keepcruising | (no subject)

Crowley has been a traveler for a while now. It's been a few years that he's traveled around, collecting rare artifacts and flipping them for exorbitant profits. He only has to sell a few items every year and he can keep himself in all the ale and whores a man could ask for, but it's not all sitting and doing nothing. He has to spot the items and to do that, he has to know them and know how to acquire them. The less he has to put down, the better, especially if it's nothing. It certainly beats tailoring and when times are hard, he's got what little witchcraft he'd learned from his mother to fall back on.

He notices Blake in a tavern--rather, he notices the hilt of Blake's sword. It's a nice sword, crafted well and long ago, and Crowley knows that a sword like that can be worth a nice penny, but the owner of it could well have other things worth many more.

Rather than simply lifting the sword in the man's sleep, he opts to buy him a drink and see if he can't lead Crowley to something more interesting.

"You're not from around here, are you?" He slides into the seat next to Blake and places an ale in front of him.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That's quite alright. I won't slow you down. I'm fitter than I look and I have a mule to carry my things. He can take on a few more pounds for you, too, if you like."

Crowley doesn't have many worldly possessions because it's hard to travel with much, but he's a man of creature comforts. That's what he works so smart to maintain. Having a mule to carry his things is really the least of what he could have. If he weren't often in a rush, he'd have a whole cart for the thing to pull, but as it is, he has to slip away in a hurry too often for that.

Being a trusting individual (maybe to a fault), John weighs the options laid out before him. While he does tend to be fairly solitary, Blake can't help but admit that it is nice to have company once in a while. And four eyes are certainly better than two.

Reaching out, he offers his hand to seal the deal. "Very well. We'll travel together as far as you'll go." And committing to as much probably means that Blake's going to adopt something of a serious guard mentality.

"You're bold for asking, though, I will say that. How many of these other man have you asked? Am I the only one that's willing to take on such a task?" He grins a bit.

With a firm handshake, Crowley grins. He's never shied away from asking for what he wants. Maybe that makes him seem bold to Blake, he sees it as nothing more than doing what he needs to do to survive.

"You're the second person I've asked here. Sometimes I have good luck and sometimes it takes a few more tries, but one can't be too prepared when they're traveling through forests."

One needs protection, after all, from men with morals like Crowley's.

Blake's far too trusting in this light to be thoroughly concerned by Crowley's morals, but that's probably an alarming oversight. He wants to see the best in people because he's a champion of those people, but he's not quite so naive to believe everyone skews good all the time.

"In that case, I'll drink to our travels, may they bring us adventure and intrigue without loss of limp," he toasts quietly. Now this is their business so it doesn't need passed around the tavern. They'll have plenty more time to work on the details when they're on the road and outside the reach of prying eyes and sharp ears.

"You'll need some time to gather the necessary supplies, then? Or are you ready to go?"

It's a toast Crowley can drink to and drink he does. This isn't the best tavern he's been to, but he'll savor decent drink while he can. There are some taverns where the ale is more watery than the water.

"I can be ready in the morning, if you like."

He wants a night to rest and make sure he's got himself in order, but he's certainly eager to leave this small town. There's really nothing for him here and he's already spent too much time playing nice with these people.

John considers his options. He'd like to move out as soon as possible, but morning works well enough, especially since he'll have a traveling companion to consider. He's already warned the guy that he's not slow on the trails, but maybe it's not entirely vital that they move through the night every night. I mean, part of his role here is going to be getting to know this guy, right?

"Morning's fine," he says, nodding politely, a thin smile set on his face. "And drink in the meantime," he adds, because that gives them some time. "You can tell me more about yourself."

Maybe there's a lot to learn here, who knows. It's stupid to set aside curiosity when there's something to gain and Blake's got a feeling just listening will tell him a lot about Crowley.