Crowley (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
integrity) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sirenspull_logs2012-05-13 11:56 pm
integrity) wrote in sirenspull_logs2012-05-13 11:56 pm
another promise another seed
Who: Crowley [integrity] and Ruby [arealgem]
When: May 13th, after sirens.
Where: Purgatory. After hours. Crowley has a sense of humor, secretly.
Summary: Crowley has two of his largest problems in the Port at the same times. He needs allies. And he sees a potential one in the demon who has a lot to be pissed off about.
Warnings: Crowley and Ruby are hanging out together with a lot of liquor. :|
It had taken a matter of days for Crowley to decide on what to do.
His position in the Port was unstable. He had several powerful allies, but his enemies were stronger. And with the addition of Meg, Lucifer's golden child... Crowley loathed to admit it, but he felt confined. Constrained. And, as much as he hated to admit it, what Meg had said bothered him. That he, by some insane stretch of the imagination, was worse than Alastair, who had driven them to torture to insanity.
So perhaps it wasn't really a strategic manuveur. Maybe Crowley just needed to prove to himself that he could do it -- have one demon understand, truly understand, why he had defected. Why he had betrayed. Why he, the demon who was on the fast track to power and success, had jumped ship and taken the entire dimension instead of follow Lucifer to the death.
Either way, Crowley knew that his only shot of getting someone to listen to him lay in the demon that had helped lead Lilith to her death. They had something in common -- and Ruby was smart. Smarter than most individuals gave her credit for, Lucifer included. And Crowley, if the demon knew Ruby, knew that she would never say no to an offer of protection.
So it was with a slight sense of trepidation that he sent the following text.
I have a proposition for you.
Meet me at Purgatory. [x,y] Alone.
x Crowley.
He would be waiting for her there.
integrity] and Ruby [arealgem]When: May 13th, after sirens.
Where: Purgatory. After hours. Crowley has a sense of humor, secretly.
Summary: Crowley has two of his largest problems in the Port at the same times. He needs allies. And he sees a potential one in the demon who has a lot to be pissed off about.
Warnings: Crowley and Ruby are hanging out together with a lot of liquor. :|
It had taken a matter of days for Crowley to decide on what to do.
His position in the Port was unstable. He had several powerful allies, but his enemies were stronger. And with the addition of Meg, Lucifer's golden child... Crowley loathed to admit it, but he felt confined. Constrained. And, as much as he hated to admit it, what Meg had said bothered him. That he, by some insane stretch of the imagination, was worse than Alastair, who had driven them to torture to insanity.
So perhaps it wasn't really a strategic manuveur. Maybe Crowley just needed to prove to himself that he could do it -- have one demon understand, truly understand, why he had defected. Why he had betrayed. Why he, the demon who was on the fast track to power and success, had jumped ship and taken the entire dimension instead of follow Lucifer to the death.
Either way, Crowley knew that his only shot of getting someone to listen to him lay in the demon that had helped lead Lilith to her death. They had something in common -- and Ruby was smart. Smarter than most individuals gave her credit for, Lucifer included. And Crowley, if the demon knew Ruby, knew that she would never say no to an offer of protection.
So it was with a slight sense of trepidation that he sent the following text.
I have a proposition for you.
Meet me at Purgatory. [x,y] Alone.
x Crowley.
He would be waiting for her there.
no subject
The older demon didn't even bother sending him a text in return; let him wonder if she would come. Ruby didn't particularly hate Crowley, but she did have a certain level of disdain for him due to the fact that she was older, and yet somehow he was higher up than her.
That was supposed to change, before Sam and Dean ripped her life's work out from under her. But it wouldn't change, couldn't. Not here in the Port. Everything she had ever worked for was essentially a waste of her own life, and honestly that fact just was not sitting well with her. At all.
That was why Ruby found herself heading for Purgatory despite her dislike for Crowley. If things couldn't be changed like they were supposed to, she would have to look at the hand she was dealt once again and find a new, better play.
If Ruby was tense in any way, she didn't show it when she entered the place and found her way over to Crowley. Instead, she just offered him a cheerful smile before moving to sit across from him.
"Purgatory. Funny guy."
no subject
"I'm known for my sense of humor."
Of course, Ruby had absolutely no idea how funny it was for Crowley to offer the coordinates to Purgatory, of all places, but she would soon enough. This was a gamble -- and Crowley was never really the gambling sort, not unless he knew whether or not he was going to win, but he had little choice. He couldn't afford to have Lucifer sink his claws into another one of his demon brethren.
"I am here to tell you what happened," Crowley said, after a few moments of silence, carefully turning his glass around in his hands as he eyed Ruby, suddenly serious, "after your passing. The information I provide you is entirely accurate and truthful -- but I won't blame you if you ask for confirmation. And after all is said and done, I am going to offer you something. It's entirely up to you whether or not you take it."
Diplomacy. It wasn't something used often, in Hell, where they come from. Friendly conversations between demons just didn't happen. They either tore each other apart or walked away, in her time. But in Crowley's, it was different. Or, at least, he liked to think it was different.
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Diplomacy might have seemed strange to any other demon, but not to Ruby. She worked best through discussion, through lies and manipulation. This was no different than anything she had ever done back home, except for the smaller chances of ending up under someone's carving knife.
"You must be in a pretty sticky situation, if you're coming to me rather than someone stronger, and more useful." There was venom on her tongue at those words, and her dark expression probably told Crowley that yeah. She was very pissed off about where she stood in the demon totem pole. Especially now.
"But I'll bite. I'm not in any position to turn down information, and if you're lying it won't be terribly hard to find out. I have my ways, but I think you know that. Otherwise... I wouldn't be the one sitting in this spot now, would I?"
no subject
"I would rather pour holy water into my eyes than approach Meg with a business venture," Crowley said mildly, the amber liquid in his glass stirring itself of its own accord. "She wouldn't understand what I want to tell her even if I could get her to listen to me for longer than ten seconds. Her mind is too addled by what has been fed to her -- yours, on the other hand, is not."
This was it. What he had tried to get demons to understand.
He leaned forward slightly.
"What do you know of what would happen to all of us -- the demons -- after the Apocalypse, if the Morningstar struck?"
no subject
The only reason the older demon didn't get up and just walk out was because of the implication that followed, that she was smarter than Meg. That was a fact, at least in Ruby's mind. Meg didn't achieve the things she did before her death, and now that she was back? Ruby was going to knock that bitch off of her high horse right quick. Who was the one who succeeded in breaking open the cage?
Not her.
Ruby pursed her lips together as Crowley leaned in, going on to bring up Lucifer himself. The hesitation was clear in her expression, but there was also a hint of almost sad knowledge behind it. Ruby wasn't stupid. She knew where Crowley was going with this, and honestly it was something she just hadn't allowed herself to think about before. She didn't want to think about what would happen after everything was said and done, it was depressing.
"We would be the next to go. I already knew. Before," Ruby paused to point at his drink with a small smile, as if to tell him to order her one as well. "I had already come to terms with that. I was fine with dying by my creator's hand. Considering the life I had lived, I was ready for an end to come at some point."
But notice, Crowley, that Ruby was speaking in the past tense. A hint that he may have her full attention on this.
no subject
"You -- "
But just like that, the stunned expression was gone, and Crowley immediately ordered another drink. The bartender deposited it -- along with the bottle -- at the table before the demon stared at her, his expression difficult to read.
"So how many others knew?" Crowley asked, his tone bitter and cold, eyes hardened. "Did Lilith have a secret meeting with all of her precious friends -- " Except me. " -- and let everyone in on the big joke? That after Lucifer rose, we would all die, and we were expected to fall in line like cattle to the slaughter? Or was my invitation to that special party lost in the mail?"
no subject
The older demon took the glass and raised it to her lips to take a drink, and as she swallowed she tipped her glass towards him as if to say 'cheers'.
"I don't know how many others knew, it was something I put together myself when I found out Lilith's fate. If she was that expendable, what did that make the rest of us below her? Nothing." A pause, and another drink before Ruby set down the glass and leaned in herself, speaking lowly. "But... you see, I just kept my mouth shut and went with it. Because in the long run, I was tired. Do you know what a bitch it is to be me? I'm older than you, and yet look at the power you have compared to mine."
Ruby leaned back suddenly, her grin dropping to match his cold, serious expression. "But if I did what no one else could, from the bottom and opened the cage, I figured the reward would be nice up until he decided to get rid of the rest of us. The thing is though...I had that ripped away from me by those fucking Winchesters, and in the ten seconds that my entire fucked up life flashed before my eyes, I realized that there were things I still wanted, for myself. I'd made a mistake."
no subject
He didn't know why that bothered him so much. Maybe it was his own struggles with what to do with the information he had -- keep silent and await death or speak up and ruin Lilith's greatest work? He had obviously chosen the latter, bu at great personal cost to him -- and if he had known that someone older had known the truth, someone he could turn to without fear of death or retribution, maybe things could have turned out differently.
He doubted it. Life didn't like dealing Crowley the right cards. He had to find them on his own.
"That would have been far more useful to me if you had said something before you had died," Crowley said, rather tartly, "as when I rebelled, I had no one else on my side."
There it was. No sense in beating around the bush now that they were both -- well, not quite on the same page, but close.
no subject
Because. Ruby was selfish, and the memory of being killed was still so fresh in her mind that she couldn't shake the need to live, to go on again. Obviously working for an Angel didn't work out for her, and she just was not ready to throw her own worth away again like that.
"Hm, I guess I should apologize for being selfish and leaving you all alone. But I don't think I will, because frankly...I like you as much as I liked Lilith, which let me tell you...wasn't a lot. So," Ruby smirked and picked up her glass again, taking another drink. "Tell me how defecting went, before you came here."
no subject
" ... I decided, when Lilith decided to go ahead with her asinine suicide plot -- no offense to all present parties, but it was a stupid thing to do," Crowley said, a bit flatly. He then continued. "I decided that I would prevent the Apocalypse by any and all means possible. So -- when Lucifer rose and the Winchesters had absolutely no way of keeping him at bay, I devised a plan to kill the Devil. No Devil, no prize fight, everything returns to normal."
The demon paused, lost in the memory for a moment or two, before he continued. His tone was less abrasive, though, and more thoughtful.
"The plan failed. And, as a result, the Devil knew I wanted him dead. I went from being the most secure demon in the Pit to the most damned son in all of creation. I had to throw my lot in with the individuals that I knew wanted the Devil dead, being the Winchesters. Together, we worked on finding a way to put the Devil back in his Cage. And we did, no thanks to their eternal bumbling idiocy," Crowley added with a roll of his eyes. "Though Sam Winchester did jump into Hell in order to drag Lucifer with him, so I should give him that much credit. And -- while that was going on -- "
Crowley shifted slightly in the booth, to sit up straighter, his fingers curling around his glass.
"Someone needed to guide Hell through the power transfer. I couldn't allow the loyalists to seize control. So -- I did."
His eyes didn't leave hers.
"I staged a revolution. And I won."
no subject
So everything had been for nothing, and in technicality...Crowley was here telling her that everything she had done had been so sweetly fucked by him and the Winchesters. If Ruby didn't know that Crowley would be one of the worst enemies to make at the moment, she might have spit in his face for it.
It showed with the disgusted look she gave him as she stared for a moment, trying to figure out what to even say to this arrogant bastard. It was the worst start to a proposition ever, or the best, if Ruby looked at it from his angle.
"...so let me get this straight. You called me here to inform me that you single handedly destroyed everything I worked for in my life...and you want to proposition me to join your side. Your logic is incredibly twisted, Crowley, and I'm not sure if I want to say fuck you or applaud you."
no subject
Crowley was quiet, as he stared at her.
"You know just as well as I do that even if the Winchesters hadn't killed you, then Lucifer would have smote us all upon the country side. We're nothing to him but toys -- he created us because he was bored. You, better than anyone, know the price of allying yourself with the Devil. What happened to everyone else who sided with him?"
Crowley began to tick off his fingers, each name a grave marker.
"Azazel was shot. Alastair was killed. Lilith was stabbed to death because of a so-called destiny she didn't need to follow. You met with the same fate. All of his best and brightest were killed because he couldn't be bothered to rescue them or even defend them."
He settled his hands on the table again, confident and sure of himself.
"When I took Hell, I changed it. I rid it of the mindless torture and the chaos. It's sensible. There isn't any need to kill one another in order to make it to the top, you simply do your job and rise through the ranks because you're good enough to.
"It isn't fair, what happened to you. To Lilith, to Azazel -- even to Alastair, as much as I hated the bastard. I was in the right place at the right time, no more, and no less -- you, the opposite. Here, you have every opportunity to fight back against what is expected of you, and I assure you, with Lucifer here, he will continue to use you as the toy he thinks you are."
And, finally, the King of Hell settled back against the booth, shrugging slightly.
"If you want to be a pawn, be my guest -- but I'm of the full belief that we -- the demons -- are worth more than that. More than what Lucifer sees us as, more than what the Winchesters see us as -- we are ever bit as meant to be on that planet as they are. So to hell with their wars, let's focus on our own."
no subject
The renewed desire for living itself had her considering the younger demon, especially considering how many enemies she had just by breathing once again. Humans or not, having the Winchesters against her along with the Angels was a bad place to be. Crowley was right. They had just as much right to exist, and technically Lucifer was no better than the Father he too had rebelled from. He had created them to be his worker ants, that he could destroy without a second thought later when all of the hard work was done.
And Ruby was sick of working harder than the rest to no end, no productive result or reward. It wasn't fair.
The brunette sighed suddenly and picked up her drink, shaking her head at Crowley before tipping it back and taking very large gulp this time. Then, with a heavy breath, Ruby set it down and raised her gaze to his face to give him a serious 'don't fuck with me' look.
"Suppose I agree with everything you've said, and want to say yes. What would that mean for me?"
no subject
"A great many things," Crowley said idly, folding his hands in his lap as he watched her. "Accepting the truth carries your own personal difficulty -- you won't look at Lucifer the same way again. Daddy, so the saying goes, has left for cigarettes and is never going to come back."
Accepting the truth meant going to Lucifer for aide will never be a thing that can happen. You were, effectively, on your own. That was what rebellion truly meant.
"But besides that and getting to the facts, which I know is what you're concerned about -- " Crowley shrugged slightly. "You'll have me, my extensive knowledge on how to keep safe despite Lucifer wanting you dead, access to my home where the majority of people cannot get into, and the protection of both me, my pet angel, the archangel that likes me, and a host of God figures that have seen fit to defend me whenever I've needed it."
Crowley won for a reason. He was smart. And collected allies quickly and efficiently.
no subject
"Here's my question. Do they like you enough to look past the fact that I was the one who caused the start to the end everybody tried so hard to stop? I just have a hard time seeing angels going with the whole 'the enemy of my enemy is an ally' thing, you know? But then again..."
Ruby moved to take the bottle and pour herself some more, shrugging lazily as she went on. "I've been out of the loop for a while, it seems. But my point is, you are going to have a hell of a time convincing them that I'm not there to listen to all your secrets and whisper them in Lucifer's ear."
She set the bottle down, her lips tugging up into a smirk as she picked up her glass again and raised it. "Actually, how do you know that that's not what I'm going to do?" The glass tipped in his direction as Ruby raised her brows, and then took a sip.
"Don't worry. I actually think you're offering something pretty damn golden here, and if I were to do any secret telling it may go the other way around. But my point is, I'm known for being a snake, and getting them to protect a snake is going to be a bitch. Are you sure you want to do this?"
no subject
"You have absolutely nothing to gain by ratting me out to Lucifer and everything to lose."
It was simple -- should Ruby spill to Lucifer and endanger his life, Crowley could just kill her. Lucifer wouldn't actually give half a damn if she died, nor would he lash out against Crowley for doing so. Ruby was just a demon to Lucifer -- to Crowley, she was an able-bodied ally. Crowley was the one who held the power in this scenario, not Lucifer -- and if Crowley were Ruby, he knew precisely what path he would take.
"Besides -- everyone makes mistakes," Crowley added loftily, nudging the bottle toward Ruby again, with a slight smirk, "and no one is a bigger snake in the grass than I. If I am found trustworthy and redeemable, you certainly will be. Besides -- "
And the King of Hell took a sip of his glass.
"The Winchesters possess two weapons that I want -- and I think you'll be interested in one of them. Why not test this newfound alliance out on a group of people we both hate?"
Crowley's fingers drummed against his glass.
"I want the Colt. And Sam Winchester has your knife. I also happen to know that Sam Winchester is recovering from his little demon blood addiction you facilitated -- and is in the perfect spot to be manipulated into handing over the key to the Colt and the knife that was once yours. He likes me well enough to leave me alone, but I don't trust the hunters with two of the most powerful weapons against our kind. Not lately."
no subject
If there was one way to buy Ruby into this deal, that was it. Suddenly, the brunette was leaning in with a fiery look, her hand gripping her glass tight. If there was one thing Ruby was definitely sure about, it was the fact that she wanted to live, and having her knife would be one great way to go about doing that.
And the fact that Sam still had it only sold her more. To come back, and take what was rightfully hers back, and then maybe fuck up his world a little bit would be the perfect revenge for killing her with her own weapon. It wasn't like she could actually kill Sam or Dean here, as nice as it would be, so settling on making one or both miserable would work good enough for her.
"Sold. Your Angels are just going to have to get used to the idea. I want my knife back, you have no idea." And yeah, apparently that demon vanquishing knife was a hell of a lot more important than any cause Lucifer might have nowadays. Besides, according to everything she had learned about this place, Lucifer would never get what he wanted, nor would he be able to reward her for a damn thing. And would he even offer to try? Probably not.
no subject
The last encounter with that damn knife had been with Meg. Crowley would have cut her throat with it if Castiel hadn't needed to make an appearance to show he was still on the Winchester's side. How annoying.
"Castiel will be easy to convince," Crowley continued, shrugging a shoulder, "and Gabriel doesn't really care either way. You'll be safe."
no subject
Ruby settled back in her seat, suddenly feeling more relaxed than she had since her arrival. Not that that was to say the demon wasn't still alert, but honestly this solution was almost too good to be true. To get her knife back, to have protection so she could just live? To not be busting her ass for a useless cause that would end in her demise anyway...
"So how do you propose we go about getting the Colt and my knife back? Sam isn't going to be happy to see me, addiction or not, and I suspect he might even try to cut my throat. You know... the whole apocalypse thing really probably got under his skin."
no subject
He paused before he drew a piece of paper out of his coat, along with a fountain pen. It only took a few seconds of work before Crowley drew out a strange sigil, from memory, for this was one of Crowley's biggest strengths. Enochian warding and protection against the angels was something he researched extensively -- it was a dog eat dog world out there, after all, and the angels were the bigger kids in the sandbox. You had to be prepared for the worst at any passing moment of the day.
"This nullifies the power of their Grace so long as it's activated within a twenty yard radius of the angel in question. I have them all over my liquor cabinet, actually, because with a slight adjustment -- " And Crowley added one last symbol. " -- they activate upon contact with Grace itself. Castiel can't get into the liquor cabinet as long as he's touching it. He still hasn't figured it out yet, bless his three brain cells."
The demon nudged the piece of paper toward Ruby, for her to keep, before he continued.
"As for the Colt, it is in the possession of the Winchesters -- John Winchester, specifically. He died and has yet to return to the Port, so I assume the boys have it under lock and key. The knife is with Sam. I trust you have his tender spots still memorized."
His lips twitched into a lazy smirk.
"Whatever strings you can pull in order to get him to crumble a little would be of the utmost enjoyment to watch on my part."
He still hadn't forgiven Sam completely for attacking Castiel and using him in the first place -- nor for breaking their deal and endangering Crowley's standing. He could stand to watch the moose squirm a little.
no subject
She picked up the paper to look at it again before shifting to tuck it into her back pocket. "Angels were only just deciding to pop up right before I died, so I have to admit I'm a little clueless in that field. And as for Sam? Don't worry, where there's a will there is a way and my will is like a fucking giant. Besides, he is a walking tender spot, didn't you know that? Push him in the right spot and he'll go miles for you, all on his own."
Ruby moved to take her glass so she could take another drink, before offering that same charming smile from before.
"The only thing left for you to tell me is what kind of boundaries I need to follow? Who do I avoid? I don't know who your friends are, or aren't, after all. Aside from Castiel...?"
no subject
It was said evenly, as Crowley glanced toward the bar area.
"The individuals from our world should be obvious. Castiel is trustworthy. The archangel Gabriel won't bother you. Anna, you already know. The prophet Chuck will leave you alone provided you don't try to kill him. And certain others will make themselves known to you. Elaine Belloc is one of them, she is trustworthy."
Also, God. But Crowley figured Ruby could discover that on her own.
"Christina Nickson is an Anti-Christ, but I like her a lot better than ours."
no subject
Ruby took another drink as she watched Crowley look towards the bar, and her gaze followed for a moment before flicking back to him. She couldn't help but wonder just how foolish her decision to do this would end up being, but she supposed she wouldn't know until she actually met with Lucifer in person as well.
But if Ruby didn't know one thing for sure, it was that it would be smart to hide under the battling people, just like they had when Alastair and the Angels were fighting over Anna. It would also help her establish her own level of independence here, in the long run. If she found out enough from both sides, or all three, she would know how to avoid and or/fight her way to the very top like she had always wanted.
no subject
How Crowley knew this, he didn't say. But in the way he said it, he was deadly serious.
Just stay away from him.