un_fallen | (no subject)

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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.

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"I begin to see why blackmail presents such an attractive option to people," he grumbles, stomping around and picking up the debris from their mini-campsite. There's not a lot to get; he starts by putting the leftover takeout boxes into the bag they came in.

"Hangover food," he says by way of explanation.

"Speak for yourself," Crowley snorts, occupying himself with the eradication of the loose down (making, it should be noted, no comment whatsoever on the state of Raguel's grooming). "I've no intention of being hungover."

Well, that, and he's likely to have burned off any remaining alcohol before sleeping. Details.

"Hey, you suggested cold takeout as an option," he reminds him, smile returning by degrees.

"Is the flask empty, by the way?"

"No," he says, before bothering to check; doing so answers with a satisfying sloshing sound from the bottom of the flask.

(The power of positive thinking.)

He tosses it over.

Raguel brightens and catches it, then takes a drink.

"Good stuff," he concludes, screwing the top back on. "Came from the bar, so. There's more in there if you want it," he adds, tossing it back.

If nothing else, it's quite warming.

For which Crowley has been more than grateful since they cracked it open - though the faint flush to his cheeks is more likely due to the firelight. Probably. In any case, it doesn't perceptibly increase as he takes an appreciative swallow of his own, before stowing the flask back in his capacious pocket.

(It ruins the line of his coat, but Crowley doesn't imagine that Raguel would be much impressed by a stylish silhouette in any case.)

He is very likely correct about that. Raguel's sporting a flush as well, but he would put it down to exertion on a chilly evening. It might even be correct.

"I guess the marshmallows have to go back in the bag," he says sadly, eyeing the leftovers.

"If I say you can keep them, am I going to see L.A. on fire again in the news because you tried to roast them in the middle of your kitchen floor?"

"It'll probably be on fire again. Or somewhere around there," he says honestly.

"I'll try to make sure there's supervision, how's that? It's no fun to roast them alone, anyway."

"Raguel," says Crowley, sounding amazed, "that sounded almost like innuendo. But then, considering your tawdry past, maybe I shouldn't be surprised."

"It wasn't tawdry!" he insists again, pushing the marshmallows hastily into his bag. It's got some strange bulges, but it's not like anyone below them will see it.

"Innuendo," he repeats with a low snort, swinging the bag onto his shoulder. "She'd have liked you."

"I am... comforted by that, in some bizarre way," Crowley mutters, scuffing around the fire to make sure they haven't left anything. "Though I'm not sure if you should be."

"Ahead of her time, no doubt." Raguel glances down to see a tiny pile of ashes sitting serenely on top of the dust, and scatters them with his foot.

"And as for comfort with that, well. I didn't mind any of it at the time."

"Well, you didn't know me back then," Crowley retorts, with a lopsided grin. "Which was for the best, really."

He waves his hand in a gentle, almost absent-minded gesture, and slowly the fire in the bush begins to dim.

"But now that you do, I'm sure you'll agree that - charming as I am - the serpent who tempted Eve is probably not the person you want taking tea and biscuits with your wife."

"Were you very different?" he asks. He's not quite sure if he wants to know the answer, but the question is out before he's thought it through.

"She could look after herself. But I guess I see your point."

"Different?" he echoes.

"I suppose it depends on how you define 'different'. I had a much lighter workload, for one thing."

The fire dwindles further, the diffused, greyish light of the stars gradually replacing its orange glow.

"Yeah," he says, "me, too."

He doesn't press any further, though he wants to; instead, he stares up at the stars as though getting his bearings. He's familiar enough with his own stomping ground, though, not to really need any help.

"Interesting times," he replies dryly; without saying much of anything at all, it's curiously succinct.

As the last little flame winks out, leaving the shrub in the same, scraggly state as before, Crowley fans out his wings again.

"Ladies first," he says with a bow.

"Considering that there's only one of us here who can take female form and it's not me, I'm not sure where you're getting that."

It doesn't seem to bother him too much, though; his wings are still out from trying to catch his balance earlier, so he takes off without hesitation.

"Why," Crowley says, ostensibly to himself but certainly loud enough to carry, "am I drawn to people with a pathological inability to take a joke?"

He doesn't wait for an answer, though, launching himself after Raguel and catching up easily.

"You saying I'm ladylike, then?" he calls across over the whistling of the wind.

"Dunno - always thought I lacked something in the way of manners."

"You'd think married life would've trained you better," Crowley retorts, beating up for altitude until he can settle into a long, easy glide towards the mountains, and the glow of city lights.

"I think I was teachable once," he says, following Crowley's path into the glide. "Domestication didn't sit too well. I could do it for a while, but after she died I figured that moving around suited me better."

"And now?" he replies, deceptively casual. "I mean, I know you don't exactly love Los Angeles, but you have to admit, it's nice having a takeaway place where they know you."

"Yeah. At least this time they didn't ask if I had money today. Like I don't always." He shakes his head, but it's probably lost in their movement through the sky.

"I still move around, just within the city. Or... did. Guess I have another chance to get domesticated, what with the home base."

He's pretty sure he looks like a deer in headlights, and is grateful once again for the darkness.