[psl - set in paradisa]
Aziraphale felt a niggling sort of guilt. It wasn't quite strong enough to be the guilt of a man who had inadvertently stolen a pen from the local Halifax1, but it was significantly greater than the guilt of a man who had taped over a certain demon's favourite episode of Antique's Roadshow. He did his best to ignore the feeling, but it outstayed its welcome as effectively as a slightly sloshed party guest at a wedding reception.
Why was he feeling guilty?
It couldn't be the shop. He had visited Closed for Refurbishment earlier that day and everything was in place. The books were ordered, a nice sense of mustiness and unwelcome permeated the air, and the closed sign was as prominently portrayed as ever. It wasn't, for once, the castle itself. Nothing too horrible has been happening recently - all in all, things have been Rather Pleasant.
And then, all at once, everything became clear. It might almost have been a moment of Divine Clarity2, except that the earthly reason is right in front of him. The Bentley. Now he remembered giving the keys to that charming young boy in the strange lycra costume. It had seemed a perfectly good thing to do at the time, the boy had smiled so nicely and told Aziraphale he wanted to clean the inside and out in order to do a nice thing for Crowley.
Except... except now it's pink. Inside and out, everything from the paintwork to the seating has been painted a garish shade of pink enough to make even Barbie turn her head in disgust. Ah. Well. Maybe he should just walk away for a while, maybe Crowley won't even notice?
That sense of guilt rising sharply, angels were meant to be honest after all, he merely strode away.
1. Something he had done only once in 1994. He had immediately begun lobbying for the pens to be attached to those annoying metal chains in order to prevent such an atrocity ever happening again.
2. Except Divine Clarity always came with the uncomfortable side effect of motion sickness. He had told the higher ups about it, but his request to have it rectified is still pending.
Why was he feeling guilty?
It couldn't be the shop. He had visited Closed for Refurbishment earlier that day and everything was in place. The books were ordered, a nice sense of mustiness and unwelcome permeated the air, and the closed sign was as prominently portrayed as ever. It wasn't, for once, the castle itself. Nothing too horrible has been happening recently - all in all, things have been Rather Pleasant.
And then, all at once, everything became clear. It might almost have been a moment of Divine Clarity2, except that the earthly reason is right in front of him. The Bentley. Now he remembered giving the keys to that charming young boy in the strange lycra costume. It had seemed a perfectly good thing to do at the time, the boy had smiled so nicely and told Aziraphale he wanted to clean the inside and out in order to do a nice thing for Crowley.
Except... except now it's pink. Inside and out, everything from the paintwork to the seating has been painted a garish shade of pink enough to make even Barbie turn her head in disgust. Ah. Well. Maybe he should just walk away for a while, maybe Crowley won't even notice?
That sense of guilt rising sharply, angels were meant to be honest after all, he merely strode away.
1. Something he had done only once in 1994. He had immediately begun lobbying for the pens to be attached to those annoying metal chains in order to prevent such an atrocity ever happening again.
2. Except Divine Clarity always came with the uncomfortable side effect of motion sickness. He had told the higher ups about it, but his request to have it rectified is still pending.
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