Work Text:
Crowley's POV:
2065 BC
It had started off as a nice day. He and Aziraphale had done all their respective duties and gone to get dinner to celebrate. After their meal and a few drinks, the pair had decided to take a stroll among the fields. It was a full moon, so they thought they'd enjoy it. Once they became tired, they laid down on the hillside and chatted. It had been lovely. Until the pair saw a falling star. Aziraphale had sounded excited about it, but Crawley wasn't able to focus on what he was saying because he felt his heart drop into his stomach.
No. No, not them too, please...! Begged the demon as tears filled his eyes. He choked out a sob. "I helped build those ones..." His heart ached at the sight. Rejected again, as if the boiling lake of sulphur wasn't enough... He slumped over to cry into his own hands.
Aziraphale was incredibly concerned by his reaction and quickly crawled closer to him. "Crawley? What's the matter?"
"I knew She hated me, but this seems like a bit of overkill, if I'm being honest." Cried the demon.
The blond gasped, realizing what Crawley had interpreted from the night sky. "Oh no, no! Crawley this isn't anything against you!" He stressed, moving in front of the redhead and grabbing the him by the shoulders.
Crawley's sobs didn't cease, but he looked up, jaundice eyes begging for him to explain himself. And that was exactly what the angel did. "Dear boy, She isn't destroying your work! This was explained in a meeting a few months ago."
"What?" It was barely a whisper and his voice sounded broken.
It tore Aziraphale apart. He had never seen Crawley this emotional and he felt the need to help him, even if he knew they were supposed to be enemies. He couldn't help himself, despite everything he's said, he is starting to see the demon as his friend. That's how he ended up ripping part of his sleeve to use it as a rag.
Crawley flinched at first but eventually let the angel wipe away his tears as he explained. "Dear boy, what you saw falling through the skies wasn't one of your creations. Shooting stars aren't actually stars."
"Wha-? What are they then?" The poor dear looked so confused.
Cautiously, the blond placed a gentle hand on the demon's shoulder. "You and the other star-makers mainly used stardust. But the angels who were tasked with making the other planets used more solid materials. Like dirt, rocks and iron. Perhaps not the same kind we're laying on right now, but more solid nonetheless. What we saw, essentially, were flaming space rocks traveling across space."
The tears were still brimming. He wanted to understand. Needed to. "But why...?"
"The Almighty decided She wanted the humans to have something else to enjoy at nighttime. Although, from what I gathered, this won't be a nightly occurrence everywhere... Your creations are safe and sound." He assured him.
And while that had seemed like enough to calm him down, Aziraphale still felt like he needed to do more. He doubted himself a million times in the span of three seconds, but he made up his mind. He hoped Crawley wouldn't take it the wrong way, but he couldn't take it anymore. He hugged him. He hugged him tightly and braced himself for the demon to hiss and scream and get away from him. To his surprise, he felt Crawley bury his nose into his shoulder and he actually hugged him back!
He sobbed softly into the angel's robe. He wasn't heartbroken anymore. The tears were of relief. Crawley's fingers gripped the white fabric from Aziraphale's back.
I don't deserve you, angel. I truly don't.
~~~~~
Present day
With the pair now being on their own side, happily retired and free to express their feelings, they decided to take things to the next level. Getting a home together. It didn't take long for them to find the perfect little cottage in the countryside. It wasn't too large, but it felt right. It was cozy, near the sea and had a very large yard which Crowley could turn into the most beautiful garden in the South Downs. Even with the bits that needed fixing, it was perfect for them.
What wasn't perfect, was Aziraphale's method of packing up shop. Unlike Crowley, he didn't want to simply snap his fingers and have everything shoved into boxes. The angel insisted that every book be gently packed by hand to ensure no damage happened before or during their big move. So that's what they were doing. Aziraphale was in the front half of the bookshop doing all the packing, while Crowley was bringing him all the books from the back.
To his credit, Crowley was trying his best to be as delicate as possible with all the books, but he was also impatient. Trying to carry his weight in books at one point almost got him crushed and he got a good scolding from Aziraphale thanks to this little incident. So after that, he was only allowed to move three books at a time. It took a while, but they found their rhythm. Three hours had passed and Aziraphale's pile of boxes was beginning to cover the entrance to the shop.
As he was walking past Aziraphale's desk, he accidentally knocked over a small tower of books with his hips. The shock and speed which he turned with made him drop two of the three books he was carrying. The demon groaned loudly and winced, kneeling down and inspecting the books.
Nonononono, stay! Fuck!
"Crowley, what was that?" Asked a concerned angel.
Shit!
"Yeah- Fine! Just twisted my foot and fell over." There was no way he was going to tell him how it actually happened. Aziraphale had always said the way he walked was chaotic as anything and this would only add to his argument.
"Don't worry, nothing rare or important was damaged!" He added.
"I beg to differ, darling. You fit both those categories. Is your foot alright?"
Crowley rolled his eyes but he couldn't help but grin. "Ugh, really angel? You choose now to be caring and sappy?"
"If not now, when?" Asked the blond, incredulously.
The demon scoffed. "Preferably, when we're not packing up the Great Library of Alexandria."
"Oh, how you exaggerate! But really, my dear, are you okay?" He wanted a straight answer and he would keep asking until he got one.
"Yes angel, just peachy." He replied as he picked up the books.
Unfortunately, when he went to grab a dark indigo book, his hand hadn't gripped the whole spine and it flopped open, spilling several folded pieces of paper. "Oh for Somebody's sake!" He growled, letting the books drop this time to organize the scattered documents. Some looked and felt millennia old, others looked only a few years old. He unfolded one of them and recognized the letterhead immediately.
These are from Heaven...
Although they had nothing to worry about anymore, curiosity got the better of him and he read the document.
CELESTIAL BODIES DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: Shooting Stars
DATE: August 18th, 2008
AREA: Tadfield, England
NOTES: Will not break the Earth's atmosphere
Next papers read almost identical.
CELESTIAL BODIES DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: Shooting Stars
DATE: October 31st, 1985
AREA: Belfast, Ireland
NOTES: Will crash-land on Earth
CELESTIAL BODIES DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: Shooting Stars
DATE: March 3rd, 1800
AREA: Manchester, England
NOTES: Will not break Earth's atmosphere
He kept going through the papers. Scanning all the information, his mind quickly started connecting events to the dates. After flicking through all of them, he all but sprinted towards Aziraphale.
"Angel, we need to talk."
Aziraphale was placing down his last Wilde. "What about, dear?"
"These." Said Crowley, dropping the documents next to the box he was currently working on.
Aziraphale's expression quickly changed. His hands clenched around the edge of the box as he big his lip. Eventually, he sighed and looked up. "I was hoping you'd never find out about these..."
"You remembered." Replied the demon softly.
"How could I not? You were so heartbroken, love. I never wanted to see you like that again. Not if I could do something about it."
Crowley wasn't ready to go into that yet, so he guided the conversation in a different direction. "Did they ever ask why you would take copies from the Celestial Bodies Department?"
"I would always say that there was a bright, young soul who would love to see some of the Almighty's wonders. I'd go Upstairs every few decades to check their files, see when one would be visible. I'd keep the ones which corresponded to us meeting, if it were at night, anyway..." Explained the blond as he picked up the papers.
Crowley pointed to one of them. "1187: You insisted we stay inside that one inn in France because 'it would be easier to keep track of me to thwart me if we were both inside the building'. Which I found strange, since the market area nearby had dozens of fruits I knew you were dying to try."
"You've always known my weaknesses, darling." Admitted the angel, almost shyly.
The redhead kept going and stepped closer to Aziraphale. "1340: We were at a wedding in Italy, and you dragged me into the castle to show me some statues you had 'tempted' the happy couple into buying." You insisted I needed to see it but it was really nothing special.
"1400: We were camping out in a field somewhere in South America and insisted we sleep under the tree canopy in case it rained. It was the middle of summer and there wasn't a cloud in the sky." You all but tied me up so I wouldn't leave the tent that night, saying it was too cold for my cold-bloodedness.
He took another step.
"1515: I was supposed to sneak into a farmhouse to spook that family in Melbourne, but you made sure I never left the cave I was living in." You said I'd get stomped out by their dark horses in the dead of night before being able to slither into the house." Probably would've happened, though. Horses bloody hate me...
He knelt down and grabbed Aziraphale's left hand. "1800: Manchester, Lord Verick's birthday party in his garden. You told me there were many guests inside, easy pickings for temptations to fulfill my quota." Giving yourself the excuse that it was for the arrangement.
"1985: We ran into each other in Belfast. It was unexpected, you insisted we should have a drink, catch up. Even though we had seen each other, what, 18 years ago?" I really should've seen you were grasping at straws with that one.
He brought up the angel's hand to his mouth and pressed a gentle kiss onto it.
"2008: We were at the Dowling household. I was taking a stroll in the garden, trying to lull Warlock back to sleep without using magic on him. You rushed out of your little cottage and scolded me for having the child out in the cold night and all but shoved us back inside." You really are something else...
Aziraphale merely stared right into his eyes and nodded. He knew he couldn't argue any of it. Crowley was sitting with him on the floor now, holding both his hands. "You went through all this trouble for me."
I don't deserve you, angel... Not the first time it happened, not now, maybe not ever, but I'll try to make sure you know how much you mean to me.
Aziraphale pressed their foreheads together, shutting his eyes. "Of course I did, dear. You didn't deserve that pain."
Crowley nuzzled closer into him. "Did you also plan that time from 41 AD in Rome? At the restaurant?"
"Not much planning for that one, no. I had simply heard some of the patrons talking about seeing shooting stars that night. I made sure we got a table inside because I didn't want to risk anything..." Said Aziraphale as he hugged him.
Will never fucking deserve you... "We're going to live in the countryside now. Were you planning to do the same thing?"
"Not exactly the same, but yes. My intentions were to put those internet navigation skills you taught me to good use. Go online and search for it just like humans do."
"Thank you..." Crowley mumbled into his neck as he kissed him. "But you don't have to do it anymore. I've seen plenty of them on my own since then."
Aziraphale rubbed the demon's back. "Are you certain?"
"Yeah. I'm over it. Really."
"Well, I apologize in advance if I can't break the habit too easily."
Crowley smiled into him. "Apology accepted, angel... How about we take the rest of the day off?"
"Has the sharing session worn you out?" Asked the blond, knowingly.
"A bit, yeah."
Aziraphale squeezed him a little, then pulled him up with him. "Alright, dear. Let's turn in."
~~~~~
Eventually, they did get everything packed and moved into their new home. It took longer than they imagined, but they weren't in a rush. Or rather, Aziraphale wasn't in much of a rush. Crowley, on the other hand, wanted to settle down as soon as possible. It was cute, in Aziraphale's eyes. He hadn't expected Crowley to be like this, but it was just one of those pleasant surprises of being involved with him.
For example, Crowley had never shown too much interest in eating, so he hadn't expected him to be interested in cooking. He was a natural! And he wasn't using miracles, Aziraphale had checked. Crowley just loved making him food and seeing him indulge in it. The angel supposed that made sense. After all, Crowley always loved to spoil him.
Speaking of spoiling him, tonight Crowley had prepared a lovely picnic for them to share in the garden. He had made all sorts of hors d'oeuvres to go along with some wine they had been saving for a special occasion. He set up a blanket by the apple tree and waved Aziraphale over so they could get comfortable. As the angel sampled the food, Crowley tapped away on his phone. To the point where the blond was feeling a bit ignored.
Come on, come on! This is taking too long!
"I say, my dear. What's so important that you haven't said a thing since we sat out here?"
"Just a few more seconds." He said, not looking up from the small screen. "Make sure you've got one hand free, angel."
"Whatever for?"
"For..." He started. He glanced at his phone and the sky several times, and then his expression changed.
About bloody time!
"That!" He said before kissing the back of Aziraphale's hand. The angel was confused and leaned forward to see what Crowley meant.
"Anthony J. Crowley, explain yourself right now." Demanded the blond after seeing a shooting star fly by.
The demon grinned. "There's a meteor shower tonight and I'm making up for lost time."
"Crowley, what-"
"You get a kiss for every bloody meteor I see tonight. I don't care what you say." He said before kissing him twice. "We'll be here for hours, so I hope you're comfortable."
"Darling..." Cooed the angel, setting his wine aside to cup Crowley's face with both his hands. The demon was still glancing up and counting, turning his face slightly to kiss the angel's palms. "You don't have to do this, you know. I didn't keep track of the stars so you'd owe me a debt of some kind, dearest."
"I know. You did it because you wanted to. Because you cared about me." He said, still kissing him. Because you're the kindest being in existence.
The principality nodded. "Exactly."
The redhead shrugged. "Same logic applies to me. I want to do this, because I want you to know I'm grateful. Even if I wasn't always aware of it."
I love you to bits, Aziraphale and I don't want you to forget it. Not ever.
Aziraphale was not about to argue. He simply let Crowley continue to show his affections. Even if he insisted he could make up for all the shooting stars he wasn't aware of through the millennia, Aziraphale knew he couldn't do it. At least not in one night. Luckily, Crowley was determined to get it done, no matter how long it took him. Hours passed, the sun came up, and Crowley was still kissing him senseless.