Fallen Angels (Ineffable Husbands/Crowley and Aziraphale)

2. A New Arrangement

 "Would you look at that," Crowley said with tears in his eyes as he looked at all of his plants newly positioned in Aziraphale's bookshop. The amount of green in the shop was almost suffocating, but he liked it. He hoped Aziraphale did as well.

Aziraphale actually found the greenery rather extra and it made it harder to navigate between shelves, but it was worth it for that grin on Crowley's face. He had never seen his friend this happy, and if having all of his books hidden behind some shrubs made Crowley happy, then he wasn't going to argue with it.

Aziraphale went upstairs to his bedroom for a bit of light reading, and but when he returned a little later, he witnessed something he never wanted to forget. Crowley must have not heard him coming, because he was in mid-conversation with one of his smaller plants.

"Now I know it's scary, coming to a new place like this, but trust me, it's going to be great," he said. "You've got your whole family here and they're going to look after you. Just don't lose any leaves because you know what daddy's going to have to do then," he joked. "This may be a scary change, but this bookshop belongs to one of the nicest angels I've ever meant, and that's saying something because all those angels up there are total jackasses."

While he was appalled at Crowley's choice of words, Crowley did have a point.

"You all are going to be nice and happy here."

"Ahem," Aziraphale cleared his throat. "You talk to your plants?"

Crowley jumped back and his face flushed with color. "I know it's weird."

"No, it's cute," Aziraphale said.

Crowley's mind raced, trying to figure out what on earth Aziraphale could have meant by that comment.

Later that night, Aziraphale and Crowley ran into a problem. After a dinner together at the Ritz, Aziraphale came to the realization that he had a one-bedroom apartment and one bed. While they didn't need to, Aziraphale quite liked to sleep. It gave a nice break and made him feel quite human.

"I do believe I should be getting to bed," he said, "but I only have one bed. I don't know if you'd be hoping to sleep tonight."

"I might," Crowley said. "I could take the floor, I suppose."

"Nonsense. I mean, if you wanted to. But my bed is a queen sized one and it seems silly to waste the extra space."

Crowley's face turned red. "Of course. Silly."

Later that night, Aziraphale and Crowley found themselves sharing a queen-sized bed. Aziraphale sat up with a book in hand, one of the fantasy children novels that peculiar Adam kid enjoyed, and Crowley sat stiffly, anxiously wondering what was going through Aziraphale's mind. After a while, Aziraphale yawned and turned off the light, crawling underneath the covers, and he fell promptly asleep, leaving Crowley still wide awake.

There was something about seeing Aziraphale sleeping that just stirred something in Crowley's heart. The angel looked so peaceful there, the side of his face pressed against the pillow, his chest rising ever so slightly with every breath. He seemed perfect, and Crowley couldn't help but gaze at him for a long while.

His longing was interrupted by the window blowing open and a rush of cold air blowing into the small room. Aziraphale shivered, and Crowley instinctively took his part of the blanket and gave it all to Aziraphale to keep him warm, bundling him up tightly in the large blanket. It was always Crowley's first instinct to protect Aziraphale. If anything were to happen to him ... he didn't want to go there.

Aziraphale yawned and blinked his eyes open groggily. He was dismayed to see Crowley looking so forlorn, gazing out the open window as he sat stiffly on his side of the bed with absolutely no blanket. "Come here," Aziraphale said sleepily, tugging on Crowley's arm. "There's room for two."

Crowley hesitantly pulled himself under the covers, keeping space between himself and the angel, but Aziraphale promptly pulled him closer and rested his head on Crowley's chest. Crowley was in unfamiliar territory here, but he did what seemed natural and awkwardly put his arms around his angel. Right then and there, Aziraphale felt safe, and he felt the room fill with what could only be called love.