fandomtownies | The Perk, Afternoon

Aziraphale settled in a table with his cup of tea and the spy novel he was reading, and waited for Sister Rosette.

True to her nature, Rosette was late, although she would argue quite firmly that since they had just decided on afternoon and afternoon was such a vague term anyway, she was actually punctual, if not early, just not as early as Aziraphale. She gave him a wave as she ordered her orange-strawberry-and-pumpkin (the pumpkin was a seasonal addition) double extra shot mocha with extra, extra, extra whipped cream, and then,when it was ready, came over to the table and plopped, carefully, as not to spill, into the seat across from him. "Hi!"

That slightly ill expression that appeared on the angel's face should have been in no way an indication of his opinion regarding Rosette's choice of beverages. In fact, he was really just looking thoughtful. Honest.

"Good afternoon, my dear," he said with a smile, putting aside his book. "I hope you're doing well?"

"Better than I have been earlier this week, yes," Rosette skimmed her finger over the mountain of whipped cream topping her drink, eagerly licked it off. It was a requirement on how to properly enjoy a mocha. "How about you?" She was eyeing the put-aside book.

"I'm sorry to hear you've had a bad week," he replied sympathetically. "I've been very well myself, thank you. Doing quite a lot of planning for a Halloween party, which I do hope you'll attend."

Smiling at Rosette's glance toward his book, Aziraphale pushed it toward her. "A bit of research for my Halloween costume. James suggested I ought to read up, since we'll be decorating our apartment with a sort of casino theme."

Rosette took the book as Aziraphale talked, examining the cover. She had just started flipping through it idly when two words made her perk up and look excitedly up from it. "Did you say casino theme?"

"Er...yes. You see, it's sort of to go along with the theme of our costumes. We've got three apartments, and the roof of the building, and we're decorating them all differently. And James and I are doing our apartment with a casino theme. Only, the games will be played with candy, not money. Can we expect to see you there, then?"

Aziraphale smiled to himself at Rosette's interest. Really, he still wasn't convinced she wasn't a Satanic nun. Which didn't make any difference to him, of course.

"Oh, definately!" Rosette nodded enthusiasticly after taking a sip of her drink, unaware of the whipped cream now dotting the tip of her nose. "That sounds like a lot of fun! I've only been to a casino once; you know, the Order doesn't exactly approve of gambling, as you would guess, but it was for a mission, an' I have to admit, I, umm...took a few liberties." Although she was blushing, there was also a very non-remorseful blush on her face.

"I was undercover," she continued to explain. "If I didn't act like I was there for leisure, it wouldn't've worked, am I right?"

Hiding a smile at the dollop of whipped cream, Aziraphale held out a napkin to Rosette as he responded.

"Well...I think if you weren't doing anything that hurt anyone else, or that hurt you...and I'm not certain I buy into the idea that gambling is inherently wicked...then I don't suppose I see any problem with it. I've done a bit of gambling myself," he added, hoping that might reassure her.

Rosette took the napkin, but looked extremely confused at to why it had been offered.

"Umm, see, now that's interesting, because Chrono would have nothing to do with it..."

And thinking of that reminded Rosette of exactly why she wanted to speak with Aziraphale so badly. She never did like small talk very much, either. So she leaned forward a bit on the table, her face suddenly quite serious, despite the whipped cream still on her nose, which did probably effect the illusion of direness a bit. "I have to admit, Aziraphamihm..." That was her mumbling the last part of his name because she wasn't quite sure if she could remember it right. "I'm very interested in the fact that you are an angel, and I feel bad because I don't want you to feel that that's all I think about when I talk to you, but it kinda is, and, so...yeah. All my work has been with demons, so I'm terribly, terrrrrrribly curious about you."

Rosette bit her lip. "Do you even like talking about it? 'Cause if you don't, I can stop. I dunno if you like to not make a big deal out of it or something."

This time he couldn't resist chuckling a little, and reached up with his own napkin to dab the whipped cream off Rosette's nose, then folded the napkin and set it aside as if it hadn't even happened.

"I don't mind at all, my dear. Ask whatever questions you like, and I'll do my best to answer the ones that I can answer."

All her work has been with demons? he thought, adding that to the 'satanic' column of his Satanic Nun/Not Satanic Nun list.

Then, after a bit of thought, he supposed he ought to add it to the 'not satanic' column as well. After all, it wasn't as if he didn't have a history of dealing with demons -- okay, a demon -- himself.

Rosette's eyes crossed as he got the whipped cream, and she let out a small, embarrassed little laugh, face turning a little red as her shoulders lifted. So that's what the napkin was for. Nice, Rosette. Nice.

"Well," she said after a moment to consider what she wanted to ask the most, or what might be the most helpful, and then hoped it wasn't too personal a question. "What're you doing here, then?"

"Teaching," Aziraphale replied, with a little shrug of his own. "Officially, I was assigned to teach Prophecy here. Unofficially...I think perhaps the intention was to give me something of a break following my last assignment, and..."

He fell silent for a moment, pondering how best to explain. "I think that everyone, even angels, need to take time to learn about themselves. And about the people around them. I've lived in the world for a very long time, but I never really understood mortals very well until I came to live here. So I think I'm here to learn, as well as to teach."

Rosette nodded slowly, considering this carefully. "I can see that. Like field training, right? What is it that you do, then, that you'd need field training for?"

Well, er...thwarting, for starters. That's been the biggest thing. Thwarting...wiles, you know. Encouraging people to do good things and to not to bad things. And to do what I can to help keep the division between Below and the mortal world protected." He looked a little sheepish. "I suppose you could say this is a bit of a vacation, being here. Although I do try to keep up with the thwarting when I can."

Rosette lifted her hands to one of her shoulders, seemed to be shaping something there. "So it's kinda like those little angel-on-the-shoulder things, only not so little?"

"I...suppose, yes. Sometimes I try to present an opportunity for someone to do good, or I try to do a nice thing myself that might grow into a whole string of people doing nice things for other people. Or...if someone comes to me for advice, I try to encourage them to make the right choice. But that's a very important point. You have to make the choice yourself. I can't tell you what to do, only help you see what your choices are, and what the consequences might be."

Aziraphale sipped at his tea, trying to think if there was anything else he ought to add. "I, er...have been known to do a little...extra encouraging, to nudge someone who's teetering on the line between good and bad. But I don't ever make them do a thing. Just...give them a little extra incentive to make whatever it is they're going to do be a good thing."

Rosette nodded a little. She should do a little more nudging and less shoving when it came to that stuff, really.

But, speaking of nudging...there was something else she wanted to nudge the conversation toward. She leaned forward on her elbows, arms crossed in front of her on the table. She lowered her voice. "And you mentioned protecting the division between Below, as you called it, and the mortal world..."

Aziraphale raised his eyebrows at Rosette's question, and nodded slowly.

"Quite. I, er...was promoted recently, you see. Well, really sort of a partial undoing of an earlier demotion." He reddened a little, but soldiered on with the explanation. "From Principality up to Power, and so my responsibilities have broadened a little, to include more sort of...well, protective sorts of duties. Which is a little bit more like what I used to do, back..."

Aziraphale waved one hand in a vague sort of gesture. "Er, you know. At the Beginning."

Rosette's turn to arch an eyebrow. Did he mean....the Beginning Beginning? It made sense, sure, but not even Chrono was around for the Beginning Beginning. If Aziraphale meant what she thought he meant, anyway.

"Are there...are there a lot of problems? That would require those protective sort of duties?"
Her voice was, at that point, taking on a quiet quality, her face perhaps a little paled.

"Well..." Aziraphale began, noticing how Rosette had paled. "It's really more of a preventative sort of thing. Like...border guards, you know. Mostly it's quiet, but every once in a while something happens."

He thought probably it would be best not to mention that he seemed to have his own personal hit squad after him at the moment.

"Really, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Quite a lot of it's for looks, you know. Like the whole thing with the spinning sword. Looks impressive, so that you don't really want to cause trouble."

There was visibile relief in her face as she nodded. "Good. So some things have changed..."

And it also nicely suggested that perhaps...just perhaps...they had been successful.

"Ah, well...er...perhaps it's different where you come from. We don't really have so many...out and out skirmishes in my world. At least, not since, you know..."

He looked a little uncomfortable saying the words, and leaned forward to whisper them. "The Fall. Nasty bit of business, that."

Rosette watched him carefully as he spoke, quietly, thoughtfully. The Fall. Did he mean....

"Are...are you from this world? I mean, obviously, you're not, not directly, but...you...you know what I mean....I hope."

"I think I do know what you mean. You want to know if I'm from the world that this place seems to be in, even though it likely isn't really in any world."

Aziraphale pondered that question very seriously for a moment, and then slowly nodded. "Yes, I am. Or at least...a world so very much like this one that it may as well be. I'm going to guess that you're probably not, now that I think on it. Or at least, a version that's rather altered?"

"A version of it that's eighty years ago," she explained simply.

"Ah...that's interesting. I've met a few people who seem to be from different times but the same or very similar worlds."

He cocked his head and studied Rosette. "May I ask if there's a particular reason you're curious? Not that I at all mind answering your questions, but I'm curious myself whether there's something in particular you want to know."

"After all I've been asking," Rosette said with a sigh, "it's really only fair. I'm just...interested. Like I said, I've never dealt with angels before, just...demons. And I suppose most of the mythology tells us that demons are just angels turned down a different road I guess I....I guess I just want to understand. Before it's too late. I'm just a normal girl, you know? In a very abnormal situation. And I wonder a lot, why me?"

There was a thoughtful pause. "Well, I wonder...why him. My...my brother, you see. He was kidnapped by demons about six years ago....um, six years ago my time...so it would be 1920...I, um, I'm trying to save him, but sometimes I wonder if it's just too much for just a girl like me to handle...So I like to know things. About you guys. About the angels and the demons. Try to understand..." Her eyes drifted away...

An image flashed before Aziraphale's eyes, of a dark-haired man huddled in an alley, hiding from the creatures that hunted him. He shook his head to clear away the memory.

"I understand, my dear," he said gently. "The Plan is like that, unfortunately. We never know, really, why it is we're given the choices we have. But I do believe that when mortals are given choices, they're also given the means to achieve those aims, even if sometimes those means aren't readily apparent. Perhaps you'll discover something while you're here that will aid you. An important piece of information, or an ally. Or some detail about yourself you never realized before. I can tell you all you'd like to know about myself, but I'm afraid I'm terribly short on answers about the Plan."

Rosette quietly took all of this in. ...when mortals are given choices, they're also given the means to achieve those aims.... Well, she certainly couldn't argue with that, as the proof to such a statement was sitting in the church right now, trying to figure out, probably how to play Ave Maria or Chopsticks on the organ. After a moment, she nodded a little.

"So there's really a Plan in all of this? I mean, as far as you know. Or do you know? Is that even something you can even talk to me about? It's said that we're supposed to rely on our Faith the believe in that, but we're not naturally faithful creatures, I don't think. We need solid evidence; won't believe anything until it slaps us in the face, and even sometimes not even after that."

Ah, now Rosette was creeping close to a struggle Aziraphale had been dealing with himself lately. He truly did believe in the Plan, or at least he thought he did.

But until he figured it all out, it was clear what he needed to tell Rosette.

"I can't tell you much about the Plan, because I don't know very much about it myself. If you asked me for details, I wouldn't be able to give them to you because I don't have them. But...I have always believed that as ineffable as it may be, the Plan exists. And despite it very often appearing differently, HE does love us and cares what happens to us."

Rosette leaned forward, chin in palm, elbow on table. "So, then it's just a matter of whether or not He uses a pen or a pencil when He works on it."

Aziraphale smiled. "I don't believe that the Plan is rigid and unchanging. I've described it once before, I think, as like a system of roads. You have a place you begin, and a destination, but the way you get there, and the sort of person you are when you arrive, are up to you."

A little smile crept onto Rosette's face, too. "I like that description."

"I rather like it myself," he replied, with a soft chuckle. "Now, what else would you like to ask? I'm not generally one for really talking much about myself, but I did say I'd answer whatever questions you had. Unless they're very very personal, of course."

"I don't know," Rosette shook her head a little bit as she grinned. "I think I might be spent after all that. For the moment anyway."

"Thank you, Aziramumble. I have really enjoyed this..."

Since Aziraphale was used to people stumbling over his name, he didn't really give it a second thought when Rosette mumbled her way through it. He just smiled.

"I've enjoyed it as well, my dear. And I really do promise to make more of an effort to stop by the church."

"That would be great," she said with a nod, "because it really does get quite boring."

"Well...perhaps you'll at least see people at the holidays?" he suggested. He'd noticed Fandom wasn't a heavily church-going town, but then with all of the various points of origin, he'd have been surprised if many of them turned out to be Christian at all.

The Perk, Afternoon

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