The cards flashed repeatedly between her tawny palms, as Mira shuffled the deck. She kept her dark blue eyes trained on the bits of paper lulling between her slender fingers, rather than embrace the hardened gaze of Crowley sitting opposite her. She had never agreed with Dean's decision to shackle him like a rabid animal, yet she didn't dare unfasten his bindings. Crowley's pleasantly gravely voice shattered the silence. "Why are you here? Moose send you? Thought maybe you'd soften me up?" he asked. Mira remained silent, her concentration largely unbroken except for the smallest of twitches on her scarlet-toned lips. "Ah...I get it. They left you behind, didn't they? The third wheel, unwelcome when its no longer needed to...lubricate one of the others."
Mira's anger showed as she slapped the deck of cards onto the tabletop. Crowley smirked, knowing he had struck a nerve, but to his surprise Mira also smirked. Shaking her dark hair behind her shoulders, Mira reclined in her seat and started to split the deck. "Believe it or not, I chose to stay behind...keep your sorry ass company." she announced.
Crowley sat forward to the best of his ability, interlocking his fingers. "Oh? May I ask why?" he inquired as Mira dealt the cards between them.
"I hoped you might share what Dean's keeping from me..." Mira said, thumping her cards into place.
"Do I appear to be in the sharing mood to you?" Crowley retorted with a bored glower.
"No. But I know you're bored...pick up your cards." Mira replied.
Crowley's hands enclosed around his cards, with the tiniest of smirks."You want to know what Squirrel is keeping from you? A great many things I'm sure..most of them involving women. Something in particular?" he baited, raising his brow in inquiry. "Names maybe? Planning a crime of passion doll?"
"If I were to hunt down every woman Dean slept with...I'd likely put my own gender on the brink of extinction."
"Yet you still love the sod."
Mira was silent a moment and in her moment of silence, she looked so vulnerable that Crowley almost felt uncomfortable."...We're playing poker. And no, I'm not betting my soul or your freedom." Mira announced.
Crowley rearranged his cards, quite the feat considering his shackles, then slid his half of the cards back towards Mira. "No use playing if there aren't any stakes luv."
"I said those weren't the stakes, I didn't say there wouldn't be any.." Mira responded, pushing his cards back at him, before fetching something from the lining of her jean jacket. Crowley tilted his head, eying the prize as she set it alongside the edge of the table. A syringe gleamed beneath the harsh lightbulb hanging overhead. "You beat me, I'll give you a sample of my blood. If I win, you tell me what Dean's up to. It's as simple as that.."
"You do realize, regardless of who wins, Dean is going to be upset..?" Crowley asked, palming his cards into an upright position.
"Do I look bothered to you?" Mira challenged, her face unchanged.
Crowley smirked. "No."
"Then let's play." Mira said, lowering her gaze onto her cards.
Mira's cards sliced through the air as she threw her deck across the room. "Didn't Father Glenn ever tell you not to play poker with demons?" he jeered, watching with amusement as Mira ran her agitated fingers through her wavy hair. "I suppose that'd be a given wouldn't it? All hunters ever teach their liter is how to maim and slaughter. Never spend time on the finer aspects."
"Shut up." Mira snapped with a scowl.
"For what it's worth, you fared better than I thought you would..." Crowley earnestly replied, as her hand clawed at the syringe.
Mira stood, rolling up her sleeve. "Do you know how Dean saved Sam, yes or no?" she demanded. Crowley remained silent as Mira took off we belt. "I'm not giving you my blood until you answer me..." she continues, fastening the belt against her arm.
"Than why bother with the card game?"
"CROWLEY."
"You think he made a deal." Crowley stated with a shake of his head. "If he did, it wasn't with me.."
"Swear it." Mira instructed, her precious red liqueur filling the base if the syringe.
Crowley rolled his eyes irritably. "I swear by my unholy kingdom, alright? Now give it here..." he encouraged, angling his neck sideways the best he could. Sighing in defeat, Mira eased the needle from her vein into his throat, the syringe knocking against Crowley's collar. An inferno of emotion thrived into Crowley's blank being, a tingling high that oozed throughout every fiber of his long-dead meatsuit. Opening his contented eyes, Crowley inhaled deeply, a rigid smile combing his lips. He observed Mira begrudgingly picking up the cards she had scattered across the floor. "Mira...? A hunter's life is short, you shouldn't waste yours pining after Dean...how long's it been already– 9 years? I thought you were a smarter woman than that..." At long last, Mira's lovely faced darkened into a glare, but it didn't satisfy Crowley as he thought it would. "The point I was trying to make doll, is the Winchesters have only lasted this long by climbing over the bodies of those closest to them. Considering your vast affection for Dean, it's only a matter of time before you're next.."
A tart laugh emitted from Mira's mouth, as she stuffed the deck of cards back into its package. "Yeah I know..." she mumbled. Crowley's eyes narrowed as Mira tossed the card box onto the table; it skidded to a stop inches from his fingertips. "...I just don't care Crowley. Love has that fickle affect sometimes, where the threat of death is preferable than the thought of being without that person." Mira paused, staring into thin air with her arms crossed. "I don't expect you to understand..." She murmured, heading for the exit.