( and though the bite lessens in his name she's still wary. this is not the dean she knows, he'd vanished. this dean... she doesn't know if it'll be better or worse )
( neither does he, but they need everyone they can get, don't they. )
Great. And, before coming here, wasting time meant certain death, so, glad to be on the same page. With time. Look, we didn't start things off on the right foot. I answered your message on edge and things went downhill from there.
( this counts as an apology, right? he acknowledged what he did. let's move on collectively. )
( oh, so he has to give her the hard sell. he can do this. he used to play nice. he's able to. )
I know the other Dean's gone. Your Cas is in a coma. Mine's -- ( trying not to be a basketcase. ) Maybe we're not from the same version, but we're from the same world and it counts for something. I didn't give you a fair shake.
( why are feelings and why is what he wants hard to say. )
I want to start over. Scratch. Take you at face value.
( there's dead silence at first. she'd heard something similar recently and hadn't believed it then, not when dean didn't really know her, not when his experiences of her were years in her past, when he hadn't known anything else.
but this dean is right: he doesn't know her. at all. and whilst rowena doesn't know what others have said about her that doesn't matter to her, she's never cared for the gossip of other people when she is herself. she knows herself.
and maybe dean is right. not about their world counting for something but at starting over and getting to know her on her own merits.
she hums a little in thought after mulling it over and whilst she could meet him at a bar, make it neutral ground, she opts to do it on her own territory. she doesn't fear dean but she would like some comfort. and privacy if they were going to talk )
( he also didn't ask. only asked cas and he'd been -- fair enough. she helps when she can. allies when they can be. he's put down the gun before to come together for a common cause. won't be the first and won't be the last time.
he waits, knowing at least the line wasn't dropped.
he said it himself. it has to be on her own terms.
finally. okay. scotch, he can work with. but he doesn't know anywhere well. he has his. but would inviting her over really say 'neutral territory?'
Why are the only two bars he really knows both also strip clubs or partial strip clubs?
( he can rise to her occasion. he also doesn't have to go far, so after a trip to a store on the corner, he's back at the Up tower and pushing the button for floor 18, brown bags in hand.
and here he wasn't trying to upset the playing field. it doesn't surprise him that she chooses her apartment.
after stepping off, he chooses her door and knocks. )
( two bottles certainly sounds like trying to win favours or is an expectation of the kind of night that dean is certainly used to. either way, she's glad for the lack of refusal and pushback (even if she'd expected it: walking into a witch's apartment could certainly be dangerous).
she doesn't leave him for long once the door knocks, a short-sleeved blue blouse and long, wide-legged black pants on, her typical heels beneath them. her hair is left in very loose curls, hanging free at her shoulders. and though she smiles when opening the door it's a more reserved one )
( to be honest, dean has been trying to curb that side of him. had successfully for a long time with a lack of resourced and always needing to be alert. had he indulged every now and then when the apocalypse got him down? of course. but you can't survive the end of the world as a functioning alcoholic. you can barely survive as a recovering one. )
I brought scotch.
( like he said he would. if she lets him, he slips past. it looks like his apartment, as all dom apartments do. lofty. echo-y. the sound of his footsteps bounce off the surfaces as he approaches the couch.
as she'd offered, he moves around to the other side. he sits, setting the bags down. he uncovers one bottle from the crinkling paper back, before balling it up. he doesn't know where the trash can is, so he sets it back down on the coffee table. it's not harming anyone.
he peels the seal off the cap and poure them both two generous portions. something tells him they'll need it. he sets it down next and sits back, offering her one of the glasses. )
( he'll notice that her apartment is very like his. comforts aren't her first priority, not when rowena certainly didn't want to stay here, nor let herself feel too comfortable. but he will note an open journal (over halfway through in where she'd left it open on a spell) on the coffee table by her couch, an unlit candle by it. most of her other magical ingredients and pieces are tucked away, particularly living with her submissive.
the journal gets very casually closed as she sits down, picking up the offered glass, and getting herself comfortable for their conversation )
Is there somewhere especially you'd like to begin?
( giving him at least the opportunity to ask a question first )
( he only sees out of the corner of his eye, but he's not here to cause a stink. this is a detente, not some kind of fact-finding mission. )
In my world, Sam said yes. I told Michael to shove it and everything went to shit. Lucifer unleashed a world-wide virus that turned humans into zombies. But, worse, cause they didn't want to eat you, they just bashed your face in. The Croatan virus. Called em Croats for short cause we were cute like that. ( gravelly joke. ) Last thing I remember is knocking out the younger me because he didn't like my plan. It was probably a suicide mission for everyone involved, including me. But, I didn't care. I don't trust easy and I've been through it and I haven't seen Sam in five years. And my Cas, well, you've met him. He's an addict and devoted follower of his Fearless Leader which I did not start.
( he sounds more weary than bragging when it comes to that last part. but, he figures he owed her more than he gave her before. )
( she hadn't known much of this. rowena had known that his castiel had come from a terrible world, that lucifer had won, but not the smaller details. she'd never asked, never needed to know, but she supposes for dean...
well, it makes sense. the dean that she knew already didn't trust easily and for him to have seen this? why would he trust?
she certainly understood very well how the circumstances of your life could make you guarded and not willing to trust anyone.
the only thing that dea will note through his story, if he's watching her, is the flicker of fear that she tries (and fails) to conceal when he mentioned lucifer, a slightly tighter grip at her glass. before she finally drinks some of it when he pauses before lowering her glass back to her knee, trying to make the whole thing still seem very casual )
Well, from meeting Dean you know that didn't occur. Though I wish I could say that our experiences with Lucifer ended with him being trapped in the cage.
( which she knows was her fault. she can only partially claim that she was manipulated: she also allowed herself to be without thinking it through. she was lusting for his power )
( the hesitation is telling enough, rowena tapping on the rim of her glass with her finger. but she does make one confession-- )
I may have thrown him into an alternate universe.
( although it had been entirely accidentally and completely fucked up the plan that the boys had needed her to do. she shouldn't have lied to sam and said that she'd be fine alone with lucifer but she knew that they needed as much power on their side as possible, leaving someone with her would ruin their goals. even if they'd dearly hoped that her magic would hold lucifer.
which... it probably wouldn't if he hadn't baited her into doing something reckless )
I was with you, Sam, Castiel... and Gabriel. We'd captured Lucifer to use his grace to open a portal to that universe. ( she skips saying why ) They'd intended to kill him once they were done with him.
( dean you will learn that she is the queen of underestimating something when she thinks it's in her favour. or just doesn't want to admit it )
The others were in that universe. I would like to say that they'd had enough time to complete their plan and come back to do that first but...
( she can't.
no, really, she wishes they had been back and had killed him so that he could stop baiting her. that would have been so nice. don't pick at trauma scabs, lucifer )
As much as I would love for Lucifer to be trapped in some apocalyptic world where he can't do damage-- ( to her. them. their world. whatever ) I wasn't intending to trap him with you.
( them. this was too messy )
It wasn't a plan, I didn't close the door and I'd rather what you'd intended to happen did happen.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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okay, many calls in this city count as that but unknown callers are certainly stranger.
so she's suspicious when she picks up-- )
If this is to waste my time--
( letting the threat hang there unfinished. her tone gets enough of the message across )
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Pretty sure you wouldn't need me to help waste any time here, but I deserve that.
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( and though the bite lessens in his name she's still wary. this is not the dean she knows, he'd vanished. this dean... she doesn't know if it'll be better or worse )
What I usually do is never a waste of my time.
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Great. And, before coming here, wasting time meant certain death, so, glad to be on the same page. With time. Look, we didn't start things off on the right foot. I answered your message on edge and things went downhill from there.
( this counts as an apology, right? he acknowledged what he did. let's move on collectively. )
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I assume you didn't call me just to confirm that you were rude?
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I know the other Dean's gone. Your Cas is in a coma. Mine's -- ( trying not to be a basketcase. ) Maybe we're not from the same version, but we're from the same world and it counts for something. I didn't give you a fair shake.
( why are feelings and why is what he wants hard to say. )
I want to start over. Scratch. Take you at face value.
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but this dean is right: he doesn't know her. at all. and whilst rowena doesn't know what others have said about her that doesn't matter to her, she's never cared for the gossip of other people when she is herself. she knows herself.
and maybe dean is right. not about their world counting for something but at starting over and getting to know her on her own merits.
she hums a little in thought after mulling it over and whilst she could meet him at a bar, make it neutral ground, she opts to do it on her own territory. she doesn't fear dean but she would like some comfort. and privacy if they were going to talk )
Find me some scotch and we can talk properly.
( whiskey would also do )
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he waits, knowing at least the line wasn't dropped.
he said it himself. it has to be on her own terms.
finally. okay. scotch, he can work with. but he doesn't know anywhere well. he has his. but would inviting her over really say 'neutral territory?'
Why are the only two bars he really knows both also strip clubs or partial strip clubs?
He leaves it up to her. )
The Scratch or Soul Cellar?
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( her terms, dean. she'd play the privacy card over comfort if asked about it, not that she entirely wanted him to have a fair footing )
I assume that you can obtain a bottle?
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( he can rise to her occasion. he also doesn't have to go far, so after a trip to a store on the corner, he's back at the Up tower and pushing the button for floor 18, brown bags in hand.
and here he wasn't trying to upset the playing field. it doesn't surprise him that she chooses her apartment.
after stepping off, he chooses her door and knocks. )
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she doesn't leave him for long once the door knocks, a short-sleeved blue blouse and long, wide-legged black pants on, her typical heels beneath them. her hair is left in very loose curls, hanging free at her shoulders. and though she smiles when opening the door it's a more reserved one )
I prepared glasses for us.
( by the couch. why not be slightly comfortable )
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I brought scotch.
( like he said he would. if she lets him, he slips past. it looks like his apartment, as all dom apartments do. lofty. echo-y. the sound of his footsteps bounce off the surfaces as he approaches the couch.
as she'd offered, he moves around to the other side. he sits, setting the bags down. he uncovers one bottle from the crinkling paper back, before balling it up. he doesn't know where the trash can is, so he sets it back down on the coffee table. it's not harming anyone.
he peels the seal off the cap and poure them both two generous portions. something tells him they'll need it. he sets it down next and sits back, offering her one of the glasses. )
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the journal gets very casually closed as she sits down, picking up the offered glass, and getting herself comfortable for their conversation )
Is there somewhere especially you'd like to begin?
( giving him at least the opportunity to ask a question first )
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In my world, Sam said yes. I told Michael to shove it and everything went to shit. Lucifer unleashed a world-wide virus that turned humans into zombies. But, worse, cause they didn't want to eat you, they just bashed your face in. The Croatan virus. Called em Croats for short cause we were cute like that. ( gravelly joke. ) Last thing I remember is knocking out the younger me because he didn't like my plan. It was probably a suicide mission for everyone involved, including me. But, I didn't care. I don't trust easy and I've been through it and I haven't seen Sam in five years. And my Cas, well, you've met him. He's an addict and devoted follower of his Fearless Leader which I did not start.
( he sounds more weary than bragging when it comes to that last part. but, he figures he owed her more than he gave her before. )
The Devil won.
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well, it makes sense. the dean that she knew already didn't trust easily and for him to have seen this? why would he trust?
she certainly understood very well how the circumstances of your life could make you guarded and not willing to trust anyone.
the only thing that dea will note through his story, if he's watching her, is the flicker of fear that she tries (and fails) to conceal when he mentioned lucifer, a slightly tighter grip at her glass. before she finally drinks some of it when he pauses before lowering her glass back to her knee, trying to make the whole thing still seem very casual )
Well, from meeting Dean you know that didn't occur. Though I wish I could say that our experiences with Lucifer ended with him being trapped in the cage.
( which she knows was her fault. she can only partially claim that she was manipulated: she also allowed herself to be without thinking it through. she was lusting for his power )
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I know it went down differently, I don't know anything else. ( and -- he wasn't going to ask. ) But, he didn't end up in Sam.
( he just needs confirmation. )
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( he almost would have done to help defeat amara if sam had gone through with that but... dear castiel also took that bait instead.
which rowena opts not to mention. yet )
He was locked away, then freed... then trapped again, though nothing holds him for long.
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( but worse. a lot worse. )
He's locked away? For now?
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I may have thrown him into an alternate universe.
( although it had been entirely accidentally and completely fucked up the plan that the boys had needed her to do. she shouldn't have lied to sam and said that she'd be fine alone with lucifer but she knew that they needed as much power on their side as possible, leaving someone with her would ruin their goals. even if they'd dearly hoped that her magic would hold lucifer.
which... it probably wouldn't if he hadn't baited her into doing something reckless )
I was with you, Sam, Castiel... and Gabriel. We'd captured Lucifer to use his grace to open a portal to that universe. ( she skips saying why ) They'd intended to kill him once they were done with him.
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Gabriel. ( he listens, but bristles at the mention. ) And instead of killing him, you may have sent him to the other universe.
( he doesn't sift through the 'why' of even using Lucifer. )
Not this universe.
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The others were in that universe. I would like to say that they'd had enough time to complete their plan and come back to do that first but...
( she can't.
no, really, she wishes they had been back and had killed him so that he could stop baiting her. that would have been so nice. don't pick at trauma scabs, lucifer )
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( he tightens the grip on his glass, because it feels like she sent lucifer in after them. )
So, instead of killing him, he went in -- after them. Us. ...Them.
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He was supposed to be holding the door open so they could return without a time limit. An unlimited supply of archangel grace holding the way.
( rowena one day you might wish to tell a story properly so it doesn't sound strange. you're missing so many details )
I did what I could in keeping it that way.
( she hasn't yet figured out what to do about that problem without lucifer being there. it was too soon )
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( he promised from scratch. but this is an interesting strategy to starting over. )
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As much as I would love for Lucifer to be trapped in some apocalyptic world where he can't do damage-- ( to her. them. their world. whatever ) I wasn't intending to trap him with you.
( them. this was too messy )
It wasn't a plan, I didn't close the door and I'd rather what you'd intended to happen did happen.
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