Chapter Text
Aziraphale was excited to see the kittens again, but he was more excited to have an excuse to spend time with Crowley. He’d thought he’d been attracted to the red-haired man yesterday, and he had been, but now, after their date, he was positively smitten. He never wanted this evening to end. He’d be happy to stay with Crowley forever, the way he was feeling.
He released Crowley’s arm when they got to the rescue so he could unlock the door, and followed him inside. Crowley went in and flipped on the lights, revealing four cats lounging around the front. They all looked up eagerly when the lights came on and Crowley smiled at them. “Hello, you lot. Been behaving yourselves?”
One of the cats went to Crowley, winding its way around his legs, and Crowley scooped it up, nuzzling it.
“Hello there, Fluffy. Just a short cuddle right now. Got to feed the babies.”
He turned to Aziraphale with a smile. “Come into the back, angel, and see your kittens. Don’t be shy.”
Aziraphale followed him into the back room, and Crowley sat Fluffy down gently before he flipped the light on back there. Aziraphale glanced around and spotted Patches in the corner with the kittens, and was pleased to see them looking well.
“Hello, guys. I’m only here for a few minutes, but I’ve got company. You guys remember Aziraphale, right?”
Aziraphale gave an awkward wave, feeling silly even as he did it. But Crowley just smiled at him.
“Angel, if you’d like to have a seat on the couch, I’ll get the formula mixed and grab the kittens for you. You lot -” he said, addressing the cats, “Behave. Don’t go embarrassing me in front of my date.”
Aziraphale beamed. He’d known this was a date and it was obvious that Crowley was attracted to him, but hearing Crowley say so flat-out felt amazing.
As he'd been instructed to do, he went to the couch and had a seat, somewhat in the middle, hoping that would mean that Crowley would sit close to him. A minute later, Crowley had prepared the bottles and retrieved the first kitten. “Here you are, angel,” Crowley said, handing him a towel-wrapped kitten and a bottle. Aziraphale accepted them with a smile and, as he had yesterday, began to feed the kitten. Crowley retrieved another bottle and his own kitten - then sat down beside Aziraphale, closer than was strictly necessary. Oh, heavens. Aziraphale’s heart sped up. Beside him, only a few inches away, Crowley began to feed his kitten with a small smile.
Aziraphale cleared his throat to hopefully clear his thoughts. “How long will they need to be bottle fed?”
“Not too long. A couple of weeks. I’ll be able to start them on soft foods when they’re about four weeks old or so.”
“How often do you have to bottle feed them until then?”
“Four or five times a day.”
“Goodness. That sounds labor intensive. Do you have help?”
“I have two part-time people, Dagon and Hastur, but they’re both very part-time. It’s mostly me, on my own.”
“Well, if you ever decide you want some help feeding the little ones, I do hope you’ll call on me. I’d love to help - when I can get away from work.”
Crowley was smiling at him, his face open, his golden eyes warm. “Do you mean that?”
“Of course I do.”
“Would you like to come by after work tomorrow and help me?”
Another opportunity to spend time with Crowley? Yes, please.
Aziraphale nodded. “I’ll come directly after I close the shop. Would you like for me to come on my lunch break, too?”
“Yes,” Crowley said at once. “To be honest, angel, I want to spend all the time with you I can. All the time you’ll allow me.”
Aziraphale flushed. “I want to spend time with you, too.”
Crowley was still smiling, and his eyes flicked down to Aziraphale’s lips. Oh, heavens… was he thinking about kissing him? Aziraphale dearly hoped so, and wet his lips in anticipation. Crowley’s eyes watched the motion hungrily. Aziraphale took a moment to look at Crowley’s mouth, so pink and perfect, and knew without any doubt that he’d be kissing those lips soon. He couldn’t wait.
They finished feeding the first two kittens, then Aziraphale helped Crowley gather the bottles, towels, and two more kittens. When they sat back down on the couch, they were even closer, and oh my giddy aunt, Aziraphale could smell Crowley now. He smelled heavenly. Aziraphale had to resist the impulse to bury his face in Crowley’s neck and inhale deeply.
“You’re doing great, angel,” Crowley said a minute later as he was feeding the kitten.
Aziraphale flushed with pleasure - and with something else - but couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you call me angel?”
Crowley’s cheeks darkened and he stammered. “I - I didn’t mean to. It just slipped. I’ll stop --”
“No, you don’t have to do that,” Aziraphale said in a rush, as soothingly as he was able. “I actually rather like it. I was just wondering why. How it came about.”
“Well, you’re just… angelic,” he said, still flushing. “You’re so kind and good and compassionate. And you even look like an angel.”
“Oh,” Aziraphale said, surprised and pleased. “Do you really think so?”
“Yeah, I do. You’re gorgeous.”
Aziraphale was sure he was making moon eyes at him, but he couldn’t help it. He was getting lost in Crowley’s gaze… but he didn’t think he ever wanted to be found.
“Crowley?” he asked, his voice soft and his eyes still locked on Crowley’s.
“Yeah, angel?”
“What would you think about kissing me?” Aziraphale asked, his eyes flicking back and forth between Crowley’s lips and his eyes.
One side of Crowley’s mouth quirked up into a smile. “I think I’d like that very much. Been dying to since yesterday. There’s a problem though.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“Once I kiss you, I’m fairly certain I’m never going to want to stop.”
Aziraphale smiled, their faces growing closer. “I think I’m likely to have the same problem.”
“So what do we do about this potential problem?”
“I suppose we’ll just have to keep kissing each other, over and over, won’t we?”
“Yeah,” Crowley breathed, then the next thing he knew, soft lips were pressed against his. Aziraphale had never felt anything like it - it was as if hundreds of tiny fireworks were going off simultaneously in his brain and under his skin. His whole world was sensation, focused down on the feeling of Crowley kissing him, and for the first time in his life, Aziraphale wanted to freeze time.
Their lips slid against each other slowly, unhurriedly, until Crowley parted his lips. Aziraphale followed suit, and thought he would explode with joy. Oh, he'd never known anything as wonderful as this - nothing. He was in heaven. This had to be heaven.
Aziraphale was getting ever more lost in the kiss when one of the kittens they were holding mewed loudly in protest. He and Crowley broke apart, drawing back only a couple of inches, both of them with wide eyes, their breaths heavy. It took them a second - and another loud meow - before they returned to reality.
“I suppose we should…”
“The kittens come first...”
“Yes. They do. But angel?”
“Yes, Crowley?”
“I was right. I want to do that over and over again for as long as you’ll let me. Will you please let me kiss you again when we get the kittens fed?”
Aziraphale smiled. “I’ll be disappointed if you don’t.”
Crowley beamed at him, and they turned their attention back to the kittens.
They were nearly done when Aziraphale had a thought. “Can I say something you may find odd, dear?”
“Go ahead.”
“Let me preface this by saying that I very much hope Snookums is alright. It would break my heart if something happened to her, and I hope she turns up soon. But… in a way… I’m glad she went missing, because it led me to you. Does that make me a terrible person?”
Crowley grinned at him. “If you are, I am, too. Because I know exactly what you mean, and feel the same way. I’m beyond thrilled to have met you.”
Aziraphale smiled at him, feeling like he was glowing, and was delighted when Crowley stole a quick kiss. “C’mon, angel. Let’s feed the last two kittens, then I’ll take you for an evening stroll around the park.”
“Only if you promise to kiss me in the moonlight,” Aziraphale said, smiling.
“Aziraphale, angel, I’m going to kiss you so often, you’ll wish I’d stop.”
“Oh, I doubt that will ever happen. But I’d be delighted for you to try.”
~*~O~*~
It was late when they left the park and started making their way back towards Aziraphale’s shop, hand in hand. They’d spent well over an hour together in the park, talking, gazing at each other in the low light, and kissing each other frequently. Aziraphale was absolutely giddy.
The pavement was less crowded at this time of night, allowing them to walk a bit slower than normal. Aziraphale didn’t want the night to end, and he got the distinct impression that Crowley felt the same.
That impression was confirmed when they were about two blocks away from the shop and Crowley said, “I really wish this night could go on forever.”
Aziraphale smiled and squeezed the hand he held. “I do, too. But we can have lots more nights like tonight. If you want.”
“Oh, I want. I want very much,” Crowley said, sounding vehement. “When can I see you again?”
“You’re going to see me again tomorrow, on my lunch break. Remember? I’m coming to help feed the kittens.”
Crowley gave him a wide smile, almost surprised. “You really are?”
“Of course I am, dear. I told you I was. And I’m coming back tomorrow evening, after I close, so we can feed them again. Would you like to go to dinner after we feed them? Or perhaps order some delivery to the rescue? I noticed you had a telly, perhaps we could watch a film.”
Crowley looked awestruck. “You’re like a real life angel.”
“Oh, stop,” Aziraphale protested.
“No, you are. Really.”
“Well, I’m glad you think so, but I suspect you’ll find out otherwise as time wears on and you get to know me better. I’m hardly perfect.”
“You are to me,” Crowley said tenderly.
“I think you’re pretty perfect, too,” Aziraphale said, with a blushing smile.
He pulled them to a stop at the door to his flat. “This is me,” he said, turning to face him.
Crowley was already holding one of his hands, but he reached for the other as well, lightly twining their fingers and smiling sheepishly. “Angel, this has been the best night of my life.”
“Oh, I don’t know if I believe that…”
“No, it’s true. This has been, without a doubt, the very best night of my entire life.”
Aziraphale smiled at him. “It’s been one of my better nights, too. I’m so glad you called me, dear.”
“I am, too. So… can I kiss you goodnight?”
“I very much wish you would.”
He had just a glimpse of Crowley’s smile before his eyes were closed and he was being kissed softly, sweetly. His blood fizzed in his veins like good champagne and he knew, with a bone-deep certainty, that he’d just fallen in love.
Crowley’s lips moved slowly over Aziraphale’s, not demanding, just caressing, and Aziraphale parted his own lips. Crowley took the invitation he presented and the next thing he knew, his bottom lip was being nibbled.
He heard a sound, but his brain was otherwise engaged at the moment and he didn’t pay it any mind. He was too busy trying to keep from melting into a puddle. Aziraphale was just contemplating deepening the kiss when he heard the sound again, and this time, he felt something brush against his leg, startling him. He broke the kiss suddenly and looked down.
“Snookums!” he exclaimed, then released Crowley’s hands to bend down and scoop up the prodigal cat. “You’re back! Oh, I’m so happy to see you!”
“This is Snookums?”
Aziraphale was beaming. “Yes, this is her. Oh, isn’t it wonderful? She’s back.”
Crowley was grinning at him. “It is wonderful. Say, angel, I know it’s late, but… how would you like to help me reunite a family?”
“Oh, Crowley, I’d love to. Lead the way.”
So, with Snookums snuggled in Aziraphale’s arms, they set out across Soho towards Demonic Pet Rescue to reunite her with her kittens… and maybe kiss some more.