Disclaimer: I own very little.

008. Weeks

Aziraphale smiled, enjoying the feeling of the sun shining at him. It was so warm, warm in a different way than the Eternal Light in the Golden City, but still very pleasant. Pleasant, like everything else on Earth.

Oh, he loved the Earth, and all its inhabitants, too. While most angels had quickly lost their interest in it as a week or two had gone by, he was still intrigued by everything He had created during those seven Days. Being more curious than most angels, Aziraphale wanted to know absolutely everything there was to know about Earth, and he spent all his spare time down there, learning everything he could.

Adam and Eve were such wonderful people, too. They also seemed curious about their surroundings, and Aziraphale greatly enjoyed talking with them. They were so different from angels, and yet so very similar. Perhaps the greatest difference was that there were two kinds of them, a man and a woman, like they were called. Angels knew nothing of a thing like gender, but as far as Aziraphale could tell, most of them were mostly male. He had also discovered that, with a bit of an effort, he could have a gender, too -- but only when he was in the corporeal form he'd been given for his visits on the Earth.

He was very grateful that he had been given a corporeal body. He'd discovered that humans couldn't even see or hear his angelic form; it didn't matter whether his corporeal body looked exactly like the angelic one. Those were hard to come by (not that many would have wanted them) and he was really happy to have got one of his own. He suspected an archangelic interference in the matter, and was glad for that.

Corporeal form was perhaps so much more fragile than his angelic one that it wasn't even funny -- he'd been covered in bruises and cuts before he had figured out how to prevent them -- but it could also do so many things his angelic form couldn't. For example, he could talk with the humans. He could also hold the things on Earth -- and he could even eat!

Now, eating was one of the most fascinating new things he had discovered. Apparently, humans had something they called "hunger". Because of this, they had to "eat". Aziraphale couldn't get hungry, but he could eat. And he liked eating very much.

There were many different kinds of fruit in the Garden. "Apples", "oranges", "grapes", "pears" -- there were so many of them, and the Man had named them all, so Aziraphale could learn their names. He learnt the differences between the different citrus fruit, and he also learnt that the fruit of the tree in the middle of the Garden, the one that was forbidden to the Man, much resembled an apple. He learnt a whole lot of things about the fruit, and then there was everything else. It was a paradise to him, really -- a paradise of knowing, new information just waiting to be discovered behind every corner.

Others had noticed his fascination, of course. Some teased him, calling him "the man-angel", while some wondered just what interested him so much on Earth. Some had even said that he was in truth loyal to Lucifer, and wanted to be nearer to his Master, but at that point Uriel had stepped in and told these angels to shut up. Aziraphale was loyal to Him and only to Him, Uriel had announced, and anybody who suggested that he should have Fallen was questioning Him and his omniscience. After all, wouldn't He know if an angel of his had truly been loyal to the Adversary? After this lecture, Aziraphale had been mostly left in peace. As long as he fulfilled his duties, he was free to roam on Earth however much he pleased.

However, he was surprised as one day Michael sent a messenger for him. As far as he knew, there was no need for such a call. After all, they met every day in the practices. And what did Michael have to say to him anyway? Undoubtedly something unpleasant, or he wouldn't have sent out an official message.

Unlike Gabriel, in whose office Aziraphale had spent a large part of his childhood, Michael had no formal office. Whenever somebody had to catch him on official business, they headed for the practice field. That was where Aziraphale went, too, knowing the place all too well from his experiences.

"You called, sir?" he asked with a small bow, a tiny grin on his face. When an angel had come to him with an official call from the archangel, he had feared the worst. Now, however, he could see the friendly glint in the other's blue eyes and knew that nothing was seriously wrong.

"Ah, Aziraphale," Michael said. "I have a task for you." As the younger angel raised an eyebrow curiously, he continued, "He has instructed me to place guards on the gates of the Garden. These guards should be skilled fighters -- the top warriors of my forces. Therefore, as much as it grieves me to part from such a good and intelligent general... from now on, you shall serve as the guardian of the Eastern Gate."

Aziraphale's heart leapt. A guardian at the Garden? But... that meant... he could be on Earth all the time! Now, there simply couldn't be a better position for him.

"Grieve, you say," he said, a broad grin on his face, not even trying to conceal his happiness at this order. "Rather you rejoice because you can get rid of me and my comments on your troublesome little habits." With a smirk, he added, "And I would like to remind that I answered your call... in time."

A couple of soldiers who had tagged around to hear what Michael had to say to his highest general gasped in shock at this disrespectful comment. However, they obviously didn't know Michael very well, as the archangel just laughed. "Oh, hush, you," he said, smirking back. "Now fly before I change my mind."

"Don't worry, sir. You won't see much of me in the near future!" And with that, Aziraphale flew off, more excited than he had been in ages.

Next Prompt: Months