Ineffable One Shots

Is It Still Luxury Without You? (1912 continued)

TW: further discussion of suicide

Crowley woke up with a gasp, clutching the side of the couch. His heart beat against his chest as if it was about to tear itself free. He placed his hand on his chest and did his best to breathe.
He closed his eyes, but quickly opened them again. The after-image of his dream was imprinted into the back of his eyes. It left an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach, although it made no sense. The only part of the dream he recognized was himself and Aziraphale, but they were speaking of heaven and hell and for some reason birds. All of a sudden Crowley was rushing towards Aziraphale, grabbing his collar and pulling him in and-
And then Crowley jerked awake. The distress he felt from the dream lingered, as well as the crushing feeling of lips against his.
Crowley jumped again when the bedroom door opened.
"Crowley? Are you okay?"
"Ya-" Crowley's voiced cracked a little. He ran his hand through his hair and tried to continue. "Yes, just fine. Forgot where I was for a moment I suppose," he got up. "Well, I guess I better get out there..." he started for the door when Aziraphale spoke up.
"Wait, I- er, you're still in your old clothes,"
Crowley looked down at his crumpled clothes. He didn't even bother to change into night clothing. He was embarrassed and looked back at the Angel. He frowned and snapped his fingers (which was really just for the dramatic effect, he could've done it without) and changed into a new suit, essentially the same as the other but with a deep red tie. He then glanced at the Angel before once again heading to the door.
"Crowley, I'm sorry,"
This apology caught Crowley's attention very quickly.
"Er... why?"
"I've been very rude to you lately and it's very ungrateful of me. I appreciate what you've done for me,"
Crowley was still partly in a daze from sleep, but he knew that wasn't the main reason why he was having a hard time understanding Aziraphale's words.
He was a demon. Angels never apologized to demons, and most of the time a lot worse happens between a pair then just 'being rude'.
After a moment, Crowley was able to respond.
"Ah... yes, of course," he said pathetically.
"Do you forgive me?"
"Umm... to be honest I wasn't really angry to begin with, I was too preoccupied to notice, and demons don't really do forgiveness,"
"Oh... well, I apologize anyway,"
They were quiet for a moment before Crowley's need to leave won him over.
"I'm off to find Loretta,"
"Do you want help?"
"No no, I brought you here to enjoy yourself. You can continue on with any plans you had for the day and while I'm out and about I can do your duties as well,"
"Oh, well thank you... Will you still be coming to meals with me?"
"Yes, of course," Crowley looked around, trying to make avoid eye contact at all costs. He also tried not to think too much about the disappointment that entered Aziraphale's face at the news that he would be busy today.
However, he quickly shot a look at Aziraphale before finally stepping out the door and closing it behind him. He stood outside the door long enough to hear Aziraphale's voice, faint through the door.
"You fool!"
Crowley didn't know if the Angel was talking about himself, or Crowley.
Aziraphale didn't know either.

Crowley spent all morning searching for any signs of the demon.
He wandered the upper decks hoping to find any of the obvious signs of an ethereal creature, but then decided that Loretta would most likely be found on lower levels. It was a large boat though, and Crowley was tired already. He was also regretting turning away Aziraphale's offer of helping him. His goal of this whole trip was to woo the Angel after all. He found himself getting distracted from his job whenever he found somewhere he thought Aziraphale might enjoy.
Eventually, Crowley found a bench and sat down. He placed his elbows on his knees and hunched over to cover his face with his hands. He groaned, then sat up. A few nearby people shot him odd looks.
How am I ever going to find Loretta? He thought. One demon on a boat bustling with people? I can't even try to sniff out evil because the whole thing reeks of class division and filthy wealth...
He was snapped out of his thoughts when someone sat down beside him.
"Why are you following me?"
Crowley squinted at them. Their long dark hair was tucked into a braid that hung down from under their fedora. They didn't look at Crowley, instead they continued watching the people wandering by.
"Well look at that, I found you,"
"You didn't find me, I found you following me,"
"How could you be the one to find me if I was following you?"
"Well..." Loretta tried to come up with a response but couldn't. They made a frustrated groan. "It doesn't matter, you still haven't answered my question,"
"About following you? I didn't even know I was following you, I was about to give up on looking for you altogether,"
Loretta rolled their eyes. The two demons sat for a moment before Crowley broke the silence.
"It's a damn big boat,"
"It's a ship, not a boat," Loretta said with raised eyebrows.
"Potato potaato, what are you doing?"
Loretta had stood up and began walking away.
Crowley rushed up to follow them.
"As you said Crowley, it's a damn big boat, I mean ship, and there is a lot to do. Also it's interesting to explore and watch the humans. They've created some fascinating places,"
Crowley briefly wondered if maybe Loretta wasn't a threat after all. They were already sounding just like Crowley, maybe he could get them to enjoy earth enough that they'll get soft about it like him. Before he had time to start forming a plan, Loretta reached out and grabbed his arm.
"You have to come see this one place, the lower classes are the main people there but it's a lot of fun," they started pulling on Crowley's sleeve to drag him along with them.
Hesitantly at first, Crowley followed.