Chapter Text
Aziraphale walked into Hell and back with a smirk on his lips, and watching Crowley’s soft smile as they shared dessert was the only reward he could ever ask for. To see the love of his life sitting next to him, hand loosely curled around a flute of champagne, safe, and free from Hell’s clutches just as Aziraphale was free from Heaven’s oppressive influence.
The world at large was safe now, free to go on with all its little chaotic emotions and cruel mistakes and wonderful miracles that humans came up with all on their own. They still had choices to make, and their little planet was safe to provide this kind of freedom. And Aziraphale’s own personal world was safe as well, sitting just within reach and laughing soundlessly at some amusing part of a story he was telling.
Crowley looked exhausted, and truly Aziraphale couldn’t fault him for that, even if their bodies technically could go on eternally without faltering once. But his demon had done so much in just the past few days, he certainly could indulge in relaxing now. And relaxed he was. Crowley’s body was loose where it was sprawled over his chair, his face smooth and free from tension or worry lines. He was just enjoying the moment, same as Aziraphale was, and picked at the tastiest bites on his plate that the angel urged him to try. Crowley wasn’t one for trying new foods often, but he did today.
Aziraphale himself could barely focus on the exquisite taste of his favourite dishes before him, his entire mind preoccupied with how happy he was about his newfound freedom and love. The flavours were just background noise in the face of the overflowing feeling in his heart.
It wasn’t painful as such, but Aziraphale could feel his love sending pulses through his celestial body that drowned out anything else and had to focus hard on not bathing the room in an angelic flow. The cracks over his chest that had been a reminder of pain for all of existence seemed to thrum with it especially where his corporation’s shell was at its thinnest. Without looking Aziraphale was sure that only the layers of his clothes kept the shine over his ribs in check. If he were to open up his shirt he was certain he’d see a visual representation of his love right there.
With Crowley right by his side and the gentle tune of a piano playing in the air Aziraphale struggled to see it as reality. It was such a perfect little bubble of happy contentedness, that it felt as if it ought to pop any second now. Instead Crowley called for a cheque and leaned towards Aziraphale with a smile that had no trace of wickedness or pretence.
“Shall we take this to the bookshop?” he asked, and Aziraphale realized that this really was his new reality. Not just a dream, not a memory that was bittersweet and painful. It was just what life could be like from now on, if he wanted it to.
“That sounds marvellous, my dear,” he agreed readily.
The demon paid and then the two walked out of the Ritz together, so close that their elbows brushed together occasionally. There was nobody left to keep their relationship from after all. Nobody who could punish them. The cat was out of the bag, so to speak, and Aziraphale wiggled in pleasure as he thought of how terrified Crowley’s old bosses had looked when they realized that the pair was indestructible.
At Crowley’s questioning gaze Aziraphale just shook his head.
“I am thinking about how he can do as we please now,” he said, and the demon grinned in reply.
“Yeah? Anything in particular you’d like to do first?”
“Some things come to mind, yes.”
The bookshop looked as it always had, with the same slightly dusty windows and old paint. If Crowley hadn’t insisted multiple times that it had burned down completely Aziraphale wouldn’t have guessed that anything was off about it at all. The door squeaked in a familiar way when Crowley opened it and made a grand bow and motioned for the angel to step in. It looked as if he had aimed for it to be teasing, but even with his eyes covered Aziraphale felt that his expression was too open for the gesture to be anything but genuine.
The familiar ringing of the bell over his head announced Aziraphale’s return to his bookshop. Inside it looked exactly as he had left it, with not an errant pamphlet out of place, and all his stacks of books arranged just as he remembered last. Just to make sure Aziraphale stepped further inside and looked around, paying attention to where he had placed his most prized possessions. Crowley followed behind and locked the doors with a snap of his finger. No sense in tempting potential customers to push their way inside after all.
“It all looks just as it should,” Aziraphale said happily as he hung up his coat.
He moved over to the back of his shop where the kitchen was also just as it ought to be. A particularly fine vintage of red wine helpfully placed itself to the front of his cabinets, so Aziraphale picked up two glasses and carried everything over to the array of couches and armchairs.
Crowley removed his sunglasses and let his eyes wander over the bookshelves as Aziraphale poured each of them a generous share of the wine.
“Don’t you want to examine your books right away?” he asked.
Aziraphale shrugged with a smile as Crowley sat down on his usual spot, raising his eyebrows in surprise when the angel sat down beside him rather than his armchair.
“I’m sure it can wait until we’re done celebrating our retirement, my dear.”
Their fingers brushed as Aziraphale handed Crowley the wine, and the demon smiled softly.
“I don’t know if the children’s books the Antichrist made appear are just new or whether he replaced some of your existing stock. Either way, I’ll make sure your collection is back to its usual standard in no time.”
Crowley took a sip of his wine and then smiled earnestly.
“’ve got some favours to cash in here and there, finding you all your first editions and rare copies won’t take too long if you give me a list of what disappeared.”
They sat on Aziraphale’s comfortable couch, bodies angled towards each other and knees very nearly brushing. It was so casual and nice, with no underlying fear of discovery, no worry about the impending end of days dampening the mood. Aziraphale swallowed down the lump in his throat, his heart beating way too strongly against his ribs. He loved his wonderful kind demon, more than there were stars in the sky, more than all the endless minutes spent together could do justice. He couldn’t keep that truth to himself.
With a soft intake of breath Aziraphale placed his untouched wine on the small table, and turned his body more fully towards Crowley. He watched the questioning frown cross the other’s face, watched as Crowley’s lips parted as he was about to ask Aziraphale what the matter was.
“I love you, my dear,” Aziraphale said gently, unable to keep the feelings at bay. “So very much.”
Crowley froze for a few seconds, then twitched slightly and curled his shoulders defensively, eyes wide. A quick angelic miracle made sure the wine he very nearly spilled on the carpet ended up safely on the table instead, on top of a very convenient absorbent tea towel.
“You- but you. Hhh. What?”
Aziraphale couldn’t help but smile more at the open shock on Crowley’s face. There was no rejection facing him there, only disbelief and surprise and Crowley’s hitched breath, the demon’s body curling towards him instinctively.
“I do, my dear,” Aziraphale confirmed, edging closer. “I have known that I love you for a while now, though I was so very scared of going against my allegiance to Heaven at first. And then too scared of the repercussions and what would happen to us if I acted on it and how I could endure a broken heart if you were taken from me again.”
As he spoke Crowley let out a shuddering sigh and slumped forward. He closed his eyes as Aziraphale raised his hands cautiously and, when he wasn’t denied the touch, cupped Crowley’s face in his hands.
“Angel,” Crowley whispered, covering Aziraphale’s hands with his own slightly shaky ones. He looked up then, his eyes begging. “Do you really mean it?”
“Of course,” Aziraphale said.
They had shifted closer together now, as close as their positions allowed.
His hand stroked over Crowley’s cheeks, fingers brushing over the snake mark on face in a loving caress and then moving forward to dig into his lovely red hair. It was short, completely different from what it had been in Aziraphale’s dreams, but just as soft and beautiful.
Crowley whimpered quietly at the gentle touch, leaning closer still, their arms brushing together.
“I never thought I’d hear you say that,” he whispered, pain and hope still warring on his face, as if he couldn’t quite believe it yet.
Aziraphale felt the thrum of his love beat against his marks in time with his heartbeat, overwhelming him. He had to do this right by Crowley, make sure the moment received all the gravity it deserved. There would be time for overflowing love later, but now he needed his head clear enough to express it, to reassure his lovely demon.
“I will say it as much as you wish,” Aziraphale promised, brushing a kiss over Crowley’s hand that was still curled around his wrist. “I love you, my darling.”
Crowley made a soft sound, at a loss for words himself.
“I’ve loved you for all of existence,” Aziraphale went on, thrilled by the reaction and the joy slowly melting across Crowley’s features. “Even when I didn’t know you, I still fell for you again. To think that through all of existence you were always by my side, even though we were torn apart like this.”
At that Crowley frowned, searching Aziraphale’s face before the realization hit him. His hands fell off Aziraphale’s wrists and landed in the angel’s lap instead, limp. Aziraphale pulled his own hands away as he noticed the conflicted emotions so near him.
“You remember?” Crowley choked out. “Since when?”
“I suspected for less than a day,” Aziraphale confessed. “But I shared my mind with a very lovely woman and it made me realize… Angels don’t know how to grieve but humans know how to mourn and remember with fondness and move on. I think I must have learned how to access my memories because I learned how to be a little bit more human.”
Crowley looked distraught for a few seconds, before he pulled away completely and got to his feet. Aziraphale remained where he was, watching his demon pace back and forth nervously, hands in his hair. He looked overwhelmed with that revelation, but not actively distressed yet.
“But… but it shouldn’t be possible,” Crowley muttered. “You told me so.”
“Have you remembered this whole time?” Aziraphale asked, suddenly realizing how much time his demon must have spent yearning for him, if that were the case.
Crowley’s shoulders slumped and he shook his head before finally turning to look back. His eyes were sad, reflecting the melancholy of Aziraphale’s own memories.
“It was real fuzzy at first,” Crowley finally said. “I was kind of preoccupied with other things when I first ended up in Hell. Guess enough came back to me on that first day in the Garden. At first I just liked you, but then I was certain that it was you.”
“But demons were angels once. How come you didn’t break?” Aziraphale asked. It couldn’t be that the demons had lost their ability to love, he knew Crowley to be perfectly capable of the feeling after all. The loss should have hurt them as well.
For a few moments neither of them spoke as Crowley thought it through. Then he shrugged.
“Guess most of us were too angry about Falling at first,” he said. It sounded as if he had spent quite a bit of time mulling that question over. “And then when our grace was ripped out of us we sort of-”
At that Crowley flexed his hands in front of him, miming an explosion with his fingers.
“Got flexible about emotional damage translating into our recently turned occult beings.”
“How dreadful,” Aziraphale cried out. “You escaped what we did but at such a painful price? Oh my dear, I never thought about how such a thing could affect you.”
Crowley’s cheeks flushed and he waved Aziraphale off uncomfortably.
“Wasn’t that bad.”
“But it is! Not only did you have to endure the full brunt of that sense of loss, but you had to live with the knowledge that I was there and just… Oh my darling, I’m sorry. What you must have thought of me when we first met on the wall. How unkind you must have thought me to be.”
Aziraphale wrung his hands and clenched them in his lap, staring down at them. His joy at finally being free to love as he pleased mixed with a sharp ache in sympathy for the millennia worth of loneliness Crowley must have endured. How would he have felt, had he known that his lost love was right there but did not know him for all these years?
The floorboards creaked as Crowley made an uncertain step towards the sofa, lips pressed together, eyes sad and pleading.
“I didn’t think you unkind,” he said softly. “Those first years I just thought you were mad for me hanging out with the wrong crowd and Falling. I thought you blamed me for being kicked out of Heaven and leaving you behind so suddenly without a goodbye. I just thought you hated me.”
Aziraphale’s eyes burned as he stared up at Crowley.
“But that is even worse! Crowley, I never once hated you! I was convinced that my love had died, and yes, perhaps I briefly wondered if you had been the demon to kill him! Never truly, though. I couldn’t imagine you were one of the ones who fought.”
“I figured that out later. I sort of thought you were kidding when you said angels nearly broke. Eventually I figured out that you really did think that your love died, and that you had the marks to show it. After that I just felt bad that you got hurt like that and tried to make sure you’d never be in pain again.”
Crowley was within reach now, gesturing at the angel’s chest where he had seen the cracks a few centuries back. Aziraphale grasped his hand and stood, bringing them a hand’s breadth apart once more.
“What cruel twist,” Aziraphale whispered. “That were yearned and put blame on things outside of our reach. When who we missed was right there. And you had to bear the knowledge of it all this time as well.”
He wrapped his arms around Crowley’s body, pulling him close and feeling the demon’s arms settle on his shoulders loosely. He smiled, and got a hesitant but sweet one in return.
“It’s alright, angel,” Crowley said. “I was just glad you were alright and with me as a friend.”
“Is it too late to be more than friends once more?” Aziraphale asked, leaning closer and trying very hard not to glance at Crowley’s soft lips. “To imagine, we’ve been together before time started, and now we can be together again.”
Crowley had leaned in as well as Aziraphale spoke, head tilting down, his face so close now, close enough to kiss. But as the angel finished he pulled back as far as Aziraphale’s hold would allow, grimacing.
“Angel…” he whispered, sounding as if he had to force himself to get the words out. “If I was a worse demon I’d just… go with it. But I’m not. I’m not him. I haven’t been him since the Revolution in Heaven.”
“But you are,” Aziraphale said, tightening his hold just in case Crowley decided to make a run for it after all. Not tight enough to truly hold him in place, but enough to make his intent to hold clear. “You’ve Fallen, but you’re the angel I have always loved, the demon I still love now.”
Crowley shook his head, wincing.
“But I’m not. I can’t make stars anymore, and honestly I don’t want to bother. I’m not innocent or sweet or whatever else I was that you loved me back then. I’m meaner and have fun being cruel and making unsuspecting humans’ days a little bit worse. I’m not the one you love, angel.”
Aziraphale thought for a few moments.
“And I’m not the steadfast soldier with nothing to guard,” he replied. “I’ve got vices and don’t care much for Heaven and would rather look at the galaxy from the comfort of my bookshop instead of flying around in the real thing. Does that mean you don’t love me either?”
“What?! How can you think ssssomething like thissss, angel,” Crowley cried out, hands clenching against the fabric of Aziraphale’s shirt. “You’re perfect in your entirety. I love you! I’ve woken up and loved you a little bit more every century, every year!”
Aziraphale’s heart leapt in his chest. Hearing those words broke what little hold he had on his emotions and he could tell that he was glowing faintly.
“You know, darling. I kept it from you, of course, but I loved you long before I even knew my lost starmaker was alive. At first I felt terribly guilty because it felt like a betrayal. Angels aren’t supposed to heal and move on. Then I thought that I could not bear to lose you too, and only hoped that wherever my love was, he would be happy that I found it in my heart to love once more, and such a good demon at that. It didn’t matter then, who you were or weren’t. And now that I know I’m merely glad that this old hurt has been soothed as well.”
Crowley’s eyes widened and he made a strange sputtering sound before he managed to get a grip on human speech again.
“Yeah but now that you know I’m… was that. Doesn’t it disappoint you in comparison?”
“No, you’re quite loveable as you are,” Aziraphale said with a pleased hum, swaying them slightly. “You stood up to Satan himself for me, I think that beats out dedicating a few star systems to me. You’re better now.”
“I’m not as pretty as an angel should be,” Crowley went on, letting his body be moved to some unheard music. “Don’t have all that pretty glowy stuff, or shiny celestial eyes or whatever.”
“The one you’ve got are quite fetching,” Aziraphale mused, smiling as he leaned up and accidentally bumped his nose against Crowley. “Looks more earthly than Heavenly. I happen to like that.”
“My wings! You used to be so in love with my wings back then. Always talked about how nice the red and gold was. But they’ll never be that way again. I don’t want them to be that again.”
By now Crowley sounded nearly petulant, and Aziraphale felt as if the demon was desperately trying to find some way to chase him off now.
“Black wings are so sleek and stylish though,” he said, brushing his hands over Crowley’s back where the wings would be if he were to pull them out. “Goes with any outfit and reminds me of the night sky. Ah, isn’t that an idea, they are as lovely as the canvas of your stars.”
Crowley shivered slightly, breath coming out in sharp hisses. He looked up at Aziraphale, pleading.
“But won’t you realize that I’m not what you really truly love anymore?” he asked.
Aziraphale took a moment to study his demon’s face. He thought about how Crowley was always a little bit of a loner, doing his own thing among the angels who worked together to light up the nightly skies, stumbling out of Heaven for a minor infraction, being much too good for the cruelty of Hell, now being all alone among humanity with only Aziraphale at his side. Should Aziraphale deem him unworthy one day, not good enough compared to an actual angel, then Crowley would be really and truly rejected by anything he’d ever come in contact with.
“My darling,” Aziraphale said, trying to sound as earnest as he felt, making Crowley believe him with everything he had. “If the Almighty Herself came down right now, and gave me the choice between returning to how things were with my star eyed angel, and staying here with you but never even see him in my memories again? My love, I would chose you. What do I care for some timeless moment in creation when I have everything I ever cared for and wished to protect right here?”
Crowley’s lips wobbled before he pressed them together, and he blinked a few times, sniffing.
“You’re only ssssssssaying that to charm me,” he muttered with a choked up laugh, but Aziraphale felt the demon’s body melt against him, relaxing into their embrace.
“And is it working?”
Crowley huffed a laugh and leaned his brow against Aziraphale’s. They stood in their embrace, all alone together in their small bubble of a bookshop. Then Crowley glanced up.
“One more thing though, angel. Who was… What was my name back then? I can’t recall it.”
“I don’t know,” Aziraphale admitted. “All names of the Fallen have been burned out of Heaven completely. I can’t even remember what it felt like on my tongue.”
Crowley frowned slightly.
“But wouldn’t you want to know my name?”
Aziraphale huffed and pulled his hands back to cup his demon’s face.
“Your name is Crowley, though you go by Anthony J. Crowley around humans. You chose that name for yourself and you are the demon that I love. What else could I possibly want to know?”
Crowley let out a small sound that seemed to be in the general vicinity of a laugh. His own hands came up to cradle Aziraphale’s head, and he leaned into the demon’s touch with a pleased hum.
“You won’t ever be able to get rid of me if you say things like that, angel.”
“Oh good,” Aziraphale said sweetly. “I wasn’t planning on letting you go anywhere.”
They paused in their motions, staring at one another with gentle smiles mirroring one another. Aziraphale gazed into Crowley’s pretty yellow eyes, and suddenly felt a wave of shyness take hold of him. They were only inches apart now, but to lean in and finally kiss those lips he longed for seemed such a monumental task… What if it wasn’t perfect, what if he couldn’t convey his love through it properly, what if Crowley didn’t like it or it was too clumsy or-
As if sensing Aziraphale’s sudden uncertainty Crowley pulled him closer, leaning his head in slowly, to give him ample time to turn away. His demon was always like this, taking care of him and giving Aziraphale what he didn’t dare ask for, what he didn’t dare take for himself.
It wasn’t Heaven holding him back now, merely his own worries and hopes. Aziraphale let go of those easily, safe in his demon’s care, as he let his eyes drift shut and tilted his head up to welcome the touch.
Their first kiss since time had been invented was a shy little thing, stopping time altogether as an angel and a demon cautiously pressed together as close as they could. Crowley’s lips were as soft and plush as Aziraphale had imagined, and he sighed against his demon’s mouth.
They parted for just a moment, Crowley glancing down with flushed cheeks and a nervous look for approval. Aziraphale felt drunk on the moment. There was no hurry, no catastrophe to prevent and no being of any kind of alignment to burst in on them. Really, there was no reason to stop at just one kiss, and Aziraphale quickly dove in for the next.
This time it was Crowley who whimpered at the sensation, holding his angel close as Aziraphale dared to dart out his tongue and taste the burned sugar and fire taste of the demon’s skin. Their lips moved together, Crowley angled his face to deepen it and Aziraphale felt his toes curl in pleasure as he tried leaning up for better access. His own arms were secure around Crowley’s shoulders while the demon’s hands couldn’t hold still, roaming over Aziraphale’s back and sides as if he couldn’t quite decide where to touch first now that they could do as they pleased.
They parted less out of a need to breathe but rather out of a mutual need to just gaze at each other’s eyes. Crowley’s were fully yellow now, just as they had been that first time in the garden when they had found each other again. He looked utterly rattled and their kiss hadn’t even been the passionate overwhelming sort. At least not yet, Aziraphale did hope that they could build up to more as they got used to having each other.
After what felt like very little time Crowley gently nudged Aziraphale back towards the sofa, and pulled the giggling angel into his lap. It was nearly too much, to have so much soft adoration directed at him with Crowley’s gaze. At to think, he could have this every single day now.
“I wonder if this wasn’t all Her Plan,” Aziraphale said, and brushed a few errand strands of hair out of Crowley’s face. “What were the odds of the two agents on earth being us? We lost one another but we still found each other and fell in love all over and saved the world.”
Crowley pulled a face and tightened his grip on Aziraphale’s waist.
“That’d be a sick kind of joke. You mourning all by yourself for thousands of years believing to be alone, and me watching the love of my life suffer while not remembering me at all.”
Aziraphale quickly kissed his brow to soothe that hurt. There would be time to process those millenia, to really think about what that meant. For now he just wanted to ease Crowley’s hurt.
“It does make me a bit of a bad angel,” he said with a grin, and at Crowley’s raised eyebrow went on. “I didn’t know what happened to you but I forgot you because you Fell. But I went ahead and clung to the memories way more than I should have. And then I went and fell in love with you all over, despite the memories, despite you being a demon. No wonder Heaven ended up kicking me out after all this.”
Crowley laughed, head thrown back. His arms snaked around Aziraphale’s body as he pulled him into a better cuddle position.
“A naughty bastard, is what you are.”
“Don’t be insulting, my nice little sweetheart,” Aziraphale quipped, and promptly got a kiss with just the edge of sharp teeth for his trouble. Not that it was much of a punishment, mind you.
“We’ve got eternity now,” Crowley whispered against his lips as they sank down against the sofa, lying side by side on the space that stretched just enough to accommodate him.
“Forever,” Aziraphale promised. “As long as you’ll have me.”
Their kisses grew slower, lazier, and after a few minutes Aziraphale realized that Crowley was about to fall asleep. He shuffled down on the sofa to rest his arms on Crowley’s chest and leaned his head on them as well, close enough to feel the demon’s heartbeat and still watch his content face. It really didn’t take long for Crowley to doze off then, arms still tight around Aziraphale as if he wished to hold and protect him even in his sleep.
Aziraphale didn’t feel like sleeping himself, but he tugged a soft blanket that hadn’t been there before over their bodies and got comfortable. He wanted very much to go on kissing Crowley, but there was no rush now, he could catch up on that tomorrow.
They had eternity now, after all.
*
Epilogue
The Bentley rushed across empty roads and past total darkness. Aziraphale couldn’t tell whether they were in a forest or whether the road cut through fields, nor did he care to find out. Crowley seemed to know where he was heading, and each time Aziraphale gazed over at his beloved he could see his lips curled ever so slightly in a content smile. That was enough for him, and he was happy to let their destination be a surprise.
Hours must have passed since Crowley held open the passenger side door for him, and then promised that he had taken care of their picnic with Aziraphale’s favourite snacks. The streetlamps of London had only just started to light up then, and the city was long behind. There hadn’t been any signs of other cars or human life for quite a bit as well. Only the road stretching a little ahead of the Bentley’s headlights.
Even in the silence of the car, filled only with a purring motor and quiet music from Crowley’s collection, Aziraphale didn’t feel the tiniest bit bored. How could he, in the present company? He wouldn’t have minded staying in the comforting darkness around them with only Crowley there with him for however long the demon might choose to drive.
Finally though they rolled to a stop, and Crowley grinned.
“Here we are.”
Aziraphale watched him climb out of the car, pick up their picnic basket from the backseat and then shuffle around the Bentley for a little while. Listening to him outside Aziraphale squirmed in anticipation, and then smiled sweetly when his door was opened and Crowley offered a hand with a gentlemanly bow.
“Hope you enjoy it, angel.”
Aziraphale stepped out and took in the scenery. They were in a landscape full of tall hills and wild fields, with not a single sign of other human shaped beings anywhere near. Crowley had parked his car right at the edge of the road, and then had set up a cosy blanket with champagne bottles and cold dishes already arranged artfully and invitingly. His hand still in Crowley’s Aziraphale glanced up and gasped, realizing why Crowley had driven so long for their perfect destination.
So far away from any human light the stars stretched above them in unmatched beauty. Together with the sickled moon they were so bright that even a human would have no trouble seeing everything around them, and Aziraphale could see them as clearly as at the start of time. He couldn’t quite remember the last time he had just admired Crowley’s work like this, without light interference to dim the view.
“Oh how lovely!” he gasped out, aware that this wasn’t anywhere near adequate to describe how breathtaking the view was.
Crowley tried very hard not to show his relief, which Aziraphale politely pretended not to notice. Together they approached the blanket and Aziraphale immediately spotted several things he wished to try. Tiny pies from his favourite bakery in Manchester, and little cuts of cheese, which he knew Crowley had prepared himself, as well as fruits and cooled bottles of fine drinks.
The champagne cork was popped and Crowley handed Aziraphale an antique champagne glass. It looked as good as new, but hadn’t been miracled into existence, he could feel this. Crowley must have acquired them in perfect recently or taken very good care of them over the years.
“Are you sure this is a good spot for our first big date?” Crowley asked, still a little nervous about pleasing his angel right as he wiped a few drops from the bottle neck. Aziraphale would kiss the taste of his finger tips later.
“I mean, could be much more romantic to be up there, you know.”
He made a wide gesture at the stars; and how lovely it was that “up there” now didn’t mean Heaven anymore. They didn’t need to concern themselves with up and down like that any longer.
“Find some fields of stardust, hop over to a burning sun. Would be such a pretty view, like old times.”
Aziraphale held out his glass as Crowley poured him a generous amount of their drink. He thought about it a little, though he already knew his preference.
“No, I’m perfectly happy here, my darling,” he said slowly, swirling the champagne thoughtfully for a few moments. It reflected the stars prettily, the tiny bubbles inside looking like their own system.
“I think I would like to admire the stars the way humanity was intended too. Here, from earth and full of wonder. A perfect view to share with the love of your life on this little planet.”
Crowley smiled softly as Aziraphale clinked their glasses together for emphasis. His eyes moved up and over the stars hanging above, before turning back to Aziraphale.
“I think you’re right about the perfect view, angel.”
Aziraphale’s lips twitched in a bashful smile and he glanced up at Crowley coyly. They drank their champagne and Crowley pretended not to await Aziraphale’s opinion on their meal eagerly. They were slow and comfortable as they talked about nothing, a demon feeding an angel the tastiest morsels of food, and the night stretched all around them endlessly.
There was not one being around them, nothing close enough to disturb their rendezvous. It was just as it had been before, once upon a not quite time. There was no Heaven or Hell at each other’s throats to worry about, no creatures to require their attention. There were stars and the kind of darkness that welcomes and comforts, makes things all the more intimate. Perhaps time did exist now, but it trickled by slowly and the morning would come just at the precise moment they wished to retreat to the Bentley.
Nothing existed but the stars and the endless fields around them. There was no Heaven nor Hell, and technically neither of the two celestial beings could be counted among angels. It wasn’t anything like it had once been, and yet it was just the same in all the ways that mattered.
Aziraphale tasted the food and felt Crowley’s warmth against him where they leaned together. He couldn’t help but shiver with pleasure and immediately the softest tartan throw blanket was pulled from the air and placed around his shoulders. The night wasn’t even cold to him, but the burst of love in his chest would have sustained him in the deepest arctic night. He didn’t need to look with his slightly to the side vision on reality to feel the responding glow of Crowley’s love.
Above the stars shone upon a firmament that was as familiar to the two beings as each other’s eyes. And below, in a beautiful little corner of the earth two celestial creatures shone with love and affection for one another, so bright and so close, that one would have to squint lest they think they one single shimmering star.