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Pride. Lucifer invented it. Crowley was constantly caught up in the ego and pomp of the tall, raven-haired Aedonis in Heaven, so much so he went against his own ideas of right and wrong to partake in a war he didn’t believe in, simply to continue in Lucifer’s orbit.
It ended poorly.
In hindsight, any interaction with Lucifer ended poorly, even in Heaven. He had an obsession with testing the limits of God’s favored designs and would often slip into human corporations, coercing Crowley into one as well. Heaven didn’t have walls, but Lucifer always knew where to find less trafficked areas to explore their forms, corrupting their incorruptible angelic forms with the filth and splendor of humanity’s sexual congress.
With a human heart and human lust, what more could Crowley have done than fall into the trap of all-too-human love? Taking on a corporeal form seemed to affect the very fiber of your being. Crowley would shed the body when he took to the stars for his work but found himself drawn right back into it when his feet landed in Heaven — drawn right back into Lucifer’s arms as well.
The War changed many things, but his lust for Lucifer’s body carried on, now accompanied by the burning air of Hell to make their bodies glimmer with sweat.
And they carried on. Occasionally another demon would join them in their bed, but they didn’t have the affection for human corporations that he had — didn’t know how to properly pleasure one. So Lucifer would send them away and continue in the carnal dance of just the two of them.
When Lucifer came to Crowley with the idea of him taking his skills to Earth to corrupt humanity properly, the snake demon found himself conflicted. Their dance was one for just them. It was special—other demons failing at it was proof of that. Now Lucifer wanted him to use his body on the humans?
“They’ll call you Asmodeus, my darling pet,” Lucifer whispered in Crowley’s ear, the scent of their union fresh on his breath, beating away the acrid stench of Hell’s aroma. “The Demon of Lust, you’ll bring to them all manner of debauchery and show God She cannot keep Her humans from sin.”
Crowley rose to Eden with his task clear in mind, but when the sunlight graced his skin and he breathed deep the flowers and grass and beauty of Earth, he felt his convictions sway. And there, standing high upon a wall, was a being so opposite from Lucifer in every way. Yet despite his task, Crowley felt a draw to the angel as though he was made of starlight and created by his own hand.
How many millennia had passed since that first glance? Crowley stopped counting the moment he took Aziraphale to his bed as he had taken Lucifer so many times before. Time became meaningless in the eternal dance he began with his angel. Yet as he sat on the roof of the bookshop, hand clasped tight with his beloved, gazing down at the humans celebrating in a sea of rainbows and glitter, Crowley felt his lips curl into a gentle smile.
“Enjoying the parade, dear?” Aziraphale’s gentle voice cooed beside him.
“Mmmm… Just reflecting on how the humans reclaimed pride to be something beautiful.” Crowley’s eyes caught on Nina and Maggie, their laughter lost amongst the crowd as they shared their first kiss beneath the rainbow canopy erected in front of the coffee shop.
“Pride truly has become a beautiful thing.” Aziraphale snuggled into Crowley’s side, kissing his neck and sighing.
There were still humans who tried to equate the happy freedom of Pride to Lucifer’s corruption. Those sort were doing more of the Devil’s work than anyone celebrating below them. Crowley had struggled with his part in that mentality for far too long. Aziraphale had helped him forgive himself for that. Perhaps the Serpent of Eden, Originator of Sin, Demon of Lust wasn’t so unforgivable after all.