"Tell me why we are here again Crawly?" Aziraphale said annoyed snapping his fingers and miracling bugs away from his face.

"Because the second census is going on, Gabriel doesn't want you around when that happens so you don't mess anything up and I am bored with humans and even more bored of demons."

"But the Aztecs? Really Crawly? Don't they sacrifice children and adults alike? I have heard the entire thing is quite gruesome to behold."

"Well, you see not as often."

"Really? Why?"

Crawly turned around with a smug smile upon his face and raised his index finger to his face as though stating the obvious.

"Oh. You did this? But why?"

"I must admit that children are much more sinful when they grow up than when they die young."

"I see. But what was this feast called again?"

"Veintena. 20-day feasts that take place throughout the year. So much food here for you to enjoy."

"Alcohol as well I am presuming."

"Yes. No matter what civilization every human on Earth seems to enjoy their drink."

"But why are we wearing these outlandish outfits? I rather hate not having anything above my waist."

"Calm down. It's all part of the experience. We will blend right in."

"But your eyes?"

Crawly snapped his fingers and Aziraphale let out a shriek when a horrendous mask that resembled a demon's face appeared. He quickly put in on and Aziraphale was impressed to see how well it covered his eyes. He looked around and saw many other members of the society wearing masks such as these so he shrugged his shoulders and let it happen.

"See. All covered. Already three steps ahead of you. So what to first? Shall we go try some of the food?"

"You mean I eat the food and you get drunk?"

"Now you're getting it, angel."

They approached several different venders and Crawly quickly came up with a trade to get some delicious looking deer meat. When they sat down near the steps of a ziggurat. There weren't any sacrifices as promised. The blood of the innocence often ran down these steps like red outstretched fingers. Pollution whom the humans called Pestilence due to her influence on diseases and spreading them. Nothing spread diseases faster than animals and human corpses.

Aziraphale took a bite into the deer meat and was surprisingly pleased with how juicy it was. The two proceeded to try their hand at the various types of alcohol the civilization and ended the evening watching a rain dance by the warriors. The display of flowers and the stories they told about their gods and myths was an impressive display.

When night came Aziraphale found himself drawn to the ancient pictures of legends on the walls of the ziggurats and Crawly indulged him by telling him about the different stories and pointing out all the different symbols. He didn't care for the educational part of the getaway but the angel seemed to like it and he would rather have Aziraphale being all nerdy rather than fussy. They didn't sleep at all to Crawly's disappointment. But Aziraphale won't want to sleep anyways.

The next day they went around to go and visit the sacred pools. Interestingly enough and neither one of them bathed or swum but it was still interesting to watch the humans do their bathing and swimming. They both found it quite amusing. The designs that surrounded the pools of monsters and gods and heroes were far more interesting to the angel. They actually spent the entire night talking to a priest about the different temple designs and artwork that lined the entire civilization. Well, more or less Aziraphale did the talking. Crawly actually was catching some zzz's. He honestly did not tend to care about all this history and culture stuff as much as the angel which was ironic as Heaven encouraged unity while Hell encouraged disunity but the angel seemed to reveal in learning about the new cultures.

He dreamt of his time after Sodom and Gomorrah in Hell. It wasn't like those fits you see on TV where a person flails about and loses control of their limbs. More on the side of silent pain. Watching it happen and never end. He felt a sharp poke in his ribs.

He peeled his eyes opened confused why it was so dark yet so light at the same time and then realized he was wearing a mask. Two agitated blue eyes peered over him.

"You fell asleep didn't you?"

"Well maybe don't go off talking to boring priests about all these drawlings."

"They aren't drawlings Crawly. They are memorials."

"Yeah, whatever. Time to do something fun and not something that will bore my brains out."

"I found that fun."

"You would find a stick in the mud amazing if it told you about some recorded work of the humans."

"Well, what would you suggest?"

He pondered it for a moment and then an awful terrible idea passed through his mind. Oh yes. This was going to be fun to watch.

"Why don't we try the ball courts? Can't be too hard to get the hang of eh?"

Aziraphale looked up at him with absolute disgust.

"Absolutely not. I refuse."

"Come on angel. I tried that disgusting deer meat."

"That wasn't disgusting. It was plump and juicy. You have no taste."

"I have taste buds for drinking fine wines. Now please just come and try the game."

"Fine."

Crawly was correct in saying that the game was a great idea. Aziraphale looked like he was getting attacked by a group of wild dogs rather than playing a game. He treated the ball as though it was a catucus coming to stab his face. Crawly rolled his eyes and kept an annoyed face even though he knew deep down he wanted to smile at how unathletic the angel was.

"I thought that you were a principality angel? Don't they have wings faster than light and athleticism far beyond a man?"

"Well yes but that doesn't mean I am good at futile human athletic events."

"Your stupid names for everything will never cease to make me cringe."

"Honestly I don't even know why I came here with you."

"Admit it. I have rubbed off and corrupted you in some way."

"Far from it foul fiend. I am an angel. An incorruptible being."

"Whatever you say Aziraphale."

Crawly then picked up on of the balls and proceeded to peg in at Aziraphale causing him to fall over with a loud hump. Not hard enough to hurt him of course. Just enough to make him fussy.

It worked. Aziraphale was on his feet and reminded Crawly of the ducks he would almost drown and how they would come up angrily after he was through messing with them.

"Crawly!"

"What? You said you were incorruptable so I was just putting it to the test."

"How does this have anything to do with testing?"

"Because you failed it."

Aziraphale rolled his eyes and proceeded to storm off the courts.

The next day the two went to view a play about Tlaloc a member of the pantheon of gods in Aztec religion. As supreme god of the rain, Tlaloc is also a god of earthly fertility and of water. He was widely worshipped as a beneficent giver of life and sustenance. However, he was also feared for his ability to send hail, thunder, and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water. Tlaloc is also associated with caves, springs, and mountains, most specifically the sacred mountain in which he was believed to reside. His animal forms include herons and water-dwelling creatures such as amphibians, snails, and possibly sea creatures, particularly shellfish. The Mexican marigold, Tagetes lucida, known to the Aztecs as yauhtli, was another important symbol of the god, and was burned as a ritual incense in native religious ceremonies. In Aztec cosmology, the four corners of the universe are marked by "the four Tlalocs" which both hold up the sky and function as the frame for the passing of time. Tlaloc was the patron of the Calendar day Mazātl. In Aztec mythology, Tlaloc was the lord of the third sun which was destroyed by fire. The creativity of the star systems the humans came up with never ceased to amaze Crawly. He was in awe of how the humans could seem to come up with hundreds of stories regardless of where they were on Earth.

On the fifth day, the two decided to try their hand at fishing and went with some young village boys. The two were terrible at it but Crawly and Aziraphale were still able to catch a decent number so they won't go hungry or look completely foolish in front of the young boys with the help of some miracles.

Crawly felt bad about having to gut the fish and even performed a little miracle so that the fish would not feel any pain when he did so. He knew what it was like to have a blade run down from your neck through your midsection and down to your genitals. It wasn't pleasant and he truly believed no being should ever have to experience that pain.

The fish was prepared well and Aziraphale was clearly enjoying himself. He was beaming as he bit into his first cooked fish. Crawly didn't want to eat his fish but still cooked to give to the village kids as he didn't want them to go to waste. Poor things had been cut up and it had better not have been for no reason.

The sixth day the two decided to go spend some time up in the mountains away from the humans. They were getting quite tiresome to be around and Crawly wanted to see some rare flowers that couldn't ever be found in the desserts where he had to wander to see what the warring state of the African tribes there was going and report back to Hell. He and Aziraphale ended up staying three for ten days.

They found various flowers, trees, and animals that Crawly was more than happy to overshadow and brag to Aziraphale about his knowledge and shamelessly showboat. The angel did not appreciate it.

They even had found a waterfall where the two swam for the first time. Never with their heads fully underwater of course. They were still hereditary enemies and trust was not in the playbook for that. Aziraphale had to admit Crawly had some handsomeness to him. He had a lean figure which was even more evident when he had his clothes off. Almost every part of him would have been perfect to a human woman except for his eyes of course and how his tongue would flip into a snake's tongue whenever he got nervous. But the eyes didn't disgust Aziraphale like they once did in Eden. He found them strangely enduring and unique to say the least. Rare things always caught his eye and he had to admit they were a nice yellow color. He also had to admit the demon's shamelessness and impulsiveness was somewhat of an admirable trait especially how he was so ready to take off his clothes in front of an angel of all things. Or maybe he really thought he could take on Aziraphale. It won't have been hard to do as Aziraphale was a lower-ranking angel while Crawly was a higher ranking demon and could stop time which always gave him a bit of an upper edge in the fighting realm. Aziraphale didn't strip and instead kept on all his clothes and miracled himself dry once they had found every fish and rock within the waterfall. Crawly even transported himself up to the top of the waterfall and did a backflip into the water. The demon honestly seemed to have very little to fear and was quite impulsive. There were rocks down below and he could have discorporated himself. Normally it won't have bothered Aziraphale but it did when he was at risk of being found out of fratilizing with the enemy. He also got water in Aziraphale's eyes which was definitely not appreciated.

Crawly also pointed out the various star systems and explained to Aziraphale all the different cultures he had witnessed and all their different stories and traditions. Aziraphale did seem quite interested in this. Whenever it came to human stories he always seemed to want to know more about them. Plus Crawly was a show-off demon and didn't mind shoving his knowledge in the holier than thou angel.

Crawly also enjoyed taking naps in the perfect climate. Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right. Perfect for his true cold blood nature. Although Aziraphale didn't trust him enough to take his eyes of him and also never slept Crawly figured the most he would do would discorporate him. He probably won't even do that as he was so torn up about smitting Asmodius when he was attacking and threatening the lives of humans and he wasn't even doing that so he should be in the clear. He was right every time of course and would wake up without a scratch on his body. He even had a leaf blanket around him one time which Aziraphale claimed to have no idea where it came from. Must have been those monkeys.

Ah yes. The monkeys. Who could forget those little tree rats? Crawly even taught them a few tricks. With a few miracles up bananas, you could do anything with them and teaching them to tuck you in may have been one of the things Crawly was able to do. He had no idea.

He also decided to turn into a snake and go and harass some of the scaled locals who did not appreciate it at all. He did this as a joke only to come back later and be scolded by Aziraphale who told him his stupidity could have gotten him discorporated and heaven and hell on their tail. Crawly blew it off and told him to stop overreacting.

Climbing trees as a snake was also a nice way to stretch out the backbone. Even though Crawly had guilt over playing a part in the humans temptation to destruction after seeing what it lead to he had to admit his snake form had grown on him. Aziraphale used his wings like a cheater to get to the top of those trees and the sunset viewing from there was beautiful. The birds flying atop the green forest. The sounds of nature. Aziraphale not yapping his mouth for once. Pure bliss.

Of course with everything the angel did he had to be a nerd and spent an entire day using a stick in some mud to try and replicate the Aztec's symbols within the ground and see if he could make sense of their patterns. Crawly rolled his eyes and went for a swim in the river although he did listen to Aziraphale babble on about written language and advancement of humankind. He would have honestly paid more attention if it wasn't such a bore.

Then one day they came across a tree with butterflies all sticking to the trunk. Crawly proceeded to make them flutter about. It was an amazing display. All those wings flying about and lining the sky. This was one of the antiques of Crawly Aziraphale could put up with. Crawly once again felt that strange ping in his stomach when he watched the angel slowly spread a smile across his face and his eyes taking in the beauty of the butterflies. The feeling was never painful Crawly just never understood it. And not understanding something happening within himself was really scary for him.

The final day they were up there was like all the other times. Crawly had climbed some trees in his snake form and the two even engaged in a bit of hide and seek which the village kids had taught them both when they played in the ball courts. Crawly won every round as Aziraphale's white curls and fair skin stuck out like a sore thumb and he could literally turn into a snake so you do the math on the win-lose ratio for both of them. Then at night things became complicated.

They had a fire going and Crawly was sharpening a branch into a spear while Aziraphale was still writing out symbols and mumbling to himself about Aztec myths when Crawly saw a line dash across the sky. Almost as though a star had fallen. It was near some of his stars. Then it happened again. And again. They lined the sky. He felt the breath leave his chest and pain replace it. Why were the stars falling out of the sky?

Aziraphale looked up and smiled to himself.

"Would you look at that? A metor shower. Funny enough the humans in the Isreal tribes call them shooting stars. Some say if you make a wish upon them they will come true."

He looked over and saw Crawly was looking up into the sky but his eyes darted in fear. His hands were gripping the spear so hard they were turning root white. He was trembling like a leaf.

"Crawly?"

"Yeah. What?"

"Are you alright?"

"Tell me sssomething Aziraphale? Why did God wait sso long to cast out the hard work of the fallen angels? Are palm treesss going to wilt and die becaussse Beelzebub asss an angel made a few?"

"Whatever are you talking about?"

"The ssstarsss bloody angel. The ssstarsss. You sssaid they were ssshooting ssstars and they are falling out of the sssky."

"Well, they aren't really stars. Metors. Small chunks of rocks in space left over from creation that burn up when they come into contact with the atmosphere. Humans just don't know that yet and who am I to take away their discovery of it."

Crawly looked down and felt rather stupid for thinking that. Of course, they weren't stars. That would put all the lives on Earth in danger of being burnt to a crisp.

"Crawly are you sure you are alright? You are doing that hissy thing and are shaking."

Crawly realized he was and quickly wielded himself to stillness. He looked over at the angel and replied with a rather harsh toned "Yes I am fine and I knew that. I was just kidding around so you can fucking forget about it."He then went off into the forest away from their little campsite to reflect on this away from the sight of the angel.

Aziraphale stared back down at the symbols he had drawn and pondered over the strange actions of the demon. Stars always did seem to be one of the things that made Crawly truely excentric. More so than everything else in the natural world. But what did that have to do with thinking God was-

Then it hit him. Crawly was one of the fallen angels who helped make the stars. But he was a demon who wanted to see everything destroyed. But he was upset over stars falling like he once did. It had never occurred to Aziraphale how it must have burned the demons when they fell and the thought scared him. Hellfire scared him.

The next day the two went down the mountain taking the long way to enjoy watching a migration of some birds. During this detour, a bird's nest full of peeping baby birds fell out of one of the trees and Aziraphale was about to pull out his wings to save the hairless fellows when Crawly beat him to it. He watched him set them back on a more sturdy branch while gently shushing them. Sometimes Aziraphale didn't know what to make of him.

They arrived back in the village at night where Crawly found a place to sleep under a tree while Aziraphale went and viewed some more Aztec pictures to get a better sense of what he had been studying in the mountains.

The next day there were some builders making a new ziggurat and Aziraphale just had to help. Crawly was still asleep and Aziraphale let him be although he did miracle on the mask so Crawly won't scare anyone. Plus it made him not look unconscious.

Crawly woke up the next day and saw Aziraphale still helping with the stones and bricklaying. He also would go and run to get the thirsty humans water from the river by hand. Crawly shook his head. Typical angel. He went and got drunk.

The final day of Veintena ended with a play about the creation of the world according to Aztecs. Both went to see it and had to stifle their laughter at how inaccurate it all was. According to legend, when the Mexicans arrived in the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco, they were considered by the other groups as the least civilized of all, but the Mexica/Aztec decided to learn, and they took all they could from other people, especially from the ancient Toltec. To the Aztec, the Toltec were the originators of all culture; "Toltecayotl" was a synonym for culture. Aztec legends identify the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the legendary city of Tollan, which they also identified with the more ancient Teotihuacan. Because the Aztec adopted and combined several traditions with their own earlier traditions, they had several creation myths. One of these, the Five Suns describes four great ages preceding the present world, each of which ended in a catastrophe, and "were named in function of the force or divine element that violently put an end to each one of them". Coatlicue was the mother of Centzon Huitznahua or the Four Hundred Southerners, her sons, and Coyolxauhqui, her daughter. She found a ball filled with feathers and placed it in her waistband, becoming pregnant with Huitzilopochtli. Her other children became suspicious as to the identity of the father and vowed to kill their mother. She gave birth on Mount Coatepec, pursued by her children, but the newborn Huitzilopochtli defeated most of his brothers, who became the stars. He also killed his half-sister Coyolxauhqui by tearing out her heart using a Xiuhcoatl who was a blue snake ironically enough and throwing her body down the mountain. It inspired the Aztecs to rip the hearts out of their human sacrifices and throw their bodies down the sides of the temple dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, who represents the sun chasing away the stars at dawn. Our age Nahui-Ollin, the fifth age, or fifth creation, began in the ancient city of Teotihuacan. According to the myth, all the gods had gathered to sacrifice themselves and create a new age. Although the world and the sun had already been created, it would only be through their sacrifice that the sun would be set into motion and time as well as history could begin. The most handsome and strongest of the gods, Tecuciztecatl, was supposed to sacrifice himself but when it came time to self-immolate, he could not jump into the fire. Instead, Nanahuatl the smallest and humblest of the gods, who was also covered in boils, sacrificed himself first and jumped into the flames. The sun was set into motion with his sacrifice and time began. Humiliated by Nanahuatl's sacrifice, Tecuciztecatl too leaped into the fire and became the moon. It was all too funny.

Then it came to end. The census was over and Aziraphale would have to be heading back. Crawly felt as though a fishing hook had his heart as he had a fun time with the angel and truly deep down didn't want to see him go although he would never have admitted that aloud. Aziraphale had to admit he would miss this place but missed Moses and the people of Isreal a lot too and was glad to be getting back. Plus having such a strange demon around was enduring even though he knew he was only here as entertainment and an information source for Crawly.