thedarkfields | [Text]

[Text]

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.

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It seems to me that if you are not careful, she will steal something of greater value.

[Mr. Crowley's heart, he means, though it is already too late for that]

I shall be here.

[and here he is. Upon arrival to the town house they are ushered up the stairs by a bored looking butler to the master suite. Fell has never left bed. Well he is feeling a bit on the ill side. And he is tucked in under a magnificent quilt and an even more magnificent bedrobe draped around his form. When he sees them, he beams]

Well then! Just in time for tea!

[ By the time they arrived the little street rat had been wrangled into something which now resembled a little girl with her hair curled and her potato sack outfit swapped for something more like that a princess would wear...
Though walking into the room to be greeted by their host who was wearing that maybe Fell actually was the Princess. ]

I don't like tea.

[ The little girl said with a pout to which Crowley had a quick reply. ]

Fine. We'll give you hot water and sugar.

[ He left her there by the door way to mingle around, maybe break something too expensive to replace or bounce on some priceless furniture somewhere as little hellions are want to do, as he paced around Fell's bed. ]

Have you been sleeping all afternoon?

[he positively beamed when he saw the little girl. Well! He could tell that she had had a hard life. Well he had seen many children that had and it was in the eyes. But she had cleaned up nicely even if she looked ready to steal anything not nailed down which was fine. He doubted she had a proclivity for books]

I'm sure cook has a little feast set out for you, dear girl, if you care to go to the kitchen. Cookies and cakes and milk and all manner of lovely things. [and cook had and actually delighted to create for children so it all worked out. In a minute his butler would bring the tea things with a dash of spirit should Mr. Crowley like to imbibe.

He winced a little at the question]

Well, in fact, yes. Well not sleeping but you know, relaxing. Catching up on my reading and that. I ought to get out of bed and do things. I ought to be productive. [he sighed] There is so much to do. [but bed was so warm. He sneezed delicately in a hanky and fixed Mr. Crowley with soulful blue eyes]

I do like cookies and cake! I think. We never have those... but the milk we steal from old Miss Hanger's cow is good!

[ She took off for the bedroom door, only stopping once she reached for the knob just in case that other guy, Crowley decided to stop her running off again. To her surprise he didn't. He merely nodded and gave a word of instruction to the butler. ]

Just keep Annabelle in sight. She has this bad habit of trying to slip away with things. Brat will steal this place blind if you let her and I don't want to have to chase her down again.

[ She was a handful but one that skipped quiet happily down the hall after the Butler to where ever the kitchen was in this huge palace! ]

What's to do? You live in the lap of luxury. If I were you I would stay in bed all day, eating bon bons, washing them down with some vino, and listening to radio shows.

Oh well it doesn't matter if a few things go amiss. I certainly can afford to replace anything needful. Though I do appreciate you trying to break her free of her habit.

Annabelle is it? What a lovely little name. You know, Mr. Crowley, you seem to have a way with children. [he chuckled a bit at the man's words.]

There is plenty to do. So much to do. You have no idea the expectations that are on me from my family and myself. But in the grand scheme of things, I oughtn't complain being as blessed as I am.

That aside Mr. Crowley. [he patted the bedspread] How did you acquire her. Tell me everything.

[ He had a rough way of speaking to kids. Crowley assumed that's what Fell meant by that little giggle but this here was a rough kid. Rough kids understood rough talk. He ought to know as he used to be one himself not that this was information he was ready to volunteer.

That little welcoming pat of the bedspread did look inviting and he found himself, a bit too eagerly, climbing into bed beside Fell to take up residence on his extra set of plush pillows. ]

She and a group of her friends snatched some lettuce from me a few weeks ago. This is payback for that. Snatched the little brat off the street when she was alone and now I'm going to domesticate her. We've already found a pair of suckers that might be willing to take her in.

[ He practically sank into the down of the pillows as he turned to lean an elbow against them to better take in the adorably wholesome face of his host. ]

You didn't ask me up here to talk about the kid though did you?

[not so wholesome as all that! A flush pinkened his cheeks at Mr. Crowley lying so close. He had meant for the man to sit, not lounge like a serpent upon the duvet and pillows. What would Bartlet the Butler think of this. Well he was a man of discretion so probably not much but goodness, how bold]

Oh well, your poor lettuce. Surely that's a small infraction-- but on the other hand, a life on the streets is such a hard one. I do wonder if she'd be able to leave you so readily. [he might find it difficult...

He pushed those thoughts from his mind and sank himself into the pillows, a bit further still so he was looking up at Mr. Crowley, tracing his eyes over the angle of his jaw and the shadow where his hair fell against his neck]

Whatever else might I have called you up for but to give accounts of your shenaniganery? [he clicked his tongue] Surely you don't suspect I had an ulterior motive.

[ Hopefully the stuffy Butler would be thoroughly scandalized! Crowley would take a good deal of wicked joy out of sending one of the straight-laced servants awkwardly scooting back out of the room. ]

Why wouldn't she? Nice older people, they will likely spoil her rotten... what more could a kid want?

[ That faint blush of color in Fell's cheeks gave him a healthy glow that seemed to even pinken his lips, daring even more boldness which for the moment lay very carefully restrained. ]

Since you didn't show up for New Year's drinks ay my place I wondered if I was going to fast for you. Am I, Princess?

[ This time the nickname felt a good deal more natural owing in no small part to the regal setting they found themselves in and the feathered ruffles of Fell's nightwear. ]

Or maybe you've grown bored of all this predictability and could use something more reckless?

Freedom for one. But well, who knows. I bet once she is safe and happy she will find freedom in that as well.

[he was secretly glad he wouldn't have to share Mr. Crowley with her, though he wouldn't begrudge it of course. Though, sharing. He wasn't doing a very good job of even spending time with him.]

Oh well, I unfortunately had family business to attend to in town. I received quite a lashing for shirking my duty. My cousins, you see, are very formidable and I do not want them to come over and 'check on my progress' . Why, they'd never leave. By the time I remembered it was well past midnight and I was quite exhausted, Mr. Crowley.

[he smiled thinly and tugged and adjusted Mr. Crowley's collar absently]

I'm afraid I won't be very good company to you.

She will have freedom from want. No more going to sleep on an empty stomach in some freezing cold back alley. A home. Every orphan wants to feel like they belong some where.

[ He certainly had as a youth which was why he had made up all those lies about his rich family, his inventor father and his beautiful, practically an actress mother. It was a fantasy life that he had never actually had.

Crowley's smile was a good deal warmer, very nearly predatory, as Fell tugged away at his collar straightening and preening it like they were an item or something.]

Why not?

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.

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?

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.

[ 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.

[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?

[ 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. ]

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.]

[ 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. ]

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.

[ 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.

Edited 2022-01-15 08:03 (UTC)

[the butler sniffs and knows when to show himself out, but does pour tea for the both of them and provides a proper repast before leaving.]

You may have a petit four if you ask nicely. [he holds one between his fingers, offering it temptingly and batting his eyes]

Well as I said I do have a bit of a cold and well, after the holidays and what-not I am quite simply exhausted. If I didn't take myself to bed I would burn myself out before spring where there is another whirlwind and I have quite a few projects on the table. Not to mention the Valentine's Day Fete.

Oh a Valentine's Day Feet.

[ This was intentionally mispronounced just to be a bit of a brat while he decided just how nice to be for that bit of cake. ]

Does anyone actually have those?

[ They must if Fell was planning on attending one or even throwing one... He was probably going to throw the damn party and end up the center of attention in some horrible pink ruffled... thing. Or at least this was the mental image that had Crowley smiling as he asked. ]

What does one do at one of those?

[ He reached out to tease Fell's hand lightly with the pads of his own in slight warning before he leaned down to nibble a corner of that petit four right out from between the man's fingers. ]

Not flirt with a bit of cake, I'd imagine?

Fete

[he is very tempted to smack him but doesn't]

We do. And one enjoys oneself presumably but for myself it is just a lot of work. I am used to it but, well, one mustn't complain and...

[but then Mr. Crowley's skin brushes against his and those beautiful sharp teeth steal a bit of petit four. He flushes and manages to find the wherewithal to say]

You didn't do a thing to earn that nibble...

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