sauntered_downward | for salutosinedelectat

His hand moves of its own accord and covers Aziraphale's. He'd taken Aziraphale's hand once before, when they were in the hotel, waiting for something they thought was coming for them. It had felt right, it had felt like they were connected. Of course, Crowley had promptly disconnected the moment the danger was out of the way and that was----well, that was how they were, wasn't it? Always just a bit apart.

Now, all they have in the whole world is each other.

"Let's not think about leaving yet," he says. "We just got here."

He's snapped out of whatever concerning train of thought he was getting himself stuck in, looking down at their hands, then at Crowley, for a moment just faltering silently. One of those moments where he doesn't seem to quite react, because there's too much to actually say. Which isn't a bad thing, per say- most times, it was over something good. And all times, it was something to do with Crowley.

He looks at their hands again. There's a bit of subtle, flustered smile to him. "Right." It's fine. They've outsmarted them before. "You're right."

"And we've got a whole country to explore here," he says. "They find us in one city, we'll just go to another. I'm not getting back on another plane unless I really have to."

This last part is said with a little more drama than is necessary because, of course, Crowley would much rather get on a plane than be destroyed by the armies of Heaven and Hell. All the same, he likes the idea of exploring with Aziraphale. Of being out of danger----even if it's only for a little while.

"We could have done this when we retired," he says. "Traveled. I never really thought about it, I liked London too much. But exploring the world as it grows and all that."

He's still looking at their hands, not ending the contact if Crowley doesn't. His own have definitely stopped fidgeting, for what it's worth.

He looks at his companion. "Used to travel a lot more." Centuries and centuries ago. The world stopped needing them as much, and they got too wrapped up in their own things. "It'd be nice to see how everything's changed."

And didn't, you know, end.

Crowley remembers traveling. Always running into Aziraphale here and there. Sometimes in the most ridiculous of places. Also the dampest of places, which was always annoying. They could never just run into each other in a palace or something. Always had to be somewhere awful. Except in Rome, but that was just after he'd been trying to tempt Caligula, so he was in an awful mood. Then he got older, and...just sort of settled. It seemed the right thing to do. Didn't need anything that London didn't already provide.

Aziraphale was looking at their hands, and for a moment, Crowley thinks he's misjudged. No, no, he's gone one step too far, overstepped that very strict line between them that's always been there and Never To Be Crossed.

"Is this...?" All right? A question he should be asking? Yet another line not to be crossed?

Aziraphale looks at him suddenly, and, also suddenly, words fail him at first. Anxiously awkward, but he keeps his tone most even. "Oh, it--yes." It's fine.

That line had always been there. He can't remember who drew it - him, or Heaven, or God, or someone else entirely. He can't quite append the responsibility to Crowley, if he starts thinking too much about it. But Crowley had always respected it.

The line started to look a bit faded since That Week ended. Maybe it's the light.

"Quite alright."

The seatbelt light pings overhead. The stewardess begins gently waking up the sleeping passengers and collecting empty glasses.

Quite alright. Crowley begins to let that simmer in his brain, because it could mean something completely different from actually all right, if he thinks hard enough about it and overanalyzes it. But then again, it could mean a lot of things. Maybe Crowley should pull back.

But they've stood next to each other through so much, isn't it time they at least allowed each other touch? Just this?

After all, it isn't like Heaven and Hell could get any more angry with them.

He considers all the things he could say, the things he probably should say, and has wanted to say for a very long time. Maybe now, now is a good time to say them. To Aziraphale, because---

The stewardess comes up to take their glasses, and Crowley turns, all but growling at her. Oh, but he hates people (who aren't Aziraphale). She immediately takes a step back, leaving them alone.

"Should put on our seatbelt."

Aziraphale doesn't even have the time to smile apologetically to the young woman, but he's definitely not going to berate Crowley. It's difficult, finding the time to just...find their footing, as it were. He would know.

"Oh." He straightens up, and his hands twitch. "Yes, right." Right.

He still glances down at their hands, just a moment. And, for just a moment, pulls one of his own over Crowley's, thumb brushing over his knuckles.

Something is else is said over the intercom, but he doesn't pay attention to it. After another moment, he moves to put his seat belt on.

There is the passive touch, of a hand in a hand, and then there is the active touch, of Aziraphale's thumb running across Crowley's knuckles. And Crowley feels himself hold his breath for a moment, because that sort of touch, it can mean something, it could mean something unsaid. Something that needed to be said.

"Angel---" he starts, but the words get caught in his throat. What does he say? If there aren't any lines, where do they stand?

It does mean something. It means something he can't quite say, can't neither call a request or a question or even a statement. It means something, but he doesn't know how to explain what that meaning is.

"--Yes?" He looks up at him, pausing halfway through his fiddling with the seatbelt. And there's something there, too, and part of it is the guilt of putting the question in Crowley's hands.

It's a loaded look, but there's vague, nervous hope in it.

Though this is hardly the best time and place for this conversation, which he's also painfully aware of.

No, it isn't the right place, but Crowley steadies himself. Because Aziraphale is letting him, he's allowing him to talk about it, and he does, he wants to. He's always wanted to tell the angel, but there's----well, there's always been this and that going on, and he hasn't been able to. Or maybe that's just an excuse. Maybe it's just the lines between them that's been the excuse. Maybe it's all excuses.

But now there aren't any lines. Now they're here, together, and maybe it's time.

"Aziraphale, I---"

The plane suddenly rocks with turbulence. There's a rumble of thunder outside, which could explain the turbulence, if it weren't a completely clear night outside. Crowley turns his head and inhales.

"Can you smell that?" Something's wrong.

The plane rocks, the thunder cracks, and he's immediately clinging to his seat, but ready to absolutely fly off of it.

"I--"

Oh. Oh no.

No no no no no. Here? Here--oh, no, of course it would be here, they're trapped in a flying box full of innocent humans.

"No.

--I mean, yes, I--" Yes. Yes, he--well, doesn't smell it, but yes.

Edited 2019-07-26 00:28 (UTC)

Crowley looks out the window. What's changed? What's out there? What did they send? How did it find them? He had once told Aziraphale he thought that Hell might have their scents---maybe it send something that was a good tracker, could sniff them out.

He gestures out of the window, where something dark moves across the wing. It sparkles vaguely against the night.

"Do you see that?" he says. "Did you see it?"

Oh, he saw it.

He definitely saw it.

"We have to go." The angel's nails are very much digging into the nice fake leather and will probably leave a mark. If he had a heart, it'd be jumping out.

"Now."

"If we teleport out of here, we'll direct all of their eyes on us, they will all know we're here," Crowley says, firmly.

All the same, he watches as the creature begins to curl tighter and tighter around the wing of the airplane and it shakes harder. He doesn't know what that is, but it looks like something very unpleasant. One of Hastur's pets, maybe? He always kept a few, and none of them were particularly, well, friendly. He couldn't see any other way out of this.

He holds onto Aziraphale's hand and takes a breath, steadying himself for the movement through space. He thinks about the ground, he thinks about the tarmac and the airport.

"Are you ready?"

What happens if they're discorporated? Where do they go? Would they even get a chance to run away, as essences, as their real selves?

What's even out there? Oh-- oh the mortals. That thing out there is going to plunge them all to their death, just because they're there, just because of something they're not even involved in.

He's gripping Crowley's hand tight. He looks ahead at the stewardess, the one Crowley scared off, holding onto her seat. He hears the warning from the captain. He hears some nervous chattering from the other side of the curtain.

His heart aches. And he hopes - and he hates that he does- he hopes it follows them.

" Yes. "

Crowley watches the people around them, and his eyes turn to the kids. The two kids sitting a few seats ahead, clinging to their mother. They look absolutely terrified. They're holding onto her, asking what is going on. Oh, it's probably their first flight ever. It's probably their first flight, and it's going down because of Aziraphale and Crowley.

Crowley swears under his breath. He can't just let kids die.

He raises up a fist, which glows bright purple. And like that, he grips Aziraphale's hand and concentrates. An invisible cord pulls at them from their bellybuttons, lifting them from the plane and away, swiftly through space, and immediately down to the tarmac, down to where the plane will eventually land. Crowley lands on his feet and reaches out to catch the angel if he needs it.

He does stumble when he lands, gripping on the demon's arm. It's not lack of experience, but urge to act as quickly as possible.

A quick look at Crowley, then up at the air - then around in several directions until he spots the plane lights in the dark night sky. He can't see it-- the thing, he can't see it, but he can't leave it like this. He takes a few hurried and tense steps and snaps both his fingers, no hesitation, not a second to spare.

A double purpose: steady the plane, keep the mortals safe; and making entirely sure the target is on them and no one else.

"We have to move." His eyes linger on the plane for another second or two, but he quickly turns and rushes back to his companion, gripping on his sleeve. "It's still-- we have to go."

Something tight in Crowley's chest lightens when he watches Aziraphale straighten the plane. He can do some miracles, he's done them before in the arrangement, and he's made stranger things happen in their lives, but he doesn't think he's as strong as Aziraphale, not like that.

"It's going to chase us," Crowley says. "I made sure it saw us." He shows Aziraphale his hand, which is still glowing. It will go out in a few moments, but for those moments, they are in real danger. He snaps a finger, and the door to the nearest luggage trolly opens up. He cringes a little, because it's a luggage trolly, but it'll do. With a little demonic influence, it can go as fast as anything.

He hops in and the trolly starts up immediately without the key.

Well, he's an angel. An angel who was made to do good, to protect. A Principality, even though he fails to see how he deserves to be called one anymore, after everything.

He's also not about to waste any time. He quickly goes around and hops in the passenger seat, holding on and ready.

Bet no one's ever seen one of those trollies move that fast. Nothing like a little combination of demonic and angelic panic to get you where you need to go.

Crowley steps on the gas. The trolly moves. Not nearly as fast as the Bentley could, but it does go, shooting its way down the tarmac, towards----well, towards wherever they can go. Crowley doesn't even have a destination in mind, just away.

He glances back over his shoulder to see something dark and twisting moving down from the sky, following them at increasing speed.

"There it is!" Crowley cries. "Hold on, we're taking a hard left!"

Away from the mortals, away from prying eyes and innocent lives, he hopes.

He sure takes in that suggestion and grabs onto what he can, twisting around to look behind them and oh good lord what IS that thing.

"Is it one of y--is it from Downstairs?!"

"Definitely not something you'd see up in Heaven," Crowley replies, taking a glance back at it. "It's got to be one of Hastur's. He's always taking bits off of one demon, gluing it on others, making it stronger, breeding something nastier under the bed."

He turns left sharply, riding them up onto a small patch of grass before back onto the tarmac, and then onto a bit of road. He digs for his mobile.

"If I remember, we're right near Narita-san Shinsho-ji Temple----might be able to do something there, get something, I don't know, blast it out of here."

He bumps against the door when they turn, jostled as they go, but he really could care less about that right now.

He stares at Crowley. "A temple--what about--" Consecrated ground. Probably a good plan, certainly the only one they have right now that doesn't involve possibly destroying a whole block and ruining a couple of nights.

But... "Crowley--"

Crowley glances down at his phone, then up at the street, still pressing as hard as he can on the gas. "Looks like there's a whole park in the temple grounds, all that water is probably blessed. If we could lure it in there, it would be easy to knock it in. Just a few drops would do."

He doesn't fancy the idea of driving or running into anywhere consecrated. Especially throwing himself anywhere near holy water, so close and so far away from anything else, but---

He glances back. The black shape dives down, slamming itself on the ground right behind the trolly.

"I don't have another idea, do you, angel?"

for salutosinedelectat

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omg that poor stewardess

she deserves it! maybe

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everybody roll initiative

AGh but also I *cackled*

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aziraphale says 'this is how I die'

it's okay crowley will save you bb

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AGh but also I cackled