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Crowley woke up to his arms wrapped around a pillow. He frowned, burying his face in it, Aziraphale’s scent barely noticeable. He’s been gone for a while. He rolled over, arms searching the other side of the bed for Gabriel. He wasn’t there either. Crowley forced his eyes open, staring at the empty spaces in the bed. ‘How dare they,’ he thought. How dare they just make him confess his love and then leave him all alone in the morning.
He pulled the blanket up over his head, curling into the warmth. Fine. They can get up and do whatever they wanted, he’ll just stay in bed and mope until they come and get him. He lasted all of about ten minutes before he got bored and decided to go wandering. He swore that if Gabriel left without even so much of a good-bye, he was going to murder him.
Crowley willed a robe and some slippers into existence, the chill of the hall getting to him a bit. He didn’t find either of them in the little flat upstairs so he wandered down to the shop below. He heard soft voices coming from Aziraphale’s study and he took a deep sigh before stepping in.
Gabriel was sitting at the desk, a spread of papers laid before him. Aziraphale was standing next to him, leaning over, one hand on the desk, one on Gabriel's back. They were talking in whispers.
“Planning a heist are we?” Crowley asked, smirking as he sauntered up to them.
Aziraphale straightened, turning to face him with a smile. He took his hand off Gabriel’s back and grabbed Crowley’s waist with it, pulling him in close. “Good morning, dear. How did you sleep?”
Crowley kissed him and shifted closer. “Fine.”
He looked down at Gabriel, who had glanced up at him before looking back over his papers. Crowley tilted his head, studying Gabriel’s neck. There should be two hickies there. But there weren’t. He let his fingers rub over the spots where they should be. He pressed down gently and Gabriel winced a bit, the skin tender under Crowley’s touch.
Crowley smiled. He knew the respectable archangel couldn’t go around walking about with hickies on his neck. But he hadn’t gotten rid of them all together, just made it look like they weren’t there. The three of them would know they were there. And that was enough.
Crowley leaned over, letting his arms rest on Gabriel’s shoulders, placing his chin on the top of Gabriel’s head. “So, what are you doing?”
“We’re trying to figure out what the others are planning,” Aziraphale said. He kept one hand on the small of Crowley’s back, leaning over the desk to study the papers.
Crowley glanced over them but couldn’t be bothered to read it much. He never was one for paperwork. “Are they coming up with a new way to kill us?”
“No,” Gabriel said, his muscles tensing. “I’m pretty sure they’re just going on with the war anyway.”
“Going on with the war? What like fighting and everything without the apocalypse.”
Aziraphale nodded. “Based on the activity...and the most recent...developments.”
“Developments?”
Gabriel handed him a piece of paper. Crowley stood up a bit, resting his elbows on Gabriel’s head. Gabriel huffed at him. The paper was a list of angel names. At the top it read ‘Recent Casualties’.
“Casualties?” Crowley asked. “What like death?”
Aziraphale nodded.
Crowley leaned back over Gabriel’s body, dropping the paper to the floor, placing his hands on Gabriel’s shoulders. “So? I’m sure it’s not that hard to make them all new bodies.”
The muscles beneath Crowley’s hands tensed again.
“Not discorporated,” Aziraphale said. “Dead.”
“What? Like dead-dead?” Crowley asked. Aziraphale nodded. “How?”
“They’re using hellfire, of course,” Aziraphale said.
“On Earth? Like, in front of people?”
“They’ve been very good at avoiding notice,” Gabriel said, his voice flat.
Crowley frowned. Seems like they really were hell-bent on having a war. “Well, that’s just not sporting.”
Gabriel sighed and Crowley decided he was much too tense. He started to massage his shoulders, working his fingers and thumb into the muscles there, loosening them up a bit.
“What are you doing?” Gabriel asked, sitting up straight in the chair.
“You need to relax,” Crowley said.
“I need to figure out how to stop this.” Gabriel tried to shake Crowley’s hands off but he held on tight.
“You can’t concentrate on that if you’re so tense. You need to de-stress.”
“Aziraphale,” Gabriel said. “Would you please tell him to stop.”
“Well...I actually think it’s not a bad idea. We have been working for a few hours. It would be best to take a break.”
Gabriel sighed and sat back against the chair, letting Crowley work unchallenged. Crowley grinned. Fast learner indeed.
Aziraphale left to make them all some tea. Gabriel’s eyes closed as Crowley massaged him. Crowley smiled, his face soft. He liked doing this. He enjoyed being able to feel the results of his work, to rub over a spot until the knot there subsided. Aziraphale had used to be this tense back in the day. He wondered if, with all this new stuff going on, he might be do for another good massage too.
Crowley’s hands left Gabriel’s shoulders, moving down his back. Gabriel sat forward a bit to give them better access. Every once in a while Crowley could hear a soft moan or gasp escape, but he had the good sense of mind not to mention it. Crowley’s hands made their way to the spot on Gabriel’s back where his wings were attached, just hiding in another dimension. The spot was hard as a rock and Crowley tutted.
Crowley waved his hand, the blinds drawing on the windows and the lights turning on. “Take out your wings,” he said.
“What?”
“You’re wings. Get ‘em out.”
“N-no,” Gabriel said. Crowley leaned down, placing his head next to Gabriel’s. “What’s the matter? Scared? Worried they won’t...live up to expectations.”
Gabriel gave him a look and he smirked.
“What are you going to do with them?”
“Just brush ‘em up a bit. Part of the stress relief.”
Gabriel frowned, taking a deep breath. “Fine.”
Crowley stepped back and watched as Gabriel’s wings manifested themselves. Crowley held back a gasp. For two reasons. The first, immediate reason being that he had forgotten how simply gorgeous Gabriel’s wings were. They were rather big, filling up most of the length of the room. And they were the most brilliant color of purple ever. They even seemed to glow a little bit.
As Crowley’s eyes scanned over the magnificent structure, he also started to notice just how much of a fucking mess they were. Feathers were tangled together. Ones that should have fallen out long ago were still stuck in there, matted messes spread throughout. And there were stains. How the heck did he stain his wings?
“When was the last time you groomed your wings?” Crowley asked. He stepped up, plucking out the loose feathers.
“I have more important things to do with my time than worry about my wings,” Gabriel said. He reached out for the papers.
Crowley tutted at him. He heard Aziraphale walking back down the hall and smirked. “Better not let Aziraphale seem them like this.”
Gabriel’s movements stilled, and he tilted his head to look at him. “Why not?”
“Good Lord!” Aziraphale said, upon entering the room. “Gabriel!”
Gabriel turned in the chair to face him, his one wing pressing up against Crowley’s body. They were awfully soft for how messy they were.
“Your wings,” Aziraphale said. He stuttered a bit. “Why they’re...they’re…”
“A disaster?” Crowley offered.
“In chaos,” Aziraphale said.
Gabriel actually looked like a child being scolded by his parents and Crowley almost laughed. “I’m busy,” he argued.
Aziraphale shook his head and set down the tray of teacups he had brought in. “Honestly. It’s disgraceful is what it is.” He held his hand out, a soft brush appearing in it.
Gabriel looked to Crowley for help but Crowley just shrugged, resuming his work on the left wing as Aziraphale grabbed the right one. He pulled and tugged as he brushed over the feathers, knocking out the loose ones and straightening the others. Gabriel winced with each movement. Crowley knew that feeling. Aziraphale was meticulous in his wing uptake, and when he had first seen Crowley’s wings in a tizzy one year he had gone postal, working very hard to tidy them. Crowley had been very particular about keeping his own wings clean ever since, even if back then they rarely saw each other.
Crowley, generally, enjoyed seeing someone else suffer the wrath of Aziraphale. But, he figured, they were trying to help him relax, not cause him pain.
“Alright, angel, alright.” Crowley abandoned his post and walked up to Aziraphale, grabbing the brush from his hand.
“What?” Aziraphale gave him a cute little angry pout. Crowley almost gave him back the brush.
“You’re being a bit rough,” Crowley said. He placed the brush on the table. “This is supposed to be relaxing.”
“I was being relaxing,” Aziraphale said.
Crowley gave him a smile and turned back to the wings, working over them gently with his fingers. Aziraphale huffed but joined him, still a bit tough on the feathers, but not nearly as painful. Gabriel went back to stifling his sighs.
“There,” Crowley said, after a few minutes of preening. “Much better.”
Aziraphale took out a cloth and started rubbing over the stains. “Still messy,” he muttered.
“Hmm, but so gorgeous.” Crowley let his hands run over the top layer of feathers. Gabriel’s wings seemed to shiver a bit at his touch.
“Yes,” Aziraphale agreed, putting down the cloth and admiring their handiwork. “Quite beautiful.” There was a moment of peaceful silence before Aziraphale turned to Crowley. “Okay, your turn. Let’s see them.”
Crowley’s eyes opened wide. “Uh, what?”
“You wings, dear. It’s been a while since you’ve been brushed.”
Aziraphale picked up the brush and moved towards him. Crowley ducked under Gabriel’s wing, popping up on the other side, smiling at Aziraphale.
“Really, dear,” Aziraphale said, shaking his head. “I’m not that bad, am I?”
“Can I put my wings back now?” Gabriel asked, one eyebrow raising.
“No!” Crowley reached out, practically hugging on. “I like ‘em.”
“We really should get back to work,” Aziraphale said.
Crowley frowned, letting go of the wing. Gabriel retracted them and the room seemed to dull without their slight glow.
“Thank you,” Gabriel said. “That was quite...nice.”
Crowley grinned. “Anytime.” He leaned over and placed a kiss to Gabriel’s cheek.
“What was that?” Gabriel asked, hand coming up to cover the offending spot.
“It’s a kiss, genius,” Crowley said. “Better watch out, I’m gonna do it again.” He leaned in again, kissing Gabriel’s temple.
“Oh, I simply must get in on this.” Aziraphale stepped up to the other side of the chair and placed a kiss on Gabriel’s other cheek.
Gabriel looked between the two of them, a little bit of worry in his eyes. He swallowed hard. “Right, well, uh, work, right?” He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the desk, suddenly very interested in making sure the papers were all straight.
Crowley and Aziraphale made eye contact. They smiled.
Crowley had been nervous about this whole thing, and really didn’t know what to expect when he had woken up that morning. But this whole ‘relationship’ thing? It was going to be fun.