Crowley looked around her, the Pholóē oak forest so lovely to experience in person.The problem was that every tree looked roughly like the one next to it. For all she knew, the resident dryads might have rearranged the woods out of spite to amuse themselves.

Though Crowley had lived near the Pholóē oak forest for the better part of a century, being a creature cursed by the Gods tended to leave a bad impression on one's neighbors.

"C'mon, I was just looking for something to eat!" Crowley yelled at the flora. The trees rustled back as if in amusement, conforming Crowley's suspicions about the vindictive dryads.

"It's not my fault I turn things to stone!" Crowley tried to reason with the tree nymphs. Of course the dryads were pissed off at her for turning their wayward lovers into statues. They totally ignored the fact that if the nosy bastards hadn't sought the resident gorgon out in the first place, they would still be flesh and bone instead of decorative lawn ornaments.

To Crowley's knowledge, the only living creatures that weren't affected by her cursed vision were snakes. Speaking of which, her longest lock, Zoe, was bumping her cheek with its snoot, trying to get her attention.

"We're not lost." Crowley tried to assure it and the rest of her living hair. Her scaly locks didn't sound like they believed her, if their affronted hissing was anything to go by. "Well, we weren't initially! One of you could have piped up and told me about the dryads moving the forest around on us. Over 30 sets of eyes, and not one of you noticed?!"

Which wasn't being fair to her hair, and Crowley knew it. It wasn't like the dryads gave off heat signatures. They apparently weren't done with her yet, the earth giving way under her feet.

It was a long drop that ended in a hard fall, Crowley's left ankle bone taking the brunt of it. It made a crunching sound that Crowley didn't much care for, the gorgon staying still for a moment as she assessed the rest of her body's state.

"This day just keeps getting better and better." Crowley muttered, finally managing to sit up. Her ankle was a swollen mess of emerging purple and black bruises. It was also definitely broken, Crowley wincing at the odd angle the joint was currently in. Shock was a truly beautiful thing at the moment.

Looking up, Crowley considered crying, but she didn't want to give the dryads any satisfaction. They already had gotten more than enough at her expense. Crowley knew that she was too injured to climb out of the hole on her own. Even if she had two good feet to do so with, the sides were too steep and smooth, the dryads pulling back any roots that could have been used as hand or footholds.

Even if anyone was to come across Crowley in a timely manner before she died from exposure and dehydration, as soon as her would-be rescuer laid eyes upon gorgon's own, they would be turned into stone. That, or they would see her living hair, and know that she would be more trouble than she was worth.

She was going to die down in this hole, a chill running up Crowley's spine as it dawned on her. And to think, the gorgon had survived numerous attempts on her life to end up here. Her snakes must have come to the same realization as well, the gorgon's locks coiling in on themselves in fear.

"None of that." Crowley soothed, or at least tried to. Small blessing it was, she wouldn't have to die alone, Zoe bumping into her mouth. "Yeah, alright. I guess we got nothing better to do."

Crowley was a passable singer, but considering she only sang for herself and the snakes, the gorgon didn't put much thought into what she was actually singing, making it up as she went along At the moment, she was only doing it to calm her hair, but deep down, Crowley hoped that it pissed the dryads off.

Her meandering songs attracted its fair share of animals, little birds alighting on the edge of the hole to peep down at the gorgon. Crowley very carefully did not look up at them, enjoying their company as they sang back to her.

"Nice to have such an appreciative audience for once. Yes, yes, that includes all of you too." Crowley laughed, her snakes bumping her cheeks for attention. She nuzzled them to her cheek, wondering if they would die first, or if they would die all at the same time. The ability to turn people into stone aside, they were good little snakes, Crowley beginning to tear up again as she worried for them all.

"Hello? Is anyone down there?" Said an unexpected voice. It sounded quite near the hole.

"Yes, yes! I'm down here!" Crowley yelled, wondering how the hell she was going to pull this off.

"I'm sorry if this comes off as rather forward, but do you need some help?" Asked the voice. It sounded masculine to Crowley, and very cultured, even if it did ask stupid questions.

"Yeah, no, just thought I'd pop down into this hole today, and break my bloody ankle for fun. I had nothing else going on." Crowley snapped before she could stop herself.

"Oh dear, I didn't mean to intrude..." The voice said, sounding embarrassed about it. It also sounded like it was moving away from her location.

"Don't go! Yes, yes! I need help! Please!" Crowley cried out to end up screaming as she stumbled to her feet to immediately regret it, her ankle reminding her that it was quite broken. She fell face first back into the dirt, her ankle screaming bloody murder at her.

"Don't go. Please don't leave me here." Crowley wept, her thin fingers curling into the earth. It was just her piss poor luck to insult her only potential rescuer. He was going to leave her here to rot now.

"Goodness. That ankle looks a fright. No wonder you're so tetchy." Said the voice from somewhere high above her, but definitely closer.

It must be too dark down here to see her hair, Crowley realized, sitting up carefully to keep her face hidden. Ripping a good measure of clothe from the hem of her dress, Crowley wrapped it around her head for good measure.

"Hush. I need you all to be quiet." Crowley whispered to her snakes, her hair coiling tightly in answer.

"Sorry about before. It's been a terrible day." Crowley called up.

"Quite understandable, my dear. If I toss you down a rope, will you be able to climb out on your own?" The man asked. Crowley wished she could look up at him to get an idea about who the hell she was talking to. It could very well be a faun that the dryads had talked into screwing with her.

"Afraid not. Not on this ankle." Crowley bit out. It was taking everything from her not to give into paranoia and fear. Who the hell carried great lengths of rope around with them on a regular basis, her mind made for questions nagged.

"If I climb down, will you be able to hold onto my shoulders, and allow me carry you up on my back?" The man asked after a moment of thought.

"Yes! Yes, I can do that!" Crowley agreed quickly. If she could just hide her face long enough to get away, this just might work. With growing hope, she watched as a rope was dropped into the hole, the man following soon after it.

Back still to her, the man crouched down, gesturing for her to climb on. "Don't be afraid. I'm stronger than I look." The man said. It made Crowley realize that she had been staring. It had been a few decades of near complete solitude, the monotony only broken up by men looking to make a name for themselves. More interested in taking her head along with her life, these men rarely took the time for make friendly conversation with the gorgon.

Once she got herself situated on his back with her thin arms wrapped around his shoulders, the man secured Crowley to his own body by tying another length of rope around them both.

"Don't want to take any chances with that foot." The man said as he began to climb up. He carried Crowley as if she weighed nothing, the only hindrance being that he didn't want to knock her foot against anything. Crowley still couldn't come up with any reason why this man would be in the woods with so much rope though.

This close to him, Crowley peeked out from under her makeshift hood to view the back of the man's head, deeming it safe enough to do so. It was covered in soft looking white curls that were cropped short to his skull. The man wore a simple white tunic made of the softest material Crowley had ever had the pleasure of feeling. In contrast, it made the ragged dark wool of her dress feel like sandpaper.

Crowley wanted to curl her body around the man, and soak in his warmth, breathe in his scent. He smelled like the nicer things in life, like spices from far off places, honey and wine, and sun warmed leather. The warmth and aromas coming from the man put Crowley into sort of a dull stupor, the gorgon not realizing that her rescue was too soon over with as the man gently set her down on the ground. Her makeshift head covering went along with him as he stood up, the frayed material snagging on something to leave Crowley's face bare and her snakes uncovered.

"Don't look at me!" Crowley covered her eyes as quickly as she could with her hands, dropping back down to the ground.

"Please do get up. It's really not going to be an issue in regard to me, my dear." The man said in a dry tone. Crowley waited for the inevitable panicked reaction to her hair, her snakes staying mercifully quiet for it . It felt like they were waiting for a reaction as well, but to all their surprised, it never came.

"Do you need some help up?" The man said, offering his hands to help Crowley get off the ground. She did so cautiously, using him to keep standing since she was out a foot. He really was stronger than he looked, the man completely unperturbed as he easily took her weight.

"May I pick you up? I promise you that it's an impossibility for I to see you." The man said, politely keeping his head turned away from the gorgon.

It was a touching gesture, Crowley rarely the recipient of such courtesy or respect. "Why is that?" She finally asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Her luck usually didn't run this good.

The man slowly turned his face toward the gorgon, gesturing to it. Risking it, Crowley looked, her serpentine gaze met by eyes like pearls, the man's orbs clouded over to a solid milky white.

"Oh thank the gods, you're blind." Crowley said before putting real thought into it. To her surprise, the man started to laugh at her rude outburst. "I mean..."

"That's a much better reaction than the usual pitying remarks I get from others. Thank you, my dear." The man chuckled, his smile having a blinding quality of its own. "While that was most refreshing, why don't you want me to see you?"

"Well...I-I'm quite hideous." Crowley settled on.

"Do tell. You look all right to me." The man made of show it looking Crowley up and down. The gorgon was once again grateful that the man was blind. She was blushing fiercely enough to made her snakes snuggle in tighter to her overheated skin.

"Wait a moment, how did you know my ankle was broken?" Crowley suddenly remembered, waving a hand in front of the man's face to get no reaction.

"Simple deduction, and the fact all my other senses are heightened from being blind. That, and you were also singing a rather loud song about it, and then you yelled at me about it when I first offered you help." The man said as he held out her makeshift headscarf for the gorgon to take. Yet another reason to be grateful that he was blind, Crowley thought bitterly, looking down at the dismal state of her dress, the material threadbare and stained.

It wasn't like she could stroll into a town, and buy proper clothing. Her dresses were usually made from the cloaks of dead men. They were about the only garments that didn't get turned into stone because the would be warriors didn't want any hindrances so they usually took their cloaks off to dramatically fall to the ground before they made the last mistake of their lives

"Oh that...yeah, that will do it." Crowley groaned inwardly as her mind brought up the rope conundrum again. The gorgon told that part of herself fuck right off. If she kept checking this gift horse's teeth, it could end up kicking her.

"I'm surprised you weren't calling for help...?" The man paused, the pair realizing that they hadn't introduced themselves to each yet.

"Crowley."

"Aziraphale. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, though I wish it were under better circumstances." The man said with a gentle nod of his head.

"Quite." Crowley said, patting at her hair down in an attempt to keep it still. All her snakes wanted to cuddle up against her when the gorgon blushed, and that's all she seemed to keep doing around this Aziraphale. She carefully wrapped the headscarf around them, tucking a few stray snakes in. Serpens and Draco, the two littlest in the back, were brats about staying in place.

"Ah, yes, Crowley, there are dryads in these woods. Surely one of them would have heard you." Aziraphale pointed out.

"Yeah, I was afraid of that." Crowley grumbled, "They're the reason that I'm in this mess."

"They did this to you?!" Aziraphale asked, looking quite upset about it for some reason. It took Crowley a moment to realize that the man was upset for her, and not at her. She found it to be a novel sensation as Aziraphale turned to the woods, addressing it. "Is that true? Answer me!"

"Yes." The dryads whispered, their soft words carried to the pair on the wind. The wood nymphs peeked out from their trees, looking nervous about something. Crowley was starting to reassess her rescuer again.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Aziraphale demanded, "What has she done to you to merit what was basically a death sentence?"

"She's a monster. We do not want her in our woods." The dryads murmured, looking more afraid the longer they went on about it. They tried batting their large eyes at Aziraphale, playing with their long silky hair to create the illusion of innocence. It made something in Crowley snap.

"The only monstrous thing I did was defend myself from your lovers after they tried to kill me! The only reason I entered your woods was to find some food." Crowley said in a slow keen voice, her words sharp as razors for weapons. "I assure you, it was not a social call."

"Is what Crowley saying true?" Aziraphale asked, his tone brooking no argument as the wood nymphs hid themselves in their trees. Their branches shook in answer.

"I am so very disappointed in all of you. Just so you know, what is mine and I won't be back here for a long while." Aziraphale said to answering cries of great distress and remorse, all of which were ignored.

"What in Tartarus does that-!" Crowley started to ask, the rest of her words interrupted as Aziraphale easily scooped her up into his arms. "Wait! What do you think you're doing?"

"You can't really expect to put any weight on the foot." Aziraphale said, walking off easily enough. It was like Crowley was light as a feather in his arms.

"Yeah, I get that, but where are you taking me?!" Crowley asked, feeling strangely helpless for the first time in a very long time. Her terrible gaze didn't have any effect on this Aziraphale, and even if she got back on her own two feet, she could hardly get away on the single good one. On top of that, Aziraphale had proven himself to be ridiculously strong. It would not bode well for Crowley if he held any ill intent toward the gorgon.

"We're going to my temple. You can rest there, have something to eat and drink, and we can see about healing your foot." Aziraphale said, finding a path out of the forest with an uncanny ease. Crowley noticed that the dryads did not dare try to rearrange things with this Aziraphale. In fact, the forest seemed wary of the blind man who Crowley was beginning to suspect wasn't really a man at all.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Crowley finally asked, feeling like fate was beginning to work itself all around her.

"Have you done anything to merit my unkindness?" Aziraphale said with a soft smile, the expression tugging at the gorgon's heart.

"That's not the point, and you know it." Crowley spat out, reminding herself not to get attached just because this Aziraphale was treating her with some increment of respect, even going so far to act like she was something precious from the gentle way he held her. It wouldn't last. Crowley wasn't even sure about how it started.

"Others don't treat you very well, do they?" Aziraphale said so softly it made Crowley's eyes well up again so quickly it stung.

"I told you. I'm hideous." The gorgon bit out, quickly drying her eyes, and patting her snakes to keep them still and calm. Zoe kept nudging affection against her temple.

"I have yet to see that." Aziraphale said cheerfully, smiling bright and wide at the gorgon. He looked quite pleased with himself.

"You're teasing me." Crowley tried for grumpy, but came up short.

"Not at all, my dear. Just stating the obvious." Aziraphale said as he stepped out of the woods, and into a clearing. A temple made of snow white marble sat beside a crystal clear lake. The building was not too large to be overly ostentatious, but it also wasn't too small to be overlook either. "Ah, here we are."

"You can't take me in there." Crowley said wretchedly, bringing Aziraphale to a hault.

"Why not?"

"It's my eyes." Crowley geared herself up to get this over with. With any luck, Aziraphale wouldn't hurt her. "I'm cursed."

"Oh dear, that's unfortunate. What does your curse do?" Aziraphale asked, sounding more curious than disgusted or angered.

"I turn people to stone when they look me in the eyes."

"That's horrible!" Was what Crowley expected to hear. "You poor thing. What a dreadful curse." Was not, Aziraphale's entire being full of unexpected compassion as he held Crowley as close to him as possible in a strange all encompassing carried hug.

"I'm going to have to set you down now, my dear. I'll be right back after I make some arrangements within. Does your curse work on animals?" Aziraphale asked, actually appearing distress about the thought of leaving the gorgon.

"Yes. You'll need to send them away." Crowley admitted softly as she was, indeed, gently set down.

"Are there any animals you can look at?"

"Snakes. That's about it."

"I can work with that." Aziraphale said, sounding thoughtful. "I hate to press, but does your curse entail anything else I should know about?"

"I have snakes instead of hair on my head." Crowley said as she tugged the head scarf off.

"Beg your pardon?"

"Here. Just be gentle. They won't bite you." Crowley said, taking Aziraphale's hand guide it to her head, her locks rising up to meet himz

"Oh my! Goodness, what an unusual sensation!" Aziraphale said after a moment of Crowley's snakes all trying to say hello at once. "They were so quiet before! They're making quite the fuss now!"

"They're good snakes. The one curling around your finger is Zoe."

"They're delightful. Do they all have names?"

"It wouldn't be fair if they didn't."

"What is the name of the one thing trying to eat my finger?" Aziraphale asked, his little finger part way down one of the snake's mouth. A little snake was doing its best to treat Aziraphale's finger like it were a dead mouse.

"Oi! Stop that! We have better manners than that, Andromeda!" Crowley glared at the naughty snake, glaring down at it. "And you too, Hydra! I see that look in your eyes."

"Are most of your snakes named after constellations?" Aziraphale tutted at Andromeda as she left off one finger to have a go at another. "It's not going to work, darling girl."

"Yeah..." Crowley said, suddenly feeling very self conscious. She had never told anyone that before.

"I think that's lovely." Aziraphale said with such sincerity that Crowley fell just a little bit more for him.

"Sorry about that. Stop it!" Crowley said, having to tap Andromeda on her snoot, mortified that the snake was going for Aziraphale's fingers again. "I'm hungry so they're hungry too."

"And here I am dawdling while you are in such a poor state. We'll have more than enough time for this later on after you've eaten and such." Aziraphale said as he gently disengaged himself from the excited snakes.

And with that, Aziraphale was gone. He just vanished into thin air, confirming what the gorgon had already began to suspect. It left Crowley unsure of what to do. It didn't help that the shock was beginning to wear off. Crowley was starting to feel everything that was awful about her foot.

Even if she did make it back to her hovel hidden in the foothills of the mountains that bordered the Pholóē forest, Crowley knew that she would be an easy target for whoever came to end her life next.

The sound of wings broke Crowley's train of thought, Aziraphale once again before her like he had never left. The gorgon blinked back tears as she looked up at whatever the hell he was.

"None of all that now. We'll have you right as rain in a moment." Aziraphale said softly, that loving little smile back in place as he scooped Crowley back up into his arms again.

"Who are you?" Crowley asked, staring at the man who was definitely not human.

"I already told you. I am Aziraphale."

"Okay, but WHO are you?" Crowley pressed.

"I am the love child of Hestia, goddess of the hearth, where all stories are told, and my father is Hephaestus who forges all the weapons for the Gods." Aziraphale admitted after a long tentative moment, "I am the god of wordsmiths, of writers and the written word."

"If you're a god, why are you blind then?" Crowley asked despite herself. Being overly curious had landed the gorgon in her current predicament.

"Tedious thing being cursed. Who did it?" Aziraphale said instead of answering.

"Athena." Crowley said in a tight voice, keeping it short.

"Small world. She blinded me as well." Aziraphale was laughing again, the bastard, looking happier than he had any right to, at least in Crowley's opinion.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." Crowley offered, trying not to rubber neck as they entered Aziraphale's temple.

"Soon enough. Let's take care of that foot first, and then settle in with some good wine and food."

"Don't threaten me with a good time."