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Language:
English
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Published:
2025-03-06
Words:
666
Chapters:
1/1
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6
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26
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65

Day Trip

Summary:

“This is so stupid,” Crowley grumbled halfheartedly. He was grumbling as much as possible, because it was obligatory. But he was having a hard time coming up with plausible complaints. “I can’t believe you talked me into this.”

Aziraphale took his arm as they strolled down the West Pier. “You can’t believe that I talked you into taking a day trip out of the dark smog of London to visit a beautiful beach with sunshine and ice cream?”

Work Text:

Brighton, 1870

 

“This is so stupid,” Crowley grumbled halfheartedly. He was grumbling as much as possible, because it was obligatory for a demon. But he was having a hard time coming up with plausible complaints. “I can’t believe you talked me into this.”

Aziraphale took his arm as they strolled down the West Pier. “You can’t believe that I talked you into taking a day trip out of the dark smog of London to visit a beautiful beach with sunshine and ice cream?”

Crowley looked around, and tried to find something negative about this. There had to be some dark shadow to this particular cloud. “It’s too crowded. Every stupid human had the same idea as you.”

“It’s more crowded in London.”

“There’s too much sun.”

“You’re wearing sunglasses.”

“You’re here.”

Aziraphale beamed at him. “I would be ‘here’ in London too, if you mean by your side.”

Crowley tried to think of something else to say, some eloquent argument to make about why this was all stupid and he had every right to be miserable. “Bugger off,” he finally said, coming up empty.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Aziraphale patted his arm, then steered him towards a stall. “Will you buy me another ice cream?”

“I can’t possibly think of another task in all the universe that would bring me greater pleasure,” Crowley said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. It was a lot of sarcasm.

“Oh, good. Then can we go for a nice walk on the beach?”

Crowley groaned. “Only you would wanna walk around on a bunch of stupid sand. It gets bloody everywhere.”

“Well.” Aziraphale cast a meaningful look at the abundance of humans on the beach.

“Only you and a bunch of idiotic humans,” Crowley amended.

Soon, though, he and Aziraphale were walking on the stupid beach with their stupid ice cream. Aziraphale had pouted for about three seconds, and that did in Crowley’s remaining resistance. It was embarrassing, but he could never say no when Aziraphale pouted.

Honestly, he could never say no to Aziraphale at all. It was something of a problem. A big problem. A really annoying big problem, like Aziraphale.

Crowley sighed and glanced at the angel beside him. Annoying, maybe, and yet. Being around him made Crowley happy.

That was a horrible thought. Not demonic at all. Crowley shuddered.

Aziraphale glanced sideways at him and smiled. “Hold on for just a moment, my dear. I want to take my shoes off so I can splash in the waves.”

“Of course you do,” Crowley said, pained, and stopped. He didn’t take his own shoes off. “Everyone looks too happy. Where’s all the sin? This is a resort town, right?”

“Well, depending on one’s system of belief, being happy might be a sin.”

Crowley grunted, unconvinced. That wasn’t a system of belief he would ever endorse. With how air headed and blissfully ignorant most people were, he’d never meet his quotas again.

“There’s an awful lot of people wearing scandalously little clothing,” Aziraphale said encouragingly as he rolled up his trouser legs. “For the sea bathing and such, you know. And I even saw some people kissing back there!”

“Scandalous.”

“Yes, isn’t it?” Apparently prepared now, Aziraphale splashed resolutely into the shallows, then continued down the beach. “Oh, and I saw some pickpockets at work on the pier! After we go for our nice walk on the beach, maybe you could join them. It would be like a playdate.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Crowley tried to sound scathing, but it just came out fond instead.

And when Aziraphale pouted and held out a hand, he couldn’t help taking it. He couldn’t help smiling, either, and at the moment, he couldn’t even come up with anything to complain about.

He didn’t even feel like complaining, weirdly. This day trip wasn’t so horrible. Maybe happiness was a sin after all—and if so, that meant that he could be as happy as he liked, at least for now.