hymen | — OPEN POST.

[ yachts are only nice until you remember you can't easily leave them. the exceptional privilege of being wealthy enough to be stuck on a floating ornament of music and light is one that he'd rather pass on tonight, even if they've fixed the error of the drinks — there is an open bar now, and he does have a fresh drink in his hand, though it's tragically in a glass, since there are eyes on him now. it would be intensely pathetic for him to be seen literally hitting the bottle. that'll have to wait until he's back in his hotel room for the night, away from prying eyes and loose lips, where he can be miserable in peace.

he's already peeled away from ash and greer, having done a few turns with them feeling like an unstable third wheel. ash isn't trying to make him feel that way; it just is. he and greer look perfectly suited to each other, and embry looks perfectly suited to be america's most permanent bachelor despite his constant rotation of dates — and his current one for the night is presently nowhere to be found despite the fact that they'd boarded the ship together.

johanna is not the sentimental or the clingy type, but they can hardly be photographed together if they aren't actually existing in the same space together (and neither can they explore any of the intriguing options discussed beforehand, which embry thinks might be the only way to salvage the night), so embry sets off to look for her, switching his empty glass for two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter. that looks better. it looks like he's an attentive date this way, at least.

she's harder to track down than he expects, and he finishes both of their glasses before he hears her voice as he's escaping a conversation with one of their donors. he passes down the narrow hallway and realizes her voice is coming from inside a storage closet, wrung tight with tension. embry twists the knob without hesitation and immediately wishes he hadn't. ]

Johanna — [ he hisses her name, his hopes of their hands mutually down each other's pants dissipating at the sight of a man bound tightly to a folding chair, johanna standing before him. discreetly — because he has a lot of fucking practice with that — he lets himself in and locks the door behind him. ] What the fuck are you doing? This isn't Lyonesse.

[ really, a poor excuse, because if she wanted to tie someone to a chair — he's right here. ]

--sedüctor, plene omni dolo et falläcia, virtütis inimice--

[ The low, urgent flow of Latin breaks off as the door opens, and Johanna turns to Embry in surprise. Why didn't she lock the door, fuck.

A beat. ]

All right, I'm not going to tell you this isn't what it looks like.

[ There isn't a whole lot of room in here with the two of them standing and the junior senator from Ohio tied to a chair. Now that Embry's inside and right up in her business, a few more details might start to come to notice. For instance: Johanna came onto this boat with her hair artfully tousled and her blouse neat as a pin. Now one sleeve has ripped at the shoulder seam, and her hair looks more "got in a tussle" than "beachy waves." She's holding a small book bound in black leather, with her finger holding her place in the middle of it. For instance: over the smell of chemical cleaners, there's an aroma like burnt charcoal, even though nothing in here appears singed.

Also for instance: the junior senator from Ohio was growling through the makeshift gag Jo's got on him. (His tie. It's not very effective.) He's stopped now that Embry is here, switched to muffled pleas for help, but the sound was more like a Rottweiler than a human. ]

I need you to stay calm.

[ fuck. she's got ohio tied to a chair. this is definitely not normal and definitely not something that anyone on his staff needs to see. ]

I'm calm. [ no longer does he feel any sort of remorse for the line he did in the bathroom, because clearly it was necessary to prepare him for this moment. he gestures to her torn clothes. ] Did you really beat up a senator?

[ presently, the sounds coming from the senator sound less than human. embry isn't completely ignorant of what this looks like. however, ash is the devoutly religious one, not him. embry is only concerned with how many areas of sin he can cover on any given day. ]

You're a terrible date. [ or a wonderful one, because whatever this is, it's gotten him away from the crowd in a very decisive manner. he finishes off the dregs of her champagne and places both empty glasses precariously on a shelf beside a bottle of bleach. ] Christ. We have to untie this man.

[ Sharp: ] We do not. Embry, listen to me, you untie him now and the best case scenario is we get the Coast Guard called on us, yeah? That's not a scandal you want.

You want to help, you go get me a pen and an empty bottle I can stopper--

[ Ohio tries to yell something that sounds a lot like "she's crazy!" and Johanna give him a sharp kick in the shins. ] You could make this a fuck of a lot easier on all of us if you just fuck back off to Hell on your own, you know!

[ he flinches internally for the man's poor shins, open to assault from her pointy shoes. yeah, it should definitely be ash in here dealing with this, because embry rarely deals well with anything, considering his track record that's riddled with evidence of his past fuck-ups. not that johanna needs to know that.

not that johanna seems that much better at dealing with things.

hissing once more — ] There's CIA already on the ship. And no, that's not the scandal we agreed on. What happened to sex in the bathroom? This is a utility closet.

[ still, he hands her a pen from the inside of his jacket, and then starts rummaging through the shelves for a bottle, finding a cleaner that doesn't look as noxious as the rest and dumping it out in the corner. ]

Why does it look like you're trying to perform an exorcism? [ he hands over the empty bottle and screw top. ] Is this why you wanted to be my date?

[ She's dealing fine!! She's dealing with it! She's improvising, she's thriving, her skin is clear! ]

No! Christ, no, if I knew you had a possessed senator onboard I'd've come better prepared!

[ She grabs the pen, tucks the bottle under her arm, and starts scribbling a seal on it. ]

It looks like an exorcism because it is a bloody exorcism. I don't know who's gotten into our friend here but I'm going to try and get it out. You're welcome.

Better prepared with what? On second thought, don't answer that. I'd like plausible deniability in this case.

[ the case being the kidnapping of a junior senator to perform an exorcism on him. ash is about to lose every ohio voter he's ever had. ]

This guy's gonna talk, Johanna. He's gonna tell the world you stuck him in a closet and tried to assault him. That's not most people's idea of a good time. Give me a chance to make this go away.

[ Jo looks at the senator. He glares back. ]

Rather think I successfully assaulted him, mate.

We both want the same thing. Give me ten minutes. Please. You can stay here and make sure I don't do anything else crazy.

You seem to successfully do a lot of things.

[ is it sarcasm? unknown. she has, successfully, kidnapped and assaulted a senator, in the technical sense that it's happening right before his eyes. too bad the staff won't deliver drinks to the closet. ]

I'm not leaving you alone until we dock. [ under different circumstances, one might consider him chivalrous for such a statement. as it stands, he just needs to make sure she doesn't kidnap anyone else. he also needs to make sure ohio here makes it out alive. ] Ten minutes. What do you need me to do?

[ She also is really hoping she can get Ohio out of here alive. Some demons leave their hosts in better shape than others. But, hey, that's why she's got the bottle. Speaking of which. ]

Hold this. [ She shoves the bottle and screw top into Embry's hands. ] If I tell you to catch something, don't think, just do it.

As for you. [ She glances at her book, nods, licks her thumb and draws a cross on Ohio's brow, then rests her hand on his head. ] Da locum, diríssime ...

[ As the Latin resumes, a change comes over the man in the chair. His pupils blow out wide and black -- too wide, too dark -- and that inhuman growl starts up in his throat again. He tosses his head, trying to get away from Johanna's hand, starting to struggle against the chair. The smell of burning gets stronger in the cramped closet, as well as a stinking smell of rotten eggs. ]

... qui te projécit in ténebras exterióres, ubi tibi cum minístris tuis erit praeparátus intéritus--!

[ he has a lot to say right now, and most of all he wants to point out how good he is at taking orders since he holds the bottle without complaint, and how that should merit at least the consideration of their earlier scandal-plans, but he's not entirely sure any of it is a good idea anymore. not that he's really known for good ideas.

he wants to say all these things, but really he can only utter a quiet holy shit as he watches ohio's eyes melt to black, the subhuman growling filling the room. embry has had his fair share of violence — he's done a lot he's not proud of in the name of his country, shot and taken bullets in a senseless, bloody war, has known real, mind-numbing fear, but this — this is something else entirely. he's suddenly okay with ohio being tied to the chair. ]

Johanna — [ he looks up as the lights crackle above them before a bulb pops in a shower of sparks. the room dims considerably, the other one hanging on for dear life as it flickers in and out. he presses his sleeve to his nose, nearly gagging at the smell. ] Ten minutes is too long — hurry up!

Et saeculum per ignem!

[ Ohio doubles over with a howl. Johanna snatches the gag out of his mouth just in time for him to cough ichor onto the floor. Thick, black, squirming. ]

The bottle! Get that shit in the bottle!

This looks like something we should be calling the CDC to handle!

[ despite his complaints, embry drops to his knees and tries to quickly surmise the best way to get a wriggling, disgusting, very much alive-looking entity into a bottle. a thing that ohio just expelled through his goddamn mouth. there are very specific things he wants when it comes to a man's mouth, and this isn't on the list.

gamely, and because he can't think of any other way, he shoves the black shit into the bottle with his hands, not knowing if it will hurt to touch but wishing he'd taken off his blazer and rolled up his sleeves first. ]

[ The stuff seems like it's trying to lap at Embry's hands, wrap around his fingers, but it can't get purchase. Whatever it's made of is hot to the touch, slimy but not sticky. Maybe weirdly muscular, for something fluid? ]

Vade, you piece of shit.

[ It releases Embry's hand and slithers into the bottle. Ohio slumps in the chair, head hanging down towards his lap in a swoon. ]

Cap it and give it here, quick.

[ Once he hands it back, she wraps her own hand around the cap and mutters something that a Catholic might recognize as a Gloria Patria. The bottle shudders visibly. ]

[ the molten mess is hot, and he's happy to not be touching it anymore, his fingers feeling strangely violated by the interaction. ohio's still breathing, though worse for wear, and embry stays on his knees, looking up with a healthy amount of distrust at johanna, and maybe a little bit of awe at how she handles the whole thing.

he's attended enough mass with ash over the years to know scripture and other holy things to remind him of just how unholy he is, so the words she utters are familiar. painfully so, actually, because he's heard ash recite them a dozen times, has stood by his side and listened not out of conviction but just because he always listens when it's ash's voice. he puts the thought out of his mind, mostly unsuccessfully as it usually is, and strips off his blazer, examining his slightly singed cuffs. ]

That doesn't look like it's gonna hold. But you also don't seem like an amateur.

[ internally, he has a hundred other questions, like is that the fucking devil and why's his name vade, but he also has an unconscious senator to his left. ]

You didn't mention any of this at Lyonesse.

Ought to keep until we figure out our story for him. [ She jerks her head towards Ohio. ] I'll get a proper seal on it in a second.

[ She needs a second to catch her breath. And to process that distrust in Embry's eyes -- to feel it sting and then shove it aside. She's had the yes, magic is real, yes, I do it, conversation half a dozen times, at least, but this isn't how she would have chosen to do it.

Hell, she didn't really intend to ever have this talk with the White House. American politicians have slightly less baggage than the British royals, but they have their own complications, to say the least. ]

When was I going to bring up my day job at Lyonesse? My mouth's usually busy. "Consultant" always covers it in these parts.

[ because embry believes in being an equal opportunity sort of man when it comes to trouble-making — even if he didn't actually choose to engage this time — he turns to the senator, giving him a quick once-over. he's not even that great of a senator. ]

I'll handle him. [ he rummages through his jacket before finding what he's looking for — a silver flask — and unscrews the top, splashing whiskey liberally all over ohio. then he unties him and dumps his unconscious body to the floor. ] There. He had too much to drink and they'll find him sleeping off his bad decisions. His politics are shit, anyway.

[ he rolls up his sleeves and gets to his feet, brushing his trousers off. his knees have been on a lot of dirty floors, but this is a bit much. ]

Here. [ he swings his blazer over her shoulders to hide her torn sleeve. ] Consultant? Who's paying you, the Catholic church?

[ Thank fuck. That was more or less going to be her suggested plan, although she was thinking maybe cocaine. ]

Start-ups, club owners, political committees. [ She shrugs, tucking the demon bottle under her arm again. ] Anyone who's got the money and a problem that needs a bit of magic to solve.

I swear, though, I had no idea there was a demon on board when you invited me. I'd like to know who did.

[ don't worry, he has easy access to that, too. just in case. ]

So you actually just wanted to get on a yacht with me. [ it's not exactly a hardship to be here, after all. embry is well aware he lives an extremely privileged life, despite his reckless and self-sabotaging behavior that he'd rather not think about. ] This place is full of Washington goons. I'd be surprised if there aren't more demons.

[ a beat. ]

I'm not drunk enough for this. [ he holds out his hand. ] Can we please get out of the closet? Don't say what you're thinking.

Yeah, mate, I wanted to go on a yacht and get pissed and tell a journalist I think you should abolish guns. I was excited about it.

[ She really was!

She takes his hand. ] You're ahead of me. Want to act like we've been hooking up or leave well enough alone?

There's still time for that.

[ her hand is warm in his, maybe from the wriggling black mess in the bottle, but he squeezes her fingers as he thinks, suddenly remembering what's on the other side of the door. his civic duty, among other things. ]

We can fool everyone out there. [ he shrugs, keeping his voice casual. ] Just not Ash. He'll know we're faking. Not that it matters, because he doesn't give a shit who I fuck. But he always knows if it's real or not.

Ash is a separate problem.

[ Probably she should tell the president that there was a demon on his boat, because probably the demon had something to do with him in some way. They don't just turn up around heads of state for giggles. ]

Get me to a private room without getting black-bagged by the CIA, and then we can figure out the rest.

[ maybe to her ash is a separate problem, but to embry their separation is the problem — he's the rust to ash's metal, now corrosive and unwanted, and he doesn't know where he stands or what he is when once upon a time he believed he was the only one who could give ash what he needed. what a load of shit.

that's not really their current problem, though. just embry's eternal one. their actual problem, embry assumes, has something to do with the demon and the most important person on the yacht. two things that are probably very connected.

more pressing than that is that they're still in this goddamn closet. ]

With pleasure. [ it won't look suspicious in the least for embry to lead his date to one of the private rooms toward the starboard side of the yacht. his known promiscuity comes in handy here, and no one bothers them as they sneak out of the closet and weave their way through the crowd. embry picks up a room card from an attendant and swipes them in, and soon they're safely behind closed doors, away from prying eyes — though he'd seen ash and greer both, their eyes following him and johanna, probably disappointed in his behavior per fucking usual.

he tosses the card on the table, the room small but decorated with unnecessary wealth, as things tend to be on a yacht. embry goes straight for the sampling of bottled spirits waiting on the table. ]

There's gin. [ and he can drink it straight from the bottle, which he does, loosening his tie and plopping onto the edge of the bed. ] What're you gonna do with your little friend?

[ he gestures to the wriggling mass in johanna's less desirable bottle. ]

[ Johanna puts on a pretty convincing show of "date who is wearing the VP's blazer because maybe she's a little unclothed underneath, teehee" as they wend through the party. If Ash and Greer give them any looks, she's oblivious to them.

Inside the private room, finally, her embarrassed smile falls away and she's back to professionalism. She shrugs off the blazer and tosses it onto the bed next to Embry. ]

Seal it up better. [ Exhaling, she flops down onto the floor, cross-legged, and pulls out her phone to flick through her photos. When she finds what she's looking for, she starts copying the seal onto the neck of the bottle. ] And then -- I don't know, how far out from land are we? Ah, no, shit, it wouldn't sink anyway. [ She taps the bottle sharply; the thing inside shudders. ] Too much air in there.

[ at first he thinks she's asking because she wants to vacate the yacht as soon as she possibly can — but no, she just wants to see if she can dump her friend into the sea. neither option seems wise, at least to him. he stands up to snag two glasses, because he can at least pretend to have some decency, and joins her on the floor, pouring her a drink and holding it out for her to take. ]

I have a lot of questions. [ he takes a hefty swallow, then leans back on his hands, trying to put the thought of the growling senator out of his mind. ] I just don't know if I want to ask any of them right now. Or ever. I owe you a new dress.

— OPEN POST.

— JOHANNA.

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