i_assist In Which Max Meets Crowley [Max, Crowley, and later Jesse]
Max dashed out of school on Tuesday afternoon. The sling was off, so now she really could dash, and without falling. She ran out of the school gates and onto the streets, even though she knew she still technically wasn't supposed to be walking over by herself. It was only a few blocks away anyway. She wasn't completely helpless.
She made it safely across the first intersection and set off down the sidewalk humming happily to herself. Maybe it wasn't a good thing, but she enjoyed it immensely when the people at the manor just weren't around. She hadn't been at the manor much at all lately, choosing to spend most of her time at Jesse's when she could.
Max stopped at the next intersection, bouncing on her heels and eyes focused on the apartment complex two blocks ahead.
A sleek, black, 1926 Bentley turned the corner in front of her, doing something like 60[1] around the corner. It stopped at the apartment complex Max was in front of now, and a tall, dark haired man[2] wearing dark sunglasses stepped out and stretched. He patted the car with affection, and took out a set of keys, when a flash of pink caught his attention and he looked up at the girl.
"You know, that color suits you much too well to be natural."
---------- [1] something like 60. He was actually going well past 60, but everyone else was being carefully arranged so it only appeared to be 60. [2] man-shaped being, anyway
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/21/2006 19:17:59
One couldn't blame Max for being suspicious of men who immediately complimented her hair. Not after the experience with Jack.
She looked over at the man and his car. There was always the chance he lived here though, and it wouldn't do to insult the neighbors. Still, it didn't hurt to be cautious.
"Thanks," she said, turning around briefly. Her hair flipped over her shoulder with the motion. "It's not. ...Natural, that is."
Crowley had to take a small measure of pride when people began to alter their appearance to suit themselves. Pride was one of the Seven, right[3]?
He had an eye for people[4], and something about this one was striking a chord with him.
"Hey," he said. "You Jesse's girl?"
-------- [3]There had been Eight originally, but 'being an utter annoyance' hadn't translated well into Latin and had been dropped from the list. [4] The other was used almost exclusively for supernatural beings and speeding detectors. Crowley enjoyed combusting the dratted things.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/21/2006 19:49:24
"Huh?" Max asked, surprised. She didn't recognise the guy at all... maybe he was one of Jesse's friends? Not that Jesse had really mentioned any friends he'd made here, none besides her.
She supposed he had to know some others though, he had to get out at some point. "Yeah, I am. I'm Maxine, well, Max. You one of Jesse's friends?"
Crowley nodded, a cigarette lighting on his lips with a turn of his head. "You might say that. I made his acquaintence not too long ago. Set him up with a good place to stay."
The demon smirked. "Guess you're headed over that way? I should stop by and see what he's done with the place."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/21/2006 20:57:20
"Oh, you gave him the apartment?" Max asked, a small smile coming to her face. She'd been curious. "It's amazing. I'm going over there now, yeah. I usually do after school."
The light at the corner turned green and Max glanced over at the man. "Guess you could come with. I'm walking though." No way was she getting in a car with a man she didn't know, whether he knew Jesse or not.
He looked at her, then at the Bentley. "You have no appreciation for fine automobiles, and absolutely no respect for the pure enjoyment that is sloth."
Crowley held out an arm, in pure gentlemanly fashion. "If I may?"
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/21/2006 21:33:21
"No, I just don't get into cars with strange men," She said simply, smirking at him.
When he offered his arm Max raised an eyebrow and shifted her backpack before approaching him slowly. "You and Jesse, the epitome of gentlemanliness," she said, taking his arm.
"So, you got a name? I can't really 'member Jesse mentioning it."
"That's not just a car, my dear girl," he said, a light Britich accent touching on the words and making them into something slighty more disapproving of her choice of words. "That is a 1926 Bentley."
With a snap of his fingers that was more for theatrics than effect, the world blurred, and then reformed around them in the shape of the hallway outside Jesse's door.
"Crowley. The name is Crowley."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/21/2006 21:52:39
"I don't even know what a Bentley--" Her sentence was cut off prematurely when suddenly the man snapped his fingers and Max found her word going slightly off-kilter.
When everything blurred and buildings disappeared she began to panic. Obviously she should not have even touched this man. Stupid idea, Max, she thought to herself, stupid, stupid, stu--
Oh. She blinked once, and then again after he'd introduced himself. "Meta-human?" Max blurted out, looking around and slightly amazed that somehow they'd gotten from the street corner to the corridor outside of Jesse's place. "That was... weird."
Not the weirdest thing she'd seen, but definitely out there, and she hated being taken by surprise like that.
"You might say that," he said, a touch of a smile on his lips. Then he arched a brow behind the shades and looked at her. "You're not very trusting of people, are you?"
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/21/2006 21:59:24
Max frowned and slid her backpack off of her shoulder so that she could go for her keys.
"Bad experiences," she said flatly as she dug through her bag. She made a face and then finally grabbed at the small keychain and pulled it out triumphantly. "I don't like being surprised, let me put it that way."
Crowley frowned. Who didn't like surprises? He loved surprises. Had for the last few centuries, ever since the Arrangement and he could confidently believe that the angel wasn't going to inconveniently discorporate him anymore[5].
But, he was a gentleman. Pretending to be one, at least. Crowley slid his hands into his pockets and waited for her to find the keys, rather than opening the door himself. She probably would have just gotten more nervous.
----------- [5] If any of his superiors decided to surprise him, Crowley would be much too busy wishing he was already discorporated to appreciate the surprise.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/23/2006 12:22:15
She slid the key into the lock and turned it easily, pushing open the door and letting them both in.
"Jesse?" When her yell went unanswered she frowned and then shrugged, turning back to look at Crowley. Max dropped her bag in it's normal spot by the side of the door. "I don't think he's-- oh, hey Kojak." Well, someone had heard her call. The dog came scampering out of the kitchen and jumped up, paws on Max's waist.
"Yeah, uh, I don't think Jesse's here," Max said, petting Kojak absently on the head. "Did you want to wait... leave a message?"
Ah, shit. Crowley remembered about the dog too late.
Kojak was sniffing the air. For a moment, it was as though he didn't immediately register the person standing at the doorway. His eyes went down first, and then traveled up towards the man's face, as the hackles on his back and neck rose. A growl issued from his throat.
Crowley put up a hand. Blast and bugger. The mutt was just a hair too smart for his tricks. And he didn't really want to resort to tweaking the beast's will. It was Jesse's dog, after all, and Crowley had liked Jesse.
"Hey," he said instead. "Calm down. I'm just here to visit."
Kojak didn't believe him. He drew back his lips to show the snake-man how big and white and sharp his teeth were.
"Well," said Crowley. "I don't think he likes me."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/23/2006 12:48:37
Well, that wasn't good. Kojak was usually such a well behaved dog. He'd even liked Ace, and Ace, despite his cheery disposition, was a trained fighter.
Frowning, she bent over and grabbed at Kojak's pink collar, pulling him back from Crowley. The growling didn't stop, and his teeth were still bared. "I'm thinking your right." An eyebrow arched. This wasn't exactly normal behavior for Kojak.
"Y'know, Kojak likes everyone," she said, looking at Crowley. Her hand stayed firmly on the dog's collar and she muttered soothing tones to him as she was used to doing with Ace. She pushed down on his back gently with one hand, urging him to sit down. "You, uh... come in here with a cat one day or something?"
Crowley shook his head. "Nope. I just get this kind of reaction a lot."
Something about the underlying scent of scales. People couldn't tell that his first couple of centuries on the planet had been in a much more serpentine form. But it was still a major issue with the animals. They didn't like it when something looked one way and smelled another.
He kneeled down to sit eye-level with Kojak. "Look," he explained to the dog, even going as far as to take off his sunglasses.
Kojak whimpered and sat down at the sight of his eyes.
Then the demon explained to the dog, using a silent form of communication more primitive and complex than anything that had existed since Eden and that humans had been denied understanding of since that time, that he was not here to harm anyone, that he was not going to interfere with the place, and he was most certainly not going to chew on any of Kojak's toys. And granted that if he did any of those things, it was understood that Kojak had the physical ability to tear his throat out.[6]
Whether or not he'd get the chance was another matter entirely. And not one for today.
Kojak relaxed after the 'talk', though he still seemed wary of the man. Crowley put his sunglasses back on and looked up at Max. "We worked it out."
--------- [6]In a very rough human context, the conversation went something like this: -Look. I'm not going to hurt The Man, and I'm not going to hurt The Man's Female. -You'll leave a Bad smell here! Bad Things will come! -No, I won't. I'm the only Bad Thing here so far, and I like The Man. I don't want Bad Things to find him. -. . . you won't touch my ball? -No. -Or my bowl? -No. -What about The Man's precious things? -Only if he gives them to me. -He won't. -Fine. -...I can make the snake inside you come out. (Kojak bared his teeth again) -Understood. If I break my promise, you can. -I will.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/23/2006 13:22:16
"Meta-human." Max said immediately after he'd stood up. She was half glaring at him now, arms crossed across her chest. It wasn't that she didn't like meta-humans, but, well... they usually turned out to be people like Inque. And the Royal Flush Gang.
Bad news in other words. There'd been some good ones sure, you couldn't hate the whole bunch, but Max hadn't had great experiences with them. And so soon after meeting Jack, who she was pretty sure was not your average human, Max wasn't so trusting of those of the non-human sect.
She looked back down at Kojak, who was calm now, but not by any natural means, she was sure of that. Crowley had done something to him. And she'd been watching. It was in the eyes, Max eyed the the way he slipped his sunglasses back onto his face before turning to her again.
"Get dropped in a vat of radio active waste? Maybe you got electrocuted at a power plant?" She asked, eying him suspiciously. "Down too many toxic fumes? What'd it do to your eyes? And then there was that shimmery thing you pulled to get us up here."
"Nothing so crude, my dear," he said, getting to his feet. "My eyes... the result of exposure to a celestial brilliance, back in my youth." He tilted his head to give the impression of gazing towards the heavens. "It tends to be somewhat upsetting to people."
He brushed off the trim, expensive suit he was wearing. "I'm not a meta-human, Maxine. So you can stop worrying about that. I simply have abilities beyond the realm of what even you might consider normal."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/23/2006 13:54:44
That really wasn't as soothing as he might have meant it to be. He wasn't a meta-human, that was all well and good, but that meant that she now had to use her imagination to try and figure out what he actually was.
Her imagination wasn't coming up with anything good. Especially after the word 'celestial' was mentioned. That generally had something to do with godly things.
Max didn't really like the thought of being in the presense of some sort god-like thing alone. Unless it was Jesse. "What are you, then?"
He hadn't exactly meant it to be soothing. Crowley wasn't one to make things easy on folk. It was in his job description.
But he didn't think she was being fair. Sure, she was suspicious. Maybe she even had a right to be. But so far he'd done nothing deserving of it. Maybe he'd shown off a bit, but that wasn't a crime. "I'm the person who gave Jesse this apartment," he said, by way of a reminder. "For free. With no conditions, no favors, no reimbursement. He needed a place to stay, and I didn't think a hotel was a suitable residence for a person like him."
He crossed his arms and settled his still-shielded eyes on her expression. "Do you still need to know more?"
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/23/2006 14:50:39
Max opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again angrily. She didn't like the corner he'd backed her into, with the unspoken threat that he'd given him this apartment and he could probably take it just as easily.
"I don't like not knowing stuff, either," she muttered, and glared at him.
With a huff of a sigh she looked back down at Kojak. He'd calmed, but Max still hated to see him all bothered like that. He was a smart dog, and like Ace, she knew to trust him. Her guard didn't go completely down. "How'd you meet Jesse?"
Now, now. Crowley might have been a demon, but he was most certainly a demon of his word. There was no intent to take anything back. The flat belonged to Jesse. That was that. He didn't appreciate her line of thinking.
Bloody humans. So distrusting. So suspicious. Normally, it made his job easier. But it was he-- major trouble for any attempt at a social life.
He missed that damned angel. Though he was still a bit loathe to admit it.
"I was looking for a bookshop. He was looking for a pet store. We ended up in the same place, but it wasn't the right one for either of us."
Jaw set, he looked back at her. "What. Do you want. To know. Just spell it out. But I'll warn you, I'm going to tell the truth."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/23/2006 15:12:28
"I already told you what I want to know. What are you if you're not a meta-human?" She asked again. Her glare softened slightly now that she was going to get information out of him.
Max scratched Kojak underneath his chin. "'Cause, sorry... but like I said before? Bad experiences. Truth's better than nothing."
Crowley let out a sigh. "The first piece of terra firma I ever slithered into was a place called Eden. I was told to go and make trouble." He shrugged. "So I did. Talked a nice looking girl into eating a piece of fruit. Turns out that wasn't a nice thing to do. But hey, I got a commendation for it. And I got to stay. Of course, Eden was closed off after that, no one's been inside since. But the rest of the world was new and fresh."
He took off the sunglasses and looked her in the eyes. "Before that, I lived in Hell. And before that, all that existed was the Silver City. And us."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/23/2006 15:33:10
"Oh. Oh... Jesse would know someone like you." Max shook her head in slight disbelief. Jesse was bonded with some sort of angel halfbreed thing, it was only logical that he'd know the serpent from Eden.
Right. Now she just had to keep telling herself that.
"You. You were in Eden? You were that snake." She wasn't really up on Biblical stories, never being very religious, but she knew this story. "So you're... a... what are you? The Devil?"
Crowley laughed. "No, no, no. Just Hell's main field agent."
He slipped the glasses back on. "So, we're clear now?"
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/23/2006 16:38:15
It was kind of easier to look directly at him with the glasses back in place. He seemed more human that way, at least.
"Yeah, we're clear," she said, though, there were still plenty of questions she could have thought to ask.
What was she supposed to do now?
"Um... do you want something to... drink?" Obviously the perfect next step. Right.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 03/23/2006 16:50:56
Jesse wandered back up to the condo from his walk. He hadn't taken Kojak, again, because he'd been trying to find the pet store. Again. One of these days he was going to figure out that the best way to find anything in the City was to have with you the thing that you were looking for things for. Like the dog. The dog had found the pet store the first time, surely he'd find it again.
He hadn't really expected Max to show up while he was gone, and he certainly wasn't expecting any other visitors to be there with her. So when he got up to his unit and heard voices inside, he frowned.
It was only slightly irritating.
But as soon as the door opened, and he'd have to talk to Max about that whole locking thing, he spied Crowley and her talking. He smiled.
He hadn't seen Crowley since he'd gotten the condo, and he'd been wanting to thank the man again.
It's not a good thing that he's here, you know. I hate that he's here.
"And he's quite amused by you, which I'm sure does nothing for your mood." Jesse muttered in return.
He stood behind Max and rested his hands on her shoulders while giving Crowley a big grin.
Crowley was amused by Genesis, and by the choice in host the entity had bonded itself to.
"Hello, Jesse, Gennie." Any excuse to crack a joke at the entity's expense. It was absolutely delightful.
"I was just educating the lovely Maxine in the ways of the world beyond the visual scope. I think we've reached an understanding." He tilted his head towards her, raising an eyebrow over the shades. "Yes?"
From: [info]i_assist Date: 03/25/2006 10:22:31
"Yeah," she said, maybe just a little grudgingly. It was obviously not the time for a question and answer session. Still, even without it, Babs was going to love this.
"He followed me home, I swear," Max joked, finally turning to look at Jesse. She smiled. "Actually, I kinda said he could come with me when he said he'd given you the place. Thought you were gonna be home."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 03/28/2006 14:07:10
"It's okay, Max. He's fine." Jesse smiled.
He passed by them both and knelt in front of Kojak. "No new toys today, boy. Can't find the blasted pet shop."
The dog licked his nose in a manner that seemed to be forgiving and Jesse stood again.
Genesis had gone death quiet upstairs. Jesse was glad for the brief break.