A/N:
So I was re-watching 'LARP and the Real Girl' (love that episode), and I started thinking to myself; 'Hey, what if Crowley actually had a soft spot for LARPing? And the Winchesters found him in Moondoor some time while visiting Charlie? That would be kind of hilarious…' And thus I decided to write this one-shot about it! Yeah, I like fanfics about the King of Hell having a soft side – I find the idea amusing. Plus, Crowley and Charlie are two of the most awesome characters; I love them both so much and also enjoy writing them. Anyhow, I should probably get on with writing this, so I hope you guys like it!
P.S. This doesn't mean I'm quitting my other fanfic ('Bad Parenting'), this is just an idea I had which would likely have faded if I didn't act on it immediately. I'll soon be updating my other one. Thanks!
It was a conventional morning in the life of Sam and Dean Winchester. The boys had just woken up in yet another grotty motel room at the crack of dawn (the opportunity of a lie-in was extremely rare), Dean was getting a wash and a change of clothes in the mould-smothered bathroom while Sam began to research on his cherished laptop for their next case. As the older brother started the process of brushing his teeth, an idea popped into his head. After gargling some tepid water in order to clear his throat, he leaned around the bathroom door and addressed his brother.
"Hey, Sammy – we're between jobs, right?"
"Right…" Sam replied in a suspicious tone; Dean had put on that childish voice that Sam knew too well that he used when he wanted something. It was rather amusing, actually. Sam never failed to recognise the tone, therefore it didn't often work on him, not unless he wanted the same thing his brother was asking for, whereas Sammy's 'puppy-dog eyes' undeniably tricked Dean every single time. Despite being burdened with the knowledge that it probably wouldn't succeed, the older Winchester maintained his innocent nagging voice and continued.
"And you know how we haven't had much fun, or met up with any friends in a while?" Cutting him off, the younger brother chuckled in a disbelieving tone and spoke.
"Uh, no, Dean. You are not going to a bar to hook up, not this time in the morning. And what do you mean, 'friends'? All our friends are dead."
"You misunderstand me. What I was suggesting was that we go and do some… LARPing. Ah, wait- hear me out, Sammy." Dean shushed his little brother as he scoffed at his ludicrous idea until he shut his mouth, and then carried out his full explanation. "I know you're not that into it, but we can visit Charlie while we're there, see how she's holding up from her last encounter with the supernatural that we rudely dragged her into." Sam rolled his eyes, mentally correcting his brother, since Charlie had wanted to be involved in the first place, but didn't complain about seeing her again – after all, she was like a little sister to them, and was fun to be around. "Come on, man. We're in Michigan right now. It's not like we have to travel far, and I know a cool costume shop on the way. You know you want to…"
Perceiving his brother's ridiculously excitable grin, Sam couldn't help but smile back, sigh and reluctantly turn off his laptop, standing up in preparation to leave. "Fine, fine – but only for a few hours, okay?" He ordered strictly, forcing Dean to promise as his brother dashed out of the door, his bags already having been packed. He'd known Sam wouldn't be able to resist.
After an hour or so of travelling (plus another half hour spent picking out decent LARPing outfits – Dean was surprisingly meticulous in finding the right one), the Winchester boys had arrived at Moondoor – Michigan's largest LARPing game.
"Alright!" Dean exclaimed cheerfully, not even bothering to hide his love of LARPing anymore. All around them were dedicated LARPers clad in medieval clothing; elves with their prosthetic pointy ears and beautifully embroidered gowns; 'Followers of the Moon' dressed up in red-and-white checked armour and chain mail; 'Warriors of Yesteryear' with somewhat aggressive facial expressions; and finally, the Shadow Orcs, swathed in black robes with their faces generally hidden. The older brother felt at home, yet Sam was significantly more uncomfortable, smiling awkwardly at passers-by as he urged Dean forwards.
"C'mon, Dean – let's go see Charlie and then we can be off." He knew he wouldn't spoil his geek brother's fun by raining his grumpiness on his glorious LARP parade, however he also wasn't going soft on him. Still grinning, Dean turned to face Sammy and commented wittily.
"I think you'll find that's 'Her Majesty' you're talking about." Giggling at his lame response, Dean smirked at his disapproving brother before moving on. "Right-o, off to the Queen it is."
Once the boys had reached Charlie's tent, Sam swept the golden curtain to one side, since he couldn't exactly knock on the fabric. "Uh, Charlie? Your Highness?" He called out tentatively, feeling ridiculous already. Sammy frowned when she didn't reply, being reluctant to trek through the entire field and forest, having to remain in character while searching for the Queen of Moondoor. Fortunately for him, they didn't have far to go; Charlie called out from behind them, clearly just about to enter her tent. In tow was a Shadow Orc with its head lowered, its hood shielding its face.
"Sam! Dean! Great to see you guys! Or not… Oh blerg, there's not more monsters after me, is there? Seriously, we only just got rid of Boltar and I reclaimed the Forever Crown in the Battle of the Kingdoms… I don't want more trouble-"
"No monsters this time, we promise. We just wanted to come say 'hey' and Dean's kinda obsessed with the whole LARPing thing now, so don't worry." Sam interrupted Charlie's panicked rant, which calmed her down instantly.
"Whew, thank ye gods for that! So, uh – how long are you here for? It's genre crossover this weekend, that's your forte, right?" Entering the tent, Charlie allowed herself to break character for a bit while she caught up with the boys, but her face dropped a little when Sam explained they wouldn't be staying for long. The Queen explained what had happened since the 'Battle of the Kingdoms' – basically, she had blossomed all the more as Queen, and had managed to unite the different species of Moondoor, hence her new 'hand maiden' being a Shadow Orc.
"Yeah, it's better this way. We do battle every now and then, but it's mostly hot she-elves and happiness all round. Speaking of, I haven't heard from Gilda since… you know… but it's all good." Charlie concluded, beaming at the Winchesters. She could sense that Dean wished to explore a little, so was about to lead them out of the tent, but was stopped when the older brother posed his last question, gesturing towards the Shadow Orc, who was skulking in the corner of the tent, his face still invisible under his cloak.
"So, introduce me – who's this? Not another using-real-magic-spells-out-of-a-book-from-eBay obsessive, I hope."
"No, definitely not…" Shuddering at the memory of Boltar, Charlie stood by the Shadow Orc's side and introduced him. "This is Rec Yowl, my new assistant. This one's a little quieter, so I doubt he's after becoming my king like the last one." At that, a mutter of 'damnit' could be detected from underneath the hood, followed by a significantly stronger phrase clearly addressing Sam and Dean.
"Hello, boys."
The Winchesters recognised the infamous cockney accent immediately; exchanging a look of utter shock yet also amusement as the King of Hell retracted his hood, revealing his completely humiliated facial expression. He tried desperately to cover up his embarrassment by standing tall and regaining what was left of his dignity, yet it barely worked.
"Crowley? What the hell are you doing here?!" Dean stage-whispered, striding across the tent and getting up in the demon's personal space as he demanded an answer.
"Wait a minute – you know this guy?" Charlie piped up, as confused as just about everyone else in the room as she turned to Sam for an explanation. He simply shrugged his broad shoulders and gestured that Dean would soon make everything become clear soon enough. They both reverted their attention back to Dean and Crowley, the former of whom was still staring expectantly at the latter, who had the most accurate interpretation (expression-wise) of shrugging that they had ever seen.
"What can I say; it's my day off! Can't the King of Hell have a little R&R once in a while?" Crowley retorted. Although his pride may have been destroyed entirely, his sass still remained strong as ever.
"Sure, but LARPing? You? Seriously?" Dean snorted, shaking his head in bewilderment as he walked back over to his brother. The demon opened his arms out wide, his palms facing upwards in defeat.
"Alright, alright, so maybe I was trying to take over the kingdoms – sue me. Hell was far too easy to claim; some chaos left over from Satan's departure and every demon was willing to bend over backwards for me once I appointed myself. Here, it's much more of a challenge, believe it or not."
"Wait, so you were trying to become king? You were planning on overthrowing me as Queen and rule over Moondoor yourself? All because you're bored of Hell? Unbelievable." Surprisingly, Charlie took the news about the King of Hell infiltrating her LARP game very well, and seemed more concerned about his plan to get rid of her. Then again, it probably wouldn't take much to surprise her nowadays, after what she'd seen of Leviathans and real-life magicians. After a brief moment of incredulous silence and hesitation on the Winchester's part, Dean finally strolled across the tent over to Crowley again, grabbing his arm and escorting him out.
"Okay, that's enough. You're leaving." He stated, ignoring the demon's struggle to escape his grip, as teleporting of any kind was banned in Moondoor.
"Hey, no- hang on, mate!" Crowley protested, and then turned back to the Queen. "But we got along, you and I! We were friends!"
"I don't think so." Charlie replied, hands on hips as she nodded for Dean to continue hauling the demon's butt outside, and for Sam to follow. Once in daylight again, the four noticed a small crowd had gathered outside the tent, willing to defend their Queen at a moment's notice when they realised there was another traitor in their wake. The girl instantly slipped back into character, tilting her chin up and regaining a royal posture as she shouted at the King of Hell.
"You are hereby banned from this kingdom, never to return! Hand maiden, show him the exit!" Assuming Charlie was talking about him, Dean nodded and shoved Crowley ahead of him, signalling at him to leave.
"Well. Can't blame a girl for trying." The King of Hell smirked, disappearing the second he passed through the gate of Moondoor.
"Wow. There is no way I'm ever trusting a Shadow Orc again... Anyway, see you guys sometime never!" The Winchesters simply stood there with Charlie as the crowd disbanded, saying their farewells, as Dean wasn't really in the mood for LARPing after their encounter with Crowley. Once they got back in the Impala, Dean shivered.
"I feel like this outfit is bad-touching me now, knowing that the freaking King of Hell is into LARPing. What the hell?" He ripped off his chain mail, still frowning in discomfort as he started up the engine. Sam simply burst out laughing, just amused that his brother would have been put off LARPing for life after that bordering on traumatic experience.
"I don't know, man." The younger brother replied to Dean's rhetorical question, still chuckling.
"Seriously, dude. What the hell."