Actually, no. He didn't think he'd fool Gabriel by being crass. But the demon did think he could get him in a bad mood and that part seemed to work fine. What Gabriel didn't seem to understand was that if he walked away easily from an encounter with an archangel, not a single denizen of Hell would believe his story, no matter if the entire city were otherwise destroyed. They had to fight and he had to have real injuries, even if the Messenger didn't want to get his hands dirty. It was faintly pleasant that he actually gave a damn, but this wasn't the time.

Without thinking about who would be available to put him back together again this time, Crowley just lashed out unexpectedly, catching the angel across the face with his claws. There was one shining moment of frozen time and then four parallel gashes across Gabriel's cheek began to bleed.

He had to react to a direct attack, right?

Crowley followed the blow with a low kick, trying to get Gabriel's feet out from under him.