heresyandlace | Personal Comm

[as soon as Crowley arrives, it won't take long to figure out that something strange is going on. the place is silent--not a single out soul seems to be docked nearby, and no one seems to be browsing the meager wares of the station. these places aren't ever exactly bustling, but usually there is someone else within sight after a little searching. but the air is quiet and still here, and charged with tense energy coming from something.

whenever Crowley makes it to the plastic park in the center of the station, there is where he will finally find Tek.

the dragon is in the dead center of the space, sitting on the back of one of the benches, with his feet on the seat--perched nice and high so he can be seen from a distance. his back is to the demon, shoulders hunched with his elbows propped on his knees, seemingly waiting.]

[Crowley makes his way over, casting a few worried glances around him. Something is definitely not right here. He tries not to show any concern when he moves to take a seat besides Tek. Keep it casual.]

So.

[he glances down at Crowley when he sits, expression unreadable. but the tension--his latent, angry aura--tells more about his mood than his face does, with the way that it nearly hums in the air.

and he's too antsy to sit. he can't even pretend to lounge and bask when he's already having trouble keeping himself together. the fact that he's lasted this long without destroying anything, or even letting his mask slip, is a miracle.

so, he stands and steps down from the bench.]

--So. We're going to have some fun, you and I.

[and he sends him a piercing little glance, then.]

Have you thought much about the calibrations since you've been back?

[He can feel that tension and it does nothing for his nerves. Something has happened, and he knows Tek won't tell him directly what. Not without going around the park a few times, anyway, wandering around the point in a lazy circle before reaching it. ]

Once in a while, why?

[at least he's catching on to how to deal with the dragon.]

How much of it do you remember? Have you wondered or thought about about what exactly people have seen?

I remember all of it.

But I tend not to think too much on it. People see what they see, not much I can do about it. Atroma have the wheel on that one.

And you don't mind?

[he narrows his eyes, a little. he might not remember much of his own room, but he remembers the demon's memories being relived, and the look on his face when it'd happened.]

Not one bit?

[Crowley exhales, rubbing a hand through his hair. ]

There's stuff I'm not happy about being dredged up, but there's nothing I can do about that now. It's out and that's that. No point in bitching about it.

That's it? Some great, unseen force goes rooting through your head, letting other people in... and you're not upset about it?

[--the agitation just beginning to edge a little bit into his voice.]

[Crowley turns to give Tek a level look. ]

In Paradisa, we'd call that a Tuesday.

Yes, I'm upset, but railing about it won't do a bloody thing. It'll still happen, if I complain about it or not.

[and now it's Tek's turn to raise an eyebrow.]

...Do you let everything kick you around without a fuss like this, or only the things that you can't see?

Depends on what the thing is. You've got to understand, some of us here have been dealing with this bullshit for years. Eventually, you just learn to roll with it.

Oh, please. I was created for some invisible higher power to kick around.

But, I don't intend on just rolling over and letting them have their way with me, before I at least make a mess of things, first.

[and the lazy glow in his eyes flares brighter, as he begins to bleed some of the intangible energy he normally keeps a bit more contained.]

[Uh oh. Crowley shuffles, a little uncomfortably. ]

Look. I'm all for fighting the system and all that, but making a mess of things? That can backlash. Really, really badly. For everyone.

[he steps closer to the demon, energy continuing to seethe up around him.]

You said it yourself-- they're going to do it anyway, aren't they? So, what good is playing nice really going to do?

They want you scared. They want to know you're harmless.

I didn't say I was scared. I'm just not prepared to unleash hell, literal or otherwise, on this place. It's not worth it.

[What he means is that innocent people could get hurt, but as always, he doesn't say that. ]

Isn't it? It's going to take them doing more? What exactly are you waiting for?

They've already let people into your head to see what a monster you are.

[If Tek was fishing for a reaction, he's definitely got one with that last comment. It hits too close to home, rubbing salt into a wound that Paradisa left and never truly healed. Because this is the crux of things: no matter how Crowley acts like he doesn't care, he absolutely and completely does. With every fibre of his being. He's spent thousands upon thousands of years doing everything in his power to not be a monster. To be something different.

Something horribly close to hurt flashes across his features for a moment. But just a moment. Then he tightens his jaw and stands in a fluid moment. The lackadaisical aura around him dissipates instantly, the lazy smirk gone. This isn't some half-assed yuppie that's apparently a demon but can't be arsed acting like one any more. Suddenly, he's carrying himself like something very powerful and very, very old. ]

Find someone else for your bloody crusade. We're done here.

[the thing he's always quietly looking for in Crowley--and clawing for now--is there. he can see it. and it's just as dark and dangerous and familiar as he'd hoped.

it's not a good thing. but everything else cracking apart and giving away around him makes this seem more like a lifeline than a threat.

because, Tek has one of those wounds now too. and he's gotten a little desperate for something familiar.

instead of letting him go, he steps forward, urgently trying to keep the demon facing him and listening.]

Who are you mad at right now? Truly?

[Unfortunately for Tek, it's having the opposite effect on Crowley. His walls are going up. Not the ones built with sardonic remarks that some unfortunates sometimes get dealt with. These walls are worse. Thicker, taller, more solid.

He does look at Tek, but his expression is neutral. The feelings he had (and he did have them) for the dragon getting put behind the wall slowly. Brick by brick.]

Don't mistake my disappointment for anger, Tek.

[And with that, he starts to walk away.]

[he was so close. he'd seen behind the wall; it was right there. something hurt and old, something toyed with by something unreachable, something just like him. it should have been pulled out. it should have turned to anger, even if that anger had been aimed at him. that would have been much preferable to it disappearing like this.

because he watches as it is suddenly gone. he can feel himself being pushed away, and--again--it happens when he's least expecting it.

all of the tense, furious energy waiting to be unleashed is still there, but there's a shiver through the whole thing. for a small second, his face falls, and the surprise is visible.]

Wait--

[he can't really be leaving him, can he?]

[Crowley stops, shoes scuffing the metal surface of the floor. He remains there for a moment, body tense. His hands clench and unclench for a minute. He doesn't turn around, but he does look over his shoulder, eyebrows furrowed. ]

Why?

[A thousand questions in one. Why dredge things like this up? Why probe and try to make it worse? Why does he want that very carefully restrained part of him out at all? But the more prevalent why is the simplest. Why should he wait? ]

[it's a very rare instance when Tek truly needs to search for what to say. but now, there is a pause while he cycles past the horrible words that spring into his mind first-- because you can't leave me. because there aren't many left. because we're not done.

he needs to step back and return to the cause of the whole thing. he forces his shoulders even, but his hands clench to mirror the demon's.]

Because... that's not what I meant.

[however the demon had taken what he'd said, it must have gone wrong somewhere.]

[Crowley can feel the anger, clawing away at him. He wants to be angry, but at the same time, he doesn't. That's what Tek wants, and he absolutely cannot let that side of him out. Never again.

He does turn this time, to look at Tek. The neutrality is slipping a little, the hurt showing through like the shifting of a shadow in a moving car. It's hard to see, but it's there.]

And what did you mean, exactly?

[There's a horrible edge to his tone. Make or break. He isn't playing a game any more. ]

[he at least understands the weight here--the fact that Crowley even turns at all shows the thin edge that this is balanced on. and normally, those are the kind of odds that Tek doesn't bother with. it's been a longstanding habit of his to let something go long before it has a chance to turn on him. but that had been in a world where there were a million opportunities to start over again. he'd just have to walk long enough until he left it behind and ran into somewhere to begin again. some new face to trick into spending time with him.

but, since being stripped of that and pulled from one sparse world to another, that he might have to actually work to keep a few things.

so, he bites his tongue, only just barely, before continuing.]

I meant that we're monsters [--with a very intentional use of 'we' there,] ...In that we're not like them. We have to put on masks, and step a very careful little dance, and hide the things that we're capable of. That we have done. And then something comes along--

[he takes a breath to fight the rage back from a boiling point, because these words are hard enough to lay out in a row as it is. the tension is already strangling in his chest.]

You may not care that people crawled around in your head and saw your secrets, but I do... And I've already lost something because of it.

Personal Comm | IC Inbox

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FINALLY, sorry

IT'S OK I'M SUPER SLOW RN

OKAY picking this up for real now /cracks knuckles

Awww YIS

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I'd lost this notif yaaay. :|

it's ok I'll make up for it

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