nifties | it's all so incredibly loud //

it's all so incredibly loud //

The ship just seems so incredibly... quiet, without Ray. He knows he has no right to think that, he's not an OG member of this little crew, but he's learned the ins and outs of how they operate anyway. At first it was begrudgingly and now, as always, he finds himself in the crux of every stupid decision they make. He can scarcely remember the day he moved in now, some stupid quip about not playing dress-up; but it feels like a different lifetime. It was, wasn't it? A different timeline, anyway.

He hears footsteps past his doorway at every hour and he's learned to identify them all. The purposeful stride of Ava, the sharp staccato of Sara, the lumbering oafishness of Rory, the light and carefree steps of Behrad... and most recently, the high-pitched clack of Zari's heels. Most nights, he hides in here, drinks a fifth of a bottle or enough to sleep, whichever comes first. His priorities have shifted a bit since their jaunt out of time. It's the first truly selfish thing he's done in forever and he knows it was for Zari, too. It's what keeps the guilt from consuming him, though his fingers itch for a drink or a smoke. He bought another pack at some point, but it remains pristine in a drawer like an insurance policy rather than anything he intends to use.

The sound startles him, her heels outside his door. His heart pounds, trying to make himself wait and see if she'll pass by. Certainly, she would if he didn't intervene. He's not that interesting when he isn't doing magic, at least by his own perception. Yet she sticks around, she listens to him. He tries not to let it remind him of anything - or anyone.

At the last possible moment, he stumbles to the door, opening it with that unsatisfying Star Trek button. He misses wooden doors, tangible things. Convenience is all well and good, but he's an old-fashioned guy, and maybe just an old one, too. That's how he feels tonight anyway, taking a half-step into the hallway so that they nearly collide. He reaches out automatically to grab both her arms, feeling like he tripped and fell anyway, her eyes once again capturing his as he forgets to speak.

"...Hey." It's soft, betraying his vulnerability as well as the wetness in his own gaze. "You weren't comin' to see me, were ya?" Probably just wishful thinking, he knows, but when she rejects the notion he can just laugh it off like always.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was actually ridiculously easy for her to write off ditching the team twice with John. Zari is just extra enough to hang out in a haunted house just to confirm for himself John did in fact have one and also to get her lip gloss back. The same way she'd be unable to resist a good party in the 90s. Whatever. Obviously she thought it'd be the Spice Girls!! It's all kind of dumb and she knows it. She doesn't need plausible excuses or to hide anything. Zari Tarazi doesn't do walks of shame. She also doesn't advertise her relationships either. It didn't help that this one turned intense so fast. She scared herself with that always line. Where did that even come from?

It helps that they're busy afterward. They are literal demons to fight. There's a ton of research to do in order to make sure when they actually get that stupid Loom it will work for them. They do only have one fate on hand for a magical thing that used to have three users. Call her crazy, but just hoping it will work with one seems naive. She doesn't think she can handle the look on John's face when it doesn't work out. She bullies whichever boy is nearby (read: Behrad and Nate) to help her prepare for this eventuality.

Zari Tarazi doesn't leave things to chance. She also knows when to step back. Tonight isn't going to be productive for any of them. Everyone is rightfully down except for her. Being the newbie has benefits. She decides that even if it scares her, she knows where to spend the time wisely. Her heart is beating rapidly as she walks down the hall. Zari promises herself she won't back down. She'll check in on John and if there's feels oh well. She'll grow up and handle them.

Count on John to literally collide into her before she can do turn to his door. It does nothing to help her racing heart. Zari forgets that when she catches the look in his eyes. She's left wondering what good is making his mission her priority if this is how it leaves him.

She swallows, puts on her persona like an armor to point out the obvious. "Duh, I'm at your door. I feel like that question kind of answers itself." The mask slips despite Zari's hang ups. She follows up with a softer, "Are you going to invite me in or are we going out?" She wouldn't blame him for wanting some air. The mood here does suck. She also needs to make it clear that she is not leaving him like this. It hurts too much.

His gaze softens as well as his hold, fingers gently stroking against her clothing as they fall away, unable to find an excuse to keep touching her especially out here in the open. The Duh even gets a bland smile out of him, stepping out of her way so she can enter rather than answering her question. The 'we' in that sentence was all he needed to hear - so she's been thinking about them too. He probably should have taken her offer to go out because now he's looking at the small room absolutely stacked with books and trinkets and there's not really anywhere to sit but the bed.

"Sorry. Do you want me to lie and say I would've cleaned up?" If he knew she was coming by, that is. He gestures for her to sit on the edge of the bed, still haphazardly made from whatever stupid hour Ava woke them all up that morning.

She should have known this would be what his room is like. In retrospect, she should have forced him out. Hindsight is great as always. Zari still enters anyways, taking his cue to sit on the edge of the bed. "No, because then my eyes would hurt from rolling them so hard." She pats the seat next to her, half-suspecting he'll pace around the three feet of space if she gives him a choice. It helps that she knows in her bones he likely needs the contact. The way his ran his hands over her clothing just confirmed it.

"What do you even do in here?" With his zero space, but also an indirect way of asking what he was up to before she dropped in.

He takes a half-circle before giving in and settling in next to her, enjoying the way their legs press together even as he folds in on himself out of habit, elbows to knees and hands to his head. What does he do? God. His eyes alight on the half-done bottle just behind her, but he hadn't actually had a chance to crack into that tonight. He's thankful for that now.

After a moment, too long a pause for what should be a simple question, he crosses his arms on top of his legs and comes out of his hunch enough to meet her eyes - and they are very close, wow. His throat dries up even as he tries to get out a lame answer.

"Research?" He certainly doesn't sleep much. Mostly pace, crazy spells, quiet breakdowns? Yeah, he's pretty pathetic. Then he realizes she's literally two doors down from him doing the same shit so why is he wallowing? His nose wrinkles as he turns it back on her: "What do you do in your room?"

Zari is sitting up straight next to him, the image of perfect posture in sharp contrast. She glances around the room while he struggles to answer. The bottle is noted, but she isn't pressed about it any more than usual even it's arguably worse than smoking. He is sober or else she might have considered coming back tomorrow. She tends to avoid drunks in small rooms on principle given her normal line of work. It literally never ended well for her, the eternal sober companion.

He phrases it like a question. Zari can already tell she'll need to get more specific or else he'll spin her around in circles verbally. Is that different from normal? No. She really is here to help so she'd like to get to that. Of course he flips the script on her to delay it. "Makeup, yoga, sleep, and playing on my phone." She says each one like it's obvious. Their proximity comforts her more than distracts in Zari's case. She never feels alone when they're together. "Research works out better for me in the library or Behrad's lab." It also happens to have people so hint hint!!

She sighs audibly and goes to rest a hand over one of his. "I'm trying to ask what's going on in your head, dummy. We stopped using coins like a decade ago so don't expect a penny."

Because she's an actual team player. He hears the implication right before the touch to his hand short-circuits his brain. John glances down like he doesn't understand what's happening, fingers twitching under hers as much as he tries to remain still and accept the contact for what it is. His gaze bounces back up and he sighs, self-deprecating as always.

"Not even 5P?" he automatically quips, but his heart isn't in it. He just needs a second to deflect and then he'll answer her for real, a skill very few people have with John, really. Usually he'd rather drink than talk, but she sought him out and that's meaningful to him. "Want the truth? Was thinkin' about you, and hoping I didn't go and wreck everything between us already."

It's rare and earnest and though the words are cheesy he's not expecting it to sweep her off her feet or anything. He really means them, and after a second he works up the courage to lace his fingers between hers and turn their hands over on his knee.

She stares at him like he's insane. Zari isn't sure what she expected to hear. Maybe something about being discouraged about getting his friend back. Maybe he was starting to see the holes in the plan that Zari had been obsessing over. It wasn't that. "You didn't do anything wrong. I-" Her mouth shuts as it starts to click in her brain how this must look to him. She's inaccessible. Basically every time she's outside her room, she's researching or texting. It's not like she's really verbalizing all the plates she's spinning to help John get his friend back and make sure she has an actual life to return to along with her daughter. Zari doesn't explain herself unless there's a camera in front of her. It's only now she realizes that anyone would think she hit it and quit it. Rather than think the worst of her, that she was some princess looking for a thrill, he blamed himself for doing something to put a wedge between them.

Her throat tightens as she thinks not for the first time she's a really crummy person. Zari quickly brushes the self-pity aside because she knows that like with Ava and Nate she has to lay it out for John even if it hurts to talk about the past. She likes the way they all think she's always been powerful and in control. The truth is this is something that came after.

She stares down at their hands as she explains, voice slipping into something uncharacteristically hard. "I'm not a real person. I was so young when I started that I've never even had a real friend before. I had to learn the hard way that people will use me to get what they want. It didn't matter how old I was or how hard I tried to convince them to love me. I was just a means to an end. The only way to survive was to figure out what they wanted and if it was something I was willing to give."

She knows that sounds dramatic. He fights actual scary things that go bump in the night. In her way, Zari has too. The world she navigated up until recently was filled with some very scary people who don't think twice about hurting young girls. Kids never forget the betrayal and harm adults do to them. Astra is a shining example of that. It definitely informs Zari's behavior now even after she reclaimed her power as teenager.

"I think-" She forces herself to look up at him. Zari's gaze is wet, but her voice at least softens enough to sound natural again. "I know you care about me, but I can't stop trying give you something to keep doing that." She hope it's obvious what she was trying to buy his affection with. It is embarrassing to say aloud helping him get his bestie back would make him keep liking her. How selfish can she be?

He's expecting her to tell him to stop being so dramatic or something when she starts in - and then he realizes it's his turn to shut up and listen. He shifts a little so he's facing her more than leaning against her, his other hand closing over her wrist in a featherlight but unmistakably protective gesture. His fingers idly trace her pulse-point while he pieces it together, feeling grateful and humbled that she'd share it with him to begin with.

"I don't expect anything from you, Zari." His voice is so soft it's almost a whisper, dark eyes holding hers like a lifeline. He appreciates everything she's done to help him and the team, but that isn't why he likes her, not even close. It just makes him admire her more, that she thinks giving of herself that way could ever be selfish. "I push people away, I neglect them, I ignore them. Because I don't want them to get hurt."

He squeezes her hand and holds her wrist, his other knee bouncing erratically as he thinks of all the times he had this and lost it. He always thinks if he just holds on tighter... John bites into his lip, not even sure how to explain his feelings for her, it's somehow nothing like he's ever experienced and like all the intensity of his past relationships rolled into one and amplified tenfold.

"Look, I'm not internet famous or anything, but I get used, too. For my magic, or my connections. Hell, that's what this team started out as, Sara saw me as a tool and that was fine at the time." Well, until it wasn't. He swallows, looking away for a second. "Just tryin' to say I get where you're coming from. But I do care about you - so much so that it scares me."

His eyes blaze as they catch on hers again, flashing so bright for a second they nearly turn yellow. They're two very flawed people, but maybe they have something to offer one another; like a safe haven of sorts. A judgment-free zone.

She wonders if he knows how soothing it is to be touched like that. Zari feels a tad bit safer; like he's covering a soft spot from prying eyes. The words remove a huge burden from her shoulders. She is in constant struggle to be what everyone wants and needs. He got lumped into that group by mistake.

Zari hears him out and finds herself connecting dots. She's so busy trying to give that it didn't occur to her it was a two-way street. He could have come to her at any time. John was too scared to do it. She finally gets why that might be. They're not so different in the end. She wonders if that's why their attraction is so intense. They're like broken off parts of a whole. She doesn't believe in soulmates, but maybe if it were real this is what it would be like.

She sees the light behind those eyes. It continues to sink in just how different he is. That oddly enough makes Zari feel closer to him. He's made of magic and she's harboring someone from a life she lived and lost inexplicably. What a weird pair they make. "It scares me too; how much you mean to me." She elaborates. The last thing they need is another misunderstanding. "I can't explain it. It's just so much. I just-" She shakes her head, frustrated by not having the words to express herself. The look she gives him is downright desperate. "Can we just stick together for now on? This is the only thing that feels right to me."

He presses in closer at the words, staring at her lips, but ultimately settling with his temple against hers, needing the physical more than anything sexual at least for right now. They had rushed into that before, and he can't regret it when it felt so bloody good; but tonight he wants to just keep her close. Is that a crime?

"Only if you're absolutely sure you wanna be lumped in with a sorry sod like me." He keeps his tone light even though he's far from joking. He still expects her to realize who she's really with and walk out the door - and half of him wants her to so he doesn't have to watch her die. "And you accept that I'll never have a mobile number."

It really is too much pressure OK!!!!

Edited (britishy bullshit ) 2020-08-06 04:08 (UTC)

Zari exhales audibly, shutting her eyes as their temples hit. This is what she needs in a lot of ways. She rolls with the joke easily as the high intense feels start to cool off. "It's cool. I've emotionally prepared myself for the stigma of being associated with a weirdo who wears the same outfit every day." Is she joking?? Who knows.

She huffs at the rest. She likes the idea of being able to get in touch at all times, but whatever. He's not into it so she won't force the matter. Zari will finesse something out of it for her trouble. "I will only accept the phone thing if you pay up on that cuddle session you owe me." She says like he wasn't the one who wanted it to begin with. "No one likes a guy who is stingy with his cuddles, John."

All he can do is roll his eyes, he doesn't see changing his style either, but who knows what she could persuade him to do. It's impossible to come up with a comeback when she's right.

"Stingy?" he challenges, reluctantly unhanding her wrist so he can wrap his arm around her waist instead and gently roll them back onto the bed together. He's, of course, in his usual shirt, slacks and tie though he did take off his boots some time ago. He nudges at her foot with his to encourage her to kick her heels off, then wraps her up even tighter if that's possible, both hands squeezing around her middle while he unabashedly presses his face against hers. It's everything he needed and more; while simultaneously being something he never would have known how to ask her for. "Dunno what I owe you for, but lemme know when I'm paid in full, will ya?"

That went more or less better than planned. Zari kicks off her heels with a content sigh of a woman who knows true freedom from those torture devices. Zari naturally is in another stylish dress destined to be wrinkled by this. Oh well. Totally worth it for the comfortable and firm hold he has on her.

Her eyes stay shut as she continues to banter. "Ha! Nice try. I have the best memory when it comes to food and cuddling. You said we'd take a nap which implies cuddles. Therefore you owe me." It all makes sense to her. "I might cash in the nap too. Haven't decided."

"That's not the way I remember it," he counters halfheartedly, one leg working between hers while he slots his nose in against hers, enjoying the way their breathing mingles. He takes a moment or two to just hold her before he tries to spoil the moment. "So when you say 'stick together...'" He hopes it means what he thinks it means, but voicing it seems almost reckless now.

One hand goes to settle on his rib cage while trails upward to rest against his heart. The beat is soothing albeit a little fast, she thinks. Is that a smoker thing? She thinks it's a smoker thing.

Zari doesn't bother to defend that. She's stretching and they both know it. She couldn't think of any other way to get what they both need. What is just asking for it in a normal way? No, they need the drama.

She groans when he brings up her words from earlier. John really does have a way of spoiling the moment. "Yeah, that wasn't exactly Shakespeare. Think we can jump back for a consult? I'm not saying I salvaged Juliet for him, but there's no way Nate had that much chemistry with you so he pretty much owes me his career." Well that and the fact she can act probably helped a lot. Zari pops an eye open reluctantly. She needs words; really good ones. She's half-tempted to run back to her room and maybe do a consult with Mick. His porn really has some good romantic moments. They could have a really solid collab on their hands here.

She doubts John is going to let her go to have someone else write about her feelings towards him for her. Zari doesn't want him to let go either so there's that. "We could date." That sounds so stupid. She tries to elaborate on it. "Not the way people do in the movies or like as a status update. We just hang out a lot and only have sex with each other which we agreed on last time anyways. Do you remember it like that?" She needles.

Zari quickly dives into the heart of it before he can get too distracted. It still sounds stupid to her, but whatever. She can consult with Mick later on grand romantic speeches depending on how it goes. "So? Want to be my magical boyfriend? Don't let the cuddling sway your decision. I promise I won't punch you in the throat if you say no." Maybe knee him in the balls for making her say this stupid stuff. That's justice though.

That feels ridiculously intimate, the way she holds his heart in the palm of her hand - and apt, perhaps. His heart-rate does speed up, his breathing shallowing out; but it probably has very little to do with him being a smoker at all. Whatever she's about to say feels significant even before she's said it, the air around them charged with some undefinable emotion that seems to cocoon protectively, almost as if no one could interrupt this moment without breaking the spell.

Because he's so accustomed to smiling as a deflection, when he's truly happy sometimes it doesn't show on his face. It's obvious in his gaze that he's wholly focused on her and her words, but the rest of his expression remains neutral as much as he wants to laugh at the mention of his chemistry with the librarian. As if that really needed to be said, but he appreciates her narration all the same.

John pushes a stubborn lock of hair away from her face and gently tucks it behind her ear, his other hand slipping from around her back to sink into her waistline. It's hard to internalize what she's saying to him when all of his senses are so wrapped up in how well they fit, something he can't help but take full notice of each time they're together. Date finally gets the flicker of a reaction, one side of his mouth twitching up to match the unmistakable glimmer in his eye. Since he already covered not getting a cellphone, they can't exactly have a 'status update,' not to mention doing so would probably cause a major time incident. Still, what she describes sounds... too good to be true. Exclusivity without the pomp and circumstance, what is more romantic than that? It doesn't sound stupid to him at all.

The dam finally breaks when she gets to 'magical boyfriend' and he snorts indelicately, enjoying the title more than he should. "You really know how to woo a bloke," he praises, voice raspy but sincere. That probably is related to the smoking... He leans in before she can spiral out, sealing his lips over hers in an impossibly sweet kiss. He doesn't try to deepen it or make it anything more than it is, pulling back when he starts growing short of breath. "Yeah, luv, that's how I remember it." And yes, he'll be hers. For as long as she'll have him. The look he gives her is full to the brim with adoration and he holds her gaze for as long as possible after.

Edited 2020-08-06 16:43 (UTC)

It helps she really doesn't have any expectations of him. The pressure Zari puts on herself in a hundred fold. She does wish he was an easier read, but the kiss will definitely do. It melts her heart just like every other tiny gesture of his. She can't help thinking how insane that this feels more intimate than anything that's come before John. The way he pushes her hair back and watches her with those dark eyes of his shouldn't be so meaningful. It leaves her helpless. No wonder they're both so scared.

She gets lost in his eyes after, hers impossibly soft and loving in return. Eventually Zari has to break the hold he has just by a look alone to laugh. She can't just leave that wooing line alone. She is an excellent wooer... when she doesn't care. This is really on him for making her care. "You want me to try wooing you again? Because we do have a romance writer on board. We can take ten and see how Mick would handle our romantic dialogue. Probably something about skinny Englishmen deserving love too maybe. Let's not get too crazy here."

Her laugh lights up his face, the expression easily taking years off his usual rugged appearance.

"You want Mick Rory to write us a love sonnet?" he presses her, one eyebrow lifting in accusation. "I think I'll pass that up, if it's all the same to you."

Love. Even a casual usage of the word is almost too much for him, sending an unwelcome shiver down the column of his spine. He brushes his lips across her temple before setting his head on the pillow behind her, chin resting on her shoulder. It feels good, and safer now that she can't see his face, but he can't just let that comment go all the same.

"...Skinny?"

That look on his face does things to her. Zari thinks she'd do literally anything to make it happen again. What a terrifying way to live. John hides himself before she can even begin to unpack that one. She pouts about it even while finding an excuse to legitimately pout. "I want you to actually say that you are now my magical boyfriend or else I have no choice, but to keep wooing you. Friendly reminder that I am a classically trained actress so I have a lot of romantic dialogue to use at any time." It's all directed at women which whatever. She can change pronouns for him!! Also fun fact she told Nate that so this is new information for John at least.

She rubs little circles into his side. "Yes, skinny. Don't be offended. I know plenty of women who would kill for your waistline. I'm pretty sure North West already has." That last one doesn't sound like a joke. All those kids probably grew up to be terrors.

"Is that supposed to incentivize me?" he teases, fingers trailing over her arm in that not-quite-ticklish-touch he's so fond of wielding against her. Though he didn't know she was 'classically trained,' he could have guessed from their scene, and also the drama constantly surrounding her (so what's his excuse?) His frame shutters involuntarily again at her touch, similarly ticklish the way flawlessly manicured nails drag against his shirt. It makes him want to start stripping down just to feel more of her. "Dark," he mock-criticizes of her anecdote, only vaguely knowing who that is or why she's named after a compass direction...

His lips catch against the skin of her throat as he speaks up again, squeezing her tight with both his thighs now like she might retreat though she's shown no signs of doing that or anything close to it. His voice is smoky but assertive as he forces himself to drop the self-conscious act. She's clearly attracted to him so it really is a nonissue. Maybe it's his turn to woo Zari anyway, but as always he has to have fun with it.

"Only gonna say this once so listen up. My name is John Constantine and I'm the slim magical boyfriend of one Zari Tarazi. And if she wanted me to tattoo that on my arse, I probably would."

The hair on her arms stand up, flesh pimpling at the touch. She swears he knows that's edging on ticklish for her so she doesn't feel as bad about what she's doing to him. It is likely a good thing he is locked on so tight once he gets started. His lips against her throat do tickle. What he actually says is what makes her laugh louder than she thinks she ever has. Zari laughs so hard the bed shakes from the movement. She pulls her hand off his rib cage to bring it to her face like that will calm her down.

She shows zero signs of stopping even as she forces herself to say something. "You probably would." She takes in a few wheezing breaths, grabbing at his arm. "Please don't do it. Your butt is way too cute for tattoos." She'll calm down. Just give her a minute.

He's never heard her laugh like that, so unrestrained and loud like she clearly doesn't care how she sounds or what it looks like. It's ridiculously attractive to him and he shuffles away from her just a tiny bit so he's not crushing her rib cage, laughing lightly despite himself when she grabs for him.

"Oh most definitely I would," he counters, not bothering to analyze how final such a thing would truly be. He has some weird ink, but he's never considered the permanence of putting someone's name on his flesh. People don't usually survive long enough for him to and he's never been one much for memorial. His smile grows wolfishly at the backhanded compliment, craning his neck to turn it on her where he's now resting against the headboard more than on top of her, though one leg is still intertwined with hers. "I think I can promise that, luv, but only if you keep callin' it cute."

Emotional blackmail or something: his specialty. John brings one knee up towards his chest and rests his elbow on it so he can better watch her without turning again, his heart straining in his chest like it wants to break out just from this silly conversation. It's how he knows it's okay to be here, with her; and to settle just a little bit.

"Would you ever get a tattoo?"

Zari doesn't laugh like this usually. It's considered unattractive to most people. The way her nose scrunches up and lips pull back isn't considered cute. The natural reactions she trained herself out of slip out around John. Case in point, she shifts enough to more comfortably support her head against the pillow, not minding how it'll flatten her carefully crafted curls. She rolls her eyes at the blackmail even while noting to honor that. It's very nice to look at, okay? She's shallow.

Zari waves a hand at the question, head shaking. "I can't get a permanent one. It's haram." Considering who she is hanging out with, Zari can't exactly write off the potential of literally being cursed for getting one now. That's one of things she looked into and actually found the evidence that it was legit and not just a rule men made up.

He asked so that inclines Zari to open up and not just leave the conversation there. "Behrad and I always decorate our hands for weddings since temporary ones are okay. Not to brag, but we put together some really cool designs over the years. I'll have to show you the pictures sometime." She intentionally leaves her phone behind when she seeks him out. Zari knows she can't resist poking it. She doesn't want to miss any of this. Just talking to him makes her feel stupidly happy. What app could compete?

He more or less expected that for an answer, but it still tells him something new about her. When she mentions the pictures, he anticipates her cracking out the phone and doing the whole thing before it sinks in that she didn't bring it... which means she really was coming down here to spend time with him. He still doesn't get it, but that doesn't make him any less touched. He knows how much her phone means to her, and if they're with the group he actually enjoys when she pulls things up for him to see because it gives him an excuse to stay in her space. Right now he doesn't need an excuse though and he'd much rather look at her face in the present than pictures of the past.

"I'd like that," he says softly, picturing the henna as she describes it. He's sure it's beautiful but it wasn't exactly where he was going with his question. Not like he has an agenda right now, it actually feels really nice to just bullshit with someone, especially her. "It's not haram to date a wizard?" Asking the real questions here.

Zari freezes not because he caught her off guard. It's the opposite actually. She's a little embarrassed at how prepared she is to answer that. Zari has been very focused on the mission, but her soul is important too. She's never been good at letting things go. "So... I might have dug into that if you want the real answer." She leans in and almost look giddy to present what she found out. The thing about Zari is she really is passionate about whatever she puts her mind to. Nothing is ever a chore to her once it captures her interest. She raises a finger while sharing what she learned.

"If you were Muslim, it'd be a huge issue because I'm going to take a leap here and say maybe some of your spells might be dark. They're haram by default according to our standards." Zari can't say for sure what he does so she doesn't go any further into that. It doesn't really change her point anyways.

"But, here's the thing: you're pretty much an anomaly. No one accounted for a wizard that would wield that magic against Satanic forces and actually mean it. They always acted under the assumption they'd be aligned with Satan. That means that you fall into the same group as Behrad. He draws from an outside source to protect Allah's creation and fight evil that would harm it so his actions are considered a necessary part of his duty. Yours fall under the same umbrella even if the source may not be as pure. It's one of those 'we wish you didn't do that, but understand you might have to' kind of deals." At this point, Zari finally takes a breath. Her Catchat roots are showing. She really did that whole speech in one take. "So tl;dr you can date a wizard if he's fighting Satan. We're really love it when people do that."

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