( inbox. ) deer country.

[oldhound]

spoiler warning: John Constantine has never been the bigger person in his life. Ever.

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[opress]

Learning means changing tactics, and my brother has a vast range of tactical warfare experiences. [And Savage usually had no problem with that. It had kept them alive for the most part, and he could live by his namesake in warzones. The strong survived and all that.] I don't think you know him well enough to claim what he deserves.

[Willow had been helpful and nice to him when no one else would thanks to his association with his brother. She seemed to take his loyalty to Maul in stride, and he had been completely candid about his loyalties.]

She needs to fight. Being constantly saved does her no favours. [He had saved her from a possible death at least twice.]

[oldhound]

No one is helping anyone by considering this a war unless the war is one against himself. At the end of the day, he's got to contend with his own demons and decide if he wants to do better or risk dragging everyone he cares about down with him. [ A derisive scoff escapes him and he resists rolling his eyes. Only barely. ] We're a lot more alike than I generally enjoy admitting. I know a lot about ruining lives.

[ That's how Willow is. Generally speaking, it's how John is until he's pushed. He likes to help people or he wouldn't do the things he does. He already told Savage he understood where the loyalty came from. But loyalty to someone who continually puts one in harm's way is no way to live. ]

She does plenty of her own fighting, so don't talk like you know what she's been through cause I do. I know the world she comes from and she shouldn't have to contend with it. Saving people doesn't mean they can't fight or are too weak to save themselves. We all need help sometimes. It's not weakness. It's just life.

[opress]

We are a warrior species, so everything can be eventually settled with a fight. Though we tend to put ideas of revenge aside more often than not. [Their lives were harsh enough on a normal day-to-day that petty conflicts between the Brothers were often put to rest. Maul did have a far more significant thirst for revenge than usual.] Isn't it your job to ruin lives where you're from?

[Savage was used to living a life where he was one step from harm, and it was so usual to him that loyalty to a person who did so had little affect on him. He loved his brother, and he would stand with his brother even if there was another killing spree. If anything, he'd want to help to prove himself. Would he come into conflict meeting up against those who had chosen to interact with him in a weirdly nice way? He had no idea.]

I've saved her life on numerous occasions. That my experience with her, and that's what I'm basing the assessment on. [He had heard a little about her life, but she seemed secretive about it, like she was ashamed. He knew she was a powerful witch, but her magic was taken from her here. It's why he protected her when he did. She was nice to him, even oddly encouraging, so he repaid that with his strengths.]

[oldhound]

Just cause it can be doesn't mean it should be or has to be. [ Constantine isn't so foolish as to hope that there's the potential for them putting aside their differences here. At least not between himself and Maul. He snorts indelicately: ] It's my job back home to deal with monsters in whatever form they come in. The rest depends on the day.

[ Where John was used to living a life where those in power make sure to step on the little guy. To keep them cowed and under heel. Stop them mouthing off and in line. Crushed. Beaten. He's never taken well to that kind of thing, ask Thomas Constantine why. ]

So have I. Look at us with something in common. [ They've been working on the magic together but it's difficult. Magic in Deerington, suddenly bereft of it here, including blood magic. He's not sure if it's genuinely been taken from her or if it's some kind of mental block. ] You seem to have found a friend in her.

It means you've likely found some others. You willing to lose that because your brother doesn't give a toss about your feelings? Cause that's likely what it'll come down to one way or another.

[opress]

But that's the way it is. [He wasn't against peace talks, and he had solved many disputes in his village with words. Sometimes a quick punch, kick or elbow would lead to the quickest resolution rather than platitudes.] Where I'm from, I was called a monster on many occasions. What definition of monster do you have?

[John did come across as a protector of sorts, so it made sense that the human had taken the opportunity to do just that. The guy did seem to refuse to take crap from anyone, which earned his respect on some level. He was from a culture were weakness was frowned upon.

He frowned at the word 'friend', shaking his head.] I don't have friends. Humans seem to form loose bonds they call friendship easily, but that's not the Nightbrother way.

[He was gradually warming to the notion of friends, but it was still something he considered strange. It wasn't as if he had previously made the kind of bonds with humans this close before. He was still figuring it out. There were plenty of mental and emotional scars of his upbringing that restricted admittance to something of more than a partial alliance, even if what he had with Willow would be considered friendship by everyone else.]

For my brother, I'm willing to give everything. Everyone may turn away from him, but that will never be me. I am his blood. [He swore he'd protect his brother, and yes, part of that was the spell that had been cast on him and still remained in tangible ways to his thinking, but Maul had always been someone he would give his all for.]