We'll Cherish All These Simple Things, Wherever We May Be

Something so Flawed and Free

Dedication: To my dear friend, the wonderful and utterly lovely KannaOphelia. I feel like I have known you forever, I cannot believe it has only been six months since we met. You have brought me so much joy and love, my darling sister, and I will forever be thankful to have you in my life.

On the off chance that you haven't read any of her work, go do that. Right now. Her stories are absolutely and utterly amazing and I cannot recommend them enough.

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Rome, 50 AD

Crowley- to put it simply, was having the time of his life. Humans had truly gotten creative when they made up the whole thing with the Roman Pantheon, and the festivals that came with it? They gave the parties in Hell a run for their money. Where else did you have seven days set aside specifically to celebrate and commit all sorts of sins while calling it revelry? At this very moment, Crowley was currently overseeing that the largest and most ridiculous tree in the nearby area was put in the exact location that he desired it. It was a tradition that the Romans had become fond of in recent years, thinking that it would protect them in the coming of the new year. Crowley had to keep up appearances somehow. If word got out that Crowley wasn't being a proper Roman citizen for Saturnalia, his entire mission would be ruined. He had been working long and hard at slowly corrupting the majority of the current senate (not that it required much effort, it just took bloody forever to get through all of them) and if suspicion began to fall on him instead of the senate members, well, Dagon would certainly have him filling out paperwork as to why he failed a minor temptation for the next decade.

Crowley knew he could have just miracled the blessed tree into place, but there was already enough suspicion on him in his own house. He heard the rumors that the servants whispered when they thought he was out of earshot, demon, spirit, minor god on earth, and the like. It wasn't that he minded the reputation, but he did not need anymore unwanted attention, lest rumors begin to spread. But after watching the various servants struggle for another ten minutes, Crowley decided that he had to intervene for his own sanity. They already thought he wasn't human, so what harm could showing a little bit of extra strength do?

Apparently the answer was: too much. Crowley had thought that he was being subtle with his little display, but by the wide-eyed looks some of the men where giving him, he had gone just a little bit overboard. Bless it.

"All right, everyone get back to work." Crowley willed them all to keep moving. He doubted this was the weirdest thing they had seen while working in his household and besides, they all stayed there willingly, and the option of leaving was always up to them. At this point, the ones who were still there were the ones who didn't mind Crowley's... oddness, and would willingly put it aside as long as they still had chambers and a nice meal at the end of the day. Of course, Crowley was a demon, he couldn't go around being nice to the humans, but by giving them their own freedom not only was Crowley deliberately going against the status quo of the empire, but he also employed the nature of free will and allowed their actions to slowly influence those of servants belonging to other nobles. Soon the people would be demanding freedom from their masters and another whole wave of discord and rioting would add to the already tense stability of the Roman hierarchy.

Once Crowley's villa was set up exactly the way he wanted it, he joined the rest of the servants in going to the center of the town.

The men carried out a series of long wooden tables and set them down in the middle of the square with a heavy thump. When each table was properly arranged, there was a sudden outburst of applause and raucous cheering. Crowley raised an eyebrow, it seemed like some of them had already broken into the wine. Fine by him, start the celebrations early. Crowley smirked, feeling the energy rising in the town. Soon the entire city would be running rampant with celebrations and sins, it was as close to paradise as a demon could get. Crowley felt a familiar presence tug at his chest and he turned his head sharply searching the crowd around him. It looked like the holidays were about to get even better.