"Are you sure?" Aziraphale asks, the doubt clearly hearable in his voice. "Isn't that a bit too much?"
"Absolutely not!" Maggie answers excitedly
"Oh, absolutely!" Nina disagrees the same moment.
Aziraphale raises his eyebrows at their lack of unity and frowns.
"You want to make tonight special, don't you? So, do it!" Maggie tries to encourage him even more.
"I do! But- He's-" Aziraphale stops mid-sentence and huffs in frustration. His eyes wander to the name of the coffee shop sprayed with white color on the blue wall. "Wait, does someone actually ever order death here?"
"What? No! Why should they?! It's just a name-" Nina exclaims and then sighs. She places a hand on Maggie's shoulder and squeezes it softly. A small gesture to show the appreciation of her sort of help. "Mr. Fell, changing the topic won't help. I know you're worried but today is about love. Just do what feels right. He'll love it anyway."
"Aziraphale" the angel corrects her. "I already told you we're past the formal, dear. Especially after what you've done for him."
"She's right, though" Maggie says and places her hand on Aziraphale's. "I mean, I'm sort of the go big or go home kind of woman, but Crowley loves you and your relationship the way it is. If this feels like too much, do what feels right."
"But I don't know what feels right!" Aziraphale yammers desperate and his body goes somehow limp. Very different from his usual upright and confident posture. "After all that I have put him through, I want tonight tonight to be perfect. Give him what he deserves. And he probably doesn't even care about today. Heaven, why should he even? Traditions were never his thing of interest."
"But it's not about the day or any traditions. It's about the two of you" Nina says softly but then grabs the coffee she had served Aziraphale and pushes him out the seat. "Now go home and listen to our advices. Mine more than hers..." she says, nodding in Maggie's direction. "I wouldn't go too big. But nevertheless, I, myself, have a date to attend tonight and need to get ready and so do you, Mister". And as Nina pushes him out of the shop, the last thing the angel hears is Maggie's soft laughter and the excitement about her date tonight.
The angel straightens his clothes before he turns around, as if it is helping him to clear his head. But he's still pondering about the conversation he just had whilst passing the street and heading to the bookshop. As he reaches his desk, he places down the small box he has kept in his pocket to show the couple and looks at it for some longer.
What if Crowley laughs at him and his idea? Maybe he would even get mad at Aziraphale for coming up with the idea at all. Heaven, he is so confused right now!
In the end, almost automatically, Aziraphale dials Crowley's number on his old phone. If he doesn't know what to do anyway, he might as well ask him.
Crowley has been busy all midmorning long and just stumbles into his Bentley after placing the heavy box on the seat behind him when he gets the call. "Angel" Crowley greets him as he picks up.
"Crowley..." Aziraphale breathes out his name, kind of nervous yet happy to hear him but doesn't continue to talk. "Crowley, are you still there?"
"Just waiting for you to say more than just my name, Angel."
"Right, sorry. I'm-, It's just-" Aziraphale stumbles over his own words, fumbling with the cord of the telephone and sighs. He can't even control his nervousness during a god damn call. "Sorry."
"Angel" Crowley repeats the nickname once more, his eyebrow now raised as if he could see Aziraphale through the radio. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, no worries, my dear! Just nervous."
"Nervous 'bout what?"
Aziraphale looks at the small box on the desk, nervousness running through his veins, making his body tense. He knows he needs to find his courage again or else he'll never know if there's a right time for his plan or if he should just put the box away and never think of it again.
"I was just wondering if you're still fine with tonight. We could cancel-"
"My dear angel" Crowley chuckles. "Are you nervous about us?"
"What? No! Well- ..." Aziraphale blushes. He just wants to make things right but why does he feel like he has no idea what to do? Has he eventually spent too much time on earth by now, becoming too human? Has the friendship with Maggie and Nina too much influence on him? Or is he too afraid to be rejected? Is he afraid to lose Crowley for good by crossing boundaries?
Once again, Crowley chuckles and interrupts Aziraphale's racing thoughts. "Angel, whatever you're racking your cute little head about, don't worry. We'll be fine. It's just a stupid human tradition we're giving a try. If we don't like it, we don't have to do that again."
Silence. Aziraphale blushes, his cheeks a bright pink now, a smile on his face. His nerves calming down.
"Angel?"
"Sorry. Thank you" Aziraphale answers still with a smile. For heaven's sake, he is head over heels for his demon and can't wait for tonight. He should've called Crowley earlier. Somehow, the demon always knows how to calm him down, probably without him even trying.
"Okay" Crowley says. "See you at five then."
The demon ends the call and looks at the box behind him, screwing his nose at all the cheesy stuff he's gotten. Roses, candles, all sort of heart shaped stuff but also a bottle of their favorite wine. He does not understand what humans like about Valentine's Day but his angel will surely love it. Just then, he remembers they've forgotten an important detail, so he calls Aziraphale back.
"Crowley?" the angel asks surprised, picking up just a second later as if he has not left the place he was standing at just yet.
"Where do we meet?"
"At the bookshop, so I thought. Why? You want to meet at your place?" Aziraphale is confused as Crowley has never invited him to his place before. He always tells the angel he wouldn't like it. Something about too black, too empty, too dark. Probably that is why Crowley cares about his plants so much, as they're a contrast to the dark walls in Crowley's apartment, Aziraphale thinks to himself.
"Got any appointments today?" Crowley asks as he needs Aziraphale gone for at least an hour to make his plan work.
"What? No. You're being weird, Crowley!"
Crowley silently mimics what he imagines Aziraphale just looked like by saying that. "Well, seems to be a weird day for the both of us" he mumbles. His grip on the steering wheel tightens as he tries to come up with a good idea to get the angel out of the bookshop. "Can you feed the ducks for me?"
"The ducks?" Aziraphale asks.
"At the St. James Park. Frozen Peas if you don't mind."
"Are you feeding the ducks every day?" Aziraphale asks, less surprised by the request itself than by the thought that Crowley actually does that.
"Well, someone has to. They can't eat bread It's not good for them." Crowley clenches his teeth, afraid this won't work. "I'm not going to ask again."
"Fine" Aziraphale answers sighing. He'd do anything for him. "Oh, and Crowley?"
"What?"
"Happy Valentine's Day"
"Yeah, whatever. See you later" the demon says and quickly ends the call. The grip on the steering wheel has tightened again and his cheeks have turned into a deep pink as his head has lowered, trying to hide the blushing. The Bentley starts to play a cheesy love song, exactly knowing how the demon feels. "Absolutely not!" he mumbles, quickly putting in his favorite Queen album as the blushing gets worse. That damn car sometimes...
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It would be an understatement to say that Aziraphale is nervous about tonight. His bookshop has never been messy, yet he has made sure that it looks as clean as possible for tonight. He even put away books that he had put aside to read in the next days. There's not one fuzz of dust left, not one book that isn't on the shelf. He has even made sure that the plant that Crowley had given him stands at the perfect spot to get the right amount of sunshine and it looks as if Aziraphale had always taken good care of it, even though he had to miracle it back to life twice already. Plants are definitely more Crowley's thing, Aziraphale being better at taking care of things that aren't... well... alive.
Aziraphale wants everything to be perfect, for Crowley to see the effort he has put into their date and to feel as comfortable as the bookshop as possible. Without making things too cheesy though, knowing that it'd probably too much for his sarcastic demon. He knows Crowley can be a softie and one of Aziraphale's favorite things to do with Crowley are the evenings they spend at the bookshop, Crowley sitting next to him, legs on his lap, listening to the stories Aziraphale reads out loud from new or favorite books. More than once has Crowley fallen asleep, looking so peaceful before waking up again and acting all cool like that has never happened.
So when Aziraphale leaves the bookshop, he is quite relieved to go feed the ducks and get some fresh air. It will calm his nerves and distract him. At least, that is what he hopes for.
As he walks to St. James Park, he can't help but think about their relationship. He knows what he did was wrong. Leaving Crowley, going to heaven. But he had really believed Metatron and that he himself as the Archangel could change things. He wanted to change things for the better. For humanity, for angels, for all of them. He had believed in heaven again. Well, at least until he found out the truth about The Great Plan. When he had come back to Earth, knowing Crowley was the only one to turn to for help, they had no time to talk about Crowley's confession, the kiss and everything else between them until they were all safe once again. It had taken them months to work on the damage that has been done and finally end up together. If not for Maggie and Nina, they probably still wouldn't be.
It has been not been easy to figure out if they'd spend Valentine's Day together. Crowley loves the Earth and he can even stand the humans. But human traditions? Not so much. But the excitement in people's faces, all their plans for that day and the happiness about their dates had made Aziraphale want to join. Needless to say he's been more than thrilled when Crowley asked him out for the day in first place.
But it's not just the excitement about the Valentine's Day in general that causes Aziraphale to be that nervous. The day is just perfect for what he wanted to do for so long already, even though he has decided to not put too much effort into their date, like Maggie had suggested. It would've been to much for Crowley, so Aziraphale is sure.
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Nervously, Aziraphale checks the time as he hurries back home. He's way too late! Should've been back about half an hour ago already to prepare the date. Now it's almost five. He's spent too much time in the park, wondering what it's about with Crowley and the ducks. Out of all animals, why does he like ducks so much? Talking about them, looking after them, probably even analyzing them or whatsoever. Aziraphale even wondered if Crowley dared to read a book about ducks to find out more about them. He couldn't get the hang of his demon and his love for the ducks and when he gave up wondering, he had realized how late it has gotten.
Aziraphale unlocks the door of the bookshop and enters the living room, first noticing an unfamiliar scent in the air, coming from the kitchen. "Uh, hello?" he calls out, carefully walking through the room, not even thinking about Crowley, yet not really alarmed.
"Angel!" Crowley exclaims surprised as he stumbles around the corner, panicky scanning the room and then his watch. "You're back early!" Quickly, Crowley covers the angel's eyes with his hands.
"Well, you're here early" Aziraphale answers as calmly as possible, not even worrying about having his eyes covered and chuckles slightly. "What are you doing?"
"Just..." Crowley mutters and looks around before he decides to place Aziraphale in the middle of the hallway. He's not done yet and it was supposed to be a surprise so he can't use his angel ruining everything last-minute. "Keep your eyes closed, okay?"
Aziraphale just nods and feels Crowley leaving his side. The angel then hears noises and every now and then, he can feel Crowley's movements. The smell of food gets stronger. It smells... sweet? And there's wine. His favorite, if he guesses right. A bottle probably already opened so it can be served soon.
"You're not looking, right?" he hears Crowley shout.
"'Course not!" Aziraphale answers, even though he feels the curiosity rising inside him and yet feel slightly offended that Crowley even thinks of him cheating. Suddenly, he remembers what he had placed on the desk earlier that day. "Crowley?" he calls his lover now more nervous, not wanting him to find what he has prepared but not willing to open his eyes and disappoint him.
Suddenly, he feels the demon's presence in front of him again. Hands grabbing his own. "Just a second" Crowley says and Aziraphale just knows that Crowley has changed his outfit with magic and he's too excited to see what he now looks like. His voice is much more calm now, even deeper, somehow even arousing. "Ready?" he whispers next to Aziraphale's ear and then pulls back. "Open your eyes, angel."
Aziraphale takes a deep breath to calm down and opens his eyes, a smile of excitement on his lips. Ready to look at Crowley precisely, check out what outfit he has chosen for tonight, kind of hoping for the turtleneck. But before he can even check out Crowley, the demon turns Aziraphale around to turn his gaze at the bookshop.
"What's this?" he asks as he sees what the bookshop now looks like.
A chandelier hangs in the middle of the room, just like the night of the ball, candles are scattered on the tables and on the carper in front of the couch is a heart shaped of candles, rose petals in the middle. On the table next to the couch is a plate with something heart shaped, probably mini cakes, two glasses of wine and a single red rose.
"It's-, Uh..." Crowley mutters, now scratching the back of his head, seeming a lot less self-confident as usual. "I figured since you like human traditions so much, maybe you would like to spend Valentine's Day like them. So... This is your Valentine's date. If you like."
The smile on Aziraphale's face grows, his cheeks turning in a soft shade pink, the warmth of his love for the demon warming every inch of his body. Beautiful would be an understatement. It's like in every novel he has read but even more beautiful now that he experiences it on his own.
Since the angel has not answered yet, Crowley continues, his words more of a mumble. "I figured you like it cheesy. Maggie said-"
"Crowley, it's perfect!" Aziraphale says and turns to look into the beautiful yellow snake eyes of his lover as he blushes. "I can't believe you did that just for me!"
"You stupid angel" Crowley says softly, placing his arms around his angel's neck to pull him closer. "I'd do anything to make you happy. Even when it's making me want to throw up."
Aziraphale blushes once again as their faces are only inches away now. He can almost feel Crowley's lips on his but if he surrenders now, he doesn't know if he'll be brave enough for his own plan anymore. Heaven, staying here was the perfect idea, he wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. Quickly, Aziraphale grabs Crowley's hand and pulls him to the couch to sit down. He then hurries to the desk to grab the small box with shaky hands and gthen sits down next to his lover.
"I don't know if we're doing this right. I mean, if I'm doing it right. You're perfect, I mean, this is perfect" Aziraphale talks way too fast. "But I fear to be too nervous if I keep waiting." Confusion is now written in Crowley's snake eyes but Aziraphale manages to put one of his shaky hands on Crowley's cheek. "My dear, we've been through so much. And you were right, it's always been the two of us. Because you're all I've ever wanted and...- Crowley?"
Aziraphale notices a blurred vision in Crowley's eyes and as he moves closer, he can see that it's tears, blurring the vision. "Oh, my dear Crowley!" he says saddened and leans closer to stroke his cheek.
"I'm okay" Crowley mumbles. "I just love you so much, angel. I'm happy to have you." He grabs Aziraphale's back of the neck and connect their lips. First softly, then almost hungrily kissing him as he tries to show Aziraphale how deep his love for him goes.
Just slowly, Crowley let's go of Aziraphale again, looking into his beautiful eyes, waiting for him to continue what he was about to say.
"Move in with me" Aziraphale whispers, words leaving his mouth faster than he can even think of it. His hand now reveals the small box. He follows Crowley's eyes when he opens the box to show not just a key to the bookshop, but two keychains attached. One of it, being a small house. The other one being two wings connected but one white, one black.
"Move in with me, Crowley. Us forever."