(no subject)

[oldbookshop]

Who: Aziraphale and OPEN
What: Just vibing around the North Pole tbh. May also serve as a general catchall for other bits and bobs through the month.
Where: Several places! Library, dining hall, Vaguely Around, etc.
When: The post-arrival pre-next plot zone. The settling-in zone, even.
Warnings/Notes: None yet, will update as needed/requested!



library.

[ Realistically, this is probably the number one place most guaranteed to get results in the Aziraphale sightings economy. The library is equal parts enrichment in his enclosure and a decent simulation of his native environment. Well, as long as he ignores the DVDs and CDs and such. Which he does.

If someone wanted to make a very posh zoo enclosure for a wild Aziraphale it would basically be this premise. He's in the library on the daily. Around the same time each day, probably, and winding up in the same specific chair, because he feels better when he can have one or two reliable little rituals on his schedule.

What he's got picked out tends to vary. Largely classic literature or stageplays, which he mostly thumbs through purely for the sake of seeing if they're very different in this reality. The ~big ones~. Austen, Wilde, Dickens, Shakespeare, Shelley, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis. Arthurian folklore but only when he's positive Crowley isn't in the library with him. For normal reasons. Some comically ancient guide of some sort about embroidery, because he's got it on the brain now.

(The very, very first thing that he makes sure to sit down with is a 'Winnie-the-Pooh' collected works, of course. It's actually so important that he knows they're the same as the ones he has memorized.)

While in the library, Aziraphale is largely open to socializing. If he's not open to socializing he'll simply not be in the library at all. He'll say friendly hellos every time he first walks in! He's happy to get introduced and talk literature and ask people about what they're reading if they seem amenable!

Although he does have a habit of hitting long stretches where he just sort of zones in on a book and stops paying attention to literally everything and everyone around him. Give him like an hour. He'll blink again, honest. ]


communal relaxation area.

[ Also a decent bet on places to find Aziraphale! It's cozy. He loves cozy. Coziness is in his top three favorite concepts humans came up with. Heaven is too minimalist to take the credit and Hell is too claustrophobic.

He might be reading by a very pretty window, as prophecy foretold. He might just be having some pastries and people-watching, like a cool normal person. An angel practicing his fancy shuffling and other card-based magic tricks? In your North Pole? It's more likely than you think. Important to note: the shuffling and sleight of hand are performed very poorly. Aziraphale is still thriving.

He's even more willing to socialize out here. It's what the whole setup is built for, truly. Come get your free "oh hello!"s and "how are you getting on?"s. Or if you like, in full 'old silly being an old silly' intonation: ]

Lovely weather we're having.

[ It's a low bar, being the funniest angel Heaven's ever turned out. But by god he's doing it. ]


wildcard.

[ for whatever other options! Aziraphale straight up doesn't do sleep, so he can theoretically be found at any hour in these locations, or like... out for a stroll or getting a snack or paging through a book. Doing everything in his power to not learn how to use the network or a modern phone or anything of the sort. If he recognizes anyone from the Wilderlands or the intro event, he's also likely to want to say hi and see how they're doing.

Possibly just having some cocoa and regarding the Globe of Belief with a very real sort of fondness. (A guardian is a guardian and Earth is Earth, even if this isn't the Earth he was made for and he's not the sort of guardian made specifically for it, technically. Always been a problem of his, he supposes. Getting attached.)

hmu with whatever or gimme a poke at comatoseroses and we can work something out! i'll do closed starters idc. ]

Comments

Library

[favoritefearlesshero]

[Puss can walk on two legs and speak human language. He's an expert in swordplay and even wears clothing. Sort of. It would almost be easy to forget he's a cat.

But Puss has certain instincts, certain feline urges, that simply can't be ignored. He's felt that call, and he must obey. He feels it now and he answers the call:

He must lay down directly across something someone was working on. He must get in the way of someone's work. He must.

Aziraphale won't have to look away for long before Puss is draped across the book he was reading. Of course, it being Puss he's not laying like a typical cat would, instead opting to fold his paws behind his head and hook one knee over the other, like it's a hammock and not a classic work of fiction.]

...Hola.

[Not malicious, but totally unapologetic.]

[oldbookshop]

[ ???

Every day a new experience. Not literally. Figuratively. This is the figurative new day, because Aziraphale has never had a cat lounge across a book he was reading while he was looking away, and he's also never met a cat that spoke human language and wore adorable little clothes.

Goodness. There's not really a social protocol for this sort of thing. ]

... Hello.

[ He is, at least, very familiar with a similar brand of "unapologetic minor inconvenience" to what Puss is exuding. Which helps a little. It also helps that none of the books here are Aziraphale's personal property. He's not apt to get territorial. ]

You know, I can't imagine it's actually very comfortable down there at all.

[favoritefearlesshero]

Perhaps not, buuuut... [He shrugs.] You see someone focusing that hard on something, the instinct takes over, you think "hey, why aren't they focusing that heard on the cat," and, well...here we are.

[He holds his paw out.]

Puss in Boots. Pleased to make your acquaintance.

[oldbookshop]

[ On one hand, can't relate to the instinct as someone who's never been a cat. It could be said, in fact, that he doesn't know enough about cats to dispute it.

On the other hand, Puss is very cute and the tactic did net attention, so.

If Aziraphale didn't know how to operate while mildly confused, he'd have never gotten anywhere or accomplished anything in the past few millennia. So he smiles and very gently shakes Puss's paw with his thumb and forefingers. ]

Aziraphale. It's a pleasure, Mister Boots. [ Even the name is adorable... madness. ] If you'd rather get more comfortable now that we are here, by all means.

[ Only seems polite to say as much. ]

[favoritefearlesshero]

[Puss nods his thanks, then languidly rolls off the book, mission accomplished. He stretches like a cat, back arched and toes outstretched, before getting on two feet and stretching his arm over his head like a human.]

I came in here because I wished to see how this world chronicled my many adventures, but I can never seem to stay awake in a library. Perhaps it's another cat thing, I'm not sure. I can see you are not here for a nap.

[Puss knows no avid readers, he doesn't run in those kind of circles. It's kind of a novelty to see someone who actually enjoys a large tome without falling asleep.]

Library. I couldn't help myself

[demonicmiracle]

[It's one of those days where Crowley is accompanying Aziraphale on his jaunt to the library; he tries not to follow him around too much, so the days are spread out around Crowley disappearing to do mysterious, demonic things all by himself.

It's nice, being able to spend as much time together as they want, but he doesn't want Aziraphale to grow sick of him.

He's here now, though, idly poking through the shelves while Aziraphale reads nearby, until something catches his eye.

He picks up one of the books, turning it over in his hands to read the cover, making a surprised little sound in the back of his throat.]

Angel — did you know Jane Austen wrote books?

this is so important

[oldbookshop]

[ The speed with which Aziraphale's attention span fully resurfaces for that might break his preexisting attention span records. Always a bit of a toss-up where he's at on that strange and hard to pin down spectrum. It depends on his surroundings, it depends on the book, it depends on the tone and the speaker and what's being said.

In so many ways, he is grabbed by this question. ]

Did I-- [ ???

No he needs to look up for this, this is absolutely insane. ]

Yes, I knew that! You- did you not? [ THE IMPLICATIONS AT HAND... ] Crowley, she was famous for them!

I'm doing the lord's work

[demonicmiracle]

[Always a toss up on whether he gets a response from Aziraphale when he's deep in a book, so it's clearly important if his head whipped up that quickly.

Crowley squints at the cover of the book over the top of his glasses, reading the summary.]

I had no bloody idea! Where'd she find the time?

[He's doing that thing where he's forgetting to drop the relevant details.]

Romance novels, too. She never struck me as the type.

[oldbookshop]

[ There's so much to unpack here. Conceptually. So much to absorb and sit with, having the luxury of plenty of time in which to do just that. Really... really process what's been said here. Squint at the algebra of it all.

Knowing Jane Austen but not being aware of her extremely famous novels... no bloody idea... never struck me as the type. ]

They're very good. I keep them in my regular rotation. [ Very important distinction.

Dear diary, must reevaluate all recent times I thought Crowley was either extremely dense or not interested and kindly stepping around my extremely obvious hints??? May be a secret third thing: unaware of literature upon which much of my core understanding of true romance is based and therefore unable to make an informed decision about whether he's dense or uninterested. Will investigate further.

Although, well, this does raise entirely separate curiosities. ]

How did you know her, then?

[demonicmiracle]

[If they're in regular rotation, that must mean they're good.

It's still so odd, he's still squinting at the book for a moment before he turns to look at Aziraphale, instead.]

We smuggled brandy together. [This is a normal thing to say about famous romance author Jane Austen.] She was a criminal mastermind and a brilliant spy. Plenty of fun in short bursts but a bit of an odd duck.

[How did he not know that she was also writing books?

He's going to borrow one of them from the library so he can see what all the fuss is about.]

Library

[bestbrotherever]

[Loki's not at the library to socialize, but he gives the man reading a small nod when he first enters. He quickly moves to the shelves and picks out some books, then leaves.

[He repeats the process several times, never bringing back any of the books he takes from the library.

[Maybe Aziraphale would like to ask what he's doing, before he takes the entire library?]

[oldbookshop]

[ It's not to say that Aziraphale feels a sense of personal ownership over this library, because he sincerely doesn't. Lovely place to be, very comfortable, fantastic selection, but, well. Certainly not his.

He's trying not to think about his too much. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it also makes it grow very frustrated about not getting very much time between the Wilderlands and here.

That said, hard to miss the many repeat trips by a frankly very distinctive-looking person. One or two trips in a short span is an oddity. Several repeats is an event. And that does get Aziraphale curious. ]

Not a fan of the library's ambiance? [ Important words to emphasize with an unnecessary twirly hand gesture. ]

[bestbrotherever]

[Loki stops and flashes a smile. A very honest smile, not one belonging to someone who's hiding anything, trust him!]

I am engaged in a rather extensive project, and unfortunately the library proper is not a suitable setting for it.

[oldbookshop]

[ Who could argue with such an honest and sincere face, truly.

Aziraphale tilts his head a bit. ]

I suppose as long as the books are left intact in the course of this extensive project, I can't really protest.

[ Won't, even, because he is very polite. The politest. ]

[bestbrotherever]

[He spreads his hands reassuringly.]

Of course. I would not damage a book. In fact, I have been carefully keeping track of each book I have taken and left a note stating so.

[Which is technically true! He has been leaving a little slip of paper where he found each book, listing what the title was. They're currently just placeholders, he'll get more specific about where each book can be found once he's finished annotating and then hiding them. But he does want to keep things relatively organized, even if only to head off the objections of the library's owner.]

[composinghistory]

[Jaskier has heard rumors of an extensive library and, as an academic, finds it to be his noble duty to investigate further.

Basically, he couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and stumbled his way into a hall of books. Destiny once again saw fit to bring him to where he's needed most!

Of course he had to start with poetry, and with little direction on where to begin, he picked one at random: The Poems of Emily Dickinson.

He can be found at a table with an open book, scrawling notes in a small journal as he reads.]

[oldbookshop]

[ In Aziraphale's opinion, it's never a bad time of night to be up doing some reading. Objectively. Confirmed through years of non-biased, non-sleeping research, etc. Humans operate a bit differently, he supposes. There's a lot more variety in why one
might be out and about and stumbling into libraries at this hour.

He runs a little mental math on approaching versus not approaching, because on one hand that's the man who walks around with a lute (which is lovely) and he has a very, very good collection of poetry, but on the other hand, it might be rude to interrupt? Much to consider. Aziraphale lands on "approach" like any library cryptid ought.

He can always leave if he's not welcome, after all.

And he's setting out a fresh mug of cocoa in what he deems an acceptable "in arm's reach but not right on top of the book" range either way. Just in case this late-night book club was fueled by nightmares. Here you go have a Comfort™️. ]

A very singular way with words, isn't it?

[composinghistory]

I've not come across anything like it before.

[He speaks absent-mindedly as he turns the page, not really registering that there's another person. The mug set down just inside his range of vision breaks him out of it.]

Oh! Where are my manners! [He stands, as is proper when making introductions, and gives a slight bow (not low enough to give deference to someone of a higher station, but high enough not to be insulting).]

Jaskier, at your service, sir..

[He smiles when he sees exactly who approached him. Anthony's dearly beloved, in the flesh!]

[oldbookshop]

[ World's most relatable human, not clickbait? Confirmed. And he's friendly, and he's polite. All along the secret was being in a library at 2 in the morning.

Realistically, Aziraphale has known that that's the secret for a long time. Which doesn't stop him from looking a little bit delighted as he bows back, or a little bit even more delighted when he gets Jaskier's name. He's heard that name before! Serendipity!! The kind of serendipity that you only get by, checks notes, literally living in the same location. ]

Aziraphale. It's a pleasure, Jaskier. I've heard a bit about you.

[composinghistory]

I see my reputation precedes me! I assure you, everything good you've heard is completely factual and anything bad is nothing but a cruel aspersion on my character.

[Normal way to introduce yourself.

He picks up the mug and takes a generous sip. Fuck, that's good. There may be a little bit of an inappropriate-sounding moan. He's still basking in the novelty of constant access to such rich and flavorful food and drink.]

Well that's just divine! Your kindness knows no bounds, my friend.

Library

[myagents]

[It's very convenient that Price has just learned that there is a library, because he knows for certain that he can find Aziraphale in there, and he is in desperate need of his mentorship.

Speaking with Dan has made him feel horrible - as always - but this time it was almost productive. He keeps thinking about what he said, about how it's not true that he has to come back to his home world, and Aziraphale did offer him a place to stay in, so...He has to verify that the offer is still valid.

Also, he wants to talk about the Director with someone who doesn't see it as a bad thing. Price has many complicated feelings on him, and those kosher cookbooks he's getting ahold of are not ways to compensate for brain damage induced uselessness just in case the Director comes back and wants to practise an aspect of Jewish culture, why do you ask?]

Hello...Mister? Aziraphale. I am realizing just now I have never asked you what your title is.

[Despite the awkwardness, there is no attempt of coldness in the rigidity of this approach. It's just how Price expresses himself. The only person he is informal with is Dan, and well...Seeing how that is going it's good that he is formal with everyone else.]

I knew I could count on finding you here. It's nice to have one guarantee in this environment.

[oldbookshop]

[ Aziraphale distractedly glances up from his book, then down, then back up again with more warmth as he registers a) he's the one being spoken to, and b) that he's familiar with the person talking to him.

Momentary processing delay. These are truly the grave risks one takes with reading. ]

I do strive to be reliable where I can. [ And it's good, certainly, to know that he's easy enough to find if Price is seeking his company, for any particular reason. ] You're very welcome to just use my name, though. Um, as-is, or so they say. Unless you'd prefer otherwise?

[ Repression be like that sometimes, he gets it. ]

[myagents]

Oh. Of course, if that is alright for you.

[Price shifts awkwardly, he's tense.]

When we were in the Wilderlands you spoke of the possibility of...Taking me in to help in your library. I was wondering whether your offer was still valid, and I would like to discuss it.

[oldbookshop]

Perfectly alright. And if you'd ever like me to change how I address you, please do let me know. [ Because he's not always very good at picking up hints about these things and he'd like to be on the up and up.

But, ohhh. This is a topic worth putting a bookmark in and closing his volume properly to address, so Aziraphale goes ahead and does that. He's wondered about this particular matter himself, on and off; if Price has been considering, if he'd even gotten the note Aziraphale had scrawled out when he registered that the Wilderlands were about to send him packing. Only he hasn't been able to think up a way of broaching it without seeming like he's trying to push for an answer in either direction, so he's just sort of.

Not broached it at all.

His go-to solution, naturally. ]

Well! First things first. I can assure you that my offer is as valid today as it was when I first made it, Counselor. Consider it a, a... standing invitation to the shop. Yes. Very much not the sort of thing I'd put on the table lightly. [ Which he imagines Price will come to understand fully the longer they know each other. And certainly come to understand in short order if he does take the offer. ] So let's discuss, hm? Would you like to take a seat?

[myagents]

Yes, thank you.

[Price nods and takes a seat. He wants to emit a deep sigh, but he stops it halfway though and it comes out as a shallow breath.]

First of all, I would like to know my job description, along with my schedule. It would also help me to know what requirements are necessary for the job, and what would work best in terms of my...Housing situation.

[He secretly wants to ask if he's allowed to leave the room or if he's going to be trapped in it. It's not that Aziraphale is the type to hold him captive, but if Heaven is real it should be a rigid enough institution to restrict Price's movements, or so he thinks - mostly because he cannot quite conceive Heaven and the solution he has figured out for it is wild, although surprisingly accurate in Aziraphale's case. Either way, the recent prison related trauma has made him sensitive to that idea.]