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While looking through his old diaries late one night, Aziraphale reminisced upon the many times Crowley had presented as a woman. Aziraphale thought he was gorgeous no matter how he presented, which was bad for him, as it was becoming harder to hide his feelings toward the demon. He rubbed the back of his neck, setting the book down and taking off his reading glasses. The angel caught his own eyes in the reflection of the dark bookshop window, and shrugged to himself. It couldn’t hurt to try out something new, could it? Crowley was probably sleeping, and would be for a while longer, so Aziraphale might as well get comfortable in a new presentation now. He climbed the stairs to his room – he’d started using it after Armagedidn’t, because it was actually a very nice place to sit and read. He put his current book down on the bed, where he sat or lay most nights reading, but he caught his reflection in a mirror and chewed on the inside of his lip. A change couldn’t hurt. Sure, it might confuse some of the shop owners around him, but he could miracle that confusion away. Crowley might not even notice!
He took off his clothes slowly – his usual clothing was precious to him, and he preferred folding it by hand – until he was in just an undershirt and boxers. He blinked in the mirror. He’d just change the shape of his body, no need to worry about genitals, he didn’t have use for those in any configuration. He concentrated, closing his eyes, and when he opened them, he looked shockingly similar to how he had before, despite it feeling like a pretty big miracle. Well, she had a fairly large chest and curvier hips now, but she just looked feminine now. Her short curly hair miraculously became longer waves that draped over her shoulders and framed her face. She miracled herself a bit taller, so she was just about the same height as Crowley, just for the fun of it.
Aziraphale smiled at her reflection. This was much more fun than when she’d been Brother Francis, but her usual clothes would no longer work. And she figured it was time for a bit of a style change, anyway, at least while she was presenting like this. Crowley would be pleased; he was always telling her to dress with the century. She pulled her hair up into a loose bun, leaving a few shorter waves to frame her face, and she thought for a moment. The boxers and undershirt didn’t really fit her anymore, riding up her thighs and being stretched awkwardly (she really didn’t mean to give herself a larger… behind… but it seemed to come with the figure), so she snapped, and she was wearing womens’ undergarments. She snapped again, and she was wearing a medium length white dress. The top was lacy and laid low on her chest. It was sleeveless and hugged her stomach and back tightly, but she rather thought it looked nice. She tended to wear many layers, so this was a nice change.
The sunlight streaming through the windows caught her eyes, and she wrung her hands worriedly. That had taken her all night? She rushed to the bed, bare feet padding on the carpet, and grabbed her book. She miracled platform sandals onto her feet as she rushed downstairs, careful not to trip as they materialised, and set her book on her desk. Eccles cakes and a cuppa would do nicely, she thought, so she closed the shop door behind her and made her way across the street. It felt like people were staring at her more than usual, but she was probably just imagining things. She made her way into Give Me Coffee Or Give Me Death, and waited in line for a few minutes before getting up to the counter, where Nina was looking away, busy with something. Nina looked up at her, and she froze, mouth falling slightly open.
“M- Mr. Fell?”
She nodded, clasping her hands behind her back, and Nina’s eyes flicked down to her chest briefly. “That’ll be Ms. Fell, as of late.”
(art by @fawnim)
Nina choked, nodding quickly and looking away. “What would you like?”
“Some eccles cakes and an earl grey tea, please.” Nina wrote that down, and Aziraphale smiled, snapping so that it had been paid and they’d been given a generous tip, “Thank you, dear.”
Nina made a sound not unlike Crowley’s ‘ngk’, and began making her tea. Aziraphale stood where the other customers waited, feeling like she was being watched, but every time she looked around, people seemed to be looking away quickly or doing something ridiculous – one person was even holding their phone upside down and looking at it intensely.
Mrs. Sandwich ordered and made her way over to where they all stood in line, and she looked Aziraphale up and down. “Hey.”
“Hello, Mrs. Sandwich.” She grinned.
“Nice to meet you. Any chance you’re lookin’ for a job?”
“I- oh, certainly not!”
Mrs. Sandwich shook her head. “Shame, you’d make a lot of money.”
Aziraphale raised her eyebrows, but her eccles cakes and tea were ready much too quickly, and she seemed to have bypassed all the others waiting for their orders.
On her way out, she gave a wave to Nina, who’s eyes widened and she pulled out her phone to type frantically. Aziraphale thought she should stop by the record shop and offer Maggie an eccles cake, so she walked over, smiling. People seemed to be moving out of her way more than usual, and she shivered slightly at the ever-present feeling of being watched by most of the people passing her by. She opened the door to the record shop, the bell ringing, and spotted Maggie behind the counter, who was making a face of disbelief as she texted on her phone. Maggie looked up, and her eyes widened. Her cheeks reddened, and she stood up straight.
“Uh, oh my God- uh- she wasn’t kidding-” she cleared her throat, “is there something you were looking for, Mr- uh, Ms. Fell?”
“Oh, nothing at all. I was simply going to offer you an eccles cake! I’m afraid Crowley is asleep… and, well, he doesn’t eat any of them, anyway.”
Maggie looked like her brain was maybe buffering, and Aziraphale worried for a moment that this is what it looked like when Sandalphon turned a human into a salt pillar, if it started internally.
“Sure, yeah. Right. Okay.” Maggie stammered, stepping down from behind the shop, and flushing hard as she looked up, intentionally making eye contact and not looking anywhere else.
Aziraphale handed her an eccles cake and began walking away slowly. She felt Maggie’s eyes on her back, and when she turned to say goodbye, Maggie’s eyes snapped up from where she’d presumably been staring at Aziraphale.
“Have a good day, Maggie!”
She mumbled something that sounded distinctly like, “Anything for you, Ms. Fell,” before raising her voice and calling out, “you too!”
Aziraphale chuckled, crossing the street and making her way back to the bookshop. She opened the doors and made her way to her desk, where she set down her tea and remaining eccles cakes, opening her book and setting her reading glasses on her nose. She got through one and a half eccles cakes and about a third of her tea before hearing the telltale screech of the Bentley parking across the street. She grinned, stood, and waited by the door, while she watched Crowley approach the door, open it, and let it close behind him carelessly, tossing his sunglasses to the side
“I’m back,” Crowley called out, enunciating the last consonants, before he saw her, and stumbled backwards, “oh, custom- oh.”
Aziraphale rushed forward, grinning, and gave him a soft peck on the cheek, her lipstick pressing a red stain onto his skin. Crowley froze, his eyes very wide, but with pupils so dilated that there was only the slimmest circle of white around the yellow. His face slowly flushed pink, and then red, so that his face almost matched the lipstick print on his cheek and his fiery hair. He didn’t say anything, but Aziraphale wasn’t worried – that’s what women did, after all, and she was just fitting into the persona –, and she made her way back to her desk, taking a sip of her tea. Crowley stumbled very slowly into the room, walking about as gracefully as a baby giraffe, and stared at her. He sat on the couch, looking her up and down, his mouth slightly agape.
“So.” Crowley choked out, face still flushed.
“So…? Is something wrong, my dear boy?”
Crowley looked down, and only then was he able to look more calm and aloof, leaning back onto the couch like he usually did. “New corporation?”
“Just a change.”
Crowley shivered slightly, looking back up at her, his eyes still wide. “Big, er- big change, yeah?”
Aziraphale looked down at herself, the same size as ever, except for her chest, and looked back up, one eyebrow raised. “Crowley, are you looking at my chest?”
He stammered, continuing to look at her chest. “No-?!”
She crossed her arms, and if it was to tease him slightly, to emphasise something more, she’d never tell, “You fiend! You are!”
Crowley shook his head quickly, sitting up. “Angel, no, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, I-”
“Oh, it’s alright. I could have covered up a bit, but I figured you’d think it was alright.”
The demon screwed up his face. “Alright? Alright?! Angel, your corporation is… is gorgeous! It’s incredible, it’s ethereal, it’s beautiful, no matter what shape it is, I just- haven’t seen this much, er,” he choked, “skin.”
Now Aziraphale was embarrassed, pink flush spreading to her ears, down her neck, and to the top of her chest. “I didn’t know you, uh, thought that.”
Crowley looked away, and Aziraphale thought his eyes looked more watery than usual. “I was serious, when I said all that stuff, ages ago, about… mm… going off together. Being on Our side,” he stalled, taking a deep breath, “and I still want to spend… mm…” he continued looking away, but managed to be somehow braver than the last confession, “I want to spend eternity with you.”
Aziraphale felt her own eyes filling with tears, and she stood from the chair, rushing to Crowley, and leaning down to pull him into a kiss. His breath caught in his throat, and he choked out a sob, lacing his fingers through her hair and pulling her closer. At some point, Aziraphale had gotten onto the couch, too, and Crowley was leaning against the armrest of it while Aziraphale nearly laid on top of him, holding him tightly. She pulled away, still utterly squashing Crowley, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Oh, Crowley.”
He couldn’t take his eyes away from her face, and she could feel his heart racing. “Six thousand years, angel.”
She grimaced, sitting back. “We were rather ridiculous, weren’t we? I suppose I’ve felt like that since… 1941… no, Uz… no, Eden.”
He snorted. “No way, same amount of time? We’d have to be the most oblivious-” he trailed off, “oh, yeah, we are.”
Aziraphale leaned forward. “Better make up for it, then.”
Crowley held up a hand for a moment, smiling. “We should match, shouldn’t we?”
And suddenly, his hair grew long and wavy, flowing down his shoulders, and his pants changed to a long, flowing skirt.
She looked up at Aziraphale, grinning. “You know, for your first time,” Crowley thought, “at least, that I was here for.”
Aziraphale chuckled, leaning forward again and pressing Crowley against the armrest of the couch again, kissing her softly. It wasn’t as desperate as the other two they’d had, with teeth clicking together and crying and lapel grabs. But it was just as full of love, if not more. If Crowley’s lips were becoming as red as Aziraphale’s lipstick, or if Aziraphale’s hair had fallen out of its bun from all of Crowley’s messing with it, that was beautiful.
When they’d finally sat up and allowed each other some breathing room, Aziraphale chuckled sheepishly. “That’s all it took, then, was it?”
“What?”
“Some, well, tits.” Aziraphale said sheepishly.
Crowley turned pink and froze. “It wasn’t the tits! It was- I never see you show skin, angel. I just- it got me riled up.”
“Riled up?” Aziraphale purred, leaning in for another kiss.
This one was quicker, and Crowley felt her heart hammering in her chest when Aziraphale pulled away. The blond was looking at her like she looked at a rather tasty dessert she was about to relish and devour, and Crowley felt her stomach fluttering in embarrassment. How could she not feel embarrassed around Aziraphale wearing something skimpier than she’d ever seen her in? Crowley looked very similar to how she did when she presented male, just with longer hair and a skirt, but Aziraphale looked like a goddess. She always looked gorgeous, even uptight in her suit, but now that Crowley could see more of her, she couldn’t get enough.
Aziraphale cupped her cheek, kissing her again, and grabbed ahold of her tie. When she pulled away, Crowley was dragged up towards her, held by Aziraphale’s grip on her tie. Crowley’s eyes widened, and she felt like a dog on a leash, sputtering in nervousness.
“‘Ziraphale-” Crowley stammered, and wide yellow eyes stared into cool blue ones.
“You did say ‘riled up’.”
Crowley nodded quickly, and allowed Aziraphale to pull her up off the couch. Aziraphale stood taller than her, and she felt a warmth creep up to her cheeks, her mouth going dry. That was different, and Crowley felt her stomach churning with nervous excitement. Aziraphale led her upstairs. The instant they’d gotten there, the door to the bedroom closed, and a number of locks that hadn’t been there a second before all clicked shut.