nifties | I'm way too young to lie here forever⭐️

Zari nods smugly. Her way is always best. Keep up!! The rest is actually very promising. She likes the idea people might know her someday even if neither of them can ever properly be a part of each other's worlds. The mention of Chas raises an eyebrow while she throws herself into researching vegan donuts to be safe.

She looks up from her phone to point out the obvious. "Yeah, I feel like he might not be that happy to see you if that's the case. Plus does he even know I exist?" Zari doesn't sound like she cares either way even as lowkey she very much does.

The question makes him visibly uncomfortable, though of course, not for the reason she might think. He would never hesitate to brag on their relationship... with people he actually speaks to.

"Zari... I haven't seen him since I joined the Legends." He's already mourning his drink, hoping that pretty boy comes back with their stuff soon. "You know what I did to him, it's better this way." Lord knows his wife was always trying to get rid of John, maybe she finally forgave Chas now that he's obliged. Spoiler alert: this is part of the whole dumb reason he hangs around Gary Green of all people.

She doesn't know how she missed that. He's never come up with any recent Chas stories now that she thinks back it. Zari opens her mouth and shuts it as she debates on how mean she wants to get with this. She opts to pointing out the obvious. "Did you use the Legends as an easy way to ghost your bff?" She very obviously disapproves. If she can maintain 21 million followers, he can talk to Chas.

"And is it though? Because I kind of feel like you should have asked him if he wanted you gone before ditching him."

"No," he exclaims defensively, realizing he hadn't actually considered that angle as the answer comes. His expression soon reveals she might be onto something... "He never chooses to ditch me, but he has a kid, Zari. I can't do that to her anymore."

His niece, if not by blood, who probably thinks he's dead or just doesn't care about her. John swallows dryly and looks away, catching their servers approaching footsteps from his periphery.

"Well, hello, handsome. What've you got for us?" He forces a smile for the young man, but in no way does he think this conversation is over.

She opens her mouth to point out that there's no way he's never met that kid. The accusation he ditched the kid too was probably about to follow and ruin anniversary night when the waiter bails them out. It's as easy as ever to smile smoothly at a perfect stranger and turn on the charm for their very flustered waiter. They talk a good five minutes about vegan donuts since that is definitely a hot thing this year. Who doesn't love to be in on the trend? He recommends the place Zari had been considering anyways.

Zari types it into her phone, pulls up the address, and orders the ride. She settles the bill a minute after since they at least have that much in this time even if she hates the next part. The fun thing about the future is being able to discreetly send whatever she wants directly to staff too without it being a thing. She knows in this time this poor man will likely never see a dime (she sends 200 anyways just in case she's wrong) and if she just hacks his account to give it to him, that will just cause drama.

Time to play her least favorite persona: entitled rich lady who flirts with the waiter at her own anniversary dinner with a guy who is probably her sugar baby. Zari asks or really tells John to collect their things while she goes on some tangent about the waiter's eyes and how sweet he is for helping her... as she slips a few hundred into his coat. He'll find it once the blood stops rushing to his head.

Zari steps out of his space and heads for the door without sparing a look at John. "Let's go, sweetie." Their ride should be outside by now.

He catches on relatively quickly to what she's doing, and even if he hadn't he would have been content enough to get the heck out of her way and start getting their stuff together. He doesn't say another word or even make eye contact until them and their things and their food is all loaded into the car - he's somehow finagled it so the scotch bottle is in his lap and he's steadily topping up his flask as Zari finally joins him in the back of the car.

"You're going to want to put this street into your GPS, mate," he relays softly to their driver, but then he has to amend, "And follow it no matter how crazy it seems. We'll pay you extra - or she will."

He takes a swig before turning towards the 'she' in this equation, unable to keep the soft look of awe off of his face even if they're still cross at one another. Or rather, they're both cross with John at the moment.

"Oh, and we want doughnuts on the way." He can't help the stupid smile that slowly starts to filter back in as he stashes his booze and prepares for the car to start making its way onto the street.

She has not at all surprised by how quickly John managed to get what he wanted. It is actually a good thing, she thinks, his biggest ambition at the moment is to drink scotch in the back of a car with her. She raises a brow at the directions, but is quick to confirm she will in fact pay extra for stopping for said donuts and a weird trip back to their place. Who wouldn't believe her with that necklace on?

Zari is still upset with him, but it's hard not to smile when he looks at her like that. She knows better than to air her business much less theirs in front of anyone. "Another yellow brick road?" She teases as they drive off. The run for sweets should be quick at least.

The smile sparks up into more of a grin at the callback, wondering if there might be an old TV in storage somewhere he could drag out and show her the actual reference. Though maybe it's better this way, it certainly feels like something that's purely 'theirs' when she's just referencing the trip they had rather than a ridiculously popular movie.

John remembers to nod, though it's late, and he reaches across the cab to cover her hand with his, glancing back out the window with the slightest hint of red starting to creep back up from behind his collar.

"I would say more, but then I'd have to kill this poor gentleman - and I like him too much already." He winks within sight of the rear-view mirror before taking another swig.

The fun of child stardom: she hasn't seen too many movies. Sure, Zari could tell you the fashion of Judy Garland's character in the movie, but actually watch it? Haha. Who has the time? She wouldn't even have watched Star Wars if Behrad hadn't bullied her into it.

Regardless of how she judges his actions, Zari could never brush him away. She turns her hand over so she can hold is, always drawing comfort from the contact. Zari has to chuckle at his threat with that clean face of his knocking years off. "You know that doesn't work so well without the facial hair. It gives you an edge. Now you just look like the sweet neighbor boy who loves his flask too much." The look is definitely growing on her.

Edited 2020-12-02 22:40 (UTC)

He snorts, managing to screw the cap back on and put it back in his jacket expertly with one hand, surreptitiously watching her expression in the reflection of his window. The numbness it brings helps him to not want a cigarette, even if it is trading one vice for another.

"You've never called me sweet before," he comments even if it can't be true, he just can't remember her ever applying it to his looks. Building up the courage, he turns so he can lean it for a brief touch of lips now that he knows she won't reject him - not like she ever has before no matter their disagreements. He's never felt like this before; like he has a partner and not someone waiting for him to fuck up so they can ditch him. "Are you trying to say you want me to keep it?"

She snorts at the comment. Zari call him that constantly in more than one language. She knows what he means. Zari indulges a brief kiss without getting into it. She doubts she'll ever be too angry to kiss him. Depressed maybe, but Zari doesn't plan on losing her brother again any time soon so that won't be a thing. She'd never give what happened back then a voice if she could help it.

"I'm saying this look gives you a lot of boyish charm." She points out fondly. "I plan to appreciate it while it lasts."

He takes comfort in the short-lived kiss, running his tongue across his lips as if chasing her taste before turning back to his window and squeezing Zari's hand.

"Really? Because you gave me the impression you didn't like it, back at the restaurant." He sounds amused, if distracted by the Atlanta city lights as they head into downtown. "Forgot how much I loved Georgia."

Zari opts to watch him rather than the scenery. She wonders what his life was like here. It's new for her to be really curious about it. She always lived in the moment with John prior to now despite his past haunting them so often. "I needed some time to adjust. You literally wear the same outfit every day. I swear sometimes I think you escaped a horror movie." Zari points out. That's not what she really wants to say. It takes a minute, but she finally gets to it. "What was it like here?"

He snorts, but ultimately concedes her point. "Close." And really, it was, but the good parts were really flipping good. He feels that much worse for writing off Chas, his little girl, and Zed now. Though at least Ritchie has to be glad he hasn't heard from John Constantine.

"It was fun. Like a party that didn't end." He's lost in the memories for a moment, his hand gripping hers like a vice without noticing it. "Until it did. The day Jasper died."

There's some of that feedback from the fractured timeline in his head, like the equivalent of metal-on-metal colliding between his ears. He lets her go suddenly to put his hand on his heart, trying to breathe through the weird sensation. Thankfully, they're pulling into the doughnut place's drive thru so he can save his dramatics for later.

"The South loves a drive thru. You can get margaritas from the one next door." He shakes his head to clear it and sits up so he can look at the menu, not like he intends to override whatever Zari wants to order for both of them.

It hurts, but Zari still has yet to complain. Her eyes light up with sympathy for John. There's nothing to say really. She knows his life is filled with a lot of tragedy. Her hand shoots out to touch his arm when they pull up. She looks around, realizing belatedly they never have to leave the car. Nice.

Zari shoots once last concerned look John's way before reluctantly dropping her hand so she can lean forward to scan the menu. She looked online, but it never hurts to check to see if it's accurate. She goes for a half dozen classic doughnuts with pink frosting and sprinkles, bullies the driver into accepting a coffee on her before pausing for John. "What about you, baby?"

He turns towards her at the touch, forgetting to read the menu in favor of watching her eyes light up. It makes his brain do that weird failure-to-sync thing again, remembering without remembering the way Zari-1 always seemed to be eating a doughnut every time he walked into a room she was in. John shakes his head to clear it, chuckling at her choice. He wants to tease her about ordering six doughnuts for herself, but he thinks better of it when he realizes it's the first real treat she's allowed herself in a long time.

"Predictable," he accuses, the same way she did about his fish. "I'll just have a glazed. Wait- what is that...? Whatever that one is. Oh, and a Boston Creme."

"Rude." Zari fires back as she quietly approves of his choices, even correcting the one he doesn't know by name. She has a favorite, but really she loved all of them. That is one thing that holds true in both timelines.

The order is filled quickly, it is a drive-thru, and Zari pulls her little box into her lap like a dragon guarding treasure. She breathes it in like it's an actual religious experience. "This is the best anniversary ever." Is she talking to John or the baked goods? Who knows?

"Uh-huh. This is our only anniversary ever." Both separately and apart, he's sure, but he has to laugh at her all the same, his hand reaching back out to cling to her arm while they take the winding path to Jasper's house. "Remember what I said, mate. Just keep driving."

The city lights steadily blink out one-by-one and as they drive the street lanterns start to get farther and farther apart. The last one goes out just as they pass under it and he smiles in anticipation. It isn't far outside Atlanta, all things considered, but from the road it doesn't look like anything is here, which is kind of the point. The road turns into a dirt path and then ends abruptly, the robot voice of their driver's GPS telling him to take a U-turn over and over again.

"Come on, luv, you said you liked hiking." He nudges her with his elbow and starts heaping bags onto himself, grabbing some cash out of her purse for the guy before slinging it around his neck and loading the food and booze wherever it will fit on his person. He lets her keep guarding the doughnuts as he toes open the car door to the pitch black, the ground covered over with dry orange leaves. "Thanks for not being a pussy, mate. We'll take it from here."

John kicks the door shut and waits for the car to pull away and for Zari to make it to his side before flashing her a toothy smile that glints in the dark. It's probably never been more apparent to her how ridiculous a person he really is.

"It's not far, come on." For a moment, he has to wonder if the timeline didn't screw up as they make their way towards the mill. Leaves crunch loudly under their feet but the grounds otherwise are eerily quiet around them in welcome. He stops holding his breath the moment he sees the house just over the next embankment, the creek running through covered over with leaves too though the big mill stuck to the side still dutifully spins its way in and out, sending leaves and even small pebbles back up into the air before they land softly back along the creek bed.

She really should have seen it coming. Zari sighs as if put upon as she heads out the door to follow. That is actually a socially acceptable thing to say in her time since it's reversed to being a compliment. Zari still nudges him with her heel lightly once she catches up. "Watch it, sweetie. People get cancelled for that this year." She leaves it at that, following John with a surprising amount of grace considering she's walking a dirt road in heels. "And you better have some great soap for my feet because they're going to be super gross by the time we get there."

Okay now she's done complaining. Zari is in a chipper mood otherwise. She wanted an adventure and he delivered. Her eyes go wide once she sees the house coming up, smiling warmly. "Okay, that's actually kind of cute. Totally worth the creepy walk." Seriously these are serial killer woods.

"You say that like I haven't already been canceled this time period several times over." It fills him with such a great peace to see this house again, to be here at all. "This feels like a dream," he admits softly, blinking over at her as his eyes adjust to the dark.

He looks down at all the things in his hands and up at the magical lock on the door and gets an idea.

"Can you...?" John gestures to the totem with the hand holding the cider and scotch. "I'll wash your feet for you." He wags his eyebrows at her suggestively before stepping back so she can hold up her side of the deal.

"Just... don't go in first. I can't remember if I boobytrapped the place before I left the last time."

Her smile is impossibly fond at the admission. She continues the walk quietly until they reach the door. Zari looks from him to the door and shrugs. She guesses this is her cue to do the dramatic totem thing. "Fine, but I really would like my feet washed. I can't do all the work around here." Zari winks, taps the stone with her fingers in hopes it'll help with whatever John did to this door, and shoves the air around them towards the door.

She guesses that's right since it does in fact open. Other Zari really needs to write a guidebook for them. "After my favorite human shield and bag carrier." Zari smiles playfully.

"Are you implying I wouldn't hold up my end of the bargain?" he asks, appropriately offended by her inference before swooping in to kiss the rise of her cheek and breaking a second later to cautiously wade through the foyer. Which is less of a foyer and more of a cavernous mystical library. He dodges an axe and side-steps a bear-trap like it's nothing before he gets far enough in to set some things down and reach back for her elbow. "That should be all. I'll get some candles lit and a fire going."

He leads her into the surprisingly spacious house that looks like scarcely more than a bungalow from the outside, getting her settled on the sofa in front of the enchanted mirror he's missed so much. John is careful not to look at it yet, but doesn't warn Zari not to do so as he lights the votives on the coffee table with a snap of fingers. He clears old bottles and debris out of the way so he can serve her still hopefully warm dinner right from the styrofoam. He plods into the dark kitchen to find them some glasses and forks, leaving her and old images of Jasper to get acquainted.

Zari doesn't bother hiding how impressed she is as she watches him go through an actual death trap like it's nothing. "Sometimes I forget you're kind of a bad ass." She remarks with a small smile. Try all the time. It may never sink in because he's also her loyal servant too. Who respects the power of those??

She allows herself to be lead through the house, suitably impressed by how it seems to be growing with each step. Zari sets her box down on the nearly cleared table and sighs contently. She goes to the mirror naturally to check her hair when she catches sight of a man warming himself by the fire. She freezes, glancing at the spot Jasper should be standing only to find nothing. Oh... it's like that, huh?

"Babe, is this place haunted too?" Zari calls after him, only mildly worried. He wouldn't ditch her with a mean ghost. She goes back to fixing her hair as if to prove that to herself.

She makes him forget too, even with how much scotch he drank in the car he still seamlessly remembered how to disarm those traps he laid down ages ago now - for him anyway. It makes him remember other things, about the life he had here.

"What?" he calls as he comes back into the room, smiling at the image of her checking her appearance with Jasper in the frame. "No, no. It's not like that," John assures her, taking a deep breath as he lays eyes on his old friend. A part of him had been scared he wouldn't be there anymore.

"Come here." It's an urge as he pours her a fresh drink and sets cutlery down just in time for a younger version of himself and Ritchie to come into view, laughing silently about some dumb thing he'd said or did, no doubt. When Zari obliges, he forces himself to tear his gaze away from the scene, both hands seeking out hers. "That mirror... it's out of joint with time. And it used to be the only thing in my life I could say that about."

He chews on his lip, unable to keep the smile from growing though it's terribly wan.

"Jasper was my best mate, and well, you know what happens to those. I'm glad you get to see him finally even if he can't see you."

She gets up at his cue and doesn't regret it. It is an unexpected treat to see a younger version of the man she loves, but his friends? That's even sweeter. She greedily takes in the sight, scanning all their faces. She is not an artist like Behrad, but she'll remember them. She has to in the way all people in love have to know who they are in love with on every possible level. Her hands take his absently as she watches them as if by instinct.

Zari hears every word, of course. She reluctantly looks away to see that expression on his face as he tells her about Jasper. She smiles sadly at that even if it feels like such a gift to have that shared with her. "Me too." She glances down at their joined hands to Jasper. "I know I said you don't have to tell me everything, but I love it when you share these things with me. It makes me feel like I could belong with you anywhere." Which is weird for a time traveler, isn't it? That's the rub: they belong everywhere and nowhere at all.

Zari leans in to capture his lips in a quick kiss. A part of her selfishly wants it on record somewhere that they were here and loved each other even if it can never exist elsewhere.

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