"Somewhere around 1020..."

[dancingonapin]

Who: Aziraphale and Crowley
Where: England in the Middle Ages (1020)
Summary: Aziraphale and Crowley have gotten in each other's way long enough... they decide it's about time they compromise.
Warnings: None.

These past two decades had been absolute hell. Pardon the pun, but there honestly was no other way to put how infuriating this job had suddenly become. Being stationed in England was apparently of dire importance-- the Upstairs seemed to have a lot planned for it in the next century, and perhaps centuries to come if all went well-- but unfortunately evil seemed to want to have its way with the poor little island. Rather than trying to get any kind of work done which was, quite frankly, impossible, Aziraphale had been helping the budding Anglo-Saxons fend off Danish viking attacks.

The raid on Canterbury had been a staggering loss, the first Danish king a humiliating defeat (and one he saw to getting rid of as fast as he could), and now this second Danish king...

Oooh he knew that sly snake was trouble, but he never could have figured he'd be this much trouble. He was far more a nuisance than a threat, considering it appeared that neither of them could get anything done in England and were just holding each other up. It wasn't that he particularly disliked Crowley, however. He held a certain respect for Crowley as a very old acquaintance, and he realized that they were honestly just trying to do their jobs, but never had they been so stalwartly pitted against one another's in terms of goals. The angel was sick of it. He'd had enough.

Aziraphale had sent a message to Crowley-- a divine one at that, conveying the urgency of the matter-- requesting a meeting a little ways outside of London at a nice duck pond just for a civil chat about their positions on the issue. Despite being an enemy, the angel wasn't honestly worried about Crowley. It wasn't as if the demon would try to do anything to him, after all. Not only would that be entirely unnecessary, Aziraphale knew it wasn't the demon's style to harm those when it wasn't a part of his job.

Waiting for the old serpent to arrive, the angel tosses bits of bread into the water as he sits on the grassy bank. He sincerely hopes he can talk down Crowley from meddling with England and send him on his way to some other part of the world... though part of him simply knew that wasn't going to be the case. Another conclusion had to be made... and Aziraphale wasn't sure what in the world it would be.

Comments

[scaresplants]

The angel contacted him. Him. It had surprised him or a few seconds when that familiar voice rang in his head, but then that surprise had gone away. Ah...this was about that second Danish king, wasn't it? He knew he shouldn't have done it, but Downstairs had been adamant about it, and one should never, ever go against Downstairs.

But he was sick of it all too- really, what was the point? The humans were going to fight, one was going to win over the other, and then in a couple years the whole bloody thing was going to repeat again.

It was just the way humanity ran.

He walks up behind the angel- Aziraphale was the most familiar face he had seen going around the last several thousand years. Honestly, Aziraphale wasn't as bad as some of the other angels he had remembered during his time Upstairs. They were just trying to do their jobs the best they can, and Crowley often wondered how hard they were pushing the angel to meddle in the lives of human beings to make them better. Probably just as hard as Downstairs was pushing him. Maybe even harder.

"Hello," Crowley says curtly, watching as he feeds the ducks with lidded eyes underneath the cotton hood he had procured for himself (really, someone, somewhere, had got to invent something to cover the eyes that, if used, wouldn't look like he was trying to be a stupid fool). "What're feeding those bloody things for? It's not like they haven't got any food in the first place."

[dancingonapin]

Aziraphale stiffens at Crowley's voice suddenly behind him, but he quickly relaxes as he looks over his shoulder and at him. Ah, so he'd shown up after all. The angel gives him a courteous smile. Despite the silly hostilities that were supposed to exist between them, he was going to be cordial to him. After all, technically he'd invited him and was therefore the host of this little meeting.

He turns back to the ducks and tosses the rest of the bread in his hands into the pond. The ducks eat it up happily. "I've always found that a small act of kindness goes a long way. They may find their own food, but that doesn't mean I can't treat them myself."

Aziraphale brushes off his hands and turns around to face Crowley entirely. "Speaking of small acts of kindness... I believe it's about time that I ask you for a favor. You know your Danish king you set on the throne only two years ago? I'm having quite a lot of trouble with him... Upstairs has been hounding me ever since he was seated to take care of him-- but I'm already responsible for the death of one of your Danish kings, I'm not sure I want to instigate the death of a second one." Fair fingers push back even fairer, curly hair as he shifts nervously on his feet. He truly hopes that Crowley doesn't laugh at him for this request...

"This silly back and forth dispute between us? Danish barbarians versus Anglo-Saxon warriors? This country is going nowhere with our sides bickering like this..." A heavy sigh. He knows this was too much to ask of him but, "I'd like to ask you to get rid of the king you instated. Nicely, if it's possibly. Otherwise I'll be forced to get rid of him myself and start this cycle all over again."

[scaresplants]

Crowley knew that he was the host, which made him all the more uncomfortable- Aziraphale wasn't the type to pull an ambush or stab him in the back, but still, you never knew, with Upstairs. But despite his doubts, he just gives a shrug in return, still watching the ducks squabble over the bread.

"Right. Because tiny little animals need treats every now and then out of the kindness of your heart." But what Aziraphale says next takes him aback.

"A favor? And...wait, you want me to get rid of him? Hey, I'm all for taking him off, but...you do realize that Downstairs doesn't exactly take "no" for an answer, do you? What am I supposed to do, accidentally "lose" him like somebody losing their flaming sword?" That was a dig at Aziraphale, and he knows it. He frowns. He agreed with what the angel said, because really, he had had enough of hanging around the Danish king (he didn't even want to get started on how utterly mindless that guy was- Downstairs really did know how to choose the worst rulers), but what could he do? He wasn't even that high up in Downstair's ranks, and if he even did anything to the contrary to his duty here, they would punish him like nothing else. At least, that's what he thought. He got orders from Downstairs every now and then, but not too often- maybe they weren't keeping an eye on him as much as he thought they were.

"Look, it's silly, I know that. I didn't ask for this, but a job's a job." He folds his arms, staring at the angel with a curt look. "I'm sorry, but what you're asking...can't really be done."

But Crowley isn't leaving. No...perhaps they could work something else out. Just because he couldn't go against what he was supposed to do doesn't mean that they could never put an end to this back-and-forth struggle. There had to be another way.

[dancingonapin]

Even if Upstairs had ordered an ambush or assassination on the demon, it's not like Aziraphale would've gone through with such orders anyway. Not only would it be pointless, considering Crowley was technically immortal (unless he got his hands on some holy water... which would be simply cruel), but the angel had his own moral standards he liked to uphold. Calculated means of "getting rid of" certain mortals was one thing, even if the guilt was sometimes stifling, but he would never personally stain his hands with blood, especially of someone who was technically kin.

No, Crowley, Aziraphale believes strongly in maintaining a friendly attitude, even towards "enemies." You have nothing to fear.

The angel doesn't hesitate, however, to let out a rather hearty sigh at the refusal and the jab to his pride. "They demoted me for that little charade, too... it was a good cause, honest," he mutters to himself as he shifts from foot to foot.

Face tinged pink with some minor embarrassment, he clears his throat and nods in agreement. "I was afraid you'd say that... Then I suppose the only way we can solve our problems is through a little bit of compromise... We're going to have to cooperate to give our bosses what they want without causing any more bloodshed in the process." Aziraphale quirks an eyebrow at Crowley, as if to ask him if that sounded like an okay topic to talk about.