Aziraphael's gaze jumps sheepishly to Crowley's, a faint flush rising in his cheeks. But all the same, it isn't precisely hard to return the demon's smile, and after a moment Aziraphael rallies rather well.

"We were. Around here, for the most part, although he did lend a dab hand when we had to move some saplings from the nursery. We had a few cases of ringspot in the orchard," he adds, by way of explanation. "It seemed a shame not to repopulate while we had the extra hands so close to spring."

Of course, Raguel had insisted on referring to the process as 'cradle-robbing', which had been slightly awkward - but by then, the shepherds were largely used to delicately ignoring him in any case.