for salutosinedelectat

[sauntered_downward]

Follows this.

They couldn't just teleport themselves there. Any miracles, demonic or otherwise, would attract too much attention. No, Crowley was actually going to have to sit there, plugging their information into an online search engine, and do it all manually. Fluctuating airline prices were demonic work, and right now a trip to Japan was over six thousand pounds more expensive than if he had bought it three days earlier, which was totally outrageous. Crowley didn't know a lot about money except what it made men do to each other, he'd never had to. But now, making money appear out of nothing could turn the wrong eye on them if he wasn't careful.

Luckily, he had quite a few credit cards that never needed paying or had a limit on them. They would work in a pinch for a moment like this. He didn't know if that sort of perk-of-being-a-demon could ever be taken away from him, but he hoped not.

The flight itself was a long one, and Crowley settled himself in for it by making sure they were flying at least first class. That way they could see everyone coming at them and have a few glasses of wine on the journey.

"I don't think they know about these passports," Crowley says. "They might, but I doubt it. I had them made back during the last World War, just kept them in good condition."

The second World War was something that Crowley took responsibility for, but he hated every moment of it, and what his side did to make it worse made him sick. He was more than prepared to hide away if he needed to when things went wrong back then. And, at the time, he had also created a passport for Aziraphale, in case he wanted to come along. No other reason for that, he told himself.

Comments

honestly, any adult I know, including myself

[salutosinedelectat]

The angel is entirely too excited about this, watching Crowley like one would watch a particularly enticing game of gold, should gold be their thing.

"Well? What do you think?" Aziraphale has known for many, many centuries that the demon doesn't quite enjoy food as much as he does. Or anyone with a mild enjoyment of food. But the demon also does most things the angel asks or suggests without much fuss, so that first part ends up not mattering much.

[sauntered_downward]

"There's a lot of things going on all at once," Crowley says, around the mouthful of food. "Milder than I expected."

But then again, all sorts of eras and places have all sorts of palates. He's tried the very bland and the very spicy and it's all never really mattered unless he was in the right company. Well, one very specific company. He picks up the piece of wasabi. "Do I just eat this?"

Someone enters the shop, and Crowley turns his head to look at the door. Just a tall, unassuming American tourist. Or is it? It could be anyone.

did he just pick up a glob of wasabi paste

[salutosinedelectat]

"Well, you--"

But his thought is cut short, turning his head the same way Crowley does. He watches the person, suddenly very quiet, very careful.

behold the demon all the fangirls swoon over

[sauntered_downward]

Crowley notices Aziraphale's gaze and his heart stops. Is it just a tourist? Is it just a person? What does a soldier from Heaven look like? Would Crowley be able to smell them? Could he tell? How would they even fight them?

"What do you think?" he murmurs.

oh my god crowley, sweetie, no

[salutosinedelectat]

Aziraphale watches them carefully, someone who stands out as much as they do, and he's not entirely able to get a read on them. Could easily be just a tourist. Could also be an angel or a demon hiding their true essence.

" I'm not sure." He murmurs just as quietly. "Could be nothing..."

crowley yes

[sauntered_downward]

Crowley considers the person for a moment. He thinks he could tell if it were a demon. If it were one of his kind, hiding. They were so bad at it, first of all. Second, they gave off a distinctive smell, and he could usually detect it. But angels, they were a whole different story. He could always tell Aziraphale's scent, but that was just because Aziraphale was always around, and that was just part of what Crowley had become accustomed to. Another angel? Different story.

"Maybe we'll just stay quiet," he says, very serious. "Maybe they won't notice us."

With that, he puts the green blob into his mouth. And promptly starts loudly coughing at the intense, strange spice.

CROWLEY NO!!

[salutosinedelectat]

He is certainly very startled when Crowley falls into a coughing fit, as well as very confused. They are extremely good at this.

"My dear boy, what--" Oh, this is terrible. He fills Crowley's glass back up, handing it to him in hopes of helping, and glances over towards the center of the room again. There's a few people staring, but most of them seem more preoccupied with their own dinner and don't give it a second thought.

He's not sure where the person went. Takes him a second to remember that mortals use bathrooms, so he really hopes that might be the case.

😈

[sauntered_downward]

Crowley takes a large drink of the small cup of sake. The alcohol burns, the spice burns, and human food is so very stupid.

"What the Heaven...?" he sputters. That tasted nothing like the sushi he had just tried and was nothing like what he expected at all. He looks around the shop, and realizes the person who entered has vanished.

He looks at Aziraphale and coughs. "Do you think...?"

crowley being victimized by human food will be the reason for their divorce

[salutosinedelectat]

Aziraphale glances at him, then takes another look around the room. As everyone else focused back on their own food and companions, it only serves to make him entirely sure he person is not there anymore.

"I'm not sure..." But it's clearly ringing alarm bells. In the state they're in, he's not sure if he's being paranoid or if they're being tracked down by, most probably, angels.

He looks at Crowley, nervous. "What do we do?"

crowley has a very long list of grievances caused by human foods and would like to enumerate them

[sauntered_downward]

Crowley looks longingly at the wine in front of them, and less longingly at the sushi that has just betrayed him, and then at Aziraphale. Aziraphale just wanted to come to Japan and enjoy himself, not spend all of his time running.

"We could stay, have them come to us, which they probably won't do surrounded by all these people," he says. "Which could also mean they surround the shop now that they know we're here. Or we could take a risk and run for it. Keep moving, try to lose them."

aziraphale will not stand for this slander

[salutosinedelectat]

He did just want to spend some time in Japan. He did just want to have some peace and enjoy new sights, just wander around with his companion, blissfully and calmly. But, deep down, he expected this. It had been the real reason they traveled all the way out here, after all.

He gives the plate of sushi his own longing look. Damn near heartbroken. He sulks. "I...suppose it would be safer to go."

number 3,452: that time wasabi ruined their japan holiday

[sauntered_downward]

Crowley could handle a lot of things. He could handle being chased, nearly killed, almost obliterated by holy water. But seeing Aziraphale like this really, truly upset him. The angel deserved better. He should have been enjoying things. Should have been the happy person he was thirty seconds earlier, going on about how to eat sushi.

Crowley waves his hand, and the sushi disappears, and the bill appears, paid. He's probably risking it, pulling on a few miracles, but it's also pretty likely they've already been spotted.

"It'll be waiting for us," he says, getting to his feet. "Though if that sashimi stuff is anything like the green thing, I'm never trusting you again."

That is incrimination!! Also he made his husband uwu

[salutosinedelectat]

The angel perks up, looking at Crowley, down at the check and then back up at him. It takes him a moment but, much like any other times Crowley has come through in ways that make the angel feel truly understood and cherished (and maybe a little loved), he smiles brightly.

He gets up, slightly turning his head in an attempt to hide the brightness, the sweetness of that smile. Oh, Crowley.

He adjusts his jacket and clears his throat, attempting to get back to some form of focus. "Do you think we can get there from here?"

anything for you, aziraphale <3

[sauntered_downward]

That? That's what Crowley wants. Smiles like that. They've been too hidden, too much not to smile about. Crowley would do anything to let the angel just be his stupidly happy self, no matter what idiotic situation that ended him up in. Though, really, this situation was more dangerous and impossible than just idiotic, but Crowley did end up in his fair share of idiotic situations because of Aziraphale.

"We can take a taxi," Crowley suggests. "More likely to get lost in the crowd of cars, than just two people walking along the street."

take notes, gentlemen

[salutosinedelectat]

He gives it some thought, starting to head towards the door. "I do suppose doing more conventional matters might help thwart them." Although they did find their plane and risk ending the lives of several innocent mortals for it. Although there's the distinct possibility that the actual purpose of it was just to flush them out. Or, alternatively, they didn't care.

"Perhaps if we move closer to the inner city--" He turns his head as he talks, spotting that one tourist having a chat with one of the waitstaff, near the door to the kitchen. In that moment, he swears they lock eyes.

Something in him distinctively does not like that.

[sauntered_downward]

Crowley doesn't notice what Aziraphale sees, he only sees the door, sees their way out, thinks about how easy it could be if they could just call an Uber, or how nice it would be if they could just walk leisurely through the city streets, instead of making it a fearful rush.

If only.

"They shouldn't be able to find us where I've got us staying," he says. "It's too well hidden. It's just getting there that's the hardest part."

[salutosinedelectat]

They step outside and the angel loses sight of the person. He's following Crowley, stepping quickly as he ended up slowing down before, and he's giving the door behind them several glances. He's not sure what he just saw, but it gave him a terrible feeling.

"Where--where is that?" He's a bit ruffled, should probably tell the demon what he saw, but what if it's nothing?

[sauntered_downward]

"Should keep it quiet," he says. "Walls have ears. Cars have ears. Everything has ears nowadays."

The last thing he needs is their safe haven invaded by forces beyond their control.

"But trust me, I've been very careful."

[salutosinedelectat]

He keeps looking back at the door, half expecting the person to step out and start following them. But no one steps outside, and he can't tell if that's better or worse, really.

He catches up to Crowley. "Alright. Well-- how quickly can we get there?"

[sauntered_downward]

"Depends on how fast we can find a taxi," Crowley says, looking up the street. "I never call taxis. I have my own car for this."

He called taxis all the time back when horses and buggies were in fashion, but now that he has the Bentley----had, he reminds himself. Just something else the had to leave behind in London. Aziraphale lost the bookshop, Crowley lost the Bentley. And, really, of the two, the car was a far more precious commodity. It at least took them places.

[salutosinedelectat]

Aziraphale rarely ever bothered with taxis, too, in the recent century or so. Cars, as useful and fantastic of an invention as they are, can also be quite stressful and frustrating to deal with if you find yourself with the wrong driver. Or Crowley. Who is very much the right driver, but whose driving still instilled the angel with unpleasantly mortal dread.

But, well, guess they don't quite have to worry about that now, do they?

"Well, surely that can't be that difficult, right?" Nevermind that they're in an urban area, and have actively put a distance between themselves and the airport. Or they could have called for a cab, had they not left the restaurant in such a rush. But they've had a lot worse to endure this evening, so this barely even registers as an issue.

"It's getting quite late." The angel remarks.

[sauntered_downward]

"Nah," Crowley agrees. "We'll just----"

He raises a hand up to gesture for a cab, but no one stops for him. He tries again, no avail. Surely, they must just look like tourists, and cabs would want to stop for tourists. Maybe they look harried, or look like they're being followed. Maybe they look frightening to the humans around them, Crowley thinks. Normally, that wouldn't bother him, but right now, they want to blend in.

He turns to Aziraphale. "How late?"

[salutosinedelectat]

Aziraphale fishes out his pocket watch. " Nearly ten in the evening." Not as late as possible, and only as relevant as the life around them. He puts his watch away.

"Should we..." Clearly not entirely sure about his own suggestion. "check if everything worked out back at the temple?" Or would it be a terrible idea to retrace their steps?

[sauntered_downward]

"I think we should move forward," Crowley says, very seriously. Not just because the idea of retracing his steps sounds terrible. He hates the idea of going back to wherever the people who are chasing them are. They need to get to the place he's set up. The safe place. The place where he and Aziraphale can truly rest. If they even can rest right now.

No taxis. He considers the option of calling an Uber, but worries about that being traced. His side was never very good with technology, but Aziraphale's?

"We need a place to regroup," he says. "Let's----" Where, though?

[salutosinedelectat]

Not that any level of exhaustion that can actually affect them is that easy to get rid of. But a breath and the minimal feeling of safety could really help out here.

Aziraphale doesn't try to complete Crowley's suggestion, in fact vaguely feels like there isn't really one. "Maybe we can find somewhere with more people. Surely there'll be other ways to move around." Like buses, undergrounds...something.