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Why was Aziraphale still in the Garden? But he no longer perched on the wall, guarding Eden. Instead, he stood near a chest-high bush, with his hands rummaging around in the leaves.
Crawley slithered through the tree he’d been resting in. Well, maybe not exactly resting. Hiding was more like it. Hiding from the other demons who had been furious at his newfound favor with Lucifer.
And in Hell, demons showed their fury with a barrage of unexpected violence. Crawley had escaped and fled back to Eden, shifted into a smaller version of his serpent form, and taken shelter in a tree. He hadn’t planned to leave anytime soon.
But now Aziraphale—the only true shelter Crawley had ever known—was here, and intense curiosity overrode most of his worries about safety. It was worth taking risks to find out what that weird angel was up to.
He lowered himself to the warm earth and slithered across the grass. Just to test the waters, he snuck up on Aziraphale, who was completely absorbed with the bush. If Aziraphale freaked out, Crawley would flee.
But when he coiled his scaled body around Aziraphale’s warm ankles, the angel just let out a soft squeak and looked down. As soon as they made eye contact, he relaxed. “Oh! Hello, Crawley. What are you doing down there?”
“Causing mischief,” Crawley said, tightening his coils slightly. Aziraphale would freak out, right? And then there would either be a fight, or one of them would flee. It was the way the world worked. The whole thing on the wall—Aziraphale protecting him from the rain—must have been a fluke.
Instead of freaking out, Aziraphale flushed pink and gave him a shy look. “Well, I won’t tell if you won’t.”
That was such an intriguing answer that it caught Crawley completely off guard. He unwound himself from Aziraphale’s legs, then focused and rippled into his human shape. He was standing a little too close, and his right wing collided with Aziraphale’s left. Black and white feathers tangled together, interlocking. “Whoops. Er. Hang on.”
“Oh, dreadfully sorry about that,” Aziraphale said as if he’d been the one remotely at fault. He stood still, smiling as Crawley disentangled their wings. “So, what are you doing up— Oh, oh! Crawley, what’s happened to you?”
Crawley freed the last of his feathers from Aziraphale’s, then looked into a kind face rumpled with concern. “Nh?”
“You’re bruised, dear fellow.” Aziraphale pouted, his eyes reflecting sky blue as he looked Crawley over. “We can’t have that. May I tend to you?”
He held out a hand. Crawley stared at it for a moment, evaluating the threat, then leaned in. “Oh, yeah. Huh, I kinda figured the bruises would go away when I changed form. I, er, ran into some trouble with some demons who weren’t happy about my success.”
“Ahh,” Aziraphale murmured, brushing his fingertips against Crawley’s cheek. A warm tingle of healing energy swept through the damaged tissue, and then Aziraphale simply caressed his cheek. “Much better! I suppose that’s why you’re up here? I…I’m glad you are. Much safer for you.”
Warmth exploded in Crawley’s chest, an overwhelming fondness. This angel was so amazing, so intriguing. And so gentle, his thumb still skimming along Crawley’s cheekbone. “Yeh. Thought I’d hide out for a bit, wait for things to calm down. And what’re you doing here?”
“Oh, I…” Soft pink the color of roses spread across Aziraphale’s cheeks again, and Crawley’s legs went weak. Oh, Satan, he was gorgeous. “Afraid I, um, snuck back in. I’m supposed to be out in the rest of the world guarding against evil, but…it was the berries. These lovely little ones, the red clusters?”
Crawley tilted his head. “The ones that look like bumpy hats?”
Aziraphale giggled. “From a certain angle, I suppose. I have no idea what they’re called, but they don’t exist outside Eden yet. And they’re so very delicious. I simply can’t resist them.”
“They’re called raspberries,” Crawley answered. “Eve liked ‘em a lot. But yeah, I don’t think they’re out in the wild yet. Not like this, anyway.”
“Oh, I ought to take some to her.” Aziraphale gathered a handful of the bumpy red berries, then looked at his white robes in dismay. Well, less white now. “Oh…I seem to have gotten myself a bit messy.”
What kind of an angel was this? He was gonna get himself in trouble. Crawley rolled his eyes and brushed his fingertips against Aziraphale’s robe, miracling away the berry stains. “There. You gotta be more careful, Aziraphale. If you’re gonna sneak around, you need to pay more attention so you don’t get caught.”
“I wasn’t sneaking!” Aziraphale protested, drawing himself up. “I was simply, er…appreciating Creation.”
Crawley snorted and snapped his fingers. He miracled a square of black cloth and held it out. “Here. Put your berries in that, and then they won’t stain your clothes.”
“Oh my! That’s very kind of you.” Aziraphale wrapped up the berries, pink returning to his cheeks.
“M’ not kind,” Crawley muttered. But this was stirring something deep in his heart, a longing. Demons weren’t supposed to be kind, to do nice things, to care about anything other than their own interests. But when he was around Aziraphale…
When he was around Aziraphale, he wanted to trip all over himself to do every kind thing in existence for this sweet, oblivious, impulsive angel. And to keep an eye on him, make sure he didn’t wander into anyone from either Side that might object to his presence.
“D’ya wanna go for a walk?” he asked with a tempting side to side sway. “Maybe around the Garden? Or I could walk you back to, er…wherever you’re supposed to be.”
Aziraphale ducked his head, gazing up shyly through his lashes. “Oh, I don’t know… I really shouldn’t.”
“C’mon, it’d be fun!” Crawley swayed again, grinning. “Just a little walk. Maybe we’ll find some other berries.”
“Ah, I already know all the good berry spots! I could show you!” Aziraphale said, eyes brightening. “I-I suppose…if I was showing you the bounty of Creation, that would be an angelic task.”
Crawley tilted his head. Right pair they were—a demon falling all over himself to protect an angel, and an angel trying to find ways to justify spending time with a demon.
It was perfect. It felt right, so right.
Aziraphale gave another shy smile and extended his hand. Crawley took it, his slim fingers tangling with Aziraphale’s plump ones. That felt right too, extraordinarily right. Like they belonged together.
And as they strolled through Eden hand in hand, Aziraphale pointing out the edible plants and Crawley drawing attention to his favorite flowers and vines, the feeling of rightness only increased.
Nothing had felt like this, not ever. But now he was friends with an angel, and he saw that it was good.