Three is a Crowd
Bjarni walked into this cavern down a long pathway, where there was the foundation of a house started, surrounded by holes, like he was planning on putting in some ponds. She had no idea what he was doing and she wasn't about to ask. He wouldn't tell her anyway.
She saw Crowley painting sigils with his blood on the cavern walls and he no doubt noticed her presence, but didn't care. Typical Crowley.
"Crowley, a word?" she asked and, without turning his back, replied in his usual snarky manner. Also typical Crowley.
"Blasé. An adjective used when unconcerned, unimpressed by something because of having experienced it before." He replied and as she approached, fought the urge to sigh with agitation. "Such as demons thinking they deserve a second of my time." he added, still keeping his back to her.
Bjarni rolled her eyes in response, deciding to play along to his little game.
"More like aloof, unwilling to become involved with other people, until you realize that I'm here for Rowan." Bjarni said and when he finally decided she was worth a second of his time, turned and frowned as he stared at her. She ignored whatever could possibly be going through his mind and stood at a good distance, crossing her arms over her chest. "Rowan worked herself to exhaustion and then tried to eat me." she said and Crowley's lips twitched into a small grin. Of course he'd like to hear that. But he had no idea how terrifying it was to have someone you respect so much try to devour you like a chocolate milkshake. "It's not funny. Her eyes turned black, like a demon. Never had I seen her do that." She said and he just stared at her, his eyes narrowed, as if he was thinking.
"And you'd know." He replied, as if put off that she made it sound like she knew Rowan far longer than he did. Well, it so happened to be true.
"I'm Bjarni, Hel's draugr, guard and servant. Even as a demon, I'm forever loyal to Rowan. So yes, Crowley, I'd know. What I don't know is what happened to her. She just tried to eat me." she said and Crowley approached, looking deep into her eyes. It unnerved her, so she stepped back and he frowned at her, as if to say he had no interest in her in that way.
"How do you feel?" he asked her and the question puzzled her.
"Peachy, considering Rowan sucked me in and then spit me out." Bjarni said, letting out the fact that Raganhar got Rowan to spit her out. That wasn't a pleasant experience. Then, it dawned on her why he was asking that question. "If you mean about me slowly becoming human, I know. Rowan didn't understand how." Bjarni added and he continued to stare at her with this glimmer of curiosity. "Are you going to check on Rowan or do I get to tell her that my second of your time was up?" She concluded, getting that usual expression he gave to demons that annoyed him.
She followed him silently out of Hell and watched as he looked at the escalator Rowan had built. It only worked when someone was going down. He grinned as the images sculpted into the walls by the escalator and then looked around at the entrance of the Underworld. It was pretty bare, but he seemed impressed with everything Rowan had done.
Bjarni gestured to the other escalator and he continued to look with a grin, especially at the lobby where a design of herself and her brothers stared at him from the center of the floor. No doubt he was impressed with Rowan's work.
Bjarni walked ahead of him, opening Gadreel's penthouse for him.
"She's in the room to the left, resting." Bjarni said and watched as Crowley walked in, Agmundr and Raganhar walking out. "How is she?" she asked her two comrades.
"Out cold." Raganhar replied. "You?" he asked with a bit of concern which made her grin.
"Fine. Thanks for saving my ass." She said and he smiled at her.
"We should continue working on those iPads." Agmundr said, looking at Bjarni and Raganhar with what could have been considered jealousy in his eyes. Bjarni grinned at him and led the way to the office.
In that modern styled bedroom, Rowan laid so still, looking beautiful as always. Crowley sat on the edge of the bed, stroking her cheek as she slept peacefully. Just by looking down at her, he could see she was beyond exhausted. It was no wonder she tried to eat her servant; she needed raw energy and that could only be found in a soul. Rowan's servant, whose demon essence was slowly turning back into a human soul, was the best source of raw energy that Rowan could devour.
Crowley was astonished by everything she had accomplished. While he was building her dream house, she built all of Helheim. She was impressing on so many levels, Crowley thought with a slight grin.
He was also impressed with how she tried to eat Bjarni. He couldn't get over it. If she could consume a demon soul, no doubt feeding on its power and being able to use it, than she was so much stronger than he anticipated. Naturally, killing Abaddon proved her strength, but now attempting to eat her servant? The only creatures Crowley knew that could eat souls were the Leviathans and, last he checked, Rowan wasn't one of God's first beasts.
Unless she got that little trick from her mother's side of the family because that certainly didn't come from her father. Very little is known of her mother.
As Crowley pushed her hair over her shoulder, out of her neck, he knew she was in a deep sleep, probably dreaming. There was no waking her, not that he wanted to try. Rowan needed rest, since she couldn't eat any souls. Too bad he couldn't see what would have happened if she had eaten a demonic being, regardless of it slowly reverting back to a human soul. Would she have unleashed some sort of darkness?
He was certain that, underneath that beautiful surface, were layers of power, and the very bottom which was her core was darkness; so sure that it intrigued him. She was such a divine creature who never ceased to amaze him. She went from this odd little thing, flirting with him, to this ostentatious Goddess (unintended of course), sleeping with him (completely intended). How lucky he considered himself to be.
At that moment, someone walked in and stopped. Crowley looked up into the eyes on what he knew too well to be an angel. Obviously, that had to be Gadreel.
"Crowley." the angel said in his raspy voice. He chose a handsome vessel. No doubt Gadreel was one of the reasons why Rowan came to see him in Hell for a little distraction. It was obvious that she wanted him above all others. Naturally.
"Gadreel." Crowley said, standing up, looking and sounding like the authoritative King of Hell, letting the angel know who was boss. Or, in this case, who was Rowan's lover. And Rowan said he wasn't jealous. Well, he wasn't because that would suggest he had insecurities in regards to Gadreel. That was ridiculously hilarious.
"How is she?" Gadreel asked, glancing at her with concern in his eyes. Crowley could tell that he already bonded with Rowan. Everyone around her just seemed to love her so much that it was easy to give her their loyalty. Interesting.
"Fatigued would be an understatement." He replied, maintaining his stare on the angel. "I hear you're looking for a way back into Heaven." He said, getting Gadreel's attention. He didn't want to talk about Rowan with him. "Metatron has both tablets." He added and watched the suspicion form in the angel's eyes. Oh, that was just too cute.
"Yes." Gadreel replied, the suspicion burning in his eyes now. "With Rowan's help, we'll find a way to break his hold on Heaven." He added and Crowley nodded. Even when Gadreel didn't trust him, he gave Crowley information. The angels don't come brighter than that. Pretty soon, he'd have this angel eating out of his palm. No wonder Rowan kept him around, but knowing her sweet little heart, she genuinely wanted to work with this disregarded angel.
"Fascinating." He replied, which Gadreel didn't quite buy. He knew that the wayward demon King of Hell was interested in the Demon tablet. Perhaps being tortured and locked away made Gadreel smarter. Or he was seriously holding a grudge against demons due to Lucifer.
They simply stared at each other, neither moving. Bjarni walked into the room, looking at them and sighing.
"I say this respectfully: get out and let Rowan rest." She said, gesturing for both to leave the room. Crowley narrowed his eyes at her, but she stood her ground until he left and she closed the bedroom door behind her. "Gadreel, I washed your cup and placed it back in the cupboard." She said with a bit of softness in her voice. He nodded and sat down on the sofa, not sure what else to do in the fabulous place Rowan obviously made for him.
"So, Rowan built this for you?" Crowley asked, looking around the penthouse. No offense to Rowan, but it was wasted on Gadreel.
"Yes." Gadreel replied, staring at Crowley with a little bit of pride in his eyes, mostly because of the fact that Rowan made him a penthouse which meant that she valued his presence in Helheim. And he was very proud of that.
"And you'll do what, exactly, around here?" Crowley asked and Gadreel frowned, not really appreciating getting interrogated by Rowan's boyfriend.
"I'll oversee the first level of Helheim." He replied, letting it show in his tone of voice that he wasn't impressed and he was still very suspicious.
"Only the first level." Crowley said and grinned as Gadreel narrowed his eyes at him.
"The most important." Gadreel replied with conviction, getting back to his pride that Rowan was thrilled to have him in her part of the Underworld. He was clearly offended by Crowley.
"I'm sure it is." Crowley replied, teasing Gadreel.
"Do I have to stay and play referee?" Bjarni asked, glancing at the both of them.
"No. Thank you." Gadreel said and she looked at Crowley one last time, as if she didn't trust him, and left the penthouse, going to the office next door.
"Find a way into Heaven yet?" Crowley asked and received a frown from Gadreel. His silence was his response. It was evident that he wasn't going to tell the King of Hell. What a shame.
They sat in a bored silence, until Crowley had enough and turned on the television for some noise. Gadreel said nothing, as if grateful for something to fill the awkward silence as Crowley had invited himself into his apartment.