The Nice And Accurate Stories Of The Ineffable Husbands: Good Omens

Embers

On Tuesday, a golden envelope was sent to Aziraphale's doorstep. Heaven was that fancy. Aziraphale thought about opening the envelope, imagining what could be inside, maybe, he thought, Heaven got tired of him and were firing him, if that was even possible, but he knew that they liked things a bit more violent, despite being 'the good ones', so it could only mean one thing: they wanted his services, for something.
All morning, the envelope remained untouched, as Aziraphale stared at it. He was not sure if he should open it, for what he knew, it was bad news in every aspect, but he was still an angel, he should be helping his own side. 'We're on our side, angel' Crowley's voice sounded loudly on his head every time he thought about Heaven as 'his side'. Crowley was right, they were on their own side, but he was still curious about the envelope. What could be so important for Heaven to contact him?
Meanwhile, Crowley was on his plant-care/scare routine, giving a thought about what the radio told him.
'The time has come', and suddenly all the information he needed to know was stuck into his brain. He obviously thought about talking about it with Aziraphale, but it seemed sort of strange. What if it was all just a lie, designed for him to contact Aziraphale for some reason? Why now of all times?  something was missing from the information they had given him. Had Heaven told Aziraphale about this? Was Aziraphale a part of it? Either way, he needed to know, so he decided it was time to phone the angel. On his way to the phone, he thought about a nice way of telling him, this was as close to the end of the world as it could get, and once he had it all sorted out, the phone rang first.
'Hello, dear'. Aziraphale's voice sounded through the phone.
'Aziraphale! I was just about to phone you'.
'That must mean we need to talk, don't we?' Aziraphale's voice sounded like he already knew what this was all about, which of course, he did.
'Same place as always?'
'Same place.'
The situation had just gotten completely out of hand for them both. Worse than ever before, worse than losing the Antichrist, worse than anything, worse than the end of the world itself.
Aziraphale watched the envelope disappear in front of his eyes. 'Fancy' he thought. Guess that was actually that important and 'secret'. He arrived earlier than his husband, fashionably late, as always. He sat on the bench at the garden where it all ended last time, as he saw Crowley arriving, walking as if he were at a fashion show. Not even the end of the world part two was ever going to make Crowley stop being such a diva.
'Ah! Angel, nice to see you again.' Crowley was tense, and acted weird, as always he got nervous about something.
'Crowley, my sweet demon' he proceeded to take his hand, but for some reason, he refused, so Aziraphale tried his best to ignore that and continue as Crowley sat. 'I believe you've been contacted'. Straight to business, no matter how married they were, Aziraphale would always be like that.
'Were you?'
'Of course, what did they tell you?'
'Everything, angel, I know everything. All in my head, stuck, over and over again like a film in replay'. Aziraphale deduced that was the reason Crowley acted cold.
'Same to me, the letter explained everything in horrendous detail'
'A letter?'
'Yes'.
'They sent you a letter?'.
'Yes, what did they send you?'.
'They didn't send me anything, they just decided to put all the information in my head, and it's on repeat, till I carry out the task assigned'.
'Being what?'.
'Going down there, and agreeing to take part on it'.
'Well, are you?'
'Do I have any other choice?' Crowley murmured.
'Of course you do Crowley. Remember we already defied them once, we can do it again'.
'It's not the same angel. Last time it all was about you and me, our future, we had a chance to avoid the tragedy. But now we don't, it is going to happen no matter if we are there or not'.
'Always that pessimistic, are you?' Aziraphale turned to look directly at Crowley's eyes, that underneath his glasses surely hid his sadness. 'We have another option, but it involves us taking sides'.
'Not again, I don't want to be in anyone's side, I'm done with Heaven and Hell'.
'Well, then what were you going for? You said you had no other option'. Aziraphale was confused.
'Of course I don't, I was going to tell them I quit, see if I could still be somehow neutral in all of this'.
'But you are not seeing the obvious'.
'Which is?' Crowley's internal sadness was coming to the surface, this topic actually hit a soft spot.
'You can pick a side, I've already picked it'.
'Tell me you haven't angel, tell me you didn't do it. You can't be part of this'.
'Oh I see, you definitely aren't getting my point. What I mean is there is another option'.
'Don't be foolish, it's a two part war, Heaven against Hell, taking all of humanity with them, all that I have ever cared for apart from you angel'.
'That's what I mean, there isn't just two sides Crowley. This is a three way thing. Heaven and Hell, against each other, and against humanity. Can't you see? There is actually something else worth fighting for.'
'Humanity'.
'Humans'.
'6000 years of evolution, all leading to this'. Crowley started to see the big picture.
'6000 years where we've learned to love them. I am a being of love, all angels are, for me, this 6000 years have all been learning from them. I've enjoyed their cultures, I've seen their development, I'm not going to give all of that up. And you Crowley, think, what have all this 6000 years meant to you?'
'I've seen cruelties that went far beyond my imagination, I've tempted them, but along the way, I've learned angel, humans won't be able to take it. There is too much in the table, they won't handle it'.
'They will. Crowley, look at yourself. Not only have you seen the worst of them, but you've picked the best from them and made it your own. You love Crowley, demons don't show love, but you, my dear, do. I know deep down, you feel way too much, and most importantly, you have hope. Humanity is driven by hope, give them a chance and they will take it. We just have to be that hope'.
'So you are suggesting we defend them?' Crowley seemed about to break down.
'Not only that, I'm suggesting we help them, we've got the best from both sides. We can be their hope. As you said, this is going to happen either way, so this time, we can be on the right side, this time we get to choose Crowley' Aziraphale finally held his hand, Crowley was deffinetly on the verge of tears, because that hadn't been an option before. 'What do you choose?'
'I choose the wise option, Aziraphale, I choose you. For humanity'.
'For humanity' he gave Crowley a comforting hug.

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I'm incredibly sorry for not updating in two months but since this is my last high school year I have absolutely no time. I tried writing every now and then but it wasn't working out, so I postponed it till I could get some time (which I actually don't have, but who needs History anyway?).
Also I somehow managed to watch 6 seasons of Doctor Who while having dinner since last time, so new ideas!
Again I'm sorry, but this is gonna take a bit. Thank you for being patient. ❤️