Carlos tried not to squirm under Crowley’s apparently unimpressed countenance toward the idea. He tried, okay? He didn’t think he personally would be capable of much else, honestly, and at least this way something good was going to come out of it. And nobody would get hurt… really. Pissed off to all Hell (which Carlos realized was a distinct possibility for those people), but not hurt.
The question, though a little sharp, confused Carlos. And, he felt defensive about his answer. “Look, is…” He swallowed. “Is it bad enough or not? Taking a kid from her legal guardians?” And hopefully never to see them again, he added silently to himself. “It’s all I got - I don’t wanna be Capone or whatever, I just…. Is it enough? Is it going to be enough?”
God… what was he doing? He was starting to second-guess himself. Crowley’s reaction didn’t look promising, and Carlos was suddenly concerned that the proposal would be rejected. He shouldn’t have even entertained the idea of trying to make a deal with an apparent demon. He was stuck now, wasn’t he?
Was he supposed to make it sound more ‘evil’? But even for his soul, Carlos didn’t want to imply that there would be… anything that wasn’t there. Even on principle, he wanted to be truthful about anything he said. Withholding, sure, but truthful. Just… how could he make it sound more ‘bad’ to this guy’s satisfaction?
He couldn’t. He could only think of the ways to justify himself for wanting this so badly for him and, most importantly, the baby. It was all about the baby.
Crowley knew that he could be a bit touchy. During the centuries, he had found out a lot of things that could annoy him to no end, and at times literally to Hell and back. Additional paperwork. Aziraphale’s inconceivable refuse to get a proper phone. Technological glitches. Horses. The entire fourteenth centuries. The list was a long one and, among the other things, it included people who replied to his questions with other questions.
Gritting his teeth, he employed another huge slice of self-control not to throw his hands in the air for the umpteenth time since Carlos had stumbled down in the crypt and instead took a moment to march around the Bentley, trying to calm down before addressing the human again. He had already seen that snarling at the man was counterproductive, so he was trying to go for patience. Useless to say, it wasn’t easy at all.
“It’s not so linear. And that’s another thing I’ve been telling you since the blessed start! If it was, then I wouldn’t have even offered you this deal, for G-...Sa...Ngk. For someone’s sake!” He huffed, once he had got back standing in front of Carlos. “I have to ask again. Aren’t you supposed to be smart? Because you seemed like the nerdy smart type last time I met you. Did something changed in the last few weeks? Or did I miss something?”
So much for being calm and understanding.
“Alright, alright. It doesn’t matter now.” He waved a hand. “But I need to know why you want to steal the baby. Your motivations are an essential point to define what can be sold off as a sin and what can’t, alright? If I don’t have all the facts, I can’t make this work to our advantage, capisce?”
He offered a nod, as to encourage the human to nod back and, especially, to finally get his point.
“Now, I need to know who this baby is for you and who is their legal guardian. Because it’s hardly a sin if we’re rescuing an innocent out of the hands of some human trafficker or similar. Surely you can understand why, can’t you? If I end up helping you doing good,” he made a face at the mere thought, “I’m going to end up in a sea of troubles. And you’re going down with me.”
