because the lives of the wicked should be made brief

[somanyadjectives]

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jo & ezra | mystic falls

[saveslives]

[Losing two of her residents to points unknown has caused the expecting staffing issues you would expect, but she doesn't begrudge either Elena or Ezra their exits. Elena seems actually happy and not just floating through the motions in Mystic Falls because it's where it feels safe and Ezra?

Well, Ezra has much bigger fish to fry than a career in medicine.

As a result, however, she's spending a lot more time on the floor, and needing to barricade herself in her office to manage all the paperwork. This is one of those times, and she's made a lot of good progress on her stack of case notes, resident schedules and who knows what else doctors do when she hears a knock on her door. She glances up to tell said person to go away, but when she sees who it is, she blinks in surprise.]

Oh. Uh, hi. What are you doing here?

[praevaricatio]

( He "intrudes" on Elena's dream, but it's safest for them both, and he owes her after everything. Apologies now between them, it feels sincere from both sides. His goal, now, is to fortify. If he's staying to the bitter end until he's dragged back into Hell, then he's going to make a difference. Stack the deck. Tilt the board.

He thinks better of surprising her dramatically. Though, he does think about waiting by her car - or letting himself into her office - he thinks he still has the keys - but, this is important. And he doesn't need the drama to supersede the importance. So, paranoid, he sticks to stealth (16) as he moves through his old workplace and, politely, knocks.

Closing the door behind him, he draws the blinds just in case, turning back. )

Hey, Jo. I owe you a belated apology. That's first. ( Elena and him hashed it out, but not him and his former administrator. It's been months since he's seen her in person. ) And, I'm here to set things right.

[saveslives]

[Jo watches as he moves through the room, concealing his appearance and things must be much worse than she initially thought from the reports, but she follows him through the room and frowns.]

Okay. You want to sit?

[It might be better if they're both sitting, and there is a chair in front of her desk.]

[praevaricatio]

( He sits, as she suggests, waiting for her to sit in her chair before rattling off a quick spell with the flick of his wrist. )

Obsurdo. ( Effectively deafening the sound of their voices to outsiders, both physical or magical. Letting that settle around them, he leans forward. ) I don't know if Elena's kept you up to date, but David and I mounted a coordinated attack on the elders in the Colony. We're working in tandem with the other heirs.

[saveslives]

No, I'm in the loop. Not all from Elena, but I have friends in lots of places.

[And family, for that matter.]

In fact, I hear some friends of yours got into a bit of a tussle with my sister.

[praevaricatio]

Everyone got away unscathed there.

( That was his fault, though. Naming Stiles. Affiliating him with Lydia. And putting the target on Serena and Jaqueline - and then her brother. )

That was about the first bodies.

[saveslives]

Oh, I know. Liv gave me the whole run down.

[Doesn't mean she appreciated Jaqueline kidnapping her brother.]

But I don't think that's what you came here to talk about.

[praevaricatio]

No. Not - that side of things. I was expected back before now, but I needed to do what I can to stack the deck in our favor. In your favor. Forever.

( This isn't his to give away, but there are no limits, anymore. No rules. Everything is on the table. )

The heirs' parents - their bodies - are your family's curse.

[saveslives]

[Jo stares at him for a moment, because it can't be that simple. Can it? It almost feels too neat and clean that applying this large blow could break a curse that's plagued her family for far too long, but she doesn't want to assume or deny too quickly.

Jo's emotions are becoming a problem, so maybe Ezra notices the ever-so-slight shift that indicates she may not be the only one listening.]

Explain.

[praevaricatio]

To ensure their own coven endured, another had to sacrifice something. They lived on, leaving behind their preserved body, and your coven betrayed one of your own - by merging. ( In order to do the spell. ) Two of your ancestors, twins, splintered off from the Colony, like the Knightsbridge coven, but they traveled across the ocean and settled in America, ( before it was America ) unlike the Knightsbridge coven. ( And were cursed because of it. ) Only the Gemini family line can end them - and end their own curse - because they made it.

( Their parents, the elders, wouldn't end it themselves, not when it ensured them immortality. )

[saveslives]

[Jo looks down as she processes this, eyes darting back and forth as she (and Kai) both go through the possibilities. It could be true. It's certainly a plausible story. But she can't just go on Ezra's word.]

Do you have any proof?

[praevaricatio]

In a safe in Paris. It's David's mother's grimoire. The demon possessing him swiped it and we kept it as a contingency.

( Probably a little too much information. But, he's here, hat in hand. )

You're going to need a coven. These bodies are different. Whatever the setup is. It was born of magic and it has to die of magic.

[saveslives]

[The coven portion of things she'll attend to in a second. Right now it's a matter of getting the book.]

Where in Paris and how do I or the person I send there get into the safe?

[One step at a time.]

[praevaricatio]

You need to find Harvey Specter.

( He has all the information. And he can't be the most forthcoming person in person, just in case. )

He has everything you'll need.

[saveslives]

Alright. I'll give him a call.

[Harvey Specter has the bonus of being a very prominent lawyer, so she'll find his number.]

And what will you be doing?

[praevaricatio]

I have to go back. Make like I don't know my husband's mother or father wants to take my body as their newer model. Play along in the belly of the beast. What I've been doing since I met David and accepted everything that came with loving him. More specifically. Survive. And end this once and for all.

( He just has some contingency plans in case and doesn't need any more surprises like Elena's parents or the formidable Katherine Pierce on the run. )

[saveslives]

[Jo studies him carefully for a moment, before nodding.]

Good luck, then. I hope your hand hasn't already been tipped.

[The noose is circling in a lot of ways.]

I'll give Mr. Specter a call.

[praevaricatio]

You do that. ( He stands, having said everything. ) From this moment forward, we're off the table. I wanted to give you everything I had. ( A beat. ) Well. I did learn a lot under you. I hope you know that. That was all real. And I hope I made you proud. Up until.

[saveslives]

[She takes a deep breath and leans back in her seat. Ezra is a good doctor, she can't argue that. And he was an apt pupil. But everything else, they'll have to work out on the other side of things.

So she nods, and leaves it at that.]

Good luck, Ezra. Maybe if you make it out the other side of this, we can sort the rest out.

[praevaricatio]

Maybe.

( He snaps his fingers and the atmosphere shifts. )

Have a good rest of your shift, Dr. Laughlin.

[saveslives]

[She nods and lets him go, but waits until he's gone before leaning back at her desk with a heavy sigh. It's going to be a lot of logistics to handle, for better or worse. She clears her calendar for the afternoon and prepares to dig in, making herself a list.

No matter what, all of it needs to start with Harvey Specter. So after looking up his number, she dials the phone and leans back in her seat, hoping she doesn't have to go through too many hoops with his secretary.]

Hello, my name is Josette Laughlin Parker. I need to speak to Harvey Specter.

[rehire]

( The name Laughlin lands the hardest when Donna raps on his door to say he has someone on the line. She overhears his secretary and beats her to buzzing him. It's more important, a, than a buzz - time sensitive, but, also, he doesn't need her name floating around the office.

Donna fills in her blanks. He tells her to come inside and listen in. After she lets the glass door shut and joins him, Harvey. )

Josette Laughlin Parker, this is Harvey Specter and our Chief Operating Officer, Donna Paulson.

[saveslives]

Mr. Specter. I just had a conversation with Ezra Adin-Gainor. He suggested that I talk to you about a book we may need for a particular ... project we happen to be working on?

[She's not sure how safe it is to communicate on this line. But she figures given who she mentioned, she might have dropped enough clues that he'll know what she means.]

[thefaxwhisperer]

[Sometime after Harvey's phone call with Jo, Ezra makes an appearance in the lobby of Pearson Specter Litt. Donna is quick to move and intercept him, tucking her arm in his as she pulls him back towards the quieter areas of the office.]

You travel fast. Josette Parker said she just saw you.

[praevaricatio]

( She works fast. )

You know my husband.

( He has his own tricks up his sleeve, holding a key he uses for emergencies. )

Works once every lunar cycle.