[OPEN] Tried on 13 different pairs of shoes

[businessorlibation]

Who: Johnny Summer and You
When: January
Where: Hurikane, Tommy Bahama
Summary: December's aftermath settles in hard. Johnny folds himself up, tucks himself away, finds distractions.
Warnings: Alcohol, maladaptive coping strategies, mental health

1. I am dented by the skies [Hurikane]
Sometimes, you just want to slot into old familiar routine, step back into what was work and just. Wear the customer service face, letting people tell you what they want of you and delivering that to the best of your ability. Johnny's behind the bar, mixing cocktails and hoping no one notices how mask-like his smile feels to him right now. Come on over, he'll just...make a drink happen for you. It's the best he can do for anyone in this moment.


2. They keep me up at night [Tommy Bahama]
And sometimes a man's feet get restless, when the end of day comes and lying down in bed feels impossible. There's no snow-covered wilderness to wander here, and that suits Johnny Summer fine. He's an indoor cat, after all, has been ever since...

...so he's at Tommy Bahama alone, taking advantage of its endlessness to go for a nice long walk to try to get the fog out of his mind. Maybe. Or maybe he'll run into a werecougar and have a fight, always possible. He does have his scissors.


3. It’s just a lack of air supply [Wildcard]
darkersolstice or darkersolstice #9463 to plot

Comments

[businessorlibation]

"Something strong." Like, for once he's in the mood to drink in order to get drunk, instead of for the artistry of his chosen profession. "So another Tokyo Tea wouldn't go amiss."

[be_seeing_you]

"Make it two. And let's keep them coming. Our cabins are on the way to each other's, after all." Yes, he is willing to get stumbling drunk with you tonight.

"Or, should you want a place to rest, I regret that my cabin is now empty save for me. But you would be welcome to the pull-out."

[businessorlibation]

"Six is gone? Shit, does Cesar know?" He pulls out his phone immediately because of course that's...big. Very fucking big. Even if they'd been on the outs lately, Johnny knows his heart would shatter if he lost Crabb, his one connection to Gallery.

[be_seeing_you]

"He is. I hoped it might be a case that he was finding a dark corner of a bar to sleep in still but... it has been too long since I have seen any evidence of him." Admitting that only makes him want that drink more.

"It was my understanding that he and Cesar were not on good terms."

[businessorlibation]

"They weren't. A misunderstanding over events at Halloween." Johnny types, deletes and retypes a message about three times before finally sending it. He leaves the phone on the bartop and then turns to make another round.

"Given that, I might take you up on the stay in your room. Can't have you getting too lonely now." As if he would, with Ava in the picture. At this moment, either of their rooms can be the love nest.

[be_seeing_you]

He considers offering to be the one to text Cesar, but in the end, he holds his tongue and lets Johnny struggle through it.

"Not to speak ill of the departed, but you are a better conversationalist than he was." Six was a man of very, very few words. He respected the ex-assassin, but they'd always held each other at a distance, especially after Number 6 started dating Ava.

"You're welcome for as long as the space stays vacant, tonight and any night after. Though, I may briefly slip across the hall to check on Ava. I'll send her a message now to let her know I'll be out late." He's already pulling his own phone from his pocket to do just that.

[businessorlibation]

“He was better with a blade than I am.” Though now everyone who was at the trial knows Johnny owns a cursed blade of sorts. No one’s confronted him about that yet.

Johnny and César volley a few texts. “He’s offering to bring us breakfast if we want it. I’m telling him I’ll catch him for lunch instead. I sort of want some alone time with him.”

[be_seeing_you]

"I thought you might not know how to use one at all until I saw you armed at the trial." Oh, did you want someone to confront you about that? Because it sounded like an invitation to him.

"I think that would be best. For both of you. Ava and I have a standing engagement for breakfast most mornings anyhow." Never mind that it's usually closer to brunch time, but she is making an effort to rise earlier for him and he appreciates it dearly.

[businessorlibation]

If you want to start...

"The scissors are what I killed Watson with when he was possessed during the Halloween Party. Cesar had left before midnight, and was outside the barrier, so it had to be me who dealt with the problem. My hands were stained with blood for days afterward. Part of their curse."

[be_seeing_you]

Cesar left. And it came down to Johnny to do that terrible deed. That makes Number 6 frown even before he gets to the facts of the cursed scissors.

"Is that the only thing that curse causes?"

[businessorlibation]

"The most obvious. I'm not saying the scissors are bloodthirsty, but they do seem very comfortable in the hand when used for violence, and much less so when used to cut thread."

Little does he know, he's soon going to regain the thread the scissors belong with...

[be_seeing_you]

"Does using them for violence feel good? Physically?" He's asking because it almost sounds as if there is a danger that they could make the wielder more inclined to violence over time. He's heard fairy tales that ended this way.

[businessorlibation]

Johnny doesn't answer right away. But that is, itself, an answer.

[be_seeing_you]

"Johnny... Maybe you should put them away. Somewhere out of reach."

[businessorlibation]

"I recognize why you're making that suggestion, but I'm a completely normal human surrounded by magic and science and people who outpower me even on my best day with a revolver in my hand. I need something. Daisy--the woman who possessed Crabb over October--is scared of them, and scared of me when I carry them and I need that edge. I need some sort of edge."

[be_seeing_you]

"I do sympathize. Still, I do not think you should take it as a positive if someone like her fears you with those shears in your hand. You should take it as a warning. Some things are not worth the price."

[businessorlibation]

"And some things are necessary. Peter, I trust you to be the first to notice if something's gone wrong and I need to be stopped. But I don't think the scissors are having that strong an effect on me. And if I do begin to use them regularly, everyone will know because of the blood on my hands."

[be_seeing_you]

"I don't like the idea of having to stop you. This sort of thing... it creeps up on you. I don't like it one bit."

[businessorlibation]

“I’m no more dangerous with them than the man-eating werecougar. Or any of the numerous magic-users on the ship.”

Though he likes Siffleur. More than he’ll admit to most people.

[be_seeing_you]

"I'm not talking about the danger you pose to others and you know it."