"'Zira?" Crowley asked after a while. It was a nickname he'd begun using not that long ago and he tended to alternative now between it and 'angel.' He claimed that 'Aziraphale' was just too many syllables to bother with.
"Hmm?" the angel hummed turning a page in his book.
"You aren't going to get in any kind of trouble for thisssss, are you?"
"For what, my dear?"
"Helping a demon. I'm ussssually the one doing the ressscuing between usss and at leasssst if they ever found out about that, I can alwayssss sssay that I was working on tricking you to trusssst me so I could drag you down to the dark ssside, which I never did by the way," he added, quickly.
"I know you didn't," the angel replied.
"I just can't ssssee your lot looking all that kindly on ssssaving a demon."
"Possibly not," Aziraphale shrugged.
"I know I'm not in Hell's good...err...bad booksss anymore. Dunno about you though your lot are sssstill weird about it, right?"
"Yes, it's all quite perplexing, really. I still receive messages from Heaven...about which good deeds need attention...the odd miracle, nothing too strenuous. But I was surprised when the messages just started up again after all that time of...silence."
"Hmmm," Crowley nodded, "They could usssse this as an excusssse to make you Fall."
"I doubt that," Aziraphale said, dismissively.
"Why'sss that?"
"Because I'm acting for pure, unselfish reasons; the friendship, concern and love that I feel towards you. I can't be damned for my positive emotions when they're what I was designed for in the first place."
Crowley stared up at him in shock. Again, it was another thing that had changed since the world hadn't ended was the fact that it was no longer just wordlessly assumed that they were acquainted only because there was so much history between them, they were immortal after all. It had never been said between them that they were friends until the bookshop had burned down, but it was perhaps surprising that the demon had said it first rather than the angel and the surprise had been evident on the angel's, at the time, translucent face. Now they could, and did admit willingly that they were friends not out of necessity, but because they chose to be, they genuinely liked and respected the other.
"You ssssure?"
"Oh yes, very," Aziraphale beamed at him.
"They were gonna let you burn before."
"This is different. We're not thwarting an Apocalypse here."
"You're meant to sssmite demonssss, not...cuddle them, 'Zira."
"You're staying here, Crowley and I'm going to help you to get better. Though I must say, I'm touched by your concern."
"Ssssssssss," Crowley hissed and tucked his head under the blankets, listening to the angel chuckle at him.