demonicmiracle | (noctium) ic inbox

Turns out you were right. I owe you one.

You wouldn't happen to like cake, would you~?

[It takes him a second, because his memory isn't the best for things he doesn't deem as important, but he recognizes Hua Cheng's voice after a moment.]

M'not much for eating, but my husband loves cake. [Which means he'll accept cake as payment just to give to Aziraphale.] You and your god sorted it out, then?

Yes, we did. It ah.

It turns out he thought I was in love with someone else, and we were both trying to keep from getting hurt.

[ Wait, does Crowley even want to hear these deets? Probably not. He doesn't realize they're both incredibly romantic demonic entities. ]

Anyway, I've been practicing making cakes. What's your husband's preferred flavor?

Well, I bet you two feel like proper idiots.

[This is why he doesn't have many friends, though he doesn't mean the comment unkindly.]

He's not all that fussy, really. [Not when it comes to cake, at least.] Coconut always goes down a treat, though.

Coconut it is.

[ Crowley can't see this, but he's beaming. ]

Are either of you free for a delivery tomorrow?

We ought to be. Hold on.

[There's a muffled angel, have we got plans for tomorrow? and then a few seconds later, Crowley is talking directly into the phone again.]

Yeah, no plans for the foreseeable future, at least one of us'll be home throughout the day.

[ Wow, that's too cute. ]

I will be over then.

[ Also, he attaches a selfie of him and his boo. If Crowley wants to send one back that would be appreciated but not necessary. ]

[Crowley is, at heart, an old man, and is not sure what to do with being sent a picture of the happy couple.

What he sends in return is his address, because that's actually useful.]

Sure, just give us a heads up when you're on the way. I'll pop the kettle on.

[The request is mostly so he can make sure he has pants on when Hua Cheng shows up.]

Will do.

[ As he says, mid-morning he sends off a text stating he's ready anytime, and then whenever Crowley says it's alright to come over, he'll come knocking. True to his word, he's brought a coconut cake, except, in addition to having whorls of perfectly-toasted coconut adorning the sides and top of his seemingly three-layer cake, he's also gone and made incredibly lifelike buttercream flowers, and topped it with butterflies made of delicate sugarwork.

There is no way Aziraphale will not like this cake. ]

[As promised, Crowley has put the kettle on in anticipation of Hua Cheng's arrival, as well as having tidied up a bit, because he likes the place to look presentable when they have guests.

(It's mostly clutter that Aziraphale collects. Books and tea cups left in strange places.)

The door opens with the first knock, only for Crowley to appear a couple of seconds later to pull it open the rest of the way.]

Hullo. I see you're a man of your word.

It was important to me.

[ Even if he opened it with a miracle, Hua Cheng is going to not judge too hard. He knows the guy's a demon, and he himself is a ghost. So, things are not gonna be baseline human, and that's okay. ]

Nice place.

[ He doesn't know what Crowley's design and Aziraphale's design is like, but something about the books and teacups just screams of a coziness that Hua Cheng assumes is Crowley's husband.

He places the cake on the table, and then lifts up the cloche that it's under. Somehow, none of his decorations dare to have melted or broken. ]

[They've managed to find a decent blend of their preferences, dark but rich colours, cozy without being overly cluttered. Fortunately they're both fond of the general aesthetic of the city, which saved them from having to miracle up too much furniture.]

Thanks.

[It's sort of weird, having people in their shared space, entirely different from Crowley's own flat in Mayfair, or his one in Duplicity, but he'll likely get used to it eventually.

He waits until the reveal of the cake, at which point his eyebrows go up and he gives an impressed whistle.]

And here I was planning to pass this off as my own work. Don't think my husband would buy it, looking at it now.

[He's joking.

Probably.]

Not a baker?

[ Neither is Hua Cheng, technically. He started when they'd gotten to the city, and someone had mentioned wanting to be paid in cake. He wasn't going to hand in shoddy work, but his soon-to-be-husband has complained that he picks up skills too easily. ]

I don't see him yet if you want to eat the decorations off.

I won't be mad.

[ No, it seems like Hua Cheng is on cloud freaking nine right now. He'd have come bearing houseplants and fine wines if he knew. Or statues - he'd literally carve Crowley a statue if he wanted. He just can't stop smiling. Someone will have to tell him it's creepy to hold it for so long. ]

Not much for sweets.

[Or eating in general, honestly, but he's gotten halfway decent at various kinds of bread, and isn't terrible with pastries. There's just been little reason to try his hand at cake, outside of Aziraphale, who's done his own experimenting with baking anyway.

And yes, theoretically, he could miracle up perfect decorations, but Aziraphale knows that he prefers to stick to the human way of things. Mostly.]

Don't think there's much that could make you mad right now, hm?

[Faintly teasing, as the kettle clicks and he crosses to start prepping the tea.]

S'a jasmine tea alright?

[ No, he's going to be riding this high for the rest of his natural existence. And then some, probably. ]

That'll be great.

[ Weirdly, despite all these niceties, Hua Cheng doesn't really need to eat either, and only really does so because it makes other people comfortable. ]

How long did you say you've known your husband?

[ He'd just like to hear the story. He's in such a good mood he thinks it's even cuter than he usually does. ]

[Crowley sets about fussing with the tea, which is only really fussing because Aziraphale has drilled it into him that it needs to be prepared properly.]

Six thousand years, give or take. We were both there when Earth was shiny and new, I sort of ruined his day, but humans probably wouldn't have sorted out wine or cake otherwise, so he's forgiven me for it.

[The idea of Aziraphale living in Heaven rather than on Earth is a) bad and b) really bad.]

Oh.

[ He might have also met Xie Lian by ruining his day, so he understands. ]

Has your Earth really only been around six thousand years?

Where were you before that?

[ He sort of assumes somehow that Crowley and Aziraphale didn't just show up one day as fully-formed adults. For some reason. ]

Mm, not as long as the humans think.

[Sorry, evolutionary theory and carbon dating and all that business, it simply does not vibe with God.]

Heaven came first, which is where Aziraphale was and it sort of existed before time did? S'complicated. [Being time, and Heaven, and not existing in any physical manner.] Then Hell came about, which is where I was, 'cause of the being cast out of Heaven business. Wasn't very exciting, really.

[Said with the awareness that it was, in fact, very exciting, but he doesn't want to talk about it in too much detail.]

If we knew each other before those first days on Earth, I don't remember it, and he'd not remember me.

[He would have looked different, sounded different, had a different name. All things that God took from him.]

Oh.

[ He can't imagine forgetting Dianxia after he died - it'd hurt him just to think about. He was such an integral part of his life and his afterlife. But he's sure if he'd forgotten and met him afterwards, he'd have fallen in love all over again. ]

Heaven's pretty overrated anyway.

[ Is he saying that to commiserate? He does actually mean it - he hated that place full of gods trying to step over each other in pursuit of glory. Lots of holier-than-thou pretentious assholes, Crowley probably gets it. ]

No idea why all the gods prefer it there. Earth's a lot more fun, anyway.

[ And Hua Cheng's hell is kind of great, but only because he did a lot of the redecorating himself. ]

[It doesn't strike him as pity, at least, which means he can tolerate it.]

Can't speak for your gods, but the angels back home are all sort of brainwashed. I'd call Heaven a cult if it wouldn't get me in trouble with my husband.

[Aziraphale wouldn't actually be cross with him about it, but he'd probably have a bunch of complicated feelings and Crowley prefers to avoid pressing the 'heaven' trigger button. It's never been a comfortable topic for the two of them to discuss.]

[ Nothing to see here, Gwenhwyfar just casually reaching out to Crowley.

Everything is fine! ]

I am at my limit.

[ Or not. ]

[Uh oh.]

What's happened? Are you hurt?

[Normally, he might tease slightly about the lack of greeting, but he decides it can wait.]

Not me.

[ Thankfully, but more importantly. ]

Some poor soul had the misfortune of crossing me while he was trying to eat a man.

[ You know, punching and strangling, all the good stuff. ]

I pushed myself.

Ah. Probably lucky you were there, for the bloke being eaten, at least. [Since he likely would've been eaten, otherwise.] It wasn't that big shadow beastie, was it?

[Crowley you can't use words like "beastie" during a serious conversation.]

You mean the nearly-naked creature with wings wearing those gods awful short trousers?

[ She actually appreciates the bit of humor. ]

If so, then yes. He was biting into an unarmed man the time I came across him. I can't stand to see someone unarmed in harm's way.

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voice, un: datura

voice; un: aj.crowley

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THE NEXT DAY

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AUDIO;

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