Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A year had passed since Armageddon was thwarted by four children, much to Heaven and Hell’s dismay. And Life continued on as it previously had. For a time that is.

They sat in Aziraphale’s back room of his bookshop. Well, you couldn’t really consider a book shop considering Aziraphale would never let anyone buy anything. At least one person would come in when the shop was open. But at the moment the shop was closed, the sign on the door keeping people away.

“Heard anything from your side?” Crowley asked after a comfortable silence.

Aziraphale looked up from his tea with furrowed eyebrows. “No. Not a word. Not since the… uh… switch. Why do you ask?”

Crowley frowned, “Oh… I don’t know. I just don’t think they’ll really keep their promise of leaving us alone for that long.”

 “No, You’re probably right. Well… We’ll just have to wait and see.”

They were silent for a moment.

“Any customers been in recently? Or have your confusing hours scared everyone away.”

“Actually,” Aziraphale started, setting his mug down on the table. “There has been a girl that’s been coming in every time the shop is open.”

“Really?” Crowley replied, “ Every time you’re open? Can I tempt you to make bet–– 

“Now Crowley––”

“Oh, come on Angel,” He interrupted, “one tiny bet won’t harm you. Besides, we let Heaven and Hell know not to bother us.”

“Well,” he sighed, weighing the pros and cons, “since you are so insistent.”

A mischievous grin spread across face as he leaned forward in his chair. “Well then, I bet that if you open you shop at midnight tonight until six am tomorrow she won’t come in.”

A smirk slide across his face, a smirk Aziraphale knew well.

“Well that seems a little foolish. I’m hardly willing to bet she’ll come in at such strange hours.” Aziraphale countered. 

“I–e–ca–y–ri…” Crowley stammered in disbelief. “Right. Yeah. Course. That time frame is ridiculous.” The disbelief was evident in his voice. “Angel, otherwise it would be too easy.” ‘And I don’t intend to lose.’ Crowley finished in his head.

“Well can you at least make it 12-7am to give the girl one hour of a somewhat normal time.” Aziraphale hoped that Crowley would compromise to give him at least a little hope to win.

“Fine. Crowley conceded  after a moment of thought. 

“And no miracles!” Aziraphale added quickly. “From either of us.” 

“Alright.... That’s no fun thought.” Crowley was a little disappointed Aziraphlae wouldn’t take a huge step out of his comfort zone, but he couldn’t say he was surprised. “Right. Shake on it.”

He had leaned forward, reaching his hand out for Aziraphle to shake.

Thoughts swirled in Aziraphale’s head. Mainly what it said about him as an angel, but also, Heaven was supposed to leave him alone… so maybe it wouldn’t hurt. “Wait just a moment, dear. What are we betting?”

“Eh–a–Dinner? At the Ritz?”

“Done.”

Chapter Text

The rest of the evening passed very quickly. Crowley went back to ‘care’ for his plants. ‘Care' is maybe not the best word for what he does… perhaps a better word is ‘tending’ to his plants.

“Alright,” Crowley clapped his hands together as he entered the room. “Time to see if any or you have disappointed me.”

The plants shook in fear as Crowley slowly walked the room, examining each and every leaf for any spots. This was the worst part of the day for the plants, even the ones who didn’t have any spots trembled in fear of their master. However, for Crowley this was anger releasing. He very much enjoyed plants but only if they were absolutely perfect. And he would never admit that having such beautiful plants brought him joy in some form or another. As Crowley turned to the last group of plants, one began shaking more than the others. Crowley’s head snapped to it.

“Well, well, well…” The scowl on his face would make anyone uneasy and afraid of what he would do next. He picked up the frantically shaking plant, eyes glaring at the spot on the leaf. The spot was larger than usual which just added to Crowley’s rage. “What. Is. This. WHAT HAVE I SAID ABOUT LEAF SPOTS?! They will NOT be tolerated.

“You’re a disgrace.” Crowley spat, “And now it’s time to say goodbye.” He left the room, swagger in his step as he made his way to the garbage disposal.

As he returned to his plants they were shaking just as hard as when he left. He smirked at that. The empty pot of the former plant held carelessly in his hand. 

“It just couldn’t cut it.”

Crowley spoke, tossing the pot back down. “I better not find the rest of you with a spot like that.”

The air in the room was thick with anger and menace as Crowley glared around the room before he sauntered to his throne, a smirk on his lips.

Meanwhile at the bookshop Aziraphale had done a bit of tidying up. As well as some light reading as he waited for the evening to pass until Crowley returned. He was curious to see if the young girl would show or not. She had come in every time, even when his hours for the day were quite odd, so maybe she would show. It wasn’t like there was any real consequences if she didn’t come, but he did enjoy proving Crowley wrong.

Before Aziraphale knew it, he heard the engine of the Bentley approaching. The clock read 11:50pm as he glanced at it, and not even a minute later did Crowley enter.  

“Ready?” Crowley asked strolling over to where the Angel sat at his desk.

“Already set up to open.” He replied smiling awkwardly at how close Crowley was to him. That’s not to say Aziraphle didn’t enjoy when the demon was near him. He, unbeknownst to Crowley, loved being close to him.

“Bracing yourself to lose?” Crowley asked teasingly.

“On the contrary,” Aziraphale returned, used to the teasing remarks. “I rather think she might stop by.”

“Well then,” he replied, smiling down at the angel, “Let’s get the shop open!”

As the clock struck 12 midnight Aziraphale, stood, straightened his bow tie, and walked right over to the door, flipping the sign to open. “Well,” he started, turning back to the demon, “I’m going to make some cocoa. Don’t scare the girl away while I’m gone!”

“No promisesss…,” He hissed, tossing his sunglasses on the table before into his snake self. 

Aziraphale gave a small smile and shook his head to himself at Crowley’s action before exiting to the room to make cocoa. Meanwhile, Crowley considered where to perch himself. Aziraphale’s desk did have a nice lamp he curl curl up under, but it didn’t have the best view. 

‘On top of that bookshelf,’ he thought, slithering over and up the shelves until he was among the top shelf of books. Eventually, the angel returned with his cocoa, giving the snake a silent nod as he passed on his way to the desk.

Two and a half hours had passed and both the angel and demon were quite comfortable in their respective spots. Crowley was curled up on the bookshelf. His eyes were shut but his mind awake as ever. He was just thinking. Thinking about a lot of things. How his angel looked so adorable as he poured over his book, looking so relaxed and happy. Crowley loved these little soft moments with the angel. But he would never admit that. His mind drifted away from Aziraphale after a long while. Crowley’s mind slipped to something much less pleasant: Hastur. He thought he had seen the Duke of Hell as walked towards his apartment. That made him uneasy. Why was he here? And more importantly, what did he want?

His thoughts were interrupted by the bell ringing as the door opened. Both heads snapped to the door to see Gabriel, impeccably dressed as always. He wore a lovely pale powdery blue coat and stood in front of the door like he owned everything.

“G -Gabriel,” Aziraphale stuttered, standing up from his desk. “How can I help you?”