A Long December [backdated]

[oversight]

Who: Crowley (goesdown) and John Blake (oversight)
Where: Fifth Floor; Crowley's Room
When: New Years Eve (backdated)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After spending the holidays recovering from the Jabberwocky, it's time to ring in the New Year.
The Story:
It's absolutely selfish of John to pull back from the world around him, but having faced losing Crowley to Wonderland's memory addiction, he doesn't feel particularly bad about the decision. For days he stays in with the demon, relieved that the distance created between them has only been temporary. They don't move between rooms or hit up the dining hall or even consider attending the party at the bar, but instead spend their time watching movies or quietly reading or lazily sleeping at all hours (Blake more than Crowley, who doesn't need to sleep at all). It's no Eden, but neither are really looking for that, anyway.

Some time on New Year's Eve, Blake finally does away with some messy stubble. He showers and combs his hair, changes into something a little less like pajamas, and before the calendar's even changed over, he's back to his usual tidiness as he straightens up the demon's lived-in abode. Some might call it ridiculous, especially considering the late hour, but John's feeling ready to jump into the new year and he doesn't see anything wrong with starting a little early.

"You wanna have a drink an' celebrate?" He asks as he steps out of the bathroom with some clothes he intends to add to the laundry. "Here, I mean. We can stay in." They'd been staying in so much, yeah, but again, John sees no issue with it; there are plenty of people around to take care of business and no one seems to be missing them, anyway.

Comments

[goesdown]

Crowley pouts, entirely put-upon. If Blake's going to tease him, he'll tease right back.

"I'm suddenly exhausted."

Putting down his drinks, he sweeps back into Blake's personal space, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him tight against Crowley.

"Entirely tuckered out. It's uncanny. I guess I have no energy for you after all."

[oversight]

The back and forth banter always feels easier to Blake. He chuckles quietly at the deflection and doesn't fight against the contact even if tradition would dictate he should. As crazy as life in Wonderland tends to be, there's something about living semi-normally that Blake insists upon. He could pull a new outfit from the closet nearly every day. He wouldn't even have to leave his room if he didn't want to (or if Wonderland didn't occasionally force him to), but none of that feels particularly right.

"Guess you'd better get some rest then, eh? And when I come back 'round in six-or-so hours, exhausted and cranky, I'm gonna roll you outta bed and sleep right in the middle like the dog," he threatens as if it's any threat at all. All he's really saying here is that he'll pick up the slack and he doesn't really care all that much if Crowley doesn't want to help out.

[goesdown]

Crowley chuckles, low and fond, and pulls Blake towards the bed.

"Who said you're allowed to leave?"

With a grin, he teases at the hint of another kiss before turning his attention to kissing Blake's jaw. He'd been missing more than just his memories in that time and there's a lot of lost affection to make up for.

There is no one else in the universe who would take care of him without his memories--no one who wouldn't do it simply to manipulate him at best. Blake is a good man, but that's not why Crowley cares about him. It's in his loyalty and his capacity to care for Crowley.

[oversight]

Blake's loyalty and capacity to care knows no bounds. He has a huge heart, even if he keeps it well-guarded and doesn't quite know how to use it. When push comes to shove, he'll always put someone else first, and Crowley's high up on that list. He's done things for Blake that no one's bothered to ever do before and he's stuck around for every step of the process. Even when they're on the skids because of some stupid decision or another, it's almost always between them.

So Crowley's not perfect. Blake can't claim he's any better, even with his moral high ground.

Easily pulled at the demon's behest, he falls into whatever comfortable position he's put in, his head tilting to allow Crowley all the access he desires. "Mm, you're pretty damn talented at stallin' me, but you know I'm not easily swayed. Let's just agree you're gonna face defeat in the next twenty minutes and I can get the jump on what I gotta do." They've basically been in bed since Christmas, right? Time to get out for a while.