and i can't seek a lot any -- no i can't do this

[integrity]

Who: Crowley [integrity], Castiel [ofthursday], and PUPPIES.
When: The early morning hours of February 24th.
Where: Crowley's apartment in Sector Three.
Summary: Crowley's hellhound has puppies! Castiel is an idiot.
Warnings: ... puppies?

On the rare occasion that Crowley actually used his front door, it was only when he was suspicious. And when he felt something inside his flat, something that had triggered one of his thousands of sigils hidden across the walls -- he gingerly opened it with his fingers, eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced around.

There was some blood on the floor, claw marks in the mahogany, and the distinct feeling of unease that permeated the apartment. Combine that with the sound of whimpering and rustling from a side-room set Crowley forward instantly.

Because over his dead body had someone actually been stupid enough to hurt his dog.

If Crowley had been thinking, he would realize that only one person could bypass his sigils and wards without getting themselves killed, and if he had done the math, he would have realized that it had been roughly two and a half weeks since he noticed his hellhound had been eating for ten, but unfortunately for his feathered partner in crime, Crowley already had him against a wall with a powerful push of telekinesis before he noticed... puppies.

" ... oh," Crowley commented, blinking as he held Castiel against the wall with his hand outstretched, counting to himself. "I only count eight, where's the dead one?" Crowley asked, peering at Castiel with arched eyebrows before belatedly letting Castiel slide back down the wall onto his feet as he lowered his hand.

Comments

[ofthursday]

Castiel had, in turn, come into Crowley's house looking for Growley; his angelic senses had alerted him to that something was happening with the dog, and of course he'd had to check on her. He'd walked, or rather flown, into an absolute horror movie known as a dog having a litter of puppies, and promptly angel-flailed and had absolutely no idea what to do.

Thankfully, Growley had, being a dog and all, even one from hell. And so soon there were a whole bunch of invisible newborn puppies, whining and snuggled up against their mother, except for one.

The last one, the one Crowley had thought was dead, was not actually. It had looked close though, and Castiel had scooped it up in some spare jacket or something that probably cost a fortune that Castiel couldn't care less about, trying to keep it warm. otherwise, Castiel knew nothing about aid outside of his own healing powers, and he hadn't wanted to risk using his grace on a hellhound puppy. That could be bad.

Thankfully he'd set it down to go get something when Crowley had arrived and Castiel found himself pinned against the wall; he suppressed a flash of panic at being so, instead scowling at the demon until he was released, again not wanting to risk using his grace around the newborn puppies.

"Over here." He snapped, picking up the bundle again and showing it to Crowley.

[integrity]

" -- is this my coat?" Crowley demanded incredulously, catching the bundle when it was shoved at him to glance down at the tiny thing. It was wheezing and looked unhealthy -- tiny, compared to the other ones. No wonder Crowley had thought it was dead. But the tiniest inkling of concern for the puppy was overridden by the sheer amount of rage at his designer coat being ruined by --

"This is placenta. You got placenta on my coat?" Crowley asked, a bit shrilly, and the puppy inside the coat squirmed uncomfortably. "For a half-dead puppy, are you serious? I may as well snap the neck now and be done with it, you ruined my coat for nothing, you idiot!"

[ofthursday]

"I can fix your coat; I am an angel. This is not the issue." Geez Crowley, stay on focus. Castiel's disdain for this concern practically dripped from his voice, at least relative to how he normally spoke, and he returned his attention to the more important subject. "Can you heal the puppy?"

[integrity]

"You're an angel, really," Crowley retorted with an icy glare, not bothered by Castiel's apparently disappointment in his priorities. "I hadn't noticed a midst your self-righteous idiocy and your apparent lack of intelligence, because the last I checked, angels could heal things."

The puppy squirmed again, a rattling breath escaping from the coat, and Crowley shook the coat slightly.

"Shut up, I'm having a discussion, rat," Crowley muttered to the coat.

[ofthursday]

"I am well aware of this!" Castiel snapped back, glaring at the other just as intently, then immediately took the puppy back when Crowley shook it. "That is not helping. I did not want to attempt to heal a hellhound using an angel's grace, for reasons that should be apparent." So you need to do it, you dick.

[integrity]

"Don't yell at me, kitten, the neighbors will think we're fighting," Crowley said snippishly, letting Castiel take the puppy without much fuss, "and I don't want them to think you're abusing me again."

He paused, though, to take a step forward to eye the small creature that Castiel was holding. It was small, but still alive, which counted for something. It held some amount of potential, for breathing for as long as it had. And Crowley did like potential.

So it was with a groan that Crowley pressed a finger into the puppy's chest. The puppy squirmed at the contact before immediately falling still, the breathing even and slow as it fell asleep.

"There. Happy puppies for all. Are you done?"

[ofthursday]

Castiel was about to argue that Crowley had been the one who'd just pinned Castiel to the wall, but he was distracted by Crowley's healing of the puppy. A tentative extension of his grace to check on the created showed it was breathing easily and seemed to have nothing pressingly wrong with it, so Castiel relaxed slightly.

"Yes. I did not want to have to bury it." And with that out of the way, Castiel just keeps holding the bundle of Crowley's coat and the puppy, not bothering to put it down. "The others seems to all be fine, as does Growley."

[integrity]

"Put the stupid thing down, for the love of Hades."

Crowley turned toward his dog, sliding his hands back into his pockets as he eyed her critically. Castiel seemed to be right -- the dog was fine, as well as the other whining bundles of joy that were cuddled next to her. The only thing odd about her was that she seemed tired and a little out of it, but that was normal. Hellhounds were violent creatures by nature -- she must have lost a sizeable amount of blood.

"Which is all over my carpet," Crowley muttered absently to himself, tossing a flat look toward Growley, who huffed softly into her paws.

[ofthursday]

"Your complaints are unnecessary." Castiel said, unwrapping the puppy from the jacket and laying it gently amidst it's littermates, next to it's mother's side. A small brush of grace and he was throwing the jacket at Crowley's chest, the item restored to pristine condition.

[integrity]

"Your face is unnecessary and yet we all still put up with it," Crowley snapped as he caught his coat, tossing it onto the bed with irritation.

The tiny puppy managed to wriggle his way into some amount of warmth, but his siblings seemed less than keen to share any part of food or shelter with him. One of the larger puppies seemed intent to shove him out of the way -- and rolled on top of him, which produced something of a loud squeak.

Crowley didn't seem all that bothered, though Growley shoved the fatter puppy off of the tiny one with her nose.

"You picked a winner," Crowley said dryly.

[ofthursday]

"This isn't my face, and regardless you find it aesthetically pleasing." Just saying. Castiel turned his attention to the squeaking puppies, frowning slightly as the larger one rolled onto the little one--he could relate--but then Growley took care of it.

Crowley's comment earned a glare from Castiel but no comment.

[integrity]

"Your true face isn't, I'm assuming, all disgusting twisted and full of light and sunshine," Crowley muttered, stooping slightly to pick up a puppy, examining it. It was a larger specimen, relatively healthy, full of life and teeny claws that were already sharp. They would sell well, to respectable individuals. All in all, Crowley hadn't really fared off too poorly, despite his initial concerns.

Growley, on the other hand, was exhausted. But she took the time to nudge the puppies into some semblance of order, taking great care to pick up the little one with her teeth and place him directly in between her massive paws, in order to safeguard him from his more rambunctious siblings, who didn't really seem to want him around anyway. With some careful nudging about, she laid her head down on her paws, carefully, to avoid squishing the puppy, instead providing warmth and shelter all while being close enough to ensure she could hear him if he needed anything.

Crowley was almost impressed as he placed the puppy he was holding back down near its siblings, taking the time to tap his dog on the nose lightly with two fingers, a sign of affection that could be mistaken for something else. The demon hoped, anyway.

"If my dog had bled to death, I would've killed you," Crowley said after a long moment to Castiel, almost as an afterthought.

[ofthursday]

Castiel just rolled his eyes the slightest bit at that first comment, then watched Crowley pick up the puppy, pleased as well to see how healthy and content they seemed to be. Many things could have gone wrong, but all the puppies were alive, even the tiny one.

He shifted closer, reaching to set a hand on Growley's back for a minute as the dog paid attention to the littlest puppy, before turning his attention to Crowley at the demon's comment. "How would this have been my fault?"

Also how would Crowley have killed him, but that was another matter entirely.

[integrity]

"Because everything is your fault. It's a law of the universe."

Growley seemed to enjoy the hand on her back, as she closed her eyes contentedly to slowly fall asleep, her breathing even and slow as she relaxed into something almost resembling sleep. The puppies weren't about to let her get away with that, though, with their constant nudging and whining, but the comforting hand on her back was nice.

[ofthursday]

"So it seems." Castiel said quietly, at that; he knew it was a joke, but it was still true.

But he pressed that thought down to focus on the current situation, and that is a hellhound with nine puppies sleeping on the expensive carpet in the middle of the house.

"Should a room be made for them?"

[integrity]

Crowley narrowed his eyes slightly, at Castiel's first statement, but let it drop. He wasn't going to coddle the angel into accepting that their world was doomed with or without them. That was his own business, not Crowley's.

"They have a room. She decided not to use it."

And Crowley glanced down at his half-asleep dog, heaving a sigh.

"Leave them there for now. Moving them is pointless."

[ofthursday]

Castiel nodded slightly at that, then stepped over near the demon and knelt down, touching a patch of carpet. The rest of it is suddenly good as new, no signs of that puppies had been born on it remaining other than the puppies themselves.

[integrity]

Crowley watched, as Castiel fixed the carpet, but he was far more interested in a larger puppy rolling away from the pack, toward Castiel's fingers. It was curious and landed on its back, but didn't cry out, instead snuffling heavily toward his fingers.

"That one will be the leader," Crowley said after a moment, stooping next to Castiel, to eye the puppy before shifting his attention toward Growley.

[ofthursday]

Castiel's attention also turned toward the puppy, and he reached out toward it to let it touch his fingers, fascinated. He'd never seen hellhound puppies before, and for a being that has seen almost every type of creature in Creation it's incredibly interesting to see something new.

"Being the first to act doesn't make one a leader." Castiel responded, reaching a little farther to pet the puppy on the stomach.

[integrity]

"In Hell it does."

The puppy squirmed underneath Castiel's touch, mouthing the sleeve of his coat with teeth that don't exist yet, tiny paws scrabbling to wrap around his hand, to get a better idea of what was touching it.

"And being the first to act doesn't necessarily mean you aren't patient," Crowley added, tossing Castiel something of a flat look before he straightens to stand, to fetch something from another room.

[ofthursday]

Castiel didn't smile at the puppy's antics, but the corner of his mouth twitched just a little. But he then gave Crowley a flat look to match the demon's but didn't argue, watching the other head to the next room, wondering what he was going to get.

[integrity]

The puppy wasn't going to let go of his hand anytime soon -- once it got its paws around Castiel's hand and wrist, that was it. Castiel now belonged to the puppy and that was that.

When Crowley returned, though, the puppy looked up from its chewing on Castiel's sleeve, nose snuffling at the angel's palm to see what Crowley had, but unwilling to let go of the prize it had trapped.

"You have to mark them otherwise they all look the same," Crowley said after a moment or two of readying something before he stooped down, pressing two fingers against the underbelly of the puppy. There was a slight hissing sound and the puppy yelped in pain, squirming away, but Crowley quickly replaced his fingers with the tiniest application of numbing agent from a tube, and the puppy relaxed abruptly, paws working lazily against Castiel's fingers.

[ofthursday]

Castiel frowned at the demon, though he didn't make a move; he did protest verbally, however. "I can tell them apart." Their energy was all subtly different, more than enough for the angel to pick up on, his senses attuned toward anything demonic just by virtue of what he was.

[integrity]

"Yes, well, I want them marked to keep them away from whatever bastard creations Lucifer is making, so you can happily deal with it and call PETA later."

Crowley slowly moved to the other dogs -- and as with the first, the pain lasted a brief few seconds before they curled back up to go to sleep. He stopped, though, at the last puppy, the one Growley was carefully keeping track of, and he sighed to himself before glancing over at Castiel, annoyed.

"Do you want your mutt marked or no."

[ofthursday]

Castiel rolled his eyes just a little; the puppies were clearly fine, so he didn't protest farther. He did watch the demon though, and when he got to Castiel's puppy, he had been about to speak when Crowley did first.

"No. It's unnecessary." Considering Castiel could tell them apart just fine, as he'd said before, and wasn't too concerned about it getting mixed up with any that Lucifer was making.

[integrity]

"Don't come crying to me when Lucifer stakes some kind of claim over it because you were a bleeding heart."

But with the way Growley was now carefully cleaning it off and nudging it, it was obvious that she wouldn't allow such a thing to happen. And the puppy in question had wrapped his paws around her nose in a tiny quiet protest, but he was falling asleep under the attention, the small squeaks of aggravation slowly turning into tiny yawns as Growley carefully nosed him into a tiny ball to sleep.