"What do you suppose we should do while waiting?" Michael slowly asked.
"Why don't you go out and eat together?" Newt awkwardly said.
"That's a great idea! I will help them, while you two get some sleep and do whatever couples also do," Aziraphale said cheerily.
"Right! Okay… Where should we eat…?"
"Don't ask me, I don't know."
"Hey shush, I wasn't asking you either."
"Then who were you asking?"
"Not you certainly."
"Do we have to go and eat? Can't we do something else?"
"Anyway," Michael said meaningfully.
"Right. Moving on, I say we go around and walk until we find something that looks nice!" Aziraphale said enthusiastically. They were standing outside after having been kicked out of the cottage after 'thinking too loudly instead of going out.'
"Do we have to go and eat? What even is the point?" asked Gabriel.
"The point is to enjoy the food, and you also have the time to catch up on things. Isn't that great?"
A repeated phrase of 'No' was spoken.
Crowley rolled his eyes and asked Aziraphale to miracle them all to Soho. Not before sneaking a quick glance at the Bentley as they all teleported away.
….
"Argh!" hissed Lucifer as he stumbled after having arrived at Aziraphale's bookshop.
"Quit complaining," said Michael as she brushed her shoulder and glanced around the bookshop's interior.
"Uhhhh, Miracles and demons in one sentence aren't exactly compatible if you remember," Crowley rolled his eyes.
"See! He gets it!" Lucifer pointed out, gesturing at Raphael as he and Michael began bickering, much to the others' annoyance.
"Do you have to yell at each other every few seconds?" Uriel heard Raphael mumble in a sad tone, as Gabriel walked over to him.
Uriel shook her head at them and slowly walked forward, glancing at a few bookcases and then at a couch, two chairs and a table. On said table were two wine glasses, with one of the glasses filled up a third of the way.
Walking closer, Uriel carefully poked the glass. Noticing, Aziraphale walked closer.
"This smell is weakly demonic, yet also familiar," she observed, still inspecting the glasses.
"Ah, yes, the glasses were gifts from a friend of mine. We often used them. Oh, Crowley..." Aziraphale mumbled the last part.
None of the two had noticed Crowley walking closer and quietly listening in on their conversation, as he listened to Michael and Lucifer complain about and to each other. Gabriel was looking at different books and grabbed a thick one, mumbling something and laughing at it.
"The friend of yours, was he the demon who helped you stop Armageddon? If so, then- "
"I'm sorry to interrupt you. But I cannot listen to you just insulting my best friend. We stopped Armageddon together, even though we half helped start it… not the point! But Crowley was an amazing being, no matter what. He did not deserve what happened to him, not at all. He has been my best friend since we met at the garden of Eden, and throughout time, even if I may or may not have realized it, I loved that demon and would have gone everywhere with him. I just wish I had gotten to say it," Aziraphale rambled, making small gestures with his hands.
Crowley quietly looked on, fighting a blush as he mulled over what Aziraphale said. He looked up, now knowing what he should do.
"Alright everybody! Shut up and listen!" Crowley yelled and waited for the others to quiet down, which they did with surprising haste. "I know what to do. We are going out to eat."
Crowley walked over to Aziraphale as he said the last part and put his arm around Aziraphale's shoulder.
"Who? All of us? Why?"
"No, only Aziraphale and me."
"You two? -"
"Us two? -"
Aziraphale and Michael spoke over each other, cutting themselves short at Crowley's expression, surprised looks on their face.
" Yes, us two . With him, I know the food will be eaten and he will not cause a scene, unlike you four! And I haven't been able to talk with him alone since this stupid drama started," ranted Crowley, annoyed.
"Pardon me, but, are you sure Raphael? I mean- It was supposed to be a family bonding thing, but-"
"It's okay, besides, it was originally to simply kill time and it can't exactly be a family bonding thing. Still missing two members... It's a bit harsh, sorry. Anyway! Let's go. I trust my siblings not to burn down the bookshop," Crowley said pointedly, hope noticeable in his tone. "'Sides, if they do, they have hell to pay," he implied with a hint of a warning.
"Okay, Uriel and I promise we won't burn this bookshop down. We just can't make promises from Michael and Lucifer though," Gabriel said curtly.
"Hey!" Lucifer said. "Hmpf," huffed Michael.
Uriel rolled her eyes and sighed. "You are what you eat after all."
"Then you should avoid nuts, Uriel." Lucifer mumbled.
"I don't even eat."
"Exactly. You are nothing."
As Crowley and Aziraphale walked out, Crowley glanced backwards, quietly begging for the others not to start another quarrel. And was met with Lucifer wagging his eyebrows suggestively and the other archangels standing with frowns. He shot a warning glance at his siblings before leaving the bookshop fully. Crowley hoped they would not do anything too crazy while he and Aziraphale dined. He wondered if any good restaurants were open at this time.
"So," Crowley blurted as they began walking.
"Hm? So what?"
"Do you, uhhh, know if any good restaurants are open at this time, it is in the middle of night after all," Crowley said, trying and failing to do small talk.
"Oh, yes I know a few restaurants who are open at this time, two of which owe me a favor. So it will either be sushi or seafood. Got any specific things you would like?"
"Oh, uhhhh, I don't have any specific I suppose. Sushi?"
"Sushi it is then!" Aziraphale said cheerily and extended his arm.
Crowley glanced down at it, confused for a second before exclaiming 'ohhh,' and taking the arm.
As they teleported, Crowley had a brief panic about how angels and demons don't teleport together for a reason and was about to warn Aziraphale about what could happen if they did. He stopped as he realized he was an idiot, who seemed to forget an itsy bitsy tiny detail. He mentally scolded himself.
As they arrived, Aziraphale took the time to take in the smell of the restaurant, and quickly brush a small speck of dust off his shoulder. Glancing at Crowley, silently asking if he was ready.
Crowley nodded and began to follow Aziraphale inside. He silently wondered if this was a new restaurant, since Aziraphale hadn't taken him to this exact restaurant before. He strangely felt jealous of himself for some reason. Not wanting to dwell on it too much, he pushed the feeling away for a later time, determined to enjoy this.
"Do we have a reservation?" inquired Crowley.
"A table has miraculously just been cleaned and is ready." Aziraphale noted, before remembering who he was with. "I hope you don't mind; I mean- "
"Don't mind me, I don't care angel."
Aziraphale squinted his eyes at the comment but didn't mention anything.
After they had sat down, they both got ready to order; Crowley decided to order a simple glass wine, which he quickly turned into a bottle.
Aziraphale began ordering a glass of wine as well, but stopped as Crowley said they would share, and a few kinds of sushi, saying he would of course order more, he just had to eat this first.
Deciding to do some small talk before the food arrived, Crowley thought about how he could start a conversation but Aziraphale beat him to it.
"How are you?" Aziraphale began.
"Me?" Crowley asked, his voice doing a strange squeak.
Aziraphale gave him a strange look. "Yes, you. How are you Raphael?" Aziraphale asked.
Crowley shuffled a bit in his seat before answering. "I'm fine. Things are not going to hell, yet, I s'pose."
Aziraphale gave a small huff.
Crowley shifted again, contemplating how he should start talking about what he had originally wanted to discuss. Unsure, he sighed and decided to get straight to the point about how Aziraphale had not recognized him yet. Not that it bothered him.
Crowley was about to ask, but a waiter walked over to them, holding a plate of food and another with a wine bottle.
Giving a quick thank you, Aziraphale slowly began to eat his sushi, making small noises of agreement as he tasted.
Crowley slowly sipped his now full glass of wine as he debated with himself about if he should wait a bit with speaking and let Aziraphale enjoy his food.
Crowley was so absorbed in his thought that he did not realize he had begun staring at Aziraphale in a quite obvious manner.
Aziraphale raised an eyebrow. "Did you know that the fridge is a perfect example of what's inside, is what matters the most?"
Crowley sputtered at the sudden comment and was caught staring absentmindedly. "Wai- Wha- What?"
"I'm trying to start a conversation with you. Is it working yet? I thought you might want to speak with me about something, since you invited me here and not your siblings." Aziraphale began. "And I have also caught you staring, while it is polite of you to wait for me to finish my food, but I fear it might take a while."
Aziraphale took a small sip of his wine, making a small gesture, signaling that he was waiting for Crowley to talk about what he wanted to ask him.
"What's the weirdest smell, you've ever smelled?" Crowley tried to start.
Aziraphale raised his eyebrow again.
"Oh, fine! " Crowley sighed dramatically before shifting in his seat and taking a large sip of his drink.
"How, how come that you haven't recognized me yet?" He asked, already feeling like he could have asked in a different manner. But before he could drown in his panicked doubts. Aziraphale gave him a look he couldn't decipher fast enough before it disappeared.
"Whatever do you mean Raphael? I did recognize you. I admit it did take me a few minutes after you woke up, but I did, so I don't quite get what you mean. Could you elaborate a bit?" He replied.
"Ngk, yeah, I know you recognized me like that but I mean, like seriously, how come that you haven't recognized me for me." Crowley clarified. "Angel, c'mon, seriously, it's me. I know my siblings are kind of blind, but I never thought you were, so please don't prove me wrong. If anybody should know this it's you." Crowley rambled, getting a bit desperate.
"Come on, you remember when we met, right? Well officially, kinda..." Crowley asked, feeling hurt at the fact that someone he deeply cared about didn't recognize him.
Had he really changed that much?
Aziraphale began looking a bit at the start of Crowley's rant, expression shifting a bit to insult to confusionGriefAngerRecogonition.
"Eden..." Aziraphale whispered.
"What?"
"Crowley..." Aziraphale started, eyes sparking with recognition and sadness.
"Hey," Crowley said quietly.
In two flit seconds Aziraphale went from sad to angry, taking his napkin from the table, he immediately began hitting Crowley with it, leaning forward to get closer in order to hit more.
Crowley shrank backwards, putting his hands up in a friendly like manner as he tried to deflect the napkin hits from Aziraphale.
Trying to avoid the angry Aziraphale as much as he could, he wondered why they hadn't caught any unwanted attention to themselves yet. They were in a restaurant, with other people after all.
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! It's not like I killed you cat!" Crowley yelled.
"But you killed my best friend! Crowley... I thought you were dead." Aziraphale said in a weak voice, momentarily stopping his napkin assault.
Crowley looked away, trying to ignore the strong guilt bubbling up in his stomach. Shock flaring up as well as Aziraphale gave one last hit before he finally sat down, finally stopping his assault.
Overcoming his momentarily shock, Crowley looked around surprised. "How come no one had heard that?"
Crowley grumbled something under his breath and Aziraphale arched and eyebrow in response.
Exhaling a long sigh, Crowley ran his fingers through his hair. "Zira, I'm sorry, I really am. I tried to tell you, really. Don't give me that look… Ask, okay? Ask about anything you want, I'll answer."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Didn't you trust me enough?
"I tried to, the others were there, so I didn't really have a chance to tell you and would you really have believed me if I had gone over like, 'Hey Aziraphale! It's me. News flash, I'm not dead, sorry to disappoint if that was the case."
"No, no. I mean why didn't you tell me? You had time to do it, before and after your siblings have stormed the place," Aziraphale said with a small smile on his face from the remark.
Crowley looked down for a second before answering, wishing he had some more wine but he was too lazy to take some from the bottle. "I... My siblings don't know what has happened to me all these years, for all they could know I was dead or something, and I don't know what my siblings would say," I don't know what will happen and I don't want my siblings to abandon me.
"They think you were in hell. And I think it has given Lucifer a lot of guilt. But if you are worried about the demon part, that they don't know, but they do know about the torture part."
Crowley's throat constricted at the mention as he looked away.
Aziraphale's eyes softened as he put a hand on Crowley's shoulder, giving a sad face as Crowley flinched but didn't move away.
Aziraphale opened his mouth, searching for words so he could change the subject, hoping to get Crowley to calm down.
"Wait, your siblings are the archangels, Crowley! The archangels! Does that mean I get pardons now? Or those infamous shovel talks?"
Crowley gave a small chuckle and smiled.
The two of them sat there like that for a while. They weren't sure how long but somewhere in the midst of it, Crowley had put his hand on Aziraphale. Just staring at each other in the eyes.
"Crowley, about what I said in the bookshop earlier, I meant it."
"If you will be there for me, I'll always be there for you. Good deal, right?"
Aziraphale gave an amused huff.
"Wait, Aziraphale?" Aziraphale looked up at the mention of his name.
"Can you... I mean, not tell my siblings, at least not yet. About, y'know."
Aziraphale nodded and smiled.
"Thanks, angel."
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.
Until, a sudden commotion behind them made them both turn around, several other people in the restaurant doing the same.
The sight that greeted them made Crowley put a hand on his face and give a deep and long sigh.
Aziraphale just stared like several others.
The sight itself was people, three unique people, one was a male and the other two were women. Or, they at least looked like it. Appearances, after all, are often deceiving.
But it was what they were doing that was causing all stares.
Roughly entering the dining area with not a care in the world about who saw them and what the few waiters said to them. Was none other than Michael, Lucifer and Uriel. Gabriel nowhere to be seen.
"Will you at least admit I was right! I said they would probably be here, in a restaurant, but noooOOoo, you said 'they're probably in the park.' Look! I was right! Ha! If I can be of any assistance don't think twice about asking, actually don't even think once about it."
"I didn't specifically say they were in the park, I said they could have been and technically they could. I'm not opinionated, I'm just always right."
"And 46,69 of all statistics were made up on the spot."
"Where there is a will, there is a quarrel," Crowley heard Aziraphale mumble quietly, giving a small snicker in return.
Apparently, his snicker caught the attention of his siblings, as their heads had whirled around at the sound.
Quickly walking forward was Lucifer, snapping his fingers. All of the other people in the restaurant looked away and began serving and eating as if no one had just barged into the dining area, yelling stuff.
Lucifer walked over to their table and waved.
"Hey, how is my favourite sibling doing!?" Lucifer said loudly, shoving his arm around Crowley's shoulder. Ignoring the glares from Uriel and Michael.
"Uhhhh."
Michael rolled her eyes.
"How was your dinner?" Michael said as she sat down in the newly appeared chair.
A fourth appearing as Uriel walked over, sitting down as well, leaving Lucifer as the only one standing.
"Wait, where is Gabriel?"
"He ditched us somewhere along the way, claiming we would blow something up and he didn't want to take responsibility and face your wraith."
"Oh."
"Good choice."
"But why are you here? I told you guys to stay in the book shop."
"Well, that, that is a story." Uriel said.
Lucifer stood taller, "Well! Let me explain. Okay, so, after you two love birds had left, Gabriel and Michael sat down to read, Uriel was just looking around for something, I didn't really pay attention to her at that moment. And, you're probably wondering what your sweet brother Lulu here was doing. I was bored," Lucifer began quickly, noticing both Crowley and Aziraphale blushing, but choosing not to comment on it.
"He then began complaining loudly that he was bored, he just sat at the table and began acting like a four year old. Until he out of the blue decided we go find you two and take you back to the bookshop," Michael cut Lucifer off.
"And you all just said 'sure, let's go find them?"
They nodded.
"Oh, fine. Luckily for you two, Zira and I had finished a few minutes before you guys came barging."
Uriel stood up, "Good, it is settled, we are going back to Aziraphale's bookshop."
"Yeah, but Uriel you're forgetting one more thing and that thing is Gabriel," Lucifer reminded her.
As the others stood up, Lucifer suddenly yelled, "I volunteer to go get him! You guys just go back."
"Angel, I think I'm going to go with Lucifer, I don't trust him out there. Take care?" Crowley said hurriedly before he quickly began running up to Lucifer, who had already begun walking out.
"Why is it always Gabriel?"