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Aziraphale had been staying in the library for three days and seemed intent on annoying Gabriel in every way possible. While B did their best to run interference they weren’t at the library all the time. Beelzebub had assigned themself the task of figuring out the mystery around the amnesiac Supreme Archangel and was often out hunting down leads or being hounded by their boss. When his partner was here Gabriel could actually get things done without the other angel following him around and asking a million questions. He really couldn’t understand how Beelzebub had the patience to put up with it.
On top of the stress from that there was also Heaven breathing down his neck about the apparently very large miracle that had occurred in his area. Though since it was Heaven they had sent the most socially inept angel to verify that two humans, who ran different shops down the street, fell in love. That idea had been mostly B’s since they actually talked to the humans on the block and knew that the girl from the record shop had a thing for the girl from the coffee shop.
Both of the problems were entertaining each other at the moment as Aziraphale, going by Angelo, was explaining human romance to Muriel. His whole explanation was based on the regency novels he’d been reading the past couple of days. It would have been nice had the two not been so loud about it.
“And when their eyes meet in a rainstorm that is how they know it is fate.” Aziraphale concluded.
“Ah that makes sense.” Muriel nodded their understanding. “That must be what rain is for.”
“Exactly, so clearly the two women down the road just haven’t stood with each other in the rain.”
“You are very smart Mr. Angelo. You must have a lot of experience with love, being a human and all.”
The completely incorrect information seemed to make total sense to the two idiots sitting in the corner. Gabriel hoped that they would shut up soon. Usually Aziraphale would get into reading a book and stay quiet for at least two hours. However, the Archangel was also annoyingly social and would gab with someone as long as they were nearby. While Muriel should be reporting back to Heaven any minute now. Gabriel decided it was best to tune the idiots out until they stopped talking.
God must think this is one of Her best jokes yet. Gabriel would curse Her name but he isn’t feeling particularly suicidal at the moment. Instead the angel focuses on cataloging the new books he’d gotten in. Gabriel began mindlessly placing and scanning bar codes and category stickers. When he finished one book he added it to a pile to be shelved and moved onto the next. That was one thing Aziraphale was good for. The Archangel despite his mostly missing memory was surprisingly good at shelving books correctly.
Caught up in the task as he was, Gabriel missed Muriel’s goodbye as they left the library. In fact the only reason the angel noticed was because Aziraphale was now hovering over his shoulder again. Gabriel fought down a startled jump at the sudden appearance of the other angel,
“Did you need something?”
“Can I shelve these for you?” Aziraphale asked with a hesitant smile but seemed to be avoiding the other angel’s eyes. “Your pile is just getting rather tall is all.”
“Sure. Knock yourself out.” Gabriel fixed the angel with a skeptical look.
Aziraphale didn’t seem to notice as he quickly grabbed the stack of books and went about putting them on the shelf. Gabriel went back to the mindless task of cataloging without sparing the stilted interaction a second thought. Before he knew it two hours had flown by. When Gabriel noticed the time he decided it was a good point to stop at, for now. He also noticed that Aziraphale had settled in the back of the library where all the chairs were and he was reading a book. Assured in the knowledge that the Archangel would be occupied for a while Gabriel decided to go for a walk to get some fresh air.
Gabriel walked to the front door, flipped the open sign to close, and walked out the door. As the angel was sorting through his keys to lock the door a voice chimed up behind him.
“Ah, just the angel I wanted to sssee.”
Gabriel felt a shiver down his spine and quickly turned around to look at the speaker. There leaning against the side of the library was the top Duke of Hell, Crowley. The demon was glaring at Gabriel with his usual sunglasses resting low enough on his nose to make his eyes visible.
“Duke Crowley, to what do I owe the displeasure?”
“Don’t play dumb you know why I’m here.”
“Is this about Beelzebub because they’re not here.”
“What did I just say!?” The demon crossed his arms. “No, I don't care about Beelzebub. My interests are more inclined upward. Word on the street is that your old boss’s missing.”
Gabriel was caught very off guard with this. He didn’t let the shock show on his face because he didn’t want to give the demon anything to work with. “Is that so? I haven’t heard anything like that. Then again I have been disconnected from Heaven for a while now.”
“Is that so because Beelzebub seemed to know something about it when I asked them?”
“Well they do like to gossip with Shax you know. They must have heard something from her.”
“Do you take me for some kind of idiot?”
“Do you want an honest answer?” Gabriel smirked.
The demon fixed the angel with a deeper glare. After a pause, a sly smile crept over his lips.
“Well I guess I’ll just have to ask them where they got the info.” Crowley shrugged.
“I guess you will.” Gabriel responded hesitantly.
“I would hate to think what I’ll have to do if they’re as obstinate as you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing much. Just thinking about how best to get Beelzebub to talk.”
Gabriel didn’t like the sound of that and he liked what the demon said next even less.
“I mean you know how it is in Hell. Or maybe you don’t and you’ve been mistaking my mercy for weakness.” Crowley turned to leave waving as he started off. “Ah well, if you see Beelzebub tell them I’ll be expecting an explanation.”
Without really thinking Gabriel reached out and grabbed the demon by the shoulder before he could get very far.
“Wait, you can’t do that!”
“Can’t I?” The demon asked, tilting his head back enough to look at the angel.
“Beelzebub doesn’t work for you anymore!” Gabriel’s grip on the demon increased.
“While your lot might be nice enough to respect your boundaries I have no such qualms.”
With that the demon vanished leaving only the faint smell of sulfur where he was. Well that and a fuming angel. Gabriel stood frozen for a moment, caught up in the swirling emotions running through his head. Surely Crowley was just trying to get to him by threatening B. There was no way he would actually torture them. I mean from what Gabriel had heard during the execution the Duke had a soft spot for the other demon.
Deciding that standing outside feeling dumb was pointless the angel stormed back into the library. All he needed was a healthy distraction and he’d be back in the right headspace. Besides B should be back from their ‘investigation’ soon and they could both discuss the stupid threat for what it was.
The distraction of cataloging was not as successful as Gabriel had hoped. Sure he was getting some things done but it was slow going with how much his hands were shaking. He was also constantly checking the clock and wondering how much longer Beelzebub would be out and at what point he should start getting worried that Crowley was true to his words.
He was so distracted by all of his thoughts that he didn’t notice Aziraphale wander over from the back area. The other angel seemed hesitant to say anything but seemed to work up the courage when Gabriel glared at him.
“Is everything alright dear?” Aziraphale asked in his annoyingly soft voice. “You seem a bit out of sorts.”
“I’m fine.” Gabriel managed to grind out through teeth clenched in agitation.
“Oh well it’s just that your hands appear to be quite shaky.” The angel’s eyes darted around and he fiddled with his knuckles. “I mean if you need to talk I am a very good listener.”
“Well I don’t want to talk so shove off!”
“From what I have read it is usually beneficial to-”
“Oh yeah I’m sure what you read in a book written by humans will be very helpful to my circumstances!” Gabriel rounded on the other angel. Irritation combined with
everything else bubbling up into his words. “That was always your problem, you know!? You just can’t leave people alone! If you would just keep your nose in your own business maybe we wouldn’t even be in this situation! But no you have to prove how good and devoted you are and make everyone else look bad! It’s no wonder the other Archangels aren’t putting in more work to find you! I would want you as far away from me as possible too!”
To prove his final point Gabriel pushed Aziraphale, not hard but hard enough that he hit the bookshelf he’d been backing into. The other angel gave a surprised noise before falling to the floor and curling himself into a ball. Gabriel was about to launch into another tirade until he looked down at the Archangel. It was a very pathetic site, Aziraphale with tears streaming down his face barely visible behind his arms raised defensively in front of himself. A small pit of regret found its way into the angel’s stomach. Realizing that he had overstepped he backed away, hands raised in surrender.
When Aziraphale’s cries did not immediately stop Gabriel became worried. This was the part where B would step in and handle everything, if they even let it get this far. The angel was clueless on what to do. Despite being an angel Gabriel had never really gotten the hang of the whole comforting thing, it was all too emotional for his taste. But here he was in a situation in need of a gentle hand and his demon was nowhere in sight.
“Hey I didn’t really mean all that.” Gabriel tried weakly. “I was just saying stuff because I was mad.”
Aziraphale didn’t respond, still sobbing and focusing on his snake which had moved from his pocket and grown much larger. The now large snake had wrapped itself around the other angel’s torso with its head rubbing against his cheek. Gabriel couldn’t help the disgusted shudder that went up his spine.
“Listen I messed up so I’m sorry.” Gabriel then moved to pat Aziraphale on the shoulder as he would often do to show there were no hard feelings.
When he approached the other angel flinched away and the snake hissed at him baring its fangs. Gabriel jumped back in surprise. He stood there dumbfounded as the snake went back to his original position of comforting the angel.
What had that been about? Aziraphale had never reacted like that before. The snake was expected, it hadn’t liked Gabriel since he tried to shove it out a window while it was sunning. The angel stood there thinking for so long that they barely noticed when Beelzebub entered the library.
“Hello darling. That took longer than I expected.” They came up behind Gabriel and put an arm around his shoulder. “I hope you didn’t get into much trouble while I was- What did you do now?”
“Why do you assume I did something?” Gabriel asked indignantly. “He gets like this over every little thing.”
“You know that’s not true.” With a quick squeeze they removed their arm and went over to comfort the Archangel on the floor. Interestingly the snake let Beelzebub put an arm around the angel and guide him over to a couch. Gabriel for his part went upstairs to have a moment to himself.
Once he was in his bedroom pacing his thoughts shifted from mild annoyance to confusion. What had B meant by what they had said? It was true that Aziraphale got upset about a lot of small things like poverty or famine, that wasn’t his fault. Though thinking back to recent events they might’ve had a point. Ever since moving into the library the main reason for the Archangel’s distress had been arguments with him. It was easier to lash out at his old boss now that he didn’t have any memories or powers.
Maybe Beelzebub had a point about him being a dick sometimes. Not all the time though. Sometimes the Archangel had something coming. Though Gabriel resolved, it wouldn’t be the end of the world to give the other angel a bit of grace.