(no subject)

[no-npc-here.livejournal.com]

Date: January 6, 2001
Status: Private (Kit, Chas, Adam, Crowley) - Complete
Setting: En route to the Manor, Lobby, and John's old room
Summary: Into the lions' den...

"So, uh. How've you been, then?" Chas asked the woman in the passenger seat awkwardly. He liked Kit, and he'd been that sorry when she'd walked out on John (at least until the blighter had drunk himself into a state of total prathood and earned himself a solid thumping.) But he hadn't seen her in seven years, and he wasn't sure why she was here looking for John now.

He hoped she wasn't fixing to tear the man a new arsehole again. His friendship with John had barely survived the last time, and so, he strongly suspected, had John himself.

Comments

[no-npc-here.livejournal.com]

Kit could have been fairly amused at this Crowley's reaction if it hadn't so obviously involved her and John in some way: she was somewhat uncomfortably reminded of the feeling of being watched by someone she'd never seen, and resolved to ask John about it.

If, of course, she got a chance to ask John much of anything, after all this.

"Thank you, Adam," she said, and managed a rather worried smile. She couldn't help but wonder what surprises this one held, after his companion had responded so oddly to her presence. "I'm Kit, as you may've heard. D'you know what that was about, then?" she asked, nodding towards the staircase where the other man had beat his hasty retreat.

[average-adam.livejournal.com]

Adam looked a little anxious, torn between telling the truth and trying to make Kit feel more comfortable. In the end he just said, "Yeah, well, it's not really my story to tell. Prob'ly best if you just imagine that John had a dream 'bout you and Crowley saw it, too. That's not at all what happened 'a course, but it's easiest to imagine. Don't worry, though, I shouldn't think anyone else here knows you." He glanced at her bags. "Are you stayin' with us a while? Can I get you a room?"

[no-npc-here.livejournal.com]

"Oh, aye?" Kit blinked. That was an enigmatic response, to say the least. And she couldn't help but find it coincidental that the first two people she'd run into - one of whom was apparently sharing dreams with John? - seemed to know just who she was, when she couldn't recall having met either of them before.

His inquiry, however, seemed to have the affect of stilling the questions that currently raced through her head. "I... a room. Aye, for tonight at least, if you would. Nothin' fancy." She approached the desk as the young man circled around behind it. Chas looked to be right about the place being upscale, and she hoped that "nothin' fancy" was still somewhere in her price range.

[average-adam.livejournal.com]

Coincidence didn't really mean anything when Adam was around. "Yup," he said cheerfully, peering at the guest book. "Well, I c'n give you John's old room on the third floor. It's vacant now that he's in the suite with Crowley on the second. The room's definitely not fancy, but it's got its own bath and if you need anythin', I'm jus' down the hall. That all right?" The boy smiled comfortingly.

[no-npc-here.livejournal.com]

... Oh.

Well, it would certainly be easier to share dreams when you're sharing a suite, now wouldn't it?

Kit wondered if that's why Chas had been so tight-lipped about what John was doing here; then, somewhat startled, she wondered if Chas even knew. She felt rather feverish at the thought, and then realized that she was flushing furiously and wished in vain that she would stop.

Apparently 'That was all a long time ago,' and 'Look, I don't go for that sort of thing anymore,' and - what was that last one? - oh, 'Oi, I like women, all right?' were all relative turns of phrase.

She gave the young man a smile, which she was afraid looked altogether sheepish. "Aye, that'll be fine, thank you."

[average-adam.livejournal.com]

Adam couldn't help but notice Kit's blush and he had a fairly good idea what she was thinking. But what good was being the Antichrist if you couldn't have some mischievous fun sometimes? And it wasn't anything that couldn't be easily cleared up. Heck, it might even distract her from her initial anger with John. Adam glanced at her face again. Well, maybe...

He grabbed the room key and handed it to her. "All right. There ya go. Like I said, if you need anythin', I'm in the first room on the third floor. My friend Pepper's across the hall if you need a girl for anythin'. She's not a real girly kinda girl, though, so you prob'ly don't wanna ask her for lipstick or anythin' like that. We got room service, sorta, and you just gotta call the kitchen for Wensleydale or down here to the desk. Ur... Brenda's on maternity leave right now, but someone should be around and Remus is here nights. There's a restaurant an' bar right here on the first floor and a pool, hot tub, and pool table in the basement, but you prob'ly don't wanna go in the back room down there." He didn't think Kit would take too well to meeting Sugarplum. "The lights are out and our 'lectrician's on extended leave," he explained.

Then he paused a moment to make sure he'd covered it all. "I think that's everythin'. I'm glad you came to visit, Kit. I think John'll be real glad to see you. Eventually." Adam smiled brightly. "C'n I help you with your bags?"

[no-npc-here.livejournal.com]

Given recent revelations, Kit had a hard time focusing on the details of what the young man was saying, but she nodded a few times, here and there, if only to prove to herself that she was listening.

He seemed like a good-natured lad, and for all his mysterious statements, Kit found herself with a positive impression of this Adam. So when she realized that he'd stopped talking and, beaming at her, was awaiting an answer, she nodded and said, "Aye, if it's no trouble. The third floor, did you say?"

She found herself wondering what other bits of information about John this boy could toss off so casually, but she hardly dared ask. So, as they started up the stairs which John's... which the dark-haired man had retreated up not long before, she chose an easier question. "You're the one that runs the place, then?" She could only imagine that's how he knew so much about this retired nunnery and its tenants.

[average-adam.livejournal.com]

Grabbing her bags, he lifted them with no trouble and led her to the stairs. Considering her question, Adam said, "I s'pose so. But it mostly runs itself. I just make sure people don't do stupid stuff in the meantime."

Kit might prove to be an interesting problem, he thought. She was the only person around who didn't know that most of the guests were more than they appeared to be. And although she might not like it much, she'd need extra supervision. John would never forgive him if he didn't keep a special eye on her. Sometimes ignorance isn't so much bliss as it is dangerous.

[no-npc-here.livejournal.com]

"Right," said Kit, as she followed the young man across the first floor landing and up the second flight of stairs. She paused only briefly to raise a brow skeptically at a pair of winged beings carved into the moulding - angels, were they? Well, they hardly looked like angels - that seemed to be doing what appeared to be one of the last things she would have thought appropriate for holy decor.

She'd noticed that he'd given her yet another vague answer: after all, 'stupid things' could range from tripping over a loose shoelace to getting seven shades of shite beat out of one's self for being reckless.* But she simply nodded and asked, "Family business, is it?"


* Kit had, incidentally, seen John do both of these on occasion.

[average-adam.livejournal.com]

Oh, Adam was good at vague answers. He'd had lots of practice in not lying to perfect them. It helped that most people didn't try to delve too deeply, reassured by his tone of voice or expression enough to not question things. He'd also gotten very good at ignoring that carving...

"Nope," he said happily. "My dad's a cost accountant and mum stays home. They live in town just a coupla miles away. Lower Tadfield. This place used to be a nunnery an' a hospital. It's where I was born. Then it burned down. But Sister Mary stayed on and rebuilt it into a business conference center. Now that I've got it, it's more like a live-in hotel, but we still got the hospital and the gardens are real pretty. Oh, and there's a chapel an' a library up here, too."

He wasn't winded as they reached the third floor. Turning down a corridor, he indicated a door on the left. "This is it. Got your key?"

[no-npc-here.livejournal.com]

Kit nodded and fished the key he'd given her out of her jacket pocket.

"Oh, aye? Venturin' out on your own, then?" she said conversationally as she fit the key to the lock and swung the door inward. "Maybe you've started your own family tradition."

The room they entered just looked like Constantine's: sparse and small, nothing excessive about it. The perfect place for a restless night's sleep, or a bit of scotch and some brooding. She'd no doubt it had been a horrid mess when he was about, and probably still would have been, if someone wasn't earning their keep cleaning up after him.

Jesus, but the place would have been comfortable with him in it.

But there was no room for that now, was there?

"So John's upgraded from this, you said?" Kit asked of Adam, as he gingerly deposited her bags on the bed. "And made a wee friend in the process, I see." She tried her best not to sound jealous, which was surprisingly easy: the revelation had been a bit shocking, true, but she'd come here not knowing what she was in for, and that was one place where John had never let her down.

[average-adam.livejournal.com]

"Me?" Adam looked surprised. "Nah. This isn't really my job. An' I'm not gonna have a family. Dunno if I'd want them doin' this anyway, even if I did. It's like babysittin' forever." He made a face.

The boy knew she was fishing for information, but had no problems in giving it to her. Selectively, of course. "Friend? Oh, you mean Crowley? But they been friends for years. More'n ten, I think. That's why Crowley wanted John to move in when A...ezra moved out."

[no-npc-here.livejournal.com]

"Fair enough," she said lightly, further surveying the room. "'S not for everyone, right?"

She was rather pleased to have said something to garner a startled reaction from the lad; having, of course, no idea that she was in fact one of the people he was most worried about babysitting. But then hardly a moment had passed before he'd more than repaid her in kind. She stared at him hard, eyes wide, and was unable to cover any of the surprise in her voice as she asked, "Ten years?"

But that would mean... no, she would have known if John had been with someone else. He could keep all kinds of shite from her, but not that. Though the very idea that this Crowley had been around all that time, and she'd never seen him...

God above. Maybe that's why he recognized her.

[average-adam.livejournal.com]

Hiding a smile, Adam said, "Yup, gotta be more'n ten years. That's why Crowley got him that silver lighter with the pants on. To remind him of when they met in the men's loo."

He pushed off from the wall he was leaning against. "Anyway, now that you're all settled in, I'd better be goin'. Lots of stuff to do, you know. See ya later!" With a wave and an insouciant grin, he was off.

[no-npc-here.livejournal.com]

She was honestly rather glad to see Adam leave, having little idea of how to reply. As the door closed behind him, Kit sat down hard on top of the neutral bedding, her breath escaping in one prolonged stream.

"Eejit," she swore, half-hearted, into the silence; and whether she meant John or herself, she wasn't sure.