Any Way the Wind Blows

On serpents and senses

Day four: Senses- touch/sight/hearing/taste/smell

No matter what he did, Crowley couldn't escape the cold. It froze through his scales and seeped into his bones, leaving him feeling hollow. The once hot sand underneath him offered no comfort as he curled in on himself, desperate for any warmth. He couldn't change back into human form even if he had wanted to.  Stupid humans and their bloody stupid magic . Crowley hadn't even known about these ridiculous rituals until he found himself trapped in one, and apparently, in this form. And while he did enjoy being a snake, it certainly had its disadvantages. Like, for example: no way to stay warm while alone in the desert at night.

He coiled himself tighter, trying to escape the freezing numbness that was making its way through his body. How in the world other snakes survived this on a daily basis Crowley would never understand. Aziraphale would though, he would say something about how  those   snakes were built for the desert, while Crowley much preferred more tropical areas while in snake form. Eden had been nice for that. Lush green leaves and tall grass that he could weave through as the newly-made sun warmed his scales. Crowley shivered, another wave of cold shooting through his body.

He needed to move, he knew it. He could find a rock of some kind a burrow underneath it. But it was  so cold,   and as the feeling pierced its way through his muscles, he found that moving was getting harder and harder. Would it really be so bad if he went to sleep now? At least if he was asleep he wouldn't be aware of how his body was beginning to ache more and more with each passing moment. He hissed in frustration, forked tongue slipping out, as he tried to smell anything that might mean warmth.  Wait.   He knew that scent. Sweet smelling and slightly dusty.

   "Crowley?" Aziraphale asked, bending down slowly to look at him.

   "'ello, Azziraphale" Crowley hissed at him, trying very hard not to look like he was minutes away from freezing to death.

   "What- why are you- Crowley, you're freezing."

   "I am aware of that, yesss" Crowley shivered despite himself.

"Oh  dear ." Aziraphale muttered, seemingly in both exasperation and...fondness? Crowley couldn't think about it any more because suddenly he was in the air. "Crowley, I am going to bring you back with me, you can protest all you like, but I won't have you freezing to death in the desert." Aziraphale's hands were soft, gentle, and  oh   they were  warm . Aziraphale paused for a moment, seeming to contemplate something as he tilted his head and examined Crowley, before he lifted him and gently hung Crowley around his neck.

   "Is this alright?" Aziraphale asked, running two fingers along the length of Crowley's body. 

   "Sssssss." Crowley shivered again, this time for a very different reason. He curled himself around Aziraphale's neck. He was so soft and warm, so nice compared to the rough sand that he had been struggling with. His tail hung over Aziraphale's chest and, abandoning any sense of self-respect, he let his head rest just above Aziraphale's collarbone. 

   "Let's get you home now, shall we?" 

"Sssssss." Bless it, he couldn't even get a proper word out. He was too distracted by the fact that he could not only hear but  feel   the angel's pulse as he rested his head. The gentle da  -dun, da-dun, da-dun   of Aziraphale's heartbeat lulling him into a sense of calmness as the angel continued absentmindedly petting him.

   "Are you going to tell me what got you into this mess in the first place?" Aziraphale asked after about twenty minutes of silence.

   Crowley had warmed up enough that this time he could at least make out a full sentence without hissing too much. "Went to a village. Minor temptation. Get a chief to attack another tribe. How wasss I ssupposssed to know that they actually had a ssspell to trap demonsss?"

   "So you're... stuck like this?" Aziraphale asked, moving his hand to rest on the coils on his neck. "I had wondered why you hadn't changed back, but I wasn't going to ask."

   "Ssso polite."

"Rest dear," Aziraphale said gently. Crowley could  feel   the waves of calmness Aziraphale was sending towards him, urging him to go to sleep.

   Crowley had never been one to resist temptation.

   When Crowley awoke he was lying down on a straw mattress, alone, and naked other than a blanket that had been laid on top of him. He looked around the room, not quite sure where he was. It looked like he was in a clay/mud home, with one window letting air in and an open archway leading into another room. The room was bare, save for some clay tablets resting on a small table, but something about it felt...lived in, and comfortable. There was a knock outside the archway and Crowley sat up, leaving the blanket around his waist. 

   Aziraphale walked in carrying a cup filled with water and a sliced papaya in his hands. 

   "Ah, you're up I see."

   "Yes. Er- angel?" Crowley asked, turning to look at Aziraphale as he set the fruit down on the table. "Where are we, exactly?"

   "Harlaa."

   "Oh."

   "Please don't tell me this is the place you were ordered to send those people to attack." Crowley said nothing, not meeting the angel's eyes.

   "Of course it is." Aziraphale sighed, rolling his eyes in exasperation. 

"Thank you, Aziraphale." Crowley froze. The words had just- slipped out. Aziraphale turned to face him.  Shit.   It was too late to back out now. "For helping me out back there."

   "You're ver-"

   "Dont." Crowley cut him off. "If your people hear that you rescued a demon they might come after you. Just- just take it okay?" Aziraphale nodded slowly. He silently handed Crowley the fruit and the water. Crowley downed the cup of water, he knew he didn't need it, but it felt nice after being in the dry sand for hours. He reached for the papaya and then flinched.

   "Crowley, are you all right?"

   "Yeah, just- in pain. Sore from the cold."

   "Let me fix that." Aziraphale leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Crowley's forehead. Crowley didn't even bother to hide the sigh of relief that left him as warmth spread through his entire body and the pain disappeared.

   "Better?" Aziraphale asked, standing up straight.

   "Ngk."

   "Good, now you can join me for a proper meal." He turned to walk out of the room before freezing in the doorway, turning back to face Crowley.

   "And Crowley?" 

   "Yes?" 

   "You might want to put some clothes on."

   Crowley felt his face heat up.

A/N:

1) In case any of you look this up, Harlaa is in Ethiopia, and the desert is fairly far away from there, so I would invite you to assume that as Crowley went to sleep, Aziraphale flew him back there.
2) Thank you for reading this, it was really fun to write and I hope you enjoyed it! You guys mean the world to me!