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[demonicmiracle]

Hey, it's Anthony Crowley. You know what to do, do it with style.

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action; time for 2 ancient idiots

[oldbookshop]

[ It's been a whirlwind, stressful past couple of days. Technically a whirlwind, stressful past decade, really, but the past couple of days especially. A lot of very big sudden revelations and life-changing shifts and impossible things to adjust to.

Not always Aziraphale's strongest domain, that. He's staying strictly in the zone of not handling this situation and not not handling it until further notice. And dealing with the fallout of things that happened or were in line to happen on their Earth, well, that doesn't even bear thinking about until it's completely unavoidable. One simply hasn't got the bandwidth for burnt-out Bentleys and bookshops and crises of shaken faith and Actual Satan.

The two of them have specific sets of skills, and some of the overlap is avoidance and repression.

And so, at least right now, a very one-thing-at-a-time philosophy. At least that's what he's been going for. "Employment," shelter, a prospect for answers, identification, income. Jolly good. They have literally never had to actually worry about these things before in their lives. Maybe in some way they're lucky that they don't have to worry about getting them now, either?

Put that on the board as a win.

The important thing is, the need to actually go out and Acquire Supplies has become unavoidably prevalent. All of those things they haven't already cobbled together in quick basic outings created by necessity. Wardrobe is maybe towards the top of the list in that regard especially.

It turns out man-shaped creatures cannot live by one outfit alone, sans miracles. Oops. That accounted for, he needs to consider being even more careful about coat and waistcoat preservation than ever.

Aziraphale hasn't bought an outfit in about 200 years. He's pretty sure Crowley always just sort of manifested whatever he felt like wearing. The vibes are already fantastic in this metaphorical Chili's. The Chili's of department stores.

It's fine. One thing they need to do at a time. He is going to be positive about this and not be an openly judgmental fancy bitch to cope. ]

Right. [ Right! Check back for proper enthusiasm when he sees a wall of packs of socks and gets distracted. Store-bought enthusiasm will do for now. ] Very convenient, having it all in one shop. It's a testament to efficiency, really.

[ There is some sincere appeal to knowing he can get his cartoonish stack of Same Outfits and all the appropriate under-layers in one day. Without the "come back in two weeks for another fitting of your bespoke ensemble" constraints. He can be a little keen on that, as a treat. ]

[demonicmiracle]

[Repression is the name of the game, as far as Crowley is concerned. Everything he felt leading up to the apocalypse, all the fear and hope and hurt, has been tucked safely away in a box for him to unpack much, much later.

Right now, keeping them safe in this reality is his priority. If they eventually find their way back home, that will be the time to worry about what's happening there. He can't do anything about it from here, and there are slightly more pressing concerns.

Clothes is not necessarily a pressing concern, except in that they only came with one pair of clothes, and Crowley's were in a rather sorry state, and he can't just materialize anything new for himself. Or miracle anything clean.

It isn't as if he's never been shopping before, for clothes, even, it's just that usually it's window shopping, to browse and see what's in fashion before recreating it for himself. There might be a bespoke piece every now and then, crafted by human hands, but that's a far cry from a small town department store.]

It's a testament to capitalism, if you ask me.

[He opens his mouth to say more, about how there likely used to be dozens of mom & pop stores, all of them now replaced by a department store with overworked and underpaid staff.

But that's depressing, and he's — trying to be better. As much as he can. There's no reason to ruin Aziraphale's enthusiasm just because he's miserable.]

But it'll save us a bunch of stops. Menswear first, I suppose?

[Catch him in the women's section later scoping out jeans.]

[oldbookshop]

[ He doesn't know what he expected. Optimism, possibly, which was his first mistake. It's always unfortunate when Crowley being ornery isn't a little bit fun.

On the other hand, no point looking gift bickering in the mouth. Aziraphale isn't inclined to let it make a dent. Mostly he's still glad this is a joint venture. ]

Well, I think fomenting inevitable societal collapse before we're finished here defeats the purpose of saving all those stops, so if you wouldn't mind holding off until we've at least gotten to the socks.

[ There's a chap. Pip-pip.

He squints out at some signs until he finds the menswear direction he seeks and starts making a beeline for it. May the fact that he doesn't get distracted and wander in an unrelated direction be a testament to dedication.

Oh, they ought to find Crowley a proper coat. That's almost certainly something for the necessities list.

That thought doesn't count as getting distracted, obviously. That's him being on point, for lack of any handy "keep thyne demons warmed in the colonies" prophecies to fall back on. ]

[demonicmiracle]

Why would I try to get rid of capitalism? S'great for a demon.

[This probably isn't the sort of thing that he should talk about in public, but he isn't quite used to having to censor himself in that way, not when he could always just stop people from paying that close attention to him.

To them.

He'll get used to it, but for now he follows after Aziraphale, hands tucked into his pockets, trying not to be too much of a miserable git.]

You know, everything in here is gonna be from this century. You reckon you'll be able to find something?

[There we go, now he's just being a regular bastard. That's more like it.]

[oldbookshop]

[ Aziraphale throws him a classic Sure, Jan. Today he will spare him words like nice and kind, but he still knows the real truth.

Plus he'd think the political upheaval would be ideal for a demon looking to be very demonic, technically.

Not that that likely matters all that much anymore. Cut loose from former employment, so to speak. It's not the worst thing, but it doesn't bode well if- when they manage to get back. That's not on the list of things to process, either. ]

I hardly think they've un-invented tolerable shirts or cufflinks in the past few years. [ Past few decades. Whatever. The actual worst part is obviously that he can't be like "will you be able to find something?" because Crowley's always kept things more cutting-edge. What a nightmare scenario. ] Nothing I can't get used to.

[ Beggars and choosers. It should be fine. It sort of has to be. ]

[demonicmiracle]

You'd be surprised at just how awful mass produced clothing can be.

[Is he being a bastard? Yes. Is he also kind of doing this to temper Aziraphale's expectations, so that when they do get to the 'trying on clothes' part of this outing, he'll maybe be surprised that things aren't as awful as he said they'd be?

Maybe so.]

Maybe this is your chance to branch out. Wear something with color in it.

[Bold words from history's first goth.]

[oldbookshop]

[ Love is fully setting up your best friend to be too pleased with himself later. It's a noble sacrifice that Aziraphale will not notice because he'll be too busy being pleased.

Also, rude. Wow. He looks at Crowley, then down at himself. Full woman squinting at math meme. ]

Crowley, I'm wearing more color than you are already.

[ Technically speaking. Just because it could all come from the same off-white to brown pastel gradient... ]

It's a bit pot and kettle, if the pot were objectively wrong in the first place.

[demonicmiracle]

In no universe is beige a color, angel.

[The fact that he actually thinks Aziraphale's wardrobe suits him and looks good isn't relevant to the point right now. In which the point is that he wants to make fun.]

I've got some red at least. [He pops his jacket collar briefly to demonstrate, and frowns when a little ash rubs off on his fingers.

This is why they're currently shopping.] Maybe I'll branch out, too. No Hell here to make a fuss about fashion choices, I could wear pink.

[He's not going to wear pink, it'd clash something awful with his hair.]

[oldbookshop]

Don't be ridiculous, of course it's a color.

[ There's a name for it. That counts as a qualification, until the day he decides otherwise and changes his entire argument. As is the way of stubborn old gay culture.

He goes ahead and veers away from the trousers and shirts pathway for socks with zero prompting or warning, pardoning one wordless "oh would you look at that" sound. Socks are important. No itinerary we shop like idiots. ]

Have you been wanting to try out new colors? I'm sure you could find something. You're always so keen on modern fashion, I hadn't really considered.

[ Which, well, it's not as if Hell would likely be all that keen on pastels or jewel tones, now that he has considered.

Crowley might look nice in some very specific shade of pink. Of note: Aziraphale is very biased. He thinks he would look nice even if he didn't look nice, even if he looked ridiculous. ]

Text; un: kruos

[whisperedone]

You're good with computers, yes?

text

[demonicmiracle]

Better than average, I'd say. I take it we're asking for a reason?

[whisperedone]

Yes we are.
Research for the current ventures in Wolf Pin and I need someone good with computers who I trust.

Are you familiar with the name Pyre?

[demonicmiracle]

[Kind of wild that someone trusts him, but he supposes it makes some kind of sense.]

Doesn't ring a bell, aside from the obvious.

Desolation?

[whisperedone]

That's what I'm told. I got his name from Fenix Down when I was in a position to get information from him. Someone here with ADI confirmed he was real and tied to Down.

I'm trying to find out if he's related to FYRE and the man who runs it, Watts.
Watts apparently has a son, whether they're the same person is the question, but not the only one.

Down mentioned Pyre's "daddy" was planning something involving the Dark avatar, Dunn.
The ADI woman mentioned trying to track down the Watts boy -though perhaps he doesn't go by Watts, she also said Watts and his wife divorced and she kept the boy- and see if the boy's movements match Pyre's.

[demonicmiracle]

That's a good amount of information.

I'll look into Watts' ex and kid, there's got to be divorce records somewhere, and unless she's real paranoid, social media makes it nice and easy to track people down.

[He's already grabbing his laptop to get started. Watts is big enough, at least locally, that it shouldn't be hard to grab the basic details within a few minutes.]

Scale of 1-10, how good of a lead do you reckon this is?

[Because there's more he can do than just poking about on the internet. He's not keen on feeding the Web, but he'll do it if it seems worth it.]

[whisperedone]

[He weighs his options a moment. He doesn't like to lie, but this wouldn't be a direct lie so much as omission, but he did trust Crowley.

The '...' runs and vanishes a few times before Garner makes a decision.]

8
He might have fed me other misinformation or not, I haven't been able to verify, but this was a gift of information for making him laugh

when he asked I give him a finger in exchange for information, I offered him one of his own I'd taken earlier.
I believe what he told me.

[demonicmiracle]

[Crowley can be patient when necessary, and it's even easier when he has a distraction to entertain himself while he waits.

When the response does come, he laughs. He might not care for violence all that much, but he does love some malicious compliance.]

Would've made me laugh, too. I knew you were clever.

But I get why you believe him, even if I never met the bloke. People like that have their own little rules and it sounds like you played the game right, by his standards.

action; appalachia on our personal agenda

[oldbookshop]

In theory, it's ridiculous to fret overly much about this enterprise. They've spent more of history separated than not, including in the midst of tense, risky times. They've been on separate tense assignments even since arriving in this world.

The risks hit differently here, though. Require different precautions, have different consequences. Once you've had the most important person in your very long life hallucinatorily snuffed from existence in your arms, it turns out there's always a bit of extra worry to carve off.

So Aziraphale, whose morning is slightly hectic in the sense that he's nearer a 'may be later to promised meeting than he considers remotely acceptable' than not, is going ahead and fretting regardless of the practicality.

"You're absolutely certain you're all sorted? As prepared as you can be?"

If he's asked those questions multiple times in the past day already, no he hasn't.

[demonicmiracle]

Delving into the depths of the Earth isn't Crowley's idea of a good time by any measure, even if he were still a fully powered demon who could stop time and move easily through space. It's even less of an ideal way to spend his time when he's running on the bare minimum of power, but it sort of needs to get done, so he's going to do it.

If Aziraphale fussing over him is making him feel a certain way, it's not something he has the ability to analyze without going kind of crazy, so he's going to just have to file it away to handle later.

"As prepared as I can be." He's even got the look down, for sneaking into a mine. Overalls are not his idea of a fashion statement, but needs must. "It'll be fine, angel, half the idiots here have already gone down there, and all of 'em made it back out."

[oldbookshop]

The bold assurances of a demon in overalls. What an absolute look. Very private investigator of him.

"Then you either have very good odds or disaster is due. I won't pretend to understand the math of the matter."

Aziraphale is being a little bit dramatic as a treat. Per the norm. Not that he's lying about not understanding the math on it. It isn't math that he's bothering with in the first place.

Crowley is bound to have enough set aside for a bit of emergency spatial manipulation in a pinch. That was half the point of going out collecting. Still, though.

"Would you say no to a little metaphorical emergency flare? Bearing in mind that the Eye would likely be privy if you used it."

Hence asking permission rather than forgiveness, while he's getting his bow tie sorted. Life presents an occasional necessary evil of allowing the Eye to stick its... nose... into things. Hm. He likes that the Entities have names less with each new day.

[demonicmiracle]

"Eh, I'm not interesting enough to warrant disaster." That probably doesn't have much play in the math on the issue, but compared to how obviously some people have been sticking their nose into the mess here, Crowley would like to think he's flown relatively under the radar. The Avatars lurking about the place likely have their attention trained on the more obvious trouble-makers, the ones going around town asking too many questions.

He's not entirely sure what to make of the offer, regarding Aziraphale for a moment before he shrugs. "If it'll keep you from fussing too much all day, sure. I don't think the Eye is involved with this one, so it shouldn't hurt?"

Adding an extra layer of the Dark or Desolation would be stupid.

[oldbookshop]

Aziraphale gives it a moment of fair thought.

Not the matter of interest. It's a subjective context. Crowley is very interesting, but he's also clever enough not to walk into a dragon's mouth and start poking things with a dagger. Which would be a very different way of being interesting.

The rest of it he gives a moment.

"It'll keep me from fussing too much all day by my standards," is what he offers, like this is the greatest compromise he has ever offered. "Since you never do know with these mobile phones."

He fishes a pen and a piece of hotel stationery out of a drawer, scrawls out a very simple and straightforward picture of an eye (a little bit too conveniently perfectly symmetrical, a little bit too thickly-lined to have come from this particular pen, but, well, that's the nature of the thing, isn't it), and immediately folds the paper over a couple of times before striding over to press it into one of Crowley's hands.

"It won't take anything if you open it. You have my word."

If it did he'd actually have to go fight the Eye behind a dumpster somewhere about it, because intent is half the battle.

[demonicmiracle]

It wouldn't likely seem much of a compromise to literally anyone else on the planet, but Crowley knows Aziraphale well enough to know better.

"I'd certainly not trust a phone down there." Regardless of the influence of any Avatar or Entity, there's the sheer matter of distance and interference. If something happens, his phone will be useless until he can get back to the surface, and he may not have that option.

So a piece of paper will have to do. If he takes a half second to lay his hand over Aziraphale's, giving a gentle squeeze before he retreats a little, taking the paper to tuck into a pocket. "But you'll know if I open it, right?"

[oldbookshop]

A free hand squeeze. This 'use in case of emergency' has already paid for itself. If someone had told Aziraphale a year ago that he and Crowley would be actively living together and upping their deliberate touch percentages, he would have assumed that someone was mad. And yet.

It does help. Knowing Crowley has it. The potential to be aware if something happens is a net positive, and Crowley not running into trouble worth opening it for is a net positive, so it's a win either way. Sort of.

"I'll know." He wouldn't send it along otherwise. No free shows for the Eye, especially if they involve Crowley in peril.

More of an outright power expenditure in the minor testing than anything that turns an informational profit, of course. But as needs must. "And we're more suited to-- unconventional dimensional awareness than humans, so I do believe everything is on the up and up. Kind of you to indulge me."

No takebacks. Aziraphale does a bit of a standard wallet-phone-keys patting, partly for the practicality and partly so his hands are too busy to overstep and start fiddling with Crowley's outfit.

Preferring to linger forever certainly doesn't make reality amenable to it, anyway. No time to fit in too much more fussing than he's done already.

[demonicmiracle]

It's worth the risk of the Eye getting involved just to keep Aziraphale from worrying too much, but it may also be worth it for the actually being able to let him know that something is going wrong, should he need to. The hope is that he doesn't need to, but they can't be too careful these days.

The fact they're more suited to unconventional dimensional awareness does help, though Crowley can't help raising an eyebrow at the comment about being kind, when they both know full well he doesn't tolerate that kind of slander.

Except for the fact he does.

"Well, when do I not?" It's mild grumble that he probably shouldn't have said out loud and is going to choose to pretend that he didn't be immediately casting about for a distraction. "Right, how's the disguise? Do I look like a down-on-my-luck miner?"