ]

Let's start with the chains and work our way up from there.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Sedatives, dude, not cocaine. Maybe marijuana. Chill the thing out a bit. ]

No fear, mate. I'm not going to let you kill me.

Does it have something against me?

[lupusintus]

[ What if it gets the munchies.. ]

It has something against everyone.

Normally wolves avoid humans, they don't see them as prey. If they do approach you can usually scare them off by acting aggressively, standing your ground, never showing them your back and making a lot of noise. Hunting makes them fearful, lets them know they aren't the predator in this case.

Werewolves are different. They are the hunter and will keep going until the prey falls without care because there are no natural predators. I don't know for certain but, if I can help it, anyone who met the wolf that night should be kept away. You three were the last thing it saw before Miss Ives was able to get through to me.