It's just the power to charm

[caycep]

((Closed to Cayce, Azi, Crowley, and Ellie. Backdated to a day or two after the Bentley Babes caper.))

Cayce wasn't jealous. That much was easy enough to define; she cared for Crowley a lot, but not That Way. And notwithstanding her admission at the community Truth or Dare game, she definitely wasn't queer for Ellie either, although she certainly liked her well enough. Actually, she thought the two of them pairing up was kind of cute.

But for reasons she was still hard pressed to identify, she was a little perturbed when the two of them up and vanished from the lake party, and clearly Aziraphale was too. They'd exchanged a few half-heartedly snarky (and subtly worried) comments at the time before finally sort of shrugging it off, and Cayce had said something about coming by the tea shop later.

So now she was suiting action to the word. She sort of hoped that Crowley wouldn't be around. It'd spare everyone a touch of awkwardness.

Comments

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale was more than a little perturbed, for similar reasons to Cayce's, but with roughly five thousand nine hundred and seventy more years of Crowley's acquaintance to fuel his worry. He hadn't seen much of his counterpart since that evening, and what he had seen involved a lot more smiling, distracted behavior and pleasant moods than had ever been usual, and an aura whose colors had changed...subtly, but in distinct and significant ways.

He wanted to be happy for Crowley, truly he did. It was just that after all this time of certain things remaining absolutely consistent, any unexpected and unexplained change in that quarter was not entirely to be trusted.

Unfortunately, it wasn't his business to interfere in Crowley's love life, if he had finally chosen to have one. So instead the angel was venting his anxiety today by means of a great deal of totally unnecessary cleaning and rearranging around the tea shop.

"Oh, hello, my dear," he said, smiling at Cayce as she approached. "It's good to see you again. How have you been? Can I get you something?" As he spoke, he was absently wiping down an already sparkling-clean teapot for the third time that day. At this rate nothing in the place would have any finish left on it...

[caycep]

"Hi, Aziraphale," Cayce said. "I wouldn't mind a cup of tea if, um, if you don't mind." She had a hunch the angel would welcome the activity. "How've you been?"

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

"Oh, getting by, getting by." For his own part, things had been fairly tranquil of late. Having someone else to worry about was good for taking one's midn off one's own troubles, at least.

"Do you have a preference?" He put away his cleaning cloth and took the teapot with him to where he kept the tea supply. "I have some very nice Oolong, but of course there's always the Earl Grey or green tea or just your basic pekoe blend...oh, and if you're interested, I thought I'd try something different and made a few croissants yesterday; they turned out quite nicely, I think..." He hadn't had any customers in some time, and suspected New Orleans Square might have acquired an unfavorable reputation among the park residents (one could scarcely imagine why with the place full of demons, demon hunters, bounty hunters, and all manner of very odd people.) Or that some of his former visitors might have gone and ducked, or whatever you called it. Honestly, by this time he would almost rather not know.

[caycep]

"Oolong's fine," Cayce said. "And, uh, yeah, croissants. If it's not too much trouble."

She sat down at a table. "Uh. Crowley around?" It almost sounded casual. Belatedly she wondered if it sounded like she was looking for Crowley, which she wasn't, plus there was the implication that he and Aziraphale were somehow joined at the hip, which might have been true enough, but— "I mean, I was just wondering. No big deal if he's not. In fact it's probably better if—" She stopped.

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale smiled wryly. He was very fond of Cayce, but even without the reminder shining out from her forehead, there'd be no question where her primary attachment lay. In fact, it came as a bit of a surprise to him that she wasn't here looking for Crowley.

"No, I'm afraid he's been rather...preoccupied, of late," he said as he measured tea leaves into the pot. "I haven't actually seen much of him since the party. Is something the matter?" Of course they'd both seen that night that something odd was going on, but it wouldn't surprise him if Cayce had insight into it that he didn't. She seemed to be on good terms with both persons involved, whereas he still wasn't quite sure to make of Chantinelle.

[caycep]

"I ... you know, I was sort of hoping you might have some sort of insight into the matter." She rubbed her forehead. "I mean ... something's up with him and Ellie, right? We know this for sure?"

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Well, so much for that idea...

"Most definitely," he said, unsure exactly how much he was at liberty to say. Just how much had Crowley confided in Cayce? For that matter, how much had Ellie? At least he wasn't bound by any particular sense of loyalty not to divulge her secrets. "I've never seen him so taken with anyone. Well, not in that particular sense, at least. And there's...well...some things are different about him now than they were a few days ago. Not anything too critical, I think, but...it's just that...well, drat. Excuse me just a moment."

Thoroughly flustered, he went to put the tea kettle on, and continued when he returned, "Sorry...I'm afraid I'm on unfamiliar ground here. How much has Crowley told you? About himself, I mean? I don't want to inadvertantly break any confidences, but it may be difficult to avoid considering the subject."

[caycep]

Cayce had had many an awkward "girl talk" in her lifetime, but telling a succubus that she'd been zapped by a goddess was something 1. new and 2. entirely off the scales.

She approached Ellie's home at the jewelry store with more than a little trepidation, sincerely hoping that she was not about to interrupt an intimate moment. Things seemed quiet, so she took a deep breath and rapped on the door.

[chantinellie.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, Crowley wasn't around at that particular moment. Even demons needed a break every now and again, and as he'd headed out he had said something about scouring the park for tater tots, of all things. Did they even have those at Disney Land? Did they taste different if they were fried in real oil as opposed to summoned out of thin air? Ellie had no idea, and thought it might be just an excuse to catch his breath and reconnect with his beloved Bentley (male thing,) but she was taking the opportunity to straighten the place up a bit when she heard the knock.

Throwing on a silk dressing gown and sticking her head out the window, she grinned brightly and waved when she spotted Cayce down below. "Hey, doll. What's the haps?" Some of T-rex's catchphrases were ridiculously contagious.

[caycep]

Cayce laughed and waved back. "Hey, Ellie. Got a sec? There's something I wanted to ask you about."

She sounded casual enough; she wasn't terribly eager to cause massive alarm right away.

[chantinellie.livejournal.com]

"Sure, come on up. There's a ladder in the back of the store." Ellie hastily kicked a few items under the bed (she had a bed now, yay. It took up most of the floor space and was pretty much the only thing available to sit on, but she'd been overruled on that count. Maybe she should have waited until Crowley's brain was fully back online to bring it up.) "Sorry about the mess," she called downstairs, quickly scanning the room to make sure nothing in sight was too...much.

[caycep]

Cayce made her way up and waved off Ellie's comment about the mess. "Pfft. You should see my place over at Starcade." She couldn't help feeling a little envious over the fact that Ellie actually had a bed; no points in guessing who was responsible for that.

She ended up leaning somewhat awkwardly on the window. "So, uh, here's the thing. What—what do you know about Aphrodite? And the kind of crap she's known for getting up to?"

[chantinellie.livejournal.com]

Cayce could probably have wheedled a bed and any number of other luxuries out of Ellie's source if she'd tried, and without having to offer anything dubious in trade. Said source was utterly smitten with the lady, that much was unmistakable, even if he wasn't inclined to express it physically.

"Aphrodite?" Ellie said in surprise, perching on the edge of the mattress. "She's a narcissistic brat with more style than substance, basically. Throwing tantrums anytime she doesn't think she's getting enough compliments, sending people on impossible quests, gah." Ellie made a disgusted gesture. She and her sisters were competitive, sure, but they would never have wasted their energy bickering over who was better-looking or farting flowers all over the place; they let their job performance speak for itself. "Prety much that whole pantheon's a few onions short of a stew, apart from maybe Psyche. Why?"

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale, meanwhile, had heard the Bentley pull out, and was waiting in a garden chair with a book out in front of Club 33 so he could intercept Crowley when he returned. He wasn't actually reading, however, but was trying to decide where this situation fit in the continuum of bizarre and difficult incidents that punctuated his long life. Somewhere well below the Apocalypse, the Deluge or the Crusades, he reckoned, but definitely a notch or two above Warlock's birthday party. How it stood in relation to being clawed up, knocked out and left to bleed to death at Sodom remained to be seen...

[anthony-crowley.livejournal.com]

With a great deal of noise, smoke, and flash, the demon eventually careened back into his usual parking spot in front of the club. He cheerfully jumped out of the car without bothering with the door and greeted his colleague.

"Careful, angel. Some sun might actually get on you if you're outside..."

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale raised his eyebrows, regarding his counterpart bemusedly. Crowley had been in such high spirits since the party, and it was really quite a lovely change of pace, if a bit unsettling (especially now that he knew the likely cause.) He hoped he wasn't about to spoil it.

"Perish the thought." He shut his book and rose. "Although I don't think I'm quite so enamoured of my books yet as to fade in the sunlight as they do. Do you think you could spare me a moment before you return to whatever depravity has been keeping you so busy?" He'd used that line at least a thousand times, but had never meant it quite so literally before.

[anthony-crowley.livejournal.com]

Not even Aziraphale could claim that tater tots were depraved... Crowley shrugged and indicated the front door. "Lay on, Macduff."

The latter part of that quote was better meant for Ellie.

[soho-angel.livejournal.com]

Aziraphale went inside and held the door for Crowley (whose limp, he noted, actually seemed a bit less pronounced than he recalled. Interesting.)

"Cayce visited the shop today," he began as he shut it, trying to approach the subject from a favorable angle. "We were both a little concerned a few nights ago when you disappeared from the party. You and Ellie," he added unnecessarily, and sighed inwardly. He really was terrible at this sort of thing. "I, that is we, just wanted to know...to make sure that...everything is all right." Pathetic, but how exactly does one broach the subject? 'Oh, by the way, I think you're only shagging the succubus next door because the Queen of Tarts decided it would be fun to coerce you?'

[anthony-crowley.livejournal.com]

Pushing the call button, Crowley watched as the door to the old-fashioned lift opened to admit them inside.

"You're worried because I got laid?" he asked bluntly. "Hate to break it to you, Aziraphale, but people do it all the time."

[caycep]

Having left Crowley and Ellie to sort themselves out (and sincerely hoping the best for whatever happened), Cayce made her way bavck to Tomorrowland.

First stop: the Honey I Shrunk the Audience theatre. She went in, calling out, "Kira! Hey, Kira, you around?"

[caycep]

"Hey! Well, what you can help me with is this: subsequent to the little Bentley cruise around the park the other day and after some thought, Crowley wanted to see if I'd be interested in helping to organize a beauty contest." She sort of hated to leave Kira in the dark about the exact motivations at work here, but she suspected that the fewer people who knew about the fix, the better. Even Kira. "What I wondered was: would you be up for emceeing the thing?"

[caycep]

"Pretty much whatever you want to do to make it fun. I'm not sure how we're going to handle judging yet, but I don't think you'd be required to be part of that." She made a little face. "Actually, we'll probably have to take some care about how we get the judging organized, since one, you know Aphrodite's going to get into it, and two, she's got a history of being tough on judges."