Chapter Text
Aziraphale's gaze flickered between the man sitting in front of him, an Agent Mobius, and the scene to his left. This was a most peculiar visit. But it was impolite to not offer a guest a cup of tea, so here they were. These two strangers had walked into the bookshop that afternoon and had requested his (and Crowley by extension, though he had refused) help, there was no way he could just say no. It was downright unangelic to decline aid.
"Should we maybe stop them?" He says to the mustached man, gesturing with his head to their counterparts. To his left, Crowley was getting heated, literally, whilst arguing with the brash black haired man who Agent Mobius had introduced as Loki. And who Loki had immediately interjected that he was not just Loki, but "Loki, God of Mischief". Ridiculous, thought Aziraphale. There was only one God after all.
"Nah, I think they're enjoying themselves." smiles Mobius, without bothering to look over. "By the way, this is really good tea. I'm a coffee drinker, but this, it's nice." He lifted his teacup in salute to the Angel sitting across from him.
Aziraphale flustered, torn between preening over the compliment and keeping his eyes on his demon...who appeared to be mid-transformation into his snake form. Not a good idea in front of humans but, oh, well, apparently he was in good company- considering Loki was now a green, horned serpent, hissing, or maybe, laughing ?, across from the now fully reptilian Crowley. Oh this was quite peculiar indeed. He glanced back to the exceptionally calm man in front of him. Who were they? Demons? Something else? Actually God? He glanced up nervously before turning back to watch Crowley.
"They seemed to have, um, tangled themselves." He says to Mobius, trying to sound casual.
The snakes had managed to get their tails knotted and were hissing and attempting to pull away from each other.
"Let them be." Mobius smiles widely, taking a long sip of his tea, "You know they can just transform back if they wanted to, right?"
Aziraphale didn't think of that. This Agent Mobius seemed quite used to the antics of his partner Loki. He was watching them as well now, or rather watching the green snake, with a look that could only be fondness.
Appeased for the time being, Aziraphale lets out a breath. "Well, I suppose you're right." He fidgets with his teacup. "So. Mister, sorry, Agent Mobius. There's no polite way to ask this, are you, are you a human? Because your partner clearly is not…"
“Oh just Mobius please,” Mobius shrugs, “And I’m not quite sure. Probably!”
How odd. How incredibly odd, thought Aziraphale. Beside them the two snakes had stopped their struggling and now seemed to be communicating through a series of hisses. Well at least those two seemed to have set aside their differences. Must be a reptilian thing.
"So you've lived here on Earth awhile, right?" Mobius interrupted Aziraphale’s train of thought, "Have you ever been on a jetski?"
Aziraphale looks appalled. "Heavens, no!"
At that moment, Crowley, now back in human form, sidled up to Aziraphale clapping both hands down on his shoulders, looming over him. “Angel,” he begins, “I, will graciously help you help them.”
Aziraphale tilted his head up to look at Crowley, shocked. “What? You will?”
Crowley just grinned down at him, “Why are you so surprised? I’m not all bad.” He leaned closer to whisper to Aziraphale, “ And anyways this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with upstairs or downstairs.”
Oh, now this was just getting more and more unusual. And if Crowley was suddenly so eager to assist, he must have learned something interesting from Loki while he was a snake. He faced forward again to look at the men across from him. Mobius was still smiling politely, though looking slightly exasperated, since Loki had also come over and was now drinking tea out of Mobius’ cup.
“This is a very good tea.” Loki comments airily, “Not Asgardian good, but this, it’s nice.”
That compliment sounded very familiar, but it was a compliment all the same. “Thank you Mr.Loki.” Aziraphale says, “Now what is it exactly that you two need help with?”
“Hunting a variant.” The three other men respond in unison. Crowley is squeezing his shoulders in excitement.
Oh dear.