My Best Friend

Two days after the apocalypse that did not happen, Aziraphale made his way to Crowley's Mayfair apartment. He hadn't heard from the demon since the evening before when they had said good-night after the Ritz.

"So, see you tomorrow?" Aziraphale had beamed at Crowley when they stopped at the Mayfair flat.

"Hmm…" Crowley had looked tired, unusual for their kind, but he had gotten quite used to sleeping from time to time. "I mean…you can stay if you'd like but I'm gonna head to bed.'

Aziraphale had nodded understandingly. "No, you go ahead. I'm going to look after my bookshop. You go to sleep, dear, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, angel, G'night."

Crowley had patted his angel friend on the shoulder and traipsed into his flat while Aziraphale had gone, Soho-bound.

Now, Aziraphale was standing before the same door a whole 24 hours later, wondering for a moment if something serious might have happened, but he dismissed those thoughts. They were safe now, had to be.

The flat was silent, no signs of a struggle so far, but also no sign of Crowley so far. The angel called out softly while continuing through the rooms.

"Crowley? Are you here?" He had reached the bedroom and entered cautiously, having a feeling as to his friend's whereabouts by now. He flicked on some dimmed lights and smiled.

Crowley lay sprawled on his bunched-up covers, hair equally messy. It would appear that he had fallen asleep directly after Aziraphale had left and had been sleeping since. The angel miracled an additional blanket and draped it around Crowley's sleeping form. He was never sure how snake-like he really was but it seemed chilly around the apartment and those silk-pyjamas couldn't be very warm. Aziraphale wandered through the flat, intent on making himself at home for now. He'd let Crowley sleep for the time being but would wake him in the morning. He had, after all, once slept through the best part of a century.

Aziraphale stopped in his tracks when he reached the office. An ugly puddle attracted his attention. He sighed and quickly miracled the remains of Ligur away, silently glad that he had seen this only after discovering Crowley sleeping peacefully. He hummed softly as he made himself a cup of cocoa in the demon's fancy kitchen, and made his way back to the bedroom, a book he had brought from the shop under his arm. He hesitated for a moment when entering but then decided to make himself comfortable on the other side of the bed. Resting against the headboard, he began to read while sipping his slowly less hot cocoa in between passages.

After a shorter time than expected (he had barely reached the second act of Hamlet) he felt the demon stir. Crowley sniffed while he stretched his serpentine limbs and then slowly opened his eyes.

"Hng…Angel…So you did stay, after all." Crowley yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth.

"Oh, Crowley." Aziraphale chuckled bemusedly. "It's a full day later. You slept through a whole day."

"Hmph." Crowley didn't seem to mind and he also didn't seem to want to get up anytime soon, shuffling just a bit closer and watching Aziraphale read. The angel found it rather endearing at times but there's still a pointed difference between getting intently looked at through a conversation and getting stared at, unblinkingly, during an unrelated activity.

"Crowley? Is something wrong? Have I grown horns?" Aziraphale was joking but Crowley managed to look shocked, even in his sleepy state.

"I should hope not.", he whispered and averted his gaze to the book.

Aziraphale realised the unfortunate joke and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, dear. But honestly, is something wrong?" He could feel when something was bothering his friend.

Crowley huffed. "Nah, everything's fine, what should be wrong? We averted the apocalypse, didn't we? Saved the world, no one's hurt or…" He trailed off and Aziraphale lowered his book, listening. Crowley frowned and averted his gaze completely, seeming strangely shy. "I'm just glad you're back, I'd thought you'd gone." It was barely a mumble, not helped by Crowley hiding his face in the pillow.

Aziraphale froze for a moment as he looked down at the demon's fiery crown next to his elbow. He wasn't used to Crowley divulging personal information or even feelings and from the looks of Crowley's furrowed brow, neither was he. In the grand scheme of things, Aziraphale had been the sensitive one and often drawn comfort from Crowley's laid-back or sarcastic comments. But he remembered how Crowley had told him that the bookshop had burned down and he had realised only on Sunday evening that he had actually run into the burning building, looking for his friend and finding only burning furniture and a book of prophecies, nearly injuring himself in the process, cursing heaven and hell for his loss. He had not told Aziraphale as much, but after 6000 years, the angel had become rather good at hearing even what Crowley wasn't telling him. So he made a decision.

"I missed you too, dear." he laid the book on the bedside table and drew the demon into a hug before he could react.

"Hngh." Crowley blushed indignantly at being so unceremoniously yanked upwards and pressed onto a collarbone. "Angel, for someone's sake, what do you think you are doing?"

"I am giving you a hug, you wily old serpent. For your sake."

Crowley sighed into the angel's collar and relaxed a bit, probably helped by the latter secretly exhibiting some calming celestial energy while stroking Crowley's back.

Aziraphale continued talking, such matters coming much easier to him than to the demon. "I'm glad to be back, believe me. Hopping around, looking for a body to inhabit wasn't fun. And I didn't know if you'd be ok, too. You looked quite wretched, when you stepped out of the burning Bentley, if I may say so. But we're fine now, the bookshop's back, the Bentley is back, I am back. And I will not go. We're on our own side, remember?"

Crowley only mumbled incoherently into his shirt and soon fell asleep again, unconsciously shuffling closer and hugging the angel back in his sleep. Aziraphale smiled bemusedly. What a big softie that serpent could be; he'd never admit it of course, but he quite liked affection. But Aziraphale knew anyway. He went back to reading, now slightly more uncomfortably, with one arm being occupied by a surprisingly heavy demon.

The smell of fire was in his nose. And come to think of it, there was fire everywhere. Burning volumes, first editions. His nose crinkled and he tried hard not to breathe while looking for his angel. There was a crackling in the air and a humming that seemed familiar. "Aziraphale! Where are you? Please say something!" Smoke filled his vision, his eyes tingled and his head was pounding. His vision swam as he continued through the fire, running, stumbling, shelves collapsing around him. And he couldn't see the door anymore, could barely see the floor, looking for a figure lying on it. A jet of water broke the window, bringing him down. "Aziraphale! Angel!" Everything was on fire now as he gave a muffled yelp…

…and jerked awake.

"Crowley?" Aziraphale had looked up from his position at the fireplace, having just lighted a fire. However and with what he had done that, Crowley didn't care. He was annoyed.

"What are you doing, angel? I don't need the fire."

Aziraphale was looking worried. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"Shut up, angel."

Crowley glared at the fire and it subsided quickly. He didn't quite manage to give Aziraphale the same look and sighed. Now that he was already propped up on his elbows, he might as well get up completely. Swinging his legs over the rim of the bed, he noticed Aziraphale stepping closer.

"I can leave if I'm bothering you." It was an honest offer but Crowley shook his head instinctively.

"Bother? Angel, are you daft? You know you can come here and even stay here whenever you need, whenever you like. I'm just..." He made the mistake of looking at the angel when he scrambled for words and saw the ever so slight pout and noticed the soft blanket that wasn't usually his. "Just don't light a fire while I'm sleeping, you celestial idiot. Please." It was a scathing remark but the blasted angel never could be fooled by those. And Crowley had mislaid his sunglasses. Aziraphale could see through it all and he smiled. "Oh, alright, Crowley, dear. And if you'll stop being a nincompoop now, I'd like to have breakfast."

Crowley managed to look affronted if only for his dignity but grunted his agreement, already having stood up.

Over breakfast (Aziraphale had brought some pastries from the bakery downstairs, Crowley had made him Cocoa) Crowley told Aziraphale about his dream, which was in itself quite interesting for the angel, as he 1) didn't sleep as much as Crowley and thus wasn't used to dreams and 2) wasn't used to Crowley talking about his feelings. The demon wasn't exactly explicitly spilling any deep worries but Aziraphale (ethereal being and 6000-year-companion that he was) got enough just from Crowley's short description of the nightmare.

No wonder, the poor guy had snapped at him, he thought. Armageddon (even if it then didn't happen after all) wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Aziraphale felt it, too. The new-found freedom from their employees and them now being at last properly, officially, on their own side, came as almost a long-awaited turning point. Aziraphale did not cope very well with sudden change though, it made him anxious. But he had Crowley by now, one fixed point in all the mess called God's creation. Then, suddenly, it hit him. Crowley had thought he had lost him, had to go through partly literal hellfire to be sure of his presence again. And now, Aziraphale wasn't sure if Crowley himself had even realised, he was afraid of losing him again, more so than before now that they two alone were their own side.

The Angel remembered how Crowley had cuddled up to him in his sleep, a gesture more expressive than his words had been. Aziraphale had stayed awake, the angel of the eastern gate watching over the serpent of Eden; a circumstance that amused and delighted Aziraphale to no end. Who would have thought?

He had read the whole play with the book slightly impractically perched on his legs with one hand, the other arm wrapped around Crowley. In the morning, he had extracted himself from the long arms to get the breakfast and then light a fire (it was, after all, slightly chilly in the flat).

And hereditary enemies or not, Aziraphale knew that even if they didn't agree on many things, they had each other's best interests in common. If only some people weren't being so difficult (You could argue which one was really difficult: the one exceeding the speed limit religiously, projecting onto his plants and glueing coins to sidewalks or the one storing books in a bookshop of all places, deliberately scaring customers and suchlike away and having acquired a taste for expensive food. Yes, true. The latter fact applies to both.).

"Could you do me a favour, dear?" Aziraphale tried his most angelic smile, which was rather difficult considering he had just popped another pastry into his mouth.

"Hm? Yeah, sure, angel." Crowley shrugged nonchalantly, which wasn't difficult at all.

Aziraphale halted for a moment. "You don't even know what I'm asking of you, yet."

"Doesn't matter, anything you want." Crowley smiled and shrugged again, trying a pastry himself.

"Um, okay. Can you drive with me to Norfolk? There's a rather precious first-edition I'd like to have, waiting in an antiquarian bookshop, but it's rather tedious to get to, without a car."

"Yeah, I'll take you there." Hm, those pastries didn't taste half bad.

"And back again I hope."

Crowley met the angel's happy grin and answered mischievously. "Nah, I don't know, you're not really a first edition anymore, are you?"

"Crowley! You cheeky snake!"

They left around noon, a comfortable silence hanging over the passenger cabin for the beginning of their journey. Silence in this context is relative when you count Crowley cursing at other cars, Aziraphale trying his best not to curse at Crowley but voicing his discontent nonetheless. Well, at least Crowley seemed happy enough, what with his beloved car back on the road. Aziraphale did notice the unconscious frown when they crossed the M25 but said nothing, he only sighed relieved at leaving the traffic of the city.

"You're a trickster, angel." Crowley was steering with one hand, grinning at his passenger.

"What?!"

"Aw, you know what I'm talking about. You asked me to do something for you because you thought I needed cheering up."

"Well…more along the lines of reassurance…I don't plan to…I thought…Well, I thought my company…"

"Thanks, angel." Crowley enjoyed making fun of Aziraphale's ability to fluster but he appreciated his attention.

"Oh. Yes. You're welcome, of course."

"Hrm. Want some music?"

Aziraphale beamed. "Oh yes, dear. I don't suppose your car will let me choose anything other besides Queen but I'll see what it makes of this." He picked a random disc which alleged to be the Velvet Underground ("Ah, Bebop again." "Angel, no!") and pushed it into the Blaupunkt. Leaning back, he was met with a rare but honest smile from Crowley and beamed back as Queen started playing.

Ooh, you make me live
Whatever this world can give to me
It's you you're all I see
Ooh, you make me live now honey
Ooh, you make me live

Oh, you're the best friend that I ever had
I've been with you such a long time
You're my sunshine and I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
Oh, you're my best friend

Ooh, you make me live

Ooh, I've been wandering 'round
But I still come back to you
In rain or shine
You've stood by me girl
I'm happy at home
You're my best friend

Ooh, you make me live
Whenever this world is cruel to me
I got you to help me forgive
Ooh, you make me live now honey
Ooh, you make me live

You're the first one
When things turn out bad
You know I'll never be lonely
You're my only one
And I love the things
I really love the things that you do
Oh, you're my best friend

Ooh, you make me live

I'm happy at home
You're my best friend
Oh, you're my best friend
Ooh, you make me live
You're my best friend

(The text to Queen's 'My Best Friend', inserted unchanged above, does not belong to me and I don't pretend it to.)