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Nestled in their couch as was now their habit, Aziraphale was reading a book while Crowley was crushing some candies – or whatever it was that was keeping his hands and mind busy using this smartphone of his.
The angel and the demon had been sitting together in warm, comfortable silence for a few hours. Crowley’s head was resting on the angel’s shoulder, and Aziraphale’s hand had been mindlessly caressing the demon’s side for quite a while. None of them was exactly thinking about what the other was doing, but both of them were enjoying every single second of each other’s presence.
Then, surrendering to the hours of quiet caresses, Crowley’s shirt escaped from the pants it was supposed to stay tucked in.
Aziraphale stopped being mindless for a second and turned his attention away from his book to aknowledge the situation. He smiled as he took the decision to continue the mindless caressing from inside Crowley’s shirt. He immediatly got back to his reading, satisfied.
«Hng, angel.»
Crowley shifted under Aziraphale’s hand, in a way that very much resembled an attempt at avoiding his touch. Aziraphale suspended his movement immediately, and lifted his eyes from his book.
«Is there a problem, Crowley?»
«I… uh. Hm.»
Crowley started straightening himself up, but then sighed and fell back onto Aziraphale, burrowing his face into the angel’s jumper.
«Yeah» admitted Crowley with a tired voice. «You, uh, you weren’t bothered, right now, by the… hm… were you?»
«Bothered? Bothered by what, Crowley?»
Crowley held his side, right on the spot Aziraphale had just been touching. He seemed ill at ease… pained, even.
The angel looked at the demon in confusion.
«Crowley, I am at loss at what you’re referring to. As far as I’m concerned, I was having a very nice time. Tell me with words what the problem is, exactly.»
Crowley left out a nervous chuckle.
«Of course. Of course. I’m the only one who minds I guess. You don’t care that… You don’t care that I have scales, over there, don’t you?»
Once again, only confusion could be seen on Aziraphale’s face.
«You… You noticed I have scales on this spot, angel? Right?»
«Of course I know you’ve got a little patch of scales there Crowley, I’ve seen them several times. I’m not a goldfish. But why would you think I would mind them?»
Crowley sighed again, deeper.
«Because I do, I guess.»
The demon was still holding his side, his eyes avoiding the angel’s gaze. Aziraphale’s hand landed softly on his shoulder, prompting him to risk letting his slitted pupils cross path with the angel’s encouraging, intense irises.
Strentgh crawled back into Crowley a little bit, as he managed to gather the words he needed.
«You know I don’t like shapeshifting too much, and I’ve told you it’s because I’m afraid I might get stuck… Well. That’s why. These scales. They stayed after a transformation, and I never could get rid off them, and… It’s just… It’s so stupid. Why can I shapeshift if I can’t fully control it? So fucking stupid. I’m just… I’m… I really feel like I really can’t do anything right, you know, and these scales just remind me… of how pathetic I am. So, uh, yeah. There’s that. Not big on those scales. Don’t like remembering they’re here.»
Crowley ended up his tirade by a shrug, and tried to pretend he was going to go back to crushing candies, but Aziraphale hugged him instead.
«Oh, dearest. I understand. But don’t you dare call yourself pathetic ever again.»
A fierce, determined kiss tingled briefly on Crowley’s cheek. The demon side-eyed his angel, and couldn’t help but allow a shy smile forming on his face.
«Allright then. Wouldn’t want to upset you. You might thwart my viles or something.»
«Wouldn’t you like that» replied Aziraphale. «But I’m serious, Crowley. Really. I understand why you would feel inclined to resent those scales, but to me… They are just a part of you. And as such, I love them. As much as any other bit, corporeal or not, that belongs to you. And nothing that is yours ever feels pathetic to me.»
Aziraphale patted his partner’s thigh, and reassumed his reading position, ready to open his book again.
«And when you are comfortable, dear» he continued, «know that I’ll be more than willing to kiss each and every single one of those scales of yours and tell them how much I adore absolutely all of them.»
«And what if I’m never comfortable, angel?»
Aziraphale smiled gently, turning the pages of his book to find out the part he had last been reading.
«Oh, I’m quite sure there are many other parts you’d let me kiss instead, dearest. And were you ever to ask me to stop touching or kissing you altogether… then sitting near you on a couch still sounds like a dream to me.»
Crowley had totally abandonned any hope of hiding his smile. And, going back to his original position, shirt tucked back in his pants and smartphone in hand, it was an utterly smitten demon that rested his head on the angel shoulder, and whispered a trembling, happy «allright then.»