Chapter Text
Crowley walked from the living room.
Deep in the cottage, behind the couch and stairs, was a small window. It had a small sitting corner, having a view of the countryside and sky perfectly.
It probably hadn't been there when they first bought the house. Bit of a demonic miracle, you know. But it was cosy and Aziraphale liked it, so it would stay with them by now.
Crowley sometimes liked to stare out of it. At the trees. Clouds maybe. Those were easy things to stare at. Maybe a dog or two running around.
But there was something else that he wanted to stare at. He ached for it. He wanted to stare at the stars.
But he couldn't. Since his Fall, the snake-like eyes hadn't really helped much. Having to hide them from public, blah blah. But there was something else about them.
Since being part snake, his snake eyes worked like snake eyes, too. He got terrible headaches trying to focus on small things. The angel found out about that the wrong way when he kept pushing Crowley to read a book, at least for once. It took him a minute to build up the courage to confess why he really couldn't, even when he wanted to do it for him.
"Oh dear..." Aziraphale said that moment, looking into said eyes and wrapping his arms around the demon.
But books weren't the problem this once. He could see the words, only giving him headaches, but he couldn't see the stars. Maybe he could make out a really faded dot or two by pure luck, but he couldn't see them.
His own creation, he thought, ripped away from him by Heaven.
She didn't have enough with making him fall, but they had to rip that away from him, too. The only thing he could still hold onto from his own, pure self. Ripped away from deep within him. He remembered seeing the stars in his Fall, and how they slowly began to fade away.
Little did he know that he wouldn't see them again. Ever.
He sighed, lowering his eyes from the window. Things faded again, but it wasn't because of his eyes. It was from the tears building up in said eyes.
He sniffled slightly, trying not to make much noise as he didn't want to bother Aziraphale, who was sitting on the couch in the living room.
The angel glanced at him for a moment from his shoulder, taking him a minute to notice the expression in Crowley's face. His head instantly turned all the way around, looking at the demon.
"Crowley? Dear, are you alright?" He said, closing his book.
"Yeah." He muttered in a low tone, sniffling again and looking out the window. He instantly changed his sight, as he felt more tears building in his eyes.
"No you're not." Aziraphale instantly stood up, walking to the window.
He sat next to Crowley, taking the demon's hand gently. "What's wrong, dear boy?"
Crowley sniffled once again, his hand wrapping around Aziraphale's. He squeezed it.
"Do you.. remember that once, when, uhm, you made me read a book?" He said, looking into Aziraphale's eyes.
"Yeah... Are you crying because I made you read a book?" The angel answered, letting out an affectionate chuckle.
Crowley giggled as well, shaking his head gently. "No, no. It's just... I can't.. I can't see them." He said, looking out the window.
Aziraphale followed his gaze with his own.
"See what?"
"The stars. I can't see them. My eyes don't have enough focus." He muttered. "I just.."
"I wish I could see them, you know?" Crowley said. His voice slightly broke, tears welling up in his eyes once again. Aziraphale's heart broke at this, moving his hand from the demon's to his arm.
"Oh Crowley..." He whispered, wrapping his arms around him, pressing his head against the demon's chest. "You poor thing.."
Crowley sniffled, wrapping his arms around Aziraphale. He buried his face in blond curls, closing his eyes.
Aziraphale rubbed his shoulders gently, shifting ever so slightly so that Crowley was laying against his chest. He ran a hand through his hair gently, kissing his forehead.
"I haven't seen them in so long, angel..." Crowley whispered.
"Well, I'll let you know that they're as shining as ever, dear. Still like the first day. Although I didn't put much attention to them that day. I was focused on a different kind of star that day."
Crowley smiled, closing his eyes as he hugged Aziraphale closer.
"We should go stargazing at some point." The demon said, sniffling.
"I'm opening to describing, dear." Aziraphale smiled, kissing the top of Crowley's head.
Crowley smiled, sighing. He shifted so he was laying a bit more comfortably against Aziraphale.
The angel smiled.
"You alright?" He whispered.
Crowley remained silent for a moment, nodding.
At the end, the sun was a star, too. And he could had sworn he had the sun right in front of him in that night, buried in his arms.