Chapter Text
the day before yom kippur, Crowley and Zirfl go to London, hoping to hear a kol nidre service at a distance so as not to overwhelm Zirfl.
they run into Ligur who is actually looking for Crowley. Ligur has discovered some joys of living among humans and has been trying new things like fashion, reptile/amphibian keeping, steak, etc.... he wants more.
he still thinks of Crowley as dangerous and unhinged, and reckons he will have to threaten or blackmail him to find out how to leave H&H.
Zirfl is ready to protect and/or attack.
instead, Crowley runs to Ligur and begs his forgiveness for, um, killing him (normally one of like 2 unpardonable sins, because normally the dead can't forgive ppl). asks is there anything he can do to make it up to him.
Ligur is like, i don't care, i don't like you, but that's in the past, just tell me how to get out.
Crowley tells him how (something to do with imagination) and tells him they are trying to compile all the knowledge they can about how the Angelic and Demonic world functions and make it available to anyone from H&H that wants to know. Ligur is welcome to contribute or learn from it or whatever.
meanwhile, Anatema and Newt travel to meet her parents in California and her extended family in Colombia.
during the flights, Anatema has to drug Newt so that he doesn't interfere with the airplanes' functioning. he doesn't agree with her theory but does accept the experiment, provided she videos it all. when she shows him afterwards, he finally believes that he has a severe version of that syndrome, idk what it's called, when people have too much electric current in their bodies. [this is real, i know like 3 people that have it.] of course this explains his "special talents" with electronics.
he experiences some class-weirdness around meeting the inlaws, because of how wealthy her parents are. also he almost can't get in their house because he breaks the alarm system every time he passes through the door. but they kind of have to accept him because he was in the prophecies after all.
Newt has a better time in Antioquia(?) meeting Anatema's abuelitos, who are regular people... they warm to him when they see how eager he is to learn sefardi recipes and regional handcrafts and other oldschool stuff that not everyone has time for anymore.
Zirfl and Crowley go back to the bookshop for research reasons. Zirfl isn't supposed to go inside yet, because he's still not ready.
Crowley is deep in the stacks looking for whatever human books have whatever partially correct information on Ethereal and Occult forces, and doesn't hear/smell the door being miracled open.
Gabriel has broken into the shop, with Uriel as backup. they were passing through London on a Heavenly Errand, and felt something peculiar emanating from the area. Uriel doesn't tell Gabriel, but she's much more curious than their bosses would approve of.
they confront Crowley, who on a mad impulse tells them the truth, both about gathering forbidden knowledge and the possibility that anyone can leave H&H.
turns out what the angelicals felt/smelt is some combination of love, curiosity, and free will. it's intoxicating to Uriel, who has tired of the H&H routine and feels she's capable of more than the roles open to her there.
Gabriel somehow lets slip that he was the one who joked about making Zirfl's "fall" literal, but he didn't think anybody would actually do it. he's not exactly worried about Zirfl, but definitely curious.
Crowley attacks Gabriel and they have some sort of mental battle. maybe they go in one of Crowley's time bubbles(?). it's violent and messy, but not in a physical sense and not in the bookshop. that place has suffered enough haha
Uriel doesn't join, suddenly realising she is always being used as muscle and she's sick of it.
Zirfl has been following this all through the bookshop windows, catching most of the conflict through ineffable senses. he knows Crowley won't hold out for long, because he doesn't have his full powers anymore.
Zirfl gathers up all his strength and teleports Gabriel... somewhere. it doesn't matter where, at least he's out of their hair for now.
but oops, Uriel is still here and Zirfl has fallen asleep on the front stoop of the bookshop, never actually getting inside.
Crowley and Uriel exchange some kind of nonverbal signals of mutual respect. she leaves, but she's intrigued... and she has already started to rebel. this is not the last they'll see of her.
with Anatema and Newt still overseas, Crowley is experimenting even more in the cottage's garden.
he trains his trees and vines to form a canopy and walls... maybe not quite kosher but the kids think it's the best sukkah ever.
Pepper's mum and Brian's family turn out to be Jewish too (they were actually all at that Rosh Hashanah service in Oxford that Crowley and Zirfl attended, but missed each other in the crowds... probably for the best considering how that went) so Crowley has them over for dinner during sukkot. Zirfl does magic tricks, badly, and charms everyone.
the Them have sleepovers in the sukkah when the weather is good (which it still is surprisingly often), even after the holiday is over. looking up through the branches, they watch the stars. Adam gets the feeling that the names of all the stars (not their astronomy or even astrology names, but their real names) are on the tip of his tongue. he doesn't tell the others, so as not to freak them out.
later, Crowley shows him which galaxies he worked on.