#where there were always consequences. BAD consequences. so they start begging & sputtering apologies

[byanyan]

byan being extremely defensive of their substance abuse habits. byan being so very familiar with being looked down upon for drinking & doing drugs that they're terrified of those they've let close thinking less of them for for it. they've been kicked out of homes for it. they've been suspended & expelled from schools over it. they've had nasty things said and done to them because of it. it's only natural that they anticipate the worst from even those most important to them, so they tend to take steps to hide it where, around anyone else, they might instead broadcast it.

byan, upon being found out by someone close to them, getting either aggressively defensive or becoming a sobbing, apologizing mess.

[the19thduckpotato]

The Ties That Bind Part 4 (MHA Fanfic)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

In which Tsukauchi arrives and there are consequences. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Izuku felt Toshinori's bangs come down to tickle his shoulders, and knew he was hanging his head.  He tightened his arms around his mentor a little more, whispering, "You're the best person I've ever known...."  Before, or after this? The sinister voice was back. Both. He answered firmly, standing up against the sneaking thread of doubt. You Are Wrong. I don't care what mistakes he's made, I love him and I trust him. Even if they're dead? What happens the next time you fight a villain? What happens if you die? Nothing would be safe. Yeah, well... nothing's safe from me, either, if I flipped my lid. Izuku's face was grim, hidden against Toshinori's chest. I'd say I'm in pretty good company. ...Heh. He's better than I am, anyway. If I could be a tenth of what you are, All Might... I'd be so happy. He hugged tighter, rocking back and forth a little. I wish you knew, I wish you could see.... 

Are you certain he knows?  Who could ever witness what he did and still think that? "Fanboy," he chuckled in a strained voice.

"Maybe." A tiny twitch of the mouth. "But I'm right. I know it." His voice was soft and confident. He lifted his head and looked up at his mentor. Still his hero. Always his family. I don't have to like what happened. But I love him more than any of that. And I'm more than a fanboy. He almost wanted to take it back, to shout the thought into submission for daring to claim something so great as his own. But he persisted. It's just... true. I've been given a place here, and I will never leave it. Leave? What does that have to do with anything, you were never going to do that! Well I know, I just meant like... this is forever. Or as long as he wants it, I guess... but he doesn't seem to wanna change his mind anytime soon.

In response, one arm wrapped around the boy, long fingers resting in his hair. "Izuku..." There's so much I need to say and explain and to make up for so you never repeat my mistakes. He hesitantly raised his other hand, to fold his kid in his arms, protect him, even with these hands, to tell him everything. Then his phone hummed softly and he dropped his second hand to fish it out. Tsukauchi.  What timing.... "Ok kiddo," he said, guiding Izuku back to his bed once more.  "Eat up, rest up, I'll be back later."

When the phone buzzed, Izuku had startled a bit, but he followed Toshinori's guiding and laid back down, relaxing a bit as he leaned back into the pillow. He quickly glanced at the phone's caller ID as Toshinori pulled it out of his pocket. Ah. Tsukauchi. His brain ticked the "Safe" checkbox, and he relaxed further. Ah-- Officer Tsukauchi, I mean. No-- Detective-- wait, do I call him Detective Tsukauchi?? Is that his last name, or his first--? Which is it, oh dear.... He slipped into a stream of confused and dazed wondering, completely forgetting that he didn't need to know just then... and also that he could probably ask Toshinori in a few minutes anyway. His eyes blinked lower and lower, One for All coming back strong again, pulling him back into sleep as he watched Toshinori answer the phone and shut the door. He closed his eyes. I'll just... doze lightly for a minute....

"Over here." Tsukauchi waved Toshinori over to the room the officer stood in front of.  "I can give you five minutes.  Any more and it starts to look suspicious, even for All Might." Toshinori nodded.  "I understand." Tsukauchi caught his friend's hand as it reached for the door.  "Before we get started, I just want you to know they're expected to make a good recovery.  The thug you hit--" Toshi winced.  Tsukauchi, ever the blunt one. He must have noticed because his face pinked but still, he plowed on.  "Fortunately, he has a Quirk called Putty.  His body is pliable and can be manipulated quite easily so don’t be too alarmed by what you see." At that, Toshi shoved the door open...then stopped short at what he saw. The first man was slumped in a chair, mostly intact other than a few bandages and one bruise.  His buddy in the bed was another story. His face was covered with multiple bandages straining to keep his skin together.  Blood oozed here and there between sickly colored bruises and swellings.  The imprint of All Might's fist was sunk a quarter of the way into the man's face.  Like some horrible cartoon physics brought to life, his jaw jutted out to one side.  His face was shifted to echo the impact; there were even one or two knuckle dents on the opposite side of his head. Toshi paled and Tsukauchi caught his arm.  "I warned you,"  the cop whispered.  "Trust me, he looked a lot worse an hour ago." "Whoff dere?" the bedridden man asked. His friend glanced up at their visitors then jumped from his chair.  "Officer, please, don't bring him here!  I swear we've told you everything!" "Sit down," Tsukauchi ordered.  "If I was going to interrogate you, we'd be down at the station, not here.  Instead, All Might has graciously allowed you to--" The bedridden gave a muffled screech of panic as one of his eyes rolled in Toshinori's direction.  "NNHH!!  NNHHH!!"  He tried to roll to the opposite side of his bed. "FREEZE!" Tsukauchi barked and both men complied immediately.  The man in the chair trembled, arms over his head protectively.  The bedridden man gave a low wail, knowing he couldn't defend himself. The looks of sheer terror froze Toshi's heart.  It was one thing if he had been acting within reasonable bounds but this? Not like this... Toshi remained where he was, his reaction lost in the shadows of his face. Tsukauchi glanced at Toshinori then at the other two.  "All Might has something he wishes to say." "No, please!" The man in the chair squirmed.  "Please, make him go away!  Or better yet--"  He thrust his wrists out.  "Lock me up right now!  I'll go willingly, I'll be good, I swear, just--"  He tried to look at Toshinori for a moment, the lanky skeleton hiding a demonic giant, what a Quirk, how stupid he had been-- Toshinori met his eyes and the man quailed in his chair.  "--please dont make me talk to him." Toshi's mouth parted in faint shock and Tsukauchi felt his friend's hand grip his sleeve.  Not good.  This is hurting his spirit. "C'mon, friend," he murmured to Toshi.  "I've heard all I need to." "No." The single word dangled in the air.  The sitting man still shook in his chair, the bedridden man softly whimpering. "Let me apologize."  A pause.  "Please." "S-sir," the sitting man sputtered.  "We were absolutely in th-the wrong, we-we had no business doing w-what we d-d-did--"  He whined as Toshinori took a step toward.  "Please I'm begging you, make him leave and we'll never breathe a word of this to anyone, I swear it!!" The bedridden hooted his agreement, trying to roll to the opposite side of the bed again. "All right, you boys wait here a moment," Tsukauchi replied as he escorted Toshi from the room. Behind him, both thugs slumped in relief. Tsukauchi grinned.  "I should have you work more interrogations with me." Beside him, Toshi made a noise that caused Tsukauchi to put a hand out. "Too soon?  I'm just trying to lighten the mood." "Those men..." "Like I said, they're healing just fine." "They shouldn't have ended up there." "Yeah, well, they shouldn't have been breaking the law, either." Toshi frowned at his friend.  "I overreacted and they suffered for it." Tsukauchi furrowed his brow back.  "Well it's a good thing All Might was out of practice, then." The blond whirled on Tsukauchi, one hand gesturing back at the room.  "What if he hadn't had that Quirk?  That could have been so much worse!" And the cop patiently stood his ground, staring back at his friend.  "You're right.  It could have.  But it wasn't.  Thank the heavens for that and move on.  You've done all you can do." "But..."  Toshi looked down at his hands. "I know.  It's not the answer you want."  Tsukauchi sighed and put his hands in his pockets.  "But it's the one you're going to get.  You have to make peace with that."  He reached up and squeezed Toshi's shoulder.  "How about you go back to your kid?" Toshi jumped guiltily at that and Tsukauchi half smiled.  "Yeah, that's what I thought.  Hey," he added.  "He's a great kid.  You should be proud." "Yeah.  He is.  He really is." They walked back to Izuku's room in companionable silence. "See you soon, All Might.  Hope he gets better quick."  The cop waved and strode down the hallway, leaving Toshi alone with his thoughts.

Izuku floated in the dark haze of hibernation once again. He was vaguely aware of a murmuring voice somewhere outside... outside where? Outside... him? Somewhere Else.... Sad voice. Something bad happened. I know. Sleep. Just sleep, Izuku. Okay? Noooo.... He whined, arguing with himself in his mind. I don' wanna.... Why? Dunno. Just don't.

Toshi stood outside Izuku's room.  The absolute fear on the thugs' faces burned into his memory. "--please dont make me talk to him!!" With a soft groan, the former Symbol of Peace rested his forehead against the door.

What... was that noise...? Izuku started to breathe faster, his eyes twitching slightly. Wake up.... I wanna wake up.... His heartbeat sped up, and One for All seemed to increase with it, the prickling energy under his skin growing stronger. 

Maybe I should just go home.  Let him rest.  Yeah...

The prickling energy of One for All was almost burning him... it was definitely burning. A low noise escaped from Izuku's throat. "Nnnnnhhhh.h......"

His head rose at the sound from within and he pressed his palm against the door-- Izuku And then the screaming, oh God, the screaming His breath drew short and he stepped back from the door.  Yeah, home.  I cant hurt anyone there. ...You promised to never leave him, remember?  You promised. He sighed.  "I'll just check on him, then," he told himself.  "If he's asleep, then I'll just come back later." So saying, he pushed the door open and peeked his head in.

Izuku's breathing was fast and heavy, and he shifted uncomfortably, wanting to wake up but trapped in One for All's healing state. He made a tiny noise. All Might... come back... please come back, where are you? Is that you outside? WakeupwakeupWAKEUPIzuku-- what's happening, please let me wake up-- He whimpered, eyes seeming to be glued shut, his thoughts spinning and loud. Help me, please--

Asleep.  All right, let's get out of here and-- Something seemed wrong. He didn't like the way Izuku was breathing, the way he thrashed in his sleep. In one step, he was back in the room; two more found him at Izuku's side. "Hey kid," he whispered, brushing back green hair damp with sweat, that cant be right

Izuku’s eyes opened at the cool touch of Toshinori’s hand, but his vision was blurry and unfocused. One for All was still trying hard to pull him into a resting state, but Izuku was fighting harder even as his heavy, sticky eyes fell shut again. I don’t wanna sleep, I don’t— All Might! He belatedly realized. All Might, you’re here, you’re here! A wave of relief swept over him, and one shaky hand made its way to Toshinori’s arm and held on.

"There he is," Toshi chuckled.  He pat Izuku's hand reassuringly.  "But you should rest.  Stop fighting One for All, it's only doing what's best for you."

Izuku made a sound somewhere between a pitiful whimper and a protesting whine. "Nooooo...." He frowned miserably, turning his head, pressing his face into Toshinori's hand. I don't want to... please, it hurts, I don't want to give in... it might get worse.... His burning skin seemed to throb with his heartbeat, every touch of the blankets, of his own limbs when he moved, even All Might's comforting hand felt too rough, too present, too... loud? But-- no, wrong word-- must be, touch isn't... loud.... One for All tried to drag him back to sleep even harder, and he pulled against it one last time, a small, exhausted sob bubbling up from within him as he tried to win a battle with himself he didn't even know why he was fighting. 

"H-hey," Toshi stammered, wondering if he should fetch a doctor.  "What's going on?"  His free hand hovered, unsure what to do, fear mounting up again. Plus side, he told himself with dismal humor, there's no one for you to punch to "fix" things.

"Don'... don' wanna sleep...." Izuku's voice was weak and mumbly, almost more breathing than words. His entire being seemed to grow heavier the harder he fought.

"I'm right here.  You're safe.  You can sleep." His throat constricted in panic but he only showed Izuku a warm smile.

Izuku heard something off in Toshinori's voice, but the thought was quickly overwhelmed by the feeling of helplessness against his own quirk. He whimpered again, thoughts growing fuzzier.

His teacher knelt down and cupped one hand beside his mouth, toward Izuku's ear. "Hey," Toshi whispered almost conspiratorially at his kid.  "I am here! ....to make sure you get taken care of, ok?"  He winked and settled back.  "You're safe." The two thugs How had they managed to Toshi's other hand dropped below Izuku's line of sight and curled into a fist. you could always go "visit" those two again His jaw clenched and he forced his fist back open. "Young Midoriya, what can I do to convince you to sleep?"

Izuku's inner dialogue had mostly devolved into wanting to cry, fuzziness taking over against all his efforts. He was scared. He didn't understand why, but he was scared. But.... He recalled a blurry version of Toshinori's reassurances. Maybe... maybe it's okay... to sleep.... ...why. why is it okay.... Fear still squirmed in his middle and One for All still pulled him ever deeper, but he forced his mouth open and whispered with clumsy, half asleep lips, "Please... please stay." His hand on Toshinori's arm, now completely limp, slipped off against his will. His last clear thought was a small, frightened Please don't leave

As his scarred hand slipped down to hit the mattress with a soft thud, Toshi's panic spiked. no no no NO no NO Breathe, he's sleeping he's fine calm DOWN STOP PANICKING He took a deep albeit very shaky breath, let it out slowly, burst into coughing, then checked Izuku to make sure he was sleeping. just down the hall Shut up, he snarled at that voice.  I'm staying right here.  As I've been asked. And for a tiny, frightened moment, he realized Izuku had just saved those mens' lives with his quiet plea.

As he was falling deeper and deeper into sleep, Izuku felt like the was plummeting through the air towards the golden mass of One for All. Falling. With no safety net. And no one that could catch him. His mind gave up a wordless cry of please help me And as he fell, his resistance disintegrating... the burning... eased. A cool peace slowly grew as he stopped fighting, his fears of future pain proving empty. He still fell... a small part of him still felt afraid... but it was closer to a normal, healthy drifting off. His mind-self closed his eyes too, and Izuku finally truly fell asleep. Toshi shifted in his chair, determined to keep vigil for as long as the hospital would allow. as long as those men are here, I will not let them near you you insisted they get medical attention He grimaced and shifted again.  Felt his head buzzing a low grade, sleep deprived headache.  Decided against laying his head on the bed. Stay awake He moved Izuku's hand to the kid's side and felt a ghostly prickle of One for All reaching out. Sleep. He pulled his hand back and the prickle disappeared.  No more contact.  I'm staying awake no matter what. to protect him He leaned back in the chair, still struggling to get comfortable and propped his head up on one arm.  Watching Izuku and watching over Izuku.

((TBC))

[skyhighwritings]

That’s What Friends Are For.

Chapter One: He Had To Do It To ‘em

Total Drama High School AU

Story Summery: What can you do when you're crushing hard on someone, but you're too dang Nervous to act on it? I Suppose, that's what Friends are for. 

Chapter Summery: Cody has been trying to ask his crush out for the past 5 months, but he keeps chickening out! Will his good buddy Noah be of any help? 

Characters: Cody, Noah, Trent,(And in Chapter 2) Owen 

Ships: Trody, (And in Chapter 2) Nowen

Chapter 2 <-------

     Cody took in a deep breath, “Ok. Here I go.”

        “Here you go.” Noah echoed, not looking up from his book.

    Cody took a shaky step forward, “ I’m going to do it.”

        “Then Do It.”

    “I am.”

        “Okay.”

    “Okay.”

        Cody took another step toward his goal, followed by another, before turning swiftly back to his friend, “Maybe you could do it for me??”

    Noah tilt his head back in frustration, letting out an agitated groan. He held his head in this position as he glared at Cody from the corner of his eye, a glare he maintained as he marked his place in his book and put it on the table.

    Cody, too, didn’t break eye contact, though his expression was more hopeful begging, than growing annoyance. His blue eyes were wide and trained on Noah's own, and his hands clasped together in a pleading gesture, with his bottom lip trembling in a false pout.

  He looked pathetic.

     Noah rolled his eyes and sighed, “Fine, I’ll do it.”

        Cody gasped in pleasant surprise, “Really! Thanks No-” the pathetic boy made moves to hug his friend as he spoke, before his chest collided with said friends extended hand and both the hug and sentence were interrupted.

    “IF,” Noah adjusted himself in his seat, so that now he was staring at his friend straight on, his flat palm changing to a firm point against the boy’s shirt, “ you promise you won’t change your mind, and stop me. Again.” He removed his touch, but continued his point, “Deal?”

        Cody nodded enthusiastically while holding his hands in a scouts salute and maintaining a dumb smile, as Noah stood and made his way to the desired area.

    The desired area was one that currently was being occupied by Leshawna King, Trent Bonheur and Gwen Willows; three kids who have been thick as thieves since the 4th grade. The trio continued to chat happily as Noah continued his trek through the mostly quiet Library; their conversation stopping only when they heard a surprised yelp.

       If you were to follow the noise, as the three friends did, you would be greeted by the Image of Cody Anderson’s arms wrapped around a very annoyed Noah Bhatt, if you were to look closer you would notice that Cody had also placed a hand firmly on the captive boy’s mouth, and if you were as close as the trio is, you would hear Cody’s nervous laugh as he dragged his friend back to their table.

     And if you had been attending Wawanawkwa high for the last 5 months, this wouldn’t have seemed odd at all.

         The double collared fool released the slightly taller boy and shrunk farther under his scowl. “Sorry, dude, I panicked...”

    “Put your hand anywhere near my mouth again, and I’m getting a divorce.”

        “We were so close, that time!!” Cody ignored the comment as he collapsed in a chair, defeated, he let his face fall to the Table’s surface. “It shouldn’t be this hard” he pouted.

    Noah put a hand on his friends back as he took a seat next to him, “Don’t feel too bad, Cody, this isn’t the first simple task you’ve struggled with, and it won’t be the last.”

        Cody shot a mean look at his friend, which was softened by his continued pout.

    “Why don’t you try writing a note, and leaving it in their locker or something. That way you tell them you’re feelings, and get to continue to be a coward about it!”

        Cody continued to glare.

    “Hey, it’s a good plan, and I’m giving it to you for free.” Noah Smirked down at his friend, “You’re welcome.”

        Cody groaned before turning his head back to the table, “I don’t know why I even talk to you.”

    “One of Life's great mysteries.”

        “Hey man, is everything good?”

   The duo jumped at the sudden sound, before both recognizing to whom it belonged.

         A smug grin returned to Noah’s face as he looked to his companion. While Cody jolted up to confirm his fear, that yes, this was in fact the voice of his crush.

    The Crush he’s been trying to ask out for the past 5 months.

        “You seem a little uneasy.” Trent continued as his concerned eyes focused on Cody.

    Cody let out an awkward laugh, “Who? Me? I’m not Uneasy! In Fact I couldn’t be easier! Easiest person I know, me.” Cody gave an incredibly fake smile and a second stiff laugh as he propped an elbow on the table and rested his head in his palm.

    Well, rest may not be the right word, since nothing Cody was doing looked comfortable.

         Trent Moved to sit next to Cody, which did nothing to ease the boy, then placed a steady hand on the others back, “You sure, man?”

     You see, though the event of Noah walking over to Trent only to be stopped abruptly by a panicked Cody is far from new, this was the closest he had ever gotten, and consequently the first time Trent had noticed. Truly a momentous occasion.

     “Uh Yeah, man.” Cody shot a finger gun at his crush, before feeling a sudden shot of pain in his side.

        Turning to his left he was met with a stern look from Noah, who greeted the acknowledgment with a nod towards the third boy.

    Cody’s returned his friends look as he lightly shook his head ‘no’.

        Noah Rolled his eyes in response before giving a small gesture directed to Trent, lightly nodding his head 'yes'.

    The small brunette pointed at Noah and Mouthed what would be a harsh ‘No’ if spoken.

        Before the other could reply, their very clandestine conversation was interrupted.

     “Uhh, should I go, or...?”

         Cody Spun in his chair to face the man he kinda forgot had eyes, which was a bit of a shock, considering how often he had been lost in them. “Oh, Trent. Uh. Hi, no. Yeah, nothing is being- That is to say-- I mean you didn’t, you see it’s a funny story!” Cody Sputtered as his face grew redder and redder.

    Noah then put a calm hand on his friend's shoulder, which effectively got Cody to shut-up. The two shared a look, as if to signal that Noah has it from here.

        Cody relaxed in his chair, but this new peace was short lived, killed by the sound of Noah’s voice saying, “Cody thinks you’re cute. You two should date.”

    “DUDE!” Cody’s blush was suddenly no longer constrained to the limits of his face, as the tips of his ears and Neck were claimed by the vibrant color.

        “You said you wanted me to do it, so I did.” Noah Stood up, grabbing his book in the process. He then started to walk away from the couple, but not before patting his friend on the head and saying, “Go get ‘em, Tiger.”

    Cody Turned and glared, “I Hate You! So Much!”

        Noah shot him a finger gun with his free hand, before disappearing among the myriad of bookshelves.

    Cody continued his hateful stare where is dumb friend used to be, before being brought back to the situation by a soft chuckle.

        “Cute, huh?” Trent smirked, “Always thought of myself as more ‘Handsome’ than ‘Cute’.”

    Cody gave another nervous laugh as he avoided the taller boy’s eyes, “Aah, well, there’s no law you can’t be both?”

        Trent smiled, before leaning on the table, trying to meet the other’s glance “So, do you think we should date, or is that just Noah?”

    Cody Turned to finally face Trent, noticing the light pink that graced the boy’s cheeks. He smiled, before rubbing the back of his neck, and glancing at the ceiling, “I mean, I think it’d be cool…” Cody returned his glance back to Trent, “ If you’re, like, interested I mean..”

    Trent gave Cody a soft smile, the pink on his face darkening, “Yeah, man, that’d be cool.”

        “Really?! Cool!” Cody said, a little to loud, and maybe with too much enthusiasm. Embarrassed, He cleared his throat “I mean,” He reclined in his chair, before continuing in his best cool voice, “Really? Cool.”

    Trent smiled fondly at the geek, “So, Saturday sound good to you? We could catch a movie, or something.”

        Cody continued leaning in the chair, trying his best to be cool, though his red face betrayed him, “ Saturday, Movies, sounds good.”

    “Cool.” Trent said before standing up, “I’ll pick you up around 5, ok?”

        “Okay.”

    The two smiled at each other, both clearly trying to seem like they aren’t freaking out right now. They were also both failing at this.

        Trent broke the silence once again, “Well, I should get back to my friends..”

    “Yeah, I should probably find mine.” Cody laughed.

        “Cool, see you Saturday.”

    “Definitely!”

        And with that, Trent rejoined his two friends, who, Cody realizes, were 100% watching the whole thing. The thought immediately leaves his mind, though, as he’s surprised by a sudden, yet familiar, monotonous sound.

    “Did it work?”

        Cody turned to the voice only to discover that Noah had returned. He stood up, and punched his dumb friend on the arm, “Ow, Dude?!”

    “I hope you know, That You’re The Worst” Cody declared, glaring at the other boy. This look, however, didn’t last long before being replaced with child like glee, “We’re seeing a movie on Saturday!”

    Noah grinned, though still rubbing his arm, “You’re welcome. I expect an apology for the assault.”

        “You’re still the worst.”

    “Apology excepted.”

[anotherhawk]

Death for Immortals Ch2 - Good Omens Fanfic

Previously titled ‘5 times Crowley died carelessly and 1 time Aziraphale made him care’

Chapter summary: 140 years after the flood the last of the children Crowley saved dies peacefully in her bed, surrounded by family. He doesn’t take it well.

Read it on AO3 or under the cut.

2863 BCE

The last of the kids died at the age of 140, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He waited outside the house until the wailing started, an olive branch clutched tightly in his hand as he shredded the leaves into pieces too small for any human to see. That was it then. No more reason to hang around here.

Her name had been Anurash and her mother had thrust her into his arms as the waters rose, begging him to save her, to give her a chance at life. He'd held her in his arms, miracled milk to feed her with, kept her hidden deep in the bowels of the ark with the other frightened kids for far more than forty days and forty nights of cramped, foul-smelling darkness, until the rain stopped and the waters finally receded. A hundred and forty years. That wasn't too bad, was it? That was a lot longer than a lot of humans got. Mind you, Adam had lived to be nine hundred and thirty, so maybe it wasn't as good as all that. Maybe that was the difference between a human made by the Almighty and a human made by other humans?

He glanced skywards. “What, is it a patent situation? Knock-offs aren't allowed to be as good as the original? Keep going like this and in another thousand years they won't even make it to fifty. Where's the sense in that? If you want them to be better you've got to give them time to grow, don't you?”

A couple of passers-by stared at him. He scowled back and they flinched and quickly hurried away, whispering to each other.

Right. Eyes. Evil demon eyes that they were supposed to shun. It had been a long time since he'd been anything other than a stranger in this town, even though he had largely been responsible for building it. Well, there hadn't been much other option, had there? The oldest of the eighty-seven kids he'd managed to save had been fourteen, and most of them had been a good bit younger than that. What the heaven did they know about building houses, planting crops or digging wells? Only what their parents had got to teach them before Her Upstairs got tetchy and decided hey! Time for no more humans without my seal of approval.

He'd seen the rainbow. It was beautiful. But even now, well over a century later, the kids still found bones sometimes when they played, and those bones had had names, once upon a time, and were they really so despicable that they deserved to be washed away and forgotten?

Anyway, he'd built this town for the kids, and for the first dozen or so years he'd lived among them, making sure that they knew what they needed to take care of themselves. Even after that he hadn't been willing to stray too far. He'd stayed to watch the kids he raised grow up and raise kids of their own, all in absolute defiance of the Almighty, of course. Little humans who shouldn't be alive, running around, growing, with all their questions...it was self-evidently evil, except...except it wasn't evident enough to Beelzebub. As far as they were concerned he should be tormenting, or at the very least tempting, but he couldn't bring himself to do that to his kids, at least not in any way that Hell was going to approve of. And even after they'd grown up he hadn't wanted to wander too far afield, just in case the kids might need him, and in this part of the world there was only the two groups of ark survivors left, and Aziraphale was keeping a close eye on Noah's lot. If he'd thought he could get away with it he might have claimed credit for Noah turning to drink, but honestly he had nothing to do with it. 1

So Hell wasn't happy with him. Just yesterday a goat had looked up at him with glowing red eyes and told him he needed to improve his job performance of face the consequences. No specific consequences had been mentioned, but no doubt someone somewhere had something in mind already.2

A shadow fell over him. He looked up to see Aziraphale. “Crawly? I thought that was you.” Further sounds of grief came from inside, catching the angel's attention. “Oh, dear. One of yours?”

“Yes,” he answered, without thinking about it.

“I see.” Aziraphale gave him a look of deep disapproval. “Well, it sounds as though there's a lot of people mourning her. I hope whatever little scheme you wound her up in was worth it.”

“What? No, she wasn't...I. Hngh.” He flinched. Her death hadn't been his. Neither had her life, really, she'd lived that for herself. “What are you doing here, angel?”

“Official business. I'm here to offer a few blessings.”

Cold iron seized his spine. “Oh, really, thesse people are worth Her blesssings now?”

Aziraphale frowned at him. “Everyone deserves Her blessings, Crawly.”

There was a small herb garden growing in pots on the doorstep. He grabbed the closest plant, violently uprooted it and threw it as hard as he could at Aziraphale, smacking him right in the chest and leaving a trail of dirt down his white robes.

“Well, really,” the angel sputtered, miracling the mark away with a wave of his hand. “I hardly think there was any need for that.”

Part of him wanted to apologise. Part of him wanted to throw another plant, maybe even include the pot this time. Most of him just wanted to crawl into a deep hole in the ground somewhere and stay there for the next millenia or so. “Don't know why you're so surprised. Demon, remember? Your mortal enemy and all that.”

“Immortal, I think you'll find,” Aziraphale said with a sniff. “And I'm fairly certain that 'mortal enemies' aren't supposed to throw plants at each other.” He did the finger quotes. Crawly resolved to recommend that a special place in hell be set aside for people who do the finger quotes.

“No,” he agreed nastily. “They're probably supposed to lob flaming swords at each other.3 You go first. Oh, wait.”

The door behind him slammed open. “Gentlemen, please. This is a house of mourning. For the love of God, please take your petty quarrel somewhere else. Have you no decency?”

Aziraphale was stammering out apologies. He sighed and stood up. “Not lately,” he told Rubat, Anurash's granddaughter, and he turned and walked away.

The angel didn't follow him. He told himself he wasn't disappointed.

Right. Well, then. He wiped a hand down his face, harsh enough that it hurt and looked round at the familiar faces walking by. Most of them didn't give him a second glance. A couple of them caught his eye and shrunk away. Anurash had always loved his eyes...she'd used to call them suns. He remembered chubby baby hands clapping together joyfully when he made her that doll, remembered her first steps, always rushing, always in a hurry, always wanting to see everything, remembered all the questions – why does the moon change, why can't I see my eyes, why the flood, why, why, why – and he remembered Luka, the streak of dirt seemingly always across his face no matter how often he wiped that sticky face, and he remembered Teth, and he remembered Saul, and he remembered, he remembered, he remembered.

There was nothing holding him here now. Nothing holding him back. Everyone expected him to be evil – and he was evil, he was a demon. Might as well live down to it.

*

Three hours later and six fights had broken out, three marriages had ended, the blacksmith had been persuaded that there was more room for showing off making weapons rather than farm tools, the hunters had been persuaded that the farmers didn't respect them enough, someone had stolen the entire store of apples and set them fermenting, the pigs had been set loose in the granary and the inn was on fire. 4

It was chaos. There were shouts, smoke, recriminations flying everywhere and children crying in the street.

There were children crying in the street...

A hand closed around his upper arm and Aziraphale pulled him round. “What on earth are you doing?”

“My job.” He didn't look at the angel. The child on the street was clutching a doll in her chubby hand, her parents nowhere in sight. There was a streak of mud across her face.

“You don't...what's wrong with you?”

He shrugged the angel's hand off and gave a sharp-toothed smile. “Popular opinion says everything.”

“There he is!” A screech from down the street. Running footsteps, a whole mob's worth.

“The evil one walks among us!”

“Get him!”

“I see him! I see the demon!”

They were coming from all sides now. He took a couple of steps back. “Lovely seeing you, Aziraphale, but I really have to be going.”

He ran. The mob chased him, parting around Aziraphale like they didn't so much as see him, and the angel just stood there like a rock in the river, and Crawly ran. Hands grabbed out at him as he passed, punching, hurting, and stones hammered into him. Black blood ran down his face, dripping into his eyes. If he reached the river he could just turn into a serpent and escape that way.

He didn't make it. They cut him off, knocking him to the ground, kicking, punching, stamping, and he shifted, slipping into a snake, trying to slither away, and the last thing he saw was the blacksmith raising a sword above his head and bringing it down.

*

Aziraphale carefully buried the little broken body on a hill overlooking the river and tried to ignore the feeling of being utterly alone in the world. He'd seen the demon die and he hadn't done anything. There hadn't been anything to be done, it wasn't for him to interfere, and if he had interfered it would have been to smite the demon out of existence once and for all. Obviously. No, he had nothing to feel guilty about, it was just that he didn't like seeing the humans moved to such violence, that was all.

He scattered the last shovel of soil on the small grave and stood awkwardly for a moment. “I'm sorry,” he said at last. “I don't know what happened today, but I think, maybe, there was something else I could have done. I'll do better next time.”

There were two people he could have been speaking to. He didn't think either of them were listening.

1He did feel it was a reasonable enough reaction to the trauma of witnessing divine genocide, however. He'd even turned to it himself a time or two. The one time he'd actually managed to get to sleep since the Flood he'd had to face the memories of all those desperate hands clinging to the side of the ark until one by one they slid away.

2The goat had chewed on his sandals afterwards. He wasn't sure if that had been the hellish influence or the goatish one.

3Crowley had never actually been issued a sword, flaming or otherwise.

4You might think that this is rather a lot for one demon to achieve in three hours. But even if he had mostly passed unnoticed for the last century Crowley had been living alongside these people. He knew where the buttons were and how best to press them. And, like any act of self-harm, once started it was incredibly difficult to stop.