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[hypnagothic]

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[hypnagothic]

[ he lets that answer linger in the air between them for several moments before speaking again. ]

So you only wish to know the demon's name at this time.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Hopefully he doesn't think shame is going to be much of a motivator for Constantine. Like, it is, but there's no guarantee it won't motivate her to do something even stupider than you wanted. ]

That's where I'm starting.

[hypnagothic]

Were I to acquire it, I would require something of you.

[keepgodwaiting]

That's fair. Do you know what?

[hypnagothic]

That you inform the host of the demon's name.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Mm. Should've seen that one coming. ]

Right.

[ She falls silent for a minute, chewing the price over. That would, of course, probably be the ethical thing to do. But Peter has so obviously been fucked up by what happened to him, and is so naive to the world of the supernatural except in the ways that it's hurt him, that Constantine isn't sure ethical and in his best interests are the same thing, here. It took some care and coaxing to get him to agree to a cleansing -- something even non-believers can usually shrug and get behind without too much sturm und drang. How's someone like that, someone who's too traumatized to have open doors in his apartment, going to handle being told that the thing he's scared of isn't behind a door -- it's behind his skin?

He might be able to handle it. He stepped into the spell circle with her, after all, in spite of his reservations, and he muscled through what must have been a lot more discomfort than she thought. Hard to say. But, then, there's the question of how his passenger might react to being outed to its host, what it might do to him in defensiveness. But if she had its name ...

There's also the small issue that she might have to tell Peter she lied to him. But, you know, she's lied her way back out of situations before. ]

Let me think about it, [ she says slowly. ]

Why is that your price, if you don't have any stake in it?

[hypnagothic]

Because I am not the one who would pay the price of your meddling.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ She raises her eyebrows at him. ]

You're not the same person I met, dream lord.

[hypnagothic]

[ he looks more closely at her, eyes narrowing. ]

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Quiet: ] It's a compliment.

[ He can ask her to elaborate, if he really wants to talk about Rachel Moodie. ]

It's a fair deal. I just need to think about it.

[hypnagothic]

[ he continues peering at her suspiciously for a moment before blowing out a subtle breath through his nose, the tension easing off. ]

Very well. Who is the demon's host?

[keepgodwaiting]

[ And there's another question she expected -- not one she's so sure about answering now, though. Peter and Vanessa know each other, judging by the way he was trailing around after her at the gala, but she isn't sure whether he and Dream have any connection. ]

If I tell you that, and I don't take you up on the deal, what will you do?

[hypnagothic]

Nothing. Unless the demon were to force the issue somehow.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Another slow nod. ]

S'pose it's better to have more eyes on him than not.

His name's Peter Graham.

[hypnagothic]

[ he frowns lightly. ]

The child following lady Vanessa?

[keepgodwaiting]

... Yeah, you know his name, right?

[ Genuine question. That's just. That's a weird way to describe someone you've met, she thinks. ]

[hypnagothic]

[ he gives her a cool look that is somehow the equivalent of "are you fucking serious right now?" ]

She has spoken of him to me.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ WELL ]

What's she said?

[ This isn't suspicious, nor trolling; it's more the tone of a doctor looking for symptoms. ]

[hypnagothic]

The he ... cares a great deal for her.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Constantine frowns, nodding. ]

Maybe I should talk to her. She's got a good head on her shoulders.

[hypnagothic]

She would certainly know more of his waking hours.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Curious: ] Does he hang around her the way he was at the gala?

[hypnagothic]

I believe so.

[keepgodwaiting]

Huh.

[ Could mean something, could mean nothing. He's a traumatized kid in a strange city, and Ives doesn't seem like the worst adult figure he could latch on to. Kid's smart enough not to latch onto Constantine herself, for instance.

She taps her fingers on her teacup absently, quiet and thinking for a moment. It's tempting to nose around the topic of Ives more, since she's come up organically. Morpheus' answers at the gala had been pretty definitive, though, and Constantine doesn't have anything new to ask that wouldn't be better addressed to Ives herself. Or Chandler, maybe. And besides, she mainly came here to try and work out her next steps with regards to Peter. ]

Well. You've given me a lot to think about.

[ And less help than she was banking on. :| ]

[hypnagothic]

[ suck it, Constantine. he tips his head slightly as he regards her though. ]

Though of how much you will heed any of my words remains to be seen.