demonicmiracle | (duplicity) ic contact

[His laughter is an impression of it, more than any true sound, but he knows Aziraphale will understand it for what it is. Even with the few people he allows to touch him when he's in this shape, he usually doesn't let them readjust him with the ease he lets Aziraphale.]

My eyes aren't ssssoft, they're scary demon eyes. All yellow and snake-y. [He can't huff, so he just sort of bumps against Aziraphale's jaw with his nose, trying to get across the same message.] I'd been sort of expecting a fight, you know, but you were all fussy and nice, had no idea what to do with you.

Yes, yellow and snake-y. And somehow still utterly soft. The moment you spoke, I knew I'd never fight you. I'd have talked to you longer if it wasn't for that blasted storm.

[He has never asked what Crowley's first impression of him was. He'd found it all rather embarrassing, having just given the sword away. It's nice in a way to hear he was just as perplexed by him.]

You're saying that 'cause I'd not figured out how to not be so expressssive.

[He was new to the whole face business and hadn't got the knack of keeping his expressions contained. Not that he ever really did figured that out.]

And if it wasn't for that blasted ssstorm, I mightn't have come back to find you again.

[The fact he gave the sword away was important, but Aziraphale offering him shelter had meant so much.]

Well, you were expressing something very nice, and I won't even add "for a demon." I've seen angels with much harder eyes.

[As in most of them.]

Really? [He thinks back on that day. What had he...oh.] The wing? You had such nice long hair. I'd hate to have seen you all bedraggled.

[Crowley makes a noise somewhere between a hum and a rumble, the sound reverberating through his body, and he doesn't respond immediately. Instead, he moves up to loop around the back of the chair behind Aziraphale's head, dropping his own head down to settle under his jaw on the other side. His tail lazily encircles his calf, wrapping him up from head to toe in a loose embrace.]

No one had been kind to me for a very long time. Not since I fell. Maybe even before then, really.

[And that's what Aziraphale had been. Just... kind. With no reason, no ulterior motive. The rain had come and he'd sheltered him without a second thought.]

[It's humbling to realize that something he'd done instinctively made such an impact. He'd not given it much thought that day beyond not wanting to let him get wet if he didn't have to. Ultimately, they'd both gotten wet. That rain came with driving wind, a true wrath of God storm if ever there was one.

He rubs the top of his head with his chin, a soft, affectionate caress, and rests both hands over the thicker parts of his middle in a comfortable curve.]

I never knew. I didn't think of such things much back then. What it would have been like for you, or anyone else on the other side. I only knew you weren't what I'd been led to expect. And I couldn't help but to wonder how many who gave such warnings had dealt with demons at all.

Not to say I wasn't wary. For a long time. I'd wager you were, too. Such a dance we had before deciding to make up some of our own steps. It was one of your best ideas.

[He likes being held this way, being able to talk when they're entwined. It's uncomplicated, he doesn't have to worry about what to do with all his limbs or wonder if his face is giving too much away. Sometimes he forgets that he really is a serpent, underneath it all. How comfortable he is now serves as a reminder, but not an unpleasant one.]

Well, you'd have been in for a different situation if it'd been any other of my lot. You're lucky, is all, ending up with the most charming demon trying to chat you up. [It's nice, too, to talk about this freely. They've discussed their past before, just not in such detail with regards to their feelings, their perspectives.] I was never scared of you, not after that first day. I knew you'd never hurt me, it was always everyone else that I had to worry about. The arrangement was just an excuse to see you more.

It would have been different for both of us if we had encountered any other of our compatriots.

[Most other angels would likely have picked a fight from the get-go, or been nasty about him being a snake. Or any number of other things.]

Don't think I don't know exactly how lucky I am it was you. I'm glad you weren't afraid.

[He colors faintly. He hadn't known that, either.]

Tricky. And it worked.

[He continues stroking him with his chin, a light, slow back and forth.]

Did I overwhelm you a little just now?

[As fun as the little trip down memory lane is, he doesn't want to really get too into discussing what ifs, especially not when it means talking about other angels and demons, so he leaves that part alone for now.]

You're not the only one that can be clever.

[To be fair, he was also kind of lazy and wanted to fob off some of his work, the main motivation was an excuse to talk to each other more, to spend more time together.]

At which point? With being a damn sap, or something else?

At the point when you decided to transform. Not that I'm complaining. I just want to be sure I don't make you uncomfortable by getting too effusive. Angel. We're prone to such things when we're happy.

[It was really when they'd both settled in London that the socializing ramped up. Now that he thinks back on it, he can't recall which of them moved there first. Not that it truly matters. It suited them both so well.]

Nah, I'm just playing silly buggers.

[It was just part of the dramatics he was putting on, though it is more comfortable to have certain conversations this way, when its impossible to tell if he's flustered.]

Is it alright? Doing this? Probably should've asked before I coiled up around you as if you're dinner.

[He'd just assumed that Aziraphale would be comfortable with him in any form, which he hopes is true, but still, he should've made sure.]

Good.

[He'd prefer to check than assume. He knows he was laying it on thick.]

Of course it is. It's still you. Feels rather snug, like an all over body hug. And it's...nice, having such a direct reminder of when we first met. I think about it often.

Now I'll think of it more fondly with the new context. I want you to be comfortable here, always. However that manifests.

Could wrap you up properly in bed sometime, if you want.

[The serpentine equivalent of a weighted blanket, with the bonus of conversation.

If he had the right mouth to do it, he'd smile at that sapinesss, but he contents himself with a nuzzle at his throat.]

I'm comfortable. I like it, too, being able to properly feel your heartbeat. Sssss'reassuring.

I'd like that. We could get one of those electric blankets to throw on top. Make it properly cozy.

Can you feel it that much better now?

[It's another thing he's never given too much thought to, how different his experiences must be in this form. It's awfully different for him in his various forms. He doesn't dare take his true one anywhere here in the city lest the sight of him drive someone mad.]

Would you like me to read to you? Not something awful. I'm sure we can pick something between the two of us to enjoy.

Only if you want me asleep in seconds. [Being wrapped around a warm body with a warm blanket over the top would make him drowsy immediately.] Yup, can feel it in my underbelly, it's how I'd know to stop constricting, if you were going to be dinner.

[While not technically any particular snake, he can borrow traits from both venomous and nonvenonous serpents, and he likes the sensitivity that comes with constricting snakes, so he tends to keep.]

You can go back to whatever it was you were reading before, as long as it's you, it isn't awful.

[Even the Bible would be tolerable, as long as it's Aziraphale.]

Now I know how to relax you.

[Definitely getting an electric blanket.]

I could make a truly wretched joke about being eaten alive. I'll spare us.

[The amusement in his voice is enough of a suggestion.]

Oh, I don't know. It might bore you. I've been reading several deep physics texts, trying to get more of a handle on where we are and how all of this could be. I don't mind. It'd just be awfully dry. Maybe you'll have some insights I've missed.

Wanna hear all your wretched jokes, actually.

[If only to laugh at them.

He takes a moment to get more comfortable, adjusting his coils so he can rest his head on... himself, technically, underbelly against Aziraphale's chest, head against his clavicle. It's nice and snug and he can still feel that steady heartbeat.]

Physics is alright, I'll do my best to pay attention.

[He won't, he's planning to nap.]

Next time.

[Probably not. He'd have to be in a particularly bold mood to crack even a remotely dirty joke around Crowley or anyone else.

He has his doubts that he'll pay attention, likely sneak in a sleep, the crafty old thing, with him unable to tell because he doesn't close his eyes in that form.

The book appears back in his hands, open to the bookmark, and for a while he gives the reading an honest go. Eventually, he inserts some nonsense, lines from Lewis Carroll. Not a peep from the snake, so he knows for sure he's out.

When he's had enough of the physics himself, he slips his finger between the pages, closes the book and nods off, head dropping down far enough for his chin to rest atop a coil.]

(duplicity) ic contact

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