~!~ Today's Good Omens Celebration prompt was Future. This one is in two parts, I hope you enjoyyyyyy :) ~!~

1536

Aziraphale had dragged Crowley to a very busy market. Not literally dragged; he'd excitedly invited him to come along, Crowley had agreed, and then he'd practically bounded off toward a throng of people, expecting the demon to follow. He had, of course.

So, now they were a part of the throng. Aziraphale was bouncing and wiggling and excitedly telling Crowley about all of the foods he'd never heard of. Crowley was just taking it all in - literally. So far Aziraphale had had him try papaya, guava, prickly pear (which, in Crowley's opinion, was much better than the non-prickly variety), pomegranate, and mango.

"Have you enjoyed the fruit?" Aziraphale asked, looking up at him hopefully.

"Mmm!" Crowley nodded in agreement, mouth still occupied with the extremely sweet mango.

Aziraphale clapped his hands. "Wonderful! I had assumed as much. I know you prefer fruit to other foods," he spoke the last sentence softly, as though that fact was their little secret.

"Mm," Crowley agreed again, although by now he'd finished the mango, his mind just seemingly wouldn't conjure any words suitable for a response to that.

"That is why you may not enjoy these next few stalls as much as I will. They will be primarily baked goods!" he clasped Crowley's arm in a moment of enthusiasm. The touch lasted but a second, but the demon was quite sure he'd give up both his legs to have that small point of contact return. It's not like he needed legs anyway; he was a snake for Hell's sake.

Nonetheless, he walked behind Aziraphale (fully utilising his legs). The angel led them to a stand that smelled strongly of sugar and cinnamon and began to order a long list of items.

Crowley looked around at the crowd of people slowly making their way through the market. There was joyful energy permeating the entire area. Aziraphale would probably say the place was brimming with love, and, although Crowley couldn't sense that, he could still tell everyone was very happy. It was in the smiles they wore, the laughter that came easily, and all of their tender touches.

Now that Crowley had noticed it, he saw that nearly everyone was touching in some way. There were arms slung over shoulders, hands touching the smalls of backs, people walking arm in arm, and, most common of all, people holding hands. It made sense actually, keeping a hold of those you were with in order to prevent accidentally going astray in the sea of people.

Crowley glanced at Aziraphale, still talking animatedly to the vendor. His gaze traveled down to his hand, which was currently holding a container of something that looked sickly sweet.

It really wouldn't be a big deal. He could easily just slip his hand into his when he returned. Or place an arm around his shoulders, or loop one through the angel's arm. It would be simple. And it would be for a completely innocent reason as well. Just so they could stay together, not get lost. It would be fine. In fact, it was a good idea.

Crowley attempted to convince himself of this the entire time that Aziraphale talked with the merchant. Fortunately for him, Aziraphale was quite friendly, so he had plenty of time to talk himself up.

But that's all it was. Talk. Crowley couldn't manage to entirely convince himself that Aziraphale would welcome any physical contact with him. He was a demon; he was dirty, undesirable.

But... Crowley wanted this so badly... and his intentions were pure! It couldn't hurt to try, right?

Just then, Aziraphale returned, easily wiping all thoughts from Crowley's mind with his beaming smile. "Sorry, that took so long, dear boy! We can continue now."

"Alright," Crowley croaked. Aziraphale smiled at him for a moment longer and then turned to lead them somewhere new.

Crowley swallowed, quickly giving a final attempt to gather up his confidence and banish his doubtful thoughts. And then, he gently took Aziraphale's hand in his.

His heart fluttered. Aziraphale's hand was warm and soft. It was everything wonderful in the world.

And then it was gone.

When Aziraphale pulled his hand out of Crowley's loose grip, Crowley felt it right in his heart.

He already knew the angel most likely wouldn't want that, but he had hoped... but this was proof. No one could love a demon. Not even an angel. Not even a being of love.

Crowley heard a dull ringing in his ears. He wanted to cry, he wanted to leave, to get out of there and go to a dark corner of the world to lick his wounds. He had considered Aziraphale a friend, and he might have just completely ruined their relationship- for what? Because of his stupid soft feelings for him? Because he wanted to hold his blessed hand?

He was about to do a disappearing act that was much more thorough than any magic Aziraphale had ever performed when he realized the angel was speaking to him.

"... can't, Crowley. I- you must understand why we can't...?"

Crowley nodded numbly, wishing he could run far, far away from this painful conversation.

But then Aziraphale continued. "We- not now. Certainly not now. Perhaps... perhaps someday, in the future," he said quietly.

Crowley looked up to see Aziraphale's face. He looked uncertain, not meeting his eyes. His words clearly weren't a promise.

But there was something about him, something that Crowley was acutely able to recognize. Desire. Aziraphale wanted to hold his hand, he wanted more, he wanted Crowley. It was everything. It was hope. It was a spark to reignite the fire that the angel had previously doused by pulling away. And it was far too much for Crowley's freshly broken heart to handle.

So he decided to leave.

"Right. Right. Yeah. Yep. Should have... should have thought of that..." and with that, he disappeared into the crowd in exactly the way he was trying to prevent by holding Aziraphale's hand.

He heard the angel calling his name.

He kept walking.

2023

Crowley was really quite confused about what kind of shop this was.

Aziraphale had come here for a cake, and immediately headed to the back after telling Crowley he should browse because he may end up talking to the baker for a while. Crowley had nodded understandingly and began to wander the shop.

He was first drawn to the clothing section. It ranged in style from bright tie-dye to black leather harnesses, and everything in between. There were colorfully printed button-up shirts, suspenders, full-length gowns, and even underpants with sequins on them.

The jarring differences in clothing weren't what really confused Crowley, though. What confused him was that this shop was apparently a bakery, a clothing boutique, and a greenhouse all in one, with many random knick-knacks on sale that didn't fit into any of these categories.

Crowley wandered over to the plant section. A dangerous decision for his wallet, as he'd only seen three overwatered plants so far and he was already failing to convince himself that he didn't need to buy anything. He stroked a leaf of a particularly feisty looking snake plant and sighed. He already had two snake plants. There was absolutely no need for another.

Thankfully, just then, Aziraphale returned to him, carrying a large box that presumably held the cake. As soon as he was close enough he took Crowley's hand and pecked his cheek. Crowley leaned into these touches, instantly feeling more relaxed.

"I thought I'd find you here," Aziraphale said, squeezing Crowley's hand.

"Yeah?"

"Well... actually I thought I'd find you over here," Aziraphale led him to a giant plant stand made of cast iron. "I saw this the other day and thought it looked like something you'd fancy. I didn't buy it, though."

"Clearly," Crowley said, gesturing to the plant stand that was still in the shop, on sale.

"Do you like it?"

"Well... sure I do," answered Crowley. "But it's not like I have room for it. This is the kind of stand people use in greenhouses. I don't have a greenhouse."

"Would you like a greenhouse?"

Crowley screwed up his face and looked at Aziraphale. "What are you on about?"

"I've... well, I've been doing some thinking," the angel answered, avoiding Crowley's eyes.

Crowley squeezed his hand, prompting him to continue. Aziraphale's brilliantly blue eyes finally met his through his sunglasses.

"I was just thinking," Aziraphale blurted quickly, "that maybe someday, in the future- it certainly doesn't have to be right now- that we could..." he trailed off again, looking helplessly to the plant holder for guidance.

"We could what?"

"We could... move in together? Get a place for us? Both of us, together? Our- our own side?" he finished quietly, eyes searching Crowley's face for any kind of response.

"Angel, I..." he said, and then bit the inside of his cheek. Was he dreaming? He had to be dreaming- that must be why the shop was so weird- he had to wake up, his imagination was being cruel, Aziraphale didn't want this, this wasn't real- his subconscious was just projecting his desires on his angel, how fucked up was that-

"It's okay if you don't want to. We can forget I ever brought this up. It's- it's silly really-" Aziraphale said, starting to fold into himself.

"No! No, no, I- Aziraphale are you serious? You- you want to move in with me? This isn't- it's not- you're not-" he couldn't bring himself to say 'Will you promise this isn't a dream and you're not just playing some elaborate cruel joke on me?' Or something along those lines, anyway.

"I assure you, I am being anything but facetious, dear boy. I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't mean it," Aziraphale admitted softly to the floor.

"Then of course I want to move in with you," Crowley breathed.

He brightened instantly. "You- you do?"

"Yes! I'd actually been considering it too."

"You were!?"

Crowley nodded sheepishly.

"Ah!" Aziraphale said, pressing the hand that wasn't still occupied with Crowley's over his heart. "How delightfully serendipitous of us," he kissed the delicate skin just to the side of his mouth.

"Mm," he agreed, smiling so hard his cheeks hurt.

They bought the first item for their cottage that day. A cast iron plant stand that could only reasonably belong in a greenhouse. A greenhouse that would legally belong to a Mr. Anthony J. Crowley and his life partner, Mr. A.Z. Fell.

~!~ I actually really like this one and I hope you did too!! If you have anything to say I'd love to hear it in the comments! Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day/night <3