Ineffable Husbands One Shots

To Be Alone

~!~ Today's prompt was Sea :) I hope you like this oneeeee! Warning: there is some non-sexual nudity. (Also, yes, the title is from a Hozier song, I'm gay.) ~!~

Aziraphale loved the beach. He loved the rhythmic sound of the waves, he loved the slight tickling sensation of sand between his toes, he loved the sharp smell that could not be replicated anywhere else. He found the whole experience to be fantastically calming.

The problem was, many other people felt similarly about the beach. And Aziraphale did not love crowds, nor find them to be particularly relaxing.

There was a simple solution to this problem, though! Humans needed sleep. Angels did not.

Therefore, when Aziraphale felt the need for some personal relaxation, he often went to the beach in the middle of the night. It was his own little decompression ritual. All he needed was to spend a few hours at the beach for a night, and afterward, he'd feel right as rain.

This was one of those nights for him.

He'd been patiently reading, waiting for all the humans to go to sleep. He assumed that once it was midnight they would have all vacated the beach (and perhaps the only reason they all had vacated the beach was because Aziraphale assumed they would... but we don't need to burst his bubble), so, with a distracted glance at his pocket watch, he finished the chapter he was reading and closed his book.

He let his eyes fall shut and smiled, imagining his very favorite beach. He imagined the cool breeze fluttering his hair, the soft movement of the water, and the strong oceanic aroma. Then, putting a lot of angelic magic into the motion, he snapped.

When he opened his eyes he was at the beach. He smiled and looked around. The moon lit the area, its reflection glimmering on the surface of the water. Aziraphale sighed contentedly.

He banished his shoes and socks with a thought before bending over to carefully cuff his pants. He'd rather they didn't get wet, but it had happened before so he knew it wasn't the end of the world.

He made his way over to the clumpy, wet sand, relishing in its coolness against his feet. He smiled, wriggling his toes deeper into it. A gentle wave lapped over his feet, causing the sand particles to dance against his skin. He let out a small huff of laughter, then began to walk.

He strolled along the sea's edge, the waves swirling by his ankles. Occasionally a foot landed where the water already was and he'd be granted with a small splash.

But, as he got closer to the large chalky cliffs he thought he heard another splashing, separate from his own. He ignored it, thinking there must be a rock in the water that the waves were moving around, or a bird catching a fish.

Then, he spotted something moving in the water; something bigger than a bird. He paused, just watching it. The longer he looked, the more his brain tried to convince him that it was a very human-like shape. But that was silly, there were no humans here. It was well past midnight by now, and they were all in bed getting some much needed rest. He came to the conclusion that it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

He continued on his walk, keeping an eye on whatever that swimming creature was. Breathing deeply, he tried to instill some tranquility in himself but found it to be difficult as the splashing got louder and louder.

He squinted at the movement in the waves. Was that...? No. No, no. There was no way. That had to be wishful thinking and nothing more, or- or- maybe there was some large sea creature who had long red fins. There was positively no way that this swimming creature was Crowley.

He kept walking, more purposefully now. He refused to give his imagination the satisfaction of him feeling hopeful about seeing Crowley.

This was turning out to not be very relaxing at all. He wished he could turn his brain off and just exist with the peacefulness of the sea, but now that it had the idea that Crowley might be here, it had latched onto it with full force.