A little slice of heaven and hell

20. Nightly dwellings

Follow our friends as they explore the night in Portland.

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The rest of that week went by pretty calmly. Every night they spend training Samantha and every night she grew a bit stronger and wiser. On the last night of their stay, they decided to make the trip to Portland. They had decided they would spend the night there, just roaming around a bit and messing around with miracles that involved people. Crowley was slightly excited about it. This was his terrain, this was where he felt comfortable. Walking in the shadows, messing with people, that was his business and he loved it. Aziraphale mainly disapproved of it, but it did turn out quite handy if there was something he really wanted that was in the hands of some shady people. On a few occasions Aziraphale had asked of Crowley to go and fetch a particular book for him from a place he didn't feel comfortable enough going to. On most occasions Aziraphale would be watching from a distance and if things went south, he never failed to jump in and help his friend out of trouble.

They decided to go to a pub first to celebrate their last evening of their vacation in Charmouth. They chose a busy pub where they could chat as much as they liked, finding a nice table somewhere close to a window. They all got something nice to drink and settled down. Aziraphale observed the people a bit and smiled sometimes at the merrymaking being done around. Alcohol might have been made by the demons, and he secretly suspected Crowley to have been the one to plant the idea in their heads, but it sometimes made for an easy conversation starter and a way for people to connect and come together.

And Aziraphale wouldn't be able to disapprove a drunk person for being that wasted, as he recalled himself being in that state more than once as well, although most of them had happened in the safety of his library, in company of a most tempting demon. He could also quite enjoy the taste of some of the beverages. There were enough excuses as to why he enjoyed alcoholic drinks, but all of those excuses were as weak as the others.

Samantha leaned back in her chair and stretched. "So, last night of your vacation. Tough I guess it totally didn't go as you two had planned."
Aziraphale chuckled. "No it didn't. Quite the opposite. But we had the daytimes to explore the area. We have made some lovely walks, conversations and we have seen a lot of nice things. So I am quite content with how it went. The situation fitted together quite nicely."

"Yes I agree on that one." said Crowley. "When you went to work in the daytimes, we took the opportunity to explore the area and take long walks on the beach. We also went swimming, to my surprise."
"How so to your surprise?" asked Aziraphale with a frown. "Did you think I didn't enjoy swimming?"
"You don't strike me as a person who likes being exposed like that. Tough your bathing suit left a lot to the imaginary. His bathing fashion has pretty much stayed stuck in the late 80's to the early 90's.", explained Crowley.
Aziraphale frowned at him. "Well I quite liked the fashion back then. It doesn't show too much, but is also very comfortable to wear."
Samantha giggled now. "Well it doesn't matter what you were wearing, as long as you had a good time. Although I can imagine you getting weird looks for a hopelessly outdated fashion."
Crowley shrugged now. "Neh, not really. A little deflection on their sight does miracles." he said and he winked at her over his glasses."
"Oh of course, I should have known. Anyhow, I am glad you have enjoyed your stay here. You may always come back, although I'd say you wait a few years so rumours will fade away. Otherwise you'll need to have discuses, or use your miracles all the time for people not to recognise you." said Samantha.

"Yes, we were talking about that as well. It is better to stay away from this place for a bit. Even though we did have a lot of fun, it wouldn't be all too wise. And by the way, there are more than enough other places we haven't been yet. So I don't think we should be too sad about it.", explained Aziraphale.