Neutral Omens

Loki started, gave Adam a sidewards look, then as casually as he could make it stepped behind Uriel. Maybe it wasn't fair to expose the pregnant angel to danger like that, but she wasn't scared of Adam, carried daggers wherever she went and knew how to use them. Loki on the other hand felt sick and weak, had no idea how to counter Adam's powers and didn't even have a single wolf with him.

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Adam stepped forward, concern creasing his brow. "You feelin' okay, Loki?"

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Remus turned gracefully to the door, hiding his own surprise and a smile at Loki's antics. "Good afternoon, Adam," he said kindly. "I'm sure he's fine; you startled us. How long have you been there?"

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"I'm fine." Loki assured Adam hastily. "Just fine."

He retreated a little further behind Uriel.

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"Hi, Remus." Adam gestured back at the door. "I just walked in. What's up?" He peered at Loki again, clearly worried.

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"Well, we were wondering where certain pieces of literature have decided to disappear to," Uriel said. At the same time she made sure to stay between Loki and Adam. She had been both surprised and shocked when Loki had chosen to hide behind her, and she had no idea why he wanted to hide at all, but if Loki didn't want to face the Antichrist, it would be cruel to force him to do so.

"A suggestion was made, however," she continued, "that the Manor might benefit from a librarian. We even got as far as to suggest a person whom we considered good for such a task, but it would cause other, rather problematic questions as of who shall work where and when."

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Remus cleared his throat quietly. "We've suggested Mr. Fell."

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"I'm sure he'd like that," said Adam. "He can find all the books that've gone missin' and catalogue them and get them in order and stuff. But then who'd run the front desk?"

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Uriel could hardly believe she was even considering suggesting this. However, she needed something to do. And besides, sometimes the best way to hide something was to put it in plain sight. Perhaps, if she appeared to have nothing to hide, nobody would wonder about her female appearance.

So, despite herself, she spoke up as a thought crossed her mind. "Well... I could perhaps give it a try," she offered, a bit shyly. "I'm not exactly sure what to do, but if somebody could explain me the basic points of the task, I should be able to handle it just as well as anybody else. It is not like I have much else to do, anyway, so I would definitely have the time."

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Adam positively beamed at her. "That'd be great, Uriel! I'm sure that Remus and Aziraphale wouldn't mind showin' you what to do. And you and Remus can work out your schedules for whatever's most convenient."

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Remus nodded, offering her a smile. "I should be able to handle the teaching, Uriel. May I call you Uriel? It's not very difficult."

He looked at all three of them, and put down his book, spreading his hands. "Did you want to go and surprise Mr. Fell, then? He should be at the desk now..."

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A smile spread onto Uriel's lips. "That sounds definitely like a good idea," she agreed.

Perhaps, if Adam's attention was on Aziraphale, even Loki could relax a bit. He was still hiding behind her, not saying a word, and if Loki was using her as a shield, he was definitely not okay.

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Loki did his best to keep both Uriel and Remus between him and Adam while leaning cautiously closer to the angel.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he whispered hoping she had very good hearing. "I thought you wanted to stay out of sight?"

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Angels did indeed have a very good hearing. "I've tried to stay out of sight, and I keep running into people all the time," she whispered back. "I figured I could just as well try hiding in plain sight. Maybe if I act like there's nothing weird about my appearance, nobody will think there is something amiss."

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"But do you have a story for them, if they ask?" It wasn't so much that she was going to be visible to everybody. It was the fact that she'd be working for Adam. "Can you tell it properly?"

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"I can always say I just needed a change. It's true, anyway. It's just that my body changed all on its own, not asking my opinion first." Had she known about Loki's true worries, she would have been very surprised. After all, Adam was the one she counted on to keep both her and her baby safe.

"I'll have to come up with a story anyway. You could always help me to make it up and then practice it. You should know how to do it convincingly enough."

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Loki glanced nervously at Adam.

"Well, not right now, okay?"

He thought Adam was looking at him. Not good. Not good at all!

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"Well, if we're goin', we might as well go, right?" asked Adam cheerfully, gently herding the others out of the library.

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It was easy enough to have the four of them descend the steps, two sets of stairs before the carpeted floors of the lobby were in view. Remus knew the area he could walk it in his sleep, and after having worked the night this was very similar to walking in his sleep.

He yawned, covering his mouth quickly as they reached the bottom steps. It was obvious, then, that he'd miss what everyone else had stopped for.

"Oh," he said, finally, when he'd got a good look. He was sure he heard a giggle from his left.

There were two people at the desk, rather than the usual one. Mr. Fell was there, in his chair, and bending over him, gripping the collar of his ill-fitting tweed suit, was quite another person entirely. Dark-haired and good-looking, but seemingly reluctant to remove his sunglasses indooors, the man was kissing Mr. Fell rather enthusiastically. Neither of them had noticed the presence of the four.

He hadn't known this about his coworker. Remus glanced at Adam, worried about his reaction.

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In his attempt to avoid Adam Loki ended up reaching the ground floor first and therefore also being the first the couple kissing. He froze.

It wasn't like he was unfamiliar with the concept of homosexuality, of course. He'd even gotten somewhat used to seeing two men kiss thanks to his habit of hanging around all sorts of seedy bars back in America. He knew he was supposed to be tolerant. He could be very tolerant in fact, but seeing an angel kissing a demon and that demon in particular was just plain wrong.

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Uriel couldn't help it. When she saw Crowley kissing Aziraphale, her first reaction was to giggle. It looked so... wrong, in a way, and yet so very right. It was meant to be that way, she thought. The two belonged together.

After a second, however, she turned less amused. She couldn't help but remember Pestilence, remember how he had kissed her, and remember that he would never kiss her again.

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Adam stifled a grin and coughed rather theatrically to alert the oblivious pair to their presence. He tried very hard not to laugh as Crowley sprang back, swore under his breath, and started compulsively straightening his jacket.

"Uhm, Aziraphale? Could we have a word? Unless it's a bad time..."

His mischievous smile did break free then and he beamed at the two who wouldn't have been able to keep their relationship a secret much longer anyway.

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ineffable-angel.livejournal.com

He registered the cough about the same time Crowley did, judging from the sudden stillness of the demon. The angel's eyes flew open - ohdearohdearohdear - and stared horrified into Crowley's, before they sprang - yes, that was the word - apart, frantically straightening and rearranging mussed hair, smoothing clothing.

Slowly, Aziraphale's blond head turned to look at Adam, and his three followers. "Oh." He noted Lupin, distantly, and the bald Loki and the robed Uriel.

"Hello," he added, when no one said anything. Adam's question sunk in. "No, no, no, it's not a bad time at all, do go ahead. Crowley and I were just- just- Er. What did you want to discuss, dear boy?"

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