Chapter Text
Crowley invented heartfelt declarations of love in the rain.
No, literally.
At the start of the most famous rainfall in history, Aziraphale felt someone grab his wrist right before he boarded the ark.
He looked back to find Crawly making quite the sight with his long hair nearly black in its drenched state and water rivulets highlighting his sharp features. “Crawly!” he said in surprise, shouting to be heard over the downpour. “You look…” Stunning. Gorgeous. Breathtaking. “…Wet.” He bit his tongue and mentally cursed at himself.
Crawly’s lips quirked up in the barest hint of a smile, amusement dancing in his clever eyes.
Aziraphale spared a nervous glance over his shoulder. They were nearly out of time. The rain was already coming down in buckets, and any moment now it would start flooding. His feet itched to take him up the plank and on board the ship to safety, but there was something in the way Crawly was looking at him that made him stay put.
“Noah’s grandchildren,” Crawly said.
Aziraphale blinked. Whatever he had been expecting Crawly to say, it certainly wasn’t that. “What about them?”
“There’s a bit more of them than I remember.”
Aziraphale bit his lip. Crawly was right. Between them all, Noah’s children had adopted nearly three dozen kids of their own in the last twenty-four hours. “She just said Noah’s family,” Aziraphale said defensively with a brief glance heavenward. “She didn’t say they had to be blood related.”
Instead of mocking him, as Aziraphale had half-expected, Crawly smiled, and Aziraphale’s heart, which had been still just a moment before, began beating rapidly. He had seen Crawly smile before, on the wall. But that smile had been one of delight, whereas this was one of pure adoration.
“Would it be weird if I said I love you?” Crawly asked, catching Aziraphale completely off-guard.
“…Yes,” Aziraphale said flatly.
“Oh.” Crawly’s grin didn’t falter. “I love you,” he said with a shrug.
Aziraphale looked down at the water which was now up to his ankles. “Can we discuss this on the ark?”
Crawly shook his head. “I should be going,” he said. “Just thought I should tell you, though.”
This time it was Aziraphale’s turn to catch Crawly by the wrist as he turned to leave. “Crawly,” he said sternly, trying his hardest not to ruin the effect by smiling. “I love you, too.” Crawly’s grin grew impossibly wider. “Now, would you please get on the ark?”
Many years later, when Aziraphale read a love declaration done in a rain shower in one of his books, he would joyfully show Crowley, who would inevitably turn a deep red and promptly tell Aziraphale to ‘ssshut up!’