Chapter Text
The first thing Aziraphale noticed as he was slipped into the new body (Uriel had called it a ‘corporation’) was the sheer volume of new sensations. It’s not that angels didn’t experience the world around them. Quite the opposite, in fact. No, it wasn’t Aziraphale’s external perception that was startling, it was just how much he could feel coming from within himself.
Angels, as a rule, didn’t produce sensation, they absorbed it from their surroundings. In his true form Aziraphale could hear the swish of his wings as he flew through the halls, could smell the new sunshine on the new grass when he was down in the Garden, could even feel the Peace which radiated from everything in creation. Now, in this new corporation, he was immediately overwhelmed by it. His senses were just as they were before, but now he could feel himself as well.
Twinges from his midsection should be expected, he had been told. This was hunger, and it meant he had to eat. Well, at least that was one feeling identified. He could feel the force of the floor as it pressed up into his feet. He felt a tingle in his eyes and his body closed them for an instant, banishing the sensation. This would take some getting used to, but the Principality thought he could learn to enjoy this new way of being.
In the Garden, Aziraphale went about his duties joyfully, reveling in the Love emanating from everything around him. Adam and Eve were simply lovely, and he was really starting to grow fond of the pleasures food could bring. It wasn’t long, however, until he discovered another sensation buried deep within his corporation, initially overpowered by the blast of new experiences. He didn’t know how to describe it. It was sort of a tingle, like when he’d kept his eyes open for too long, but duller and stronger and less sparkly, and it didn’t go away with a blink. Instead it permeated his entire body, focusing primarily on the places where his bones connected. It wasn’t pleasant. Occasionally, such as when Aziraphale stepped wrong or reached too high to get a particularly juicy-looking pear, the feeling would shift to something almost hot. It would flare and then calm back down to the ever present tingle, sometimes making it stronger for a while. The angel also noticed that his joints had a tendency to crack and pop as he moved, sometimes producing a relaxed feeling, and sometimes making the hot burning flare in his bones. Moving around the Garden was a bit difficult, but if the humans could do it, then by Goodness, so could Aziraphale.
The three inhabitants of the Garden traipsed joyfully around together for God knows how long. Aziraphale fell down fairly often, his ankles buckling on nothing at all, but he figured he’d get the hang of this body eventually.
Then came the Last Night. Adam and Eve had partaken of the Forbidden Fruit, and Aziraphale, concerned for their safety once outside the Garden, had given them his flaming sword. Now he stood on the wall, watching as his two beloved companions fled into the desert.
Aziraphale shifted slightly from foot to foot, keeping his back as straight as possible. He had discovered that this lessened the dull tingling feeling. He had his wing extended over the demon next to him, shielding him from the First Rain. Their talk had been both gratifying and confusing. He’d never spoken with a demon before, and it was not what he had expected.
“I do hope they’ll be all right…” he said again, worriedly.
“‘Course they will be. She made ‘em tough, yeah? She wouldn’t destroy her favorite creations the first night out.” The demon, he had said his name was Crawly, looked over at the Principality.
At that moment, Aziraphale suddenly felt that hot feeling run through his back and into the wing he was using to shade Crawly. It was more intense than it ever had been and it made Aziraphale shiver involuntarily.
“What’s up, angel? Something wrong with your wing?” Something flashed across the demon’s face as he said this but was gone as quickly as it had come.
Aziraphale was suddenly unwilling to tell this strangely kind demon about the feeling, opting instead for a slightly hurried “Oh, no dear boy. I was merely shaking the water from my feathers. It’s a new sensation! Quite extraordinary.” He stopped himself before he began to ramble.
They were quiet for several minutes until Crawly broke the silence. “D’you think She’ll follow through with her curse on Eve? To make childbirth hurt worse than anything?”
Aziraphale was slightly confused. “I’m sure she will. The Almighty wouldn’t have said it if She didn’t mean it. Truly though, I’m not entirely sure what she meant.”
“You… You mean you don’t know what pain is, angel?”
“Of- of course I do!” he replied, somewhat defensively. Aziraphale had heard the word before. He knew it was invented during the Fall as punishment for those like Crawly who turned away from the Almighty’s Grace. Even so, he wasn’t sure he understood the concept, but Crawly didn’t need to know that.
“It’s Hell…” whispered his companion.