Meanwhile, flying had come as a sort of second nature to Aurum from the moment that these wings had grown upon his back, in all their painful glory. Sure, at first it had been difficult, adjusting to the heavy weight on his back and the eay that his body had a new way to amble forward, but he had managed to adapt very quickly, his first actual flight being when he had been attacked by a mutated feral boar, and had needed to get away quickly. Sure, the action had been driven by panic and a desperate need to get away from the vicious creature trying to rip his body apart, but flying had felt so wonderfully exhilarating. It felt so natural and wonderful, despite the fact that his large feline body had never been created with the intention of flying. Nowadays, he was fairly sure the reason that he had felt so incredibly empowered while flying had been because he was an archangel, thrown down into this mortal cool to serve as a guardian angel for Poet – not that any of that mattered now. It just meant that it made sense for him to be able to fly, and to actively enjoy it so much. Unfortunately, it seemed as though Crowley could not enjoy that particularly ability anymore, even if he had once been able to. It was almost sad – actually, it was definitely sad – that Crowley had lost his old angelic abilities when he had fallen into demonhood. Sure, Aurum had technically turned his back on the heavens when he had realized he was an angel, and had decided to remain within Tanglewood rather than go back to the sky where he belonged, but he had never officially fallen, per say, and thus he had never lost his angelic abilities.

When Aurum had first been attempting to fly, shortly after the wings had torn their way forth from his back, catching him off guard and filling him with intense pain, he had only attempted such things off of small platforms, such as slightly high rocks. It seemed, however, that Crowley took a highly different approach to things, considering the fact that he was throwing himself off one of the tallest goddamn trees around here. When Aurum had been out on a patrol around the territory, and had caught scent of Crowley around, he had reflexively felt a smile come to his face. He enjoyed Crowley's company, and often found himself feeling mischievous in the demon's presence. He wasn't entirely sure why – after all, he wasn't aware of the full extent of Crowley's past – but he found that he liked it, and without even a second thought, he could already feel his paws carrying him towards the other male. What he didn't expect to see, however, was Crowley leaping out of one of the extremely tall trees that resided within Tanglewood's swamp. He tensed up immediately, assuming that Crowley was about to continue on in flight, but he was wrong, and he watched the feline's slow crash down into the earth. Aurum stared for a moment in shock before he quickly moved forward, his own wings sticking out as he rushed over to where Crowley was laying on the ground, looking absolutely devastated and unhappy about his little experiment. Once he was near, the guardsman rumbled softly with a worried little frown on his muzzle, "Crowley! Crowley, are you alright? Do I need to get one of the medics...?" He wanted to ask more, like if Crowley was alright emotionally, considering the way that the other seemed on the verge of tears, and was clearly upset over his failed attempt to fly.

If Aurum thought honestly to himself, or knew about the circumstances of how Crowley had become a demon, he probably would've thought that he was less worthy of being an angel than Crowley was. Not that he particularly wanted Crowley to still be an angel. From what limited memories Aurum had of what heaven was like, it was a shithole. All of these religions proclaimed that heaven was this wonderful place where all of your dreams would come true, but for Aurum...? It had been an absolute nightmare of a place to live. Perhaps that was partially because he was the archangel of sorrow, and had been subjected to almost all the pain in the universe just to have him fulfill his role, but either way... he never wanted to return to that place. But that was part of the reason that Crowley was far more qualified for angel hood than him. Aurum, upon learning he had been an angel, had turned his back on heaven and stubbornly clung to everything he had bereft, essentially telling the big man in charge to go fuck himself. Meanwhile, Crowley had just been curious – was curiosity truly a sin up there? The thought would've made Aurum scowl, if it weren't for the fact that his mind was currently turned to Crowley's wellbeing. Unfortunately for the guardsman, it seemed as though Crowley was not in the mood for comforting, if the way that he snapped venomously was anything to go by. Initially, the lion yanked his head back, his eyes widening a little bit at the other's furious and quick reassurance that he was fine – mainly just because Aurum had never seen the other be so absolutely pissed off before. Sure, Crowley tried to be scary and demon-esque like he was supposed to be, but often he didn't succeed, and he was actually pretty helpful most of the time, but this was completely different, and Aurum was ready to have to deal with yet another person having a breakdown, but it was then when Crowley finally relaxed.

It was sort of odd, the way that Crowley quickly flipped the switch to relax, but it sort of put Aurum at ease. What did surprise him, however, was the way that Crowley dragged out his s'es, something Aurum hadn't heard before from the demon. However, it sort of made sense, especially when Aurum caught sight of the other's eyes. They were only minority different from a normal feline's, but they sent a shock down the male's spine, and he hesitated for a moment before rumbling softly, "Alright, as long as you're sure you're okay... you know Selby or the others wouldn't mind taking care of your injuries or anything, since it's kind of their job." Crowley then focused on the incident that had just happened, and Aurum wanted to say that they could just move on from it without any worries, but Crowley had brought it up first, so Aurum just nodded a bit. He then said, shifting his wings upon his back and bringing one of them up to inspect it, as if he was worried his own wings were going to spontaneously stop working because Crowley's hadn't worked. Tail flicking from side to side behind him, Aurum sat down and said softly, "I guess it didn't work out, unless you were planning on crashing into the ground... why weren't you expecting it to work? Have you never tried flying before? Cause there are... easier ways to start learning." After all, there was a happy medium between Aurum's panic fueled way of learning and Feza's erratic and dangerous way of learning – although he had helped somewhat in making her way a bit less dangerous.

Repulsive. There were a great many things that Aurum found repulsive, such as Pittians or senseless violence, but Crowley was far from something that Aurum found repulsive. Crowley or his strange snake eyes. To be fair, Aurum wasn't entirely sure what he felt when it came to Crowley, but he knew that it wasn't disgust or repulsion. He notices that flash – that quick, guarded, hidden flash of self doubt and worry – that dashed over Crowley's face, but just as fast as it had come, it was gone, and Crowley was softly joking and brushing himself off, shaking out his paws and putting Aurum at ease. Aurum still wasn't sure he was alright with Crowley hiding away his emotions like he usually did, but... he wasn't going to bring that up now, not wanting to wound the demon's already fragile composure. Crowley might not have thought that he was worth stressing over, but Aurum had to disagree, thinking that every single one of his clanmates was worth worrying over, Crowley in particular. Aurum wasn't sure why he felt such a connection with the male, but it had happened quickly, and he felt a sort of protective air when it came to Crowley – even though the other constantly acted like he was such hot shit. Inside, Crowley was fucking scared, and even if Aurum didn't know of what, he did know that he was going to fight against whatever it was tooth and fucking nail, even if it ended with him in the ground rather than the demon.

When Crowley said that he hadn't learned to fly, a soft chuckle left the lion as he glanced up at the tree the demon had thrown himself from just moments earlier, "Yeah, uh, I think I could've figured that out from you taking that tumble from up there. You fell pretty gracefully though." He joked softly, trying to lighten the mood and put Crowley a bit at ease – the other seemed like he desperately needed it. Crowley then continued on in his little speech, saying that being flightless was a characteristic of his "kind." Confusion flicked immediately over the angel's face, and he needed more information, stepping a little bit closer to the other and tilting his head to one side as his eyes traced over Crowley's wings, "Crowley? What do you mean, by your kind? A winged cat? Cause I'm pretty sure most winged cats can fly, with enough effort. Or did you mean... something else?" Aurum knew what it was like, having a side of yourself that you couldn't truly talk to other people about. He had only discovered he was an angel about a month ago, but it already felt like a huge part of him that was completely different from everybody else, seeming so distant and strange.

When Snarl approached, Aurum turned and dipped his head to the hyena, the words leaving her mouth quite similar to what he had thought to himself before – after all, Crowley didn't have to chuck himself off of the highest possible point that he could find. Still, it seemed as though Crowley, even though he knew he wouldn't actually be able to achieve flight, wanted to at least have an experience that was similar to flight, and Aurum did have to admit that taking off from the ground probably wouldn't achieve anything like that in the slightest if Crowley couldn't truly fly. Part of Aurum almost wanted to suggest to Crowley that if the other truly wanted to fly, then the guardsman would always be willing to let the other ride on his back, considering the demon was small enough that he probably wouldn't have too much trouble with taking flight, even with the added weight. However, the more logical part of him reminded him that Crowley seemed to be a prideful demon, constantly trying to prove that he really was what he was supposed to be, and trying his best not to be helpful even when he was doing just that. Aurum found himself doubting that the feline would ever take his offer to just rest on him while he flew for the both of them, just because Crowley would be admitting weakness and showing some vulnerability. That was technically what Crowley was doing right now, but Aurum could tell by the other's body language that he wasn't particularly fond of the feeling of opening up, even after taking such a tumble.

While Aurum was carefully inspecting Crowley's wings – resisting the strong urge to reach a paw out and touch them – he found himself comparing his own with the demon's, noticing pretty quickly that Crowley's wings were like that of a... well, crow. Aurum's wings resembled more those of a dove, although more in the constructed than the coloration, since his mix of golden and red couldn't be any farther from the pure white of a dove if the universe was trying to make them different. Aurum was shaken from his thoughts when Crowley answered his question, the angel's wings widening slightly at the revelation that Crowley was a demon. He noticed the way that the other lengthened some of his s's,  seeming uncomfortable with the subject as he quickly proclaimed that he wasn't that good of a demon. Aurum rumbled curiously as he tilted his head to one side, his ears perked forward as he looked over Crowley again, taking his eyes and his wings as he breathed, "Oh, a demon...? I've never met a demon before. Never thought about if their wings would work or not..." Aurum's eyes darted over to Snarl for a moment, seeming to quietly contemplate whether he wanted to keep his identity a secret or not, before just deciding to say fuck it. Stretching out his own wings, Aurum rumbled softly to Crowley, "It's pretty funny you're the first demon I've ever met, considering I'm an angel." It was a simple statement, meant to be casual and murmured as if he wasn't even thinking about it, but... it still felt oddly significant, somehow. Perhaps just because of how angels and demons had always been represented on opposite sides, and he found that he rather enjoyed Crowley's company?