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[serpentinthegarden]

Hey people. All this nonsense talk of dreams aside...

I'm looking to hire some one for a few hours, light work, nothing illegal, at least its only vaguely illegal. You're end of the deal would be on the up and up. Must be a good shopper and willing to look the other way.

[ All this typed up on one with one hand while he wrestled a small girl he had tucked up under the other arm down the sidewalk and right past the world's least observant cop. She was tiny and wearing only a potato ack that had been fashioned into some sort of dress, a street kid who even while she was being carried away very few paid attention to. ]

Oh, also female. Very important that you have to be female. It will never work if you aren't. I've tried.

If you are interested send a prompt reply otherwise I'll have to think up something else.

Comments

[serpentinthegarden]

It's not nice. Annabelle is one of those brats that stole my money the other week. You would probably recognize her if you saw her. I'm doing this so she can't steal from me again.

[ And because she was such a small thing in need of a home. It was actually a nice thing to do, Crowley just hated to admit it. ]

[desperate_times_right]

Oh, I see. Absolutely appropriate punishment, you're right.

[blessedarethebookmakers]

That's certainly true. It may surprise you to know that when I was very young I was raised for a few years by the poorest of the poor. Apparently my parents had died of some disease and the village took care of me until I was collected. Still I was treated like a prince I imagine so I wouldn't know what want feels like. I am glad you are doing such a thing for her. You are quite a decent man, shockingly.

[he said it with a bit of a smirk of his own before it faded]

Well as you can see-- today's lie in is a bit abnormal in my life. Usually I am quite busy and cannot always abscond into the wilds with a handsome rake. Much as I'd like to.

[serpentinthegarden]

I didn't know that. You were raised in a small village?

[ One couldn't tell that by looking at him now but maybe that accounted for some of his more charitable works. If anyone here was the good and decent sort it was more Fell than Crowley. ]

Anyway I don't see why your cousins need to be so intimidating. You needn't even be here when they show up. What could they do about it?

[blessedarethebookmakers]

Mm. It was a beautiful place, lush and tropical, a Garden of Eden in a hectic world. [he smiled a bit at the memory] I don't recall much and, frankly it's hard to remember ever being a child-- do you find that? But I used to wander through the foliage and look for snakes. My favorite was a little black one, about as long as my arm, that liked to hide under rocks.

[he found himself absently playing with the coils of Mr. Crowley's thin scarf, winding it about his fingers]

It's about honor, Mr. Crowley. It's about not disgracing the family name for my Grandmother's sake if nothing else.

[serpentinthegarden]

[ He wished he had such fond remembrances to fall back on. He recalled long hours of work, boring study, and always wanting what was never provided. ]

There are no Garden's of Eden, Princess. This world is all about struggle and tough decisions...

[ And nimble fingers which drew him closer even as Fell's words threatened to drive him away. ]

If you are worried about disgracing your family then I am the very last person you should be associating with. I'm not the sort one brings home to Granny.

[blessedarethebookmakers]

[he clicked his tongue, giving that scarf a little tug]

Grief and loss and war are inescapable, even to the wealthy. Pain is a part of life and struggle too. But so is beauty and love the simple pleasures of a hot meal. Not all decisions are difficult ones. There are even beautiful things inside this city in the most...astonishing of places. [he let his gaze linger over Mr. Crowley before resting back on the pillow and regarding him]


As much as I want to be the good son, I am wondering if my family could use a little...disgrace. [he gave the scarf another little tug] What do you think?

[serpentinthegarden]

[ How close he ended up being pulled by that little tug before he realized. The cologne the man wore was like the fragrance of that mythical garden he had caused to spring forth into memory again and the floaty boa-like decorations on his sleeves far too much like those protective white feathers in his faintly recalled dream.
How strange to remember the dream now when he was fully awake, charmed by compliments and being so wickedly tempted to kiss a strange little man in desperate need of a little disgrace. ]

I'm very pro disgrace...

[ His hand found Fell's shoulder in a move which was both meant to support his weight in his new much more reclined position thanks to those leading tugs of his neck scarf and to offer a something of a tender hug. Crowley didn't give those away freely and in truth the whole affair began to feel rather awkward as if they were only meant to stand beside each other and not cross the invisible barrier between them. But he was pro disgrace and after a mere moment's rallying of spirits in which the deep color of Fell's eyes was admired once again Crowley's lips landed very gently against Fell's. ]

[serpentinthegarden]

Exactly. And she won't be able to rob from me anymore if some one if looking after her.

[desperate_times_right]

She still could. But she wouldn't have to.

[serpentinthegarden]

Hey, if she wants to that's her choice but at least she would have one.

[desperate_times_right]

And isn't that what we all want?

You gonna hunt them all down or is this a one-time thing?

[serpentinthegarden]

Haven't decided. There was another girl I remember and the two boys.

[desperate_times_right]

That sounds right. The two kids playing jacks, the enforcer, and the little ringmaster.

[serpentinthegarden]

It would be better if I snagged them than the cops. They would never get a fair shake.

But the older boy might want to punch my lights out.

[desperate_times_right]

Better you than one of the syndicates.

The older one probably does want to punch your lights out, but you didn't take his money.

[blessedarethebookmakers]

Mm!

[he hadn't expected the kiss, though had hoped for it as Mr. Crowley had loomed close. It was so light and so delicate and so scandalously forbidden in a way he couldn't quite describe, and yet a small, distant part of him rejoiced while being faintly irritated at the same time.

All that mattered though was the warm feeling that flushed all the way up from his curling toes, the way his heart lifted, the way his whole being soared. He hummed deeply and tentatively slipped a hand to the back of Mr. Crowley's neck to stroke the warm skin there and pull him just a little closer. Nevermind the sound of footsteps in the hall. He'd worry about them later. Or perhaps he'd never worry about anything at all ever again.]

[serpentinthegarden]

[ The footfalls in the hall went entirely unnoticed as did the creaking open of the door until the light 'hurmph' of the one standing in the doorway finally drew him away from the swirling emotions and the wanton abandon of all good sense to glare at the doorway like a predator coiled over his next meal. The Butler, of course. ]

This is why we need to meet at my place.

[ There wasn't even the glimmer of embarrassment at having been caught up in the moment. Not from Crowley anyway, the Butler looked slightly uncomfortable in his inscrutable and difficult to read way. ]

[blessedarethebookmakers]

Oh my!

[he was quite flushed. Pink all over even, his lips slightly parted. There seemed to be a faint fuzz of gold about his head though it was probably a trick of the light. The butler of course, pulled himself together and said: tea, sir?]

Oh yes, yes tea, please thank you. We'll set it up right here. Yes I know it is hot and to not put anything sensitive in it. [his face flushed deeper]

Honestly, Mr Crowley was just... well nevermind what he was doing. You just pour the tea.

[serpentinthegarden]

[ Crowley said not a single word during the exchange but lay there with his grin growing ever wider and more tinged with a look his evil smile couldn't disguise as the more Fell flustered the more hopelessly enamored with him Crowley grew. ]

I was enjoying your Master's hospitality.

[ He had to go and say something that rivaled that line about sensitive bits and the reason they didn't belong in tea. Though he finally moved enough to sit up so that the Princess could have his afternoon repast. ]

I wouldn't say no to some of those tiny little cakes your lot always seem to have with the frosting flower decorations on them.

[ Petit Fours he meant. Every tea party he had ever seen did tend to have them or something very like them. ]

You never did say why today was the day you decided to have your lie in.

[serpentinthegarden]

True. I can tell him where you live and then he could punch your lights out.

[desperate_times_right]

Sure, he can try it.

[serpentinthegarden]

Eh, better not... I wouldn't want to scare off the potential adoptees.

[ The old couple they were going to try to slag Annabelle off on. ]

Let me know if you see those other brats around anywhere? They have taken up a new hiding spot since I snagged this one.

[desperate_times_right]

Of course. Do you think your current victim will give up her compatriots once you've given her enough cake?

[serpentinthegarden]

I'm not sure she knows where they went. Whenever she runs off she ends up going back to that same alley we found them in.