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The 1970’s had been one of the worst decades the demon had experienced in quite a while. Usually Crowley could predict when it was going to be a busy or just generally miserable decade; the 70’s had come out of nowhere to fight for top of the list. So far halfway through the decade Crowley had dealt with Hastur’s persistent incompetence, Beelzebub becoming even more evasive than ever, and three failed coups.
The most recent revolt had just been put down before Crowley left for his meeting with Aziraphale. While emotional exhaustion was the main reason the demon was in such a foul mood he had also been pissed because of the stab wound in his leg. Normally it would have been an easy thing to fix but somehow the idiot that stabbed him had somehow gotten their hands on a blessed blade. While not as lethal as holy water or hellfire, blessed and cursed weapons hurt like a bitch and could only be healed quickly by someone from the same side as the weapon. It would be very easy for Crowley to ask his angel to heal him during their meetup but from what Able had been relaying back to him Azriaphale was having an equally shitty decade. So the demon was more than content to just ignore his pain and focus on making the angel feel better.
Crowley arrived at the St. James park before Aziraphale which wasn’t unusual but he was grateful since it meant he could be sitting when the angel arrived, hiding the limp he had at the moment. After a few minutes of waiting Crowley spotted Aziraphale walking through the park, talking to someone. It was unfortunately Gabriel, Heaven’s Earth representative. Crowley despised the angel for a variety of reasons but the main one was how he talked to Aziraphale. Despite his bad leg the demon slipped off the bench and snuck over to eavesdrop on the two. Crowley had cast a small miracle to avoid being noticed by the pair and leaned against a tree nearby where the angels had stopped to speak while Azriaphale fed the ducks.
“Not that it’s any of my business Archangel,” Gabriel sounded polite but Crowley could pick up on the faint annoyed tone to his voice, “but do we have to meet so often?”
“Oh I suppose not, but I like to keep up with the goings on here on Earth.”
“Well I could just write more reports if that’s the case. It would save you the trouble of coming down here every month.”
“Oh but it’s no trouble really. Though if you would prefer we can set our meetings to every two months.”
Crowley knew it really wasn’t an issue for Aziraphale to come to Earth every month. For the past forty years the angel had been coming to Earth every Sunday to attend different human religious services. It was a small victory Crowley had achieved to get his angel to take a short break from work.
“I was actually thinking more like every three months if possible.” The false sweetness in Gabriel’s voice made the demon’s teeth hurt. “It would give me more time to perform miracles without interruption.”
“Well I suppose we can change that.” To anyone else Aziraphale sounded his same jolly self but Crowley could detect the faint disappointment in his voice. “I do not want to keep you from helping the humans.”
“Exactly,” the angel slapped his boss on the back, “I’m glad you understand.”
“Um yes, well, if there’s nothing else I guess we are good until the next meeting.”
“Right see you then.”
With that Gabriel walked off leaving the Archangel standing by the pond and wringing his hands. Crowley waited until the other angel was a good distance away before approaching Aziraphale. His angel must have been very distracted because even after lifting the concealment miracle he didn’t notice the demon until he cleared his throat.
“Oh I’m sorry, my dear,” Aziraphale turned away from the duck but still had his hands together. “I must not have seen you walk up.”
“It’s fine, angel. I only just got here.”
“Right, yes,” the angel glanced around the park, “shall we go sit?”
Crowley nodded in agreement and let the angel lead the way so his limp could go unnoticed. However that plan didn’t work out too well since Aziraphale looked back and immediately noticed something was wrong.
“Are you alright, dear?”
“Fine. Why’d you ask?”
“You just appear to be limping is all.”
“Nope, just my usual swagger.” To emphasize his point the demon moved to walk in front of his angel. This was a mistake because in taking a larger stride the demon had pulled the mostly closed stab wound back open. Crowley managed a quick swear before pitching forward into the grass.
“Oh, Crowley!” In an instant Azriaphale was kneeling next to the demon. Able had slithered out of the angel’s pocket and moved onto Crowley’s injured leg.
Aziraphale noticed the snake and hovered his hands over the area as well. A look of disappointment and deep concern formed on his face. “You were stabbed again!?! And by a blessed blade nonetheless! Why didn’t you say anything!?!”
“Calm down, angel.” Crowley put his arms up in a placating manner. “It’s really not that bad.”
“You don’t get to tell me to calm down while you’re lying here bleeding out!”
“Really it’ll heal on its own in a few days.”
“Will you just hush and let me focus on healing this. Then we will discuss it.”
Crowley obeyed and stayed silent while Aziraphale pulled the holy power out from the wound and mended it shut. Once that was done the two silently moved from the ground to sit on a bench. Azriaphale was taking deep breaths in an attempt to collect his thoughts. Able had wrapped around the angel’s shoulders and settled into a nap. Crowley was left feeling like a scolded child and sat with his arms crossed in annoyance.
“I thought we agreed,” Aziraphale started, “that in the quote, 'unlikely event’, that you were stabbed again, you would tell me.”
“Didn’t want you to worry.”
“You know I would have healed it had you asked. How did you even get stabbed by a blessed blade?”
“Some upstart during the last coup got a good shot in. I don’t know where they got it but doesn’t matter. I have it now.”
“I feel like it is important to know where a low level demon got a blessed weapon from.”
“Eh, too much work.”
At Crowley’s noncommittal shrug Aziraphale fixed him with the angriest look he could muster for the demon.
“Even if it is more work you cannot have your subordinates able to harm you so easily!”
“This is the first time it happened, angel! It’s not a president or anything!”
“I do not care if this was the first time! You need to ensure it was the last!”
“I did! I sent their ass straight to the deepest pit! Demons may be idiots but they learn quickly from examples!” The demon was getting very caught up in the moment. Anger was a welcome emotion and he was letting it lead the argument. “You’re one to talk about controlling underlings! Last time I checked you let even the lowest Cherub walk all over you!”
“I do not!” Aziraphale too was caught up in the heat of the argument. All the yelling had awoken Able from his basking and he looked between the two in confusion.
“Just because Heaven treats our lot with respect doesn’t mean I’m a pushover!”
“No Aziraphale, you treat everyone with respect, they take advantage of your kindness!”
“That’s not true!”
“It very much is! Just today Gabriel told you to fuck off and you agreed!”
“No he…” Aziraphale trailed off considering Crowley’s words for a second. The anger had been replaced by confusion. “He was just trying to help more people.”
“He was lying, angel!” Crowley was still caught up in the moment that he didn’t realize that the angel had stopped yelling. “He can do plenty of miracles while still meeting with you for an hour once a month! He just didn’t want to talk to you so much because he thinks you’re annoying! I mean how stupid can you-”
Crowley’s rant died in his throat when he looked over to see Aziraphale crying. Regret immediately filled the demon and he quickly switched to trying to sooth his angel.
“Hey I didn’t mean it, angel,” Crowley put his arm around Azriaphale’s shoulders. “I was just angry at Gabriel and the bastard that stabbed me. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“No you are right my dear.” Aziraphale managed between sniffles. Able was also helping comfort by rubbing his head against the angel’s cheek. “It’s just not in my nature to think the worst of people, especially other angels. But you are right that I let them take more than they give.”
“It’s not your fault though.”
“Even if it is not, I should not be taking things out on you, my dear.”
“I could say the same, angel.”
The two sat in silence for a bit while they collected themselves. Able decided that it was fine for him to go back to his nap as Aziraphale began stroking his head. The warm sensation allowed Crowley to calm down as well. Eventually Aziraphale broke the silence between the pair.
“I was quite excited to see you today.” He began running his hand over something in his pocket. “I am sorry it started off on the wrong foot.”
“Not like I helped anything by lying about my leg and then yelling at you.”
“Think nothing of it, dear. We both had a lot to get off our chest.”
“Yeah I guess. Still doesn’t mean we should make this a habit.”
“Quite.” Aziraphale moved the item from his pocket into his hand but Crowley still couldn’t make out what it was. “I was very excited to meet up because I got you a gift.”
“For me? You shouldn’t have.”
“Nonsense I never repaid you for Able.”
“Well I guess if there’s no fighting you on it.” Crowley gave a defeated shrug but his smile betrayed his excitement.
“Here you are then.”
Aziraphale held out his hand revealing a sleek black wrist watch. It looked fairly normal but had the faint feeling of a miracle on it. Crowley took it and gave it a good once over.
“What’s it do?”
“It tells time, dear.” Aziraphale gave a smile that was so innocent it put infants to shame.
“Oh you know what I mean you ass.”
“Of course, my dear. I put a miracle on it so it will work a bit like a telephone. I was getting a little tired of the one way communication with Able so I decided to give you a similar gift. All you have to do is press the button on the side and then I can hear what you say. Of course I cannot communicate back directly but I think it will work nicely in tandem with Able.”
Crowley was stunned for a moment. He had never considered that Aziraphale would feel sad about not being able to communicate back with him. He should have realized that in the over a century since he’s gifted the snake.
“Thanks, angel.”
“You are quite welcome my dear.” Aziraphale hesitated a moment before pressing a quick kiss onto Crowley’s cheek. “Now do not go using this as an excuse to skip or regular meetups. It was lovely as always, my dear.”
With that the angel left, leaving the demon sitting on the bench feeling stunned. He was so stupidly in love with his angel. With the aid of the watch it was now easier to plan meetings as well as just send short messages to each other when they were too busy to meet in person. That along with humanity chilling out for the most part made for a good few decades of peace.