self_inflictedexhile | nysm / tvd } { if you will, please move in closer

nysm / tvd } { if you will, please move in closer

In another lifetime, Dylan Rhodes never existed. In another lifetime, he didn't need to, because Lionel Shrike never drown in the Hudson River, Dylan Rhodes stayed Jacob Shrike, and his life went in a very different direction.

At age fifteen, his father started teaching him the tricks of the trade: sleight of hand, how to build a rig, how to do a little bit of actual magic, despite the fact that probably wasn't something he should be sharing, just yet. Shortly after that, Jacob met a young Alma Dray, tagging along with her grandfather, a friend of his father's, stopping by to check up on him. They grew up together, life continued on, and Jacob eventually went to college for Theatre Design and Stagecraft. At twenty-two, just after graduation, Jacob was chosen to join the Eye, his test to help the LVPD clear the name of another magician, despite all the evidence in the world making him seem guilty as sin. There, Jacob met Michael Fuller, his partner a lifetime away, and the two became friends as they managed, despite all odds, to pull off what had been asked of Jacob by the Eye. He continued on into a career as a stage magician in the Eye, eventually married Alma, and continued to occasionally work with Fuller as a consultant, when time allowed.

Over the course of the next few decades, Jacob and Alma tried to have children and failed, and eventually adopted one Jack Wilder, age 10. Using Eye resources, he helped Merritt McKinney get a good lawyer and clear his name after his brother screwed him over. He followed the rising stars that were J. Daniel Atlas and Henley Reeves, and when they decided to call it quits, pulled the both of them back together, forcing Daniel to give Henley a more active role in the show. And eventually, yes, he called the four of them together, not for revenge but something similar, to get them into the Eye. And somewhere along the way, Jacob and Alma tried for children again, and this time managed, giving Jack a brother, Lio, Lionel, named after his grandfather.

Basically, this is the best possible timeline.

And now, it's just after dinner, Jacob off to his nightly rehearsal at 5Pointz, that his space, now, like his father before him. He takes a detour tonight, though, to grab a cup of coffee, beforehand, a little bit of magic pulled around him, to make himself not completely invisible, but at least a little less noticeable. Normally, he doesn't mind showing off or signing autographs, when a fan approaches, and fans do often approach, his notoriety somewhere up there with Penn and Teller, Seigfried and Roy, but -- not tonight. He's not feeling it tonight, a little tired for whatever reason, hence the coffee, so magic it is. And now he's sitting at a table, idly people-watching as he leans into his cup. Have at him, if you can still see him (or, maybe, in certain party's cases, sense him) despite his best efforts.

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Josie nods, and as she does her phone buzzes in her hand. After checking the text, she leans forward to check out the window, where Marcel is standing below them, and gives her a small salute.

"He's here."

Dylan leans forward, too, spotting Marcel just as easily. As he rocks back, he inclines his head in the direction they came. "Back downstairs?"

Never mind the fact that that's a given and he knows it, for all that Marcel can't come in on his own. He turns to head that way, that in mind.

She nods, leading the way back down through the house to the man outside. Marcel turns his head as he hears them coming and frowns at Josie.

"So Hope said something about you needing me to be bait?"

"Yep." Josie nods. "For a Croatoan."

"That's the secrets monster that turns people to goop, isn't it?" Josie nods and he shakes his head. "You know, I don't know where you all found these monsters, but I continue to wish you didn't."

"Technically, they found us," Josie points out, before he gives her a look. "Yeah, I know. Not helpful."

Dylan is silent for a moment, an almost helpless shrug his only response, before, "The asshole that summoned it is planning on skipping town and leave us holding the bag."

Maybe that's more helpful? It at least gives Marcel a logical leaping point to understand why he was called here.

"Ahhh," Marcel nods slowly. "So he wants to make a mess, leave other people to clean it up and skip town without worrying about the collateral damage. My favorite."

Josie turns and points to the house they were watching. "He's holed up over there. The ideal is to hold the creature here long enough that he's forced to despell it himself or I can get something of his to do it myself."

"How long do you think it will take it to get here?"

"I think you're probably the juiciest prey in town. It shouldn't take long."

"You and me both," Dylan mutters, shaking his head. He looks away, when Josie gestures to the house, following along even if he doesn't need to, at this point. He rakes his tongue over his teeth, as he turns his attentions back towards Marcel a beat later. "If you need help keeping it off of you ... "

Or if Josie needs help, persuading or robbing Damien -- well, he's here, and he's not sure what his part in this should be, really. He'd welcome any and all direction.

Marcel considers for a moment, before turning to look at the house. Then, he glances back to the two heroes he's helping. His eyes wander over their shoulder and realizes they might have to act faster. "How do we feel about property damage?"

Josie's brows raise, before she turns and sees the creature coming up the sidewalk. Her eyes widen as she steps backwards.

"I'm not opposed."

"Ah, shit," Dylan breathes. Then, louder, "Long as you're not planning on leveling a whole city block, whatever." Whatever Marcel needs to do. Whatever he needs him to do.

"Nah, nah. But if he won't come out to the monster. Maybe we bring the monster to him."

Marcel sends out a burst of speed, grabbing the creature by the cloak before it can open it's mouth. Josie gasped before turning and pointing towards the house that they're targeting. Just to make sure he hits the right one.

He spins like he's winding up for a pitch, and flings the monster into the wall of the house Damien is currently residing in.

"Shit," Dylan repeats, effectually, before rushing forward. He's not sure what he's doing, what he's supposed to be doing here, but he figures staying close can't hurt.

It doesn't hurt, if only because it lets him spot movement in the house, removed from Marcel and the monster. He starts immediately towards the back of the house, calling, "I think he's gonna try and slip out the back door."

Josie's hand moves to Marcel's shoulder, drawing a small bit of magic before throwing up a barrier spell against the back door. Escaping isn't going to be that easy. As she moves towards the door to cut him off at the pass, Marcel charges after the monster, looking to hold it down and shove it back into place if it tries to escape the house.

"Shit," Damien hisses, loud enough to be heard throughout the house. "You're going to get us all fucking killed!"

"Then call off the monster!" Dylan calls back.

"Fuck you!"

For all that Damien seems worried that they're going to get all of them killed, himself included, he still doesn't seem willing to play ball. Whether that's because he thinks he can still escape this or because this is the hill he's chosen to die on is anyone's guess, however.

Josie skids around so that she can meet his eyes. "Look. Whatever the Eye did to screw you over is not worth the lives of everyone in this city. It's not worth your life. Because trust me, every time this creature has been summoned, it bites the hand that fed it."

She stares him down and holds out her hand.

"You can make a choice. You can give me what I need to dispel the Croatoan and I'll let you go. Or you can stay here and the three of us will probably die, but Marcel will find a way to end the monster. Either way, I don't think you have a win here."

"I'm not sure your little vampire friend can handle me and the Croatoan," he shoots back. He may realize who Marcel is, he may not, but either way, it's hard not to notice that he's a vampire. "If I let it kill you first, I might still have an out!"

That would be a win.

Still, he's not stupid enough to not at least be considering her offer, despite the posturing. He just needs to posture. Being screwed over is absolutely worth its weight in lives.

"I think that'll depend on who has the juicer secrets. And the moment, the most I've got is I'm probably going to die at twenty-two."

And even that's not really a secret. Though Dylan didn't know, so ... sorry Dylan. She'll explain later when they're not under threat of death. But she keeps her focus on Damien. And gives a small shrug.

"And now that that's not a secret anymore, I'm will to bet yours are yummier."

No, Dylan didn't know that, and so he whips his head in her direction, staring at her. He should probably be offering up something of his own, to make Damien the better target, but -- Jesus, what? He might even say that last bit out loud. He's really not sure, at this point.

Damien, meanwhile, looks between the both of them, frowning, before finally slipping a hand into his pocket. Pulling out what appears to be a wooden coin, meticulously cut and covered in sigils, he holds it up so she can see it, then tosses it to her. "Fine. Here."

And fuck you, too, lady.

She catches the coin easily, before looking back up at him with a smirk. "Pleasure doing business with you."

She places a hand against the barrier she created, drawing the magic back into herself, giving Damian room to leave. Then, she closes her eyes and focuses on the reversal spell, and slowly, the creature begins to turn to slop in front of Marcel and Dylan's eyes, sinking back into the ground from whence it came.

Damien flashes her a brittle smile, the expression carrying that same fuck you sentiment, and hobbles away. Dylan glances between him, the melting Croatoan, and -- well, it would be back again, back to Damien, but he's already lost track of him, impossibly. He can only assume he used some magic, some spell to speed his getaway. Either way, he swears.

"Shit."

He would have liked to found a way of keeping Damien from getting away and becoming a thorn in their side again, sometime later.

Josie sighs as she relaxes, before turning and holding out the coin to him to take. As much as she did agree to let Damien go, that doesn't mean she's okay with him getting off without any kind of consequence.

"That's probably good for a locator spell."

If he can't find him, someone in the Eye absolutely will be able to, using the coin, and so he reaches to take it from her. He even manages to summon up a small smile, at least a little more comfortable with Damien having gotten away.

"Thanks," he tells her as he tucks it away in his pocket. A pause follows, a glance over his shoulder, and then, as he returns his attentions to her, he starts, "Anyway, uh."

What now?

He feels like they won, like they're done here, but he wants to make sure they won.

"I think we're good here." Josie nods in agreement. She glances back over to Marcel and offers him a small smile. "Thanks for coming. You were a big help."

"Happy to," he nods with a smile. "Let Hope know mission accomplished. And you should give her an actual call, not just text her in an emergency."

"I will call. I promise."

"Good." He turns and holds out his hand to Dylan. "Nice to meet you, circumstances aside."

"You, too," Dylan answers, reaching to take Marcel's hand for the shake. Despite the circumstances, that was much less -- something than he was expecting. He'll take it, though. "Maybe next time, we can try this over beers or something."

Maybe the next time they meet will be under better circumstances.

"That sounds infinitely more preferable."

And with that, Marcel is gone. Josie stands there awkwardly for a moment, before glancing over at him.

"I probably owe you an explanation. About my secret?"

"You definitely owe me an explanation," he agrees, turning to face her, a frown coming to his lips. He won't give her too much shit about that being a hell of a way for her to spring that on him even if it was a hall of a way to spring it on him, but he definitely wants to know what's going on.

She grimaces, before rubbing the back of her neck, then looking at the damage to the house. Josie's not sure she's going to like the explanation, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to hear it. She's just worried about one of the neighbors calling the cops.

"We probably shouldn't do this here. Want to go get some coffee?"

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