Chapter Text
The Garden of Eden, 4004 BC
The snake surprised him, somehow. Aziraphale knew about the Temptation, of course he did, he was Guardian Angel of the Eastern Gate, but seeing the enormous black, red-bellied serpent convert to the form of a red-haired man was such an unnerving sight to see that it made him more worrisome than he was already.
Aziraphale knew he shouldn’t be-- what was the word?-- friendly with the enemy, a demon, but he seemed so approachable and assuring and Aziraphale just had this anxious feeling about that sword and --
Then it started to rain. The Earth was experiencing its first rainfall, the newest source of water apart from the lake and ponds in the Garden. But Aziraphale looked over his shoulder to see that, quite surprisingly, the calm but seemingly playful demon known as Crawly was in obvious, almost painful, distress.
Of course, thought Aziraphale. In heaven, the only water they had was holy water. There was no need for any sustenance of any kind so when the Almighty proposed the idea of normal, made-for-humans water, the Rebellion had already happened. The demon standing beside Aziraphale had already Fallen. (Oh, and how pity crept into Aziraphale’s soul as he remembered witnessing his formerly-fellow angels dive into a pit of boiling sulfur.) He was probably thinking that the Almighty was giving him due payment already. That for one wouldn’t be punishment for a first offense.
So-- and Aziraphale didn’t really know what came over him but-- the angel extended a long, soft, white, and feathery wing so that it could cover that wily serpent. The demon tucked his wings to fit tightly under what one would call in modern times a makeshift umbrella. It was a simple gesture, Aziraphale supposed, but it was enough to put Crawly at ease, at least if only just a little, for they had no reason to trust each other. No, no reason at all.
But they both stood there, upon the stony high walls of Eden, until the thunderstorm cleared as quickly as it brewed and the sun had long set. The bright, blazing stars were out, sprinkling the dark sky like flicks of paint.
Crawly had mumbled something. Aziraphale asked him if he could repeat it.
“I said,” the demon drawled, “that you don’t get a view like this from down there.”
“Ah,” Aziraphale said promptly, adjusting his hands in front of him, then using one to point to the sky. “Neither from up-- up there.” He stopped. “But I suppose you knew that already.”
“Sure.” Crawly sniffed.
“Well, with you being a demon after all-”
Crawly nodded.
“And being a former-”
“Yes, I get it.” Even if he said it forcefully, it wasn’t a snap that Aziraphale would have expected from reckless, angry, loathing creatures like the enemy, like demons. If Aziraphale would have known better, he would have said there was even a softness in Crawly’s voice, as angry as it may sound. However, Aziraphale did indeed not know any better. He hadn’t been on Earth for very long and it wasn’t as if Adam and Eve were of the very talkative type. (The angel only really interacted with them once and then quickly left too so there wasn’t much space to ask about the weather or how the family was doing.)
What came, even more, a surprise to Aziraphale was that the demon was sitting down on the stone walls of Eden. It was not proper sitting, however, as he slunk down to bend his knees and rest his hands on them, his black wings limp at his sides.
Aziraphale didn’t mean to stare, truly he didn’t, but he did anyway. Manners, in a human sense, were not yet created but with angelic knowledge and a (very strict, clearly) moral compass, it seemed more like common sense to the angel.
Crawly caught him. He seemed to understand Aziraphale’s silent question. The demon shrugged. “They only said get up there and make trouble. Never anything about a deadline.”
“Did you not just complete the ‘trouble?’” asked Aziraphale.
“Yep,” Crawly popped his lips. “But as far as they know, I got into some nasty trouble of my own with an angel.”
Aziraphale frowned. “You would lie to your own side?”
“Well, I’m a demon. It’s what I do, ain’t it? Lie, tempt, terrorize.” Aziraphale swore he saw a sliver of a small smile but it was also so sad that it could hardly count as a smile. “Besides, stars are out. Might as well enjoy them.”
“I never knew a demon could enjoy anything.”
Crawly stiffened. “I’m not enjoying. Nothing is being enjoyed. Down there’s just awfully stuffy, I suppose. Up here has much more space. Open air.” He extended his wings as if to further his point. Under the shining moon, the black raven-like wings glistened a sharp blue color, fading into a distant dark yet vibrant red at the tips. Crawly shook them too, getting any excess water off them, having caught the idea that rain won’t hurt him. But those wings , Aziraphale found too-- er, interesting-- to belong an evil demon ( Lord give me strength) . They’d rather belong on the noblest of angels, he reckoned.
“Hm,” was all Aziraphale said in response and he knew that demons can’t be mind readers but still, that fear that Crawly could’ve noticed was instilled within him, so he didn’t trust his voice. Instead, he looked on to see that the two humans, in their shallow cave used a shelter from the cold wind, were using his flaming sword to try to do, something (he didn’t know the word for cooking as it had not been even so proposed by the Almighty ever before) to the lion carcass.
“It’s already dead. What’s the point in killing it more?” asked Crawly with a furrowed brow, almost disgust. Interesting.
“I believe they are going to eat it. I found them searching for food soon after the, erm, apple.” Aziraphale had encountered them picking grapes and berries from the bushes. Encountered is used broadly as it was more that the angel merely watched from atop the walls as he gazed down into Eden.
“Well, that’s just unnecessary.”
“Pardon?” Aziraphale turned to Crawly but the demon didn’t meet his gaze.
“Why eat it when it’ll be a burned crisp? Seems completely wasted. To think I was under the impression that there was knowledge in that apple. They’re so-- stupid .”
“I believe they want the meat from that lion.” There was no meat, no carnivores, no danger in Eden. Only fruits and bushes and trees and the occasional passing butterfly or bird, and Aziraphale had found himself enjoying a conversation with a squirrel at one point.
“Seems to me that wasted food is just evil. Well, not evil. Well, not good either. Just, bad.” This demon was quite funny in the way he talked. Aziraphale almost liked it, all the nonsense that came out of Crawly’s mouth. Almost.
But he frowned nonetheless. “Demons do evil, are evil. Not only did you bring pain to them but you also put them on their own, defenseless. Poor things.”
Crawly hissed. “ I’m not the one who kicked them out. That was all-” He huffed. “That was all Her. I still think She should’ve put a big sign if She really didn’t want anything to happen. Or put the blasted tree on the moon. The moon would’ve been great. I like the moon.”
“Well, the Almighty’s plan is ineffable. There is no explanation, just-”
“Ineffability,” Crawly finished for him.
“Yes, quite.” Aziraphale looked around, tucking his wings as they rustled in the gentle cold wind. Outside of the Garden, there was only sand. Sand that up until a few hours ago was scorching hot from the heat of the sun but that after a while felt nice and comfortable to touch as human skin got used to it. He wondered if his human wards would do anything to combat the heat. A part of him hoped they will. Another part thought that it felt too warm for anything to combat it.
“You know,” Crawly shifted and his wings went with him, “With all the heat from the day, you’d think they’d want to spend it in the cold. But all they’ve done is prance around that sword of yours. The only reason they haven’t just clung onto it is because it’ll burn them.”
Aziraphale shuffled on his feet and held his head high. “They do seem to do things for the sake of doing them. I suppose that your lot’s fault.”
Crawly made a noise of agreement but Aziraphale didn’t catch the way he flinched. Then Crawly looked up at the night sky and pointed to one of brightest stars they could both see easily with no added help. “That one hasn’t moved.”
The angel hadn’t even noticed that, indeed, the stars have moved. So had the moon. Where before it stood only halfway along its path, it was now a little farther towards the end of the other side of the horizon. But that particularly glowing star stood out from the rest in a way Aziraphale couldn’t comprehend. Something was special about it.
“It’s never gonna move.” Crawly dropped his hands to rest behind him on the stone floor, using them as support. “Can’t move. All the stars go around it, see?”
He did see. All the other stars rotated around the yellow star giving the impression of a curved, circular sky. It was mesmerizing to look at.
“Seems like a pole,” was all the angel said.
“It’s actually a triple star system. Three stars orbiting each other. Polaris A, AB, and then B.”
“It seems like one.”
“It’s too far away.” Crawly stopped, as if considering his next words. “It’s part of a constellation too.”
“Sorry, a what?”
Crawly stared blankly at Aziraphale, who stared back dumbfoundedly. He must’ve said something wrong but he also wondered how a demon could possibly know more than an angel. The records that Heaven keeps had updated multiple times since the Rebellion.
“A constellation. Ya know. It’s like a,” Crawly used his hands to create shapes in the air, waving them around, “It’s a shape. Sorta.”
The angel nodded. There was a silence that fell upon both of them. Crawly laid back as his wings dematerialized. He put his arms behind his head. Aziraphale wanted to scold him.
“The constellation’s a bear. Small bear. I like to call her Ursa.”
Aziraphale did not question how the demon knew constellations and the names of stars or any knowledge of the stars. He did not question because he was afraid to. Questioning can get you awfully close to, er, Down There .
“Imagine being so self-centered that the world literally revolves around you, eh?” Crawly tried for a smile up to the angel.
Somehow, for some reason, Aziraphale actually laughed at that one. It was a small laugh, mostly directed towards the ridiculousness of their current situation. A demon and an angel, together upon the walls of Eden, talking about the stars and cracking jokes. Suddenly, Aziraphale stopped and gave one single cough. He was not about to let some demon tempt him into having a good-- erm, enjoyable?-- time.
Crawly hummed. “You’re tough to crack.”
“You’re a demon.”
“Am I? Hadn’t noticed. Astute observation. Well done, really.”
Aziraphale huffed. “Well, I should really be going.”
“It’s a singular garden in the middle of a desert. Where would you go?”
“Just- I’ll be going.” In truth, Aziraphale wanted to cover up the hole left in the wall where Adam and Eve left the Garden from. He figured that as beautiful Eden is that it shouldn’t be ruined by a broken wall. It wasn’t very orderly. “Upstairs is calling.”
Crawly scrunched up his face. “Why would they-”
“Going!” said Aziraphale, almost desperately. He unfolded his wings and stretched them as he prepared himself to fly. He didn’t know where. Just fly. Away.
The demon watched him as he took off, heading in a direction that was definitely not towards Heaven. (Even angels can lie, apparently.) Crawly watched as the angel that really didn’t seem as much as a prick like he expected fly away and then drop behind another barrier of the Garden, from where Adam emerged with Eve as they left.
Crawly watched as the sun rose in the sky, a star that he felt sad about not having been there for its creation. A star that colored the sky in hues of pink, blazing with orange, warming up with red. He thought it was a star well done. Beautiful star.
Crawly watched as the humans came out of their cave, hand-in-hand, braving the treacherous world laid out before them.
Crawly watched, just as he soon always will.