stupetballs | penance } { ic inbox

[ jon moves stiffly from his own bruises after fighting the demons, noticing elena's wince as she crouches down. his jaw locks at the reminder of their fight with the demons, at how hurt she was (how hurt they all would have been if elena hadn't healed them), at how little he could do, at how waverly still suffered despite it all.

there are a few people there at the bar, and he goes to each once, telling them the bar's closed. he gives no further details, but he makes sure they leave, leading them to the door if he has to with a gruffness to his movements and his voice with what little he says. it takes little time to clear them out. when waverly arrives, he'll lock the door behind her so no one comes in. ]

(while jon is clearing out the place and elena is giving elvis the scritches he deserves wynonna is making her way behind the bar to grab a few bottles of whiskey and four glasses because she has a feeling they will all need some alcohol. it's been A Time.

when waverly comes in however she sets that all down on a table and makes her way to her sister, wincing a little as she does so before wrapping her arms around her in a vice like grip that doubles as a hug*)*

I was so worried, baby girl.

[Waverly leans into the hug just as tightly. She looks exhausted and otherwise worn down, her usual chipper attitude is flagging under the pressure of the last few days.

She'll bounce back. She usually did. Right now, she doesn't really want to.]

Sorry. I would have called but that would have defeated the point of isolation.

[ her breath snags at the sight of waverly, even as she steps back to allow the sisters their moment. the texts alone weren't going to be enough, not until she got to see waverly in the flesh for herself. she looks at jon, that tightness still in her throat, before she turns back to them. ]

You have nothing to apologize for.

[ nothing. they're just so glad to see her, no matter the state she's in. ]

[ jon releases the breath trapped in his chest in relief at seeing here here. isolation. he swallows thick, staying near the door after he has locked it. he turns around, wanting to give the sister's their space to reunite (grateful they are able to reunite, and she wasn't trapped any longer).

he meets elena's gaze. something lodges in his chest, and he finds he doesn't have the words. it's hard to see someone he cares about, someone who has always been so bright have that light taken from her so cruelly. to know she has suffered at the hands of someone so brutal in his violence. ]

You didn't do anything wrong. And I will make him pay, I promise you.

(the promise feels empty compared to most, especially after how their recent brawl with some of the demons went, but she still feels it in her bones. no one breaks her sister's spirit like this and gets away with it.

but she finally releases waverly and takes a step back, though she's still hovering close and likely would be for a while)

[Wynonna steps away, but Waverly holds her gaze when she talks about making Barbas pay. One hand reaches out to catch her wrist, keeping her in place.]

I'm okay, Wynonna.

[Not one hundred percent the truth, but she will be. Then again, she doesn't know about the nightmares yet. All the same, she doesn't want Wynonna running off to do something reckless. Not on her behalf.]

We knew what we were getting into.

[ while wynonna and waverly finished embracing, elena stepped back to retrieve a glass of water. it's such a small and useless thing, in the grand scheme of it all, but just in case waverly might need it, it's there.

she returns with the water, and though she doesn't want to crowd wavverly, she does lightly rub at her arm while she offers her the glass. ]

That doesn't make it right.

[ that doesn't mean she deserved this. ]

[ jon finally speaks up from where he stands still by the door like he's keeping guard despite the awareness he can't do anything at all. he can't stop anything at all. if demons were to come get them again, waverly would be dragged back, wynonna would be dragged away, and elena would too- dragged away and hurt and tortured, because they didn't fall in 'line'. because of the sins already laid out on their lists.

his voice is harsh, low, rough with an edge on it. he's angry. the anger didn't go away for all that he pushed every last inch of it into the fight with the demons. ]

It isn't right. Barbas speaks of order, but what he means is oppression and cruelty. His sentences for punishment far outweigh the crimes that were committed. We all knew the risk, but risks must be taken in times such as these to do what is right.

You shouldn't have had to suffer. [ he swallows then in the aftermath of his words before his voice comes out more quietly again. ] I'm glad you're back now.

You shouldn't have had to take those risks in the first place. Lucifer, Barbas, they all want us to jump when they say when and not ask any questions or suffer in consequence and that shit isn't okay.

And we're not going to let him win.

(she's as angry as jon is, as determined as he is. as elena is. maybe their brawl didn't do anything, but it reminded her how much better it feels to fight then just toe the line.

sorry waverly, she may have went a little wynonna on things in your absence. )

[Waverly looks between her and Jon when they speak because she knows they're right. She knows that she made a choice and she would make the same choice again.

She just wishes she was feeling the confidence she needed.]

Have you heard from anyone else? I've only seen Sara so far.

[ elena shakes her head with a grave expression on her face. ]

I called Aiden and it went straight to voicemail. I'm hoping he gets back to me soon.

[ jon grows quiet again. how many people were ultimately involved in the rebellion? how many suffered consequences for it as severe as what waverly went through? barbas really believes he can torture them all into submission. and sometimes it can work for a time as the ramsays proved by their banner, by their actions. there will always be those willing to fight against it at any cost.

still. there will be much more suffering ahead.

he steps over to the bar to pour the glasses wynonna got out full. ]

Not yet but Fitz will be hearing from me soon.

(even if it's just a pointless angry voicemail because fitz is in isolation....wynonna is going to wynonna when it comes to her little sister.)

I'll have to ask Dean if he's heard from Cas yet.

[She nods because yeah, they probably won't be hearing from Fitz for a while. Her eyes go to the drinks on the bar and she makes her way closer, taking one of the full ones and knocking back as much as she can.]

The ones who were trying to free Lucifer will probably have it worse.

[Lilith, in Barbas' eyes, was the less valuable player on the chessboard.]

[ elena thinks this is a solid choice, especially as they have more bad news to break to waverly.

the thought of what they might be doing to fitz makes her blood go cold. ]

Probably, but ... it's getting worse at the hotel too, Waves. Barbas has grown more militant and turned it into a school. Anyone that steps out of line, or shows compassion to the 'wrong' person and tries to help, faces severe punishment. [ cuts, lashes. ]

[ jon fills waverly's drink once more after she's downed a good portion of it and then he sets the bottle back down. he picks up his glass to have a drink from it. his expression grim as elena describes how much worse it has become in a short period of time.

he nods as his shoulders tense. ]

If you try to stop the punishment, you get the same.

(wynonna grabs her own glass and downs a heathy amount -- there's a few reasons why she grabbed multiple bottles. they're going to need them.)

And he's making people who got tricked into marriage move in together -- with threats of chastity belts for not keeping faithful.

(not that that's going to keep her from fooling around with homelander's husband but w/e details.)

[She nods slowly through some of that information, because oh. Of course.]

That whole school thing makes some of what I saw on the way here make a little more sense.

[As well as the mysterious school girl uniform in her closet. That being said, her eyes widen because she knows ... a few people who got married.]

That's ... a whole new take on purity culture we really didn't need.

[Let's drink some more. That sounds like a good idea.]

Nope.

[ it's really not. ]

Barbas needs to be dealt with. I think we can all agree with that. But right now, we need to regroup and you need to take it easy. [ waverly just got released from punishments, and elena's worried.

... so basically, yes. more drinking is in order. ]

[ jon lifts his glass up again to take a slow drink from it, nodding his quiet agreement. there's nothing that can be done right now. ultimately, their future plan should be more long term oriented with smaller moves that will eventually have the change they want. but they have tonight. waverly needs the chance to recover from what she went through without worrying about what to do next. ]

The bar's closed for the night. [ they can get as drunk as they'd like, and hopefully, hell will remain at its current level of fucked up in the meantime. ]

Which means we're all free to get wasted. Which I think we could all use.

(granted....that's kind of wynonna's solution to everything but you know....let's not look at her alcoholism too hard right now, okay? she's already pouring herself another glass and topping everyone else off.)

Oooh.

[Waverly knocks back her second drink and nods in agreement. She's not really one known for getting drunk, but sometimes, when the moment warrants it, it's nice to let go.]

That actually sounds really nice right about now.

[ this is usually the part where elena does her elena thing and at least tries to posit a sensible and responsible alternative, isn't it?

but even she's not feeling up to being a buzzkill. maybe she'll drink a bit less, if only to keep an eye on those who need this most. ]

Then let's do it.

[ the four of them will end up sitting on the floor of the back bar, as it gives them ready access to the alcohol. it certainly makes elvis happy, as he can just hop from one person to another. she braces her bottle against her knee. she smiles, just a bit, as she gives elvis another scritch behind his ear. ] I've never had a pet before.

Edited 2021-02-22 00:29 (UTC)

[ jon rests his back against the wall of the bar itself beside some of the bottles with his leg pressed up against elena's. he has not been drunk in-- he does not remember the last time he was drunk at all, and he's not quite drunk yet (doesn't know if he will be as that requires letting his guard down), but he is definitely affected by the alcohol.

elvis paws at jon's knee, and he's quick to reach over to pet him with a quiet thoughtful expression. ]

I've never had a pet, but I had... an animal companion. [ it's been some time since jon's thought of him if only because it's hard like a piece of him left behind. he can only hope ghost never goes to king's landing, hope ghost remains free and alive for all he's done for him- that can be the part of jon to live on. ] Ghost. He was a direwolf.

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