At Your Service

Crowley Sticks His Neck Out for Aziraphale, and Aziraphale Pushes the Envelope

“Aha! Found you!” Aziraphale exclaims, upon walking into the greenhouse and spotting one dirt covered demon.

Said demon turns around upon hearing the angel’s voice, and says not unkindly, “Hello there.”

Aziraphale gestures around them, “What brings you in here?”

Crowley shrugs, “Thought the gardener could use some help with watering and planting. Checking to see they’re behaving.”, then turns his head to glare at a plant, which shakes in response.

Aziraphale rolls his eyes, “You and your plants.”

Crowley turns back to the angel, “Since you apparently have nothing better to do than laugh at me, did you miss me?”, he teases, with a smirk. “Last I checked, you’re nose deep in a book around this time.”

“Hmph.” Aziraphale says first, before he continues, “If you must know, I only came here to say…” here, he trails off, almost losing his nerve, especially since Crolwey’s still smirking at him, like he’s got all the time in the world to see where this is going.

“...that I’m well aware you’re exemplary in all things table setting wise.”

Crowley’s eyes widen in surprise from behind the glasses, “I’m sorry, did an angel just admit a demon is better than him at something?”

Aziraphale begins to blush, but he keeps talking, determined to get it all out before he loses his nerve, “And that I…need to know if you’d be…amenable to…helping me practice after classes get out?”

Now the demon outright laughs, “And now the angel’s asking a demon to help him with his assignment. Oh Satan, my lot’s going to have a field day with this one.”

Aziraphale snaps, “I don’t care. If I’m going to carry out my assignment, I need to be here.”

Even so, Crowley still looks skeptical. “Angel, we both know you’re not that stupid. I told you how much trouble I’d get in for saving an angel, let alone helping one. All eyes are on us, remember?”

Aziraphale has the nerve to look properly chastised, but Crowley’s not finished.

“And besides, even if that wasn’t the case, I don’t know I’d want to. You care about all this for more than just the assignment, and I decidedly don’t. And besides, what could I possibly have to teach you that you couldn’t just miracle up when someone wasn’t looking?”

Aziraphale sighs in resignation, “Fine.”, then gets an idea, “Hold on. What if I could show you a part of why this means so much to me?”

“This is…astounding.” Crolwey finds himself saying.

As it turns out, the thing Aziraphale ends up showing him is an episode of Downton Abbey.

Aziraphale smiles, attempting to agree, “I know. It’s so intriguing, isn’t it?”

The demon attempts to argue, “No, in fact it’s—”, but the angel cuts him off, “Shush. This is a good part.”

And just when the demon thought this couldn’t get any weirder, Aziraphale starts mouthing the lines as they’re said, to where even his eyes start to get glassy.

Crowley notices, “Angel, you’re not seriously crying at this, are you?”

Aziraphale attempts to defend himself as he wipes his eyes, “It’s just an incredible connection the man has with everyone.”

The demon scoffs, “Angel, be serious. If he did any of that in real life, he would’ve been fired before the first episode even finished!”

Aziraphale turns to look at him, so Crowley goes on, “A butler never gets personally involved with his employers. They’re teaching that in class right now. Discretion, remember? It’s like priority one.”