Crowley knocked on the door of Aziraphale's flat, waiting a moment before miracling it open. With him he carried a large plant, with green leaves and white flowers.
"Brought you something," he called.
"Set it in the kitchen?" Aziraphale yelled back.
Crowley obliged, glancing around the living room. Aziraphale emerged from the bedroom, striding over to his demon and giving him a hug.
"How are you?" He asked.
"Good," Crowley replied. "You seem pretty well yourself."
"I've been playing that game you gave me all morning. It's been such fun! Thank you, dear."
"Glad to hear you enjoy it. Have you eaten?"
"Well..."
"Aziraphale..."
"I've had coffee! I rather liked that one you gave me the other day, so I dug around in the shop and found a book on different drinks and I've been trying it out. Nothing's quite the same, mostly because I lack proper ingredients, but I've given it a good go."
"I can tell," Crowley said to Aziraphale, who was bouncing up and down a little.
"Wanna go for a walk? We can pick up proper ingredients and I'll see if I can find a recipe online. Besides, it'll help you burn off that extra energy."
"Sounds good! Let me get dressed." And with that, Aziraphale went back into his room. Crowley, meanwhile, set the plant up in the kitchen window.
"Don't you go giving him any trouble," he said to the plant. "You're one of my crop, you represent me, and if I hear you've lost a single leaf you'll be out of here before it hits the floor. Got it?"
"Ready, dear?" Aziraphale called. Crowley straightened up and went back to the front door. "Yep. Ready when you are."
"I've been thinking a bit about what you said before,"Aziraphale said, "about being on our own side."
"Yeah? What about it?" Crowley asked.
Aziraphale shrugged. "Mostly just thinking about it. Could we really DO that? Be on our own side? Not be an angel or a demon anymore? What would that look like?"
"Aside from what happened when you thought you weren't an angel anymore?"
"Fair point. It was absolutely awful to think that I wasn't...you know? But now that I've had a moment to think about it, if we could do it on our own, like if we PLANNED to, it might be better."
"Have you gotten your wings back?" Crowley asked, suspecting he was mostly speaking to caffeine and wanting to change the subject.
"No,"Aziraphale said sadly. "But I've been reading the notes you wrote out for me. There's something we're overlooking, my dear."
"Like what?"
"...I don't know. But I'm sure there's something."
They made it to the corner store, and as they were about to step inside the automatic doors opened and a duck walked out, carrying a tube of chapstick in its beak. Crowley and Aziraphale shared a look, confirming they had both seen the duck, and then went inside.
Safely back home, Aziraphale plopped down on the couch, beat.
"I think we can wait to do coffee tomorrow, dear," he sighed. "I'm going to become a vegetable for a few hours."
"Healthy snack," Crowley thought out loud.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing!!! Do you want something to drink?"
"Water is fine, love."
"Ngk," Crowley said gracefully, before rushing off to the kitchen.
"Oh, what did you bring me earlier?"
"A peace lily. One of mine. Figured having something to take care of might help you feel better, and they're supposed to help with air purifying which is good if you're inside a dusty old bookshop all day. All you have to do is make sure it gets enough water and sunlight."
"Sounds lovely, dear."
Crowley came back to the living room with two glasses of water, sitting next to Aziraphale on the couch.
"Did you have any other plans today?" Aziraphale asked. Crowley shook his head.
"Why, were you thinking of something?"
"I'd like to...well, it seems silly out loud. But I was wondering if...we could watch a movie together, just lying here together."
"If you want to cuddle, you can just ask," Crowley mumbled, blushing.
"Well, I. I do." Aziraphale giggled. Crowley assumed the caffeine hadn't gotten fully out of his system yet, but figured he'd humor the good mood.
"Alright then. What movie should we watch?"
"I don't know. Certainly nothing scary. Will you pick, dear?"
"If you fetch a blanket, I'll find something to watch," Crowley agreed, standing up and looking for the remote.
At first, Crowley was worried something was wrong with Aziraphale.
He'd seen him be this happy and boisterous before, and he could be a bit of a shit if he wanted to, but he couldn't remember Aziraphale being this...cuddly. It was driving him mad. Flirting with Aziraphale was one thing, offering to run away to the stars with him was another, but actually being here? Touching one another, in a way that wasn't just a tight hug after a panic attack? This was the best. This was wonderful. If it weren't for the devil on Crowley's shoulder telling the demon he didn't enjoy it, didn't deserve it, didn't CRAVE it, he might have enjoyed himself more.
Azraphale had come back with a blanket and had just about thrown himself into Crowley's lap. Crowley had chosen a baking show rather than a movie, and they had a nice time of watching amateur bakers fail miserably at attempting to recreate an elaborate cake.
"Comfy?" Crowley asked. Aziraphale hummed in response, wiggling a little bit. Crowley chuckled, resting a hand on top of Aziraphale's head, giving him a gentle massage and running his hands through Aziraphale's hair. Aziraphale cooed.
They stayed like that for awhile, and after awhile Crowley could hear Aziraphale softly snoring. He smiled, closing his eyes and leaning down to kiss his angel's forehead, when he noticed a sudden absence of body in his lap.
Aziraphale was gone.
