Don't be surprised if I spelled Brian's name as Brain.
Children had a spark to them, a desire for life that began to die as they aged. But younger children had this energy to them. Their energy spread rapidly, like a wildfire in a dry forest. And one thing that the children in Tadfield had in common was this pure bundle of creativity. This wasn't to say that other children weren't creative- this wasn't an "I'm not like other girls competition[1]"-but rather that they all agreed to certain creative aspects.
For example, Adam had went to school and created a purple Triceratops crossover with a Tyrannosaurus. He'd went on to name it a Poof Hurray. Despite his teacher insisting that no such creature could exist, he didn't care. He'd went on to try and tell Adam even if it did exist, scientists simply would not name a creature like that [2]. Much to his teachers surprise, the other children agreed that the Poof Hurray could have existed with that exact name. However, not a single one of these children could give the teacher a word that meant the same thing as sad without arguing- the teacher was sure they wouldn't understand if he asked them for a synonym for sad.
There was also the time that all of the school children insisted that a boy in their class, Jeremy, didn't exist. At first, the teacher assumed the kids were bullying Jeremy. After ignoring it for a while, the teacher addressed the issue by stating Jeremy existed- "Jeremy is made of atoms and molecule, and he's sitting next to you!"- in science class. Jeremy said he agreed with his fellow peers, as he said that he would return to woods later that year. The teacher wrote it off as Jeremy being cynical.
Jeremy did, indeed, go to the woods later that year and disappear. The weirdest part wasn't his disappearance- it was the fact that his parents didn't know a Jeremy and only had one child, Jennifer, who lived in Ireland with her partners. It might have helped to mention that Jennifer was twenty-eight.
With this, one could argue there was some sort of magic in this small town. It would be logical, as there was a witch who lived deep in the woods with her girlfriend in a cabin. But it wasn't them. The power came from Adam, whose imagination unknowingly leaked out in the most subtle ways. All parts of this could easily written off by someone who didn't specialize in finding young Antichrists.
All the other kids agree with Adam on the possibility of a Poof Hurray existing? Children are just strange like that. It wasn't any weirder than Tracy's cursed shoestring or Dane's constant drawings of swamp and bog creatures. Children just thought differently, and that was very normal for them.
Jeremy disappeared in Ireland, and his parents didn't know him? Ireland had strange shit happen all the time. It was a miracle that it hadn't happened before. It was a surprise his parents hadn't disappeared either. Between the fae, the bog creatures, and whatever else lived in the woods of Ireland, it was bound to happen occasionally.
And this spark refused to die. Despite parents' constant nagging to find a proper and well-paying job, the children refused to let go of that childish sense. They wanted to run outside and play with each other like they had when they were younger. That wouldn't be a bad thing, if parents weren't so set on making their children molds of what they wanted to be.
"Pepper said she'll be over," said Adam, continuing to ride his bike. "Perhaps we should go to the treehouse in the woods?"
"My family doesn't mind having people over," suggested Warlock, jogging slightly quicker to keep up with Adam. "As long as we don't touch Crowley's plants or Aziraphale's books, we can do practically whatever we want."
"That might be nice," admitted Adam. "I would hate for Dog to get a tick."
Dog was sitting in the basket on the front of a bicycle. He was, indeed, an exceptionally spoiled Hellhound. He'd been breed to be the perfect companion for the Antichrist, and he was the perfect fit for this Antichrist. The name had shaped his personality- the name would say nearly everything that needed to be said about the Antichrist. And the Hellhound loved his human- and being pampered, of course. Adam was so much kinder than the demons that had previously cared for him.
Kindness wasn't natural in demons, and demons didn't even try to be nice. They never had enough time to ever properly care for themselves, much less a lower-grade Hellhound. Dog had always been decently cared for, although his siblings had not- only four of the original eight hounds were still alive. As long as it was possible, Dog would remain with Adam.
"Yeah. Crowley goes out and shouts at the lawn for hours," added Warlock with a smile. "Crowley says that the lawn should fear him."
"Can the lawn fear a demon?" asked Adam, sounding intrigued.
"I don't really know," replied Warlock. "I would assume that it could. Crowley can be scary, when they want to be."
"Are they? I always just assumed that they were chill and laidback," commented Adam. He didn't say it in a tone that implied he didn't believe Warlock. The tone he said it in was fascinated and curious, as though he had assumed that Crowley couldn't be scary if they tried.
"Crowley can be." Warlock didn't provide any further details and Adam didn't push him.
It made Adam wonder though. Had Crowley ever... no, they wouldn't. Crowley wouldn't be mean to Warlock, right?
~
Crowley opened the door, smiling at Adam and Warlock. "Come on in. You'll have to ignore Aziraphale. He's been studying one of his books all morning and fussing over a spelling error. If he asks, just tell him it was the printing press. All it would take is a simple miracle but no. And you know- does your shirt have a duck on it Adam?"
"Yeah," said Adam, studying Crowley warily. Crowley's hair wasn't pulled up or braided, rather hanging freely in dark red curls. They were wearing a loose fitting v-neck shirt that went fairly low, which Adam suspected might have had something to do with why Aziraphale was studying his book so furiously. Crowley was also wearing his ridiculous tight black skinny jeans, which were tight enough that Adam was surprised there wasn't a rip anywhere.
"Well come on in." Crowley stepped out of the way, allowing for both of them to come in.
Warlock gave Crowley a small smile. "Can we go feed the ducks later?"
"Mhm... sure. But I'm first I need to tend to my plants. One of them has a spot on it," said Crowley. They looked disgusted at the idea of a plant having a spot.
Perhaps, Adam thought, he would feel the same if he were a demon that have lived for years upon years. He guessed that over time, he might become bothered by such trivial, petty things. Although, Adam figured he'd be more upset about other things. Crowley was hard to gage at times, like they changed their thoughts frequently. Or Adam didn't understand them well enough yet to accurately gage them.
"Okay. That remind me, Aziraphale said you can't put any more plants down the garbage disposal. He says that they are much to beautiful, and that you are much to hard on your plants. He says he really likes them."
Crowley looked like they could have cried. Were the plants something more personal than Adam thought? Obviously. "Oh. Oh, that's just... I'll be back later. Have a great time."
Warlock looked over his shoulder once Crowley went outside. "Well, that was strange."
"I agree. Perhaps they were touched that Aziraphale took an interest and had thoughts on what they did. My mom loves it when my dad talks about the newspaper. She hates the newspaper, but she likes seeing my dad smile. My dad dies the same thing with the soap show," commented Adam.
"Well, Crowley does smile a lot when Aziraphale talks. And Aziraphale sometimes blushes." Warlock headed to the back door.
He unlocked the door, the lock making a distinct clicking noise. Warlock opened the door, ignoring the squeaking noise that came from doing that.
Outside, the sun shined brightly, illuminating the backyard and causing the trees to cast long, dark shadows. A gentle breeze moved the tree branches slightly, the gentle smell of blooming flowers fresh in the air. There was, of course, the always present smell of rain that never left because it constantly seemed to rain in Tadfield. Birds flew by overhead, and dogs barked in the distance. Warlock's backyard was peaceful and quiet.
Warlock pulled out a crate from beneath the tree. It was a solid grey color and completely closed in, with some dew on the sides of it. Warlock seemed to ignore it, opening it to pull out the puppets that the Them and Warlock made.
Pepper's puppet was named Infinity. Infinity's hair was a galaxy blue color. Pepper had done this by mixing white, a darker blue, a pale white, and violet. Pepper had bought her a shirt and pair of pants for a couple euros at a yard sale. Infinity was about the average size of a puppet.
Brian had tried his best to make a puppet, but it didn't turn out well. By the time he finished everything, he had a knotted purple ball with extra strings of the side. When Brian seemed disappointed in himself, Wensleydale suggested that Brain's puppet could be a villain alien or a superhero alien, which seemed to cheer Brian up. It also didn't help that the puppet had a spot on him where Brian spilled ice cream. Brian had named him Brainy.
Wensleydale had tried to create a puppet, but the puppet came out as a teddy bear- if teddy bears could be tax accountants. He supposed he should have asked his mum for a puppet making kit, but she'd been at work, and his dad had been right there. The teddy bear looked fairly normal- brown fur, beady black eyes, a quilt sown in the foot, and so on. The bear was set apart by a mini-calculator like device sown in the hand and a small polo shirt with a tie. Wensleydale had named the bear Tim the tax account (who also fought aliens, cowboys, and alien cowboys in his spare time).
Warlock had asked Crowley for a nice puppet, and Crowley provided to the best of their ability. The puppet resembled what Warlock would look like he went on the dark side or was slightly more goth. His hair was a long with fringe that covered one of his eyes. The other eye was accented with eyeliner, which matched very nicely with the puppet's band shirt, ripped jeans, and shoes that had holes in them. His name was Ash.
And Adam had closed his eyes and imagined a puppet. His powers bent a hole through reality, and a puppet appeared to him. Dark curls and bright eyes stared back, as did a mini dog that stuck out of the pocket of the boy's jacket. Adam had named them Jack and Mickey, as he really liked the 9th and 10th Doctors' companions [3]. He'd been tempted to name one of them Rose, but he figured that there could be a kind alien Queen named Rose.
And now, it was time to test them out. As Crowley opened the door for Wensleydale, Pepper, and Brian, it was becoming closer to the epic showdown of the week.
~
"Infinity, are you ready to face off against space cowboy aliens?" Adam held up two straw figures with shredded hats make of a leaf.
"Are there no cowgirls?" Pepper looked at Adam with disappointment. "That's sexist."
"There are space ninjas and horse girls," provided Wensleydale. "The space ninjas accept all genders, and the horse girls are girls, except for Tim. I want to have a horse, and I think hanging out with girls while taking care of horses sounds nice."
"I'm... I'm okay with this." Pepper nodded.
"I want to be a space cowboy," said Warlock eagerly.
"Me too," said Adam, joining forces with Warlock.
"And I want to be a space ninja," added Brian.
And soon, they were fighting. It was an epic clash between space cowboys, horse people (it wasn't horse girls since Tim the tax account joined the ranch), and space ninjas. Jack and Mickey were facing off against Infinity, and Infinity had nearly crushed them with her horse. Tim, meanwhile, was up against Ash and Brainy- the three of them were fighting each other.
The five of them continued on, battling to win despite the fact that the teams weren't equal. Puppets fell to the ground in battle, each that fell given dramatic speeches by the person playing with them. As the battles begin to slow up, the children laughed and continued on. At the end, it was a battle between Infinity and Brainy. After several battles, with the children on the side calling out encouragement to the one they wanted to win, Infinity won.
Crowley called them in, telling them that dinner was ready.
~
"Aren't you going to eat Mx.Crowley [4]?" Pepper asked.
"No, but thank you for asking youngling. I usually eat by myself. I... chew a bit weirdly. It would likely be very scary for you to witness." Crowley nodded to themselves. "Besides, the garden has a couple of stray mice in it."
"Do... do you eat mice?" asked Brian.
"That sounds like the beginning of a horror movie," commented Adam.
"No! What? No!" exclaimed Crowley, like a liar.
"Do they Warlock?" asked Brian curiously.
"Eww. That's nasty. Do your parents eat mice Brian?" Warlock gave Brian a sneer.
"Of course not!"
"Then don't imply that about one of my parents in that tone," snarled Warlock defensively.
"Oh. You're right. That was disturbing," said Brian.
Warlock gave him a simple smile.
Crowley would be touched later when they went out into the garden, picked up a mouse, unhinged their jaw, and ate a mouse.
Crowley couldn't have been any prouder of Warlock if he tried. Things were pretty good, considering that Aziraphale had been napping the entire afternoon.
~
[1] "I'm not like other girls" = derogatory.
[2] Weird names scientists have given to animals include Pleasing Fungus Beetle, Pink Fairy Armadillo, Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko, Tasselled Wobbegong, Chicken Turtle, Goblin Shark, Screaming Hairy Armadillo, Fried Egg Jellyfish, Ice Cream Cone Worm. None of these are the scientific names, but these are the common names. Here's the site I found these names and several other unique names: https://www.treehugger.com/animals-with-completely-ridiculous-names-4864307 .
[3] It's me. I love 9 and 10's companions.
[4] Mx. is a gender neutral pronoun, according to some research online.