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A lazy knot of scales, Crowley unfurled his head from beneath his body to release a yawn in the warm atmosphere of the bookshop.
He was planning on going straight back to sleep, safely hidden behind a bookshelf he knew Aziraphale seldom looked at – it was all signed first editions from authors he didn’t like. He couldn’t part from the books but he really didn’t want to read them either, which made the shelf a perfect napping spot. Crowley had been hiding there for years, every now and then, when he felt like being close to his angel but had no valid reason to hang out with him. He often amused himself wondering how much longer it was going to take Aziraphale to discover him, and if he was going to make that delightful pouting face until Crowley would invite him to the Ritz and then he’d pretend to not forgive but as soon as he would have taken his first bite of food he would have totally forgotten about why he was angry in the first place and…
And he just sat at his desk, right in Crowley’s line of sight. The snake looked at the back of the angel with a fondness very uncommon in both reptiles and demons, and thought it a beautiful sight to hold before falling back asleep.
But then, Aziraphale extracted an ancient Game Boy from one of his drawers, and Crowley almost knocked a book down from extending his neck too fast to get a better look.
A Game Boy. Aziraphale had a Game Boy. And he was playing Tetris. And he was insanely good at it.
Crowley had a rather clear view of the screen and managed to take a peek at the score in the corner. It was only a bunch of 9’s that couldn’t go any higher. The angel was playing, smashing the direction cross at impossible speed, forcing the game to move beyond its abilities, erasing lines almost before they even had a chance to form on the screen. All the while humming the tune and tilting his head off rythm, happily.
The demon understood that Aziraphale must have had this toy for a very long time, and had probably not known that it wasn’t supposed to save his game when he was turning the machine off. Crowley suspected that Aziraphale might have actually been playing the same Tetris game for nearly thirty years. And he most likely never once changed the batteries either.
The sudden realization that Aziraphale must have been the best Tetris player in the world proved too much for Crowley to handle.
The demon burst into laughter, which in snake form translated as a series of hiccupy hisses accompanied by spasmodic contorsions of his body, thus knocking over a few dusty books. The traitorous tomes fell loudly on the floor behind Aziraphale. Startled, the angel turned around, and spotted Crowley at the top of his shelf.
« What on Earth are you doing here ? »
Crowley followed the books and resumed to his favorite form before touching the ground, but he was still wheezing and almost tripped on his own feet.
« You’re playing Tetris ! » he managed to articulate between two laughs. « How come you, of all people, are playing Tetris ? »
A flush of redness invaded a face that Aziraphale couldn’t keep composed.
« It’s because a customer forgot it here some time ago and never came back for it, so I just… But you didn’t answer ! What were you doing here, Crowley ? »
A sad tune of defeat spoke before Crowley had a chance to answer. Aziraphale frowned disapprovingly at his Game Boy.
« Look at that. You made me lose. »
« Awfully sorry about that, angel . »
In a way, he was. He had probably disrupted one of the most impressive records in gaming History. But that also made him feel kind of proud.
« How about I invite you to lunch to make it up for it ? The Ritz, perhaps ? »
Aziraphale stored his Game Boy back into his drawer. He still looked annoyed, but he was grabbing his jacket nevertheless.
« Don’t you dare think you are off the hook, my dear. You’d better explain yourself. »
« I wouldn’t want to upset a Tetris champion any further » replied Crowley with amusement.
Aziraphale left the beginning of a smile escape from the corner of his mouth.
« No, you certainly wouldn’t want that. »