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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jan 13, 2012 21:32:56 GMT -5
Adrien was biting his lip. "This is gonna kill the mood, but I dunno that I even believe any of that stuff right now. All the shit I've seen - it was pretty bad, I mean, I can't tell you, I wish I could tell you, but there was a lot of bad stuff and none of it was the Devil. And all the good stuff was Adrian, if you could even call that- good-"
He had started laughing, in a low voice, but in an uncharacteristically crazed fashion. "God, I wish I could tell you..."
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Post by Crowley on Jan 13, 2012 21:40:19 GMT -5
Me too.
"I mean, I couldn't tell you my views on the Devil and whatnot. I'm pretty sure people are capable of more evil than any devil could come up with and more good than any angel could dream of."
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jan 13, 2012 21:43:14 GMT -5
"Yeah, but how about trying to do good and doing a whole lot of bad while you're at it? Crowley..."
He looked up at him, troubled.
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Post by Crowley on Jan 13, 2012 21:57:36 GMT -5
He brushed a piece of hair out of Adrien's cheek.
"It's not true, you know, what they say about the road to Hell."
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jan 13, 2012 22:24:34 GMT -5
Adrien tried to smile, but the expression in his eyes was too distant. Finally he looked up at Crowley again, eyes slowly focusing.
"...Crowley," he said in a low, trembling voice, "you can't tell this to anyone. It could destroy a lot of people's lives if you did. But it's - it's killing me, keeping it all bottled up-"
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Post by Crowley on Jan 13, 2012 22:26:02 GMT -5
He looked right back at him. "It's okay. You can tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone."
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jan 13, 2012 22:27:50 GMT -5
"...Adrian asked Jon to do that in Times Square. He knew Jon was going to leave anyway so he asked- he asked him to do that so that we'd all be so scared of him killing us that we wouldn't kill our goddamn selves-"
He burst into tears and crumpled to the floor, burying his face in his hands.
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Post by Crowley on Jan 13, 2012 22:50:41 GMT -5
Crowley stayed standing, trying to process what Adrien had just told him.
He'd already been furious when Dr. Manhattan had killed all those people. Blue and superpowered or not, he was a human being, and he had no right to kill all those people. Especially with those superpowers. Crowley hadn't received any orders about Armageddon. Even if he hadn't, there would have been signs. As far as he knew, it was pointless, fruitless, and Manhattan had killed all those people for nothing.
But Adrian Veidt. Crowley wasn't fond of the man in any way shape or form, but he would never have expected hubris on this great a scale. Manhattan's behavior he could sort of understand—if he had been born an ordinary human and suddenly given incredible power, he might believe he had a right to do that sort of thing, too—but Adrian was just a man.
It figured, though. Humans.
"I see," he said in a low, controlled tone. He crouched down on the floor next to Adrien and began rubbing his back gently.
And here was this poor boy who'd been dragged into all this, this boy whose innocence had survived so much from such a young age but couldn't possibly survive horror this large, this vast. Adrien was so good, despite everything he had done and seen. It wasn't bloody well fair.
Of course, Crowley probably wasn't going to bring sunshine and lollypops to Adrien, either. This had to end. It was going to break the boy's heart, but it had to.
Not now, though, he thought as he held his sobbing form in his arms. But it had to be soon or it'd just be harder.
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jan 13, 2012 22:56:33 GMT -5
Adrien wrapped his arms around Crowley's neck, hiccuping. "Crowley?" he asked dazedly. "Can we go to the bed? I'm cold."
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Post by Crowley on Jan 13, 2012 23:04:02 GMT -5
He looked down at Adrien. "Yeah, of course," he said.
He stood up and took Adrien by the hand, but the hardness didn't leave his face. He needed a fucking drink. He was a bit tipsy from the champagne, but his brain was still functioning and that was the last thing he wanted when shit like this happened.
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jan 13, 2012 23:06:47 GMT -5
Adrien was soon curled up in the blankets, still racked by the occasional sob.
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Post by Crowley on Jan 13, 2012 23:08:40 GMT -5
Crowley held Adrien close as they settled into bed and closed his eyes. Sleep, that was what he needed. He'd just let himself sleep until Adrien woke him up.
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jan 13, 2012 23:10:07 GMT -5
Except then Adrien nuzzled his chest and whispered in a tear-choked, weary voice, "He was going to use Micaela's powers. He wasn't going to ask Jon at all. But then Micaela disappeared. She went back to her own world, Largo didn't kill her at all. He had to ask Jon."
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Post by Crowley on Jan 13, 2012 23:11:30 GMT -5
He kept his eyes closed and ran his hand up and down Adrien's arm.
"At least she didn't have to see it, yeah?"
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jan 13, 2012 23:16:54 GMT -5
"She showed up in Karnak... on New Years' Eve... I wasn't there when it happened, but I heard her scream after she told him. And then... I went to Adrian. He was like some kind of bad dream - like a picture on a movie screen who's saying words but none of them have anything to- to do with you, y'know?" He gripped the blanket in one hand and drew it nearer, curling up closer to Crowley. "And he told me to go back to my room, and when I pressed- he told me. All his plans. All his justifications-"
His voice briefly took on a hardness, then he looked dazed and lost as the memory filtered int.
"What did you think you married? How is this inconsistent?
Coming back towards Adrien now, menacingly...
"Would you rather have me do what I said before, and let the world rot? You shuddered and cried then too.."
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