OTA

[jageskro]

Sometimes, bar fights just didn't happen the way you wanted them to. As in, they were cut short before you got much more than a bruise and a cut on your cheekbone. Jag was pissed off as he stumbled away from the bar, holding a kleenex to his cheek. With his other hand, he was fishing his mobile out of his pocket. Who knew, maybe Coby would be in the mood for a little mutual pain tonight. Or even just a blowjob, Jag wasn't going to be picky.

He threw the kleenex in the gutter and scrolled through his contact list, but before he could find Coby, he found himself shoved up against a wall in the deserted street. By a woman. A really fucking strong woman, who licked his bleeding cheek before telling him, "You're delicious."

"And you've got weird kinks," he muttered, eyes flicking away from her and at the nervous-looking girl behind her.

"Are you sure you should be doing this?" the girl asked, switching from foot to foot. "The sheriff -"

"The sheriff isn't here," the woman cut her off, then grinned at Jag, baring bloody fangs.

Before he could think anything of it, pain lanced from his neck as she buried them there. "Fuck," he muttered, not exactly sounding as if he disliked getting his blood sucked out of him. Not as long as the pain of those fangs didn't go anywhere, anyway.

"Just, maybe don't kill him?"

The vampire pulled back from him with a roll of her eyes, still holding Jag against the wall. His neck was still hurting beautifully. "Of course I'm going to kill him. I'm tired of being on a leash. Do you want a drink, or not?"

Right, okay. Wonderful pain was one thing. Being drained dry, another. "No one's killing me," Jag muttered.

"Oh yeah?" The woman snorted. "The food thinks it's got a say in..."

She never finished her sentence, as Jag's fire washed over her. Jag expected it to hurt the fuck out of her, and make her back off. But apparently vampires were extremely flammable, because she caught on fire properly and was reduced to ashes within seconds.

"Fuck," Jag said again. He looked up at the girl vampire, who screamed and then ran off, faster than his eye could track. "Fuck," he repeated, and began to sag to the ground now that no one was holding him up against the wall.

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[jageskro]

Jag didn't move when Val reached for his neck, a little too still. He realised he'd been holding his breath when Val pulled away, and he sighed out before breathing in again. He looked over at the two of them as they talked, and worked. Better people than he deserved, both of them.

[hollow_moon]

Val set the cauldron down nearby, then started to add things to it. A pinch of ground up mirror, a few drops of something inky and red, some herbs, some essential oils, and then a clear chunk of raw quartz.

"If you wouldn't mind, you could pour until I say stop while I stir," he said, nodding at the kettle and picking up a very old and beat up looking wooden spoon.

[offthebeatenpath]

Val was a lot more polite, and personable, than Illyana would've been, Em thought. "I should be able to manage that." She smiled sadly, glancing at Jag, then when Val signaled he was ready, poured the water slowly into the cauldron.

[jageskro]

"What's all this, then?" Jag asked quietly as he watched them work. He would much rather have a shot of whisky than whatever that was, that was for certain.

[hollow_moon]

The good news was that Jag wouldn't have to drink it.

"A remedy," Val said, signalling for Em to stop pouring, then stirring slowly, watching as the liquid turned from grey to blue, to green.

He let it sit for a moment, then used the wood spoon to fish the stone out of the liquid, studying it and admiring the way it glistened. It was smokey now, tinted slightly green, and he blew on it before carrying it over.

"I need you to take this and hold it, and... Focus on something good. A happy day, a happy moment."

He paused, then looked over at Em. "It might help if he has someone to ground him, someone he cares for." ...And to him, it had to be Em. He knew Jag loved her dearly.

[offthebeatenpath]

Em didn't know any more about what Val was doing than Jag did, but she trusted him to do it. There wasn't much she wouldn't do to help Jag, and being there for him was the easiest thing she could do.

"Usually it's the other way around," she said, mostly just to say something as she joined them. "With you the one grounding me."

Touch helped her during those times, and Jag had relaxed a little earlier when she'd tried, so she laid her hand on his back again, warm and steady, rubbing over too tense muscles.

[jageskro]

Jag frowned slightly as he took the almost too warm stone in his hand, but when Em's hand rested on his back, he leaned back and to the side, into her. "Think happy thoughts, and I'll fly out to Neverland?" he did not quite ask, unsure how to even get to happy right now.

[hollow_moon]

"Something like that," Val said with a sad little smile. "It just helps the stone focus. It's going to do all the heavy lifting, I promise."

[offthebeatenpath]

"Gate's closed. The crowd's gone home. The big tent's empty for the night," Em said softly, thinking of what that last card had shown her.

"You were sitting by the fire, surrounded by the kids, and Lala was squealing with laughter, 'cause you turned your jageskro into a bunch of butterflies just for her and sent them flying over her head just out of reach. And you can feel it, the fire in your chest, as bright as her laugh and the kids' eyes, as warm as home can be. Davey wanted you to make..." she trailed off, not sure what Davey'd wanted because it wasn't a night she'd been with him visiting home, but able to guess that much from the quick glimpse she'd had in the cards.

[jageskro]

Jag frowned at first, unsure what she was saying, until she mentioned Lala's butterflies, and the memory came back to him, as if from another time. "A chopper," he finished for her. "He's obsessed with helicopters and planes." He called forth his fire, shaping it into the flying machine, and focused on that bright warmth in his lungs, Em's hand on his back, and the memory of the kids' laughter as he shaped what they wanted in the flames.

[hollow_moon]

While they spoke, Val moved to fetch something from his desk, a simple coin shaped pendent hanging from a leather cord. Returning to them, he wound the leather around his hand, then clamped that hand over the stone Jag was holding. The pendent wasn't ideal, but it was the only bit of silver he currently had laying around the office, and it would have to do.

He could feel it getting so hot in his palm that it burned, but that just meant the stone was working. That it was acting as a conductor, moving the curse from Jag to the silver pendent.

He didn't speak, didn't say a word. He didn't want to break Jag's focus or the perfect picture of a memory Em had painted for the other man.

[offthebeatenpath]

Jag's fire warmed more than just the air around them as he picked up the memory, and Em could feel herself almost smile as she watched him shape the flames. She didn't say anything, not wanting to disrupt the feeling or what Val was doing, just kept her touch smooth and steadying.

[jageskro]

Jag forced himself to stay focused on that image, but it was difficult when Val came over and did whatever he was doing that involved clasping his hand over Jag's. It wasn't Val's fault, it just brought Jag back to how much of a wanker he'd been with him, even more than with Em. The helicopter slowly went out, and Jag said, softly, "I'm sorry."

[hollow_moon]

"It's alright, maybe you need to think of something else for a bit," Val said, not too worried yet since the stone was still hot. Clearly something was happening, maybe it just needed another nudge.

"Just look at me for a moment," he suggested, his free hand moving to rest on Jag's knee. "Do you remember the day we found the mirror? Do you remember being in the woods? Can you think about that for a bit?"

Maybe just focusing on something from before the mirror had come into their lives would help a bit.

[offthebeatenpath]

"You'll be okay," was quiet, mostly covered by Val's reassurance, but Em also shifted closer, running a hand through Jag's hair. Hoping this would all work the way it was supposed to. It had to.

[jageskro]

Jag was exhausted, coming down from being drunk, had an itchy neck wound, and a mountain of guilt. Their touches, their kindness, only made it all worse in that moment. It wasn't all right, and it wasn't him he was worried about. Tears sprang to his eyes and he looked to the side, trying to blink them back, swallowing around the lump in his throat. He needed a few long seconds before he was able to look back at Val and hope his voice wasn't too choked up when he spoke.

"I'm not cursed, I'm just a wanker."

How could he expect him to focus on how happy they'd been that night, when he'd fucked it all up since? It had been pure him, too. The same sort of bullshit he'd pulled with everyone who'd got close.

[hollow_moon]

"You can be both," Val assured him, offering a sad smile and squeezing his knee. "Just try, yeah? For us," he said, nodding at Em. "That's all I'm asking."

[offthebeatenpath]

Jag wasn't a wanker, but tonight wasn't the time to argue the point, so Em held back the words she wanted to say. "You can do this. For us. We're not asking for anything you can't give. Just trust us, all right." To her own ears, Em sounded more confident than she felt, but Jag could do this, and he needed to feel her belief in that.

[jageskro]

Jag really wasn't sure that he could do this, but the least he could do was not disappoint them, after everything he'd put them through. He'd try, although he sniffled before he called the fire back. The fire helped, always, and he focused on its warmth inside his chest as he shaped it into his usual bird, leaning into Em's hand and closing his eyes, thinking far enough back that neither of them were in the memories he went for, so his guilt would not disrupt them. It was his first performance, him so much younger but elated with the experience, the crowd mesmerised by the fire he wove, and the pride and love obvious in Kennick and Drina.

[hollow_moon]

Val could feel the stone growing hotter and hotter, warming the silver in his hand. It burned a bit, but he kept his hand still for as long as he could stand, praying it had been long enough as he snatched the stone out of Jag's palm and stood up.

It appeared to be clear again, that was a good sign too- Though he said nothing, refusing to let himself feel hopeful just yet.

[offthebeatenpath]

Fire always helped, so Em worried a little less when Jag called it back again. He could do this. And he must have, she hoped he had, when Val stood, taking the stone with him. But she didn't want to say anything, if she was wrong, or if there was more to be done.

[jageskro]

Jag blinked his eyes open when Val took the stone and moved away, watching him with a frown and keeping the fire going. "Is it done?" He didn't feel any different.

[hollow_moon]

"I don't know. I don't think we'll know until you leave the circle," he admitted, nodding at the engraving on the floor.

[offthebeatenpath]

Is the curse broken? should be a straightforward enough question the tarot would give a clear answer, but Em had no idea if the magic behind the curse might interfere. And she hated that she just then thought of that possibility.

"If the curse isn't broken, the circle should keep him inside?" she asked Val, wanting to be sure she understood.

[jageskro]

That was what Jag had assumed, since Val had talked of binding him inside it, and he pushed up to his feet slowly, holding on to the back of the chair as he glanced at Val and waited for an answer.