Archive of Our Own

".. Do you ever miss the stars?"

Aziraphale and Crowley were sitting on that oh-so-familiar bench in Saint James' Park. It had been a very long day. A very long everything, really. With Heaven and the Second Coming and all that came before and...

A sit down somewhere quiet sounded just right, even if it wasn't on the direct drive to the Bookshop.

Aziraphale was looking up when he asked the question. Dusk had fallen into night and the stars were just starting to pop into view.

"They're right there, aren't they?".

Crowley was sitting next to Aziraphale, of course. He made one of his sounds and squinted.

Or at least Aziraphale guessed it was a squint. He had gotten so used to understanding what Crowley meant by certain hums and coughs and which mannerisms matched.

"Well, yes but that's not what I-", Aziraphale tried.

"How would I miss something like that?", Crowley cut him off.

"I didn't mean-", he insisted.

"They're as bright as ever. What are you going on about?"

Aziraphale took a deep breath. Angels do not roll their eyes but instead squeeze them shut long enough to fight off the urge to. That's what he was doing now.

Crowley quietly continued with something about glasses and how the angel might actually need a pair before going silent.

Aziraphale took a breath through his nose and puffed out his chest.

"Are you going to let me finish?"

The demon audibly settled more into the bench with a quiet scoff that sounded more like a cough.

It didn't dissuade the angel from continuing.

"Good. I meant to say: do you miss them- the stars-... From up close?"

Aziraphale had not dared to cast his eyes on the demon beside him since they had seated themselves.

Now he felt the sudden compulsion to but staring would be rude after such a question.

Especially now because he wasn't getting a response. At least, not as fast as he wanted one.

He started to fidget with the ring on his pinky.

"That wasn't something I should have asked. Terribly sorry. Forget I said anything?", Aziraphale tried to smile it off but his tone was higher and strained.

It was audible he was trying too hard.

He could hear the demon take a deep breath and sigh in that way he does, in response.

"Mmm. Yeah, I guess. D'you?"

Aziraphale could see the demon turn to him out of the corner of his eye.

His shoulders stiffened under the gaze that he couldn't even see.

"It was a lovely view"

Aziraphale would have cursed himself if he wasn't against swearing. He could have come up with something better.

He saw the demon turn back towards the sky and relaxed somewhat.

And then the silence was drawn out again.

Aziraphale started to sense this was going to be a pattern.

"This is nice too. This view, I mean", he added, like he had to defend the sky for some reason.

He decided to do most of the talking.

Crowley made another one of his sounds and shifted on the bench again.

"Would be nicer with one of those.. What's the word?", Aziraphale started to scrunch his nose as he tried to remember something.

"Oh, the looking glass? Long metal lens", he sounded exasperated.

Crowley turned to him again. Aziraphale could tell what face he was making.

"A telescope?", he guessed.

"Yes! One of those", Aziraphale looked to the demon with a smile. It was an old habit.

Crowley was the first to turn away. "Too bad we don't have one then"

Aziraphale deflated a little, for multiple reasons.

Usually Crowley would find such a slip-up worth noting or at the very least sound cocky when he corrected the angel.

Maybe smirk and quirk a brow.

Not this time.

"Have you ever thought of getting one?", Aziraphale asked.

Now that he was looking, he couldn't take his eyes off of Crowley. He needed to see a reaction.

Something.

Then he would be satisfied enough to stargaze.

Crowley's brows furrowed before loosening with a head shrug.

"Once or twice"

Aziraphale lit up a little. This could make for an excellent conversation starter. Or conversation continuer. Whichever word suits it best.

"Were they not up to snuff?"

Crowley exhaled a laugh out of his nose which caused Aziraphale to sit higher with an ounce of pride.

"Jus' never had time"

"You could always get one now?"

Crowley made a motion with his hand that suggested indecisiveness.

Aziraphale started to twist his ring again.

He took the kind of breath you would take before making a confident statement but didn't say anything afterwards.

It earned him another look from the demon.

He had to commit now. He swallowed, hard, to prevent his throat from betraying him again.

"You could always put it in my bookshop, if you're so worried about it taking up space", Aziraphale started with a very proper tone. Then it fizzled out in a quiet: "If you get one at all".

Crowley's expression remained unmoving. It made Aziraphale's hands more fidgety, to the point he had to start gesturing with them.

"I'm not saying you can't keep it in your flat. Not at all! I'm simply offering a place for it to go, if your flat becomes too crowded and- and..", he started rambling.

And then he noticed the demon's face.

Crowley's brow was furrowed again except this time his lips curled down at the corners.

Aziraphale's hands slowly lowered back into his lap and he eyed the still pond.

"Right. It would be yours after all. No reason for it to be in the bookshop"

He flashed him a smile and turned forward. He held his hands together and took a deep breath that he hoped went unnoticed.

The bench creaked as the demon leaned closer. Aziraphale almost jumped out of his corporation.

He had to tell himself not to look.

Maybe Crowley wouldn't say anything if he didn't.

".. I know what you're doing"

Aziraphale's stomach was suddenly a pit. He didn't know what he himself was doing so it was alarming to hear that Crowley did, somehow.

"And what would that be?"

"You're trying to make it up to me. For everything"

Aziraphale's lips parted and he looked at the demon with shifty eyes. He wanted to refute, to tell him he was wrong,

But

The Halo. The bookshop. The almost war. The two sides face to face, within inches of destroying each other.

A fly. Memories. An angel and a demon. Love. Disappearing with a song.

Heaven and Hell being sent away. All but one.

Coffee. A private talk. Opportunities. An offer.

A chance to make things right. To make them better.

Excitement. Joy. Together.

Disagreement. Arguing.

A kiss.

Hurt. Leaving.

And

Crowley was right.

Aziraphale pressed his lips into a thin line. Crowley's expression softened and he leaned back.

"We already talked about this, didn't we?". Crowley sounded annoyed but maybe that was all in Aziraphale's head.

"I- I know, but-", Aziraphale stammered.

"We agreed we would talk about it later, yeah?"

Aziraphale frowned and nodded slowly.

"Good". Crowley looked forward again but it was hard to tell where his eyes were.

Aziraphale stared at him before huffing and looking at his hands. "What if I changed my mind?".

Crowley sighed, "Aziraphale-"

"I did an awful thing to you! Don't you understand?". He sounded angry and really wished he hadn't. But maybe it helped get the point across.

"Of course I do!"

"Do you? Because you're supposed to be angry and-and shouting at me! But instead you're like this!"

"What? Do you think I just forgot?!". Crowley had no problem biting back. It made Aziraphale take a breath to try and calm himself.

"Maybe? You've barely said anything since we spoke again"

"Did you ever think I didn't want to talk about it?"

"Of course I did but you're usually one to never let things go so it's strange that you're so..."

The two found themselves facing each other again. Aziraphale's eyes were staring into the lenses of the demons glasses. Some part of him wished they would melt or disappear right off of his face.

"Nice", he finished his statement.

He knew how he felt about that word but it was the only one that he could think of.

Any other word wouldn't be good enough.

Not by a long shot.

Crowley's shoulders raised and fell with a breath that Aziraphale was scared would come out as a sort of yell.

Somehow that idea was less scary than what happened.

Crowley didn't say anything. He took another breath and sighed instead.

He collapsed his back into the bench and looked like he couldn't get comfortable no matter how many times he shifted around.

Aziraphale wanted to say something more.

To reach out and

He squeezed his fingers in his hand and thought better of it.

He watched as Crowley turned his head from side to side like he was stretching his neck.

And then he stopped and turned to Aziraphale with a huff.

"If we're talking about this, I have a question for you first"

Aziraphale's eyes widened a little and he couldn't help but gape just slightly.

It took him a few seconds to realize he should nod, which he did.

"Of course. Go ahead?". He tried to sound like he was for this idea but his tone and crooked smile, that didn't reach his eyes, were no help in assisting him.

Crowley crossed his arms before they slowly started to loosen with an exhale.

"Did you... I mean, do.."

Aziraphale recognized this tone. He didn't like that.

Crowley took a quick inhale before breathing out: "Do you miss him?", ending with annunciation focused on the "im" but that could have just been a voice crack.

Aziraphale's brow furrowed as he gave the demon a confused look. He didn't think asking for clarification was appropriate but he wasn't going to try and guess.

"Who?"

The demon made a noise that Aziraphale was quite used to. A groan and a sigh mixed together. As Crowley made the drawn out sound, he did a number of movements in succession of the other.

First, he sat up and stretched out his legs, to the point his heels were dug into the ground.

Then, he pulled himself up by the back of the bench and his legs followed with the motion to curl up with him.

The soles of his shoes were firm on the ground again and his elbows were now propped on his knees but only so he could cross his arms again and lean forward.

It looked like he would start rocking back and forth but didn't move an inch for a few seconds.

Aziraphale would have asked if he was alright but he started moving again.

He leaned into the corner where the armrest and backrest met and turned to the angel at last.

After several short inhales that were caught in between coughs and strange sounds, he opened his mouth.

"Do you.. Miss who I was? Before?"

Aziraphale hated that he didn't need to imagine what his eyes looked like.

The glasses were still there, by all means, but the image was as clear as day.

He just had already seen an expression to match that tone and was suddenly being reminded.

He was so distracted that he forgot to answer the question.

Crowley slowly nodded and his lips formed into a thin line that was fighting to stay that way. ".. Right. Should'a known".

Aziraphale blinked and was suddenly sober to what was happening.

He made a noise that he wasn't going to accept was a whine and his hands grabbed at the air between them and shook. "You didn't let me answer!".

"No answer was plenty"

"No, no, no. You got to answer my question! With words!", Aziraphale huffed.

Crowley gave him a slightly cocked head. After a few seconds he turned forward. "So?".

"So, I want to do the same with yours. It's only fair". Aziraphale tried to cross his arms but doing so with fists was uncomfortable. After figuring that out, he decided to just rest his arms at his sides.

The demon managed to force himself into the corner even more and made that coughing-scoff from before.

"You asked if I missed you from Before?", Aziraphale asked like he was going to pause long enough for Crowley to confirm.

He didn't pause for longer than a second.

"Right. Well, that's a difficult question".

Aziraphale was next to do a number of movements, each with words behind them.

"You could be asking if I miss how he looks, for one. He certainly didn't have the same style as you", he gestured at the demon with a hand. "Not that I'm complaining about how you dress. That's a different discussion", he shook his head.

"Or maybe about how he was. You were both mischievous in your own ways, you more-so", Aziraphale nodded with a look he hoped was serious.

"Or you could be asking if I miss what he did. Of course, you can't make stars-", he pointed up before waving his hands like he was swatting a fly, "But, but, but!", he then pointed at him, "You can do a number of other excellent things too".

"You helped stop Armageddon, for one. That is a very goo-.. Guh... Uh..". His hands moved around in front of him like he was trying to balance an unsteady stack of invisible boxes. He then rested his hands on his knees: "A very generous thing to do".

He put emphasis on the "generous" just to make sure Crowley knew it wasn't "good".

"You also tried to help those two humans. What were their names?". Aziraphale looked elsewhere, hoping that something different to look at would jog his memory.

After a few seconds of trying, he looked back at Crowley. "Not the point. You still tried and you didn't have to. But you did". He couldn't help but smile.

"And you..". He glanced at the bench a few times and had to remind himself to not wrinkle his pants as his hands started to fidget with the fabric.

"You.... You helped me. Even after what I did". He tried to keep his voice level but he kept going into a whisper every other word or so.

Aziraphale hadn't fully taken notice of Crowley's reaction to any of this.

He didn't want to admit it but he was a little preoccupied with trying to prove his point.

Now that he was really looking at him, Crowley's posture had changed. Now he was leaning on the armrest with a tightly pinched brow and his mouth was in a subtle frown.

He can't make this any worse.

Aziraphale took a breath and silently prayed. He didn't know to who but hopefully whoever was listening would be kind enough to make sure this went well.

"So.. No. I don't miss him. In a sense, he's you". His eyes were starting to wander again. He hoped it didn't make him seem less sincere.

"It's like what you said about the stars? They're hard to miss. Shining right in front of you"

He looked back at Crowley with a small smile that he felt was awkward. "I don't suppose stars change shape though".

The demon's Adams apple bobbed for a moment as he was probably swallowing harshly. That's what Aziraphale guessed.

Crowley moved a hand to his face and scrubbed his eyes with the palm. He still wouldn't move the glasses so now they were starting to shift due to the motion.

Aziraphale gasped quietly and his hands started to reach towards him but came up short every time.

Then they just hovered. "Oh, I hope I didn't say something wrong! I just wanted to make things clear and-", his throat was doing that thing again.

The demon silenced him with a raised hand. The other hand was busy working on fixing the glasses to their proper place.

Aziraphale moved his mouth to form words but he didn't say anything. Crowley didn't want him to, after all.

He was going to listen this time.

It took Crowley a hard and long inhale through the nose and a cough to finally speak.

"You really think that?"

Aziraphale waited a few beats before responding: "Of course". He would have crossed his heart but that seemed like a bit much.

He watched as the demon's expression seemed to pull down then spring back to nothing in an instant. His mouth dipped into a frown and his brows showed distress and then he looked as neutral as he was when this all started.

Aziraphale couldn't tell what kind of impression Crowley had gotten from those words and now he really wished those glasses would go somewhere else.

"Then.. Why?", Crowley put an arm on the backrest and pulled himself a little forward, closer to Aziraphale.

The "Why" of the question wasn't difficult. Aziraphale knew the answer.

But there's a difference between knowing the answer and being able to articulate it without sounding foolish.

He hadn't figured out the Not-Sounding-Foolish bit yet. No better time than now.

"Why go up there?". He needed to make sure they were on the same page. Just to be sure. Not to stall or anything.

Crowley nodded once with a jerking motion.

Aziraphale took a breath and slowly exhaled through his mouth.

"I... I wanted you to be happy again?"

That wasn't quite right but it wasn't wrong either. There was more he wanted to say but his vocabulary was suddenly escaping him.

"I mean, as happy as you were. When you made all of those stars and things. You looked so excited", he couldn't help but smile a little at the memory.

".. You don't get it, do you?", Crowley asked with a tone that Aziraphale was having a hard time reading.

"Get what?"

The demon looked up, the angle of his head said so.

"Going back up there. It's not going to make me happy"

Aziraphale frowned a little and his hands came together in his lap. "It wouldn't?".

"Nope"

"... Not even a little bit?"

Crowley turned to him and shook his head.

Aziraphale swallowed. "Then- then what? What would make you happy?".

The demon gave him a small smile that vanished with a sound and an exhale.

"You still don't know? After everything?". Now he sounded amused.

"I'm asking, aren't I?", Aziraphale huffed and felt himself getting annoyed.

Crowley turned his whole body towards him and gave no response.

"Oh, will you just tell me?", he begged while fidgeting with the fabric of his pants again.

Crowley moved his head like he was trying to crack his neck and slouched a bit. Then he waved the angel off.

"If you don't know it now, you never will"

"That's just untrue! If you tell me, I'll know. So.. Tell me? Please?", Aziraphale started to wring his hands.

The demon sighed into an airy: "Ah'right, fine. But you have to answer the same question first"

Aziraphale was going to complain but he managed to realize that would only delay his question from getting answered sooner.

"Fine"

Instead, he huffed and looked forward. He hoped that made it clear he didn't like this, even if he was going to cooperate.

Crowley gestured at him, probably so he would speak.

Aziraphale held up a hand and started to think. He wasn't going to be rushed.

He needed to say what made him happy. That should be easy enough. A lot of things made him happy after all.

His music and his bookshop. Hot cocoa. Little restaurants where they knew him.

The Ritz.

Rome and Paris. Magic shops, burnt down churches, band stands.

Something clicked and he felt very proud of himself for coming to this conclusion all on his own.

Aziraphale looked back at Crowley with a smile and held his hands together in his lap.

"You", he nodded at him.

The demon's brows raised and he made a throat noise. Aziraphale was happy about that for some reason.

"Of course, a great many other things make me happy", he felt the need to clarify, "But you're always there"

"In the Bastille, the theater. I think it counts", his eyes darted down.

Crowley leaned back and the distance between them lengthened again.

Aziraphale started to fidget with his ring.

"Was that.. not the right answer?"

The demon cleared his throat and shook his head just enough for it to be noticeable.

"No wrong answers. Not for that question. I left it open for anything. My fault, really", Crowley muttered as he fixed his jacket.

"Oh. Good then. Because that's my answer", Aziraphale nodded with his, hopefully, serious tone again.

The demon nodded again and crooked his head towards the ground.

".. I do believe that means you have to answer as well?", the angel slowly said with a steadily growing smile he hadn't noticed in time to stop.

Crowley took a breath and sighed. "Yeah, alright". He sat up higher on the bench. "Same answer from me then".

".. If you're just copying my answer because you don't want to tell me the truth-", Aziraphale started.

"I'm not lying", Crowley cut off him with a tone that Aziraphale thought would be a lot harsher than it was.

".... You're telling the truth?", he pushed.

"Yes! You make me happy too. There". Crowley huffed and crossed his arms.

Aziraphale couldn't help but smile even more.

"Oh. I'm so glad"

He was glad, yes. But this didn't feel like enough. He was going to say something when

"I didn't think I made you happy"

Crowley's tone was flat again. Aziraphale's hand twitched and he squeezed it into a fist. He really hated those glasses.

"Of course you d-"

"I didn't know that until now, did I?!", he threw his hands up before leaning back and dropping his arms limp.

Aziraphale frowned and his hands rested on either side of him.

"... No. I suppose you didn't"

Crowley turned his head away and huffed.

Aziraphale's hand, the nearest to Crowley, started to inch closer to the demon.

"I don't suppose you want me to do the dance?", he joked with a quickly shrinking smile.

".. Nah. Is' fine"

"Are you sure?". Aziraphale focused on Crowley's shoulder before his eyes wandered down to his wrist.

"Plenty sure, yeah", he nodded.

The angel's hand inched closer before freezing when Crowley made a noise. It was one of the ones Aziraphale couldn't really pin to any feeling in particular.

"I don't get it"

Aziraphale blinked. "... Do you want to elaborate?".

"You really went up there for me?", Crowley turned to him.

The angel's breath caught in his throat and his hand retreated back into the hold of the other.

"Well.. Yes. I said we could be together, after all"

"What was your plan?", the demon leaned closer and it only made Aziraphale want the distance again. Only for this to feel less like a confrontation.

"I- I thought that I could make it better", he stammered with an unacceptable, to him, lack of confidence.

Crowley raised a brow.

"Better for you", the angel added with a lump in his throat.

"I thought you could finally be.. Happy. And safe. I know Hell can't be pleasant and Heaven isn't best suited for you but it could be!". He hated how his tone sped up then slowed down in the middle of that.

"I thought I could have done it", Aziraphale added with a whisper.

His eyes stayed firmly glued to Crowley's face this time. He wasn't going to miss a moment.

The demon's expression stiffened as he took an inhale through his nose but softened as he exhaled.

"... Why didn't you just say that before?"

Aziraphale looked down at his hands. The pit in his stomach was back. "You.. You won't be angry with me, will you? If I tell you?".

"That depends on what you say"

The angel took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I was scared", he blurted. "You and I aren't.. We were never anything before. We weren't friends- at least that's what I said- so I thought you would find it strange if I told you".

Aziraphale's hands were finding it difficult to keep a good grasp of each other. "So I didnt. I just kept my mouth shut and tried to say a number of other things to convince you to come with me".

".. Like that I needed you. That wasn't a lie, I want to make it perfectly clear and-"

The feeling of another hand on his own caused his eyes to snap open.

Crowley was resting a hand over the angel's.

"You're not lying?", he slowly asked.

Aziraphale shook his head with broad movements to make sure it was clear.

The demon didn't say anything for a few seconds that felt much longer than that.

"Things would have run a lot smoother if you had started with that"

The angel looked at their hands. He would be lying now if he said this wasn't impairing his judgement.

"Is... Is that why you?.."

He looked at Crowley with the words right on his tongue but they evaporated soon after.

The demon moved his hand away and Aziraphale did his best to not look disappointed.

"Ahh.." was the only sound that came from him in response. Not that Aziraphale could blame him. The question was as sudden to Crowley as it was to him.

"We don't have to talk about that right now", the angel waved his hands and forced a couple of chuckles.

"Or ever! It might be better that way, after all", he added.

Crowley made another sound but this one drew itself out into a slurred: "For the best".

Aziraphale bowed his head slightly and took a breath. He then looked back up at the sky in an attempt to recover.

"We've never sat out here this late. Usually it's during the morning or the afternoon", he changed the subject.

The demon titled his head up as well. ".. It is a nice view. You mentioned that earlier and you were right".

"It is lovely, isn't it?", Aziraphale already felt himself relaxing again.

He glanced over and Crowley shifted on the bench to lean forward a little.

"I haven't done this in a while"

"... Looked at the stars?"

Crowley pointed at him with a limp hand. "That too".

Aziraphale gave him a confused expression, expecting him to continue on his own.

"I meant sitting here, actually"

"With... You". He turned to Aziraphale and the angel gave him wide eyes that he hoped didn't make him look silly.

Aziraphale started to pick at the skin on his thumb. "Is it.. as nice as you remember?".

The demon swiveled his head back and forth as he was probably checking the surroundings. "Not this dark. But, uh. 'Guess it's nice, yeah".

Aziraphale's hands interlocked at the fingers and he started to look around too. Much slower though.

"That's good to hear"

"Mhm", the demon hummed.

This was going a lot better than before. Crowley was finally talking.

It was almost like normal.

Now he just needed to keep it that way.

"Crowley-"/"Aziraphale-", they both turned to each other at the same time.

"What were you?.."/"I was going to.."

Crowley opened his mouth but Aziraphale held up a hand before he spoke.

"How about you go first?", Aziraphale smiled.

The demon's shoulders relaxed which made Aziraphale feel much better.

"I just..". Crowley scratched his neck and kept his hand there.

"I'm sorry"

Aziraphale frowned.

Crowley apologizing wasn't a new thing. It certainly wasn't a popular thing either but he never sounded like that before.

Aziraphale opened his mouth but then remembered he was to listen right now.

So he stayed quiet.

"For the..", Crowley coughed and cleared his throat. "For the thing we're not going to talk about".

Aziraphale's frown grew and his hand reached for the demon, only to retreat and end up resting close to him instead.

"What do you mean?", he asked with a tone that was the verbal equivalent of trying to approach a feral animal with the utmost care and sensitivity.

"I didn't want it to-", Crowley started before shaking his head. "It wasn't supposed to go that way".

Aziraphale pressed his lips into a thin line. He was suddenly very aware of where his tongue was in his mouth and it made him uncomfortable.

He wanted to say something else but he wasn't sure if Crowley was finished.

The demon sighed and crossed his arms. "I know you said we shouldn't talk about it but it's going to bother me if I don't at least do this, okay?".

Aziraphale bit his tongue and nodded quickly.

"I wanted it to go differently. Better circumstances. Not after...", Crowley trailed off and gestured like he was ushering something away.

"I was going to have this whole speech and you would think it was so clever and you'd realize that..". The demon started to gesture his hands like he was juggling something while he was most likely just trying to find the right words.

"That it-.. We... It is we, isn't it?", Crowley dropped his hands and turned to the angel.

Aziraphale gave him a nod after the pause stretched on too far to make the question rhetorical.

The demon slowly nodded before continuing, "Right, so, I thought after what I said, you would think we-"

He put emphasis on the "we".

"-made sense. That we just.. Worked. I mean, think about it. Once we started the Arrangement, things got much easier, right?", he gestured at him as a queue and Aziraphale nodded again.

"And we stopped Armageddon. Twice. We're a good team, you have to admit", Crowley used that tone he had when explaining something he thought was particularly interesting.

"And we both don't mind each other's company either. So. There", Crowley seemed to sink into the bench when he was finished.

Aziraphale tapped the bench as he thought.

He raised a hand with a patient smile and the demon quirked a brow.

Crowley waved him on silently.

The angel nodded once more and put his hands in his lap. "You're not wrong. Things were definitely more... Convenient, with you there".

Crowley's expression remained how it was.

"What I'm saying is, I agree with you"

Crowley's brows went up ever so slightly. "Oh. Glad we're in agreement then".

"In agreement about the Agreement", Aziraphale noted quietly.

Crowley laughed through his nose and turned forward again.

"And you weren't wrong", Aziraphale added, raising his chin.

"About?"

"I did find it clever", Aziraphale eyed him with a small smile and a head tilt to match.

"Clever enough to have made you stay?", Crowley cracked a small smile.

The angel's words crumpled up into a lump in his throat. His turn to be speechless, he supposed.

The demon's head turned a little with the motion of unseen glances before he finally faced Aziraphale again with a small frown.

He let out something like a wince and held his hands up like he was being caught doing something wrong but didn't have enough headroom to raise his arms.

"You know that's not what I meant, angel", his brow furrowed as his frown grew.

Aziraphale's eyes widened before softening quickly after.

"If I had let you gone first, that might have done the job nicely", Aziraphale almost whispered.

Crowley dropped his hands with a sigh and leaned back into the bench.

The demon shifted his legs, one stretching out. He leaned his head towards his shoulder. "... Really?".

"I wouldn't lie about something so important", Aziraphale nodded once but with feeling.

The angel caught a glimpse of the corner of Crowley's mouth tugging before he started to look around again.

After this silent back and forth of his head, he finally settled again.

Aziraphale started to check for unwanted guests in response. When he found the park empty, he looked back at Crowley.

"Is something wr... rong", Aziraphale mumbled.

The demon's glasses were gone. Crowley wasn't looking at Aziraphale directly but that didn't matter.

The angel could see what he was looking at at all.

Aziraphale grinned before coughing and looking at his hands to try and gather himself.

He didn't take long to shrink the grin but it wouldn't go any smaller than a smile.

He looked back up and squeezed his hand like before. He watched Crowley's eyes, even if all they did was blink.

".. It's easier to see without them", the demon half-mumbled an explanation that Aziraphale wasn't quite buying but he wouldn't tell Crowley that.

"Makes perfect sense", Aziraphale nodded.

He wasn't aware how long he was looking at Crowley. The passage of time wasn't something he had quite mastered.

When he started to think about that, he figured now was a good time to speak up again.

"So.. What do you plan on doing now?"

Crowley glanced at him before quirking his head a little. "Haven't thought about it".

Aziraphale nodded before starting to think about his own question. He asked without thinking much about it himself.

"Have you?", the demon asked before the angel was able to get a good grasp of an answer.

"Uh.. Plenty! There's so much time, after all. Might as well get started now", Aziraphale made a heigh-ho motion with his arm that he immediately regretted.

Crowley turned to him with a confused smile. "Like?".

".. Like what?"

"What plans?"

"... Ah. I must catch up on my reading, of course, and there's the records I've been meaning to listen to again".

Crowley nodded with a look that Aziraphale was used to getting when he mentioned any of his extracurricular activities.

The angel looked over the demon's expression before averting his eyes. His ring found itself being spun again.

"Do you really not have any plans?"

"Like you said: plenty of time. I'm in no rush"

Aziraphale took a breath through his nose and swallowed. He had a question and this one could not, by any means, come out wrong.

"Do you see yourself sparing any of that infinite time for me?". His eyes kept glancing in the direction of Crowley but never went higher than his knees.

As the seconds of silence passed, Aziraphale tried to think of a way to go back.

"I'll have to check my schedule", Crowley spoke up.

They looked at each other again, Crowley giving him a small smile and Aziraphale returning the smile tenfold.

"Actually..", the demon looked down at his watch, "I think I have some time now".

".. Oh. Really?". Aziraphale tried not to sound as excited as he felt.

"I said so, didn't I?", Crowley smiled more and the angel could feel himself grin.

"What did you have in mind?", the demon asked.

Aziraphale held his hands together before they started to fidget on their own. "I still have some wine at the Bookshop?".

Crowley leaned his head from side to side before nodding weakly. "I could use a drink".

"Oh. We can go now, before it gets later-", Aziraphale started to sit up higher, getting ready to stand.

"I think we can stay a bit longer". Crowley gave him a soft look that made Aziraphale pinch his hand just to make sure it was real.

He slowly relaxed into the bench again. ".. I'd like that"

Crowley looked up towards the stars again, "Plenty of time, remember?".

Aziraphale nodded and looked at the stars too. The view seemed much brighter than before.

He focused back on Crowley.

Even if time was abundant now, especially for them, he really wanted it to move slower. Just a smidge.

".. Plenty".