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

I'm way too young to lie here forever⭐️

John is doing that creepy thing again where he wakes up long before Zari (if he ever slept) and watches her sleep later into the morning. One slightly rough hand smooths its way up and down her arm as he waits patiently for her to come to, leaning up against the headboard and trying to calculate how much time they have before someone crashes in here to get them to breakfast and then to some broken part of history. Since coming back from their vacation, they haven't spent much quality time one-on-one between the team and each of their day jobs. Not to mention him getting Astra settled and everything that's going on there. It only makes the time they do have more precious, though, and moments like this seem all the more surreal.

"Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?" he murmurs in his gravely tone that comes from too many years of cigarettes and booze. "Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and Summer's lease hath all too short a date." He's realizing as he recites the poem how long it's actually been in real-world time since the Romeo and Juliet debut. That kiss... The back of his hand travels over her cheek gently, thinking it unfair that as a timetraveler he can't make this moment last forever.

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"There you go," he says like he enjoys the idea of that when it really probably has nothing to do with Zari's choice of footwear. He lets her feet go back into the water, both hands tracing up the back of her calves as he stands on his knees to stretch his legs, folding them underneath his seat to keep them from locking up. He blinks up at her with an impossibly warm look of his own, caught between a laugh and knowing she isn't entirely kidding either. "Well, my name is pretty iconic as well, if you'll remember."

He lifts both eyebrows before suddenly hugging her legs and pillowing his head in her lap, on the edge of her skirt. John lets out a sigh, closing his eyes as the sound comes back to him acoustically across the tile.

"Johnny Tarazi, hmm? A little porno if you ask me, but it's a jumping off point." As is, apparently, this mess of a conversation.

Zari exhales softly as he hands run over her calves, loving once again how he's rough where she is soft. He surprises her by latching on so suddenly. Zari loves that too. A hand immediately goes to stroke his hair gently. Her smile is as fond as ever. "I admit Zari Constantine does sound better but, the trademark gods have spoken." She laments... as if that actually matters when they could never legally get married anyways. "I guess we could ditch tradition and keep our names in this hypothetical scenario. You do have to own being Mr. Tarazi for the drama though." She doesn't bother to elaborate. As a fellow drama queen, she knows his timing will be perfect.

His breathing hitches when she says that name, somehow symbolic of their commitment to each other. Before Zari, asking anyone to take his name would have just been foolish, and would have made them a target, no doubt. He doesn't fear for her the way he fears for others, trusting her capabilities and knowing she'll live on through the totem both making the option more plausible than it's ever been before - so, naturally, it's also with the one person he can't ever legally be with. Not that he's ever had much regard for the law of man to begin with.

"Deal," is all he says at first, softly muffled against her as he realizes he could fall asleep like this. It's probably not the best call for either of their sore bodies though, so slowly he's forcing himself back up, using the edge of the tub to get up onto his feet and ignoring the numb pins and needles that shoot up his heels as a result. "I'm gonna see what this place has to offer in terms of sleep attire, Ms. Constantine. Wait here for me?"

John leans down to brush a kiss across her brow before moving back up with a squeeze of her shoulders. What he first meant as a tease, now he wouldn't dream of taking back as he catches the look on her face.

Zari shoots a glare his way, face hot at the title. Yes, they're flirting with a very dangerous conversation here about commitment on their first anniversary. John didn't have to go there! She huffs, accepting the kiss gracious. "Fine, Mr. Tarazi. Since you asked so nicely."

Zari waits, flexing her toes in the warm water and scrolling through Catchat while he goes to cater to her needs as usual. Maybe they are already married tbh.

It takes him a little while to make his way back to her as the house crafts new pathways, and the only bedroom he can find is Jasper's. When he lived in this house most recently, he left this room untouched, as if he'd disturb the man's spirit as well as he knows he isn't still here. Not in that way. But he did leave pieces behind, like breadcrumbs, and it's screwing with John's head even now so many years later.

He tries to be quick, retrieving some sweats from the chest of drawers by the perfectly made bed and the impossible candle burning on the bedside tabletop. John blows it out only to find himself back in the hallway by the open bathroom door.

"Was I gone long?" he asks both as a way to appease Zari and to quiet his storming mind. He needs water, but he's afraid of how long the journey down to the kitchen and back will be so he takes a shallow sip from his flask as he drops the clothes she requested at her feet.

Catchat quickly turns into a game of Words With Friends with Ray. She loves her fans, but they already got a taste earlier. Ray's positive energy keeps her mind from wandering too much. Like maybe thinking she scared John off and he ditched her in a magic house.

John's return makes her sigh with relief, looking away from the phone for a second. "You were seconds away from Ray video-calling to talk me through a rescue op. Apparently he wrote a manual on rescuing you from haunted houses." She smiles blandly. Is she kidding?? Obviously no. Ray is that extra as John knows very well.

Zari gets up to start shrugging off her blazer. "He wants a picture of you in the suit, fyi. He swears he'll delete it after five seconds." Once her arms are free, she reaches over to gently stroke his cheek. "I guess he misses that pretty face of yours. Isn't that sweet?" She scans his face, trying to figure out what's going on in that brain of his. What? She can multitask by telling a story, sweet-talking her boyfriend, and find out his deal.

He snorts at that particular callback though he has no doubt Ray has already drafted a manual for exactly that.

"I told you, she's not haunted. Just... a little testy." Or maybe reacting to his testiness, but either way. John's eyes flutter at the gentle touch before blinking them open again and reluctantly posing for the requested picture by flipping Ray the bird, naturally. "Tell him he can keep that one."

Zari snaps it with a huge smile. She loves taking pictures. It is exciting that she finally has one of him!!! Zari will have to check with Gideon if she can keep it later. "Will do." Zari sends it if off with a quick message and victory gifs. "Raymond is going to love this." She leans down to return her phone to her jacket.

She straightens up, turns up her hands dramatically. "Well? Are you going to help me with my dress? Your princess is waiting." She even taps her foot for good measure. She frowns at the lack of a tap. Heels really do help her drama.

John, as usual, is completely ignorant of the significance of such a thing, perfectly willing to make a fool of himself whenever asked. Especially from Palmer, who he maybe sort of also misses just the tiniest amount. "Send my love," he offers with sardonicism, carefully concealing his true feelings for the other man, more out of habit than because he thinks Zari will be at all convinced by his acting.

Her request, however, is a much more welcome distraction and he leans into her orbit without needing to be asked twice, the magnitude of her drama notwithstanding. John's hands slowly slide around her waist, dipping his head so his nose nudges against the most sensitive part of her throat.

"I didn't mean to keep you in suspense, your highness." His lips brush against her skin teasingly with the words as his fingers close over the pull of her zipper and slowly drags it down.

Zari shivers against him, sighing softly as he touches that tender spot with his lips. Her hands come to settle in front of her waist as she drinks in the heat of his body. "Don't lie, sweet prince. You love to torment me." Zari criticizes; as if he didn't give her a foot soak on request. She nuzzle her head against his affectionately before commanding, "Don't forget the bra." He is there so really it's the least he can do. :')

"Only because you make it so fun," he admits, unhooking her bra without missing a beat and pressing his lips softly over her pulse. And on cue, he steps back, allowing the clothing to fall neatly to the ground, pooling at her feet. His mouth twitches up into a satisfied smirk as her bared nipples pebble from the drop in temperature. "Shall I dress you as well, my liege?"

It jumps against his lips before he pulls away entirely. The cold hits her immediately once the dress falls away. Zari rubs feeling back into her breasts with one hand before dropping it. She announces grandly, "I will allow it." She is nothing if not generous.

He watches with a hungry gaze as she touches her own chest, licking his lips as he moves to pick up the sweatshirt he commandeered first. "Lift your arms," John asks softly before slipping the soft fabric over her head and down her sides, feeling her skin goosepimple under the gentle graze of his callouses. Smiling again at the picture she makes, he pulls the hood up over her head as he leans in for a sweet kiss. "Looks good on you."

It's a university hoodie for a college nearby, and seminary school. His worlds are colliding here in this house and maybe that's why he's having so much trouble compartmentalizing at the moment. It could also just be the booze. John loosely grasps her hips, stroking the bone just over the waistband of her panties.

"Did I completely screw up our celebration?" By getting sloppy drunk and having a standoff with the magic house he brought her to, is probably what he means, not even factoring in the blithe mention of eternal commitment.

It is super cozy. Zari loves it immediately, kissing him back without any demand. This is one of the few times she thinks he may have had too much for her to take things too far. It's been beaten into her head for too long that there are serious consequences to sleeping with people who are drunk. Frankly, she found sloppy drunks too gross to touch in the past much less sleep with. She's remembering that just as his hands settle on her.

Zari forces a small smile, immediately hating herself for it. She pacifies him when necessary, something she knows he does with her too, but never outright pretends. John brings it up so that allows her the opening to be honest with him even if his touch is distracting.

Her face falls as she reaches up to grasp his face in her hands. "I admit when I pictured tonight you were a lot less drunk." It's only now she lets herself own that it's disappointing. She doesn't care that he drinks. When John gets to this point, it's hard not to think he's avoiding something on a day that's supposed to be about them. It hurts that he's not completely here with her. Zari feels like she has to make up the difference at times because who wants a miserable first anniversary? "Do you want to tell me what's going on in that head of yours?"

The way her expression seems to crumble is absolutely heart-rending for John and he pushes closer, leaning into her touch to try and impress that it's not her or this day that has him drinking. And that's at least mostly true.

"Sorry," he murmurs, feeling like that's a necessary place to start. He's been distracted all night and instead of focusing on Zari and their special occasion he allowed his past to steal his attention. He turns to kiss her fingertips, one hand coming up to close over her wrist as he continues to bask in their closeness and hoping his breath isn't too awful. He also knows if he doesn't sleep or drink more soon, he's going to sober up in a painful way which has the potential to ruin the night even worse. "I honestly didn't expect... how much coming back here would impact me."

He should have, but he likes to pretend he's above such things. Usually, he's better at acknowledging them with Zari though. Or he's been getting there. His lips twitch, his bemusement stemming from self-deprecation this time.

"I wanted tonight to be perfect for you." So of course he sabotaged them instead. Typical John.

Most of the her life she's been told how inconvenient her feelings are. There's content to film. Mamaan found it distracting from her shining star, Behrad. There are parties to attend. Over and over she's had to conceal any thought or emotion that wasn't positive or easily ignored. When John says he wants things to be perfect, she can't accept it. Her nose is wrinkling from his breath, she's still hurt, but that's real. Getting distracted by a painful past is as human as it gets.

Zari shakes her head to reject the notion outright. "I don't need perfect." A thumb creases over his cheekbone as she adds softly, "I just need you, dummy." She smiles as if that ought to be obvious. It doesn't even truly sink in how big of admission that is for someone who did everything she possibly could to never need a single soul before.

The influencer takes a breath and offers some options; ever the problem-solver. "We can get some sleep or go somewhere else. Whatever makes you feel better." His comfort is more important than some fantasy night. It has been nice so far to see more of John's past even as it threatens to steal him away from her.

His eyes immediately fill with water at her assurance, his own thumb working across the pulse-point just under the soft skin of her wrist.

"I already do." Feel better. In fact, just a few moments in close proximity like this seems to restore his good mood like a spell with rather immediate effects. John leans in to press another kiss to her lips, this one steeped in gratitude as he forces his tears back and moves to lace their fingers. "Are you up for an adventure back to the kitchen?" Because as usual, John's response to multiple choice answers is D: other.

That wins a warm smile from Zari. She leans into the kiss, returning it softly before drawing back. She already feels better too. It's silly she didn't say anything sooner now that it's done. "I guess I could be tempted to go to the kitchen with you." She swings their combined hands together. "Don't think you're getting out of cuddling that easily." She taps his nose with her free hand. "I want to feel extra cozy tonight." That's all her protests for now. Zari will be happily led to the kitchen now.

"This trip is in that interest, trust me." His hand tightens like a vice around hers, worried they'll lose each other the moment they step into the hall. At first, it looks normal, then snow slowly begins to make landfall indoors. There's no landscape to match, only the weather, so John can't even find it in himself to be upset. It's rather beautiful actually. "Watch your step."

He holds Zari close all the way to the dimly-lit kitchen and immediately puts a kettle on, hugging her against his side while he waits for it to boil. He can feel the snowflakes in his hair as they steadily melt, the warmth of the stove warming his cheeks too.

Her brows crease together at his grip. She wonders if they have something to worry about. The actual snow indoors distracts her from that concern. Zari holds out her free hand, laughing innocently as snowflakes melt against her warm skin as she walks carefully through the house with John.

She snuggles in close to him as the water heats up, one leg pressed against his greedily. "This house is like Narnia without the evil witch. I love it." Mostly because she's fantasizing about filming and loves it when he holds her, but details.

"Who said it's without her?" he teases gamely, turning to press his lips against the sensitive spot just below her ear. John sobers (literally) while recounting to her why this place screws with him so bad. "What you see as a neat backdrop was somewhere we pulled thousands of all-nighters. Demon-hunting is a lot of mind games, we had to..."

John's eyes accidentally rove over the spot Gaz died and he swallows dryly, holding Zari tighter by reflex, his mouth still ghosting against her skin.

"Train," he finishes, turning to smile at her apologetically as the whistle blows and he needs to let go to prepare the tea.

Zari's smile stretches wide as his lips touch that spot and linger after. She barely stifles a laugh. "Menace." She complains without ever making an effort to draw away from John. She notes the shift and wonders where he went before it's time to let John work.

She moves to the table, taking a seat, and dramatically sprawling the upper half of her body over the table as she watches John. She turns over his words in her head, looking at them from every angle she can see before asking the obvious question. "So what? This snow is your way of preparing to be messed with?"

He makes up two cups whether she wants one or not, thinking he's going to be up all night either way so it really doesn't matter if he's forced to drink both. With the bags steeping, he turns around to face her, leaning back against the counter and trying not to let on how charming he finds her ridiculous splay over the table.

"I suppose, yeah. Or the house's reaction to it anyway. It's magical, not sentient. Well, not exactly." It's hard to describe, but instead of going quiet he decides to open up. "Magic always leaves the signature of its user. The more sophisticated the magic, the more distinct it can be. So when I'm here, as much as I know Jasper's spirit isn't still lingering... Feels like he could walk around a corner any minute."

Edited 2020-12-21 20:15 (UTC)

She smiles fondly at the two cups. Zari actually has no idea if she wants tea or not. Acts of service is one of her love languages!! That smile slips into something thoughtful as he explains. She can get it on some level at least if only because of what happened to her brother. "Kind of like how I felt Behrad every time I used the totem?" Zari suggests even as the implications of that are still above her head. Neither of them are quite sure what became of Behrad after he died. Jasper has decisively died and stayed dead so the situation is very different.

"That's a lot, babe." Her eyes light up with sympathy. She had hope she'd get Behrad back. She doubts John feels the same way.

He concedes her suggestion with a noncommittal nod. It's not exactly the same, but it's close enough for her to relate, he thinks. Just like he knows what it is to be possessed, if not completely in the way she feels Warrior Zari's influence.

"Yeah," he acknowledges blithely, finding it ironic he's barely scraped the surface and she already thinks it's 'a lot.' Not like anyone else would think anything different, but isn't that why he usually doesn't share too deeply of himself? "So it is."

He lifts his eyebrows as if to ask her not to judge him as he takes a last swig of scotch before setting the flask aside to be forgotten until morning, at least. He'll wash that down with a sip of too-hot tea before digging back into the cupboards for powdered milk and reading the expiry date with passing interest. He keeps forgetting what year this is anyway so in it goes.

"A lot of reminders in this place, anyway. Not just of Jasper either." Which is just one of the reasons it overwhelms Liv, he's sure. "Of me, of Gaz, Ritchie... even Zed, Chas. And now even you." The mirror will save her image for all time, to say nothing of what her brief influence could persuade the house to do.

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