Convention
Adam Young was 16 years old, as were his friends, and the Them had gotten very interested in super hero movies. Pepper was, of course, all about the strong women like Wonder Woman and Scarlet Witch. She didn't feel the need to choose between one comic company or another. Strong female leads were all that mattered to her. The boys, however, quite often argued about which company was better, though Brian and Adam were on the side of Marvel and Wensleydale was most definitely a fan of DC. The arguments didn't matter, though, because they had another problem entirely. They all desperately wanted to go to Comic Con.
"But that's in America." Wensleydale said.
"Quite aware of that." Adam said rather annoyed.
"And the tickets sold out in minutes." Brian muttered.
"Yes." Pepper nodded. "It would take an actual miracle for even one of us to get to go." She sighed. It would have been ever so nice, though.
"Yes." Adam said with a sudden smile on his face. "An actual miracle." He grinned and pulled the mobile phone out of his pocket, dialing a number that he'd kept handy just in case of things like this.
"What do you want?" Crowley said as he answered the phone without looking at the caller ID. It was how he answered the phone for everyone, except for Aziraphale.
"Mr. Crowley. It's me, Adam." He said with a grin. Suddenly the Them were a much happier bunch.
"Adam, how are you boy?" Crowley's tone changed immediately. He did actually like the lad, though he wouldn't admit that to anyone else. And he'd made sure that they stayed in touch. If he were honest with himself he would agree that it was to make sure he really was human instead of still the Antichrist, but that was just part of it.
"I'm doing alright." Adam said a little sadly. Had to put on a show, after all.
"What's wrong?" Crowley was about ninety percent certain he was being played so that Adam could get something, but he really didn't care at the moment. He was bored and it could end up being something fun.
"Well, you see, there's this convention in America. You might have heard of it. A lot of people just call it Comic Con." He tried to keep his tone even. Didn't want to let anything slip.
"Yes, I have heard of it. Very hard to get into, that convention. Lots of big name celebrities." Crowley nodded even though Adam couldn't see it.
"Well, it would just mean the absolute world to me and my friends if we could possibly get a chance to go." He tried to put a bit of a pout in his voice.
"And it would take a bit of a miracle for that to happen, yes?" There it was. He'd known all along that Adam wanted something.
"Yes, exactly. Would that....be possible?" The Them stared at Adam in hopeful anticipation of an answer.
"I'm not quite sure." Crowley said with a smirk on his lips. "I would need actual written permission from your parents and I would need to talk to Aziraphale."
"Why is that?" Adam was actually pouting now.
"You don't honestly think your parents will just let you go to America by yourselves, do you? Especially the little bespectacled one?" He never bothered to remember any of their names other than Adam and Pepper. Pepper was only because she threatened to douse him with holy water if he didn't stop calling her "the girl."
"Well, that's very true." Adam nodded. "But why Aziraphale?"
"Because it'll be an absolute riot to see him trying to handle that." Crowley said with a laugh. "You talk to your parents and I'll talk to the angel and then I'll get back to you. And Adam.....I'll know if the signatures are forged, got it?" He was actually kind of hoping they would be. A smidgen of rebellion never hurt anyone.
"Yes, absolutely." Adam nodded and hung up the phone, already explaining everything to his friends.
"What is this again?" Aziraphale asked as Crowley paced in his shop.
"It's a convention. Comic books and movies and the like. The kids love it." He shrugged. While comic book conventions hadn't been an invention of Crowley's, he took credit for the irritation caused by the long queues and the short windows of opportunity for meeting your favorite celebrity.
"Ah, yes. I've heard of it. It sounds dreadful." He shook his head.
"It can be quite fun, actually. We'd be able to be ourselves and no one would think twice about it." Crowley said with a grin.
"Be ourselves?" Aziraphale tilted his head a bit. Crowley stepped to a spot that he knew wouldn't cause any damage. He removed his sunglasses and let his wings out for all to see.
"I can walk around like this and no one will even question it. It'll be brilliant." He grinned. Aziraphale just stared at him for a moment.
"You can't be serious?" He was absolutely shocked at the idea.
"Completely serious." Crowley nodded. He folded his wings back into hiding and slipped his sunglasses back on, not that it mattered to the angel what his eyes looked like. "I could even slither a bit and everyone would think it absolutely amazing." He chuckled at the thought.
"That's absolutely preposterous." Aziraphale shook his head.
"Well, I'm going either way. Promised the kids and all. I'll be gone for about a week, maybe two depending what they want to do. So, are you going to spend a fortnight here in your bookshop?" Crowley left out the obvious "without me" that was hanging at the end of his question. "Or are you going to come with us and have a bit of fun?"
"I don't know...." Aziraphale really wasn't sure it was the best idea, but he didn't like the thought of Crowley being in charge of four teenagers all by himself. He could temp them into doing all kinds of horrible things.
"You know, it takes place in San Diego. We could nip over to the zoo or spend some time on the pier....plenty of restaurants for you to try....." Food was always a good way to get Aziraphale's attention. He had to hide the obvious grin when the angel sat up a little straighter and smiled.
"Well....if you put it that way....." Aziraphale smirked. "I guess a little trip over to America couldn't be all bad."
"Exactly." Crowley nodded. "It'll be loads of fun, you'll see."
"But that's in America." Wensleydale said.
"Quite aware of that." Adam said rather annoyed.
"And the tickets sold out in minutes." Brian muttered.
"Yes." Pepper nodded. "It would take an actual miracle for even one of us to get to go." She sighed. It would have been ever so nice, though.
"Yes." Adam said with a sudden smile on his face. "An actual miracle." He grinned and pulled the mobile phone out of his pocket, dialing a number that he'd kept handy just in case of things like this.
"What do you want?" Crowley said as he answered the phone without looking at the caller ID. It was how he answered the phone for everyone, except for Aziraphale.
"Mr. Crowley. It's me, Adam." He said with a grin. Suddenly the Them were a much happier bunch.
"Adam, how are you boy?" Crowley's tone changed immediately. He did actually like the lad, though he wouldn't admit that to anyone else. And he'd made sure that they stayed in touch. If he were honest with himself he would agree that it was to make sure he really was human instead of still the Antichrist, but that was just part of it.
"I'm doing alright." Adam said a little sadly. Had to put on a show, after all.
"What's wrong?" Crowley was about ninety percent certain he was being played so that Adam could get something, but he really didn't care at the moment. He was bored and it could end up being something fun.
"Well, you see, there's this convention in America. You might have heard of it. A lot of people just call it Comic Con." He tried to keep his tone even. Didn't want to let anything slip.
"Yes, I have heard of it. Very hard to get into, that convention. Lots of big name celebrities." Crowley nodded even though Adam couldn't see it.
"Well, it would just mean the absolute world to me and my friends if we could possibly get a chance to go." He tried to put a bit of a pout in his voice.
"And it would take a bit of a miracle for that to happen, yes?" There it was. He'd known all along that Adam wanted something.
"Yes, exactly. Would that....be possible?" The Them stared at Adam in hopeful anticipation of an answer.
"I'm not quite sure." Crowley said with a smirk on his lips. "I would need actual written permission from your parents and I would need to talk to Aziraphale."
"Why is that?" Adam was actually pouting now.
"You don't honestly think your parents will just let you go to America by yourselves, do you? Especially the little bespectacled one?" He never bothered to remember any of their names other than Adam and Pepper. Pepper was only because she threatened to douse him with holy water if he didn't stop calling her "the girl."
"Well, that's very true." Adam nodded. "But why Aziraphale?"
"Because it'll be an absolute riot to see him trying to handle that." Crowley said with a laugh. "You talk to your parents and I'll talk to the angel and then I'll get back to you. And Adam.....I'll know if the signatures are forged, got it?" He was actually kind of hoping they would be. A smidgen of rebellion never hurt anyone.
"Yes, absolutely." Adam nodded and hung up the phone, already explaining everything to his friends.
"What is this again?" Aziraphale asked as Crowley paced in his shop.
"It's a convention. Comic books and movies and the like. The kids love it." He shrugged. While comic book conventions hadn't been an invention of Crowley's, he took credit for the irritation caused by the long queues and the short windows of opportunity for meeting your favorite celebrity.
"Ah, yes. I've heard of it. It sounds dreadful." He shook his head.
"It can be quite fun, actually. We'd be able to be ourselves and no one would think twice about it." Crowley said with a grin.
"Be ourselves?" Aziraphale tilted his head a bit. Crowley stepped to a spot that he knew wouldn't cause any damage. He removed his sunglasses and let his wings out for all to see.
"I can walk around like this and no one will even question it. It'll be brilliant." He grinned. Aziraphale just stared at him for a moment.
"You can't be serious?" He was absolutely shocked at the idea.
"Completely serious." Crowley nodded. He folded his wings back into hiding and slipped his sunglasses back on, not that it mattered to the angel what his eyes looked like. "I could even slither a bit and everyone would think it absolutely amazing." He chuckled at the thought.
"That's absolutely preposterous." Aziraphale shook his head.
"Well, I'm going either way. Promised the kids and all. I'll be gone for about a week, maybe two depending what they want to do. So, are you going to spend a fortnight here in your bookshop?" Crowley left out the obvious "without me" that was hanging at the end of his question. "Or are you going to come with us and have a bit of fun?"
"I don't know...." Aziraphale really wasn't sure it was the best idea, but he didn't like the thought of Crowley being in charge of four teenagers all by himself. He could temp them into doing all kinds of horrible things.
"You know, it takes place in San Diego. We could nip over to the zoo or spend some time on the pier....plenty of restaurants for you to try....." Food was always a good way to get Aziraphale's attention. He had to hide the obvious grin when the angel sat up a little straighter and smiled.
"Well....if you put it that way....." Aziraphale smirked. "I guess a little trip over to America couldn't be all bad."
"Exactly." Crowley nodded. "It'll be loads of fun, you'll see."
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