Devil in Jersey City (Adeline and Crowley)

[Fen]

put on your war paint

you are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down
strike a match and i'll burn you to the ground

"I'm going to ask you again, and know that if you're lying..." Crowley looked over his shoulder at the pitbull that was being held down by two of Crowley's goons. "Well, we'll just say you won't walk out of here. As a matter of fact..." Crowley turned, facing the dog, and stepped up to him. "You'll be lucky to crawl." The fear on the dog's bloodied face was apparent as Crowley smiled a devilish grin and leaned in close to the dog's face.

"Why don't you have your payment?"

"I told ya! Some bastardos jumped me. Took all I had!"

"Excuses excuses! Why do they always spit out excuses like I care?!" Crowley growled and with one swift motion and a cracking of bone, he snapped the pit's hind paw. The dog howled in pain and Crowley reached a paw up and forced the dog to look at him. "Now you bring me my payment, you got that, mate? " The dog didn't say anything, his throat likely clogged with blood. Crowley landed a swift blow to the dog's head. "Sorry? I didn't catch that!"

"I will, Mister Crowley! Please just let me go home to my family!"

Crowley backed up a bit, and began to walk away, but he paused and turned back, as if he had forgotten something. With another swift motion, Crowley broke the other paw. 

"Now get this bastard out of my sight. You have three days." He said over the pit's howls of pain, and strode over to a bucket of collected rainwater to rinse the blood from his fur. The two bigger dogs carried the pit out of the alley, leaving Crowley to think.

He cleaned himself up and headed out, away from the scene. He was sure someone would come to investigate eventually. He shook his head, and grabbed himself a large dog treat before finding somewhere to perch and calm himself.

[Frost]

Adeline heard someone shouting desperately, she couldn't hear most of it, but she caught the word "jumped", and it didn't sound like the exercise kind. She cautiously ran towards the sound, poking her head around a corner just in time to see a Pit's hind paw get broken. She stifled the surprised gasp that threatened to escape from her throat.

Keeping out of sight she started to watch the goings-on, since she knew she couldn't help and probably nobody else would anyway. She was sniffing at the air in an effort to find out who was there when what must have been the leader turned, Adeline caught a glimpse of his face at the exact same moment that she recognized his scent. Crowley! She'd traded some small, seemingly harmless bits of information with him in exchange for food before, but that was before she had heard of The Chronicle, and she'd had no idea that he'd done anything like this.

The Dalmatian managed to keep her cool as she watched the rest of the scene, and when Crowley walked off, she trailed him. When it seemed that he had stopped, she circled around the area, approaching him from a direction other than the one he'd come from. She pretended to be surprised to see him and headed over. "Mister Crowley! What a pleasant surprise, I didn't expect to see you here," Adeline was thankful that she was a good actress, and she hoped that Crowley didn't see through it. "How are you this fine day?"

[Fen]

put on your war paint

you are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down
strike a match and i'll burn you to the ground

Crowley looked up as he heard his name, and was met with a familiar face. "Ah, Miss Adeline. The pleasure is all mine. To what do I owe this visit?" He asked, that signature grin of his touching his features as he spoke. He liked Adeline. They had done a bit of trading in the past, back when he had hardly rolled into town. It hadn't taken him long to get established, and he was more than happy to trade food for information.

Crowley gestured for her to join him, and he offered her one of his biscuits. "Fancy a fag and a chat?" He asked jokingly. It had been a while since Crowley had seen a face that he was happy to see. He had very few friends, and Adeline was an acquaintance, but she had never been someone he would consider an enemy.

He was cool as a cucumber, but he had a feeling something was going on with her. He tilted his head to the side and cocked an eyebrow. "Somethin' the matter, love? You seem a bit off." He asked, a small amount of concern lacing his accent as he spoke. He hoped she hadn't been near enough to hear any of that mess before. He was sure she would be a bit more distraught if she did though. Most people didn't take that very well.

[Frost]

"I was just taking a walk, seeing the sights, you know, the usual. Then I saw you and thought: I recognize him, that's Mister Crowley, so I walked over to say hello," Adeline replied to the Bulldog's first question. She laughed at his second question, taking the offered biscuit.

The Dalmatian was doing her best not to think of what she'd seen in the alley a little bit earlier, she knew that if she thought about it too much, her apprehension would show. She had come to talk with Crowley to see if she could get more information, but as the conversation went on, she began to wonder exactly how wise that decision had been. "Well... No, I must be overreacting. I'm just starting to worry about how safe this area is," she said, formulating an alibi as she spoke.

"I saw a Pitbull being roughly dragged out of an alleyway by two larger dogs, there was so much blood," Adeline acted the proper Brit, staying calm as she recounted the events. It would be harder to see through this fib, since it wasn't completely a lie. "It was awful, I steered clear of the area," she made sure not to forget about covering up why she'd entered the area from the direction she'd come in. "I was worrying about myself mostly, but if you're in this area, you might not be safe either," she didn't want to be in this situation much longer, but she didn't overact, she stayed calmer than most, interested to see how Crowley would react.

[Fen]

put on your war paint

you are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down
strike a match and i'll burn you to the ground

Crowley laughed, "Oh, darling. Don't you worry your pretty little head about me. I'll be just fine." He fully ignored the statement about the pitbull. "It would take a lot more than a few blokes with a desire for carving a name out of my hide to make this place dangerous for me." He looked around at the few other dogs who were walking this way and that, passing the pair of them as if they didn't exist. Crowley knew they took notice. He could see it in the way they refused to look at them. 

"And you don't worry about yourself, either, dear. Ole' Mister Crowley has your back." He said with a wink and stood. "Walk with me." He gestured with his head for her to follow. He knew that Adeline was good about getting information, and he needed to ask her a few questions. A sneaking suspicion rose in his gut though. How much of that scene did she see? Just him being carried out, or had she been lurking around the whole time? Crowley had an ability to sense a liar, but he had never pictured Adeline as one. He gave her the benefit of the doubt, for now. Playing the Gentleman as always.

"Tell me, have you dug up any good information I might find useful lately?" He asked, wondering what she had heard on the street. Crowley couldn't be everywhere at once and he rarely had time to listen to the murmurings of other dogs when he was dealing with others. 

[Frost]

Adeline inwardly sighed in relief, it seemed that Crowley believed her, for now anyway. She smiled as he said that he had her back, it wasn't that much of a stretch since she was inwardly laughing at the irony of that statement. As she started to walk with Crowley she realized that she'd been more scared than usual, that wasn't like her at all. The Dalmatian was almost never scared or nervous about anything, and now was the time to snap out of it.

"Not much, just the usual," Adeline answered Crowley. "The Mancinis continue to be blamed for most of what goes on, half of it is obviously not them, the other half is possible, but not likely. Things have actually been pretty quiet recently, I think people are getting used to Mancini being around," she really hadn't been listening much recently, she'd had some things on her mind. The Dalmatian felt less and less uncomfortable as she talked, being less scared and more able to think of Crowley as the kind tradesman she'd formerly thought he was.

[Fen]

put on your war paint

you are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down
strike a match and i'll burn you to the ground

Crowley nodded, understanding. "Well, if you hear of anything good, you know where to find me." He said, leaving the subject alone for now. He knew the Dalmatian had a way of finding out things. It was a useful skill. Information traders could make a killing in this city. He didn't figure her for the type to be out for the money, though. He didn't know how she got her information, and it really wasn't any of his business. He supposed that if you listened around long enough you were bound to turn up a few secrets.

"So, I haven't seen you in a while. Staying out of trouble, I hope." He said, laughing slightly and finishing the treat he had pulled out earlier. "Us Brits ought to stick together. We should schedule a weekly meeting for tea and biscuits." He winked slightly, then looked ahead of him for a moment. The street stretched out before them and he wondered just what she had been doing in this part of town. It wasn't that Crowley didn't think that she could handle herself, it's just that this area was a bit rough. Most people didn't raise a big fuss over someone getting whacked around here. Perfect place for him to bring the folks who wouldn't pay up.

[Frost]

Adeline laughed along with Crowley. "Of course, there's no way I could get in trouble," she joked. "The problem with a meeting like that is that we'd never agree on a place to meet," she smiled warmly. It seemed like the conversation was going quite well, she might just get out of this better off than she previously thought.

Though Adeline still hadn't gleaned much information from the conversation, she was learning something very important about the job she wanted. Sometimes it reveals things you never thought possible, and kind people can be just as bad as rude people. She also realized that every time a story is printed, it affects someone personally, directly or otherwise. The Dalmatian knew that she'd have to decide which parts of the story to disclose and which to keep secret, the choices would be based on what she thought she could say without alerting Crowley to the fact that it was her supplying the information. Suddenly, telling him that she'd seen part of what happened earlier seemed like it had been a really bad idea.

[Fen]

put on your war paint

you are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down
strike a match and i'll burn you to the ground

Crowley chuckled. "You're right about that, love." He said and shook his head. He felt like she knew something she wasn't letting on, and it made him slightly suspicious of her. "I heard there was a funeral. One of the Mancinis? Terrible shame, really. I'm no fan of theirs, but a death of a woman is always a tragedy, especially when young children are involved." He looked to her again. "A little birdy told me you attended. How was the food?" He smirked, his tone joking as he spoke.

He knew she wasn't the type for taking sides, even if she didn't really know that Crowley had chosen one himself. His own side, opposite of the Mancini family. He knew he was bold in doing this, but he respected Leonardo as a business man, and he knew that this wasn't about power for him. Crowley, however, he had ambitions, and he had goals he would achieve. By any means necessary. 

He somehow found himself looking at the church that his family called home. "Come in. Join us for dinner. Alfonso got his paws on some of the most tender lamb you'll ever eat."

[Frost]

"The food was wonderful," Adeline watched carefully to see what Crowley's reaction would be. "There were many delicacies. There were even some kinds of meat I'd never tasted before," she'd taken note when the bulldog had said that he wasn't a fan of the Mancini family, it seemed that she had been right to assume that there would be a rivalry between the two. It seemed that the Dalmatian had met the right kind of people for interesting stories here, and she was glad to have connections.

Adeline pondered her options for a moment. "Alright, but I can't stay for long, I would like to be home before it gets too dark," she replied to Crowley's generous offer, "How is Alfonso by the way?" The Dalmatian was sure to keep a look out for anything interesting, she didn't want to miss anything.

[Fen]

put on your war paint

you are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down
strike a match and i'll burn you to the ground

"Understood." He said and entered the church. "And Alfonso...He's shaking off a few wounds. Nothing major. He's a fighter, that one." Crowley said and approached the front altar that they used as a dining table. The food was already lain out and prepared, and Crowley settled in his chair behind it. The church was big, but not too large to get lost inside. There were shreds of carpet that lined the isles between a few broken pews. Anyone could tell that it hadn't been maintained properly. There were a few humans that came around every once in a while to keep the grass cut down outside and keep it looking presentable. Crowley's living quarters were in the steeple itself. And the many other rooms had been sectioned off for others to live in.

"Oh, dear me. Where are my manners?" He gestured around him. "Welcome to Casa de Crowley. A bit rough around the edges, but it'll do." He smiled a bit and shrugged. "Keeps my fur dry in the rain, at least. Not too many people intrude here, either. Not too sure why. My guess is that the place isn't valuable to them. Damn shame, actually. It's very nice." He didn't know how wise it had been inviting her in. He wondered if she would turn around and sell the information on his headquarters to the Mancinis. Not that he was worried. Let them come. What did he have that they wanted?

He began to eat, casually biting off piece after piece of tender lambchop. It was delicious, and he was impressed that Alfonso had managed to snag it. He made sure to remember to leave the large doberman enough to eat.

[Frost]

Adeline smiled politely and listened carefully as she followed Crowley to the food. While the church was a bit rundown, it was still a lovely structure, and the Dalmatian could not help but marvel at the tall ceiling and large windows.

She sat next to Crowley and began to eat some lambchop. Crowley had been right, Adeline had never tasted such a tender slice of meat before. It was fairly quiet, so she decided to spark up some conversation.

"So, I hear business is going well for you," she said, kindly, not in a prying matter. She didn't really care if he gave her any new information since she already had plenty of knowledge about one aspect of his work.

[Fen]

put on your war paint

you are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down
strike a match and i'll burn you to the ground

He laughed. "As well as it can go with those Mancini blokes breathing down my neck." He said, careful of what he said. She did have a reputation of selling information, and Crowley didn't want anything important leaked. Things were too touchy right now to go blabbing everything he knew. He was too smart for that, so he kept the info hidden a bit, his statements short. "Mouth breathers, the lot of 'em." He joked, taking another bite of the lamb in front of him. 

He focused on his food for a moment, allowing her to eat her own before speaking again. "I'm glad you stopped by. Hard to find a pretty face and a sharp mind in this city. You're always welcome." He pushed himself out of his chair and down onto the floor, shaking his fur a bit. "But, business doesn't wait. I have someone to meet over at the Plaza. Stay as long as you like, Alfonso will show you out." He walked toward the opening, and smiled a bit. "It was lovely to see you, Miss Adeline. Do come back and we shall have another chat. Stay safe, my dear."

And with that, he was out the door again. Alfonso stood from his corner and limped over to stand by the door. He nodded a greeting to her, but remained silent. His wounds were still stinging and aching. He wasn't much for conversation at the moment.