Storm's Blowing Up The Horizon (Crowley)

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A steady acoustic beat, a bit of synthesizer, and the low, gravelly voice of Maynard Keenan reverberated throughout the Rabbit's Rest. Most of the bar was empty, save for a couple of early birds nodding their head to the beat. Everyone seemed relatively calm.

And then there was Hatter.

The little witch lightly jumped and moved around the bar, making sure everything was in order for later that night. As it was, her list still included updating the menu a bit, warming up the smog machines, and making her usual spirit cleansing rounds. It didn't seem to bother her, though. No, Maddy just tilted her hat down more, swung with the beat, and sang softly along.

"~Changes come, life will have it's way, with your pride, son~"

She ran across the bar and vaulted over the counter. Grabbing her stepstool and a piece of chalk, she reached up to start changing prices and drink names. Simple thoughts about rhythm lead to more complex things, such as last Thursday. Her meditation had been....off. Usually, the spirits left her alone unless she walked up to them and actually engaged in conversation. But this time? Whenever she would pass a spirit, it would stop what it was doing and stare at her. It was unnerving, to say the least. None of them would talk to her when she approached, just staring away. She stopped the meditation early.

Hatter scratched 'meditation' off of the chalk board. She had to stop getting lost in her head during work. Not like that would happen.

"~Listen up son of mine, Momma got something to tell you~"

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"The Rabbits Nest....how quaint hope the service is as advertised." Crowley smiled smugly as he tucked away the little slip of paper into his right breast pocket and entered what met his gaze was a hippies paradise. He gazed thoughtfully at the bar only a few patrons were out and about nodding into their coffees (quite possibly laced with a generous dollop of scotch or whatever they could get their hands on) standing there he took in the bar in it's enteriety and snapped his fingers changing the song selection. "White Rabbit" was the perfect choice for this establishment he chuckled simply for the sake of doing so and chose a stool at the bar folding his hands in front of him.


He taps his fingers in time with the beat it was a reflex mostly because his vessel played the drums sense memories given the vessel were always fascinating, unless of course that sense memory involved self mutilation then he generally put a stop to it. In this case though he was rather reluctant to stop, but he did eventually as the song hit its end. Crowley thought about changing the song again when the bar tender caught his eye. She was pretty in a waifish sort of way and everything about her just screamed "I march to the beat of my own drum, so deal with it." which intrigued him and when Crowley was intrigued that usually meant trouble.

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Hatter paused at the sound of the music change. 'White Rabbit' was one of her all time favorites, and a regular at the bar. A shame it had to interrupt 'Momma Sed', though. Both of them were beautiful. She shrugged and finished changing the menu. The chalk just about fell from her hand when she saw a man sitting at the bar. The witch hadn't even heard him come in. "Give me a second and I'll be right with you, love."

Sliding over the counter away from the man, Hatter spun her finger towards the DJ, a motion for the next track to start playing. "Grounds for Divorce" played over the speakers, making Maddy sigh. It was Texas, there had to be some country music. Luckily, this was one of the more tolerable songs. She leaned over the fog machines next to the DJ for that night, flipping them on so that they could get warmed up. Smiling, the witch turned and ran at the bar, hopping onto a stool to get to the counter, and then dropping to the ground.

"What can I get for you today, Sir?"

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Crowley cringed slightly at the music selection but the he remembered what state he was in and chose to ignore, even though it was truly ghastly. When the young woman rushed to the bar he was mildly amused, but kept it under his hat for the time being as she asked him "What he would like?" a thought occured to him among the many many thoughts that kept his mind permanately tethered to the gutter. But yet again he chose discretion as he regarded her with half lidded eyes and smirked. "Scotch on the rocks if you will and please tell me you have "Craigs" I've been hopping from bar to bar hoping that at least someone would know what the ruddy hell I was talking about." Of course that wasn't why he came to this bar, but she didn't need to know that.

He merely spoonfed her the information just as he did with everyone he encountered keeping the rest to himself, until he felt that they were worth his time. He considered just leaving but there was still a little matter he had to take care of.

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" 'Craigs'? That sounds familiar....hang on a second, hun." Hatter turned her back to the customer. She crouched to open a cabinet under the display cases of alcohol, searching the shelves there. She barely remembered the name....did someone order it before? Maybe she saw a glimpse of it when she first started working here. "Ah, here we go." She pulled the bottle out of the back, swishing it around to get a feel for how much was left. Hatter glimpsed over her shoulder and smiled. "Looks like you get the last of it, Mister." Turning her attention again to the back wall, the witch frowned at what she thought was a dark shadow in her vision. It was probably nothing. Perhaps one of those pesky moments when your eyes fooled you.....

Hatter grabbed a short glass and filled it with ice, pouring half of what was left of the Craigs into it. After placing the Craigs on the counter, she turned back to the man. She set the drink in front of him, smiling again. "Hope it's what you're looking for, hun."

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"Oh thank you ever so much, luv." he says with a smug smile as he takes a sip relishing the taste as it went down. "So you work here long?" he wasn't really interested in her answer now that he had his drink, but then again conversation in any situation was always a limited affair with him. He swirled the contents of his drink around a bit and look up at her. She was pretty but not a knockout and there was something else he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Crowley had a habit of getting the truth out of people even in polite conversation.

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Hatter leaned against the counter behind her, counting silently on her fingers. "About....what, seven years now? It's a good place. They pay well, I have a steady job. Never really boring around here." She threw the man a smile. He seemed like he had a lot of stories up in that head of his. Now....how to get them out? That was always the question, wasn't it?

"What about yourself? What brings you to a little old place like this, hm? You seem a man of a bit more refined tastes. Not saying this place isn't refined, of course." Conversation easily rolled from the witch as she half-heartedly read his reactions. Could he be here looking for women? Or just a drink perhaps. His clothes said that he was paid well, or that he came into a great bit of money. His accent gave away his heritage. Yes, this man definitely had a handful of things he could tell her.

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He looked up at her letting his gaze take in every single nuance of her face and smiled almost smugly." Well lets just say that I an interest in this place, and when my gaze falls upon a certain establishment it usually bodes well for everyone concerned." He took yet another generous sip of his whiskey his eyes never leaving hers. Not that he could hypnotize her but he wanted her to know what everyone else knew-That he was the one who called the shots. Especially when it came to striking up conversation, afterall the "King" nickname wasn't just a fancy title.

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"Well for everyone concerned, huh?" She leaned over the counter in a conspiratorial manner. "I wouldn't waste your time with Rabbit, to be honest. Bastard doesn't give me nearly enough days off. The barkeep smiled and leaned back. The owner of the bar really wasn't bad to her at all, but she enjoyed teasing him. That, and shoving her hands through his plugs. It was always weird to put your hand where someone's ear should be...... "Ears...I mean, uhm. I meaaaaaant, what are you then? Some kind of critic? Is the service here any good, all-mighty powerful critic man?" Rabbit had warned her of joking around with most of the customers. He was always worried that they'd lose people. In some cases, they had....but they were boring anyways.

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He smiled up at her and calmly grabbed her hand gripping it firmly almost tenderly. "Oh but I know you someone with power someone who could actually be of some use if any. My dear you stand out and what I see I like otherwise I wouldn't be here."he said cooly letting her hand fall gently on the table his dark eyes never leaving hers more to unnerve her than to actually pay any attention t decorum.

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Dread washed over the witch as soon as their hands made contact. The man....man? was so overwhelmingly powerful it was terrifying. There was no way he was human, no way he was a simple being. Demon? Demon seemed very likely. She should have seen it earlier. Should have known. Was that the dark she saw? And his words.... She stood out? No. No, she spent most of her time making sure she didn't. stand. out. Sure, other demons had approached her before, but no this. Nothing like this. Hatter smiled tensely, not moving from her spot.

"I highly suggest you tell me what you want from me." She hoped her voice didn't crack.

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"A little respect if you don't mind I am the "King" of the Crossroads demons that alone demands a bit, and girlie you are dreaming if you think you can talk your way out of this. All witches have a demonic sponser or a demon they work closely with without their knowledge. And I can make them go away-for good." It wasn't like him to do something for nothing but he came here with a plan in mind and gaining her trust was just the first step, and he was a master of his craft all he had to do was find a crack in her armour.