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"Go up there and do some trouble".
That was the exact order Crawly had from Hell. The first job he got since he became a demon so he should definitely not mess it up shall he?... Well he had already succeeded in the first half "Go up there"... That had been easy… The second part though "Do some trouble" will probably be more… well… troublesome. It was extremely vague and the snake now in Eden had yet to find what kind of "trouble" would be acceptable for his new bosses. Anyway he still had time to figure it out. He just arrived yesterday after all and to cause trouble in the garden he had to know what it was like when untroubled.
So it's in that set of mind that he had begun to observe the garden, and more importantly the guardians. There were four of them. One on each wall where they stayed all the time except when it was their turn to patrol in the garden. Crawly had observe them all in the distance and had gathered those information about them :
The North guardian was their leader and the first to patrol each day. He had a scythe that was taller than them and a posture and a way of being in general that makes them look like they were ready to cut away every little thing that didn't 100% belong where it was. They were the scariest and Crawly didn't bother to know more about them. He wasn't even sure what his job was in the garden… maybe just supervising? Anyway...
The South guardian seemed less unfriendly, but still not one to mess with. She kinda reminded him of Beelz but this was beside the point. She had a crown and it seemed to be so that life and wealth could reign all over the garden. This power and function was really essential and would be extremely delightful to see if the guardian responsable of it wasn't only doing it out of duty. She was so professional and cold about it that she actually looked like a queen that parade everyday in her kingdom but would still get lost if she ever walked in the streets all by herself.
The West guardian was the least remarcable of the four in Crawly's opinion. He had a balance that helped him make sure that all the resources in the garden are in their perfect balance for the garden to be at his best in all time. Fun fact, he was always so focused on his balance that he probably had no idea of what the garden actually looked like. Crawly started to think that if he had to mess with one of the guardians it would probably be him… he would love to see his reaction if the resources went all over the place and he had to restructure them all. 🤣
The East guardian though… last, but not least of the four was completely different. He had a flaming sword, but it's barely if he cared about it. He didn't seem to have any purpose in the garden itself, but yet feels like he was the most essential part of it. When he patrolled he didn't look like he was patrolling, but like he was exploring it. Admiring it even. He was the only guardian that seemed to actually see the garden and not just robotically walk through it because he has to. He was looking at every plant, listening to every sound, smelling every flower, touching everything that was reachable and letting itself be touched by the principality. He was always gentle, always nice and helpful to the animals. He was the only angel that the animals dared get close to and the only one that Crawly didn't find scary or annoying. In fact, if it wasn't for the wings, the halo and the pure angelic aura irradiating from him like sun rays, Crawly could have easily mistaken him for a creature of the garden rather than an angel of the lord.
This is probably why on the third day the demon was in the garden, he let his guard down and got closer to the east guardian than he should have. He followed him for a while thinking that he was as subtle as always until he lost sight of him around a corner of the jungle.
"Sight" though Crawly, "I'll catch him later I guess"
"Later" came sooner than he expected because he didn't have the time to turn around before hearing a smooth deep voice saying "Hello there!"
The snake almost choked on his saliva (do snakes have saliva?... Anyway) and fell off the tree he was on. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit… does he know who I am?! What will he do?"
"Oh my, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" Said the angel as an answer to the unasked question. "I just noticed you were following me for a while and though perhaps you'll want to travel with me for the rest of my patrol?"
The demon didn't know how to react. The Est guardian has discovered him but he didn't seem mad or threatening at all. Instead he was showing him a hand, smiling and looking straight at him with his amazing deep blue eyes and his white hairs that were shining brighter than the sun illuminating them. Crawly figured he mustn't know that he was a demon. He must think that he was a regular snake otherwise why would he be so nice to him? Why would he be nice at all? Crawly definitely should have crawled away and gotten lost in the jungle but instead, for an unknown reason, he accepted the angel's invitation and climbed on his arm to reach his back neck and made himself comfy and balanced his weight on each side of the guardian shoulders.
"What am I doing?!" He asked himself. "This is the stupidest idea I never had!"
"Are you well settled dear?" The angel asked. "If so then we shall go! I'll take you to my favorite spot in the whole garden!
On those words he started to walk slowly and gently has to be sure his guest was at ease and he commented everything they encounter on the way like an enthusiast tourist:
"Did you see those flowers! So aromatic and such beautiful colors 😍" "Oh here! The blackbird has laid their eggs! I can't wait to see the newborns!!!" "Have you tried the pears? They are so goooood! My favorite fruits and I tried them all! Well… all except the forbidden one of course… The apple of knowledge it is called. I don't know why this one is forbidden. I mean the other species of apples are delicious! But apparently this one has something special in it. Something that'll give curiosity and capacity to sin apparently so it is obviously bad and God was crystal clear that nothing should eat it. Anyway now we are close to what I wanna show you!! Get ready cause if you like what you have seen so far you're gonna love this!!!"
Crawly listened to everything the angels said and even if he wasn't quite as admirative of the garden then he was, he highly enjoyed the guided tour and more importantly the tour guide. He had such a unique aura and energy, a kind of heat and passion he had never felt in Heaven nor in Hell and for a moment he had forgotten that he was a demon and that.. Aziraphale right?... Was an angel and that this tour should never have happened. But it did happen! It was actually happening right now and when they finally got to the end of the jungle and that Aziraphale had delicately push away the last branch blocking them to it exit he had found himself truly amazed by the show that occured before him :
It was a wide open space with rocks on each side of a river that existed thanks to a gigantic waterfall that took it's source directly from the clouds it seemed. It was truly an amazing sight!... He could do without the evergoing overwhelming noise coming out of it though. The angel didn't seem to mind it, and for cause, he didn't. He sat on one of the largest rocks, the snake still on his shoulders, closed his eyes, took a big breath of the humid air and smiled in a peaceful way the demon was certain he had never seen in anyone in his lifes.
"This is the waterfall" started happily the angel. "The waterfall is my favorite spot in the garden! You wanna know why?"
Crawly looked at the angel and node for him to do so. He was honestly curious about why he likes this loud place so much. It was beautiful, sure, but at the end of the day it was just water falling endlessly and this wasn't a concept he personally enjoyed (surprising isn't it).
"I love the waterfall because it is the source of all the life in the garden!" "You see, the firsts life specimens were grounded on earth by and in the big everfull lake on the top of the mountain and now every biological life forms depends on it to survive. If it wasn't for the waterfall, this lake would be the only source of water in the garden and only flying creatures and good determined climbers could reach for it and it would be highly unfair since must creatures of the garden can't do either." " By this waterfall, it is not only water, but life itself that reaches down to them and keeps the entire creation alive so how could one not like this? 🥰"
"Guess that's a way to see it" thinks Crawly. And it seemed like the waterfall had become prettier, but this couldn't be right? The waterfall hadn't changed a bit. It must be just that he didn't see it correctly before.
"Not only that" continued Aziraphale " But the place itself is also very awesome. It is pretty, it smells good, the rocks are not very comfortable, but I find their coldness combined with the background noise of the waterfall extremely grounding and it helps me get out of my mind for a bit. I wonder how the others can stay so profesional around all the beauties of the creation. I don't think I could ever get used to it." He confessed. "What do you think about it dear?"
Crawly answered by laying his head on the angel's check to support him because the demon feeled the same on a lesser level. He didn't love it as much as Aziraphale, but he did find some beauty in the garden and found it somehow scary and strange that the beings made to protect it didn't seem to even care about what was in the garden or what the garden itself was as long as it was working exactly as planned. They stayed like that for some minutes until Aziraphale finally got up of the rock and of the peaceful state he was and apologised to his new friend saying "Well I should go back on duty now before I get late and reprimanded again 😅."
The Angel then took the snake back to the tree where they first interacted sooner and they made their good bye.
"We shall get apart for today, but if you want to travel with me again, I always go check on the forbidden tree at the same moment every patrol so we could meet there 😁… So anyway, see tomorrow maybe" and Aziraphale got back to his patrol while Crawly spent all night processing what happened and how it was perfect for just being possible.
In case you wonder, Aziraphale did know from the start who Crawly was, well… what Crawly was and despite that they did see each other the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that, though this last time was different since it was on the wall after the fall of humans and it was the first time Aziraphale saw Crawly in his human form. It was awkward I won't lie, but it was still good that it was possible and despite what the official reports say, they never stopped to explore the garden of Eden that became the earth together and those moments are the best memory they ever had.