Gorgeous illustrations by @tanpopomugishu
Written for the Winter Omens Big Bang @gowinterbang
Moving north was supposed to mean peace, books, and a slower life.
Instead, Aziraphale finds himself in a one-sided battle of manners with the man across the road — the one who keeps doing favours at dawn, vanishes before Aziraphale can say thank you, and leaves baffling, profanity-laced notes behind.
As his eyes adjusted to the bright white of the day outside, he gasped.
A wide, perfect path led from his small porch to the pavement. A short distance away, his drive was nearly clear as well, the last few metres of snow giving way to the rapid shovelwork of a lean, black-clad figure.
Aziraphale turned from the window and hurried over to his wardrobe, pulling on a thick tartan housecoat and a pair of boots that he could slip on without bending over.
As quickly as he could without injuring himself, he rushed towards the front door. He was nearly too late. The drive was cleared completely and the person who’d done it was sauntering across the road to a snowless path of his own.
“I say—” Aziraphale called. “Thank you. Thank you so much!”
There was no acknowledgement of his gratitude, and without turning back, the black-clad figure disappeared into the house, the door shutting with a thud.
“Well,” Aziraphale huffed at the clear dismissal.
Continue reading (and see more art!) on AO3
Thank you to the wonderful @spectrallydistracted for the beta!