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It felt… weird. They had been pretending to be human for millennia and living almost like them. Still, this was the first time he really felt like one. Ever since they prevented Armageddon and scared their respective bosses, Hell had stopped paying for Crowley's flat (they probably didn't even realize they were paying for it until recently). It was the perfect excuse to move in with Aziraphale.
Waking up from his long naps to find the angel wandering around the house, a fresh tea on his bedside table, and a sweet smell coming from the small kitchen. Crowley didn't usually eat food (he enjoyed alcohol and coffee, so he would have something to nibble from time to time, but it wasn't his favourite thing to do). Yet he felt exactly as if he had an actual dinosaur roaring in his stomach, begging to try anything. Whatever the angel had bought. His angel.
Finishing breakfast with him and then taking a walk while Aziraphale was in charge of scaring customers in his bookshop. Seeing flowers and plants shops and be tempted to buy some. Smelling the fresh bread from the bakeries and think “Is there any bread left at home?” as if it were actually necessary. Walking past any store and seeing the slightest trace of tartan, then he would smile. Going to feed the ducks (later he discovered that it hurt them eating damp bread, and maybe he was a demon, but he had a heart) and remembering that day with some pain as if it had happened just a few months ago (“Has it been 160 years already? What a strange thing, time”). Sometimes, before returning to the bookshop, he would drink a coffee at Give Me Coffee Or Give Me Death. The name alone had been enough to get his attention. Sometimes he even had a conversation with Nina (the bartender and owner who didn't seem to want to talk to anyone and that made him want to talk to her more. Old habits die hard). He would sometimes stop by Maggie's record shop. Since Aziraphale was her landlord, she already knew them both. “How is your husband? It's been a long time since he came to chat with me.” Crowley always plays along. It's funny how people think they're married. As if ethereal beings get married. Sometimes he himself forgets that they are not human.
He liked that routine.
One day, returning from the record store, he casually mentioned it to Aziraphale.
“Maggie asks how my husband is,” he laughed.
Aziraphale spun around, completely ignoring the books he was rearranging on the shelf.
“Pardon me?”
“Maggie thinks we're married,” he laughed again.
Aziraphale didn’t reply, staring at him.
“It's curious. Funny, even” He continued.
“Why?”
That pulled Crowley back. He wasn't dumb. Both were aware that during all these years there have been feelings beyond appreciation and friendship. Words hadn't been needed. But married?
“It's just…” the demon tried to say, though not even he knew what he was going to say.
“We are living together, and not precisely in the same way that human friends do.” The angel raised his voice again. Although he seemed unsure.
They were silent again for a while.
“You can tell Maggie that…” She took a deep breath, “You can tell her that your husband is a bit busy since he has an old book to restore.” He smiled sheepishly. “But soon he will go to see her. Maybe his husband would like to come with him.” He immediately returned with his initial task, rearranging the books.
Crowley began to feel hot, and his physical heart was beating a thousand miles an hour. Luckily, he wasn't human and that couldn't kill him, but he almost felt like he was going to.
He took a long step forward. Right next to the angel. And he helped him reorder. Both, forgetting his ability to create small miracles. Simply for the pleasure of spending time next to each other.
“I will tell her. Maggie, I mean.”
Aziraphale nodded with a smile.
In these months of freedom, they hadn’t stopped to talk about what they were. And maybe, Crowley thought, that's why they didn't have to. There was no label in the world that could describe what they had. But if they were to describe it to a mortal, perhaps husband was enough.
At that moment, they felt as human as possible.