southern_pansy (southern_pansy) wrote in valloic, @ 2020-09-07 11:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log |
WHAT: An angel and a spectral familiar meet
WHERE: Aziraphale's bookshop
WHEN: Monday, September 7
WARNINGS: Too wholesome
STATUS: Solo narrative, complete in gdocs
“HEL- lo. Who do we have here?”
Aziraphale spoke sweetly in a voice that was so loving that it could make flowers bloom. And in fact, once in a while, he did.
As an angel, he strongly believed he ought to love all God’s creation, great and small. That being said, mice were low on his list of favorites. Not necessarily mice as a whole, but very specifically mice inside his shop. They had the tendency to leave their droppings around, and gnaw on items like books to build bedding for their nests, and pilfer delicious snacks that Aziraphale kept around. What a terrible disappointment it was to open a cupboard for a little snack, only to find somebody else was there already, leaving behind only crumbs!
Whenever Aziraphale found mice inside his shop, he kindly asked them to leave and raise their families elsewhere. On more than one occasion, he promised to help relocate them, going so far as to enlist the help of Crowley to drive them to the country-side where he was sure they’d be happier away from the bustle of the city. The only exception was January 1814, when the winter was so cold that the Thames froze solid. A number of mice took shelter in his cellar, and Aziraphale felt pity on them, allowing them to stay until the Spring thaw. He gave them soft cotton down for their nests, and made sure they had plenty of grains to eat. In exchange, they would remain where they were, out of sight from any customers that might enter, and to stay out of his pantry. However, that was the only time. After that, he put down his foot on the matter; he didn’t want it being spread around the mouse community that he was hosting some kind of rodent hostel.
However, the mouse that was currently peeking at him from in between the envelopes sorted into a nook on his desk was clearly special. From its rapidly twitching nose to the tip of its tail, it was glowing. A pale, silvery light that reminded Aziraphale of Heaven. The good parts of Heaven that is, not the bureaucratic ones.
“You’re not a ghost...” he muttered, not being able to detect the presence of a disembodied soul. He lifted his hand and extended a finger out for the ethereal mouse to smell, and once the two came in contact with one another, the angel blinked in surprise.
“Oh!” He understood in emotions that couldn’t be uttered that somehow it was part of him. “Well, isn’t this curious?”
His hand turned upward, allowing the mouse to climb into his palm. There was joy radiating from it, which was nothing but Aziraphale’s own joy reflecting back at him. The angel peacefully smiled. “May I call you Ashrei? Yes. I think that’s a very good name for you.”
There was something special to be had in names, and this one seemed to fit as perfectly as the mouse fit in the palm of his hand. Ashrei then quickly scurried up Aziraphale’s sleeve, across his shoulder, and down the front of his coat where it finally settled inside the breast pocket as if it was meant to be there all along. Aziraphale couldn't be more pleased.
“I’m due for nibbles,” he told Ashrei, standing up to go toward his snack cupboard. “Care to join me?”