Chapter Text
Story inspired by this incredible art
Crowley was searching the wine cabinet when he realised they were all out of wine. Well, good one at least. That magician was so clumsy he could barely get gigs, therefore money to buy wine to pay him. He groaned and decided to see if they had any more wine left in the kitchen.
He stepped on something squeaky... a fake rabbit. "I can't fathom the idea of using a real one and hurting it" Azirapale had said often. The demon pulverised the toy and shook his head, nonsense. As he walked the corridor he saw a feeble light coming from the room at the end of it.
The more he walked the more he found silly props lying around. A feathered thingy, some magician gloves, candles... He slowly opened the door that was left ajar and saw him. Aziraphale was lying on the carpet, with all his notes and his failed tricks around him. He was snoring. Crowley chuckled, what a silly human, why didn't he ask him for help instead of stubbornly wanting to prepare his routine first? He got closer to him and crouching down he placed a blanket over him, conjuring a small pillow under his head too. The human scrunched his nose, he smiled softly and curled up a bit. Crowley found himself thinking that his human was able to be so cute sometimes. His? He frowned. Spending time with him was definitely doing weird things to him. He brought a hand to his chest...warmth, he hadn't felt that in a while
~
The demon was lying on the ground right in front of that silly human. He was bored so he decided to just do that. You know, just to let time pass faster. He wasn't sleeping, he didn't sleep, but his eyes were closed and he was resting comfortably on his left bent arm.
"Mr. demon..." he heard a whisper. "Mr. Demon are you sleeping?" Aziraphale asked further. Crowley didn't move an inch, he had no idea why. He suddenly felt something touching the tip of his nose, it was barely perceptible. He could hear the human's heartbeat accelerating, his breathing had gotten sharp, was he even holding it? Crowley didn't know. He felt another touch on his chin, gentle, slow, something he had never experienced "Mr. demon?" he heard again. Aziraphale was probably just touching his face with the tip of his fingers, inspecting it A second later he felt the same fingers on his horn. A shiver ran down his spine when he pictured the human's face as he tentatively caressed one of his most sensitive spots. If he only knew... Aziraphale gasped softly as he traced the profile of it, he had never seen one before.
As if that touch hadn't been shocking enough, the human swallowed hard and finally brushed gently the tip of his thumb right on Crowley's lips. The demon thought he was about to die when he heard the other moan softly. It was still barely audible, but demon hearing was a curse…
Aziraphale must have come back to his senses because he immediately retracted his hand. Crowley's eyes snapped open and he saw him, flushed, confused, surprised "m...Mr. demon. You're awake," he muttered. "I never was sleeping..." Crowley admitted, smirking softly.
The human sat up and adjusted his clothes, trying to avoid his eyes while a deep blush spread on his soft cheeks. "Demons don't sleep, I do it as a hobby. I was bored, we finished the wine so..." he explained, trying to let the other relax. Aziraphale looked around in surprise
"We finished the wine? I'll go buy it immediately," he fretted as he tried to stand up. Crowley grabbed him by the wrist and kept him on the floor. He very rarely had touched the human and that thing made them both shiver lightly. "Stay, we don't have the money anyway,"
Aziraphale's expression became immediately dark with guilt painted all over. His pretty lashes fluttered as he looked down and sighed "I'm sorry, I will find gigs this week, and buy you all the wine. Look I think I got it, I created a nice magic routine. Want me to show you?"
Crowley smiled and nodded, and watched as the little magician gathered all his notes and props to explain to him in great detail all the numbers he wanted to do. The improvements and the new things he learned. "I just don't get it, why don't you let me do the magic?"Crowley asked
The demon made a deck of cards appear in his hand, handing it to the other. Aziraphale sighed "It would be like cheating. I want you to help me get better with my tricks not do them yourself," he pouted. Crowley had to look away and clear his throat as the cards disappeared again
"Fine, do it your way. After all, I would need better payment if I helped you any more than that..." the demon said. Aziraphale gasped dramatically "You mean my soul?" he asked bringing a hand to his chest. Cute. Crowley rolled his eyes "Yes, human, your soul...obviously"
While Azriraphale started explaining to him how inconvenient it was for him to sell his soul, as he also started nervously collecting all the mess around the room, Crowley sat there on the floor. The voice becoming a buzz in his ears..no really why was he doing it? For free too.
~
The demon was standing offstage, looking at the clumsy man under the spotlight. He was on the side, hidden by the curtains and he couldn’t help but be fascinated by his dedication. It was his first gig with the new routine and Aziraphale looked radiant. The inflection of his voice every time he called the number name was hilarious and produced a few smirks on the audience’s lips. But apart from that they all …well all ten of them, looked mildly bored by the show.
Crowley found himself wondering: why doing that? What brought that little human to put himself in such situations? Embarrassing himself, even. But when he finished, the few people applauded him, and Aziraphale bowed deeply and rushed off stage towards him…the demon saw it. His bright smile, his simple happiness.
“I did it! I was able to do all my tricks without too many accidents,” obviously he did, Crowley kept helping him from the side. Not even realising it. But after all, it wasn’t too big of a deal, just helping him avoid clumsiness by not letting things fall from his hands. That amount of help was what Aziraphale had asked.
“Yes, I saw that,” he cracked a smile. He was in his human form, regular human skin tone, no horns, no deep yellow eyes. Just regular yellow eyes.
Aziraphale beamed as he reached out to grab one of the demon’s arms “People even cheered at the end. And they said we can eat and drink all we want!” He sounded excited and giddy as he turned around to walk towards the bar. Crowley moved just in time before the other could be out of his grasp and grabbed his elbow, turning him around.
“They aren’t paying you, aren't they?” he asked with frustration, cocking up an eyebrow. Aziraphale smiled awkwardly and looked down.
“I… they said they were going to pay me with a meal and all the alcohol I wanted…” he sounded slightly less excited now and Crowley felt a distinct lump in his throat. He groaned and looked up at the sky, then down at hell. Fucking hell, this man is hopeless . “I’m sure next time I’ll get a paid gig, people liked me tonight. For now, let's just enjoy the free drinks.”
That said the human spun on his feet and trotted towards the front of the pub.
A large man blocked his pathway, making Crowley almost growl and hiss under his breath. “Sorry, the boss said you can’t have food or drinks at the counter. You will have them in your dressing room at the back.” The big man looked scary and Aziraphale looked even smaller than usual in front of him. He saw him wince and step back as he tried to smile at him.
“What is this nonsense?” Crowley asked, already very bothered by the way they were being treated.
“Boss said the pub is too high level to have a… magician dine with our fine guests.” As he spoke he looked them up and down, definitely having a not so kind opinion of them both. Treating them like scum. Wow, if I wanted to be surrounded by pieces of shit I could have just stayed home.
“So we are good enough for the stage, as clowns, but not good enough for the hall?” the demon asked, gritting his teeth. Aziraphale gasped and stepped in his direction.
“It’s ok, we will go, we’ll have our meal in private, I’m also very tired, so I’ll enjoy the calmness of the dressing room.” That said he gently pulled the demon’s jacket and started to walk towards the far back where the tiny rooms were.
Crowley snarled subtly and pushed his hands strongly into his pockets, before giving in to the need of throwing them all over the big human. As he turned around he smirked. He heard a little cracking and then the confused reaction from that gorilla of a man as his dark glasses lost a lens. And the more they walked to the back, the more little things just fell or malfunctioned. Yes, Crowley was petty, but he really despised how humans acted sometimes. It wasn’t even necessary for him to tempt them into being trash, they already were doing a great job themselves.
They sat at a tiny table in a dressing room filled with dresses and props of others, but at least the food wasn’t scarce, nor was the wine. And for once the humans had been honest because even when they asked for another bottle, the wine was delivered to them.
Aziraphale spent his meal talking excitedly about his tricks and how he was going to improve them. He also thanked Crowley for the help with his clumsy fingers and told him how he wanted to keep training at home.
The demon simply let the other vent and talk and drink, and when they walked out of there, he mostly had just to make sure he wasn’t falling down or tripping. Aziraphale kept smiling and acting happy and excited, but as he watched him from behind the demon could sense his utter disappointment.
Why hiding it from him tho? He wasn’t the one judging him.
At some point he caught the human just in time, holding him by his shoulders, and while he held him and they briefly looked at each other, he quickly sobered him up. A little magic trick of his own. The foggy look became clearer and Aziraphale straightened his back and started walking normally, thanking him for the help.
After a while, they reached the bookshop, because, yes, the human had yet another job, and that too hadn’t been much of a success. He had a lovely collection, but he wasn’t a good businessman, and he often sold only the books he didn’t like much, and not even full price.
Hopeless.
“How are you feeling?” Crowley asked when they closed the door behind them.
Aziraphale turned around and smiled, “fine, the alcohol is all gone now, thanks to you Mr. Demon,” he said then he tilted his head, “you look so different as a human,” he whispered getting closer.
“Ah, yes, I figured your assistant can’t look too demon-y.”
Aziraphale grinned, “I guess not. But I like your normal appearance. I feel like something is missing now…” that said he reached up but stopped before touching Crolwey’s face. His hand was right over the demon’s forehead. Was he referring to his horns?
Without even thinking twice Crowley changed back to his true form, well his humanly acceptable one , and he saw a sparkle cross the man’s eyes. His clear pools became dark when his pupils dilated slightly at the sight of his horns, and they stayed in such a state even while Aziraphale gathered the courage to gently brush his fingers over one.
“Oh there they are, and the ears too…” he said, almost hypnotised by what he was seeing. Even quickly reaching back to press his digits on the demon’s pointy ears. He then went back to look at the horns, “Do they feel weird?” he asked.
“Uh? My horns?” liar, obviously he was referring to his horns, “weird… I wouldn’t say weird, they are just part of my body,” he explained. He didn’t step back from that touch. But as strange as that was, what hit him was how he felt slightly disappointed when Aziraphale stepped back first.
“Can you feel if someone touches them?” the human asked and Crowley nodded, hearing him gasp. He was probably remembering when he had touched them days before.
“They are covered in a thin layer of skin.”
“Oh! Like deer antlers, but those get fur too…” Aziraphale pondered, he looked confused.
“It’s, it’s just my demon horns, not every demon has them the same, and no, mine don’t grow fur,” he was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable thinking about having to explain parts of his body. He wouldn’t have normally, but Aziraphale was somehow making a big deal out of it.
“But, do they hurt too? They can be wounded…” the human asked further and Crowley could only frown and stare at him shrugging. Yeah, of course, they hurt. Aziraphale reached up once more and touched his horn, brushing his fingers quickly from the base of it to the tip. “They look very interesting either way. Sorry for being a nuisance.” The human said the last part quickly and put his hands behind his back, smiling.
Crowley on the other hand was in shock. He felt the hair on his back rising when he touched him, and it hadn’t been even an intimate touch.
Fucking hell .
“Speaking of something different,” he regained his composure in the blink of an eye, “Aziraphale you can’t let others treat you like that. You have to demand real payment next time.” The demon crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. He was trying to be condescending but he came off as worried.
Aziraphale’s expression changed very quickly when he smirked all of a sudden. He reached out inside his cloak and he took out a bottle. He looked all proud of himself, “Oh, but they did pay!” His mischievous look tingled the demon in all the right spots, for some reason even making him forget the smudged drawn-in moustache. In a very theatrical way the magician took out yet another bottle from behind him and showed them to him. Not the cheap wine they drank, but a very expensive Mertol de Château Cheval and a Cabernet Sauvignon.
Crowley stared at the wine bottles, almost already tasting them in his mouth then he looked at the naughty magician with furrowed brows.
He saw him grin, “I may be a bad magician, but I am an excellent pickpocketer. They shouldn’t store these on the way to the artist’s exit,” the human almost chanted while he turned around and walked towards a little cabinet where he intended to store the wine. His delighted expression was something Crowley had never seen. He looked mischievous and so proud of it. “This way I can pay you at least,” Aziraphale said softly while placing the bottles on the wooden surface, caressing them like a little treasure of his own.
Crowley grunted as he disappeared and reappeared right next to that silly human. Aziraphale turned around, his eyes still shiny, he wasn’t expecting him to do a magic trick. The demon’s brain stopped working as he cupped his face and leaned in for a kiss. Those soft plump lips tasted like cheap wine, and yet they were so sweet.
When he realised what he had just done he pulled himself away. They stared at each other for a split second, the yellow serpent eyes lost in the ocean Aziraphale’s ones were. The human looked confused and unsettled, so vulnerable and small. Crowley blinked twice then he did what he had to do. He snapped his fingers and the human fell in a slumber, his recent memory of that kiss erased completely.
“What the actual…” Crowley hissed between gritted teeth. He quickly supported the body that went limp in his arms, realising for the first time how Aziraphale had clung to his jacket when he kissed him, because now that he let go, Crolwey felt a cold spot on his elbow. He grunted as he quickly gathered the man in his arms and brought him upstairs to his bed.
“...the fuck” he muttered again, as he adjusted the blankets on him and left the room. Now he was even tucking him in. perfect!
Once downstairs he sat on a small sofa, more like he let his body melt on it, his arm on the armrest, while his fingers pressed strongly the bridge of his nose. The room was dark, only one small abat jour was on, giving him and his growing headache some peace. He sighed and summoned himself a bottle of brandy and a snifter. The liquor poured itself and Crowley grabbed the glass.
Stupid, the whole situation was stupid. He didn’t need to buy wine, he didn’t even need a new bottle each time. He could easily make them appear in front of his eyes, or fill them back up.
What are you doing Crowley? Why are you even here? Just go back down there. Were you thas bored you needed to find yourself a hobby?
Fine, let’s say this hobby makes your days less dull. What was the kiss about?
Fucker.
He drank the brandy in one go and sighed soundly.
That thing was never going to happen again. Never ever.