[video]

[blessedarethebookmakers]

[he stands in front of a window, winter light streaming in around him and highlighting his white wings. Clever people may notice he's added another ring, silver and black on the fourth finger of his left hand as he folds them in front of him and beams. More than his usual polite interest, his eyes are shining and he looks positively radiant and may, in fact, be glowing just a hair.

When he speaks, his voice is like warm honey]

Hello, I'd like to take the time to welcome all the newcomers to our lovely little situation. It may seem odd and even frightening to be so far from home. You may feel overwhelmed by the task ahead of you and that you may not be able to accomplish healing the corruption that has blighted this land. But I can assure you, it's possible. Some of it has already been cleansed and purified.

How, you may ask?

Why, through our efforts. As a unit. As a group. A team even. Everyone has value and worth here. We are all able to contribute. And there are many here who would help you and guide you to settling in. Finding your way. I'd call upon Lydia if you needed a ready mind and an open ear. Or Eleanor or Richie if you wanted someone to drink and commiserate with. Michael is always splendid to talk to. If there are any children among you, Webby [goodness, what a name] and Leia are wonderful playmates. [so he assumes]

And there are plenty of others here to help.

As for me, I am your local librarian. [his grin widens as this is very new and not even Crowley knows it yet] The selection here is rather small and limited at the moment,but feel free to come in and browse and check out [his wings twitch a little at that] at your leisure. But do see the books are returned in a timely manner. After all, I know where you live. [a smile as if it's a joke]

To that end, I am offering a slight commission for any one who can bring me a book that they find in the wilds or wherever. If you're interested, please take stock of what the library already offers. I'm not interested in copies of mundane things here, but other sorts of books. They don't necessarily have to be non-fiction, but any sort of spell work, spell craft or magic theory that you can find I will pay top dollar for. And also limited or first editions.

[he is not sure where he'll get the top dollar, but nevermind]

Aside from that, welcome to all who have come.

If you have any questions or wish to seek the personal attentions of the head librarian, my consultation hours are posted on the office door.

Comments

[serpentinthegarden]

As if any part of him were cold! On the contrary the entire room seemed to absolutely seethe with heat. It was hot enough to draw out a light sheen of sweat all over the poor demon's body. He shifted again, trying to reach out to grab Aziarphale's hand or his arm, something! But he wasn't quick enough. The breeze caught him when his reaching hand was only half way there sending his senses into such a reel that his eye practically rolled back as his head uselessly hit the pillow again. "Fuck!" Now to Crowley this was only a curse word, the worst one could use in polite conversation so naturally he used it often. It was not necessarily a request but... "That's heartless that is..." He glowered down at that ever so smug angel, teasing him with every touch and word... and near touch! He knew exactly what that puff of air would do! "You're such a bastard." Demonic pillow talk at it's finest.

[blessedarethebookmakers]

He was fairly lying on Crowley's legs now, watching him with an air of fond amusement. His elbow was resting on the bed, cheek in his hand as he offered the demon a cherubic smile. Legs kicking slowly and absently behind him in the air and his own wings smooth, neither fluffed nor bristled, but arched and attentive.

He clicked his tongue and gave Crowley a pout.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Such language. I really ought to chastise you." He stroked that heated length with a casual air. "But I think, my darling demon, you have no idea just how much of a bastard I can be." And he leaned in to give the side a warm, lingering, kiss.

[serpentinthegarden]

Crowley would not have described that look as cherubic... but then he had known a few cherubs back in the day so that was probably a good thing. Aziraphale was still two faced! Lounging there looking all pristine and almost like a Roman laying down to dine instead of showing his true wicked nature... torturing a poor innocent demon who had done a good deed! His own wings weren't fluffed or disheveled either but only because the weight of Crowley's own body was keeping them firmly pressed down into the cloud. And he couldn't do a thing about that with that evil angel laying down on his legs! Even with his arms free he was fairly neatly pinned. What could you do with those really if you couldn't reach the smug bastard? His back arched at the touch sending his hands clawing across the bed sheets, wrinkling the fabric until one of them managed to clutch onto the soft cover of a pillowcase. "Damn, Aziraphale!" He squeaked at the kiss, positively ashen as the bold move but this time he had a counter... blushing like the devil he coiled back his arm and let that pillow fly in retaliation, aiming for that smug smile.

[blessedarethebookmakers]

He oof'd at the hit, then laughed a bit, continuing to pump gently, feeling the movement of soft warm skin over that peculiar hardness.

"Can I help it if you are amazing, my dear? So tense and aching with need?" He raised his head and licked just the tip, closing his eyes at the taste and groaning softly in the back of his throat. "You have no idea how long I've thought about this, Crowley." Another lap. Sucking very lightly. Moaning again.

"To taste you. To know you. To be with you."

[serpentinthegarden]

"And whose fault is that!" Those needs, wants, and desires were all coming from that one irritating person he was hopelessly in love with so this was entirely Aziraphale's fault! Crowley absolutely writhed across the bed, not that his serpent-like squirming actually got him any where, he only ended up partially twisted in the sheets and still very much at the mercy of that teasing angel who laid across his legs. "I am amazing." He agreed in that moment of calm but then it was all lights and primordial feelings that sent him absolutely hissing with pent up emotions. It was like no other feeling. There was something about that pressure and warmth that urged his hips to move forward, wanting this... absolutely needing this. "Ngn! Angel!"

[blessedarethebookmakers]

"And so humble too." It was a sight. To see him writhe and coil and twist, that long lanky body straining with desperation. To be honest, Aziraphale was starting to strain a bit too. But that could be ignored for the sake of the sight before him. The arching of those angled hips, exquisite. The taste, full of heat, dangerous but exhilarating.

"I hope you're prepared, my love." He licked up the bottom from base to tip, tickling in he most sensitive place. "For I'm going to take you--" He paused, waiting for Crowley's eyes to settle on him before smirking just like the cat who got the cream.

"To hell."

And he sank down on him fully, mouth and lips and tongue working, squeezing, pulling. Moving his own head in whatever rhythm Crowley set and almost keening at the feel of it, the taste of it, everything felt like it was burning around him his ears, his cheeks his neck. As if he was slowly sinking into the most divine lava.

[serpentinthegarden]

He wasn't... so not prepared... even if being called love did set his heart all a flutter. Everything he had experienced before paled the instant Aziraphale set upon him again. And there was lava, less divine and more diabolical as the little passionate flames flicked up along the carpet and walls. Crowley didn't notice them. From where he was the room was already intensely hot so if it had grown hotter well, then that was Aziraphale's fault too. The tickling was cruel again, sending those pinned wings into what could only be described as a quiver... and his hips moved in that rhythm set entirely by them, wanting more and reaching for it in the only way they could. If he had cursed again it was by now only a string of incoherent nonsense, spoken in a barely verbal way and quickly forgotten. Then there was the moment where all energy drained from the room. Like a hiccup in time only when it restarted each light bulb shattered apart in unison leaving Crowley extremely breathless and laying exhausted in bed with only the light from those flickering flames to see by. "You fucked up..." He gasped in the candlelight, smiling faintly, not finding it strange at all that they suddenly had candlelight. "Been to Hell... It's nothing like that."

[blessedarethebookmakers]

It was beautiful. Energetic. Violent even. He might have startled when all the light bulbs shattered but fortunately he had enough focus not to bite down. And then he did the best eh could not to choke-- but oh it was worth it. Every last curse, movement, twist, drop. Even the fact that only a candle flickered now.

He was hard as bedrock but that hardly seemed to matter as he let Crowley slip out and smiled at him lazily as he lay boneless on the bed.

"Heaven then." He rubbed his flushed cheek against Crowley's hip. "No... not that either. Mm. A place of our own. Bliss. Nirvana. The center of the earth. In the burning heart of a star."

[serpentinthegarden]

"A place of our own, I do like that."

Most of the fires had gone out by themselves but that one on the candle remained and it produced more than enough light to send a hand down to stroke the top of that angelic head. It was unusual in that he didn't recall there being a candle let alone a lit one, and he was sure there had been more light before... they had discovered their own Eden.

"When did it get so dark?"

[blessedarethebookmakers]

He closed his eyes at the touch. His body was oversensitive so it felt heavenly, rooted right down to his core.

"I honestly wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention." He kissed Crowley's hip. "I had other things on my mind."

Then before even the simple stroking of his hair could stir him to madness, he levered himself off Crowley a bit.

"Now if you turn round, my dear, if you can manage it... I should finish the job." He had promised after all. But no teasing was intended here. More soothing. Pulling Crowley's exhaustion into a gentle sleep.

[serpentinthegarden]

Moving was really the last thing on his mind. It was just like Aziraphale had said those many nights ago, after something like that you just wanted to cuddle.

But as he had been asked he did try to flop over. Using arms that felt remarkably like noodles he levered himself over onto his stomach until those dark wings covered his back like a blanket.

"I can manage it."

He smirked over a shoulder, finding there was still a spark of mischief in that all too human body of his some where.

"I'd rather manage you."

[blessedarethebookmakers]

"Oh, I'll keep." But he certainly wouldn't if a cuddle came about. Well it would turn into a great deal more than a cuddle. And this was better in a way. He sat beside him instead of straddling him so that reminder wasn't prodding him in the back, and gently pulled a wing out to rest over his lap.

Carefully he straightened each rumpled feather, brushing out the loose fluff with his fingers, humming softly as he did so. Black as they were, they were still so soft and if he was in a good position, he would rub his cheek against it. He didn't want to stir the demon unnecessarily so he worked in calm quiet, humming all the while.

[serpentinthegarden]

They had spent a great deal of time together back on Earth, not nearly as much as they had spent together here, but some how he had never really taken the time to appreciate Aziraphale's humming. It was light and sweet... everything an angelic voice ought to be but this felt like more than a Heavenly chore. With his wing on the angel's lap, and that contented little tune he felt wanted, cherished actually, and in a way he never had been before. Damn angel. If he weren't so comfortable he would have been tempted to run out and do another good deed right then. Instead he watched those fingers build up an increasing mound of loose fluff and smiled at the oddly dear humming creature over his shoulder. "You know you never said just how long you had been wanting to do that to me."

[blessedarethebookmakers]

"Haven't I?" and he wouldn't answer now either. He shifted a little, paying undue attention to a particularly long primary. "Oh... this one is new..." He ran his fingers over the soft tines. "You are always so pristine, though. Hard to tell between new and old." He folded the wing back gently since it was done and kissed it lovingly and then the spot on this back between them. He wanted to kiss more. The nape of his neck. Following his spine. The small of his back.

Instead he shifted to the other side of Crowley and stretched that wing too to do the same.

[serpentinthegarden]

His smile took on much more of a smirk at the care that one feather was getting out of all the others. It was meant as a distraction as likely so was the kiss... but he did enjoy both regardless.

"Confession is supposed to be good for the soul, angel."

Crowley's head turned to the other cheek so he could continue his leisurely angel watching.

"Rome was it? Always wondered why an angel invited me out to try oysters."

He teased as his black feathers were pushed aside, each being brushed and the loose ones removed as had been done to the first wing. Only this one held a little surprise. Hidden under some of the larger flight feathers there was one very out of place looking, some what slender, white one.

1/3

[blessedarethebookmakers]

"I'm not going to tell you. You're smug enough alreadyyyy Oh my Lord!"

[blessedarethebookmakers]

A white feather! A single white feather. What did that.

Crowley was liable to...

Now, now, don't panic, Aziraphale, he told himself, carefully shifting other feathers to cover it. Nothing to panic about. All present and correct.

But he's going to get awfully suspicious about what you just hollered about so make up something quick

[blessedarethebookmakers]

"I forgot to lock up the library before I left. Ahahahaha silly me." It was a good save. He will keep doing what he's doing and try not to notice that his hands are shaking slightly. What can he do? Should he do anything? What did it mean? Why was this happening?

[serpentinthegarden]

That was... different. Crowley puzzled over his shoulder, staring unblinkingly at the angel worried over the library. What was someone going to do steal a book? Where would they take it? There were three roads in town. OR... Crowley's expression brightened as a different idea pushed the library save away. "Oh! Was it earlier than that!? Not Mesopotamia? With the Ark? Were you checking out my tunic?"

[blessedarethebookmakers]

"What? No..." Wait. "I mean yes. Yes exactly. Mesopotamia. Big fan. Can't hide anything from you." But he ought to at least hide the feather. Could he pluck it? Dye it somehow without Crowley noticing? Oh things had been going so well and he didn't want them to be disrupted now.

[serpentinthegarden]

First it was no, then it was yes... Puzzled again he tilted his head against the pillow as if that would give him a better angle to scrutinized Aziraphale from. "I did have long hair then." Maybe he was flustered over the love of long wavy locks? Crowley stretched and yawned, fanning out that wing as he did so and wouldn't you know... without the loose down to hide it that white feather came fanning out like the rest of them on full display.

[blessedarethebookmakers]

Panic flared in him. He felt the same doom as when Crowley told him the end times were definitely going to happen.

Then suddenly like a bolt of Grace from the Almighty, he knew.

"I accidentally gave you a white feather," he blurted. "Awfully sorry. This preening was a terrible idea. Don't worry I'll give myself a black one." A click of his fingers and half his wing darkened. He tried not to let on how much it spooked him.

"I think I'm going to panic--take a long cold shower. Shan't be long. Toodle pip!" And he hurried off the cloud, nearly falling as he did.

[serpentinthegarden]

"You what?!" A touch of vain terror gripped the demon too as he tried to twist that wing around to get a look at whatever the angel had done to him. "How do you accidentally give some one a white feather!? Opps, I sneezed... and suddenly you have two noses? How does that work???" His fear shifted the instant Aziraphale's wing did, transforming as quickly as those white feathers had into the largest shocked saucer sized eyes imaginable. He gaped with an open mouth as Aziraphale fumbled off the cloud and made for an escape to the bathroom. Maybe Crowley should have let him go he felt one of those odd pangs of sympathy and automatically his hand lashed out quick as a serpent's strike to capture the angel's wrist before he had managed more than a step away. "We could just pluck it out." It would hurt but not for long. "I would wait until you calmed down again to do anything about that." He nodded towards the half black, half white feathered wing. It was absolutely silly looking like that and the more he looked at it the sillier it was. Crowley tried to hold back the fond smile, not at all sure those sorts of thoughts would be appreciated right now. "You could lose a wing doing magic when you are upset. Come back to bed?"

[blessedarethebookmakers]

He sat back on the edge of the cloud, face in his hands as shame filled him. He wished he had done it. Been so careless. Because what if they plucked it and it grew back as white as before? He couldn't always make the excuse.

And what it Crowley took it to heart and wanted to call the whole thing off? But shouldn't he want this to happen? Shouldn't it be joyous? It didn't feel that way. It felt like an absolute disaster. Like once again the great wheels of the Plan were moving and they were helpless to stop it.

He couldn't speak. What could he say? But his worry showed in his wings as they slowly continued to darken.

[serpentinthegarden]

Moving was a chore but Crowley slid along the cloud mattress until he was close enough to drape his arms around Aziraphale's middle. His chin came to rest on the shoulder closest to the darkening wing and when staring at those hidden blue eyes from this close up wasn't enough to elicit a response, he sulked... then gave Aziraphale's shoulder a bite. It was just firm enough of a nip to tell the angel to pay attention. "You could just wish it back the way it was. The feather and the wing... I know your magic is strong enough to do it."