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Crowley grumbled, but shuffled back in his seat so that he wasn’t out of Aziraphale’s reach anymore. He allowed Aziraphale to take off his glasses and tilted his head back a little to give the angel easier access to his long locks. He sighed quietly when Aziraphale started to run his seemingly perfect fingers through the demon’s hair, letting his eyes slowly fall shut. He almost looked content. Almost.
“Angel, why do you insist on paying so much attention to my hair?” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He would never let Aziraphale know that he actually enjoyed the gentle fingers combing through his hair. It was rather relaxing.
“Is it not the least bit relaxing, Crowley? I’ve read that having someone play with your hair can be quite soothing and calming,” Aziraphale explained as he set about parting Crowley’s hair into three different sections, as though he were about to braid it.
“No, it’s not,” the redhead huffed indignantly.
“Really, my de-” the angel was abruptly cut off by his demon counterpart.
“No.”
“Oh… Shall I stop?” Aziraphale asked as he slowly started to let go of Crowley’s hair, not wanting to continue his actions if it wasn’t relaxing the demon in the slightest.
“No. Don’t stop,” Crowley mumbled almost inaudibly. He nudged his head into Aziraphale’s hands so that the angel would start playing with his hair again.
Aziraphale let out a quiet laugh at the demon’s antics and shifted in his seat a little, so that he could style Crowley’s hair a little more easily. He leaned forwards slightly to make sure that his partings were equal and neat. Once he was satisfied with how they looked, he hummed and smiled to himself, before pressing a gentle kiss to the top of Crowley’s head. He carefully didn’t mention the pleased little noise that he heard rise from the demon.
Miracling up a hairbrush, Aziraphale gently brushed out all the knots in Crowley’s hair. Truth be told, there weren’t many, since the demon took great care of his hair anyway. Aziraphale placed the hairbrush to one side and ran his fingers through the sections once more, before starting to effortlessly braid the three sections into one.
~~~
After a short while, Aziraphale had finished styling Crowley’s fiery coloured hair into a perfect braid. Tilting his head to glance at Crowley, he noticed a peaceful expression on the demon’s face. Aziraphale felt his heart swell to thrice it’s size as his focus moved over every detail of Crowley’s face. The small almost-whining noise that emerged from the demon’s throat pulled him out of his trance-like state.
“Angel, why did you stop?” he asked gently, and opened his eyes to look at Aziraphale, a pout forming on his lips.
“I finished the braid, darling. It’s done,” the angel explained, chuckling fondly when Crowley pouted more.
“Well… can’t you… just… do it again?” he asked slowly. He turned to face Aziraphale straight-on, shuffling back to essentially sit in the angel’s lap.
Aziraphale smiled and ran his fingers through Crowley’s hair again, undoing the braid as his fingers gently passed through it. “Of course, my dear,” he whispered.
Aziraphale spent the best part of two hours just braiding Crowley’s hair, only to undo it and start again. He started to feel a slight cramping sensation in his fingers but ignored the feeling, not wanting to disturb Crowley (who seemed to be half asleep, thanks to the angel).
“ ‘Ziraphale?” Crowley mumbled, his tone of voice clearly drowsy as he blinked up at the angel slowly. He rubbed at his eyes and tried to stifle a yawn.
“Yes, Crowley?” the angel asked gently, his expression the epitome of adoration. Moving one of his hands to cup the demon’s face, his thumb rubbing across Crowley’s cheek tenderly, Aziraphale watched Crowley with a small smile.
Crowley blinked up at Aziraphale a couple of times before an almost identical smile graced his own features. He pushed his face further into the angel’s hand and sighed contently, closing his eyes again for a moment and nuzzling into the soft warmth of Aziraphale’s hand. “Need to tell you somethin’. Wanted to tell you for centuries but didn’t know how. Think ‘ve waited long enough to tell you,” the demon rambled sleepily, looking at Aziraphale unblinkingly as he spoke.
Aziraphale continued smiling softly at the sleepy, waffling demon. He waited for the first part of his speech to finish before he spoke up himself. “Go on, Crowley dear,” he encouraged, urging him to carry on.
“I love you, Aziraphale. I’m in love with you.”
Aziraphale stopped what he was doing and just looked at Crowley. Had he heard that correctly? Had Crowley just admitted to being in love with him? That... Crowley must have been playing a cruel joke on him, there was no way that he could actually be in love with Aziraphale. Absolutely no way.
“Az… say something,” Crowley whispered faintly, showing a vulnerable side that almost never made an appearance. He had a reputation to uphold as a demon, of course.
“Crowley, I’m… are you serious?” Aziraphale asked gently, and tilted Crowley’s head up a little. “You’re not... oh, what is it that the humans say? You’re not... you’re not having me on?” he mumbled slowly, stumbling over the unfamiliar expression.
Crowley managed a soft laugh and sat up straighter, clearly more awake now. “I’m not having you on, angel. I’m in love with you. I have been for thousands of years,” he admitted , reaching up to mimic Aziraphale’s actions as he gently placed his own hand on the angel’s face.
Aziraphale gasped softly and offered the demon a tender smile, not sure what to do with himself. He was so unbelievably happy. “Oh. That is rather unexpected. However, it would be rather rude of me to not express my own feelings also, so, I am in love with you too, Crowley.” It was out. He had finally said it. He had told Crowley that he was in love with him. He had found out Crowley was in love with him, too. He was simply overjoyed. He couldn’t believe it. Crowley finally knew.
“You are? That’s amazing, angel, honestly.” Crowley grinned brightly. He moved closer to Aziraphale and cupped his face with both hands gently, glancing between the angel’s eyes and lips. “Best news I’ve ever had. And you know how old we both are,” he whispered softly.
Aziraphale chuckled lightly at the demon and nodded softly. “Believe me, I know,” he commented and tilted his head, noticing the way Crowley’s focus kept shifting from his eyes to what he assumed was his lips. He felt a light blush dusting his cheeks as he thought about what that could imply.
“Angel… would it be okay if I were to kiss you?” Crowley asked as he caressed Aziraphale’s face delicately. He looked back up to the angel’s face and smiled as he noticed the faint blush on his face. That was exactly what he wanted.
“I-I… yes, Crowley. I would like that very, very, much,” Aziraphale confirmed quietly while he just watched the demon, letting him take the lead as he didn’t have the confidence to at that moment. He was still reeling from Crowley’s confession a couple of minutes earlier.
Crowley grinned adoringly at his angel and pulled him the tiniest bit closer. He watched as Aziraphale’s eyes slowly fluttered shut at their close proximity. He allowed his own to fall shut before gently pressing his lips to the angel’s, and... Wow. If asked, Crowley would deny it, but he could have sworn the Earth stopped moving the minute he finally kissed his angel. It was just him and Aziraphale. Nothing and no one else mattered, just the two of them.
All too soon, they were both pulling away. Both celestial beings wore matching grins as they stared at one another. If any human had seen them, they would have thought that the two were crazy, but they weren’t. They were simply happy and utterly in love with each other.
“I love you, angel.”
“I love you too, my dear.”