and not a single denim-wrapped nightmare in sight

[votecrowley]

For the first time since he'd died and gone to Hell (for real, not any of those blunders that came after) no one was actively attempting to separate Crowley's head from his shoulders, and he really appreciated that. Being a demon was a dangerous existence, and it became even more so when your chosen occupation involved stepping on a lot of other demons to maintain it. It was true that as King of Hell he had more protection than most, but the amount of enemies went up exponentially with that promotion. That is to say, everyone was an enemy, and even if your employees didn't have the smarts or the guts or even the desire for the job they still got treasonous little ideas swimming around in their heads from time to time, and it was a requirement to crack them open if that was the case.

And now he had Abaddon, who was not only immortal, but incredibly irritating. He'd almost like her if it weren't for the fact she was gunning after his job, and his life.

He was aware of other universes and other worlds, not that he ever intended to go to any of them - he was fine in the one he was in, more or less. Besides, from what he understood you had to be all-powerful, like Death, or have some sort of key, like the one to Oz, to get to any one of the millions of fancy little spots in the universe worth going to. But this hotel presented itself to him, almost like a gift. Once he had ascertained that this was, truly, some sort of pocket universe existing beyond his own realm, and not some incredibly elaborate trap to kill him (so elaborate he would in fact be pretty flattered at all of that effort) he did the first thing any respectable demon would do: he looked for the bar.

Sitting at the counter and armed with three fingers of scotch (not Craig; that's the only reason he knew he had not stumbled accidentally into a deserted, angel-less Heaven (though that would also have been nice, and endlessly amusing, because)) Crowley turned to the nearest living, breathing, upright creation, which presumably was also equipped with a brain and the faculties for speech. "And how long have you been here, then?" he asked, bluntly. He could be a very charming, subtle creature when he wanted to, but that usually wasn't as fun.

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[malachai]

It had started like an itch between his shoulder blades. At first, he'd thought he'd pulled something while he'd been flying the day before, but a quick flex of his wings and a few circles around the conservatory put lie to that belief.

On his way back to his room, he'd felt it again and this time, he focused away from the physical and breathed in deep. The sense was even stronger. The prickle he'd felt was his demon sensing another.

"Well, fuck."

With that succinct summation, he slipped back to his room for the short sword he could hide under his leather jacket and followed his senses through the hotel.

Why didn't it come to any huge surprise to find it at the bar?

The demon didn't seem to react at all to his arrival, but Nick was on full alert, barely keeping his own demon form locked down. Even with that control, he was pretty sure his eyes had gone to silver. Casually, Nick slipped onto a stool about ten feet away and waited. He didn't have to wait long.

"About six months now," he responded casually.

[votecrowley]

There was something very familiar about the man he was talking to - as in, Crowley was relatively certain he was not a man, per se. He knew every demon in the Pit (and there were a lot of them) and he knew which ones were topside, or at least, the ones that were supposed to be. When it came to responsibility and being where they were supposed to, a lot of demons tended to roam beyond. Oh, if only they were more like angels - at least angels had a better time of following the rules.

This pretty boy with the mark on his face, then, was not one of Crowley's, but there was enough of a similarity to how he occupied the space he did that reminded him of demons. "Chippendales will never hire you with that tattoo," he remarked, with a smirk. Despite that, there was nothing aggressive about his manner. If he didn't know what he was, then there was no telling Crowley could easily defend himself - also, he liked it here and he'd rather not muck that up so soon in the game.

[malachai]

"I've spent enough time in the back rooms of strip joints to never want to take the stage, but thanks for the career advice," Nick said with a toast from the glass of beer he'd ordered. To be honest, he forgot about the Dark Hunter mark most of the time. It was only when he met new people that he remembered it was there.

"What can I say? When a goddess bitch slaps you, it shows for a lifetime. And then some. You new to the Nexus?"

[votecrowley]

"Maybe you shouldn't have slept with her sister, then," Crowley teased, straight-faced. "Well, hopefully you have more than your looks to bank on."

'New in town' was not an identifier he liked to have, but he went with it. "More or less new," he said. "I've heard of these types of places before, but never had the urge to find a door." He did, of course, travel quite lengthily, but always within his purview of King of Hell.

[malachai]

"Yeah, you never know what might happen when you pop into someplace new," Nick agreed, still looking into his glass instead of directly at the other guy. So far he was keeping reign on himself well enough, but eye to eye? Going full Malachai at the bar was probably a really, really bad thing. "Never know where you're going to end up and what sort of realm it is. Could be someone's version of paradise, could be the exact opposite."

He'd never been one for dancing around for long. Better to throw his hat into the supernatural ring from the start. If he sensed demon, sure as fuck the other guy had, too.

[votecrowley]

Crowley propped his chin in his hand, smirking over at the other man. He knew people, he could read body language, and there was very little that was subtle about his conversation partner. Add in the fact there was something about him, simmering under the surface, that snagged at Crowley's attention - he knew fire when he saw it. "Am I upsetting you, mate, or am I making you tingle?" he asked. "I don't peg you as the type to be bad at eye contact normally. Why don't you tell me what's got your knickers in a twist before one of us ends up with our face ripped off?"

[malachai]

In spite of his better judgement, Nick felt a smile pull at the corners of his mouth. "No, normally I enjoy meeting people eye to eye, by keeping mine on my beer I was doing my best of avoid any potential face ripping. Really fucks up the carpeting, not to mention pissing off my manicurist when she has to go digging beard out from my nail beds."

Okay, so he'd never been for a manicure in his life, but he'd spent enough time around women to pick up the terminology.

Then he shrugged and went for broke. He turned to face the guy head on, the sharpness of his vision telling him his eyes were still silver but at least there was no red haze, so they hadn't gone yellow. "The name Malachai mean anything to you?"

[the_dawnster]

Dawn was in between point A and point B, point A being her hotel room and point B being the lobby to people watch. It had become a hobby of hers here. She thought Giles would be proud of her, studying human nature and interaction from those who had been here long enough to accept their fate and settle in to those who were newly arrived. Also, with each new person she met, she learned about new worlds. She even kept notes in a journal she carried around with her in a leather messenger bag slung across her shoulder that she had arrived with.

The question stops her short at about three-fourths of the way through her trek. She pauses mid step, hesitates, steps backward and looks at the man with a smile. "Going on four months. I'm kind of thinking of throwing a party when I get to six. Seems like a good enough excuse to get my party on." She tilts her head. "You just get here?"

[votecrowley]

"More or less," Crowley replied. He was curious as to what sort of individuals peopled this hotel - were they mostly run of the mill, or had they all had their brush with the supernatural side of the world? He was not interested in making anymore enemies, though it was often a bit unavoidable with him - in any case, he was certain they wouldn't be any more of a headache than the ones he had back home. "I don't think I'd wait six months before celebrating, however. Do you ever go back home, love? Or is it far preferable here? Everyone back in my neck of the woods usually ends up being out-and-out psychotic with a dash of daddy issues."

[the_dawnster]

Dawn had promised her sister that she wouldn't talk about the Supernatural sort of things regarding herself. Some people would really like a mystical key that could tear down the barriers between worlds. Buffy was very worried that someone would try to bleed her or use her and her blood for ritual purposes. And Dawn could understand that. She had near panicked the other day when someone who could see beyond the surface of things had been able to see her flickering between this human form and the green ball of energy that was the key.

But! Just because she couldn't talk about herself, didn't mean she couldn't talk about other things. And she did do that a lot if just to prove she was knowledgeable. She smiles at his explanation of his own world. Daddy issues? Who didn't have those? But his snark is amusing to her and she instantly starts liking him.

"Psychotic happens in my world too. I haven't been home yet... mostly exploring the rooms here." She pauses. "There are dinosaurs and I am not even saying that in a metaphorical monster feature kind of way. Real dinosaurs in one of the rooms."

[votecrowley]

The longer he was with her the more he realized there was something about her that was not quite human, but Crowley didn't look much closer than that. She was obviously not of his world, which meant she was even more difficult to fathom - and Crowley was only disturbed or put on alert by threats - which, at the moment, she was not. He was put off by the fact he was around things that were drastically unfamiliar to him, but he was nothing if not adaptable.

"If there were dinosaurs, I wonder if the door sent you back in time, or to a place that hasn't yet hit the ape side of the evolutionary cycle," he mused. Travels through time and space were difficult to comprehend, and he tended to avoid it as much as necessary. He had his own issues to worry about.

[the_dawnster]

"That's a good question." She has to give that to him. After taking a moment to mull it over, she adds. "I guess I just assumed they were different worlds since this place seems to pull people in from different worlds. I thought it was a world thing. Each door a gateway." She speaks about it like she's used to speaking about such things. "Or maybe less gateway and more portal."

[votecrowley]

"Oh, it probably is a worlds thing," Crowley said. "But I've always felt it's good to pay attention in case some bastard is fucking around with time on your watch. It causes bubbles in the timeline and then too many headaches, for my taste. In any case I'll make a note not to walk into the dinosaur one. I know too many apes low on the evolutionary scale to find that very exciting."

[slutbomb]

The smirk that Crowley receives from Faith isn't so much a condemnation as an encouragement to do marginally better.

"Really? That's your line?" She swigs back the rest of her rum and Coke and shakes her head. "You can't just bank on the accent, I've been in London the past year."

[votecrowley]

"Oh, darling, if I wanted to pick you up I'd have been a bit more heavy-handed about it," Crowley replied, amused. "But you look like you've got a mean right hook, and it's too early for a beating - and I'm far too attached to my face as it is, anyway."

[slutbomb]

"Hey, so far I got no reason to start throwing fists around." It's nice to have a general conversation after the multitude that consisted of what the actuall hell she's had. "Not long enough to be any help, by the way."

She's not so self-centered that Faith thinks this is all a big trap for her, but she's still not sure it's as innocuous as it seems, either.

[votecrowley]

"I could easily give you a reason. I've got that kind of mouth on me." He gave the bartender a distinct motion to get the both of them another round. For Crowley, money was about as valuable as dirt; he had more than enough of it, and paid about as much attention to it as would be expected. He dealt in souls.

"I suppose I'm used to unhelpful people," he said. "It's comforting."

[slutbomb]

"Hell, I stick around long enough, who knows what I'll unhelp you with." She chuckles, nodding her thanks before taking another sip. It is, oddly, a little comforting to sit in relative commiseration, at least. "Though, I guess I'm failing with the helping you get comfy, huh?"

[votecrowley]

"Well, then I guess that means I have a lot to look forward to," Crowley said, dryly. "And I don't think anyone's tried to make me 'comfy', ever. I don't really inspire that. Maybe I look like I've got that handled."

[65th_victor]

He hadn't been back to the bar since he and Johanna had drank half of it after he had revealed that Annie was here, pregnant with his child. For him, alcohol had always been a crutch and a good tool to use to distract while in the Capitol. Here, it was nice to have the opportunity to drink just for the sake of drinking every now and then. He was slowly nursing a beer, something that wasn't entirely popular in the Capitol. He liked the blunt, almost simple taste of it after the things that had been mixed together in the Capitol.

He was only a little surprised when the man addressed him. They were all strangers here, all thrown together, and that called for a strange spread of social situations. Luckily, Finnick was used to those. He was immediately intrigued by the accent though. He'd never heard anything like it before.

"Just a few months," Finnick answered easily. "Are you freshly arrived?" Finnick answered, tacking one of more subtle, but still-winning smiles.

[votecrowley]

"As new-fallen snow." That smile he was receiving had too many layers to it, and Crowley knew a real showstopper when he saw one. He had been around humans a long time, had picked up many of their attributes - had even been one himself, once. They could be built of many complications that, when pounded together, became very simple, compact. Crowley sensed a liar in that smile alone; but he liked liars. Real liars, not cowards who feared the truth, but people who twisted the truth until it resembled nothing but a weapon.

He offered his hand. "Crowley," he said, without any beating around the bush. "You've got quite the set of teeth there, kitten."

[65th_victor]

"Finnick," he answered automatically, shaking the other man's offered hand. Crowley wasn't a name he had ever heard before, but he didn't comment on it. After all, he had heard often enough that he was the one with the strange name.

"I have heard that before," Finnick said, smile still in place -- though he was certain that one of his masks flipped on as well, a defense mechanism that he wasn't even aware of any longer. He was used enough to compliments, but they were usually given as a form of payment.

And, well, it had been a long time since he had been called kitten at the very least.

[votecrowley]

"I'll bet." Smiles were just as useful as guns, in his opinion, not that he knew many people who figured similar. Probably because those people weren't as handsome and charming as Crowley himself (ha).

"Where are you from?" he asked. "If that's American, then you clearly got lost in Minnestoa at some point. Or somewhere in the Midwest, maybe." In which case, the poor bastard.

[65th_victor]

"Panem," Finnick answered easily. "District Four." He doubted it was going to meet anything anyway. It didn't seem like anybody outside of their world had ever heard of Panem. On the contrary, it seemed like America was something of a theme in many of the other worlds -- he'd heard about New York City from a few people. Minnesota didn't mean anything to him though.

There was something that kicked at the corners of his awareness with this man. Not that he felt distinctly threatened -- not yet -- but it was certainly enough to make him sit up and pay attention. Having spent years in the Capitol, he was used to liars, but there were liars who existed only to impress and there were those who had secrets, often dangerous. Finnick had made a career out of rooting one from the other,

[votecrowley]

"Not a clue," Crowley answered, easily enough. He was always ready and willing to lie, of course, when it suited his purposes - but right then, it didn't. What use was there in aping around, pretending to know something he couldn't care a lick about? That was too much effort for his tastes; he got along just fine with a bit more than the bare minimum, and that was usually it, unless he had high stakes.

"Do you prefer there or here?" he asked, with a roguish glint to his smile.