Good Omens | Ineffable Husbands fic
It begins, as it will end, in a garden
Adam and Eve fled hours ago.
The rain only just stopped, sunlight reflecting off the droplets that clung to leaf and petal, making the entirety of the Garden glitter like a jewel. Like paradise.
The angel and demon walked through the Garden together. There were only two humans on the planet, and both Crawley and Aziraphale had done as told. Crawley had made trouble. Aziraphale had done what he could to protect them.
Now they were left… to wait.
Aziraphale watched Crawley inspect a flowering vine, thin fingers plucking the curling end of the plant and drawing it down, pulling it taut before releasing it, sending sparkling droplets into the air.
The demon opened his hand, and the droplets stilled and hung suspended in the air, shimmering and reflecting light, moving and twirling around each other with little more than a twitch of Crawley’s fingers.
“It is beautiful here, isn’t it?” Crawley mused, eyes on the water droplets he’d spun into a galaxy. The lines of his face were soft, eyes distant and smile at the corner of his lips. “Was the Garden your work, Angel of the Eastern Gate?”
There was something… deprecating in his tone, but Aziraphale wasn’t sure which of them Crawley was actually mocking.
“Aziraphale.” The demon turned his head just enough to slide him a look, eyes yellow and slit. Aziraphale shifted on his feet. “My name… is Aziraphale.”
Crawley inclined his head, coils of his red hair falling over his shoulder. “I did not mean to offend you, Aziraphale.”
Biting his bottom lip and wringing his hands, Aziraphale swept his gaze around. What was his purpose with the Garden empty? With his charges out there on their own? His orders had been to remain in Eden. What did that mean if those meant to occupy it fled?
“I-I d-did not have anything to do with, uh, the construction or design,” Aziraphale blurted for want of a distraction.
Conversation distracted him from his charges missing, but didn’t distract him from the fact he was… well, fraternizing.
With the enemy. For lack of anything else to do.
It didn’t distract from the way Aziraphale marvelled at the beauty of the demon. He’d been told that those who fell became twisted and ugly monstrosities to reflect their crimes against God, but… but Aziraphale thought he was beautiful.
“What was that?” Crawley questioned, head turning as he curled his fingers and the water droplets fell to the thick grass beneath their feet.
Crawly blinked and turned. “You said something about the garden being beautiful.” An uncomfortable heat flooded Aziraphale’s face, and he took in a shuddering breath and looked away, woefully uncomfortable with the anxiety twisting him into knots from the inside. Crawley’s features softened, hands raised to show his open palms. “Relax, angel. Take a breath. I’m sure everything will be fine, even with the humans on the loose. Everything works according to Her divine, ineffable plan, does it not?”
There was something wrong with the mortal form he’d been assigned, Aziraphale decided. It couldn’t get enough air for some reason, it made him light-headed, dots swimming on the edge of his vision.
Yes, Aziraphale thought, hand pressed to his chest and the other blindly reaching for something to steady himself on, something was most certainly wrong with this body.
Crawley grabbed him, hand gripping around Aziraphale’s, arm curling around his back as Crawley manoeuvred him to the ground. “Easy, angel. Easy. Just breathe, Aziraphale. It’s alright. You did nothing wrong.”
Aziraphale gasped for air, tiny, aborted sounds as he threw Crawley a scathing look. “How can you know that? You’re a demon!”
Though he didn’t flinch at the accusation, Crawley’s demeanour shifted, making him feel far away despite the way Aziraphale clutched his hand in bone white fingers.
“Because you did more than I would have,” Crawley murmured. “I set them free. You tried to ensure their safety. You sought to protect God’s creation.” He gave Aziraphale’s shoulder a squeeze. “How could that be wrong?”
“They’re meant to be here,” Aziraphale stressed between wheezing gasps of air. He gestured to the paradise around them. “And now they’re out there. How is that right?”
Crawley lowered his gaze, so infuriatingly calm Aziraphale wanted to shake him.
When their eyes met, Crawley’s expression was closed off and careful. “Because a gilded cage, no matter how beautiful, is still a cage, angel.” He shook his head. “Even if it’s hard, even if it hurts… I still think freedom is better. What is obedience if there is no other choice? Is it obedience, or is it subjugation?”
Aziraphale leaned away from him, face all sharp lines and disdain. “Don’t you dare try to make me question the ineffable plan or orders we were tasked with– I was tasked with. Your job was to tempt the humans, serpent.”
Eyes narrowing, Crawley jerked his face away. “I wasn’t trying to tempt you,” he snapped. After a beat, he held out his hand, palm just above the earth. With an elegant gesture, a stem wove its way out of the ground, twisting and unfurling its leaves and petals. Crawley plucked the white blossom free and offered it to Aziraphale, their eyes locking. “Freedom is better than being a prisoner. If they weren’t meant to choose freedom, why would God create an entire world? An entire galaxy? The universe?” Breathing easier, but still looking very afraid, Aziraphale took the sweet-smelling flower, drawing it to his chest as Crawley’s words washed over him. “You gave them the means to survive so that they see those things for themselves. That wasn’t wrong, angel.”
(Continue reading on AO3)
