bakerstreet | Denny's

...No, of course I didn't. [ she's stunned to discover that his siblings had been unaware of his imprisonment, though — didn't the endless know everything?

perhaps not. if there'd been no way to let them know, and he'd been trapped with magic as she's certain he was, they couldn't save him. it dawns on her that if the circumstances hadn't happened as they did — whatever they were — to let him free, he might have been trapped there for more than just a century. eons, millenia, if that house had remained standing. ]

You were captured by Burgess, because he used the tools of magic. Summoning spell; binding spell to keep you weak, and trapped within the circle. Demons are just as susceptible.

Regardless if it's Lucifer Morningstar, or another amateur like Burgess who happens to cut some sort of a deal with your wayward sibling who wants you gone — magic is what can trap you, suspend you. You're bound by its laws and rules, the same way we humans are by gravitational forces on earth. It's inescapable.

[ ...and by his own account, without divulging too much of it, he's equated such imprisonment with a fate worse than death, for one of his kind.

she leans further forward over the table, speaking quietly, less bullheaded obstinacy and more an appeal to his rational nature. ]

You need me, Morpheus. Don't shut me out.

[ she does make a point. he'd been captured by humans with magic that they'd had to have learned from somewhere. he knows that it could happen again despite whatever safeguards he takes and the only way to make sure it doesn't is to have a backup plan.

or a backup person who knows that, if he isn't around for some time, what's happened and has ways of getting him out.

it's hard to argue with her. ]

You know, people aren't usually lining up to put themselves firmly in the eyeline of Lucifer Morningstar.

[ she lowers her eyes. ]

Probably not. Though I've most likely already been in the Morningstar's eyeline for a while now, having sent back a good number of her minions to her.

[ and not every exorcism goes as smoothly — rip, kevin brody — as agilieth's, witnessed in the church at their first meeting. sometimes she loses much more than that to the hellmouth.

it's a balance, and johanna constantine is eternally trying to tip the scales in her soul's favor, not always successfully. ]

But I'd do it, regardless of that.

[ lifting her gaze to him again, and she'll leave off there, because not everything needs to be said, does it. ]

You make a fair amount of sense and I will consider your offer but —

[ he holds up a hand to forestall any argument, agreement at all is something he doesn't want to do but knows he should all things considered. ]

Lucifer Morningstar is much, much more powerful than you can imagine. I deal with the Lightbringer.

[ no matter what. ]

[ she looks for a long moment as though she means to argue it with him, even as she holds her tongue long enough to let him speak.

and she knows what he says to be true. lucifer is a being second in power only to god, vindictive and proud, with no regard for human or any other life — there are few who can stand directly in the morningstar's presence and not be overcome. morpheus is apparently one.

johanna sighs, pressing her lips in a line, relenting with a tip of her head after another long, few heartbeats. ]

You deal with the Lightbringer, then. But I'm on board, for the rest.

Fine.

[ not there is anything to be on board with yet. nothing has happened but he knows it's a matter of time. ]

As for my siblings, I'd trust you'd let me know if you suspected one of them approached you. They would be easy enough to discern especially since you know me. You don't need to be tangled up with that.

[ she looks at him, giving a skeptical little shrug at that last comment. ]

If they're anything like you, I don't know how easy it would be to discern them, unless they did something to give themselves away. No offense, but I didn't even know who you were, until that demon named you.

[ all right, she had a point. he takes a breath, let's it go and then says: ]

Then, don't speak to anyone you don't know.

[ before she can protest, he lifts a hand and shakes his head. ]

I'm not being serious.

[ that earns him first a short, huffed laugh, but then a tilt of her head as her eyes narrow. ]

You that worried, about me?

I can handle myself, you know.

No, I'm not worried. But I know my siblings.

[ and a few of them didn't care about collateral damage especially when it came to mortals. ]

And I'm sure you can handle yourself as you keep telling me. I think you'd be able to convince even someone who'd never met you before that you were perfectly capable of taking on the world.

I doubt your siblings will pay me much attention — I'm only mortal, after all.

[ not modesty, true or false; just keeping it real. as much as sitting in a late-night diner over waffles and coffee with an immortal being can be, she supposes. ]

If they do, though, I know how to make myself scarce. And while it's good to know I've convinced you, I don't think anyone's capable of taking on the world — or Hell, for that matter.

[ she shakes her head. ] Not by themselves.

Edited 2022-09-01 07:19 (UTC)

Yes, as you are so fond of telling me, I would need assistance to do everything. What would I do without you?

[ it might be hard to tell but there is some amusement edging his tone because most of this conversation has been him resisting and her trying to get him to accept help. it's not exactly easy for him to do but —

well, he's done it here so maybe he's growing as a person. or maybe she's just very, very persistent. ]

I don't know when this will pass. Lucifer would make me wait.

[ let's face it, she's doggedly persistent when she feels she needs to be. the idea of morpheus taking on the entirety of hell as well as other endless who seek to supplant him for whatever reason, by himself, seems ridiculously unfair all things considered.

and there's the fact that he's proven himself to her that he does hold humanity's best interests in high regard, even if he's sort of a stubborn bastard about it.

but she takes his first comments with more sass than what's likely intended, not picking up on that dry amusement though it's something she should expect from him by now. she tilts her head, exhaling through her nose and folding her hands in one another as she rests her elbows on the table. ]

You know, my friends are usually more appreciative, when I stick my neck out for them.

[ and it's unspoken that while she feels loyalty to a certain few colleagues in her life — the ones that've survived, despite her track record — this isn't an extremely common occurrence for her. getting involved in an immortal war is worlds different than sending random beelzebub #1138 back through a portal, after all. ]

You consider me a friend?

[ there's a great many things that morpheus could pick up on just from that simple sentence but he chooses to go to that first, one corner of his mouth lifting in a smile. he thinks she means to sound like she's unhappy and he could point out that he was appreciative but, instead, he goes with that.

and smiles again. ]

I never said I wasn't appreciative. If you're expecting me to fall to my knees and say thank you, I'm sorry. But I am appreciative.

[ that smile is disarming on him, so much so that she's cowed for the moment, registering what he says but not having a response right away. if anything, her rebuke had been gentle, no real heat behind her words and not unhappy in the least — and the inference is there that yes, he might just fall directly into that category.

but he's perhaps something more than that, too, and therein lies the rub of it for her. she's already made a gaffe or two in this conversation they've been having, with respect to what regard she holds him in. she'd told ric that he wasn't a man, he was endless, and while it's factually true, she's not dead-set on that initial appraisal of him any longer — and not when he sounds so inordinately pleased to have her count him as a friend.

her return smile is hesitant, more genuine than the smirks she's given him before this with the way it reaches up to her eyes, waning just a bit when he expresses his gratitude but returning even brighter afterward.

fondly, quietly, with a slight tilt of her head: ]

...Not sure what I'm considering you, if I'm being honest.

[ and that's a far more loaded comment than she intends, so after another few heartbeats she reins that little bit of starry-eyed wonder in ruthlessly, snaps herself out of her reverie. she reaches in and fishes through her purse for a ten-pound note, pressing it down on the table next to her plate and sliding out of the booth to stand beside their table. ]

Hate to cut and run, but — I'm off, to sleep. Have to catch some before an early appointment, later.

[ and then she hesitates, her gaze settling on him, her voice an octave quieter. ]

...You're welcome, by the way.

[ there was definitely something about that question that caught her off guard. she's quiet for a few long moments before she does answer and then she makes a quick excuse as to why she has to leave.

he doesn't argue because it very well could be true. he doesn't know all the ins and outs of her life and he's not going to try and make her stay if something's bothered her or something's gotten under her skin.

he probably would do the same exact thing. he waits a moment, watches her get her things together before she starts to leave.

and then she says that and all he does is bow his head in gratitude. ]

Until next time.

[ it's not entirely a fabrication — she does actually need to attempt to catch a few hours' worth of sleep, even fitfully — but it's also a convenient excuse for her to remove herself from a conversation that's taken a quick turn into something unfamiliar.

partly her fault, as well; it's not like her to push so hard in advocating that she get involved in some sort of preternatural conflict, like this. but there's a burgeoning trust developing on her end after having seen his compassion with rachel, and so help her, she'd rather not see him snuffed out just yet by all of the forces that seem to be aligning against him. he needs someone in his corner, even if it is a constantine.

and she may be a walking disaster magnet, but let's face it — his life hasn't exactly been all peaches and cream for the last century either, from the sound of it.

she nods at him now, hands in front of her coat and folded over her purse. ]

You'll let me know if something happens, before that.

[ she hopes at least he'll make the effort to reach out, if that's the case. and if she seems momentarily unsure for a few seconds about leaving him like this here, she tamps down on it afterward to hide it before speaking again in an even softer tone. ]

...Don't stay up too late.

[ and then she turns, and she's gone. ]

Denny's

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