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binbogummy · 7 days ago

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Humans are —

An intermission of sorts?

This was originally going to be at the end of chapter 6 or the beginning of chapter 7 but I just decided I didn't like the way it flowed with either, so consider this a little tumblr exclusive intermission I didn't have the heart to scrap completely.

As the night settled in, Aziraphale had excused himself downstairs again and Crowley finally returned, sipping something dark from a lowball glass and retaking what was practically his designated seat at this point.

You were currently curled beneath your blankets, still feeling comfortably heavy from dinner, which had been more soup, as an episode of some show Crowley had picked, but neither of you had really been paying attention to, droned in the background to fill the silence.

"Aaaaaand finished~" The demon announced, tossing the pencil down on the nightstand and handing the notepad back to you before reclaiming his glass.

It was a picture.

Of you.

Touché.

Or at least, it was you if you were a sickly orphan, wrapped in a blanket with big, watery eyes and an exaggerated frown. He had even sketched the tiny bell beside you, with a completely unnecessary little <i>ding ding</i> written above it for emphasis.

You scoffed, completely affronted.

"Nailed it, yeah?"

You quickly shook your head, making a dramatic X with your arms before hastily scribbling a message.

You mock me in my time of need?

Crowley barked out a laugh, lifting his glass in a mock cheers gesture. "Indeed I do."

Feeling spurred on by both the demon and the creeping boredom of being in bed all day, you narrowed your eyes and slowly, deliberately, reached for the bell on the nightstand.

His expression barely had time to shift before you gave it a single, sharp ring, making him snort so hard into his drink he nearly choked.

The sound of Aziraphale’s hurried footsteps echoed up the staircase before you could even smirk in triumph. The door swung open, and the angel reappeared, his expression immediately shifting from mild surprise to full on maternal panic as he took in the sight of you, upright, bell in hand, looking completely not in distress.

"What is it? Is everything all right? What do you need?" His eyes scanned your face, flickering to Crowley briefly as if he might have caused you some great misfortune in the short time he’d been left alone with you.

Crowley managed to cool his expression into something mostly neutral, except for the barely suppressed twitch of amusement at the corner of his mouth.

You hesitated for only a moment before lifting a single finger and pointing at the demon.

Aziraphale’s expression darkened into something dangerously close to warning. "Crowley."

Crowley scoffed, tossing his head back dramatically. "Oh, come on!" He gestured toward you, feigning offense. "I haven't done a thing."

"That remains to be seen." The angel stated flatly.

You had to bite your lip to keep from laughing, shaking your head as you waved a hand to dismiss whatever false accusations Crowley assumed you were making.

Just wanted to see if you'd actually come, you wrote out silently with an apologetic tilt of your head.

Aziraphale studied you for a moment before sighing, though his disapproving frown was softened by fond exasperation. "Well, I’m glad to see you’ve still got some spirit, at least." He picked up the ice pack you'd set aside earlier and pressed it to your forehead, attempting to ease you down. "But I do believe it's about time we all turn for the night, don't you?"

"Again with the early bedtime, Angel? Got her on a proper schedule now, do we?"

"She's still ill," Entirely unbothered, Aziraphale made sure the ice pack was resting securely on your forehead before pulling away. "Must I reiterate for you again the importance of rest above all else these cases?," he challenged lightly.

Crowley, of course, was entirely undeterred. " But consider this-" He leaned forward. "What if she stayed up just a biiiit longer?" He suggested, tapped the side of his temple as if this was a groundbreaking thought.

"And what exactly would that accomplish?" Aziraphale shot him an unimpressed look.

"Morale," the demon declared. "You've got to factor in morale, Angel. Can't have the patient feeling too miserable, now can we? Might even set her back. Who knows?" He waved a hand vaguely. "Humans are sensitive like that, you know. Let her stay up a bit. Finish an episode or two~" Not that either of you had been watching whatever was playing in first place.

Aziraphale sighed, turning his attention away from Crowley's nonsense and toward you, still laying snugly in bed.

"My dear," he cooed, leabing over you and smoothing the blankets down for good measure. "Are you feeling particularly miserable?" His tone was indulgent, but there was an underlying sincerity to it, as if he genuinely wanted to be sure you weren't actually upset with the idea.

You blinked up at him, pursing your lips in exaggerated thought and tilting your head slightly as if you were really considering it. You held the act for just a second longer than necessary. Just long enough to make him anticipate a dramatic answer, before shaking your head no.

Achy? Yes. Weak? For sure. Still feverish and congested? Absolutely. But miserable? Nah.

The angel gave you a soft, satisfied hum, looking entirely pleased with himself. "There, you see, Crowley? She's not miserable at all," he said smugly, smoothing a hand over the blanket once more as if sealing the argument with a final, gentle touch. "In fact, I'd say she's quite content. Aren't you, dear?"

You made a faint hum of disagreement.

Content in general? Yes. Content with another early bedtime? Not so much.

"Oh, hush now," he chided sweetly, "No need to pretend you aren't utterly worn out. The signs are all there. You've had another vigorous day of recovery. It's no wonder you're looking a bit droopy-eyed now."

Droopy-eyed?

You frowned lightly, not entirely pleased with the accurate assessment.

But it didn't matter. Aziraphale was already in full-on bedtime mode.

"Rest is just as important tonight as it was yesterday, if not more so," he continued, "And will continue to be just as important tomorrow. So I shan't here any more complaints."

"Well if that's the case, I'm out of here," Crowley announced suddenly, standing up, stretching and rolling his shoulders. "You two enjoy this little routine you've got going on. I'll see you tomorrow."

Aziraphale gave a knowing hum as he tucked you in more officially. "Oh, I'm sure you will," he mused, casting Crowley a pointedly innocent look over his shoulder. "At this rate, I daresay it would be more surprising if we didn't see you tomorrow~"

The demon's eyes narrowed under this glasses, or at least, that's what you assumed must have happned as he stopped in the doorway to look back at Aziraphale after that comment.

To his credit, though, he seemed to know that acknowledging it beyond that would be backing himself into a corner. So instead he looked to you, giving you a lazy salute as he strolled out the door. "Try to make it to morning, yeah?"

With a surprisingly bright smile, and as much energy as you could muster, you saluted him back. Will do, boss.

Aziraphale huffed as he left that turning his attention bacn to you.

You gave him your most innocent put as you peered over the blankets, but he was having none of it.

"Come now," he coaxed gently, stepping closer to the bed. "I know you’re not entirely opposed to the idea. Whether you realize it or not, your body has worked quite hard today, battling that fever of yours. Let's do it a favor and give it the rest it needs to keep up the good work tomorrow, hmm?"

Truth be told you'd only been resisting the idea out of principle alone, but he made quite the compelling argument. So after squinting in thought for a moment, you gave a soft smile and a little nod.

Satisfied, Aziraphale dimmed the lights and turned toward the television, moving to switch it off. But before he could, you let out a small, involuntary sound of protest.

It wasn't dramatic, barely more than a little breathy hum, but it was enough to make him pause, glancing back at you with mild curiosity.

You blinked up at him, eyes a bit wide, before lifting a hand from beneath the blankets and giving the screen a small point.

"Oh?" he hummed, tilting his head slightly. "Would you prefer to keep it on, my dear?"

You nodded quickly, lips pressing into a small, pleading smile,

Aziraphale exhaled slowly, his head tilting in that indulgent way of his, as if mulling it over. He should turn it off, really. You needed proper rest, and distractions weren't always conducive to that. But at the same time...

He glanced at you again.

You were already tucked in so snugly, barely peeking out over the top of the covers, eyes half-lidded but still content and hopeful in that way that made it far too difficult to say no.

"Very well," he conceded at last. "But only under the condition that you don't let it keep you up too long.

You nodded again eagerly, making a little crossing motion over your chest. Promise.

That seemed to convince him, and he adjusted the volume down to a soft, barely there hum before setting the remote within easy reach on your nightstand. "There. Now, you just rest. And, if you need anything, just ring, alright?" His eyes flickered briefly toward the little bell on the nightstand before returning to yours."Though preferably not just for the sake of testing my response time."

The little giggle you let out seemed to have been exactly what he was aiming for because his expression softend with satisfaction as he finally stepped back, wishing you a quiet goodnight and leaving you be with a soft click of the door.

After that, the room fell into an easy stillness, save for the quiet murmur of the television. It was just enough noise to keep the space from feeling too empty, but soft enough to lull you into the heavy warmth of impending sleep.

You probably would have crashed pretty fast if the day hadn't left you feeling so utterly aware of everything around you right now.

Of the way your head throbbed against the pillow. Of the way your body ached with that deep, feverish exhaustion. Of the way the congestion pressed thick and heavy in your chest, making each inhale just a little too labored. You thought for a moment and then swallowed experimentally. Nope. That was still awful too.

But you weren't going to dwell on it.

Because if you let yourself focus too much on the bad, you'd start thinking about how good everything else was in comparison. About how thoroughly the good of the last two days had outweighed your discomfort in heaps.

And then you'd begin to think about how, if you weren’t sick right now, if you weren’t confined to this bed with a fever that had left you fatigued to you very core, then today, and yesterday, and the night before, would have looked a whole lot different.

You would have woken up in your hotel room. Would have gone about your day alone, trying as many restaurants as you could find or jumping from shop to shop.

You would have kept wandering around the city, with no real plan, sightseeing in a forcefully casual attempt to not impose on the two main reasons you'd even bothered coming back to London in the first place

And that would have been fine.

But it wouldn’t have been this.

#good omens #go #aziraphale #crowley #anthony j crowley #platonic good omens x reader #ineffable dads #Next chapter opens in Aziraphale perspective #at least for the first quarter lol #the last few chapters are looking to be longer ones so they'll take a little longer to come out #buuuuut #in the meantime 👁👁#engagement fuels me #mighy even open requests at this rate #so I have an excuse to write more little snippets between bigger fics #it's the golden girls btw #the show Crowley chose

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