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Crowley liked to think of himself as a sensible demon, imposing Duke of Hell, cause of original sin. There was hardly a demon of Hell that would dare test him. If they were not scared of him they were still below him in rank and thus they couldn’t really do anything more than complain, though complaining came in many forms in Hell. Yes, he was a truly fearsome being, he thought. The snag with his persona comes when he thinks of a certain Supreme Archangel.
The trouble really all started at the Beginning, just after he tempted the humans to eat the forbidden fruit. He knew what his temptation meant for the humans. Eden was their Heaven and now would come their Fall, although much less painful than the Fall he had been through, it was a fall nonetheless. The humans had lost some of the grace God had given them when She made them, and as excited as Crawley (that was his name then) was to return to Hell and reap the benefits of his actions he felt a weird desire to watch how the humans would react to their Fall. He decided the top of one of the walls would be the best place, so still in his snake form he slithered up one.
When he got to the desired spot he shifted into his demonic form, he retained his snake eyes and some of his scales but generally looked like he did when he was an angel. Other than his wings now being a charred black. As he looked around he was shocked to find the wall he chose was already occupied by a white-haired angel with a gold circlet on their forehead. Crawley recognized the symbol vaguely from his time in heaven as belonging to the Supreme Archangel. However, Crawley did not recognize the white-haired angel. He remembered his time in Heaven, even if it hurt, and he had been among the upper echelon and had never once seen this angel. Everything about him was screaming Supreme Archangel though, he was dressed in blinding white and had golden accents across his outfit, including golden speckles on his face, and his pure white wings were on full display. Everything about this angel was in stark contrast to the demon who was dressed in black robes that matched his twisted appearance. Now, if Crawley was truly a sensible demon he would have turned and fled before the angel had a chance to notice and smite him but Crawley Fell for a reason and his curiosity got the best of him.
The Archangel seemed not to notice the demon, caught up in staring off in the distance at the humans. Crawley thought he’d lucked out and had gone unnoticed until the angel, still looking away, spoke, seemingly to him.
“I must say, that was a fine temptation my dear.”
Crawley was caught rather off guard by that and actually turned to look at the angel. Angels weren’t in the habit of complementing demons though he supposed there weren’t really such norms in place yet.
“Uh… thanks… I suppose.” Even the slight gratitude made his throat feel scratchy.
The demon cleared his throat to try and get rid of the discomfort. He shifted his gaze to follow the angel’s eyeline and watched as the man fought off a lion with a flaming sword. Odd, the demon didn’t remember the humans having a weapon in the garden. Much less a magic flaming sword that looked like it would belong to an angel. Hedging his bets the demon decided to ask the angel to his right. “Do you happen to know where they got that sword?”
At the question the angel startled and actually turned to look at Crawley for the first time. The angel had stunning blue eyes much more vibrant than a humans would ever be and the demon could see deep concern in them.
“I thought they got it from your lot.”
“Nope. No swords like that in Hell. Kinda looks angelic.”
“Well I did not give it to them if that is what you are implying.” The angel lifted his hand to his chest in a defensive pose.
“No, just that it probably came from your lot. Why would I give them a sword after I just got them kicked out of Eden? Seems a bit counterintuitive, right?” Crawley’s defensive counter was second nature to him at this point.
The angel paused to consider this. Glancing back and forth between the retreating humans and the different gates to Eden. At the angel’s glances Crawley started to piece together what had happened. He hadn’t come alone to the Garden, and he surmised that his companion had taken it upon themselves to arm the humans before they were cast out of their home. Eventually, the angel shrugged and turned back to the demon.
“Well if they have it that must be part of the plan.” The angel started fussing with his hands as he spoke.
“Whot?” Crawley looked towards the angel with a puzzled look.
“I mean if it was not supposed to happen then surely She would have done something about it.” With that statement the angel settled on lacing his fingers together and resting them in front of himself.
“I guess that makes sense… kinda.” The demon shifted his gaze back to the desert.
There was a moment of silence where the two simply stared out at the humans. Crawley was thinking back on his early days after his Fall. He had had to fight just like the humans, unlike them though, he had to forge his own weapon over time. He had sharpened his words and it had led him to using them against the humans, to inflict on them a pain he was familiar with. Having Her turn Her back on them, it was an empty feeling, and it hurt. The ever-present pain within the demon's body suddenly reared up further pulling Crawley out of the current situation. His mind was reeling back to those dark places he had thought were behind him. A sudden sensation pulled him from his mind and back to the wall where he was standing next to an angel. Their wings had brushed against each other in the wind causing the demon’s stomach to tie into knots and rather than watching the humans Crawley couldn’t pull his eyes off of the being next to him. Eventually, the angel turned back to Crawley to speak.
“I should really be going. I was only supposed to make sure the humans left the garden. It was nice meeting you um.”
“Crawley.” he gave with a smirk.
“Ah, well, nice to meet you Crawley... Keep up the rotten work, I suppose.” the angels said as he returned the smile, his was so soft and kind.
As the angel turned to leave Crawley moved to block their path with his wing. It wouldn’t have really made a difference if the angel truly wanted to leave, but it stopped him nonetheless.
“Sorry, didn’t catch your name angel.”
“Oh how rude of me. It’s Aziraphale.”
“Then the pleasure was all mine, Aziraphale.”
He moved his wing granting Aziraphale permission to leave and a small nod shared between the two before the angel disappeared.
That was all it took for Crawley to fall for a second time. This one in a less literal sense but none the less detrimental. He was well and truly in love with the Supreme Archangel. It really went against the image he had worked so hard to form in Hell. Him, having a soft spot for another being. Not just a simple fondness, but a deep desire to see him, an archangel of all beings, again. On top of that, he was trying to get himself a position of power in Hell, this job would really help seal that deal, and he had gone and fallen for the Supreme Archangel. This white-haired angel had awoken feelings Crawley had thought he lost in the fall. So he decided he didn’t care how badly it would turn out for him, he was going to hold on to these feelings.