nifties | You let the Devil in 😈

You let the Devil in 😈

Ever since he agreed to go on this trip with Zari, his mind's been turning over and over about it. Technically, yes, the Legends are adults. Some of them even managed to survive for years without them aboard (which seems miraculous now.) But that doesn't make it any easier for him to leave his hatchlings, no matter how many speeches Sara has about how they only live once and they should go enjoy themselves. And he knows Ava has pulled Zari aside to essentially say the same thing just in a more Ava type way.

The thing is, even when John is running away, it's never for long and he's usually only pretending to dick off. As he thinks back over the years, has he ever taken a real vacation? Ever? Something creepy or crawly always manages to find him wherever he goes and that's weighing heavily on his mind as well. If the team will be safe without him, will Zari be safe with him?

He keeps starting and stopping packing, not like it matters when he knows Zari is going to make him get a whole different wardrobe the second they're alone. He's been avoiding that one for long enough so he's kind of resigned to the whole affair honestly. Packing means leaving though, indefinitely the way his life goes. What if they damage the timeline by being out there together? And again, what if the Legends really really need them??

Yeah, so he's spiraling. When Zari finds him, he'll be pacing the length of his room back and forth - back and forth. Every time he crosses his suitcase, he drops something new in and/or takes something out so that the job never actually gets finished. He's so absorbed in his weird, manic ritual that he doesn't even notice her coming in until she's right in front of him. Her sudden appearance (from his perspective) actually makes him jump before he manages to focus his foggy gaze on her.

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He immediately reaches up again to put his hand over hers, turning his head fully towards her and unable to hide the pure adoration that shines through his gaze despite everything going on.

"After, alright? Just... need a minute." Or like, ten. He's trying not to analyze how easily he agreed to talking about his feelings when usually he'd be taking off about now, at least for the night. But he can't do that with them, she makes him want to work on himself and this relationship. John's smile is watery and meek, but there as he leans over to kiss her forehead then gets up without another word to leave the room. He doesn't allow himself to look back, knowing it will just make him want to stay by her side when he really does need some space and some caffeine to sort through this.

She smiles as he reaches out to touch her, immediately reassured things aren't screwed up for good. Zari nods eagerly at his choice. She probably needs a minute too to sort herself out. She leans into his kiss, letting John go without a word.

Zari gets up to immediately head into the bathroom to finish off what's left of her water. She uses the washroom and takes five minutes to wash herself up again. Her hair gets touched up next, turning the frizzy mess into something presentable with the right serum. From there, she puts on some deodorant, reapplies her lotion, perfume, and brushes her teeth.

It's a solid fifteen, bordering on twenty minutes before Zari reemerges in a silk robe. She's feeling more like herself even if a little more somber. "Is my tea ready?" Zari asks like she didn't give John too much time to do this. It couldn't be helped. The routine of fixing her appearance is soothing. She wants to go into this conversation in a good head space.

John heads into the combined living room/kitchenette situation, picking up his boxers up off the floor as he takes a moment to recount what happened out here when they first arrived, his throat drying up as he sees her shift laying haphazardly over the chair's arm. He puts the underwear on then takes a moment to gather up their clothes and place them in a neater pile on said chair, topping it with Zari's hair ornament before continuing on to his real quest.

He fills the electric kettle after the moment it takes to track it down and a couple hotel issue mugs. While he waits he also washes himself up a little in the sink, rinsing silt out of his eyes before leaning back against the counter to watch the Sun start its steady descent. This place is beautiful, of course, but he's been to beautiful places before and it doesn't often get to him.

The kettle's clicking when it's done snaps him out of his reverie, going through the well-practiced moves of preparing their tea the way they each drink it. It didn't even occur to him beforehand that he knew this about Zari, but sometimes the small things really are the more telling, he thinks, mind still pleasantly drifty from his nap though he keeps circling back to Nero as much as he tries to keep things light until Zari actually comes back into the room.

His smile is hazy as it lands on her, picking up on the serious mood settling over the room, but he can never keep himself from being happy to see her whatever the context may be. John approaches to press her cup into her hand before making his way to the couch to start sipping at his though it's still a bit too hot to be totally comfortable.

She's surprised to see him tidy up. Zari supposes he had the time. She accepts the cup without commenting on it on their way to the couch. It's a good sign that he's as happy to see her as ever. Zari for her part can't quite chill. Zari takes a seat next to him though further away as usual in a calculated move not to crowd John for once. Her mind races through every potential starting point. It leads her to wonder insignificant things like how many sips he'll need before he is up for this. The influencer takes a baby sip of hers as a sign of good faith even if it is uncomfortably hot.

She decides there's no point in keeping up the pretense. Zari turns towards John to dive into it. "I know it's not easy to open up about the things that scare you." She frowns. This is literally what her therapist says to her. Zari tries again. "It doesn't have to be just you. If there's anything you want to ask me about..." Now she's just managing him. Zari huffs in frustration. "How about you just tell me what you think I should know?" She takes a sip of her tea to manage her annoyance at herself. She swears she's good at this normally! It took the potential of losing Behrad forever to even get her to admit some of the pain she carries inside her. How can Zari expect anyone to open up when she struggles so much with it herself?

John is glad they're going for the jugular, as it were, if only because he's never been fond of small talk, or particularly good at it. He takes a long sip while she starts in, not bothering to answer to her assessment when he mostly agrees. Her second statement only confuses him and his brows knit, knowing to just wait and see where this ends up rather than try to guess or otherwise interject.

He lets out a sigh at the question that finally gets posed, looking down into his teacup and wondering how much if anything she even knows about the Newcastle incident, or about him breaking the universe. Anything? She deserves to know all about them and much more about his past, but every time they try to unearth ancient history they never get very far, do they?

"Look, it's usually... uncouth to talk about one's ex in the presence of..." One's current?? "But I think it's time you know about Desmond." Because it's like, important. Considering it had a part in making her who she is and bringing her into his life at all. John turns his body more towards her while still keeping their distance, resting his wrists against his legs so he can hold the still-hot cup away from his mostly bare skin.

"I tried to keep myself from getting involved with him at all." He was an innocent, in every sense of the word, but John had fallen fast - the way he always seems to. John bites into his lip, needing to look away a minute. "I told him Hell had a price on my head, I really... but he just wouldn't listen, you know?" It's a tired smile he turns back on her, their first conversation about getting into a relationship went much the same way even if he trusts her ability to take care of herself more than he ever could Des.

"When the heat was on, I told him to leave town. Cut all ties. But he stayed anyway and..." John swallows, taking another gulp of tea more because there's no way to make this sound any less insane. "He was possessed by the wanker stalking me. Neron." It boils his blood even now to say the name, but all he can do is shake his head. "Des thought he could make a deal, though anyone who's ever met me should know better than to sign on the dotted line for a demon."

Jesus it's so dumb, and so avoidable. He takes another breath and sets his cup aside before he can drop it and burn himself.

"Neron cast his soul out and wore him like a cheap suit. It took breaking the laws of nature, alright, but I had to get him back. I owed him that much for putting him in harm's way to start with." His eyes implore Zari to understand though he still has yet to get specific about what it is he did exactly.

She can guess who 'Des' is now. Zari vaguely recalls John mentioning the name. The memory becomes more clear as the story goes on. Her tea goes to rest gently on the coffee table. Zari won't even pretend she's remotely interested in drinking it while listening. The story sounds familiar in a lot of ways. Zari can see herself in Desmond's shoes for the start. She brushed away the warnings too. Zari knows if he came to her tomorrow with the same story it wouldn't change anything.

By the time they reach Neron, she couldn't feel further from Desmond. She loves John deeply already. Zari knows in her heart that if she lost him tomorrow, a part of her would never fully recover. John burrowed his way into her heart too thoroughly for anything less than a devastation that will always linger in some ways. All that said, she could never do what Desmond did. She values her soul and faith too much for that. Even with a 100% guarantee John would be okay if she sacrificed herself, she couldn't do it.

She shudders at the thought of possession, recalling vividly how it felt to be displaced in her own skin. What Desmond experienced sounds infinitely crueler than Other Zari's casual invasion and use of her body. She reaches for the tea to sooth herself as she listens. At John's imploring, she holds a free hand mirroring Behrad's regular gesture of peace. "You don't have to justify saving Desmond to me. He made a really bad call, but as the victim of the world's friendliest possession? I absolutely think he needed to be bailed out of that. Other Zari didn't even mean to hurt me and..." She did. She still does. The other part of her therapy sessions is absolutely dedicated to unpacking the fear she could lose her existence to a strange woman.

Zari shakes her head to dismiss the thought. "I can't even imagine how terrified he must have been." She knows John is about to tell her something absolutely insane. She has a hard time blaming him for whatever he did given her experiences with possession so far.

John's shoulders sink a little at her reassurance though he isn't at all confident she'll feel the same once he gets to the punchline. His gaze is full to the brim with empathy for her in her situation though they're talking about him now and it probably just comes across as general melancholy for all that's passed.

"I hatched a scheme," he says, voice growing softer as he realizes he can't skip over the part where he betrayed the Legends' trust to do what he did. "I knew if I could do it all over again... well, I'm a nasty piece of work after all. The one thing I'm really good at is driving people away."

He rolls his eyes at himself before hanging his head for the rest, knowing he can't make eye contact now or he'll definitely start crying again. He sounds shaky, but determined to get through this with her.

"I lied to Sara, stole a time-turner and... found my opening. I broke it off with him before we could even get started the second time round. Before he--" John rubs at his eyes like that will keep the emotion at bay. "There are fixed points in the timeline, yeah? Things that keep everything was crumbling. I knew that thread was one of 'em and I plucked it anyway. There was no other choice." Not for him, he doesn't think he has to expound on why.

Zari sets down her tea, arms crossing over her chest. It does sound bad. She might have chewed him out for being so reckless before Behrad. She can't having gone through his loss. The desperation and anxiety that ate at her day and night pushed her to do things she never would have dreamed of before. It had been luck really that most of them had been good, but not all. When it came down to it, she didn't care about Astra's mother or Astra for that matter. Nothing compared to Behrad, her sweet baby brother, and the guilt she felt over his death. Zari knows she was cruel. She knows she would have done the same as John when it came down to it for her brother.

"That's what you meant before. You screwed everything up to save Desmond from the consequences of trying to save you." Zari points out softly. She sighs softly, still unable to judge him too harshly. "What happened next?"

He nods, realizing not for the first time why he always avoids conversations like these.

"I crashed time and space down around our ears, that's what I did." John hazards a glance her way, remembering the look of heartbreak on Desmond's face all too plainly. "And it turned Behrad into a cat." That part will always be weird, but it's probably the first time he's realizing before time changed again that was Zari-1. Wow, this is even weirder.

Zari blinks at him for a second. That's both bizarre and terrible at once?? Then she lifts her leg to gently kick his knee. He did turn her brother into a cat with his antics. That deserves a kick!! She's not explaining why she did it. He should know anything that hurts her brother gets punished!!!

"So what? You had to take it all back to unbreak things?" She frowns deeply. Zari realizes now this is likely how poor Desmond ended up one of the dead exes. Things clearly didn't stay broken if they're here vacationing. "And Desmond died?" Zari knows her possession is the exception not the rule to kind of happy endings.

"Ow," he complains meekly, bemusement shining in his gaze the next time he gets brave enough to meet his eyes up with hers. "...Something like that, yeah."

John swallows, a sick feeling passing over him that wipes the burgeoning smile off his face before it can fill out. He finds himself looking down at the floor again.

"No, he's alive. Nora helped me drive Neron out of Dez and restore his soul. Which is how he got hold of Ray next and... well. Brought about a nasty chain of reactions that sorta-kinda ended the world as we knew it."

He might be glossing over the part where Desmond rightfully hates him now, but he's alive so John can't find it in himself to complain. Suddenly, dark eyes snap upwards and he grabs for both Zari's hands, wanting to make something abundantly clear to her.

"All of that... everything I did was done out of selfishness, I can admit that now. It's why I never thought-" His lips twitch like he's laughing at himself, but no sound comes out and water once again fills his eyes. "But if all of that went down so I could meet you? It was bloody worth it. And I don't care if I'm a shite person for thinking that."

He hates the pain he caused Desmond and Astra, even now with them relatively okay, but without all of it he would never have this family - this love he thought could never come back into his life.

Zari's face scrunches up as she tries to follow this frankly insane story. She guesses that means all his exes aren't dead?? That's great for them. It is actually funny to think John almost tanked their relationship over something that isn't completely true. John grabs her hands and suddenly it doesn't matter so much that she cannot fully grasp that story.

She's starting to realize what John already knows: it leads to her. Zari never asked Raymond why as a little girl she has memories of him saying creatures like her beloved dragon were a danger and threat on television. She never asked her mother why his words scared her so much. All of it led to that weird confrontation at Heyworld that she and her mother escaped from.

Zari stares into those dark eyes of this, realization hitting her like a ton of bricks. She understands why John is so emotional about this. The fallout directly created the Zari he came to know today. "I'm not complaining about being the end result." Zari squeezes his hands. "We can both be bad people together. I like being this version of me. I like the life we're making together." She knows it's unstable and star-crossed as it gets, but Zari treasures it all the same.

The way she stares at him bursts the floodgates all over again and he's surging forward to press his face against hers, one hand wrapping around the back of her head as he starts to sob. He isn't totally aware in the moment why he's crying, but later on he'll probably realize that it's because no one's ever accepted him so totally before, for all his serious flaws.

"Sorry, it... took us so long to come out with that."

Zari wraps her arms around John's back, holding tightly to him as he cries. One hand quickly trails up to touch the back of his neck soothingly. "Baby, it's okay. You didn't need to tell me." Zari knows she doesn't tell John everything. There's so much that goes unsaid on her end. She appreciates how he opens up to her bit by bit. This feels earned and special.

"I'm glad you trust me." She tacks on, soft and grateful. Many people have overshared given her job, but rarely have people really shown themselves. She knows this shows off an ugly side of John; selfish, short-sighted, and ruthless. Zari still loves this part of him too. Maybe that makes her stupid or naive. She doesn't care. It's simply how she feels.

He pulls back just enough to smash his lips against hers, almost too roughly as one hand migrates to her cheek while the other wraps around her soundly.

"Yes, I did." It's been weighing heavy on his heart, and she took it off him just like that. After a moment more of holding her close, he's pulling himself back to rest his back against the couch. He takes a deep breath then reaches back out for his tea before sitting back with it in his hand. It's almost cold, but there's enough warmth to make it tolerable - necessary, even. "What do you say we set up that video now?"

She kisses him back soundly, heart bursting with warmth. It feels like they crossed an important threshold. Zari couldn't be more happy about it... until he mentions setting up for video. She instantly beams at John and claps her hands together. "Absolutely! Let me grab my bags." She zooms away to grab the ones containing her travel setup for filming. "We'll probably want to film in here. Plenty of open space." Zari notes without expecting a response. The wheels in her brain are turning rapidly. She's doing all the necessary calculations of lighting, sound, etc. as she moves the bags closer to her planned filming location.

He can't help but smile at her, as always his own reactions are more subdued but he knows this is important to her so it's important to him by default. After a moment of watching her, he gets up and gathers their discarded clothing in his other arm to take everything to the bedroom.

"I'll just get camera-ready then, shall I?" he says more to himself than her since he knows Zari is already in his own world. It takes him nearly twenty minutes himself to get through ablutions and changing into his old tried-and-true uniform minus the trenchcoat, the only difference being the linen shirt Zari bought him to replace his old button-up. It feels divine against his skin, but it's doubtful anyone watching the video would notice the switch-up, aka the Legends since it would break anyone else's brain.

No matter how much cold water he splashes on his face, there are still red tracks below his eyes, but maybe it will add to his mystique or something. He retrieves his water bottle from the bathroom to replenish some of the fluid he's lost and beelines it past her production to click the kettle back on while he drinks down the dregs of his first tea.

"Can I help with anything?" John asks after watching her a minute, overwhelmed even by the smaller-scale setup than her usual, he's sure. He's only now starting to realize just how many lights will be on him, preemptively starting to sweat.

Zari downs her tea in a fit of mania during setup. She's moving around in a robe like a woman possessed, which she is, it's definitely her doing the set up. There are plenty of lights to put together and speakers to position. The camera and speakers are from his era, a conscious choice to avoid the video and audio ending up in one of her backup servers by mistake. They'll be on a little SD card that is practically ancient by Zari's standards. It's better safe than sorry!

She's just managed to make it all work with sheer determination and a little of Zari-1 whispering in her ear unconsciously when he comes in. "Can you grab me an outfit? I'll need a few more minutes to run tests." She asks without even looking at John. Zari is clearly in her element here. Enjoy the danger that comes in figuring out where her clothes are and how to assemble them.

It's impressive to watch her in the zone like this and John finds himself caught up in it for several minutes, not even noticing her using old equipment though that is an oddly specific choice he definitely does not know the difference.

"Uh... yeah, sure thing." He's terrified, but also determined to nail this or something. "Listen for my tea?" Because like, would her viewers even get that he was British if he weren't drinking tea on film???

John tears out of the room to her bags to start hunting for the right one(s) like he's on an episode of Supermarket Sweep or something. Once he hits dry-cleaning bags he figures he's in the right spot and starts gently flipping through options. Zari's voice is in the back of his head telling him the difference between warm and cool colors and he pulls out a white dress with poppies on it that reminds him of their weird Wizard of Oz themed trip. It also matches his tie so that it will hopefully read cohesively on screen and not too matchy-matchy. He finds some shoes in another bag that seem to fall along the same lines, and also happen to be the only pair of flats he can find. After choosing some jewelry that seems safe, he makes his way back out to the living room looking more than a little lost but eager to check on her progress.

"On it." Zari replies absently. To her credit, she does. She films her usual intro, tweaking equipment as needed until the tea whistles. She stops it then, satisfied by the quality by the time she needs to turn the heat off. Zari looks pleased with his choice once he gets back. The whole experience with the vision freaked her out hard by the end, but Zari still looks back on the experience with fondness. She picked that dress specifically because of it along with making sure to download a copy of the movie. What? She's sure they'll get tired enough at some point for a movie night.

"Nice, babe." Zari tip toes over to him to plant a brief kiss against his lips before snatching said items. She's in work mode!! "We're good to go. Do your tea thing while I get dressed." She orders bossily, already slipping out of the camera's range so she can drop her robe and put her clothes on.

He accepts the kiss with a pleased little hum, smiling by the time she pulls away. Both because of her taking charge and because it's tea time. John beelines over to the counter, but turns to watch her as she gets dressed, however quick and professionally she does so. In fact, the brief flash of skin might even be sexier for it.

"Did you want another cuppa, darling?" he asks, already feeling like he needs to play himself up in certain aspects and he's not even in front of the camera yet. John fixes his own cup while he waits for her answer, blowing across the tea's surface and admiring the view of Zari in the outfit he'd put together.

It is a little insane how quickly she can put herself together given the way Zari hogs the bathroom on the Waverider every morning. The dress is on in record time, accessories next, and following with her shoes. "Yes, please." She responds in her influencer voice, persona already up and running. She may not actually keep it the whole time. Zari wants to give John the Experience at least at the start.

Zari moves to the camera to do a hair check, adjusting pieces as the need arises. "Perfect." She murmurs to herself, infinitely pleased before glancing over at John as she compares their outfits and nods in approval. This will definitely pop on screen. "Okay, I think we can do this whenever you're ready."

He gets their cups together as expertly as before, carting them carefully over to the table and finding coasters more to keep it separate from all the products laid out than to protect the tabletop.

"You put all of this on your face?" he can't help but ask, wrinkling his nose as he picks up a tube of concealer and starts looking over some labels and trying to piece together what he's supposed to do first. "Do I get any hints here or are you tossing me in with the werewolves?"

Zari turns on the camera just in time to catch that. She considers leaving that in the final product as a cold introduction. An authentic laugh slips out as she nods, joining him in the shot with her usual graceful flair. "It's an art, babe. You'll be great once you stop overthinking it." She reassures John. Zari stares at him a moment as if calculating something. That is the case; she is debating which option will do better on the analytics. She seems to come to an answer fairly quickly, smiling glittering in a way he ought to know is dangerous. "I think I'll toss you to the werewolves. More fun for Z Nation." She gestures to the camera grandly.

John smiles at her, a bit for the camera and a bit because he can't help himself. He picks up his tea to take a ginger sip, still pouring over all his options and trying to visually separate out each category into face, eyes, lips. He knows her well enough to know there are a few things thrown in just to trick him.

"Is this the part where I introduce myself?" he asks, affecting boredom her way before turning a sinister smile to the camera's eye - he's a little too good at that, really. "Hello then, fellow countrymen." He gestures vaguely before setting down his tea again and narrowing his dark eyes even more as he rolls up his sleeves.

"I'm John Constantine and... I'm a nasty piece of work." You know the rest, he's got to do his little jazz hands trick where he holds them up and they both are instantly engulfed by flame. "Though I'm not really here to show off, in fact, I'll probably muck this up right proper." But he's going to try really hard not to :( Like probably way too hard actually.

John turns towards her as the flames go out, trying not to get distracted by how gorgeous he thinks she is before putting a stitch of makeup on her face. Focus, Johnny.

"You're all prepped then?" he asks as a formality like he has any idea what skincare is. He starts picking up bottles one at a time to read their labels and sort them as he'd visualized earlier. "I've seen you start with eyes before so that's probably a thing, yeah?" He's also seen her not start with eyes but any shot in the dark will do at this point.

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