Chapter Three

Another month or so went by, and Jen still had yet to meet a demon.

That was about to change.

Jen was binding up an old copy of Alice in Wonderland, and Aziraphale was tediously going over taxes on his old, clunky computer. There was absolute silence in the store, and then—

Ding.

"Angel, I need a drink!"

Jen looked up, and her jaw dropped. Mr. A. J. Crowley was standing in the doorway.

He was tall, and dark, and handsome. Inexplicably sexy dark hair hung down in front of his famous sunglasses. Someone seemed to have stuffed cotton into Jen's mouth.

Crowley was sexy, dammit.

He peered at her through his eternal sunglasses. "Hello," he said. "Er. Um."

"I know, dude," Jen said simply. "You're a demon, my employer's an angel, we're past all that."

"Oh," said Crowley. "Groovy, then. You old enough to drink?"

"Happily," Jen said.

"Stone, no," said the angel firmly. "You can't sober up on demand, and Crowley has a habit—"

"Once," said Crowley. "And Alexander deserved it. 'Great', my ass. Come on, it's my turn to buy and I desperately need a drink."

"Please, Zira?" Jen asked, pouting.

"Don't call me that," said Aziraphale said wearily. "Fine, fine. We can go to the pub. But I'm limiting the alcohol in Stone's system."

Jen rolled her eyes, but a compromise was a compromise.

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"N then," Crowley slurred, "N then, 'n then Enki- Enknu – Kudu, you know, the bugger with the wolfy dad – he says, he says…"

"Said he wuzza luved—" drawled Aziraphale…

"With- With- Gligo- Gilgamarsh! No, 'znot right…"

"Gilgamesh?" Jen asked, grinning and not quite as drunk as the two immortals seemed to be. "And Enkidu?"

"Friends until th' end!" Crowley said, waving a beer in the air.

"An' more," said Azirapahle, clinking his can against Crowley's. "Sealed it wi' a kish."

The angel giggled, and Jen felt suddenly uncomfortable.

"Hey…" she said softly.

"Mna?" asked Crowley elegantly.

"Are you two, like… Well, like that?"

A glance was exchanged.

Silence.

"Mna?" asked Aziraphale. "Li' wha'?"

"Like Enkidu and Gilgamesh. You know."

"Nope!" said Crowley happily. "I have no idea!"

"Er. Never mind, then," Jen said softly, smiling. She didn't really need an answer.

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Jen, in due time, got her own plants. She spoke to them, too, but for some reason it worked better for her than it worked for Crowley. They grew bigger, greener, and far less terrified. In fact, Crowley would be damned if they didn't lean into her presence every time she entered the room, almost as if begging for attention.

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"Hey, John! How'd you get this number? …Agh, I told her to give me your number, not the other way around… 'S cool. How've you been? …To shreds, you say? That… really sucks. Did you fail? To shreds, you say? Aw, man. Well, maybe next time, eh?

"No, I'm not in college. Just England. What, didn't mum tell you that? Yeah, I'm staying with this old book-seller dude. Zira. He's cool. Relax, he's not gonna rape me. Why is this the first thing that comes to everyone's mind? He's a total angel. No, seriously. Dude, you are sick.

"Speaking of which, J, he wants to use the phone. This your number? Cool, okay, I'll call you later."