Above, and then the Causeway (10/16)
It had been a long time -- millenia, in fact -- since Aziraphale had willingly given up his mortal form. He was rather attached to it, even this new one that Lucifer had made him. Being without it made him feel naked, and not in the nice "just had a lovely evening" kind of way. Aziraphale's mortal body had become his armor, his disguise. Without it, he felt vulnerable, and had no place to hide.
Which was the reason he had been asked to leave it behind when he was called Above.
********
He couldn't imagine why he expected things to have changed in some noticeable way. Perhaps it was because he hadn't actually been Above since that unfortunate incident at the garden. So surely, in all that time, something should have changed.
Except that it hadn't. Everything was exactly as it had been, or at least...everything felt as though it had always been exactly as it was at that moment. And yet, it all felt strange and unfamiliar. Like going back to your childhood home and finding that it was just as you had left it, and that you were the one who had changed.
Aziraphale stood at the threshold of Heaven, overwhelmed as fear washed over him. Were they trying to show him that he'd changed too much? That he'd done as Crowley had done, and stepped unknowingly across that fatal line that separated Blessed from Damned? Was this feeling, of not belonging, what the others had felt as they gazed upon their former home after they'd been cast out?
An eternal moment later, the fear was replaced by a chiding sensation of acceptance, and Aziraphale bowed his head in mingled relief and shame. "You worry too much about falling," a familiar voice spoke, and the angel nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Come. We have some things to discuss."
********
Aziraphale had no sense of how much time had passed between the moment he crossed into Heaven, and when he found himself standing on the causeway connecting Fandom Island to the mainland. He stood for a very long time, staring out across the water and collecting his thoughts, and again he had no idea how much time passed. When he shook his head and brought himself back to his senses, however, a slight dampness had settled on his clothes, and a seagull perched congenially on his shoulder.
"I wish I knew what to make of it," the angel murmured, and the seagull bobbed its head in agreement. "Do I look any different to you?"
The seagull eyed him, then ruffled its feathers and jerked its head to the side. "I suppose that's a no. I don't feel any different. How very odd. How very, very odd."
With a small, puzzled frown, Aziraphale set one foot in front of the other and began to walk across the causeway. After a few moments, the seagull took flight and soared off toward the horizon.
[ooc: NFI, NFB due to distance.]
Which was the reason he had been asked to leave it behind when he was called Above.
********
He couldn't imagine why he expected things to have changed in some noticeable way. Perhaps it was because he hadn't actually been Above since that unfortunate incident at the garden. So surely, in all that time, something should have changed.
Except that it hadn't. Everything was exactly as it had been, or at least...everything felt as though it had always been exactly as it was at that moment. And yet, it all felt strange and unfamiliar. Like going back to your childhood home and finding that it was just as you had left it, and that you were the one who had changed.
Aziraphale stood at the threshold of Heaven, overwhelmed as fear washed over him. Were they trying to show him that he'd changed too much? That he'd done as Crowley had done, and stepped unknowingly across that fatal line that separated Blessed from Damned? Was this feeling, of not belonging, what the others had felt as they gazed upon their former home after they'd been cast out?
An eternal moment later, the fear was replaced by a chiding sensation of acceptance, and Aziraphale bowed his head in mingled relief and shame. "You worry too much about falling," a familiar voice spoke, and the angel nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Come. We have some things to discuss."
********
Aziraphale had no sense of how much time had passed between the moment he crossed into Heaven, and when he found himself standing on the causeway connecting Fandom Island to the mainland. He stood for a very long time, staring out across the water and collecting his thoughts, and again he had no idea how much time passed. When he shook his head and brought himself back to his senses, however, a slight dampness had settled on his clothes, and a seagull perched congenially on his shoulder.
"I wish I knew what to make of it," the angel murmured, and the seagull bobbed its head in agreement. "Do I look any different to you?"
The seagull eyed him, then ruffled its feathers and jerked its head to the side. "I suppose that's a no. I don't feel any different. How very odd. How very, very odd."
With a small, puzzled frown, Aziraphale set one foot in front of the other and began to walk across the causeway. After a few moments, the seagull took flight and soared off toward the horizon.
[ooc: NFI, NFB due to distance.]