#elis

Meet the Beans / Out of Screen

His ears had perked up at the sound of his Wife’s name, naturally. He’d been expecting to overhear compliments he could take home alongside the bakewell tarts, and did not at all appreciate the snide comments about her fluid gender presentation that he heard instead.

He was working up quite a head of steam when Alma, the owner of this fine establishment, marched over to their table and abruptly cleared their mostly full plates and cups. Their protestations that they weren’t near finished went precisely nowhere as she gave them a steely glare and pointed to the door.

Aziraphale relaxed considerably once they were gone, but Alma still seemed to be in significant distress. He tried to reassure her that his Wife was more than capable of handling a few small minded comments from small minded people, but it seemed that wasn’t her concern.

“It’s not just Crowley, I’m sure she can manage. It’s Elis. I think those harpies are giving your wife public grief to make things harder on him. Or maybe her, rather. Or them. Honestly I think pronouns are just starting to be a subject of consideration.”

Ah, yes. That was very concerning indeed. It seemed that Elis had decided that one’s sixties were not too late to begin an exploration of one’s gender beyond the crude binary they’d been assigned at birth.

That would certainly explain why some mean biddies were trying to create a general atmosphere of exclusion in their small town. And why they were being “accidentally” overheard making snide comments about those already defying social norms. A shot across the bow to those on the cusp of leaping in courage and faith.

“Would you be so kind as to point me to your facilities, Alma?” Aziraphale reached into his wallet for both the price of the pastries and a very generous tip. She sent him with a smile and said the pastries would be ready when he returned.

A few minutes later, and with one last glance in the mirror to check the swoop of her makeup and the flare of her favorite tartan skirt, Aziraphale emerged to collect their treats.

She was just waving a cheery goodbye to a beaming Alma when she heard a delighted toot of a horn from the kerb. She turned to see that Bentley had chosen to wear her beautiful, sun-warm yellow for a while, too.

She popped into Bentley and turned for home. She wanted to be with her Wife, and see if they couldn’t figure out a way to make town life a little more comfortable for Elis.

And brainstorm some inconveniences the biddies might soon be encountering, of course.

Temple of Zeus in Olympia, Greece (470-457 B.C.)