New Friend
Rowan reached for her glass of whiskey and entered the room. Apparently, standing where she was, he couldn't see her. When she entered the small room, stepping into the light above him, he could see her and his lips widened as they stared at each other.
"A lovely voice and a lovely face." He said and seized her up, mostly her middle half. "What a nice change." He added and she took a sip of her whiskey. "Care to share?" he asked and she grinned as he eyed the glass.
"You're handcuffed." She said and he gave her a charming smile. She took another sip and mimicked his smile.
"What a tease." He said, his smiled turning into a grin.
"So, how are you useful to me?" she asked and his grin grew dark. She could assume he was a dangerous man, but that didn't seem to fit. He seemed like something much more… insidious.
"First, your name." he said and she arched an eyebrow at him.
"You first." She said, expecting him to pass the potato back to her, so to speak.
"Crowley." he replied. "Your turn." He added and she grinned.
"Rowan." She said and his grin turned into a dark smile. "Now, back to my question." She said. Apparently, he found this to be amusing. Oh joy.
"No doubt the Winchesters are interested in you." He said and she arched her eyebrow again. "Perhaps if you tell me how you met them." He added and she placed the glass on the table, which he immediately eyed.
"There was a giant snake, who they think could be Jormungand, terrorizing women at my college." Rowan began and Crowley grinned, as if there was something funny there. "They had tracked it and they believed it was after me. Then it found me and they killed it. They keep telling me that I spoke to it, but I don't remember that or anything else others found creepy about me. The Winchesters keep trying to make me remember." She concluded and Crowley's expression didn't change.
As he stared at her, Crowley felt there was something different about her. Now it made a bit more sense and the Winchester had caught on. However, they didn't have a clue. Crowley was going to beat them to it. He already had her opening up, revealing herself bit by bit.
"They haven't told me what I apparently told the snake." Rowan said and Crowley grinned.
"They're withholding information. It's what they do." he said, but then he seemed slightly puzzled. "However, if they haven't told you what you had apparently said, it could be they didn't understand." He said and now Rowan was the puzzled one. "Another language, perhaps." He concluded and Rowan frowned.
"I don't know another language." She said and Crowley gave her a small grin.
"What have they told you?" he asked and she shifted from one foot to another, as if she was tired of standing. "My Dear, do sit down." He said, eyeing the corner of the table. Rowan hesitated, but did sit at the corner, turning towards him.
"They told me the myths of Jormungand, that he was one of three children that the Giantess Angroboda bore with Loki. His siblings were Fenrir the wolf and Hel the ruler of the dead." She replied, looking a little disappointed. "That's pretty much sums it up." She concluded and Crowley nodded.
"What about the snake? You said it terrorized women." He said and she nodded. "Then it came after you." He added, staring at her as if she should know what that means. She frowned, more or less saying that she didn't have a clue. "Did they have a theory?" he asked and she shook her head.
"Not one that they shared with me." Rowan said and his stare became less intense, but it seemed curious. "Dean said I spoke to that snake like Harry Potter." She added and Crowley grinned, finding that funny.
"He does love his pop culture." He said and she smiled in agreement.
"Why do they keep you chained up?" Rowan blurted, making Crowley grin with amusement. She expected him to deflect her question, but he suddenly became unpredictable. No wonder he said it was a mistake to underestimate him.
"Don't you have an idea of what I am?" he asked and she shook her head. "Don't they teach you anything at college?" he asked and she shook her head with a slight grin. "I'm a demon, Darling." He replied and she arched an eyebrow at him.
"A demon?" she asked and he smiled with pride.
"I know things and they know that I know and they want me to share what I know, but I won't, as you know." He said and she smiled, which he found amusing and intriguing.
"Never would have imagined a demon being so witty." Rowan said and he sort of gave her a profile of his face, with a smile, and then twisted his hands palm up.
"I'm one of a kind." He replied and she let out a small laugh.
"Never would have imagined a demon looking the way you do, either." Rowan said and Crowley's smiled widened.
"Sadly, they don't come as pretty as me." he replied, which got her to laugh again. "We possess, Darling. Our true form is just a puff of smoke." He added and she nodded, finding that intriguing.
"Tell me more." She said, her eyes shining like an eager child for a bedtime story. Interesting.
"First, that glass of whiskey." He said and she arched an eyebrow at him. It seemed she was about to say something, but brushed it off. She stood up, grabbed the glass of whiskey and approached him. As he lifted his eyes up to her, he could see a mixture of suspicion and distrust in her eyes as she looked down at him.
She gently set the glass on his lips and raised it, allowing the amber liquid to slip into his mouth for a couple of seconds. She pulled the glass away and he smiled up at her.
"Exquisite." He replied and she leaned against the table, taking a sip of whiskey too.
"It's okay." She said and his smiled turned into a grin.
"Yes, the whiskey too, I suppose." He said and, as she lowered the glass from her lips, meeting his eyes with that suspicion.
Did he just say she was exquisite?
"Now, if you must know more about me, I'm afraid a deal is in order." He added and she frowned at him.
"A deal?" she asked, puzzled.
"What are you willing to offer me?" he asked and her frown increased, that distrust strong in her eyes which seemed like a dark brown now. How odd. They were a light brown earlier. "Perhaps your most intimate details, however you wish to interpret that? Your time devoted to me, in conversation and whiskey? All of the above?" he added and her frown relaxed as a smile grew on her face. He thought a little wit would get her to relax.
"How about what goes on in this little room stays in this little room?" she asked and he arched an eyebrow with terrible curiosity. "What we share will be our secret which neither of us will share with Sam and Dean, even if its information they so desperately want." She added, as in to clarify, and his smiled turned sinister.
"Can't we wrap it up into one nice package?" he asked, dropping his eyes down to her body that was now so close to him.
"Play your cards right and it could be." Rowan said, her eyes becoming very dark, just before she resumed sitting at the corner of the table, away from him, drinking the whiskey.
"We haven't sealed our deal, Darling." Crowley said and she glanced at him with a slight smile, curious.
"And how do demons do that?" she asked and he smiled, puckering his lips. "A kiss? Really?" she asked and, despite her shock, her eyes were dark once again, like she enjoyed that idea.
"I would imagine all girls go weak at the knees, thinking of kissing a demon." Crowley said with a charming smile. Rowan let out a small laugh, still with that expression in her eyes. She very much wanted to kiss him. She stood up and walked over to him, that look in her eyes intensifying as he leaned over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. Rowan brought her lips down on Crowley, sealing their deal, but in an instant, the kiss grew hard, full of hunger. Crowley decided to encourage this kiss in order to see what would happen.
Her hands flew up to his neck, her fingers soon entwined in his hair as she forced her tongue into his mouth, sucking the breath out of him. It was indeed a deep hunger, one that couldn't possibly come from a girl like Rowan. She then sat on his lap, wrapping her arms tight around his shoulders, pressing her lips hard against his, and then pulling them into her mouth with her tongue.
It was safe to say Crowley hadn't ever seal a deal quite like this.
When her hunger had been satisfied, she ended their kiss slowly, and then he caught his reflection in her eyes. They were no longer dark, but a sight he had never seen. Her irises were black while her pupils were a smoky gray, as if light were shining within. As he stared into her eyes, he saw Death. Not the Horseman, but the realm after Life, her realm.
In an instant, nearly as fast as it came, her eyes shifted back to a light brown and Rowan's cheeks turned a bright red. She jumped off his lamp and turned her back to him, embarrassed. It's no wonder she couldn't remember the strange things that happened to her. It was like she was two different people. And he had now seen both.
Rowan and Hel.