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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. ]

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[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.]

[ ???

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.

[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?

[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?]

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.

Edited 2023-10-03 23:07 (UTC)

[ 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!

[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.

[ 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. ]

[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.

[ 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. ]

[ 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?

[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.]

You like odd ducks.

[ Here they both are, after all. ]

Brandy smuggling, though? Really? A mastermind and a spy? [ Jane? Austen? Damn. ] Not that she wasn't clever enough to pull it off, just. Well. As you put it, where did she find the time?

[ That's so much accomplishment. It's so much extremely well-done separation of careers and passions. Insane. ]

[That particular comment earns an inscrutable look from Crowley as he wonders if Aziraphale is including himself as an odd duck.]

Makes you wonder if the novels were part of it. Good way to get secret messages across without anyone else clueing in, especially if they were popular.

[If lots of people are reading a book, it's less noticeable to carry it around.

There's a reason the Bible is a common cipher.]

[ Aziraphale looks mildly offended, but only because how dare Crowley not be scrutable over there. He said what he said. ]

I think it's more accurate to say it makes you wonder. [ The thought, in the fashion of many thoughts, did not cross Aziraphale's mind personally. ] I've always felt fairly confident that her novels were solely about the romances and the social commentary.

No wonder you like them, then.

[Calling him out for liking both romances and social commentary, since Aziraphale is apparently calling him out for having a single braincell.]

What one should I start with, since you're the expert. I'll have a look for secret clues.

[Turns out the trick to getting Crowley to read is to make it a fun spy challenge.]

[ 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. ]

[ Mature entities don't stick their tongues out at their friends. They don't. So he doesn't. Except for in his mind.

Well... no looking a gift Crowley wanting to read Jane Austen in the mouth. It's precious. Him and his spy stuff. Aziraphale hates him. ]

I prefer 'Pride and Prejudice,' but if you'd rather go in publishing order to not miss Clues [ capital letter very important ], best start on 'Sense and Sensibility.'

[Crowley makes a face at him for the capital letter, because he can hear it and he won't stand for it.]

Well I've certainly got neither sense nor sensibility, so I probably ought to start there.

[Sometimes he can call himself out, too.]

[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.]

[ :) ]

Far be it for me to discourage personal growth. Or working out a secret criminal cipher. Whichever comes first.

[ An imaginary not real criminal cipher. Aziraphale rereads Sense and Sensibility with some regularity and it hasn't given him any sense yet. Not enough space after absorbing all that pride and prejudice, clearly.

Maybe Crowley will be the chosen one, though. As long as he has fun. ]

Hopefully the cipher. Can you imagine me with sense?

[It'd be a disaster, nothing would ever get done because 99% of the shit he does is stupid.

Still, he grabs Sense & Sensibility off the shelf and tosses it onto a chair for later. This is purely designed to upset Aziraphale.]

You'd better not tell me the Brontë sisters wrote novels, too? Those three were brilliant tacticians.

[Okay now he's just fucking with Aziraphale, who knows that Crowley has read Wuthering Heights at least once, on account of having to listen to him complain about it.]

You don't want an answer to that.

[ What Crowley wants is to get glared at for tossing that book, clearly, so Aziraphale indulges him. They're not his books, but they're still nice books, stop that shit. ]

Insufferable. [ He says, sincerely enjoying Crowley being here on a library adventure with him anyway. ] You not knowing a famous novelist was a famous novelist is hardly grounds to tease me for not knowing a famous novelist was a master spy.

[ If he'd known then clearly she wouldn't have been a very good spy or mastermind at all. ]

[Always fun to get glared at. Sometimes being a demon just means pushing an angel's buttons for funsies.]

Thank you.

[Sounding truly touched by being called insufferable, because that's obviously the nicest thing anyone has ever said about him.

It helps that Aziraphale always sounds fond about it.]

Who said I was teasing you? [He was just being a bastard. If anything, he was making fun of himself.] You know, now that I think about it, she did mention something about a bad deal with a publisher, but I never thought much of it.

[RIP Jane, getting paid pennies for Pride and Prejudice.]

[ Aziraphale's brain said he was teasing him and Aziraphale's brain is always right. Source: also Aziraphale's brain.

Ugh. It's not fair for Crowley to be as cute as he is a menace, honestly. What, Aziraphale's supposed to just keep remembering how in love he is? All the time? ]

I suppose you had smuggling on the brain at that point. [ Fair enough. Staying sharp to avoid ~the coppers~. ] She did have some ups and downs on the publishing front, though, yes.

[ Publishers are always such a mixed morality bag... he hopes the crime was at least highly lucrative. ]

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Library

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Library. I couldn't help myself

Library

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this is so important

I'm doing the lord's work

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