May 10, 1976

by A. C. Chapin

It's the sort of party that regular people (and there are, by oversight, a few of those present) wake up after and pray that no one ever mentions again. A John Constantine birthday, so of course there's at least one demon present. At twenty-three you've got to stop telling yourself that you're still a kid, and start counting the howling shadows on the horizon-- this is a couple years before Newcastle, but all the signs are there.

One of those nights.

An hour and a half in and there's already a rotation set up for getting rid of interested blue parties. There's a hard bird called Ace who's got four of them piled up like firewood behind the couch -- she takes them out with one hand. Ethan Rayne, of course, just smiles and convinces them there's nothing at the party more illegal than high tea.

"Yeah," Ace supplies at one point, "these are not the droids you're looking for." It's a couple years too early for anyone but her to get that one, but half the cast is far enough out of its face that they laugh along with her.

Plasticine does mostly instrumentals in their own peculiar cockroach-sterilizing style. Skinny lead singer Bernice, looking a little uncertain in her pinned-together black and purple ensemble, has been discovered by Ethan Rayne, who exerts the kind of fascination over her that people who find life easy always have on people who complicate things for themselves. Ethan splits his attention between charming the older woman and some kind of interior mantra; eyes that know how to look see a halo of power throbbing around him.

Danny Pain has already turned down all the motherly types in the room. He stands swaying by his amp, cheerfully snarls into his shoulder and molests his guitar.

Kit Chapin tries to play and chat up Diedre Page at the same time, not particularly successful with either. Typical Kit. This time, he's lucky -- in six hours, Dee and the rest of the coven are going to be completely failing to banish a demon called Eyghon from Randall. Fire, blood, screaming. Not Kit's scene at all.

Philip's the one designated to herd Randall at the party, keep him from doing anything that can't be blamed on the alcohol and recreational drugs available in the room. Philip gets distracted talking to a guy called Ian from one of his classes at the university, and who can say whether that has anything to do with what happens later.

Bernice's friend -- supposedly sister -- Ace, meantime, is in Ripper's lap, both of them well satisfied with the arrangement, although they both realize she has him thoroughly outgunned. They're singing. Each of them has twice the musical sense of all of Plasticine put together.

"Happy birthday, John-Constantine-you-bloody-wanker. Happy Birthday to you."

The birthday boy is fine, thank you. Drinking his cake.

"May 10, 1976" copyright 1999 by A. C. Chapin acchapin@virginia.edu
The characters herein belong to Vertigo Comics, the BBC and Paul Cornell, Finegun/Pinchuk, and Joss Whedon. No infringement intended.

Yes, Kit of Plasticine is really named 'Anthony Christopher Chapin.' Isn't Paul a nice man?
Yes, John Constantine really turned 23 on the day I was born. I turned 23 the day I wrote this.