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Crowley rubbed his face as he looked out on the garden. He’d been out here for a few hours and a headache was starting to form from the bright sunlight. He stood up and stretched, groaning when he felt his back pop. He definitely had been out here for too long, but he had made a lot of great progress on the weeds that had popped up out of nowhere a few days ago. He sniffled, his nose and throat were itchy for some reason. Knowing his luck, he was probably developing allergies to something in the garden.
As much as Crowley wanted to keep working on the garden, he knew it was time to go back inside. Hopefully Aziraphale was done with his book so that they could cook something together. Crowley carefully put his tools away in their designated spots and cleaned himself off with a quick miracle.
“Angel?” he called out, after he stepped inside their cottage.
“Crowley!” Aziraphale said, sounding excited. He poked his head out of the study. “Done with your garden?”
“Not really,” Crowley said. “But I made a good amount of progress.”
Aziraphale walked up to him with a smile, brushing away a few strands of hair that had gotten into Crowley’s face. “I’m glad you’re enjoying the garden, dearest.”
Crowley felt his face redden at the nickname, scowling when Aziraphale gave him a smile over it. “Do you want to make dinner together?” he asked. “Or we could go out?”
“Making dinner together sounds lovely,” Aziraphale said, beaming at him. “As long as you don’t threaten the food, it always leaves an aftertaste when you do that.”
Crowley scowled, but relented. Aziraphale took his hand as they walked to the kitchen. Once there, Crowley went to pull out ingredients while Aziraphale pulled out the pots. They laughed and bantered their way through cooking, settling on making a simple pasta dish.
Crowley sniffled again while Aziraphale was plating up the food, causing Aziraphale to look at him. “Are you okay, dear?” Aziraphale asked.
“I’m fine,” Crowley said.
Aziraphale hummed then continued plating up the pasta. Crowley grabbed a wine bottle and poured two glasses for them, bringing it over to the table. Aziraphale followed with their plates and set them down. They both sat down and Aziraphale took a bite of the food.
“Mmm, delicious,” Aziraphale said. “And no aftertaste either.”
Crowley scowled. “Actually I threatened the water to boil faster when you weren’t looking,” he said.
“Crowley!” Aziraphale said in mock outrage.
Crowley chuckled, taking a bite of his own plate. As expected, the food was delicious but he strangely wasn’t that hungry. He managed to get through about half of his plate, before sitting back and sipping on his wine.
Aziraphale looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “Did you not like it, my dear?” he asked.
“No, I liked it,” Crowley said, taking another sip of his wine. “Just not that hungry.”
Aziraphale frowned, but didn’t push the subject. They finished dinner and moved to the couch to continue drinking and talking. Annoyingly enough, the slight itch never left his nose and his throat was dry despite the wine. Crowley tried his best to ignore it, he was probably imagining things. He put his full attention on Aziraphale, trying his best to enjoy the night.
Crowley groaned when he woke up. His headache from yesterday hadn’t let up, it had gotten worse, and his throat was as dry as dust. There was a deep itch in his throat too.
“Everything okay, dearest?” Aziraphale asked from beside him.
Crowley slightly turned his head to look at Aziraphale. Aziraphale was sitting up in bed, reading a book. One of his hands was on Crowley’s head, slowly stroking his hair. Crowley wanted to close his eyes and focus on the bliss that sensation brought him.
“I’m fine, Angel,” Crowley croaked out. He managed to suppress a wince at the slight pain from speaking.
“You don’t sound fine,” Aziraphale said, frowning.
“Don’t worry, Angel,” Crowley choked out. “My throat’s just dry.”
Aziraphale reached over to the nightstand and picked up the glass of water he always kept there. “Here, drink some water.”
Crowley scowled. He never drank water, he didn’t need to as a demon, but the thought of cool water on his throat sounded amazing. Crowley didn’t protest and took a few sips. He winced when the water hit his throat, exasperating the itch instead of relieving it. His mouth did feel less dry, but he still regretted drinking the water.
“Not better?” Aziraphale asked with a frown. “Let me get you a cup of tea.”
Before Crowley could protest, Aziraphale put his book aside and left the room. Crowley sighed, setting the cup of water back on the nightstand.
It only took a few minutes before Aziraphale returned with a steaming cup of tea. He gently passed it over to Crowley. “There we go. I added a bit of honey in there.”
Crowley carefully took a sip of the tea, sighing in relief as the drink actually relieved the itch in his throat. “That’s much better,” Crowley said, voice already sounding more normal. “Thanks, Angel.”
“Of course, my dear,” Aziraphale said, leaning down to give him a kiss on his forehead. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Crowley nodded. “I’m fine, Angel. Don’t worry about me.”
Even though the tea helped with his itchy throat, Crowley’s nose still remained itchy throughout the day. He even sneezed a few times while gardening and only managed to work on the garden for an hour before his headache became unbearable. He grumbled as he came back inside, cursing the sun under his breath.
“Back already?” Aziraphale asked with concern, when he walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch. “Oh dear, what’s wrong?”
“‘S too bright outside,” Crowley mumbled, covering his sunglasses with his hand.
Crowley heard a snap and all the light that he could still see around his fingers vanished. He peaked through his fingers to confirm that Aziraphale had turned off the lights.
“Thanks, Angel,” Crowley said.
“Of course, dearest,” Aziraphale said. “Now you should lay down and get some rest. And maybe take a break from gardening for a day or two so your head has a chance to get better.”
Crowley really didn’t want to take a break, but he knew Aziraphale was right. He laid down and closed his eyes, sighing when Aziraphale lightly stroked his hair. The pain had made him tense up, but with Aziraphale there next to him, stroking his hair he slowly relaxed, managing to drift off to sleep.
A few days later
Despite taking it easy for a few days Crowley didn’t feel any better. Every morning he would wake up to an extremely dry throat and mouth. His throat would feel like it was scratched up from the inside, so deeply that there was no way that he could relieve the itching. Speaking and drinking was painful. He hadn’t even drank any alcohol because it hurt too much to swallow. His headache still lingered and his whole body was aching. But Crowley wasn’t too worried, this was likely just something strange human corporations did. He had heard a lot of stories about bodies that did strange things with no explanation. He just hoped it would go back to normal soon.
He sat up, pushing off his sweaty blankets, and shivering when the cold air hit his skin. That was strange, the cottage always was at a perfect temperature. But today, it was cold for some reason. He shivered again, snapping his fingers to warm up the temperature inside the cottage a bit.
He walked out to the kitchen where Aziraphale was already waiting with a cup of tea for him. Crowley couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t like the taste of tea, but it made his throat feel better, so he drank it.
“Good morning, dearest,” Aziraphale said, smiling at him. “How did you sleep?”
“Good,” he said, sitting down and picking up the cup of tea. He took a few sips, sighing as it soothed his throat and helped warm him up. “Thanks for the tea, Angel.”
“Of course, my dear. How are you feeling today? Are you going to work on the garden today?”
Crowley hesitated. He really didn’t feel much better, but he didn’t want to worry Aziraphale. And moping all day wouldn’t help him at all, so he nodded at Aziraphale.
Aziraphale glanced outside at Crowley working in the garden. He was trying so hard not to worry, but something was telling him that there was something wrong with Crowley. He didn’t know what it was, but Crowley seemed off.
Aziraphale was distracted when he noticed that he had started slightly sweating. Why was the cottage so warm? Usually it was at the perfect temperature. Aziraphale snapped his fingers, returning the temperature back to normal.
He turned his attention back to Crowley and couldn’t help but worry when he realized that Crowley was coming back inside, after only about an hour of being outside. Crowley hadn’t bothered putting away any of his tools and he was stumbling slightly and pale.
“Crowley?” Aziraphale said, walking up to the door to meet Crowley. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Angel,” Crowley croaked out. Aziraphale winced upon hearing his hoarse voice. “Just tired.”
“Are you sure?” Aziraphale asked. “You’re not looking too well.”
“I’m fine,” Crowley repeated. He took a step and collapsed.
“Crowley!” Aziraphale called out in a panic, just barely managing to catch Crowley before he hit the ground. He slowly lowered them both to the ground completely. “Crowley, what’s wrong?” he asked frantically.
“Dunno,” Crowley mumbled.
Aziraphale brushed Crowley’s sweaty hair out of his face, gasping when he felt the heat radiating off of Crowley. He felt Crowley’s forehead directly to confirm his suspicions. “You’re burning up,” Aziraphale said. “Oh Crowley, how long have you been ill?”
“‘M not sick,” Crowley said. “Just got a bit dizzy.”
“You are most definitely sick,” Aziraphale said. “You are far too warm, we need to get you to bed and cool you off.”
Crowley shivered. “I’m not hot, I’m cold. It’s freezing in here.”
“That’s the fever,” Aziraphale said. He carefully stood up, still holding Crowley in his arms, and started walking towards the bedroom. Crowley was radiating so much heat and shivering violently. He carefully laid Crowley down on their bed. Crowley reached for the blankets, but Aziraphale stopped him. “Your temperature is already too high,” Aziraphale said. “Blankets will only make it worse.”
“I’m not hot, I’m cold,” Crowley said through chattering teeth. “I’m not even sweating!”
“That’s not a good thing,” Aziraphale said, concerned. “You should be sweating.” Aziraphale summoned a few cloths and a bowl of cool water. He dunked the cloth in the water and arranged them on Crowley’s face and neck.
Crowley thrashed, trying to dislodge the cloths. “Angel, please,” he said. “I’m so cold.”
Aziraphale hesitated. He knew he really shouldn’t give Crowley any blankets, but Crowley looked so pained that Aziraphale was denying him any blankets when he clearly felt cold. After some careful consideration, he decided upon unbuttoning Crowley’s shirt and covering Crowley with the thinnest blanket they had. Crowley gave him a grateful smile.
Aziraphale touched the damp cloths, surprised to feel that they had already warmed up significantly. He removed them and switched them out for new ones, relieved when Crowley’s shivering slowed down.
“There, that’s a bit better already,” Aziraphale said. “You want to try and get some sleep now, dearest?”
Crowley frowned. “Why aren’t you getting in bed with me?” he asked.
“You have a fever,” Aziraphale said. “Sharing body heat is not a good idea.”
“But I’m cold,” Crowley said. “And you’re so warm. Please, Angel?”
This was highly alarming behavior from Crowley. Aziraphale knew Crowley was affectionate, but he was never so open about it. He always hinted, but never outright said whenever he needed affection. And Aziraphale couldn’t bring himself to refuse Crowley.
“Alright, dear, only for a little bit though. And no blanket,” Aziraphale said.
Crowley pouted, but nodded in agreement. Aziraphale took off a few layers of his own clothes, removed the blanket, and laid down next to Crowley. Crowley immediately wrapped his arms around Aziraphale and nuzzled his head into the crook of Aziraphale’s neck.
Aziraphale stroked his hair once, before checking on the cloths and replacing them as they had warmed up again. Crowley shivered and clung to Aziraphale’s side harder. Aziraphale wrapped one arm around Crowley, using the other to slowly stroke Crowley’s hair.
He continued to stroke Crowley’s hair until Crowley drifted off to sleep. He waited for a bit to make sure Crowley was fully asleep before carefully extracting himself from Crowley’s cling and covering him back up with the thin blanket. He checked the cloths again, satisfied to see that they hadn’t gone warm yet. Crowley’s fever must have stabilized and hopefully would go down soon.
He pulled out a chair and sat down next to the bed, not bothering to grab a book. He needed to keep all his attention on Crowley to make sure he didn’t get worse. This seemed like a normal “cold” as the humans called it these days, but he was still worried. He would just have to keep monitoring Crowley.
Crowley slept peacefully for about an hour before he started shifting around restlessly. He turned back and forth and threw his blanket off of him.
Aziraphale touched his forehead to find it drenched in sweat. That was a good sign, Crowley’s corporation was trying to cool itself off. Aziraphale wiped away the sweat from Crowley’s face carefully before re-dampening some more cloths and arranging them on Crowley’s face and chest. Crowley’s thrashing kept dislodging them, but Aziraphale didn’t mind. He would do anything to help Crowley feel better even if that meant constantly trying to cool him off.
At some point Crowley started whimpering in his sleep. Aziraphale froze while trying to readjust the cloths.
“Crowley?” he cautiously asked. “Are you okay?”
Crowley didn’t respond. He just thrashed more, continuing to whimper. Aziraphale stroked his sweaty hair, trying to soothe him.
“Crowley? It’s okay, you’re safe,” he said in a soothing voice.
That didn’t seem to calm Crowley down. In fact, he seemed to get more distressed. He flinched away from Aziraphale’s touch and Aziraphale snatched his hand away from Crowley. But it seemed he hadn’t stopped touching Crowley fast enough. Crowley’s whimpers had turned into cries and Aziraphale knew he had to wake Crowley up somehow.
“Crowley!” he shouted. “Please wake up, dearest. You’re okay, you’re safe.”
He repeated himself until Crowley finally awoke, sitting up and scrambling away from him. He huddled against the headboard of the bed, flinching violently when Aziraphale moved towards him. Aziraphale froze, but he was too late.
“No please!” Crowley begged hoarsely. “No more, I swear I’ll do better. Please…” Crowley broke down into sobs.
“Crowley, it’s me, Aziraphale. I promise you’re safe, no one’s going to hurt you.” Crowley didn’t seem to hear him and Aziraphale wasn’t surprised. Crowley was always confused after where he was after nightmares, especially nightmares about his dreadful treatment in Hell. It hurt Aziraphale deeply everytime he thought about how much Crowley had suffered, but now was not the time to think about that. “Crowley,” he repeated gently. “You’re safe. You’re with Aziraphale in our cottage.”
He repeated the words until Crowley stopped trying to disappear into the headboard and his eyes cleared up slightly. “Angel?” Crowley asked, sounding dazed. “What happened? Where am I?”
“We’re in our cottage, dearest. You had a nightmare.”
Instead of accepting Aziraphale’s explanation, Crowley tensed up. “No, we can’t be in the cottage. It’s too hot, we have to be in Hell. Why are you here with me, Angel? It’s not safe here.”
“We’re not in Hell, my dear,” Aziraphale said, gently. “You just have a fever, that’s why it feels hot, but I promise we’re in the cottage. You’re safe Crowley.”
“No,” Crowley said. “It’s too hot, I must be in Hell. You’re just a hallucination. You can’t be here.”
Aziraphale’s heart broke. “Oh Crowley, I’m not a hallucination, I promise.” He took a step towards Crowley, freezing when Crowley flinched away.
“No please,” Crowley begged. “Please don’t hurt me.”
Aziraphale took a step back. “I won’t hurt you, Crowley. I just wanted to show you that I’m not a hallucination.” He very carefully stretched out his hand towards Crowley, leaving it close enough for Crowley to reach out and touch him.
Crowley looked at Aziraphale with distrust, but poked his hand anyways. Relief flooded his face and he grabbed Aziraphale’s hand with both of his and buried his face into Aziraphale’s hand. “Angel,” he sobbed.
Aziraphale took that as a cue to join Crowley on the bed. He carefully gathered Crowley up in his arms and held him while Crowley sobbed.
“Are we really in the cottage?” Crowley asked between sobs. “It doesn’t feel like our cottage.”
“I promise it is,” Aziraphale reassured. “You have a fever which is why it feels so hot to you.”
“‘M a demon, demons don’t get fevers,” Crowley protested.
“We both know that isn’t true,” Aziraphale said, pushing Crowley’s sweaty hair out of his face. “You’ve had plenty of fevers before. But don’t worry, my dear. You’ll be tickety-boo in no time.” Crowley groaned and Aziraphale couldn’t help but smile at that. “Now how are you feeling? And please try to be honest.”
Crowley sighed and took a few seconds before answering. “Pretty shitty. I feel really hot, my throat and head are killing me and I feel really sore and achy.”
“I presume the soreness is from all the shivering you were doing earlier,” Aziraphale said, stroking Crowley’s hair. “And is the achiness worse than your usual pains?” Crowley nodded into Aziraphale’s chest. “Oh dear, I’m sorry. Normally I would suggest a heating pad but that’s not a good idea with the fever. Maybe a bath? And I can get you some tea for your throat.”
“A bath would probably be a good idea,” Crowley said. “Would help with the fever too.”
Aziraphale snapped his fingers to summon a cup of tea. Normally he would go make it by hand, but he didn’t want to leave Crowley alone for too long. He passed the tea over to Crowley before snapping his fingers again to get the bath ready, making sure the temperature of the water was lukewarm, rather than the scorching, hot temperature Crowley preferred.
Crowley took a few sips of the tea before setting it aside. He struggled to his feet and started stumbling towards the bathroom. Aziraphale followed closely behind him, ready to catch Crowley in case he fell. Crowley stopped near the tub, scowling at the water.
“Why isn’t it warm?” he grumbled.
“You have a fever,” Aziraphale said. “I thought you just said that you felt overheated.”
Crowley’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah, but this isn’t gonna help with the pain,” he said.
“I’m sorry, my dearest, but we can’t risk your fever getting worse. I can give you a massage after the bath, how about that?”
Crowley grumbled but didn’t argue further. He snapped his fingers and his clothes vanished. He grabbed the counter, swaying slightly. “That wasn’t a good idea,” Crowley said. “Dizzy.”
Aziraphale quickly grabbed Crowley’s arm. He held onto it until Crowley let go of the counter, stepping into the tub and sitting down. Once Crowley was settled, he sighed and closed his eyes.
“Feel nice?” Aziraphale asked after a few seconds.
Crowley made a noise of agreement. It didn’t seem like Crowley had much energy as he was just soaking in the tub, rather than cleaning himself. Aziraphale picked up a washcloth and poured some soap out on it. Crowley opened his eyes at the noise and stared at him.
“What are you doing?” Crowley asked, sounding confused.
“I was gonna help you bathe. You look exhausted,” Aziraphale said, feeling slightly nervous. He wasn’t sure Crowley was going to accept the help.
But instead of protesting, Crowley turned red. “You don’t have too,” he mumbled.
“I don’t mind, my dearest,” Aziraphale said.
Crowley nodded after a second and closed his eyes again. Aziraphale touched Crowley on the shoulder before starting, as he didn’t want to startle Crowley. He gently washed Crowley, happy to see Crowley slowly relax.
After he was done, he picked up Crowley’s fancy shampoo and squeezed some out onto his hand. “I’m going to do your hair now,” Aziraphale said quietly.
Crowley made a noise of acknowledgment, so Aziraphale started gently lathering the shampoo in Crowley’s hair. He made sure to keep his touch extra gentle, he didn’t want to aggravate Crowley’s headache. He spent a bit longer than needed rubbing circles into Crowley’s hair once it was clear that Crowley was enjoying it. He rinsed the shampoo out then applied conditioner to Crowley’s hair.
He grabbed a comb and carefully detangled Crowley’s hair. He knew it would likely get tangled up again when Crowley went back to bed, but Crowley found this soothing, so he would do it anyways.
Once Aziraphale finished detangling Crowley’s hair, he rinsed out the conditioner as well and then sat back. Crowley looked like he had fallen asleep and Aziraphale hesitated to wake him up, but he knew Crowley would likely just get more sore if he slept in the tub, especially since the water wasn’t hot.
“Crowley?” Aziraphale said.
Crowley groaned, opening one eye to look at him. “Wot?”
“Do you want to get out of the tub?” Aziraphale asked.
Crowley opened his other eye and looked down at the tub, seeming surprised to see it there. That worried Aziraphale, Crowley was clearly still disoriented.
Crowley struggled to his feet and Aziraphale helped him out of the tub. Aziraphale decided to dry off Crowley and re-dress him with a miracle, he didn’t think it was a good idea for Crowley to be on his feet for too long.
Once Crowley was dry and back in his pajamas, they both headed back to bed. Crowley plopped down, face first, onto the bed and sighed in relief.
“Would you like me to massage you now?” Aziraphale asked.
“Maybe later,” Crowley said. “You’ve already done enough.”
“Anything for you, my dear,” Aziraphale said, leaning down to give Crowley a kiss in his hair. “I’m more than happy to give you a massage.”
“I think I’m okay for now, Angel. I just want to go back to sleep,” Crowley said. “Join me?”
Aziraphale touched Crowley’s face. He was still warm, but not as much as earlier, the bath must have cooled him down. He decided it would be okay to hold Crowley for a bit, he would just need to make sure to stay awake just in case Crowley’s fever spiked again.
He laid down next to Crowley and gathered him up into his arms. Crowley snuggled into his front, tucking his head into the crook of Aziraphale’s neck. Aziraphale stroked Crowley’s hair, stopping to touch Crowley’s face every few minutes to make sure his fever wasn’t spiking. So far, it was still stable, it seemed the bath had been a good idea despite how much it had worn Crowley out.
It only took a few minutes for Crowley to fully relax and fall asleep. Aziraphale smiled as he watched Crowley’s peaceful expression. Hopefully, now that Crowley’s fever had stabilized, he would get better. But no matter what happened, Aziraphale would take care of his Crowley.
A few days later
Crowley scowled at Aziraphale when Aziraphale touched his face and frowned. “I’m fine now, Angel,” he said.
“You still have a bit of a fever,” Aziraphale said. “You still need to take it easy.”
Crowley sighed loudly. “I’m bored, Angel. I’m gonna go crazy if I have to stay in bed all day again.”
Aziraphale brushed Crowley’s hair out of his face. “Well I suppose we can go to the living room for a bit,” he said.
Crowley perked up at that. He knew Aziraphale wouldn’t let him do anything too strenuous, but moving to the living room would at least be a good change of pace.
“But before we do that, how are you feeling, my dear? And please be honest,” Aziraphale asked him.
Crowley gritted his teeth. The urge to just say he was fine was strong, but he knew Aziraphale was less likely to let Crowley get up if Aziraphale didn’t know how Crowley felt. “I feel a lot better,” Crowley said. “Throat’s still a bit sore and the headache hasn’t let up, but I’m still better.”
Aziraphale smiled, leaning over to give him a kiss on his forehead. “Thank you for telling me, my dear. Let’s go to the living room and I’ll get you some tea. And then we can watch something on the cinema.”
Crowley groaned. “It’s a TV, Angel.”
Aziraphale gave him another smile. Crowley had never been able to tell whether Aziraphale mixed up names on purpose.
Aziraphale stood up and straightened out his clothes before coming to the other side of the bed and helping Crowley to his feet. Crowley slightly stumbled at the sudden movement, his head swimming.
“What’s wrong, my dear?” Aziraphale asked, sounding concerned. “Do you need to lay back down?”
Crowley shook his head, regretting the movement when it just made the dizziness worse. “Just got a bit dizzy,” he said. “It’ll pass in a second.”
Aziraphale held his arm while they stood there for a few minutes, waiting for the dizziness to pass. When the dizziness faded and Crowley straightened up.
“Better?” Aziraphale asked.
Crowley nodded.
They both slowly made their way to the couch and Crowley sat down with a sigh. He didn’t want to admit it, but Aziraphale had been right about taking it easy. Just walking from the bedroom to the couch had been exhausting. He leaned back and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to try and slow down his racing heart.
Crowley felt Aziraphale stroke his hair once and the sound of the TV being turned on. The theme song for Golden Girls started playing.
“Let me get you some tea and I’ll join you,” Aziraphale said.
Crowley listened to Aziraphale’s footsteps as he went to the kitchen and started making tea. The sound of Aziraphale’s movement was soothing, even if Aziraphale wasn’t next to him.
Aziraphale brought back the tea faster than usual, he must’ve used some miracles to make it faster which made Crowley smile. Tea was one thing Aziraphale usually refused to use miracles on.
Crowley felt Aziraphale’s hand on his shoulder and he opened his eyes and accepted the tea. He took a sip and sighed as the warm drink soothed his sore throat. “Thank you, Angel,” he said, giving Aziraphale a quick kiss on his cheek.
“Of course, my dear,” Aziraphale said. He sat on the couch next to Crowley and put an arm around Crowley’s shoulders, kissing him on his head.
Crowley drank his tea, only half paying attention to the TV. Most of his attention was on the contact between him and Aziraphale. And how nice being taken care of had felt. Getting sick wasn’t something that had happened to him often, but it had always been extremely miserable dealing with it on his own. Spending days just curled up in bed, burning up and not having the energy to even do a miracle for some relief, but this had been a completely different experience.
Once Crowley finished his tea, he gently extracted himself from under Aziraphale’s arm to lean forward and place the empty cup on the table. He leaned back and settled against Aziraphale’s side, curling up as best as possible.
“Thank you, Angel,” he said. “For taking care of me.”
“Of course, my dearest Crowley,” Aziraphale said. “Anything for you.”