"Who are you? You smell like poop."
"I beg your pardon?" Aziraphale stared at the talking fire, gripping the armrest of the sofa so tight his knuckles were white.
The fire twirled its arms, rolling its eyes at the white haired, "Do I have to repeat myself?"
Aziraphale visibly swallowed, fumbling over his words as he stared at the beady eyes staring back at him, "M-my name is Azira-"
"You've got a nasty curse," The fire lazily blew some smoke rings, a few sparks crackled among the smoke like a thunder cloud, "Let me guess, you can't even talk about it can you? Curses are tough, you're going to have a very hard time breaking that one."
The white haired waved away the smoke that dissipated in front of his face, "I'm sorry?" He leaned toward the fireplace, trying to take a closer look. He noticed that there were snakes carved into the stones, "I-I've never seen a talking fire before."
"I'm Warlock. I'm a scary and powerful fire demon!" Blue and purple flames flew out of the fire demon's mouth as Warlock waved his hands in a "threatening" manner.
"A fire demon? Do you know how to break my curse?" The white haired smiled, finding the fire's gesture more amusing than threatening. He sat back into the sofa, feeling his eyelids grow heavy.
"Maybe, maybe not. Listen up, if you break this...spell I have with Crowley, then I can easily break the spell that's on you."
Aziraphale's eyes seemed to droop as the fire spoke, a big yawn escaping his throat, "How do you know that I can trust you?"
Warlock shrugged, "'Dunno. Demons don't make promises."
The white haired made a face, shrugging, "Well, I can't help you then."
The fire demon threw his hands up in the air as red and blue flames flew out of his mouth in exasperation, "Come on, you should feel sorry for me! That spell keeps me trapped here and Crowley treats me like a slave and burns me up! You gotta keep the water hot, the rooms warm- /boiling/ even! It's like he's a reptile or somethin'! Come on!" As Warlock rambled on and on, he noticed that the white haired stranger had slipped into slumber.
He almost missed Aziraphale's quiet mumble, "Alright...it's a deal..." before the man began to lightly snore.
"Hey! Hey! Mister! Wake...up...!" The fire demon struggled to reach over and touch the sleeping being, being bound and all to the logs and the hearth. After a few minutes of groaning and stretching his tiny hands, Warlock gave up and let out a sigh, "Some help you're going to be...you're rubbish."
Xxxxxx
The sun was high in the sky when light blue eyes fluttered open. Aziraphale vaguely remembered that it was early afternoon when he was wandering around Mayfair, so he must have slept into the next day. He winced at the sunlight filtering from somewhere in between the plants and the leaves. He moaned as he tried to sift through the grogginess of his mind. He couldn't remember where he was for a minute until he tried to lift his head from the lushness of the sofa he was laying on. An audibly loud crack in his neck made him wince and groan as the memories from the last couple of days came rushing back. He ran a hand through his hair as he groaned some more, feeling the popping of his spine and joints. The white haired froze as he heard footsteps thumping above him, revealing another floor. When he heard the footsteps running down some stairs Aziraphale didn't know even existed, he quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be sleeping. A moment later, he heard the footsteps stop next to him.
"Who's this?" A deadpanned voice spoke nearby. Aziraphale tried not to tense as to give himself away. He gave a loud snore or two as he heard a knock on the door.
"It's the Soho door." Warlock announced in a bored voice.
"Must be a customer."
Aziraphale took a peak and saw it was an eleven year old boy with messy brown hair. The boy was tugging out a yellow piece of fabric out from behind a plant pot and wrapped it around his shoulders. In an instant, the boy transformed into an old man with a long grey beard. His eyes grew wide, sitting up straight on the sofa in shock.
Immediately he regretted the movement as his joints painfully popped again. The boy ran into the living room as the white haired groaned, pulling himself up from the sofa. He could hear a weird whooshing sound and a click as he shuffled quickly (or as quickly as he could) into the next room. Hushed voices were heard as Aziraphale saw the boy (still disguised as an old man) a dark skinned girl talking by the stairs. The girl looked to be about the same age as the boy. She had an annoyed expression on her face as she clutched a little maroon pouch. Her expression would have been worrying if not in the next moment, she playfully punched the boy in the shoulder and the two laughed about it afterward. The white haired was smiling softly at the scene before something caught his eye. He shuffled over to the window by the stairs, pushing some of the plants away.
"We're not in Mayfair anymore." Aziraphale mumbled to himself. And they weren't. Instead of fancy, weird buildings, there were little shops and buildings sitting right next to each other. It looked like it had recently rained with the busy road wet and shiny.
"Who is this?" A snarky voice pulled him out of his musings. He whipped his head around and noticed that the dark skinned girl was looking at him with a hand on her hip.
"I'm just the new gardener helping Mr. Crowley out." Aziraphale grinned as he let out a nervous chuckle, hoping his smile wasn't a grimace. The girl stared at him for what seemed to be hours until the boy started to direct her back towards the stairs.
"Bye Pepper. I'll see you later." The brown haired rolled his eyes.
The girl resisted a little then huffed, elbowing the boy in the chest, "Fine, Adam. We'll talk later." She glared at the white haired then gave Adam a pointed look before waving good bye. Aziraphale heard the whooshing sound again as his eye caught a dial right above the corner of the door. The dial had four colors; red, green, blue, and black. He noted that the door to Soho was green. Blue was Mayfair.
Adam let out a frustrated growl, "Don't lie to the customers."
Aziraphale raised a brow, "And what about you? You're dressed like an old man."
"I have to. I'm practicing my magic."
Another knock on the door made them pause.
"It's the Westminster door!" Warlock's voice announced from the other room. The boy ran down the stairs and turned a knob right above the doorknob, turning the dial to red. He opened the door and Aziraphale gasped. His jaw dropped as he recognized the magnificent white building of Buckingham palace just across the street. A young man in a fancy red uniform greets them at the door.
"Good day. Is this the residence of the Great Wizard Crowley?"
"It is."
"I bare an invitation from her Majesty the Queen. Please inform Mr. Crowley that the Queen calls upon his presence at the palace." The soldier gives Adam an envelope.
"Thank you. I will inform him right away."
The soldier bows and bids them adieu, walking away and into a sleek black car. Aziraphale shuffles over to the door, his jaw still hanging open as he stares at the beautiful sights. He's only seen Buckingham palace in pictures, but seeing it up close... He gasps as a row of palace guards marched in front of the palace. A huge crowd of people were covering up most of the front gate, but it was still a sight to see.
"Hurry up or you'll lose your nose." He heard Adam yell. He shuffles slowly backwards as he tried to remember every detail before the door shut in his face.
"Where does the black door lead to?" Aziraphale stared at the door, wondering how it all works.
"Crowley says it's forbidden." Adam said nonchalantly, seemingly doing something in the living room.
"Really?" The white haired stared at the little knob above the doorknob, seeing a little red circle right above the knob. He made a note that the Westminster door was the red dial. He hesitantly turned the knob, changing the color to blue. He opened the door and recognized the lush garden and the fountain. Soho door it is. He quickly closed the door and turned the knob to green.
Traffic noise and crowds of people walking by assaulted his senses once he opened the Soho door. He immediately closed the door and took in a shaky breath, not used to seeing so many people at once. He was about to turn the knob to the black dial when Adam yelled at him to stop playing with the door.
"I'm starving." He heard Adam mumble once he shuffled back into the living room. He noticed another hidden door that looked like a cupboard on the far side of the wall opposite the telly. The boy was pulling out a block of cheese, cream crackers, and jaffa cakes. Aziraphale noticed a picnic basket among the other random shelved items and peaked inside. Inside were chicken eggs.
"Why don't we have eggs this morning?"
"Crowley's the only one who can cook."
"Don't worry. I can cook...a little." Aziraphale hummed happily as he found a pan stuffed in the cabinet.
"That's not the point, old man!" Warlock protested as the white haired placed the pan over his head. The fire demon tried to push the pan away, but after a few moments Warlock succumbed, mumbling, "Here's another curse. May all your eggs burn." Aziraphale chuckled as he cracked a couple eggs into the pan. In the back of his mind he wasn't sure why he didn't feel threatened by this little fire demon.
There was a whoosh sound and the dial switched from green to black. Aziraphale glanced over his shoulder to see none other than a familiar head of gorgeous auburn hair, stylish black sunglasses, and sleek black leather jacket. He sashayed over to the fireplace, a grin on his face.
"Warlock. You're being so obedient."
"Not on purpose! He bullied me!"
Crowley smirked looking over his sunglasses, "And who are you?"
The white haired can feel his face grow hot as he tried to focus on cooking the eggs, "You can just call me Mr. Fell! I-I'm you're new gardener, I just start-"
"Give that to me." Aziraphale felt the tips of his ears burn as Crowley's hands touched his for a brief moment before slipping the spatula and the pan from his hand. The white haired took a step back as the auburn haired unstuck the sides of the eggs from the pan. With the hand holding the spatula, Crowley pressed a hidden button on one of the stones of the fireplace and as if by magic the fireplace rose a foot and extended, creating a stove looking space. A head of a snake made out of stone created a hood for the smoke to go to (was there some chimney perhaps?). He placed the pan back over the fire demon.
"Hand me two slices of that bacon and six of those eggs."
Aziraphale startled (not zoning out because of watching those long, nimble fingers, good lord no!) and scrunched his face in confusion. He looked into the basket again, passing the six eggs over to a waiting hand. He glanced over and watched Crowley feed the fire demon the egg shells as he cracked the eggs into the pan. Aziraphale searched through the basket again and found out that there /was/ bacon under a cloth at the bottom. The bacon were huge, thick slices and he placed the bacon into the pan once the auburn haired held out the hot pan in front of him. The bacon sizzled heavenly as the smell of greasy goodness filled the room. A comfortable silence came over the room as Crowley cooked. Aziraphale had slowly moved away from the fireplace, unsure of what to do.
He was admiring the plants when he stiffened, startled by Crowley exclaiming, "Adam! Get the plates!" Adam pulled out plates, utensils and tea cups from the hidden cabinet and placed the plates on the desk in the living room. The auburn haired pressed the button again and the hearth turned back into a regular fireplace. Crowley sashayed over to the living room and divided up the eggs and bacon. The boy produced a steaming kettle (from somewhere) and poured the amber liquid into the tea cups. Aziraphale spotted a couple of stools stashed away in a corner of the plant room and brought it over to the desk. The three sat at the desk; Adam humming happily as Crowley cut the bread and cheese.
Crowley raised his tea cup, "Bon Appetit!" Not a moment later, Adam dug into his eggs and bacon. Aziraphale took a slower approach and sliced his (thick) bacon into bite sized slices, dipping his bacon chunk into the runny egg yolk. The white haired sighed with delight as the smokey, fatty richness of the bacon and the smooth and mild taste of the yolk melted on his tongue. The sharpness of the cheese and the sourness of what was a slice of sourdough bread also made his mouth water as he happily enjoyed his meal. He noticed that Crowley had pulled out a bottle of wine and a glass from underneath his desk and was nursing a glass of the red liquid. He also noticed that most of the food was gone from Crowley's plate as well. The white haired wasn't sure when Crowley ate. It wasn't like he was watching the other eat, but he wasn't sure if he got lost in the wondrous flavors of his meal and didn't notice how much time passed or...
"What's that in your pocket, Mr. Fell?"
Aziraphale stiffened at Crowley's voice as he swallowed, feeling in one of his jacket pockets. He doesn't remember putting anything in his pockets, but after feeling around he found a folded piece of paper stashed away. He stared at the piece of paper, wondering where it came from when a soft voice stole his gaze away.
"Give that to me." Aziraphale passed the paper over to a waiting palm as Crowley put down his glass of wine. The auburn haired flipped his hand over as he tossed the piece of paper onto his desk, smoke immediately rising up. The paper soon busted into flame and purple smoke, revealing something burned into the wood. It looked like a snake coiling in on itself, chasing what appears to be a star in the middle of the drawing.
"A scorch mark? Crowley, can you read it?" Adam tilted his head in curiosity as his eyes slightly widened in surprise.
Crowley shrugs nonchalantly, "Let's see," In a blink of an eye, Aziraphale had to do a double take as Crowley's demeanor changed from very relaxed to serious, "He who swallowed a fallen star, oh heartless man, your heart shall soon belong to me. That can't be good for the table." Crowley placed his hand over the drawing as red and blue smoke immediately rose from under his hand. The white haired noticed Crowley tense his jaw as if in pain as the auburn haired swiped his hand from the table.
"It's gone!" Adam jumped up from his seat as the smoke dissipated, revealing that the burned mark did disappear.
"The mark may be gone, but the spell is still there." Crowley muttered, hiding his hand in the fold of his jacket, "I'll be back. Don't bother knockin'. I won't answer." The auburn haired made his way into the plant room and disappeared behind one of the plants (where the stairs might be, Aziraphale had to guess). The white haired watched Crowley walk away in confusion. He wondered what was in the note that made Crowley's mood change just like that. Adam didn't seem phased as he continued finishing his breakfast. Aziraphale stared down at his meal and chewed on some of the greasy, fatty bacon. It wasn't as enjoyable as the first bite, but it helped lighten the mood. Aziraphale dabbed his mouth with a napkin once he cleaned his plate. Adam was watching some telly (since the white haired took a while to finish). Aziraphale stacked their dirty plates and stumbled upon a small sink hidden behind some potted plants in the plant room. It kind of made sense since the "stove" is Warlock, but it looked like the sink hasn't ever been used before. He made a mental note to find or buy dish soap as he ran the water to make sure it works, then let the dirty dishes soak. He found Adam half asleep watching telly and got an idea. He grinned as he rolled up his sleeves.
"Adam, would you like to help with some gardening?"
Xxxxxx
It was difficult to decide what locations to use for the "magic door". Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thought having Warlock as Calcifer and Adam as Markl would be fun, especially since Crowley has a soft spot for both of them (I believe). Comments and reviews are welcome :) Now onto the next chapter!
