Crawley rose from the cold dirt, breathing in the crisp air of the garden. His eyes taking a while to adjust to the radiant sun, after all, Hell was always dark and gloomy. Before him were variations of plants and wildflowers, all blooming in the sunlight. In the corner of his eye he saw a slow movement, he tensed up expecting danger. Quickly swiveling his head, he saw a man admiring the colorful petals. He was dressed head to toe in white, his cloud like wings outstretched behind him, recently preened from the looks of them. He couldn't be a man. He was too... perfect. He had soft pale skin and his eyes were light in color. He was beaming at something, as though the flowers were talking to him. If they were, what they said must have been rather funny, because now the man was laughing. His laugh was more of a soft chuckle, though, like autumn leaves in a breeze. "He's an angel." Crawley thought. "My angel. What?No, he's not my angel. Why would I say that?" Crawley's face grew hot, something a demon rarely ever experienced. He was embarrassed. Ashamed of himself for thinking such a horrible thought. Him? Liking an angel? Never in 6,000 years. But now, he was slowly slithering towards him, although still being timid. He thought it would be better to watch from afar for the time that they're there.
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TWO DAYS LATER
Crawley was still in snake form, laying down by a large rock that sat in a clearing in the center of the garden. He heard slight ruffling of the leaves behind him. His eyes flashed open, immediately alert to the situation. The angel emerged from the greenery, his eyes lighting up as he took in the scenery. Obviously not noticing the black snake in the grass, he sat down roughly 10 feet from Crawley. The demon moved back a little out of instinct and flicked out his serpent tongue. The angel, surprised by the sudden movement squinted his eyes to see Crawley backing up defensively. "Oh, dear, I am so sorry! I did not mean to frighten you, little creature." Crawley's scales tingled at the sound of the angels voice. How could someone sound so caring? "Oh what magnificent eyes you have!" The angel said as he looked closer at the serpent, taking in the sight of Crawley's vivid yellow eyes. Crawley cocked his head at this strange comment, no one EVER compliments you in Hell, so it was a first for him. Wanting to get back to his nap, Crawley slithered off into the shrubbery, looking back as he was just about to be out of sight. The angel gave a weak wave and focused his attention back on the motley sunset in the distance.
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THE FINAL DAY
It finally came, the day where Crawley could complete the job he was sent up to earth for. The serpent sprouted up from the still fresh soil and took a deep breath of the lush air, listening to a waterfall babbling in the background. Standing in front of him was a human, God's latest project. It was a woman, named Eve. Crawley noted that she looked very much like demons and but without the... grime. There was also an apple tree, the very one in particular that he was sent to infiltrate. Crawley brought himself up to Eve's height, quietly whispering in her ear "Take ittttt" . Eve lifted her hand without hesitation and picked an apple off the branch. She took a bite out of the forbidden fruit, looking up with a mischievous grin. His job was done, as long as Eve did the other half for him, tempting Adam to take a bite as well. He realized that he rather like this job, tempting humans. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if the angel would be staying on earth, too. After he watched both of them enjoy the vibrant red apple, he made his way up to one of the walls of the garden. He was getting pretty lonely, so he decided to try and strike up conversation with the angel. Once he got to the top, he morphed into his demon form and showed off his freshly preened, sleek, black wings. It obviously caught the angels attention as planned. "Well that went down like a lead balloon" Crawley said, having not used his voice in months. The angel gave a soft chuckle.
"Sorry, what was that?" He said with a rather quiet voice.
"I said 'well that went down like a lead ballon'" Crawley spoke, turning his head to the angel. He looked back into the distance and agreed, taking in the dark storm clouds forming. "Bit of an over reaction if you ask me, first offense and everything. I can't see what's so bad about knowing the difference between good and evil anyway." The angel gave Crawley a confused look after he said that and spoke,
"Well it must be bad..."
"Crawley"
"...Crawley. Otherwise, you wouldn't have tempted them into it" the angel stated, matter of factly.
"Oh, they just said, 'get up there and make some trouble'"
"Obviously, your a demon," The angel looked him up and down out of the corner of his pale blue eyes. "It's what you do."
"Not very subtle of the almighty, though." The demon countered, "Fruit tree in the middle of a garden with a don't touch sign, I mean why not put it on the top of a high mountain? Or on the moon? Makes you wonder what gods really planning."
"Best not to speculate, it's all part of the great plan. It's not for us to understand... it's ineffable" the angel said, puffing out his chest and standing taller saying the last bit.
"The great plans ineffable?" the demon said with furrowed eyebrows.
"Exactly. It is beyond understanding and incapable of being put into words."
"Didn't you have a flaming sword?" said Crawley, forgetting about the previous topic. "You did, it was flaming like anything, what happened to it?" The angel fumbled with his words, so Crawley just cut him off, "lost already, haven't you?"
"Gave it away..." the man said in a soft mumble.
"You what??" Crawley asked with a smirk, keeping his laughter down.
"I gave it away!" The angel said, louder this time. "There are vicious animals. It's going to be cold out there, and she's expecting already!" Crowley just watched, the grin on his face even larger. "And I said, 'here you go, flaming sword. Don't thank me. And don't let the sun go down on you here'. I do hope I didn't do the wrong thing" he said with a worried look on his face.
"Oh, you're an angel, I don't think you can do the wrong thing" Crawley said semi-sarcastically.
"Oh, oh, thank- oh, thank you" The angel replied looking very relieved, listening to a lion growl in the distance, "it's been bothering me."
"I've been worrying, too. What if I did the right thing with the whole 'eat the apple' business? A demon can get into a lot of trouble for doing the right thing. Be funny if we both got it wrong, eh? If I did the good thing and you did the bad one." The demon stated, chuckling at the end. The angel laughed along, not getting it.
"No! It wouldn't be funny at all!" He said, finally realizing.
The first rain on earth started to begin, the slight patter of the drops sounded on the stone wall. The angel lifted up his left wing to shield the demon from the cold rain as they both watched Adam and Eve walk off into the distance. If you asked Crawley he certainly wouldn't admit it, be he rather liked the time he just spent with the innocent angel.
