Changes
Newt had actually changed his mind about letting Anathema burn the Further Nice and Accurate Prophecies. He didn't want her to live by them, but he didn't see any harm in keeping them around.
"Maybe you could give them to that book seller. He'd certainly let us know if there was anything important in them." He said as he pushed up his glasses.
"Yes. Mr. Aziraphale. I could let him have them." Anathema had been to the book shop after it was miraculously repaired and had seen the collection of prophecy books. "That sounds like a great idea." And her mind was officially made up. What Newt didn't know was that Anathema had already gone through the entire book one night while he as asleep. It was very easy for her to memorize things and she wanted to have the knowledge in her head just in case.
It was a Saturday afternoon when Anathema Device walked into the bookshop. Aziraphale was opening a box of new arrivals and smiled as soon as she walked in the door. "How very nice to see you, young lady." He gave her a short bow.
"Nice to see you, too." She nodded, the pages of the book had been very carefully placed in a large envelope.
"What brings you in today? I haven't had a chance to sort through the new books I just got but you're welcome to see if there's anything you'd like." He indicated the box on the table.
"Oh no. Thank you, though. I actually came to bring you this." Anathema smiled and held out the envelope. She couldn't get the feeling out of the back of her head that there was something different about him as she looked at Aziraphale.
"Oh? What's this?" He took the envelope and opened it. His face lit up with what could only be described as glee. "The Further Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter....my dear are you sure you want to give this to me?"
"Quite sure. I can't be a descendent for the rest of my life." She shrugged a little. "Mr. Aziraphale....are you feeling okay?" Anathema tilted her head as she looked at him.
"Why yes, of course. And I'm quite a bit better now. Thank you so much." That was going to go in a very special place in his shop, he thought. "Why do you ask?"
"Well...it's just.....your aura...." She pushed up her glasses and tried to figure it out. "Before it was all bright and white and shiny and now it's just....."
"Just what?" Now he was starting to get a little worried. Could a person's aura really change?
"Well....there's a....the only way I can think to say it is that there's a spot." She made a face. That didn't sound right. "Like when you spill gravy on your grandmother's nice, white lace table cloth." She'd gotten a very good scolding after that happened, even though Agnes had actually predicted it.
"A spot?" Well that really didn't sound good at all. "I'm not quite sure what you mean, dear." Aziraphale was still holding the pages of the book as he thought about what she could possibly mean.
"Wait.....can I see that?" She indicated the book and Aziraphale nodded, handing it back. Anathema flipped through the book until she got to the right page. "Prophecy six thousand eight hundred and fifty two. When that the angel beeth in Hell and the devil beeth in Heaven, though no harm shall be upon their physical bodies, a mark shall remain upon their ethereal being. Neither shall ye be good nor evil and it shall remain so for the rest of thy days." Anathema looked up at Aziraphale. "What does that mean?"
"Oh...well...." Aziraphale cleared his throat. "It was a whole thing. Heaven and Hell wanted retribution against Crowley and myself for thwarting the apocalypse. Agnes's last prophecy in the first book was that we needed to choose our faces wisely so we....switched bodies." He tugged at his waistcoat. "They tried to kill me with Hellfire and tried to kill Crowley with Holy Water but since we'd switched, there weren't any real consequences."
"But there were." She looked down at the prophecy again and then back up at Aziraphale. "You're marked. Both of you. Forever marked by the fire and the water. I bet if I look at his aura it'll have a bit of white added to it now." She smiled a little.
"Oh, well. I guess that isn't the worst thing in the world." He said with a shrug. It was just a tiny stain, after all. Couldn't do too much damage, could it?
"There's another prophecy in here that I'm starting to realize is about the two of you." Agnes had apparently known quite a lot about Crowley and Aziraphale. "Do you want me to read it?"
"I...um....perhaps..." Aziraphale hesitated a moment. Did he really want her to read it? The curiosity was getting to be too much so he simply nodded. Anathema paged through the book until she found the right one again. "Here we are. Prophecy seven thousand one hundred and three. It shall be found that the devil doth indeed have a heart. Tend it well, dear principalitee, for it is not easily given and trust for the care of it not easily earned."
"I.....oh. Well. Um...." Aziraphale was at a complete loss for words. Could that prophecy really mean what he thought it meant?
"I'll leave you to do whatever it is you need to do right now." Anathema smiled. The prophecy immediately following basically told her to give the angel some privacy.
"Yes, thank you my dear. Do feel free to stop by any time in future." He did at least walk to the door and open it for her. After she was gone, Aziraphale went immediately to call Crowley.
"What is it, angel?" Crowley said with a sigh as he walked into the bookshop. Of course he wasn't actually put out by the visit, he just wanted to keep up appearances. Aziraphale was sitting on the sofa he kept in the shop with a glass of wine in his hand. He had two bottles on the table in front of him and another glass that was currently empty.
"I need to ask you a very important question, Crowley." Aziraphale took a sip of his wine.
"Yes. So go ahead and ask. You always draw these things out..." He started.
"Do you love me?" Aziraphale blurted out before Crowley could finish. Crowley stopped entirely and just stood there silently for a moment.
"Where on earth could you possibly get that idea?" He cleared his throat. Anyone would have been able to see how tense he was just then. Aziraphale picked up the page with the correct prophecy on it and read it.
"It shall be found that the devil doth indeed have a heart. Tend it well, dear principalitee, for it is not easily given and trust for the care of it not easily earned." He set the page down and looked at Crowley. "So, I ask again, do you love me?"
Crowley just looked at Aziraphale for a long, silent moment. How could the witch have possibly predicted this? He walked over and grabbed the open bottle of wine and the empty cup. He filled it completely and then downed the glass as if his life depending on consuming every last drop. At that moment it felt like it did.
"After everything that we've been through....everything I've done for you....you actually have to ask that question?" He refilled his glass again, this time only taking a sip.
"So it's true then?" Aziraphale drained the rest of his glass.
"Yes, it's true." Crowley rolled his eyes, replying in that utterly irritated tone he got sometimes. "It's completely and entirely true. I love you. I've always loved you. Well, not always. There was a bit there that I thought you were like the rest of them, but then I realized that was wrong. I'd say a good portion of the time I've known you." He sipped his wine again.
"And you said nothing?" Aziraphale looked almost hurt by it. That Crowley would hide his feelings like that. Crowley took off his sunglasses and looked Aziraphale in the eye.
"I'm an angel, you're a demon, we're hereditary enemies. Sound familiar?" He let his sunglasses fall to the floor before taking another long drink of his wine. Aziraphale just watched him for a moment.
"I'm sorry." The angel got to his feet and walked over to Crowley, taking his glass of wine from him and setting their two glasses down together. "I'm so very sorry, Crowley."
"There's really no need for an apology, angel. You weren't wrong. We were....fraternizing with the enemy." The use of that word had felt like a knife straight into his heart back then.
"Stop it." Aziraphale said as he put a hand on Crowley's cheek. "You don't have to pretend with me, Crowley. I've hurt you, I understand that. I apologize."
"Apology accepted." Crowley said with a slight smile. The touch of Aziraphale's hand on his cheek made his heart skip a beat and he actually found himself nuzzling the warm hand. "I do love you, Aziraphale. More than I can possibly put into words."
"Then don't try." Aziraphale said softly before lifting up on his toes just a little bit to give Crowley a kiss. Their height difference was only a couple of inches but it was enough that their mouths didn't quite meet. Crowley closed his eyes and rested his hands on Aziraphale's hips. He let the kiss do all of the speaking for him. There was actually a little tingle where their lips touched. Had Anathema been there to see the kiss she would have seen their auras mesh together like two missing puzzle pieces. When the kiss broke, Aziraphale let his hand slide down to rest on Crowley's shoulder, their foreheads touching.
"Really should have done that a long time ago." Aziraphale said after a moment. Crowley shook his head slightly. He slid his hands around to Aziraphale's lower back.
"Wasn't the right time." He smiled a little. "Hadn't gone through the right stuff yet. And I think things would have turned out quite a bit differently." He slid his hands under Aziraphale's waistcoat so the only thing separating skin from skin was his thin dress shirt.
"You're probably right." Aziraphale smiled back. He draped his other arm over Crowley's shoulder and they stood there together, close and comfortable.
"Definitely the right time now, though." Crowley pulled Aziraphale closer and kissed him again, this time a bit more passionately. The first kiss he'd let express his absolute love for the angel. This kiss was all about desire. Pure, unadulterated lust. It wasn't a feeling either of them had had before and it sent tingles through them both. Aziraphale let the kiss go on for quite some time before he moved back.
"I...I haven't....what I mean to say is....there hasn't been an occasion at which...." He was stumbling over his words. There was a lot going on in his brain just then and he was finding it very difficult to concentrate and say what he was trying to say. Crowley lifted a hand and put a finger over Aziraphale's lips.
"Neither have I." He said softly. Aziraphale seemed completely shocked by that.
"Even with all your.....tempting?" He smirked a little.
"Never really involved that..." Crowley said with a shrug. "So we'll just have to figure things out as we go." He took Aziraphale's hands in his. Crowley brought them up and kissed the back of each hand before smiling at his angel. "One step at a time."
"Yes." Aziraphale smiled. "One step at a time." They had all the time in the world to figure things out together.
"Maybe you could give them to that book seller. He'd certainly let us know if there was anything important in them." He said as he pushed up his glasses.
"Yes. Mr. Aziraphale. I could let him have them." Anathema had been to the book shop after it was miraculously repaired and had seen the collection of prophecy books. "That sounds like a great idea." And her mind was officially made up. What Newt didn't know was that Anathema had already gone through the entire book one night while he as asleep. It was very easy for her to memorize things and she wanted to have the knowledge in her head just in case.
It was a Saturday afternoon when Anathema Device walked into the bookshop. Aziraphale was opening a box of new arrivals and smiled as soon as she walked in the door. "How very nice to see you, young lady." He gave her a short bow.
"Nice to see you, too." She nodded, the pages of the book had been very carefully placed in a large envelope.
"What brings you in today? I haven't had a chance to sort through the new books I just got but you're welcome to see if there's anything you'd like." He indicated the box on the table.
"Oh no. Thank you, though. I actually came to bring you this." Anathema smiled and held out the envelope. She couldn't get the feeling out of the back of her head that there was something different about him as she looked at Aziraphale.
"Oh? What's this?" He took the envelope and opened it. His face lit up with what could only be described as glee. "The Further Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter....my dear are you sure you want to give this to me?"
"Quite sure. I can't be a descendent for the rest of my life." She shrugged a little. "Mr. Aziraphale....are you feeling okay?" Anathema tilted her head as she looked at him.
"Why yes, of course. And I'm quite a bit better now. Thank you so much." That was going to go in a very special place in his shop, he thought. "Why do you ask?"
"Well...it's just.....your aura...." She pushed up her glasses and tried to figure it out. "Before it was all bright and white and shiny and now it's just....."
"Just what?" Now he was starting to get a little worried. Could a person's aura really change?
"Well....there's a....the only way I can think to say it is that there's a spot." She made a face. That didn't sound right. "Like when you spill gravy on your grandmother's nice, white lace table cloth." She'd gotten a very good scolding after that happened, even though Agnes had actually predicted it.
"A spot?" Well that really didn't sound good at all. "I'm not quite sure what you mean, dear." Aziraphale was still holding the pages of the book as he thought about what she could possibly mean.
"Wait.....can I see that?" She indicated the book and Aziraphale nodded, handing it back. Anathema flipped through the book until she got to the right page. "Prophecy six thousand eight hundred and fifty two. When that the angel beeth in Hell and the devil beeth in Heaven, though no harm shall be upon their physical bodies, a mark shall remain upon their ethereal being. Neither shall ye be good nor evil and it shall remain so for the rest of thy days." Anathema looked up at Aziraphale. "What does that mean?"
"Oh...well...." Aziraphale cleared his throat. "It was a whole thing. Heaven and Hell wanted retribution against Crowley and myself for thwarting the apocalypse. Agnes's last prophecy in the first book was that we needed to choose our faces wisely so we....switched bodies." He tugged at his waistcoat. "They tried to kill me with Hellfire and tried to kill Crowley with Holy Water but since we'd switched, there weren't any real consequences."
"But there were." She looked down at the prophecy again and then back up at Aziraphale. "You're marked. Both of you. Forever marked by the fire and the water. I bet if I look at his aura it'll have a bit of white added to it now." She smiled a little.
"Oh, well. I guess that isn't the worst thing in the world." He said with a shrug. It was just a tiny stain, after all. Couldn't do too much damage, could it?
"There's another prophecy in here that I'm starting to realize is about the two of you." Agnes had apparently known quite a lot about Crowley and Aziraphale. "Do you want me to read it?"
"I...um....perhaps..." Aziraphale hesitated a moment. Did he really want her to read it? The curiosity was getting to be too much so he simply nodded. Anathema paged through the book until she found the right one again. "Here we are. Prophecy seven thousand one hundred and three. It shall be found that the devil doth indeed have a heart. Tend it well, dear principalitee, for it is not easily given and trust for the care of it not easily earned."
"I.....oh. Well. Um...." Aziraphale was at a complete loss for words. Could that prophecy really mean what he thought it meant?
"I'll leave you to do whatever it is you need to do right now." Anathema smiled. The prophecy immediately following basically told her to give the angel some privacy.
"Yes, thank you my dear. Do feel free to stop by any time in future." He did at least walk to the door and open it for her. After she was gone, Aziraphale went immediately to call Crowley.
"What is it, angel?" Crowley said with a sigh as he walked into the bookshop. Of course he wasn't actually put out by the visit, he just wanted to keep up appearances. Aziraphale was sitting on the sofa he kept in the shop with a glass of wine in his hand. He had two bottles on the table in front of him and another glass that was currently empty.
"I need to ask you a very important question, Crowley." Aziraphale took a sip of his wine.
"Yes. So go ahead and ask. You always draw these things out..." He started.
"Do you love me?" Aziraphale blurted out before Crowley could finish. Crowley stopped entirely and just stood there silently for a moment.
"Where on earth could you possibly get that idea?" He cleared his throat. Anyone would have been able to see how tense he was just then. Aziraphale picked up the page with the correct prophecy on it and read it.
"It shall be found that the devil doth indeed have a heart. Tend it well, dear principalitee, for it is not easily given and trust for the care of it not easily earned." He set the page down and looked at Crowley. "So, I ask again, do you love me?"
Crowley just looked at Aziraphale for a long, silent moment. How could the witch have possibly predicted this? He walked over and grabbed the open bottle of wine and the empty cup. He filled it completely and then downed the glass as if his life depending on consuming every last drop. At that moment it felt like it did.
"After everything that we've been through....everything I've done for you....you actually have to ask that question?" He refilled his glass again, this time only taking a sip.
"So it's true then?" Aziraphale drained the rest of his glass.
"Yes, it's true." Crowley rolled his eyes, replying in that utterly irritated tone he got sometimes. "It's completely and entirely true. I love you. I've always loved you. Well, not always. There was a bit there that I thought you were like the rest of them, but then I realized that was wrong. I'd say a good portion of the time I've known you." He sipped his wine again.
"And you said nothing?" Aziraphale looked almost hurt by it. That Crowley would hide his feelings like that. Crowley took off his sunglasses and looked Aziraphale in the eye.
"I'm an angel, you're a demon, we're hereditary enemies. Sound familiar?" He let his sunglasses fall to the floor before taking another long drink of his wine. Aziraphale just watched him for a moment.
"I'm sorry." The angel got to his feet and walked over to Crowley, taking his glass of wine from him and setting their two glasses down together. "I'm so very sorry, Crowley."
"There's really no need for an apology, angel. You weren't wrong. We were....fraternizing with the enemy." The use of that word had felt like a knife straight into his heart back then.
"Stop it." Aziraphale said as he put a hand on Crowley's cheek. "You don't have to pretend with me, Crowley. I've hurt you, I understand that. I apologize."
"Apology accepted." Crowley said with a slight smile. The touch of Aziraphale's hand on his cheek made his heart skip a beat and he actually found himself nuzzling the warm hand. "I do love you, Aziraphale. More than I can possibly put into words."
"Then don't try." Aziraphale said softly before lifting up on his toes just a little bit to give Crowley a kiss. Their height difference was only a couple of inches but it was enough that their mouths didn't quite meet. Crowley closed his eyes and rested his hands on Aziraphale's hips. He let the kiss do all of the speaking for him. There was actually a little tingle where their lips touched. Had Anathema been there to see the kiss she would have seen their auras mesh together like two missing puzzle pieces. When the kiss broke, Aziraphale let his hand slide down to rest on Crowley's shoulder, their foreheads touching.
"Really should have done that a long time ago." Aziraphale said after a moment. Crowley shook his head slightly. He slid his hands around to Aziraphale's lower back.
"Wasn't the right time." He smiled a little. "Hadn't gone through the right stuff yet. And I think things would have turned out quite a bit differently." He slid his hands under Aziraphale's waistcoat so the only thing separating skin from skin was his thin dress shirt.
"You're probably right." Aziraphale smiled back. He draped his other arm over Crowley's shoulder and they stood there together, close and comfortable.
"Definitely the right time now, though." Crowley pulled Aziraphale closer and kissed him again, this time a bit more passionately. The first kiss he'd let express his absolute love for the angel. This kiss was all about desire. Pure, unadulterated lust. It wasn't a feeling either of them had had before and it sent tingles through them both. Aziraphale let the kiss go on for quite some time before he moved back.
"I...I haven't....what I mean to say is....there hasn't been an occasion at which...." He was stumbling over his words. There was a lot going on in his brain just then and he was finding it very difficult to concentrate and say what he was trying to say. Crowley lifted a hand and put a finger over Aziraphale's lips.
"Neither have I." He said softly. Aziraphale seemed completely shocked by that.
"Even with all your.....tempting?" He smirked a little.
"Never really involved that..." Crowley said with a shrug. "So we'll just have to figure things out as we go." He took Aziraphale's hands in his. Crowley brought them up and kissed the back of each hand before smiling at his angel. "One step at a time."
"Yes." Aziraphale smiled. "One step at a time." They had all the time in the world to figure things out together.
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