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#‘you can’t leave this bookshop’
miss-americanbi · 9 months
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gay people can never say “i love you” it’s always some incoherent shit like “you idiot. we could’ve been… us”.
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biceratops7 · 7 months
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So Crowley saves Aziraphale's books in 1941. Because he loves him, because it doesn't matter Aziraphale has hundreds more at home, each one is cherished. Then 72 years later, Aziraphale gives up not a dissimilar amount of books to create a situation where he can invite Crowley to dance. Because he loves him, because he thinks dancing with someone is a direct pipeline to uncovering hidden feeling. Cool, cool cool cool, cool cool cool.
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blugerine · 6 months
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day 345749 of thinking about how crowley has a place to put his glasses in aziraphale’s bookshop because he knows it like the back of his hand and it represents home to him and he’s never had something like it again after heaven and hell both abandoned him.
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orchardsinsnow · 6 months
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Rewatching Good Omens season 2 and noticed that in the first episode when Aziraphale is suggesting a name for Gabriel, he glances at Lord Jim on his bookshelf. Whew! This novel is about a ship’s first mate who, when the ships is damaged, abandons his 800 human passengers in an ill-considered and deeply shameful impulse move! He joins the ship’s captain in a lifeboat and spends the rest of his life trying to forgive himself. Foreshadowing much?
From Wikipedia:
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lesbianvavoom · 8 months
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“ah well, he always did want to go his own way”
“always asking damn fool questions, too”
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betterbooksandthings · 9 months
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It’s a Good Omen’s Spoiler But...
When he says “You can’t leave this bookshop” and what he really means is “you can’t leave me.” 
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kneel-gayman · 7 months
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aziraphale core 💛🩵🖤
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nobie · 9 months
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NOT ME WATCHING THE CONFESSION SCENE SO MUCH IVE ACTUALLY MEMORIZED IT WORD FOR WORD…IM FCKN SPIRALING
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ridgewriter · 9 months
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Hi! Just thought I’d add more gasoline onto the fire of our hearts by pointing out:
Aziraphale said it was “our bookshop.” He was the one who said the shop was both of theirs.
Later Crowley said: “You can’t leave this bookshop.”
Aziraphale said: “Nothing last forever.” Thereby telling Crowley that they are divorced.
… I’m gonna go back to crying in a corner now.
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a-b-riddle · 4 days
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Can’t stop thinking about poly141 who get so wrapped up in their own bullshit they begin to neglect reader. So you leave 🤷🏼‍♀️
It wasn’t a big deal at first. You understood that their jobs were intense to say the least. You own a bookshop, which in itself was exhausting, but you understood how they could get carried away with work.
You had excused the many delayed returned texts or missed FaceTime dates when they were deployed. When they came home, they almost always made it up to you. Showering you with attention and quality time.
But the past two returns home have been… different.
Usually at least one of them made a beeline to your shop or your loft if it was too late in the evening. You always held your breath when it was just one of them.
“They’re okay.” Was the usual answer. “Everyone made it back okay.” It was only then that you could melt into whoever’s hands you were in.
After one of their recent returns home you had voice to Price that you didn’t appreciate several days passing after they came back and no one had bothered to tell you. He had snapped. Arguing that a mission doesn’t finish just because they land back on soil. There was paperwork and debriefing to be done. If and when they wanted to see you they would.
He didn’t apologize until later. Crawling into your bed, using one of the keys you had given them. Blaming the stress. How they had almost lost Johnny for the reason of his outburst. What else could you do but forgive him?
So you had given them space after that one. Not holding it against them to decompress before seeing you.
The next time was the final straw. Solidifying how little they cared about you and how much power you had given them.
Johnny had come in around 7 one evening. He was dressed nicely, for civilian standards. You were reading a book on the couch when he had let himself in. You were wearing on of Simon’s sweatshirts and panties. He took you in for a moment before scooping you up.
He fucked you absolutely stupid. Adamant on having you cum on his tongue, his fingers and his cock. You were only able to bask in the afterglow of him filling you up before he started pulling his pants back on.
“What are you doing?” There were times that you would practically need a crow bar to get Johnny detached from you just long enough to relieve yourself. You had gotten many a UTI courtesy of Mr. John MacTavish.
“Dinner with my family tonight.” He explained by the time he was already buttoning his shirt. “The youngest just graduated and ma’ feels the need to go all out.” Now came the tie. Johnny was actually wearing a tie. To go to dinner. “A fancy dinner in London.” He huffed. “Meanwhile I’m out scufflin’ with bloody fuckin’ terrorists and I get a pat on the back.” He gave you a peck on the cheek before heading out the door. Promising to call you later.
You just sat in your bed. Still naked. Almost in shocked. He had fucked you and just… left. You were close to a panic attack as you called Simon.
Simon wasn’t the one to cuddle and coddle. But there was something so soothing at the sound of his voice or even how his heavy body felt perfect laying on top of you. Yes. Simon wasn’t the time to lift you up with words, but he was your own security blanket. Just having him close helped.
“Can you come over?” It wasn't unusal for Simon to be the one to come later in the evening. Insomnia was a bitch to deal with and you could sleep through the sounds of whatever he played on the tv. Most of the times you were content laying your head on his lap as he ran his hand along your head as if he were petting you. It was a bit cringe, but it knocked you out every time.
“What’s wrong?” He asked. The low timber of his voice already calming you.
“Johnny came over.” You sniffled. “He just fucked me and left.”
“Not surprised.” He scoffed. You could almost see him rolling those deep brown eyes of his. “If you wanted to cum, I’m happy to come over and help.”
For whatever reason, that only seemed to make you more upset. “You’re not listening.” You said, trying to spell it out for him. “He left. Like didn’t even stay and cuddle just left. Fucked me and left.”
“That’s why you’re calling me crying about?” He almost seemed… annoyed.
“Yes!” You said, nearly snapping. All of the tension from the last several months coming to the surface. “I’m not just a warm body to keep a bed cozy until you assholes decide you need to get one off.” Assholes. You called them assholes. “This isn’t what we agreed to.”
“Johnny is Johnny.” Simon tried to defend, not really caring to continue the conversation now knowing that you weren't in any sort of physical harm. “He wanted his dick wet and from the sound of it, that’s what he did. Don’t hold it against him because he had other things to do.”
“It’s not just Johnny leaving.” Your throat felt like it was tightening. A telltale sign you were close to crying. Whether from sadness or anger you weren't entirely sure. “The only time any of you want anything to do with me anymore is to fuck.” You missed date nights and lunches. You missed texting any and all of them about your day, about theirs. About new books. You had been trying for months to tell them over dinner one of your books got picked up. Yours was being traditionally published.
None of them had bothered to even try penciling you in.
“You got yours.” You heard the popping of a can top. Simon was settling in for the night. Once he popped a top at home there was no getting him out. He wasn't coming for you. “I don’t understand what you’re bitchin’ to me about. Yeah, in the beginning we indulged ya a bit? Dressed you up, took you out. But you should have known spreadin’ them legs of yours wouldn’t end with one of us puttin’ a ring on your finger.”
You didn’t know what to say. What could you say? These were the men that pursued you. Initially, individually, but when tensions became to much they offered a solution. All of them. Four times the attention, of the affection.
Four times the love.
But also four time the neglect. Four times the amount of heartbreak and disappointment. Loving all of them meant putting yourself in a position to let each of them hurt you in their own way and they had.
John's constant state of snapping at you as if you were one of his men.
Johnny swinging by as if you were just a fuck buddy. Not even bothering to give a peck before leaving.
Kyle essentially ignoring you for weeks now. Ghosting you for hours or having to cancel on date nights last minute or claiming that he really did forget that the two of you had planned to meet for lunch.
And now there was Simon. Telling you that all you meant to them was what was between your thighs.
Spreadin' them legs of yours wouldn't end with one of us puttin' a ring on your finger.
None of them ever intended on making this into something more. That much was clear now.
You didn't know what to say to Simon. You couldn't think of a witty retort. You couldn't find the proper insult to whirl his way. You couldn't convey just how much his words had hurt.
So you did the only thing you could.
You hung up.
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bluberryfields · 8 months
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This is what happens when you're raised by TV and trained in literary analysis
Beyond the crushing heartbreak of that finale, one thing in particular has stuck with me when I look at it in the context of S2 as a whole.
He lays out their relationship, "We're a team, a group. A group of the two of us. And we've spent our existence pretending that we aren't."
He then turns his head away and says, "I mean, the last few years, not really."
He pauses here, facing the interior of the bookshop. Really looks it up and down.
Turns back, "And I would like to spend" before choking on his words and looks toward the window. He can't finish saying something like "And I would like to spend eternity with you" because that's too much, too fast, for both of them.
But it's that "last few years" bit that has firmly lodged itself in my very broken brain.
According to Gaiman, it's been "a few years" since the end of Season 1. Armageddon has been averted. Heaven and Hell have reluctantly retreated. Crowley and Aziraphale have been effectively cut loose from their "sides," leaving them to form their own side.
So at the start of Season 2, we get a glimpse of the “fragile existence” they have carved out for themselves. To me, the biggest difference that we see is how they exist together in front of others. Going to the coffee shop, the pub, and the other shops along the street that Aziraphale has lived on for over 200 years. And don’t forget how they act in front of Nina, Maggie, and sweet, dim Muriel.
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At the coffee shop, Aziraphale stammers a bit when Nina asks who Crowley is, but he still seems to have affection in his voice when he says, "We go back a long time."
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Compared to Shakespearian "He's not my friend! We've never met before. We don't know each other!" panic, this is an incredible difference.
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Of course, each time, Crowley is cool and cheeky and does nothing to indicate that they aren't a pair. Though, of course, he does deny it when Nina asks about Aziraphale being his side piece. “He’s not my bit on the side! He’s far too pure of heart to be anyone’s bit on the side.” And refers to him as an “Angel [swallows]I know.”
When they go the pub, Crowley's joy at doing something together in public that they do not normally do is super cute, including his cheeky order for Aziraphale's sherry. Then, when bringing the drinks over to the socially trapped Aziraphale, he greets Mr. Brown with a truly adorable, "Hello" and a signature DT smile. Then upon hearing how “excited” Mr. Fell is to host the meeting, he looks down and says, “Oh? You astonish me.” while Aziraphale sips his sherry and squirms.
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We also watch as Crowley follows Aziraphale as he goes to each shop and talks to the owners about the meeting/secret ball. In theory, Crowley has no reason to tag along, and he certainly doesn’t help sway anyone who doesn’t want to/can’t go. He goofs around at the magic shop. He splays out on the bench, chin on hand, looking for all the world a husband waiting for his wife to pick out a dress at the department store. They are so married it’s ridiculous.
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Finally, their behavior in front of Muriel while inside their sanctuary. Crowley sits on the arm of Aziraphale’s chair, somehow looking supremely comfortable on the old-fashioned furniture. He folds up those gloriously long limbs and presses himself as close as possible.
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He smiles and plays along with Aziraphale’s coaching of Muriel in her disguise. Calls him Angel and asks to speak in private. And at the end, during the awful wait while Aziraphale talks with The Metatron, Crowley cleans up the shop and tells Muriel that he and Aziraphale will need some “us” time after all this. No beating around the bush. 
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Without oversight, they can be openly together and happy. But Heaven just can’t let that happen. 
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byleranalysis · 9 months
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Aziraphale giving away his books to have a chance to dance with Crowley because his books mean nothing in comparison to how much he cares for Crowley.
And then, compare that to the end of Episode Six.
“You can’t leave this bookshop”
“Nothing lasts forever”.
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bornonthesavage · 9 months
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God, the fact that when Crowley said “You can’t leave this bookshop” he really meant “You can’t leave me.” And so when Aziraphale, who didn’t understand that was what he meant, replied with “Nothing lasts forever.” All Crowley heard was “We were never going to last forever.” Even though that was NOT what Aziraphale meant. Those two real are the gold medalists of miscommunication.
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ineffableaddiction · 1 month
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The Apology Dance
As beautiful as this dance is, I have some thoughts and a few questions.
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About my third watch, I started wondering why, after all the quibbles these two have had, Crowley came in knowing he needed to apologize.
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Crowley had apologized to Aziraphale before, but it seems he has never done the apology dance.
So I went back to the Jim discussion prior to Crowley storming out to have fun with lightening.
When they both went to the room to talk, they were intensely discussing what to do with Gabriel. They disagreed with each other, but it didn’t seem unusual for them.
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All is still ok here. The go on to the cute banter about what “exactly” means.
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Aziraphale wanted to adopt Jim, but Crowley didn’t.
But….
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Not only did Crowley not agree to help, he turned and told Aziraphale this as he left:
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And Aziraphale’s reaction is heartbreaking. You just get a brief glimpse at it before the focus turns to Crowley leaving to let off some steam.
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Crowley knew he broke their silent promise to always be there for each other. “I could always rely on you. You could always rely on me. We’re a team….a group of the two of us.”
I can’t imagine how this made our poor angel feel.
Sooooo… when Crowley returned to the bookshop, he was in full “I know I screwed up and I’m sorry but I really love you” mode.
We get this:
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Apology dance. Then they immediately pick up as they were before.
I ❤️ them. They’re just too cute together.
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createserenity · 6 months
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I won’t leave you on your own.
Right, this might be controversial, or I might be the only one who sees this moment in this way, but I need to talk about this now. It’s really sweet when Crowley says this, except what happens afterwards isn’t sweet at all. And can I just add right now that I love both Azirpahale and Crowley, they’re both wonderful and also brillianty flawed, I don’t hate either of them. But as far as I’m concerned Crowley behaves really stupidly here.
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GIF by ladybokatankryze
C: I’m going to get the humans out of here and then I’m coming back. I won’t leave you on your own. A: I know.
Oh dear, Crowley. Why did you leave him on his own after saying this? Why did you let Aziraphale down? Why does no one talk about the fact that you did? You walked out that bookshop and Aziraphale was so confident you would come back that he expressed this confidence to the humans and then defended his reliance on you, “Crowley will have a plan,” “Rescuing me makes him so happy.”
But you didn’t come back, Crowley! Why? You left the bookshop, spotted Muriel and then in some super weird ADHD* move just left Aziraphale to sort out the demon problem on his own whilst you went off to heaven. Whyyyyy?
Now okay. I admit, Crowley was working towards the ultimate goal of finding out what the heck had happened to Gabriel, which was something that needed to be done. He spotted the opportunity, knew it probably wouldn’t come up again and so took it. He did what probably needed to be done. He also did it expecting that the demons wouldn’t ever be able to enter the bookshop because Aziraphale was never going to say they could come in. It’s not his fault Maggie is an idiot. I still love him and so does Aziraphale. Also Aziraphale is perfectly capable of defending himself in some ways and we see this after Crowley leaves…
BUT. What a mistake.
He basically left Aziraphale on his own to fight the demons. An Aziraphale who trusted so absolutely that Crowley would come back, and that Crowley would know what to do, that he hadn’t bothered to come up with the whole plan himself. He didn’t have to. Aziraphale and Crowley are a team, they work together and they don’t let each other down.
Except this time Crowley did.
It’s unclear exactly how long Crowley spent in heaven watching the trial etc but since the ball starts at 6.30pm and the demons seem to turn up not that long into the evening, we can assume it’s a really long time. By the time he comes back it’s very clearly morning again, the entire night has passed. Maybe Crowley didn’t intend to be away that long, maybe he expected his jaunt to heaven to be quicker, or maybe this is because time passes differently in heaven and Crowley had no way of knowing exactly what time he’d return to earth, but whatever the reason, he leaves Aziraphale alone for a really long time, after explicitly stating that he won’t leave him on his own.
By the time he does turn up it’s long after the battle is over and long after Aziraphale has been forced to take an action he really didn’t want to take in order to defend himself and the bookshop.
Just look at Aziraphale’s face when Crowley returns, he isn’t super delighted to see him, he's sort of happy, but more looks like he can’t believe Crowley is actually there.
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When he says, “You came back!” he sounds kind of surprised and also perhaps relieved. Why? Because he’s given up on Crowley coming back by that point. He has no idea what has happened to him or why he let him down so badly.
I think we can fairly safely assume that Aziraphale and Crowley can sense at least to some extent where the other one is when they are both on earth if they try to do so, and it’s probable that at some point after sorting out the demon problem Aziraphale had wondered where Crowley had gone and tried to sense him, so likely he knows Crowley has been away from the earth. What he doesn’t know is where he’s been or whether he went there willingly (at least until he turns up with a bunch of angels, at which point he’s intelligent enough to work it out).**
So now he knows where Crowley went, but he doesn’t know why or what he discovered. He’s still in the “Crowley let me down,” space at this point. Then Crowley asks what happened to the demons and Aziraphale has to tell him he blew up his halo. Crowley finds this delightful and he laughs, but for once they aren’t laughing together. This is only the second time that we have seen Crowley laugh at Aziraphale (the first is when he mocks him about thinking he’s a demon after the Job thing, which he quickly stops doing and switches to being kind when he realises how upset Aziraphale is). When he laughs about the halo he doesn’t mean it to be mocking, it’s actually the same disbelieving reaction that he does on the walls of Eden about the flaming sword, except magnified, he doesn’t just do a single “you what?” of disbelief and amusement as he does in Eden, he properly laughs because he knows Aziraphale better and thinks their relationship can take the laughter.
Usually he’d be right, but the problem is he’s just let Aziraphale down. So while he isn’t really mocking Aziraphale, because he loves that Aziraphale does these unexpected and wonderful things, Aziraphale doesn’t like the laugh at all. Look at his face. He glares at Crowley and his look very much is one of, “if you’d come back like you said you would, if you hadn’t let me down, I probably wouldn’t have had to do it at all.”
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Then since Crowley rather stupidly doesn’t read the reaction and stop laughing the look changes more to, “I’m really upset about all this, please, please don’t laugh at me, you’re hurting me.”*** It's only shown briefly so it's difficult to capture, but you can just catch this in his expression before the camera cuts back to Crowley, and then again for a second when it recuts to Aziraphale, just before he reacts to the arrival of the demons.
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Basically, Aziraphale is really fucking pissed off and upset with Crowley at this point. (Side note, Maggie and Nina look less than impressed by the laughter too – even they know it’s not the right reaction.)
If you need anymore evidence of how annoyed he is, look at how far away he stays from Crowley whilst he’s laughing. Aziraphale never stands that far away from him!
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Luckily for Crowley Aziraphale is very good at forgiveness, and also very much likes it when Crowley takes charge of a situation and thankfully Crowley finally steps up. Whilst Aziraphale worries about what he’s done (look at the tension in his hands) Crowley categorically declares there will be no war and the demons react by listening to him. You can see Aziraphale start to reconnect with Crowley, his eyes flick back to him and then once Shax is up and awake his hands relax and he closes the distance between him and Crowley, angling his body towards him and standing close to him again.
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Crowley is going to sort things out and Aziraphale’s faith in him is easily restored, although without doubt it’s suffered some damage underneath.
So what does this all mean? Well, firstly Crowley hurts Aziraphale deeply here and doesn’t realise he’s done it (and this is the second hurt he’s caused him within the space of a few days). Aziraphale forgives him pretty quickly, because Crowley unknowingly repairs things and Aziraphale is so full of love that it will take more than this one transgression to break their bond.
What it does mean though is that Aziraphale has just had a reminder of the demonic nature of demons shoved in his face. Crowley has just hurt him in several different ways in the space of a very short time. I doubt he consciously sees this as demonic because by this point I don’t think he really even thinks of Crowley as a demon on a day to day basis, but I do think he is responding to that hurt in a very human way.
Look, if your partner left you in a sticky situation and told you they would be back immediately and then didn’t turn back up for hours wouldn’t you be pissed off? Even if nothing happened (if Maggie had never let the demons in for example) you’d still have a few things to say about your partner’s hours of absence – yes, even if they had just unveiled a huge clue about why the whole situation was happening in the first place. That wouldn’t undo all your thoughts about how they let you down really badly and left you on your own in a terrible situation.
Another issue is Shax’s demonic nature – specifically how Shax has hurt him during the attack on the bookshop. If Crowley had been there there’s no way Shax would have had even half a second to get in her jibes to Aziraphale, but he’s not there and Shax gets her chance. What she does is play on Aziraphale’s fears about Crowley’s feelings for him (right at a time when Crowley is letting him down) and also remind Aziraphale of some of the ways in which he is a less-than-stella angel (as a side note I find it really interesting that Shax seems to have this ability to look at people and see their worst fears about themselves – do all demons have that or does every demon have a slightly different ‘power’?) So now Aziraphale has been let down by Crowley, which has directly led to Shax hurting him, and had his worst fears about his own nature brought to the forefront of his mind.
He’s been let down, mocked and emotionally wounded, and he goes into the conversation with the Metatron carrying that hurt, only to hear the Metatron singing his praises and telling him he’s, “the perfect angel for the job”. The Metatron deliberately soothes Aziraphale’s worst fears about himself in order to manipulate him. I’m not saying Aziraphale doesn’t see through it or that he is completely taken in by it or that this is his motivation for accepting the job, I think there’s more to it than that, but well… something to think about?
Mainly though, Crowley acts in a bit of a daft way here. His jaunt to heaven is funny and useful for moving the mystery along, but in terms of his relationship with Aziraphale it's an absolute disaster of a move. I'd want the "I was wrong" dance as an apology for that one if it was me. Just saying.
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strawberrysturniolo · 4 months
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bookstore // bf!chris
summary: when you're having a shitty week, your bf, chris, takes you bookshopping for some retail therapy
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The past week has been complete fucking hell, and the worst part, is that I don’t even know why.
It feels like the world has been against me in every way, piling the most ridiculous things on top of me like I’m laughing stock, being used for someone else’s entertainment.
It’s not fucking funny. 
I have fully accepted defeat at this point, keeping myself secure in my room until it is deemed safe to leave.
My boyfriend, Chris, has been adamant on me going about my days like nothing is affecting me. As supportive as he is, and as much as I love him, I sometimes wish he would just let me wallow in peace and feel sorry for myself. That’s just not how he is though. 
“There you areee,” he sings as he comes into my bedroom with a hand behind his back.
I peek up over the blankets swarming me, trying to look around him and see what he is hiding from me. “What’s that?”
He grins. “Get out of bed and I’ll show you.”
I groan and lay back down, pulling the blankets back up.
Chris lets out a sigh and says, “Fine… I guess I’ll just have to drink this iced brown sugar oat milk chai tea latte myself…”
Damn it.
“Wait.”
I can picture the smile on his face. “Yes?”
“Leave the drink,” I command.
He tsks. “Come to the living room and you can have it.”
He wins this time. 
I pull myself out of the comfort of my bed and drag myself to the living room. He sets the drink down on the table and waits for me to retrieve it, and when I do, he says, “We’re getting you out of your bed today.”
“And how do you plan on achieving that?” I ask over the lid of my latte.
“By taking you to the bookstore.”
My eyes nearly fall out of their sockets. 
Chris hates going book shopping with me. While he often praises me for my interest, saying it’s adorable and that he can’t help but stare at me while my expressions change throughout the book I’m indulging in, he cannot stand going shopping with me. What turns into a basic trip to pick up one or two books turns into a three hour excursion with handfuls of books being carried out, and hundreds of dollars drained from my account. 
“You’re kidding.” I know better than to take him seriously in this situation.
“The opposite,” he surprises me. “I don’t want to worry about how you’re feeling, so we’re going to do some retail therapy with books. Plus, I don’t know when you’ve eaten, so we’re gonna get some lunch too. My treat.”
My cheeks blush at the idea of Chris wanting to shower me in his love today. He loves taking me to get something to eat, spending his money on me whether it’s a $10 chick-fil-a meal or a fancy steak dinner. While some boyfriends send their partner money to get their nails done, mine sends me some every so often to treat me to books. 
I always insist that he doesn’t need to, but Chris fights back every time, saying he has more money than he knows what to do with, and that I deserve to be spoiled, especially by him. 
I used to fight him on it, but I know better than to do that now. It always ends in a stupid fight, and I know he is doing this out of love, so the last thing I want is to turn into something negative. 
“Okay,” I give in, heading back to my room to change.
“I knew that would get you!”
Chris’ arms are full with books that I have accumulated since walking into the store. He sets them down every few minutes to stretch his arms and crack his knuckles, and I can tell he’s biting his tongue to keep from complaining. 
He watches me and nods along as I explain every book that I look at. He seemed interested in the first few, but as the list grew, I can tell he’s forcing himself to pay attention.
Feeling guilty that he isn’t enjoying his time and he is sucking it up just for me, I say, “Okay, let’s get out of here soon so your arms don’t fall off.”
“Baby, it’s fine,” he assures me. “I’ll buy a bag if I have to. Keep doing your thing. I can go look at something else in the store that interests me while you shop, but don’t feel like you need to cut your time short for me. The whole reason we are here is to cheer you up.” 
“I don’t want to spend all your money.”
“You aren’t,” he insists for the thousandth time. “And if you keep yourself from getting books because you feel bad, I’m going to come back and buy them for you anyway, so you may as well get them now.”
There’s no way around him. 
Another 20 minutes passes, and at this point, my body is starting to give out, so I can’t imagine how Chris is feeling after lugging books around. “How many do you have?” I ask, looking back at my boyfriend who struggles to keep up as we head to the checkout line.
“Twelve,” he says, sighing as he sets them on the counter to be scanned. I add two more to the top of the pile. “This is insane, you know that right?”
“You were the one who said ‘I insist! My treat!’”
He rolls his eyes, laughing as he swipes his card. “Yeah, yeah.” 
– 
The rest of the day is spent with me organizing my bookshelves, scanning the backs of each book to decide what to read while Chris orders takeout. It only seemed right that we ate something at home since he continued to let me know how exhausted he was after shopping. 
I practically inhaled my meal just so I could start reading one of my new books, sitting right next to Chris on the couch, who was still dissecting his food. 
Every so often, I can feel Chris staring at me.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he shakes his head. “You’re doing that thing.”
“What thing?”
He sets his plate down on the TV tray in front of him, then looks back at me. “I always know something good is happening in the book when you scrunch your nose. It’s cute.”
I cover my face with my book, now embarrassed at my outward reactions when I read, something I had no clue I even did. 
“Noooooo, don’t hide,” he says, pulling the book down so he can see me again. 
He moves to sit closer to me, resting his head on my shoulder as he stares down at the pages with me, placing soft kisses on my cheek every so often before letting himself become just as invested in the story as I do. 
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