Work Text:
10:32: Aziraphale decides he might as well open the shop today
- Crowley is laying on the couch in the backroom still drinking coffee, he immediately starts refreshing the subreddit about the bookshop awaiting the first alert that the shop is open
10:33: the veteran spotter in the shop diagonally across the street is the first to catch it and make a post on reddit
- The post is quickly upvoted
10:35: a long time participant in the subreddit and a Soho resident responds, wishing luck to everyone hoping to make it to the shop today
10:39: the bell rings the first time, Aziraphale is nowhere in sight
10:40: a photo is posted to the subreddit showing the open sign with a message saying “I made it”
10:42: someone posts asking if anyone thinks they might be able to get away with photographing pages in some of the books for thesis research
10:43: the post asking about photos gets mixed responses
- Crowley comments that they might get help if they politely talk to the shop owner first, a risky move but it might pay off
10:47: Aziraphale reappears with a stack of books in hand, he pokes his head through the door, sees Crowley has not moved, and continues with what he was doing
10:48: the bell rings again, there are two quiet voices and the sound of footsteps disappearing into the stacks
10:49: a post asks if anyone has ever been to the second floor
- The bell rings again, a larger group this time shushing one of their number
10:56: a new post asks if the shop is safe since they thought it burned down
- Crowley comments that it’s safe as long as they watch out for the snakes
- A debate breaks out in the replies about the presence of snakes in the shop and how many there actually are
10:58: more arrivals
- A comment insists that they’ve been to the shop a number of times over the years and that the singular snake has only appeared recently but is overall very tame (Crowley makes a mental note to attempt to bite them on their next visit)
10:59: baby gay with a backpack arrives looking nervous
11:04: someone has located Aziraphale and is tentatively making conversation
11:05: more arrivals
11:07: identity of the someone who had located Aziraphale is revealed as the baby gay as the two of them cross the floor under the oculus, deep in conversation, and disappear back into the aisles
11:10: Crowley finishes his coffee and creeps after Aziraphale
- From the conversation he is able to determine that baby gay was the poster asking about thesis research
11:11: Crowley resigns himself to a long open day and returns to the backroom and the debate about the number of snakes in the shop
11:13: Crowley makes plans to surprise one of the members that split off from the large group that had entered earlier, no matter how much he warns people, they never check for snakes hiding on top of books
[An interlude which might include a hand reaching for a book and finding scales instead, followed by a rather loud shriek. Assuming said interlude happened, Aziraphale might have something to say about it later. Maybe.]
12:45: On his return to the backroom, Crowley checks in on the thesis research again, wondering if Aziraphale might be tempted away to lunch, Aziraphale seems invested
12:46: Crowley rules out napping in a window so that the person he might’ve scared can’t prove definitively to their friends that there was a snake
12:47: he stretches out on the backroom couch and back into a human shape
- He checks reddit again to see a post reading “you guys were NOT kidding about the snake but none of my friends saw it so they don’t believe me” and laughs to himself
1:03: Crowley has nearly drifted off when he’s startled back to wakefulness by someone bumping into the doorframe trying to back out of the backroom
- He lifts his head, they raise their hands in a defensive posture and turn and flee
- The bell rings on their way out
1:22: a new post appears “made a mistake and went into a room i don’t think i was meant to be in, there was a redhead just napping???”
1:23: the Soho resident returns, shocked that a newbie finally saw “the fucking redhead” and insisting that he is not a myth made up by longtime subreddit participants or Soho residents
1:24: a brief argument breaks out in the comments over Crowley’s gender or whether or not they’re even all talking about the same person
1:26: “a new kid saw the redhead, this is vindication, I don’t even care”
1:27: the conversation slows
- The bell rings as someone comes in
1:30: one of the subreddit spotters in a nearby shop posts “3hrs and still open but don’t count on this continuing all day if you still want to make it”
1:42: someone new enters the shop
- Crowley has finally fallen asleep
1:50: “can we talk for just a second, cause I met the redhead 26 years ago and he hasn’t aged a damn day”