[video; ACTION]

[shifting]

Hey - [Sam looks very busy! He's in his office at Merlotte's, gathering up files, folders...] - wanted to let everybody know to come down to Merlotte's tonight, we've got a few stand-up comics hired for the night show and some drink specials. I won't be there though, I've got to meet with some people about gettin' a loan, but I've got someone I used to work with at Club 24 coverin' for me tonight. She's real sweet, so I want ya'll to make her feel welcome, okay? - And don't think this means you can act up in the club; I'll still be back to kick ya'll in the ass tomorrow if you do.

[he grabs his keys, waves at the NV and sets it face-down on his desk. There's a muffled conversation, and soon after a woman picks the NV up and smirks]

...Hey there. I'm Sandra - I'll be watchin' the bar for Sam tonight. Hope to see you all in.



((APRIL FOOLS - with a little help from the devil, Sam's in touch with his feminine side tonight and plans to troll you all. You can respond to this like a post or start an action thread in the club!))

Comments

[thelightbringer]

Downtown. [Near Purgatory. He pours Cas another drink, then one for himself. A larger glass.] Hey, did Crowley ever get all those pups handed out?

[ofthursday]

[He frowns at his glass being refilled, and begins to sip at it this time. He'll match how fast he's drinking to Lucifer.]

Yes. They have all found homes.

[thelightbringer]

Glad to hear it. [The reason he'd asked is because his own hellhound is waiting outside for them. It pads over, sniffs Castiel, whoofs softly and then stuffs its head (more slender than Growley's) under his free hand for pets. He's grown to associate angel scents with affection.]

...Sam's been training mine. Who knew one man could influence so many hellbeasts.

[ofthursday]

[Castiel isn't afraid of hellhounds in the slightest, even Lucifer's, and so he allows him to sniff him before petting the dog on the head. It's a little reassuring and he begins to calm just slightly, not realizing it's more the effect of the alcohol than the creature.]

He is strangely good with them.

[Sam had done an excellent job with the hellhounds of Growley's that had needed training before being sent out.]

[thelightbringer]

He is, isn't he? For a- whatever he is, he's not bad. [So hands off.]

Crowley didn't keep any of them?

[ofthursday]

No.

[It's the truth; Crowley didn't keep any of the puppies. Castiel did.]

Why did you want hellhounds created here?

[thelightbringer]

To see if I could. Besides, at the time I needed some company.

[ofthursday]

[Castiel considers that for a moment and doesn't question it, instead going back to a previous question he'd had. Considering he's now a 'coffee buddy' he deserves a response, he feels.]

What is your interest in Erik?

[thelightbringer]

He's been useful. And loyal, which...well. Let's not go into our family's record with loyalty.

[ofthursday]

Loyal to you, perhaps.

[It's a scathing and quick response, and something a little more personal than Castiel would normally allow himself to show. He hasn't figured out why just yet, though, thinking it's simply his temper, and takes another drink.]

[thelightbringer]

Yes. Loyal to me. Maybe because I assert my boundaries early. No one knew you were that attached to the demon, Castiel.

[ofthursday]

I had been living with him for two months.

[Even Castiel and Crowley had begun to figure out they were friends through their denial; surely it had been obvious to other people.]

[thelightbringer]

Not everyone is hung up on your life's details. Besides, strategically it's not a bad move. It doesn't mean people are going to know you'll fly off the reservation if he gets a hangnail.

[ofthursday]

If I had 'flown off the reservation', Erik would be dead.

[Have some air quotes, Lucifer, while he still manages to hold onto his glass.]

[thelightbringer]

[The gesture gets a s l o w look from Lucifer.]

Did you just-

Who taught you that?

[ofthursday]

I don't remember.

[Which should be a sign he's officially drunk, but whatever. He takes another swig.]

[thelightbringer]

Look, the point stands, he had no idea Crowley meant anything serious to you. Who would? It's a demon. You can't blame someone for something they don't know. [Just exploit them for it. Two very different things.]

[ofthursday]

Whether or not he knew how much of friends we were, he still knew we were. I think not to kill my friends regardless of closeness is simple enough to abide by.

[He's not buying it at all, anyway. He's entirely sure Erik knew he and Crowley were good friends.]

[thelightbringer]

[Lucifer snorts softly and takes a swig] Yeah. For Dean Winchester, you wouldn't torture someone for a cure, right? Nah. Not you. You don't understand desperation at all, right?

[ofthursday]

[Castiel's glare darkens and he downs the rest of his glass in a go so he doesn't have to answer. He knows Dean--and Sam--are his huge weaknesses, and he knows what he'll do to protect one of them. But that doesn't matter in this.]

I wouldn't expect to be forgiven and protected.

[thelightbringer]

Look, Castiel. I don't blame you for being angry. If you--if anyone--touched any of the people I'm invested in, I'd kill you all before you had the chance to explain. But then, that probably won't happen because I make sure that the people I've taken in are protected. Even against each other.

[He looks at him somberly. Then refills his glass.] If you had bothered to get to know Erik, you would have seen that thing with Crowley coming with plenty of time to stop it. I'm telling you, one angel to another, don't be so naive. Get to know people. Their secrets. The things they'll never tell anyone else. It's the only way you can predict them.

[ofthursday]

[Castiel just stares at him suspiciously at the understanding, but his fingers tighten around the glass almost to the point of cracking it. He's angry and frustrated and hurt, and the alcohol isn't helping him keep any control over his emotions.

He vaguely realizes he should stop drinking, because two glasses is enough if it's the stuff for angels; he just doesn't realize he's already gone over the edge.

And he knows what Lucifer is saying is true. He'd made the mistake at home, with the Winchesters, and then here, with Erik. He'd been foolish to put his trust in someone, and he normally wouldn't have, but he'd thought...

Well, it doesn't matter. He hates it but Lucifer's right; people will turn on you. But even people he knew as well as the Winchesters had so, and he hadn't been able to stop it.]

They're not always predictable.

[It's a mumble into the glass he he takes another drink, even though he knows he shouldn't.]

[thelightbringer]

They are if you know how to think like them. [Lucifer, at least, knows what he's talking about there. Everything up until the very end had gone exactly as he'd planned, and precisely as he'd said it would.] Just because you care about someone doesn't mean you can't prepare yourself for their betrayals.

[ofthursday]

[He's tired of preparing for betrayals. They're all that ever happen to him; he's been stabbed in the back--or more recently, the chest--so many times.]

How?

[He finally asks, swaying on his feet slightly and not noticing.]

[thelightbringer]

You have to pay attention to how they see you. Not how you want to be seen.

Do you know what makes a relationship, any relationship, happy? It's acting on what you believe the other person feels. Or thinks. Or wants. And it's never really true.

Put that aside, look at the truth. It's ugly, and it's painful, but it's the only way you can have your relationship and keep them from casting you aside.