un_fallen | (no subject)

(no subject)

Crowley has been surprisingly charitable for most of the time spent in Raguel's new apartment - criticizing everything, of course, but only in the most general way. He pronounces it barely habitable, which Raguel takes to mean that he's done a decent job. And if the shower (and by necessity, the bathroom) has slightly larger dimensions when Crowley walks out of it than when he walked in, Raguel doesn't mention it.

It's late afternoon when they step out into the hallway and furtively climb the ladder to the roof. It's not much of a view, but the sunlight through dry air casts sharp shadows that make the grunge a little harder to see.

"You don't think anyone will notice us, with the sun still up?" Raguel asks, a little nervously.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh," Raguel says, and frowns.

"Should I ask how you know that?"

Pursing his lips, Crowley gives this a slightly disconcerting amount of thought before replying, "Probably not."

Raguel looks like he's torn between laughter and horror.

"Well. I appreciate your honesty."

"You should, you know," Crowley tells him loftily (and coincidentally changing the subject). "You're one of the privileged few who actually gets to see it, once in a while."

"I'm sure I am," he says. "Encouraging me not to roast rodents as entertainment, even - you sure you didn't hit your head?"

"Nnnno," he says slowly, "I'm pretty sure I did hit my head. What with the fairly impressive crash landing and all."

"Mmm. Impressive, yeah, I'll give you that. And if you hit it that hard, then I'm sure you won't remember me saying that it was a very gutsy trick."

"Gosh," Crowley says sarcastically. "Now I feel all... validated."

It's probably best not to mention, though, that he does look a little smug; a tiny bit flattered.

"Yeah," he says, "heady. Don't spend it all in one place."

He looks thoughtfully at the distance to the rock, with a minute shake of his head.

"I'll treasure this moment," he says, following Raguel's gaze uncomprehendingly. "I don't think I've ever been called 'gutsy' before."

"Never, really?" he asks, surprised. "Even if you didn't agree?"

"I suppose I just didn't do anything very brave during the forties," Crowley retorts.

"Hmph," he says, with feeling. "Guess not. It was a good decade for bravery." He thinks.

"Well, mostly stupidity. But there was some bravery too."

"Yes."

"For once, I'm in complete agreement with you."

He looks hard at Crowley for a moment, wondering what he's thinking of. Don't pry, his conscience reminds him, and reluctantly he relaxes.

"Well, uh. Good."

"Come on," he says. "Unless you're up to trying to match my grand feat of daring whilst there's still light," (the moon grazes the horizon), "we should head back before any desert wildlife that isn't me makes off with the marshmallows."

"Right," he sighs. He'd taken a seat on the ground at some point during this conversation, and now hauls himself reluctantly to his feet.

"You can get up okay?"

"I will manage," he says with dignity, doing so with a marvelously Stoic expression. "Fortitude being one of my strong points."

"Fortitude including getting your evil, courageous ass out of the dirt," he says, crossing his arms. He takes a couple of steps closer.

"Yes," he says, cocking an eyebrow at Raguel. "Care to contradict?"

"Not unless you need a hand getting up," he says. Crowley really does look kind of a mess. He doesn't immediately uncross his arms, though.

Faring rather better than last time, Crowley unfolds himself from the ground with only a mild cracking of vertebrae - and this at least partly from the slightly hunched position required to sit on the ground with absurdly massive wings.

"That's a start," he says encouragingly. "I don't see any pieces of you still lying around on the ground."

He wisely doesn't mention the few feathers blowing around in the light breeze.

Which doesn't mean that Crowley hasn't noticed them.

A quick glance around, and then - a small puff of flame, and then another, and then another, until all the loose feathers that Crowley can spot are no longer there to be spotted.

"No sense taking chances," Crowley says, in complete contradiction of almost everything he's done tonight.

Still - it may be illogical, but it's not quite irrational. It's not paranoia, after all, if they really are out to get you.

Ardens sed Virens.

"Mm," Raguel says vaguely. He's not quite looking at Crowley.

Without warning, behind and slightly to Crowley's right, there's an explosion. A huge column of flickering yellow flame roars up from the ground, billows outward and peaks more than fifteen feet in the air. After about three seconds it disappears, leaving only a distracting afterimage and a scorched place on the ground.

"Missed one," Raguel says sheepishly.