“So you and Anthony spent the whole day together, and you still couldn’t come up with an entry for the competition?” Esther asks as she steps down from hanging a Halloween decoration.
“Unfortunately, no.” Aziraphale confesses as he helps unfold a tablecloth. “Though perhaps that’s largely because it was me making all the suggestions.”
Esther picks up a bouquet of flowers, and shrugs. “That’s an odd one. And he didn’t come up with any himself?”
Aziraphale says quickly, “Oh no. He did. But most of them were things he already does in the shop. ”, and Ether nods in understanding.
“I tried to tell him some of my own ideas. Stuff you wouldn’t expect. Something that makes someone want to give it a second look.” Aziraphale shakes his head. “But he said no to all of them.”
“Well, if you put it like that...” Esther says thoughtfully, and when the angel looks at her, she goes on, “If you can find a way to show him how your ideas can work, maybe he’d be more open to trying them.”
Aziraphale opens his mouth, but once he mulls it over, his eyes light up with inspiration.
“My dear, would you mind too terribly if I used a small area of your hotel kitchen?”
Esther smiles back, “Don’t mind at all.”
The angel works for over an hour, but finally, he has his entire setup finished., and goes to fetch Crowley.
The cupcakes are arranged on a table, with sprigs of flowers and a candied orange peel next to the cupcakes themselves, on their own pretty ceramic dishes that resemble doilies.
Ether can’t help smiling as she tosses a few more autumn leaves on the table, for decoration, and when she turns, both Aziraphale and Anthony walk through the doorway.
Crowley spots the cupcakes immediately, “What’s this now?”
Esther explains in a rush, “Ezra here thought you’d like to taste some of his cupcakes.”
Seeing the slight look of panic on the demon’s face. Aziraphale tries to cover, “But you didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
Esther scoffs, “Yes I did! You’re making an All Hallow’s Eve themed chocolate for the royal newlyweds. It wouldn’t do to not try and set the mood.”
Aziraphale sighs, clearly not expecting that, but just yields, “Alright.”, and goes to pick up two of the dishes holding the cupcakes, about to hand one to Crowley when Esther stops him,
“No no! Please, sit.”, and Crowley nods, taking the offered dish and gestures for the angel to sit first.
Once they’re seated next to each other, Crowley goes to pick up the cupcake from the dish he’s holding, but before he can, Esther cries out,
“No!”, and the demon has to stop himself before he drops it, then turns to look at her, slightly exasperated.
“Oh dear, I’m sorry. But my grandmother believed it was far more fun to eat the dessert across from you, instead of in front of you.”
Here, she crosses her hands, pointing in opposite directions, “Ezra, you take Anthony’s, and Anthony, you do the same.”
Surprisingly, Anthony isn’t too put off by this, just nods, and this time, when he picks up the cupcake, he offers it to Aziraphale, who in turn follows suit, and quickly, they swap cupcakes.
Esther nods her approval,“There we are.” Then with one last parting word of, “Enjoy.”, she walks out of the room.
After they both chuckle to themselves at the absurdity of swapping the same cupcake, Aziraphale nods towards them, “Alright, let’s give them a try, shall we?”
It takes a few moments for the both of them to peel off the cupcake liners and each take a bite of their own, chewing slowly to savor the taste.
But Aziraphale is more focused on Crowley’s face, which at the moment looks like he wants to say something, which in turn makes Aziraphale tense up.
Oh please tell me he’s not about to shoot me down again.
“This is...” Crowley starts to say, then stops himself so he can swallow. “This is amazing, angel.”
Hearing that, Aziraphale smiles in relief, then tells him as much, “Oh, thank you.”, then adds, smug, “And you thought I was only gluttonous.”
Crowley nods, as the flavors stay on his tongue, admitting, “Well, here’s a first. I can’t puzzle out the flavor that’s paired with the orange.”
Aziraphale chuckles, “And you won’t. Secret recipe.”
Crowley plays along, “Oh is it, now?”
Aziraphale nods, “Oh absolutely. Top secret. Can’t share it with anyone. You could roast me in holy fire, and I’d still never tell.”
Crowley notes, “Although I seem to be tasting Earl Grey...” and when the angel’s eyes go wide, he smirks.
Aziraphale grumbles good naturedly, “Oh fine, so I used my afternoon tea on a whim.”, then when Crowley’s still waiting for more, he admits, “It’s Earl Grey Iced tea.”
The surprised look on the demon’s face almost makes up for having his cover blown, so Aziraphale quickly lets Crowley off the hook, “I know, I know. You can say it.”
Crowley shakes his head, “Say what?”
“Tell me how I’m a heathen for using anything other than actual Earl Grey tea in an orange cupcake.”
Now it’s the demon’s turn to surprise the angel, “No, not at all! I quite like the taste of Earl Grey! And you know what? Using a well brewed iced tea allows for a more refreshing flavor, and pairs really well with the orange.”
Well. That’s definitely not what Aziraphale was expecting to hear, to where all he can say in reply is, “Hmm.”
And of course the demon just replies back, “Mhm.” , and they just end up doing that back and forth, before Crowley flat out asks,
“Now, angel, be honest. Did you just lure me here so you could tell me I need to lighten up as far as the competition is concerned?”
Aziraphale, cheeky bastard that he is, isn’t even phased by the accusation, as he says in place of an admission, “I just can’t help but think, why aren’t we thinking of every single possibility? Every piece of inspiration that could potentially help us.”
Whether it’s the cupcake, or Aziraphale’s tiny speech just now, the demon just looks up from his cupcake, and nods, “Yeah, alright.”
Aziraphale, never one to assume anything with a demon, much less this demon, repeats, “Alright?”
Crowley rolls his eyes from behind his glasses, “Oh don’t make me say it again. You’ve made your point.”
The angel’s smile widens, “Have I?”
Crowley mutters, “Oh shut up and just give me another cupcake.”
Delighted, the nagel gestures to the others on the table, “Oh please do! Help yourself!”
Later that night, when Aziraphale’s closing his suitcase, he leaves the pile of letters on the bed, sighing wistfully as he carefully flips through them.
He holds two of them in his hand, reminiscing on when he wrote it, and when Wilhelmina wrote the responding one, then allows himself to smile even wider once he realizes,
I’m this close to being back in the palace. Can I really make it happen, the human way?
Crowley, still in his shop, is just counting the money in the register when he hears the front door open, the little bell indicating someone just walked in.
“We’re closed for the night. Come back in the morning.”
“Because it’s got about the same foot traffic as it does right now?” The familiar voice prompts Crowley to look up, finding none other than the Duke of Hell stinking up his shop.
The demon doesn’t panic, just sighs in resignation, “What do you want, Hastur?”
The filthy demon replies, “Oh nothing much. The Prince of Hell was just wondering if you’d reconsidered your new job offer?”
Crowley has no qualms about standing his ground and drawing a clear line in the sand, “You can tell Beelzebub that I will not be coming back to Hell, now or ever.”
“Doesn’t it get old, being the odd demon out?” Hastur asks, as he waves his hand to make some of the chocolates in the display case go rotten. “You have to know Hell is not pleased with you.”
Crowley moves closer, still not backing down, “Oh I’m well aware. And I still have all the invoices to prove it.”
Hastur asks, “What are you getting out of it? Do you not want to come back, or do you not want to come back to work for Beelzebub?”
Crowley says one last time, leaving no room for argument, “I am not coming back because I have no desire to. Not for Beez, not for you, not for anyone in Heaven or Hell.”
“Look, it’s not like I don’t see the appeal of this place.” Hastur assures him, the putrid stench getting worse. “Turning them to gluttony, make them ruin their beautiful figures so they’ll be even more tempted to become one of ours.”
Hastur sighs, “But you must be realistic. This shop hasn’t been doing any of that in centuries. So why don’t you just give up the pretense, close up shop, and come back to work for Hell?”
Crowley laughs, like Hastur just told him the funniest joke, crossing his arms, “Not gonna happen.”
Hasture holds out his hands, gesturing, “Look, we both know that there’s nothing you could do to tempt humans to come in here without an actual temptation, which you’re for whatever reason still determined to not do. Just give it up.”
“Oh really? That’s what you think?” Crowley asks, then points behind the other demon, “When I beat the humans at their own game and am named royal chocolatier, humans won’t be able to stop themselves from flooding in here.”
Hastur does not share this enthusiasm, “You must be joking.”
Crowlwy pretends to look shocked, “Who, me? Joke about damning souls with no demonic intervention? Never.”
“You mean to tell me you’ve found something that could win this competition you’re entering, all you, no demonic miracles or temptations?”
Crowley nods, “As a matter of fact, it’s so perfect, even all the miracles in the world couldn’t beat it.”
Hastur harrumphs, “We’ll just have to see, won’t we?” , then with a snap, vanishes, leaving behind that disgusting smell.
“You bet we will.” Crowley says to the empty shop, walking towards the back. “Just as soon as I ward the place off from any more downstairs visitors.”