An Encounter Most Unexpected

"Crowley, what in God's name are you doing?"

The angel's sudden voice made Crowley pause mid-step, one foot hanging in the air as the other precariously balanced all her weight.

"Oh," the demon breathed, a combination of surprise, confusion, and hesitant relief[1]. Her lips quirked up in a smile. "Hi, Angel- whoa!"

Crowley's greeting was cut off as a sword missed her stomach by less than an inch. She jumped back just in time to avoid another blind swing of the weapon from the human she'd been dealing with before Aziraphale arrived.

"Watch where you swing that thing!" Crowley exclaimed, and the human swiveled wildly towards the voice, the blindfold across his eyes rendering him completely sightless in the dim light of the cave.

"Foul fiend!" he shouted with another sword swipe. Crowley mumbled a curse in an ancient tongue and gave the man's back a light push, sending him careening deeper into the cave. Then, Crowley turned her attention to Aziraphale and gave her a wide grin.

"…What are you doing?" Aziraphale asked again, slower this time, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her gaze flickered towards the human wandering aimlessly and shouting occasional threats at the nonexistent monster.

"Okay, it's not what it looks like," Crowley began, taking a few steps closer to the angel so they wouldn't have to yell across an echoing cave. When she stopped a few feet away, a strand of red hair shot out towards Aziraphale's face, making the angel flinch and instinctively grab it tightly before it touched her.

"Ow, ow!" Crowley cried, pitching forward. Startled, Aziraphale realized the fiery lock of hair in her grasp resembled a sentient snake, complete with a flickering tongue and amber eyes that matched Crowley's. The angel released it quickly, taking a step back.

"For Satan's sake, Angel, I thought only humans were trying to take my head off!" Crowley muttered, running a hand over the now dejected-looking snake. It was then that Aziraphale noticed that the entirety of Crowley's normally curled mane was completely made up of these serpents.

"Oh, I should have known," Aziraphale said with a roll of her eyes. Crowley quirked an eyebrow as the angel tutted at the ridiculousness of the situation. "The humans in town were saying that a Gorgon was living nearby, and they were trying to vanquish it. They were making such a commotion that word eventually traveled upstairs, and since I happened to be in the area, I've been sent to investigate it."

"…Ah," Crowley said, and at that moment the blindfolded man found the chattering pair and decided to go in for another attack. Crowley easily evaded another sword slash and spun him around a few times, pushing him again towards the interior of the cave. Task accomplished, she refocused on Aziraphale, who was absently tugging at one of the soft folds of fabric that made up her peplos[2].

"Another question," Aziraphale began, meeting Crowley's gaze. "How did you manage to convince the entire population that you were a Grecian monster?"

"Funny story, that," Crowley replied, grinning again. "I was just minding my own business- really, I was!" Aziraphale had given her a look that said she didn't believe that claim, but gestured for Crowley to continue. "Anyway, I don't have any assignments from down below, so I've just been wandering. A group of locals saw me on the outskirts of town one day, and apparently I looked enough like that Medusa girl they started screaming and ran off to tell their entire community. Like I said, I was bored, so… I figured I'd run with it for a while."

Aziraphale sighed.

"My dear girl, can't you think of a better hobby than terrorizing the townsfolk?" she asked, and Crowley shrugged in response. A few strands of snake-hair slithered towards Aziraphale curiously, but Crowley stopped their quest with a glare.

Aziraphale let out a giggle, then quickly covered her mouth with a hand– she was meant to be annoyed with Crowley, after all. The pair stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say next. They had known each other for years at this point, but were still trying to figure out where exactly the bounds of their growing relationship lied. Unbeknownst to each other, they both hoped it was leaning towards true friendship, though they knew it would be a difficult friendship to uphold. For now, it was best to keep on cordial terms.

"Uh… listen," Crowley said, absentmindedly stroking the head of a wriggling strand of hair. "I only got into this mess since I was bored. Demons and boredom don't do so well together, you know- we become rather wily."

She raised a thin eyebrow, hoping Aziraphale got the message. The angel's forehead creased momentarily, then a light of understanding dawned on her face and she gave a radiant smile.

"Well, as an angel on a mission to investigate the cause of strife among the humans, it's certainly my job to thwart the wiles of a demon," she responded primly. She tapped her chin, making great show of thinking about her next move. "Hmm… I suppose providing a distraction from terrorizing people would be a good way to go about this, don't you think?"

"Oh, certainly," Crowley nodded with a casual grin[3]. Aziraphale's smile widened and she clapped her hands together.

"Well, that settles it then. Foul fiend!" She pointed an accusatory finger at the demon, then promptly flipped her hand over and held it out, palm up. "Would you care to accompany me for a spot of lunch?"

Crowley laughed and took the proffered hand without hesitation.

"You're good, Angel; I didn't stand a chance- Oi!" Crowley snapped at a wayward strand of hair that moved a little too close to Aziraphale's face. It managed to give the angel's cheek a feather-light lick before Crowley cajoled it back into place, and this time Aziraphale really did laugh.

"Crowley, they're very sweet, but you might want to miracle your hair back to normal before we leave the cave," the angel suggested.

"'M not sweet," the demon mumbled, and with a snap of her fingers, the writhing snakes fell down into long, curled tresses of fiery hair. Without thinking, Aziraphale reached out to run a hand lightly over one of the curls. Crowley froze, astonished at the intimate gesture, and Aziraphale's cheeks flamed pink. Both of them suddenly realized they were still holding hands.

"Evil beast!" came a familiarly annoying voice, startling the pair and giving them an excuse to let go. They turned to see the man running towards them, having managed to turn himself around and hone in one the chattering duo yet again.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake," Aziraphale said with a sigh, snapping her fingers, and the man froze. She walked up to him, removed his blindfold, and whispered in his ear, "You are going to forget all about this encounter and your mission to find the Gorgon; you will go home and wake up in your bed, having dreamed of whatever you like best."

With another snap, the man dropped his sword and walked out of the cave, hazy eyes paying no attention to the two supernatural entities nearby.

"There; that takes care of my assignment, I think," Aziraphale said matter-of-factly. She spared a quick glance at Crowley. "I… I do still have quite a bit of time before I'm expected to report back, so if you're still amenable for lunch…"

"Of course, Angel," Crowley replied. She wiggled her eyebrows up and down. "You still need to distract me so I don't go back to my evil ways, don't you?"

Aziraphale rolled her eyes, trying unsuccessfully to suppress another smile. "Quite right, my dear; quite right."

1 Crowley hadn't seen Aziraphale for quite a few decades and was starting to get anxious. She knew the angel could take care of herself- she hadn't been chosen as the Guardian of the Eastern Gate on a whim-, but it still left a bad taste in her mouth when they went for long stretches of time with no communication.

2 It was white, of course, and with the back-lighting of sunset streaming in from the mouth of the cave, Aziraphale positively glowed. It took a monumental effort for Crowley not to flinch at the angel's sheer brightness.

3 Though she was really trying to stop another, much softer smile from crossing her features. Crowley didn't understand what it was about the angel that caused this strange twinge in her heart. She figured this was just her body's response to being around her "mortal enemy," and filed it away in her mind to definitely not dwell on later.