Chapter Text
It was a nice day. All the days had been nice, as far as this current generation was concerned. There had been rather more than seven of them since the last time the angel had told himself so, and he had not yet found a reason to argue otherwise. Oh, how he sometimes wished he could argue otherwise. That is – the angel quickly reminded himself – of course he did not wish for the days to be less nice.
He simply – wondered. No, the angel reflected. He prayed. Of course, it would not do for an angel to wonder, that could only lead to questioning, and – well. There was simply no questioning the ineffable plan. Not for an angel, or more precisely, an angel who wished to hold on to this title.
So he prayed. He prayed for a purpose. For an assignment, even – the last one he’d been given proved rather pointless, in the end, once the walls had been dismantled. There was no use, after all, in guarding a gate anyone could just walk around. Perhaps he even prayed for some simple distraction and variety.
It had all been rather novel, in the beginning, the angel reflected – inhabiting a human body. Not entirely human, of course, but human enough. Very distracting, all those new sensations of light and sound and temperature and taste and scent… Exceedingly interesting, too, to communicate. There had been no such thing as a conversation, in the times before – they had been simply one mind. Except, of course, for those who weren’t. And there was no communication with them, either – for different reasons.
Lately, however, the novelty had begun to wear off. The angel had taken to travelling this new and relatively empty world more or less aimlessly, discovering its hidden beauties, the dangers it held for humans who were still, blissfully, unaware of them. He had not had a conversation in some decades now – not since the last time upstairs had sent him to deliver a message to some lucky human.
It was rather difficult, these days, to simply interact with the humans because one wanted to. They had, of course, not entirely forgotten the existence of supernatural beings – but it had been long enough now, for the knowledge to wash away into belief. Superstition, even. And there simply weren’t enough of them, usually, to avoid questions – or, if you weren’t careful, suspicion. So, who was it again that you were related to? It would be different, one day, or so the angel had been told – but for now, he mostly kept his distance, and observed from afar. If he chose to observe at all, that was, and not to simply explore.
~~
Aziraphale had been lying in the grass, observing the stars, when he’d heard the footsteps approach.
“I knew I smelled some divine interference around here. What’re you doing all the way out here, angel?”
The demon crouched down and eyed him with interest. They did not seem disturbed in the slightest, nor particularly hostile. Nothing at all like what one would expect of an infernal agent upon encountering an angel of the Lord’s army. Rather curious, actually.
Well, perhaps it did not help that he had kicked off his sandals and had his arms crossed behind his head. Aziraphale scrambled upright and eyed the demon with interest.
“I know you, don’t I? From the garden.”
The redhead nodded. “Crawley. And you’re… Aziraphale, Angel of the Eastern Gate. Incompetent guardian of the Almighty’s flaming sword.”
Offended, Aziraphale drew himself up to his full height, and huffed: “I am not incompetent. I gave that sword away by choice, thank you very much. And clearly, it worked. Who knows how long they would have made it without any weapon to protect themselves with, after the trouble you got them into.”
Crawley jumped to their feet, and held out their hand, grinning. “Whatever. Listen, angel, far be it from me to stop you from admiring some of my best work,” his eyes fluttered briefly skyward, “but the humans have come up with some better entertainment. Come on, I’ll show you.”
Aziraphale hesitated, briefly. He probably shouldn’t. Accepting a demon’s invitation could only mean trouble. But then, he really had been craving some sentient company lately. And this way, he might even be able to intercept any wily plans Crawley might be up to at this moment.
The entertainment turned out to be storytelling by firelight, accompanied by a few cups of a lovely, fermented fruit juice drink the humans had evidently invented since the last time Aziraphale had accepted their hospitality. Aziraphale had pointedly avoided to ask how his companion had come to be in the possession of the beverage, but Crawley had read the disapproval on his face. “Oh, relax. Yes, I stole it, but I left them a beehive for it. They’ll get stung, of course, but if they’re smart, they can domesticate them. Useful little buggers.” From their tone, it was quite unclear whether that last assessment had been meant for the insects or the humans.
They’d kept their distance from the settlement, of course, but found a spot close enough that they could follow the story that was being recited. The tragic, and periodically funny, tale of a smith who had made a deal with the devil and turned out to be triumphant by respecting the evil as his equal. Which seemed to amuse Crawley to no end.
“Good on them for enjoying that as long as it lasts, at least. Won’t enjoy what comes after, anyway.”
Aziraphale turned away from the scene at the fireside and blinked until his eyes adjusted to the dark again.
“You seem awfully cavalier about leading humans to eternal damnation. I shouldn’t be surprised, of course. Demon.”
Crawley drained their cup and leaned back on their elbows. They cast around a suspicious look, as though somebody might be lurking in the shadows, but seemed to decide they were alone.
“For the record,” they drawled, “I don’t enjoy knowing that my lot are coming up with new torture methods every day. It’s one thing driving them crazy as long as they are here on earth, and have some control over their actions, but… not like you or I are going to change that whole afterlife business, is it? And anyway. If you cared so much for their immortal souls, shouldn’t you be around them more? Trying to influence them to be obedient little servants of the Lord, instead of off… hiking, or whatever it is you do?”
Aziraphale paused, surprised, more than anything, at learning that Crawley had obviously been observing him for longer than he’d been aware.
“Well. I suppose sometimes it does… seem rather futile. Very headstrong creatures, after all, those humans. But still, there’s no reason to make light…”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Come on, angel, lets see if we can find any other delicacies those headstrong creatures haven’t properly locked up. Shall we?”