Chapter Text
Before everything began, people like to think that there was nothing. This isn't exactly true, there were actually a few different things.
There was the original creator, who went by the name “God” and then there were her ideas.
There was no name for them until later, but when they did get named they were called “angels”.
God's angels were one of her first creations, Her ideas given a physical form, so they could see each other. So they could laugh together. So they could love each other.
She would so carefully mold each one into being, into existing, giving them brilliant white wings that would reflect starlight, but even more so she gave them each a very small piece of herself.
Each angel in turn was able to create, such as she had for them. They would set off one by one and paint empty voids with colours and lights and stars. Oh the stars were her favourite of what they made.
Thousands of years later, billions of stars, nebulas, planets and galaxies had been carefully and lovingly crafted to fill the original void.
There were two angels in particular who she might not have noticed had they not began to create certain groups of stars together, what humans would eventually call star zodiacs, and would tie small seemingly innocent aspects of themselves to.
But that was later, humans did not yet exist. For now it was just Her, Her creations, and the shining skies of beaming stars that were so delicately crafted.
-
Aziraphale decided to take a break from creating these new “people” as they were called, he wanted to see what things were being made by the others.
Propelling himself across the stars, beating his white wings, staring and admiring the things being made.
“Excuse me!”
Now that caught Aziraphale's attention, he turned from where he was and followed the sound.
As he more or less ‘landed’ he looked to the red haired angel standing there holding a scroll of paper in his hands.
“Yes? Was that you?”
The angel smiled at him, a warm and inviting sight that Aziraphale had not seen in very many others. This felt different… somehow…
“Oh, hi! Yeah. If you don't mind, could you hold this while I crank it up?”
He offered the scroll to Aziraphale, and he accepted, pulling either side apart to reveal what seemed to be several circles and a dot in the middle with various other things scrawled around it.
“Um, which way does it go up?”
He tried to make out which end was the top, to no avail.
“Just like that!”
The other put his hands on Aziraphales, steadying them, and his stomach fluttered at the contact.
“Just hold it tight, there we go.. Alright ready?”
He seemed excited for whatever was about to happen, grinning in anticipation.
“Ready for what?”
He took a metal rod, pushing it into the middle of the scroll and turning it, round and round.
“There we go, lovely. You can put it down now.”
Aziraphale regarded him curiously.
“Right, is that it?”
He shook his head.
“Oh no, that's just priming the engine! This is the fun bit. I've been waiting for this since… well always!”
He turned to the seeming empty space in front of them, pulling out a book that floated near him idly, flipping through pages as he spoke.
“Let there be matter, let there be gravity, let there be everything from pages 11 to 3,000,602 inclusive.”
He pinched at the space above him, bringing his hand down in the way one would usually do when making something new.
“Is something meant to happen?”
Aziraphale scanned the void with his eyes.
“Oh! Right, sorry, yes yes! I knew I'd missed one”
He laughed, seeming giddy with excitement.
“Let there be light”
All at once the darkness exploded into brilliant colours that shone and sparkled. The new stars came screaming into existence and settled into their new spot in reality.
If he had a heart that needed to beat it probably would have stopped right about then.
“Oh good lord…” Aziraphale whispered under his breath.
“Look at you you're beautiful”
The other angel gazed at the colours, taking it all in.
The other angel- actually Aziraphale didn't think he knew this angel, not by name at least.
“Erm, hello. I'm… Aziraphale!”
“I'm Crowley! Nice to meet you”
Crowley smiled and Aziraphale could have sworn in that moment, that he was just as beautiful as the deep blues, purples and pinks that had moments ago blown their way into existence. His eyes made out of the very stardust he seemed to be creating, glistening and reflecting light from a million different angles, casting rainbow colours into the very depths of his soul.
Time might as well have frozen in that moment and Aziraphale probably wouldn't even have noticed.
“You alright?”
Crowley asked him, tilting his head quizzically.
He nodded, trying to drag his mind back to the present.
“Er, yes, fine rather-”
He steadier himself. Speaking to this angel really shouldn't prove to be this difficult, by all counts in comparison to the rest of them he didn't stand out any more or less… so why. Why was Aziraphale reacting this way?
Crowley smiled at him, seeming to take notice of the nervous energy that was probably pouring off of him in that moment.
“Well, I could, show you ‘round the nebula I made, or we could see what's being made-” He stopped before speaking again, choosing his next words carefully. “-or, if you want, maybe we can make something… together?”
Aziraphale could feel his eyes widen slightly at that. Yes! Of course he wanted to. Now that he'd met this angel, he believed him to be one of the most beautiful of any of the creations. He would take any chance he got to spend time with this being.
However instead of saying that, what he managed was more akin to: “Oh-! I- um, yes! Lovely! I mean, yes. Er, yes I would very much like that.”
But despite the stuttering Crowley seemed to understand.
Crowley reached out his hand, offering it to Aziraphale who hesitated only for a moment before delicately taking it. Making sure to be ever so gentle.
Crowley's grip tightened and they began to fly as he led Aziraphale through the planes of the cosmos.
They flew past stars that could have been billions of years old, brilliant new galaxies and supernovas, until they broke through all the colours and lights into the young nothingness. Well, nearly nothing.
There were less planets here, with one big star in the middle and a few hundred smaller ones dotted around.
Aziraphale recognised it immediately.
“Oh! Yes this is the new section they're working on! We're making these creatures called ‘people’, and they're going to live on that little blue-green planet, just over there.”
He pointed out the planet that was three out from the massive star in the middle.
Crowley looked around.
“I mean, it's a bit dull don't you think?”
He looked over at Crowley who was examining the empty space around where they were.
“Well, yes but it's still a work in progress.”
Aziraphale tightened his grip on- oh he was still holding his hand wasn't he? He looked down and then over at the other angel, who made no move to pull away. So neither did he.
“Ah I mean yeah but- I feel like I could, y'know spruce it up a bit? There's so much empty space to put stars and planets and-”
Aziraphale cut him off.
“Yes, but it's still a work in progress. I'm sure they have lots to add.”
Crowley huffed indignantly.
“Right okay yes, how about we add something over there then?”
He gestured to a space farther away from the planets, that seemed to need the most filling.
“The people-” he started “-they're going to need something to give them light at night time right? We could just… make them some stars! Like a present, for all of them.”
Aziraphale sighed, and he nodded.
“Yes alright, you win.” He said laughing lightly as he pulled them towards the empty space.
“So- what exactly did you mean by giving them a present?”
Crowley grinned, letting go of his hand and backing up slightly to gesture with both arms around them.
“This! We're going to fill it with stars! We can make them, like special shapes in the sky, and the humans can pick one they like and that can be theirs.”
Admittedly, Aziraphale did like this idea. And Crowley seemed so excited about it. How could he not?
“I've not done that many stars before, I mostly help with inhabitable areas. I mean- of course I have done them, I just don't have that much experience with them.”
“Nah that's alright! Come on I'll show you.”
Aziraphale joined him and watched. The palms of his hands began glowing, shooting tendrils of light towards his fingertips which came out as tiny glowing dots. He painted the stars with his hands, running them along and around where they were to go. They swirled past him and created beautiful patterns around each other once set to rest. If he was being honest it was breathtaking. He wasn't entirely sure how he'd managed to avoid this department for so long, because it was absolutely stunning.
“Here, you try.”
Crowley moved behind him, placing his hands over Aziraphales, his arms on either side, and guiding them slowly and gracefully through the inky blackness.
Slowly, small gleaming dots formed around his fingertips, that swirled around their entwined hands and eventually around their arms.
As their hands moved about, the tiny stars followed, sliding almost as if they were on ice.
Aziraphale could feel Crowley tilt his head so it was hovering just over his shoulder, his right hand placing the stars around as it pushed through the ever filling void.
Before he could even register it, another cluster of stars had been arranged around each other.
This went on for quite some time, this dance they had fallen into, the new rhythm while they worked. It was exciting, but there was something else. It felt comforting, almost familiar, as if their very beings had always been tied together, since the beginning.
Once all the stars had been placed around, Crowley finally let go and stepped back. (Much to Aziraphale's disappointment.)
“Lovely… oh absolutely wonderful…” What do you think?
Crowley turned, aiming the question at his companion.
“I think it's breathtaking…”
And Aziraphale meant it. He meant it with every fiber of his very being.
“The stars, yeah?”
The corner of Crowley's mouth quirked up as he spoke, a slight laugh to it.
“I- yes the stars… why? Do they not-”
“No no, it's not that at all, just that you were looking directly at me while saying that…”
Crowley trailed off, turning so his face was obscured as he finished the sentence.
Suddenly his head snapped back and his attention was heightened, once again trained on the stars that twinkled in front of them.
“Right! Yes! The er, gift!”
Aziraphale was sure a look of confusion had plastered itself on his face.
“Was this not it?”
Crowley turned to face him again.
“Nope! This is just the beginning, oh you wait and see Aziraphale.”
Hearing his name on Crowley's lips for the first time probably shocked him more than it should have, because just as he finished speaking Aziraphale lost his balance, and fell forward, his wings flailing back out to try and catch himself. Unfortunately he ended up falling onto Crowley.
“Nngh! You alright?”
Crowley had caught him under the arms, and was trying to support his weight so he could re-balance himself.
“Ah, yes quite! Thank you.”
Aziraphale stood himself up as gracefully as he could manage, and tried to smooth out his robe.
It was funny, he thought, this thing his face was doing. It felt hotter than normal, and his stomach felt like it was twisting in on itself, not entirely in an unpleasant way.
“So the um-”
He nodded towards the stars waiting in anticipation.
“Right! Yes of course.”
Crowley clapped his hands together, turning once more.
“So, what we're doing next is a thing called ‘constellations’, they're stars brighter than the others that form shapes!”
He cupped his hands on top of each other and blew into it, so gently, so carefully.
“Right then, see? It's quite time consuming since you've gotta make them each individually but that's what makes them special, they hold onto any love put into them.”
He un-cupped his hands and in his palms rested a star, it was bigger than the rest and it was somehow even brighter.
“D'you want to hold it?”
“Hold it?”
Aziraphale repeated.
“Yeah, do you?”
He nodded and Crowley carefully flipped one of Aziraphale's palms over, resting it on top of his, and slid the constellation star onto it. It was surprisingly heavy for something made of stardust. Heavy and slightly warm.
He held it up to his chest peering down at the little thing, he could sense a very faint but definitely still there trace of love radiating off of it.
So it did hold onto love… the baby star was holding onto love… from Crowley.
As his thoughts shifted over to the angel in front of him the star began to glow brighter, it was almost hard to look at.
“Oop!”
Crowley cupped a hand over top of it, resting it again on Aziraphale.
“You're gonna want to cover it if you're doing that, ‘gets pretty bright when absorbing love, it grows off the stuff.”
He nodded, only half paying attention. Was that just ambient love from Crowley being an angel? Maybe it was because he was creating the star, putting energy into it specifically? What if it was just because he was so passionate about this?
…Why had it started absorbing love when Aziraphale thought about Crowley?
“Anyways, whenever you're ready, take that one, and choose a good spot for it! We can start building off of that.”
His thoughts were dragged back to the present and he smiled softly at the little thing he was holding. He searched for a break among the blanket of glitter and carefully placed it down, where it rested.
It was far away, now that it was put down, he supposed it would be inconvenient for someone to have to fly all the way over to every single star. Especially when making big areas like this one.
He looked over, and Crowley nodded in approval, so he cupped his hands once more and made another one.
Aziraphale continued making stars and placing them next to each other manually until he had a kind of shape, made up of six stars.
“Eh, what is it?” Crowley tilted his head. Trying to get a better angle.
“It's… it’s a crab!” Aziraphale blurted the first thing he could think of.
“A what?”
Now Crowley looked even more confused.
“Erm, yes, they're these little hard shelled things that will live in a wet habitat… they're being made to share a planet with the people.”
“Hm, they're awfully strange looking.”
Aziraphale huffed, smiling slightly.”
Yes, well, I've not done this before. I ought to show you once they're done being made so you can see.”
Crowley smiled at him, with what- if he didn't know better -he would have assumed was affection.
“You could probably do much better than me at this anyways.” Aziraphale commented.
Crowley simply shrugged.
“I mean yeah, ‘been doing it for longer. Here lemme show you!”
This time, Crowley blew into his hands much harder, making twin stars. They were still dazzlingly bright, but they were also bigger.
He swiftly beat his wings and moved over to a different section with Aziraphale trailing behind, where he placed them across from each other.
He arranged each one in a very specific way, three small ones under each of the main two, and finally the biggest and brightest placed on top.
Aziraphale stared at it. As much as his was pretty, this one felt almost alluring to look at. Almost as if…
“I made this one special for you, ‘thought you might like it”
He turned to see Crowley looking at him, almost hopeful.
“It's beautiful- thank you.” he said, almost inaudible.
Crowley grinned. “Glad you like it Aziraphale! It's uh, well if you couldn't tell it's a scale? Kind of? To have things balanced. Just seemed like… you.”
And this continued on for a while. One would make a group of stars, they would discuss things being worked on by others, the current project that seemed to be grabbing everyone's attention at the moment. And it was nice, Aziraphale had friends of course, no one was hostile at least. It was pleasant.
But this… this was more than that. He came to like this angel quite a bit actually.
Somehow he knew that this being, one he might even call his friend, was different from the rest of the angels. He was special somehow, maybe it was the way he'd smile softly at him, or how he cared for his stars. Perhaps it was the way he lit up (sometimes literally) when getting to show off something he was particularly proud of.
Aziraphale couldn't quite put his finger on it, other than the fact that he could feel himself getting more and more attached to him the longer they spent together.
By the time they finished the ‘gift’ for the people yet to come, they had made twelve hand-crafted constellations in total.
Some of them, they'd decided what they were, like the bull Crowley made based off of what Aziraphale had told him, but others they simply left for the people to name.
Aziraphale had said goodbye to him, and smiled to himself as he went to help continue progress on the people.
-
“Crowley! I've just been given exciting news.”
Aziraphale practically flew into him as he approached, catching the angel very off guard.
“Ack!” Crowley caught himself before falling forwards too much.
“Right, and that would be?” He smirked as Aziraphale practically bounced where he was.
“They're starting up that planet- Earth! In a few hundred years they're going to add in the first two humans!”
Crowley grinned at this. “Oh that's wonderful! You've been working on that forever haven't you?”
He nodded. “And! Even better than that! I'm being assigned to guard one of the gates for the garden that will be there!”
Instinctually, he fell forward wrapping his arms around Crowley. As soon as he realized what he was doing however. He jolted back, feeling his face heat up.
“Ah! Sorry- I don't- erm, I'm not quite sure what that was-”
Crowley looked at him quizzically.
“Well, I mean ‘s not necessarily a bad thing though?”
He blinked and nodded slowly.
“Right, yes I suppose that is true. Would you like to…?”
Crowley shrugged, and as if it was the most natural thing in the universe, pressed his body up against Aziraphale and wrapped his arms under his wings.
He was startled for a moment but returned the gesture, his face lowering, and pressing into the front of Crowley's shoulder.
It felt nice, and there was warmth between them. Like a star radiating love that it had been given to hold.
Aziraphale closed his eyes for the moment. Feeling the being in front of him, overwhelmed with a sense of love.
And they stayed like that. They stayed there, holding each other, pressed so close together, both of them being ever so gentle as to not hurt one another, but still clinging onto the other, as if they were the last things in the universe.
Aziraphale was the first of the two of them to break apart, much to his own disappointment, and smoothed out the fabric he wore.
Glancing up he saw Crowley just staring at him, seeming entranced. Their gazes met and locked together. Just as they always had been and always would be.
Not many things in the universe stayed the same, but that one simple fact would always be true; they belonged together.
Crowley smiled softly at him, a faint glow seeming to encircle them both.
“Aziraphale?”
He started, seeming hesitant as if questioning whether to mention it at all.
“Hm?”
Crowley fidgeted for a moment before finally speaking again.
“Do y'think I'll see you again once you're down with the humans?”
His heart panged against his chest with anxiety, he hadn't thought about that up until now.
“Well… I'm sure you'll be able to come down every now and again? Perhaps I can show you around their world. Introduce you to them, as you did for me with stars?”
His voice came out slow, but turned up again once his mind processed what Aziraphale had said.
“Yes- I think I'd like that. I'd like that very much.”
Aziraphale smiled at him. Searching in the depths of his violet eyes, wondering what could possibly be inside them.
Almost as if he were trying to read his very soul.
It was beautiful.