The Incarnate (A Good Omens CrowleyxReader)

~Chapter 6~

You wake up to the sound of yelling.

"Is this a spot?" You sit up.

"You all know what I've said about spots." You stand and walk towards the door.

"I will not stand for spots!" You crack the door open a tiny bit and see no one in the hallway.

"Now. Say goodbye to your friend. He just couldn't cut it." 

You hear the clicking of heels and the sound of a kitchen sink disposal. You quietly walk out of your room and into the hallway.

"You see what'll happen to you? If you aren't good enough?" You turn and gaze into the plant room.

And there's Crowley, holding an empty pot that used to hold the plant with the tiny spot he found the day before and shaking with anger. He puts the pot back onto the table. You jump at his next outburst.

"Grow better!!" And this was straight-out screaming. At... plants...? So this was why he didn't want to tell you about how he grew them. It's kind of funny, honestly. At this point, you're standing around ten feet behind him, right outside the plant room.

He whirls around and spots you standing there, giving him a strange and slightly amused look. He appears to be at a loss for words.

"I... uh... Oh, right. You live with me now." You don't even know what to say.

"The plants, are, uh... They need to grow better...?" He tried.

"Well, that's what you said to them." You're shocked that he hasn't noticed that you're pursing your lips together in an effort not to laugh.

"Uh, yeah... Wait, how much did you hear?"

"Since you said, 'Is that a spot?' "

"So the entire thing."

"Yep." He clearly doesn't know if he needs to apologize or what, so he just stands there awkwardly. And then you finally crack.

Within seconds, you're laughing your ass off. And he looks at you like you're insane.

"H-hey," you manage to say, "You're the one who screams at plants!"

"And you're the one who finds it funny..." he grumbles. After a moment, you collect yourself.

"S-sorry."

"Eh, it's fine. I'd rather you find it funny than think I'm insane or something."

"But... why?"

"It was a movement. Talking to plants to make them grow better. That's what I'm doing." Suddenly, it makes sense. He just didn't understand that whole "talking to plants" thing.

"Here, let me show you what they meant by talking to plants." You walk into the room, Crowley close behind. Somehow, the plants are shaking. You didn't know they could do that.

Despite that, you walk over to the smallest fern. The one who's just barely living up to Crowley's standards and is shaking the worst. You squat so you're at eye level with the small fern. You've never done this, so let's hope you don't do too horribly.

"Hey, how are you doing? Scared? Yeah, I know, I would be too." It stops shaking and just sits there, waiting for you to continue. All of the plants have stopped shaking and seem to listen to you.

"Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to you." You tentatively reach your hand to the fern and stroke its leaves.

"You're doing amazing. Your leaves are incredibly soft and you're growing well." The fern seems to stand a bit taller.

"Keep up the good work. You've dealt with more than your average plant and you're going to have to be tougher than all the other plants in this city. But that also means that you're going to be the greenest and strongest. Just keep doing what you're doing, and you'll thrive. Just keep on moving, only a step at a time, and I promise you that you'll get somewhere amazing." You stand and glance around the room.

"That goes for all of you. I'm tremendously proud of each one of you and I know you can stay just as perfect as you are right now." You turn towards Crowley. His mouth is slightly agape and he's staring at the tiny fern, who's standing straighter than they were before you spoke to them.

"See, that's not so hard."

"They're... Looking good. Thank you." He then takes on his usual emotionless expression again and turns around, leaving for his study. A thought occurs to you.

"Oh, do you want some breakfast?" He doesn't even turn his head.

"Make yourself some. Don't bother with me." And then he's in his study and you're standing alone in the plant room.

Oh, well. Guess it's time to make breakfast. Maybe you could find your way back to Aziraphale's bookshop afterward.

You enter the kitchen and make yourself a simple breakfast. You eat quickly, taking in everything that just happened. What's up with Crowley? He seems a bit too... angry. You wonder vaguely about his past. What happened to him? He screams at plants but is stand-offish the rest of the time.

You have no idea why, but you want to help him get over whatever is happening in his head even though you barely know him.

You finish up, wash your dishes and clean the kitchen back to the way it was. You go to your room and get into some clean clothes.

You decide to tell Crowley where you're going. So you walk up to the study, but you hear him talking.

"Yeah, she totally--" He pauses. He's on the phone.

"Yes, that's what I said. And I told her that I may have gotten it wrong--" He's interrupted by the person on the other line.

"No. Of course I actually knew that, I just don't want her to think I'm insane! Who screams at--" He pauses mid-sentence.

"Fine. Yeah. No, I'm not going to tell her, that would be--" He sighs.

"Do you think we should be doing this? We're already dealing with... everything else, keeping her around would only complicate things. I say we drop her in the street somewhere." The person replies.

"You know, I don't care. It's coming in less than a week, she's only going to--" he stops. "Okay, fine. That's a fair point. But what will she say? Especially about--"

You don't want to keep snooping. Even though he's obviously talking about you (and you're slightly offended that he wants to drop you in the street somewhere), it doesn't feel right to be listening in to this conversation. So you knock and cut Crowley off short.

"One minute, I think she needs something. Be right back." You hear the creaking of a chair and the taps of a shoe. He opens the door.

"Yes?"

"Oh, uh, I was just planning on going to Aziraphale's bookshop."

"So you're asking for a ride?"

"N-no, I was just letting you know..."

"Oh, okay. That's fine." He closes the door.

He sighs and speaks into the phone again.

"Yeah, she's headed your way now. Talk to you in a bit." You hear the clicking of the phone being put back onto the receiver and you leave for Aziraphale's bookshop.

This has been an interesting experience. You don't know what's going on. All you know is that you want them to stop keeping secrets and you want to help. After all, they've given so much to you.

And you want to give something back.