neutral_omens | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Time: October 20, 2000
Place: The Stairs
Status: Public (Complete)
Summary: Maybe stopping to take those pills wasn't such a good idea after all...

Loki was feeling dizzy and weak. In fact he hadn't felt like getting out of bed at all this morning, but then he'd been spending too much time in bed lately and maybe a cold shower was just what he needed to get the blood circulating and give him some energy.

It hadn't worked, though, so he'd decided that he needed something to do. Maybe a few more books would help and walking up the stairs to the library would provide some much needed exercise.

That had been the theory anyway. After only a few steps however he had to stop to catch his breath. His knees felt weak and wobbly and he was considering sitting down for a while when suddenly he heard steps from above. He looked up and saw the very person he'd been trying to avoid most.

He forced himself to stand up straight and pretend that everything was fine. "John."

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Gabriel nearly intervened, having little patience for such threats; if the other immortal was petulant enough not to cooperate in his own treatment, the archangel hadn't much reason to force it on him. However, there was a void quality to Constantine's voice as he addressed the illness that gave even Gabriel pause: a tone empty of all but the harshest of truths.

And he knew it was true, having witnessed the worst of Constantine's suffering himself. He didn't know if the man wondered why the angel would bother healing a pagan deity when he'd denied a mortal help all those years ago; but he felt the strain of guilt even when Constantine never spared a glance in his direction.

So Gabriel was quiet as Constantine spoke, arms crossed before him, eyes downcast, almost as though he stood in prayer. If the god could sense one fraction of the painful honesty in that voice that the angel could, he knew it would be intervention enough.

Loki suppressed a shudder at John's description, but he wouldn't admit that he was scared. Norse gods did not get scared of death or pain.

"There's nothing you or anyone can do about it, John. Nothing will work."

Why did it have to be John that witnessed his collapse? He hadn't meant to bother the human with this. He wanted Uriel here and Odin. Or maybe not them either. It might not be good for Bran to worry Uriel and Odin would be disgusted by his weakness. No, complete strangers like Anathema and Gabriel were the best thig in this situation.

"In other words," Anathema replied, "You're just giving up? I barely know you but it seems...out of character for you to do so."

She took a deep breath. "I've never watched anyone die from cancer before but I don't want to start now. So take your medicine."

She didn't bother adding on a please. She didn't think it would do any good in this situation.

"You do realise that this is not going to make any difference," Loki said, but did take the pill out of her hand. "Can I at least get some water to go with it?"

Swallowing the pill was going to make him feel sick either way, but without the water he wasn't even sure it'd stay down and he did not want to have to swallow another right away.

Thinking it a miracle that Loki had even taken the pill in the first place she raced off to get the glass of water asked for. Coming back, she handed it to him. "Here."

Despite the fact that he swallowed the pill with water Loki's stomach still clenched painfully and he had to fight against throwing up for a moment. Damn this had been a lot easier a few months ago. Maybe he should have asked for some food first.

Hie curled up un his side miserably. "Happy?"

"Yes, thanks Loki." She went back to her desk then, leavign the other tow in the room to say whatever they wanted to. She was still on duty after all and Loki was in the room with Gabriel. She couldn't see anythign bad happening right that second.

She was just happy she didn't have to force Loki to take his pills.

John waited until Loki had complied, and then said with just a ghost of the cocky Constantine smirk, "We'll see about that...." Leaning down near Loki again, he touched the god's shoulder and stage-whispered conspiratorially, "Listen, if you wind up puking, try to do it on the Snob's shoes, eh?

"Anyway, I'll be back later, I got some shit to look up."

He walked out with a perfunctory nod to Gabriel.

About ten seconds later, he stuck his head back in the door, looking slightly sheepish. "Er. Anybody know offhand how you spell 'Czernobog'?"

"Try looking under slavic gods," Loki suggested. He wasn't too good at spelling other gods' names, or his own for that matter. It wasn't his fault, though. It was those stupid humans always changing the spelling around. And occasionally the alphabet, too. "Should have stuck to runes."

Not that Loki had ever learned to read those.

"Yeah, all right," John said, subdued, and withdrew. He'd been hoping to at least draw a smile out of Loki now that he seemed to have decided he didn't hate the god after all. And where the fuck had that come from? He hated cancer, sure, that much was true, but it didn't change what Loki had done or the fact that his very nature made it likely he'd go right on pulling the same kind of shit if he survived.

Going soft, Constantine, he told himself with a sigh for the umpteenth time in the past year, and lit a cigarette as he headed for a phone. The Manor library wouldn't have what he was looking for, and he was fairly sure it wasn't in his personal collection, either. Time to put out some inquiries...

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