The first time, though of course he doesn't know it's the first time, everything went exactly according to plan. Crowley got the baby, right on time. He took it to the nunnery, and didn't stop to talk to the man waiting outside. He observed the whole thing, and made sure no funny business happened. At the end of the night, the Antichrist went home with the Dowlings.
It takes 600 more tries to get it going exactly according to the right plan.
"Whatever you want," Nathan finds himself saying when his shirt comes off over his head and his glasses hit the nightstand — like he's talking to himself, which he might as well be. "Don't think about it like should, or shouldn't. Don't think. Don't fucking try and figure it out. Come on. You can keep your shirt on."
In Egypt, the emperor sleeps poorly.
Or, sailor boys in bondage.
For the prompt of Adrian being a big nerd, him being a small nerd about something that isn't Egypt or Alexander for once. When Adrian Veidt is twelve years old, he discovers Homer's Iliad.
A reimagining of the scene with Julian in the forbidden garden in Chapter VI Part II: A Gift and a Curse. What if the guards passed the garden by entirely and Julian and the Apprentice had more time? Julian is a cis man; Apprentice's gender and body are unspecified.
There's rules that go with being Adam's errand boy -- sort of workplace regulations. Be there whenever he needs you, don't mess with his stuff, don't ask annoying questions.
Aumerle doesn't seek absolution.