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Crowley blinks and sees Nothing.
It’s dark, way too dark. And quiet, so very quiet. But the cold is the worst of it. It prickles his skin and sends bitter chills through his body, making him utterly miserable.
Fortunately, Nothing hasn’t happened to him at all. He’s just woken up freezing in the middle of the night because the duvet is gone.
With a yawn that fades into a groan, Crowley reaches behind himself in a blind search for the duvet, but what he finds is not a corner he can easily grab and pull. It’s round, and it’s warm … and it moves …
Crowley turns around and sees Aziraphale tightly wrapped in their duvet, a bit of fluffy white hair sticking out at one end. Beside him is an open book, spine up, and those reading glasses he doesn’t need.
Well, well. It was Crowley who’d taught Aziraphale the joy of a good night’s sleep. Guess this was bound to happen sooner or later.
The angel breathes softly, steadily. He looks so innocent, so peaceful, and he has no idea that Crowley is presently scanning his double-threaded Egyptian cotton fortress for a point of entry.
Then Crowley has an idea. Smirking, he morphs into his snake form, his silk pyjama becoming shiny black scales on a long, limbless body. He flits his forked tongue, tasting the cool air and the angel’s sweet scent. Then he glides under the folds of the duvet at Aziraphale’s feet and weaves himself between Aziraphale’s legs and across his soft belly. The angel jolts at this sudden intrusion.
“Gah!” he gasps, though he really isn’t fully awake. “Hmph … hm … Crowley? What are you doing? Did you have a nightmare?”
Crowley’s narrow snake head pops out from under the duvet next to Aziraphale’s. “No, but you were getting co-sss-y without me,” Crowley hisses plaintively, one slit-pupil eye staring into Aziraphale’s half-open blue eyes. “Left me out in the cold. Not very ni-sss-e of you.”
Aziraphale sighs, then smiles drowsily. “Oh no. We can’t have that, can we?”
He shifts to make room for Crowley under the covers, allowing him to wrap himself around the angel like a large body pillow. Aziraphale strokes Crowley’s scales with his graceful hands, and every touch ripples pleasantly through the demon, soothing and warming him. When Crowley is finally at ease, Aziraphale plants a tender little kiss on his head.
“Better?”
Crowley returns the kiss by lightly bringing his snout to Aziraphale’s nose. “Ah, ye-sss …”
“Excellent,” Aziraphale murmurs, drifting off again. “Goodnight, my dear.”
“G’night, ‘ngel.”
Crowley’s breathing and heartbeat begin to slow down. Snugly coiled around his angel, he sinks into a dreamless, dormant state …
----
Crowley wakes in the hazy sliver of time between night and day. With his eyes still closed, he stretches his arms and slides one of them across Aziraphale. He must’ve reverted to his human form while he rested. Aziraphale stirs and reciprocates the hug, and Crowley takes a deep breath as he revels in the sensation of his own bare skin pressing against tartan pyjama fabric …
Oh.
“Oh,” the angel says. “You seem to have misplaced your scales.” He moves a hand down Crowley’s back. “And your clothes. No wonder you’re freezing.”
Of course, Crowley can fix this with a snap of his fingers, but he doesn’t really feel like it. He’s too sleepy and comfortable and amused at this turn of events.
“M’yeah. Chilled to the bone, in fact.”
“Hm. Would you like me to disrobe as well?” Aziraphale offers enthusiastically. “I once read in a book about Arctic expeditions that skin-to-skin contact alleviates mild hypothermia. Obviously you’re not hypothermic, but still?”
“By all means,” Crowley says with a crooked smile. “Do what you must to save me from the icy grip of Death.”
Aziraphale gets up. He carefully folds and hangs his pyjama on the valet stand beside the bed while Crowley admires his pale, soft silhouette.
“So, what happens now?” Crowley asks as Aziraphale pulls the duvet around both of them.
“Allow me to demonstrate.” If it weren’t for the darkness, Crowley would be able to see that the angel arches one of his eyebrows just a tiny bit.
Aziraphale gathers Crowley into his arms, bringing their naked bodies together. The angel’s skin is smooth and warm and he smells wonderful, like vanilla and fresh linen. Crowley kisses Aziraphale again, he can’t help it, he just needs a little taste. Aziraphale pulls him even closer and deepens the kiss, gently parting the demon’s lips with his tongue.
They enjoy each other like this for a while, with fingers skimming over freckles on a naked chest or combing through wispy white curls. Arms around waists, hands caressing hips. Mouths kissing cheeks or necks or nibbling at ears. Their breaths mixing together, their noses brushing against each other. Sighs and little hums of pleasure against soft lips. Crowley can hear and feel his own heartbeat right next to Aziraphale’s. He’s happy, so ridiculously happy, but also incredibly tired. After all those millennia of uncertainty, he’s finally able to unwind, like a coil spring released from enormous tension.
Eventually they settle into a spooning position. Their legs and fingers are entwined, and Crowley rests his head on Aziraphale’s arm.
“Mm. Not bad at all,” the demon mutters as he leans back against the angel’s plump frame. “Sure you didn’t learn this skin-to-skin thing from one of those novels you keep in the very back of the bookshop?”
“I really don’t know what you mean.” Aziraphale kisses the nape of Crowley’s neck to distract him, and the demon gives a blissful little sigh. His mind and body relax completely as he soaks up all the angelic love surrounding him.
“Goodnight again, my dearest,” Aziraphale whispers, his words a light tingling on Crowley’s skin.
“ ‘S nearly morning.”
“I don’t mind sleeping in if I can hold you like this.”
Crowley smiles and gently squeezes Aziraphale’s hand. “ ‘M not going anywhere. Goodnight, angel.”
Yes, he’s right where he wants to be - in a nice big fluffy bed, cuddling with his favourite being in the entire universe. In every universe for that matter, insofar as they existed.
Soon they’re both fast asleep, and even in their deepest slumber, they hold each other close in a warm, loving embrace.