(Untitled)

[aj_crawley]

" - just think we ought to consider the possibility that it was sent to us for a reason, my dear. That's all."

"Yeah, well. That's what he said."

Three figures tromp down the stairs into the bar, one after the other. First Andrew, slightly dusty but no worse for the wear after his morning adventure. Then Aziraphael, clutching a large, dark volume

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[stilljustandrew]

"Yeah, 'fraid not," he says with a sigh. "It's full-on crazytimes here."

[aj_crawley]

"And nobody can figure out why?"

They're drifting in the vague direction of a table, but Crowley can't quite seem to tear his eyes from the glowing red crystal bobbing above the Bar.

Something feels really off about this place; something he can't ever really remember picking up in Milliways before. If Aziraphael once told him that he could feel a great sense of love surrounding Lower Tadfield, then this is the opposite of that. It's...

Well, it gives Crowley the willies, is what.

[a_fell]

He clutches the Book as though it will provide reassurance (though it really, really doesn't). The place looks like - well, he's been in war zones and this isn't really comparable, but if the Bar had been detonated in the middle of business, it could hardly look worse. It's more random, more chaotic, than any bomb, though. Moreso than he's ever seen.

He follows Andrew and Crowley toward a table, hoping. This has not often turned out to be the best plan.

[stilljustandrew]

"If anyone has figured out why," he says, settling into a chair, "they haven't announced it or anything. And my bet is no they haven't."

[aj_crawley]

"Fantastic," Crowley says, flumping down in the seat opposite. "Exactly what I needed to brighten up my winter."

If he sounds a little bitter, it's not directed at Andrew (or not precisely, anyway) so much as at the universe in general.

Is this because he wheedled Aziraphael into an extra week in Dominical? It is, isn't it.

[a_fell]

Crowley can be quite persuasive.

Nevertheless.

"How long have things been like this? Since you were first able to notice, of course."

He puts the book reverently onto the table and takes a seat between them, patting Crowley's hand in reassurance.

[stilljustandrew]

"Things maybe started getting weird a week or two ago? But it was, you know, nothing that much weirder than the usual at first. And then gradually ..." He gestures. "Frog-boiling time."

[aj_crawley]

Crowley wrinkles his nose slightly at Andrew's choice of words.

"Speak for yourself. As someone new to the pot, I can tell you that something's seriously - not right, here. And I don't just mean the new grunge aesthetic."

[a_fell]

He looks sadly at the Book.

"So it's getting worse. Has been getting worse. May in fact continue to get worse. 'Good luck,' she says, and she's always so exact." He looks back up at Andrew.

"I don't suppose you found anything else of use in your library search, my dear?"

[stilljustandrew]

He shakes his head. "I mean, I got a little sidetracked, but -- if I go back in there I might wind up anywhere. I think we might be stuck with what we've got."

A small, unhappy laugh. "And I'm not sure there's anything to find, even if we had more time. I mean, it's -- any one of these would be an all-out doomsday scenario by itself, and they're all happening at once. What are we supposed to do, let them fight it out?"

[aj_crawley]

"I don't know - maybe?" Crowley sits up a little straighter in his chair, gesturing at their surroundings. "I mean, look, Milliways has existed here for I don't even know how long. At the end of the bloody universe, even. Universes. What could possibly turn up that's more dangerous than literally the end of everything?"

[a_fell]

"Yes, perhaps we should," he agrees slowly. "Though I'm not certain Milliways can contain all this, even if they cancel one another out. There are cracks and... odd things in here, and earthquakes, to say nothing of what goes on outside."

He looks, somewhat against his will, at the Observation Window.

"Though I've no idea what we can do about it."

[stilljustandrew]

"If there could be some way to literally turn them against each other ... I mean, who hasn't wanted to know what would happen if Galactus fought Unicron?"

[aj_crawley]

Crowley... maintains a diplomatic silence on this subject.

Because if he doesn't, Aziraphael will bring up his James Bond window stickers.

Instead, he turns to Aziraphael and says: "That's exactly my point. Why shouldn't Milliways be able to contain it? It's weathered that - " he points to the conflagration outside the Observation Window, " - for who knows how long. What's a few cracks and earthquakes compared to that?"

Honestly, Aziraphael, apply a little logic to the interdimensional magic bar at the end of the universe.

[a_fell]

He looks blankly at Andrew for a moment, and starts to open his mouth to ask a question he really doesn't want the answer to before Crowley mercifully cuts him off with his comment.

"Yes," Aziraphael says. "But if we're wrong..."

He isn't sure what the conclusion to that sentence is, but it can't be anything good. It probably involves explosions.

[stilljustandrew]

"Yeah, if there was ever a time to err on the side of caution I think this might be it."