"Did you make all this yourself?"
"Well, not technically, but I did work very closely with upstairs on them."
He smiled, and the angel opposite him smiled back, clearly also sharing his enthusiasm for His creation. The stars, the planets, the nebulae.. they were His creation, but also his. He helped build some of the nebulae, in fact. They were his pride and joy, and he loved them almost like a mother would their children.
"So.. what's it for?"
Raphael turned. "What?"
"What does all this.. do, exactly?"
He smiled. This was his area of expertise. "Well, what doesn't this beauty do? Basically, it's a star factory. All of the stars you see now are pre-aged, but these," he pointed to a small cloud of interstellar dust, "are only starting out. Give it a few million years, and there'll be stars everywhere!"
The other angel, who'd previously introduced himself as Aziraphale, nodded. "Ah, right." He seemed to pause for a second, and then said, in a slightly hesitant tone, "You do know they're going to be shutting all this down in about.. 6,000 years?"
Raphael froze. He turned and stared at Aziraphale, an incredulous look on his face.
Aziraphale continued, "Yes, well, you see, there's going to be a planet called Earth, and in it are the Peo-ple—" he emphasized the pronunciation of the word "—that we're currently designing. So, all this..." he trailed off, gesturing vaguely at the clouds of galactic mass.
Raphael nodded. "Er, call them a nebula."
"Ah, yes. Well, these nebula, they're here so that the People on Earth can look out into the night sky, and marvel at the illimitable vastness of the Almighty's creation."
Raphael waited for Aziraphale to continue, but nothing else came.
"So, what, all of these are just.. put here to twinkle?"
Aziraphale shrugged. "Sort of."
"But that's idiocy!"
Aziraphale looked alarmed at his choice of words, but Raphael was unfazed. "You can't create all of this if you're going to just let it run for a few thousand years!" he exclaimed. "The engine won't even have properly warmed up by then."
Next to him, Aziraphale's eyes darted anxiously between Raphael and the sky — whatever was above them, anyway — as if within moments someone is going to overhear their conversation and report Raphael to the higher authorities. In Heaven, questioning God was a serious sin. And they don't take kindly to sinning.
"You can't just say that," he said quietly.
"Why not? Someone had to tell Him this was a really terrible idea."
Aziraphale shut his eyes in desperation, before turning to Raphael with a rather pleading look on his face. "Look, word to the wise, don't let the other angels overhear you. I'd hate to see you getting into any trouble."
Raphael nodded. "Yeah, thanks. Appreciate that. But I mean, how much trouble can I get into just by asking a few questions?"
Aziraphale's face softened slightly, and he looked out over the newly created universe. The stars were shining, planets were forming, and Earth was just a tiny little dot somewhere on this giant cosmic canvas. He had a point. Really, how much trouble could he get into?
Meteorites began raining down around them, and Raphael lifted a wing to shield Aziraphale from them. A single meteor bounced off his wing. It didn't hurt, but it did help him gain a new sense of admiration for the universe.
Raphael was really proud of his creation. And he loved it a lot, too.
~
Apparently, just asking a question was enough to get him cast out from Heaven.
Lurking beneath the canopy of leaves, Crowley waited patiently for the first humans to appear. He knew the temptation of the fruit would be too much for them to resist, and so he decided he'd simply wait for one of them to approach before trying to convince them into eating the apple.
For now, they hadn't quite noticed it yet. Crowley sighed — it wasn't really a sigh, but it was as close to one as a sound a serpent could produce — and left the tree. It would take a while before they approached, so he figured he could go loiter elsewhere and then come back. Patience was one of the Virtues, and naturally, demons weren't that great at them.
He slithered over to a stream nearby, and gulped down a few mouthfuls of water. It was night. He stared into the water. He could only see himself staring back and the endless expanse of black in the sky above him. A strange sense of emptiness crept up over him.
There should be stars in the sky. He knew there were, he could feel it, but he couldn't see them. He also knew that he loved them, for some reason, although he can't exactly remember why.
It felt strange, really, loving something you can't see, but you know it's there. It's like loving the smell of grass outside just after a fresh rain. You can't exactly see it, but you can feel it, smell it, and almost taste it.
He sensed a presence behind him, and he turned around in alarm. Although demons can't exactly die, but if his body discorporated — especially if by the hands of any potential animal — there would be paperwork. And he hated paperwork.
He scanned the area behind him, but other than a single angel, who he recognized as Aziraphale, there was nothing else.
Aziraphale came and sat down next to him, soaking his feet in the cool water. Crowley stared at him disinterestedly.
"You know," the angel began. "You could always say hi."
A body slowly materialized beside him.
"Demons don't interact with angels."
Aziraphale shrugged. "Well, you used to be an angel, too."
Crowley spat. Not into the water, but at the soil somewhere next to him, in the opposite direction from where the angel was. "Not anymore."
Aziraphale didn't say anything.
Crowley leaned back slightly, supporting himself with his hands planted behind him on the ground. He looked up at the night sky, but all he could see were various shades of black. Not a single dot of light anywhere.
Aziraphale watched him, then he turned his head towards the heavens too.
"You know, if I were you—"
"Shut it, will you?" Crowley snapped. He then realized what he'd done when he felt the angel freeze, and cleared his throat rather sheepishly. "Sorry."
The angel shook his head. "It's fine. If I were you, I'd have done the same thing."
"What, question God?"
Aziraphale nodded. Crowley had to squint to make sure he was actually moving his head.
He dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "Eh, it's fine. Better off without a boss like that. Saves the trouble of trying to please Him, either way."
"We're not trying to please Him, Crowley," Aziraphale began, but Crowley laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Figure of speech, angel."
Aziraphale huffed. He kicked his legs around, letting the cool liquid surround his feet.
They sat together in comfortable silence, neither looking at the other, but it didn't feel wrong or awkward. It felt.. right. Like this was how things should be. How it has always been.
More than a few moments passed. Crowley felt as if he should say something, but just as he was about to open his mouth, Aziraphale beat him to it.
"I'll always be here, you know," the angel muttered, staring down into the stream, where the clear water flowed like fine silk.
Crowley didn't know how to respond to that. He knew Aziraphale would always be here. He would too. They both would. Neither of them were going anywhere.
But somewhere deep down, he felt as if the angel was talking to him through his past self. Like he still saw him as the angel he used to be. That alone made him feel worse, if anything. He was a fallen angel — a demon — now. He could never live up to the expectations Aziraphale might have for him, for the "angel" that Crowley was.
He supposed it wouldn't hurt to ask.
"... Even at my worst?"
Aziraphale turned. They locked eyes. He smiled, and nodded.
"Even at your worst."
Something in Crowley clicked, and suddenly everything felt all right. The doubt and uncertainty he had before were gone. Nothing was going to change now. It never did, and it never will. Some things just aren't meant to.
Crowley smiled back and, unbeknownst to him, a star in the sky seemed to shine brighter.