Work Text:
Aziraphale had always taken pride in being a sensible person.
She wore sensible clothes, focused on her studies, dated people who her relatives found acceptable, and kept out of trouble.
(There’d been a few incidents which Aziraphale called following her heart and her family called lapses in judgement, but they never talked about those instances.)
The main point was that Aziraphale had never fully rebelled against what was expected of her.
It’d taken her until she was well over thirty to realise that those lapses in her judgement had always been the things that brought her most joy. Studying literature instead of business. Opening her own bookshop instead of joining the family business. Learning magic tricks when her relatives said such a silly hobby made her look ridiculous.
Over the years she’d dated and had relationships with sensible people who on the paper looked like perfect matches for her.
In reality, most of them bored Aziraphale to death. Some were nice enough that the dates led to a relationship, but none of them lasted for longer than a year.
Never had Aziraphale understood what people meant when they called someone a fool in love. She’d thought she was in love a few times, but why should love turn her into a fool? Aziraphale was a reasonably intelligent individual and wasn’t going to lose her wits just because she found someone attractive.
At least that’s what she thought before she met Crowley.
Antonia Crowley was everything Aziraphale wasn’t. She was loud and didn’t mind attention. She drove recklessly, spoke her mind, disregarded rules she didn’t like, and asked countless questions. Questions about why things should be the way they were and why people should follow artificially created customs. She was witty and sarcastic and challenged Aziraphale in every way. She pretended to be a bad girl but underneath she had a soft and kind heart.
It was frightening how quickly Aziraphale fell in love with her.
The most surprising part was who she found herself to be in her company. She could be silly, dramatic, and yes, even foolish with her, and the worst reaction she’d receive was a fond smile and an eye roll. Crowley liked spending time with Aziraphale which was another thing that she’d never experienced in her previous relationships. Her dating life had always been more convenient than romantic, but with Crowley it was different. They did disagree about things but always found their way back to each other after calming down.
Her family hated it. They were sure it was a phase and Aziraphale would eventually get over her lapse in judgement.
Except she didn’t, and with Crowley’s encouragement, she finally managed to tell her relatives that they could either shut up and be happy for her or get out.
(They shut up, although they likely weren’t happy about it.)
Aziraphale took pride in being a sensible person, and maybe being a fool in love with the right person was the most sensible thing there was.