Archive of Our Own ^beta

Aziraphale rather liked the sea, at least when it was calm. Stormy seas were considerably less enjoyable, and tended to make him awfully nervous. He could always just miracle himself to safety, but still.

Thankfully, these were calm seas. He was enjoying them an awful lot. Technically, he ought to be influencing the crew towards peace or something. Instead, he was treating it as a sort of holiday.

It felt like even more of a holiday because Crowley was along with him. They’d been sailing around the Mediterranean for a bit now, occasionally stopping off in port.

Whenever they did stop somewhere, Crowley rushed off to corrupt merchants and encourage smugglers. Aziraphale sometimes got off to buy some snacks. Other times, he stayed onboard and read books.

Today, they weren’t anywhere near port, and thus had been sitting on deck together as evening turned to night. They were having snacks and enjoying arguments on a variety of subjects.

“I say it looks like a snake,” Crowley said decisively, still gazing up at the stars.

Aziraphale sighed. “You say that about every constellation.”

“I’m right, aren’t I?”

“No! Not every constellation can be a snake.”

Crowley tilted his head, regarding another constellation that was definitely not a snake. “That’s one too.”

“It is not.”

“It is too.”

“It really isn’t,” Aziraphale said, and hastily offered the jug of wine to Crowley. “Here, my dear. Why don’t you have a drink?”

Crowley grinned at him. “You’re just trying to stop me from arguing with you about that constellation being a snake, aren’t you?”

“Possibly,” Aziraphale admitted. Without a good distraction, this could continue all night. “Here, have some wine.”

Eyes gleaming, Crowley had his drink. Then he grinned and pointed. “That constellation is definitely a snake.”

“It is not!”

“It is too.”