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az_fellYou might, if you were very polite about the manner in which you posited the idea, be forgiven for accusing the angel Aziraphale of being in a fussy mood of late. Not, of course, that anyone has been around him so consistently as to be in the position to make any accusations, of late. And not, of course, that he minds that. It's been lovely. So peaceful! Customers come into the bookshop1. Aziraphale ushers them about with his very best bedside manner2. They leave, and then he can settle in with a rare volume and a cup of tea. All the way he likes it.
Whether he has or has not been fussy, which he would prefer to leave up for debate, he is distracted. Not by anything in particular. Only by the lack of looming Apocalypse, most likely.
"Shelved by translator instead of author, really," Aziraphale is muttering to himself as he opens the door from the back of his shop, and that's the mildly regrettable story of how he walks through one doorway only to find himself in the foyer of an unfamiliar, slightly garish-looking mansion, holding a fairly rare, middlingly expensive illustrated and translated copy of The Book of Wisdom and Lies. Anyone in attendance will see what appears to be a neatly-groomed kindly homosexual man in a waistcoat. Some of those impressions are accurate.
"Oh," says Aziraphale, "bother."3
1Sometimes. When the principality in question is in the correct mood.
2In this case, "best" means "most likely, despite utter plausible deniability and consummate solicitousness, to dissuade making a return visit or any purchases."
3This is what's known as a callback. The author is trying to remind you of something. For instance, two characters might be narrative foils; one is a demon, given to profanity, and the other an angel, disinclined to curse.4 Is it working?
4Except when it suits him, which is occasionally (more often than he would admit).
Whether he has or has not been fussy, which he would prefer to leave up for debate, he is distracted. Not by anything in particular. Only by the lack of looming Apocalypse, most likely.
"Shelved by translator instead of author, really," Aziraphale is muttering to himself as he opens the door from the back of his shop, and that's the mildly regrettable story of how he walks through one doorway only to find himself in the foyer of an unfamiliar, slightly garish-looking mansion, holding a fairly rare, middlingly expensive illustrated and translated copy of The Book of Wisdom and Lies. Anyone in attendance will see what appears to be a neatly-groomed kindly homosexual man in a waistcoat. Some of those impressions are accurate.
"Oh," says Aziraphale, "bother."3
1Sometimes. When the principality in question is in the correct mood.
2In this case, "best" means "most likely, despite utter plausible deniability and consummate solicitousness, to dissuade making a return visit or any purchases."
3This is what's known as a callback. The author is trying to remind you of something. For instance, two characters might be narrative foils; one is a demon, given to profanity, and the other an angel, disinclined to curse.4 Is it working?
4Except when it suits him, which is occasionally (more often than he would admit).
