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Arden couldn’t help but smile and shake their head as they skimmed trough the opening hours that made no sense what so ever and just managed to confuse the reader. Mr. Fell was so ridiculous, you would think the point of a bookshop is to get customers to by books, but not in this case apparently. Arden smiled wider as they noticed the other sign that declared the shop to be open.
Somehow almost a month had gone by since Arden had visited the A. Z. Fell’s the first time. They had been incredibly busy with school and then they had spent a week visiting their parents in the countryside. And in the few instances they had managed to find some time to come to the bookshop, it had been closed, much to their disappointment. But now they finally got lucky.
Arden stepped inside the shop, the bell over the door ringing as they did so. Arden looked around and saw two other customers browsing around, which was two more customers than they had seen the last time. They noticed that the books put on display at the front of the shop had changed since last time, but aside from that, everything looked pretty much the same.
Arden tried to look for Mr. Fell or Crowley, but there was no sign of nether of them anywhere. Strangely not even Mr. Fell was there keeping close eye on the customers.
Arden decided to have a look around, since Mr. Fell couldn’t be far away. And so they wondered deeper into the shop. They found the clutter of books and the rather musty smell of old books oddly comforting. The bookshop had this aura around it, that spoke of safety, comfort and acceptance.
Arden walked slowly in a dimly litted isle between two bookshelves that were filled to the brim with books of different sizes and colours. Arden didn’t dare to touch anything, but that didn’t stop them from admiring the beautifully decorated spines of the old books.
Still, Arden couldn’t help but to really want to touch the spines, to run their fingers over them and feel the textures of them on their fingertips. Arden loved touching different textures, always fascinated by the slightly different way each one felt against their skin. They could entertain themself for hours by just feeling different materials, from fabrics to barks of different trees. Arden always had a hard time at art exhibitions, because they really wanted to touch every piece of art to see how they felt and usually you aren’t allowed to touch art.
Arden slowly lifted their hand towards a book. Surely Mr. Fell wouldn’t mind if they touched one book just a little? Just as their fingers made contact with the spine, a voice spoke somewhere on their left.
“Excuse me! I would appreciate if you didn’t touch those, they are very valuable- Arden, is that you? Hello!”
Arden recognised the voice and quickly put their hand down.
“Mr. Fell! I’m so sorry, I was just-”, Arden started to say, but as soon as they saw Mr. Fell, they forgot what they were saying and just stared.
Mr. Fell was wearing a flowy, cream and blue tartan skirt that came down to his calfs. He had paired it with his usual beige jacket and waistcoat, with light blue collared shirt under them. The outfit was topped off with a bowtie made with the same tartan as the skirt. Aside from wearing the skirt, Mr. Fell looked the same as last time: chubby, round and soft, his hair short, white and fluffy.
“No harm done, dear. It’s lovely to see you again”, Mr. Fell said with a warm smile when Arden didn’t continue speaking.
“Nice to see you too!” Arden hurried to answer as the initial surprise of seeing Mr. Fell in a skirt wore off. On further inspection, the skirt looked really nice on him. Or her?
“The skirt looks beautiful on you, Mr. Fell. Wait, it is still Mr. Fell, right?”
“Oh, thank you!” Mr. Fell beamed, delighted by the compliment. “Crowley finally convinced me to try something different, although I don’t think she really appreciated the tartan. I think it’s stylish. And yes, Mr. Fell is still fine.”
“And you still have no preference on pronouns?” Arden asked, just to be sure.
“No, you can use whichever you want, I don’t mind. Should we continue catching up in the backroom? Crowley is in there too, I’m sure she would love to see you.”
She? Arden noted. They also decided they would use they/them pronouns for Mr. Fell, it somehow felt right.
“Sure”, Arden nodded and followed Mr. Fell, who turned around with a swirl of their skirt. Together they walked to the direction of the backroom.
“I think I ought to close the shop, so we won’t be interrupted”, Mr. Fell said, more to themself than to Arden, who decided to answer anyway.
“Mr. Fell, it’s really not necessary to close the shop just for me-“
Mr. Fell waved Arden off. “Nonsense! I was just about close anyway and I’m feeling quite peckish! You know, Crowley returned from her drive not long before you came and brought some delicious scones with jam and clotted cream. We could have some tea with those! Or coffee or hot cocoa, whatever you’d rather have.”
“Tea and scones sounds great”, Arden said.
“Splendid! I’ll just go and close the shop then. You can go ahead to the backroom.”
“Okay.”
“Well, I’ll be back in a shake of a lamb’s tail!” Mr. Fell declared and headed to the front of the shop with their skirt twirling around them. Arden watched them go and wondered what “in a shake of a lamb’s tail” meant. They came to the conclusion that they didn’t know what it meant any more than they knew how long ”a moment” is.
Eventually Arden walked the rest of the way into the backroom. There they saw the familiar armchair, the small, round table and the sofa. Crowley was slouching on the sofa, but to Arden’s surprise, she wasn’t alone. Occupying the other half of the sofa was another person that looked a few years younger than Arden, so maybe sixteen or seventeen. They had dark skin, round glasses and dark brown hair styled in to twists. They also had a soft looking tartan blanket wrapped around them and they were holding a familiar looking cup with angel wings. Based on their red eyes and sniffling, they had been crying not long ago. They seemed calm now, though.
Arden wondered what had happened to them.
“Um, hey”, Arden said quietly and Crowley looked up. She was wearing sunglasses inside again and her red hair was significally longer than last time, styled in beautiful curls. She was also wearing deep, red lipstick and long, black satin dress, with a deep neckline and a slit that revealed her long left leg all the way up to her thigh. She was also wearing what looked to be snake skin boots. Her chest area looked maybe a bit rounder than last time, but otherwise she was as thin and lanky as Arden remembered.
She looked gorgeous.
“Mr. Fell told me to come here”, Arden explained.
“Arden! Hi! Yes, sit down. My pronouns are she/her today, by the way.”
Arden nodded and sat down on the armchair. They could now see tiny freckles peppered all around Crowleys cheeks and nose. They hadn’t noticed those last time. The tattoo of a snake was still curled on Crowley’s right cheek. Not that tattoos could move.
Crowley didn’t introduce the person next to her, but Arden did notice they were silently studying them. Eventually Arden decided to introduce themself.
“I’m Arden, as you probably heard, and my pronouns are they/them.”
This seemed to relax the other person. They looked at Crowley, who nodded encouragingly.
“My name is um,” they hesitated for a moment, “Sadie.”
“Nice to meet you,” Arden said and smiled.
“You too! Also, my pronouns are, uh, she/her”, Sadie said and Arden nodded.
Next to Sadie, Crowley looked proud.
“I came out to my parents as trans today and it did not go well. That’s why I’m bit of a mess right now, if you were wondering”, Sadie continued quietly.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. That sucks.”
“Yeah. Luckily Crowley found me on the streets. I was alone, panicking and crying and she brought me here”, Sadie said and took a sip from her mug.
That’s when Mr. Fell came in.
“The shop is now officially closed”, they declared and then continued softly. “How are you feeling, Sadie dear? You were in a quite the state when Crowley brought you in, I hope the cocoa helped to calm you down.”
Arden wondered if this was a regular occurrence, Mr. Fell and Crowley helping the lost queer kids of London that were perhaps thrown out of their home or otherwise having a hard spot.
“Yeah, the cocoa is really nice. I guess I feel a little better, or calmer at least. Thank you Mr. fell. And you too Crowley. I don’t know where I would’ve ended up without your help.”
“You are very welcome, dear. I’m just glad we could help.”
“Yeah, me too, kid”, Crowley said with a soft smile.
“So, shall I make us tea and get the scones out?” Mr. Fell asked.
“I think I’ll pass on the tea and scones this time, but thank you”, Sadie said and Mr. Fell looked bewildered at this.
“Are you sure?” They asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, then”, Mr. Fell said, still not sounding convinced.
As they moved to go, Crowley stood up.
“I’ll go and get the scones and make the tea. You sit down, angel.”
“Oh, thank you, my dearest. That’s really sweet of you”, Mr. Fell said and reached to place a kiss on Crowley’s cheek as she passed by them.
Crowley hid her reddened face and grumbled something unintelligible as she headed to where Arden assumed the kitchen was.
With a smug smile on their face, Mr. Fell sat down on to the sofa to where Crowley had sat seconds ago.
“So, did you manage to contact your friend?” Mr. Fell then asked Sadie.
“Yeah, he said I can stay at his place at least a few nights. I should actually probably be off to his soon.”
“Good. Better give some time for your parents to think and reflect on how to properly treat their daughter. They will come around and accept you, I promise.” Mr. Fell sounded absolutely sure of this, like it was a fact they knew for sure was true. Arden wondered how they could promise something like that? There definitely were parents out there that never accepted their kids and threw them out of their homes just for simply being who they are. Arden would never understand how parents could do that to their kids.
There was a small smile on Sadie’s face when she answered. “I hope so.”
“So, how have you been, Arden?” Mr. Fell then asked, sifting their attention towards Arden.
“Well, I’ve been really busy with school lately. But I did visit the bakery you recommended to me last time and tasted their angel food cake! It was delicious!”
“Oh how lovely! I need to remember to ask Crowley to take me to the bakery tomorrow. I really want some of that cake now.”
“Also, after our last conversation about gender, I’ve come to realise that I’m actually agender, so that’s fun!”
“How wonderful!” Mr. Fell sounded genuinely excited for Arden.
“What was less wonderful, was when I visited my parents for a week and wasn’t quite ready to come out to them, so they misgendered me the whole time. They did it unknowingly of course, but still, it made me feel really dysphoric at times.”
“That’s rough”, said Crowley, who returned from the assumed kitchen with a tray that held two cups of tea and four scones, filled with clotted cream and jam.
She put the tray down on to the round table in the middle. Then she stayed standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.
“Sit down, my dearest”, Mr. Fell said with a soft voice.
”Where? On your lap? Angel, there isn’t any seats available.”
“I mean, you could sit on my lap. If you wanted”, Mr. Fell said and gave Crowley a Look that said that they very much wanted her to sit on their lap. Crowley looked flustered.
“I- You sure its okay with you, angel?”
Mr. Fell heaved a very exasperated sigh.
”Just come here, Crowley.”
Crowley did as told and arranged herself on Mr. Fell’s lap. She let out a content sigh when she found a comfortable position in the crook of Mr. Fell’s left hand, her head resting against Mr. Fell’s chest.
Arden and Sadie glanced at each other, smiling together at the cuteness of the couple. Crowley and Mr. Fell were disgustingly adorable together.
Arden reached out to take their cup of tea.
“By the way, have you heard about asexuality?” Arden asked.
It had been almost an hour. In that time Arden had finished their tea and eaten one very delicious scone. They had also gotten a new bakery recommendation from Mr. Fell, it’s name and address handed to them on a handwritten note, that Mr. Fell pulled out from their pocket. Arden didn’t ask why Mr. Fell had it in there.
Sadie had also left to her friend’s place, but not before Mr. Fell made her promise to come back to the bookshop if there was any trouble. Sadie promised to come to visit even if there wasn’t any trouble.
Crowley on the other hand had been on Mr. Fell lap the whole time and seemed content on staying there. Even with Sadie’s spot on the sofa open, Crowley hadn’t shown any signs of even thinking about moving, besides sprawling out her long legs. But then again, Mr. Fell also hadn’t told their partner to move, so perhaps they were both just as happy to stay close to each other.
“Of course! We are both asexual, after all.”
“Yeah, what the angel said”, Crowley confirmed.
Arden’s eyed widened and their mouth fell open in surprise.
“Wait, really? That’s so cool!” It truly was. Arden had never met an asexual couple, let alone an older asexual couple, one like Mr. Fell and Crowley.
“I’m pretty sure I’m asexual too! For the longest time I thought I was pansexual because I felt the same about every gender. And so because I didn’t know asexuality was a thing that existed, I naturally thought I must be attracted to all of them then, when in reality it’s literally the opposite. I’ve heard it’s common for asexuals to think they’re pan or bi at first. It’s somehow harder to figure out that you lack something when you’ve never had it in the first place, than to notice something you have. If that makes any sense?”
“That makes loads of sense”, said Crowley, who had been entertaining herself by playing with Mr. Fell’s right hand and their golden pinky ring. Currently she was lacing her thin fingers between Mr. Fell’s plump ones. Mr. Fell smiled at her, lifted the intertwined hands to their lips and kissed the back of Crowley’s hand. Crowley blushed, but tried to act like she didn’t. She unfortunately didn’t do very good job with it. Arden didn’t say anything and neither did Mr. Fell.
It was amazing to see in Mr. Fell and Crowley that it was possible to have a wonderful and loving relationship even if you were asexual. Even without sexual attraction being involved. Of course Arden had known this before, but it was different to know something and then actually see it.
“How did you two meet?” Arden asked before their brain had time to think if it was wise. ”I mean, I’m sorry, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I was just curious, that’s all.”
“Don’t worry. There is nothing wrong with being curious and asking questions”, Crowley said and Arden felt relieved that Mr. Fell and Crowley weren’t annoyed with them or anything.
“There certainly isn’t”, Mr. Fell agreed and looked fondly down at Crowley. After placing a soft kiss on Crowley’s forehead, they continued.
“We were young, when we met. I was in apple tree duty then, in the Garden. I was the guar-“
“He was the gardener there”, Crowley interrupted and gave Mr. Fell a pointed look.
“You were a gardener?” Arden asked, amazed.
“Well, yes. I most certainly was. Once,” Mr. Fell said firmly.
“And I was a…nanny then”, told Crowley and took it upon herself to continue the story. “The garden was owed by a rich family, you see, and they had a kid. And I was his nanny. Anyway, it was raining the first time we met, in the Garden. And this angel here decided to shelter me from it with his umbrella. Kept me dry, but got all poured on himself. And that’s when I first started to fell in love. Of course I didn’t realise I loved him until much, much later.”
Mr. Fell looked fond and touched.
“We couldn’t be together because we knew our families wouldn’t approve and we were scared of what they would do if they found out. So we waited.“
“Were they religious then, your families?”
“You could say that, yes”, Mr. Fell answered.
“After 6000 thousand years, or that’s how long it felt at least, we finally freed ourselves from our families and now, for four years and counting, we’ve been on our Own Side, together.”
“Oh that’s so sweet. And well, it’s kind of sad too, that you had to wait for so long, but I’m glad you got there eventually.”
“It was well worth it, to get to be here now, together, like this,” Crowley said and Mr. Fell seemed to pull her even closer to them, if that was even possible.
“I love you, my dearest Crowley,” Arden could hear Mr. Fell whisper into Crowley’s ear.
“I love you too, my angel,” Crowley whispered back.
Arden had never felt so much like a third wheel than they did at that moment. They looked away, trying to give the couple some privacy at least. Not that they seemed to care that someone was watching them.
Arden could swear they felt Mr. Fell and Crowley’s love literally warm up the bookshop. The aura of safety, comfort and acceptance felt even stronger in the air, it was almost like a thick fog around them. Arden breathed it in and sudden burst of happiness flooded them.
Suddenly Arden wanted to go home, maybe visit the bakery Mr. Fell had recommended on the way and then spend some time with their friends.
“I think I should head home”, Arden told Mr. Fell and Crowley.
“Oh, okay. Mind how you go,” Mr. Fell said, not really paying attention, their focus mostly in Crowley.
As Arden got up, they realised they really needed to pee.
“Can I use the loo quickly before I go?”
“There isn’t a loo available here, I’m afraid”, Mr. Fell answered and Arden frowned.
“But what happened to the one I used the last time?”
“The one you used…oh that one? I completely forgot that one! Yes, you can use it.”
Wondering how one can possibly manage to forgot their own loo, Arden thanked Mr. Fell. As they turned to go to the loo, they thought they heard someone snap their fingers. But they may have just imagined it.