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He liked to watch Crowley when he was starting to doze off. He often found that the demon did a lot to try and give out the appearance of someone cool and aloof. This was of course perfectly false and Aziraphale knew this more than anyone else. Therefore he was sometimes able to see the true Crowley when he was dozing off as he was now.
It was always the cold that ended up doing it. The colder weather made the snake-aligned demon more sluggish than usual. He started to crave warmth more than anything and he was fond of sitting under the heating lamp Aziraphale had set up for him in his shop when he came to visit.
Aziraphale smiled to himself as Crowley’s eyes fluttered closed again. The demon settled back in his chair, humming as he tilted his head up into the light of the lamp. “Comfortable?” he teased.
“Marvelous,” Crowley mumbled. He opened one of his eyes just slightly to look at the angel, “tickety-boo perhaps.”
He laughed softly, watching as Crowley closed his eyes and allowed his body to relax. His eyes caught sight of the snake shaped marking at his temple. He tilted his head, his mind starting to focus on it.
He had seen other demons before. They always bore some form of spiritual decay on their faces and bodies to reveal what they were. Their animals were the second giveaway.
Aziraphale never knew exactly why the higher ranking ones had animals on their heads. The animals seemed unable to leave their heads and yet they could move a little on their own, looking around and occasionally snapping their jaws or blinking at something. Yet he had never seen anyone else with a marking like Crowley’s.
He wondered if Crowley’s marking was just a special version of the animal on the head thing he had seen on other’s.
He reached out slowly towards it. His eyes widened when the mark suddenly started to move. He had never seen that before! The tips of his fingers touched it and he watched as it seemed to settle down at the contact. “Oh my…” he whispered. The skin where the snake was felt cold and scaley to the touch, changing to warm and soft whenever it left the area.
The snake marking seemed to like his touch. It wiggled and writhed around where his fingers touched the flesh, tongue flicking out occasionally before nuzzling with its head.
“...likes you…” Crowley mumbled.
Aziraphale blinked, pulling his hand away. “What?” he asked as the marking settled back into its usual position and went still again.
“I said...it likes you,” Crowley answered. He smiled, turning his head to look at the angel. “Just like me.”
He laughed, leaning forward to kiss him on the lips. He then gently turned his head, kissing the marking next. The snake made a single loop in happiness before settling down.