stupetballs | penance } { ic inbox

[Ray immediately looks haunted.] Not gonna get an argument from me on that one.

[He can handle physical shit, but being forced to deal with his own ghosts and how his brain runs on overdrive more often than not was a lot harder.]

Yeah, same.

[he'll probably change his mind, when the nightmares start, when he's not sleeping, but right now, he doesn't know that's a thing, and the shadows of his own ghosts are still fresh, again]

[to that end, though (and speaking of her having been drunk, at some point not too recently), he asks:] You want something to drink? [God knows he could use one]

Sure.

[She's probably going to need it, given the grand scheme of things.]

But you guys are both okay? All things considered?

[There's never a time Ray doesn't want a drink. Which, speaking of...]

You're gonna deserve a medal or two before this is over, keeping all us sots from shriveling up.

[He gives a little considering shrug to her question.]

I've been worse, believe it or not.

[That time a DJ tried to gas him to death comes to mind.]

[Aiden's not sure he has. he's seen a lot of shit, especially in the last year, back home, but usually, he's the torturer, not the tortured. he held his own, didn't give Barbas the pleasure of hearing him scream, didn't give up any of their people, but -- ]

[yeah, he's not okay. he just makes a small sound, rather than say that, though, and gets up to go grab a trio of beers for them. sure, yeah, he's fine. this is fine]

We'll do our best. But I have a feeling he's going to be watching Hella Shorty's a lot more closely.

[Especially given that Waverly's on his hit list now. She takes one of the beers from Aiden and sighs.]

But I guess we'll have to wait and see how things play out.

[Ray pulls a face as he takes one of the beers and takes a drink.] Y'all gonna be alright out there? Anything we can do to help other than the obvious?

[Taking out Barbas, he means.]

Wonder if there's somewhere else we could use as a club house.

[since all of the people that participated in the first rebellion hanging around at Hella Shorty's might get suspicious. he doesn't want them to get caught again -- or for Barbas to shut them down, too. either way, not good]

I've been thinking about that. Moving the research.

[It's not her favorite idea, because there's only so many places they can stash things. Barbas seems to be watching everywhere.]

Also Castiel's been teaching me some Enochian. I might be able to hide it? The room, not the bar.

[This is stuff that's a fair bit above Ray's pay grade - but he's been trying to figure it out, to figure out how they can use it, and considering how fast he can write a code, he doesn't see why it would be so hard to learn how to put together a spell of some kind.]

Probably not a bad idea. Getting a smoke screen up between all that and Barbara, I mean. Still a little worried about what happens if he decides to come down on this place, though.

[For the sake of Waverly and her friends, he means. He doesn't want anybody else to get hurt in all this nonsense.]

[Aiden hums something that sounds like a yeah. a pause follows, then almost abruptly, he asks:] Anyone know what happened to Lilith? [he's sorry for changing the subject that little bit, but]

As far as I know she just went back to being Barbas' secretary. I don't think he made any announcements making a further example out of her.

[For better or for worse, that is.]

[Ray swears under his breath, grumbling as he sighs.] Fuck. I was hoping since he hadn't been all braggy about it that she'd managed to sneak off somewhere.

[Aiden's fingers tighten around his bottle, because yeah, he'd had the same hope. he'd hoped that anything they'd done had amounted to something. he'd hoped they'd be able to count that one as a win, in entirety, even if the rest of it went spectacularly sideways. so much for that idea]

[blowing out a breath, he forces himself to relax, and mutters:] Damn it.

I don't know for sure. I haven't seen her.

[But that's also equally concerning, because given how much power Barbas has, who says that they didn't just take Lilith off the map entirely.

But she doesn't want to put that into the universe, so she doesn't say it.]

[Ray frowns, because if Barbas hasn't been parading her around as evidence of their failure, maybe he was wrong in his assumption. He sits up a little, adjusting his hold on his beer so he can dig his phone out of his pocket. Once he has it in hand, he sets his beer on the arm of the couch and sets to typing.]

[He's going to be busy for a second, guys, don't mind him.]

[Aiden leans into Ray a little, part of the contact, part because he's a nosy asshole. he needs to know. they need the fucking win]

You checking on the truck?

[Her brow furrows as she gets up to join them, peering over Ray's shoulder.]

You think she's still in there?

[Ray doesn't react to Aiden leaning closer, but he does blink back at Waverly for a moment, adjusting his phone so they can both see. Right now, it's loading, his tool kit taking up most of the screen.]

Y'all warded the thing literally to hell and back and Barbara's been awful cagey about the whole thing, other than stringing us up for being involved.

[Aiden is silent, eyes darting back and forth between Ray, the phone and back again, his posture tense for all that he's still leaning into Ray. it's like waiting to see who's going to score first, in overtime -- it's worse, and he almost doesn't dare breathe]

Edited 2021-03-10 01:43 (UTC)

[Waverly can also feel her heart pounding in her chest, the tension clear. If Lilith is still there, if the wards actually worked ... then that's a huge friggin' win.

As the picture begins to form, she offers them both a small smile.]

Fingers crossed?

Fingers crossed.

[And then he taps the phone's screen, opening the app for the cameras in the truck. It takes them a moment to focus - and then they do.]

[The inside of the truck is visible, the camera mounted just under the rearview mirror, pointed toward the back. There is a curtain hung between the parts of the truck to give Lilith some privacy - but the part between the two pieces is wide enough to see someone's back as they sit in one of the easy chairs they placed there, her long, dark hair clear on the truck's camera.]

[all at once, explosively Aiden is on his feet, one fist pumping the air] Yes! Fucking -- yes!

[Waverly laughs, a bright burst of sound, because knowing that they have this win almost makes everything else worth it. But just as soon as the joy washes over her, she also knows immediately what comes next.]

We can't tell anyone.

[Which ... woof this is going to be a secret to keep, but they have to.]

The more people who know, the bigger risk it gets leaked back to Barbas.

[Ray immediately all but drops his phone as Aiden jumps to his feet, fumbling for his beer.]

Hey, watch the beer!

[He honestly doth protest too much, though, considering he's just as thrilled to know that they managed to pull that off.]

[Ray moves his beer to the coffee table and sits back again.]

Yeah, no argument from me on that one. This has gotta stay in this room, between the three of us. Nobody's getting through my walls on here - [he holds his phone up a little, indicating it] - so we'll be good on that front.

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