Good Omens One Shots 1

Memory 6

The next morning passed in a bit of a haze. The demon wasn't actually fully conscious until the pair of them were standing out in Aziraphale's driveway, brisk morning air filling his nostrils. Crowley stood awkwardly to the side, nursing a cup of coffee the angel had given him as they waited for a 'cab' to arrive.

He had awoken with a mild headache and the ring clutched in his palm. They hadn't talked much all morning. Crowley was too distracted by his headache to ask Aziraphale about the ring again. The item which now resided on a necklace around the demon's neck — it didn't feel right to put it on his finger just yet.

The two waited patiently as an entirely new car, that Crowley had never seen before, pulled up. Crowley folded himself inside, glancing nervously at the driver who paled at the sight of his eyes. Guiltily, he looked away, beginning to feel uncomfortable in his own skin. Sometimes he forgot his eyes were different when he was around the angel. Aziraphale got in on the other side, they put on their seatbelts and set out for a long ride to Tadfield.

Crowley, stared off into the distance. Taking in the buildings and vehicles that looked so unlike the time he was used to. Questions of 'what's that?' and 'why is that like that?' flooded his mind but he kept his mouth shut. He had already freaked out the human with his eyes, and wouldn't do to annoy him with his weird questions. Aziraphale also sat in silence, instead of looking out his window, his gaze was firmly to his lap, fiddling with that silver ring once again.

When they arrived in the small town of Tadfield the angel exited the vehicle and guided the demon to a little house that wasn't totally unlike the angel's own.

"He should be here." Aziraphale murmured quietly, stepping up to the front door and knocking firmly.

Not a second later an older looking woman opened the door, "Hello? Oh it's you two." The woman smiled kindly at the pair before her eyes rested on Crowley and her smile dropped.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Young." Aziraphale greeted politely, "Is Adam in?"

Mrs. Young glanced back over at the angel, "It's just your luck, he did come by this weekend from university. He's in his room." She turned over her shoulder and called for her son. "He should be down any minute. Come in, come in!" She stepped off to the side and was careful not to get too close to the demon, but still waved them inside.

"Thank you dear." Aziraphale stepped inside, Crowley following closely behind. He did not like the way Mrs. Young was staring at his eyes unabashedly. As if she was terrified of him. He hated when humans did that. Subconsciously, he moved slightly closer to Aziraphale, as if his heavenly grace would protect him from this human's judgy gaze.

The funny thing was, that Crowley probably wouldn't have cared all that much about the staring if he wasn't missing a thousand plus years worth of memories. Humans had been staring at his eyes for ages and he had learned to live with it. But there was this ugly feeling of vulnerability that was gnawing at him now. You see, he didn't know the social norms of today and if he might be burned at the stake for being different. It had happened before, and he wasn't keen on repeating that experience.

The angel stilled a little at the presence of the demon standing a bit too close and just behind him. Mrs. Young had excused herself to the kitchen where she was cooking dinner a moment ago. Aziraphale turned slightly over to the demon, "Is everything alright?" he whispered.

Crowley squeezed his eyes shut, opening his mouth to respond when a boisterous young man practically skipped into the room, a little terrier hot on his heels. Was that a hellhound?

"Crowley! Aziraphale! You're back!" Adam greeted cheerfully. "What's the occasion?" He all but ran up to the pair and pulled each into a tight hug. The demon stiffened at arms being put around him that he did not know. Who was this man, why was he touching him?