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There were only a few to no people who could claim to know Crowley but all but one would be most certainly lying.
Because for now more than 6000 years there was only one being that was able to claim that truthfully and this being would be calling himself Aziraphale.
But even he wasn’t aware of everything Crowley did.
For example what he was doing right now.
It had been an exhausting day which made him close his door behind him harder than necessary while stepping into his apartment.
Since he was technically free to do as he liked since the failed apocalypse six months ago, he liked to spend his days differently than he had before.
That he was essentially free didn’t mean that there was no one watching him anymore.
No, that much would have been way too much to ask.
A fact he had to learn the hard way.
Every now and then the demon registered certain bastards following him.
The worst thing about this was that they were doing such a bad job with it that even a blind sloth would be able to notice them and even escape them.
Normally they would just watch and follow him but today they- or being exact Hastur had seriously had the nerve to interfere!
Crowley had just bought himself the best latte macchiato in the city and sat down to enjoy it when Hastur- again the bastard- sat down at his table next to him.
Then he had started to blabber his typical rubbish which had led to Crowley not being able to enjoy his drink.
As a result, he stormed back home which led us to the moment where we were now.
So as mentioned earlier, there were a few things that even his dear angel wasn’t aware of and one of those things was what the demon preferred to do after such a dreadful encounter.
He took his shoes off and pulled on some really warm socks, grabbed a blanket while waiting till the water was boiled.
Then he took his favourite red cup out of the cupboard, filled it and sat down on the armchair with the blanket engulfing him.
Properly snuggled in, he lifted the cup to breathe in one of the best smells in the world: cocoa.
Humming happily, he took the first sip while glancing at the clock hanging on the wall.
It was only one minute to four pm.
Another sip and as punctual as ever one minute later, the music started.
Happy notes confidently played on an old piano, flowed through his apartment.
Smiling he snuggled deeper into the blanket while closing his eyes.
He knew exactly what song it was. Having even known its composer.
Goldberg Variations were one of Crowley’s favourite plays by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Ironic if you thought about how religious the man himself had been.
What he would have done or how he would have reacted if he had known what the man he so often met and talked to about his newest composing was a demon.
The demon currently still happily drinking his cocoa chuckled only imagining a possible reaction of the man.
Too bad he never came to revealing himself.
The pianist he was now listening to was his neighbour, Mrs. Jenkins.
She was an elderly woman that always wore her grey hair up in a bun and almost wore dresses every day.
It also wasn’t uncommon for her to look scolding over the rim of her glasses at Crowley whenever they met because she was constantly worrying about him.
She always insisted that he wasn’t eating enough, not drinking enough or the wrong things, not socializing enough. Although unsurprisingly she approved of Aziraphale.
He had told her once about him after she wouldn’t stop nagging him about being too lonely.
Crowley smiled softly thinking of her.
She was really the dream grandmother everyone wanted to have.
And even he had to admit that she had real talent.
She never missed a key and even one storey under her; he could hear the emotions behind every note.
Listening to her music always made him forget the worst things and always lightened his mood.
Suddenly something made Crowley choke on his beloved drink.
Coughing he tried to get his breath back.
The thing that had startled him was that the music had stopped.
Violently.
A few keys had been pushed at once without any finesse behind it.
Maybe Mrs. Jenkins's bloody cat had jumped on it. After all, it wouldn’t have been the first time.
With an annoyed huff, Crowley stood up.
His attempt in relaxing now efficiently ruined, he decided to pay his favourite angel a visit.
Upon arriving in the bookshop his mood was already starting to change based on the pouty face his angel was wearing.
“What ails you hm?
Aziraphale rolled his eyes.
“You know exactly what always succeeds in ruining my mood, you wily old serpent.”
Crowley took the remaining steps towards him and made a cooing face.
“Aww don’t say. Did someone honestly have the audacity to buy a book?! How did he dare?! “
The angel glared at him but nodded.
“Oh, I’m sorry, angel. If I had been there I would have made him run for his life, you can be sure of that.”
At that Aziraphale’s face softened.
“I know you would have.”
For a few moments they stood there, both lost in thought.
Crowley was just about to ask if he should leave when Aziraphale suddenly fixed him with a soft look in his eyes and a genuine smile on his lips.
“What do you say? You, me and a really fine bottle of red wine, my dear boy?”
“As if I would ever say no to alcohol, angel.”
They both chuckled until Aziraphale cleared his throat.
“Well then, follow me. Will you?”
With that, the angel walked past him while looking flustered at the floor.
The demon stood stock still and waited before the other was out of earshot before he opened his mouth.
“Always, angel. I will always follow you.”
Crowley stood there transfixed afterwards, even a bit surprised where that came from himself.
However, he was ripped out of his thought by his host.
“Crowley!”
He hurriedly walked to the other room.
“Coming, coming!”
It was three days later when he happened to be more than mildly surprised when he opened his door to see Mrs Jenkins standing right in front of it.
“Mrs. Jenkins!”
She put her hand on her chest and gasped.
“Oh dear, lord! You can’t just scare an old lady like me like that!”
Crowley lifted both hands.
“Sorry, sorry. Anyway, what are you doing here?”
Suddenly her face fell.
“Oh, right. I was actually looking for you.”
The demon lifted both eyebrows.
“For me?”
Mrs. Jenkins started to nod frantically.
“Yes. I really need your help! I came here to ask you if you might be willing to help me looking for my cat?”
“Your cat?! What happened?”
Crowley watched mortified how Mrs. Jenkins blue eyes, which reminded him not a small amount of a certain angel, filled with tears.
“She ran away! My precious girl ran away and now I can’t find her. And she’s my everything. I can’t-“
She broke up sobbing.
He watched his neighbour crying harder and harder.
Finally, he conceded.
“Alright. I’ll help you. Just. Please. Stop crying.”
Her by now wet face snapped up, eyes full of hope.
“Really?”
“Yes, just lead the way. Where should we go first?”
And with that they both stepped out of the building, Crowley holding the door open for her.
Three hours later and far away from their home, they found themselves still without any cat.
Crowley was currently walking around two steps in front of her while she had no problem with yelling her cat’s name as loudly as she could so very often.
If he were human, he would fear serious tinnitus by now that instead of the usual ringing would only contain the word “mittens” in an infinite loop of doom.
Suddenly she stopped shouting.
Crowley was just about to relax when it actually got worse because now she was calling another name rather loudly.
“Aziraphale! Darling! Over here!”
With dread filling him, he slowly turned around only to see his angel crossing the street to come to them.
He groaned.
“Oh hush! Be nice,” said Mrs. Jenkins while giving him a disapproving look.
Rolling his eyes he tried to look as neutral as possible.
“Oh hello, Crowley. I see you have company.”
The angel looked at him as if waiting for him to introduce them, but he refused.
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, while everyone had been looking at him, Aziraphale huffed and turned to the woman.
“If he decides to be rude today, fine. I’m Aziraphale, a … I know Crowley.”
Mrs. Jenkins seemingly amused by the pause unnervingly took a second to actually wink at him before answering.
“And I’m Mrs. Jenkins, I live directly above this grumpy muffin here. It’s a real pleasure to meet you, I feel like I already know you after everything Crowley had told me about you.”
Crowley could practically feel his face getting hot.
This was so much worse than falling back then. And that was no exaggeration! Okay, maybe it was.
Luckily Aziraphale seemed to have the same issue as he had so that made it a little bit better but only remotely.
Aziraphale readjusted his already perfect sitting bow-tie and cleared his throat.
“So… and what are you two up to?”
Mrs. Jenkin's smile immediately faded.
“Oh, it’s tragic. Truly. My poor baby is lost and Crowley here is helping me find it.”
“Your…baby?”
This was Crowley’s cue to interfere.
“Her cat. She’s talking about her cat.”
The angel seemed vividly relieved.
“Oh. I see.”
Then he tilted his head and frowned at the demon.
“And you… are helping here? Willingly?”
Spreading his arms, he suddenly felt the need to defend himself.
“What?! Is that so unbelievable? I helped you countless times, didn’t I?”
“No, but this was different.”
Taking the remaining steps left between them, Crowley got in his face.
“Oh please tell me, why those incidents were different. Enlighten me, would you?”
He was able to feel the angel’s breath on his neck.
That meant that Aziraphale was probably able to feel his.
They were staring into each other’s eyes, their bodies seemingly frozen.
It reminded Crowley about that time they were looking for the Antichrist.
Aziraphale pressed against a wall with Crowley so close to him.
Back then he had almost slipped.
But luckily they had been interrupted in time, just as they are now.
“Excuse me, gentlemen.”
They both flinched and moved away from each other while looking at the ground.
“Not that I didn’t enjoy that but I really want to find Mittens. Aziraphale, why don’t you accompany us? We could use another set of eyes.”
The angel nodded hastily.
“Of course.”
By multiple agreements they started to walk again.
This time with Crowley at the top and the two of them together a few meters behind him.
“How does Mittens look like?”
“Oh, Mittens is just the cutest! She has white fluffy fur and big bright blue eyes.”
“That sounds indeed lovely.”
“It is. By the way Crowley? Have I ever told you how I got her?”
Crowley made a sound to indicate that she hadn’t.
“Oh then please join us back there, so I can tell you both.”
He let himself fall back and got to her left side, while Aziraphale remained at her right side.
“So, alright. Many years ago I was married. His name was Oscar and he was the kindest man I know. He was a professor at the university, very smart. So you can imagine that my family, especially my father was at first against our relationship.”
Aziraphale’s and his eyes locked at that.
“Always said he wasn’t a good choice because he was no real man. Said Oscar wouldn’t even know what to do with a hammer if you led his hand. So at first, he had forbidden it but I was completely unfazed. I told my father that I chose him and that I would marry him anyway. So if he didn’t want to lose his only child, he should come around. At first, he was really mad at me but in the end, caved.”
Crowley frowned and Aziraphale bit his lip.
“Then I married Oscar and you can believe me, the best years of my life were the ones I spent with him. He really was the light of my life. Sadly one day he got a really bad stroke and he never recovered. First, he fell into a coma and then he died. That was five years ago. And for three years afterward, I felt nothing. It was like there was nothing worth concentrating on.”
Memories of books that were slowly eaten by flames immediately flashed through the Demon’s mind.
“I stopped going out or even leaving my house and eventually I even lost my friends because of that. So one day I decided it was time for a change, I packed everything, sold the house and moved here. Then one day I was walking home when I heard something. I followed the noise and there she was. Sitting in a trash can, obviously thrown in. She even had trimmed nails and didn’t look as dirty as you would expect a street cat to be. So obviously someone had abandoned her. So, of course, I took her with me and since then she is my everything.”
Noticing the suddenly changed atmosphere, Mrs. Jenkins looked from one man to the other.
“Did I miss something? With you both suddenly looking so glum?”
She looked expectantly at Crowley but when it was clear that he wouldn’t answer, Aziraphale stepped in.
“Not at all. Your story was really touching and would make everyone start thinking. But most importantly, we should really carry on. After all, we have a cat to find.”
Mrs. Jenkins agreed albeit hesitantly. She didn’t believe one word of the polite young man. Not with his dear neighbour still looking like he might cry any second but she decided not to press the matters for now.
They had walked for about an hour when suddenly Mrs. Jenkins stopped them.
“Wait. I have an idea! Why did I not think of this earlier?! Old, forgetful Martha! So silly!”
She seemed to get angrier and angrier at herself and started finally to mutter to herself.
Crowley threw Aziraphale a questioning look while the other was only grinning, obviously amused.
Clearly being alone in this, the demon sighed and turned to the pacing lady.
“Mrs. Jenkins? What is it?”
Her head snapped up and she looked at them both with a surprised look on her face if she had forgotten that they were there with her.
“Oh, Crowley, dear. I’m sorry. I was just thinking that just around over the street there is a graveyard where we really ought to look for Mittens.”
This time both men carried the same confused, slightly frowning look.
“What? The graveyard? Why should we?–“
To his annoyance, Aziraphale interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.
“I’m sure that Mrs. Jenkins has a perfectly reasonable explanation. Right, Mrs. Jenkins?”
He looked really hopeful at the old lady just to prove a point that Crowley snorted.
Mrs. Jenkins who had patiently waited for them to finish now smiled slightly and nodded.
“Yes, obviously I have a good reason to suggest such a thing. I’m not one of these how are the kids calling them? Goths? The lads who love graveyards for some reason? No, no. I was very often visiting my husband’s grave there and I usually bring Mittens with me. So maybe she’s there.”
Crowley had suddenly a coughing fit that suspiciously sounded like “Yes, a perfectly normal reason, for sure” but you couldn’t be sure.
The angel gave him a dark look and then smiled at Mrs. Jenkins.
“Yes, an absolutely splendid idea I would say. Let’s go!”
Mrs. Jenkins beamed at him for that before turning and leading the way.
The men followed one snickering and one tutting because of that.
It didn’t take them very long to find said grave and on the delighted scream of the woman in front of them, it was clear that their search had been a success.
They slowly caught up to them and indeed there was a really fluffy white cat which was now slowly walking towards them, mewing loudly at them.
“Oh! So that must be Mittens! Oh, have you seen her eyes, Crowley? Such marvellous azure.”
Crowley put pointedly his hands in his pockets and scowled.
“Of course I know how the fricking cat looks. I’ve seen it before, angel.”
Aziraphale gave him a disappointed look and crouched down to speak with the cat.
Mittens walked hesitantly to his outstretched hand, gave it a tentative sniff and turned away only to immediately focus on Crowley.
Watching amused how Crowley tried to stop the cat from touching him and not succeeded, he got up and straightened his jacket.
“Oh dear, just standstill. I think she likes you.”
Crowley glared at him- or at least that’s what he assumed, given the fact that he was wearing his sunglasses.
“So?! But I don’t like it!”
Suddenly the demon shrieked because Mittens was now rubbing her sides on his legs, which made Aziraphale only laugh.
“Just lift her up, Crowley. Don’t be such a baby.”
At first, he thought, the demon would refuse but slowly he took his hands out of his pockets and stretched them towards the cat while mumbling something that consisted most likely only of profane slurs against the other man.
Mittens, on the other hand, seemed intrigued and sat down to look at him curiously while he slowly reached down under her front legs.
When nothing happened, he started to lift the cat until they were eye to eye.
As soon as the cat was close enough, she began to nuzzle his cheek.
Crowley made a surprised noise at that but surprisingly didn’t stop her.
Instead, he even seemed to enjoy it if his quiet giggling was anything to go by.
Aziraphale didn’t seem to be able to stop staring at them.
In all those years he had never seen Crowley so…affectionate.
Both of them being distracted elsewhere, neither of them noticed Mrs. Jenkins who watched them with a sad smile.
Suddenly Aziraphale felt her right behind him as she was leaning towards his ear.
“Please take good care of her.”
He was just about to turn around to ask what that was about when it happened.
“Wha–?!”
Frantically turning his head in every direction possible, he slowly started to panic.
“Crowley?”
Still cuddling with the cat, he barely paid him any attention.
“Hm?”, he asked still not looking at him.
Aziraphale getting more alarmed by every second had enough and so yelled as loud as he could.
“Crowley!”
Now that seemed to get his attention.
“What?!”
Aziraphale who in the meantime had begun to pace, stopped for a moment to answer before he continued.
“Where’s Mrs. Jenkins?”
Crowley frowned.
“What? She’s surely here somewhere, maybe she just wanted to walk awhile.”
Aziraphale couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“So you’re saying after we finally found her beloved cat for which we had been looking for hours, she just decided it would be an appropriate time to wander off?! And for your information, she was right behind me a minute ago, because she told me something!”
“Well–what did she say to you?”
Abruptly he stopped and turned towards the demon.
“She said that we should take good care of Mittens, here.”
They both frowned at each other.
After a while Aziraphale resumed his pacing while muttering at the ground, while Crowley tried to think, still petting the cat.
Suddenly something caught his wandering gaze.
Upon realising what it was, his eyes widened and he decided to share it.
“Hey, you should take a look at that, angel.”
Still brimming with frustration, Aziraphale came to a halt next to Crowley.
There he gave the demon an expectant look, to which he received a pointed head tilt towards something.
Aziraphale followed the direction and his eyes landed on a grave.
He turned his back towards the other man.
“Wha–?”
Crowley only shook his head.
“Just read.”
With a sinking feeling inside of him, he slowly looked back at it and read the inscription.
Here lies
Oscar Jenkins
(*1929 †2014)
With his beloved wife
Marie Jenkins
(*1931 †2019)
Reunited at last
His heart beating so loud that he could hear it, the angel turned slowly to Crowley only to find him in an equally shocked state.
After swallowing heavenly a few times, he manages to make his throat work again.
“So…she is dead? She was dead the whole time?!”
Still staring at the grave, Crowley nodded.
“That seems to be the case. Apparently, she only wanted to find a new owner for her cat.”
Lifting the cat up, he was still carrying, he looked deep into Mittens’ eyes.
“Apparently she loved this damn cat so much to haunt us. She was even stubborn when she was dead. Impressive.”
Aziraphale was still too shell shocked after having just met the first ghost in his entire existence to comprehend everything so he only managed to choke out one word.
“And?”
Crowley turned the first time to look at him.
“And? Oh!”
He looked back at the cat in a calculating way and then back at Aziraphale.
“Okay.”
With that, the demon turned around and began to walk back to his house.
Aziraphale only managed to mouth “Okay” over and over again until he panicked again upon being left alone at a graveyard where he apparently had just seen a ghost and finally followed the demon.
It was three months later when Aziraphale sat amused in Crowley’s kitchen while watching the new dream team at work.
As it turned out Mittens was an excellent assistant regarding the tormenting of Crowley’s plants.
By now she had even more dead plants on her paws than her owner and so some of the plants feared her even more than the demon.
It was evenings like this that had become part of their new routine.
Aziraphale would visit, drink something with Crowley and then play a game or watch something.
Today they were watching Mary Poppins for the hundredth of times while Mittens lay between them.
In between, they always had the same argument about if Crowley stole his nanny look back from her or not but it was all in good nature.
Meanwhile, Crowley would stroke Mittens' fur while she purred contently.
Sometimes they took turns and Aziraphale took over.
He was just about to take over when Crowley shifted, which was usually a clear indicator but he had misread the signals and it came how it had to come.
They both put their hands on the fluffy fur and immediately froze upon skin contact.
Keeping their hands where they were, they stared at each other with growing blushes.
Finally, Crowley pulled his hand back which disappointed Aziraphale for some reason.
Angry with himself, the angel pulled his hand also back and stood up. He put his coat back on and walked towards the door.
“I should go. It’s your cat. I don’t want to intrude. I–good night, Crowley.”
At first, Crowley didn’t react but then he suddenly jumped from the couch.
“No! Wait. Yes, she’s my cat now. But she really likes you. Really! And I think she wouldn’t mind staying because whenever you’re not here, she misses you terribly you know?”
Now Crowley stood there like a schoolboy, his hands in his pockets and his gaze to the ground, still blushing furiously.
This made Aziraphale all warm and tingly inside and so he smiled knowingly.
“Oh? Is that so?”
Crowley’s head snapped up with a hopeful expression on his face.
“Yes! And so would you please sit back down?”
Aziraphale laughed softly.
“Of course, my dear.”
When Aziraphale walked back towards the couch he swallowed the fear that would probably never completely fade, stood on his tiptoes and kissed a perplexed Crowley on the cheek.
When he noticed that the demon wasn’t following, he turned around, took his hand and pulled.
“Come on, your cat is waiting.”
And with that, they ended the evening with Mittens sprawled out over both of their laps while they petted her with the two hands of them that weren’t still clasped together.