sauntereddownward | (no subject)

(no subject)

Crowley had been busy. He'd had a rather dastardly idea and with a bit of proper nudging of 'influencers' (whatever those were) and a quick trip to Reddit, he had a new viral sensation. It was sort of like the ice bucket challenge, except it didn't benefit any charities and instead involved putting hot sauce up the nose. It worried parents, caused a bit of harmless mayhem, and most of all...it tarnished the souls of all those who laughed at idiots' misfortunes.

Sure, it wasn't tempting a priest, but it was a laugh.

He sat in the autumn sun outside an interesting little tea shop. He had a steaming cup of a lapsang suchong blend that made the air smell like a campfire. A subtle scent under the cigarette smoke. Crowley was watching his mobile and chuckling along as another bloody idiot put hot sauce on a cotton tip and stuffed it up his nose and began to wail.

"People will do anything to be famous," he said to himself.

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"So it's just lust?" the pushed.

This was far less pleasant then having his fingers sucked on. He decided that right there.

"I don't think so. Lust is boring. Aziraphale feels like...coming home. I'm not sure that makes any sense to you. His Grace is intoxicating. And his eyes are, well, rather nice. And he has the most beautiful white wings..."

Fin raised a brow.

"Right, so you adore him, but it's not love and you're not trying to hit that. Right, totally believe you, man."

Crowley was shocked and it showed. There was no possible way what he felt was love. He was certain of it. Almost. Kind of.

"Oh...shut up," he finally said.

"I'd say make me, but you're not really equipped for that," the fae said with a cheeky smirk. "You want another drink then?" he asked, since he was certain this wasn't really going anywhere. "Maybe we could eat something?"

Which just meant Fin would order in and then artfully avoid actually eating.

"Another drink is a very good idea," he agreed. "Not much on eating, though. Don't need to. Don't need to drink, either, but that I do enjoy."

"Yeah, same, I guess," Fin laughed, heading out and returning a moment later with the bottle. He didn't bother with glasses this time, taking a swig and then passing it over.

This was good. Crowley could intimidate the bottle into staying full and hopefully Fin would be none the wiser, the same way Greg had been unaware.

He drank deep and the liquor didn't seem to drop though he had a few healthy swallows.

"Do I get to grill you on your love life now?" he asked.

"Sure. Ask whatever you want," Fin laughed, taking the bottle back and drinking deep again.

Edited 2019-09-26 03:04 (UTC)

"Who do you love?" he asked boldly.

"Lots of people," Fin said honestly. "There's Hex, who is... He's too good for me, honestly. So kind and handsome, so full of good. Then Eliot, who's clever and full of charm. Greg... Who's kind of a mess too in his own way, but so clever and magnetic. I dunno, I could list people all day, probably."

Crowley watched him closely, amber eyes piercing right through him.

"You love them," he said. "What about yourself?"

"Not much left to love," the fae laughed dryly, taking the bottle again and drinking deeper. Fuck, where was his damn bracelet? He was never going to get drunk without it.

"Obviously," Crowley replied dryly. "If you loved yourself I doubt you'd have invited a stranger home to 'party'. But, if not love, do you have no sense of self preservation?"

"You're hardly the big bad wolf," Fin said, rolling his eyes and passing the bottle back.

"You didn't know that at the time," he pointed out. "I could have been a wholly human kind of evil. The kind that fucks you, kills you, and takes all your valuables."

"Hardly a loss to London. I'm sure they'd have made a really trashy mini series all about it before forgetting all about me," Fin replied.

"That's awfully depressing," he replied flatly. "Do you truly think so lowly of yourself?"

"No reason to think any higher," Fin shrugged.

Crowley snorted.

"The paragon of animals," he said. "You've got imagination, dear boy. You can imagine great things. Wonderful things. Humans are truly remarkable. You've no idea what power you truly have."

"Yeah, well, I'm not human, remember? My power is- Well, there's nothing good about it," Fin shrugged.

"Nothing? Not one single thing? I don't believe it," he declared. "I don't believe you one bit."

"Why do you care? I'm just an idiot who brought home a stranger, remember? ...Why did you come anyway? What is it you want?" the fae asked.

"I thought it might be a laugh," Crowley shrugged. "Never say no to a good tempting, you know? Never know where you might wind up."

In his experience this had always been a resoundingly bad idea. Things were never nearly as fun as he'd hoped, and sometimes things turned out quite bad. But he had hope and so, because of that, he continued along his path of...well, not destruction, exactly...

"You're not laughing," Fin replied, moving closer.