Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy

Chapter 4

Aziraphale had spent the whole night reading. Throughout the night he began to feel drowsier and drowsier. It was quite strange, since he was used to being up all night. At around 6:00 am he got up to make a new cup of cocoa and felt dreadfully dizzy.

"Well. That's odd," he said aloud. He sat on the couch, reading and sipping his cocoa while waiting for the dizzy feeling to pass. He was shivering, so he miracled himself a blanket.

At 8:30 he got up to head to the flower shop, but his vision went black and he nearly tripped over a table leg. "Gosh... I guess I stood up too fast..." he donned a warmer jacket and left his shop, snapping to lock the door and flip the sign to 'closed'.

He was slightly perplexed as to why he felt so cold and couldn't stop shivering since it was a relatively sunny day. He shrugged it off and continued on his way to the shop.

Aziraphale heard the wind chimes clang together for a third time that week. "Hello- oh! Are you alright, sir?" the kind owner asked him.

"Perfectly!" Aziraphale sniffed, making a gurgling sound. The owner winced internally but Aziraphale just saw him raise his eyebrows. He decided to continue with the conversation, "Do you sell any potted plants?"

"I do!" The man came out from behind the counter to lead his customer to the potted plants, while trying to keep some distance from the obviously sick man. "If you would like my personal recommendation-" Aziraphale nodded for him to continue. "Orchids are lovely. They represent love, luxury, beauty, and strength! However, they can be hard to grow-"

"Oh that won't be a problem! Crowley is an excellent gardener, all of his plants are in tip-top shape! I wanted to get him something potted, he seemed to enjoy the bouquets, but I thought a growing plant would last longer," Aziraphale spoke quickly and his face regained some of its usual color as he imagined that Crowley would think of him everytime he saw the orchid. He then frowned slightly as he thought about how Crowley treated his plants... was this a good idea? He pushed his doubts away, he knew Crowley would love the gift, despite how he may treat it.

"Love, luxury, beauty, and strength..." Aziraphale repeated. The owner nodded, excited about sharing his knowledge. "That really is quite perfect," he smiled to the owner, before bending down to pick up a white orchid with purple speckles. He stood still for a moment, his head was spinning after straightening up.

"So your dates have been going well then?" The owner asked as they walked back to the register.

"Oh yes! Very well," he giggled. He loved to be able to talk to someone about their relationship. He had been dying to, for thousands of years, but never really felt comfortable with revealing his fondness of the demon. "He can be quite the silly chap," he said, the image of Crowley stuffing his mouth with bread surfaced in Aziraphale's mind.

"Aww, I'm sure you two make a lovely pair," the owner smiled genuinely at the pale man.

"I believe we do, a rather unlikely pair, I must admit, but nonetheless lovely," Aziraphale grinned very wide; it made him feel dizzy, for the upteenth time that day.

"I hope you have a nice day," the owner handed Aziraphale the potted plant with a kind smile.

"You as well, sir!" Aziraphale started to turn around but quickly turned back (once again feeling woozy). "Oh and... If you don't mind my asking, what is your name?"

"Giovanni," he smiled, pleased by the prospect of befriending this sweet man, "and yours?"

Aziraphale went stiff for a second before answering, "Zira," with a coy smile.

"Ah, well have a great day then, Zira! I hope to see more of you!"

"You will! See you soon!" and with that the angel left the shop, walking a little slower than he would normally.